This Day With God

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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. TDG 215.1

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. TDG 215.2

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. TDG 215.3

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).... TDG 215.4

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.” TDG 215.5