Well, I wanted to thank everybody for your prayers for our visit to Honduras. It was great. It was a real blessing to be able to go to meet the brethren at the church there and to just see the people of God, to see John and Malena in their element, to see the love that they have for the brethren and the obvious love that the brethren have for them. I had kind of wished that it would have been a bad thing and we'd be able to take John back with us to the group in the church that really loves him.
They really love him. And it does seem like a natural and a blessed fit. I'm sure we'll see him again. I'm just not sure we'll see him living in downtown Chilliwack.
So pray for him. I was in touch with him as well within the last few hours. He said to send his greetings to everybody at the church here. But yeah, it is an impoverished country.
Obviously, not everybody is as equally impoverished. John and Milena are living in a nice three-bedroom house in a nice community. They're having a house built on the property of the church building. But on the Thursday we were there, we went with Pastor Carlos and John to visit some of the poorer families.
And it was a real eye-opener, just the difficulties encountered by the saints of God in other parts of the world, and the hardships and the heartaches that they face in their predicaments and in their situation. Sunday, the church was very well attended. Apparently, they heard that a gringo was going to be preaching. A lot of people came.
There were some gift bags Carla and Rebecca made up for the kids. So there was a lot of children, a lot of activity. But it was just a blessing to be able to meet Pastor Carlos and Pastor Luis, men that we pray for. And another brother there, Pastor Isaias.
He is another faithful brother. We felt like we were in the presence of C.H. Spurgeon. He looks like a younger version of Charles Haddon Spurgeon and the Spanish version or El Salvadorian version, but just really nice brethren, good fellowship.
The hospitality was wonderful, and it was just a blessed time. And so again, we thank you for your prayers. It was good to hang out with Nathan and Carla, of course, with John and Milena, and just to share that experience. So we're back and hopefully get back to some degree of normal.
We'll be in John's gospel next Sunday morning, but this morning we're going to look at Matthew's gospel. So you can turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7. Our focus will be on the two builders in verses 24 to 29. This is the end or the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount.
And the conclusion or the end starts in chapter 13. So I'll begin reading in Matthew 7 at verse 13 to the end of the chapter. Jesus says in verse 13, enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.
And there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.
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. 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? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
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. 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. 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.
And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at his teaching,
Christ's Authority Versus the Scribes
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for this beautiful day.
We thank you for the sunshine, for the declaration of the glory of God through the created order. We thank you as well that you are sovereign, and in your providence you control all things. You govern all your creatures and all their actions. We rejoice in redemption and the fact that we've been saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We praise you for his life of obedience, his death as a substitutionary sacrifice, his resurrection again the third day. We praise you for that current session now at the right hand of God Most High and we look forward to his return again in glory to judge the living and the dead. We pray now that you would send forth the Holy Spirit as we consider this passage of Scripture. Help us, God, to examine ourselves in light of the holy word of the living and true God.
Forgive us for our sin and our unrighteousness. None of us does the will of God. None of us obeys the words of Christ as we ought. So please, even now, cleanse us from all sin and all unrighteousness and all of the wickedness that remains in our hearts.
And for any and all who've come here this morning, still strangers, to your grace and to your mercy, we pray that today would be the day of salvation, that you would open their eyes to behold the truth as it is in Jesus, that they would hear that word and that by grace they would do what Christ says. And we ask this in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Introduction
Well, the section I read concludes the Sermon on the Mount, so Jesus teaches in Matthew chapters 5 to 7, and it is the first of five discourses in Matthew's Gospel. Some have seen similarity with Moses. Moses went up on the Mount, and Moses preached, or preached, or taught the law. Jesus does the same sort of a thing.
And when we come to this particular section, we see that it concludes the conclusion. So verses 13 to 27 conclude the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, but verses 24 to 27 specifically conclude it. You notice that by the way verse 24 starts, whoever hears these sayings of mine." And that reflects the entirety of his teaching in Matthew chapters 5 to 7. But in terms of that whole concluding section, beginning in verse 13, we see that Christ speaks of two ways, verses 13 and 14, two trees, verses 15 to 20, two claims, verses 21 to 23, and then these two builders in verses 24 to 27.
RT France says the resultant four sections, the ones I just mentioned, therefore press increasingly closer to home. The first is a simple contrast between saved and lost. The second concerns outsiders who merely pretend to be insiders. The third looks at those who think they are insiders but are not.
And the fourth draws a line even within the group of insiders, those who hear Jesus' words, between those who respond and those who do not. So Christ is saying in this section as a whole that it's not just that you hear the doctrine, it's not that you... just hear the DJ. It's not that you just have some degree of familiarity with the Bible, but by grace, through faith in our Lord Jesus, you must do what God says. And so these two builders illustrate that.
Outline of Three Points
So we'll look first at the wise builder, secondly at the foolish builder, And then we'll end with the authoritative preacher, because in verses 28 and 29, we see something unique in John's gospel. I mentioned that there are five major blocks of teaching by our Lord, and they all formally conclude with Jesus having completed or ended these sayings. But this is the only one that records for us the response of the crowd, and they're astonished because he taught not as a scribe, but he taught rather as one having authority. But
The Wise Builder
let's look first at the wise builder in verses 24 to 25. We'll see first the description and secondly the illustration.
Description of the Wise Builder
Notice it is the conclusion of the sermon. Verse 24, therefore. This is how sermons typically end. Again, it's not enough just to hear the doctrine.
It's not enough just to be confronted with the written word. It's not enough just to be confronted with the preached word. You must act, you must by grace believe, you must by grace live in a manner that is consistent with what God says to you. Notice, he speaks concerning these sayings of mine.
Again, something unique in the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus that this crowd was able to discern. they would come and basically appeal to rabbis. Not that Jesus didn't appeal to prophets, not that he didn't appeal to the written word of God, but in the rabbinic tradition they always just sided with the rabbis. This rabbi said this, this rabbi said that, where Jesus now shows that he has the ability, he has the prerogative, he has the right and the authority to legislate in the kingdom of God. And that's what he does.
Whoever hears these sayings of mine, everything ultimately hinges upon God's Word. What you do with it or what you don't do with it. Christ says that, and then he goes on to say concerning the specific response of the wise builder, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them. Again, the doing of these things. is the primary difference between the ones not doing these things.
Now the scene described, if you look back at verses 21 to 23, refers to the Day of Judgment. I don't take this wise and foolish builder in the same way. Not that they won't come to the Day of Judgment, Not that they won't finally meet the Lord Christ on His throne of glory to judge the living and the dead, but I think verses 24 to 27 is more connected to what we'll find later in the book of James. James talks about true and false religion, true and false faith.
The saving faith that a man has will ultimately lead to fruit. There will be consequent fruit as a result of his having been saved by grace through faith. And I think that's the emphasis that Jesus is drawing out here. He is speaking more in terms of what James does in James chapter 1, with reference to being a doer of the word, and not merely a man or a woman or a boy or a girl who hears the word.
Remember, James uses that very pertinent illustration, the man who looks in the mirror and then walks away and forgets what manner of man that he is. That's not the doer of the word, that's a man who receives it for a moment, it makes some sort of an impression, but he forgets it almost immediately. No, the doer of the word comes face to face with that word. He's not a perfect doer.
He's not an infallible doer. He's not a doer that never has any stumbles or issues or problems or challenges, but the overarching theme in his or her life is that he is a doer of the word of God. Again, that's the emphasis of our Lord Jesus. He is not calling us to, and he's not specifying that faith in him results in sinless perfection.
Christ knows that there is remaining corruption in the hearts of all of God's people. There is a big difference between those who hear the word and do it, and those who hear the word and don't do it. And so Christ is highlighting that reality. And in the context, the one who walks the narrow way, the one who avoids the false prophets, the one who does the will of the Father, 721-23, the will of the Father there is first and foremost belief in our Lord Jesus Christ, looking to Him for justification, looking to Him for salvation.
So the one who walks the narrow way, who avoids the false prophets, who does the will of the Father, is the one who hears the words of Christ, and he does them. He acts upon them. He lives in light of them, again, with all of the qualifications notwithstanding, imperfectly, fallibly, with issues and challenges and ebbs and flows and a few steps forward and a few steps back. Nevertheless, the overarching theme of his or her life is that there is this commitment to the word of God.
That's what saving faith does. That's what saving faith produces. That's what saving faith promotes. That's the emphasis in James 1 and James 2.
And James didn't make that up. James didn't just conceptualize it. James got it from his half-brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. And most likely, I would argue, a lot of James has the Sermon on the Mount in terms of its background or its backdrop.
Gil says, he is not only an hearer, but a doer of the word of the gospel, the doctrines of it he receives in the love of them and exercises faith on them upon Christ. His grace is righteousness held forth in them, which is the great work in business of a Christian. He is to do and does do in this life. The ordinances of it he cheerfully obeys, and all the duties of religion he performs from love to Christ, without any view to obtain eternal life hereby, which he only expects from Christ as his sayings and doctrines direct him.
In other words, he obeys Christ not because he thinks that's the means by which he'll be saved. He obeys Christ because he has been saved. He's been conquered by sovereign grace. He's been justified freely by grace, and that grace is appropriated through faith, in the Lord Jesus.
When that faith is there, when the man or the woman is born again, there will be fruit. There will be that consequent effect in terms of his belief in the Savior. Now
Illustration: House on the Rock
notice how he illustrates this wise man. He says, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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.
So the wise man builds his house on the rock. I mentioned that James, I think, draws from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. I think that Jesus, at least to some degree, draws from Solomon in the Book of Proverbs. You have wisdom addressing her hearers in such a way as to build their house, as to enter in to the house of wisdom.
It's the fool who despises that. It's the fool who rejects that. It's the fool who'd rather not be present in the house of wisdom, but chooses the folly of sin. The wise man hears the word of Christ, he looks to Christ in faith, rests upon Christ, and then follows Christ.
Again, this is Christianity 101. We all know this, but this is the distinguishing factor between the two groups presented by our Lord Jesus in this section. You've got the wise builder. Now, the wise builder isn't ultimately wise in himself.
The wise builder's house isn't ultimately not beat down by the storms because of the wise builder. It's founded on that rock. It's founded on that foundation. The strength, the glory, the power, the excellence goes to our Lord Jesus Christ.
So the wise man's house is built on the rock, but then notice that there are trials that the wise man faces. See, the Christian life does not make us immune to the difficulties in this world. Well, I've become a Christian now. I'm not going to have any trials.
I'm not going to have any afflictions. I'm not going to have any opposition. I'm not going to have any hardship. Again, that might work for the Benny Hinn crowd, but that doesn't work for the Bible crowd, because the Bible crowd reads what Jesus says at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, or at the end of the Upper Room Discourse, when Jesus says, in this world you will have tribulation.
We hear that. We see that. We witness it, not only in our Bibles, with reference to the godly men and women that make up redemptive history, but we see it in redemptive history. We see it in the history of the church.
We see it in the martyrdom of God's faithful saints. We see it in our own life, in terms of the trials and the afflictions that come to us. Just being a believer does not make you immune from the hardships associated with life. This is a tough world.
This is a sin-cursed world. There are consequences affecting us that are oftentimes directly connected to us, and even indirectly. And so Christ says that this man's house will stand strong, again, because of the foundation. Not because of his wisdom, not because of his ability to build, but ultimately because the house was founded on the rock.
So the believer is not free from trials and afflictions. But as well, the believer is actively opposed by an unholy trinity. He is actively opposed by an unholy trinity. He's actively helped.
He's actively blessed. He's actively encouraged by a holy trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is on his side. But there is this unholy trinity that seeks to disrupt God's people.
And so I think when we look at a passage like this, verse 25, in the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. Jesus is underscoring a reality of the Christian life. It ain't easy. It's not simple.
It's not for the faint-hearted. It's not for the delicate. It's for those who understand, by God's grace, that siding with our Lord Jesus Christ in this world will oftentimes bring great opposition. You have the opposition of the devil. 1 Peter chapter 5 tells us the devil roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may do what to?
Whom he may devour. That's pretty strong language, isn't it? That's language suggestive of the decimating influence or power of the devil that he exercises over persons. Or rather, he tries to exercise over persons.
The devil is a sworn enemy to the church of Jesus Christ. You see that in Revelation chapter 12. That accuser of the brethren. That one who is attempting to sideline and to detract from God's redemptive plan in this world.
He rages against the bride. He rages against the church. He rages against the people of God. He rages against those who are seeking, by the grace of God, to faithfully live for our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not just the devil that tries to devour, it's the world that deceives. Turn to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2, you've heard the statement, we are in the world, but we're not of the world. And we say that with our Christian ease, but at times it's not always so simple. You know, we're in the world.
That's obvious. We're not, you know, on Pluto. We're not on Neptune. We're in the world, the earth that God made.
We're not of it. We don't have that same orientation. We don't walk lockstep with the godless. But there are those seasons and there are those times when there is a war waged against us, and John indicates that. 1 John 2.15, do not love the world or the things in the world.
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. See, John describes the world in language that is very suggestive.
This isn't, you know, a neutral sort of a situation. You Christians, you just do your thing. You just go over there and you just do your thing. I mean, I guess in certain times in history it's sort of been that way, but in many other times in history it's not been that way at all.
In fact, there's been this active opposition on the part of the world against the church. And this is a true enemy. This is a true hostile force. This is something that we have to reckon with, something we have to defend against.
Well, I said there was this unholy trinity. You've got the devil, roams about like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. You've got the world, who's trying to deceive you at every step of the way. And then you've got probably the most difficult of the enemies.
It's you. It's me. It's the guy or gal you look at in the mirror every day when you're shaving. It's that remaining corruption in the hearts of God's people.
The devil is not omnipotent. He's not omnipresent. He's not omniscient. There may be a time and a season where the devil isn't messing with you.
You ever meet those people? Oh, the devil only ever messes with me. You're probably not that important. He's got other fish to fry as well.
He is not God. He is creature. So he has limitation. So there might be an occasion where the devil is not messing with you.
You might actually go live off the grid. There's a lot of uninhabited space in British Columbia, as far as I know. If you're so inclined to, you know, 80% of your life with rain and, you know, wet and cold, you're free to go do that. You won't have the deception of the world.
Now, I'm not necessarily counseling you to do that, but I'm just suggesting. You can get away from the devil. He may not be messing with you today. Might be the A to Ls, and tomorrow it'll be the M to the Zs, and so you're an A to the L, so you're okay for today, and the devil's not messing with you.
You may go live up in the, you know, the northern hemisphere or wherever. You want to go live somewhere on your own, and you're not affected by the world. You may not have a cell phone. You may not have a modem.
You may not have any of that stuff. But you know what you always have? You've always got you. I've always got me.
We've always got each other. No, I'm sorry. We've got that remaining corruption that Paul speaks to in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. Brethren, the Christian life can be difficult.
The Christian life can be punctuated by tribulation. It can be trials. It can be afflictions. It can be sickness.
It can be hardship. can be bankruptcy, can be job loss, can be disease, can be sickness, can be a whole host of things, can be that unholy trinity of devil, world, and flesh. But nevertheless, going back to Christ, he says that the man who built his house on the rock will stand. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
So the reality is that the person who listens to the words of Jesus and does them, their house is going to stand. Now, brethren, that probably doesn't mean it won't look a little weather-beaten. It won't look a little worn. It won't look a little worn out by the end.
I mean, I'm sure there's going to be those marks. There's going to be those wounds. There's going to be those brand marks that you bear for the Lord Jesus Christ. But when all is said and done, that house is going to stand.
And Jesus gives the reason, for it was founded on the rock. Again, he wants to destroy any notion that it's the wise builder. He wants to destroy any notion that it's the wise builder's building program. It's the rock that makes the difference.
It's the sayings of Jesus that makes the difference. It's the word of the living God that makes the difference. It's not my appropriation of it. It's not your appropriation of it.
It's the it. It's the words of Christ. It's the sayings of the Savior. The wise man or the wise woman by grace had been given ears to hear and hearts to receive that truth.
They have built their house on that rock. When all of these things come against it, the house continues to stand because it's built it on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Christ is the solid rock. Christ is the solid foundation. Christ is the one to whom we have recourse. Now notice, secondly,
The Foolish Builder
he speaks concerning the foolish builder. Verses 26 and 27. Again, we've got description and we've got illustration.
Description of the Foolish Builder
The description in verse 26, but everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them. It's interesting, if you go back into the plague narrative in the book of Exodus, I'm pretty sure it's the plague of hail. The plague of hail. You'll see this differentiation between those who heard Moses' words and did them, and those who heard Moses' words and didn't do them.
Now think about that. You've seen frogs more than you'll ever want to see again. You've seen lice, you've seen boils, you've seen all these things. And now Moses comes and says, you need to get your livestock undercover because there's some hailstones that are gonna come out of heaven and destroy that.
There were actually people that heard that and didn't move their animals. Yeah, there were actually people that heard that and didn't move their animals. Just like in churches all over the world today. There are going to be people, I know it's weird, but there's going to be people that hear about faith in Christ as the only hope for sinners.
Faith in Christ as the only means for the entrance into heaven. They're going to hear that, and yet they're not going to respond? Yeah, just like those fools that left their livestock out for the hailstones to decimate and destroy. So Jesus appeals again, in terms of illustration, to something that we understand.
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. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall. So now the one who walks on the Broadway, the one who listens to the false prophets, the one who is not a doer of the will of God, which means to believe in Jesus, is the one who hears the word of Christ and does not obey it. He doesn't do it.
Now, be aware, brethren, that this is not always easily discernible. There are some similarities between the wise man and the foolish man. They both hear the sayings of Jesus. The proof is ultimately in the pudding, where and how they build their house, whether they build it on the rock or they build it in the sand.
They're all present in the same church. In fact, some of them might even nod along while the Word is going forth. You might think, well, no, I don't think that's true. Well, there was an instance in Israel's history where God tells Ezekiel that that's exactly what's going to happen. in a passage charged with warnings for the covenant people of Israel, that if they don't believe, they don't repent, they don't follow God, they're going to reap judgment from on high.
The Lord God Most High tells Ezekiel that there's going to be people that like your preaching. I'm sure there were people here. I mean, the next two verses tell us they were astonished at his teaching. Now, brethren, I'm not convinced that everybody who heard Jesus teaching in the Sermon on the Mount was necessarily converted.
Just like I'm not convinced that everybody who ever heard George Whitefield preach was necessarily converted. George Whitefield had a good friend in Benjamin Franklin. You probably know the story. Benjamin Franklin was a deist.
That means he was not a Christian theist. He thought there was a God, but the God of Franklin and the God of some of the original founding fathers in the United States was a God who created and then sort of left things to go on its own. The best illustration, it's kind of like a watchmaker. He makes the watch and he puts it on the shelf and he lets it do its thing.
Deism has no eminence with God, no personalness of God and the creation. So Ben Franklin wanted to go hear Whitefield preach. And at the end of Whitefield's preaching, it often appealed for money, money for the orphanage, not money for Whitefield. His wife didn't need a new car, but he tried to get money to build orphanages.
And Benjamin Franklin, I think, said once that, you know, I'm going to go, I'm going to hear his appeal, and I'm not going to give a red cent for those orphans. Well, by the time the sermon was over, he's emptying his pockets to give money to the orphans. There's no history, no testimony, no evidence that Benjamin Franklin was ever saved, but I would imagine he was impressed at that preaching. I would imagine that the man who could say Mesopotamia in such a way that a famous actor at the time said he'd pay however many pounds to be able to say Mesopotamia the way George Whitefield did.
In other words, there can be preaching that impresses, but does not penetrate the heart. And so God alerts Ezekiel to this. As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses. They speak to one another.
Everyone's saying to his brother, please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord. So they come to you as people do. They sit before you as my people and they hear your words, but they do not do that. You see a theme with God's word?
It's the doing of it. It's the receiving of it. It's the appropriating of it by faith and living in light of it. He says, for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.
Indeed, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. For they hear your words, but they do not do them. And when this comes to pass, surely it will come, then they will know that a prophet has been among them. It's Ezekiel 33, 30 to 33.
One of the famous watchman passages where God says, if you fail to warn, I will require their blood at your hands. But if you warn them the way you're supposed to, then you will be vindicated. There will be no requitement. in terms of any punishment owing to you. Remember, Paul does that before the Ephesian elders.
I have not shrunk back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. My hands are clean. They are innocent of the blood of all men. Well, that's the background, the prophetic word.
People that like it doesn't necessarily mean they're converted. And so
Illustration: House on the Sand
Jesus uses this illustration. 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. Now, that's an obvious illustration. If you're going to build a house, even a fool like me knows don't build it on the sand, because when all these things in nature come about, your house is going to slip right into the sea.
Don't do that. You need a solid, strong foundation. He is not trying to dazzle in terms of the illustration. He's trying to remain simple so that everybody can get it.
So the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell. So the fool lives without regard for the Word of God. The fool lives as if he cannot be bothered with the Word of God. You've probably all seen this with persons that you've witnessed to.
What do they do? They say, oh, thank you. I'm glad you've given me the eternal word of God. I'm going to live my life according to it.
Now, God's grace and mercy and kindness, sometimes that happens. For the most part, you meet with a person or people that can't be bothered with it, that they're not affected by it. They don't get moved by it. There's no sort of importunateness on their part that they've got to close with Christ.
So the fool hears those sayings, but the fool does not do them. So the fool is likened to the man who builds his house upon the sand. But then notice this fool undergoes the same sorts of things that the wise man faces. So for those who say, well, you know, you Christians, you have disease.
You Christians, you have bankruptcy. You Christians, you have your misery. Well, so do you non-Christians. It happens out in the unbelieving world as well.
We just have the sure confidence that in spite of all these things, our God is faithful and will see us through it and ultimately into the new Jerusalem. But for the unbeliever, he doesn't have that. He's built his house upon the sand. He's heard the Word of God, but he doesn't do what it says.
But the same rains come, the same winds blow, the same tempests fall upon him, but instead of the wise man, his house falls. But notice how Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount. It ends on the emphasis of the calamity that is facing the unbeliever. And great was its fall.
He doesn't do that with the wise man. He simply says, it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Here he says, and it fell, which should be corresponding to the parallel thought the end of the Sermon on the Mount. But he ends the Sermon on the Mount with the greatness of the fall of the man, the woman, the boy, the girl who hears the words of the Sermon on the Mount and doesn't do them, doesn't believe the gospel, doesn't look unto Jesus, doesn't do the will of God, doesn't go the narrow path, listens to the false prophets. is the sort of person in 721 to 723, who on the day of judgment, instead of saying, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling, is saying, but didn't I, didn't I, didn't I?
Great will be the fall of all those who've come into contact with the word of the living and true God, and yet have not received it, have not believed it, have not come to the Savior King. That's where the sermon ends. Some have pointed out that Jesus Christ speaks more of hell than heaven in his earthly ministry. I haven't actually done the math.
I'm sure there's guys out there that have done the math. Probably as simple as going to a concordance. I just haven't got there yet, but I don't doubt the authorities that I've heard say that. That's interesting, isn't it?
Why do you think he underscores that? Why do you think he points to foolish men? Why do you think he points to houses built on sand? Because of the prevalence of it.
Because of the broadness of the way that leads to destruction. Because of the manifold number of fools that'll listen to a false prophet but won't listen to the truth. The manifold number of fools that'll stand up on the day of judgment trying to pony up their words, instead of resting upon the finished work of the Savior, or the person who has heard the Word of God. In Moses' instance, they've heard the Word of God mediated through the man Moses, that hailstones were going to fall.
And on good authority, brethren, by this time, Moses was a man you could bet on. And I'm not saying you should have or would, but his His predictions in terms of calamities were pretty spot on. So when the hail comes, they didn't listen. Well, the same is true today in churches all over Canada, churches all over Honduras, churches all over the United States, churches all over the world.
There are people hearing the word of Christ that aren't going to do it. They're not paying attention. They can't wait till the sermon's over. They want to get on with better things.
They don't want to think about the reality that the wise man builds on the rock, the foolish man builds on the sand, the foolish man's house ultimately falls, but it doesn't just fall, it's a great and calamitous fall. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living and the true God. Deuteronomy 4, Hebrews chapter 12, that's a consistent theme in Holy Scripture. And yet all over the earth today, people are just, okay, well, you know, no problem.
I'll just deal with that when I get there. Deal with it now. The best means by which to deal with that reality is to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear his words in Matthew 11.
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will do what? I'll give you rest. John 6, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. Don't despise those blessed overtures of God's good grace.
Receive them by grace. Believe on him and be the wise man who built his house on the rock that is able to withstand all of the tempest that life sends our ways. Now
The Authoritative Preacher
notice the conclusion, the authoritative preacher, verses 28 to 29.
The Crowd's Astonishment
The response of the people, so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at his teaching. It wasn't just, yeah, yeah, it was all right. It was okay, it's a five. I mean, he could have done better, better illustrations, a little bit more exegesis, a little bit more clarity on the doctrine and justification by faith, but it was all all right, it was decent.
They're astonished, brethren. They hadn't met a man like this. We've seen that in the last few months in some of the sermons, when Jesus hushes the wind, when he stills the sea. What's the response from the disciples?
What kind of a man is this? What manner of man speaks to the wind and the waves, and the wind and the waves actually hear him, and they stop doing their thing? then in this instance, they're hearing the Word. They're astonished. The tense of the verb suggests that this didn't go away.
Whenever Jesus taught, they were astonished at His teaching. There's a couple other references just here in Matthew's Gospel. Look at chapter 13. Chapter 13.
Specifically at the end of the kingdom parables, verse 53, now it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables. So again, like we see there in seven. So at the end of a block of teaching, there's a statement that concludes that block of teaching. And then typically it's the next action or it's the next scene that Jesus is going to embrace.
Here it says, when he had come to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said, where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, his brothers James, Josie, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?
Where then did this man get all these things? So they were offended at him. They're astonished. They wonder as to his origin.
He was a carpenter or builder. And you know, under his father's sort of structure, he has these earthly realm. Where did he get this? But instead of them saying, where did he get this?
This is glorious. Let us come to him. They're offended at him. They're scandalized by this.
Turn to chapter 19. Same sort of an emphasis. 19. Verse 23, Then Jesus said to his disciples, Assuredly, I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
When his disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? See, this wasn't a one-off in the teaching ministry of our Lord. He was different, being the Son of God, who took on our humanity, with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin. He was different in terms of His authoritative teaching.
Look at 22-33, same sort of an emphasis. 22, 33, after he answers the Sadducees. Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead. So they come and try to stump Jesus. And they ask in verse 28, therefore in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?
For they all had her. They're no doubt, you know, smiling, grinning. We got him. It probably wasn't the first time they used this story with Pharisees.
Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees didn't. So the Sadducees wove this tale about the woman who had the several husbands. If we, you know, when she gets to the resurrection, which they, by the way, denied.
When she gets to the resurrection, whose will she be? They thought they got him. Well, look at what happens. Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.
For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God saying, in a book they received, by the way, I am the God of Jacob, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. This is truly an amazing response that he gives to the Sadducees, and that evokes verse 33.
And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. So going back to our passage, so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at his teaching. And then it gives the reason. For he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
Christ had authority. Christ was not like their scribes. Now the scribes would have had a delegated authority as being sort of over the people, but again, scribal or the rabbinic tradition was to cite and quote rabbis. Rabbi this said this, rabbi this said this, rabbi this said this.
What does Jesus do? Amen, amen, I say unto you. He doesn't do the rabbinic bit. He doesn't appeal to the men before.
Again, appeals to the prophets, appeals to the written Word, because it's His Word, they were His prophets. When he speaks here, he speaks as one having authority, and they saw that, they understood that, they knew that. Calvin says the meaning of the evangelist is that the power of the Spirit shone in the preaching of Christ with such brightness as to extort admiration even from irreligious and cold hearers. There was something unique about him.
And yet, the text does not say that astonishment led them to believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Were there persons that did that? We don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us.
I would suppose there probably were some. but simply being astonished at the teaching of Jesus does not put you into the camp of the wise man who built his house on the rock. Because it's not just hearing the Word, not just appreciating the Word, but appropriating the Word through faith, believing what it says concerning the Son of God who saves sinners, and believing what it says in terms of those who are saved by the Son of God through faith. There will be consequent fruit. There will be a life of obedience.
There will be a pursuit of Jesus Christ. They will be those who follow the Lamb wherever He bids them to go.
Application
In conclusion, there are similarities between the builders. The wolves, verse 15, look like sheep. So the foolish builder may at times appear like the wise builder. I mean, I haven't ever gone to somebody's house and before entering, you know, sort of checked out the foundation to make sure that, you know, my visit there wouldn't end in calamity.
Just don't usually do that. I assume that most people's houses are built on solid foundations. But occasionally, you'll hear that, you know, that one wasn't built on a solid foundation. And there are similarities.
Just receiving or hearing, coming into contact with the Word of God is not what is in view. The foolish and the wise both hear the Word of Christ. The foolish and the wise both have the difficulties associated with life. But the foolish and the wise are markedly different in the way they navigate through those difficulties.
The wise, obviously, is founded on the rock, which is Christ. The fool is founded on the sand. J.C. Ryle made the observation, the religion that can stand trial is the true religion.
Now, there'll always be somebody, well, you know, there's an, okay, there's probably an exception to that rule, but for the most part, that's a good rule. The religion that can stand trial is the true religion. Calvin said, true piety is not fully distinguished from its counterfeit till it comes to the trial. See, difficulty is what ultimately reveals the character and nature of a being.
See, when the sun is shining, and when the wallet's full, and the kids are happy, and the belly is full, it's easy, right, to be a Christian. But when those things are dried up, or when those things are gone, or when those things are pinched, or when those things are momentarily suspended, or perhaps permanently suspended, when the trial comes, then we sort of know what the man or the woman is about. It is that that reveals the nature, the character, the very heart of the man who professes faith in Jesus Christ. So there are similarities, but there are differences.
The wise man builds on Christ, the fool builds on everything but Christ. What are some examples of sinking sand? Well, I would suggest the 21 to 23 passage helps us. Sinking sand would be your works.
Well, Lord, didn't I do this? Didn't I do that? Didn't I go here? Didn't I go there?
You build on your works, that is sinking sand. You will fall and great will be your fall. Another piece of sand, another block of sand would be bad religion. A religion that denies the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. a religion that blocks up the very entrance into heaven by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone.
There's a lot of places to build on the sand, but there is one Christ, one word, and one response that is appropriate. It is to believe, and it is to act in accordance with that belief. As well, the wise man may have the battles, well, he will have the battles, and he may sometimes fall under trial. Doesn't the Old Testament speak like this?
Don't we see it later in the life of Peter? What does Peter do? Lord, I will not deny you. There's no way.
Peter says with an arrogance, with a boldness, with an impetuosity that I will not. If everybody else denies you, Lord, I'm not gonna deny you. He denies Jesus not to the emperor. He denies Jesus not to the SS.
He denies Jesus not to the goons at his door who have, you know, machine guns and are ready to bring him in. He denies Jesus to a servant girl. Brethren, these things are written for our admonition. These things are written for our encouragement as well.
Not so that we'll go out and deny the Savior. but that will understand there is no perfection on this side of heaven. There is no triumphalism on this side of heaven. The believer may undergo times of great hardship and great difficulty. I quoted the verse earlier from Edward Mote, on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
He speaks to this as well. He says, when darkness veils his lovely face, that happens, doesn't it? I'm just being honest, brethren. There are times you go to your Bible, you come to church, and you say with the disciples, we have seen Jesus.
There's other times it's not quite like that. You read, and you pray, and you might as well be reading a Japanese phone book, because you're getting as much out of it as you are out of Romans. And then you're thinking, what's wrong with me? What's in here?
I'm reading Paul's epistle to the Romans, and I'm not seeing Jesus? I'm not beholding his lovely face? There are seasons like that, brethren, and the hymn writer was no stranger to it. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest upon unchanging grace.
I don't rest upon my works. I don't rest upon my false religion. I rest upon the rock that is Jesus, even when his face is veiled from me. In every rough and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
He goes on to say, his oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the overwhelming flood. Notice what Edward Mote doesn't say. He doesn't say, my oath, my covenant, my blood, support me in the overwhelming flood. Brethren, I have seen too many times in my own heart and in the hearts of God's, well, not the hearts, but the actions of God's people, we don't always do this.
We don't always trust in Christ. We don't always trust in Christ for justification. We trust in Christ for that forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness received by faith alone. But when the winds come, and the rains beat, and the tempests fall upon us, it's typically to us we have recourse.
Well, I've tried to this, and I've tried to that, and I've tried to go, and I've tried... We need to rest on Jesus, His oath, His covenant, His blood. Support me in the overwhelming flood. And then listen to this, again, a hymn writer that is honest.
Brethren, I'm not against all modern hymnody, but it's not all as honest as we'd find in scripture, in the Psalms, and in the brothers that wrote the hymns that we sing. You know the brothers that wrote the hymns that we sing, guess what their job was? They were worship team leaders. They were drummers.
They were pastors. They were theologians. These men pastored and shepherded the church of God. They understood sound doctrine, and they put that sound doctrine into hymnody.
He says, when all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. And then the final observation, just leaning on Moat. The wise man will stand ready on the day of judgment when the great storm of God's wrath is unleashed. and it fell, and great was its fall. The day of judgment will be the unlashing of God's great wrath." But what does Moat say? when I shall launch in worlds unseen.
Oh, may I then be found in him, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. I guarantee you Edward Mote had Matthew 7, 24 to 29 in his mind when he composed that hymn. Again, I want to encourage anybody that has not come to Christ, there is nothing sort of noble about waiting.
The text this morning was gonna be Paul before Felix, but some things changed. What does Felix do? Felix fears under the preaching of Paul. There's a moment there where Felix is caught in the crosshairs, and Felix knows it.
Felix wanted to hear Paul discourse about the faith in Christ. You know where Paul goes? He goes to righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come. Righteousness, most likely, because Paul was a tireless preacher of justification by faith alone.
When he's talking to Felix, you can bet he's talking about the way of righteousness, and that way is to believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to have your sins forgiven, and to receive a righteousness that avails with God. When he spoke of self-control, it was so that Felix, wretched Felix, would know that the Holy God has standards. Felix was a bad man. Felix was a wretch of a man.
And so it's no accident that Paul speaks of the way of salvation, righteousness, in Jesus Christ. The reason for salvation, your lack of self-control, Felix, necessitated, or that kind of sin, necessitated the coming of Jesus into this world to live a life of obedience, to live a life of absolute blessedness before the Father, to die as a sacrifice and to be raised again. And then he ends the sermon where Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount, the judgment to come. So you can't live your life as if there's no judgment to come.
There is a judgment to come. So Felix is cut to the heart. The text doesn't say that, but he's definitely a factet. But that's short-lived.
He then keeps Paul and hopes that Paul's gonna grease his palm to let him out. This idea of waiting, this idea of pondering, this idea of contemplating. What does the wise man do? The wise man hears the words of Christ, and he does them.
He doesn't hear the word of Christ and say, well, you know, I've got to wait for a while. I've got to think this through. I've got to ponder this. I've got to, you know, look at it from every jot and tittle.
Again, that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're packing a parachute, make sure it's packed properly, by all means. But all of you, I think, have had enough contact with the Word of the Living and True God to know that it is the Word of the Living and True God. So don't wait, don't tarry, don't continue to build on sand, but rather believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and enter the ranks of the wise builders who build their houses on the rock. who build their houses upon Jesus Christ, and that by God's grace, not owing to themselves, not owing to their abilities.
It is the blessed Christ who saves to the uttermost, and the blessed Christ who keeps to the uttermost all those who believe in Him.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the clarity of this passage, a very simple passage and a very pointed passage. I pray that we would all examine our own hearts, that we would receive that Word, that we would, by grace, do that Word, and that You would be glorified.
And bless the Word. as it's preached throughout the world. May it run swiftly, and may it be glorified, for certainly these are days in which a great revival would be wonderful, an awakening of those dead in their trespasses and sins. But irrespective of those things, God, we pray that you would work according to your will, according to your purpose, and according to your plan. It is sufficient for us to know that Christ will build his church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And we pray now in his most blessed name. Amen. We'll stand with me and we'll close our service by singing 568. 568. Peace at the moon of blessing flow, grace in all creatures give thee love.
Praising above the heavenly host, Praise for her solemn holy host. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Father, thank you for the Word of God.
Thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ and the authority with which he brought that message at the Sermon on the Mount in those days. Thank you that the Holy Spirit has given us this Word and the Scriptures have been given to the church. to sustain, to nourish, to feed, and to help us along this pilgrim path. We ask that you would go with us now, and we pray that you would help us to sanctify the day, help us to call it a delight, and help us to see Jesus as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. And we pray in Jesus' name.
Amen. Well, please be seated for a brief time of meditation.