“Every one therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them,”

The emphasis here is on the fact that they have heard His words  and done them  It is not enough to hear, and to approve, and to ‘believe’. All these are good but they must end in action. His orders are there to be carried out. It is not a question of being saved by good works, but of good works necessarily resulting from true belief and a true attitude towards Him. If they truly believe in Him they will do them. Action is the inevitable consequence of belief, especially when the consequences are so great. If they truly recognise and acknowledge His Lordship they will have no choice.

‘Of mine’. This is the second time Jesus has slipped Himself into the equation when they might have expected Him to speak of God (compare ‘Depart from Me’). Previously it had been ‘does the will of My Father in Heaven’. Now it is ‘Does My words’. He could so easily have said ‘does these words’, but He did not. The point He is emphasising is that they are  His  words. And it is His words which are the foundation on which they are to build, for His words express the will of His Father. We can compare His words in John’s Gospel, ‘My Father works even until now, and I work’ (Joh 5:17). ‘This is the work of God, that you believe on Him Whom He has sent’ (Joh 6:29). The same principle is in mind here. They must closely associate Him with His Father, and thus they must do His words.

Mat 7:24 b

“Will be likened to a wise man, who built his house on the rock,”

Jesus regularly speaks of those who do His will as ‘wise’. We can compare the ‘faithful and wise servant’ (Mat 24:45) and ‘the wise virgins’ (Mat 25:4). See also Luk 12:42; Luk 16:8. Those who are wise respond to His words. This contrast between the wise and the foolish comes out regularly in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Consider for example Pro 12:15 which is very apposite, ‘The way of the foolish is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel’. That is precisely the situation here.

And what did the wise do? He built his house on the rock. He dug down until he found a firm foundation. And that foundation was not wise sayings, but obedience to Jesus Christ. It lay in a full response to Him. That was wisdom.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Two Destinies (7:24-27).

Having given His firm warning Jesus now returns to the idea of the two choices which are open before them, but this time in terms of two houses built on two ‘foundations’. Yet it is not the foundations that the emphasis is on but the destinies. All must now decide how they will respond to His words, and upon it will depend their eternal future. Those who hear His words and do them will find themselves built on a foundation which ensures that they are secure for eternity, so that when the judgment comes they will stand firm. But those who hear His words and do not do them will find on that day that all collapses around them. They have no foundation.

Analysis.

Jesus ends with two perfectly balanced and contrasting positions. They are not in the form of a chiasmus but of two direct parallels, matching phrase by phrase, each of which is, however, a chiasmus. We have divided them up so that the parallelism can be observed quite clearly.

a A Every one therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them,

b B Will be likened to a wise man, who built his house on the rock,

c C And the rain descended, and the floods came,

c D And the winds blew, and beat on that house,

b E And it fell not,

a F For it was founded on the rock.

a A And every one who hears these words of mine, and does not do them,

b B Will be likened to a foolish man, who built his house on the sand,

c C And the rain descended, and the floods came,

c D And the winds blew, and smote on that house,

b E And it fell,

a F And great was its fall.

Notice that in each case in ‘a’ we are told how they responded, and in the parallel the final consequence. In ‘b’ we are told the foundation each built on and in the parallel what the consequence was. Centrally in ‘c and its parallel are the descriptions of God’s activities.

Note carefully the contrasts.

One does His words, the other does not.

One is wise, the other is foolish.

One built on rock, the other on sand.

One house was ‘beaten on’ (tribulation/strict examination), the other was ‘smitten’ (final judgment).

One did not fall (it stood firm), the other fell (it collapsed).

One was founded on rock, the other violently collapsed.

Apart from the last each statement has its opposite counterpart and we expect the last one to end, ‘for it was founded upon the sand’, but it does not. For He is bringing out the point that it had no foundation. When the test came there was nothing there. Jesus thus leaves them with the thought hanging in the air, ‘and great was its fall’. That is the final thought that He wants them all to take away with them.

So the Sermon that begins with the words ‘Blessed by God are those who are poor in spirit, for to them belongs the Kingly Rule of Heaven’, ends with (speaking of those who have turned their backs on the Kingly Rule of Heaven and have built on ‘false prophets’ of whatever kind) ‘great was its fall’.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Summary and Application to the Sermon on the Mount ( Luk 6:46-49 ) In Mat 7:24-27 Jesus gives us His concluding remarks to the Sermon on the Mount. He tells us to be doers of the Word of God and not hearers only (Luk 6:46, Jas 1:22-25).

Luk 6:46, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”

Jas 1:22, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

We find a similar conclusion in the book of Ecc 12:13 when King Solomon says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Both conclusions refer to the need to keep God’s commandments. Jesus states this in Mat 7:21 by saying, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

Mat 7:28-29 serves as a transitional sentence that the author uses between the five major sections of the Gospel.

Mat 7:29  For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Mat 7:29 Comments The Authority of God’s Word – God’s Word carries God’s authority. As Jesus taught the Word of God, He delivered it with the authority of God. Such is the responsibility of the preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As he preaches from the Holy Scriptures, he speaks with divine authority.

Mat 7:28-29 Comments – Transitional Sentences – Mat 7:28-29 serves as the first of five transitional sentences that mark the five major divisions of the Gospel of Matthew. Each of these five lengthy discourses ends with the similar phrase, “when Jesus had finished these sayings (or parables),” giving these five sections a common division.

Mat 7:28-29, “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.”

Mat 11:1, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.”

Mat 13:53, “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.”

Mat 19:1, “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan;”

Mat 26:1, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples,”

Thus, each of these five discourses is separated with large sections of narrative material, with the discourses being interwoven between the narratives. Each section of narrative material relates to and prepares us for the next discourse.

Comments Themes Reflected in Transitional Sentences – Mat 7:28-29 serves as a transitional sentence and as a parallel passage to Luk 7:1. The parallel passage in Mat 7:28-29 makes a similar statement, but reflects the office of the teacher by using the Greek words (G3056) (sayings) and (G1322) (teaching). In contrast, Luke’s passage reflects the office and ministry of the prophet in that the Greek uses the words (G4487) (sayings) and (G189) (hearing). While is defined as “the expression of thought” ( Vine), means, “that which is spoken” ( Vine). A word is that which the Spirit of God inspires us to utter, while the word reflects more of the written Word of God as a doctrine that is taught. Thus, Matthew’s Gospel reflects the teaching of God’s Word, while Luke reflects a prophetic utterance.

Luk 7:1, “Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

A concluding parable:

v. 24. 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;

v. 25. 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,

v. 26. 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;

v. 27. 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.

A majestic utterance referring to the entire discourse with all its lessons, intended, as they were, to teach wisdom and understanding in the lives of His disciples, as an outflow of the intimacy with Him and the power of faith. Jesus distinguishes only two classes of men, as in other parables and sayings, Mat 12:30. He here makes the distinction, the comparison which holds true even in this life, with regard to the foundation which men select for the structure of their faith and life. He bases His statement on the maxim that a proper hearing implies the obedience in life, Jas 1:22-25. There is the wise, the prudent, the thoughtful, the long-headed man, that uses his reason properly, that carefully weighs all propositions and selects judiciously what is suited to his purpose. When he builds a house, he lays the foundation firmly in solid ground, if possible, on rocky soil. Note the eloquence of the description, to denote the suddenness and the fury of the enraged elements: rain on the roof, river against the foundation, wind against the walls, but the house stood, its foundation was laid in the heart of the mighty rock. But there is also the foolish man, whom Christ mentions only in deep sorrow, the man who neglects prudence and common sense. He may build a house whose outward appearance differs in no way from that of the wise man. But he neglects to look to the proper foundation; he chooses a place with loose sand, near the bed of a mountain torrent. And again the elements were unleashed. Down came the vehement rain; down rushed the mighty river; fiercely blew the winds. And in this case they not merely fell upon, like an enemy or a wild beast which may yet be put to flight, but they struck down that house, and the ruin of it was complete. Nothing was left of its proud beauty. Prudent is he that does, that fulfills, the sayings of Christ, and thus lays the foundation of his spiritual life in a rock. He will stand firm in the midst of all assaults of the enemies. Not that his doing, his obedience, make him firm. But his life is rooted in his faith in Christ; from Him he daily gains new strength; by faith he conquers and is more than conqueror, Rom 8:37. But foolish is he that hears the words of Christ with his ears only, but presents no evidence of the works that flow out of Christian obedience. He thereby furnishes proof that faith either never gained a foothold in his life or has died out of his heart. Tribulation and temptation will find such a one unprepared. Without faith in Christ he has no hold and will perish most miserably.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 7:24-27. Therefore &c. The meaning of these verses is, that whoever expects to enter into the kingdom of glory, when his religion amounts to only a mere outward profession of the Gospel, will see all his ill-grounded hopes vanish, and come to nothing, when he appears before the judgment seat of that God who will judge all men according to their works.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 7:24-27 . Conclusion of the whole sermon, but, as appears from , taking the form of an inference from what is said immediately before, where admission into the Messianic kingdom is made to depend on moral obedience.

, . . .] The nominative with rhetorical emphasis placed anacolouthologically at the beginning in Mat 10:14 , Mat 13:12 , Mat 23:16 . See Khner, II. 1, p. 42; Winer, p. 534 f. [E. T. 718].

] This future , as well as , Mat 7:26 , is not to be taken as referring to the comparison immediately following (which is the common view), which is not warranted by the interrogatory passages, Mat 11:16 , Mar 4:30 , Luk 7:31 ; Luk 13:18 ; Luk 13:20 , but to be understood (like in Mat 7:23 ) of the day of judgment (Tholuck), when Christ will make him who yields obedience to those sayings of His, like ( i.e. demonstrate as matter of fact that he is like) a wise man, and so on. therefore does not here denote comparare , but the actual making him like to (Plat. Rep . p. 393 C; Mat 6:8 ; Mat 25:1 ; Mat 13:24 ; Rom 9:29 ). See the scholion of Photius in Matthaei, ad Euth. Zig . p. 290. De Wette is at one with Fritzsche as regards , but differs from him, however, in his view of as referring to the future result that is developing itself.

] as in Mat 25:2 .

] upon the rock . No particular rock is intended, but the category, as in Mat 7:26 : upon the sand .

Observe the emphatic, nay solemn, polysyndeta, and (instead of or , followed by a statement of the consequence; Krger, Xen. Anab . p. 404; Khner, II. 2, p. 782 f.) the paratactic mode of representation in Mat 7:25 ; Mat 7:27 , as also the important verbal repetition in Mat 7:27 , where, in the last of the assaults, (they assailed it) is only a more concrete way of describing the thing than the corresponding of Mat 7:25 . The three points in the picture are the roof , the foundation , and the sides of the house.

On the pluperfect without the augment, see Winer, p. 70 [E. T. 85].

] “ magna , sane totalis,” Bengel.

The meaning of this simple but grand similitude , harmonizing in some of its features with Eze 13:11 ff., is this: Whoever conforms to the teaching just inculcated is certain to obtain salvation in my kingdom, though trying times may await him; but he who is disobedient will lose the expected felicity, and the dire catastrophe that is to precede the advent of the Messiah will overwhelm him with (inasmuch as the Messiah, at His coming, will consign him to eternal death).

With regard to the Sermon generally , the following points may be noted:

(1.) It is the same discourse which, though according to a different tradition and redaction, is found in Luk 6:20-49 . For although it is there represented as occurring at a later date and in another locality (Mat 7:17 ), and although, in respect of its contents, style, and arrangement it differs widely from that in Matthew, yet, judging from its characteristic introduction and close, its manifold and essential identity as regards the subject-matter, as well as from its mentioning the circumstance that, immediately after, Jesus cured the sick servant in Capernaum (Luk 7:1 ff.), it is clear that Matthew and Luke do not record two different discourses (Augustine, Erasmus, Andr. Osiander, Molinaeus, Jansen, Bsching, Hess, Storr, Gratz, Krafft), but different versions of one and the same (Origen, Chrysostom, Bucer, Calvin, Chemnitz, Calovius, Bengel, and most modern commentators).

(2.) The preference as regards originality of tradition is not to be accorded to Luke (Schneckenburger, Olshausen, Wilke, B. Bauer, Schenkel, and, in the main, Bleek and Holtzmann), but to Matthew (Schleiermacher, Kern, Tholuck, de Wette, Weiss, Weizscker, Keim), because, as compared with Matthew, Luke’s version is so incomplete in its character, that one sees in it merely the disjointed fragments of what had once been a much more copious discourse. In Matthew, on the other hand, there is that combination of full detail, and sententious brevity, and disregard of connection, which is so natural in the case of a lengthened extemporaneous and spirited address actually delivered, but not suited to the purpose of a mere compiler of traditions, to whose art Ewald ( Jahrb . I. p. 131) ascribes the structure of the discourse. The Sermon on the Mount is omitted in Mark. But the view that this evangelist originally borrowed it, though in an abridged form, from Matthew’s collection of our Lord’s sayings, and that the place where it stood in Mar 3:19 , just before . , may still be traced (Ewald, Holtzmann), rests on the utterly unwarrantable supposition (Introduction, sec. 4) that the second Gospel has not come down to us in its original shape. On the other hand, see especially Weiss. Besides, there is no apparent reason why so important a passage should have been entirely struck out by Mark, if it had been originally there.

(3.) Since the original production of Matthew the apostle consisted of the (Introduction, sec. 2), it may be assumed that the Sermon on the Mount, as given in the present Gospel of Matthew, was in all essential respects one of the principal elements in that original. However, it is impossible to maintain that it was delivered (and reproduced from memory), in the precise form in which it has been preserved in Matthew. This follows at once from the length of the discourse and the variety of its contents, and is further confirmed by the circumstance that Matthew himself, according to Mat 9:9 , did not as yet belong to the number of those to whom it had been addressed. By way of showing that the Sermon on the Mount cannot have been delivered (Luk 6:20 ) till after the choice of the Twelve (Wieseler, Tholuck, Hilgenfeld, Ebrard, Bleek, Holtzmann, Keim), reasons of this sort have been alleged, that, at so early a stage, Jesus could not have indulged in such a polemical style of address toward the Pharisees. This, however, is unsatisfactory, since even a later period would still be open to a similar objection. On the other hand, it is to be observed further, that so important a historical connection (viz. with the choice of the Twelve) could not fail to have been preserved among the ancient traditions recorded by Matthew if such connection had actually existed, while again it is in accordance with the natural development of tradition, to suppose that the presence of the (Mat 5:1 ), which is historically certain, as well as the numerous important references to the calling of the disciples, may have led to the adoption of a later date in the subsequent traditions. Those who represent the evangelist as introducing the Sermon at an earlier stage than that to which it strictly belongs, are therefore charging him with gross confusion in his determination of the place in which it ought to stand. But although Matthew was not present himself at the Sermon on the Mount, but only reports what he learned indirectly through those who were so, still his report so preserves that happy combination of thoughtful purpose with the freedom of extemporaneous speech which distinguished the discourse, that one cannot fail clearly enough to recognise its substantial originality . This, however, can only be regarded as a relative originality, such as makes it impossible to say not only to what extent the form and arrangement of the discourse have been influenced by new versions of the on the one hand, and new modifications of the Gospel on the other, but also how much of what our Lord altered on some other occasion has been, either unconsciously or intentionally, interwoven with kindred elements in the address. But, in seeking to eliminate such foreign matters, critics have started with subjective assumptions and uncertain views, and so have each arrived at very conflicting results. Utterly inadmissible is the view of Calvin and Semler, which has obtained currency above all through Pott ( de natura atque indole orat. mont . 1788) and Kuinoel, that the Sermon on the Mount is a conglomerate, consisting of a great many detached sentences uttered by Jesus on different occasions, [428] and in proof of which we are referred especially to the numerous fragments that are to be found scattered throughout Luke. No doubt, in the case of the Lord’s Prayer, Mat 6:9 ff., the claim of originality must be decided in favour of Luke’s account. Otherwise, however, the historical connection of Luke’s parallel passages is such as, in no single instance, to justify their claim to the originality in question. In fact, the connection in which most of them stand is less appropriate than that of Matthew (Luk 11:34-36 compared with Mat 6:22 f.; Luk 16:17 compared with Mat 5:18 ; Luk 12:58 ff. compared with Mat 5:24 ff.; Luk 16:18 compared with Mat 5:32 ), while others leave room for supposing that Jesus has used the same expression twice (Luk 12:33 f. comp. Mat 6:19-21 ; Luk 13:24 comp. Mat 7:13 ; Luk 13:25-27 comp. Mat 7:22 f.; Luk 14:34 comp. Mat 5:13 ; Luk 16:13 comp. Mat 6:24 ) on different occasions, which is quite possible, especially when we consider the plastic nature of the figurative language employed. For, when Luke himself makes use of the saying about the candle, Mat 5:15 , on two occasions (Mat 8:16 , Mat 11:23 ), there is no necessity for thinking (as Weiss does) that he has been betrayed into doing so by Mar 4:21 . Luke’s secondary character as regards the Sermon on the Mount is seen, above all, in his omitting Jesus’ fundamental exposition of the law. In deriving that exposition from some special treatise dealing with the question of Jesus’ attitude towards the law, Holtzmann adopts a view that is peculiarly untenable in the case of the first Gospel (which grew directly out of the ); so, on the other hand, Weiss, 1864, p. 56 f.

[428] Strauss compares the different materials of the discourse to boulders that have been washed away from their original bed; while Matthew, he thinks, has shown special skill in grouping together the various cognate elements. This is substantially the view of Baur. Both, however, are opposed to the notion that Luke’s version is distinguished by greater originality. Holtzmann ascribes to Matthew the arrangement and the grouping of the ideas, while to Jesus again he ascribes the various apothegms that fill up the outline. Weizscker regards the discourse as fabricated, and having no reference to any definite situation , with a view, as he thinks, to show the relation of Jesus to the law, and therewith its introduction into the kingdom of God; what interrupts this branch of the discourse, which was sketched as a unity, viz. Mat 5:11 f., Mat 6:9 ff., Mat 7:21-23 , are inexplicable additions, and Mat 7:1-23 contains insertions which have a general relationship to the principal thoughts. According to Weiss, the following passages in particular belong to the insertions: Mat 5:13-16 , Mat 5:25 f., Mat 6:7-15 , Mat 6:19-34 , Mat 7:7-11 . The discourse, moreover, is said to have begun originally with only four beatitudes.

(4.) Those whom Jesus addressed in the Sermon on the Mount were, in the first instance, His own disciples (Mat 5:1 ), among whom were present some of those who were afterwards known as the Twelve (Mat 4:18 ff.), for which reason also a part of the discourse has the apostolic office distinctly in view; but the surrounding multitude (Mat 7:28 ) had also been listening, and were deeply astonished at the instruction they received. Accordingly, it may well be supposed that though Jesus’ words were intended more immediately for the benefit of His disciples (Mat 5:2 ), the listening multitude was by no means overlooked, but formed the outer circle of His audience, so that by look and gesture He could easily make it appear what was intended for the one circle and what for the other; comp. Mat 5:2 . What is said of ancient oratory is no less true of the animation with which Jesus spoke: “in antiqua oratione oculus, manus, digitus vice interpretis funguntur” (Wolf, ad Leptin . p. 365). These observations will suffice to explain the presence of a mixed teaching suited to the outer and inner circle, partly ideal and partly of a popular and less abstract character (in answer to Wittichen, Jahrb. f. D. Th . 1862, p. 318 ff.).

(5.) The object of the sermon cannot have been the consecration of the apostles (Zacharias, Pott, Ewald, Jahrb . I. p. 129), partly because the connection in which Luke places this address with the choosing of the Twelve is not to be preferred to the historical connection given in Matthew (see above, under 2); partly because Matthew, who does not record any passage containing special instructions for the apostles till ch. 10, makes no mention whatever of such an object (he only says , Mat 5:2 ); and partly because the contents are, as a whole, by no means in keeping with such a special aim as is here supposed. Judging from the contents, the object of Jesus, as the fulfiller of the law and the prophets, is to set forth the moral conditions of admission to the approaching Messianic kingdom . But the principle of a morality rooted in the heart, on which He insists, is, seeing that it is His disciples that are immediately addressed, necessarily faith in Him, as Luther especially has so often and so ably maintained (comp. Hofmann, Schriftbew . I. p. 598 ff., Tholuck). The whole discourse is a lively commentary on the words with which Jesus introduced His public ministry: , , setting forth the great moral effects of the which He requires, and declaring them to be the condition of Messianic bliss for those who believe in Him. So far the discourse may be correctly described as the inaugural address of His kingdom, as its “magna charta” (Tholuck), less appropriately as the “compendium of His doctrine” (de Wette).

(6.) The passages in which Jesus plainly reveals Himself as the Messiah (Mat 5:17 f., Mat 7:21 ff.) are not at variance with Mat 16:17 (see note on this passage), but fully harmonize with the Messianic conviction of which He was already possessed at His baptism, and which was divinely confirmed on that occasion, and with which He commenced His public ministry (Mat 4:17 ); just as in the fourth Gospel, also, He gives expression to His Messianic consciousness from the very outset, both within and beyond the circle of His disciples. Consequently, it is not necessary to suppose that a (de Wette, Baur) has taken place, which, according to Kstlin, had already been forced into the ; nor need we allow ourselves to be driven to the necessity of assigning a later date to the discourse (Tholuck, Hilgenfeld). Besides, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus does not as yet assume to Himself any express or formal designation as Messiah, although a Messianic sense of the importance of His runs through the entire discourse; and the notion that His consciousness of being the Messiah only gradually developed itself at a later period (Strauss, Schenkel, Weissenbach), is contrary to the whole testimony of the Gospels.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1334
THE WISE BUILDER

Mat 7:24-27. 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.

IT is of great importance in preaching the Gospel, to discriminate between the different characters to whom we deliver our message, and to separate the precious from the vile. If this be neglected, the wicked will hold fast their delusions, and the righteous continue in bondage to their fears: but if we be faithful in the discharge of this part of our duty, those among whom we minister, will be led to a knowledge of their own proper character and condition. Our blessed Lord, at the conclusion of his Sermon on the Mount, shews us how we should apply our subjects to the hearts and consciences of our hearers. In the words before us he describes,

I.

The character and condition of the godly

Their character is drawn in simple but comprehensive terms
[They come to Christ: this is absolutely necessary to their entrance on the divine life: till they have come to Christ under a sense of their own guilt and helplessness, they have no pretensions to godliness; they are obnoxious to the curse of the law, and the wrath of God [Note: Joh 3:18; Joh 3:36; Joh 5:40.].

After they have come to Christ, they hear his sayings; they sit at his feet, like Mary [Note: Luk 10:39.], desiring to be fully instructed in his mind and will. With this view they study the Holy Scriptures, and meditate in them day and night: with this view also they attend the ordinances, and receive the word, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God [Note: 1Th 2:13.].

They do not, however, rest in hearing his sayings; but they go forth to do them. They desire to know his will in order that they may do it. They love the most searching discourses, because by them they discover the evil of their own hearts, and are led to aspire after a fuller conformity to the Divine image: nor would they rest, till they feel every thought and desire captivated to the obedience of Christ.]

Their condition is exhibited in an apt similitude
[A man who builds his house upon a rock, shews that, however temperate the weather may be at the time he is building, he expects tempests to arise: and when the storms do come, he feels himself secure, from a consciousness that his house is so constructed as to withstand their violence.
Now a godly man resembles him in foresight and in security. He knows that, though he may at present be able to live in some tolerable comfort without religion, it will not be always so: he feels that, when misfortunes, troubles, sickness, and death shall come, he will be miserable without a well-founded hope of immortality. Hence he will not be satisfied with any religion that will not stand the test of scriptural examination; for he knows that no other will prove sufficient in the hour of trial.

When the storms blow, and the tempests beat upon him, then he finds the benefit of having digged deep, and laid his foundation well. Then he stands immoveable secure: the promise and oath of Jehovah are his firm support: Omnipotence itself upholds him. In vain do troubles from without, or temptations from within, assault him: even in the immediate prospect of death itself he retains his confidence, knowing in whom he has believed [Note: 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 4:6-8.], and assured that Jesus will save him to the uttermost.]

In a perfect contrast to this, our Lord exhibits,

II.

The character and condition of the ungodly

Their character is the very reverse of that already drawn
[It is worthy of observation, that nothing is said of their coming unto Christ. Here is their radical defect: had they ever come as perishing sinners to him, they should have wanted nothing for the perfecting of their salvation: but they are too proud to stoop to such an humiliating method of obtaining mercy: they do not feel their desert of Gods wrath, or their need of a mediator: and therefore, though they will compliment Jesus with the name of Saviour, they will not flee to him for refuge as those who know that without him they must for ever perish.

They will indeed hear his sayings; but they will not do them. They may take a pleasure in hearing the Gospel preached; and, like Ezekiels hearers, attend the ministration of the word with as much delight, as others listen to a musical performance [Note: Eze 33:31-32.]. They may even shew an extraordinary zeal about the ordinances of religion [Note: Isa 58:2.], and may alter their conduct, like Herod, in many things [Note: Mar 6:20.]: but there is some darling lust with which they will not part. When their besetting sin comes to be exposed, they draw back, unwilling to have their wounds probed, and their lusts mortified. When they are required to pluck out their right eye, and to cut off their right hand, they turn away, exclaiming, This is an hard saying; who can hear it [Note: Joh 6:60.]?

This stamps their character as ungodly. It is not the commission of any gross sin that constitutes men ungodly; but it is the retaining of some bosom lust, the rendering of only a partial obedience to the law, the not having the heart right with God.]

The similitude also reversed exactly describes their condition
[A person who, because the weather is fair, builds his house without any proper foundation, will, as soon as storms and tempests arise, find reason for regret. The house, for want of a foundation, will be undermined, and fall. He will then lose all the labour and money that he has bestowed upon it, and perhaps, with all his family, be overwhelmed in its ruins.
The ungodly man is like to him in folly, and in danger. His religion must come to the test at last: if it bear him through his trials in life, and uphold him with some degree of comfort in death, still it can never bear the scrutiny of the judgment day: then every mans work will be tried as by fire; and that which does not endure the fire, will be burnt up [Note: 1Co 3:13.]. How will the folly of trusting to vain delusions appear in that day! What regret and sorrow will arise in the mind of him who has laboured so much for nought! And how great will be his ruin, when he shall have no shelter from the wrath of God, and when the goodly fabric that he built shall crush him to atoms!

O that we well considered this; and that all of us would build as for eternity!]

Let us learn from hence,
1.

The necessity of practical religion

[Religion does not consist in mere notions, however just or scriptural; but in a conformity of heart and life to the will of God. We must not, however, mistake, as though our works were the foundation whereon we are to build (that would indeed be a foundation of sand): Christ is the only foundation of a sinners hope [Note: 1Co 3:11.]; the only rock on which we must build: but then we must shew that we do build on him, by the super-structure which we raise upon him: and if the superstructure be not such as to prove that we are founded on him, our hopes of standing in the day of judgment are vain and delusive.]

2.

The excellence of practical religion

[A house, whose foundation is deep, and fixed upon a rock, will stand, whatever storms or tempests may beat upon it. And thus it is with the practical and consistent Christian. His principles will bear him up in the day of adversity: he may defy all the hosts both of men and devils; for none shall ever separate him from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord [Note: Rom 8:38-39.]. And when the most specious structures shall fall, to the confusion and ruin of those who erected them, the wise builder shall dwell secure amidst the desolating judgments and the wreck of worlds.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

Here the LORD closeth his discourse, and plainly sheweth whose are his from the men of the world. CHRIST is the Rock of Ages, the Precious Corner Stone JEHOVAH hath laid in Zion. And all that believe in him shall never perish, but have everlasting life. While on the contrary, those who build on the sand of their own attainments, when the storms of life come upon them, sink under the unequal pressure, and are buried in the everlasting ruins of their own confusion, and shall never come to the habitations of the blessed. The close of the LORD’S’ sermon was, as might be expected. They were astonished at his doctrine. He spake as never man spake, and his word was with power.

REFLECTIONS.

READER! having gone over the whole of this blessed Sermon of CHRIST, let us sum up the contents, and beg of God the HOLY GHOST to write all the gracious truths contained in it in our hearts, And while we hear the LORD giving to his Church the whole Gospel of Salvation, oh! what a blessed consideration is it, that JESUS himself hath fulfilled all, and is all to his redeemed. Never may the Church of JESUS forget this, but receive Christ as the Father’s gift, and the complete salvation of JEHOVAH to the end of the earth!

Precious, blessed Lord JESUS! so may my soul hear these sayings of thine, and embrace them, that building upon thee as the foundation, the superstructure, and the whole, both of Law and the Prophets, when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth, I may be found firm on the rock, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail. Despised as thou hast been, and still art, by Jews and false Christians, and a stone of stumbling and rock of offence; yet to me be thou more precious than the mountains of spices. In thy person, work and offices; in thy character and relations; in thy complete righteousness and salvation; be thou my Lord, my hope, and everlasting portion. Lord grant that I may never build on the sandy performance of anything of my own, or mix up with thy complete work the hay and the stubble of any legal righteousness, which can stand no wind of the day of God’s wrath; but be thou the all in all, of all grace here, and of glory forever. Amen.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 28

The Omissions of the Sermon Christ’s Adaptation to His Audience Caution Against Mere Literalism Common Trials

Prayer

Almighty God, for every gentle promise of thine our hearts would bless thee. We need thy tenderest word, for the wounds in our life are vital, and there is no recovery for the soul of man but by the healing which thou dost supply. We are wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, and there is no health in us: we have destroyed ourselves, but in thee is our help. This we say to ourselves when we are most sober-minded, and see most clearly into our real condition in the sight of heaven. Sometimes we delude ourselves, and by many a pretence do we seek to mislead divine judgment: we wash our hands with soap and nitre, and we think that therefore our heart must be clean: we robe ourselves in white linen as if we clothed the spirit with the snow of absolute holiness, but now and again we see into our own corruption and it frightens us with a great terror, for in us there is no health we are charnel houses, we are dead souls, we are corrupt and pestilent in thy sight, and we annoy heaven by our very breathing.

To whom shall we come but unto the living one for life, and to the eternal for the extension of our duration? We hasten to the cross, we flee with feet of lightning to thy side, thou wounded One, Emmanuel, the God-Man. Thou didst never cast out the contrite seeker, thou didst never say “No” to the broken heart; when streaming eyes have been turned to thee thou hast poured upon them the light of thy smile, and made even the tears of sorrow beautiful. We all come to thee with great piercing cries of want, sharp and ringing utterances of agony, principally saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner;” and we wait with one grand expectation for thine infinite answer of pardon and peace through the blood of the Lamb. Amen.

Mat 7:24-29

24. 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:

25. 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.

26. 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:

27. 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.

28. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

29. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

We have, as you are aware, gone verse by verse through all the preceding chapters in the gospel by Matthew. We began with the words, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham,” and from time to time we have pursued a consecutive study of the gospel by Matthew, and we have now come to the close of the Sermon upon the Mount. My object to-night is to review the Sermon upon the Mount as a whole, having already perused it sentence by sentence and commented thereupon.

It is a very common question which men ask of one another, “What did you think of the sermon to-day?” It is that question which I intend to answer, the sermon being the Sermon upon the Mount and the Preacher being the Son of God.

Looking at the sermon as a whole, I will take it for granted that you ask me what I, having heard the sermon, thought of it. Let me tell you first of all, how much I was struck with the omissions of the sermon. I am told that a sermon is right in proportion as it begins with the creation of man and steadily pursues its heavy way through all human history, and sums itself up by the events of the day of judgment. If that is a correct interpretation of a sound and good sermon, then the sermon delivered upon the mount must be regarded as being most remarkable for its serious omissions. I am not aware that the Preacher has ever referred to the existence of Adam. To the best of my recollection, there is not one solitary word in the sermon about what took place in Eden, and the terms “original sin” are not to be found in the discourse from beginning to end. Nowhere did the Preacher say, to the best of my recollection, “You are wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, and there is no health in you;” never once did he say, “All ye like sheep have gone astray, ye have turned everyone to his own way;” in no instance did he say, “There is none righteous, no, not one; God looked down from heaven to see the children of men, and behold if there were any that did good, and lo there was none that served him with a perfect heart.” How then?

In the next place I am struck by the utter absence of what we call now-a-days Evangelical Doctrine. There is nothing here about the Blood of Christ, there is nothing here about the Cross of Calvary, there is nothing here about believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, as that word is evangelically interpreted and applied. There is here nothing of the doctrine of grace, nothing of the doctrine of justification by faith, nothing of the grand savoury doctrine of the assurance of adoption into the family of God. The Preacher himself calls his discourse a set of Sayings. Where is orthodoxy? where is grace? where is faith? where is election? where is assurance? where is a single element that is denoted amongst us to-day as evangelical? where is unction? So far, I think, I could justify myself in every sentence I have uttered by the letter that is now spread open before me in the sacred volume. And yet it would be only a justification in the letter, for every one of the grand doctrines I have now referred to, though not specifically named in the discourse, is absolutely and profoundly assumed as the basis of the entire utterance. So mistaken may we be when we hear preachers: we bind them too severely to the mere letter: if we do not hear our favourite set of terms and tones exactly as we have always heard them, the temptation is to feel and to suggest that the preacher is not preaching the grand old doctrine by which we obtained our personal salvation.

Now the reality of the case is that this Sermon upon the Mount could not have been preached if man had not fallen from his first estate. The language would have been an unknown tongue, the doctrine would have been without application and point to any living creature. Jesus Christ takes human history as he finds it: he addresses the human nature that was before him, and I ask you to lay your finger upon a single point in his discourse that would have been appropriate if there had not taken place, some time in human history, a total collapse of human integrity. We must allow our preachers therefore some latitude of expression, we must allow that some things are to be taken for granted; we really must not insist on having in every discourse a correct and formal statement of all our theological beliefs and doctrines; we must seize human history as it actually is, we must modernise some antique expressions, and must mint again some grand old words and turn them into the coinage and the currency of our present phraseology. Be careful how you take away the reputation or character of any man for not being evangelical. Such persons as I now refer to might have taken away the reputation of the Son of God himself by confining their attention strictly to the narrow letter. Rely upon it that the evangelical doctrine is to be found sometimes under apparently uncouth forms of expression. Now and again the rocks of our thinking may be reddened with unseen blood, the blood of Jesus Christ himself, whilst we who only see imperfectly what is taking place, may blame the preacher for want of evangelical grace and unction and pathos.

Suppose a man should say to a student, “In order to be a sea captain, you must be able to take the latitude and the longitude of a ship at sea. That is one thing which you must be able to do.” What would you think of that young student turning round and saying to his father, “This teacher ignores great fundamental truths: he never said a word to me about the first four rules in arithmetic do you call that orthodox direction and calculation? He uses long, fine words; he says I must be able to take the latitude and the longitude of a ship at sea is that fundamental teaching? The man ignores the very root and base of arithmetical reckoning.” How would you esteem such a criticism? Surely as a piece of blatant folly; for how can any man take the latitude and longitude of a ship at sea if he is ignorant of the first four rules of arithmetic? To be able to do it assumes all previous knowledge and training. The teacher states results rather than processes, and this form of teaching must sometimes be allowed to the pulpit. Jesus Christ speaks to human nature as he finds it; he takes the human history for granted, and he lets his gracious words fall upon the hearing of mankind to be, received, adopted, and applied according to the personal conditions and requirements.

If you ask me again what I thought of the Sermon on the Mount when I heard it, I should say how much struck I was by the infinite wisdom and tact of the preacher, in beginning just where his audience was prepared to begin. Instead of coming with some high-flown morality, of which the world had never heard before, he said, “What are your maxims? Hew far have you gone in the Book already?” And when they said to him, “We have come up to this point, namely, Thou shalt not kill,” he said in effect, “Very well; so far so good. But that is a rough and vulgar morality that hardly begins to be morality at all: it is a very little way beyond the merest barbarism. It is a little from it, and so far it is upon a right line but I say unto you, Ye shall not be angry with your brother without a cause. How far have you got upon the line of civilisation?” The answer, is, “Thus far, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy.” Jesus Christ says, “You must alter your doctrine upon the latter point: I say unto you, Love your enemies.”

Still the point to be noted is this, that Jesus Christ took morality as he found it, began where the people were prepared to begin. He took upon, him the form of a servant and became such to their ignorance: he made himself of no reputation instead of talking in a high-flown language which the people could not understand, he took their germs and elements of morality and civilisation, and carried them onward to their proper development and culmination.

This is the right method of teaching, this is the philosopher’s plan. If I want to teach a child, I must ask the child where he can begin I must not play the great scholar with my little pupil, I must lay aside my intellectual divinity, and be born in the child’s place. I must make myself of no reputation, and find little words for my little hearer, and begin the race where his little feet can begin to run. The child looks at his alphabet, and his face, his eyes, his mouth, round, into a great wonder, not unmarked by a peculiar trace of distress, for he thinks it impossible that he can ever make friends with such monstrous looking figures. What had I to do? To sympathise with his distress, to tell him that once upon a time I was quite frightened, and that little by little I got to know them, and that now we are the best friends in the world. Then I say to my little hearer, “You have not got to tackle the whole six-and-twenty at once, you have got to take them one by one. Now we will drop the other five-and-twenty and see what we can do with the first one.” Is that the man I have heard talk in polysyllables and in long and well-connected sentences, and who has endeavoured to work his way up into high climax and ringing appeal in the hearing of the great congregation? Yet he is talking so to that little child why? Simply because he is a little child. If I were to talk so to a man, I would talk below the occasion, I would not rise to the height of my responsibility. Jesus Christ therefore says in effect, “Where can you begin? You begin at, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt hate thine enemy, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth now hear me.” And then he proceeds to unwind and disclose the superior revelation, and to lead his disciples onward, little by little, from height to height, until they are all on the mountain with him together, a happy, thankful, well-instructed band.

And yet there are dangers about that method of teaching. It is God’s method in the Bible, and he has gotten himself well affronted for it; every pigmy who could double up his fist has smitten God in the face for adopting that kind of teaching. Persons have written books in contravention of Mosaic history, Mosaic science, Mosaic archaeology, geology, and many other ologies with awkward names. Well, now, how does all this intellectual opposition arise? Here are men with sharp eyes and pointed fingers gathered around the first chapter of the book of Genesis, and they are saying, “How can this be?” not knowing that God spake to men as children, and as they were able to hear it. He, in effect, said, what Christ said upon the mount, “How far have ye come?” Men talked about the sun rising and the sun setting it seemed as if it did. A man said, “I saw the sun in the East, and I watched and waited, and I saw him sink in the West; so the sun rises and the sun sets.” And the Lord said, “So be it; that is your conception of the astronomy of the universe; then let us begin there and say the sun rises and the run sets, and let us talk as if that were really so.”

And again they say, “How can all this take place in a day?” The Lord spoke to those to whom he was speaking in the only language they could understand. What is a day? Twelve hours? Nothing of the kind. Four-and-twenty hours? Nothing of the sort. That is only one kind of day. Day is a long word, a broad word, a strange word, spreading itself out over great spaces. Why, you say, “Every dog has its day;” you say, “I must preach to the day” what mean ye? That I must preach to every twelve hours the clock ticks off? You know that you have no such meaning, and yet now that God gave us these infantile lessons because we were in an infantile state of mind, we go up to him and say, “What did you mean by talking to us about the sun rising and the sun setting, when the sun never does anything of the sort? And what did you mean by saying this and that were done in one day when there are only four-and-twenty hours in the day, and part of that must be spent in sleeping?”

Why it is just like this: you gave your little boy at four or five years of age a rocking-horse, and when he is four-and-twenty he comes to you and says, “What did you mean by so insulting me giving me a rocking-horse what did you mean by giving a man a thing like that, a dead piece of wood, a painted horse what did you mean by giving a man such a gift?” Suppose you had such an idiot son, what would you say to him? You would say, “My boy, it was not given to the man, it was given to the child; it was not given to five-and-twenty years of age, it was given to a five-year-old infant: it was not intended that you should always be on the rocking-horse, it was a hint, a suggestion, something to be going on with the only thing you could then use. It was adapted to the then state of your mind, and all this abuse you are now pouring upon me is utterly undeserved and beside the mark.”

So there are persons who still reckon the Bible in its letter only; they have not seen into the inner meaning, their religious imagination has never been inflamed, they know nothing of the holy passion, the secret heart-unction which breaks a loaf into a feast for thousands, and which finds in one cup of water wine enough for a life’s long drinking. O, my friend, thou art a personal letter, locked up in the little gaol of some literal verse. I heard of a person the other day who thinks that she ought not to pray unless her head is covered. To think of the eternal Father of us all looking down to see if you, dear old mother or young sister, have got your head covered before you say, “Our Father which art in heaven.” So, to meet the circumstances of the case, not always having an umbrella at her disposal, she puts a pocket-handkerchief on her head in order to accommodate the infinite Jehovah. Would you believe that such idiocy were possible in the nineteenth century?

This is the difficulty of the preacher: he cannot get his hearer or student away from the letter. The student will not sow the seed of the letter and let it grow into the fruit of the spirit. “No, no,” says he, “I have got this seed: I am not going to part with it;” and he is thought to be very tenacious of the truth, he is reported to be exceedingly attached to the old truth. The man who takes his handful of corn called the biblical letter and sows it in his consciousness, sows it in his imagination, sows it in his heart, sows it in every part of his nature, and lets it grow in the sunshiny blessing and the dewy baptism of heaven until it blooms into verdure and blossom and beauty and culminates in fruitfulness, is the man who uses the Bible in the right way. It was so the Son of God used it: he met us where we could be met, he took us by the hand as little children, and he left us under the ministry of God the Holy Ghost to grow in grace, to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, to grow in that subtle, loving sympathy which sees God and touches him and holds him with a heart grip for which there are no words, Hast thou attained that height in the divine life? Then truly art thou born again, and truly are thine ears circumcised to hear the inner music of the celestial world.

You have asked me what I thought of the sermon as a whole: now I should like to know what Jesus Christ himself thought of it. The preacher has an estimate or an opinion of every sermon which he is permitted to proclaim. I cannot but wonder therefore what Christ’s own opinion of his discourse was, and happily we have a reply to that inquiry. He treated his sayings as fundamental; he said, in effect, “These are foundation stones, these are not fine things to put on the top of the capital, these are great rough, unhewn rocks to build on.” We like polish in our modern preachers; in fact we have gone so far as to say of certain preachers, that they are extremely finished which is awfully true. Jesus Christ laid foundations: he himself is revealed to us as a rock, and we may say of those who do not follow us, “Their rock is not as our rock, our enemies themselves being judges. He is a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, elect, tested by every means at the divine disposal.” That is the kind of preacher we ought to hear every now and then, and though we do, now and again, hear a man who is in every sense of the term most finished, we should again and again for our soul’s bettering and rousing hear a kind of preacher that is fundamental, that brings us back to the rock, that puts a test into the base we are building upon, and that says, “Either this is rock or this is mud sand. Beware.”

He also regarded his sayings as supplying an indestructible basis of life. The rain descended, and the winds blew, and beat upon the rock-founded house, and it fell not. Like foundation, like building; Jesus Christ thus gave his hearers assurance of durability, strength, protection, indestructibleness, immortality. I cannot see the foundation of this building: it looks well as an edifice, its proportions, its decorations, its defences are excellent, so far as my eye can judge, but what the foundation is I cannot tell. So it is with many a human life. Many a man talks to me of whom I form an excellent opinion. He looks well, he speaks well, his appearance is all that can be desired, but what his foundation is I do not know. Do not be content with appearances, do not be satisfied with mere external decoration. If you are going to build me a house, I say, “Be sure first of all about the foundation: never mind about the decoration, let me know that the house is well founded, do not tell me that the drawing-room is well papered. Mere decoration I can take in hand little by little, as I may be disposed to expend money upon it, but the foundation once laid, who can get at it again?”

Both the houses had trial. The rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon both houses. So I have heard men say, “Well, it seems to me as if you Christian people had quite as many trials as other folks,” So they have, I have heard you say, “It seems to me as if being religious did not save you from trouble, for really you seem to have just as much to contend with as I have, and I make no profession of religion.” So it is. What is the result? Everything depends upon the foundation: if your foundation is not right, I do not care how high your building is, or how it is decorated, or how put together. I do not care if it is pinnacled all over with gold, all but piercing the clouds it will come down, and great will be the fall of it. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree, yet he passed away, and lo, he was not, yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.

What is your foundation? Are you resting upon the eternal Son of God are you resting upon Christ? You shall be saved, for the foundation is safe. Your house is a very odd one, my friend; I never look at it with any pleasure; you are peculiar, crotchety, odd-minded, eccentric, extremely impracticable, and very few people care to visit you or sympathise with you but you shall be saved, for the foundation is elect, precious, tried, laid in Zion by hands divine.

On the contrary, here is a man that I like very much; I like his look, I like his voice, I like his reading, I go with all his aspirations and sympathies of a social, civilising, and literary and elevating kind. So far as this world is concerned, he is a beautiful and noble soul to all outward seeming, but he has no foundation except a foundation of sand. Then your rejoicing is but for a time: so long as health continues and business is prosperous and all around you is sunny, men will praise you and believe in you but there is a trying time coming. I know it will come upon you: you are broad-chested, heavy-boned, full-blooded, nobly built from a physical point of view, and it would seem as if death could never strike such a target. But he will that great thunder voice shall be contracted into a whining whisper, that great strong frame shall be bent down like a broken bulrush, the time will come when you will be thankful for the most menial service which your most menial servant can render you. The time will come when the window that used to be a blaze of light will be darkened and there will be a shadow upon it, grim as a skeleton. Then the quality of the man will be discovered: in that hour it were well to know the Son of God, the sweet Jesus, the infinite Saviour, the bleeding Lamb.

Let us all endeavour to read this Sermon on the Mount over and over again, and to make it our life-chart, and to do nothing that will not stand the test of its divine fire.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

24 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:

Ver. 24. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, &c. ] Here we have the conclusion of this, if not first, yet certainly fullest, of our Saviour’s sermons; for matter most heavenly, and for order more than methodical. Most men think, if they sit out a sermon, it is sufficient; when the preacher hath once done they are done too. Away they go, and (for any practice) they leave the word where they found it, or depart sorrowful, as he in the Gospel, that Christ requireth such things as they are not willing to perform. Our Saviour had four sorts of hearers and but one good, that brought forth fruit with patience. When St Paul preached at Athens some mocked, others doubted, a few believed, Act 17:32 , but no church was founded there as at other places, because “Christ crucified” was preached, “unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and to those Greeks foolishness;” while the Jews required a sign, and the Greeks sought after wisdom, 1Co 1:22-23 . But what saith the prophet? “Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them?” Jer 8:9 . He is a wise builder, a wise servant, a wise virgin, a wise merchant (if our Saviour may be judge), that heareth these sayings of his, and doeth them. “And behold” (saith Moses), “I have taught you statutes and judgments: keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom,” &c. “A good understanding have all they that do thereafter,”Deu 4:6Deu 4:6 ; Psa 111:10 . David hereby became wiser than his teachers, ancients, enemies; and Paul counted it his chief policy to keep a good conscience void of offence toward God and men ( ), Act 23:1 , which cannot be until it may be said of a man, as Shaphan said of Josiah’s workmen, “All that was given in charge to thy servants, they do it,” 2Ch 34:16 . For not the hearers of the law, but the doers shall be justified, saith Paul, Rom 2:12 ; shall be blessed, saith our Saviour often, Luk 11:28 ; Joh 13:17 ; shall be made thereby the friends of Christ, Joh 15:14 , the kindred of Christ, Mat 12:50 ; the glory of Christ, a royal diadem in the hand of Jehovah; yea, such as have the honour to set the crown royal upon Christ’s head in the day of his espousals,2Co 8:232Co 8:23 ; Isa 62:3 ; Son 3:11 ; “Be ye therefore doers of the word,” saith St James, “and not hearers only,” deceiving, or putting paralogisms ( ), Jas 1:22 , tricks and fallacies (sophistry like) upon your own souls. They that place religion in hearing, and go no further, will prove egregious and outstanding fools in the end. Which to prevent, look intently and accurately ( ), saith that apostle, stoop down, and pry heedfully into the “perfect law of liberty” (as the cherubims did into the propitiatory, as the angels do into the mystery of Christ, as the disciples did into the sepulchre of Christ, 1Pe 1:12 ; Joh 20:5 ), “and continue therein,” till ye be transformed thereinto; “not being forgetful hearers, but doers of the work:” so shall ye “be blessed in the deed.” It is not enough to hear, “but take heed how you hear.” Bring with you the loan of your former hearing. “For to him that hath shall be given, and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you.” As ye measure to God in preparation and practice, he will measure to you in success and blessing: and every time that you hear, God will come to you in “the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of” peace, Rom 15:29 . See that ye shift not off ( ) him that speaketh, Heb 12:25 . Veniat, veniat verbum Domini, et submittemus illi, sexcenta si nobis essent colla, saith a notable Dutch divine: Let God speak, and we will yield, though it were to the loss of a thousand lives. The Macedonians delivered themselves up to God, and the Romans to the form of doctrine that was delivered unto them, 2Co 8:7 ; Rom 6:17 ; they took impression from it, as the metal doth from the mould, or as the wax doth from the seal. David lifted up his hands to God’s commandments,Psa 119:48Psa 119:48 , he did “all the wills of God,” Act 13:35 , who had set him both his time and his task. He sets all his servants a work, and requireth their pains. Hos 10:11 , Ephraim was a heifer used to dance and delight in the soft straw, and could not abide to plough, but the Lord will make him both bear and draw. Religion is not a name, saith one (Mr Harris at Paul’s Cross), goodness a word; it is active like fire, communicative like light. As the life of things stand in goodness, so the life of goodness in action. The chiefest goods are most active, the best good a mere act. And the more good we do, the more God-like and excellent we be, and the better provided against a rainy day.

Which built his house upon a rock ] This rock is Christ; and conscionable hearers are living stones built upon him, Eph 2:20 ; 1Pe 2:5 . The conies are a people weak and wise, saith Solomon, Pro 30:26 ; and their wisdom herein appears, they work themselves holes and burrows in the bosom of the earth, in the roots of the rocks. Learn we to do the like, and be sure to dig deep enough (as St Luke hath it); which while the stony ground hearers did not, their blade was scorched up, and came to nothing,Luk 6:49Luk 6:49 . ( Exoriuntur, sed exuruntur. ) Some flashing joy they had upon the hearing of the word, and many meltings (according to the nature of the doctrine delivered); but these sudden affections, being not well bottomed, nor having principles to maintain them, they were but like conduits running with wine at the coronation, or like a land flood, that seems to be a great sea, but is soon gone again.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

24. ] is a pendent nominative, of which examples are found in the classics, especially in Plato: so , . Cratyl. p. 464 C. See also ib. p. 403 A: Gorg. p. 474 E. Khner, Gramm. ii. 508.

Notice the both times, not merely . identifies only: classifies.

may be from me, as in Act 1:4 ref.: and the makes this perhaps more probable than the ordinary rendering “ these words of mine .”

seems to bind together the Sermon, and preclude, as indeed does the whole structure of the Sermon, the supposition that these last chapters are merely a collection of sayings uttered at different times.

(or, )] Meyer and Tholuck take this word to signify, not ‘I will compare him ,’ but ‘I will make him like ,’ viz. , as in ch. Mat 6:8 ; Rom 9:29 . But it is, perhaps, more in analogy with the usage of the Lord’s discourses to understand it, I will compare him: so , ch. Mat 11:10 ; Luk 13:18 , and reff.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 7:24-27 . Epilogue (Luk 6:47-49 , which see for comparative exegesis). , Mat 7:24 , may be taken as referring to the whole discourse, not merely to Mat 7:21-23 (Tholuck and Achelis). Such a sublime utterance could only be the grand finale of a considerable discourse, or series of discourses. It is a fit ending of a body of teaching of unparalleled weight, dignity, and beauty. The after (Mat 7:24 ), though omitted in [51] , therefore bracketed in W. H [52] , is thoroughly appropriate. It may have fallen out through similar ending of three successive words, or have been omitted intentionally to make the statement following applicable to the whole of Christ’s teaching. Its omission weakens the oratorical power of the passage. It occurs in Mat 7:26 .

[51] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[52] Westcott and Hort.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mat 7:24 . . Were the reading adopted, this would be a case either of attraction for to agree with (Fritzsche), or of a broken construction: nominative, without a verb corresponding, for rhetorical effect. (Meyer, vide Winer, lxiii., 2, d.) , : hearing and doing, both must go together; vide Jas 1:22-25 , for a commentary on this logion . “Doing” points generally to reality , and what it means specifically depends on the nature of the saying. “Blessed are the poor in spirit”; doing in that case means being poor in spirit. To evangelic ears the word has a legal sound, but the doing Christ had in view meant the opposite of legalism and Pharisaism. : not at the judgment day (Meyer), but, either shall be assimilated by his own action (Weiss), or the future passive to be taken as a Gerund = comparandus est (Achelis). : perhaps the best rendering is “thoughtful”. The type of man meant considers well what he is about, and carefully adopts measures suited to his purpose. The undertaking on hand is building a house a serious business a house not being meant for show, or for the moment, but for a lasting home. A well-selected emblem of religion. : the article used to denote not an individual rock, but a category a rocky foundation.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 7:24-27

24″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. 25And 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. 26Everyone 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. 27The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell-and great was its fall.”

Mat 7:24 “everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them” This parable was unique to Matthew and Luke (Luk 6:47-49). This is similar to the thought in the Hebrew word Shema of Deu 6:1 where the word implies “to hear so as to do.” Christianity involves (1) knowledge; (2) personal response; and (3) a lifestyle of service. It is interesting that both builders are said to hear Jesus’ words. Again, it looks as if the context of these warnings is religious people who have heard and responded at some level.

Mat 7:24-27 These verses are similar to the truth of Matthew 13, the parable of the soils. It is only through persecution and adversity that the true character of “supposed” believers is revealed. A life of persecution is a real possibility for Christians (cf. Joh 15:20; Joh 16:33; Act 14:22; Rom 8:17; 1Th 3:3; 2Ti 3:12; 1Pe 2:21; 1Pe 4:12-16).

Mat 7:26 It is interesting that both builders are said to hear Jesus’ words. Again, it looks as if the context of these warnings is religious people who have heard and responded to some degree. A.T. Robertson said in Word Pictures in the New Testament, “Hearing sermons is a dangerous business if one does not put them into practice,” p. 63, and I would add, as is writing and delivering them (i.e., sermons).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

whosoever = every one (as in Mat 7:26). Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6.

sayings = words. Greek plural of logos. See note on Mar 9:32.

wise = prudent.

a = the.

rock = rocky ground.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

24.] is a pendent nominative, of which examples are found in the classics, especially in Plato: so , . Cratyl. p. 464 C. See also ib. p. 403 A: Gorg. p. 474 E. Khner, Gramm. ii. 508.

Notice the both times, not merely . identifies only: classifies.

may be from me, as in Act 1:4 ref.: and the makes this perhaps more probable than the ordinary rendering these words of mine.

seems to bind together the Sermon, and preclude, as indeed does the whole structure of the Sermon, the supposition that these last chapters are merely a collection of sayings uttered at different times.

(or, )] Meyer and Tholuck take this word to signify, not I will compare him, but I will make him like, viz. , as in ch. Mat 6:8; Rom 9:29. But it is, perhaps, more in analogy with the usage of the Lords discourses to understand it, I will compare him: so , ch. Mat 11:10; Luk 13:18, and reff.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 7:24. , I will liken) In Mat 7:26 it is, he shall he likened. God refers salutary things[348] to Himself; He removes evil things[349] from Himself; cf. ch. Mat 25:34; Mat 25:41.-, prudent) True prudence spontaneously accompanies true righteousness; cf. ch. Mat 25:2.

[348] i.e. things connected with salvation, as ex. gr. the building on the rock.-ED.

[349] As ex. gr. the building on the sand; therefore it is here, he shall be likened, not I will liken.-ED.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Building on Secure Foundations

Mat 7:24-29

In the Syrian summer, when the soil is baked hard by the intense heat, any spot will serve equally well as the site of a house. No one can say whether his neighbor has built well or ill-only the builder knows. But in the winter the rain falls in torrents and the valleys are filled with foaming floods, which sap all foundations that have not gripped the living rock.

To believe about Christ is not enough; we must believe in Him. We must come to Him as a Living Stone and become living stones, 1Pe 2:4-8. We must not only listen to Him; we must obey Him. There must be living, unbroken unity and fellowship between Him and us. Then we may proceed to erect the structure of godly and holy living which shall grow into a holy temple in the Lord, 1Co 3:10-15. May we receive, with meekness, the engrafting of the Word, which is able to save the soul!

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

The King Sums up his Discourse

Mat 7:24-25. 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 heat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

We are to hear our Lord; and by this is, of course, intended that we are to accept what he says as authoritative: this is more than some do at this time, for they sit in judgment upon the teachings of. the Lord. But hearing is not enough; we must do these sayings. There must be practical godliness, or nothing is right within us. The doing hearer has built a house with a stable foundation: the wisest and safest, but the most expensive and toilsome thing to do. Trials come to him. His sincerity and truthfulness do not prevent his being tested. From above, and from beneath, and from all sides, the trials come: rain, floods, and winds. No screen is interposed: all these “beat upon the house.” It is a substantial structure; but the tests become so severe that nothing can save the building unless it be the strength of its foundation. Because the chief support is so immovable, the entire erection survives. “It fell not”: it may have suffered damage here and there, and it may have looked very weather-beaten; but “it fell not.” Let the Rock of Ages be praised if, after terrible tribulation, it can be said of our faith, “it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”

Mat 7:26-27. 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.

The mere hearer is in a poor plight. He, too, is a house-builder. The hearing of the Lord’s sayings sets him upon work, and work which is designed to afford him shelter and comfort. He “built his house”: he was practical and persevering, and did not begin and leave off before completion. Yet though he was industrious, he was foolish. No doubt he built quickly, for his foundation cost him no severe labour; his excavations were soon made, for there was no rock to remove: he “built his house upon the sand.” But trials come even to insincere professors. Are we not all born to trouble? The same kind of afflictions come to the foolish as come to the wise, and they operate in precisely the same way; but the result is very different.

“It fell.” These are solemn words. It was a fine building, and it promised to stand for ages; but “it fell.” There were minor faults in the fabric, but its chief weakness was underground, in the secret place of the foundation: the man “built his house upon the sand.” His fundamentals were wrong.

The crash was terrible; the sound was heard afar: “great was the fall of it.” The overflow was final and irretrievable. Many heard the fall, and many more saw the ruins as they remained a perpetual memorial of the result of that folly which is satisfied with hearing, and neglects doing.

Mat 7:28-29. 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.

The sermon is over; what has come of it? Never was there so great a Preacher, and never did he deliver a greater discourse: how many were the penitents? How many the converts? We do not hear of any. Divine truth, even when preached to perfection, will not of itself affect the heart to conversion. The most overpowering authority produces no obedience unless the Holy Ghost subdue the hearer’s heart.

“The people were astonished”: was this all? It is to be feared it was. Two things surprised them; the substance of his teaching, and the manner of it. They had never heard such doctrine before; the precepts which he had given were quite new to their thoughts. But their main astonishment was at his manner: there was a certainty, a power, a weight about it, such as they had never seen in the ordinary professional instructors. Ho did not raise questions, nor speak with hesitation; neither did he cite authorities, and hide his own responsibility behind great names. “He taught them as one having authority.” He spoke royally: the truth itself was its own argument and demonstration. He taught prophetically, as one inspired from above: men felt that he spake after the manner of one sent of God. It was no fault on their part to be astonished, but it was a grave crime to bo astonished and nothing more.

My Saviour, this was a poor reward for thy right royal discourse-” The people were astonished.” Grant to me that I may not care to astonish people, but may I be enabled to win them for thee: and if, with my utmost endeavours; I do astonish them, and nothing more, may I never complain; for how should the disciple be above his Lord?

Fuente: Spurgeon’s The Gospel of the Kingdom

whosoever: Mat 7:7, Mat 7:8, Mat 7:13, Mat 7:14, Mat 5:3-12, Mat 5:28-32, Mat 6:14, Mat 6:15, Mat 6:19-21, Mat 12:50, Luk 6:47-49, Luk 11:28, Joh 13:17, Joh 14:15, Joh 14:22-24, Joh 15:10, Joh 15:14, Rom 2:6-9, Gal 5:6, Gal 5:7, Gal 6:7, Gal 6:8, Jam 1:21-27, Jam 2:17-26, 1Jo 2:3, 1Jo 3:22-24, 1Jo 5:3-5, Rev 22:14, Rev 22:15

a wise: Job 28:28, Psa 111:10, Psa 119:99, Psa 119:130, Pro 10:8, Pro 14:8, Jam 3:13-18

which: 1Co 3:10, 1Co 3:11

Reciprocal: Gen 6:22 – General Gen 26:5 – General Exo 12:50 – as the Lord Lev 20:8 – And ye Lev 26:3 – General Deu 13:18 – to keep Jos 1:8 – observe Jos 2:21 – And she bound 2Ch 31:21 – prospered Ezr 7:10 – to do it Job 8:15 – it shall not stand Job 42:9 – did Psa 27:5 – set me Psa 32:6 – in the floods Psa 40:2 – set Psa 119:34 – I shall Psa 119:100 – because Pro 8:34 – watching Pro 10:17 – the way Pro 10:25 – an Pro 12:7 – the house Pro 15:32 – heareth Ecc 1:6 – The wind Son 8:7 – waters Isa 2:3 – he will teach Isa 4:6 – for a covert Isa 32:2 – an hiding Eze 33:31 – and they Mat 11:29 – my Mat 25:2 – General Mat 28:20 – them Eph 3:17 – grounded Phi 4:9 – do Col 1:23 – grounded Col 2:7 – built Heb 5:9 – unto Heb 11:8 – obeyed 2Pe 1:10 – if

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

BUILDING UPON THE ROCK

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.

Mat 7:24-25

Christ is the Rock, and a mans religion is compared to the house which is built upon it. And the similitude, winding up as it does, and clenching the whole of the Sermon on the Mount, assumes an unparalleled weight and importance. There are a few persons who are too fond of looking at foundations; they are always tormenting their minds, and distrusting and disparaging the love of Almighty God. But many more commit the far more dangerous and vital mistake of not searching into them enough.

I. Untrustworthy foundations.Most persons who think at all have certain floating, unfixed thoughts and ideas, on which they try to erect a certain kind of faith and practice.

(a) Natural religion. Of this character is the notion a great many men have about the general goodness of GodHe is a kind Godtoo good to punish. And then comes all the poetry and all the sentiment of natural religion.

(b) Good works. Presently, taken off this, and seeing something of its unworthiness, these men go a little more down into the reality of thingsthey rest much upon dutiesthey lay out a breadth of religious observancesthey try to form many good habitsthey endeavour to do some good worksthey discipline themselves very strictly, but find it of no avail.

(c) Feelings. Then, a little beneath this, comes the trust of the man who, seeing the untenableness of a good life as a ground of hope before God, leans rather on what he feels in his own mind.

II. The Rock at last.But again it fails him, and again he has to go deeper still, till gradually that man is led to see that a sinners ultimate resting-place must be something outside himself, something apart from himself. So he begins to see the necessity of a Saviour. Now that man is beginning to touch a Rock. He is beginning to feel something that will bear. At last, the Spirit of God shows that man the Rock in all its strengthand there now it is, beneath that mans feet, like adamant.

The Rev. James Vaughan.

Illustration

In all matters relating to his home and land the peasant of Palestine is very shrewd. The position of a village will show that the inhabitants are well versed in the knowledge that points to the best site for their dwellings. They are built on the top or side of a hill, and seem at the first glance in the sunlight of a bright summer day to be a part of its rocky side. When the rain has washed the white dust from their walls they are much more distinct, or when surrounded by trees and gardens. Security from the attack of foes and the storms of winter seem to have prompted their choice of a site for the village. The position on or near the summit of a hill commands a view of the surrounding country and renders it in ordinary warfare wellnigh impregnable. To add to this desirable situation the houses are built like little forts and close together. When storm clouds burst and the rain rushes in torrents over the rocks on the hillsides, and innumerable little streams tumble precipitately down the mountains, the village homes are free from damp walls or standing pools, as the water seeks the lower land. To prevent the house from following the course of the rain it is firmly built on the rock with strong, thick wallsthe precaution of a wise man (St. Mat 7:24). In the plain below the hills where there is no stone the houses are often made of clay and mud, and raised on the sand. If they do not disappear altogether before the rainy season is over, they become so saturated with the wet that when the sun comes out the roof will dry and crack.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

7:24

No doubt the people described in the preceding verse lived a life that made a fair appearance to others because their deeds seemed out of the ordinary. Yet they were not well founded because they were not backed up by a program of practical obedience to the whole law of useful service. A house must not only be pleasing to the eye of an admirer in order to stand, but it must be founded on something solid. Hence Jesus compares the all-around and serviceable man to one who not only put some

desirable things into the construction of his building, but who was careful to underlay it with a rock foundation.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mat 7:24. Therefore. In view of all that precedes, especially the warnings just given, to which a further warning is here added.

These sayings of mine, coming from me, with a hint as to His authority. This expression does not favor the view that this discourse is a summary made by the Evangelist

Doeth them, makes them his habitual rule of action. The power to do them Christ gives us. How and why is to be learned elsewhere. To rise to the Mount of Beatitudes in our life, we must go to Mount Calvary for our life.

Shall be likened. This is the better established reading.

A wise man, a prudent man.

Who, such an one as.

Built his house upon a rock. The Greek has the article with rock and sand, with a generalizing meaning, i.e., rocky foundation, sandy foundation. The English idiom usually omits the definite article in such a case; but the E. V. is inconsistent, omitting the article here, and reading the sand (Mat 7:26). The practice was common, but the form indicates a special case, which may have been known to the hearers.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Christ here speaks of two houses, the one built upon a rock, the other on the sand; these two houses were alike skilfully and strongly built to outward appearance; while the sun shone and the weather was fair, none could discern but that the house upon the sand was built as well, and might stand as long, as that on the rock; but when the rain fell the foundation failed.

Thus, where is the hypocrite with all his faith and fear, with all his shew and appearance of grace, in a wet and windy day? His goodly outside is like the apples of Sodom, fair and alluring to the eye, being touched, instantly evaporate into dust and smoke. A hypocrite stands in grace no longer than till he falls into trouble; and accordingly our Saviour here concludes his excellent sermon with an elegant similitude.

The wise builder is not the frequent hearer, but the faithful doer of the word, or the obedient Christian; the house is heaven, and the hope of eternal life; the rock is Christ; the building upon the sand, is rested in the rare performance of outward duties: the rains, the winds, and the floods, are all kinds of afflicting evils, sufferings, and persecutions, that may befall us.

Note, 1. That the obedient believer is the only wise man, that builds his hope of heaven upon a sure and abiding foundation.

Note, 2. That such professors as rest in the outward performances of holy duties, are foolish builders, their foundation is weak and sandy, and all their hopes of salvation vain and uncertain. An outward profession of Christianity, though set off by prophesying and doing miracles, will not avail any man towards his account at the great day, without that real and faithful, that universal and impartial, obedience to the laws of Christ which the gospel requires.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 7:24-27. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, &c. In these words our Lord attests, in the most solemn manner, the certain truth and infinite importance of all he had delivered in the foregoing sermon, and applies it to the consciences of his hearers. Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them Whosoever he be that hears, considers, understands, believes, and obeys the doctrine which I have now taught you; I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock Whatever his former conduct may have been, being now brought to repentance and amendment of life, and becoming a new creature, he lays a solid foundation for present comfort and everlasting security and joy. Observe well, reader, although other foundation for confidence toward God, and a hope of eternal life, can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ, 1Co 3:11; yet we pretend in vain to build on him, if we do not obey his doctrine, and make it the rule of our whole conduct. Therefore there is no inconsistency between the doctrine here advanced by our Lord, and that of the apostle in the passage just quoted; nor between the same apostles declaring, 1Co 7:19, Circumcision is nothing, &c., but the keeping of the commandments of God; and his asserting to the Galatians, chap. Mat 5:6, That nothing availeth but faith which worketh by love. For the faith he speaks of is always followed by obedience to the commandments of God, of which it is the root and principle. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and beat upon that house These words of our Lord imply that every mans religion, with the confidence and hope which he builds thereon, must, sooner or later, be severely tried; and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock Thus the religion of the true, practical Christian, with all his present comforts and future hopes, remains firm and unshaken, how severely and violently soever it may be assaulted. And every one that heareth these sayings, and doeth them not Who is a mere hearer of the word, and not a doer of it, how constantly soever he may attend to hear it, and whatever zeal he may profess for the doctrine he hears; shall be likened unto a foolish man, &c. A man possessed of neither foresight nor consideration; who built his house upon the sand Without taking any care to find or lay a firm foundation for it, as if he were sure that no wintry storm or tempest would ever assail it. And the rain descended, &c. and beat upon that house, and it fell For the foundation being bad, neither the height of the structure, nor its wide dimensions, could be any security to it: and great was the fall of it Even as great as the building had been. A lively emblem, says Doddridge, of the ruin which will another day overwhelm the unhappy man who trusts to an outward profession and form of godliness, when he does not sincerely and practically regard it.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

XLII.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.

(A Mountain Plateau not far from Capernaum.)

Subdivision K.

CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION: TWO BUILDERS.

aMATT. VII. 24-29; cLUKE VI. 46-49.

c46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? [Why do ye give me the title, but withhold the service which should go with it?– Mal 1:6.] a24 Every one therefore that ccometh unto me, and heareth my words {athese words of mine,} and doeth them [ Joh 13:17, Jam 1:22], cI will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like {ashall be likened unto} ca man building a house, who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: aa wise man who built his house upon the rock [The word “rock” suggests Christ himself. No life can be founded upon Christ’s teaching unless it be founded also upon faith and trust in his personality. For this we must dig deep, for as St. Gregory says, “God is not to be found on the surface”]: 25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; cand when a flood arose, the stream brake against that house, and could not shake it: aand it fell not: cbecause it had been well builded. afor it was founded upon the rock. [The imagery of this passage would be impressive anywhere, but is especially so when used before an audience accustomed to the fierceness of an Eastern tempest. Rains, floods, etc., represent collectively the trials, the temptations and persecutions which come upon us from without. There comes a time to every life when these things throng together and test the resources of our strength.] 26 And every one {c49 But he} athat heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not shall be likened unto {cis like} aa foolish man, who {cthat} built a {ahis} house upon the sand: {cearth} without a foundation; a27 and the rain [269] descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; {cagainst which the stream brake,} and straightway it fell in; aand great was the fall thereof. cand the ruin of that house was great. [We do not need to go to Palestine to witness the picture portrayed here. Whole towns on the Missouri and the lower Mississippi have been undermined and swept away because built upon the sand. Jesus here limits the tragedy to a single house. “A single soul is a great ruin in the eyes of God” (Godet). Jesus did not end his sermon with a strain of consolation. It is not always best to do so.] a28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching: 29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. [See page 166.]

[FFG 269-270]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

7:24 {8} 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:

(8) True godliness rests only upon Christ, and therefore always remains invincible.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The two builders 7:24-27 (cf. Luk 6:47-49)

Mat 7:21-23 contrast those who say one thing but do another. Mat 7:24-27 contrast hearing and doing (cf Jas 1:22-25; Jas 2:14-20). [Note: Stott, p. 208.] The will of Jesus’ Father (Mat 7:21) now becomes "these words of mine" (Mat 7:24). As throughout this section (Mat 7:13-27), Jesus was looking at a life in its entirety.

"The two ways illustrate the start of the life of faith; the two trees illustrate the growth and results of the life of faith here and now; and the two houses illustrate the end of this life of faith, when God shall call everything to judgment." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:31.]

Each house in Jesus’ illustration looks secure. However severe testing reveals the true quality of the builders’ work (cf. Mat 13:21; Pro 10:25; Pro 12:7; Pro 14:11; Isa 28:16-17). Torrential downpours were and are common in Israel. Wise men build to withstand anything. The wise person is a theme in Matthew (cf. Mat 10:16; Mat 24:45; Mat 25:2; Mat 25:4; Mat 25:8-9). The wise person is one who puts Jesus’ words into practice. Thus the final reckoning will expose the true convictions of the pseudo-disciple.

Jesus later compared Himself to foundation rock (Mat 16:18; cf. Isa 28:16; 1Co 3:11; 1Pe 2:6-8). That idea was probably implicit here.

Mat 7:16-20 have led some people to judge the reality of a person’s salvation from his or her works. All that Jesus said before (Mat 7:1-5) and following those verses should discourage us from doing this. False prophets eventually give evidence that they are not faithful prophets. However, it is impossible for onlookers to determine the salvation of professing believers (Mat 7:21-23) and those who simply receive the gospel without making any public response to it (Mat 7:24-27). Their real condition will only become clear when Jesus judges them. He is their Judge, and we must leave their judgment in His hands (Mat 7:1).

Jesus’ point in this section (Mat 7:13-27) was that entrance into the kingdom and discipleship as a follower of the King are unpopular, and they involve persecution. Many more people will profess to be disciples than really are. The acid test is obedience to the revealed will of God.

"So the sermon ends with a challenge not to ignore responding to Jesus and his teaching. Jesus is a figure who is not placing his teaching forward because it is a recommended way of life. He represents far more than that. His teaching is a call to an allegiance that means the difference between life and death, between blessing and woe. Jesus is more than a prophet." [Note: Bock, Jesus according . . ., pp. 152-53. For a good exposition of the Sermon on the Mount, see Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)