Matthew [16:13]-18
While flying on a plane to PA, I did what any good young man would do and downloaded some sermons to listen to. As the stewardess came over the intercom to say we could use our electronic devices, Pastor Adrian Rogers was already well into his sermon from Matthew 16.
About halfway through the message Brother Adrian read verse 18 and I can still hear him saying it to this day. In a powerful booming voice.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
This idea of a sure foundation was not a new idea to the disciples. During the closing remarks of His sermon on the mount he taught them about the wise man that built his house on a rock, and how nothing that the world threw at it could cause it to fall. Then He told about the foolish man that built his home on sand, and you could sneeze on it and blow it over. It must have come as a shock to them, because the bible says they were astonished at what He said.
How often in our lives today are we astonished when things that we know (or think we know) fail. At my office I had a coworker that I knew I could depend on to help me with anything. I talked with him quite a bit and thought we were really close friends. One Friday he asked for a meeting with the boss and handed in his resignation and left without saying goodbye or any explanation. That shook me. How could a friend of over 10 years just walk away and not say a word?
Things of this world are forever shift. Nothing is certain. But the words of an old hymn speak of certainties that we have as Christians.
“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word
What more can He say than to you He hath said
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to its foes
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”
God who has called us to be His people will always be here for us. When things of this world seem uncertain, we can look to God’s word (the Bible and hymns) and find certainty and a rock that will not be shaken by the world. In them we can draw comfort from the one that was there at the beginning, and will be with us to the end.
Riley Lee