I believe every preacher who genuinely wants to honor the Lord in his preaching takes special notice and care of the way Jesus preached and probably the greatest sermon ever been preached has been preserved for us. And we try and follow some of the patterns that we have here. And that's why many, many sermons, as they come to the conclusion, are strong with application. And that's because that's what we see in this sermon that Jesus preached. I believe, beginning at verse 13, he says, There's no new content, but from verse 13 to the end of the chapter, his focus becomes like a laser beam, and there is direct and pertinent application to what he has said. And we're in that section. We've looked at the previous paragraphs, but this evening I want to give our attention to the last paragraph. And I will read these verses one more time. Not all of the verses, but the verses that we're concerned about this evening. Verse 24. 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 rains 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 the 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, and 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 or he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Jesus here gives us a closing illustration that contrasts two types of builders. He calls them a wise builder and a foolish builder. And these two builders picture or illustrate the two ways people respond to Christ's words. The wise builder represents those who hear and obey his word. And the foolish builder represents those who hear, just like the wise builder, they hear But in contrast, they disobey his word. And this is pertinent to all of us tonight because all of us are in the process of building a house, that is to say, living our lives. We are all like one of these two builders. And the question is, what kind of builder? What kind of builder are we? Because what kind of builder we are will determine how our life ends up. How we build has eternal consequences. It will lead to either eternal salvation or eternal damnation. Heaven and hell are on the line when it comes to listening to God's word. I think we understand that, but probably no passage in the New Testament drives that home and brings that solemn reality to bear upon our hearts like this one does. A number of years ago, we featured in our book room a book entitled Expository Listening by a man by the name of Ken Ramey. And he concludes that book of 110 pages by citing a sermon written by David Clarkson, who was a Puritan, and a sermon that David Clarkson preached entitled, Hearing the Word, in this one short excerpt from that sermon. He says, quote, is the provision made for the soul's eternal well-being. Its everlasting welfare depends on it. If you fail here, your souls perish without remedy. For salvation comes by faith, and faith comes by hearing. It is an act of eternal consequence. According to our hearing, so shall the state of our souls be to eternity. End of quote. Well, when I read that this week in my preparation, it just was riveting to me. Because in the end, it will all come down to what we did with what God has said in his word. And then he says this to conclude the book. So, he says, listen to every sermon in light of eternity because every sermon is truly a matter of life and death. I don't know about you, but I don't know that I've brought that mindset to my place in the pew every time I've heard the word preached. Listen to every sermon in light of eternity because every sermon is truly a matter of life and death. So it is. Well, this closing illustration that Jesus gives is tied to the previous paragraph. There are similarities between these two final paragraphs in Christ's sermon and they are tied together with the word, therefore. The first word in verse 24 where he says, therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine. And that word, therefore, connects us to the previous. So what is similar? between these two paragraphs is the way they contrast the wrong and the right responses to Christ's teaching. The contrast in the previous paragraph, verse 21 through 23, is between saying and doing. Many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we do this, that, and the other? They will say. The litmus test won't be in what they said. The litmus test will be whether they did the will of the Father. So the contrast is between saying and doing, while the contrast here in verse 24 through verse 27 is between hearing and doing. Hearing and doing. At the end of this sermon, when it comes to the application part of the sermon, Jesus is bringing a solemn warning and he's reminding us of two dangers. Danger number one of a merely verbal profession. Just having a profession of faith that's void of a life that validates and authenticates that profession. That's a danger. Danger number two, which is in this section we're looking at tonight, is the danger of a merely intellectual knowledge. What Jesus is saying here is that our destiny will be determined and settled not by what we say, but by what we did with what he said in his word. Whether our verbal profession is accompanied by a life of obedience. And that's the issue, a life of obedience. And the point that Jesus is making is that, in these two paragraphs, is that neither a verbal profession or an intellectual knowledge can ever be an adequate substitute for obedience. So let's concentrate on verses 24 through 27. We have here two builders being illustrated. Notice the exact language that's being used so that we don't miss the contrast that's being made. Verse 24, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, verse 26, But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, So we have two types of people who are hearing the words of Jesus. I think for most of us, probably prior to hearing the sermon tonight, you've probably thought, well, the wise man, he built his house on the rock, and the foolish man, he built his house on the sand. In your mind, you thought, well, the wise man, he's the religious man. He's the man who's in church. He's the man who's sitting under the word of God. He's the man who's listening to the preaching. and that the foolish man, he's the man who's out there in the world and he has no time for Christ and he has no time for church. But that's not the point at all. The contrast is between two people who could sit in the same church, both carry Bibles, both listen to sermons, both read Christian literature, both attend Sunday school, But the wise man, he did more than just attend and listen. He attended and listened with a heart of obedience toward what he heard. And the foolish man, he heard the same that the wise man heard, but his hearing was not accompanied with obedience. That's what Jesus is saying. I have three points that I want to make in the sermon tonight, and they are this. I want you to see, number one, the certainty of storms. I want you to see, number two, the certainty of exposure, and I'll explain that when I get to it. And number three, the certainty of judgment. The certainty of storms, the certainty of exposure, the certainty of judgment. Notice with me, the similarities between these two builders. It says that the rains, they fell or they descended upon both. We're considering number one now here, the certainty of storms. The rains fell or descended, the floods came, the winds blew and beat upon both houses. Both houses. You see it in verse 25, you see it in verse 27. But in the case of the wise man who built his house on the rock, the storms came and his house did not fall. In contrast, in verse 27, the same storms descended upon the foolish man's life, the rains descended, The floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon his house, and it fell. And it didn't just fall, it says, and great was its fall. In other words, utter destruction. Utter destruction. And the parable is driving us to examine and ask this question. What was the reason for, in the one case, the house withstood the battering storms, and in the other case, the house was destroyed? What made the difference? Well, the difference was in the foundation. The difference was in the foundation. You see, the foundation is that which lies below the surface. It's not something that's visible. It's not something you see. It's not something that you take notice of. Now we're talking about houses. When you drive in a driveway, you don't look at the foundation. You see the house. You see the roofline and the windows and that which catches your eye. But the foundation is not meant to catch your eye. It's hidden from the casual observer and yet it made all the difference. The foundation made all the difference. That leads me to my second point and that is the certainty of exposure. The certainty of exposure and let me explain what I mean. It is the storms of life that are indiscriminate, that are no respecter of persons, that come to all kinds of men and women. Nobody's immune to them. Nobody gets a pass. Save people, lost people, religious people. Storms of life come on all of us. And when they do, when the rains descend, and when the floods come, and when the wind blows, and when the challenges of life begin to batter one's life, what happens? Well, the storms of life expose what kind of foundation one's life is built upon. And it's only then that we begin to understand what kind of a foundation is under your life. They're very revealing, the storms of life. They expose. The point here is the certainty of exposure. And I can say as a pastor, and you probably could say similarly what I'm about to say, how incredibly encouraging the pastors are, the leadership of the church is, and how encouraging we all should be by what has been exposed in the lives of those who have endured severe storms in life. We're not just talking about the 30 minute shower here, we're talking about the storms of life. Floods, winds that are battering the house, winds strong enough that if there's no foundation, your life is destroyed. That kind of storms. And almost without exception, as I think about the storms that the Beacon Saints have endured, in the last months and years. What has been exposed? What has been exposed is a solid foundation. That's withstood, that stood the test of time, that gives credibility to their Christian profession. Now, not to say that it didn't rock us, didn't throw us, but it didn't destroy us. So it's been incredibly encouraging. You see, in the parable that Jesus is teaching here, what is common to both spiritual house builders is that they hear the words of Jesus. Jesus says, these words of mine, these words of mine. By the way, for those of you that wonder about the origin of the Sunday School class that I teach, the Home Builders, here it is, right here. This is why we call our class the Home Builders, because we are working at line by line, verse by verse, week by week, shoring up foundations, building foundations. Home Builders. Now, the certainty of exposure, it's inevitable. The foundation will be exposed, whether it's on solid ground or whether it's built on the whimsical foundation of this world that is characterized by sand. I visited my brother in Ormond Beach in March when I was there to attend the Ligonier Conference. And it's a development that's continuing to grow, and we walk by this particular building site, and he was pointing out to me, I wouldn't have even observed it, he says, walk over here. He says, do you see how much fill they've hauled in here? And you began to look, and the lot falls off And the foundation that's been prepared for the house is about 16, 18 feet above the tree line. He said they hauled dirt, loads and loads of dirt and sand. And there was these heavy rollers that they just, every time they'd bring in a load, they'd run a roller over it and run a roller over it. Until, well, can you imagine, I don't know how high, that can't be more than, what, from where I'm standing, maybe 11, 12 feet to the peak. Add another four feet of fill that they hauled in there, and then they're gonna build a house on top of that. And the floors are made, they pour concrete, and most of the floors in those homes are ceramic. And what's been happening in that development is these floors are just cracking because there's not a solid foundation. So that's a further illustration of what Jesus is trying to communicate to us here. But as I thought about this, when I'm talking about the storms of life, there is the storms of this temporal life. that I've talked about so far. But then there is another storm, and that is the storm of God's judgment that's referred to later in the passage, the certainty of judgment. And how good of God to allow this predictable outcome to happen in people's lives that the foundation that they think they're building their life on is a faulty one so that there's time in this life to do something about it. It's good for us to examine our life because here's the reality, here's what Jesus is teaching. How you fare in the storms of life is the best indication of how you will fare in the final judgment. because ultimately that's the storm that Jesus is referring to here. Those who not only hear God's word but also obey it will withstand the wrath of God and will enjoy eternal salvation in heaven. But those who merely hear what God's word says but don't do anything about it will not survive the wrath of God and will experience eternal damnation in hell. That's what Jesus is teaching. That's why this is such an arresting and a sobering passage. A life built upon Jesus Christ will stand. It will stand. It'll stand in this life and it will stand in that day of God's judgment. But that life and that life only. A life of obedient faith in Jesus Christ will sustain you in the storms of life. We sing, and we'll sing at the conclusion of our service tonight, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Built. My hope is built on Christ, the solid rock I stand. What? All other ground is sinking sand. The contrast couldn't be greater, could it? That's the contrast that Jesus is setting before us. And as I thought about this message this evening, I thought about how absolutely critical it is to have a default response every time you're hearing the word of God taught or preached, and that default posture is one of obedience. Lord, give me a heart to obey. Lord, help me to want to obey. Overcome my resistance to obey. That's what we need. We need that desperately because James warns about this deception of being what? A hearer of the word and not a doer. Feeling really good. Man, that was a great sermon, but not coming away with, that was a great sermon and I need to do something about that. I need to change. I need to repent of this sin. That's the kind of confrontation that we ought to welcome and we ought to cultivate when we come to the Word of God. It's too easy to be a passive, critical listener. As I was preparing for this message, I thought about a couple of people that you would view around them, you would think, well, the way they talk, the way they seem to know theology, they must be Christians. And yet, when you begin to examine their life and see things are just not, it's not a well-ordered situation. There's cracks in the foundation and yet they are critical. Man, they listen with precision. And you say something that isn't just quite right, they're going to correct you. Somebody, this sermon, and that author, and this person, everybody's wrong. And I'm thinking, Lord, Why? How do we get such a critical spirit as opposed to a spirit of obedience? And I'm thinking to myself, if they had half the desire to obey what they hear as they do to criticize what they hear, how much further down the road they'd be? And what really begs the question is, if you're being honest with what Jesus is saying here, are they even a Christian? Are they even a Christian? Because both these builders, the wise man and the foolish man, they both heard the sayings of Jesus. One obeyed the wise man and the foolish man, his life was void of obedience. That's the difference. The difference between these two houses, these two builders, is the difference between obedience and disobedience. That's what Jesus is saying. And then the certainty of judgment. The certainty of judgment. And that's just not in this section, but that's in this entire concluding portion of application from verse 13 all the way to the end of the chapter. Think about this. This is the greatest sermon that's ever been preached. And how does the sermon end? The sermon ends with the threat of judgment. The sermon ends with the threat of judgment. Probably where Martin Lloyd-Jones got his response when someone asked him, if you only had one sermon to preach, what would you preach? Flee the wrath to come. The sermon ends with the thread of judgment. There are four sections here. Verses 13 and 14 is the first section, verses 15 to 20 the second, 21 to 23 the third, and 24 to 27 the fourth. Four paragraphs. And despite the diversity and the different use of metaphors, each stresses two unyielding themes. It's repetitive. Same themes are being spoken to. The first is that there's only two ways. Only two ways. There's a broad way. There's a narrow way. There's a wide gate and a narrow gate. Well, here, what's the choice between a wise builder and a foolish builder? Two ways. One way ends in Eternal bliss, the kingdom of God and the other ends in destruction. The second thing is that. The way of blessing, the way of glory in heaven is characterized by obedience to Jesus. And failure to live a life of obedience will doom your life to eternal damnation. Now. I'm not sure why I feel the need to quantify, or not quantify, but to qualify this talk about obedience, probably because how easily it can be misunderstood. Obviously, if you know me and you know what we believe here, I'm not teaching that we obey in order to be saved. That's not what I'm teaching. You go, I know that. Well good, I'm glad we're on the same page. Because for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So I'm not teaching merit theology here. But what I am teaching and what the Bible is insisting and what Jesus is insisting on is the way you know that you're saved is that you have this disposition of obedience. You want to do what Jesus said. You want to follow in his way. And in counseling, I very often, very quickly, when people come to me and They have their issues and their problems, and that's not just inside the church, but outside the church. I oftentimes, well, not oftentimes, I almost without reservation, accept people on the basis of their profession. I don't argue with them. I'll ask them questions. Yeah, I'm a Christian. And they'll give me this explanation, that explanation of why they're convinced they're a Christian. And I won't argue with that. I said, okay, if you are a Christian, let me tell you what that's going to look like here in this counseling room. Jesus said, I know my sheep. They hear my voice and they do what? They follow me. So over and over again, in this counseling room, if you continue to meet with me, I will be setting you in the fork of the road. And there are going to be two choices. There are going to be this path, which is obedience, and there will be this path of disobedience, going your own way. I will continually set you in the fork of the road, and I will call to mind the words of Jesus. Because Jesus said, I know my sheep, they hear my voice. I will remind you of the voice of the shepherd, and if you are a Christian, you will do what Jesus said. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. It may be very hard. You may not know how to do what's right, but I'm here to help you with that. But that'll be the test. And the minute you bow up and say, I don't care what Jesus said, that'll reveal whether your profession is a legitimate profession or whether you're holding on to an empty profession. And that's not just true in a counseling room. That's true of life. I hear people that profess to be Christian and some counselor says something to them. Well, I'm not going back to him. Why not? Well, because he reminded me of the words of Scripture. And I'm not going to do that. But I'm going to claim to be a Christian. Really? You are, huh? That's a dangerous, dangerous position to hold to. A lot of people like that. Don't talk to me about forgiveness. If you were hurt like I've been hurt. Jesus said, you are commanded to forgive even as God hath in Christ forgiven you. Well, I'm just not gonna forgive. Well, what's that revealing about you? What are the words of Jesus to you here? You are obligated to forgive. Now your unwillingness to forgive is exposing, back to the message tonight, exposing the foundation of your life. I'm not saying it's always easy to forgive. Sometimes it's very, very, very hard to forgive. But you can't cultivate an adamant posture, I will not forgive. I just won't. and claim to be a Christian. Inconsistent. Luke's account of this portion of the Sermon on the Mount records the words of Jesus, where Jesus said, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say? Because it's one thing to call him Lord, Those words are easy to come across our lips. But if he's Lord, then with that is an acknowledgement of submission to his Lordship. I don't have the prerogative to retain to myself veto power. I'm not going to do this and I'm not going to do that. And at the same time, claim to know him as Lord. Those two things are antithetical to one another. No, if he's Lord, you're not Lord, and if he's Lord, your responsibility is to submit to him, and to submit to him is to know what he said, and by the grace and help of God, to do what he said. And we're not left on our own here, are we? It's not like, OK, God saved you and just turned you loose and you've got to figure this all out and just get really strong and do better than the Pharisees were doing. No. No. We've got the Spirit of God. We've got the Word of God. We've got the community of the saints. We've got the means of grace. We have the Spirit of God, we have the promises of God, that God is at work in us, both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. So we're not left to ourselves. I hope I'm not communicating that this Christian life is easy. It's very difficult, it's challenging, but we're not on any kind of a stable foundation if we're regularly disobeying what we know to do. He who knoweth to do right and doeth it not, to him it is sin. When the scriptures tell us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, When Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye who are labored and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Well, if you refuse to come, you refuse to believe, that's disobedience. And I don't know that I'll say it this way, that disobedience will be rewarded with eternal judgment. Why is that? Well, because, did you notice how this, we're not talking about just a teacher here. We're not talking about, well, if I don't like what I'm hearing here, I'll go down the street and find somebody that says something a little more palatable to me and I'll settle in there. No, this is the words of Jesus that you're gonna have to deal with. And it says, the sermon concludes, And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having authority. Authority. Jesus has authority. He has all authority. That's what he said in Matthew 28. All authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. He has ultimate authority to judge us. eternally for our disobedience. So if I were to speak to our graduates tonight about this whole matter, it would be this. I've been where the graduates are. Most of us have. We wonder about the future. We get to this point and we say, well, Up until this point it was easy. What do I do? Just enroll in the next class, the next semester, the next semester, the next semester. But graduate? Now what? What's all this for? Where does this go? Some of you know where you're going. Some of you don't know where you're going. So the will of God can be so mysterious in that way. Commit yourself to do the will of God, the revealed will of God. What is that? Well, present your body, a living sacrifice. Hold acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. That's a command, not a suggestion. Flee youthful lust. That's a command, not a suggestion. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. That's a command, not a suggestion. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Why? So that you might be filled. Be filled with the Spirit. Why? And for what purpose? So that you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Humble yourselves before God. Delight yourself in the Lord. Do those things. Give yourself to those things that you know are the will of God. What are you doing there? Well, you're obeying God, and with obedience comes blessing, but you are cultivating in your heart and in your spiritual life the discipline of obedience. You've already decided. When you come across something in the Bible that's a command, you're not, well, do I obey this or not? No. That's not even the question. The issue is, Lord, give me grace to walk in obedience to this. And if you'll have that posture, I promise you the blessing of God. I don't know what it'll look like and the specifics, but you will know the blessing of God upon your life. Why? Because you'll have the satisfaction of Almighty God. You've pleased Him with your life. And when it's all said and done, what else matters? So that's where we've come to. Very interesting that Jesus would conclude this lengthy sermon. Some say it probably took him several days to deliver. No one knows for certain, but he certainly didn't preach Matthew 5, 6, and 7 in 45 minutes. You say, well, I'm glad to know that because it took you I don't know how long, nine months to get us through it. But it's been a delight. I've learned so much. I've grown, I think, as a preacher. Just the discipline of dealing with what's next. And sometimes what's next hasn't been easy and the most enjoyable thing, and sometimes it's been difficult to understand, but that's how we all grow. Not avoid things, but just trust the Lord. And so I trust that this has been a blessing to you. Well, let's bow and pray. Father, we thank you tonight for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that he is a rock and a fortress, and he's a strong tower. And we thank you that when you saved us, you've planted our feet upon the rock, Christ Jesus. And we pray our father for any here tonight who are familiar with Christianity. They've heard the words of Jesus and yet they are indifferent. They don't have a heart of obedience. And we pray father that you'd invade their hearts and lives, that they would be partakers of the divine nature. And with that would come. an innate desire to walk in obedience. We pray for your help and your grace, Lord, to apply this message to our lives. We thank you for its warnings. We thank you for its promise of eternal blessing and bliss. Seal us with your your Holy Spirit and keep us in the way. We pray for Jesus sake. Amen.