Matthew 7:24 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 7:24

Comments

What men and women do with his sayings determines their eternal destiny. At the end of this sermon Christ does not hesitate to say that his word and our response to it is the deciding factor in whether we spend eternity in heaven or in hell. The Lord loved to use parables and similes, and this parable is about two types of hearers, represented by the two houses which they built, one who responds, and another who does not. Life is like building a house, a house which we intend to dwell in. No one goes to the trouble of building a house that will only last one day. The builder should think of his future needs, where he will live tomorrow and the day after, and indeed for eternity. We are aware that life is precious, and every one of us needs the protection, the security, the provision of a home for body and soul. The house in this illustration is a single occupancy house, which we do not share with any other. That is not in itself intended to be significant, but is a necessary feature of the parable to teach personal responsibility, personal accountability to God. We are building for eternity whether we realise it or not, because each one of us has an eternal soul. The amazing truth is that how we hear Christ’s words here on earth determines our eternal future. Of particular importance is the laying of the foundation and what it rests on. A house cannot be built without preparation. Beneath the walls there must be a proper foundation; that foundation is hidden but it is all important. The wise man expects storms to come and knows that he cannot avoid them. There are storms in life that threaten to destroy our house, and the man or woman without Christ must cope with them on his own – redundancy, sickness, bereavement, loss, disappointment, enemies. Each one batters on the walls of his house, and reminds him that he is fragile, and unable, without Christ, to withstand the buffetings of life, especially the final assault that comes with death. The house is being built not just for favourable days, but for difficult days, days when floods and storms will strike and the house will be tested. The wise man in the parable does not simply start building at ground level. He needs to remove the sand or the soil below ground level and go down until he reaches something solid which will not move. That is arduous work, but it is essential. He knows the area is prone to flooding, and that at certain times of year there are powerful storms. Unless he builds deep, his house will not cope. The laying of the foundation involves hard labour to dig down to the solid rock below and some are inclined to take shortcuts and not prepare as they should. The rock does not move or allow what rests on it to move but holds all rigid in position. Movement is fatal to a house, for the walls must be held in the same position relative to one another, otherwise cracks will appear and the structure be weakened.

Application

The illustration is of the house of your life, and whether it will stand in that great climatic storm. The survival of your life rests on what you do with these sayings of Christ. We must be aware that there is false religion which will get us nowhere. It makes certain claims but nothing else; it is incapable of transforming our lives and bringing us closer to God. Its adherents carry on with their sins. Conversion to Christ is a great change that does away with me, me, me. Otherwise we do not know him.

We do not have to put the rock in place; it is already there. It is provided by Christ – it is Christ himself, revealed in his word. What does the work of digging down to the rock represent? It represents seeking the Lord, striving to understand his word, examining our hearts and seeing the sin which enslaves and condemns us, repenting of that sin with shame and sorrow, and not stopping till we take hold of Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We must dig through the worst news of the Bible to get to the best. The worst is that I am condemned by God. The best is that Christ has come to die in our place. You have hit the rock. That does not mean that we can get rid of our sins ourselves or the consequences of sin. We confess to God all we are, and do, and say. We ask the Lord to take our sin away. Only he can do that, but we dig down in the sense that we face up to our sin and stop making excuses for it. We believe the record in the Bible, that Christ came to bear sin away on the cross.

The Christian speaks to the unbeliever and says, ‘Can I explain the gospel to you? Can I tell about what Christ came to do and why he gave his life on Calvary?’ The unbeliever says, ‘I’m fine; I don’t need God in my life.’ Because he is currently sailing on untroubled waters, he thinks that he will always be able to cope. No one builds a house on this basis. He builds for the worst of times, not the best of times. House building is all about anticipating the future. It is no good if your house stands when the sun is shining; it also has to stand when the worst of storms comes. Can you not see that you have to die? Do you not understand that after death comes judgment? How can you face that with sins unforgiven?

Questions

Is it wise men and women that are saved? No, not the naturally wise. Some Christians may be wise, clever in the things of this life, but none are clever with regard to salvation. In kindness God plants anxieties in our hearts about the security of our souls. He causes us to take the gospel seriously and to see it as our only source of help. He gives us a wisdom that comes from heaven, which we did not have before.

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Introduction

Matthew 7:24 Commentary and Bible Study