“For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.”-Deuteronomy 32:31
At our Easter meeting in Norfolk, Virginia; a dear brother and leader in our church gave a stirring analogy concerning foundations. He told of a seventy-story high apartment development that was meant to bring more luxury to the luxurious part of town. The developer wanted it to attract all manner of high society and went about its construction how he thought best. They believed that instead of drilling down to the bedrock; they would probe only so far as to find some sandy, subsoil material. Here he would begin the foundation trusting in their own ingenuity to make up the difference. The result was, over time, the building began to lean, and sink. It is now all but worthless, and the investment ruined.
The scripture says, “For their rock is not as our Rock.” The dear brother that brought out the analogy of the multimillion dollar building mentioned (being a structural engineer he would know) that if they would have paid the price and drilled down to the bedrock the building would have stood firm. The builders thought they knew better, they thought they could save a little money, and they drilled down to the wrong rock. The result was an unstable, unsure, foundation that caused an unsure, unstable building. This is the rock that the world offers. It moves and sways with the trends of the age. It, really, is no rock at all. It is nothing more than sand on the seashore, drifting and turning. Their doctrine is that of lust and pride. Their happiness is fleeting, and joy circumstantial. Their love is reserved for the benefit of self, and their hearts given to the highest bidder. Worst of all, this sinking foundation is a foundation that will fall and send those building on it to a sinner’s hell. “Their rock is not as our Rock.” Our Rock is Jesus Christ. He is our bedrock. He is the solid foundation that we must drill down to and build up on. Drill deep into the earth of scripture until we find truth. Truth that we can set our hearts to; commit our lives to and anchor our souls to. Truths such as freedom from sin, resurrection to life, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The person of Christ dwelling within that causes us to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God (Micah 6:8). It is not swayed with the changing times and does not quake in the face of tremors of unrest. It is both steadfast and sure. Even as the outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). We drill down to the Rock with faith, and we drill by reading, praying, gathering, and employing every means of grace available to us. We must strike the rock and build on the rock. This Rock is Jesus. This is the Rock we present to the lost and falling world around us.
Jesus said that if we build on sand the rains will descend and floods will come, and our house will fall. However, if we build on the rock the house will stand. Jesus said, he that “whosoever that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:”. It is not enough to get a sanctified experience many years ago and then live any way you please. The “building” is both once and always. Hearing and doing. Every. Single. Day. Building upon the Rock of Christ.
