Are you dealing with turbulence and instability in your own life today? Today’s passage teaches us how the Christian can prepare and cling on to in times of distress, worry and fear.
(A) The Firmest Foundation: Doing the Words of Christ (Matt 7:24-27)
This section begins with Jesus saying, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine”. “These words of mine” referred to what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1-7:23). Matthew 7:24 says “everyone then” or in some translations “therefore”. It is therefore important for us to also recap and remember all that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
In this sermon, Jesus sets out fundamental and revolutionary teachings that are at the very heart of Christianity. I think that all of these teachings are directly relevant to us today. In a time when we pride ourselves in our accomplishments and achievements, the Sermon on the Mount set out that nobody could save themselves, for none are righteous. The Sermon on the Mount establishes that the law which people at the time fixated on and trusted in, could not save.
Jesus revealed that the standard of righteousness that God has is far greater than what man could ever achieve. Under this standard of righteousness, it is impossible for a man to find salvation. Listeners needed a new righteousness, one that does not rely on them and their evil hearts, but which is found only in Christ, who never sinned and never fell short of God’s standards.
The Sermon on the Mount made clear that what we other see us do doesn’t matter nearly as much as what we intend or think. What is more important is what God sees in us. Jesus rebuked those who put on a show and did prayers and charity in public view, for attention and reputation. Jesus warns that God sees all, right down to the human heart and knows that the actions of the proud hypocrites is tainted by their desire for praise. Therefore, we should live for the recognition of God and not man.
There are many ways we can apply this in our lives today. In a time of social media, where everything we accomplish or see or eat has to be on Instagram or LinkedIn, the Sermon on the Mount called all listeners to be humble and do things quietly, with sincerity, rather than for praise.
In a time that is so full to the brim with materialism and consumption, we are taught to not lay up treasures on earth, for that is subject to decay. Instead, we are called to store up treasures in heaven, and serve God as our one true master. For one cannot serve God and money.
In a time when we are full of fears about our finances, health, careers and family or relationships, we are called to not be anxious. We are to trust solely in God who knows all our needs.
In today’s context, where political correctness is so important, we feel a pull to be as agreeable as possible, to tell everyone that they are all right, and your truth is your truth. Yet, in the last study, we saw an important truth. There are only two groups of people. Those who walk to the narrow gate that leads to life and those that walk to the wide gate that leads to destruction. There are good trees that bear fruit, and one which is diseased and bears bad fruit. There will be some who cry “Lord, Lord” and enter the kingdom of heaven because they knew Jesus. There will be others who cry the same, but are rejected for they never knew Him. At the end of the day, there is a right way and a wrong way. Your truth is not always the truth.
Today’s passage is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. A sermon that has taught us so much about the kingdom of God, hope, contentment and morality. We will see what we must do with Jesus’ words, and the consequences of disobeying.
Two houses are described in these verses. The first house is described in Matthew 7:24. Here, we are told that it is a house, but there is nothing about the quality of the building works, the materials, the location, the number of rooms etc. All we are told that this first house is built by a wise man on a rock — a firm, stable and unyielding foundation (Matt 7:24). This wise man wisely builds this house on the rock. Thus, the person who hears the words of Christ and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. When the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, it did not fall, because it was founded on the rock (Matt 7:25).
We learn three important things about doing the words of Christ here. First, doing the words of Jesus is associated with wisdom – the ability to judge well and make good decisions, that honour God and are in accordance with His will. The world today pretends to offer us wisdom. Some of us may be interested in watching self-help videos and no doubt they provide us good tips or practical help such as ways to be more productive. But some of these advice are worldly in nature. For example, I once came across a video that proposed that we are the average of the five people we spend most of your time with, so the advice was to surround ourselves with five of the best people we can find. I thought about that, and realised it was quite a cruel way to form friendships. If everyone lived this way, who would care for the poor and the hurting? The world offers us wisdom, but it is false. True wisdom is in doing the words of Christ.
Second, it is vital that one knows the words of Christ. It is impossible to do the words of Jesus and be like the wise man who built his house on the rock, unless we first hear and know the words of Christ. Maybe some of us fell like it is tiring and unprofitable to know the words of Christ. Sometimes, it feels like there are so many other things we could be doing in Sundays, or even Wednesday nights, instead of studying the words of Christ. Sometimes the opportunity cost seems high. These verses encourage us to press on, for building a strong and stable foundation is of vital importance when the storm comes.
Third, if we do the words of Christ, we can weather any storm, for our foundation holds fast. What are you founded on? What is your security? What would you cling to in a storm?
Next, the second house is described in Matthew 7:26. We read that the person who hears the words of Christ and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand – feeble, shifting and an unstable foundation (Matt 7:26). When the rain falls and the floods come and the winds blow and beat against that house, then it will fall and it will be a great fall (Matt 7:27).
In both cases, a house is built and we are not told about the quality and characteristics in both cases. There is nothing about the quality of how the house is built that separates the two. Until the storm comes, both homes appear stable.
The only difference is the selection of the foundation (which is essentially the difference between one who hears, and one who hears and does). If all we do is hear the words and nothing more, when the storm comes, we will fall. This is the warning in the second house. We are presented with a choice here and this is really a binary option: rock or shifting sand.
We too, must stand on a firm foundation. In the previous verses, we’ve seen that there are 2 ways — one through the narrow gate, and another through the broad gate. Here, we see the comparison — the wise man does the words of God, and the foolish does not. We are called to respond rightly to the words in the Sermon. How can we do so?
First, we must stand on the right foundation. We are all building something, the question is, what are we building on? We are building with our time, monies, efforts and lives. The warning is, that if you do not build your house on the right foundation, the storm will tear it down. There is a choice we all must make and it will be the most important choice of our lives. Everyone who listened to the Sermon on the Mount is left with a choice. It is not a feel-good sermon, or something to ponder and challenge the intellect. At the end of this epic sermon, is a choice. To follow or not. It was binary. Merely hearing and knowing the words of Christ is not enough. One must act on them as well, or one will come crashing down like the second house, which fell in a “great” manner – a warning to us all. Now, this does not mean that our works save us. Doing the words of Christ means putting our faith in him, trusting in his ways. It is faith in Christ that will tide us through the storm.
Second, it is the storm that reveals our foundation. We learn that things are deeper than what our eyes can see. Looking at things from the outside, without the storm, things look fine for both homes. We know this in our lives too. People seem fine, with career and family and material things, until they are not. Life might look great, and stable on the outside, but if it is not built on the right foundation, it’ll fold and come crashing down in the storm. In good times, when the storm isn’t raging, we must examine ourselves to see what our foundations are. We must be obeying and doing the words of Christ. Following on from last week, there is a right way and a wrong way. There is a heaven and there is a hell. We must be careful to walk rightly to do the words of Christ. As James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. In bad times, the storm reveals our foundation. For the Christian, it will show us Christ. In these storms, if we listened to Jesus and did as he taught, then we would be able to stand firm, like the house on the rock.
Take for example, financial ruin. Today, money is so important. We obsess over how much we earn, how much we invest, what we can buy. To experience financial ruin is devastating in the eyes of the world. The Christian can experience financial ruin and when the feelings of anxiety well up, remember the teachings of Christ. To not be anxious, for there is a Father who knows our every need. Who clothes the grass of the field, and cares even more about us. A God that we can trust in, and a heaven that we can look forward to, regardless of what happens here.
A Christian knows that Christ took on a poor and frail human form, so that through his life and death, we might be rich. Not in a monetary sense. In a far greater sense, in a spiritual and eternal sense, through the gospel which saves us. A Christian can face the storm of financial ruin, and not collapse.
The final storm, the storm of judgment at the very end. In this storm, we would be secure, if we did the words of Christ, which includes the command to put our trust in him, we would be saved. For Jesus stepped into the storm of God’s wrath, took on all the punishment that we deserved, so that we would be spared. He provides us the firm foundation in the storm, by being torn down by the storm of God’s wrath on the cross. We stand on the gospel
So, the central question for us is, how can we make sure we are building our lives on the rock? We must know the words of Christ, before we can do them. That is a central part of the Christian life and must be pursued ferociously. Find others who are building on the rock too. Encourage them and be encouraged by them. Be plugged into a local church!
We must make sure that we go beyond just hearing the words of Christ, we must put them into practice too. If all we do is go to church on Sunday or Bible studies in the week, take in the lesson or sermon and walk out to just continue living life as we want, then we are building our lives on the sand.
(B) Jesus Christ: Clothed with Unique Authority (Matt 7:28-29)
At the end of this, the crowds heard Jesus and they were astonished at His teaching (Matt 7:28). Why? “For he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt 7:29).
Authority simply means the power or right to do something. Jesus spoke as one who had power and the right to speak. This is related to the conclusion that we just reached, which is that there is really only one way to heaven, which would be through Christ. That Christ’s words provide the only true foundation, while all other foundations were nothing but sinking sand.
In the section we just studied, Jesus says, do these words of mine, not of God, as if these were the words of God too. This is distinct from how other teachers and prophets spoke, which is usually, “the Lord said _____ to me. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount too, Jesus is shown to be absolutely distinct from all other teachers, especially the scribes. Scribes were learned, rich, teachers of the law. They were scholars and lawyers. They were part of the study and administration of the law. In comparison to these men who had knowledge and influence, Jesus stood out as exceptional, as the one true authoritative figure, and people recognised this.
Bible teacher D.A. Carson writes,
“The central point is this: Jesus’ entire approach in the Sermon on the Mount is not only ethical but messianic—i.e., christological and eschatological. Jesus is not an ordinary prophet who says, “Thus says the Lord!” Rather, he speaks in the first person and claims that his teaching fulfills the Old Testament, that he determines who enters the messianic kingdom, that as the Divine Judge he pronounces banishment, that the true heirs of the kingdom will be persecuted for their allegiance to him, and that he alone fully knows the will of his Father. Jesus’ authority is unique, and the crowds recognized it, even if they did not always understand it.”
What does this mean for us? Who would you consider authoritative? The Prime Minister because of his power and influence? Maybe someone who has an impressive CV and knows a lot about a particular area because he is qualified. Often, when an authority figure speaks, there is amazement, wonder and awe like the people in this passage. But as we have just covered, that is not enough.
Jesus is portrayed to be like this, but greater. He is powerful, influential and fully qualified to teach what he taught through the Sermon on the Mount.
How do we respond? We must obey and live like Jesus, as set out in the Sermon on the Mount. In the same way that we would give great weight to an authoritative figure today, we must give great weight to what Christ has said, and live it out.
There are many other parts of Matthew that flesh out Jesus’ great authority. At the end, after He had lived, died and resurrected, He said these final words in Matthew 28:18-20 before His ascension. The disciples did precisely that. They heard the words of the authoritative Jesus and did go forth, to tell the gospel of Christ to others, even if it came at the expense of their lives. Through that, we have the gospel that we have today.
We too must follow in their example, recognise the authority of Jesus over every sphere of our lives, from thought to word to deed. We must do the words of Christ, and tell others about him. Our astonishment and amazement should give way to action to service and growth and disciple making, because we recognise Jesus’ authority.
What is God saying to you through His word here? What are you building your house on? Do you recognise Jesus as authoritative? What practical steps can you take, to ensure that you know the words of Christ and are doing them?