Step back and see the whole passage as one unit. Jesus says the wise man builds on the rock, but up to this point in the sermon he has never mentioned a rock. So what is the rock? We learn its identity later, in Matthew 16, when Peter confesses, you are the Christ,...
Building on the rock means finally admitting three things. First, I am a sinner, not merely someone who makes mistakes, but someone whose very nature apart from grace is sin. Second, I cannot fix myself; a sinner cannot reform himself enough to please God, for we can...
So much of the hard work of the Christian life happens right here, in the middle of the flood. People are swept away by the storms of life, and often it is because they never actually built on the solid teaching of Christ. They may be able to articulate his teaching...
Watch carefully what happens in the parable. The storm hits both houses. The same rain, the same wind, the same flood beat against the house on the rock and the house on the sand. The storm is not a punishment for building on sand. The storm comes to everybody. France...
The parable does not really begin in verse 24. It flows out of what Jesus said three verses earlier. Before the two builders, there are people who call him Lord, Lord. These are not atheists. They are not cursing Jesus. They are calling him Lord, and not once but...
