Upon this Rock

What does it take to become a Rock for Christ? 

(Matthew 7:24-27)
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” 

Jesus refers to our spiritual life as a house that is built on one of two foundations, sand or stone. 

So how do we build this foundation on stone?

We have to answer the same two questions the apostle Peter answered in Matthew 16. 

(Matthew 16:14-18)
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 

At this moment Simon became Peter. The name Peter is (pet'-ros) in Greek, it means "a stone" or "a boulder". He solidified in his faith, he became immovable because he knows who Jesus is! When you come to know who Jesus is, you become a Rock! It is “Upon This Rock” that Jesus builds his church, upon people who know who he is. 

Peter came to know Jesus on a deeper level, he came to know him as Lord, (koo'-ree-os) meaning - lord, master, king, owner! 

There is a difference in knowing him as Lord, and calling him Lord. Knowing him as Lord, as master, as my king, him whom I give my heart and life to, concretes you in your faith and walk with God. When the winds of false doctrine blow at you, and the rain of unpleasant circumstances falls on you, you will have a rain proof wind breaker on. Those who know him as Lord are described in John (10:27-My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.) 

Those who just call him Lord are described in (Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.) 

The will of God is the same for all of us. ( 2 peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 

These two questions that Jesus asks Peter are what separate the sheep from the goats, what separates the disciple from those in the crowd around Jesus.
The differences between sheep and Goats are many but two are how they eat and how they stick together. Sheep eat only what they know to be good. Goats will explore and eat anything. Sheep stick together and remain close to their shepherd where goats wander alone and get into trouble.

Let's look at the difference between the disciple and those in the crowd around Jesus. 

1. The crowd followed Jesus for what he could do.(John 6:2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.) 

2. The disciple follows Jesus for who he is. Of all the great apostles you hear so much about, let's look at one man who came to know who Jesus is that you don't hear much about, a man named Nathaniel. 

( John 1 43The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 

46And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 

47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” 

48Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” 

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 

49Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 

50Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 

The bible doesn't clarify what Nathaneal was doing under the tree, but I'm willing to bet that he was praying and had an experience that only God would know about.

Nathaniel realized that Jesus was the Lord of his prayers, the lord of his life, the Lord of heaven and Earth, the Son of God! He knew him as Lord! This moment is when Nathaniel became a rock, and stepped out of the crowd. He became a follower of Jesus because of who Jesus is not because of what he could do. 

Have you come to know Jesus as your Lord? Are you a part of the crowd that just calls him Lord? 

If so, I want to challenge you to step out of the crowd and live a life that consist of doing God's will. You can do that right where you are, it starts with a simple prayer like Nathaneal.