Which Foundation
Matthew 7: 21 – 29
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
The most important decision in a person’s life is not where to live, where to work, or whether to marry.
It is how will I react when confronted with the Gospel.
The Bible says, Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
One day we shall all stand before a Judgement seat. Some will stand before the Judgement seat of Christ and others will stand before the Judgement seat of God.
Those who made a decision to accepted Jesus Christ will stand before the Judgement seat of Christ.
2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
However those that made a decision to reject Jesus Christ will stand before the Judgement seat of God.
Rev 20: 11 – 15 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
There are many people that believe that we are all heading for the same place when we die.
Some believe that after death there is nothing and that we just live and die and that is the end.
There are those that are convinced that no matter which religion you belong to, all roads lead to heaven.
The question is, what is the truth?
How does one inherit the kingdom of God?
Our passage of scripture makes it very clear that there are two different eternal destinations and not all people will enter the kingdom of heaven.
21a "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
There are many who acknowledge that Jesus existed and there are many that say they believe in Jesus.
However, Jesus points out here in the first part of the text that saying it is not enough.
“Well! I believe in God, I believe in Jesus” one may say.
James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Sadly there will some who will say Lord Lord on that day.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
Not every one that saith .. Jesus goes on to say that many, on the ground of a mere profession such as he had just referred to, would claim admittance into his kingdom.
Many would plead that they had done miracles, and preached or prophesied in His name, and on the ground of that would demand an entrance into heaven.
The power of working miracles had no necessary connection with piety and is no proof of conversion. God could, if he chooses, give the power of raising the dead to a wicked man, just in the same way He gives the skill of healing to an unbelieving doctor.
A miracle is a display of God’s power" through the medium of another.
An act of healing the sick is also a display of God’s power through the agency of another.
In neither of these cases there is no connection with moral character, or proof of new birth.
So of preaching or prophesying.
God may use the agency of a man of talents, even if the man is not born again, to carry forward His purposes.
God can show His power, in anyone He chooses and He may convey it by anyone that He chooses.
Accordingly, many will be found in the Day of Judgment who may have been endowed with powers of prophecy or miracle, as God did with Balaam or Jannes and Jambres the magicians of Egypt; in the same way as many people of distinguished talents may be found, yet destitute of piety, and who will be shut out of his kingdom.
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Notice, this is not that people knew Jesus and fell away, they never belonged to Christ, they were never born again.
Jesus goes on to use a parable to explain the true foundation of one’s life and works.
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
The meaning of this parable is quite obvious: proper foundations are necessary.
With a literal house, it is unwise to build on sand, because the foundation will be unsteady and the house will eventually suffer some kind of damage. This will waste resources, and all the time and work put into building the house in the first place will have gone for nothing.
In contrast, it is wise to build one’s house on a sure foundation; anchoring to bedrock makes a building withstand the test.
However, this is not what Jesus had in mind, house construction or building code violations. The spiritual meaning of the parable is found in Matthew 7:24: “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
We are each building a life. The proper foundation for a life is Jesus’ words—not just the hearing of them, but the doing of them.
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew
The man who’s life is built on Christ, (the Rock), When rain, floods and winds of life’s calamities, problems and troubles fall upon him, he will be able to stand.
The wise man will follow the words of God despite these pressures, not as a way to “show off” or earn salvation, but because he trusts God.
All through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presented Himself as the final authority on the Law and One who fulfilled the Law; “You have heard it said – But I say”.
He ends the sermon with a call to heed His message and, in fact, find one’s security in Him.
1 Cor 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
And so, Jesus comes to the end of an amazing teaching session, taking His listeners deeper than the letter of the law, showing a different way of living.
Showing the contrast between Two ways of living.
Two kinds of Righteousness and Devotion - Two Treasures - Two Masters - Two Ambitions and Two Kingdoms.
Finally, Two Foundations.
These last two verses record the reaction of those that heard the Sermon on the Mount that day, and they give the reason for that reaction.
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
Astonished, amazed, they were shocked. How could this man Jesus be teaching like this? He was a carpenter’s son, a comparatively young man. His friends were local fishermen. How could such a man who keeps that kind of company and who had no formal scribal education be saying such things?
They had never heard anyone speak like this man.
29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Jesus did not teach based on the authority of training received, or on the authority of what someone else said. He taught on the basis of His Fathers authority.
John 12:49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
Jesus contrasts the teaching of the Scribes and Pharisees by saying, “You have heard that the ancients were told,” and “you have heard that it was said”.
These were other people’s words, traditions handed down.
Even the Old testament prophets did not speak like Jesus, they would say “Thus says the Lord”.
Jesus was different, He was not teaching men’s words or traditions but His words, the words of the Father.
Daring to identify with God the Father by saying “but I say unto you”.
Jesus wasn’t teaching like the Scribes and Pharisees, they had no authority of their own, they considered it their duty to preach the traditions they had received. They would search for quotes by Rabbii’s and read commentaries.
Jesus cut across all the traditional teaching and spoke on the authority of His Father
He was teaching a completely new way of life.
No wonder “that the people were astonished at His teaching”,
This is why the Apostle Paul could write:
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
