Sermon Tone Analysis

Matthew 7:24-27

Hiawatha KS—Mount Hope Cemetery...there is a strange memorial to a farmer and his wife.

Himself an orphan, John Milburn Davis came to dislike his wife’s family as her family didn’t approve of the marriage.

Accordingly, he arranged that his fortune—well over $250,000—would not go to any of his wife’s relatives, but would be invested in an elaborate tomb for himself and his wife.

Sarah died in 1930 while John survived until 1947.

There are 11 life size statues of John and Sarah Davis, many stone urns and a marble canopy that is reported as weighing over 50 tons.

The statues are of the Davises as young lovers, seated discreetly at opposite ends of a loveseat.

Davis is clean shaven and has both his hands.

Other statues show him with a long beard and without his left hand, which he lost in an accident.

They depict the farmer and his wife at various stages of their lives.

The first statues commissioned by Davis shortly after his wife died were of Kansas granite.

They show the farmer as a lonely man seated beside an empty chair bearing the inscription “the vacant chair.”

The townspeople were pretty upset with Davis for not investing his wealth in the needs of the town (hospital, swimming pool)…some of the vandalism may have been outrage over the elaborate tomb.

Well, the tomb, b/c of its massive weight is slowly sinking into the ground b/c id didn’t have a proper foundation.

Today the memorial is known simply as “The Old Man’s Folly.”

Foundations determine the longevity of a structure.

Jesus teaches a parable to illustrate a similar truth to the previous vv (21-23).

There, the contrast was between ‘saying’ and ‘doing’, the contrast now is between ‘hearing’ and ‘doing’.

Similarities Between Wise and Foolish Men

Both heard the same “words” (gospel)

Both had same desire (to build a house)

Both had build same kind of house (what is house a metaphor of?)

Outwardly appearance was the same...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.

Both built in the same location

Apparently hit by the same storm.

In other words, the outward circumstances of their lives were essentially the same.

One had no advantage over the other.

Modern parallel: 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.

Differences Between the Two

Choice of Foundation (on the surface)—but goes beyond just Rock/Sand.

The key issue: does one act upon the words of Christ (obedience) or not (disobedience).

“An old and common sin is profession without practice” (Ryle).

The commonness of the problem is emphasized by it being addressed repeatedly in the Bible.

The problem is not a NT problem only:

Speaking of the reception given Ezekiel the prophet

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.

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

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.

Their only concern was for appearance, the compelling desire to be seen and “honored by men” (Matt.

6:2).

As Arthur Pink says of such people,

They bring their bodies to the house of prayer but not their souls; they worship with their mouths, but not “in spirit and in truth.”

They are sticklers for immersion or early morning communion, yet take no thought about keeping their hearts with all diligence.

They boast of their orthodoxy; but disregard the precepts of Christ.

Multitudes of professing Christians abstain from external acts of violence, yet hesitate not to rob their neighbors of a good name by spreading evil reports against them.

They contribute regularly to the “pastor’s salary,” but shrink not from misrepresenting their goods and cheating their customers, persuading themselves that “business is business.”

They have more regard for the laws of man than those of God, for His fear is not before their eyes.

Building on the rock is equivalent to obeying God’s Word.

(Why would Jesus put this man’s building first?)

The mark of true discipleship is not simply hearing and believing, but believing and doing.

The only validation we can ever have of salvation is a life of obedience.

That is the only proof Scripture mentions of our being under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Another key difference: the hard way vs. the easy way.

What is hard about proper building?

Why is the easy way attractive?

Of his own day Charles Spurgeon wrote,

Want of depth, want of sincerity, want of zeal in religion—this is the want of our times.

Want of an eye to God in religion, lack of sincere dealing with one’s soul, neglect of using the lancet with our hearts, neglect of the search warrant which God gives out against sin, carelessness concerning living upon Christ; much reading about Him, much talking about Him, but too little feeding on His flesh and drinking of His blood—these are the causes of a tottering profession and a baseless hope.

(Cited by Pink in An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974], p. 423)

What do rains & floods and winds represent?

Describe the different outcomes...

Can you think of ways in which you have heard the words of Jesus without putting them into practice?

What are the dangers of doing this?

John Stott:

Thus the Sermon ends on the same note of radical choice of which we have been aware throughout.

Jesus does not set before his followers a string of easy ethical rules, so much as a set of values and ideals which is entirely distinctive from the way of the world.

He summons us to renounce the prevailing secular culture in favour of the Christian counter-culture.

Repeatedly during our study we have heard his call to his people to be different from everybody else.

The response to Sermon on the Mount:

Ekplēssō (were amazed) literally means to be struck out of oneself, and was used figuratively of being struck in the mind, that is, of being astounded or beside oneself.

The crowd was totally dumbfounded by the power of what Jesus said.

They had never heard such comprehensive, insightful words of wisdom, depth, insight, and profundity.

They had never heard such straightforward and fearless denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees or such a black and white presentation of the way of salvation.

They had never heard such a fearful warning about the consequences of turning away from God.

They had never heard such a powerful and demanding description of true righteousness or such a relentless description and condemnation of self-righteousness.

Jesus’ Authority As Teacher

Jesus’ Authority As Christ

Jesus’ Authority As Lord

Jesus’ Authority As Savior

Jesus’ Authority As Judge

Jesus’ Authority As Son of God

Jesus’ Authority As God