False Foundations

Matthew 7:24-29

We have come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord has been extending an invitation since verse 13. His desire is that all people enter onto the narrow road through the narrow gate. He warned us of false prophets in verses 15-20, false professions in verses 21-23, and now He warns us of false foundations. The three warnings are necessary because they warn against the deception that so many people fall into. Deception causes a person to think that their relationship with God is fine. Therefore, they do not search for the narrow gate. This final analogy is meant to wake up His hearers and compel them to take a hard look at their lives to determine if they are building on a rock or on sand. With this final analogy Jesus teaches us that there are only two types of people in the world. There are wise people and there are foolish people.

The Wise Man

The word “wise” describes a person that is sensible. In context it is a person that simply applies the word of God to their daily lives. Wise does not mean smart or intelligent. One could be gifted in knowledge and soar academically yet still be foolish. The wise man has heard the words of Jesus and afterward obeys them.

“These sayings of mine” refers back to the entire sermon. We know that a great crowd of people had been listening to Jesus. However, by Jesus own words we know that not everyone is going to obey Him. The broad road is full and few are on the narrow road. Some of those in the crowd would grab hold of what Jesus was teaching. They would humble themselves and desert their own self righteousness. They would take seriously His warning about the judgment to come. They would place their faith in Him exchanging their own righteousness for righteousness greater than the scribes and Pharisees. They would pray, fast, and give with the proper motive. They would store up their treasures in heaven. They would make the kingdom of God their priority. They would strive to live a life of personal integrity without being judgmental and critical. They would enter through the narrow gate of Christ’s sacrifice. They would be discerning about false teachers and sincere in searching their own hearts about the relationship they had with God.

Jesus says the person that obeys what He says is like a man that builds his house on a rock. The house is a metaphor for the person’s life. The rock is the person and teachings of Christ. The word for rock is “petra”. It is not just one rock but an area where there is a large expanse of bedrock. Such an area would be the ideal place to build a home.

So we have a man that is searching. He is looking for the proper way to live His life (build his house). He hears the teachings of Christ (the rock) and determines that the words of Jesus are true and that He will live His life by them. He enters the narrow gate and begins to strive to live His life by the teachings of the Lord. This is a picture of genuine conversion. He didn’t just acknowledge the rock. He did more than believe in the rock. He set out to build a house on the rock. Genuine conversion leads a person to obedience to the Word of God. 1 John 2:3-4 says “And hereby we do now that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him”. The greatest difference between the wise and the foolish man is that the wise man hears the sayings of Christ “and doeth them” the foolish man “doeth them not”.

The wise man lives a life of obedience to the teachings of Christ. He builds his house on a rock. Then one day a storm comes. The storm is described as pretty serious. The wind blew, the rain descended and the floods came. Some believe that the storm represents the trials of life. It is true that storms can reveal if our faith is genuine or not. More than that, I think the storm represents the judgment of God. A good analogy of this is the story of the death angel that passed over the homes of the Israelites yet killed the first born of the Egyptians. The judgment of God came to Egypt. Many homes felt that judgment, the Jews however did not experience it because the blood of the lamb was on their door post. Judgment is coming to this world. The wise man, however, has nothing to fear. When God’s judgment comes his house will stand because it is built on the solid rock of Christ and His teachings.

I love the fact that Jesus says that the house of the wise man “fell not”. One may wonder how a house could stand such a severe storm. The answer is found in what the house is built on. It is built on the rock. The home was built with the same material as others. Outwardly it looked the same as other homes that were destroyed. The difference is that it was built on a rock. We appear like all other people. We are all made of dust. The judgment of God is far too much for us to handle. Yet because we are built upon Christ when the judgment of God comes we will stand while others fall. Christ is holding us up. While the world falls in judgment we will stand in victory. All around us will be destroyed homes, fallen trees and scattered refuse. Yet we will remain upright. We will not fall in the Day of Judgment because our foundation is Christ!

The Foolish Man

The foolish man built his house on sand. Sand is not trustworthy. It shifts. It is loose and movable. It washes away with the tide. To build a home on sand is to ensure disaster. The foolish man builds his house on sand with a false confidence that it will stand. He was not looking to lose his home. We have to wonder, however, why he would build on sand.

* Perhaps he was in hurry. He had other priorities so he just found a place and quickly built.

* Perhaps he liked the area. Maybe there was something that pleased him. Perhaps it was right on the beach and he loved the view.

*Perhaps he was ignorant. Maybe somebody told him that it was fine to build on the sand. No storm had come that way in a long time.

Whatever his reasoning was, ultimately we know that he built upon the sand because he was foolish. We do know that he heard the sayings of Jesus. He was informed of the right way to build his home. He simply rejected the advice. This is what made him foolish. The storm came and destroyed everything he had built. Jesus says “great was the fall of it”. That describes the extent of the damage. The home was completely destroyed. You could not even tell that a house had been standing there after the storm passed.

The foolish man represents everyone that lives their life apart from obedience to Christ. That is the majority of the world. Let’s consider the people that are building on the sinking sand.

*There are the unbelievers. These are people that completely reject Christ. They have adopted a belief in a false go or philosophy. They are building their life on their beliefs. They seem to have a good life. Many have succeeded in this world. They have money, cars, fame, and friends. Their house may seem like a mansion compared to some that are building on Christ. Sadly, judgment is coming. It will completely destroy everything they have worked so hard to build.

* There are the unconcerned. Many of these people believe in Christ intellectually. They may have even made a decision somewhere down the road. They have a certificate of baptism and maybe even belong to a church. Because of this they think that all is well. However, their faith has never gone any farther than some mental assent to the facts of Christ. They seldom or never go to church. But because of some outward act they believe that they are on the rock. When the judgment of God comes they will find that they were wrong. They had no desire to obey the teachings of Christ, they just agreed with them. John Macarthur says that the major problem in evangelism in the church is not follow up, it is conversion. I think I agree with him. We are so quick to have someone fill out a card or join our church that we fail to share with them the full gospel. We are afraid to tell people they must repent and love the Lord.

* There are the unconverted. These are people that believe the facts about Jesus and are very religious. They enjoy doing religious things. They go to church and participate in all its events. Yet they live a life of ungodliness and rebellion toward God. They see no problem with sin because Christ has died for them. They are not living in obedience and have no desire to. Their hypocrisy will be rewarded when the judgment of God comes and their house falls.

The Response

The response of the people was astonishment. The reason was the authority of Jesus. He did not teach like the other teachers the people had heard. The authority of the day on religious matters was the scribes. They knew the law like the back of their hand. Yet Christ taught with greater authority than even they did. His knowledge of the word completely dwarfed their knowledge. He corrected the leading rabbi’s of the day and broadened the peoples understanding of the things of God. I can almost see the people sitting there with their mouths hung wide open. They were blown away at what they had heard.

What did Jesus want them to do? Did He want them to just sit there astonished? It’ interesting that He didn’t say “Now if you want to go to heaven raise your hand.” He didn’t pass out decision cards or say ‘Repeat this prayer after me”. He simply finished with a warning to the people. If the refused His teachings they would experince a great fall. If they obeyed them they would stand on the Day of Judgment.

How will we respond? Will we adopt the teachings of Christ or simply be astonished at them. Will we obey them or just agree with them. Will we accept them or reject them? The choice is ours and it is the most important choice that we will ever make.

It’s important to remember that we can’t obey this sermon on our own. Jesus isn’t telling us to reform our lives. He is telling us to enter in through the gate and then He will enable us to live for Him. There must, however, be a heart for Him. We must desire to obey and serve Him. We can live our life our own way. But we must acknowledge that if we do we are building on sinking sand. Or we can live our life God’s way. Our life may not be as exciting as others. We may not have the amount of riches that others have. In the end, by the grace of God, our house will stand. We will enter into the joy of the Lord. We will forever be His children, children of the kingdom.