Sermon Tone Analysis

Sub-Sub-Title: Will the Real Captain Marvel Please Stand Up?

  “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.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

(Mt 7:24–29)  

“Lord Jesus, you are the Lord of the universe, and we say you are the Lord of our lives.

Yet we know how easy it is to say “Lord, Lord” and then go our own way and not obey you.

Make us people who live what we say.

Melt our stubborn hearts and humble our pride so that we submit to you as Lord in every way and obey you wholeheartedly.

We pray this in the name of Jesus, who is our strong foundation.

Amen.” [Stott]

Introduction:

What a way to end a Sermon!

These were the closing words of our Saviour’s most famous sermon upon the mount.

Some preachers concentrate all their powers upon an effort to conclude with a fine thing called a peroration; which, being interpreted, means a blaze of rhetorical fireworks, in the glory of which the speaker subsides.

They certainly have not the example of Christ in this discourse to warrant them in the practice.

Here is the Saviour’s peroration, and yet it is as simple as any other part of the address.

There is an evident absence of all artificial oratory.

The whole of his hill-sermon was intensely earnest, and that earnestness was sustained to the end, so that the closing words are as glowing coals, or as sharp arrows of the bow.

Our Lord closes not by displaying his own powers of elocution, but by simply and affectionately addressing a warning to those who, having heard his words, should remain satisfied with hearing, and should not go forth and put them into practice.

As according to usual experience a preacher warms to his subject as he advances, and becomes more intense as he nears his final sentences, we are bound to give the more earnest heed to the words which are now before us, with which the Lord of all preachers concluded his memorable discourse.

[C.

H. Spurgeon, “The Two Builders and Their Houses,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol.

16 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1870), 121.]

We now come to the third illustration and application of our Lord’s teaching on the Sermon on the Mount.

He has emphasized the importance of making the right decision and living the real profession.

Now He turns to the basic issue of a reliable foundation in life.

Not many preachers would finish a sermon in this manner.

It was an abrupt, startling, and dramatic conclusion, and the hearers went away, says Dr. George Buttrick, “with the crash of doom reverberating in their ears!”

Each person who heard the great utterance and the closing illustration knew at once that the analogy had a personal application.

The man who found himself firm on the rocky foundation went home with a quiet assurance in his heart.

The hearer who discovered he was resting on a sandy foundation was profoundly disturbed as he mentally visualized the disintegration of a house in the face of rain, wind, and flood, and heard the sound of rending timbers and crumbling walls.

[Olford, EPO, v. 7]

Illustration - THE STORM TEST

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house.... Matthew 7:25, 27.

It is the storm that shows up the structure.

The floods reveal the foundations.

Counterfeit Christianity and fair-weather faith go down before the tempest.

Paul puts it another way: "The day shall declare it... and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is" (1 Corinthians 3:13).

Whether foundation or superstructure, will it stand the test of rain and flood and fire?

[Havner, All the Days]

I hope to convince you to count fully the cost of discipleship, and avoid any shortcuts.

Rather, build brick by brick, solidly on each other, “line upon line...precept upon precept...here a little...there a little....” Then you will one day have a work for God that can withstand the test of eternity!

Main Thought: If you would be a follower of Jesus, build your life on the Bible!

Follow Christ’s Blueprints for Building your life on the Rock of Scripture and you’ll find that God’s Word will enable you to withstand the storms of life.

Jesus concluded His message with a poignant picture of the “Telios” of the disciple who puts His teachings to practice in contrast with those who do not.

By doing what He taught (contextually, the Sermon on the Mount), His disciple can withstand the inevitable storms of trials and persecutions that attend discipleship.

On the other hand....

Sub-intro:

At this point in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is not concerned to add further instruction, but rather to ensure a proper response to the instruction he has already given.

So Jesus confronts us with himself, sets before us the radical choice between obedience and disobedience, and calls us to an unconditional commitment of mind, will and life to his teaching.

He warns us of two unacceptable alternatives, first a merely verbal profession (Matthew 7:21–23) and secondly a merely intellectual knowledge (vv.

24–27).

[John Stott, Dale Larsen, and Sandy Larsen, A Deeper Look at the Sermon on the Mount: Twelve Sessions for Groups and Individuals: Living out the Way of Jesus, LifeGuide in Depth Bible Studies (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Connect: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2013), 164.]

“Matthew concludes the Sermon on the Mount with a parable, the first parable of Jesus in Matthew.”

[Jeannine K. Brown, Matthew, ed.

Mark L. Strauss and John H. Walton, Teach the Text Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015), 85.]

In this concluding section of the sermon, the third picture of contrasting responses to the kingdom presents opposite approaches to home construction (cf.

Luke 6:47–49).

House building as a metaphor is found elsewhere in Scripture.15

In light of Matt.

13:55 and Mark 6:3, it is plausible that Jesus had personal experience in house construction.

As in the previous two pictures, the reality portrayed by the vivid language of the storm is the final judgment,16 not the “storms of life’s trials” (contra Augustine, Sermon on the Mount 2.25.87;

H. Betz 1995: 566; Hendriksen 1973: 381).

The picture of the two gates/ways portrays the end of life’s journey as either life or destruction (Matt.

7:13–14).

The picture of the two trees/fruits portrays the bad trees (false prophets, 7:15, 22) as thrown into the fire (repudiation on the last day, 7:19, 23).

Here in 7:24–27 judgment is portrayed as a storm (cf.

Prov.

10:25) and resulting flood where lives/houses either withstand or succumb to the scrutiny of divine justice.

15 See Deut.

28:30; Ps. 127:1; Prov.

10:25; 12:7; 14:11; 24:3; Jer.

22:13–14; and esp.

Ezek.

13:8–16, which denounces false prophets as those who build a defective wall that falls down during a storm.

Sirach 22:16–18 uses building metaphors for wisdom, among them a wooden beam that will not be shaken by an earthquake.

Contrast the metaphorical builders of shoddy walls in CD 4.19; 8.12, 18; 19.24, 31.

See also 1 Cor.

3:10–15.

16 Cf.

Gen. 6–7; Matt.

24:39; Ps. 66:10–12; Isa.

28:2, 17; 29:6; 30:27–30; Ezek.

13:10–16; 38:22; 1QH 3.14; 2 Bar.

53.7–12.

[David L. Turner, Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 221.]

Context: One might outline the Illustration’s of Jesus’ message this way:

I. Jesus’ Illustration (7:13–27)

A. The two roads (7:13–14)

1.

The broad highway to hell (7:13): The gate is wide, and many choose this way to destruction.

2. The narrow road to heaven (7:14): The gate is narrow, and only a few ever find it.

B. The two animals (a condemnation of false prophets) (7:1)

1.

They pretend to be sheep (7:15a): They seem harmless.

2. They prove to be wolves (7:15b): They tear you apart.

C. The two kinds of disciples (7:21–23)

1. True disciples (7:21a): On judgment day, the true disciples will be separated from the false ones.

2. False disciples (7:21b–23): On judgment day, the false disciples will be condemned.

a.

The wondrous deeds they will say they did (7:22) : They will say they prophesied, cast out demons, and performed miracles in his name.

b.

The wicked deeds Christ will say they did (7:21b, 23): They disobeyed the Father, and God will say he never knew them.

D. The two trees (7:16–20)

1.

A good tree cannot produce bad fruit (7:16, 18).