The Two Builders
Matthew 7:24-29
One of the economic indicators that are spoken about often is that of “home building.” In recent years, the building of new homes is “down” considerably, but Jesus takes a different look at SPIRITUAL HOUSE BUILDING in Matthew 7:24-27:
"Therefore everyone who hears THESE WORDS of Mine and acts on them, (DOES them) may be compared (“is an example of”) a wise man (“prudence of mind and heart”) who built (root word is “OIKOS”) his house (OIKOS- can mean: “House of God, tabernacle, home, household family, extended family”; metaphorically- “family of God, or the Church”) on the rock. 25 "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 (established) on the rock. “
The Wise builder does not just hear with his ears but understands and comprehends with his mind and heart, and then acts upon them in his LIVING.
26 "Everyone who hears THESE WORDS of Mine and does not act on them, (does NOT DO them) will be like a foolish (moronic and godless) man who built his house on the sand. (NO FOUNDATION) 27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell -and great was its fall." (metaph.: to fall under judgment, from the verb meaning: came under condemnation)
Similarities of the Builders
Earlier in Chapter 7, Jesus taught us concerning two types of judging, two ways in life which produce two types of fruit, two different ways to view Jesus, two types of teaching, and “how to spot a false teacher”: He teaches that there are two different conditions of the human heart: a Kingdom of God-Heart in which Jesus is honored as SOVEREIGN LORD and God, or a kingdom-of-the-world-heart, which honors self and satan and which will result in eternal destruction.
There are a number of similarities in the parable of the TWO BUILDERS. Both are, or at least, SEEM to be, BUILDERS which means they are both alive and living in this life. (One actually must be a “pseudo” (false) builder because his house doesn’t stand.) Living your “LIFE” is really the significance of a “house that is built”.
Both BUILT houses. Both are active in house-building and both of them were able to complete their houses. I want you to take note that it doesn’t say that they built “perfect” houses; no “house” is perfect, just like no life is perfect.
It is important to note that both battled EQUAL ELEMENTS: Both houses (lives) received rain, floods, and wind. No life is without struggles, challenges, tests, and STORMS.
They both had the same privilege, in that both of them heard Jesus’ WORDS. These “words” would include ALL of the words of the Sermon on the Mount and all of God’s Words, not just the words of this story.
Differences of the Builders: The Wise Builder
Although there are similarities between the builders, there are very distinct Differences between them. Any builder knows that the foundation is the most important part of the house, but only a WISE builder will take the necessary time to make sure that the foundation is perfect. Everyone who hears Jesus’ Words (logos) and BUILDS UPON on THEM…. IS LIKE A wise man who builds his house on the rock. The Wise builder’s house was built on a rock solid foundation.
What constitutes a PERFECT ROCK SOLID foundation? This same parable is recounted in Luke 6:46: "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?(from last week) 47 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like : 48 he is like a man building a house, WHO DUG DEEP and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” You have to dig deep and have a foundation on the rock, not shifting sand.
The word for “deep” means “the deep things of God, things hidden and above man's scrutiny.” They are the SPIRITUAL things which belong to God; They are the WORKS OF God, not the surface things and NOT YOUR WORKS! This man realized that “asking God, seeking God, and knocking” on God’s kingdom door was far more than just scratching the surface. Far more than what you SEE and what you DO! The foundation is not even yours.
Listen to these verses: In Exodus 33:19, Moses was told by God: "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But," he said, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." 21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place NEAR ME where you may STAND on a ROCK. 22 When my glory passes by, I WILL PUT YOU IN a cleft in the ROCK and COVER YOU with MY hand until I have passed by.”
Moses was hidden and protected in the cleft of the rock as well as God’s Protective hand. God provides a safe and secure foundation in the presence of the Glory of God so that you will not be destroyed.
Deuteronomy 32: “Listen, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. 3 I will proclaim the name of Yahweh. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! 4 He is the ROCK, HIS works are perfect, and ALL HIS ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.”
In Judges 6, Gideon questioned the call of God and so the Angel of the LORD (a visible representation of God) visited him and told Gideon to prepare unleavened bread and a young goat for sacrifice (blood was shed). When he placed it on a ROCK, the Angel of the Lord touched it with the end of His staff, and fire came out of the ROCK and consumed the offering.
Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:2 says this: “"There is no one holy like the LORD; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.”
2 Samuel 22:32-33: “For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”
2 Samuel 22:47: “The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God, the Rock, my Savior!” Are you getting the idea?
Psalm 62:5-7 (and many more) says:” 5 My soul, wait in silence for God ONLY, For my hope is from Him. 6 He only is my ROCK and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; The ROCK of my strength, my refuge is in God.”
The Wise builder Heard God’s Word and built his life on Jesus. A wise builder seeks Jesus and trusts Him alone for salvation. In Numbers 20:8: Moses was told to SPEAK TO THE ROCK into order to receive living water. In John 4:11, the woman at the well said to Jesus, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is DEEP; where then do You get that living water?”
The words of Jesus ARE eternal life, the living water. They are grounded in the very bedrock of the Lord God Almighty; You can’t separate the teachings from the teacher. The fruit of the teacher, the Lord Jesus, provided for you to eat, is SALVATION and RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jesus said in John 10:30: "I and the Father are one." The LORD JESUS is not connected to the ROCK, He IS THE ROCK of our Salvation. Your life is built on the foundation of FAITH IN JESUS. Your house is the fruit of your faith in Him.
The result of building on the sure foundation of Jesus is that when the judgment of God comes, YOUR House will not fall! All those who are born of the Spirit of God and have the Spirit of God living in them, all those who have received forgiveness by the substitutionary death of CHRIST and have received new life IN CHRIST, are HIDDEN in a House built upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who never ceased to be God, when at the same time He became SAVIOR our Savior. All those who are part of His Body, the true Church, are part of a building not built with HUMAN HANDS but by our Great God, can trust God to save your Your life: Your Spiritual House will not FALL.
Isaiah 28:16: “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a COSTLY cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.” The STONE or Rock is the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians 10:4 plainly says: “for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”
Romans 8:13: “For if you are living according to the flesh (WORKS), you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” John 11:25: “I AM the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live.” We believe in Him as the Rock of Righteousness and life and not on the treasures of this world.
The Foolish Builder
On the other hand, the Foolish builder’s FOUNDATION was built on sand; Sand is not a solid foundation. It blows and washes away. Sand is NOT God and His Word, the Lord Jesus, but sand represents a careless work of your own choosing which will not stand up to God’s judgment. The foolish man pushed around a little gravel, pushed some of his self-righteous pebbles aside and started building, not asking God, not seeking Him and being found by Him. The Foundation of your life CANNOT be built on the human heart, human works or human understanding, because those things are always changing and inadequate.
Our text says: “Everyone who hears THESE WORDS of Mine and does not act on them.” This builder heard God’s word and did not BUILD upon it. He disregarded what Jesus says and what God’s Word says about the spiritual foundation. Evidently, this builder heard Jesus’ words with his ears, but it did not change his heart. If he understood it and built upon Jesus’ words, what he invested in during his lifetime would not have washed away when the storms came in the end. On the surface he looked alright, but underneath he was lost.
A lot of lives, (houses) LOOK and SEEM strong visibly, but below the surface, what is NOT EVIDENT and unseen, they are built on a soft and insecure foundation. It is the foundation of the Lord Jesus that matters. It is faith in Him and HIS work, not the external righteousness of your deeds that make the house able to stand. Are you trusting in a doctrine and teaching of your works to make your house strong, or do you have a saving faith in the foundation? It is a question that has to be asked and answered NOW, not after your life has passed and your “house” been washed away by God’s judgment.
The end result of the Foolish man’s House ( and life) is that it “fell -and great was its fall.” (destruction) Everything he worked for was destroyed; ALL HIS WORKS, fell and were washed away when the end came. Only those who realize their own inadequacy to save themselves will trust Jesus to do so; they will mourn over their sins and humbly follow Jesus. He will fill them spiritually with Himself so they will be merciful to others in the way that God in Christ demonstrated His mercy. They will be pure in heart with the imputed righteousness of Christ. They will be filled with the peace of Christ, and be rejected on account of their faith and testimony to God’s great love in Christ.
Verse 28- 29 end this chapter: “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed (“they were struck out of their senses”) at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
The Authority of Jesus
“He was teaching them as one having authority” because He IS the fulfillment of God’s Law and His Kingdom. He IS God’s Promised Rock of Salvation, the fulfillment of God’s plan for history, for forgiveness, for redemption. We know that Jesus is now reigning in Heaven and in Hearts, and when He reappears, it will be to gather the remainder of His elect from every corner of the world, “houses” which did not fall.
Jesus spoke with an authoritative and unearthly love which spoke of the everlasting LOVE of the Everlasting Father: Matt. 5:44-48: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven ; 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have ? 47 "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? 48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
He IS the UNCHANGING WORD of Life. THESE WORDS are HIS WORDS. His Words are God’s eternal words. His words are not like the scribes or the rabbi’s words, forever changing with the times or situation. Jesus taught directly from Scripture, AND with His own authority. Jesus and His WORD IS the authority. Teachings proceed from the heart, and Jesus’ teachings proceed from the very HEART of God. They are rock-SOLID and will not be moved…by anyone or anything! Peter professed to Jesus in John 6:68: "Lord, to whom shall we go ? You have words of eternal life.” His Words bring life because His message comes from the mouth, mind and heart of the Father. How could it be any different since Jesus and the Father are one?
