Episode #224 – A Walk on the Beach w/DrZ [28]

Episode #224 — A Walk on the Beach w/DrZ [28]

Hearing, Listening, and Building on the Rock | Matthew 7:24–27

Episode #224 of Way of the Bible concludes our eight-part mini-series, Response to the Sermon on the Mount Part 2. We take our discussion outside for another Walk on the Beach, continuing our exploration of Romans 8 before returning one final time to Jesus’ words about the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7:24–27.

Our walk begins with an unexpected discussion about lukewarmness.

Jesus warned the church at Laodicea that they were neither hot nor cold. Their great danger was self-sufficiency: they believed they were rich and needed nothing while failing to recognize their true spiritual condition. Yet Jesus’ response was not abandonment. He called them to earnestness and repentance.

From there, we return to Romans 8 and Paul’s magnificent description of the Christian life.

Creation itself groans as it awaits liberation from bondage to decay. Believers likewise wait expectantly for the redemption of our bodies. Meanwhile, we are not left alone. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness and even intercedes when we don’t know what we ought to pray.

Paul then reminds us that God is working in those who love Him and has purposed that we be conformed to the image of His Son. Our calling is therefore not passive Christianity. We are invited into growing intimacy with Jesus Christ and union with the Father.

Then comes one of Scripture’s great declarations of assurance.

If God is for us, who can be against us? Christ died, was raised to life, sits at God’s right hand, and intercedes for us. Neither trouble, hardship, persecution, death, life, angels, demons, the present, the future, nor anything else in creation can separate God’s children from His love in Christ Jesus.

That brings our two mini-series back to where they began: Matthew 7:24–27.

Jesus says both builders hear His words. The difference is their response. One puts His words into practice and builds upon the Rock. The other does not and builds upon sand.

But this episode adds another dimension to that distinction:

Hearing is not necessarily listening.

Hearing is passive. Listening is active and intentional. Listening requires attention, understanding, and a willingness to respond. Jesus Himself tells us in Luke 8:18 to “consider carefully how you listen.”

The parable of the sower reinforces the point. The good soil represents those who hear God’s Word, retain it, persevere, and produce a crop. Jesus then tells us in John 14:21 that the one who has His commands and keeps them is the one who loves Him—and to that person He promises to reveal Himself.

So perhaps the appropriate question after sixteen episodes contemplating Jesus’ closing words is no longer simply:

Have I heard Jesus?

Rather:

Am I listening? Am I retaining His Word? And am I putting it into practice?

That is the path of the wise builder.

That is building on the Rock.

Simply Believe God and Follow Jesus.