In this issue:
What was it built on?
“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: 25 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. 26 “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: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
Everyone has heard those words of Jesus before. However, not everyone takes his words seriously and understands what they mean. Therefore, it may need a closer look to study those words so that we may be able to apply it in our lives. Sometimes questioning and answering may help to understand the issues better.
What does the house mean?
The house means a person's life. Everyone builds his life in many different ways to make it better. Everyone wants a successful, happy, progressive, problem-free, and famous life.
What does the rock represent?
In Christ's parable, the rock means the foundation of the house. The value and strength of the house rests on the foundation. No matter how good a building is, if the foundation is not strong, it will fall apart soon, so those who are not aware of the situation may like the house, but those who know the underlying problem will not want to have anything to do with it. In the same way, a person's life may be successful, famous, and rich, but if the foundation he builds his life on is not strong, there is nothing to like about. Those who do not know it may find it wonderful, but those who know the truth will not admire it.
So what is rock then? The rock is the words of Jesus. He himself indicated that his words are the foundation. Jesus said that the heavens and the earth may pass away, but his words will now pass away (without being fulfilled) (Matthew 24:35). Therefore, one should build his life on the word of Jesus, which is more permanent than the heaven and the earth. That is to say that one must build his life according to the words of God.
What does the sand mean?
If the rock is the words of Jesus, what does the sand mean? Unlike the rock, the sand is not strong. Therefore, the sand means something that is not the word of God. What would it be then? Christ did not explicitly say what the sand is. Now, what do people build their lives out of? Everyone builds their own life with money, education, hobbies, pleasure, and emotion to fit into their environment. Most people think that if there is no money, they cannot have a life, they will not fit into the community, and there cannot be improvement in life. For that reason, most people are looking for money to build their life. Some people think that without education they cannot advance their life so that they may fit into the society, and without education they cannot make money. So they spend all their precious time, strength, and money to gain education first. Some people seek power because they assume gaining power will make their life satisfying. Some people pursue their hobbies because they think that life is worth a living if they do that. Some people only look for pleasures, thinking that it is beneficial to be happy in life. Some people build their lives according to the expected norm of their surroundings. However, because the aforementioned things are not permanent, even though they may render a successful life while being alive, the life of the man eventually comes to an end, having to face the ugly truth of reality in the next life.
Who is wise?
A wise man builds his life according to the words of God. By building one's life that way, one can live a strong and stable life forever. Then how do you build according to the words of God? First, the word of God must be read and study, then must be followed. Whether you understand it or not, you must do as God says. The words of God must be valued. You must give your time, spend your money, and try hard to listen and understand the words. You must see everything as God sees; You must like only what God likes; You must hate what God hates; You must do only what God asked you to do; You must avoid doing what God does not ask you to do; And value what God values and let go what Christ does not value. If you do like that, you are building your life according to the words of God.
A life built according to God words is explained by Jesus as follows. "How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44) One should long for the glory of God rather than the glory given by his fellow man. But people want the glory given to each other. People are very much concerned that they will not get accepted by others if they go against that standard behavior. Therefore, they do not care about the glory that God will give. For that reason, people do things the way they do or the way people expect them to do, instead of doing things that God wants them to do.
Who is the fool?
The foolish man is one who builds a house on the sand. This means that the the foolish man builds his life with the sand of this world. He does not pay heed to the words, does not put value nor spend time on God's words. Instead, he is into making more money, getting education, living pleasurably, or pursuing his hobbies. Since these things are not permanent in life, the foolish man's life perishes in smoke along with those things.
Rain falls, floods come, and the winds blow
The falling of rain, the floods come, and the blowing of winds means the unfolding of troubles that come his way. When everything is going well, life is running smoothly, but when hit by unemployment or sickness, or being hated by others, life changes rapidly, finding oneself helpless and discouraged. When faced with such problems, the person who stands on the word of God does not lose heart, but overcomes them. Those who do not build on the rock of the Words will see their life swept away by the ocean of discontentment, even resulting in the loss of physical life.
How does Satan attack?
How Satan attacks the church can be learned from the history of the Church and from the Bible itself. Upon learning it, one will find out how fearful it is, and will understand the need to equip himself to defend his faith. If one does not know Satan's temptations and his destructive works, the believer will not have any concept of the ferocious nature of spiritual battle and will not be ready to take part in the fight. If that is the case, then the believer simply finds his life in the palm of Satan, who easily manipulates him the way he wants to. Let us look into the Bible regarding Satan's activities and his capabilities.
No flesh and blood
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)
First of all, believers need to know that there is an enemy whose only objective is to destroy them. Secondly, as indicated in the above verses, it is necessary to know that since Satan does not have flesh and blood, he cannot be fought back with flesh and blood. Fighting with flesh and blood means fighting with physical strength, attacking him by human intelligent or by the use of money. Satan attacks believers regardless of whether they are young or mature spiritual person. The bible verse above said the attack comes from rulers, authorities, the powers of the dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil that is active in the heavenly realms. So it is obvious that the attacker cannot be defeated using human reasoning and strength.
Lay in wait with wisdom
"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings." (1 Peter 5:8-9). Satan prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Therefore, believers are told to be vigilant and stay awake. How can you wait without sleeping? Not sleeping does not mean bodily rest. It means spiritual sleep. If a believer does not read the Bible, pray, participate in fellowship, witness, worship, commit sin, lust for worldly things, but pursue after pleasures, he has fallen asleep spiritually. This world was created by God the Father but now owned by Satan. Therefore, believers need to know that they are in enemy territory. But now, not only do they not know that they are in the enemy's territory, but they are in the enemy's hands because of their lust for the things of this world that belong to the enemy. Therefore, God said, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-1). He who loves this world does not love God.
Messengers of Satan
Again, the Bible says, "For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." (2 Cor. 11; 13-15) Satan attacked the church and believers in the beginning. the more he attacked, the more the church grew larger. Therefore, instead of fighting from outside, he went into the church and began to fight from within. How did he attack from within? He entered the church pretending to believe in God himself. Not only was he a member of the church, but later he became the church leader and led the church as he wished. Therefore, the churches of the world today seem to belong to God, but the majority of them belong to the church of Satan. Therefore, Christ warned, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." (Matthew 7:15) Today, ferocious wolves with sheep's clothing control the pews and rule the church.
The Church of Satan
How do you know the Church of Satan and his ministers? Satan's church and ministers do not preach about the truth nor the salvation of Christ. Their message centers around how to socially advance and how to be achieve unity in the world instead of how to get to heaven. Their messages revolve around peaceful living, job, pleasure, unity between races, and good investment, etc. Most members are not saved, so they take great pleasure in hearing the preaching on such topics. Taking care of prevailing problem is the most important thing for the members, so they feel very happy receiving the messages even if their souls are not saved. The members do not read the Bible themselves; and even if they do, they do not understand. But because it is more important to fulfill their own desires than to follow God's will, Satan can easily deceive them as he wants. Paul said, " And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) The god who rules this world is very worried about people hearing the gospel and being saved, so he blinds their eyes, covering their understanding with worldly materials. So that this does not happen, we must pray to God, value the truth, read his word and must listen to it.
Wishing Christ will not come
Satan does not want people to hear the rapture of the believers, the coming Great Tribulation, and the fact that he will be cast down from heaven to earth. He did not want people to know Christ will rule the world for 1000 years as a king. Therefore, he tries to draw the believers' attention away from being interested in the coming of Christ through his ministers in various ways. He uses peoples to mock those who preach about the coming of Christ, and make people confused about the subject. Therefore, know that those who are obstructing the sharing of the coming of Christ are the messengers of Satan. Why does Satan not want Christ to come? It is because he is concerned that people will be saved, and also because he doesn't want them to know that he will be judged and will no longer have a place in heaven. The Bible said, " Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” (Revelation 12: 10) Satan does not want people to know that.
The end of Satan
Until now, Satan has been free to move around, and deceive and destroy people, but his end is very near as written in the Bible. After the true church, which is made up of the saints, is raptured to heaven, God will allow Satan to rule this world for seven years. Then when Christ comes the second time, he will be imprisoned in the deepest pit. "And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time." (Revelation 20:1-3) Satan will be in prison for a thousand years and will no longer bother people of the world. However, after the end of the thousand years, he will be let go for a while and will rebel against Christ for the last time. "When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10-10). Because Satan will be judged by God, those who believe in God do not need to be afraid of him; and should not believe in his deceptions either. May everyone be freed from Satan's deception.
Christ is coming
In some people view, you are threatening them when you mention about the second coming of Christ. In reality, the coming of Christ is a blessed news. Paul wrote that the coming of Christ is the blessed hope for believers (Titus 2:13). Thessalonians church members were very sad when a fellow member died, so Paul wrote to comfort each other through the coming of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). But why do believers today not expect Christ to come? Peter said it was because they were walking in the lust of their flesh (2 Peter 2:9-10).
Therefore, if you are walking in bodily lust, you will not long for Christ to come back again. To you, the coming of Christ would seem like bad luck or fearful thing. For non-believers, the coming of Christ is a bad omen indeed, because if you do not take part in the Rapture, you will be left in the coming Great Tribulation. However, Christ will come when the time is right, not by human wish.
Why does Christ need to come?
He needs to come to save the believers from the upcoming calamity.
God's plan is that there will be seven years of Great Tribulation in this world. That is the time when God's wrath will be poured out on the earth. The Bible says, "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[a] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!" (Revelation 6:12-16).
Some believe that the believers will be raptured during the three and a half years in the middle of the sever-year tribulation period. Those who believe in this are called MidTrib (MidTribulation) believers. Some say believers will be raptured after the tribulation. Those people are known as PostTrib (PostTribulation) believers. If those two opinions prove to be correct, it would appear as if God has made the believers suffer His wrath. But Paul said, "That you may do the work of God, who is full of life and true, and It is the Lord Jesus who saved us from the coming calamity, the Son whom God raised from the dead. To wait for him to come from heaven, cast down the idol; They also heard about their conversion to God." (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10) In this place, "The Lord Jesus, who saved us from the impending calamity, the Son whom God raised from the dead, To wait for what He came from heaven, "What Paul said is that the believers are not to wait for the arrival of the tribulation period, but to look forward to what the Lord Jesus will come to deliver them from the tribulation. Therefore, believers will be raptured before the time of tribulation. Such belief is called PreTrib (PreTribulation) faith.
Again Paul said, "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him."(1 Thessalonians 5:9-10). Therefore, the Great Tribulation is not for believers. It is for unbelievers. It is the time for those who do not care about God's love to suffer His wrath.
Again, some believe that the rapture will not be one time but several events during the tribulation period. They believe only the overcomers will be in the first rapture. They teach that those who are not the overcomers will suffer through the tribulation period. But believers are the body of Christ, and it is unlikely that Christ will not recue his body in different time frames. Besides, believers are not saved because they deserve it. Salvation is only by grace. In addition, God has not appointed believers to suffer His wrath. Therefore, we are confident that every true believer will take part in the rapture. Because you will be included in the body as such, you should not live recklessly, but should live according to God's will until the day of the rapture. Let's hope to meet each other on the day of the rapture.
