No middle ground
October 26, 2008 (Sunday)
Who is the greatest preacher? Without question, it is Jesus! With a hillside for a church, cedars for steeples, the air his pulpit and the ground for pews, He presented the Sermon on the Mount. When He was finished, the crowds were amazed at His teachings, for He taught with authority.
The conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount is a direct challenge to everyone who hears it: reject it or accept it. It’s your choice. There is no middle ground.
You can hear His words. The crowds on the hillside long ago heard Him, but many have heard Him since. Every time He is presented as the Son of God and the Savior of the world, he is heard again, and the possible responses are still the same: accept or reject. Jesus is heard today in many ways as His people share Him and His words through word and deed.
You can reject His words. Jesus said rejection of His words is like building your house on the sand. When the storms come with the wind and rain, a house without a good foundation will fall. Jesus emphasized the tragedy of rejection by describing the fall of the house thus built: “Great was the fall of it!”
You can accept His words. The marketplace of ideas is overflowing today with all sorts of choices. But there is only One who is the Eternal Son of God who has given His life to save us and has risen from the dead. He is Jesus. You can accept Him today and have eternal life.
The choice is yours.
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Romans 10:9-13 (NIV):
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘ Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ”