A Solid Foundation

Well good morning. Today we come to the final sermon in our series Greatest. Sermon. Ever. We have marched section by section through Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and

Jesus gives a command and then an illustration to support that command.

Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Foundation, Importance of)

If you have ever lived in or visited a large city, you probably have had the chance to watch a skyscraper under construction. For the first six months or so of the project, all the workmen do is make a great hole in the ground. To build a tall building by starting far below the surface level seems absurd, even crazy. But, as you would suspect, there is a good reason for the large hole. To build a mammoth building, it is first necessary to dig down until a strong foundation can be built, one that is capable of supporting the skyscraper.A doghouse needs no foundation, and an ordinary house can be built on little more than a concrete slab. But a skyscraper, that’s different. It requires a deep and solid foundation.

Matthew 7:24–29 ESV

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

PRAY

Jesus uses the word everyone. This means that Jesus intends this story to apply to anyone who heard his words. In your reading of it or hearing of it read, it applies to you as well.

I. Two houses built on two foundations by two men.

In verse 24, when Jesus refers to “these words of mine”, He is talking about the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount.

To hear the Sermon on Mount is to hear Jesus. (not simply Jesus’s words)

I have heard some people claim that they follow the teachings of Jesus, meaning that they disregard the rest of what the Bible says. Now, obviously they are not following His teachings. But, there is no difference between Jesus’s words and the rest of Scripture when it comes to reliability, authority, and sufficiency.

Simply hearing and understanding the teaching of Jesus’s is not sufficient. Being a follower of Jesus Christ, a disciple, requires putting the teaching of Christ to action.

Be a doer and not just a hearer.

James 1:22–25 ESV

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

A. The wise man

Used bedrock as opposed to soil or sand for the foundation of the house.

Where you live.

David Platt:

Exalting Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount How to Be Wise and Not a Fool 7:24-29

We must hear Jesus. When he says that there is a storm coming, he is not talking about what we so often identify as the “storms of life.” Those storms are real and they are painful—storms like cancer, divorce and losing a loved one—and the Bible certainly addresses them. However, Jesus is referring to a cataclysmic reality, a final and utterly devastating storm of the future judgment of God. (Exalting Jesus, 100)

Revelation brings responsibility. The word that is translated “wise” is phronimos and appears seven times in the book of Matthew. Most frequently it’s used describing one who wisely gets ready for the coming of the Messiah. Quarles points out that they do this by faithful service and obedient living.

B. The foolish man

A storm was a familiar image for end times judgement in the Old Testament. This follows through into the New Testament as well.

Jeremiah 23:19–20 ESV

19 Behold, the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

Jeremiah 25:32 ESV

32 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth!

Isaiah 28:16–22 ESV

16 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’ 17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.” 18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it. 19 As often as it passes through it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be sheer terror to understand the message. 20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in. 21 For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim; as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused; to do his deed—strange is his deed! and to work his work—alien is his work! 22 Now therefore do not scoff, lest your bonds be made strong; for I have heard a decree of destruction from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.

Ezekiel 13:10–16 ESV

10 Precisely because they have misled my people, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, these prophets smear it with whitewash, 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! There will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.

Matthew 24:37–39 ESV

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Danny Akin writes, “Jesus warns his listeners by saying, you deceived yourself into thinking you will be ready, and you are not. You thought listening was enough. You thought superficial allegiance, casual and comfortable Christianity, would suffice. But on that day you will discover you were wrong.”

II. Two Outcomes when the storm comes.

rivers came - refers to flash floods

A. One stands

B. One falls

fall was great - indicates complete destruction

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 7

Since OT writers described God’s wrath using the image of a great storm (Is 28:16–17; Ezk 13:10–13), the storm that destroys the house on the sand is a picture of divine judgment. Hence, the person who hears and acts on Jesus’s teaching is prepared for judgment. The one who hears but doesn’t act on Jesus’s words will be destroyed in the storm of judgment.

Proverbs 12:7 ESV

7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

Proverbs 14:11 ESV

11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish.

III. Jesus teaches from authority.

The crowds recognized Jesus’s authority. His teaching was not based on the interpretation work of other rabbis as was common in that day. Instead He spoke prophetically on God’s behalf.

The Greek word for were amazed used here describes being amazed to the point of being overwhelmed. His teaching blew their minds!

Reminds us of

John 7:46 ESV

46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

Unlike any teacher ever because His authority resides in Himself.

Jesus was not preaching the Sermon on the Mount so that people would marvel at his skills as a communicator. He was preaching in order to produce obedience in His hearers.

CSB Study Bible: Notes Chapter 7

7:28–29 Jesus amazed the crowds with an authority that surpassed that of other teachers. First-century Jewish teachers appealed to the authority of their rabbinic predecessors. However, Jesus introduced his teachings with the contrast, “You have heard that it was said … but I tell you” (5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43). By this Jesus made clear that he had the authority to interpret the law independent from and even contrary to the Jewish oral tradition and the most esteemed rabbis. The words when Jesus had finished are important for understanding the structure of Matthew’s Gospel. See “Structure” in the Introduction to Matthew.

C.H. Spurgeon said, “He spoke royally: the truth itself was its own argument and demonstration. He taught prophetically, as one inspired from above; men felt that he [spoke] after the manner of one sent of God. It was no fault on their part to be astonished; but it was a grave crime to be astonished and nothing more.”

The words Jesus spoke are amazing and authoritative. And now it passes to us. We have heard the true teaching of the True Teacher. Will we obey His authoritative teaching and live as the wise man or will we continue in our own way and be wrecked when the storm comes?