WWUTT 2333 Building Your Life on the Rock of Christ (Luke 6:48-49)

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Jesus said, whoever hears my words and does them is like a man who builds his house on the rock, but whoever does not obey my words has built his house on another foundation and they will fall when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the Word of Christ. For he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

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Tell your friends about our ministry at www .wutt .com. Once again, it's Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. Today, we finish up our study of the Sermon on the Plain, that sermon that Jesus preached recorded in the last half of Luke chapter 6.

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Let me read once again the closing verses of that sermon. This is verses 46 to 49.

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Hear the word of the Lord. Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what

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I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them,

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I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

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And when a flood came, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

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But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

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When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.

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As providence would have it, I happen to be teaching on this section the day after the inaugural prayer service that was held at the

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Washington National Cathedral just yesterday, attended by President Donald Trump and his family, and Vice President J .D.

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Vance, along with his wife. Now the bishop who is presiding over the service and preached the homily, a sermon, but formally it's called a homily, is

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Marianne Buddy. She is the, I guess, the head bishop over the Washington Diocese of the

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Episcopal Church. She has that position because of her political activism.

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It's certainly not because of her qualifications, because she's a woman in the position of a pastor.

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She's immediately disqualified. Very left -leaning in her politics, as most women preachers are, has preached in favor of abortion and gay marriage and climate change and illegal immigration and other things.

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The portion of the sermon that has been making the news was actually at the very end of the sermon.

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Let me play a bit of that. You may have heard this already, either in the news or on social media or otherwise. This is the part of that homily that's getting all the attention, and you'll figure out right away where she's at politically.

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Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving

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God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.

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There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives.

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Who fear for their lives? What does she think President Trump is going to do to them?

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President Trump is not opposed to homosexuality. He's actually even in favor of gay marriage.

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There is a man right now whom he has nominated for the Secretary of the

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Treasury who believes he is married to another man, and they have children together.

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Same thing that Joe Biden had with Pete Buttigieg, his transportation secretary, who likewise believes he's married to another man, and they've adopted children together.

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Obviously, can't have them biologically, but as far as his ethics on marriage are concerned, he's right where Marianne Budde is.

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They both believe that marriage can be between a man and a man or a woman and a woman, and that'd still be called marriage, contrary to what is said in the

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Bible. God made marriage to be between a man and a woman. Jesus even taught on this in Matthew chapter 19, lest it be said, well,

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Jesus never addressed this subject. Oh, yes, he did. Saying from the scriptures, quoting from Genesis 2, that a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.

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What God has joined together, let no man separate. Now, where she makes this comment about transgender children, there's no such thing.

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And these kids have been deceived by the kind of propaganda espoused by this false teacher.

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She is a she -wolf in shepherd's clothing. What she is teaching is actually destroying their lives.

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They don't have anything to fear of Donald Trump. They should fear, they should be afraid of teachers such as this who are teaching things that would destroy the lives of people, encouraging them in sins that will bring them before the judgment of God, and they would perish forever in hell.

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If there's any sermon that Donald Trump and even J .D. Vance needs to hear, it's a sermon calling them to repent, that this nation has blood on its hands because of its love for murdering unborn children and then mutilating children through transgender surgeries and things like that.

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Now, Trump has said he's going to put a stop to that, but he still encourages homosexuality, which

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God has promised that he will judge. So he does need to hear a message of repentance, but not this left -leaning diversity, equity and inclusion sort of message that Marianne Budde is preaching, taking it upon herself to try to rebuke

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President Trump on policies that he mostly shares with her. So it was a pretty absurd statement for her to make in this particular sermon.

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But anyway, the reason why I bring all of this up, you needed to hear that context because that's the clip that's been making the rounds on social media and in the news and other places.

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But listen to the way she starts the sermon, and this is where this is going to tie into what we just read here from Luke chapter six.

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Here's the beginning of this homily. Again, my warm welcome to all who have gathered in this house of prayer for all people and for those who are joining us via live stream.

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As a country, we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a people and a nation, not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.

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Unity in this sense is a threshold requirement for people to live in freedom and together in a free society.

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It is the solid rock, as Jesus said, in this case, upon which to build a nation.

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So there you have it. Right now, you're seeing the connection. This unity is the solid rock, as Jesus said, upon which to build a nation.

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Where did Jesus say that? What is she talking about? And she doesn't love the word of God, doesn't follow the word of God, obviously, because she's a woman in the position of a pastor, immediately going against what's said in 1

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Corinthians 14, 1 Timothy chapter two and three, Titus chapter one and other places.

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So she is in rebellion against the word of God, doesn't care for God's word, therefore doesn't even give us a scripture reference here to tell us whatever it is she is talking about.

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Where does Jesus talk about building upon the solid rock? Well, he talks about it in the Sermon on the

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Mount in Matthew chapter seven and in the Sermon on the Plain right here in Luke chapter six.

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What does Jesus say is the solid rock? Is it is it unity in diversity?

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Is that what the solid rock is? We all just need to come together and get along no matter our political background, socioeconomic backgrounds, different ideologies, things like that.

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No, the solid rock that we build upon is our ability to be unified despite those differences and disagreements.

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Is that the solid rock? You've probably heard a message like this said in multiple different contexts.

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Some of those pastors will even go as far as saying doctrine divides. So we should not be putting an emphasis on doctrine.

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We need to be unified. I've heard Andy Stanley preach a message like this. We don't need to get our theology right in order to be unified.

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We need to be unified first, despite all of our different theological differences. Well, if you're jettisoning right doctrine, you won't be unified because the scripture outright tells us that if there's anybody who teaches a message that is contrary to what

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Christ has said and the doctrine that accords with godliness, in other words, the teaching of Christ that builds godliness in his church, in his body.

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If somebody is going to teach anything contrary to that, then they're not actually ever going to be unified with Christ or with his body.

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They have an unhealthy craving for controversy. It says in first Timothy six, four, they are exactly opposed to unity because they are not bound by right doctrine.

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They love quarrels about words which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth.

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Imagining that godliness is a means of gain. And that's

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Marianne Buddy sitting in that position of bishop over the diocese of Washington for gain, looking like she's someone godly, looking like she has some kind of authority in biblical teaching, but is not submitting to the true authority of God's word.

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She's making it say whatever she wants it to say, including going as far as saying that Jesus said the rock upon which we must build is unity.

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That's not anywhere in the gospels. Nowhere does it say anything of the sort.

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What does Jesus say here with regards to the rock? What is it? Let's come back to verse 47.

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Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them,

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I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

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So what is the rock? The rock is Christ and his word.

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You cannot merely just say it's only Christ and like try to divorce him from his word.

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If you're going to say you're building upon Christ, you're also building upon whatever it is that he's taught.

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There are a lot of people that will say, I love Jesus. I'm not really interested in doctrine or theology or whatever.

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Well, okay, then you don't love Jesus. Because Jesus came and taught.

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We even read previously in Luke where he said that his mission was to come and preach.

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I must go to the other towns and preach there also, for that is what I came out to do.

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Jesus taught doctrine. How do you know him? You know him by the words that he spoke.

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How do you show love to him? By obeying the words. By obeying the commands that he spoke.

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He said this to his disciples in John 14, 15, you will show me that you love me when you obey my commandments.

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So the rock is Christ and that includes his word. It is Christ and his word.

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Everyone who comes to me, Christ, and hears my words, listening, and does them, obedience.

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I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

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Now what is this house that we are building? Well, that could be the church, as Peter talks about in 1

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Peter 2, that we are living stones being built upon a foundation that was laid of the apostles as that foundation with Christ himself being the cornerstone.

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And so we, like living stones, are being built as a spiritual house unto the Lord, Peter says.

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So, you could certainly see the house that way. This may be more in reference to a person's life.

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As Jesus is talking about individuals here, everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them is like a man building a house who dug deep, laid the foundation on the rock.

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So certainly you could call it a church. You couldn't call it a nation, as Marianne Budde said, this is the rock that a nation must build upon.

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It doesn't say that anywhere. Jesus is talking to individuals who hear his words and obey them.

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He's like a man building a house. And as said in Psalm 127 .1, unless the

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Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain, unless the

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Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. And so it is

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God who builds this house or else the builders labor in vain and let the house be built upon the rock who is

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Christ, Christ and his word. We come to him, we hear his word and we do them.

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And when a flood arose, Jesus goes on to say in verse 48, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built.

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That house had been well built because it was built upon Christ. It was in obedience to his word. There is nothing that can shake that house.

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There is nothing that can shake your life. There is nothing that can tear you asunder, that can pull you away from God, that can destroy you irreparably so that you perish in judgment won't happen to you if you are built upon Christ and in keeping with his word.

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The promise given to us in Romans 8, that no one can separate us from the love of God.

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Nothing, nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our

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Lord, not even life or death can separate us from the love of Christ. So nothing can come against us to tear us down, to tear us away from God, to destroy us in such a way that we would perish forever.

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There are things that could happen to you in life that could destroy your body and kill you. Certainly, you could get sick and die.

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You could be in a car accident today and die. There are any number of things that may kill you suddenly, but you will not be torn away from God.

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Though your body may perish, your soul is kept forever by him. And as Jesus said in John 10, no one can snatch them out of my hand.

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No one can snatch them out of my father's hand. I am the father, our one. If you are in Christ Jesus built upon that rock, whatever is represented by that flood with the stream breaking against the house, nothing will be able to shake you.

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You're well built upon Christ. You won't even fall away because you are held fast to the rock.

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Verse 49, but the one who hears and does not do them. The one who hears these words of mine and does not do them.

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So this is going back up to verse 47. Jesus said, everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them right.

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So it's more than just coming to Christ saying that you believe in Christ saying, I'm a Christian.

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I am a follower of Jesus. You must come to him. You must hear what he says, and then you must do what he says.

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But the one who hears. So now you've got a person who says he has come to Christ. He's even heard the words that Jesus has said, but he doesn't obey them.

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He doesn't do them. Now the verse that I haven't included here, except in the opening reading was verse 46.

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Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? So this is in reference to those people who are going to say to him,

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Lord, Lord, but they're not going to obey what it is that he has said. You call me

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Lord, but you don't do what I tell you, then you don't really know me as Lord. You don't really submit to me as Lord.

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You don't bow to me and worship me as Lord because you don't do what I say.

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So the one who hears, but doesn't do the words that I say, he is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.

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And when the stream broke against it, immediately it fell. And again, whatever's represented by the stream could be anxiety, could be the cares of this life, could be temptations in the world, materialism.

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It could be sexual immorality. It could be some other scheme of Satan. It could even be death itself that you would fear more than you would fear

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God. Maybe you claim to believe in Jesus just because you're trying to have a get out of hell free card.

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But in the meantime, you live like the world with the rest of your life and you won't actually have that get out of hell free card that you think is going to save you on the day of judgment because you've heard

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Christ's words, but you don't do what he says. If you have come to him, if you hear his word, and if you do it, then you prove, you affirm that he is

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Lord. You believe he is Lord, that you belong to him, that you are his subject in his kingdom.

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You will show it by the way that you live, that you belong to Christ. You obey his commands.

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But the one who claims to be of Christ, the one who has heard his word, but doesn't do the word, is like a man who is not built upon a foundation.

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James even talks about this in James chapter one as a double minded man. He's tossed to and fro by all the shifting winds of doctrine.

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We see that with this false pastor, this impastor, as I've heard that called, imposter, impastor, this false pastor at the

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Washington National Cathedral, she's just blowing to and fro with every shifting wind of doctrine.

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Whatever the culture is going to change their mind on tomorrow, yeah, she's going to go with that.

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And that's going to be your new rebuke. Anybody who doesn't now follow along with this new doctrine, this new teaching that the culture has now adopted, well, you're going against the word of Christ, which she's just making that up because she doesn't really know nor cite what it is that Jesus says.

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Yeah, we'll say something about Jesus building the house on the rock, but she'll redefine that into whatever she wants it to mean.

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So she's being tossed to and fro by every shifting wind of doctrine. Donald Trump is too, honestly.

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So is J .D. Vance. These are men who are leaders in the nation who they need to repent and turn to the

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Lord Christ because the day of judgment won't go well for them just because we might categorize them as being more conservative than Joe Biden or Kamala Harris were.

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These are still men that need to turn to Christ in order to have their sins forgiven and the promise of eternal life.

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They must build their lives on the solid rock of Christ, no matter how strong they think they can make

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America. America. It won't save them on the day of judgment. And this is a decision that every person is it is put upon every person to have to make on their own.

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No one can make the decision for you. You have heard the gospel.

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Now, how do you respond to it? Are you going to rebel against it? Are you going to pay lip service to it?

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Yeah, I believe in Jesus. I believe the gospel. But then not know what he has commanded and not do what he says.

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Then your life is not actually built on Christ. You're still built on shifting sand.

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As we sing in the old hymn on Christ, the solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

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If you're not built upon Christ, you will fall. And as Jesus says, the stream broke against it.

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Immediately the house fell and the ruin of that house was great.

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And that's not just talking about the consequences that you may face in this life. That is also in reference to those eternal consequences that a person will face if their life is not built upon Christ.

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The only salvation that we have from judgment is faith in Jesus Christ.

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All other ground is sinking sand right down to the pit of hell.

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And so, my friends, if you are a follower of Jesus, then you must hear his word and you must do what he says.

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You claim to be a follower of Christ. Do you call him Lord, Lord? Do you do what he tells you?

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Well, if you show that in your life, you will truly show yourself to be a follower of Jesus.

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But the one who claims to love Jesus and rebels against Christ is not actually of Christ.

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And that's something all of us need to evaluate in our hearts. Do we believe what it is that we say that we believe?

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And do we do it? Is it therefore seen in our lives that we are these Christians that we claim to be?

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Or are we doing like this imposter pastor, and probably even

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Trump and Vance and people in their cabinet, claiming to be followers of Jesus, but not actually doing what he said?

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Not actually believing his word and keeping it and following it? Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've read, and I pray that it would be convicting upon our hearts that we examine and we evaluate on what our life is built upon.

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Is it built upon Christ? Is there something else in our life we've built our life on, and we feel fulfilled and satisfied and happy as long as I have this in my life?

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But if it's apart from Christ, it's shifting sand, and we won't be able to stand in the day of judgment.

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The only way that we can be saved is by faith in Jesus Christ. This gospel message has been spoken to us.

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May we have the boldness to believe it, to proclaim it, to share it with others, because as it is with us, so it is with anyone.

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The only way that we can be saved from judgment, the only way to have eternal life, is to believe in Jesus Christ, the rock on whom our lives must be built.

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It is in Jesus' name we pray, amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

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Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.