Brothers and sisters, this morning the question that is set before us in our passage of Scripture is, “What are you building?” – more specifically, “On whom are you building?” And, “How are you going about this building?” Is it haphazardly, or is it according to plan and according to the means that is set out and given to us?
In the year 1173, construction began on a tower that looked impressive and rather elegant, both on paper and in its initial phases. However, after only a couple of stories of this tower were built, problems began to emerge as the foundation was too shallow, and in addition, the underlying soil was soft and unstable. Construction was paused, and it was paused for a number of years due to war and a number of other aspects, but also to do with the tilt of this tower. Engineers were brought in, further construction and builders began to add a little bit here and there, but ultimately there was more and more concern about the lean of this tower. Today, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy is very, very well-known, but its fame is actually built on a foundation defect.
Another example – we looked at the life of King Saul just a couple of weeks ago in our evening services, and you may remember that on the surface, Saul came across as a strong and a very successful man. He was chosen by God to be the king of Israel. He had great public approval by all the people within the country. And on top of that, whenever he led Israel into battle, there were significant victories. However, when he was tested by the storms of his own sinful inclinations, he chose public approval and he chose personal pleasure over obedience to the Lord his God. Saul’s downfall was not caused by the storms that he faced, but rather his downfall was the result of a flawed foundation that ultimately the storms exposed.
And that’s partly what we are going to see in our passage this morning. So turn with me to Matthew chapter 7. We are going to be diving into one of the parables that the Lord Jesus Christ tells in verses 24 through 27. It’s a well-known parable. It’s the parable of the rock and the sand. But in order for us to understand the parable, we must read it within its broader context. And so we are going to be reading from verse 13 through 29. If you’re using the pew Bible, it’s on page 812.
Now verse 13 through 29 – this is the conclusion to the greatest sermon ever preached. The greatest sermon not simply because of the content of the sermon, but it is the greatest sermon ever preached because the one who was preaching it was the precise, perfect, obedient embodiment of everything that He was proclaiming. In other words, His life matched His speech. It matched His actions. It matched who He was. And so here is the combination of everything that Jesus has taught in the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. And this conclusion is designed to grip the hearer’s attention, to stop us in our tracks, and to consider what is being proposed here.
Here, Jesus confronts every person’s greatest spiritual danger. You can appear religious, but you can remain utterly disconnected from the one who is the source of eternal life. And the difference between standing and falling is not what we say about Jesus or what we believe about Jesus, but it’s whether we know Him and whether we obey Him. That’s Jesus’ gracious warning to us at the end of this magnificent sermon. Your hypocrisy, my self-deception, it will not stand on that last day. So stop and please consider your life in light of the one who is the author and the giver and the sustainer of life itself. And also consider your life in light of all that Jesus has taught up until this point and what He will continue to teach throughout the gospels.
Now the parables – let’s take a step back. The parables are often referred to as stories with intent. Stories with intent. This past year, we’ve been looking at a number of the parables at The Day School, and one of the things I wanted to leave them with as a definition was a simple definition. And you could say that a parable is a simple, short story that teaches a deeper, spiritual truth. A simple, short story that teaches a deeper, spiritual truth. Each parable is an analogy or it’s a story that the audience would have immediately been able to relate to. You think about the good Samaritan, the sowing of the seeds, the fishnet, the burglar. We can identify with those stories, those analogies. And that analogy acts as a springboard into the lesson that is being proposed and set before the crowds about the kingdom of God and about the kingdom of heaven.
So how does one enter the kingdom of heaven? In other words, how are you born again? How does God regenerate the soul in order that we may respond with faith and repentance? How do we grow in the kingdom? How are we sanctified? How are we matured? How does God bring forth fruit in our lives? How do we live in the kingdom? That’s the ethics of the kingdom. Now that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, how do you think about how you live out your life in the decisions that you need to face every new day? And then of course, how do you finish well in the kingdom? All the parables fall into – how do you enter, how do you grow, how do you live, how do you finish well in the kingdom? And you see, all of it really culminates and comes to a concluding point in the parable that is before us, because in every single one of these parables, all the lessons of Jesus, He’s asking the question, “Are we building with resolve on the right foundation, placing our hope and our joy in Christ alone? Is that what we are doing?”
And what we are going to see in this passage before us this morning is that challenge. And so let’s give our attention to the hearing of God’s Word, and before we do so, let’s bow our heads and ask Him to help us. Let’s pray.
Our Father in heaven, we do thank You and we praise You for this moment where we submit ourselves to You. Lord, take Your Word and feed Your people. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Matthew chapter 7, reading from verse 13 through to verse 29. This is God’s Word:
“‘Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. 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. 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.’
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”
We thank God for His holy, inspired, inerrant Word.
Some of the words that I’ve just read are, they’re some of the toughest words in Scripture to read and also to listen to because of the implications that it carries for each and every one of us. Sinclair Ferguson said this, he said, “The deeper you go in your knowledge of God” – and when he speaks of “knowledge of God” he’s talking about an experiential knowledge of God and knowing of God, not just simply an intellectual understanding – but, “The deeper you go in your knowledge of God, the stronger you are going to be when the crisis comes and the storm breaks.” Now I wonder if you heard the resounding theme that is embedded in verses 24 through 27 of the text. Here’s Jesus, after everything that He has taught, He concludes with these words that are essentially a call to action. Friends, the difference between godly wisdom and utter foolishness does not concern the hearing of God’s Word alone, but rather, it has everything to do with hearing God’s Word and obeying it. Hearing God’s Word and obeying it. You see, only the life that is built on Christ and a growing – not perfect – but a growing obedience to Him will withstand the storms that inevitably come. And only that life that is tethered to Christ will stand on the day of the greatest storm of all, the storm of God’s judgment when we stand before Him one day. This is the urgent message that Jesus places before us this morning.
So let’s put our passage in context, shall we, and I want you to see the sequence of contrasts that Jesus puts before the audience from verse 13, which of course is this concluding paragraph to the sermon. Notice in verse 13 that we have two ways that Jesus sets before people. Jesus calls all who hear the Gospel to “enter in.” In other words, don’t just admire the teaching of the kingdom. No, to build wisely means that we are to enter into through the narrow gate. Broad is the path and many will go down that route, but few will come to the narrow gate and enter through and onto the narrow path.
Verse 15, we have to trees. So there’s two ways; there’s two trees. This is the first of the warnings that Jesus puts before the people and it’s a warning against false prophets. Those are the hypocrites who connive and who deceive through their religious sweet talk. But notice what he says – “their end is to destroy.” They’re called “ravenous wolves.” Their purpose is to bring harm. And you can see them from their fruit, He says. A healthy tree bears good fruit; a diseased tree bears bad fruit. And so it’s the fruit that reveals its nature. It’s the fruit that reveals its nature. So two ways, two trees.
Then verse 21 through 23, we have two claims. It’s a further warning, and it’s a warning concerning those who have the appearance of religious language. “Lord, Lord,” or the appearance of religious action – “Didn’t we do? Didn’t we do?” But their heart is far from Him. Their religion is an outward facade with no substance anchored and tethered to the Lord.
And you see, all of this culminates in the fourth of those contrasts. In verses 24 through 27, we have the two builders. The two builders. And I want you to notice that both houses face the same external conditions. Do you see that? Look at verse 25. “And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house.” Verse 27, “And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house.” You see, the external factors or not the issue as to whether one stands and one falls, but rather, it’s about one of them having the foundation secure on the bedrock. The person took time to plumb the depths, to go down deep and to find where it can be properly anchored and then built, while the other simply rested on sand. What matters lies below the surface. What matters lies below the surface.
And friends, the parable truly does illustrate the danger that lurks when we hear the Word of God. When you hear, “Repent of your sin. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ,” the difference is whether you hear the Word of God or whether you embrace and do it, you truly do repent and you come and believe and you grow in obedience.
So there’s a couple of things that I want to bring out of the text this morning. The first one is embedded in verses 24 and 25. Notice that true disciples are wise builders. True disciples are wise builders. They hear and do Christ’s words. They hear and they do Christ’s words. Those first few words of Jesus are pretty significant in setting the tone for the parable at large. See what he says in verse 24? “Everyone then” – in the original, by the way, it actually is, “Therefore, everyone,” and that’s pretty important because the “therefore” connects you to the immediate verses prior to that to the conclusion from verse 13 onwards and also to the rest of the sermon. “Therefore, then, therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like the wise man.” Now what are “these words of Mine” that Jesus is referencing in verse 24? Well, you need to remember that this is the conclusion, isn’t it? It’s the conclusion to the sermon. Jesus is referring to all that He has said up until this point in the sermon on the mount.
And so let me remind you of a couple of the things. He’s saying, “Reconcile with your brother. Deal with anger. Pursue purity. Love your enemies. Be truthful. Pray sincerely. Give humbly. Seek God’s kingdom first. Stop hypocritical judgment. Ask, seek and knock. Walk the narrow road. Enter the narrow gate.” That’s a tall order when you listen to what He is asking of us in the sermon on the mount. But you see, the wise builder takes Jesus seriously. A wise builder doesn’t pick and choose what is appropriate for their lives, but they take every statement seriously. A disciple does not give Jesus lip service or simply listen, but rather, a true disciple, this wise builder, hears the Word of God, embraces the Word of God, and seeks to act upon the Word of God. And notice that Jesus defines wisdom as obedience. Wisdom is obedience.
Now will we ever obey and do things perfectly? No, we’re not calling, Jesus is not calling us to sinless perfectionism. But the proof of genuine faith is not perfection; the proof of genuine faith is a growing obedience. It’s a growing obedience. You see, genuine faith shows itself in the whole personality. Every facet of who we are, we strive to have it conform to the Word and conformed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so our prayer, when we see the inner workings of our hearts, when we see how we are disobedient in some areas and we still need to be sanctified in those areas, our prayer is, “O God, make me more like Jesus Christ. Slay my sin. Awaken my conscience. Conform me. Take Your Word; plant it deep within me. Take Your Holy Spirit and shape and mold me into the likeness of Your Son. I want to be a wise builder. I want to be a wise servant of My King.” That’s the cry of our hearts when we see what is going on deep within.
Now I want you to see that the parable is connected – it’s not a separate lesson from verses 21 through 23. Look at the text please. But this parable is actually an outworking, it’s an explaining of these verses. When a person truly loves the Lord their God and understands what Christ has done for them, to know that we have been brought into fellowship with the living God, that we have a hope, that we have peace, notice that it instills a vibrant desire and an overwhelming compulsion to speak and to act and to do and to live in a manner that pleases the King of kings. And do you see what Jesus is saying in verses 21 through 23? There are many people who think they are His disciples, but they are devoid of this vibrant relationship and there’s no evidence of fruitfulness, which comes from grace.
Friends, each of us needs to consider this warning fairly seriously. Are we merely giving verbal assent to Christ with no marks of holiness and the pursuit of obedience in our lives? Do we find it easier to rebel against or pick and choose what we want to listen to in God’s Word? Or do we find ourselves striving to submit to it in every possible way? Matthew Henry, the great commentator from the 17th century, said this. He says, “It’s not enough to hear Christ’s sayings, it’s not enough to understand them and remember them; it’s not enough to hear them and talk about them. It’s not enough to hear them and repeat them and even to defend them. We must hear them and do them. We must hear them and do them.” We are to embrace Christ with heart, soul, mind and strength. We are to love Him with everything within us and desire to be conformed to Him.
In fact, that is the message that is over and over and over again throughout the Scriptures – “Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” Over and over and over again, His disciples are called to build upon and to remain anchored to this wonderful and glorious Savior, this Redeemer, out of which we get life and life in abundance. Brothers and sisters, as Christ’s disciple, your life must be built on the Word made flesh, on Jesus Christ, and upon every word that is uttered from here. And when we fall short, we run to the Savior to ask Him to continue not just to forgive us but to shape us and to mold us that we can be more fervent ambassadors for Him.
The second thing I wanted us to draw out is in verses 26 and 27 of the text. Notice that the foolish builder hears and speaks of Jesus and is satisfied with that. The foolish builder hears and speaks of Jesus and is satisfied with that. “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.” And then notice the same sequence of events. “The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell.” And notice the phrase after that – “and great was the fall of it.” In the near eastern culture, that would have been understood very clearly by the audience, and what Jesus was placing before them was that the audience would have been surprised, the builder would have been surprised. They were hoping that it was going to stand, “but great was the fall of it.” It’s not just about the house at that point; it’s about their pride and everything else. “Great was the fall of it.”
You know this, but each and every one of us is building a house, so to speak. And one day, our foundation will be exposed. And here, Jesus is referring to people who have heard the good news, they have studied it, they have pondered it, they have memorized vast portions of Scripture perhaps, and they have learned to say nice and polite and theologically orthodox and enthusiastic things about Jesus, but they fall short of obedient submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ. They do not build on and they are not living out of Christ Himself. I think you can agree with me that we desperately need the Holy Spirit to expose if we are self-deluded. You know, like the builder that Jesus describes, everything that is not built on Jesus is sand. It will wash away, and eternally we are without hope. We must be grounded to the Rock Himself.
And this is why we need to understand the tests of life as a vital component. These trials, the storms, they are actually the grace of God to us. God graciously uses your personal sufferings, your family struggles, your financial woes, the temptations that regularly assail our souls, even persecution itself. All of these storms are God’s grace to show us ourselves and to give us a little bit of an insight into whom we are building upon. What’s going on below the surface? Are we truly turning to the Lord our God? Are we turning to the Lord in prayer, reading His Word, relying upon Christian brothers and sisters who will carry us in prayer in those times of trouble? We don’t want to get to the place where we face the greatest storm of all, being God’s judgment, and we hear those words, “I did not know you,” as the text says. It’s too late at that point.
You know, one of the things – if you’ve ever visited a financial advisor – one of the things that you may have heard is that the sooner you prepare for your future, the better. In other words, in life, always keep the future in mind. I think that’s pretty sound spiritual advice as well. We all know that we are going to stand before God one day, and it would be good for us to live each and every day in light of that great and momentous occasion. But the foolish builder gets caught up, don’t they. They get caught up in the immediate and in the visible, building this gorgeous facade that is impressive. Make no mistake, it’s impressive – religious language, religious actions – but superficial from an eternal vantage point. But it’s the wise builder who builds with the focus on the glory of Christ. It’s about the Lord Jesus. It’s about loving Him. It’s about loving our fellow image bearers to the best of our ability and asking God for grace accordingly. It’s about deepening our desire to make Jesus known so that the Gospel can go forth. Why? Because a wise person prioritizes, pursues and is possessed by an obedience to truth. We prioritize, we pursue, and we are possessed by an obedience to truth. That’s what we strive after.
Friends, be mindful, as the text says, that there are many who profess Christ, who hope for heaven, but their lives are built on the sand. They are eternally foolish, Jesus is saying. And the Lord is saying, “Take stock. Make sure that your life is lived out as an expression of your faith and your hope and your love of the Lord Jesus Himself.” And if it is, if it is, then you will get to glimpse of the fruit when you face the difficulties of life. And that will give you a slight insight into the foundation that you are building upon.
And that brings me to the third point, and very quickly, this parable is a renewed reminder to us that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Only upon Him is it worth building our lives, only on Him. Notice in the text that both builders heard the same words, they faced the same storms, and they both wanted the same outcome; they both wanted the same outcome. The difference was obedience, and that was counted as wisdom. You know, one of the most sobering truths that emerges from Scripture is the truth that, or the fact that proximity to truth is not the same as submission to and obedience of truth. Proximity to truth is not the same as obedience to and submission to the truth. You think of Judas Iscariot. He was in the presence of the One who is Truth, and yet at the precise moment of temptation, the inclinations of his heart showed that he was actually not building on the right foundation as he betrayed the Son of God. A person can buy all the fitness books that they want, can watch all the workout videos, maintain a gym membership for years and years and years – none of those things will improve that person’s health unless they get off the sofa and go to the gym and get into an exercise regimen.
Modern society seeks the quick fix so that we can have the quick rewards. And brothers and sisters, that is a deathnail to the spiritual life and to our spiritual faith. What really matters is that it is about the patient perseverance and leaning on, growing in and trusting in Christ, daily and in every circumstance. That’s what God uses to shape our character and to grow us in obedience. And those are the things that people do not see in the short run, but God does. God does. One day, when Jesus inspects your foundation, not your appearances are going to count, it’s not about your popularity, it’s not about how liked you are in social circles, it’s not about your religious resume, it’s about your foundation. Friends, are you anchored to and are you tethered to the One who is the way, the truth and the life?
J.C. Ryle writes this interesting little quip in one of his commentaries. He says, “The day of judgment will reveal strange things. The day of judgment will reveal strange things. Many will be hopeful, many will say many thought they were building correctly, but great was the fall of it.” It’s a picture of self-deception finally being exposed, where religious language flitters away, where we are dumb and mute before the Lord our God. Where religious actions are exposed as being vacuous because it was all about self and not about the Lord Himself. Those who profess Christ, who did many things in His name, will hear those words, if they were not anchored to the Rock, they will hear those words, “I did not know you.” Great was the fall of their house of cards because they had no substance and no foundation.
Friends, it’s absolutely possible to hear Gospel preaching, week in and week out, and not embrace the Lord Jesus Christ and seek to be obedient to Him. Martin Luther, if you had asked him pre-1515 as to whether he was a Christian he would have emphatically said, “Yes!” He was an ordained priest. He was a professor of theology. He was teaching a number of Bible studies. He was doing pastoral matters. That was part of his work. But there was one little thing, as he looked back in his later years, he looked back on those early years and there was one little thing that was niggling in the back of his mind – “How is a human being truly made right with God?” And it was only when he was studying the book of Romans in 1515, 1516, that the Lord Himself, by the Holy Spirit, opened his eyes to realize that a person is justified by faith in Jesus Christ. And it’s out of that that there is obedience and there is fruitfulness that emerges. And the whole trajectory of Martin Luther’s life from that point on – pre-1515, post-1515, 1516 – was radically different in the way that he lived to the glory of Christ. He lived to make the Gospel known. You just think of the years 1517, 1521, 1529, significant years in the establishment of the Gospel in large portions of Europe.
Friends, do you know Him? Do you know Him? Have you embraced Jesus as the way of salvation? And are you growing in holiness and are you growing in obedience to Him? Because then you can know that He knows you and you won’t hear those words, “I did not know you.” But if you know Him and He knows you, you will hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord!” If you want a construction that will last this life and into eternity, build on Christ, the solid Rock. You will not be disappointed, brothers and sisters. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and 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.” And so let me ask you, is this true of you? Is that whom you are building your life upon, both here and for eternity?
May the Lord be pleased to bring us all to Himself and that we would do just this. Let’s bow our heads in prayer. Let’s pray.
O Lord, our God, Lord, search our hearts, please. And Father, we pray that if there be any here in our midst that are building on the sandy foundations of themselves or this world, Lord, we pray that You would bring them to Yourself, show them themselves, and that they may lean upon and build upon Christ. Father, for the rest of us, help us to grow in holiness, grow in obedience, that we would live our lives in speech, our actions, our thoughts may be conformed to Jesus that we may be faithful and growing in our faithfulness as an ambassador of the kingdom of heaven. We pray these things and ask these things in Jesus’ name, amen.