Escape the Coming Storm (Matthew 7:24-29)
Escape The Coming Storm
Matthew 7:24-29
This morning we bring the Sermon on the Mount to a conclusion.
Without a doubt it is the greatest sermon ever preached.
It has been studied countless times by many scholars,
And yet even as we finish it, there is a distinct feeling
That we haven’t even come close to getting it all.
What we have gotten though has been crystal clear.
GOD DEMANDS RIGHTEOUSNESS
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
The only way to enter heaven is to be righteous.
And that would be a horrifying revelation,
Were it not for the fact that Jesus Christ came and gave His life
In order to satisfy the wrath of God and make us righteous.
And when you study the Sermon on the Mount,
It really brings the heart of that salvation to the forefront.
Christ didn’t save us so that we could feel OK about our sin.
Christ didn’t save us so that we could have peace in the midst of wickedness.
Christ didn’t save us so that we could have heaven despite how we live.
Christ saved us so that we could become the only thing God accepts,
Which is righteous.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
Jesus didn’t come to do a PACIFYING work in you.
He came to do a PURIFYING work in you.
He came to make you righteous both POSITIONALLY and PRACTICALLY.
Many today seem to forget that last part.
We are certain Christ justified us
And made us positionally righteous before the Father.
What we tend to forget is that Christ also came
To make us righteous in a practical sense.
He not only came to set you at peace with God,
But He also came to separate you from your sin.
And here is the point to that.
If someone has not been set free from sin practically, can they really claim to have been set free from sin positionally?
In other words, can I really convince myself that I am righteous in God’s sight, when there is no hint of righteousness anywhere else in my life?
And obviously the answer is “No”.
Paul asked in Romans 6, “How shall we who died to sin now live in it?”
If you can’t find any evidence of righteousness in your life
(the righteousness that has been revealed through the Sermon on the Mount) Then you have very good reason to question
Whether or not you have ever been made righteous.
It is the whole “you will know them by their fruit” concept.
The peculiar thing is, that even though men live
Without any semblance of Christ’s righteousness in their lives,
Many still manage to convince themselves that they are saved.
• Even though the beatitudes cannot be seen
• Even though their heart does not align with God’s heart
• Even though they are not light
• Even though they are not salt
• Even though their religion is skin deep
• Even though their love is for the world
Despite all that, they still manage to convince themselves they are saved.
(Some of course do this with the help of false prophets)
But some convince themselves without any help from anyone else.
We call it FALSE ASSURANCE
And we saw the first reason why last week.
Some men convince themselves they are saved
Because of their intense involvement in ministry.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
Here were people (many people) whom the Lord did not know.
And this is somewhat surprising, because these people called Him Lord,
And performed all sorts of religious functions in His name.
And despite the fact that they did all a person could, they were still lost.
And Jesus said there are “many” like that.
It is the same “many” who are on the wide road that leads to destruction.
And they are headed to destruction for one simple reason.
They were not righteous.
They did not do the will of the Father.
They substituted a life of righteousness with a life of church involvement,
And convinced themselves that they were saved.
IT WAS FALSE ASSURANCE
This morning we see yet another example of false assurance.
And yet these people are a little different.
They are certain of their salvation, not because of their ministry involvement, but because of their INTELLECTUAL KNOWLEDGE.
They KNOW the truth.
They have heard it all.
They can probably even regurgitate it all to you.
But that opens for us another problematic scenario.
You see Scripture is clear that faith without works is dead,
Scripture is also clear that knowledge alone won’t save anyone.
Romans 2:12-13 “For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”
James 1:22 “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
Luke 8:18 “So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”
People who know the truth, but don’t act on it are not any better off,
Than those who are completely ignorant of the gospel.
When you stand before God,
He will not quiz you as to how much you know.
(Namely because we are all so ignorant of the things of God
That none of us could pass any test God would give.)
But despite the fact, knowledge will not save anyone.
Knowing the truth is irrelevant if that truth is not acted upon.
And if you will remember, this was always Israel’s problem.
Isaiah first prophesied it, and then he was quoted over and over.
Matthew 13:14-15 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING,BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’
Ezekiel 12:2 “Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.”
Many people struggle with this issue of hearing, but not doing.
And that is why Jesus frequently used this phrase when He taught.
Matthew 11:15 “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Jesus wasn’t on a search for the most academic theologians,
He was on a search for the most submissive servants.
And that is why He ended up with a bunch of fishermen, tax collectors, and prostitutes, and virtually no theologians.
Jesus has always looked for the obedient.
And yet, here we are dealing with a person
Who is exactly opposite of what Jesus asked for,
And yet is totally confident that they are still pleasing to Him.
And let’s look at this text this morning.
What we have here is a good old fashion comparison.
Jesus is talking about “House Building”
And Jesus uses “House Building” as a way to describe
How people “Prepare for Judgment”
And that brings it to a level that we can all understand.
We all know why we need a house.
The sun is too hot
The wind is too cold
The rain is too wet
And there is always the threat of dangerous weather
That we need to be shielded from.
Our main source of protection from these elements is to build a house.
And here Jesus uses that same imagery to explain
How a person prepares for the storm of judgment.
And the main thing we learn is that
It was not those who knew about the storm who were wise,
But it was those who prepared for the storm who were wise.
There are three points to be gained from this comparison.
#1 THE WARNING IS AVAILABLE
Matthew 7:24, 26
(24) “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine…”
(26) “Everyone who hears these words of Mine…”
Both men have at least one thing in common.
They both heard.
And from that we are reminded that the warning is available.
WHAT ARE THE WARNINGS?
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:29-30 “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
We have had warning after warning after warning.
Over and over Jesus has warned us
That God will not accept anything less than perfect righteousness.
The Warning is Available,
And both of these men heard what Jesus had to say.
#2 OBEDIENCE IS ESSENTIAL
Matthew 7:24, 26
Here we come to the first difference in the two men.
(24) “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.”
(26) “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”
Was the difference hearing? –No.
Was the difference doing? –No. (they both built a house)
It was obedience.
Both were aware that judgment was coming.
Both knew that a storm would one day come.
And both built a house to prepare for that storm.
The difference is that
One man listened to the warning and acted upon it,
One man ignored the warning and continued doing it
The way he thought best.
The difference wasn’t knowledge, the difference was obedience.
We live in Texas, and we know what tornadoes are.
In fact many towns invest money in tornado sirens
To help warn people of coming storms.
And thanks to the efforts of these communities, would you like to guess how many lives tornado sirens have saved over the last 10 years?
None.
A tornado siren has never saved a single life, but thanks to the warning of tornado sirens, storm cellars have saved numerous lives.
And that is the way it is with the truth.
Knowing the truth that the storm is coming will not save you,
Unless you are willing to act upon that knowledge.
The Bible says those who heed the warning “may be compared to a wise man”
And yet the people who ignore the warning “will be like a foolish man”
What will you do with the Sermon on the Mount?
The Warning is Available
Obedience is Essential
#3 JUDGMENT IS INEVITABLE
Matthew 7:25, 27
Here we find another similarity between the two men.
And that is both of them received the same judgment.
On the wise man
(25) “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house”
On the foolish man
(27) “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house”
Both men, both houses endured the same judgment.
The same storm “slammed” both houses.
Both houses were put to the test.
Both houses were hammered by the wind and water.
THE JUDGMENT WAS THE SAME FOR BOTH
God ISN’T telling you to build right IN CASE the storm comes.
God IS telling you to build right BECAUSE He knows the storm is coming.
Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”
Matthew 3:11-12 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 13:41-42 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 13:47-49 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous,”
Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”
There is not a person alive who will miss the judgment of God.
You and I will both stand judgment for this life.
And this storm is not the inevitable hardships of this world,
The storm is the storm of God’s righteous judgment.
There is no way around it.
The God who created this world will demand an answer from it.
The Warning is Available Obedience is Essential Judgment is Inevitable
#4 SURVIVAL IS POSSIBLE
Matthew 7:25, 27
Here we see another difference between these two.
The wise man
(25) “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”
The foolish man
(27) “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”
One man headed the warnings, built his house accordingly
And when the inevitable judgment came, he survived.
Not because he was a great house builder.
Not because his house was prettier than the other.
But because “it had been founded on the rock”
It wasn’t about the size or type of house.
It was about whether or not this man
Built that house on the right foundation.
The house represents the life work of the man,
And his life’s work survived
Because he did it on the foundation of righteousness through Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Later when Jesus quizzed Peter as to who Peter thought Jesus was:
Matthew 16:15-18 “He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
The rock is Jesus.
He is the righteous foundation.
And the wise man saw that there was such a judgment coming
That the only way he could survive would be to anchor his life to Jesus.
God’s righteous standard was so high, that Jesus was his only hope.
He heard the warnings, and he headed them.
BUT THEN THE FOOLISH MAN
The other man heard the warnings, but did not head them
And so when the judgment came his house “fell”
And Jesus says, “and great was its fall”
Because this man didn’t just lose a house, this man lost his soul.
You see this man built a nice house too.
It was beautiful, it was extravagant, and it too was his life’s work.
He was certain he could build a house that would withstand the winds.
He framed it with sermons preached.
He roofed it with demons cast out.
He sided it with miracles worked.
He knew that this would be enough, and HE WAS WRONG.
All along Jesus has told him that God’s standard is so high
And His judgment is so severe that a man will not survive
Apart the righteousness of Christ.
But this man did it his own way and his house “fell”.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
The many are the foolish men, and the few are the wise men.
And again friend we understand the importance here.
You and I must be careful how we listen.
We must make sure to act upon the words of Christ.
We must make sure that we see Jesus as the only way and cling to Him.
We must not only call Him Lord, but must obey Him as Lord
Thus showing that we have truly trusted Him.
Hebrews 3:7-11 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS.”THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'”
Hebrews 4:1-2 “Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.”
Don’t just hear the truth.
Act on the truth.
And let me show you one more thing before we move on.
(28-29) “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.”
We know the crowd was amazed.
We know the crowd was enlightened.
But it says nothing of repentance or faith or obedience.
In fact eventually they will cast a vote to crucify Him.
And Jesus words were proved true.
Very few were willing to enter the narrow road,
Most opted to applaud Jesus and then disregard Him.
And as I told you last week, this calls for self-examination.
Is my profession genuine?
Am I building on the rock?
Have I headed the warnings?
Do I say He is Lord, or do I obey Him?
Jesus understood the importance of self-examination
And to make sure we did this routinely,
He told us to continually come back to His table.
1 Corinthians 11:23-32 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.”
The Lord’s Supper is a place of self-examination.
It is not to ask myself if I am worthy of God.
(I can already tell you the answer to that)
It is to examine and see if I am following Jesus
The way a true Christian is supposed to.
“But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
And so this morning we are going to
Conclude our study of the Sermon on the Mount with this ordinance.
And as always we will first have a time of preparation
In which you can examine yourself, and then we will partake.
