The Foundation Series

Parables, Promises & Prophecies

The Foundation

Matthew 7:21-29

So, this morning, I have a couple of direct questions for you.

What is the basis for all you think, believe and do in life?

Now, there are a number of options here. Is it “what I want?” Is it all about you? Is it what makes you happy? Is it your conscience? Is it your parents’ teaching? Is it what’s cool or fashionable? Is it what your friends think? Is it what your mate thinks or wants? Is it what’s fashionable or acceptable in society? Or is it what makes you happy?

Now I know we’re in church. And you want to give the right answer. But be honest with yourself—what really is the basis for how you live life.?

Now some of those aren’t bad answers. I think we could all commend whose lives are based on their consciences, or their sense of right and wrong.

But you know what, according to Jesus, none of those answers are good enough. None of them will stand the tests of life and the tests of time and eternity.

According to what Jesus had to say, there’s only one basis for how we live a life that will stand for eternity—that will be an ultimate success—and that is His Word.

He tells us in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders this morning that we need to be wise builders— you need to Build your life on the Rock of Jesus Word—because all other word is sinking sand.

Now without realizing it, I bit off more than I could choose this week when I decided to do this short, but impressive parable. Because the key to interpreting any parable is understanding it within its context. And the context of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders is the entire Sermon on the Mount—the greatest sermon that was ever preached that fills three chapters of the Book of Matthew. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builder begins with the word, “Therefore” in Matthew 7:24-27, thus indicating that it is the fitting conclusion to all Jesus had to say in that sermon—it was a vivid and powerful word picture of how we could be certain the kind of life that would stand for eternity, rather than end in spiritual disaster. Because those are the two very possible outcomes for the lives we live—a life that stands for eternity or a life that results in spiritual disaster.

And that is exactly how the Sermon on the Mount reads. It’s a sermon full of comforting thoughts, and then absolutely startling thoughts, and very sobering admonitions.

And it clearly tells us what kind of life pleases God, and what kind of life does not.

Jesus told it near the beginning of his ministry, as he sat on the mountain above the Sea of Galilee one day. I’ve been to the spot, and it is indeed picturesque, with the Sea of Galilee in the background—a great place to give a great message.

According to Matthew 4, Jesus had just begun his ministry. He had made Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee his ministry headquarters for his greater Galilean Ministry. His message, according to Matthew 4:17 was “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand.” The Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, or near, in that the King of the Kingdom of Heaven had come, namely, Jesus the Messiah and King of the Jews. He was also healing everyone who came to Him of every kind of illness and disease, and as a result, he was fast becoming an international sensation. Crowds of people were coming to see and hear him from Syria to the north and from the other side of the Jordan to the east. And Jesus, seeing the crowds, then at this crucial point in His ministry, sat down to teach. I’m convinced he sat down to explain what he meant when he said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” In other words, he was describing for all who would hear exactly what repentance involved, exactly what it looked like, and what it did not look like. What repentance was not. And the result it would have when the Kingdom of Heaven came to Earth.

And what we’re going to find is the repentance and the Word of Christ, or the Word of God go hand-in-hand—they are inseparable. Repentance in this context, means turning from your way or the world’s way and deciding to do life God’s Way, according to His Will and Jesus’ Word.

So, in the first 19 verses of Matthew 5, Jesus began explaining and describing what repentance looks like. He tells is that if you’re truly repentant, then you’ll be controlled by righteous attitudes resulting in righteous actions.