A study of Mattew 7:24-29

Matthew 7:24-29

The Two Foundations

"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."

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;

for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.


In these verses you have two people who hear the same thing but have two different responses and therefore two different ends. But what I want to draw your attention to first is the promise of these verses. Christ promises that if you respond in one way, act upon, you will still have problems in life. That doesn't differ between the two people; the same calamity happens to both people. But what differs is that one stands, he who acted, and one falls, he who didn't act. So Christ promises that if you do something, you will be able to stand no matter what life throws at you and you will not be carried away with the flood that is coming.

That is a promise that ought to make any sane person ask; What must I do? Well, glad you asked. The first thing is that you need to hear something; and something very specific. these words of mine, whose words? The very words of Christ, the word of God. See John 1 And just for clarity this doesn't just mean the four gospels, it means toto Scriptura, all of scripture. See Luke 24:27 and Hebrews 1
Now the second thing that must happen is the difference that makes all the difference; you must act upon what you hear. This however opens a huge discussion on why the two different responses. If somebody with that much authority says something to you, you ought to do it and do it quickly.
But this idea of someone having authority over us and telling us what we ought to do and not do cuts to the very heart of the matter. Men who have not been born of the spirit have inherited from their first father, Adam, a spirit and nature that will not have anyone else rule over them. You can see this quite well, everyone is busy building their life as they see best. Then along comes the master builder and he says; hey if you use those materials and that foundation your structure will collapse. And what is the natural response? Thank you very much, but this is my life I'll do with it what I want and you will not tell me what I should do or not do with it. I will decide what is good and bad, I'll decide what is true and false, and I'll decide what is beautiful and ugly. Is that not everyone of us? Because of that nature, that is in rebellion against God, The natural man can't and will not act upon the words of Christ. And therefore he will perish, unless God himself intervenes. Hence the ultimate meaning of this text. So, the very first thing that must happen, is that one must be born again. Or to put it another way, you must receive a new nature, one that willing submits to the law and authority of God. And only God can cause that to happen and that's what we call sovereign grace.

So the promise of these verses for the ability to stand can only be applied to those for whom Christ is King, their authority and their sovereign. To those who have put down their arms and surrendered their wills and life to God. Because, only those for whom Christ is King, will Christ save. All others will perish and that without exception, for there can be no rebellion in the Kingdom of Heaven for it is a kingdom of peace.

The last thing I want to point out is that this passage is a contrast between a wise man and a foolish man. Now, no one wants to be the foolish man. But isn't that the tragedy of all tragedies to spend your whole life thinking you are wise only to get the end and realize you were a fool. That's why scripture implores us to seek wisdom, but the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And there we go back again to the issue of authority. Who rules over you? you or God? If it is God, then go get your Bible and seek wisdom and seek the face of God. A good place to start is the book of Proverbs. It works out really nice because there are thirty one chapters in it and thirty one days in a month, most times. So here is a place you can go daily, like you do for food, and find wisdom. And remember Christ said that man doesn't live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. So if you go to the word very little, you'll starve and have no vitality. Give us this day our daily bread takes on a whole new meaning.. And keep in mind that faith is active trust; it requires action. It's the difference between saying; yes if I put on that parachute and jump out of this plane, the parachute will save me and putting on the parachute and jumping out of the plane. So, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and jump because nothing else will prove your faith in Him than trusting Him to catch you. So read His word and then go do it, for the Lord promises you success, you will stand and not fall, for underneath you are the everlasting arms Deuteronomy 33:27