All right, before we jump into the book of Matthew, let me open with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this beautiful day. I thank you for our church family. Lord, we pray for Dave and Linda as they're ministering to McCarroll Bible Church. We thank you for the opportunity that they have to serve you and them in bringing the word this morning. And so we pray you'd be with them. And Lord, I pray you'd be with us as we continue the book of Matthew. Pray that you would Teach us correct us train us so that we're thoroughly equipped for every good work and Lord I pray that this passage would challenge us to Respond well to Jesus. We love you Lord, and we thank you in Jesus name. Amen All right, so we are at the end of our The Sermon on the Mount. We're in Matthew chapter 7. We're going to be looking at, Lord willing, verses 21 through 29. The title of this message is, The Way to Respond to Jesus. The Way to Respond to Jesus. Preparing for this sermon, I was reminded of, many of you may be familiar with C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity. It's called the Lewis Trilemma. And he basically talks about what the claims that Jesus made about himself. He is either a liar. He's lying about those claims. He's not actually the son of God. He's not the son of David. He's not the promised Messiah. Or he's a lunatic. He actually believes he's those things, but he's not. Or he's Lord. He is who he says he is. And he came to do what was long promised to the Israelites to do. Now Matthew has written his gospel to essentially defend the credentials of Jesus the Messiah. He is the promised Messiah. He is the son of David. He is the king who will sit on David's throne and rule for all eternity. Now the Sermon on the Mount has been the declaration of the principles of the King. We looked at his credentials and in the last two chapters we've been looking at, or three chapters, we've been looking at his principles. What are the principles of the king? And what we've confirmed, or at least what I have presented, hopefully you've confirmed, is he's dealing with the true intent of the Mosaic Law. What is the true righteousness that the law required? Because what happened is, over the course of time, the Jews began to think that, well, so long as I don't kill someone, as long as I don't commit adultery, as long as I don't bear false witness, as long as I don't do those things, I'm righteous. And Jesus had to explain to them the true intent of those laws that at the heart of murder is hatred. If you hate your brother or sister, you're guilty of murder. At the heart of adultery is lust. Now what's interesting is the sin that got Adam and Eve was the pride of life, the lust of the flesh. And so those very things are brought out and emphasized by Jesus with his Exposition of the Mosaic law if you will Now lately we've been seeing him draw a conclusion and we see that in this text reaching its finality the conclusion and we're going to look at a how to respond to Jesus. Now, of course, in the context, how did his audience respond? What are the types of responses possible? But I think this is pertinent for us today. Whether you are a believer or an unbeliever, you haven't yet trusted in Christ, this is still true for you. You might respond one of these ways. As a believer, of course the issue won't be a response for salvation But when you come across something in the Word of God, how do you respond? Do you neglect it? Do you maybe see the value in it, but you don't do it, you know those sort of things so there's four responses to Jesus in this text and I want to start by reading the text in its entirety. So you get the flow but starting in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 7 Says, 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, and 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, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and the beat on the house, and it fell, and great was its fall." Verse 28, 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, and not as the scribes. And thus ends the Sermon on the Mount. Now within this text there are at least four responses that I want to highlight that maybe you have been guilty of yourself. And if you have never trusted in Christ, maybe today will be the day that you respond appropriately. The first response I want to highlight is in verses 21 through 23. That's the works response. One of the types of responses to Jesus is you recognize who he is and you recognize who you are and you realize you need to get busy. You need to fix things up. You need to work really hard to impress the Lord. So some observations. First of all, recognition is not enough. Verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord. So the recognition that He is Lord isn't enough. That doesn't save, that doesn't make righteous, it doesn't do any of those things. It's a good thing, because He is Lord. But recognition is not enough. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord. Think about all of the The broad umbrella of Christendom. How many, quote, Christians aren't saved because they've never actually heard the gospel, or let alone believed the gospel? Maybe it's a works-based variant of Christianity. Catholicism. Doing the sacraments. Being good. Making sure you don't die in an unforgivable state, right? What about where I come from in Mormon land? They have a verse that says, you're saved by grace after all that you can do. So you work really hard, God will, he'll pay the difference. Now that's a little bit better, but is that the gospel? We sing it all the time, Jesus paid it all, right? So if he paid it all, is there anything left to pay? That's not a trick question. If Jesus paid it all, is there anything left to pay? No. So recognizing who He is isn't enough. We're saved by faith, not by recognition. Now, recognition is important. You need to recognize, certainly, who He is. The famous illustration is, if you're stranded on a ship, or stranded on an island through a shipwreck or something, And you've been there for a month, and you're praying for salvation, and a bottle comes to the shore. You take it out, and there's a little piece of paper that says, Believe on J-E-S-U-S, and you will be saved. Is that enough to save you? Well, there's a lot of questions, right? First of all, saved from what? Saved from the island? Saved from hunger? Saved from, you know, the penalty of sin? And then what is J-E-S-U-S? Is it Jesus? Is it something else? So there are certain things that we need to understand about Jesus and what He's done, and namely that He is the Son of God and He died on the cross for your sins, for our sins. And if you believe on Him, you receive everlasting life. And then he adds, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. In other words, just recognizing who he is isn't enough for his audience to enter the kingdom. They must do something. And that's the big issue, right? The first century Jew didn't think they needed to do anything. Because they're a Jew. A descendant of Jacob. Who descended from Isaac. Who descended from Abraham. And because of those ethnic relations, They will receive the promises. Now the tricky thing is there's some truth to that, right? Because of their ethnic relation to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the people, they are the people of God. But they must also believe. It's not just because of your biological relationship you're saved. You're not saved by having good genes, in other words. You must believe. So Jesus is highlighting and then he says, but he who does the will of my father in heaven. So if you say Lord, Lord, and that's all you do, you just recognize him, but you don't do what he has said. That's not enough to enter. If you want to enter the kingdom, you must do the will of my father in heaven. Now, what is that will according to the context? Well, I think it's everything he's been saying, right? That you are unrighteous. The law is perfectly righteous. And you also have covenant obligations. Again, he's talking to the Jewish people who are under that covenant. And so they needed to do the will of his father in heaven, then they would see the kingdom. If they are unwilling to do that, then they will not see the kingdom of heaven. So not only is recognition not enough, works is not enough. Verse 22, 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. So many will say so note that that phrase, it seems to suggest Jesus's expectations, there will be many who do in fact reject what I have said here, and they will say this will be their their claim, their defense. Didn't we prophesy in your name, we cast out demons in your name, And we did many wonders in your name. This is all too common, the error of humanity is we think we have to do something to earn God's grace. Which shows completely that grace is not understood. Who is willing to give a definition for grace? Brave soul. John. Yeah unwarranted unmerited favor meaning you get the favor and you didn't deserve it So just think through that again if you have to do something to earn God's grace Is that grace? No Grace and we're going to talk about this in a moment a bit more is the ultimate Pride crusher completely crushes our pride because it takes us out of the equation. Right? And so there's nothing we can bring nothing we can offer to earn salvation. But pastor, what about all those other pastors and, and priests and, and really godly people that say that you need to do this and you need to donate to that ministry, you need to give to to the church, you need to go to church, right? If you want to see the kingdom of heaven. Well, these lists are pretty good, right? Prophesy, cast out demons, doing many wonders, even in Jesus' name. And what's his response? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. I never knew you. And then he'll say, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. And I love that response, because it sounds cruel, right? After all, they had good intentions, Jesus. Why not just let them in? That's a little misunderstanding. They tried to do the right thing. They were just a little ignorant. After all, they had good intentions. Have you ever heard the phrase, the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Or they might say, Jesus, just let them in. They're sincere. But they're sincerely wrong. This can become very difficult, because what do we do with those who are sincere in their worship, their devotion, their loyalty to God? Absolute sincerity. I don't question any of that. But does sincerity save? No, because you could be sincerely wrong, right? We must all, every soul, believe on Jesus Christ and receive the gift of salvation. But I love how he says it despite the alleged harshness, because he says, I never knew you. So that appears to be the most important thing to seeing the kingdom, to being or receiving eternal life, being with God forever, is knowing God. So what is God's greatest desire for his creation? To know them. And as Creator, He has the right to say man's greatest desire is only fulfilled in knowing Him. That's why we put such an emphasis on Bible study. That's why we want to sing songs that are theocentric. In other words, they're God-centered. They're centered on who He is. They're centered on what He's done and what He will do. Because we recognize as a church that the greatest joy that could possibly be had is knowing the Creator. In fact, if you just think back to before everything was broken, before everything got messed up and dirty and stained, what was man's activity? I come to the garden alone. I'll stop singing. That was it, right? Enjoying fellowship with our Creator. You fast forward to the end of the book. Spoiler alert if you haven't gotten there yet. It's all the same. Revelation 22. I will be in their midst and I will be their God and they will be my people. That is all God wants. You. And God wants you to want Him. But He doesn't force you. So he says, I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. Now the lawlessness statement is dealing with the fact that they're not listening to everything he just said about the law, right? Jesus just said, if you want to follow the law, you need to be doing this, not what you think you're doing. So if you think you're okay, and you don't regard what Jesus just said, you are lawless, without law. Antinomian against law So summary application of this first point there are many who understand and even acknowledge Jesus as Lord, but that isn't enough It's not enough Throughout history there have been people who do things for God, but that isn't enough. I Jesus pinpoints the issue saying, I never knew you. I never knew you. So which is better, good works or consistent fellowship? Does God desire good works or consistent fellowship? The answer is yes, by the way. But sometimes we think all God cares about is good works. He just wants you to shape up, right? And I wonder, oftentimes we view God the way we do our earthly relationship, and if you've ever had a parent figure that maybe you just couldn't do anything right, you maybe get your view of God that way, that nothing you do is acceptable. So you've got to work really hard, be respectable, and then God will accept you. God accepts you through his son. If you believe, he accepts you and you were saved. You're now a child of his and he wants his children to do good works. But more importantly, he wants to enjoy fellowship because only good works will come out of that fellowship. I explained downstairs that life without understanding your position in Christ is a pendulum swing ride, where you swing to one side of legalism, and then the other side is licentiousness. And the thinking goes that, okay, God now wants me to, I'm saved, thank you Lord, I gotta get with it, I gotta shape up, I gotta clean up my life, I gotta stop doing this, I gotta start doing that. And you compile this list, and if you do those things, or don't do the bad things, God loves you even more. That is legalism. If you think by doing or not doing something makes you more spiritual, you're a legalist. To an extent. There are things that we as believers are to be doing, but that comes from scripture, right? If we compile a list, it's legalism. And what happens? You might live like a legalist for a while until you realize, boy, this is hard. I can't do this. And you're right there, you can't. So then you just throw up your hands and say, well, I'll just trust in God's grace. He'll fix it in the end. I'm going to go to the bar or go do this, go do that. And you swing over to the licentious side. There is no law. I'm going to go do what I want. Until you feel convicted, you feel dirty, you feel messed up, and you swing back over to legalism. How many of us, or how many believers out there, swing on this ride their entire life? How do you get off the ride? You recognize your position. And your position is in Christ, perfectly righteous, with an imputed righteous, gifted to you the moment you believe it. You're accepted entirely. You can't be accepted more by God. One of my favorite statements from one of my favorite theologians, Lewis Barry Chafer, if you never read any other book but one, read this one. It's Grace, the Glorious Theme by Lewis Barry Chafer. And in it, if you don't read the whole book, but you read only one chapter in this book, one of the chapters, he makes a statement, grace is not increased or decreased by merit or demerit. In other words, grace doesn't increase by you doing certain things, and it doesn't decrease by you not doing certain things. When that hit me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Because even as Sade, we might believe in the grace of God to cover our sins, but we never really wrap our minds around grace in the Christian life. Nothing you do, nothing I do, can increase or decrease God's grace extended to you. Nothing. So what does that mean? You are positionally perfect in Him. And then you're called to rest, to abide, is the word John uses, to walk, peripeteo, Paul uses, in the Spirit. in the position you already are, having put off the old man and put on the new man, Paul says in Ephesians. Those things are reality. They're positional truths. They're who you are now. So live like it. Right? It makes me think of a conversation we've had with our kids, and maybe you've had with your kids, or maybe your parents had with you. And that is, you're my child, and my children will not behave that way. If you behave, quote, that way, did you stop being their child? Does your child stop being your child if they behave, quote, that way? You're still a child of God, but he doesn't want his children to behave that way. I think the issue is putting the cart before the horse. Do we ever put the cart before the horse in our relationship with God? We put works ahead of rest, relationship. God cares for you. He doesn't care about what you do. So there's the works response. That's one of the responses that they receive. Jesus highlights, many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, or they'll say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do this and do that? Jesus says, that's not enough. That's not the right response. Number two, we look at the obedient response, verses 24 and 25. 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. So some observations. First of all, the right response, therefore. Now what's the therefore, therefore? He's drawing a conclusion. After everything he said, he says, therefore, because there will be many who say, Lord, Lord, and Lord, Lord, I did this and did that. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, and that's the hearer and doer, by the way, whoever hears these sayings of mine, first of all, the question, what sayings? Everything he's been talking about, right? So what is Jesus talking about now? everything he has been talking about. Let's not get out of the context. Let's not ignore the context. Because if you ignore the context here, you're going to be preaching a false gospel. You'll come up with some ridiculous conclusion that, well, see, people think they're saved, but they're not actually saved. They have a professing faith, not a real faith, a saving faith. I explained last week, there's no such thing as a saving faith, except faith is saving faith. Faith is faith. You either have it or you don't. And if you trust, you accept as true the facts of the gospel that Jesus died for you, guess what? You have saving faith. But Pastor, well, I don't often feel saved. I still sin. I'm struggling with sin. I mess up. Must not have stuck, right? No. Means you don't yet know your identity. You're on the licentious side of the ride. And please don't swing over to legalism. That's not going to help you. You need to learn who you are in Christ. Because only then will you live accordingly. Now notice, he says, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them... Sounds familiar, right? Be not hearers only, but doers. James 1.22. Note the irony of this statement. Now, what do I mean by that? James saying, be not hearers only, but doers. Who is James? Open question, not a rhetorical. Brother of Jesus. When did he become a believer in Jesus? Afterwards. Which means, and what's interesting, if you look at the book of James, and you look at the book of Matthew, or the Sermon on the Mount, much of what James says in his book comes from the Sermon on the Mount, which tells me that he probably was there listening, which tells me he was a hearer, but not a doer. So do you see the irony? He's not just telling his audience to do something he himself hasn't struggled and wrestled with. Be not hearers only. Don't be like me or like I was. Be doers of what God says. I highlight that because it's important for you to know what James' heart is to truly understand his argument in that book or else you're gonna trip and fall on your face when you get to chapter 2. Uh oh, if I don't have works, I'm not saved? That's not what he's saying. If you say you have faith, but you don't have works, you're not a hearer and doer, you're just a hearer. You still are saved if you believed, But you're not living like God's people should. And then he draws a simile comparison. So a simile is a figure of speech using like or as. So Jesus says, the one who hears these things of mine and does them shall be likened to a man who built his house on the rock. So summary application, Jesus is laying out the right response to a sermon. So what he expects of his audience is that they have heard, okay, check that box. Now, they must do. There's no middle ground, by the way, with when it comes to Jesus Christ, there is no gray area, there is no, no man's land, there's no neutrality, there's no middle ground, you either accept him or you don't. Even as a believer, you are either in fellowship with him or you are not. And the reason that is, is because he is perfectly righteous. And we are not. Except as believers, we've been made positionally righteous. And that's why we can have fellowship with him. But what happens when we live in sin? Can oil and water mix? Can sin and righteousness mix? We can't be living in sin and enjoy fellowship with God at the same time. So similarly, Jesus is leaving no way out. There's no other response. And so here, he's issuing the right response to hear what he says and do what he says. Hearing isn't enough. This is challenging. And I'm not twisting arms because I think, again, a lot of things I should be commending our church for. But how many of you, please don't raise your hand, have heard a sermon and gone home and didn't do anything? Maybe even you came up to me, and please do. I'm always encouraged by what you're learning from messages. But Pastor, that was a great sermon. And then you go home, and that's all it was, just kind of a ear tickle, right? We live in a difficult age with podcasts and a lot of media out there that we can intake sort of things that, that's all it is. It's entertainment. It stimulates something in our brain that we enjoy. Is that what God's Word is intended to do? It's a two-edged sword. Performs surgery on us, right? It's uncomfortable sometimes for us. And so work on developing a right response. Now, I want to say with that, I was trained with a book by Haddon Robinson on biblical preaching. Excellent book. And I love how he phrases it. When you reach the kind of summary of your sermon prep for the week, you must when you start talking about application, that message must first be applied to the personality of the preacher. In other words, I'm getting raked over the coals before you guys are. And there's been many times in my ministry that I have almost stood up and said, I can't yet preach today's message, because I still have a lot to learn. Because I'm not doing what I should be doing according to the word. So I want you to know that it's not just a you guys better get on my level, not even close. We're working through this together. I just have to be the guinea pig, right? The guy that goes first. Then he says, be a hearer and a doer, not a hearer and don't doer. And again, that's the heart of James chapter two. That's the context. He's not interested in on challenging people's salvation. Are you really saved church? James isn't doing that. He's saying, I know for a fact you're saved because you were in my church. And you better stop this nonsense that you've been doing. That's his message. It's a family conversation, not a letter of evangelism. Specific to the context of Matthew, Jesus's audience must do something about what they just heard. Only then would they see the kingdom. Don't be a hearer only. Don't leave this place and say, man, that was a great sermon. That rabbi sure knows a lot. Anyways, you want to go get some bagels and fish? That doesn't work. It's not enough, right? Those who heard the Sermon on the Mount should be wise builders. In other words, if you want to take this information, you take it and you do it, and you'll be likened like a wise man. And I love the implication there is, The storm is coming. What is that storm? I think the broad context is the day of the Lord, the tribulation. It's coming. And if you don't make the preparations, if you don't listen and do what he says, you're like building your house on sand. It's going to fall. And great is the fall, he says. So then we have the flip side, the disobedient response. But, this is a contrastive conjunction. Conjunction, junction, what's your function? Hooking up phrases and making them work right, right? So that's what but is here for. It's a contrast. So we said this, but the hearer and not doer, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does not do them, Which I think there's an implication that Jesus is expecting there's going to be those who do this. And then the simile comparison. And that is, they're builders, but they build on sand. And when the rains come, and the waters come, it falls. And then he adds, great was its fall. What comes before the fall, by the way? Pride, right? Pride comes before the fall. So the ones who hear Jesus and don't do, what's their issue? Pride. Jesus is laying out the wrong response. He's saying, don't do this. Don't listen to me and go away not doing what I have said. It will be a grave mistake. The tone suggests that this is what Jesus expects from many. In fact, we've already seen Matthew's tone throughout this book has a lot of foreshadowing to the response of the people to their Messiah. Repentance, or in other words, change of mind. To change one's mind requires humility, doesn't it? Things that can cure pride and foster humility. Number one, the creator-creature distinction. You've heard me say this before. You'll hear me say it many times again. I think it is the fundamental, most important doctrine in all of scripture. The creator-creature distinction. In other words, surprise, newsflash, God is different entirely than you, or than me, or than really anything that is created. Everything is in a category of created, except God. He's over here in a category of his own. Now that seems pretty straightforward, right? Pretty obvious. Duh, Pastor. But it's not so obvious, because paganism has what's called the chain of being. Right? Have you ever heard they're the top of the food chain? Sometimes even believers can fall into this line of thinking that God's just top of the food chain, right? God's not on the same chain. He's holy. He's separate. He's set apart from His creation. No one is like Him. No one could ever be like Him, because we're all created right from the beginning. We are unlike Him. And I encourage you to truly embrace this doctrine, delve into it, and look at all the passages that talk about it, because it will cure your pride. And if you want a good book that looks at this area, the book of Job. He learns quickly. And he had a great view of God. But he learned, by the end of it, the creator-creature distinction. There's no one like you, God. All mouths are stopped when they see the greatness and glory of God. The omniscience of God. Again, the book of Job. God knows things that we couldn't possibly know. That's humbling. And then there's grace. Nothing cures pride like grace. In fact, what keeps people from believing in grace is pride. Grace, grace, just grace. That's all that can cleanse us from our sins. We can't clean ourselves. Then we have the indecisive response, reading verses 28-29 again. 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, and not as the scribes. So the Sermon on the Mount concludes, first of all, it says, and so it was. So now, we have Matthew the author speaking, He's no longer giving us the account of Jesus's sayings, but now he's picking back up in the narrative. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings. And then we see the people's response. Number one, they were astonished at his teaching. Amazed. It's kind of like you've ever seen a movie or TV show or you've seen it in person. One of those illusionists or magicians, right? They do something and, whoa, how did you do that? Astonished. Just amazement. Taking the words from your mouth and from your mind. There's nothing to say, but you're amazed. That's what it was to hear Jesus teach. And the reason for their response is He taught them as one having authority. Which is, of course, ironic. As one having authority? He was the authority. But they were so astonished because, man, that guy we heard, he sure sounded like he was in charge. Maybe we should do something about it. And notice, Matthew highlights the distinction. He taught as one having authority, not as the scribes. What has Jesus been talking about this entire time? That the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees isn't enough. They're teaching and misleading people, thinking that if you do this and don't do that, you're a good little Jewish boy and girl, and God's going to welcome you into the kingdom. Jesus says there's a serious error here. You have broken the covenant. There are punishments a part of that contract. And you need to make it right. So what is the purpose of Jesus' sermon? Was it to astonish? Was Jesus, was God just in eternity just fed up with all the sermons, subpar sermons, and He thought, I'm going to show them how it's done. Master at work, I'm going to astonish them with my teaching. Was that His goal? No, He didn't set out to do that. He just spoke, frankly, and that's the result. But what is the purpose of any sermon? This might help you a little better understand where we come from as elders, our philosophy of what a sermon should be. It's not to impress. Now, we're not the worst speakers, but we're not the best. We recognize that. But we certainly could do things that would draw a crowd, draw an audience. We could tell people what they want to hear. We could impress them with our rhetoric. We could perhaps fill these pews to the point of where maybe we eat standing room only. But is that the purpose of a sermon? To impress? Or is it to, all scripture is profitable for, is it intended to teach? To correct? To rebuke? To train? in righteousness, so that the man is thoroughly equipped for every good work. That's the purpose of a sermon. And I know some are better than others. I'm saying that. Sometimes I'm like, it was the word, but it wasn't exciting. The purpose of the sermon is to change us, and to develop us, and to grow us, to edify us, Ephesians 4. And again, I'm not leaving myself out, it first has to come through me. The Jews recognized the authority of Jesus. Matthew seems to be subtly foreshadowing. How does he do that? And so it was when Jesus ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes. Elsewhere in scripture, doesn't it talk about, and many were added to their number. And they kept on with Jesus. They followed him. Right? But you don't see that here. It just says many were astonished. Period. And the story ends. And I think that's very intentional by Matthew, because he's building a story as to why the king came, but not the kingdom. Why Jesus is the Messiah, but the messianic promise of a glorious, peaceful kingdom didn't get instituted at His first coming. How should we respond to sermons each Sunday? And again, with what I've said in the past, I hope you don't hear this as, you need to listen to what I'm saying. You need to be challenged by what I'm saying. Hopefully, you see clearly, I'm saying what God's Word says. And then I want you to deal with that, not what I say, but what God's Word says. Something challenges you, I want it to. Application for the sermon. One type of response to Jesus is to get busy. Something gets misunderstood and good works are the new priority. Some statements that show this type of response are, repent from your sins. We often, as elders, get letters from missionaries that are doing great work, I think, and we would love to support them. Then we ask them for them to present the gospel to us as if they were to the lost. And frequently, too frequently, sadly, they include this in their gospel. Repent from your sins. That's never stated in scripture. That's a false teaching. We're not called to repent of our sins before we can be saved. In fact, I would argue you can't. You cannot change your mind about your sin if you are unsaved. You know nothing else. You want nothing else. You crave nothing else but sin. And that's why it's by grace. Or they'll say something like, clean up your life. If you just clean up your life, God will accept you. How did Jesus meet people in their sin? And then what did He say? Go and sin no more, right? He wasn't saying, yeah, you're fine. I love you just the way you are. Romans 5.8, but God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So the whole question, does God hate or love the sinner? Does He hate the sin and love the sinner? I say he hates and loves both sin and sinner. He loves us enough not to keep us that way. He hates sin, but he loves us so much that he sent his own son to die a brutal death as a substitutionary sacrifice to pay the price for the penalty of our sin. And it wasn't just a physical death either. I believe he was spiritually separated from the father. He fully tasted death for us. So this nonsense of clean up your life, you can't. Come as you are and let Him do it. He does a better job by the way. Make Jesus Lord of your life. This is another teaching. Now I'm not saying don't do this, but if you put this cart before the horse, you're messed up. And you'll stay messed up. Is Jesus Lord, whether you accept Him or not? Absolutely. No argument there. Should you make Him Lord of your life? Absolutely. No argument there. Do you have to make Him Lord of every aspect of your life in order to be saved? The statement goes, if He's not Lord of all, He's not Lord at all. Well, if that's true, He's not Lord at all. And that's a sad, grim truth. He's not Lord of anybody. Because who has done that? Nobody. Believe on Him, receive that imputed, perfect, divine, gifted, free righteousness, and then learn how to serve your new Lord. None of these can save you or even help your situation. In fact, it makes it astonishingly worse. If you think you've got to clean yourself up, it's going to be the wall standing in your way of salvation your entire life. Until you realize that you come as you are and you trust Him as you are because of what He did, you'll be in this chasing your tail race. Another type of response is to love what Jesus has to say, but no action is ever taken. Let's not do this, believers. Man, that's such a great word. Oh, that's so challenging. Oh, that's so good. Those are statements I've said before. I don't do anything about it. Or I put it off. I don't do anything about it. Don't be indecisive, because being indecisive is a decision. We must act. We must follow the Lord faithfully. And that is the way to respond to Jesus. Let's pray. Father, we love you so much. We love your word. We want to follow your word. We don't want to be hearers only, but doers. We thank you for the free gift of everlasting life. And I pray that this message would be clear to those who have not yet trusted in your son for salvation. I pray, Lord, that they would feel the conviction to receive the free gift of everlasting life and that they would humble themselves before you and trust by faith alone in Christ alone. We love you, Lord, and thank you in Jesus name. Amen.