Coming now down to the final exhortation that Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter seven, verses 24 through 27. I believe the hymns we just sang express to one degree or another, the truth of this text. And we look forward to that time of fellowship suite sitting at his feet in his kingdom. but he tells us who's going to be there here. So this is Matthew 7, 24 through 27, being built upon the rock. We've been asking ourselves these questions as we've gone through the Sermon on the Mount. Do you want to follow Jesus? Okay, if so, what does that mean? He's been explaining, illustrating, applying that truth, what the truth of the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven means all throughout this sermon. And now in verses 13 through the end of chapter seven, he's applying it to our lives and calling us to commitment. This is in many ways, I think the most memorable sermon that's ever been preached. You can probably think of more quotes that have come into our language from this sermon than any sermon ever preached in the history of the world. But it's also the most convicting sermon I think ever preached. We've only scratched the surface of its truth, but we have seen Jesus as we've gone through this. So today I would like to say to you that Jesus is offering to you eternal life in his kingdom, fulfilled life in the kingdom of heaven, blessed life. He's showing you true righteousness, which is fulfilled in true love for others and true communion with God, asking and receiving. And so today my burden is that you would see Jesus and that you would follow him to true life. Let's hear his final exhortation. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. But it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. And it fell, and great was the fall of it." Let's look today just at four aspects of this story. First of all, building. We see two kinds of people, wise and foolish here, and what they do. This is a story about building your house, which is to say your life. Your entire life is what's pictured here by building your house. Are you going to build a life that will stand or are you going to build a life that will collapse? This difference is what reveals the difference between a wise man and a foolish man. The life of wisdom is the life that will stand at the judgment, and the life of foolishness is the life that will ultimately fail. What is the difference between these two lives? Jesus answers that question directly here. He says, everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them is the wise man. Then he contrasts that, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them, he's the foolish man. So there's the difference. Two hearers, both of them hear the words, but one is a doer and one is not. That's the distinction between the wise and the foolish. It's in the doing. The foolish man does not do, the wise man does. You see, doing, this practice, this produce, this bringing to fruition is actually a key term throughout this entire sermon. And that's why Jesus emphasizes it here at the end. Look back with me just for a couple examples. Chapter five, verse 19, in what we might consider the thesis statement of this entire sermon, verses 17 through 20, Jesus says, whoever loses, relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men to do the same will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Pardon me. This is the distinction. So he talks about this super abundant, this much exceeding kind of righteousness in the rest of chapter five. Then he comes to chapter six. and talks about how you practice this righteousness. Beware of doing, practicing your righteousness before men in order to be seen by them. For then you'll have no reward from your Father who's in heaven. And verses one through 18 of chapter six expound on this, practicing your righteousness, whether to be seen by men or by God. When he comes to chapter seven then, coming down to bringing this sermon to its focus, even in the golden rule, we call the golden rule. So everything, whatever you wish that men would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets, this doing aspect. And then throughout this conclusion, as he's driving these points home, he keeps bringing up this whole issue of doing. For example, in verses 21 through 23, he says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. And so as he comes to this section, once again, now we see, pardon me, this doing. Actually, this is the same term in verses 17 through 19 for producing fruit. bringing out, bearing the fruit of the kingdom of heaven. To do, as Jesus has been talking about it here throughout this sermon, is to bring forth fruit. To do is to have real life. You all know the difference between a living person and a corpse. There's an unseen source of action in a living person, there's life. And even if we can't see or put our finger on exactly what life is, we all know it when we see it, it brings forth fruit. So to do is to have real life and something that manifests itself in growing and producing. It is in this sense to be intelligently and lovingly connected to reality, which then manifests itself in what you accomplish. And that reality is revealed in Christ. Jesus is here calling for a whole person, Christ-saturated kind of righteousness. He's calling for a heart connection with God, which brings to fruition God's will. Just like he taught us to pray in the middle of the prayer, in the middle of the sermon, excuse me, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, doing your will. That's wisdom. The book of Proverbs, by the way, brings out this same message. Just to give an example, let me read from Proverbs chapter two. Pardon me, you can turn there with me if you'd like to. Proverbs two, one through 11. My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding. Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek her like silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path. For wisdom will come into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you. Does this sound like what Jesus is saying at the end of his sermon? It is, for it is the same truth. Jesus is simply now giving the same message, but saying it's fulfilled in me. I will fulfill the law and the prophets. This is how it's brought to fulfillment. So the question before you now today, as you hear Jesus is, will you do what he says? You've heard the Sermon on the Mount. You've heard all these wonderful aphorisms, even in pictures, the way Jesus puts things. Things like, you know, plucking out your eye and cutting off your hand, or things like doing to others as you would have them do to you. And all these memorable statements, looking to the birds of the air. I mean, things you remember easily. They're wonderful pictures of life. But Jesus doesn't want you to just remember these wonderful sayings and think, wow, that was a really interesting lesson. He wants you to do what he's saying. And that's going to determine the difference between whether you're a wise man who's on the path to life or a foolish man who's on the path to destruction. This is what Jesus is calling for. Will you do? Luke records the same illustration from Jesus, the same exact story in Luke chapter six, but he prefaces it with these words from Jesus. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? You have to do what I tell you. It's not enough to claim Jesus's name. His truth has to be working in you, directing you, enabling you, equipping you, changing you. You have to be one of those who hear his voice, calling you forward in the hope of the kingdom of God, and you follow in obedience. Many people will say that they will do what Jesus says. In fact, it's not uncommon in our day. Oh yes, I'll follow Jesus. Yes, I'll name Jesus's name. Sure, I'm a Christian. Many people will say that. Until the going gets rough. We're gonna talk about that in just a minute here, the going getting rough. We've got two kinds of people here, the wise and the foolish, who are building their house. Now let's talk about that building here, the foundations. We have two foundations here. You see right away, as Jesus presents this story, that Jesus is concerned with foundations, not with the superstructure. You could theoretically build the most attractive house imaginable. You could get all the latest features in it. You could have the prettiest decor in it. And yet, if it doesn't have a solid foundation, In the end, it fails as a house. It's worthless. And many people live their lives in just this manner. They're all concerned about the superstructure. They're all concerned about making it look good. They do the things that look good to men, like Matthew 6 describes it. Their decor is stylish. Their garden is the kind you can put in glossy magazines and admire. They do what people admire. They seize the day and live the best life now, as some men would put it. These might be the people that we even think of as the most successful. I mean, they're the people who accomplish everything on their bucket list. These are some of the things people put on their bucket list. Change someone's life for the better. Get to my ideal weight. Go on a safari. Ride a hot air balloon. Go to the Super Bowl. Travel through Europe. I mean, they're doing all the things that, boy, isn't this fun life? This is great. They go to college. They find a job they love. They start a new business. They retire early to do the things that they enjoy. Boy, they're successful people. They've learned how to build a house, build a life. Maybe they're the people who learn a new language, get rid of negative feelings, volunteer at a local nonprofit, hang out with friends. They're wonderful people to hang out with. So whatever's considered a successful life, that's what they do, and they're good at doing it. And yet all of this can be worth and worthless if it's built on the wrong foundation. I really believe that the entire history of mankind is a history of the world system trying to build on sand, trying to build on anything and everything but Jesus Christ. Economically, man thinks he can build a system of wealth that does not have to depend upon Christ. Educationally, man thinks that he can become wise apart from Christ. Our entire publicly funded educational system in America today operates this way. We don't have to have Christ as the foundation and we can become well-educated people. Politically, man thinks that he can build empires of peace and safety apart from Christ. Ethically, man thinks that he can be good apart from Christ. It really is a massive egocentric exercise in foolishness. That's what it is. It's all painting up and making pretty a building that has no foundation. It's all built on sand, and when the test comes, it falls. Jesus here says it's the foundation that matters for your building, building your life. So let's come now to that test. We've talked about the two kinds of people and the difference between them and their building. We've talked about the foundation that matters, but it all comes to the test, doesn't it? In both instances, the wise man and the foolish man, the storm comes, right? Jesus pictures an event here in this passage. Actually, I think we can, we in Colorado can relate to pretty easily. In Israel, like some places around here, you might have places that are like dry stream beds, dry wadis, that most of the time have little to no water in them. But suddenly a flash flood comes, and it takes out everything in its path. If you've lived in Colorado Springs for very long, you've seen that kind of a thing happen right around here, right? Some of these places you would think hardly have any water in them. You get the right rainstorm and boom, there's over a million dollars worth of destruction, right? This is the kind of thing Jesus is picturing here. But in other words, that your building, your life will be tested. I think this plays out in a couple of ways. One, provisionally. Provisional tests will come in this life. That is, even in the here and now, there will be provisional tests that will expose a bit of the foundation that you're building on. These are the proverbial storms of life, and we talk about them regularly. Relationships get tested, economic strains, your health fails, a loved one dies, all these kinds of issues that test our lives. But how about this? A new strain of coronavirus comes along. It's amazing to see how many people try to build their lives on good health and whatever they consider to be good health care. We nowadays call health care a right, and we demand that our government provide it for us. We feel like we have to control all threats to our health. Because if you haven't got your health, of course you haven't got anything, right? You have to have your health. And so we try to build our life on this security that this comes from. And then along comes something we can't control. And how do we start reacting? When the illusory control we think we have gets threatened, we go crazy. We start trying all kinds of things. We're asking for anything that will save us. What about social chaos over racism erupts? There's a strain. There's a storm. What are you built on? Governments go crazy. They start doing all kinds of things. You think, this can't be right. This feels like I'm living in an alternate reality. How did this kind of thing happen, right? Well, it's gonna start exposing the kind of foundation your life is built on. It's gonna bring it out. What is your life built on? But these storms I've just mentioned are in some senses only provisional. There is also a final test coming, and your building will either stand or fall in that final test. In the conclusion of the sermon, Jesus is consistently emphasizing the final judgment, the day of judgment. You're going to stand before him, and your entire life is going to be judged according to his truth. Jesus is not going to judge superficially. Jesus isn't judging according to how well you painted the trim on your house. He's judging based on what it's really made of. So you can look good before men, but he knows you down to the depths of your being. And he is going to judge you based on that. If you're built on anything less than him, your entire life is going to collapse. Think about that. All your hopes and your dreams, all your ambitions, all your desires, everything you've worked for in this life, everything you loved and cherished, all that you thought made your life worthwhile. Everything you've invested in and slaved for, maybe it was a house out in the country, maybe it was the right job, maybe it was certain friends, maybe it was a family life, everything that you thought made your life worthwhile is going to come crashing down around you at the final judgment and you will be ruined forever if it's not built on Christ. So where must you build? And that's what Jesus brings out here. the rock, Jesus Christ. You must build on Christ alone. There is no other foundation. Jesus says, well, in fact, if you've been reading the Old Testament, let's say you're one of Jesus's hearers here in this original sermon when he's preaching this. You're one of these Jewish people listening to him and you've been reading your Old Testament, you know it quite well. And throughout the Old Testament, you see exhortations and things like keep the law. You might even read like in, Proverbs 29, blessed is the man who keeps the law. And then you hear Jesus and his words are somewhat astounding. He doesn't say, whoever keeps the words of the law will be built on the foundation, that the rock that will stand. He actually says, whoever keeps these words of mine, You realize Jesus has just done, even in this very conclusion of the sermon, the same thing he's been doing throughout it. He's saying, I am God. My words are God's words. You will be judged according to everything I say. I am the one who fulfills the law. From the very beginning, when he said, I have come to fulfill the law and the prophets, all the way through to the very conclusion here, It's these words of mine that are the main issue. Jesus is presenting himself as the Lord. He is the righteous judge. He is the very standard of righteousness, and he is the fulfiller of righteousness. That tells you a couple of things today. First of all, it tells you that Jesus calls for total submission. Total submission. You have to hear these words of mine, and you have to submit to them. There's no other option. I am the Lord. It's His authoritative word alone which can be your guide to the kingdom of heaven. Of course, the good news is He's a good guide. He gives wisdom, He gives it freely. In fact, He gives exactly what you need to flourish with abundant life in God's eternal kingdom. So I exhort you today to submit to Jesus, listen to His words, make His words, what He teaches and what He has authorized, which by the way, is what you have in your hands right here, the Bible. Make that your authoritative guide to life. You wanna know how to build on a foundation that's going to stand at the final judgment? Listen to Jesus. Submit to what he says. Know that what he says is ultimately true. And it doesn't matter, in a sense, who says otherwise. What Jesus says is ultimately true, and you have to submit to it. But all the latest scientists say, but all the government officials say, but everybody in our society knows And we come up with all kinds of things that begin to call for us to submit to them. This is truth. Jesus is saying, no, there's going to be something that your life is going to be judged by what you've done. And it's not going to be by whether you conform to the latest scientific pronouncement, the latest government, the latest social pressure. It's going to be, if you listen to my words, right, listen to him, you can trust him. You know that what he's saying is true. In fact, Jesus has done what no one else can do to show you his words are true and that he's given himself for you. He's sealed it with his own blood. So Jesus does call for total submission here, but he also in that very same vein, in the very same words, he calls for total dependence. You can trust him. He alone can be your foundation if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven. If you build on any foundation less than Jesus, the storm is going to sweep it away. You rest the entire weight of your life on Him, on who He is, on what He says and what He does. Just to close here today, what a tragedy it would be If you could sit through the entire Sermon on the Mount and still build your house on the same. I'd urge you today, be a wise man. Do what Christ says. Let's confess our faith in him together as a congregation. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. Amen.