THE WORD: THE SOLID ROCK
Mt. 7:24-27
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Tommy was fed up with being bossed around by his wife Sheila so he went to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist told him that he was too mild-mannered
2. He gave Tommy a book on assertiveness. Tommy read the book like a fiend and by the time he had to go home, he’d finished the book.
3. Tommy strode manfully into the house, walked over to Sheila, pointed his finger at her and said, "From now onwards, I and not you make all the decisions in this house. Tonight, I want you to prepare me my favorite meal and I expect a special mouth-watering dessert afterward. Then, after dinner, you're going to run me a hot bath so I can relax. And when I step out of the bath, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"
4. Sheila said, "The funeral director, that’s who!"
B. MODERN OPPOSITION TO THE BIBLE
1. Today in schools, atheists commonly declare that the Bible is primitive, full of contradictions and errors, etc. The left-leaning media and immoral Hollywood crowd add their own efforts, attempting to confuse and disillusion those who are still believers. The devil is hard at work to subvert and suppress the Church of God.
2. There once was a very strong awareness in the general population that the Bible was the Word of God; that it’s Divine, inerrant, eternal, unequalled, and that it’s God’s Word to humanity. This perception is now largely gone among the public.
3. We Christians must take action and re-inform the public of what the Bible is and what it can do for them.
4. My topic this morning is “The Word: The Solid Rock.”
I. INDESTRUCTIBLE NATURE OF GOD’S WORD
A. HISTORICAL REVIEW
1. Emperor Diocletian 303 A.D. Feb. 23, issued 4 proclamations to wipe out the Christian faith. For 8 years persecution swept the Empire.
2. Many churches were demolished. Many copies of the Bible were burned. Christians were killed.
3. To the Emperor, the purge looked so complete that he issued a new coin with the inscription, “The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the gods is restored.”
4. What he didn’t know was that God had a call on the next emperor – Constantine (313 A.D.) – who established the Roman Empire as a Christian Empire!
5. The Communists gathered Bibles and burned them. Hitler burned Bibles and declared he would write his own.
6. Nations have risen and fallen, but the Word of God lives on! Emperors, Kings and Dictators have attempted to stamp it out, but the Word of God lives on!
7. Philosophers and educators have mocked the Bible and predicted its demise, but they are dead and the Word of God lives on!
B. ILLUSTRATION: GOD’S ENDURING WORD
1. At the beginning of WW2, aerial bombings flattened much of Warsaw, Poland. Cement blocks, ruptured plumbing, and shards of glass lay strewn across the great city.
2. In the downtown area, however, most of one damaged building still stubbornly stood. It was the Polish headquarters for the British and Foreign Bible Society.
3. Still legible on a surviving wall were the words: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” Mt. 24:35.
II. THE BIBLE IS THE BOOK OF THE AGES
A. NOT OF HUMAN, BUT DIVINE ORIGIN
1. The Bible looks like any other book in a bookstore, but it’s not. At Barnes and Noble, it’s thrown in with other books, but it’s nothing like them.
2. The words of this Book are ALIVE! Heb. 4:12 says, “For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
3. The word “alive” is in Greek “Zoe,” alive, active, moving, accomplishing. They are living words with spiritual power.
4. The Bible is not the words of a man, a king, or a president, but of God. The voice that speaks to us from the Bible is the voice of God.
5. “All scripture is given by inspiration [theopneustes; God-breathed] of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2 Tim. 3:16, KJV.
6. As Mark Twain said, ““It ain't those parts of the Bible that I don't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do.”
B. GOD’S VIEW FROM HEAVEN
1. THE BIBLE: THE ONLY WORD FROM GOD! Many groups claim to have books of revelation from God – they are false!
2. Ancient Egyptians believed that the earth was supported by 5 marble pillars. Greeks believed it rested on the shoulders of the god Atlas. Hindus believed earth rested on the backs of elephants, which stood on the back of a huge tortoise, which was on top of a coiled serpent in the midst of a cosmic sea!
3. Aren’t you glad you don’t read that foolishness in the Bible! God revealed to Job “He stretches out the north over the empty space, and hangs the earth upon nothing” Job 26:7.
4. When Genesis was written, The Greeks spoke of the Sun as Apollos' flight across the sky in a flaming chariot. The Egyptians and Mesopotamians worshipped the sun as a god.
5. Genesis, however, calls the sun "a light in the expanse of the heavens" and views it as a thing, created by God.
6. Later when medieval people thought the world was flat and a ship could fall over its edge, the Bible had long before said, "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth...” Isaiah 40:22. The word "circle" means “spherical!”
7. VAST NUMBER OF STARS IN THE UNIVERSE. Before the invention of the telescope in 1608, scientists taught that the total number of stars in the heavens was under 3,000.
8. But long ago, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “As the host of heaven (stars) cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured…” Jer. 33:22; Heb. 11:12.
C. ADVANCED MEDICAL PRACTICES
1. Through Moses, some 3500 years ago, God told the Israelites how to stop bacteria, kill microbes, stop the transmission of diseases, molds, etc. through careful sanitation.
2. Quarantines were prescribed for outbreaks of communicable diseases. (Num. 19:3-22, Lev. 11:1-47; 12-13; 15:1-33, 22; Deut 23:12).
3. The Bible proscribed the first antiseptic, hyssop oil, which contains 50% antifungal and antibacterial agents (Num. 19:18, Ps. 51:7).
4. The Circumcision of males (w/o it many males get cancer) was proscribed on the eighth day after birth (Gen 17:12, 21:14, Lev 12:3), which incidentally is the peak day in our lives of immunity levels and blood clotting agents.
5. In the 1980s, the health organizations of the United States adopted low-fat, high fiber dietary guidelines from studying those kept the O.T. diet & lived years longer than all other groups.
III. PROPHETIC ACCURACY PROVES DIVINE ORIGIN
1. Specific prophesies are conspicuously absent from the 26 other religious books that claim to be scripture, including the Muslim's Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Hindu Vedas, and Buddhist writings.
2. This in itself should be a major eye-opener to the honest skeptic. God through the prophet Isaiah once challenged the pagan idolaters of that time to "tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods (Isaiah 41:23)."
A. PROPHECY IN THE BIBLE
1. Of the Bible's 31,124 verses, 8,352 contains predictive material (27%). Of that prophetic material, 81% has been exhaustively documented as having been fulfilled. The remaining 19% deals with the events yet future. God Almighty says, "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come" Isa. 46:10.
2. Twice in the Bible, God foretold the exact names of Kings hundreds of years beforehand (Cyrus the Great Isa. 41:25, 44:28, 45:1-13) and King Josiah (300 yrs bf;1 Kgs 13:1-6;2 Chr. 34:5).
3. The prophet Daniel (ca. 615-530 BC) predicted the rise of three empires which would follow the Babylonian Empire: the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire under Alexander the great, and the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:36-40; 8:20). Daniel also predicted the rise of Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 11:1-35) who reigned 400 years later (175-164 BC).
4. Ezekiel (26:1-21) made seven predictions about the destruction of the city of Tyre. The probability of all seven occurring is one chance in 75 million, yet all came to pass exactly in the manner predicted.
5. Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isa. 13,14; Jer. 51) made 8 predictions concerning the destruction of the ancient city of Babylon. The probability of all eight coming to pass is one in 5x10 to the ninth power, or one in 5 billion.
B. PROPHESIES ABOUT CHRIST
1. But the most significant area of prophecy was concerning Christ's first coming. Over 300 prophecies foretold great detail about Him:
2. PREDICTION FULFILLMENT
Is. 7:14 Born of a virgin Lk. 1:7
Micah 5:2 born in Bethlehem Lk. 2:4
Hos. 11:1 taken to Egypt Mt. 2:14-15
Gen. 49:10 born of tribe of Judah Mt. 3:3
Psalm 78:2 speak in parables Mt. 13:34
Zech. 9:9 ride donkey into J’lem Mt. 21
Is. 53:3 rejected by Jews Jn. 1:11
Ps. 41:9 betrayed by a friend Mt. 26:23
Zech. 11:2 sold for 30 silver Mt. 26:15
Is. 53:7 stand silent before accusers Mk. 15:5
Ps. 22:18 cast lots for His robe Jn. 19:23
Ps. 22 (100s of yrs bf crucifixion invented) prophets said they would “pierce His hands and feet!”
Ps. 22:1 “my God, why forsaken me?” Mt. 27:46
Ps. 34:20 not one bone was broken Jn. 19:36
Is. 53:9 buried w/ rich Mt. 27
3. Dr. Charles Ryrie points out that, by the law of chance, it would require 2 hundred billion earths, each populated w/ four billion people, to come up w/ one person who could achieve one hundred accurate prophecies w/out any errors in sequence.
4. Cover the state of Texas w/ quarters, 2 feet deep, mark the back of 1 of them with an X. Fly a man in and drop him anywhere you want in the state, blindfold him,
and ask him to find that quarter with the X, first try! That’s the same chance of just 8 of the Bible’s prophecies being fulfilled by coincidence!
5. HUMOR
a. Two old friends met one day after many years, one rich and the other in debt. The indebted one asked the successful one, "How in the world did you make so much money?"
b. "I got my direction from the Bible. I stood my Bible on edge & let it fall open. I waved my finger in the air & it fell on the word “oil.” So, I invested in oil, and boy, did the oil wells gush. Then another day I dropped my finger on another word, and it was “gold.” So, I invested in gold and those mines really produced. Now, I'm as rich as Rockefeller, all because of Bible."
c. The indebted man was so impressed that he rushed to his hotel, grabbed a Gideon Bible, flipped it open, and dropped his finger on a page. He opened his eyes and his finger rested on the words, "Chapter Eleven."
IV. LIFE ON THE SOLID ROCK
A. APPLY THE WORD TO YOUR LIFE
1. “These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of
living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” Mt. 7:24-27 Msg.
B. SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES
1. Both built -- getting ready for Heaven.
2. Both THOUGHT they did a good job getting prepared. Many Christians will be surprised at the Judgment (Mt. 7:21-22; the Unfaithful Servant, Mt. 24:45,48 ; 5 Foolish Virgins, Mt. 25:11-12; The Sheep & the Goats Parable, Mt. 25:44-45, etc.).
3. To the natural eye, both houses looked roughly the same. This is where the analogy ends.
4. The “storm” is twofold. First, it can be the trials of this life which wreck those not totally depending on Jesus & doing the Word. Second, it will be our examination at the Judgment of God, and our success or failure to ground our lives on Jesus.
5. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IS UNDERGROUND
a. Did we die to our old lives and live for Christ?
b. Did we really repent & abandon our sins?
c. Did we let Jesus live through us as the light of the world? Did we let the Holy Spirit have control and direct us daily the way He wants us to go?
d. Are we being careful to obey, and diligently seeking God? Are we satisfied or are we continually striving to enter the strait gate/ a closer walk with God? Are we daily taking our cross and following Jesus? Do we love the world and its pleasures? Are we avoiding all appearance of evil? Are we looking for the soon return of Jesus our Lord? Are we staying holy, like a chaste bride waiting for her groom?
6. “For no one can lay any foundation other than…Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds…13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will
suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” 1 Cor. 3:11-15.
C. THE WORD’S POWER TO TRANSFORM
1. Jacob DeShazzer became a prisoner of war under the Japanese. He was an atheist. He saw the terrible atrocities.
2. He wanted something to read, but they had nothing in English. Finally he said, “Could you get me a Bible?” (Knowing it was the most published book).
3. In May, 1944, he was given a Bible to read for 3 weeks. He was revolutionized. In 1948, Jacob, his wife & son went back to Japan as missionaries – a testimony of what 3 weeks with a Bible can do to an atheist who will read it with an open mind!
4. Christians are to be “people of the Word:” to speak the Word, to sing the Word, to live by the Word, to teach our children the Word!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. The Christians in Lahore India needed a stamp for their New Testaments. They included the verse, Mt. 11:28; “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
2. They hired a Muslim engraver to carve the rubber stamp. When the engraver brought it, he said, “While I was cutting those words in the rubber, God was cutting in my heart.”
3. He became a Christian because he found that verse was alive; it spoke to his inner being and brought a wonderful change!
C. THE CALL
1. What place have you given God in your life? Are you like the man who said, "Why didn't I know this before?" (If you need the Bible to begin working in your life, raise your hand).
2. Have you been a hearer, but missed being a doer in some parts your life? (If you're ready to turn your life over to the Lord, raise your hand).
3. Are you ready to align your life with God's purposes and allow his power to be coupled with your willingness? Raise your hands
4. All come forward and pray.
