Is Your House Built on Rock?
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock." — Matthew 7:24-25
Slowly the winds and currents have been shifting for more than four hundred years, and gathering into the storm that in now approaching, indeed is upon us.
With the slightest breezes of dissent wafting with schisms which rocked the Church from the mid 1500’s through the Protestant Reformation of the 1600.sthe winds grew stronger. The stage was set for the age of enlightenment giving rise to intellectualism and individualism. Reductionism followed, undermining the concept of a creative, involved and loving God. In 1789, the French Revolution further accelerated these winds of change leading to an even greater drift away from the moral authority of the Church. Absolutism, despotism deism and atheism followed, along with a massive persecution of the Church. Later came Marxism, communism, and now we deal with moral relativism, materialism and hedonism.
“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts,...Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.” (C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters) And this has been the road humanity has been traveling for some time, gradually entering into the storm which is now upon us. One has to look no further than the day’s news to see how far and how fast we have traveled from the truth.
Gradually, American law based on Judeo-Christian ethics has been eroded. First it was the Row V. Wade decision that opened the door to legalized abortion and has led to the destruction of millions of pre-born children and the sale of aborted infant body parts by Planned Parenthood, the largest purveyor of abortions in the US. Then came the watering down of the Defense of Marriage Act and subsequent overturning of laws in many of the states which defined marriage as the union of one man and one woman. With another Supreme Court decision, marriage was redefined by the federal government to include same-sex couples. Then came a number of lawsuits and prosecutions of persons of faith for attempting to exercise their free right to live our their religion in the market place for discrimination, leading to the loss of their jobs, businesses and even their homes. Then came the Affordable Care Act with its Health and Human Services mandate demanding people of faith provide artificial birth control, abortafacients and abortion services all under the guise of women’s health care rights, with its subsequent draconian fines for those who refuse even on religious grounds.
Now we are faced with federal mandates demanding that transsexuals must be admitted to whatever restroom, locker room and shower room facilities they wish depending upon whatever gender with which they identify. Never mind what their biological gender is. In fact, there is a groundswell now to remove any reference to gender identity in our schools, universities and even private businesses because of presidential executive orders.
In the face of all of this, not only the potential, but the actual practice of persecution of persons in the United States for their religious beliefs has begun. As things progress, we can only anticipate more legal actions and penalties against persons of faith. So, again, I ask, is your house built on rock?
Are you prepared for what may lay ahead for any person of faith? Are you a person of your convictions ready to stand firm? What is going on today is nothing new for Christianity. Indeed, Christ himself said, “No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20)
Do you have faith in Christ and in His word? “When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.” (Luke 12:11-12)
Christ foretold of these times saying “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. …You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end* will be saved.” (Matthew 10:16-25)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” (John 14:1)
The Lord says to you: Do not fear or be dismayed at the sight of this vast multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s… Let your faith in the Lord, your God, be firm, and you will be firm. Have faith in his prophets and you will succeed.” (2 Chronicles 20: 15, 20)
Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. And then many will be led into sin; they will betray and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and deceive many; and because of the increase of evildoing, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:9-13)
Will your love of your faith and of Christ grow cold? Or will you have faith in His promises. If you have that faith, then your house is built on Rock and though the storm rages, you will persevere to the end.