Matthew 7:24-27 Prayer and a Parable
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 539 viewsNotes
Transcript
Prayer and a Parable
Prayer and a Parable
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
When we come to this verse, the first word we find is the word “therefore.”
Therefore, refers us back to what was previously said. In this case I believe he is referring us back to the previous ten verses.
Beginning with verse 13
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
He goes on to explain in the next few verses that we are known by our fruits. But we are not saved by our fruits.
We are known by our fruits.
In fact, he makes this clear in what he says in verse 21-23
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
So again, we are not saved by our fruits. We are saved to produce fruit.
In fact many will appear to be fruitful, but they are not known by God.
And God will judge them.
What’s clear from verse 22, is that the reason they are not known is that they are relying upon their own works to save them.
You know this because when they are not allowed in, their immediate response is to seek to justify themselves.
They start talking about all the things they have done that they believe make them acceptable in God’s sight.
What a tragic few verses of Scripture this is for the unbeliever.
Can you imagine in the final judgment people standing before a holy God pleading their own case for why they are righteous enough for God to accept them?
They will call him Lord, Lord, and he will say to them, “Depart from me.”
In that moment, they will understand that their only hope was in Christ, but rather than crying out to Him, laying down their own efforts, and looking unto to Him alone, they sought to earn the favor of God through their own worthless works.
This passage begs the question: What are we trusting in on judgment day?
What will be your plea before the Holy Holy Holy God?
I listened to a portion of a sermon this week by Alistair Begg. He’s one of my favorites to listen to. He has an Irish accent, so anything he says sounds smarter.
But in the sermon, he was talking about the thief on the cross.
And He said something to the effect of this-
Can you imagine the thief on the cross arriving in heaven? How did that shake out for Him?” He was just a few moments prior to arriving in paradise cursing and hurling insults at the Son of God? He had never been to a Bible study, never been baptized, never been to church, and yet, you made it here ? The angels in Heaven probably looked at him like, “Who are you?” We’ve never heard your name up here before? Maybe the angels said to him, What are you doing here? And he said, I don’t know. What? What do you mean you don’t know? I don’t know. So the angels go and get their supervisor.
Lets’s just ask you some questions here.
Are you a a clear on the doctrines of justification by faith alone? And he would say to them, I ‘ve never heard of it before? What about the doctrine of Scripture? No clue.
The supervisor angel becoming frustrated would say to the thief-
On what basis are you here thief?
And he said, I have no plea, except this, “The man on the middle cross said I could come.” Amen. That is the only answer that’s acceptable for any of us.
“Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me”
Thats the foundation that stands.
Look at the parable.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
What words is he referring to? “Enter through the narrow Gate.”
The foundation that stands is foundation that is built upon the rock of Christ.
The wise man builds his house upon the rock, because he knows that one day, winds will come, the rain will fall, the flood waters will rise and he knows he needs more than sand holding Him up.
And what happens when the winds and floods and rains come on the house that is built upon the rock?
The house will stand?
What happens when judgment comes upon the man or woman who has built their life upon Jesus? They will stand firm.
On the other hand there is another house.
“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
the foolish man ignores the fact that rains will come, floods will rise, winds will come, and when the day comes where he faces the realities of those judgment, the house falls, and great was the fall of it.
In the same way, the foolish person today builds their life upon the sand of their own works, and one day when judgment comes, their house will fall, because there is no foundation there.
This parable is clear in what it says, and its clear on how we should apply it.
Its clear that this parable is a warning for people.
Storms are coming, the rain is coming, the winds are coming. And just to be clear, he is not giving us a lesson in home building, although this is generally acceptable advice. I believe that this is not a reference to physical home, but your spiritual house.
I believe this is in reference to what he just got through speaking about. One day there is going to be a judgment.
One day, we will all stand and face the rain, winds, and floods of his own judgment.
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,
The question on that day, established by the context of this parable is this-
Will you be apart of the few- that took the narrow way that leads to life.
Or will you be apart of the many, that took the broad path that leads to destruction
Will you be apart of the small group of those whose fruit prove that there was life in the tree?
Or will you be apart of the large group of those who did not bear good fruit and will be cast down.
Will you be apart of the few who build their house on the rock and are able to stand having been clothed by Christ and founded upon his righteousness as the only hope your salvation.
Or will you be apart of the many, who will have built their house upon sand and when the strong rain, wind, and flood of God’s judgment come, your house will fall and the great is the fall of it.
My prayer is that we will be those on that day- whose houses are built on the rock.
“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,”