The parable of the house built on the rock
Matt. 7:13-29
Life consists of the choices we make and is built on the things we do every single day. But how do you know if the life you’re building is secure? How do you know that your world isn’t just going to fall to pieces when the storm comes in?
Most of us would prefer to be given a choice. We want selection. We like to leave our options open. We want to be able to decide things for ourselves. And fortunately for us, we have a choice.
God gives us a choice. He lets us decide certain things for ourselves.
Jesus presents his followers with three choices in the final section of the Sermon of the Mount. He says :
(1) Choose your path - Matt. 7 13-14
One of the most startling teachings of Jesus is his teaching about the two gates. It is startling because few have really understood its true meaning. People that attend any kind of church usually believe that the wide gate is reserved for the godless and those who are not interested in serving God. Let's look at what Jesus taught in Matthew 7:13-14 about these two gates.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it.
How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
Look at the narrow gate and narrow way. What do we know about this gate?
First, Jesus says that it is the gate that leads to life. This obviously means that it is the gate that leads men to heaven.
Second, Jesus says that it is a "narrow gate. The word "narrow” means difficult. Jesus tells us that entering heaven will not be easy. This is a surprise to most people, because they have been taught that the way to heaven is easy. They've been taught, " All you have to do to be saved is believe in Jesus." There is a great difference between what men teach today and what Jesus taught .
Third, Jesus tells us that there are not many people going in through this narrow gate and narrow way. He says, "Few find it." This too, is a surprise to many people, because they believe that most people will be saved because most people believe in God.
So far, we have no trouble understanding what Jesus has said. While it may not agree with what most have been taught and believe, it is clear and easy to understand.
Let us imagine, for a moment, that there is a sign over the narrow gate. What would it say? Obviously, it would say, "To Heaven." It would mean that because those entering in know the truth and have heaven as their destination. Remember though, Jesus says that there are only a few that will find it and go in?
Consider the wide gate now. Jesus tells us some things about it, also.
First, it is a "wide" gate. It is a gate that is easily seen. Perhaps it is attractive. It surely draws people to it.
Second, Jesus tells us this gate is the entrance to a broad way. Some translations say it is the "easy way."
In other words, it is not hard to enter this gate nor walk the road it covers.
Third, Jesus tells us that it is a gate that leads to destruction or Hell. Those who go in that gate are bound for destruction.
Fourth, Jesus told us there are going to be "many" who go in this gate. Remember, there are going to be only a few who go in the narrow gate to Heaven, but many will go in the gate to Hell. Many! Why is that? Do they want to go to eternal punishment? Is that what people desire? This is a question that also bears serious consideration.
Let's use our imagination again, and ask ourselves:
"What does the sign over the wide gate and broad say?"
Most people, when asked this question say that the sign over the wide gate would say "To Hell." It is true, that Hell is where those who go in that gate will end, but is that what the sign would say?
No! That sign over the broad gate says "To Heaven!"
It is a lying sign. It is a sign that gives false directions. Think about it a moment. People going through the wide gate and broad way actually believe that they are going to end up in heaven. Prove it to yourself.. Read what Jesus says in the next verse. And this takes us to our next point.
(2) Choose your guide? Matt. 7: 15- 20
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
False Prophets! These people who are going in the wide gate and broad way believe they are going to heaven! They are following men who claim to be men of God. They are following men who say that they will tell them the way to go to heaven! Never-the-less, they are following false prophets! Do you know what the really sad part of this is? Many are sincere in their beliefs. They do not want to follow a false prophet.
Notice, however, in Matthew 7:22, what they will say to Jesus on the day of judgment.
Matthew 7: 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Those are pretty good credentials, and today, if we meet someone who makes these claims, we would probably be impressed! Most people would consider them to be saved.
After all, look at what they are doing! They call Jesus their Lord, they preach and teach, they cast out demons, and they do many miracles
But look at Jesus' evaluation of them. Jesus says to the false prophets and those who are following them:
Matthew 7:23 "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
These religious people with such great credentials are to depart from the presence of Jesus and God. They are to go to Hell. Why is that? Why would Jesus tell people who call Him their Lord, who preach, who claim to cast out demons, and who do great works for humanity, that He never knew them?
In spite of their claims, they are not going to be in heaven. Look back to verse 21. It tells you why!
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
What is Jesus point? Simple. In spite of popular belief, saying you are a Christian, even believing, and involved in a great ministry is not all that God requires of us. Jesus says we must do the will of God.
We must not just believe in God, but we must also believe God! We must believe God enough to do His will.
Jesus clearly and carefully warns man about going in the wide gate. He proclaims the wide gate delivers men to Hell. The other gate is the one that takes men to Heaven.
Which gate are you entering? The decision, the choice is yours. Are you going to believe men, or Jesus? Don't be misled by false teachers who are leading people into the wide gate and down the easy road. Remember Jesus words:
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! ’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.
There is something you should know about these false teachers. One of them speaks the truth and the other one doesn’t. One of them is genuine and the other is a phony, a faker. The path you choose will determine whether or not you find the way to eternal life . The teacher you choose will determine whether or not you find the truth ..
In reminding us that we have this choice, Jesus also gives us some advice. Beware, He says, of sheep imitations. Not everything that looks genuine really is genuine. Not everyone who claims to speak God’s truth really does. There are a lot of voices out there. It’s easy to suppose that someone is speaking the truth because they use God’s name or because they quote the Bible. But Jesus says we must be on the lookout for false teaching.
He warns not to swallow everything just because the name Jesus is on it. We cannot accept something as true just because it comes from a Christian leader or someone who sounds like he might be Christian. We must be alert for false teaching.
How can we tell the difference? One important way is by their words.
The test for a true prophet was, “Does his message agree with the rest of the Bible.” That’s a good test for anyone’s teaching, any book, any preacher, any idea, any philosophy, or any message supposedly from God. That’s why it’s important to know what the Bible says. So how do you tell the difference between true teaching and false teaching? One way is to compare the teaching to the rest of the Bible.
But there’s also something else you can use to evaluate.
Jesus says we should evaluate teaching by what it produces. That is, what is the outcome of this teaching? What happens in the lives of the people who follow this guide? How would God judge it?
Jesus uses an illustration to describe what he means.
[v.16] By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
[v.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.
[v.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.
One of the best ways to tell the difference between a teacher who is genuinely teaching God’s Word and one who is falsely claiming to teach God’s Word is by their lifestyle. Does their life support their claim to follow Jesus? Do they themselves obey? Be wary of spiritual leaders who live by different rules than the rules that apply to everyone else.
But this is why a significant moral failure destroys a pastor’s ability to preach or lead a church.
Almost anyone can put on a good act. But no one can hide forever. Someone’s true character eventually comes out in their actions.
In v. 21, Jesus has one other warning to give us about false teachers.
Not everyone who names God knows God. (21-23)
A lot of people who claim to be Christians do not really have a relationship with Christ.
[v. 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.
It isn’t a profession of faith that matters. It’s doing God’s will. Obedience.
Again, this doesn’t mean perfect obedience. It doesn’t mean we earn our way to heaven by doing the right thing.
It means that real faith (trust) will always result in obedience.
[v. 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?'
Note that Jesus presents himself as the one who will be the ultimate Judge on Judgment Day. He presents himself as the one who will even tell those who thought that they were His followers that they have deceived themselves and they will not be allowed into the kingdom.
[v. 23] Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
People may admire Jesus. They may claim to believe in Him and even to follow him. But profession is not enough. Serving him is not enough. Even doing miracles in his name is not enough. It’s all about relationship. If you know Jesus, then you obey him. If you don’t know him, if you don’t have a relationship with him, then you will be excluded
In Matthew 7:21-23, we see the deceitfulness of self righteousness. People who believe they are followers of Jesus Christ and servants of God will find out that they were self deceived. All their efforts at being righteous will prove futile because they trusted themselves and their own efforts and not Jesus Himself. They did much in Jesus’ name, but they never had a personal relationship with Him. A very sobering and frightening passage because unless we are careful to examine ourselves, there could easily be someone reading this study who may hear Jesus say, “I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
How can we tell the difference between truth and error? Jesus says we need to evaluate teaching by what it produces, by its outcome or effect.
(1) This does not mean to say that if it “works”, then it must be true.
(2) This does not mean to say that if it’s widely accepted, then it must be true.
(3) This does not mean to say that if it makes sense, then it must be true
(4) This does not mean to say that if it satisfies me, then it must be true
This means that true teaching is going to lead us to produce the kind of righteousness that is described in the Bible: faith in Christ alone, dependence upon God, humility, love for others, moral behavior (biblically defined), and commitment to God’s eternal kingdom and righteousness. If any teaching is producing effects that contradict these values, then it is false teaching.
There are people (and teachers/preachers) who claim to act in the name of Jesus, and who actually prophesy, exorcise demons and perform miracles, but do not have a relationship with Jesus, do not know him, and do not have eternal life. So we must always carefully evaluate the message of anyone who claims to be teaching or acting on behalf of God.
The truth is found only in Jesus “ I am the way, the truth and life…” But outside –the world- are all kinds of fakers, phonies and liars. You have a choice. Who will be your guides?
(3) Choose your lifestyle - Matt 7 : 21-29.
Jesus uses a parable to illustrate His statements. He says that your life is like a house and you can choose to build your house on one of two Foundations. You are free to make the choice. God gives you that freedom. But as you decide, there is something you should know about these two foundations. One of them works and the other one doesn’t. One of them is solid and dependable. The other is unreliable and sure to bring you disaster.
What kind of foundation have you chosen?
Jesus describes your choice by comparing your options to two houses built on two different foundations. The first house represents those who are changed by the truth—those who do something about what they’ve heard. Jesus describes that kind of person in verse 24: “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock.”
The key thing here in the building is the foundation. Here there is an emphasis not just on hearing, but on application, follow through, acting upon what you have heard, putting the truth into practice.
Notice that Jesus focuses in on “these words of mine”, drawing a parallel between his words and “the will of my Father in heaven” in the previous verses. Jesus is claiming essentially that his words are God’s will.
When we hear God’s word, we have a choice. We can be content with being informed—or we can put it into practice. We can allow it to change our lives.
The huge difference is in the outcome. Jesus describes the results of this decision in his parable of the house:
[v. 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.
The hurricane that Jesus is describing here is most likely a reference to the final judgment when we all stand before God. That will be the ultimate test of our character. But I think that when he says this, Jesus also has in mind the hurricane that each of us faces in simply living life.
When difficult times come, when our beliefs and our values and our choices are tested, the outcome will depend upon whether or not we applied God’s word to our lives. The rain, the flooding streams, and the strong winds all represent the hurricane of life. Life is messy.
What Jesus is saying here is that your ability to weather the storm of life depends entirely upon one thing: your foundation. Have you put God’s word into practice? Are you doing what you’ve been taught? If you have, then you will be able to stand against the onslaught. You will survive the hurricane, because you have a solid foundation to stand on. You have allowed God’s word to shape your beliefs, your values and your choices.
Jesus' metaphor in the parable is apt: A man's character is like a house. Every thought is like a piece of timber in that house, every habit a beam, every imagination a window, well or badly placed. They all gather into a unity, handsome or grotesque. We decide how that house is constructed.
Unless one builds his character on the rock-solid foundation of God's Word, he will surely be swept away by the flood now inundating the world. As I Corinthians 3:11 says, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 3:10-11).
Of the two builders in the parable, one is a thoughtful man who deliberately plans his house with an eye to the future; the other is not a bad man, but thoughtless, casually building in the easiest way. One is earnest; the other is content with a careless and unexamined life. He seems to want to avoid the hard work of digging deep to ensure a strong foundation, and also takes a short-range view, never thinking what life will be like six months into the future. He trades away future good for present pleasure and ease.
Let’s begin by examining the similarities between the two.
First, both houses appear similar to each other. Nothing in the context suggests any difference in the outward appearance of the structures built. The immediate context of the previous verses would suggest that the outward structures look very similar. Also notice that the false prophets, the wolves of Matthew 7:15-20 are not distinguished by their outward appearance, but the type of fruit they produced. Those deceived by their own self-righteousness in Matthew 7:21-23 were outwardly doing all the things that the truly righteous would do.. In addition consider that the general context of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ effort to make a distinction between the self-righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees and the true righteousness of those who humbly follow God. Most of the distinctions our Lord has made have not been things that would be outwardly noticeable at first glance.
For example, back in Matthew 5, what is the outward manifestation of someone who has refrained from murder and someone that refrains from being angry with his brother? What is the external indication of someone who does not commit adultery and someone that does not lust in their hearts? What apparent difference is seen in a person who limits themselves to just revenge and those who seek no revenge? How can you determine by a glance what a man treasures in his heart? Are the material things he possesses the result of his pursuit after them or the gracious blessing of the Lord? While there may be some outward indicators of what is in a person’s heart, they are not discernable without careful observation and study.
Storms will come. There is no stopping them. Sometimes storms come with warning and at other times they come suddenly without warning, but storms will come. When the storm does come, it will test what is hidden from view. Jesus says here of both houses, “the rain descended, and the floods (rivers) came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house” (Matthew 7:25,27).
Storms are a normal part of life. James 1:2 describes it that way when he says, “To consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.” The trials of life are nothing unusual. They are a normal part of living. As we walk this earth we will encounter them. The true Christian can consider these trials, these storms of life, as joyful encounters because, as James continues, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” And if we let endurance have its perfect result, we will be made mature and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4). It is not joy in the storm, but joy over the product the storm produces which is maturity.
The passage in this study continues that same theme. There are those who are wise and those who are foolish. The wise enter the small gate and walk the narrow path that leads to life. The foolish enter the wide gate and walk the broad path that leads to the destruction. The house that the foolish build is destroyed by the storms that come against it, and its fall is great. The only remaining question is what is the difference between the wise and foolish. We know the wise lay their foundation on a rock while the foolish on the sand.
Jesus’ sermon was not concerned with house construction or building code violations. The spiritual meaning of the parable is found in Matthew 7:24: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” We are each building a life. The proper foundation for a life is Jesus’ words—not just the hearing of them, but the doing of them. (see James 1:22).
Being actively involved in many things may give the impression that you’re really building something with your Christian life But Jesus says that this will not take us to eternal life. What is important is to hear His sayings and do them! Each day there are opportunities to make Jesus’ commandments your very own, by obeying them from the heart.
The path you choose determines whether or not you find the way –Matt. 7:13-14
The guide you choose determines whether or not you find the truth - Matt. 7: 15- 20
The foundation you choose determines whether or not you will find eternal life –Matt 7:21-29
When the storms come it will be too late to check on the foundation of your house. You have to do it when the sun is shining.
