THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part 22)
Matthew 7:24-29
1) The house on the rock.
Matt. 7:24-25, “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. 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."
"Therefore". This is the third time Jesus introduces a new subject with this connective word. As we know, when we see the word therefore, it connects the preceding verses with what follows. However, in this final, therefore, Jesus is connecting everything that precedes it. This therefore is meant to summarize and teach a valuable lesson along with it.
"Whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice." In this passage, Jesus is separating his listeners into two categories: those who put his words into practice and those who don't. And he provides an illustration for each scenario. When Jesus says, 'these words of mine' he's involving the entirety of this sermon. He's tying it all together as he concludes with his final declaration.
Whoever practices the beatitudes. Whoever chooses to be salt and light to the world. Whoever realizes that Jesus came to fulfill the law and that we still follow the 10 commandments and the moral laws. Whoever understands that things like murder and adultery are sins of the heart before they become sins of the flesh.
Whoever commits to treating the sanctity of marriage as something precious and binding. Whoever understands the value of honesty and integrity and is a person of their word. Whoever is willing to turn the other cheek. Whoever is willing to go the extra mile. Whoever is willing to love their enemies and bless those who persecute them.
Whoever does their good deeds not to be recognized for them and whoever is humble in their prayer life. Whoever is committed to storing up treasures in heaven instead of treasures on earth. Whoever is committed to not worrying and instead trust God, knowing he will take care of you. Whoever seeks first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Whoever is humble, factual and righteous in their judgment of others. Whoever is willing to call upon the Lord for the godly desires of their heart and seeking and pursing such things. Whoever understands that they must enter through the narrow gate and trust only in Jesus for salvation and not get swayed by false teachers and false doctrine.
Whoever is committed to bearing good fruit. Whoever knows that it's not just calling Jesus Lord that will get you into heaven but rather doing the will of God. Whoever is willing and committed to living their lives this way and whoever realizes that it isn't just hearing the word but doing the word is the wise one who built his house on the rock.
I like how Jesus used literal examples to illustrate spiritual truth. He used scenes that people would understand. They would be able to make a visual connection to what he was trying to get across. In regards to the rains and storms sweeping a house away,
Albert Barnes' commentary states that Palestine was, to a considerable extent, a land of hills and mountains. Like other countries of that description, it was subject to sudden and violent rains. The Jordan, the principal stream, was annually swollen to a great extent, and became rapid and furious in its course.
The streams which ran among the hills, whose channels might have been dry during some months of the year, became suddenly swollen with the rain, and would pour down recklessly into the plains below. Everything in the way of these torrents would be swept off.
A house erected within the reach of a sudden deluge if they were founded on sand, or any other yielding basis, would not stand before them. The rising, bursting stream would shake it to its foundation; the rapid torrent would gradually wash away its base; it would fall, and be swept away.
Rocks in that country were common, and it was easy to secure a solid foundation for their houses. No comparison could, to a Jew, have been more striking.
The Jews would be able to relate since they had seen these types of events take place and had seen the devastation that had occurred from building a structure on a soft foundation. But rock is solid, stable and secure. a strong, sturdy rock is immovable in the storm when the waves are crashing into them.
Spiritually speaking, the rock is Christ. Paul called Jesus a rock in 1st Cor. 10:4. In 1st Pet. 2, Peter refers to Jesus as the 'living Stone' and the 'precious cornerstone'. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. Consider David's prophetic words in
Psalm 40:1-4, "I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods."
David's proverbial rescue is a great depiction of what God has done for us spiritually. When we turn to God and cry out to him to save us, he lifts us out of the slimy pit of hopelessness and the muck and mire of sin. He sets our feet on the solid rock of Christ where we stand, firm and secure. He gives us a song of victory and deliverance instead a song of despair.
Those who have eyes to see their great need will put their trust in the Rock. Blessed is the one who looks to Jesus for salvation instead of trusting in their own intellect or some other philosophy, religion or material thing.
And once we are saved, we continue to trust in the Rock for all of our needs and to help rescue us from trials and hardships. We trust in God for wisdom and strength to address and get through all our storms and adversity.
"Rain, streams and wind". Jesus lists three things that are happening in the storm-rain, rising streams (flooding) and wind. Some see in this three forms of trials and troubles. Rain comes from above (testing from God), floods come from below (temptations from Satan) and the wind comes across and it beats against us in all directions(the trials of life).
Sometimes that's how it can feel-like you're getting attacked from all sides. There are times where you have rain, flooding and wind all occurring simultaneously. When the storms of life come, there is testing from God and with that, Satan will tempt you to doubt or disobey God. If your foundation is on the sand it will either cause you to erode or you will instantly come crashing down. But if your foundation is Christ, you will stand.
God epitomizes solid and secure. God is always trustworthy and unchanging. God is dependable and unwavering. God is durable and safe and secure against all that would come against him. When we cling to or stand on the Rock, we can be safe and secure from all threats and forces that rage against us. We can say with David in
Psalm 62:5-8, "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." Is your house built on the Rock?
2) The house on the sand.
Matt. 7:26-27, "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. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Notice that Jesus is talking about those who have heard his words but chose not to put them into practice. It wasn't that they were ignorant of Jesus' teachings, it was that they chose not to follow them. Jesus doesn't mention this but it's quite possible that at least some of these people not only heard but believed in what Jesus was teaching. But their belief didn't transfer into action.
John 8:31 says, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples." These Jews believed Jesus...to a degree. Jesus makes it clear it's not just hearing, it's not just believing, but it's holding to his teachings that really matter. Later in the passage Jesus was highlighting that they were not free unless he set them free. They didn't like that.
In vs. 37 Jesus tells them that they are ready to kill him because they have no room for his word. They believed him but they wouldn't hold to his teachings. They believed him but in reality they didn't make room in their hearts for the word. I can agree that something I'm hearing is valid but it might stop there. What am I willing to do with it? That's the key.
After Jesus taught his disciples a valuable lesson when he washed their feet he said, "now that you know these things, you'll be blessed if you do them". Granted, there is value in knowing. We need to know what to do. But if it stops there we have missed the mark.
If you build a house on a shaky foundation and a storm or flood takes out your home what do you do? If you chose to rebuild you come up with a plan to do it better next time. But what if you only focused on the structure and not the foundation? If you fortified your new home but rebuilt it on the same, shaky foundation then when the next big storm hits you will lose your structure all over again.
Likewise, those who go through something in their lives that God tries to use to get their attention so they would turn to him but they refuse to heed the call and rebuild on their foundation of sand it is inevitable that regardless of what other changes they make they will not be able to withstand the future storms of life.
What are we trusting in to get us through? What do we cling to when the storms rage? Who do we turn to when the winds of life threaten to blow us over? The only way to truly get through the storms of life is to stand on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. No matter what else I build upon, whether it's a false teaching or my own version of truth, whether it's trusting in money or my relationships; whatever the sandy foundation is, I will not stand at the end.
"Fell with a great crash". In Luke's version we get some clarity on just how great of a crash this is. Luke 6:49 says, "the moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete". Such is the devastating result of those who trust in something other than Christ. This depicts the final outcome. We have the analogy of the final, destructive outcome of a house built on sand.
And although that event is sudden, there is another analogy worth looking at depicting the path that leads there regarding erosion-the gradual wearing down of the sandy foundation. As the streams rise and the rains come erosion happens. If a house or structure is built on an eroding foundation, it will eventually collapse. [Dr. Novek's townhouse]. So, whether it happens suddenly or over time, a house that is built on a weak foundation will not be able to withstand the storms.
One interesting factor about the two houses-they may look the same. Above ground these two houses could have been built with similar materials and built according to the same plans and blueprints. Therefore, as far as anyone could tell, they were the same because you typically don't see the foundation, you just see the structure. When do you determine what foundation the house is built upon? When the storm comes.
Such as it is in our lives. Two people can look similar to where there appears to be no visible difference between them. That is, until the storm comes. You really find out what a person is made of when adversity strikes. You don't know what's inside the bottle until you tip it over and see what comes out. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Another reality from Jesus final words in this sermon is that everyone has a foundation that they are building upon; the question is-which one? It really boils down to two categories-Christ and everything else. Another reality is that everyone is going to have to deal with storms in their life. Both buildings dealt with rains, floods and wind. The trials of life are unavoidable.
The question is-how will we face them? We can try to run and hide and cower in a corner. We can pretend they're not happening. We can get angry and blame God and others. We can panic and run around in a frenzy. But none of these reactions are going to help us to stand-they will only ensure our collapse.
However, when we trust in Christ and cling to the solid rock, we will get through our storms and be standing at the end. We can find peace in the storm. We can be stronger after the storm. I'm not saying we come through every storm unscathed, but with Jesus they'll result in a stronger faith and a deeper connection to him.
3) The crowds were amazed.
Matt. 7:28-29, "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."
All four gospels have places where it indicates that the people were either amazed or astonished at Jesus' teaching. Whether it was because of his words or the authority with which he taught, it was obvious there was something uniquely different about Jesus of Nazareth as opposed to the teachers of the law.
Jesus could teach authoritatively because he is God in the flesh. Someone who reads a book can talk about it but the author can speak authoritatively about it. You can't spell authority without author. Jesus is the author of life so it makes sense that he would be the authority on teaching about it.
That's what we have with Jesus vs. the scribes and teachers of the law. They couldn't speak from anything other than what they read about. Jesus had the mind and spirit of God and could speak from first-hand experience. His teachings would reveal new things, they would counter the inaccurate teaching of the Pharisees with pure truth.
His teaching could communicate the true heart of God because he knew the heart of God because he had the heart of God. Which also means he spoke passionately. The teachers of the law didn't do this.
However, even though the crowds were amazed and astonished, it wouldn't matter unless they put their faith in Jesus and followed him. They could 'ooh' and 'ahh' all they wanted. They could marvel in his miracles all they wished but it wouldn't amount to a hill of beans unless they turned that amazement and astonishment into solid rock, foundational faith.
Many people have emotional reactions to Jesus. People can become emotional about Jesus but that isn't what matters. What matters is daily taking up our cross and following him. Not that our feelings and emotions are insignificant; we should have good feelings about Jesus.
We can get excited about Jesus. We should have our emotions stirred when a powerful worship song comes on or when we hear a dynamic message. But feelings are temporary. What do we do with those good feelings? What do we do when the song is over? What do we do after we leave the conference? What do we do when our lives return to the ordinary? Will we follow Jesus in the trenches or only on the mountaintop?
Those who's devotion to Jesus is merely emotional will not be sustained in the joy that supersedes their circumstances. Jesus isn't flattered by our amazement but he will cherish our devotion when we push through the trials and persevere in the testing of our faith.
As we contemplate the Sermon on the Mount we have an excellent gathering of the words of Christ on all the aspects of Christian living. Albert Barnes' commentary: In all languages there is not a discourse to be found that can be compared with it for purity, and truth, and beauty, and dignity. Were there no other evidence of the Divine mission of Christ, this alone would be sufficient to prove that he was sent from God.
Were these doctrines obeyed and loved, how pure and peaceful would the world be! How hypocrisy would be abashed and confounded! How impurity would hang its head! How peace would reign in every family and nation! How anger and wrath would flee! And how the race-the lost and benighted tribes of men, the poor and needy and sorrowful would bend themselves before their common Father and seek peace and eternal life at the hands of a merciful and faithful God!
