An Expositional Study Of The Sermon On The Mount
BETTER HOUSING
Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:24-27 (KJV)
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: 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. 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: 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
Imagine driving along some country road, until passing a large, old gate. It is a beautiful wrought-iron gate, wonderfully made. But, we know full well that it is not an end in itself. It leads to something. And, sure enough, looking through the gate, we discover a driveway, eventually leading up to a grand house. We have already studied the gate – “enter ye in at the strait gate” (v. 13). We tried to understand what the entrance was, and what it involved. Now, in this concluding section of the Lord's Sermon, we see the house; the entrance leads to the edifice. The gate is not to be considered as an end in itself. It is not an end, but a beginning. What is generally called conversion, the new birth, is not simply the finish of an old life – It is the beginning, the start, of a new life. We cannot build our house until we have passed through the gate. But, once through the gate, we are then committed to the building of our life-house.
A house to build
In verses 24 and 26 of our text, each of two men builds a house. We are to build our life- house – the house of our life. It will be a double-fronted house: character on one side; service on the other – what we are and what we do.
Consider what Paul says about his double-fronted house, and how he emphasizes that whatever merit his house may have, it is not of his own doing, but of God’s grace: “but by the grace of God I am what I am” – the character side; “and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all” – the service side; “yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Cor. 15:10).
The plans
Consider the plans we follow. You cannot build a house without a plan. In 1 Peter 2:21- 22, we read about our Lord “leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” – “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” Throughout this wonderful Sermon on the Mount, we have been conscious that He is the perfect illustration of His own teaching. “Blessed are the meek . . . the pure in heart . . . the peacemakers” – the Lord, Himself, was the perfect pattern of such qualities. “Ye are the salt of the earth . . . the light of the world” – He, Himself, pre-eminently so. “Love your enemies” – He showed us the way. “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Rom. 5:10). “Pray to thy Father . . . in secret” – this reminds us of those long nights He spent on the hillside, alone with God. “Be not anxious” – how noticeable is His complete rest in His Father’s love, wisdom, and care. If our life-house follows His plans, what a house it will be.
Specifications
Consider the specification we have. A builder works to specifications: a detailed account of the specific requirements of the job. Christians have that in the Holy Scriptures. Paul said, “I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up” (Acts 20:32). Yes, the Word of God gives us the required details. Hebrews 8:5 enshrines God’s direction to Moses concerning the building of the Tabernacle, “See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” The same could be said regarding the Sermon on the Mount. To follow the instructions of our specification is part of our responsibility as house builders. Not only are we to love the Bible, we are to live it. As a wise old Christian said, “Every believer is either a Bible or a Libel.”
Materials
Let us think next of the materials we use. They are our deeds, words, and thoughts. What stress this practical Sermon of the Lord has laid on our deeds – our “acts of righteousness.” It has also emphasized the importance of our words – both how we speak to others and God. It has heavily underlined the fundamental nature of our thoughts, as the source and spring of all else. Of what sort, then, are the materials? Consider 1 Corinthians 3:12, “gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble.” Are we putting into our building sound or shoddy materials? God looks for two things in our house: utility (are our lives really useful to Him and others?) and beauty (are our lives really attractive?). Both qualities depend on the character of our materials: deeds, words, and thoughts.
The Builder
We now come to the builder we employ. We often hear someone say, “I am building a house.” We do not necessarily suppose that he will actually do the work with his own hands. Probably, he will employ a builder. In our life-house it is also advisable to put the actual work into the Hands of One Who knows supremely how it should be done – the One of whom Philippians 1:6, says, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” We cannot begin it ourselves.
And, if we are wise, we will not attempt to carry it on ourselves. The method that He will adopt, and the measure of co-operation that He will expect from us, are not discussed here in His Sermon. Let us not fall into the curious mistake of thinking that the Sermon on the Mount is the whole of His teaching. Basically, the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount deals with “what” and not “how.” The latter is dealt with elsewhere. It would not be wrong if we were to see an inkling of the “how” in the one word “fruit” (v. 17). The thing is done fruit-wise, as elaborated by the Lord in, for example, John 15. In our present text, the great point regarding the building is “He” not “we.”
The cost
We must forget the cost we incur. We cannot build a house for nothing; and if our life- house is to be worthy, it will cost us everything. If the great Master Builder is to undertake the work, His cost will be high – full surrender.
In His Sermon, He has already said, “No man can serve [be the slave of] two masters” (Matt. 6:24; emphasis added), implying that we should settle the whole matter of dual control, i.e., conflicting loyalties, by substituting for the “two masters” only one Master – the Lord. What is the price we must pay? If our life-house is to be a credit to Him and a blessing to others, the price is total yielding to Him. So, we have a house to build.
Building on a rock
Throughout this illustration, the Lord is dealing with things familiar to His audience – rain, floods, and winds. In the neighborhood where this discourse was delivered, the geological character of the ground was an expanse of sand and rock. How foolish of anyone to erect a house on the sand. In the height of summer, the intense heat often baked the soil hard. During this time, it might appear as if any spot would do for a building site. Indeed, it would seem to be suitable if the builder went deep enough. In Luke 6:48, the man, “digged deep.” The foolish man blundered because he was content to go down only a little below the surface. That was what constituted the real difference between the two houses. They may have looked alike. Perhaps the sand-house was even better looking, if the builder expended extra on the house, which his fellow builder spent on the foundation. Seeing it, one might even prefer the sand-house to the other. But, looks deceive.
The Lord is the Rock
What are we to understand about the Rock for our foundation? Whatever we may decide is the meaning of the Rock in our text; we must remember that He is, Himself, the Rock on which our salvation is founded. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). The Lord is truly the “Rock of Ages, cleft for me.” Like Moses on Horeb (Ex. 33:21-22), the Christian has “a place” on the Rock and in the Rock. As the song says, “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.” Consider the passage, in Matthew 16:15-18, “Simon Peter . . . said, Thou are the Christ . . . and Jesus . . . said . . . thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” – upon the Christ, the promised Messiah, the anointed One, the Savior, the stricken Son of God, on Whom all sin would soon be laid. The Blessed Truth was the Rock. We cannot say Peter was the rock, unless we are prepared to do violence to the grammar of the passage. “Thou art Peter [Petros—masculine] . . . and upon this rock [Petra—feminine]” (Matt. 16:18; emphasis added). If the apostle was the rock, the masculine would have been repeated. In this passage, there seems to be an intentional play on Peter’s name, as if the Lord had said, “You are called a rock, ‘Peter,’ and you will specially appreciate it if I say that what you have just said is the Rock, on which I will build My church.” Years afterwards, in writing to his friends about the Savior, Peter says, “To whom coming, as unto a living stone . . . Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:4, 5). We were hard, cold, and dead as any stone, until we were brought into personal contact with the living Stone, the Rock; smitten but risen. We were then miraculously electrified into life – built on Him and built into His church.
The Words of Jesus
All this is gloriously and eternally true. But, the foundation envisaged here is not His “work,” but His “Words.” Upon His Words we find life; “These sayings of Mine” – a remark that incidentally supports the suggestion that the Sermon on the Mount was a connected whole – in other words, as the Lord spoke it. Not a collection of scattered sayings brought together from other contexts and grouped together by the writer, for literary purpose. In the phrase, “These sayings of Mine,” the Lord takes hold of everything He has said, tying it together into a compacted whole, as He concludes. Notice: the emphatic word, “doeth,” not merely “heareth” – or every church-goer would pass muster; not “admireth” only – for those professing great admiration of the Sermon on the Mount, but who never stir an inch toward “doing” any of it; not “quoteth” – for even Shakespeare said, “the devil can quote Scripture to his purpose,” although he usually misquotes it. “He that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them.” “To do,” says Matthew Henry “is to abstain from the sins He forbids, and to perform the duties He requires.” Our safety rests on “doing.” But, regarding our salvation, “by grace are ye saved through faith . . . not of works . . . unto good works” (Eph. 2:8-10). Salvation1 springs from our willingness to obey the Lord’s commands; not from any “work” we might perform. However, salvation does lead to “works” – the “good works” of the double-fronted life-house – our character and service.
Obedience and faith
Our proper relationship to the one “Rock” is through obedience and faith – trusting and obeying the Lord; and reliance on His finished work. We demonstrate obedience to the Lord by “doing” what He has taught us, through His Word, to “do.” The song says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” A life based on and lived by the principles enunciated in the Sermon on the Mount is indeed on the “Rock,” and we will need all the help we can get, when we face:
The storm
As said earlier, the two houses in our text may have been built in summer. How different it is in winter – with its sudden storms; rain clouds driven up from the Mediterranean; floods of rain converting the bone-dry summer water-courses into raging torrents, pouring down into the valleys, overflowing the banks, carrying some away. In our text, this is the kind of situation the two houses would have to face. Under such conditions, it is important to know if your house is on rock or sand.
Inevitability
Notice the inevitability of the storm. It is not God’s plan to excuse Christians from the rough experiences of life. Taking a long view, one can see that a life without difficulties would leave us sadly undeveloped. “All sunshine makes a desert.” Sometimes it is “temptation” that comes on us, like a sudden, violent squall – a young man leaves home for a new environment, perhaps college, and comes up against things that in his sheltered life of earlier days, he never imagined; how easily he can be swept off his feet. Bereavement sometimes comes in with a devastating effect – leaving us beaten, baffled, bereft; dazed and stunned, it is hard to know what to do or where to turn. It may be loss of another kind – all savings and hopes, perhaps all treasures of a lifetime shattered in a second by a tempest. How frequently suffering makes its appearance to disturb the peace and joy of life and home – even clouding the mind and darkening faith. Persecution is another stormy experience of life – a young brother may find himself plunged into an atmosphere hostile to Christians and perhaps for the first time face ridicule, opposition, and even suffering for the Lord. Any one or all of these distressing things could befall any of us at any time. The Lord never promised us smooth passage in life, but He did promise a safe landing. Consider the small inner circle of disciples at His feet during this Sermon. They did not escape the storms of life. Some were martyred for His Name. Against all this, we need a firm foundation.
Instability
Consider the instability of sand. There are some Christians who lean too much on Christian friends. Like the brother who was heard to say, “As long as you are with me, I get along all right; but when you leave I fall to pieces.”
This often happens with missionaries in strange lands, when the personality of the missionary has been withdrawn. In this case, the sand has shifted to another neighborhood. Others look to prevailing fashion. Listening to, believing, and in some instances, teaching what is popular – Getting their energy from the changing environment (hot or cold) based only on the fashion of others producing jelly-fish Christians, without back-bone, but not without sting. A sandy foundation is bound to let us down. Others are dependent on emotional experience. Emotion is certainly important. In fact, an earnest Christian life cannot thrive without it. But, some Christians seem to be completely at the mercy of their feelings; always changing, falling, or rising from day to day to day – based on their physical condition at the moment. How insecure. Even though some habits are good, it is possible to rest too much on religious habits, which, unless we are watchful, may become formal and fatal – traditions. Most habits are unreliable as a crutch. Sand, sand, what a lot of sand there is in this age – useful for extinguishing bombs but not for erecting buildings. Unless our life-house is built on His Word and obedience thereto, it will collapse under the pressure of the coming storm. “And great was the fall of it.”
Immovability
Now we turn to the immovability of rock. “It fell not” – thank God for the multitude of houses that have stood firm as a rock, because they were built on the Rock. Rome was built on seven hills. A Christian’s life is built on the One Rock. In time of trial our foundation of faith will not fail us. When the storms of sickness, sorrow, poverty and disappointment bear on us, our soul abides unmoved, because our foundation of faith will not give way. The comforts of the Lord will not forsake us. If we not only hear “these sayings of Mine,” but daily “do” them, then truly, as the song says, “How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith, in His excellent Word.”
Summary
So, our spiritual life-house is an excellent double-fronted dwelling, attractive, hospitable to all in need, a credit to the Builder – a character and service honoring the Lord. It abides in the face of the fiercest tempests, “stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58); for “it was founded upon a Rock” – faith in Christ and His Work, and obedience to Christ and His Words.
