The Sermon on the Mount was Jesus' longest sermon, spanning chapters 5, 6, and 7 in the book of Matthew. Those three chapters contain the core of His message, and all the words there were spoken by Him. These chapters are wonderful to read, and they include the Beatitudes. Jesus said some particularly scary things in His message, like this one:

(Matthew 5:19-20 NASB) "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

That is a stark warning. The scribes and Pharisees looked holy on the outside, but inside they were plotting the best way to kill Jesus. They played the game outwardly, but inwardly they were full of darkness. Jesus told them:

(Matthew 23:27-28 NKJV) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

In these chapters, Jesus addresses personal relationships and makes very important changes that we should not overlook, like this one:

(Matthew 5:27-28 NASB) "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Jesus goes on to cover giving to the poor, praying in secret, fasting, and handling wealth and anxiety. He warns us about judging others. He says, "treat people the same way you want them to treat you" (Matthew 7:12). He speaks of a broad gate that leads to destruction, a narrow gate that leads to eternal life, and the few who find it. Jesus speaks of false prophets who wear sheep's clothing and tells us that we will know a tree by the fruit it bears. Then Jesus wraps up His three-chapter sermon with this:

(Matthew 7:24-27 NKJV) "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

Jesus called one man wise and the other foolish. He was a carpenter and understood the importance of having a solid foundation; a house built on sand would just wash away.

Before the storm came, these two men had one thing they could control. They both heard the words of Jesus, but only one of them, the wise man, acted on them. The foolish man heard those same words but chose to pay them no attention. Perhaps he was too busy or distracted with something else.

The wise man's foundation was being built behind the scenes while he lived by the teachings of Jesus. The foolish man did not deliberately choose to build a bad foundation; he just neglected it by giving it no thought. He put no time or effort into it, and a bad foundation was what he got by default.

Scripture does not tell us that the foolish man burned in hell, for that is up to God, but everything he had built here was destroyed. In contrast, when you live by the words of Jesus Christ, you are storing up a treasure in heaven that cannot be destroyed.

The storm does not just represent Judgement Day in the distant future, but the hardship, the calamity, the crisis, and the tragedy that we face right here, right now. What does it take to shake your faith? How solid is your foundation? The same storm hit both houses equally hard, but the man who had heard and acted on the words of Jesus came through it fine without any loss. While the man who only heard and then ignored His words lost everything.

Reading the word of God is not enough. Hearing it is not enough. Memorizing it, preaching it, singing it, and defending it are not enough. It must be followed by obedience, action, and doing. The only difference between these two men is in their response to the Sermon on the Mount. One obeyed His words, while the other did not.

Build your house on the Rock that cannot be shaken by living the words of Jesus. That will mean loving God and loving others. Give, and it will be given to you. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Faith alone justifies, but not the faith which is alone. Saving faith is a working faith. If you believe that you are a Christian but your faith does not require you to obey the words of Jesus Christ, then you need to wake up and question your teachers. Too many today take one verse from the Bible and build a giant skyscraper of teaching on top of it that sounds good, but the Apostle Paul warned us about things like that:

(2 Timothy 4:3-4 NASB) "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

Be encouraged. Our faith grows in the storms, and storms don't last forever. This too will pass, and you will come through the other side. Read Matthew chapters 5 through 7, and try to incorporate as much of Jesus' words into your life as possible. The more His word is active in your life, the more solid your foundation will be when the storms come.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You help me learn to live right, to let Your word change me from the inside out. Help me align my will with Yours and to get in tune with what You are doing on the Earth today. Purge the darkness from inside of me and let me shine the light of Jesus Christ on the Earth. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!