Matthew 7: 24-29

Welcome we are at . . .

Matthew 7.24-29

May 31st 2026

Okay, we left off last week with Yeshua telling us to beware of false prophets, to judge them by their fruits, and that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter heaven but those “who do the will of Father in Heaven.”

We concluded by showing that for a person to do the will of Father in Heaven today they would believe on His Son and love as He gave commandment.

Let’s continue on and finish out chapter seven (beginning with verse twenty-four) which will finish out the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.

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 Yeshua 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.

Alright, referring back to all He has taught, or everything back to when He sat down with the disciples there on the Mount, Yeshua says,

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.

Now, a couple of things we have to notice from this passage besides the obvious illustration.

Notice the possession Yeshua takes of all He has said?

“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.”

This is powerful. The Jews had ultimate allegiance to God, and here Yeshua takes literal ownership of all He has taught, and places Himself in the position of judge saying, “I will liken him unto a wise man.”

Another thing we notice in this summary is an order,

Whoso “heareth” these sayings is first, and “doeth them” follows,

It’s important chronology.

Belief and faith is always based, couched and prefaced by hearing (or reading or seeing or being presented with) information.

Many belief systems have been established based on intelligence, imagination, and/or opinion.

L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer before establishing scientology.

Joseph Smith Jun pulled revelation on matters out of a hat which were incongruent with biblical Scripture.

Mohammed produced his insights from angelic visitations from the Angel Gabriel in a cave.

Stepping outside of these religious leaders (and by the way, there are thousands of them that have been documented) many individuals believe that truth – heavenly truths or eternal truths – can be established subjectively in a vacuum, meaning, an individual can go up to a mountain, look to the sky, and conjure up eternal insights unattached to any other information source.

This seems reasonable since, at one time, this was the apparent way God spoke to some men.

But God has worked over the course of human history by revealing Himself in phases up until the incarnation of Himself in His first human Son.

Once this occurred, those who wrote were witnesses of Him – meaning they saw Him and were taught of Him.

Those who were alive at the time prior to these writings being made known were convinced that these men were of God by the presence of the Holy Spirit AND the miracles they did.

But now, with these inspired writings of actual witnesses of Him are in our possession and we read or hear the information and choose to believe it or not – this is the means by which God has established faith – it comes by hearing the information first then choosing to believe and accept it as true and worthy of our devotion. This is why Paul wrote to the church at Romans 10:13-15,

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

In the introduction of Titus, Paul says, speaking how God reaches us today,

“But (He hath) in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior.”

So, Yeshua says to His disciples, as He is finishing up His training of them there on the Mount,

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.

In other words those who first HEAR, and then DO these sayings of mine.

Hearing is faith.

Doing is love as this is His command.

Christ says He will liken such a person to a man who “built his house on a rock.”

From what I can tell, Palestine is, to a considerable extent, a land of hills and mountains, and valleys.

Because of violent rains storms, which created and cut water channels in and through any soft surface, any house not built upon rock stood a chance of literally getting washed away.

I’m sure Yeshua witnessed this growing up in the region.

The teaching must have been insanely applicable to these disciples – both in a literal sense and ALSO in a figurative or spiritual sense.

Most everyone understands the dangers of building upon a weak foundation. But they especially understood this seeing the results of unwise souls who build their homes on sandy river bottoms.

In a spiritual sense, however, this illustration is truly beyond profound.

Human beings are only as strong as what they have embraced (or have built or established themselves upon).

Interestingly, all of us are free to build our lives upon whatever foundation we want and the choices are as innumerable as the outcomes.

Interestingly, one of the strongest, even one of the most long-lasting foundations many people build their life upon is their own will. Their own strength, wisdom and strength.

It is a thing.

And by their own abilities, whether it be brawn, brain-power, or skills at socialization and making a name they abide.

I would suggest, here and now, that the divide between true Christianity and the rest of the world will been seen with true Christians resting entirely on Yeshua with the rest of the world resting and relying on inferior substrates of sandy materials, whether it come from flesh, art, sciences, philosophy, athletics, or intellectual prowess.

German philosopher Arthur Schoepenhaur based his most influential book, The World as Will and Representation, on the idea that everything is will – human will.

His thoughts greatly influenced Friederich Nietzsche, who said the idea of God being dead (because Man has killed Him) therefore the only thing left is for men to become their own Supermen.

Nietzsche’s writings, mostly taken wrongly and applied terribly, greatly influenced a number of horrific outcomes around the world and continue to thrive in the heart of unregenerate Man.

To me, Yeshua here delivers one of the most amazing illustrations presented in scripture – especially when we take the Word of God into account relative to the theme of the illustration.

The Lord has just laid out a whole bunch of teachings – many of them presenting an almost impossible challenge to human beings born in sin. But He has flipped it all over and said, in contrast to other ideas floating around,

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

And He told these Jewish men standing in front of Him,

“That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

And He said,

“That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”

And He said,

“That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

And He told them,

“if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

And He said,

“Let your communications be ‘Yea, yea; Nay, nay:’ for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

And He said,

“. . .resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.”

And,

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Here He concludes by saying, if anyone “hears” these things and “does them,” He will liken her or Him to a man who built His house upon a rock.

Why will He “liken” someone who hears and does all these things to a person who built a house upon a Rock?

Because the ONLY way a human being could possibly hear AND do these things is someone who HAS build their life upon a Rock – with that “Rock” being Him upon whom all thing stand firm.

Way back in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Moses wrote, speaking of God:

Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Later in the same book Moses wrote, speaking of pagans:

Deuteronomy 32:31

For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

When Moses first led the Children of Israel into the wilderness, there was a want for water. And YAHAVAH said to Moses to take the elders of Israel with him to the rock of Horeb. And Exodus 17:6 reads:

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

This was a type for Yeshua, who, smitten for our sins, would produce living water and all who drank of it would never thirst again as He told the woman at the well.

Later on, in the travels of the Children of Israel, when they were in need of water again, the Lord said to Moses:

Numbers 20:8

“Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.”

By the time Moses got to the rock, he was so angry, he smote it – like he had before –and though the rock brought forth water, the Lord was angry with Moses, and would not allow him to enter the promised land with the COI.

Why?

Because Christ was smitten only once, and thereafter all anyone needs to do is speak to Him, not re-crucify Him, and He will provide for their needs.

We recall what item David used to drop that Goliath who threatened the Nation, right?

A single rock – firmly planted right between the eyes of the monster man – who dropped (like a rock) when hit in the forehead with God’s truth.

Speaking of the coming Messiah, the Prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 28:16:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”

Then when Yeshua was on earth He gathered His disciples around and asked in Matthew 16:

"Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?"

They responded by saying that some people thought Christ was “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. "

Yeshua then asked,

“But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter (whose given name by Christ means little rock or stone) answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. “

And Yeshua said to him,

“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Hearing this in English it may appear that Yeshua was referring to Peter as "the rock" himself upon whom He would build His church. But keep in mind that the New Testament was written in Greek, not English.

And the Greek word for Peter is petros, which means "a pebble" or a small stone.

But when Yeshua said, “upon this rock,” He used a different word: “petra,” which means "a massive rock" or a bedrock, referring to Him and the Spirit of Him which reveals all things.

You see Peter was correct when he stated that Yeshua was "the Christ" and it was this profession of truth, given to Peter by His Father through the Spirit that He would build His church.

The Lord built His church on solid bedrock of direct spiritual revelation, which was His Spirit given, not the small pebble of a human being.

Finally, we have a most amazing example of the Rock as taught by the Lord.

In the book of Matthew, Yeshua had taught a parable to a crowd of listening Jewish leaders. In explaining the parable, Yeshua quotes a passage in Psalms 118:32, and says to them:

“Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?”

In quoting this He citied a passage that directly referred to Him as “The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner . . . but then Yeshua continued and said to these Pharisees,

“The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.”

(but listen to this next verse)

“And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”

Do you realize all of what is being said in this specific verse? The Lord is essentially laying out the end result for all of those people relative to Him as the Rock!

First He describes those who fall upon Him as the Rock, saying

“And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken . . .”

Which is exactly what people need to come to know, and appreciate which is to see Him for who He is, to see themselves for who they really are by comparison and to fall from their lofty towers of self will, of humanism, and to land on Him, the Rock – where they are simultaneously BROKEN.

This is the essence of real humility which is a precursor to real faith – to fall directly on the rock-solid foundation of all He is which shatters all the illusions of our former person, breaking our false foundations.

Almost paradoxically, when a person lands on the rock and shatter, they are simultaneously existing on that same Rock that breaks them, finding true stability on Him alone and therefore safe from the flood and storms of life for the first time in their existence!

Praise God, eh?

But then we come to the second part of this statement where He describes the end of those who refuse to fall upon the Rock, who refuse to be broken, but who lean on their own Schopenhaur-Nietzsche foundation of self-will, and he says,

“ but on whomsoever it (meaning the Rock) shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”

To that audience, and perhaps speaking of any human being who refuses to fall upon the Rock and to exist upon Him, the alternative is He will land on them and in this case, the result is a grinding, a wearing away of them, even to the point that they become powder.

The statement had direct application to those of the Nation in that day who would reject Him as their Messiah; that He would return and destroy them – and He did.

The Catholics have an after life application to this process happening to souls in purgatory where they are purged of sin in a similar way.

Perhaps this purging is an ongoing reality of people outside the Kingdom above attempting to enter one of the 12 open gates?

Back to our text, verse 25 and speaking of those who build upon the Rock, Yeshua says:

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.

It may sound like a cliché, but He is the only SOLID ROCK FOUNDATION TO PLACE ANYTHING WE ARE, HAVE, WANT, DESIRE, OR CARE ABOUT if we want to stand firm against the storms of life.

Nobody - not a friend, not a spouse, not a child, not a family – and no thing – not a job, not our wealth, or health, or looks, or fame, or power, or will has the ability to withstand the storms of life AND . . . AND. . . AND deliver us safely into the hands of the Father.

I think of Steve Jobs having no means of beating cancer. I think of people who trust in the arm of the flesh thinking they are beyond mortal, of intelligent souls getting alzheimers, of Hugh Hefner dying like the created being he was and leaving his mansion and bunny’s and empire of dust behind.

No amount of anything in this world has the capacity to support us through the stormy vicissitudes of life but Him – I know this personally because I have lived a life that has tested the things of this world for value and found them all wanting.

Yeshua continues on describing the choice other people make to physically, (and more to the point, spiritually) build upon other foundations – (which He likens to foundations of sand.) and says at verse 26,

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:

In the physical sense, we quickly get the point.

A house built on solid rock or a house built on sand – duh.

Now, we have to remember that a physical dwelling could be built on sand – so long as the place was never exposed to storms, super winds, or earthquakes.

But the master teacher brings in an element to the story that gives it legs – it’s when the trials come – the storms and rains – that the foundation chosen becomes essential to survival.

So, like all of His teachings whether parabolic or real, the highest meanings are spiritual. The foundations of sand will offer nothing in the face of a deluge – that is the context.

What’s interesting about this illustration are the elements used by the Master teacher – rock and sand.

Rock plays such an important role in the whole of Scripture, as we’ve already seen.

But sand is to a large extent nothing short of eroded, chipped, pulverized pieces of Rock.

The sands of the sea are almost always likened to innumerable numbers in scripture.

The stars of heaven and the sands of the seas are a frequent comparison.

The Children of Abraham, the corn for Egypt gathered by Joseph, the understanding of Solomon are all likened to the sands of the sea.

When we think about it, neither the number of the sands of the sea can ever be known because they are forever increasing as each crashing wave and drop of rain and gust of wind has the potential to create more.

And while we can apply this also to the number of God’s creations expanding out to who knows where, so it is with the other foundations upon which a person can chose – all of which are but chips off Rock itself.

To me, the teaching here contains an unstated element.

We trust, and stand, and build upon Christ and Christ alone (the Rock) or we choose the unstable, imbalanced counterfeits which are all derivatives of Him and attempt to offer us what only he can supply.

He is the Alpha and the Omega – the first and the last. He is the Rock alone. Not even the scripture that teaches of Him compares. There is no Rock but Christ.

All things – all philosophies, early religions like Zoroastrianism and late, like New Age, and all cultural myths, gods, and systems are but grains of sand originating from The Rock and used to replicate the original article.

Lacking the continuity, THE UNITY, THE WHOLNESS that ONLY the Rock possesses, all other foundations of sand will fail to support us here or in the hereafter.

(In verse 27 he continues speaking about those who build their lives upon sand and says,)

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.

(beat)

Someone once asked me (and I’m sorry but saying this I feel like I had just mentioned it either here or somewhere else like the show – so excuse the redundancy) but someone once asked me, after the death of a prominent non-Christian religious leader, what I thought he was experiencing in the afterlife.

Not being willing to judge any persons afterlife home, I said that I thought this man was experiencing “theological shock.”

Whether here in this life, or in the life to come, any foundation but the only true and eternal foundation – Yeshua Christ – nothing more, nothing less, will certainly lead to extreme disappointment, or as Yeshua describes it here as being, “a great fall.”

And it is here that the King finishes up His teaching on the Mount to His own disciples.

Now, while it has taken us I don’t know how many weeks to cover this, it appears the Lord taught this all in one sitting.

And he taught it to a group of people who were raised on strict, literal, “only what was written in the book” and “only what came from the religious leaders mouths” culture. So when He finished, there was some shock among them and we read at (verse 28-29)

28 And it came to pass, when Yeshua 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.

Now historically, scribes held various important offices in the public affairs of the Nation of Israel.

The Hebrew word for scribe (sopher) was first used to designate the holder of some kind of military office or were secretaries of state whose job it was to prepare and issue decrees in the name of the king.

There was also a subordinate class of scribes, most of whom were Levites and they were engaged in various ways as writers.

Baruch, in the Book of Jeremiah was one of them, and of whom it says "wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord" (Jeremiah 36:4).

After the Captivity, when the nation lost its independence, the scribes turned their attention to the law and gained for themselves distinction for their intimate acquaintance with its contents.

On them that fell the duty of multiplying copies of the law and of teaching it to others.

It is evident that in the Apostolic Age the scribes belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, who not only acted as copyists, but supplemented the ancient written law with their oral and human traditions.

This took the Word of God and obscured it and ultimately rendered their annotated versions of none effect.

By the way, the terms of titles of "scribes" and "lawyers" in the Gospels are used interchangeably.

At the time of Yeshua, scribes were also public teachers who frequently battled with Him seeking to trip Him up.

Acts tells us that when the apostles went out after the ascension the scribes were really hostile to them.

But there were also some (like Gamaliel) were not so abrasive.

So, where Matthew writes that Yeshua speaking as one having authority, and not as the Scribes, the Law had become so convoluted they would spend hours of time in vain janglings and arguments.

When Yeshua spoke He was not only clear, He was not afraid to set the record straight, remove murky elements present in the Law, and He did so with authority.

This style of teaching astonished those who stood listening to Him.

In closing of this wonderful Sermon on the Mount, especially in light of the reaction of the people who heard Yeshua speak it, I cannot help but think upon our day and age.

Certainly, we must speak and teach gospel truth.

We seek the pure Word, and strive to share it in Spirit and in Truth with each other and with all who will hear.

But we have to be careful of a number of things – whether our walk be as babes or as mature Christians. And we think this means focusing on issues that serve more to divide the Body than to unify it.

Paul said something interesting in

1st Corinthians 9:22

“To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

What a humble approach.

And in 1st Timothy 1:4 he wrote

“Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.

5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;

7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.”

A church, the Body can be divided today by such things as predestination issues, Calvinism, Arminianism, Preterism, and a host of other isms.

It can be broken up by licentiousness, legalisms, gossip, and/or whom Paul calls “busybodies.”

So let’s move forth, placing all things – everything – on that Rock that does not move, that will not fail, that has been from the beginning to the end, trusting Him alone, and the Spirit of Love He poured out at Pentecost . . . and nothing more.

See you next week.