Matthew 7:21-29

Remember that Jesus is not speaking in chapter 7 to the ear religious.

! He is speaking to those who think that they are part of the kingdom of heaven, but are not citizens thereof.

He is warning those in my hearing today to not be deceived by others and in today's text to not deceive themselves.

He is warning us to escape final judgment.

By placing saving faith in his person and in his work.

He is exhorting us to find our righteousness in him and in him alone.

The one and the only one who can grant us perfect righteousness.

He has said in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20,

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, those perceived to be the most righteous, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

And then later in chapter 5, verse 48, he says,

You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

So how are we to have this exceeding righteousness?

How are we to be perfect?

Jesus does not leave us without the answer to those most pressing of questions.

So join me this morning as we look at our text as he continues to unfold that answer.

Matthew chapter 7, verse 21 through 29.

Matthew 7:21–29

Beloved, this is God's word to us.

It was written for his glory and our good.

And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and to obey its commands.

Jesus says,

Everyone then who hears these 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 rain fell and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it.

And when Jesus 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.

I want to begin our study today by considering the builders of verses 24 through 27.

As Jesus is employing them as an analogy for what he has been teaching from verse 13 and down through verse 23.

Let's begin by looking at their similarities.

How are these two builders the same?

And then we will better be able to look at their differences together.

So first there similarities.

Jesus says in both verse 24 and in verse 26, everyone who hears these words of mine.

So both builders hear these words.

Jesus is certainly referring to the words that he has just spoken.

Those words that we have been studying for the past so many months.

But I also believe that we should understand this more broadly.

Jesus is speaking of the whole of the word of God.

This full, declarative, redemptive work that God has given to us in the scripture.

Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, verse 17 through 19.

Matthew 5:17–19

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

This was a common way to speak of the Jewish Bible, our Old Testament.

He says, I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

And then he goes on to say in verse 19.

Therefore, whoever relaxes on one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same.

Will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great.

In the kingdom of heaven.

So Jesus is not the abolisher, but the fulfiller of words that should be taught and obeyed.

Before Jesus is crucified, he promises that he will send the Holy Spirit to teach you all things.

And bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

That's John chapter 14, verse 26.

John 14:26

And then upon his resurrection, he commands his disciples to make disciples of all nations,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

Matthew 28 and verse 20.

We believe that we have that teaching in our New Testament.

So we have the Old Testament commended to us to be taught and obeyed.

And we have the New Testament commended to us to be taught and obeyed.

The Apostle Paul states in Romans chapter 10 and verse 17.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

So we are to be hearers and doers of the word of Christ.

Both of the Sermon on the Mount and the broader context as well.

Both men, both builders in today's text are hearers of the word of Christ.

They are also both men who build houses.

These are figurative houses, not literal houses.

We see that also in verse 24 and in verse 26.

We should understand these houses to be lives, specifically religious lives.

These are houses built in response to hearing the words of Christ.

Both houses are built to stand.

We get no inclination in the text at all that one house was built to stand and one house was built by design to not stand.

Both houses are built to stand.

Both builders have confidence that their houses will stand.

But one man's confidence is in the Lord and the other man's confidence is in himself.

So both men hear the words of Christ.

Both men build houses based on the words of Christ.

And Jesus' exclusion of other details should lead us to understand that both houses are built in the same location.

They certainly both experience the same storm with the same materials.

We have no reason to think that the circumstances of these men's lives are any different.

That is to say, right?

They're just examples of two ways.

Narrow, difficult path and broad, easy way.

We're meant to understand that the great difference between these two men is what happens when the storm comes.

John wrote of his vision in Revelation chapter 20, verse 12 and verse 15 of the final judgment.

Revelation 20:12

This is the storm here that Jesus is referring to.

I have heard verses 24 through 27 preached way too many times about standing against the storms of life.

That is not what this text is about.

The scripture has much to say about such things.

Many wonderful places we can go to find peace and comfort and tools to pick up to stand the storms of life.

That is not what this text is about.

This is about final judgment.

This is about previously in our text.

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father on that day.

This is an eschatological text.

This is referring to that final day of judgment.

What religious house will stand and what religious house will be demolished?

That's the weight of the text that's before us.

Today.

So Revelation chapter 20, verse 12 and then verse 15.

Revelation 20:12

John wrote of his vision.

This is the judgment that Jesus is talking about in our text.

This is the judgment that Jesus is talking about in our text today.

And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life.

He was thrown into the lake of fire.

This is the judgment that Jesus is talking about in our text today.

And so this is a storm that we will all experience.

Will your house stand on that great day of judgment?

And to help you think about in our text today.

And to help you think about that this morning, we should consider the differences between these two builders.

First, one builder is declared wise in verse 24.

He has wisdom.

And the other declared foolish in verse 26.

On the criteria that the wise man hears these words of mine, these words of Christ, and does them.

And the foolish man hears these words of mine, and does not do them.

So Jesus declares wise the hearer and doer of his word.

And foolish the mere hearer of his word.

James borrows language from Jesus in James chapter 1 verses 22 and following.

James 1:22

Where he wrote,

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer,

he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.

For he looks at himself and goes away at once, forgets what he looks like.

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres,

being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

You see, beloved, what we do proceeds from who we are.

James is saying that if you are one who perseveres to the end and stands in the judgment,

you are a disciple of Jesus Christ and a disciple of Jesus Christ hears the words of Christ and does them.

Peter wrote in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 5 and following.

2 Peter 1:5

Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness.

And godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

And then verse 10.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.

If you find yourself doubting your salvation or find a brother or sister doubting their salvation,

do not say to them,

tell me about the day you walked the aisle.

Open the front of your Bible and look at the date that you wrote down when you made a profession of faith in Christ.

The scripture doesn't do this and neither should we.

We should say, hey, turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 5 through 10.

2 Peter 1:5–10

And let's consider your life.

Let's stop and think.

Are these qualities yours and increasing or are they not?

Other texts do this well for us also.

The whole book of 1 John serves us in this way.

Peter in 2 Peter chapter 1 is in essence saying that you show yourself to be one who perseveres,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

one who is called and elect by doing the word of Christ.

Now, I am not, nor will I ever suggest that we are saved by our works.

That is not what James or Peter are suggesting.

And neither is our Lord in his Sermon on the Mount.

But it is not just the doer of the word of Christ,

but the doer of the word of Christ who is in Christ who is saved.

We throw ourselves on his righteousness.

Our status is changed.

This is the great doctrine of regeneration.

We become new creations.

And out of our new selves, we act.

How do we know if we have a new self?

We measure how it is that we act.

Am I a doer of the word of Christ,

taking full confidence not in my doing,

but in his work on my behalf?

Take a look up the text a bit.

Matthew chapter 7 at verse 22.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

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?

Jesus does not condemn these particular declarations

of good works.

It's difficult for us to know

by what power these men did these things.

There are some clear examples in the Scripture

of people doing works that appeared to be works of God

but were done by the hand of Satan in their lives.

I think this still exists in our day.

People do miraculous things.

They do it in the name of God,

but they're really doing it under a different power altogether.

There are many who, under their own power,

just do outwardly good-looking things.

We don't know exactly what's going on here,

but Jesus does not say,

those are not the good works that I required of you.

He doesn't condemn those particular good works.

So we can gather that the works mentioned

are in fact works of obedience.

What does Jesus tell us He will say

in that future day in verse 23?

What will be the condition of their acceptance

into His kingdom?

The works?

He says,

And then I will declare to them,

I never knew you.

Depart from me,

you workers of lawlessness.

So they did works,

but they didn't do works in Christ.

They weren't in Him.

He never knew them.

The foolish man builds a house

that he believes will stand in the last day,

but it will not

because the foolish man is not known by Jesus Christ.

This is the man who built his house on the sand,

the shifting sand of his works.

We must be so very careful at this point.

Jesus is teaching that it is altogether possible

to appear to be following Christ

with our actions.

You can have every confidence

that you are in Christ because of your works,

but this can be a self-confidence,

a self-righteousness.

You can also declare all of the right theology

and not be in Christ.

Verse 21,

Jesus says,

Not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord,

will enter the kingdom of heaven.

This is a statement of careful theological accuracy.

It was common in Jesus' day

to call someone Lord

as a matter of respect or of honor.

Your boss may have been called Lord.

The governor may have been called Lord.

Military generals would have been called Lord.

But to call Jesus Lord, Lord

suggests much more than mere human respect.

It suggests that it is altogether possible

to mentally ascend to the divinity of Jesus Christ

and to not place saving faith in Him.

More broadly, it means that we can have this book

so figured out,

just like the Pharisees who searched it diligently

but failed to come to Christ.

This book is a precious book.

If you've been here long at all,

you know how much I love the Scripture.

But this is a book that points us to our Creator.

We know God and we know Christ through this book.

And we can so fail to know the book

and not know the author of it.

There's a difference between knowing God

and really knowing about Him.

As a church who is in a tradition

that loves study and we should,

cares deeply about theology as we should,

wants to make sure things are just so-so as we should,

we have to be very careful

that we don't think that knowing things

makes us righteous before God.

It's knowing Christ and being known by Him

that approves us before God.

In Matthew chapter 13, verse 24 through 30,

Matthew 13:24–30

Jesus tells the parable of the wheat and the tares,

which should be absolutely jarring to us.

And I want you to turn there with me.

Matthew chapter 13, just a few pages.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

This parable, I think, stands beside the parable of the soils.

So the parable of the soils,

we see there's four different soils

and we're sowing, the word is being sown

and it gets accepted in various ways,

ways that we can observe now.

But this is the one that stands eschatologically next to it.

Well, what about the end?

That's what Jesus says.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared

to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

But while his men were sleeping,

his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat

and went away.

So when the plants came up and bore grain,

then the weeds appeared also.

And the servants of the master of the house

came and said to him,

Master, did you not sow good seed in your field?

How then does it have weeds?

He said to them,

An enemy has done this.

So the servant said to him,

Then do you want us to go and gather them?

But he said,

No, less than gathering the weeds,

you root up the wheat along with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest.

And at harvest time,

I will tell the reapers,

Gather the weeds first

and bind them in bundles to be burned,

but gather the wheat into my barn.

There was a common weed of the day called a tare.

And it looked exactly like wheat

until it was time for the wheat to bear fruit.

Until it went to grain.

And the tares did not go to grain in the same way.

And so it is very possible what Jesus is saying

is that we can look around

and we can all look the same.

Good seed sowed in good soil.

And yet amongst us,

There are people who are confident in what they know

and in what they do

who are not in Christ.

Will not bear the fruit of righteousness.

Isn't that jarring?

It is to me.

And it should cause us to put our hands

to the labor of discipleship.

Helping each other follow Christ.

Helping each other be confident

of our calling and election.

Growing up in righteousness.

Right?

Lest at the end

we be shown to be a tare.

A weed that is gathered

and thrown into the fire.

We can be theologically astute

and zealous for good works

and have Jesus declare to us

on the final day of judgment,

I never knew you.

Depart from me,

you workers of lawlessness.

Unless the foundation of our lives

is built on the rock.

What is this rock?

It's Jesus Himself.

His person and His completed work.

Just as Peter declares that,

just after, excuse me,

Jesus declares that Jesus is the Christ.

In Matthew 16, verse 18,

Matthew 16:18

Jesus says,

And I tell you,

you are Peter,

and on this rock

I will build my church,

and the gates of hell

shall not prevail against it.

Right?

I want to think,

although it probably didn't happen

for them at this time,

but I want to think

that the disciples' brains

just exploded

because they connected back

to the Sermon on the Mount.

The rock!

And they went,

listen to Him,

His metaphors are consistent,

it's fantastic.

Jesus is the rock

on which our lives

must be built

if we're to stand

in final judgment.

In Matthew chapter 7,

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Jesus is the narrow gate

that must be found

and entered,

and He is the rock

on which our houses

must be built

if we are to stand.

The surface of the land

of Jesus' home

was largely,

and still is,

sand,

and the substrate,

the underlayer,

of the land of Jesus' home,

still is,

was largely sand.

So in order to build

a solid home,

builders of His day

would have to dig down

through the sand

to find the bedrock.

They would have to go

and search for it

and do this work

of clearing out

the shifting land

to find the solid land

on which to build.

It is with this reality

in mind

that Jesus says

the wise man

built his house

on the rock.

They understand

this analogy.

If you've built a house

or you're building a house,

we know

that we have to build

our foundations

below the frost line.

Otherwise,

our foundations

will crack.

If you haven't,

you have no idea

what I'm talking about.

In Georgia,

it's not very deep.

Our foundations

don't go very deep

in Georgia

because the frost

doesn't go very deep

in Georgia.

In other places,

boy,

do you have to

dig a foundation

to make sure

your house's foundation

doesn't crack.

So it's into this context

that Jesus is speaking.

They all know exactly

what he's talking about.

How a house

on the rock

is stable

and a house

on the sand

is not.

Jesus

is the rock.

We cannot build

religious lives

with any measure

of self-confidence,

any measure

of self-confidence,

but rather

with confidence

in Jesus.

It is with a confidence

in his completed work

that we work

and evidence

our confidence.

It's because of

who he makes us

that we work.

Spurgeon once said,

faith and works

are bound up

in the same bundle.

He that obeys God

trusts God

and he that trusts God

obeys God.

He that is without faith

is without works

and he that is without works

is without faith.

And Jesus says

in John chapter 14

John 14:15

verse 15,

if you love me,

you will keep

my commandments.

So there is a wise builder

and a foolish builder.

Both experienced

the same storm

in the final judgment.

And how did they fare

in that storm?

The wise man's house

did not fall

because it had been

founded on the rock.

Verse 25.

The foolish man's house

fell

and great

was the fall of it.

We are builders,

all of us.

Will your house

stand in the judgment

or will it experience

a great fall?

Not many preachers

these days

like to speak

of judgment.

It's a most unpleasant thing,

isn't it,

to talk about

the eternal state

of souls

who aren't found

in Jesus Christ.

I suggest

that that's happening

so prevalently

in our day

because

they are far too

concerned with

pleasing their listeners

and want people

to come

and feel good

about coming

to church.

And as

Thomas Watson,

a Puritan preacher,

said,

this is on your bulletin,

guilty men

do not love

to hear

of the day

of judgment.

Which would be

to suggest

that those

who are found

in Christ

do.

That final day

where we will be

given to the kingdom

of God

in our entirety.

But I have to tell you,

church,

my concern this morning

is not that you

be pleased with me.

I don't really care

if it means

that your soul

is headed

towards destruction.

If your soul

be not saved,

why does it matter

if you like me?

I want you instead

this morning

to have an unshakable

confidence

that your house

is built

upon the rock

because that final

storm is

coming.

The scripture

promises it

to us.

The writer of Hebrews

says in Hebrews 9

and verse 27,

it is appointed

for man

to die

once

and after

that

comes

judgment.

This is a sure

thing.

If you are not

found in Christ

on that day

of judgment,

it is a very

frightful

thing.

You ought to

tremble

at the idea

that there will be

a final judgment

for you

and that you

could be

separated from God

forever.

Jesus said

in Luke 13

Luke 13:28

verse 28

that the place

those cast

from the Lord's

presence

will be full

of weeping

and the gnashing

of teeth.

It is a lake

of fire,

a place

of torment

for those

who are enemies

of our most

holy God.

Flee

from the wrath

of God

to God

in Christ.

Place your faith

in Jesus.

the same

way,

I think

that Ray

Comfort

uses this

analogy a lot,

the same

way that

a parachuter,

a parachutist,

I think is the

right term,

trusts in a

parachute.

The other

day I

flew a

pretend plane

in our living

room and

had my boys

putting on

backpacks and

jumping off

the couch

to talk about

what it means

to believe

in Jesus.

To trust

that He

will catch

you at the

end.

That you

will be found

in Him

and His

righteousness

will be

yours.

And the

penalty for

your sin

was paid

by Him

on the

cross

to believe

in that

way that

you would

toss yourself

out of

the plane.

Flee

from the

wrath of

God

to God

in Christ.

Enter by

the narrow

gate.

Do not

be deceived

by others

or deceive

yourselves.

It is

confident

faith

in the

person and

work of

Christ.

evidenced

by

obedience

that will

see us

through the

judgment

of God

and into

His

blessed

presence

forever.

Matthew

concludes

his record

of Jesus'

sermon

by writing,

And when

Jesus finished

these sayings,

the crowds

were astonished

at His

teaching,

for He

is teaching

them as

one who

had authority

and not

as their

scribes.

They were

amazed.

They were

dumbfounded.

This was a

big teaching

that they

had heard.

No one

had spoken

such strong

declarations

about the

kingdom of

God as

Jesus had.

No one

had corrected

the common

misunderstandings

of the law

as Jesus

had.

No one

had placed

such high

standards of

righteousness

and then

declared

themselves

the righteous

answer

as Jesus

had.

No one

had so

warned

against

false

prophets

and

false

believers

as

Jesus

had.

Jesus'

listeners

were amazed

at the

authority

that He

spoke with.

But Jesus'

listeners

in His

day

and in

ours

need more

than

amazement.

We need

belief.

There were

many in

Jesus'

hearing

in His

day,

and there

have been

many since

that have

read and

have studied

and have

poured over

the Sermon

on the

Mount and

are amazed

by its

teaching.

There are

many in

our day

that pick

it up

as a

good

moralistic

guide for

life.

We

shouldn't

just be

amazed

at His

words.

We need

to believe

in His

words

and do

them.

We need

to be

like the

Peter of

John

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

after

Jesus

had said

many

difficult

things.

He said

all kinds

of stuff

about eating

His

flesh

and drinking

His

blood

and people

are getting

a little

bit weirded

out

by Jesus.

Many

abandoned.

The

disciples

left in

droves.

And

Jesus

says,

what the

text says,

verse 66,

after this

many of the

disciples turned

back and no

longer walked

with Him.

So Jesus

said to

the twelve,

do you

want to

go away

as well?

Simon

Peter answered

Him,

Lord,

this is who

we want

to be.

This is who

we want

to be.

The

Peter of

John

John 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

Lord,

to whom

shall we

go?

You

have the

words of

eternal

life and

we have

believed

and have

come to

know that

you are

the Holy

One of

God.

May we

be those

who

declare

Jesus

as the

Holy One

of God,

the Christ,

the narrow

gate and

the rock.

And may we

enter by

Him and

build our

houses on

Him into

the eternal

rest of

God.

Let's pray

together.