“I Will Liken Him Unto a Wise Man, Who Built His House Upon a Rock”

Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen

When we hearken (hear and do) as the Savior teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, we are wise and build upon our Savior Jesus Christ. The sermon at the temple by our beloved Savior Jesus Christ contains all the law and the prophets in regard to how to live and act. Are the words of the Lord engraven upon our hearts? Is the celestial law the law by which we live our lives? Are the Beatitudes the virtues we seek and value? Do we realize that our happiness is dependent upon keeping the commandments? Elder James E. Talmage writes:

The Sermon on the Mount has stood through all the years since its delivery without another to be compared with it. No mortal man has ever since preached a discourse of its kind. The spirit of the address is throughout that of sincerity and action, as opposed to empty profession and neglect. In the closing sentences the Lord showed the uselessness of hearing alone, as contrasted with the efficacy of doing. The man who hears and acts is likened unto the wise builder who set the foundation of his house upon a rock; and in spite of rain and hurricane and flood, the house stood. He that hears and obeys not is likened unto the foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and when rain fell, or winds blew, or floods came, behold it fell, and great was the fall thereof. (Jesus the Christ: A Study of the Messiah and His Mission According to Holy Scriptures Both Ancient and Modern [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983], 229)

Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2

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