Now we come to the last ground, the word of Christ as the rock. Our work must be according to the living word of Christ, not according to the dead letter. The living word of Christ is the rock upon which we may build. If our work is built upon the word of Christ as the rock, it will stand when the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow. Otherwise, our work will be destroyed when it is tested from these three directions. The rains signify the tests from God; the floods signify the tests from man; and the winds signify the tests from Satan. Some testings come from God, others from man, and still others from Satan. If our work is based upon the word of Christ as the rock, it will stand regardless of the tests. The tests sent by God as the rain will not destroy that work. On the contrary, the more the rain descends, the stronger the work will become.
In Matthew 5 through 7 many aspects of the life of the kingdom people are covered by the Lord's words. May the Lord open our eyes to see and our hearts to receive. However, we must realize that the Lord never intended for us to carry out these words in ourselves. These words are simply the revelation of the reality of the kingdom life. Our natural human life is inadequate. In Matthew 5 through 7 we see the living and the reality of the Lord Jesus as the divine life. After seeing this, we all must say, "Lord Jesus, You are the reality. You are the life for the reality of the kingdom. Your life satisfies the requirements of the kingdom. Lord, help me that I may open myself. Lord, come in day by day to nourish me, saturate me, possess me, transform me, and make me a part of Your maturity, to give me a share in the full manifestation of the kingdom." Eventually, every aspect of the reality of the kingdom in these three chapters will be found in our lives. Our daily life and our work will correspond exactly to what is described in these chapters. We will be in the reality of the kingdom, and we will even become the reality of the kingdom.