Matthew | The Wise and Foolish Builders

You have your Bible, you can open the Matthew Chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Matthew Chapter 7 will be in verses 24 through 27 today.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

And in our passage, we're coming to the final paragraph of

Jesus's sermon on the mounts. So for the last couple of weeks,

and today included, Jesus has been pressing his hears toward a

decision. He's been pressing us as we've

been hearing these things, toward a decision.

He's not. He's not simply giving us

religious information. All right, The Sermon on the

Mount has not been a bunch of moral advice.

Jesus has been setting before us the way of the Kingdom.

In other words, if you are in Christ, if you're a believer in

Jesus, he is showing you how you were called to live and how are

you were called to respond to him in these last few passages

that we've looked at. So what's happening is as he's

bringing the sermon to the close, he's presenting a series

of contrasts, right? And they've been coupled

together in twos, right? There are two paths Christ has

shown US1 is the narrow way that leads to life, and then there's

the Broadway that leads to destruction, all right?

There's also 2 trees, right? There was a good tree that

produces good fruit or bears good fruits, and then there was

a diseased tree that bears bad fruits.

There are two ways to call on Christ.

This is what Dustin preached last week so faithfully for us.

There was one that was empty and it's merely verbal.

Lord, Lord, right? And then there was another, a

true faith that's marked by doing the Father's will, by

walking in accordance with all that he said and taught.

And, and so now in the text that we come to this morning, Jesus

is presenting us with one final contrast.

All right, one final set of two. All right, there are two

foundations. All right, Christ wants you to

see there are two foundations. There is a wise man who builds

his house on the rock, and there is a foolish man who builds his

house on the sand. Now what I want you to notice as

we go through this are a couple of things here. 1 is that both

men hear Christ's words. Not one of them gets to say,

well, I didn't hear what you said.

Now both men hear Christ's words.

Both men build a structure that they build a house, right?

Both men face the storm, the rains come, the winds beat on

the House. And yet only one of the houses

that has been built actually stands in the end, right?

So that's, it's kind of a warning for us right as we read.

I want you to listen carefully to what Christ is saying.

Jesus is showing us in the passage today that it's not

enough just to hear the words of Christ.

It's not enough to admire them or even to agree with them.

The question is, the question that Christ is pressing home is

whether you're going to build your life on His words or not.

All right, so if you're able, would you please stand to your

feet in honor of the reading of God's Word.

Matthew Chapter 7, verses 24 through 27.

Matthew 7:24–27

Jesus is speaking, He says this. 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 floods came, and the winds blew

and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall

of it. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we think that

we can come before you with Bibles in hand, knowing that we

hold in our hand we hear the very words from your mouth being

spoken. Father, we thank you for these

words that we have from Christ today.

So we come to the close of the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus

now presses on us a decision on which words will we build our

house? Which foundation will we choose?

And so, Father, I ask that you would help us as we hear this

word today. Help us not to think of all

those people over there, or all those out there, or this person

or that person. Father, help us first as we hear

this message, to examine our own hearts, our own lives, and to

see a Lord. On which foundation are we

trusting? Have we built our house on the

rock or have we built our house on sand?

And Lord, would you reveal that to us in your great mercy and

your kindness, and by your grace, would you call us to

repentance and faith today? Lord, we thank you for your

word. We thank you for the time we

have in it. Help us to have hearts that are

fertile soil today. It's in the name of Christ, I

pray. Amen.

Amen. You may be seated.

Now, one of the strange things about house building or houses

all together is that you don't usually think about the

foundation when everything is calm, all right, when all is

going well, nobody walks into your home and says, wow, look at

this slab you have. All right, you'll hear that very

much. Nobody visits somebody's house

and says, brother, these footings you have, they are

wonderful, right? You just don't hear that very

often. You might notice the paints,

right? It's a great color.

You'll notice the the decor on the walls.

You might notice the floors. You might even take a look at

the furniture, the kitchen or the yard, right?

All those exterior things, those things that draw our attention.

But when the storm comes and it beats against the house, well,

the foundation of the house suddenly becomes very, very

important to the whole thing, right?

And that's what Jesus is pressing home here in the text.

He's saying the same is true for our lives.

The foundation matters a great deal.

And really what he's getting at is that it's possible to have a

life that looks stable. It's possible to have a life

that looks respectable, or that's built on morality, or

that's even religious and its appearance.

It's possible to hear the words of Jesus.

It's possible to know the language of Christianity.

It's possible to appear like the building is well put together.

But but when the storm comes right, what matters most is not

what the house looks like on the outside or from the streets.

It it matters what the house has been built on, right?

And that's where Jesus brings the sermon on the Mount to a

close here, right? He presses this question home.

And it's, it's really the question of what lies beneath

everything else. What foundation do you have?

What is your life built on right.

So the main point of the passage is this taking notes.

You can use your worship guide for this.

It's in there. Kingdom citizens stand firm

through life's storms by building their lives on the

words of Christ. Kingdom citizens stand firm

through life's storms by building their lives on the

words of Christ. Now He's going to show this.

Show us this with two builders, right?

We have the wise man who builds on Christ's words in verses 24

and 25, and then we have the foolish man who builds apart

from Christ's words in 26 and 27.

So let's begin here with the first builder #1 the wise man

builds on Christ's words, right? So Jesus begins this by saying,

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. So he begins with the word

everyone, right? Jesus is bringing the entire

sermon, 5 through 7, right? Chapters 5 through 7.

He's bringing the whole thing to bear on every listener, right?

No one gets to step outside of this conclusion that he's

offering, right? No one can say, well, that

decision, that question, that analogy is for somebody else.

It's not for me. Now Jesus is speaking to

everyone who has heard him, and he's speaking to you and to me

today, right? And what does he say?

He says there is a kind of person who is wise.

And this kind of person who's wise, I want you to know, wisdom

in the Scripture is not merely intelligence, right?

Wisdom in Scripture is not only about the knowledge that you

have. It's not about what you know so

much. It's not just knowing facts.

It's not just being clever. It's not just being practical.

It's not just, hey, is your life successful or are you well

educated? That's not wisdom in the

Scriptures. Biblical wisdom, don't miss

this. Biblical wisdom is skillful,

living under the rule of God, right?

Biblical wisdom is knowing how to apply the knowledge of God,

and it's walking wisely. It's the skillful living that

comes under the rule of God. So it's the idea of hearing

God's truths, yes, but it also consists of the idea of fearing

God's name, trusting God's way, and ordering your life according

to his word, right? So it's not just what you know,

right? It's how you Orient your life

under His rule. So who is the wise man in the

passage? Well, Jesus tells us very

playfully, all right, it's everyone who then hears these

words of mine and does them all right.

It's the one who hears and does that.

That means the wise man is not wise because he heard the

sermon, right? Lots of people are standing

around and have heard the sermon.

Both men in the passage, the wise and the foolish man, hear

the sermon, right? The wise man is not wise because

he's exposed to the truth that that can be helpful.

But that's not where it rests, right?

The foolish man also was exposed to the truth that the wise man

is not wise because he can remember or he can quote certain

parts of it, or he admires the words like, hey, what?

All those things Jesus said, those, those were really good.

He said some really good things there.

No, it's not even that. They can go then and discuss

Jesus's words with some understanding.

The wise man is wise because he builds his life on the words of

Christ. Notice how Jesus frames this.

He says these words of mine right now that that ought to be

somewhat astonishing to us. All right.

Jesus is not in the Sermon on the Mount by saying whoever

builds or whoever hears the words of Moses, right, though he

has affirmed the law. He doesn't say whoever hears the

tradition of your religious leaders now, he's already

corrected those. He doesn't even say whoever

hears general, general religious wisdom today, though, He says,

whoever hears these words of mine right now, what Jesus is

doing here is placing his own words in the position of final

authority. All right, So we can't look at

Jesus's words and be like the world and say, well, he said

some really good things, or I like those things he said, but I

don't so much like those. No, Jesus has placed himself in

the place of final authority. He's revealing here that he is

the Son of God, right? This means this passage is not

merely about the importance of morality, right?

It's not merely about building your life on good values or

strong discipline or family principles or religious habits.

But Jesus is saying that the only stable foundation for human

life is his Word. That's it, right?

In other words, the words of Christ are the words of God.

All right. The Son speaks here with divine

authority. His words are not shifting sand.

They're not one opinion among a bunch of other opinions, but

they're not just helpful suggestions to consider when it

might be convenient for you. No, His.

His words are truth. His words are life, right?

His words reveal the Father. His words are exposing our

hearts, right? We we can all agree, if you've

been here through this series so far, that the Sermon on the

Mount has absolutely exposed our hearts, right?

His words have called us to repentance.

His words have taught us the way of the Kingdom and what it looks

like to live under His rule. It's very much in line with what

the psalmist says in Psalm 1/19. He says forever, O Lord, your

word is firmly fixed in the heavens, right?

That's rock like language, isn't it?

Forever, firmly fixed, right? God's word is fixed, it's

settled, right? It's unmoving, it's solid, it's

forever. The world changes, the opinions

change. Fads come and go, right?

Opinions will shift, cultures rise and they fall.

But our feelings, right? Our feelings can move all over

the place. Just depends on what you had for

breakfast some days, or what bad news you got, or what good news

you got. But God's Word, his promises,

his truths, they stand forever, right?

Psalm 119 also says the sum of your word is truth, and every

one of your righteous rules endures forever.

So, So when Jesus says the wise man builds on his words, right,

He means the wise man builds his life on what is eternally true.

But we need to be clear, I think, about what this means to

build on Christ's words. Jesus says the wise man hears,

and he does what else he does all right.

This is what it means to be the wise man.

This means that real hearing produces obedient faith, right?

Not perfect obedience. We're not looking for sinless

obedience. We're not looking for obedience

that earns salvation, right, But real living repentance,

submissive obedience. That's what real hearing

produces. This is exactly what James, the

little brother of Christ says. He says, but be doers of the

Word and not hearers only. Deceiving yourselves, right?

So James is warning us that it's possible to sit under the word

of Christ, to sit under the preached word week in and week

outs, to read the Word daily and still to deceive yourself.

It's possible to hear sermons, to read scriptures, to nod our

heads and say Amen and still not obey what God's word says,

right? It's it's possible to to mistake

exposure to truth for submission to truth.

All right, we should be careful about this.

And so that's why Jesus says the wise man does not merely listen,

he builds, right? He he takes the words of Christ

and he says, this is where my life must rest.

This is what I must trust in. This is what I must obey, right?

This is what I must. This is what must shape my

desires, my decisions, my relationships, my priorities, my

worship, my money, my marriage, my parenting, my speech, my

private life. The words of Christ must shape

me in every way. That's what it means to build on

the rock, right? Matthew Henry says this.

He says those build upon Christ who, having sincerely consented

to him as their Prince and Savior, or as their King and

Savior, make it their constant care to conform to all the rules

of his holy religion, right? In other words, what Matthew

Henry saying is building on Christ means receiving Christ

not only as your Savior, but as your King, right?

As your Lord. And then Jesus says the storm

comes, right? So he's talked about this wise

man who's built his house on the word of Christ.

He's built it on the rock, right?

How did he do that? He heard and obeyed.

And then the rain comes and the floods come.

The winds blow and they beat against the house.

I think this is important for you and I as Christians in a lot

of ways, but one of them is this Jesus does not say that the wise

man avoids the storm. All right, some of us get kind

of messed up in our minds and in our hearts and in the way we

pursue God or don't pursue God, or the way we get frustrated or,

or the way we get down or depressed or despair or

whatever, based solely upon the fact that storms are happening

in our lives and we just can't believe it.

I'm serving Christ, I'm living for Him.

I'm trying to order my life According to him or I'm not.

And storms are coming. What gives, right?

Well, building your life on Christ's words does not mean

that your life will be easy. I mean, just think about the 12

men who were responsible for carrying the gospel to the world

initially. One that we know of gets out of

life with an age-old kind of death and the rest are brutally

martyred, right? Christ himself brutally

murdered. Many Saints have gone before us,

brutally martyred, torn to bits by lions, burned at stakes.

Also they could preserve the word of Christ.

Also that they could teach it truthfully.

Also, that they could hand the gospel down to the next

generations to preserve it for people like you and I to sit in

churches where we're free to open up the scriptures and to

read. And you and I get messed up if

the rain interrupts our satellite TV watching for an

evening. All right.

We just think about how inconvenience, how small

inconvenience we can be, and we become frustrated.

What do you think we're going to do when persecution really

knocks or when grief really shows up at our front door?

So you have to ask the questions, Am I really building

my life on Christ? Am I really making decisions

that would honor the Lord Jesus, that would be good for my wife

and good for my children and good for, you know, the people

around me in my church and in my community?

Am I really building my life on Christ?

Or have I just, you know, syncretized some truths about

God with the way I really want to live?

And I've kind of built a God in my own image.

I've bent him to my will and to my desires, right?

Jesus is not saying your life is going to be easy.

He's not. Nothing about building your life

on Christ means that suffering is going to pass you by.

It doesn't mean that grief will never enter your home.

It doesn't mean that temptation will never beat against your

soul. It doesn't mean that your body

will never weaken right, That your plans will never collapse,

that your heart will never ache, or that your faith will never be

tested. You will face all of those

things as a Christian. Please hear that you will,

right? You don't get out of life having

not suffered. You don't get out of life having

not endured temptation. You don't get out of life having

not sinned against God and needing to repent.

It just doesn't happen, right? So you've got to ask yourself

today, am I building my life on the words of Christ, or if I

built a God in my own image who bends to my will and he makes

provisions for my flesh and he allows me to do what I want to

do day in and day out? That's not the God of the Bible,

right? So the rain falls on the wise

man's house also. It does.

The floods come against his house.

The winds beat on it. The difference is not that one

man has storms and the other doesn't.

That's not the difference in the in the passage today.

But that's not Christ does not want you to walk away from

hearing his words, thinking, if I obey Christ, it'll be rainbows

and sunshines forever. Oh, it's going to be hard days.

But the difference is that one man has a firm foundation and

the other doesn't, right? He has a foundation.

Jesus says it did not fall. His house didn't fall because it

had been founded on the rock. Now, that's the promise in the

passage. That's the part that ought to

make you kind of perk up and get excited about what the Lord is

telling you in the Scriptures today.

It's not that the house will never be hit.

It's that it'll never finally fall, right?

It's, it's the truths of Romans 831 through 39 being spoken in a

shorter form here, right? Either death, nor life, nor

angels, nor demons, nor powers above or powers below, either

persecution nor famine, like none of these things are going

to separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus your

Lord. That's my summary.

OK? It says more than that.

I mean, think about the hope that Christ gives to you when he

says it was founded upon the rock and so it did not fall.

But that's great hope, right? He gives you a foundation here.

He gives you the kind of foundation that can withstand

the pressures of life. He is saying to us, When trials

come, my words hold true. When temptation comes, my word

holds. When grief comes, my word holds.

When death comes, my word holds. When final judgment comes, my

word holds. So the the life built on Christ.

It might tremble, it'll endure difficulties and trials, but it

will not finally collapse, right?

Remember when the storm comes, that unseen foundation, the

thing you never compliment in your brother's house, right?

That thing becomes the most important thing in your life.

And Jesus is saying your life is like this.

There are many visible things about your life that people

might admire from the outside, right?

They may admire your morality, your church attendance, your

family, your knowledge, your giftedness, your reputation,

your service, right? Your discipline.

They may admire all of those things.

And some of those things might be the fruit of a good tree,

right? We're not saying they don't

matter, but those are the kinds of things that can be seen from

the street, so to speak. And you have to ask what's on

the inside because that's what Jesus is doing here.

He's pressing just a bit deeper than the tree analogy, just a

bit deeper than the two ways analogy, right?

He's asking his listeners to consider this question.

What is underneath all of those things, right?

What am I founded on? What have I built my life on?

And the question is really coming to us this way from

Christ. Are you building your life on my

word and on me, or have you built it on something else?

And so I think we can apply this very, very plainly today.

First, you should not confuse hearing Christ's words with

building on Christ's words. We cannot confuse the two.

Many of us have heard a lot of God's word through our lives.

You've grown up in church. You've been taught the ways of

truth, so now you're being told by Christ you must consider your

foundation. Does my life reflect the kind of

house that's been built on the rock, or does it reflect sinking

sand? Pardon.

That's the most serious warning in this passage.

When you, you have to notice both men here, both men are

close enough to the truth and know what Jesus has said.

So the question can't be, have I heard?

No, the question becomes, have I obeyed?

Right you. You can say that Jesus is wise.

You can say he's good. You can say he's true.

You say all those nice things about Him and yet still refuse

to build your life on him. So we have to ask, where are the

words of Christ pressing on my life right now, right?

Where is He pressing against me today?

Where am I hearing, but I'm not doing, I'm not willing to obey.

Secondly, similar application, maybe just a little further down

the road here, you must bring every part of your life under

the authority of Christ's words. Not not just the outward parts,

not just the parts that need to look good for everyone else.

No, every part of your life, but especially those things that you

do in secrets. You need to bring those things

under the authority of Christ's words.

In this sermon from Matthew 5 to 7, right, Jesus has spoken about

anger. He has spoken about lust.

He's spoken about adultery and divorce, truthfulness,

retaliation, loving your enemies, giving, praying,

fasting, how we handle money, how we think about anxiety.

He's spoken about judging others.

He's spoken about how we talk to the Father and asking for

things. He's spoken about the narrow

gate. He's spoken about false prophets

and false professions. I mean, he, he has laid it out

for us. And so we should ask, when you

hear all of those things, you should ask, am I building my

relationship on my relationships in life on Christ words?

Am I building my marriage on Christ words?

Am I building my parenting on Christ words?

Am I building my private thoughts on Christ words?

Am I building my use of money on Christ words?

Am I building my response to anxiety and worry on Christ

words? Am I building my understanding

of salvation and sanctification on Christ's words?

But the wise man in the story does not pick just a room or two

and say, Jesus, you can have authority in those places.

Now the wise man says, I'm going to build my whole house on the

rock of Christ's words, meaning he's going to have authority

over the whole structure. 3rd application here, I think is

this. You need to take comfort.

Take comfort that Christ's words are strong enough to hold you.

Some of you feel the storm beating against your life right

now. The rain's falling, the floods

are coming, winds are blowing, beating against the house, and

you feel very weak. But I want you to know that the

strength of the house is not finally in the house itself, is

it? That's not what Jesus is

teaching here. The strength of the house is in

the foundation of the house. It's Christ in His word.

Psalm 19, the psalmist pleads with God and he says this.

He says uphold me. Uphold me according to your

promise that I may live. That's the Christians hope,

right? We're not upheld because you're

naturally strong. Maybe you are.

Maybe you don't get rocked around by life very often,

right? But it's not natural strength

that upholds you. You're upheld because Christ is

strong. We're not steady because our

faith never trembles. No, we're steady because His

word is firm beneath us. It's the foundation for us.

So I want you to take comfort that His words are strong enough

to hold you. And if you're going to believe

that, then my encouragement for you is build on Him.

Build on his word. Build on his character.

Build on all that He says He is and all that He's done for you.

How do we build? We obey.

We obey His word. Jesus says in John 15, If you

love me, you will obey my commandments.

We return to His word. There will be seasons where you

have walked away from God, where you've stopped obeying, you

stopped caring, you've been deceived.

And when those times come, you are called by God, by Christ

here. Return to His word.

Let His Word correct you. Let His Word comfort, Let His

Word bring exposure to you. Let it strengthen you right?

Let it lead you. Kingdom citizens will stand firm

through life storms by building their lives on the words of

Christ, a love in the passage. Jesus doesn't just stop with the

wise man, right? He also gives us a warning, a

very clear warning. There is another builder.

There is a builder who hears he he also builds.

He faces the storm, but his house doesn't stand.

Point #2 The foolish man builds apart from Christ's words.

Leo verses 26 and 27. 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 the house, and it

fell, and great was the fall of it.

You have to notice again how similar these men are at first.

Both here, both build, both appear to be doing something

constructive, both experience the same storm, and from the

outside their houses may have even looked very similar.

Charles Spurgeon said this of these two builders, he said the

one builder is wise, the other foolish.

The one is superficial, the other substantial.

The the one has pretend is pretentious and the other is

sincere. Now that's the same issue that

Jesus is pressing here, not merely what is visible above the

ground, but what is real beneath the surface.

He says one man is wise and the other is foolish.

Why? Well, not because one heard and

the other didn't, both here, right?

I've said it a lot because I think it's really important for

us to understand we can be raised up in this and yet still

be a foolish builder. The difference is 1 heard and

obeyed while the other heard and did not obey.

Then I'll be sobering for us. The foolish man is not

irreligious in the sense of never have, never having heard

the truth. He's not someone without

exposure to Christ's words. He's heard them.

He knows what Jesus has said. He's listened to the sermon.

He's been there for all of it. He does not build his life on

what he has heard. That's the difference.

And Jesus is calling that foolishness right in Scripture.

Foolishness. Foolishness is not merely a lack

of intelligence, right? The fool is not simply someone

who struggles to understand difficult things.

The fool is the fool is the one who rejects God's wisdom and

chooses his own way. Yet you see it in Proverbs, you

see it in the Psalms, you see it throughout the Scriptures, this

idea of a fool. And it's always the one who's

rejecting wisdom, doing things their own way.

But the fool, on the outside, he might appear smart, he he might

be successful, he might be gifted, and he might have some

good morals. He may even appear religious.

But if he hears the words of Christ and he refuses to obey

them, Jesus says he is building on the sand.

Now, sand can look fairly stable for a while, right?

It may seem firm enough on a calm day, right?

You could build on it, and you could even admire what you've

built. But sand cannot hold when the

floods come, right? And that's what makes the

warning so serious. Jesus does not say to us that

the foolish man failed to build. No, he built.

He built something that was probably respectable looking.

It was a house. He had a structure.

He he had something visible to show off to his neighbors.

But his foundation was flawed, right?

This is why we must not confuse visible religious activity with

true submission to Christ. A person can build a life on

outward morality, but it's on sand.

A person can build a life of church attendance on sand.

A person can build a life of ministry involvement on sand.

A person can build a life of Bible knowledge on sand.

A person can even say Lord, Lord and still be building on sand.

That was the passage last week. There will be people who say,

Lord, Lord, who did many mighty works, and yet Jesus will say to

them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of

lawlessness. The issue is not whether we can

point to something we've built. The issue is whether our lives

are founded on Christ himself and his words.

Right, the storm comes, right? The rain fell, the floods came,

the winds blew and beat against his house.

And by all appearances it's the very same kind of storm that

struck the wise man's house. But the same rainfalls, the same

floods rise, the same wind blows, but the outcome is

different this time. Jesus says, and it fell, and

great was the fall of it. This is so true, isn't it?

I don't have to get a show of hands, but you all know the

stories. Of men and women who had the

appearance of godliness, who lived the lives that maybe you

respected. Maybe they were a hero to you in

some sense. But then temptation comes, or

difficulties in life, trials, tribulations, whatever they may

be, those things come. And that person's structure

doesn't last. And it's a great fall.

It's not just a fall, it's a great fall.

It's very humbling when those things happen.

So the issue is not whether we can point to something we built.

That's what have we built our lives on.

Jesus warns here that that phrase great was the fall of it.

Jesus warns us that a life built apart from obedience to his

words will not stand. It may stand for a while.

It does make that clear. It may look sturdy and fair

weather. It might be impressive, and it

might even deceive the one who's taken residence in the house.

But when the storm of testing comes, when suffering exposes

his heart, when temptation reveals what he truly loves,

when death arrives at his doorstep, and especially when

final judgment comes, no foundation but Christ will

stand. Sometimes people hear things

like this from the pulpit or from God's Word, and they think,

man, that's really tough. How could Jesus be so hard?

Or how could the preacher be so mean?

I think that's the kind of thing people say when they feel

defensive. When the truth's landing, you

start to say, well, that's a little mean spirited or you

can't say those things. It's like, well, that's exactly

what Christ is saying. But Christ does not mean

spirited, is he? No, Christ is loving, He's kind,

and all that he does, Romans tells us it's the kindness of

God's God that leads us to repentance.

So when we hear words like this, when we see things like this, I

think it's important for us to feel the mercy behind the

warning. All right, If you as a father,

your child's about to run out into a busy St.

It's not an ugly thing to say. Hey, stop.

It would be an unloving thing to not say a word.

But you know that giving the warning and chasing after them

is the most loving thing you could do in a moment.

It's the most merciful thing you could do for them, right?

None of us as loving fathers would deny that.

That's exactly what Christ is doing here.

He's offering mercy here. He's not warning you because He

delights in the fall of the foolish.

Please understand that He warns us so that we will not fall, so

that we won't run out into the street.

He tells us the truth before the storm shows up.

You need to examine the foundation of your home before

the storm comes. He's showing us the danger while

there's still time to repent. And so He's exposing false

foundations here so that sinners may flee to the true foundation.

This is merciful. This is the language of mercy.

And so again, we we can apply this very plainly first

application. You must examine what you were

actually building your life on. Do not ask.

Do I hear Christ's words? Ask yourself, am I building my

life on Christ's words? Right When Christ speaks about

anger, you can ask yourself, do I repent of my anger?

What When Christ speaks about lust?

You can ask, do I make war against the lust of my flesh?

Do I go to battle against those things?

What when Christ speaks about loving your enemies?

You can ask yourself, do I obey this command?

I love my enemies? What when Christ speaks about

prayer? You can ask in what ways this

week or today have I sought the Father?

What when Christ speaks about money, you can ask yourself, do

I treasure heaven above worldly possessions?

Am IA good steward with the financial resources that God's

given to me? When Christ speaks about

anxiety, you can ask yourself, do I trust my Heavenly Father?

When Christ speaks about the narrow way versus the wide way,

the way of life versus the way of destruction, you can ask, do

I enter Have I entered the narrow way by faith?

When Christ speaks about false profession, false prophets,

false professors, you can ask yourself, do I examine my own

heart? Let's see.

The question is not whether Christ's words have passed

through your ears, Brothers and sisters, I'm sure that they have

that. The question is whether they

have become the foundation of your life.

That's a totally different question.

A second application. Do you build your hope on

religious appearance? The foolish man's house was

still a house, right? That's part of what makes the

illustration that Christ offers so impactful, to be honest.

Sand foundation lives are not always obviously wicked, right?

Sometimes they're respectable, they're moral, they're busy

religious lives. But if the foundation of that

house is self righteousness, then it's sand.

If the foundation is human approval, then it's sand.

If the foundation is family heritage and you're like, man,

we've been Christians in my family for generations.

Well then as you read the Old Testament and you see how the

generations that came after the faithful ones straight so

quickly, you should really ask yourself some questions.

It's not just about MyHeritage. Is Christ my own?

Do I know him? Does he know me?

Does he approve of my way? Would Psalm one call me a wise

man or would I be the foolish one?

In Psalm one, would I be the wicked one?

If the foundation in your life is church attendance, you're

like man, Every time you guys open the doors, every time a

home group's available, I'm in it.

I'm at Sunday school, I'm at worship, I'm at Home group.

I come to Sunday night services. I don't miss members meetings.

Praise God, we love you for that.

But if that's all your hope is in, that's a life of sand.

If your foundation is well, call.

I know the right answers, right? I can I can apply the gospel and

you know, real quick situations. I know the right things to say

and when to say them. I've got a lot of knowledge of

again, if that's what you're hoping in, then you're building

on sand. The question becomes, have you

bowed to the King? All right, Only Christ in his

words or the rock. And so the third application I

think that Christ is inviting here is this, Come to Christ

now, come to Christ today. That's the gracious invitation

beneath the warning. Jesus is not merely saying look

at the foolish man, but let's all look and point and laugh at

him. No, that's not what Christ is

saying at all. Christ is saying to everyone who

hears, examine your heart. Look at your own heart, your own

life. Do not be the foolish man.

He's let you know that the storm is coming, that's certain.

But the collapse of your life does not have to be inevitable,

right? The foolish man can become wise

today by hearing Christ's words, by repenting of his sin, by

turning in faith to the Lord, trusting Christ for his

forgiveness, trusting Christ and His work on the cross for your

salvation, building your life from this point forward on him.

The foolish man can become wise and so the encouragement from

Christ here is not to delay. Christ is not inviting you to

admire the rock from far away. He's not telling you, hey,

you've built on sand. You need to go do some work to

correct that and then you can come back to me and I'll help

you with the rock part. No, Christ is saying come today,

come now, completing for forgiveness from seeking

reconciliation with God and with those around you.

He's saying build on Him. And that's the warning.

If we build apart from Christ's words, then the fall is going to

be great. It's not going to be a small

fall. It's going to be ugly.

Christ is mercifully warning you this morning to turn from that

sand structure and to build on Him and His words.

Again, the storm may beat against the house, but those who

have built on the rock of Christ will not fall.

And so as Jesus brings the sermon to the close, he leaves

us with a picture that you can't miss, right?

There's two builders, there's two houses, there's two

foundations, there's one storm, and there's two outcomes.

The difference is not that one man heard Christ and the other

didn't. Both heard.

The difference is 1 heard and obeyed and the other heard and

disobeyed. He kept building apart from

Christ's words. So the question before you today

is simple. What are you building your life

on? Not, not merely what do you

claim, not merely what do you others see in you?

Not merely what religious words? Do you know what is underneath

your life today? Jesus, in the last few stanzas

here, right the last few paragraphs, has set before you

the narrow gate, the good tree, the true confession, and the

solid rock. He's calling us not merely to

admire the sermon, but to obey his words.

So let us not be the kind of people who are hearers, only

deceiving ourselves. Let us be those who hear the

words of Christ and we build our lives on Him because Kingdom

citizens will stand firm through life's storms by building their

lives on the words of Christ. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for this warning today.

I ask Lord that you would use it to expose us so often.

We are like Adam and Eve, having sinned in the garden.

We recognize our sin, but rather than run to God, who can heal

us, who can save us, who can set us free, we run and we hide.

We put fig leaves together to make clothes for ourselves, to

cover up our sinfulness. And Father, I just ask that you

would graciously, mercifully expose us this morning, Lord,

that you would lead us to repentance by your kindness.

Lord, help us not to walk in pride.

Help us to be repentant, to be humble.

And Father, I pray for anyone here who doesn't know Christ is

Lord, who's never submitted themselves to him, who's never

believed in His death and resurrection for their own

salvation. God, would you graciously save

them today? Would you draw them to yourself

and let nothing hinder them from coming?

I'm going to give you a moment now there in your seat to seek

the Lord, to respond to His word, to examine your own heart,

your own life, and to see what foundation have you been

building on. If it's sand, brother, sister,

friend, I ask you to repent, to come to Christ.

And if you've been building on the rock faithfully, then praise

God for that. Thank Him for His kindness in

your life. Heavenly Father, we praise you

for the gift of Christ, for the salvation that you have brought

to us in Him. I thank you for the lives that

you've granted us, that you have raised us up from death and

given us life in Him. We ask that you would help us to

walk faithfully with Jesus, to be obedient to His Word, to

build our lives on it. Father, I, I do ask again for

anyone unsaved today that you would save their souls, that you

would lead them to repentance and faith, that you would grant

them mercy and grace today. But Lord, again, we thank you

for your word. We thank You for the way it

presses on us. It truly is living an active.

It's sharper than any double edged sword.

It pierces down to the joints and the marrow of our hearts and

lives and all of that because you love us greatly.

So Lord, help us to love you in return.

Help us to worship you and glorify your great name.

It's in the name of Christ, I ask.

Amen.