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Are You Building on the Rock?, July 25
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11
.
As the people sat upon the hillside, listening to the words of Christ, they
could see valleys and ravines through which the mountain streams found their
way to the sea. In summer these streams often wholly disappeared, leaving
only a dry and dusty channel. But when the wintry storms burst upon the hills,
the rivers became fierce, raging torrents, at times overspreading the valleys,
and bearing everything away on their resistless flood. Often, then, the hovels
reared by the peasants on the grassy plain, apparently beyond reach of danger,
were swept away. But high upon the hill were houses built upon the rock. In
some parts of the land were dwellings built wholly of rock, and many of them
had withstood the tempests of a thousand years. These houses were reared
with toil and great difficulty. They were not easy of access, and their location
appeared less easy of access than the grassy plain. But they were founded
upon the rock; and wind and flood and tempest beat upon them in vain.
Those who hear and obey the words of Christ are building upon the rock,
and when the tempest comes, their house will not be overthrown. They will
through faith in Christ Jesus gain eternal life. Those who are hearers but not
doers of His words, are building upon a foundation of uncertainty which is
sand, and calamity will overtake them.
Had Adam and Eve heeded the words that God spoke to them in the
beginning, they would not have fallen from their first estate. Our Saviour met
temptation in a stronger, fiercer form than it was presented to Adam, and His
only weapon was one that is within the reach of all—the Word of God. When
Satan came to Christ in His weakness, and told Him to satisfy His hunger
by turning the stones into bread, and thus prove Himself to be the Son of
God, Christ answered, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (
Matthew 4:4
)....
We shall meet with false doctrines of every kind, and unless we are
acquainted with what Christ has said, and are following His instruction, we
shall be led astray.—
Manuscript 27, July 25, 1886
, “Building on the Rock.”
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