All avid Bible students are familiar with the passage of scripture listed in our title. Perhaps, however, many people do not fully grasp Jesus’ message. First of all, it is part of His closing remarks of the sermon on the mount. And it is extremely suited as such. It explains the importance of this great lesson that He has so eloquently presented in the early stages of His ministry.
“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.” (Matthew 7:24-27 KJV)
His statement, ‘Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them‘, concerns the entire lesson beginning with the third verse of chapter 5. And it emphasized the three verses just preceding it. Notice those three verses which are also part of His closing statements:
“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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? 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“. (Matthew 7:21-23 KJV)
It is a most amazing fact that Jesus, in these chapters, five, six and seven of Matthew, laid out the basics of His entire ministry or doctrine. And none of this should be read with a ‘ho-hum’ approach. The last quote just above, is a profound warning. Those people who have made a show of devotion to Jesus, but were insincere will awake to those critical last words in the quote. There are multitudes who fall into the category which he describes in that quote. They will honestly believe they have served Him well, yet in their own chosen way.
It is also of interest to note the verse just preceding that quote, “Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them”. Jesus spent much of His earthly ministry in attempting to turn the Pharisees from their hypocrisy. These were God’s preferred people to furnish the lineage to Christ, but yet, the majority rejected Jesus as being the Messiah and were filled with arrogance and hypocrisy.
It is a blood chilling thought to even consider hearing Jesus say on that day, “I never knew you, depart from me.” It is enough that it should make every person strive to do the will of the Father which is in heaven. As we grow old, we can readily recognize that it will not be long until we hear that statement or the other, “Well done thy good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matthew 5:21)
We have recently completed and posted a series of lessons of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. For those who have not read those, it might enlighten the meanings of this article. You mayaccess the beginning of these articles here.
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