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CONNIE: What’s your spiritual house built on—solid rock, or a pile of sand? Join us today as we consider Jesus’ words found at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and how they can help us find a firm foundation.

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I’m Lonnie Melashenko. You know, Connie, I suppose that living here in Southern California, Jesus’ words about building your house on solid rock versus sand kind of resonate with us more than they might if we lived somewhere else.

CONNIE: I think everyone who’s lived through a devastating earthquake here, or anywhere in the world, for that matter, tends to think a little more about what’s underneath the house!

LONNIE: Not far from where we live, there’s an area that’s known as a “soil liquefaction zone,” because in a severe earthquake the soil can turn to mush that allows buildings to sink or topple over.

CONNIE: But I guess what we’re concerned with in our program today isn’t so much buildings toppling over, but people losing their spiritual balance.

LONNIE: There’s an amazing parallel though. Buildings can only be secure when they’re firmly anchored to solid rock that won’t turn to mush. And as Christians, we need to keep a secure footing in the teachings of Jesus. Recent surveys by the Barna Research Group have revealed that most American Christians draw their belief system from a wide variety of sources, and that the Bible is only one of those sources.
Now, a fragmented belief system like that might be strong enough to make you feel secure when everything’s going fine. But what about when storms come, or your faith is shaken by an earthquake of some sort.

CONNIE: That’s the question Jesus poses to us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, with His story about a house built on rock, or on sand, isn’t it?

LONNIE: It sure is, and we here at Voice of Prophecy always encourage our listeners to have a firm foundation in the word of God. That’s something I spoke with my good friend Dale Galusha about recently. Dale’s been with us in some of our evangelistic outreaches, and he works with Signs of the Times magazine. He shared some great stories of how that journal, in conjunction with our own ministry, is helping people get their spiritual feet on solid ground.

CONNIE: Let’s listen in.

LONNIE: Dale, welcome to the VOP microphone.

DALE: Thank you Lonnie.

LONNIE: Now Dale, you work with “Signs of the Times” and Pacific Press Publishing. Tell us about Signs of the Times.

DALE: Signs of the Times is a Christian journal and one of the longest continuous journals in publication. We started printing in 1874, and today we continue to print our magazine which goes out to over 110 countries each month.

LONNIE: Now there is another magazine that Americans and Canadians and our listeners are familiar with which is Time magazine, and this past July it had an article on the fact that many people are looking for some answers in the Bible. They’re interested in prophecy, and they feel that we are living in such stormy times that there has got to be some answers. How does Signs of the Times affect people with the biblical basis of where we are?

DALE: Signs of the Times and Voice of Prophecy have so much in common because we both passionately believe that the answers are found in God’s word. Answers to give us meaning to life, answers to show us what the future holds, and to get us through the storms of life. I have the privilege of answering a lot of the mail that comes from around the world, and some of the letters bring tears to my eyes, as people are so hungry for Gods word. We get a lot of mail from inmates here in North America, as well as other parts of the world. A few weeks ago I received a letter from a gentleman who was convicted of a crime that he had committed, and he realized that he was destined to spend quite some time in prison, and as he headed toward prison and his small little cell he didn’t think that he was going to be able to survive incarceration.

LONNIE: He was in a storm for sure, wasn’t he?

DALE: As he went into that room, his heart cried out to God for the first time in many years saying, Lord, help me in this prison. As he lay there on that small little bed, he reached under the mattress and found a magazine and he pulled it out and it was Signs of the Times. As he began to read it, tears came to his eyes and he wrote us a note and said, I knew that was a sign that God was going to be with me through this time, and I recommitted my life to Him.

LONNIE: Signs of the Times is a very special magazine to my wife Jennie and me; we read it, and your ministry Dale particularly has come aboard with the Voice of Prophecy. You have gone over to the Philippines, you’ve also joined me and my team in Caracas, Venezuela with very challenging times there, and I appreciate the kind of support that you have given us with literature in our campaign here in Los Angeles. There are other people out there today listening to our broadcast, security in crisis. Now someone out there today says, you know, that’s just the kind of journal I need, and I would highly endorse it by the way, because it is a parallel ministry to the Voice of Prophecy, we complement each other and we’ll tell you more how to do that in just a minute. How would they find Signs of the Times on the website?

DALE: We have a website, www.signstimes.com, one word, and they can read articles online, and in many cities around the country there are news boxes, and a free magazine…and some people subscribe for their friends. I’d like to share what happened. There was a lady living in the Midwest who was going through severe trouble. In her community her husband was a very prominent leader and she didn’t feel like she could share what was really happening in her life and she became suicidal. She was depressed and she didn’t know which way to turn, but a neighbor friend of hers had been sending Signs of the Times, and she read that faithfully every month. She felt that that was her only lifeline, her only link to some hope, and through a series of circumstances she did attempt suicide, but it was through Signs of the Times that life was saved. A neighbor found her in time, because she reached out, actually for Bible studies from the Voice of Prophecy, and Signs of the Times…

LONNIE: …and we have complimented each other in that regard. By the way Sings of the Times is helping to set the table for us here in this brand new year as we get ready to go by satellite, April 27- May 24, and Signs of the Times is going to be promoting it, not only in their journals, but also in several leading articles.

DALE: Right! We are also creating a very special issue that has a Bible study card in it, and using the same title as your meeting’s, What’s Next, and lead article is, by you, sharing the confidence that we can have in God’s word that the future isn’t dismal, that there is a bright future ahead.

LONNIE: Dale Galusha, thank you so much for being here with us at the Voice of Prophecy.

DALE: Thank you, Lonnie.

CONNIE: That was The Celebrant Singers with the song “Constant Refuge,” and just a reminder, if you want to know more about any of the music you hear on our broadcast, we keep that information available on the Internet at our home page, VOP.COM

LONNIE: That’s the best place to go for information about our upcoming evangelistic outreach as well. You’ll find information there as well as links to other sites where you can learn about places in your area where you can have a part in this nationwide outreach, preaching the love of Jesus, with a strong emphasis on the prophecies that make us confident that He is coming back again soon.

CONNIE: If Bible prophecy is an interest of yours, you’ll certainly want to be a part of this special evangelistic series called “The Voice of Prophecy Speaks.” But in the meantime, I’d like to recommend that you get started on our prophecy Bible study course. And to do that, all you need to do is call our toll-free number, 1-800-872-0055, and ask to be enrolled in the Focus on Prophecy course.
LONNIE: You can think of it as a little preparatory reading leading up to our evangelistic series—or you can study the course all on its own and get a good grasp of the great prophetic themes found in Daniel, Revelation, and other books of the Bible.

CONNIE: The number to call for the Focus on Prophecy course is 1-800-872-0055, and we’ll give our mailing address at the end of the program as well, in case you’d like to write us. But right now, let’s listen to Lonnie’s message for today, “Standing Through the Storm.”

Standing Through the Storm

In the book Adrift, Grenville Lee Dunstan tells the story of six men who set out in a 19-foot dinghy to travel from one island to another in the South Pacific. What should have been little more than the proverbial “three hour tour,” ended up lasting twelve weeks, after they became disoriented and missed the island they were heading for.
The book chronicles the many perils they endured. Storms, starvation, and dehydration finally did claim one life, just the day before they were rescued.

But one of the most fascinating chapters in the book tells of how these men, who came from a variety of spiritual backgrounds, covenanted together one day to “do better” in their relationship to God.

They’d been out there on the deep blue sea, drifting aimlessly, unable to control their direction, for several weeks already, when Vince spoke up and said “I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s happened to us. I think the problem is not what we’ve done, but what we are.”

The other men questioned what he meant, so he continued, “God wants us to be different. This might mean some changes in our thinking—in our hearts—as well as in what we do.”

Before that little conversation, each of the men had had some religious background. But they hadn’t always let that “interfere”—should we say—with how they lived their lives.

In fact, during the first days of their unplanned voyage, one of the men had suggested that they needed to pray about their situation, but others had objected—saying they didn’t have any faith that God would help them.

But now, two storms, and a many hot, thirsty days later, all agreed that maybe they ought to tidy up their spiritual lives and ask God to help them.

A few days later they held the first Sabbath-day worship service in their little boat. All of them had been raised in Sabbath-keeping homes, but some had drifted away from the church in recent years. Needless to say, part of the prayer service in their floating church had included asking God to send them something to eat and drink.
And just as the worship service ended, someone spotted an object floating in the water. A coconut! One of their crew quickly jumped overboard and brought it back to share.

It seemed that as quickly as they had carried out their resolve to make things right with God, things had started to get better.

Perhaps the coconut was just a small token of God’s loving care for them.

Because they still had many weeks of trials to go through. But one thing that brings this story to mind in connection with the text we’re looking at today, is that after they had made their peace with God, their little boat seemed to somehow be steered by the winds between the storms and squalls that brewed on the horizon.

Jesus said, “ ‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and {yet} it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock’ ” (Matt 7:24-25, NASB).

Now those south-sea islanders’ boat wasn’t founded on a rock. In fact, they were praying that they wouldn’t founder on a rock! But through their hard experience in being blown about and almost capsized by stormy winds, they had found something solid to base their lives on.

Whatever the weather might bring, they knew they could entrust themselves to God.

It was weeks later—at the close of another of their Sabbath worship services—that they looked up to see a large fishing boat dead ahead. Within minutes of finishing their prayers, they had been hoisted on board and were being cared for by the caring, Christian crew members.

Stories like that help to make the words of Jesus practical in our lives, don’t they?
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that every time something goes wrong in your life, or it seems that things aren’t working out as they should, it’s necessarily because you’ve wandered away from God.

But sometimes it takes the storms of life to call our attention to our spiritual needs.
I like the imagery of Jesus’ illustration here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.
He looks around at the people who have gathered to hear what He has to say. And he peers right down into their hearts.

He knows that some have come out of curiosity. Wondering, “What’s this young upstart preacher have to say?” and they’re listening half-heartedly, hoping to hear something new and exciting, but all-the-while planning what they’re going to do when they get back home.

Others have come to find out if Jesus really can heal the sick. They’d like to witness a miracle or two—or maybe they’re in need of healing themselves. They wait impatiently in the front rows of the crowd, hoping the sermon will soon be over and the healing service can begin. What this man Jesus has to say doesn’t seem important to them. They want miracles.

And of course there are some in the crowd who are listening with a critical ear—comparing what Jesus says to what other rabbis are teaching. To them, the Speaker’s words are just a starting point for discussion. They’re looking forward to sitting around with friends in the evening hours, comparing theological viewpoints and rehashing what they’ve heard today.

But to all of these, and to scores of others who have come up on the hillside with mixed or even questionable motives, Jesus speaks one closing parable. And its point is clear:

You can do with my words whatever you want. You can discuss them, dissect them, deny them, even disbelieve them. But if so, your time today has been wasted. Because the only safe thing to do with My words is build on them. Build your very life on the safe, secure foundation of My words!

If you chip away at My words with your critical thoughts; or if you pick up only a little piece here and a little there; or if you smash away at my words with the supposedly superior wisdom of other rabbis; what you’re going to end up with is just a pile of sand.

The only difference between a rock and a pile of sand is that all the little particles in the rock cling together and make a firm foundation that you can safely build on.
The wisdom of the other rabbis is like little individual grains of sand, always jostling against each other, pulling apart, not holding together. Sure, you can build a house on sand. You can have a life that seems pretty successful based on these diverse and contradictory teachings.

Maybe you’ve never taken the time to sit down and think through what you really believe. The human mind has an amazing capacity for holding onto a lot of contradictory ideas all at the same time. But what they amount to is just a pile of sand. As long as the winds of trouble don’t blow, and as long as the rivers all stay in their appointed courses, you can go through life and feel pretty secure, even if your foundation is set in sand.

But when trouble comes—all of a sudden you don’t know what you believe anymore. Suddenly the pleasing platitudes and supposedly wise sayings of other teachers appear for what they really are. Just grains of sand with no cohesion about them.

Jesus looks at the people who have been listening to Him, and He lays the challenge on them: “So, what are you going to do with what you’ve heard? Are you going to use it as the foundation to build your life on? Or are you going to take just a little piece here and a little piece there, and make yourself a neat little sand pile to build your house on?

“If the latter is what you’re planning to do, then let me warn you: ‘Everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall’ ” (Matthew 7:26-27, NASB).

It can all come crashing down around your ears so fast, you won’t know what hit you till it’s over.

“The choice is yours,” Jesus says, at the end of His long sermon. “Are you going to leave here and go home to the roast heating in the oven, and share some food, fellowship, and fun while your meal digests? Or are you going to leave here and chew on what I’ve said? Are you going to thoroughly digest it, and let it become a part of your life, flowing into your system, strengthening the bones and sinew that hold your very being together, so that when the storms of life strike, your spiritual house will be strong? Founded securely on the solid rock of what I have told you today.”

The same challenge comes down to us today, friend. We’ve spent several weeks of our programs, studying carefully through the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5 through 7—the Sermon on the Mount. What do the words of Jesus found here mean to you? They are challenging—no doubt about it: Turn the other cheek when someone attacks you; pray for your enemies; don’t even look lustfully at the many tempting images your senses are assaulted with each day; forgive those who’ve wronged you; trust yourself fully into God’s care; don’t try to divide your loyalty between the things of the world and the things of God. These are just a few of the principles enunciated in Jesus’ message.

Is the word of Jesus the foundation of your life? Or is it just one among many things? Is it a solid boulder underpinning everything you do? Or is the gospel just one grain in the pile of sand you’ve chosen to build your life on?

Friend, when the storms of life blow, and life’s peaceful little streams burst their bounds and start tearing away at your roots, you may feel overwhelmed—flooded with trouble. But if you have a firm anchor—a firm foundation—built on the teachings of Jesus, you won’t be swept away. Your spiritual house won’t collapse. You can stand with courage and face the fury and the flood. Because you have a firm foundation in Jesus.