Empty Hearts
Matthew 7:24‑29
Take your Bible with me and let's look together for the last time at Matthew chapter 7, Matthew chapter 7. We began a look at the closing portion of the sermon and we want to finish that look in our time together tonight.
I have to admit that there are so many thoughts in my mind about this section of Scripture that I can't begin to give you even a small dose of what I feel inside. I sense that many of the things that I have been preaching to you in The Sermon on The Mount are going to find their way out of my mouth throughout this summer while I'm gone with my family, because I feel that so many parts of this particular message need to be preached and taught and spoken in our country. And I'm quite confident that many of the things that I'll say are things that I've been thinking about and have been kind of ruminating over in my own mind and maybe I've never even said them here as God continues to teach me as I meditate over and over on this message. To have your thoughts dominated by The Sermon on The Mount for as long as I have and I, I don't know how long I've been preaching on it but it's over a year, to have your thoughts continually dominated by this is to bring about a spiritual exercise that's second to none, and I just feel it's shaped my life in so many, many ways and I thank God far more for the privilege I've had of telling you about these things than ever you could be thankful for what you've had to listen to from me.
But I want us again to look at Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 to 29. And particularly because we've already discussed verses 21 to 23 I want us to focus on verses 24 to 27 and then a comment or two about the closing.
Beginning at verse 21our Lord climaxes the sermon 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, who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out demons? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, andthe 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, who hath built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine; For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."
Here in Southern California we are constantly made aware of the need for a good foundation on a house. Seems as though annually we either have earthquakes or floods. Earthquakes have a way of cracking foundations and floods have a way of washing them away altogether. Last winter we all went through the time of the storms that we have come to experience periodically and we saw the tremendous rains come and the swollen rivers and the floods that caused all kinds of havoc, our mountain sides were washed away and houses plunged into the valleys below. And living in California can be an experience depending upon where you may live in times like that. Whenever we go about to build something it's very necessary that we built it with an eye towardthe possibility of a flood or the possibility of an earthquake. Careful soil tests are done, examination of the ground, compacting the soil in order to make sure that the foundation is going to stand. So we're very used to that. And it was frankly little different in Palestine. In fact Palestine has almost an identical climate to Southern California. It's dry and arid for the most part and when it rains the land really can only absorb so much, and when the rain comes in a flood it turns into just that, a flood. Houses are washed away in the same manner that we've seen it here. And so in a building plan or program in the land of Palestine you'd need to have the same kind of planning and the same kind of preparation that you have here. What may look like a wonderful place to build a house, firm footing in the summer, in the winter becomes a raging torrent that wipes away whatever edifice has been placed there.
Now Jesus has this in mind in verses 24 to 27. He pictures two men that build a house, probably in the dry bed of a stream somewhere in a valley. One man thinks little about what might come and he works feverishly on the house but has absolutely no thought for the foundation, he is called a foolish man, in verse 26. The other man, also building a house seeks to be sure that the foundation is built upon solid rock, he is called a wise man in verse 24. And so you have a simple story, two men build houses, one is wise and one is foolish. And what seems as a very simple story is in fact a startling, shocking, powerful commentary on people who have a head knowledge but an empty heart. You'll notice that He says in verse 24, "Whosoever hears," and in verse 26, "Every onethat hears." These are the people who hear, they hear the message, they listen, they understand it, the wise ones do something about it the fools do not. James Denney has said, quote, "It is the consciousness that the speaker is nothing less than the final judge of all which makes the parable of the builders on rock and sand the most solemn and overpowering." End quote.
Now remember what we said to you this morning and all along in our study, Jesus is closing the sermon with an invitation, and the invitation is in verses 13 and 14. And the invitation says in effect, enter into the narrow gateonto the narrow way that leads to life. But it won't be easy to do that for two ultimate reasons, one is false prophets and two is false profession. You will be deceived by others and you will be deceived by yourself.
Now we all live under some illusions and in fact most of us cultivate those illusions. It's part and parcel of human nature to cover up its faults and defects. And so the Lord is saying, you must enter the narrow gate, but it won't be easy because in verses 15 to 20 there will be false prophets trying to keep you from doing that and sending you on the broad way. And it also won't be easy because you will tend to be self‑deceived. First of all, He says there are those who say but don't do in verses 21 to 23, they simply have a verbal profession, they have just a verbal profession they say they belong in the kingdom, they say they know Christ but they don't do what Christ said. And the dichotomy indicates that they're not legitimate, they say they don't do. We saw that in detail this morning. And then in verses 24 to 27 there are those who hear but don't do, they have a head knowledge without a heart knowledge. The first group has empty words the second group has empty hearts. And people can be deceived either way, a mere verbal profession you just keep saying it and saying it until finally you've convince yourself it must be true even though there's no evidence. Or a head knowledge which seems to suffice for a real heart relationship. There are some people who are deceived into thinking they're Christians because they know so much about Christianity. Just like there are people who think they're Christians because they say so much about it.
Now in verses 24 to 27 the Lord again reminds us that the standard of righteousness is required for entering the Kingdom of God, and unless your life is built on that standard no matter what it looks like and no matter what you know in your head and no matter how feverishly you conduct your spiritual activity when the flood comes you're going to get washed away, if all you have is a head knowledge. Now the Jews had developed a system of works, righteousness, a humanly devised system of self‑stimulated fleshly effort that fell far short, and God came along and offered them a true righteousness. But before they could receive the true righteousness they had to note the bankruptcy of their own system, and that's why they had to come with a Beatitude mentality. Jesus is busy in The Sermon on the Mount tearing down their paper palace piece by piece, until by the time He gets to chapter 7 He has utterly destroyed their whole religious security, and then He forces them to make a choice in verses 13 and 14, tells them it won't be an easy choice because false prophets will deceive them and they will deceive themselves. And so the contrast in verses 24 to 27 is between two people who hear, some hear and obey, some hear and disobey, and the illustration used is two builders.
Now the words again are addressed to those who profess to know God, who think they're in the Kingdom, who think they're Christians. Verse 24 begins, "whosoever hears these sayings of mine," verse 26 begins, "And every one that hears these sayings of mine," in either case you have people who are hearing the message of Christ, they're listening to the Word of God. And you'll note also at the end of verse 24 it says, this one built his house, and at the end of verse 26, this one also built his house. They listen and they are involved in certain spiritual activity. They both belong to the visible body of believers, they both perhapsread Scripture, they both perhaps attend meetings at the church, they both are busy framing some kind of spiritual value system, building up some edifice of spiritual activity. But there's a tremendous difference. One is wise and one is a fool because one builds on rock and the other builds on sand. And by the way, if I might add this, the foundation is invisible, once the edifice is up you can't see the foundation anymore and so it really becomes difficult to tell. And we can be deceived just as well as the people who are self‑deceived.
Now beloved let me add this just as a, a general truth, what our Lord is saying here is very simple. Lots of people hear Christ's teaching but only the ones that do them are in the Kingdom, did you get that? That's the bottom line. There are many people who hear, but if you examine your life and it's all a hearing and not a doing don't deceive yourself into thinking you're a Christian. In fact the Lord says, only the storm is going to manifest the truth, and then we'll find out who's wise and who's a fool.
Now there are several similaritieshere and I want you to note them. First of all, both individuals build a house, they're both involved in spiritual activity, they're both involved in something that has to do with the Kingdom of God.
Secondly, it's apparent that they both build their house in the same location, because the same storm hits both houses. They build a house and they build it in the same area or the same location, because they're both subject to the same storm. True believers and false believers invariably live side by side, they're on the same block, they attend the same church, they go to the same Bible studies and they are so similarin the building they build that they are indistinguishable to most people.
I might also add as a third thought that they apparently build it in the same way, because the Lord says the only difference is the foundation, He doesn't imply that the house itself is any different. Both people build a house, they build it in the same place and they build it in the same way. In other words they carry a Bible and a notebook and they go through certain prayersand they do certain activities and maybe they give some money to the Lord, and really it all looks very much the same. Until you come to the real crux of the matter and that's the foundation which as I said is very often not visible once the edifice is up. And only an honest and careful soul searching self‑examination can reveal the truth.
You see Jesus is trying to get the Pharisees to come off of their proud, high tower and look at their own lives and see how really bankrupt they are. Because that's the only place you can tell the tale. One builds on rock at the end of verse 24, petra, that means in the Greek a rock bed. There's a word petros which means a stone or a boulder, this is petra it is a rock bed. And the other builds on sand, verse 26, the word is very simple in the Greek ammon, a‑m‑m‑o‑n to transliterate, youknow what it means? It simply means sand, like sea shore sand. Now I've been to two cities in the area of Jordan one is named Ammon and the other is named Petra, they are named with these very terms. Petra is a city literally made out of rock. In fact when we rode into that city on horses you go through a little channel, one person could guard the whole city you could only get in through one little crack in the cliffs, and the entire city which still stands today is carved out of the rock, Petra. Then there's Ammon, I don't know if you've ever been to Ammon Jordan but when you go to Ammon you only see one thing, sand everyplace, sand.
Now a man is wise to build on rock bed, a man is a fool to build on the shifting sands of the sea or the desert. And by the way there are some land agents selling lots on the sand and they're in verses 15 to 20. The false prophets set up a real estate office and sell sand lots. A man is a fool to build on sand, because when the storm comes it will undermine the sand, verse 27, and the house will fall and it'll not just topple the thing will really fall. But when it is built on rock and the foundation is solid the storm can come and it isn't going to fall.
I remember when we built this church, that I was amazed at the footings that are in this church. I don't know if you realize it but the pillars in the back and the pillars outside go down into the ground so deep that it's amazing, and the huge, big caverns just for this building, where thereis steel and concrete poured just filling these massive caverns, and the tremendous foundation that's built here. In fact they told us if an earthquake ever came this thing wouldn't collapse the worst that could happen is it would just tip over on one end and stay intact. And you'd all be piled up in the corner over here. A solid foundation.
And again we see a powerful rebuke of the religion of the Pharisees. They had no regard for 1, spirituality of soul, they had no regard for purity of heart, they had no regard for integrity of behavior, they had no regard for obedience to God, and they were building their big spiritual structure on sand. They prayed, sure, and they fasted, of course, and they gave their alms for sure but only as a public show to parade their supposed spirituality and try to enhance their reputations. They had a religion of externals and that is sand.
Arthur Pink says, "They bring their bodies to the house of prayer but not their souls. They worship with their mouths but not in spirit and in truth. They are sticklers for immersion or early morning communion but they take no thought about keeping their hearts with all diligence. They boast of their orthodoxy but disregard the precepts of Christ. Multitudes of professing Christians abstain from external acts of violence yet hesitate not to rob their neighbors of a good name by spreading evil reports against them. They contribute regularly to the pastors salary but shrink not from misrepresenting their goods and cheating their customers persuading themselves that business is business. They have more regard for the laws of man than those of God for His fear is not before their eyes." Sand, false foundations, they didn't come through the narrow way.
You want to know something? The broad way that leads to destruction is all sand, all sand. But others build on the rock at the end of verse 24, what is a rock? When you say youbuild your life on the rock, what are you saying? Well, we could make a case for the fact that the rock is God, that the rock is God you are literally building your life on God, and that of course is true. In Psalm 18 verse 2, "The LORD is my rock." We could say the rock is God, but so would the Pharisees, they'd say that. Or we could say the rock is Christ. Christ says Peter is the chief cornerstone. Paul says He is the rock. But there are plenty of people who say they've built their life on Christ. It's got to be more than that.
And frankly most commentators take it to be God or Christ, but I want to take it a step further, as I mulled over this passage I think it's clear what the rock is. "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine," builds his house upon a rock. No. "Whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and (what?) does them, builds his house upon a rock." What is the rock? It is obedience to the Word of God. That's the rock. Yes God is a rock, yes Christ is the chief cornerstone. But I believe that what our Lord is saying here is simply this, these sayings of mine become the rock bed foundation of the church, the true church, the redeemed church.
Let me illustrate it by having you turn further in the Book of Matthew to the 16th chapter, a very familiar text but one that I think aptly illustrates our thought. In Matthew 16 verse 13, "Jesus came into the borders of Caesarea Philippi," which is way to the north part of the land of Israel, "he asked his disciples, saying, who do men say that I, the Son of man, am?" Who do they say I am? "They said, Some say you're John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am?" Now listen, "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Now that is not a human word. "Jesus said, flesh and blood did not reveal that unto you, (verse 17) but my Father, who is in heaven." That is a divine revelation. "And I say unto you, You are" petros, you are a pebble Peter, you are a boulder. But "upon this" petra, "rock" bed foundation, "I will build my church." And what was the petra? The rock bed foundation, it was the Word of God, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Upon that affirmation of truth I'll build My church. The petra of Matthew 16 was the Word of God and I am convinced that the petra of Matthew 7 is also the Word of God.
In Acts chapter 20 it says, Paul says, "I commend you (listen to this) to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up." It is the Word of God that is our foundation and it is the Word of God that provides the material for the building as well. So what is our Lord saying?
Now listen, He is saying the person who lives a life where he only hears and never does has sand. And what does the sand represent? Human will, human opinion, human attitudes, the shifting sands of human philosophy. Even though you listen you don't do it you're not on the rock, on the other hand the wise man who hears the Word of God and builds his life on God's Word has a rock foundation. And that means a life of obedience.
In John chapter 8 a text that I refer to so many times because it is such a very significant one, then it says in verse 30, "As he spoke these words," listen now, "many believed on him." Now that's, that's a good thing, "many believed on him." They heard, they listened, they took it in, they accepted it. "But Jesus said to them, If you continue in my word, then are you my real disciple." It isn't just the hearing and the believing it is the continuing in obedience to the Word of God, that's the rock. So listen, don't be deluded people, I don't care what you verbally claim and Jesus doesn't either, if you don't do it you're deceiving yourself. And I care not what you may listen to and hear and take in, unless you build your life on Biblical truth you are deceiving yourself.
In James chapter 1 we read this, verse 22, "But be ye doers of the word" now listen, "be ye doers of the word and not hearers only," now listen, why? "deceiving your own selves." That's what our Lord is saying in The Sermon on the Mount, if you hear it and don't do it you're self‑deceived. "If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man beholding his natural face in a mirror; He looks at himself in a mirror, goes his way, and immediately forgets the manner of man that he was." In other words if you're not doing it, it's not having any effect on your life or your destiny.