A House Of Cards - Matthew 7:24-27 Series

Matthew 7:15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." 28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Introduction: A storm is coming

A storm is coming. The God of heaven is going to shake this earth with an awesome storm. In fact, it is going to be the Perfect Storm. And everything that is not cemented deep into bedrock will be completely destroyed.

We have spent the last year and a half studying verse by verse through the Sermon on the Mount. It just blows my mind when I think back over all these sermons (I think today is #71), and I consider all that the Lord has taught me through the Sermon on the Mount. And today we come to the very last paragraph. How do you conclude the greatest sermon ever preached? Jesus closes it with a parable about two houses and a storm. So let’s start by taking a look at this storm.

The Storm: Judgment Day

Matthew 7:25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house…

In Luke’s account it came out this way:

Luke 6:48 a flood came, the torrent struck that house …

All that language calls to mind the many times in the Old Testament Scriptures when the Prophets warn of a coming storm.

Isaiah 28:1 Woe … to that city … 2 Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground.

Isaiah 29:6 the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest

Isaiah 30:30 The Lord will cause men to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and … with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.

Ezekiel 38:22 I will execute judgment upon him … I will pour down torrents of rain, and hailstones…

So the idea of God’s judgment coming like a storm is a common Old Testament idea. And I think it is very likely that Jesus had that imagery in mind here – especially Ezekiel 13, which speaks of that storm in the context of false prophets.

Ezekiel 13:8 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord … 10 "'Because they lead my people astray, saying, "Peace," when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall.

The word translated “flimsy wall” refers to a stone wall that has no mortar. Mortar is the cement between the stones that makes a wall solid and structurally sound. If you don’t have any mortar, the whole thing will just fall over as soon as there is any pressure against it. Whitewash refers to paint. So the picture is that the people build this wall of protection around themselves – protection from the storm of God’s judgment. They come up with excuses or rationalizations or doctrines that make them feel like they are OK with God and safe from condemnation. But their walls are flimsy. They are a joke. They have no mortar, and so if the slightest little breeze of trouble comes along their walls will collapse. We have a term for this in our vernacular – we call it a house of cards. These people thought they were safe, but what they had built was really a house of cards.