Matthew 7:24 says, 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:  Here, Jesus distinguishes between just hearing His word and doing His word.  We might say that this means that if we are going to talk the talk, then we must walk the walk.  It is not enough to simply claim to follow Christ without living by faith in what He teaches us.  Jesus says that those who keep His sayings are like wise men who build their houses on the rock, or a firm foundation.  There is no other foundation that we can build our lives on but the foundation of Christ, if we want our house to stand.  Jesus is our Rock.  Verse twenty-five declares, 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.  Jesus did not say if the rain and winds come but when they did come.  If we are going to withstand the storms of life today, then our lives must be founded on our faith in Christ.  When we build our lives on our faith in Christ, nothing can ever tear us away from Him.  Verse twenty-six declares, 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:  This is the only other possibility.  Either we hear and do the will of Christ through faith in the salvation He offers, or we hear and do not believe.  Then, when we do not believe, or follow the teachings of Christ we are like foolish men who build their houses on the sand.  Just like them, we have no foundation if we are not building on our faith in the rock of Christ.  Verse twenty-seven states, 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.  When a person builds on a foundation that is not solid, then when the storms come there is a very good likelihood that the building will not stand, no matter how impressive it might be.  When we attempt to build our religious lives on any foundation other than faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, then they will ultimately crash.  Jesus also said that the fall was great.  There can be no greater fall in life than the one that comes from rejecting Christ as the Rock that we build our lives on.  Verse twenty-eight says, And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:  We are told that people were astonished as the teachings of Jesus, and I believe they still are today.  Some write His teachings off all together, some say that He was another prophet, but those who put their faith in Him know the truth.  This is stated in verse twenty-nine which says, For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  Jesus is indeed the One Who can teach with authority, and is the only Rock upon which we can build anything of lasting importance.