A Storm is Coming

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”

Jesus’ Rosetta Stone

Build your house on the rock! Believe in Jesus and you will be able to withstand the onslaught of this world! Claim Him as your Lord and He will protect you and save you from sin!

We have heard this exhilarating speech about Matthew 7:24-27 before.

It is used often as a call to Jesus; unbelievers, don’t stand on sand, instead just believe and stand on the rock and He will make everything better!

This message is such an empowering and uplifting one, who would not be excited for Jesus after hearing it?

We leave the sermon feeling protected and loved, Jesus is my Lord and He makes everything better.

Unfortunately, in my best understanding, this is not the message Jesus is teaching at the end of His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:24-27.

Jesus is speaking in a parable here and an understanding of parables is essential to the the Christian if we wish to understand the teaching of Jesus,

since the parables make up approximately 35 of His recorded sayings.

Jesus didn’t use parables as mere illustrations of His preaching, often they are His preaching.

Therefore, properly understanding His parables is to properly understand the teaching of the Lord.

There is a challenge presented in parables that is unique though, they are often difficult to decipher, since they are filled with allegories (symbols to be interpreted in order to reveal a hidden meaning).

Thankfully, Jesus Himself has given us the Rosetta Stone to unlock His parables in Matthew 13’s Parable of the Sower; this is the only parable which Jesus explains to us, and so logic follows we should use His methods of interpretation for the rest of His parables.

In His explanation of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus first identifies what each of His allegories symbolize,

then He draws out His message of the story,

and finally presents us with the application of His message.

Today, I would like to exercise Jesus’ method, and find out what Jesus truly wants us to learn from the Parable of Two Builders.

Matthew 7:24–27 ESV

What is the Coming Storm?

In following Jesus’ form, our first step to understanding is to decode the symbolism in His parable. We could do this in several different orders, but I would like to start with identifying the things they share in common.

Symbolism of Similarity

Everyone who “hears” (vv. 24, 26) professes Jesus Christ as Lord; both wise and foolish.

Isaiah 6:9-10

Mark 4:23

The first thing we come across is that both these men “hear these words of mine”.

Many pass over this allusion as just simply Jesus saying anyone who can audibly hear His words.

However, we have scripture to clarify what Jesus is alluding to: Isaiah 6:9-10 says:

Isaiah 6:9–10 ESV

9 And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ 10 Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

God is specifying that those who “hear with their ears” also “understand with their hearts”.

These are the qualities of believers.

Jesus also refers to this concept in the New Testament in Mark 4:23:

Mark 4:23 ESV

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Therefore, both the wise man and the foolish man are professing believers in Jesus Christ as Lord.

The next thing they both have in common is the building of a house.

Our soul is the “house” (vv. 24, 26) in which we dwell spiritually.

Luke 11:24-26

But this house is not symbolizing Jesus, because then Jesus would be saying that he can somehow fail when, in verse 27, the house falls;

which would directly contradict scripture which states the Lord “will not fail to achieve His purposes” (paraphrase: Isaiah 46:10).

To understand Jesus we should look to another time Jesus uses the symbol of a house in a more clear way, specifically Luke 11:24-26:

Luke 11:24–26 ESV

24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

Our spiritual “house” is our soul.

Because of this, it is where either sinfulness or holiness abides in us.

The last thing our two builders have in common is that their houses both experience rain, floods, winds, and a beating.

God’s wrath against our sin is a storm of epic proportions (vv. 25, 27) “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house”

Genesis 6:9-7:24

Isaiah 28:17

Ezekiel 13:13

Many contemporaries come to the conclusion that Jesus is speaking about the onslaught of sin from the world.

However, we must ignore God’s own revelation of Himself in Scripture in order to make this work.

Specifically, we must ignore the picture of Noah and the Ark (Genesis 6:9-7:24) where the flood is God’s method of judgement against sin.

In addition, Jesus is connecting the Flood’s judgement with Old Testament prophesy of our future Judgement Day in Isaiah 28:17

Isaiah 28:17 ESV

17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”

Likewise, we get an even clearer depiction of God’s wrath in Ezekiel 13:13 :

Ezekiel 13:13 ESV

13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end.

With this in mind, the storm that will break out against the builders house is God’s wrath against our sin.

Before we start to draw out Jesus’ message from the parable though, it is important that we first identify the differences in the two builders. Interestingly, just as there are three similarities between the builders, there are also three differences.

Symbolism of Differences

A wise man “does” (v. 24) the commands he hears [obeys Scripture].

A foolish man “does not do” (v. 26) the commands he hears [disobeys Scripture].

John 14:15

Mark 14:62

“I am” - Exodus 3:14

“Son of man”, “coming on the clouds of heaven” - Daniel 7:13-14

“right hand of power” - Psalms 110:1

2 Timothy 3:16

First, we are told that one builder “does” and the other “does not”.

This implies that there is action to be taken.

So how do we determine what action Jesus is speaking of?

Jesus qualifies this for us at the start of each storyline by saying “Everyone who hears these words of mine”.

Jesus wants us to not only hear His words, but to do them.

The symbolism is very logical here, when we are told to do something, our actions, whether we do what we are told or not, is defined as obedience or disobedience.

In fact, Jesus tells us elsewhere, in John 14:15, that the truth of our love for Him will be realized by our obedience:

John 14:15 ESV

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Something we need to tackle along side this point is that Jesus is not just talking about the red letters in the Bible.

He is talking about all of Scripture.

To suggest that only the red letters are Jesus’ commands is to imply that Jesus is not God, and in that thinking we have fundamental conflict with even the red letters themselves.

Mark 14:62 ESV

62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Everything Jesus just said are terms and titles reserved in the Old Testament for God and the Messiah.

“I am” - Exodus 3:14

“Son of man”, “coming on the clouds of heaven” - Daniel 7:13-14

“right hand of power” - Psalms 110:1

So the Biblical response to the red letters objection is that the red letters tell us that Jesus is God and, since all of scripture is God’s word:

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

Therefore, the wise builder is obedient to all Scripture, the foolish is disobedient to any of the Scripture.

The wise man’s house does “not fall” (v. 25) [is forgiven]

The foolish man’s house does “fall” (v. 27) [is condemned]

Genesis 3:1-24

1 Corinthians 15:22

The second difference we should notice is that the wise-man's house does not fall, while the foolish man’s house falls.

To garner the symbolism of this fall, we must go all the way back to the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1-24 and understand that man’s original sin was an act of disobedience which caused our fall from grace.

Since then Scripture has consistently used the term “fall” to mean our condemnation.

The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines the Fall of Man as a

“transition from a state of moral innocence and favor with God to a state of condemnation and death, which occurred in the history of mankind with Adam’s eating of the forbidden fruit.”

This understanding is confirmed by 1 Corinthians 15:22, which states:

1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Consequently, the wise man is found in God’s favor and the foolish man experiences condemnation.

The wise man is dedicated in his obedience to Scripture (v. 24, 25) “on the rock”

The foolish man seeks the easy way, his belief is superficial (v. 26) “on the sand”

Luke 6:48

Deuteronomy 26:16

The third difference is particularly challenging, because we have scripture that uses both “the rock” and “sand” in a spiritual sense for several different meanings.

Thankfully, Luke gives more detail on Jesus’ words in Luke 6:48 where Jesus says “he (referring to the wise man) is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock”.

Particularly in Jesus’ time and location, to dig under the sand until you found rock would require dedication and determination to achieve because it was deep.

In contrast, the sand was on the surface and easily available to build on.

This is a contrasting picture of God’s command in Deuteronomy 26:16:

Deuteronomy 26:16 ESV

16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.

Therefore, the wise builder is dedicated to being obedient to Scripture with a deep conviction, while the foolish is only interested in appearances on the surface and an easy way to salvation.

Whew, that was quite a bit to digest. I feel like I could stop right now and mic drop because that exercise alone is enough to stun most church congregations to silence.

Who Will Be Impacted by the Coming Storm?

Matthew 7:24-27 (re-statement)

24 Every Christian who obeys Jesus’ commands, places their souls in a position of deep conviction to God’s righteousness. 25 And when God’s wrath comes in judgement of sin, you will be counted innocent and experience the promise of eternal life in the favor of God, because of your dedication to truth. 26 But every Christian who does not obey Jesus’ commands, places their soul in a position of unrighteousness. 27 And when God’s wrath comes in judgement of sin, the truth of your disobedience will be exposed and you will experience just condemnation to eternal death for your sin.

However, we are going to continue on to the next step Jesus exemplifies for us, which is to draw out His message from the story. We accomplish this by replacing the symbols in the parable with our newfound understanding of their meanings and re-stating the message:

Every Christian who obeys Jesus’ commands, places their souls in a position of deep conviction to God’s righteousness.

And when God’s wrath comes in judgement of sin, you will be counted innocent and experience the promise of eternal life in the favor of God, because of your dedication to truth.

But every Christian who does not obey Jesus’ commands, places their soul in a position of unrighteousness.

And when God’s wrath comes in judgement of sin, the truth of your disobedience will be exposed and you will experience just condemnation to eternal death for your sin.

That is NOTHING like the message we started out with!

Where is the part about all I have to do is believe in Jesus and He will protect me?

Where is the part where Jesus makes everything all better for me?

Where is all the love and fuzzy feels that get me excited?

All Christians whose actions and words don’t conform to Scripture will be rejected by Christ.

Galatians 1:6-10

Many professing Christians in our time are preaching exclusively those messages that excite and uplift those who hear them.

They steer away from the difficult messages that require dedication, thought, and conviction.

They turn the Scripture into a popularity mechanism, relying on a surface understanding and imposing their own views upon it.

They excuse any actions or word of theirs that conflict with Scripture with phrases like “Jesus called me to this and I follow Jesus”.

Really? Galatians 1:6-10 disagrees.

Salvation doesn’t come from us claiming Jesus, it comes from Jesus claiming us. This requires a true relationship with Him.

Matthew 7:21-23

Exodus 33:13

Psalms 139:1-2

In practice, these methods lead to extreme popularity in today’s Christian society, to huge churches, and exciting visuals of people cheering.

But, in reality, their souls are on foundations of sand, living in disobedience to scripture

and Jesus tells us of their disposition just one passage ahead of our parable in Matthew 7:21-23.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Jesus tells us not to be foolish like these Christians, cherry picking only the parts of scripture that we and/or society agrees with and ignoring or excusing away the rest.

The biblical term to “know” God was not simply a term signifying you know who God is. The term meant that you had a special, dedicated relationship with God.

Exodus 33:13

Exodus 33:13 ESV

13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”

Psalms 139:1-2

Psalm 139:1–2 ESV

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.

You see, the foolishness of the man in our parable was the belief that all he had to do was claim the name of Jesus in order to get into heaven.

I cannot walk up to the gates of the White House and be let in simply because I claim to know the President. But, be sure, they will let me in if the President comes to the gate and says he knows me.

However the wise man, the determined to be obedient man, understood that he must truly follow Jesus in a sincere relationship so that Jesus would know him.

I don’t want you to get this twisted in your mind, though. Jesus is not saying that you can be a genuine, born-again Christian and NOT receive the salvation He offers.

What Jesus is telling us is that there are many who CLAIM to be Christians who are not truly saved.

The way we can tell whether we are truly born-again Christians under salvation is by the change of heart to a dedicated and determined obedience of Scripture that only the Holy Spirit can give us.

When the Holy Spirit [God, just as Jesus is God] dwells in our souls, He knows us, and He will help us to have a deep conviction to obedience.

Now that we understand this parable, the next logical question is: What do we do with our new knowledge? How do we apply it?

How Do We Withstand the Coming Storm?

John Stott says this in his analysis of the Sermon on the Mount (The Message of the Sermon on the Mount):

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount Introduction: What Is This Sermon? (Matthew 5:1, 2)

The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed. It is the nearest thing to a manifesto that he ever uttered, for it is his own description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do. To my mind no two words sum up its intention better, or indicate more clearly its challenge to the modern world, than the expression ‘Christian counter-culture’.

Christians must be counter-culture and God affirming.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount Introduction: What Is This Sermon? (Matthew 5:1, 2)

For if today’s young people are looking for the right things (meaning, peace, love, reality), they are looking for them in the wrong places. The first place to which they should be able to turn is the one place which they normally ignore, namely the church. For too often what they see in the church is not counter-culture but conformism, not a new society which embodies their ideals but another version of the old society which they have renounced, not life but death. They would readily endorse today what Jesus said of a church in the first century: ‘You have the name of being alive, and you are dead.’2

We cannot claim to be alive by the name of “Christian” only but through the life of Christianity.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount Introduction: What Is This Sermon? (Matthew 5:1, 2)

No comment could be more hurtful to the Christian than the words, ‘But you are no different from anybody else.’

For the essential theme of the whole Bible from beginning to end is that God’s historical purpose is to call out a people for himself; that this people is a ‘holy’ people, set apart from the world to belong to him and to obey him; and that its vocation is to be true to its identity, that is, to be ‘holy’ or ‘different’ in all its outlook and behaviour.

A Christians identity must be one that is “holy” (or different) in all its outlook and behaviour from the world.

We asked earlier, where is God’s love in this passage? Here it is: He gives us a second chance to obey.

There is a storm coming. Jesus’ mercy is in giving us an undeserved opportunity to withstand it.

Proverbs 10:25 (ESV)

25 When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more,

but the righteous is established forever.

God, our Creator, the righteous judge of all creation, whom we would not even exist without; would be completely just in saying “Here is my perfect Law, you have broken it, the penalty is death.”

Period, that’s it.

We are all condemned, no way out.

Instead, He sent Jesus to suffer the penalty of death for us and says “Because you believe in me, you are granted a second chance to obey.”

“Even though I know you will fail at complete obedience all the time, “

“if your heart is marked with a sincere love for me and your soul is built upon a steadfast conviction dedicated to obedience, you will be counted innocent when my wrath against sin comes to the world.”

There is a storm coming.

Mercifully, Jesus has given us all we need to withstand it;

we do not have to guess about what is right or redefine Christianity,

we need only to obey Scripture.

Thus Proverbs 10:25 will be fulfilled on Judgement Day:

Proverbs 10:25 ESV

25 When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.

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