And It Fell Not
Bro Whitney Belbin

Matthew 7:24
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:"

Matthew 7:25
"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock"

Matthew 7:26
"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

Matthew 7:27
"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."

Notice the differences in the verses Matthew 7:24 says "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock"And in Matthew 7:26 "And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:"

Not only must we hear we are also to DO.

If we look at these two verses further we will notice that the same rains, the same floods and the same winds beat upon both houses. God never promised His people that we are going to go through life with out storms, without troubles and that everyday will be filled with sunshine.

But neither did He leave us alone to weather the storms. We have A firm foundation. A rock that will not move in these times.

That is the point I would like to expound upon tonight.

Look over at Matthew chapter 5 verse 45 "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

It would appear to me that the verse says the same rain will fall on all. It is how we handle the rain that is of importance.

Or rather how we let the Lord handle it.

God allows the storms in our lives, He doesn't do this to make life hard. He doesn't do this to see how much we love Him. He knows that already, He knows our thoughts, our hearts and actions well before we have an idea as to what will happen. He allows these storms to draw us closer to Him. He allows this to make us realize that when we are weak He is strong.

Many times we will not see this until the storm is over and the sun once again rises. But thanks be to God the sun will come out. The storm will pass. It may not be in this lifetime but thank God there are no storms in Glory.

Is your spiritual house built upon the rock? Is this tabernacle, your earthly body built upon the sure foundation, the solid rock?

Just who is this Rock? Lets look at a few verses:

2 Samuel 22:2-3 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence."

Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 4 tells us,"He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."

Psalms 92:15 "To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him."

Matthew 16:18 "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus Christ, God himself, is the rock. The above verses tell us this. Not Peter as some teach. Lets look over at Matthew 16 verse 18 once again for a moment before we get on with the text.

"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

In the original language the word for Peter is petros its meaning is a piece of rock. The term Jesus used for himself as the rock is petra, its meaning a mass of rock.

Jesus was not referring to Peter as the rock on which the church would be built. Jesus was referring to Himself.

Look at the verse "thou art Peter, (petros) and upon this rock (petra) I will build my church;

Peter has just reveled who Jesus was in a previous verse. Jesus agreed and was explaining that because of this, because He is the Son of God upon Him (Jesus) the church would be built. Not Peter.

Lets Look at some other verses

"Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8).Peter

"But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matthew 16:23) Jesus to Peter

"Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly." (Matthew 26:74-75) Peter

I am sorry to get off subject but please bear with me. I feel that these things are important to point out.

These are not my words. I didn't write these verses. I believe that they were written by the Holy Spirit to point out error that would arise and an error that has arisen

The Father God would not build His church on sinful man. He would not build His church on a piece of rock but the very mass of rock Himself Jesus Christ.

I did not bring up these verses to reveal the bad points in Peter. Quite to the contrary, to me Peter was one of most interesting and human characters in the Bible. Peter held the keys to the kingdom. That is he ushered in the Word of God to the Gentiles. If Jesus Christ can use a man like Peter then there is hope for me. Amen.

Let's get back to the text:

1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 11 says, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ"

What foundation is this life of yours built on? If it is not the true Rock then your house will fall. Is it built on the philosophy of man? Is it built upon on your riches or your desires?

Mans philosophy is vanity, it is totally worthless and can not save you. I can not find one verse in the Bible that says that anything good ever came from mans philosophy or wisdom. True wisdom comes from above. True wisdom is of God. Philosophy of man is enmity against God.

I would like to show you a couple verses. The following verses were not written concerning the lost but concerning Gods chosen people:

Deuteronomy 32:15 "But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation."

Deuteronomy 32:18 "Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee."

Jeshurun according to Easton's Bible dictionary means "a poetical name for the people of Israel, used in token of affection, meaning, "the dear upright people"

Are you so concerned with riches, are you so consumed with earthly pleasures, or have you been so blessed by Gods goodness and mercy that you have become unmindful of Him? Have you become unmindful of the very Rock that gave you salvation as those in the above verses?

I have experienced to my shame that at times of plenty I have forgotten the very one who has given me all I have. My very breath and life.

I had been unmindful that He has saved me from many a storm caused by my own selfishness. My being consumed with the goods at hand made me think of nothing more then my lust for more.

He had saved me from the very pit of Hell, has given me eternal life through the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ and that would never enter my thoughts.

I praise God daily now for what I do have. I praise God that while my wallet is not fat, neither is my soul lean.

I am in the position in life that He has placed me and He is there in the times of the storms. But I still have a lot of growing to do.

Oh, I wish I could say as Paul in the book of Philippians chapter 4 verse 11

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

There is a man who had weathered the storms. There is a man that had his foundation built upon the only true Rock. What have we suffered for the cause of Christ? Who are we to complain or wonder about any of the storms in our lives.

We read in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 That Paul had what he called a thorn in his flesh that was never taken away.

He had asked the Lord three times to take it from him and it was never removed.

Gods reply to Him?

"My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Paul goes on to say: "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."

Do you think he could have said that if his life was not built on the rock, if he had not suffered through the storms? Do you think he would have said that if he had never seen the outpouring of blessings once the storm has passed or if he was unsure of a better thing coming?

I believe we all may have some thorn in the flesh that we want removed. Ask God. If he doesn't remove it, it is there for a reason. Except it and try to find its meaning. Count it a blessing because through it we will learn something and draw closer to God for it.

God makes provision for the storms just as He did in the days of Noah with the ark.

We can find these provisions in His Word.

If you are going through a storm, if you have a thorn in the flesh, look to His word for the answer.

It will be in there. Pray to God for the answer. He will give you one. Wait on the Lord.

He does His will in His way with His timing.

Most importantly except His answer because it is always the correct one.

Thank God for His grace. Thank God for his mercies. Thank God that he has given us a firm foundation. A Rock unmovable, unchangeable, and sure.

Matthew 7:25: "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock."

2 Samuel 22:32 "For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?"

If you are not sure of your salvation, or have never heard of or accepted the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and would like to know for sure that your sins can be forgiven please read "Gods Simple Plan Of Salvation" through the link on the home page or e-mail me. I would be glad to help.