One of the most famous structural failures was with the building of the Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy. I think we're all familiar with that. It was originally built to house the bell of the Pisa Cathedral complex. Due to an architectural error, the tower began to lean and kept going that way. Thus, it's called the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And you can look a picture of it on the internet and see it's still leaning. Its construction occurred in three stages over 199 years. That's how long it took to complete it. You say, what? The height of the Leaning Tower is 103 feet, I'm sorry, 183 feet, three inches on the low side. It's 185 feet, 11 inches on the high side. And the failure, The failure of this building of the tower occurred because it was constructed on an entirely unstable foundation. That's where the air was. It's too small limestone base of only three meters was built on soft soil that could not properly support the structure's weight. Only three of its eight stories had been completed when the uneven settling of the tower's foundation became noticeable. They had built it three stories up, and then they were able to see, something's wrong here. This thing's not holding. When war broke out between the Italian city-states, construction was halted for almost a century. That's why it took so long. And that halting of the construction is what allowed its foundation to settle and likely prevented its early collapse. If they would have just kept going, it would have just totally collapsed. But they stopped, the ground was able to settle under it, and then they continued on. In 1990, the tilt had reached 5.5 degrees, which is about 15 feet of its lean. Therefore, authorities closed the tower for eight years. They worked extensively to stabilize it by adding 600 tons of counterweights to the base. And again, as you get on the internet and look at it, the back side of it has all of these, all this metal that's on there holding it down. And by doing that, it stopped the tilt from continuing and now it actually reduced it to less than four degrees, 3.97 degrees. So it actually pulled it up a little bit. and that's where it's stable. So if you go over there and you walk through it, again, you're gonna be kinda leaning a little bit as you look out the window. But supposedly, it's solid. It's not gonna fall down on you. This morning as we come to the end of our study of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' final illustration, I believe, is by far the greatest structural failure a person can make when building the house of our life. Building the house of our life. If you have your Bible, again, turn with me to Matthew 7. We've been looking at Matthew 7, 13 through 29, as we've been wrapping up this whole conclusion of Jesus' sermon. We've been looking at 10 pairs of contrasting items where each demands a decisive choice between either obeying God or not. Thus far, we've seen the first seven pairs of contrasting items. The two gates, the two ways, the two destinations. the two groups of people that he's talking to, the two trees, the two fruits. Last time we looked at the two professions. This morning we're going to be looking at the last three pair. The eighth, ninth, and tenth pair of contrasting items are this. The two builders, the two houses, and the two foundations. Again, he's just listed all these 10 pairs of contrasting items or things that Jesus is calling us to make a choice about when he lays those out. In verses 24 through 27, Jesus gives the well-known parable here about two builders who each build a similar house, a similar house. in the same location. The only difference is the foundation. If you go into my neighborhood, they've got a model home. There's a lot of houses that look like my house. It may not have exactly the same color, but the floor plan's the same, the style's the same. Jesus is talking about two houses that are similar in the same location. The only difference is the foundation on which it sits. That's the key issue that he's driving home. He describes the first builder's house and foundation in verse 24. Look again what he says, therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The word therefore connects this passage to verses 13 through 23. He's kind of wrapping it all up and bringing it to this point. Having previously denounced empty professions of faith and shown the necessity of obedience as evidence for true salvation. Jesus now describes here in verse 24 the true believer, the true believer, look what he says, who hears these words of mine and acts on them. He already contrasted what one says or professes with what one does, as we saw last time in verses 21 and 22. Now he's contrasting what one hears, with what one does. You see, the true believer acts on the words of Christ from the heart. The word acts means that he does them. He obeys what Jesus is saying. It's in the present tense indicating that obedience to Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is to be the habitual ongoing pattern and the overall direction of our lives. The present tense is a continuous action. Obedience is to be ongoing, the ongoing pattern of our life, the overall direction. Direction is different than perfection. None of us are perfect. We don't obey perfectly. But that's in our heart. Our heart wants to obey when there's true salvation. The true believer is characterized by obedience as a lifestyle. You see, we as believers cannot live the precepts and the principles of the Sermon on the Mount in our own strength. Nobody can. Nobody can. That's why those who have tried to elevate the Sermon on the Mount as some kind of social thing to bring everybody together if we just do this always fails. Unregenerate man cannot live out the Sermon on the Mount, neither can the true believer who is trying to do that in their flesh. We will never be perfect this side of heaven, but we'll always struggle with sin. To say that we don't makes us a liar, as we see in 1 John 1, verses 8 and 10. So sin is a reality, it's not an excuse, it's just a reality. But something has changed inside the believer. God has changed us from the inside when we have true salvation, when we've truly repented of our sin. We've looked to Jesus Christ, we've placed our saving faith in him. Therefore, when we sin, Not only do we need God's daily forgiveness and cleansing from that sin, and God's made it clear in Hebrews 12, five through 11, that if we don't repent and confess our sin to him, he will bring discipline in our life to bring us back. A Christian, a true Christian, belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're not our own, we've been bought with a price, Paul says, 1 Corinthians 6. So not only do we need daily forgiveness and cleansing, but we also need to be daily controlled by the Spirit to experience the victory over sin that God wants to give us, as well as spiritual fruit in our life. Then when we talk about obedience and how central it is in reference to salvation, a lot of people cry foul. Jesus is not talking about works salvation. For by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We're not talking about works salvation here. Scripture's made that very clear, that salvation is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone, apart from works. And yet, as we emphasized last time, true saving faith is a faith that works. We've been saved unto good works. True salvation moves in our heart to where now God wants to produce fruit and good works through us. Saving faith always evidence itself in a changed heart that progressively produces the fruit of obedient good works in our character as well as in our conduct. James 2.26 says, for just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. That's why James declared in chapter one, verse 22, but prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. To delude yourself is to think that you're somewhere where you really aren't. Notice that Jesus further describes those who obey his word in the second part of verse 24. Look what he says there, that they may be compared. Those who obey his word may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. The first builder is here compared to a wise man, which represents the true believer, who not only hears who not only hears Jesus' words, but obediently puts them into practice. In other words, the true believer is obedient to what God says. The house he built represents his own spiritual life. Jesus is using this illustration, this parable, and bringing out a lot of metaphors. The house is not a literal house. It represents our spiritual life. The foundation on which our spiritual life sits is the rock of a true believer. It's the rock which represents his obedience to Jesus Christ and his word. That's the rock. that the true believer is building his life on. Here we see that the building on the rock has to do with that which is solid, that which is solid, that which is stable, that which is unmovable. Building on the rock is equivalent to obeying God's word. You see, this is the only rock on which the Christian life can be built. On Jesus Christ and his word. That's what the Lord is saying in this parable. Now, although it's not seen, the foundation is the most important part of a house. Because if the foundation is wrong, Kind of like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The whole structure is at stake. Therefore, wise, true believers dig deep down to the rock. They lay a solid and sure foundation. And they do that according to the plans and the specifications of the Word of God. God's word is central. They act on the words of Christ. You see, it's only the rock of obedience to Jesus' teaching that provides security and safety against all the various tests that come into our life. It's interesting how Jesus gives the test of a three-fold storm. In verse 25, look what he says. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and slammed against the house, and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Remember, Jesus is using metaphors. He's speaking figuratively. Now since throughout the Old Testament, the storm is a symbol for God's judgment, This primarily refers here, this storm primarily refers to the final judgment that accompanies the second coming of Christ. And we looked at that before. However, I believe along with certain scholars, Arthur Pink, Martin Louis Jones, some of those that see both, not just the final judgment, but also that these storms have to do with the realities of living in a fall of sinful world, the difficulties that we deal with here in this life. The combination of rain, floods, and winds represent some of the severest testing that can come upon the house of our lives. Jesus is referring to, again, a natural storm, but then he turns it figurative, even in reference to the future, final judgment of Christ. But the rain, I believe, when it says the rain fell, it speaks of the torrential downpour of which the people of Palestine were very familiar. Jesus used illustrations that everybody can relate to. They knew what a torrential downpour would do and how it just caused everything to be flooded. So he begins with that. Figuratively speaking, we often experience the difficult circumstances and the trials of life that rain down upon us. What trial are you going through right now? What difficult situation are you dealing with right now? Living life in a fallen, sinful world is full of pain and problems and struggle. Job said, man lives a few days and he is full of trouble. That's the reality that we experience. trouble, afflictions, loss, whether it be a job, whether it be someone that we love, whether it be a career, shattered dreams, painful relationships, chronic illness, life-threatening disease, financial reversal, persecution, the painful challenges of old age. I think a lot of us are experiencing that. and eventually death. As I've said before, the circumstances of life don't make us what we are. Our circumstances don't make us what we are. They only reveal what we are. They bring to the surface what's already there that God wants us to look at in our heart. Because of this torrential rain, notice that Jesus states, and the floods came. The heavy rains that were poured caused all of the streams and the rivers to swell and to become over, and to overflow their banks. Figuratively speaking, I think the flood of worldliness has overflowed the banks of morality and caused immorality to permeate, to saturate our entire culture today. 1 John 2, verse 16 says, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world. Like never before, the flood of worldliness tests, it tests the true believer's commitment to live a holy and pure life in the midst of a very immoral culture. And to continue to be obedient to Christ and to Christ's word, regardless of what is going on, the pressures that we experience. In addition to the rain and the floods, Jesus describes hurricane winds when he says, and the winds blew and slammed against that house. Picture in your mind a hurricane, a tornado, extreme winds that are blowing, slamming against the house, figuratively speaking, Nothing can slam against the house of our lives and violently shake it more than Satan himself and his demonicos. Ephesians 6, 12, 13 says, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the day, in the evil day. And having done everything to stand firm. Satan's hurricane winds of temptations test our faith. They seek to cause us to angrily turn away from God. to doubt His sovereignty, to doubt His loving goodness by the things that God allows to happen in our life. I like to say that nothing, nothing is more taken for granted than a faith that is unchallenged. And nothing challenges our faith more than trials. One thing to be thankful and praise God when everything's going good. What happens when you lose everything? Your dreams are shattered when the bottom falls out. That's the point that Jesus is driving home. When the rains and the floods and the winds come, what happens to our life? Notice, Notice here that he says that we as believers, the true believer, is firmly founded or anchored on the rock, the rock of Jesus Christ and his word, as evidenced by our obedience to what he says, and therefore, the house of our lives. Notice what he says here. Did not fall. It doesn't fall, it doesn't collapse, it doesn't cave in. We are solid, we are kept eternally secure and safe by the power of God, even during the times when we fail. Being kept secure doesn't mean we don't fail, that we don't sin. but God keeps us. And as I said, we need to repent. We need to come back to him. And if we don't, he will bring discipline into our life to bring us back. I think the hymn writer said it so well in a couple of his stanzas when he wrote, when darkness veils, His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. And that's exactly what Jesus brings out in stark contrast to the wise builder who obeys Christ's teaching and stands firm no matter what is taking place. Jesus describes the second builder's house and foundation in verse 26. Look what he says. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man. who builds his house on the sand. This person also hears these words of Christ given in the Sermon on the Mount, as well as all throughout God's Word. They hear the words of Christ, but notice he does not act on them. He doesn't obey him. Also, this is in the present tense, indicating that his disobedience to Jesus' teaching characterizes his lifestyle. It's the ongoing habitual pattern of his life. That's the difference here. Not that we never sin, but what characterizes The true believer is a habitual, ongoing pattern of the direction of his life being obedience. With the unbeliever, it's disobedience to what God's Word says. I'm gonna do my own thing. I don't care what God says. That is an ongoing pattern because he doesn't have the life of God. He's not a true believer. That changed him on the inside. This second builder is likened to a foolish man who, which represents the false believer. Regardless of what he may profess as far as being a Christian, it doesn't make any difference what we say. As we saw last time, they were professing that they We're the children of God, that they were doing all these things in Jesus' name. And what'd he say? I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. That's this person. The house that he built represents, again, his own spiritual life, his religious life. Every person is a spiritual being, whether they wanna acknowledge that or not. They're made in the image of God. The foundation on which his spiritual life sits is the sand, which represents any of the man-made self-righteous religious systems in the world, whatever it might be, the philosophies of man, whatever it is that he's relying on and trusting in. That's the foundation. The sandy foundation of his life. Because all of these reject Jesus Christ and his word. They're the total opposite. In contrast to the wise man that is obedient, the foolish man is disobedient. The foolish false believer fails to dig deep, to lay a solid foundation. He has no foundation as we see in Luke 6 verse 49. There's no foundation there. He simply builds his house, he goes down to the beach, builds his house right there on the sand. The sand is loose, it's unstable, it's extremely movable, especially when you have water. He uses his own plans, his own specifications in building the house of his life instead of the Word of God. He selfishly wants the benefits and the blessings of salvation on his own terms, in his own way. But we come to God on his terms or we don't come at all. Jesus says the foolish builder's house is also subjected to these same threefold storms. In verse 27, look what Jesus says there. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew, and slammed against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. False believers are unbelievers, and they experience the same difficult circumstances and experiences in this life as we do as true believers. But since the foundation of their lives is sand, it's something other than Jesus Christ and his word that they're relying on, that they're depending on. When the severest storms hit, notice the impact to the house of their lives at the end of verse 27. and it fell, and great was its fall." You see, the foolish false believers' life is a house of cards. It's a fool's paradise. They think everything's going great. And you know, As you see in Psalm 73, where the psalmist was struggling because he was going through difficult times and he looks at the rich, the unbelievers, and everything was going great for them. From a human perspective, they might make it through this life somewhat unscathed. by trials, tribulations. The final judgment is coming. The foolish house of cards usually crumbles and collapses at some point in the storms of this present life. But be guaranteed that they will have a great fall in the storm of God's final judgment for unbelievers at the great white throne judgment. Payday is someday. God's judgment will come. The phrase great was its fall means complete ruin and destruction. And as we saw earlier in verses 13 through 23, this destruction speaks of eternal hell. Eternal hell in the lake of fire. Jesus talked more about hell than he did heaven. And in his Sermon on the Mount, he brings that to a point. He wants people to know what true salvation is And if you're not looking to Him, trusting in Him, then this is your eternal destiny. True believers and false believers can be similar in many ways. We both can read the Bible, we can go to church, we can sing songs together. We can listen to the sermon, we can give to the church, be baptized, take communion, serve in Christian ministry. Both of us can do that. You can't go over and kinda lift up, you know, a person's shirt a little bit and see stamped on there, saved. We don't know who's saved, not saved. Again, it can be very, we can act similar. especially when we all profess to be Christians. That's why Jesus hones in on there is a difference. The central difference that is seen in true believers is that they are characterized by obedience to what they hear, to Jesus' words. The false believer is characterized by disobedience to what they hear. Jesus' point is this. Those who hear the words of his sermon and act on them or obey them as the normal course and direction of their lives prove, prove, that they are truly saved. They give evidence to the reality of a regenerate heart. And therefore will experience eternal life in heaven. But those who hear the words of his sermon and do not act on them, they disobey them on an ongoing, unbroken pattern of sin. prove that they are not truly saved and will face destruction in the final judgment. You can see why this passage, as well as last passage, 21 through 23, are some of the most solemn and fearful passages in the Bible. Jesus is bringing his sermon to a point, a verdict, Are you obeying God or not? That's what he's driving towards. And having concluded his sermon, we now see what I call the reaction to Jesus' powerful sermon. The reaction to Jesus' powerful sermon. In verses 28 and 29, look what he says. And look what God's word says. When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching. For he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes. The word amazed here means to be astonished to the point of being just overwhelmed. Beside oneself, to be dumbfounded. It's interesting though that the crowd's amazement says nothing. about their heart commitment to Christ. We don't read about them, they were amazed and X number of people came to saving faith in Christ. Doesn't say anything about their commitment. We're not told that their reaction went any further than mere amazement. Wow, listen to him talk. Wish I could talk that way. He's not even using any notes. What a speaker. You see, Jesus' sermon was never intended to amaze. It was intended to cause people to be overwhelmed with their own sinfulness. Remember the first beatitude, blessed, happy are the what? Poor in spirit, the utterly spiritually bankrupt And he goes on from that, when you recognize your sin, it moves you to mourn, to grieve, to repent. His sermon was intended to move people to own their sin before a perfectly righteous God to drive them to Christ to be saved. But most chose only to hear and not obey. Look again at verse 29. For he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their scribes. Whereas the scribes relied on tradition for their authority and often quoted their favorite rabbis, Jesus was his own authority. He spoke as the final authority on truth. Alexander B. Bruce correctly summarized the difference when he said, and I quote, the scribe spoke by authority, resting all they said on traditions of what had been said before. Jesus spoke with authority, out of his own soul, with direct intuition of truth, and therefore, to the answering soul of his hearers, end quote. You see, Jesus didn't need any human teacher to add authority to his words because as we see in John 1, he was the original word. He said in John 14 say, I am the way, I am the truth and the life. He didn't need anything to validate His authority. His authority was in His person as the Son of God, God Himself in human flesh, the sinless God-Man, the Christ or Messiah that was prophesied in the Old Testament. He was the only Savior of the world, the righteous judge of all men. It was all in His person of who He was. That was his authority. Jesus insisted that his words were God's words. John Stott accurately states, and I quote, so certain was he of the truth and validity of his teaching that he said human wisdom and human folly were to be assessed by people's reaction to it. The only wise people there are are those who build their lives on his words by obeying them. All others, by rejecting his teachings, are fools." Jesus corrected the scribal traditions of the Mosaic law. He replaced them with his own authoritative interpretation of God's law. When he repeatedly declared In Matthews 5 and 6, as we went through those chapters, where he said, you heard that it was said, but then he'd come back and say, but I say to you, but I say to you, over and over and over. He also said, truly, I say to you, repeatedly, numerous times, in chapters 5 and 6. He declared himself to be the fulfillment of all prophecy. that he was the center of Scripture and as the recipient of all men's obedience. They are to obey me, my words. Jesus issued commands, he expected obedience, he warned people of their eternal welfare, that their eternal welfare was at stake if they did not obey. He ended his sermon by saying that man's eternal destiny would be regulated by whether they obeyed these words of mine. Twice he said that. Therefore, may our reaction to Jesus' sermon on the mount be far more, far more than just mere amazement. For this sermon is that which God himself has given. And since all preaching presses for a verdict, Jesus' sermon does just that. And he makes the choice crystal clear. He makes the choice crystal clear. You go this way, this is what you can expect. You go this way, this is what will happen. Ten pairs of contrasting items where each demands a decisive choice between obeying God or not. The two gates, the narrow and the wide. The two ways, the narrow and the broad. The two destinations, eternal life or destruction and eternal hell. The two groups, the few and the many. The two trees, the good and the bad. The two fruits that flow out and grow from those trees, the good and the bad. The two professions, the true profession and the false profession. The two builders, the wise and the foolish. The two houses, the secure and the insecure. That which is built securely on the rock. That which is insecurely built on the sand. And the two foundations. which are the rock and the sand. Let me ask you this morning, are you choosing to obey God or not? Where are you in your personal relationship with Jesus? God wants us always to be looking and asking ourselves, where are we? Are you building your life on the rock of Jesus Christ and his word? Or on the sand of self-righteous works? There's only two religions in the world, one of divine accomplishment, whereby Jesus did for us what we can never do for ourself in going to the cross. And that which is self-righteous works of some kind of religious system or belief. We build our lives on the rock first when we repent of our sins and put saving faith in Christ alone for our salvation. That's the beginning. And then we build our life on the rock by showing evidence of a changed life that progressively produces the fruit of obedient good works in the godly character and conduct of those who are citizens of the kingdom of God. Sanctification is an ongoing, progressive thing. When someone is truly saved, we begin to grow. We evidence that there is new life by an obedient life to his word. Is that true? Is that true of us who profess to be Christians? Jesus has made it clear, it doesn't make any difference what you profess. It has to do with how you live. It's in this life only that preparations are made for eternity. For after death, it's too late. There is no second chance. Hebrews 9, 27 says it's appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgment. On that day, Jesus, the judge, will either be our loving savior or he will be our terrifying executioner who throws us into the lake of fire. He will be either one of those depending on whether we received him or rejected him. Only Jesus Christ can change sinners into saints. I just wanna encourage if there's anyone here this morning, anyone who doesn't know for sure that you have the blessed hope of salvation, God wants you to know that through repentance of sin and saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross. He took upon himself the holy wrath of God the Father against sin. He paid in full the penalty for sin that we deserved. He was buried, he rose again the third day. He is alive forevermore. He offers salvation to those who will come. He took our hell and he gave us his heaven. He took sin upon himself. and given those who place their faith in him his perfect righteousness. What a deal. Have you done that? Don't leave here this morning without talking to somebody. I'll be in the back if you wanna talk to me. Where are you at this morning? Are you building your life on the rock? of Jesus Christ in His Word.