Matthew 7:24-29 Surviving the Storms

Matthew 7 Verses 24 to 29 Surviving the Storms June 30, 2024

Lesson 13 Sermon on the Mount Class Presentation Notes AAAAAA

Background Scriptures:

· Isaiah 28:16 (NKJV) 16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.

· Luke 6:46-49 (NKJV) 46 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."

· 1 Corinthians 3:10-13 (NKJV) 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is.

· Ephesians 2:19-20 (NKJV) 19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,

Main Idea:

· We will all face storms in life. Whether or not we can withstand them depends on our life’s foundation.

Study Aim:

· Jesus described the choice that each of us must make, narrow gate or broad gate, good tree or bad tree, genuine disciple or false follower, and the wise builder or foolish builder. Which path have I chosen?

Create Interest:

· In the final part of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus challenged people to decision and action. He invited His hearers to enter the narrow gate of salvation and walk the difficult way of discipleship. He warned of false prophets who could be recognized by their fruits and of professing believers who lack a personal knowledge of Him. He challenged all who heard the Word to obey it, lest the storms of life overwhelm them.[1]

Lesson in Historical Context:

· The parallel sermon in Luke 6:20–49 ends with a version of this same parable, which is similar in content but almost as different in wording and in the way the story is constructed as it would be possible to be while relating the same teaching.

· Jesus was in a double sense an expert. He was an expert in scripture. The writer of Proverbs gave him the hint for his picture: “When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever” (Proverbs 10:25). Here is the germ of the picture which Jesus drew of the two houses and the two builders. But Jesus was also an expert in life. He was the craftsman who knew all about the building of houses, and when he spoke about the foundations of a house, he knew what he was talking about. This is no illustration formed by a scholar in his study; this is the illustration of a practical man.

· Nor is this a far-fetched illustration; it is a story of the kind of thing which could well happen. In Palestine the builder must think ahead. There were gullies which in summer were a pleasant sandy hollow but was in winter a raging torrent of rushing water. A man might be looking for a house; he might find a pleasantly sheltered sandy hollow; and he might think this a very suitable place. But, if he was a short-sighted man, he might well have built his house in the dried-up bed of a river, and when the winter came, his house would disintegrate. Even on an ordinary site it was tempting to begin building on the smoothed-over sand, and not to bother digging down to the shelf of rock below.

o Only a house whose foundations are firm can withstand the storm; and only a life whose foundations are sure can stand the test.[2]

· This powerful image was apparently reshaped, perhaps several times, but retained its function as the striking conclusion to a challenging discourse which has left Jesus’ hearers with a simple but demanding choice: to hear and ignore, or to hear and put into practice. It is a make-or-break choice with eternal consequences.

· And as we noted in v. 21, it is Jesus himself who is the key to this choice; it is hiswords (and as one might have expected, God’s words) which must be done.

· Indeed, to do Jesus’words here seems to be the equivalent of “doing the will of my Father in heaven” in v. 21. To ignore his words therefore will result in total spiritual disaster.[3] As a retired home builder this image has powerful implications for me after 50 years of building a product that will last and competing against people who wanted to build a temporary product for increased financial gain for themselves at the peril of the customer. Let’s open God’s word and learn from His wisdom😊.

Bible Study:

Matthew 7:24-29 (NKJV) 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Hearing the Word of God

· Jesus said, “Whosoever hears these sayings of mine …” (Matthew 7:24) Now, that’s what we’re doing today; we’re listening to the Word of God—because the Bible says in Romans 10: 17 “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So, that’s part of having a rock foundation for your life: you must hear the Word of God.

Heeding the Word of God

· Now, look very carefully in Vs 24. It is both hearing and heeding the Word of God: “whosoever heareth these [words] of mine”—and what’s that next word?—“and doeth them.” (Matthew 7:24) And, that’s where we begin to separate the rock builders from the sand builders.[4]

Similarities in the Foundation Types

· First of all, both builders have heard the gospel. Everyone who hears these words of Mine applies both to the wise man (v. 24) and to the foolish man (v. 26). They both know the way of salvation.

· Second, they both proceed to build a houseafter they have heard the way of salvation.

o The wise manbuilds his house, which represents his life, on these words of Mine.

§ The implication is that the foolish man, although he does not act upon Christ’s words, thinks that his house is secure simply because he has heard and acknowledged the words.

§ He believes the life he lives is Christian and therefore pleasing to God.

📷 He does not intentionally build a househe thinks is going to fall.

📷 Both builders have confidence their houses will stand; but one man’s confidence is in the Lord and the other man’s is in himself.

· Third, both builders build their houses in the same general location,evidenced by their apparently being hit by the same storm.

o In other words, the outward circumstances of their lives were essentially the same. One had no advantage over the other.

o They lived in the same town and possibly attended the same church, heard the same preaching, went to the same Bible study, and fellowshipped with the same friends.

· Fourth, the implication is that they built the same kind of house. Outwardly their houses were very much alike.

o From all appearances the foolish man lived much in the same way as the wise man.

o We might say they were both religious, theologically orthodox, moral, served in the church, supported it financially, and were responsible citizens of the community. They seemed to believe alike and live alike.

Foundation Differences.

· The differences between the two builders and the two houses they built were not noticeable from the outside. But they were immeasurably more important than the similarities.

o The key is to understand that one does act uponGod’s Word (obedience) and the other does not act upon His Word (disobedience).

o One builds using the divine specifications, the other uses his own.

· By far the greatest difference between the specifications of these builders and the way they build is in the foundations they laid. The wise man … built his house upon the rock, whereas the foolish man … built his house upon the sand.

· Petra (rock) does not mean a stone or even a boulder, but a great outcropping of rock, a large expanse of bedrock. It is solid, stable, and unmovable.

o In Matthew 16:18 petra is part of a play on words. Here Peter (petros[3935], a separate “rock”) and petraboth occur. “And I tell you that you are Peter (i.e., petros, ‘rock’), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (NIV; cf. 1 Peter 2:4–8). Many scholars believe Jesus used this expression to signify that the foundation of the coming Church was to be the affirmation of Him as the Christ. [5]

o The Rock is Christ Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 3:11 we read that “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

§ We build upon Him. Oh, friends, be sure that your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ Blood and righteousness.

· Christ would not have died for you, if you could have been saved any other way.

o He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” No man cometh unto the Father but by Him.

o He is the only Door. Do not build on the sands, but come to Jesus,

o He is the Foundation. You cannot build a house until you have a firm foundation.

§ Do not try to build a life until you have first taken Christ as your Savior. Otherwise, the sand will undermine all your hopes.[6]

· Sand, by contrast, is loose, unstable, and extremely movable. The land agents selling lots on the sand are the false prophets Jesus has just warned about (vv. 15–20).

o Sand is often used figuratively. Vine (Expository Dictionary, “Sand”) cites three such uses: “insecure foundation” (Matthew 7:26), “numberlessness” (Romans 9:27), and “emblematic of the restless condition of nations” (Revelation 13:1).

· The scribes and Pharisees had a complex and involved set of religious traditions which they regarded as having great value before God. But all those traditions were external, superficial, and unstable. They had no spiritual or moral substance or stability.

o They were shifting sand, composed entirely of the opinions, speculations, and standards of men.

o Those who created and followed them took no account of obedience to God’s Word, purity of the heart, spirituality of the soul, or integrity of behavior.

o Their only concern was for appearance, the compelling desire to be seen and “honored by men” (Matt. 6:2).[7]

Consider the following and discuss if you agree or disagree:

· “Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them”: Merely hearing God’s Word isn’t enough to provide a secure foundation. It is necessary that we are also doersof His Word. If we are not, we commit the sin that will surely find us out, the sin of doing nothing (Numbers 32:23)—and great will be our fall.

o “Wherein lay the second builder’s folly?

§ Not in deliberately seeking a bad foundation, but in taking no thought of foundation … to see it’s long-range disadvantages.

§ His fault was not an error in judgment, but inconsiderateness. It is not, as is commonly supposed, a question of two foundations, but of looking to, and neglecting to look to, “THE” foundation.” (Bruce)[8]

§ These sayings of Christ are the rock on which we are to build. When testing comes, the foundation will be everything.

· The sayings of men are a foundation of sand on which the foolish build.

o The philosophies of eastern mystics and the dogmas of Roman pontiffs appeal to many.

o Principles of Mormonism, psychology, social science, humanism, Darwinism, or Marxism appeal to others.

o Some who build on sand are noble and sincere, and their religious and philosophical structures seem beautiful—their buildings and deeds are often more attractive than those of many churches.

§ Big Point!

📷 When the storms come, all systems of doctrine and conduct not founded on these sayings of Christ will fall.

📷 We have His word for that. And great will be the fall. Only those structures founded on the rock will stand.[9]

Thoughts to Soak On

· If we heed Jesus’ soul-penetrating words, if we measure ourselves by his standards, if we evaluate our ethics by his ethics, if we strain after the Sermon’s great teaching in prayer and piety, we are building upon the rock.

· The foolish man is shallow in his thinking and lays a shallow foundation on the sand. He cannot be troubled with thinking things through.

o He is concerned with having a house (life) that simply looks nice.

o It looks like his church friend’s life, but it is all outward, it is all style!

§ Oh, that Jesus’ words would penetrate our evangelical hearts!

· It is not our cultural distinctions that save us. It is not our evangelical civilities. It is not our evangelical experience. It is not our heritage.

o It is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that is so profound and growing that it produces his character, the character of his kingdom, in our lives. It is not just on the surface, though it can and ought to be seen. This is radical! It is the difference between life and death.

· Jesus says that the storms will reveal whether we have the true foundation or not.

o His primary reference here is to the final judgment because in the Old Testament and elsewhere in Jewish writings the storm serves as a symbol for God’s judgment (see, for example, Ezekiel 13:11b).

o The storm can also refer to life’s difficulties. Sometimes a gracious, dark, hurling storm hits the house on the sand, and its owner finds out that he is lacking.

§ How tragic to find this out only in the final judgment. Many will cry, “Lord, Lord” from beneath the rubble of their life’s house, and He will say, “I never knew you.” How tragic!

· As believers, we are in a privileged and dangerous position. As members of his church, we call him, “Lord, Lord,” and we see his power at work among us.

o But we must make sure that we truly know him.

· It is easy to fool the pastor, our friends, and even ourselves. All we have to do is learn the vocabulary and adapt to some cultural conventions.

o But Jesus does not want any of us to fall to such delusion.

§ Matthew 11:28-29 (NKJV) 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

§ 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (NKJV) 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

§ John 10:9 (NKJV) 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

· It is apparent as he concludes the Sermon on the Mount that he is instilling some healthy fear into our lives.

o In verse 13 he warns of “destruction.”

o In verses 15–20 he speaks of branches being burned.

o In verses 21–29 he refers to the possibility of his publicly rejecting us and of the edifice of our lives suffering total destruction.

§ Can you blame our Lord? After all, the issue is Heaven or Hell.[10]

More thoughts shared for us to discuss:

· Vs. 29: As one having authority, and not as the scribes. The scribes were the learned men and teachers of the Jewish nation and were principally Pharisees. They taught chiefly the sentiments of their Rabbins, and the traditions which had been delivered; they consumed much of their time in useless disputes and “vain jangling.”

o Jesus was open, plain, grave, useful, delivering truth as becamethe oracles of God; not spending his time in trifling disputes and debating questions of no importance, but confirming his doctrine by miracles and argument; teaching as having power which he did as God incarnate, and not in the vain and foolish manner of the Jewish doctors.

o He showed that he had authority to explain, to enforce, and to change the ceremonial laws of the Jews. He came with authority such as no mancould have, and it is not remarkable that his explanations astonished them[11]

· The house built on the rock is the life of obedience, the life Jesus has been explaining throughout the Sermon on the Mount. Notice the characteristics.

o It is life that has a scriptural view of itself, as described in the Beatitudes.

o It is life that has a scriptural view of the world and sees itself as God’s means for preserving and enlightening the world while not being a part of it.

o It is the life that has the divine view of Scripture and that determines not to alter God’s Word in the slightest degree.

o It is a life that is concerned about internal righteousness rather than external form.

o It is a life that has a godly attitude toward what is said and what is done, toward motives, things, money, and other people.

o It is a life of genuineness rather than hypocrisy, and of God’s righteousness rather than self-righteousness.

· The house built on the rock is the life that empties itself of self-righteousness and pride, that is overwhelmed by and mourns over its own sin, that makes the maximum effort to enter the narrow gate and be faithful in the narrow way of Christ and His Word. Such a builder does not build his life or place his hope on ceremony, ritual, visions, experiences, feelings, or miracles but on the Word of God and that alone.

· The sand is composed of human opinions, attitudes, and wills, which are always shifting and always unstable. Notice the characteristics.!

o To build on sand is to build on self-will, self-fulfillment, self-purpose, self-sufficiency, self-satisfaction, and self-righteousness.

o To build on sand is to be unteachable, to be “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7).

o To build the house of one’s life on the sand is to follow the ultimate deception of Satan, which is to make a person believe he is saved when he is not. Because that person is under the delusion that he is safe, he sees no reason either to resist Satan or to seek God.

· Besides the great difference in the foundations they lay, the wise man builds his house the hard way, whereas the foolish man builds his the easy way.

o The one chooses the narrow gate and the other the broad.

o The one searches carefully for a solid foundation of rock on which to build;

o The other simply finds a section of sand in a desirable location and starts to build.[12]

Warren Wiersbe gives us some round up thoughts before we go our way

· How shall we test our profession of faith? By popularity? No, for there are many on the broad road to destruction. And there are many who are depending on words, saying “Lord, Lord”—but this is no assurance of salvation. Even religious activities in a church organization are no assurance. How then shall we judge ourselves and others who profess Christ as Savior?

· The two waystell us to examine the cost of our profession. Have we paid a price to profess faith in Christ?

· The two treestell us to investigate whether our lives have really changed. Are there godly fruits from our lives? And the two houses remind us that true faith in Christ will last, not only in the storms of life, but also in the final judgment.

· The congregation was astonished at this sermon. Why? Because Jesus spoke with divine authority. The scribes and Pharisees spoke “from authorities,” always quoting the various rabbis and experts of the Law. Jesus needed no human teacher to add authority to His words; for He spoke as the Son of God. We cannot lightly dismiss this sermon, for it is God who gave it to us! We must either bow before Him and submit to His authority, or we will be condemned.[13]

Charles Spurgeon offers our closing thoughts

· May your prayer be, “Lord, show me the worst of my case. If my profession has been a mistake, O let me not build up and prop up a rotten thing but help me to build aright upon the Rock of Ages.” Do pray that prayer, I beseech you. Remember if death should not teach you the whole truth of your case, judgment will.There will be no mistake there, and no opportunity for repentance. This fallen house was never built again; there was no salvage from the total wreck. Lost, lost, lost, there is no word to follow; for once lost, lost forever!

· O dear hearer, I bid thee if thou hast a name to live and art dead, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life. I pray thee if thou be a seeker, be not put off with empty hopes and vain confidences. Buy the truth and sell it not. Lay hold on eternal life. Seek the true Savior and be not content till thou hast him, for if lost thy ruin will be terrible. Oh, that lake!

· Have you ever read the words, “Shall be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death”? The lake of fire! and souls cast into it! The imagery is dreadful. “Ah,” says one, “that is a metaphor.” Yes, I know it is, and a metaphor is but a shadow of the reality.[14]

Blessing to all who read this…and I hope will share it.

◆ Edward Kimball is probably not known to you. He lived over a hundred years ago. He was a Sunday school teacher in Boston, where a young teenager became part of his class. The young man was a country boy. He didn’t know the ways of the city or of the church. But he came to Kimball’s Sunday school class.

When the teen first came to his class, Edward Kimball handed him a Bible. When Mr. Kimball said, “Turn to the Gospel of John,” the country boy didn’t know how to find the Gospel of John. Edward Kimball recognized what was happening, and while the other boys were snickering, he opened the Bible to the Gospel of John and handed it back. When he asked the boys to read, the country boy fumbled as he read.

But Edward Kimball had a big perspective, and he saw possibilities in the boy. Kimball worked with him, and after some months he went down to the store where the boy was working, went into the back room where he was stacking boxes, and led Dwight to Jesus Christ. That was the beginning of the ministry of Dwight L. Moody, this continent’s greatest evangelist during the last century.

You didn’t know Edward Kimball, an obscure Sunday school teacher who had a vision. But his vision transformed a young man who became a significant person.[15]

· Could we be an Edward Kimball today…I suggest we can😊!

When I met God on the Sea of Galilee

This happened to me on the Sea of Galilee a few weeks after our son’s cancer diagnosis. I was teaching our study group from Matthew 14, where Jesus walked on the stormy water to his disciples. When our boat stopped at the very place where this miracle occurred, I invited our group to name their “storm” and trust it to our omnipotent Lord.

Then I did what I asked them to do, placing our son in the hands of God’s Son. When I did, I can testify that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” flooded my mind and heart (Philippians 4:7). I did not know that he would be healed, but I knew somehow that God would do whatever is best.

This is not always how he answers my prayers. Sometimes I need to pray with the father of the demon-possessed son: “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). But when I choose to step beyond what my finite, fallen mind can comprehend and trust the omniscience and omnipotence of my Father, I have found that, to paraphrase Kierkegaard:

God is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.

What “storm” will you trust to him today?

Dr. Jim Denison 6-25-2024 Daily Article

New Mom Dies Helping a Shooting Victim.

More excerpts from the article………………………………………………… “Wager, then, without hesitation” What, then, of Christians whose evil acts harm victims made by God in his image (Genesis 1:27) and beloved by his Son (Romans 5:8)? As we saw yesterday, God sometimes—but not always—protects people from evils perpetrated by the misuse of human freedom. This is just one dimension of the larger fact that the Lord does not always do what it seems his character as the God who “is” love (1 John 4:8) should require him to do. In such crises, we have a binary choice: we can decide that he is not who his word claims him to be (despite evidence of his transformational love), or we can decide that he is who his word claims him to be (despite innocent suffering in our fallen world). Each decision requires faith to believe despite arguments to the contrary. It may be that Pascal’s Wager can help us here. The mathematical and philosophical genius wrote: Let us weigh the gain and the loss of wagering that God is. Let us estimate these two chances. If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation that [God] is. Now let’s add this: A relationship with God, like any other relationship, requires a commitment that transcends evidence and becomes self-validating. You cannot prove that you should go to a particular school, trust a particular friend, or marry a particular person—until you do. You examine the evidence, to be sure, but then you must make a decision that becomes self-affirming. In the same way, when we choose to trust God even though we do not understand him, our trust positions us to receive his healing presence in ways we cannot prove but can truly experience. [1]Robert J. Dean, Bible Studies for Life, Fall 2007, Herschel Hobbs Commentary (LifeWay Christian Resources, n.d.), 128. [2]William Barclay, ed., The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia, PA: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 290–291. [3]R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 296. [4]Adrian Rogers, “How to Weather the Storms of Life,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Mt 7:24–27. [5]Thoralf Gilbrant, “Πέτρα,” The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary, The Complete Biblical Library (WORDsearch, 1991). [6]R. E. Neighbour, Wells of Living Water: New Testament, vol. 7, Wells of Living Water (Union Gospel Press, 1940), 93. [7]John F. MacArthur Jr., Matthew, vol. 1, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), 481–482. [8]David Guzik, Matthew, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Mt 7:24–27. [9]John Phillips, Exploring the Gospel of Matthew: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch, 2014), Mt 7:24–27. [10]R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2001), 258–259. [11]Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Matthew & Mark, ed. Robert Frew (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 81. [12]John F. MacArthur Jr., Matthew, vol. 1, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), 484. [13]Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 32. [14]C. H. Spurgeon, “The Two Builders and Their Houses,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 16 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1870), 132. [15]Christianity Today, Today’s Best Sermons: 52 Sermons on Discipleship & Spiritual Growth, vol. 2, Today’s Best Sermons (Christianity Today, 1998).