The House on the Rock
Transcript
My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. The Bible starts off, it says, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The heavens and the earth. And it says that he made everything good. That all of creation was good and that it was intended to exist before him in a loving relationship.
That humanity is the pinnacle of creation. And that we were meant, humans were meant to exist in a relationship with God. And that was beautiful and worked out perfectly for like two chapters of the Bible. And then it falls apart. Like it was two people put on earth and it just falls apart. One of the things we see throughout the Bible is that any two people, any of us, it could have been us, it could have been not Adam and Eve, it could have been Greg and Tina, it would have still fallen apart.
The names wouldn't have been, you know, maybe it's not as the same kind of ring as Adam and Eve, but it would have still fallen apart. There still would be sin. There still would be brokenness. And what came out of that and what we see very quickly in the Bible is that questions arise because we were designed to exist in a relationship with God as our good and loving father and as our creator. We were designed for that to be good. And what happens is there's still his imprint on us so that we all feel like we have to wrestle with, ask this question of what is God like?
Who is he? What is he like? And then in response to that, what does he want from me? That that's a normal human question. And maybe people would say, what are the gods like? Or what is the universe like?
Or what's going on out there in the cosmos? And even the people who come to the conclusion that there is no God still spend a lot of time in this area of thought. There is no God. And you'd think they would come to that conclusion and move on, but they don't. They say there is no God. And then they still answer the question of how should we respond to that?
How should we live in light of that? But for most of history and most of humanity, even now on earth, the question is, what is God like? Or what are the gods like? Or what are the spirits like? And then how do we respond? And that's been a normal human question.
And there have been countless number of people who have come along and said, here's what God is like, and here's how we ought to respond. And when we're in the Sermon on the Mount, that's where we are today. We're finishing up our last sermon, last section of this. This will be the last week we spend on it. We're starting a new sermon series next week. Go ahead and go to Matthew chapter 7.
We've been spending three chapters of the Bible. We've spent several weeks just walking through what Jesus says. Matthew chapter 7, if you have one of the white Bibles on your row, it'll be page 474. We're going to start in verse 15 today. But Jesus is stepping into a situation where they were inundated with people coming along and saying, here's what God is like and here's how we ought to respond.
The biggest group of these people that did this, that taught, were the Pharisees. They said, here's what God is like. They studied what we have as the Old Testament, the law and the prophets and the Psalms and Proverbs, the wisdom literature and the history books. And they studied all of them and they taught, here's what God is like and here's what we have to do. Here's how we ought to respond. I mean, if we're honest, that's what a lot of us struggle with, wrestle with, are thinking through.
What's he like? How do I respond? What's my right response to him? And so the Pharisees came along and they taught calmly, patiently, systematically. Here's how we apply these rules. Here's what we do to make God okay with us.
Here's what we do to have him on our side. Here's what we do to have him be pleased with us. And so when Jesus comes along and starts teaching, a couple of things happen. Everyone listening to him is going, is he teaching the same thing the Pharisees taught? Or is he teaching something different? And the Pharisees sent people out to listen to him.
This was the largest religious group in Judaism at the time. They sent people out to listen to him to basically ask, is he teaching what we teach or is he teaching something different? And you'll see that in the Sermon on the Mount and as it continues in Matthew, if you continue reading, Jesus basically starts the Sermon on the Mount and then towards the end of it, plants his foot and says, I'm breaking from the Pharisees. We're doing some different stuff here. And that's what he's doing here. See, this is the last section of the Sermon on the Mount.
And he's really kind of finished the bulk of his teaching. And now what we're going to see today is that he gives us three distinct warnings and one way that we ought to respond. Three distinct warnings in Matthew chapter 7 and one way that we ought to respond. That's what we're going to look at today. But he's answering the question.
He's stepping into the realm of who is God and what do we need to do? How should we respond? What's the appropriate action for us? And Jesus is going to give us some warnings and then call us to a specific response. So let's pray as we begin this morning to read God's word.
Father, we ask that through your Holy Spirit, you would give us fresh ears to hear the warnings that we find in this passage. And fresh zeal and energy to respond. That you would break through barriers. That you'd help us listen well this morning. And that we wouldn't leave this place having had your words have no effect on us. But that you would make us tender and receptive to your word.
In Jesus' name. Amen. So he's coming to the end of the Sermon on the Mount. And he's giving us three specific warnings and then one response. We'll pick up in verse 15. This is the first warning.
Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Jesus' first warning is to beware false prophets. There's kind of a two-fold warning here. The first one is beware of false prophets. Realize people are coming along that are going to claim to speak on behalf of God. And they are intentionally misleading.
They're trying to make themselves look like sheep while they are actually ravenous wolves. These people are intentionally misleading. That's one of the things that we have to have as Christians. As people trying to figure out what God's talking about. What the Bible says is we have to have discernment. Which just means we have to have some sort of a radar up for is this person true or not true?
Is what they're saying true or not true? Are they a sheep or are they a wolf wearing sheep's clothing? That's what he's talking about. And he says you'll know them by their fruit. His second warning that's tucked in here in this first warning. It's kind of a two-fold thing.
Is that all bad trees, all diseased trees end up in the fire. And that's just a basic tree fact for them. You have a bad tree. You burn it. Like it's good for firewood. That's about it.
So he's saying though we will recognize false prophets by their fruits. And it's a real simple analogy. If you have a tree and it makes apples. So like it's a tree and hanging from it, connected to it are apples. What kind of tree is that? Y'all can do it.
I believe in y'all. What kind of tree? An apple tree. Yeah, that's all he's saying. He's saying you don't get apples from thorn bushes. Like if you, that just doesn't happen.
That's his point. So he says you'll know them by their fruit. So I think the appropriate question for us is what is fruit? What's he talking about? He says you'll recognize them. You'll know the difference.
That's the way we're supposed to spot false prophets. People who are intentionally coming along and saying here's what God is like and here's how we ought to respond. He says you'll recognize them by their fruits. He does not, however, tell us what fruits are in this first section. He just says you'll see them. You'll recognize them by their fruits.
And so I think we could sit and try to guess what fruits are. And I did that some while I was working on this. And then I kept reading and I feel like Jesus helps us out. So we're going to read his next warning. We're going to talk first about how I think that helps us understand fruit. And then we're going to spend a little time on that warning.
But the first warning is there are going to be people who come along and intentionally try to mislead. But you will be able to spot them by their fruits. Now we have to ask, okay, what are fruits? So let's look at verse 21. It's his next warning, but we're going to talk first about how this helps us with the first one. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Okay, that helps us. We cannot say, oh, they say they're Christians. Oh, they say Jesus is Lord. Oh, they put Jesus Christ on their pamphlet. Like that can't be it because he says not everyone who does that is going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Not everybody who does that is okay.
So we can't have that be a litmus test, like the litmus test. It may help us because if we're Christians and we're trying to follow other Christians and they don't say anything about Jesus, that should be a red flag. That one's free. That's just to help you all out. You go to church. They don't talk about Jesus.
Not a good church. Okay. So he says, but not everyone. So that can't be the only test. We'll enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?
And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Okay. I think this helps us because fruits cannot be spiritual ministry, spectacularness, spiritual ministry stuff. He says, many will say to me, didn't we prophesy? Didn't we cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do many mighty works?
Like he sets the bar really high here so that for us who were going, okay, no, I hadn't, maybe I hadn't, like I don't prophesy and cast out demons. I hadn't, you know, I think that would include any type of ministry stuff. He takes it to the extreme, but I think it includes ministry. So when he says, you'll know them by their fruits. What we can't say is obviously they're right because look at how big it is, or obviously they're right because look at how many people have been baptized or obviously they're right. Look at this person.
Obviously they're right. They're in Sunday school every week. Obviously they're a Christian. They hang out with our group all the time. Obviously they're a Christian. They serve in kid city.
That can't be what he means by fruit. Still doesn't tell us what he means by fruit. It just tells us that it's not that. I think we're going to get to see finally in his third warning what he means, but let's go ahead and look at the second warning while we're here. This one is scary and should cause us to pause here. The first warning is beware.
There are false prophets who are intentionally leading people astray. They want you to think they're a sheep, but they're actually a wolf. The second warning is not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. And then at the end of this, he says, depart from me. I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness, meaning that this group of people claim Jesus as King, but are actually working against his good work in the world. This is a group of unintentional false prophets.
This is a group of people who would say, I trust Jesus. I know Jesus. I believe in Jesus. I serve Jesus. And they are working towards lawlessness into the world. They are sowing and leading people astray.
So let's read it again. And then let's look at it. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. And here's what that means. Very basically, just saying you are a Christian or just calling Jesus Lord is not sufficient for salvation. Just saying you are a Christian or just calling Jesus Lord, just claiming that, saying that out loud is not sufficient for salvation.
Not everyone who says this will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day, this would be judgment day. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. The picture he gives us here is there's going to be a day when Jesus sits in judgment over the world. And there's going to be a group of people at that judgment. Who are shocked.
A group of people at that judgment who are baffled. And terrified. Because Jesus says, I don't know you. And they're going to respond. They're going to argue. They're going to say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Lord, Lord, Lord, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. But, but, but didn't we prophesy? Didn't I spend my life casting out demons? Didn't we do mighty works? Weren't we in service? Didn't we, didn't we do all this stuff?
And he's going to say, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. I never knew you. There are people who live in our state. There are people that you know, that believe with everything they have, that when they die, they will stand before Jesus and he will say, well done, my good and faithful servant. And on that day, he will look at them and say, depart from me. I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness.
That is terrifying. That for us in this room, who actively are calling Jesus Lord, that may not be you, you may not be in that place, but for those of us who are, and who are serving, and who are doing ministry, fill in the blank. There are going to be people who look at God and say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Didn't I serve? Didn't I serve every week? Wasn't I there every Sunday?
Wasn't I there? Didn't I go to Sunday school? Didn't I get the perfect attendance award? There are going to be people who say, God, didn't I preach? Didn't I play in a church? Didn't I get to stir up the waters of baptism and baptize people?
Didn't you see? He's going to say, I didn't know you. There are going to be people who, weekly, do exactly what I'm doing right now. Stand before people, open the Bible, proclaim the gospel, and Jesus is going to look at them and say, I don't know you. That ought to shake us. Let's look at his third warning.
And then we'll look at what he says, how we ought to respond. Verse 24. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them. He's referring to the entire Sermon on the Mount and then also the bulk of what he's going to do. Everyone who hears the words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell. And great was the fall of it. And when Jesus had finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. So they listened to him and he sounds more like a prophet than the people they're used to, than the Pharisees, the people who were studying the word and teaching.
But what his third warning was, there's going to be people who hear me and follow me and build their house on the rock and storms are coming, but that house won't fall. That's what wisdom looks like. But they're going to be a group of people who build their house on sand and when the storms come, great was the fall of that house. His third warning is that a house built on sand will fall. And sand, in this picture that he gives, is anything other than his word. Anything other than his word is sand.
But he gives us the way to respond. And he says it in both his first, his second warning and his third warning. And I want to read those now as we try to ask the question, what do we do? How do we respond? What is it supposed to look like if just saying Lord, Lord isn't enough? If people are actively walking around trying to trick us, if there's going to be a day when a storm comes and that we're going to see at that moment, you know you can't see a foundation.
Until a storm comes. That's what Jesus says in this story. You won't be able to tell the difference. Those houses are going to look the same. But there's going to be a day when a storm rolls through and house after house after house after house falls down.
And there are going to be some houses that stand because their foundation is on the rock. Look at verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. You could flip that sentence. It would be the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven. Verse 24.
Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. Jesus says that the call to us is obedience. That we do the will of his father and that we do his words. Not ministry success. But doing his words, doing his will, obedience.
What's he talking about? What words? What will? He's talking about everything he's already taught in the Sermon on the Mount. When he comes to this conclusion, he's saying if you do all the stuff I just said, so what is that? It's to be salt and light.
To trust him and to follow him and to live normal life bringing light and refreshment and goodness to everything around us. It's to teach his word to others. It's to not be angry but to reconcile quickly with those we've hurt or that have hurt us. It's to not lust and to fight for your marriage. It's to be honest and say what you mean. To not retaliate.
To turn the other cheek to overlook offenses. It's to hold your pride and your reputation and your finances with an open hand. It's to love your enemies and to do good to those who persecute you. It's to not practice all of your good works in front of other people so that they'll see you. It is to pray and to give and to fast but all in secret. Forgive others.
Don't hoard your possessions acting like all that matters is here on earth. Be generous ready to give and not to spend your life worrying about tomorrow and what you'll wear and what you'll eat to trust your father to not be judgmental to care about your brothers and sisters enough to address their sins and to live as if God is a good father who loves you to treat others the way you want to be treated. Now, what on that list sparkles and has razzle dazzle? What on that list is like a I'm following Jesus flare that shoots up into the sky and everyone says look at how amazing they are. What on that list would you see in someone and go oh obviously they're a Christian.
When we list off oh they're a Christian what do we say? When you point to someone and say I'm pretty sure they're a Christian and they say why and you say they gave money but I don't know anything about it. That's not how that works. We say well they're always at church they always do this thing they've done this ministry they run an orphanage they went as a missionary overseas like we list off all this stuff but who can do the list.
Jesus just said? Your mailman teachers students people in middle school you can't do hardly anything in middle school you can do this people who work in your office two cubicles down can do this people in our community groups that hardly say a word can do this the vice president of a region can do this and so can the sales associates missionaries sure women who homeschool their children absolutely there's nothing in here that is magical or beautiful it's a life of regular devotion that's the obedience.
Jesus is talking about when he says who hears my words and does them there's someone in your group your community group they've been fasting for four days you don't know because they're not supposed to do that as a show there are people in your community group in our church family who opened their wallets and gave money to someone the person who received the money doesn't even know where it came from people who get up earlier than they have to every day to spend time on their face praying.
For their families and our city and our groups and our community group leaders and for Jesus' will and the lives of those around them you don't know people who just show up to your group they're the person who brings shredded cheese every time it didn't even make sense this week they were just like put it in the refrigerator it'll work next week that are doing this they were prayerfully actively forgiving people in your group before they showed up they said Lord they hurt my feelings last week.
But I don't want to retaliate I want to overlook offenses help me to love them there are people who work with you that every day face an enemy at work that they love and serve and pray for that they don't undercut and talk about behind their backs Jesus says those who do my words those who do the will of my father that's the people who enter the kingdom and there's going to be a whole lot of ministry leaders and a whole lot of razzle dazzle that's going to stand before the king one day and say didn't I do this and he's going to say I don't know you.
Now if you've been around a while and hopefully because we work on discernment here hopefully some of you are thinking wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait time out time out time out time out isn't that work isn't that one of the things we say over and over again that religion is I do these things so God will love me but that Christianity but the gospel is that God loves me and therefore I do these things didn't you just say you have to do this stuff in order to be.
Okay didn't you just say you have to you have to do his word isn't Jesus just saying the opposite of the gospel here I have two things to say to that good point no and here's why I think I think he hid it in there and we're going to see because we have to use the rest of scripture to understand what he's talking about but I think he hid it in here he hid it in his tree and fruit analogy when he says you'll know them by their fruits a tree makes the type of fruit.
For what type of tree it is the fruit just shows it to you you can look at the fruit on a tree to know what type of tree it is but the tree is what makes the fruit here's what I mean you come to my house this isn't true this is pretend because I don't actually have a peach tree in the backyard but you come to my house and say I had a peach tree and you say man that's a beautiful peach tree and I'm like that tree is garbage and you're like why and it's like.
Because I have worked for five years to get that thing to make oranges I trim it the way you're supposed to trim an orange tree I fertilize it with orange tree fertilizer it exists I found it on Amazon every orange season I go pretend to pick oranges off of it just so it'll kind of get the feeling like it's an orange tree help it out a little bit now you're not a scientist but you know I'm stupid but you're gracious so you say that nicely to me hey buddy that thing is only ever going to make peaches and also.
Because I love you peaches are better than oranges like you might would coach me up a little bit you can't flex you can't manufacture you can't work to make a different type of fruit you have to be a different type of tree so when he says those who do the will of my father those who build their life on my words they'll bear this type of fruit they'll look like this there's a step in front of that that makes that happen.
Jesus has to change our tree Jesus has to uproot us and replant us he's got to change us on the inside because I know this because of what the rest of the Bible says and I want to show you a few places where Jesus says this clearly we have to change on the inside before the outside changes John 14 and we're going to just take a few quotes out of John 14 to help us see this Jesus says if you love me you will keep my commandments you.
See there is an obedience that follows faith there is an obedience that follows a love for Jesus if you love me you will keep my commandments that's verse 15 21 he says whoever has my commandments and keeps them he it is who loves me and then in 24 and 23 and 24 he says if anyone loves me he will keep my word and my father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him whoever does not love me does not keep my words that's why he says you can.
Look at a false prophet and you'll know them by their fruits that's one of the reasons why in our church family we take so long to raise up leaders because the only way you can see it has nothing to do with can they talk well from the bible can they lead a good bible study do their prayers sound delicious like it's none of that the test is are they doing a whole bunch of character things that you can't even see the thing about not being able to.
See them is that they're hard to see it takes years to walk with somebody you gotta get stuck in traffic with somebody you gotta be at a restaurant when the waitress has completely forgotten your table exists you gotta be at their house when they're in the middle of a deep conversation and their child runs over and hits them with a stick and then spills juice all over their leg you gotta watch people count to ten a few times calm their soul back down that's why he says you'll know them by their fruit like you gotta get around them you gotta figure out how this works you gotta.
See all this underworking of normal everyday Christianity and that'll show you their heart Jesus later in Matthew's gospel says make the tree good and the fruit good or make the tree bad and the fruit bad the tree starts it we have to have a love for Jesus in order for this to happen how for the person sitting in this room who may be in that moment when we were talking a minute ago and I thought about this a lot who may be in that moment.
When you thought about yourself for a second before the king and he looks at you and says I don't know you what's going to be the first thing that runs out of your mouth what's your wait wait what's your Jesus no what are you going to point to what are you going to say to show that what I would do on that day and maybe you began to think okay okay okay okay okay okay I'm going to go love my enemies I'm going to go start forgiving this one person I have to forgive I'm going to forgive them I'm going to start giving money I'm going to start fasting I'm going to fast.
So that I have money to give but I'm not going to hell anybody here's the problem with that the only type of fruit you can manufacture is ministry fruit without a love for Jesus you cannot do the stuff he's called us to not for any amount of time you can do it for a little while without him refreshing your soul renewing your heart changing you from the inside out you can't walk around and love your enemies you can't forgive you can't not retaliate you can't fight.
For your marriage without him coming in and changing your heart to love in a way that's supernatural and beyond you you need Jesus to change your heart and then you can bear this type of fruit Jesus says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven I want to show you John 6 38 through 40 because this is the beginning of God's will.
Jesus says for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me and this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day for this is the will of my father that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day the will of the.
Father is that we would place our faith in Jesus that wasn't just words it was connected to our heart that when we talk about Jesus as Lord we talk about the way someone speaks about someone they love we talk about it the way that people who are engaged or newly wed speak about each other our little cheeks start glowing that we love him let me tell you how that happens Jesus Christ said I didn't come to do my will but the will of the.
Father Jesus lived a perfect sinless life and died on a cross to love his enemies and when his heart becomes connected to your heart you can start loving your enemies Jesus calls us to fight for our marriages to stay married and we see that he pursued his bride the church even gave his life up and we can fight we can hold on as his heart changes our heart Jesus didn't retaliate Jesus he took beatings on behalf of those who were harming him he prayed.
For them when his heart gets connected to our heart we can begin to change Jesus gave his life when nobody noticed and nobody cared and when that changes our hearts we start handing out money left and right without it being a show without putting our name on something see Jesus goes to work in us and then we become different Jesus came to save sinners and when you see that when you see how far you have fallen and how much you deserve you have earned.
For him to look at you and say depart from me I never knew you you work that way that he was cast out that he was harmed that he was cut and bruised and beaten and hanged and buried because that's what we deserved our hearts change and then we truly believe and place our faith in him and he goes to work in us to make us new he digs us up which is a painful process but that he plants a new tree there that bears good fruit the gospel leads to a changed heart which leads to evidences of faith the gospel love.
For Jesus changes our heart so that we love him that we our response is because we truly love him and then there's evidence of faith you can't manufacture it you can for a time you can a little bit you can struggle and try that's where you hear people say I tried religion it didn't work out for me it's because they were white knuckling it and it's exhausting so the question isn't do you do good things the question is why has your heart changed are you bearing this type of fruit.
Because you're this type of tree there's a story I've heard before there was a king he had a kingdom and he was in his court and somebody told him that the farmer comes in he stands before the king he says sir I'm a simple farmer I have about an acre of land and mostly I produce carrots and this week I dug up this carrot and he shows the king a very nice carrot as far as carrots go and he says I think this is the most beautiful largest carrot I will probably ever grow.
Because I love you and appreciate you as my king I just wanted to give it to you king looked at him saw that he was telling the truth kind of discerned his heart and he said you know what I know the farm you're talking about I own the ten acres behind it I want to give you that ten acres I want to make your one acre farm an eleven acre farm and you just tend to it as you can and as you can get to it.
But thank you farmer was overjoyed caught off guard by this leaves all excited there was a nobleman who was in the king's courts that day and he watched this and he thought all that for a carrot and this nobleman raised horses so he went home picked out his best horse took it to the king the next day says oh king my king this is the greatest steed I will ever breed it is the most beautiful from nose to haunch I don't know.
If I'll ever have a greater horse and because I love you and I appreciate you he's my king I wanted to give this horse to you the king looked at him saw his heart and said thank you you're dismissed the nobleman froze he was struck this is not how this was supposed to go at all this actually is a good horse and the king goes I think you're confused let me help you out the farmer yesterday was giving me the carrot you were giving yourself the horse there are some of us who are doing a lot of christian things.
Because we think it makes God owe us because it puts him in our debt because it's the best way we've been told to have a good life and have a good family and go to heaven and Jesus says there's going to be a day when I'm going to look at a lot of people who are going to be shocked and terrified because they spent their whole life serving themselves and there was no love that's why he says I don't know you we're not close you don't love me it was all a scam what's what's what's your motivation do you have a love.
For Jesus deep in your core so that even in the times when you're running and sinning you hate it and you long for him do you truly believe when you stand before the king are you going to stand and say I'm here because Jesus is good and he's died for me and his work has taken the place of my work I have nothing to give nothing to prove it's all him are you sitting here today building your life on sand your effort your work your goodness your name it's going to fall down it cannot last or have you dug deep anchored yourself on Christ and said I'm not going anywhere.
Because he's not going anywhere my only hope is him and he will keep me Matt's going to come back up he's going to lead us in a song and I just all these things I just want us to sit and reflect and I want you to ask what am I building my life on what am I banking on when I stand before him where is my hope found it is my fear that there are people in this room maybe you've been a part of our church.
For a couple of years and all you're doing is building a house on sand he hasn't changed your heart there's no love for him you got some ministry you got some work you've done some good things you share the gospel every once in a while you've seen people come to faith do you believe have you trusted in Christ as your king have you devoted your life to him Jesus helps us out here look at the sermon on the mount what kind of fruit are you bearing is there love.
For enemy is there service when nobody sees you do you pray and fast and give only to be noticed if no one knows you're going to do it are you going to do it do you forgive those who hurt you or are you holding grudges and have bitterness towards other people maybe Jesus hadn't changed your heart maybe he hadn't enraptured you and overwhelmed you by the forgiveness the free forgiveness that he gives all of those who harmed him and hated him.
Jesus love for us as the type of love that fills us up and colors us in and brings us to life and changes us so while Matt sings I just want us to sit if you will if you're willing I want you to ask Jesus the question is my life built on you or am I banking on something else have you really changed my heart and for those of you who know that's not you all you have to do is say.
Jesus I want you I love you I believe in you I trust in you it's the will of the father that all those who call in the name of the son all those who trust in him believe in him won't be lost that Jesus will lose none of those that the father has given him will you trust him today will you commit today for those of you who deal with anxiety and fearfulness and this stirred it up in you and you're being told right.
Now you've never believed you've never trusted your whole life is a sham okay believe and trust now say okay Jesus I commit to you now I love you now I want you now begin to grow fruit in me make me yours forever father through your grace and through the power of your holy spirit we pray that a sermon preached over two thousand years ago through the lips of your son who is going to die in our place for our sin and rise that we might have hope eternal we pray that your spirit would empower it again to.
Let us hear the warnings and heed the call that we might respond to live lives of simple unnoticed faithfulness as we love you God through your grace grant us faith help us to dig deep and plant our lives firmly on Christ the rock that will not move his word that will not change and the gospel that will stand forever though kingdoms rise and fall the gospel will stand and may we hide ourselves in you that we will one day stand before you.
Because Jesus was your good and faithful servant we'll be called good and faithful because we've been wrapped up and covered by Christ in Jesus name amen y'all sit let's think while Matt sings.