Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-27)

Matthew 7:24–27 KJV 1900

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Introduction

Jesus does not speak in terms of good and bad in this conclusion.

He speaks in terms of wisdom and foolishness.

There is a certain level of self-service in this way.

Good and bad are judgments that other people make of a person’s behavior.

Wisdom and foolishness, on the other hand, have definite personal implications.

If I am wise with my time, who benefits?

If I am foolish with my money, who suffers?

This is certainly the case when it comes to actually living out the things that we have seen in the sermon on the mount.

Before we begin examining the details of this passage I thought it was interesting enough to point out what one commentator said.

In this passage we have a series of contrasts.

2 Builders

2 Foundations

2 Houses

1 Storm

2 Endings

I want you to imagine that the 2 houses exist within the same valley.

The region of Israel where Jesus grew up and where He was preaching, was filled with valleys.

Locals knew that you had to be careful building in these valleys because flooding was often a problem.

Storm seasons would come, without question.

Proper preparations must be made for the survival of a family’s home.

This is the wise course of action.

It doesn’t take too much research into the tendencies of humanity to know that we don’t always take the wise course of action.

What separates the wise builder from the foolish?

Though Jesus was a carpenter by trade, He is not talking about building an actual house.

He is talking about building a life.

Your life is not a collection of houses; it is a single house.

You don’t have a work house, family house, church house, and a hobby house.

Your life is a single house.

The house you build, is the house that you will have to live in.

The house you build is the house you will have to weather the storm in.

You can’t trade your house for someone else’s house.

Nothing is said about this house besides it’s foundation.

We don’t know how big.

We don’t know how many rooms.

We don’t know if it had vaulted ceilings, or even if it was energy efficient.

All we know is that it was built upon a rock.

If I want to build a physical house on a rock, all I have to do is find a rock big enough for my house.

I may have to dig down a little bit, but I know what a rock looks like and I pretty much know where to find them.

Building a house on the rock, may take extra work.

It may take longer to build.

It may cost more.

You may not get to build exactly where you wanted to.

But, if I am looking to build my life on a solid foundation, where do I find a rock to build on?

What does a foundational life rock look like?

Jesus tells us exactly what we want to look for, if we are willing to build our lives upon a rock.

Foundational life rocks are found in the words of Jesus.

But…these rocks must be employed in the building process if you hope to see any benefits.

It’s not enough to hear about the rocks.

It’s not enough to see other people building on the rocks.

It’s not even enough to know exactly where to find the rocks.

Building your life upon the words of Jesus requires us to actually act upon the words of Jesus.

We’ve been studying the words of Jesus in this sermon since February.

We’ve covered a lot of topics.

We’ve discovered the truth of how God views different moral dilemmas.

We’ve preached the standard that Jesus has for our religious expressions.

I’m not going to go back and retrace all of our steps this morning.

Jesus is concluding this message by saying, you’ve heard what I’ve said, now, if you want to be my disciples, go and do it.

If Jesus is a good enough master for us to follow, then we ought to be willing to do what He prescribes for us.

If not, then why do we want to pretend to be His disciples?

Too often we really don’t trust Jesus’ way enough to actually follow Him.

Which is sad, because I want to point something out to you.

Following Jesus doesn’t just have natural benefits.

Though it does.

You will naturally be happier, healthier, and more stable if you follow Jesus’ words.

But, that is not the full extant of the blessings of following Jesus.

Obeying Jesus’ words will also brings supernatural pleasure upon your life.

There is a promise hidden in this passage for the disciple that obeys His master.

Jesus says that He will personally liken that disciple to the wise man.

What does this mean for the man and his house?

The wise man’s house stands up to the storm.

The storm hits the house from all sides.

It tests each part of the builder’s work.

Rain falls from above trying to get in through the roof.

Winds blow in from the sides trying to knock down the walls.

The floods rise from below seeking to destroy the valuable things within.

Because the house founded on the rock, it withstands the pressures of the storm.

Eventually, the elements ease their assault.

Eventually, the sun comes back out.

The house on the rock is still standing.

Jesus is telling His would-be disciples that, if they will obey His words, He will insure that their life will withstand the storms that come against them.

For those who reject this direction, there is no such guarantee.

This leads us to the second house in the valley.

The second house was built by a foolish man...

Again, we are not talking about a literal structure; we are talking about a life.

The person constructing this life has the same opportunity that the first builder had.

They too have heard the words of Jesus, and yet they have a completely different reaction.

This person chooses instead to go a different direction from the one prescribed by the Master.

Jesus says that the person who hears but doesn’t do, “shall be likened unto a foolish man.”

There is a difference in this phrase from the one regarding the wise man.

The wise man has a promise that Jesus will insure he is likened to the builder who founded his house on a rock.

For the foolish man, Jesus does not take an active role in this man’s demise.

The wise man is protected from ruin, the foolish man is not actively ruined, but he is left to suffer the consequences of his actions.

Those who ignore the words of Jesus are building their lives, like a house, on the sand.

Go back to the valley that we talked about in the beginning.

The first house was built on the rock.

It was honestly a difficult decision to make.

The rocky area was not great for growing things.

The house design had to make some changes to accommodate the shape of the rock.

If my plan and the rock don’t match, guess which one has to change.

Let’s be honest, the rocks weren’t always the most comfortable thing to walk on.

This second house was built on the sand.

Every so often when those storms come through and flood the valley, soft, fertile soil is left behind.

This soil is great for growing things.

This soil is easy to level out and shape just the way you want it.

This soft soil, honestly feels really good under your feet.

As long as the wether is fair, the house on the sand seems to be in a better position.

The house on the sand, however, must face the same storm that buffeted the house on the rock.

Neither the wise nor the foolish man get to escape the experience of the storm.

One is ready for it, the other is not.

As the sand turns to mud from the floods, the walls of the house have nothing to anchor themselves to withstand the wind.

As the house shifts, cracks and openings begin to form allowing the rain to enter the house and ruin it’s contents.

Eventually the house collapses in a heap of great destruction.

The foolish man is then tempted to blame the storm.

Jesus has already revealed the cause of it’s fall; it lacked a firm foundation.

Jesus’ last words in this sermon were a challenge to decide to obey His words for the sake of the life His listeners were building.

Wise men will hear Him and obey.

Fools will hear Him and ignore.

Both lives carry certain consequences.

Which life are you building today?

Application:

It’s not about obeying the preacher or some other influence in your life.

It’s about obeying Jesus.

Would you rather face life’s storms with His words as your foundation or on your own?

The words in this sermon construct a sound blueprint for our lives.