Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings
of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
and the rain descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings
of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened
unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Matthew 7:24-27
Character is that which is founded upon extrinsic influences and develops our personality, and how we exercise our lives. The influences from the outside come from our Haring audibly and by seeing which produces within our minds pictures and sound, albeit that sound is not audible. Jesus tells us two things: 1. Hearing.
2. Doing. First, if we hear anything then we have a responsibility to act upon that which we hear by some action: doing. If you have heard the word of God and you have a responsibility to do the Word of God. Very simple, is it not? Yes! Is it hard? Yes! Can it be done? No! Yes! By the power of the Holy Spirit acting upon our souls and by our hearing the word of God and having the Holy Spirit teach us and then leads us and this is manifested in our doing. How does the Holy Spirit teach us? Very simple: Read the Word of God! the Holy Spirit will pull out a bar mine, so to speak, that which we have put in our mind. The Holy Spirit will not give to us some new form of Revelation that you have yet to have learned by your reading of the Word of God. How can you pull something from nothing? You, the Holy Spirit, God Himself will not pull out of your nothing something. is God some sort of magician going about doing magical things so that by Him you will do something. This seems to be what those who are involved in such things as these antics by Pentecostalism who believe that somehow they get some new revelation from God and not founded upon his word. This is cultural Christianity at its worst. Jesus has told us that if you hear his word and do it you are like a wise man and you have the power of God to defend with you the trials and tribulations that will come your way: not my come your way as anyone who's lived for any time on this earth will tell you, you will face trial and tribulations. If you hear the word of God and do not do them you are like a foolish man and all you have facing you is a horrible life that leads to destruction, now, and definitely when you come before the judgment seat of God.
Whose words are you doing and hearing? That is a very important question. Is it the words of Mary Baker Eddy, or the words of Ellen G. White, or John Calvin, or Martin Luther, or Bill Johnson, or Joel Olsteen, or the pastor in your church? Or, is it the Bible that you read and hear in your mind what God has revealed to all people who read His word so that they can do that which is given by God for your benefit. It is true that man can teach truth, but when their truth is not founded upon the truth of Scripture and is more of some sort of anecdotal, or just mostly analogies that fit a particular doctrine or belief then you are hearing that which will influence you and lead you to be as that foolish man who built his house upon the sand. The Greek word for doctrine is pretty simple it means teaching so we don't want to Christianize his word doctrine to mean anything other than that it is teaching. Well, how can I protect myself? Simple, read the Word of God for your self! Take notes when you are hearing a sermon and then compare what was said by going back home and studying the Scriptures that was used to ensure that the doctrine, or teaching, is actually the truth of God. You don't have to run off to some restaurant to have lunch, while that might be nice at times, you must take time to do this because you are to do and it is good to lean, not just the hearing that makes you a wise person and you are wise if you're doing is in harmony with Scripture.
Our actions in thinking that the Bible emphasizes is our spiritual living and our reverence and love of God and then our love of God leading us to kindness in the news and love towards our fellow human beings. It charges against unwarranted priorities regarding the possessions of this life or the events of his life for we compare them, through Scripture, to eternal things and then have a healthy practice of self-denial and humility. It's about our relationship with God between our attitude in our heart toward God and how these impact our attitudes and behavior towards God and other people. If you look closely at the dimensions of your character and how they are working together and ensure that they promote and reinforce each other and you cannot help but come to the conclusion that they do exist and can operate in perfect harmony, in fact they will either for the good or bad. The foundations of our behaviors flow from our virtue, and that virtue has knowledge attitude, and it is a virtue of self-denial and a moderation in a power enjoyment in this life and towards our material possessions.
Are you just hearing and not doing? Or, are you hearing and doing good? If doing good then by the hearing of the true word of God you will be doing that which pleases God and if you are pleasing God, you will be a wise person building your house on the Rock.
Pray that you are hearing and doing
Richard L. Crumb
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