Wise and Foolish Builders | Matthew 7:24-29

that's simply impossible with his true disciples.

Yes, he will say to the false disciples,

I never knew you, never knew you.

But Jesus will never say that to his true church,

to his disciples, because he knows

that when God's work of grace through the Holy Spirit

comes into his people's lives,

well, the result of that is that that person

is going to do the will of the Father

because of the grace of God at work in their lives.

In other words, the very Spirit of God in them

is going to go about the business of changing their heart

to want to do the will of God in all that they do.

And brothers and sisters, I just wanna pause here

and say that that's incredibly wonderful news.

It's incredibly wonderful news for all of us this morning

because it means that when we were given spiritual ears

to hear and we heard the gospel, when we came to Christ,

when we gave our lives to him,

we weren't just forgiven of our sins.

No, we were given the very Spirit of God.

And the Bible teaches us that God then works

in our very being for the rest of our days,

for the rest of our lives to make us more and more like Jesus.

I mean, what a wonderful truth.

There is a living relationship that we entered with God

when we came to Christ.

That's why we trust what he says.

That's why we want to do what he wants

because of the very Spirit of God

at work in all of our hearts.

All of that to say that life-changing work of the Spirit

isn't something that he has given to us

so that we might just practice it on Sundays

or in front of other people.

Now, it's something that changes all of us,

every aspect of our very being,

and because of his work in the life of his people.

As we trust and obey, we see the real effects

of that life-changing work in every aspect of our lives.

So the wise builder is the true disciple,

who by the grace of God, hears the words of God

and sees them for what they are.

Trustworthy and true and something worth building

their entire life on.

Say that another way, the wise builder isn't like

the false disciple who gives some lip service

but never embraces what Jesus has to say.

Now, the wise builder is the disciple

who builds their entire life on Jesus,

knowing that Christ is a sure foundation,

that there is no other way.

And they do that by not just hearing the words of Jesus,

but doing what he says.

In a very real way, Jesus is saying to us

that the wise builder is the disciple

who embraces him with their whole lives,

with all of their hearts, with all of their minds,

with their souls and with all their strength

in what they do.

And so to that, so to do that, to embrace Jesus

with all that we are and to do what he says

is to build our life upon the rock.

That is the wise builder.

That is the true disciple.

And I mean, this isn't some new revelation

that Jesus has given us here this morning.

Now, Jesus is only clarifying a biblical truth

as God's word speaks plainly about putting into practice

what you hear as obedience is the necessary result

of a converted heart.

Moses warns about the consequence of just hearing

and not doing what God says in Deuteronomy 28.15.

He says, if you don't obey the Lord your God

and do not carefully follow all his commands

and decrees that I'm giving you,

all these curses will come and overtake you.

The psalmist says a similar thing,

but he puts it another way, saying blessed is the one

who doesn't walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord

and who meditates on his law day and night.

A person's like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in its season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever they do prospers, Psalm one, one and two.

In other words, the Bible teaches that it's not those

who just have a mere theoretical knowledge of God

or even understand his requirements that are blessed.

Now the one who is blessed,

which is the opposite to being cursed mind you,

is the one who not only listens

and understands what God says, but does what he tells us.

They work out what he says into their lives.

Over and over, the word of God stresses

that we ought not to just be hearers of the word,

but doers of what we hear.

This is something that the disciples of Jesus reinforced

in their own letters to us.

John puts it like this.

This is love for God to keep his commands

and his commands are not burdensome, 1 John 5.3,

with James not pulling any punches,

saying don't merely listen to the word

and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says.

Anyone who listens to the word,

but does not do what it says is like someone

who looks at their face in the mirror

and after looking at himself,

goes away and immediately forgets what they look like.

Whoever looks intently into the perfect law

that gives freedom and continues in it,

not forgetting what they've heard, but doing it,

they'll be blessed in what they do.

James 1.22 through to 25.

Again, obedience is the necessary result

of a converted heart.

To put that another way,

we know that we have truly embraced Christ

and his authority when we are doing

what he commands us to do.

And we do that because our hearts have been,

what the Bible says, circumcised.

We've been converted by the grace of God.

Church, it's because of the grace,

the unmerited favor of God

and because of the work of the Holy Spirit

in the lives of God's precious people in us

that we know what Jesus has to say is right and true.

And because of God's work in us,

that deep desire to follow what he says

is what we do something with it.

We put it into practice.

We put his words into practice.

That's what Jesus calls being a wise builder

who's building on the rock.

I wanna say a couple of things about this.

First, the Bible does not teach

that we save ourselves by our own obedience.

I really want you to hear that this morning

because Jesus is certainly not teaching that.

He's simply calling his disciples

to build their lives upon the foundation

of his very person and words.

He's calling us to conform our minds to his words,

to live out the commands that he has given us.

That's the doing that he is speaking about here

as he knows that all our doing,

no matter how hard we might try,

that won't save us.

That's because he knows that it is only his perfect life

given on behalf of us is what sets us right before God.

And that only comes about by embracing him,

the narrow gate by faith.

So we mustn't think that Jesus is telling us

that if we just labor hard enough,

we'll get over the line in the end.

Second, just because we love Jesus

and we wanna go about doing what he tells us,

well, does that mean that we're gonna get it right

100% of the time?

No, no.

But that's not the point that Jesus is driving out here

on the Sermon on the Mount.

If he expected us to get it right every time,

then he wouldn't have given us those incredible words

to take to our Father in prayer.

Forgive us of our debts.

Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.

Remember blessed are those who mourn

for they will be comforted.

Church, applying the law to our hearts

as we've seen it done in the Sermon on the Mount

will show us that we are very much the poor in spirit.

That we truly are the poor in spirit

that continually need the mercy of God.

However, in saying that, as true disciples,

we will never, could never cast the words of our Lord aside.

Now, every time we see where we fall short,

where we've once again strayed like a sheep

from our shepherd, once again being tempted

to put that light under a bowl,

we'll go to our Father in that secret place,

close the door and confess our sin.

And ask for his forgiveness and grace and mercy

to do his will on earth as it is in heaven.

Church will be drawn to do that

because of the spirit of God in us.

That's what the grace of God causes the true disciples

and wise builders to do because of the,

and because of the gospel,

we can look to the Lord in the spirit of God

and look to Jesus, knowing that all our transgressions

have been dealt with so that we can walk again

in confidence, knowing that he will never leave

nor forsake us.

It's as the saints have sung for well over a hundred years,

when we walk with the Lord in the light of his word,

what a glory he sheds on our way.

Why we do his goodwill, he abides with us still

and with all those who trust and obey.

Trust and obey, there's no other way to be happy in Jesus,

but to trust and obey.

Church, has the grace of God transformed your life?

Has the grace of God caused you to trust the gospel

and obey our awesome savior?

Because there is no more vitally important question

that we need to ask of ourselves this morning.

As Jesus points out here in verses 26 through to 27.

But everyone who hears these words of mine

and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man

who built his house in the sand.

The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew

and beat against that house.

It fell with a great crash.

Church, it's very simple what Jesus is doing here

in our passage this morning.

As has been said, he's simply contrasting two types

of disciples in the visible church.

One who was wise and built his house upon the rock,

who as we've seen is the disciple who builds his life

on not just hearing the words of God,

but who puts them into practice over against

the foolish builder who hears the words of God.

It doesn't apply it.

To do that says Jesus.

To not practice what he has revealed

is to be like a builder who builds their house on the sand.

Their end is utter ruin.

You see in the ancient world, people knew

that you couldn't just build your house on sand

because it shifted with different seasons

and the weather would cause all that was built

on the sand to shift with it.

And so in context with the crowds here,

Jesus is saying, are you going to build your life

on the shallow shifting sands

of the outward religious understanding

that you've heard from the religious teachers

being the Pharisees?

Are you going to pursue this surface righteousness

that has an unstable foundation of traditions

and religious hypocrisy, or are you going to dig past that

and build your life on the very words of God?

And kind of like last week with the illustration

of the trees, a tree can't hide its fruit forever.

And so like a house that's built on a dodgy foundation,

it might look great for a season, but when seasons change,

and they do, when the storms come and they will,

which is all language directing our attention to judgment,

what is built on the surface, what you have built on

will be shown for what it is.

Jesus could not be more clear with us this morning.

Are you building your house on outward religious works,

or are you going so much deeper to build your house

upon his very words?

He's getting us to reflect, isn't he?

It's all about Jesus getting us to consider

what we're building our lives on.

Notice that both the wise and foolish, they're building.

It's not like Jesus says, wise people build

and foolish people just kind of sit and do nothing.

They're both building.

For the most part, they pretty much look pretty good

on the surface.

However, what Jesus is wanting us to focus on here

is all about what we build on.

As I've already said in context, Jesus is challenging

all those that are hearing him to consider

what have they built their lives on?

What have they built their lives on?

What have they done with the Pharisees

and their surface lessons of the law?

But I wanna ask that question of you this morning.

I wanna ask it of all of us.

Are we building our life on religious traditions,

on external standards and things that make us think,

hey, I do all of this, so I'm okay with God?

Or have you come to the rock of your salvation?

Have you cast your whole self upon the Lord

or are you still looking to your own so-called righteousness

for justification?

Because as Jesus says, unless your life is built

on the rock of his teaching, his doctrine of himself,

anything else is just shifting sand

that's ready to cave in on itself once it comes

under external pressure.

And we can take the words of Jesus

and believe that that day is coming.

That day is coming.

And that's what Jesus has been saying

since chapter 713 onwards.

Destruction is promised to all those who choose

the wide gate, the broad path and that final destination

is pictured in different ways in these last few verses.

First with the burning of rotten trees

and now with the destruction of a house built on sand.

His point couldn't be any more clear.

He isn't asking if we would just consider what he has said,

if we would just hear what he said.

He's calling you and me to build our lives

on all that he hears because if we hear the words of Jesus,

yet cast him aside and do our own thing,

even though we might look good at keeping up appearances

with the Christian community around us,

well, there's a certain end, a certain end.

Let me be direct with you.

What do you stand for?

What is your life built on?

What consumes and drives your daily life?

The test of life will come.

The seasons will come and go with the so-called storms.

It's gonna give you an indication.

In other words, when the pressures of life come,

when the pressure of sin comes,

when the pressure of difficulty comes,

does your life show that you're building

on the foundation which is Jesus?

Or do you see the cracks and the crumbling?

Again, this isn't Jesus saying we are saved by our works,

but he is stressing that all those who truly hear his words,

who really embrace him by faith,

will express that faith in what they do.

We're all building on something.

Every single one of us.

The question is, what are you building on?

Are you building for the here and now?

Are you building with eternity in mind?

Are you building something that is exclusively

just to be seen in public?

Or are you taking the words of Jesus

and applying it to every area of your life?

Even when no one is watching.

Again, the point of our Lord is simple.

He's saying to us, his disciples,

that the wise person builds on the foundation

of Christ's life and words,

and that the wise and true disciples foundation is Christ.

It's Christ himself whom we are building on.

It's Christ himself whom we have embraced

with all that we are and doing what he says.

So that not if, but when that great storm

of final judgment comes,

will stand because our foundation is sure and true.

So brothers and sisters,

be very wise in what you do with the words that you hear.

Because the foolish person is content

to ignore the words of our Lord.

So as we end our time this morning,

not only in this passage,

but conclude our time in the book of Matthew,

until we come back to it mid next year.

Matthew ends this sermon

with an incredibly interesting sentence.

It's interesting.

Look with me, verses 28 and 29.

When Jesus had finished saying these things,

the crowds were amazed at his teaching,

because he taught as one who had authority,

and not as teachers of the law.

So it's interesting what Matthew records here

because of everything that we have looked at

over the past several months

as we've been in this series.

Since February.

Let me explain what I mean.

Matthew was showing us that just because

the crowds were amazed,

well it meant nothing.

It was great that they had heard the word of God.

It was great that they were drawn to Jesus.

It was great that they may have sat down

and nodded along with what Jesus had to say.

But Matthew kind of leaves us with a question, doesn't he?

And that question is,

what were the crowds going to do

with what Jesus had said?

Were they going to go back to their homes,

back to their religious establishment,

back to their easy lives,

to their external outward religious works,

or were they going to go back to their

religious works,

or were they going to go and put what He had said

into practice?

In other words, were they going to continue

to build their house upon the sand,

or were they going to hear what had to be said

and start to build on the rock?

And I think that's part of the question that Matthew wants

to ask who reads through the Sermon on the Mount.

And it's this.

Is it possible to sit at the feet of Jesus

and not actually embrace Him by faith?

Is it possible to hear the very words of God

and not put into practice what you have heard?

Well, I have a sneaking suspicion that Matthew doesn't want us

to stay in that state of pondering for too long.

Now, I think his aim isn't to keep us pondering,

but to take these words,

take these questions and ask them of ourselves,

so that we too might come to a place where we confess

Jesus as Lord and embrace Him by faith

and thus walk with Him all the days of our life.

Matthew wants us to enter that narrow gate

and walk that narrow path.

You see, as Matthew has shown us through the months,

this is the awesome good news of Jesus Christ.

God's promised King, and with any evangelist,

they want to poke at our hearts

so that we might ask the question of ourself,

do I know Jesus?

Have I embraced Jesus by faith?

Have I entered by the narrow gate?

Am I building my life on the rock of my salvation?

Well, if you're here this morning

and you would say no to any of those things,

then it is the Lord Jesus who says to you today,

I will in no way cast out anyone who comes unto me, anyone.

But I've done all of this, I've done all of that.

The Bible is clear.

The words of God are clear,

that He forgives all transgression.

If you want to speak more about these things,

I would love to speak to you, pray with you,

because you're hearing these words by no mistake this morning.

Salvation is truly being held out to you.

Don't let pride or embarrassment hold you back

from the Savior King who has come to rescue his precious people.

Come and find me after the service and we'll pray together.

You might be here this morning and you have thrown yourself

on the rock of your salvation and trusting Jesus with all that you are.

But as you've been building, as you've been walking,

you've seen some things that aren't so good.

You know they're not so good.

So this morning, over the next few moments,

I'm not going to end our time in prayer, as I usually do,

but I'm going to get you to put into practice what Jesus has told us to do,

and that is to go to our Father in heaven and to pray to him.

So over the next few moments, as we think about these things,

as we confess these things to our Father and ask for his forgiveness,

might I encourage you to also ask that by his Holy Spirit

he would cause you to raise your eyes to the Lord Jesus Christ,

the perfect one who has kept all of what we have spoken about this morning

perfectly on our behalf.

Let me encourage you, Church, over the next few moments.

Let's take a couple of minutes just to go to our Father and pray,

and then I'll ask the team to come and lead us.