Matthew pt. 20 - Build Your Life on Obedience

We are finishing the Sermon on the Mount, the mountain of a

sermon, the greatest sermon ever preached.

Jesus showing and explaining what does the Kingdom of God

really look like. Well, to me it looks like this,

or to me it looks like that. Well, to Jesus it's defined

plainly. He makes it clear.

He makes it simple as we look through the Sermon on the Mount.

You can read the sermon on the mountain in about 15 minutes.

If you haven't done that, make sure you do Chapter 5, Chapter

6, Chapter 7 of Matthew. You can even read it out loud.

Read it at the pace that you could even imagine.

Maybe Jesus preached it that day.

He's seated on the mountain, the others are standing in front of

him. You can even read it with that

cadence. Do your best to imagine this

scenario. He preached it not just for

them. He preached it also for you.

He gave those blessings. He starts the sermon off with

repentance. Blessed are those who mourn.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek.

He's talking about people who know about their need for God,

not the people who go. I'm great, I'm good, and I guess

God would be helpful for the whole eternity thing, but other

than that, I'm really not looking for much.

That's not what Jesus is describing right out of the

gate. He brings humility.

So for secularists who will give a tip of the hat to Jesus, be

like, you know, his Sermon on the Mount, if everybody just did

that, then the world would be great.

Well, yes, that's true. But what they typically mean

when they say that is if everybody would just love their

neighbor as they love themselves.

Which is also true, but also impossible without the power of

Christ in you. Which is impossible to have if

you're not first poor in spirit and a repentant soul who has

been transformed by the grace of God.

So you can't have one part of the Sermon on the Mount without

the entire sermon on the mount. Most importantly, without the

beginning of the sermon on the Mount.

That part that includes your repentance.

You mourn over your sin, and then you shall be comforted.

As opposed to let me take this good philosopher named Jesus.

He was a good man. What?

Really. Why was he crucified?

Oh, I'm not so sure about that. But he was.

He was a good guy, and I like some of his teachings.

So Jesus goes on after these blessings and calling to

repentance. He calls his people.

He calls you the salt of the earth, the light of the world.

He then says that I didn't come to abolish the law.

I came to fulfill the law. And then he brings the standard

of the law that everybody thought was really strict, and

he raised the standard. You've heard you're not supposed

to murder. I tell you, you can't even hate

anybody. You've heard you're not supposed

to commit adultery. I'm telling you, you can't even

lust goodness. How is this possible?

Well, it's only possible in Christ.

It's only possible when you have been transformed, Not when you

have a different perspective, but when you have an entirely

different foundation, which is what we're going to get to

today. Jesus talked about divorce.

He raised the standards again. He talked about making oaths.

He talked about retaliation. He talked about loving your

enemies. He taught about giving to the

needy. These is this is what the

Kingdom looks like. The Kingdom is full of love, and

the Kingdom is the right way to live.

And yes, I will acknowledge to the secularist point, yes,

anyone who attempts to obey the Sermon on the Mount, although

they'll do it imperfectly, just like Christians do it

imperfectly, It will bless the world, It will change a person's

life. And yes, they will get closer

into Kingdom principles because the best way to live anything

that a person does well, any truth that a person stumbles

into, that piece of truth, is God's truth.

They just happen to stumble upon a Kingdom principle and they go,

I'm building my life upon this. Hey man, that's actually a good

thing. Just so you know, that's just

one tiny sliver of light that's shining out of the radiant sun,

which is the entire Kingdom of God.

You're getting one glimpse of it, and I'm glad it's blessing

you, and of course it will. However, there's more, and also

you need more. You need the whole Kingdom.

Jesus wants to bless your entire life with his will in his way.

And his blessing again includes repentance.

So he taught us about fasting. He taught us about laying up

treasures in heaven instead of here on earth.

And then he tells us in the Kingdom, you don't worry about

your life. You know what?

Which part am I not supposed to worry about?

The whole thing. Don't worry about your life.

Don't worry about what you're going to eat or what you're

going to drink. Jesus says, look at the birds.

You're worth a lot more than all the birds.

This is what it's like to have a Father in Heaven.

Don't be anxious for tomorrow either.

Tomorrow can be anxious for itself.

That's not your jurisdiction. Don't judge anyone with

hypocrisy. Don't judge anyone with

condemnation. Don't judge anybody where you

hope for their downfall. Am I not supposed to judge at

all? We found out we are supposed to

judge. It's impossible to live without

living a life of judgement. We're always to make

assessments. Jesus says judge not, and then

he literally says don't give your pearls to pigs or to dogs.

How am I supposed to know who a dog and a pig is unless I use

the J word right? I'm always I've got to make a

judgement. But it's not one that would

condemn. It's not one that would reject

eternally and say that you're hopeless and I don't want to do

it from a place of hypocrisy. So the bank robber has no

jurisdiction telling the man who's lying on his taxes not to

steal. That's the judgement that Christ

is pointing out. He says first take the log out

of your own eye, you bank robber.

And now, yes, you can help to get the spec, the smaller thing

out of someone else's eye. Didn't mean to minimize lying on

your taxes there. Like it's it's a small speck,

like it's all fire that I don't want to play with.

But the point is he's saying yes, judgment is an obvious

thing that has to happen. He then goes on to say beware of

false prophets. Aren't we supposed to judge?

Of course we are. You've got to judge and be

willing to say that's a false prophet or that's a false

teacher, or at best, this person's misguided.

And I'm watching them. I'm watching them.

I'm not going feed me whatever you have to say because your

ministry has good fruit. I don't care if your ministry

has good fruit. I care if your character has

good fruit. And if I can't get close enough

to judge your character, that doesn't mean I condemn you, but

it just means I have to honestly say I don't know about you.

I don't know about you. I see you drive out demons.

I praise God for that. I see you heal the sick, and I

praise God for that. But I don't know your character,

so I can't fully trust and endorse you.

Why? Because many will do many

wonderful signs. Jesus says great and mighty

things will happen, he says. But a tree is known by its

fruit, so he's wrapping up his sermon.

Here. A tree will be known by its

fruit. A good tree can't be bear bad

fruit. But we clarified the false

prophet, the false teachers, and there are many.

We don't judge the fruit of their ministry.

We judge the fruit of their character.

That's the fruit that he's talking about.

Because the fruit of their ministry might be very good.

Why? Because God is good, and God can

draw a straight line with a crooked stick.

And still we have to judge character and who a person is

and the teaching out of their mouths.

And if it's too vague, that should be a red flag to us.

Didn't intend to recap anything as far as false prophets, but

it's important. It's a needed reminder in the

world we live in. I'm sure you'll you'll you'll

find somebody else this week on Instagram.

They'll come across your feed. We found out.

That's another thing with false prophets.

They always find you. False prophet will always come

and get you. You're minding your own

business. And then a false prophet wants

to gather people unto themselves.

A shepherd will rescue, but a shepherd is not greedy for his

own glory or a prophet always. A false prophet.

Always will be. So Jesus then warns us about He

says, not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the

Kingdom of heaven. What a what an absolutely

horrifying thing to imagine. Not everyone who says to me

Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Lord, didn't we do this? Didn't we do that?

Didn't we do this? Some argue and and say that

these verses were to be separated.

He's talking about false prophets and he's talking about

false converts. I lump it all in together and

say I don't want to be false anything.

I just want to walk in faithfulness to the Lord.

And yes, we should always judge a tree by its fruit.

And now we come all the way to the very end of Jesus's Sermon

on the Mount in verse 24 of Matthew Chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Read along with me. I'm reading from the ESV.

By the way, Matthew 7, verse 24. Everyone who hears these words

Matthew 7:24

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. Heavenly Father, we humble

ourselves before your word today, knowing that we need that

we want to be the man who builds this house on the rock.

God, bring revelation, bring light and bring strength.

Bring all the faith that's needed.

We have nothing to offer today except a humility and a poorness

of spirit. Everything else good that will

happen will come from you. And then we will even use that

equipment that you provide. You are the one who's got to

till the field of our heart. You're the one who's got to

plant the seed in our heart. You water the seed in our heart

and then you also make it bear fruit.

God, you're so glorious and gracious to do it all.

We receive it. That's our posture.

Our posture this morning is one of submission.

We are receptive. You won't find a a rolling eye.

You won't find a hard heart. Make a soft and pliable fit for

your service. In Jesus name.

We thank you. Amen.

Everyone then, who hears these words of mine and does them.

Everyone who hears these words of mine, these words of mine

that Jesus talking about, is the sermon that he's just preached.

He's finishing the sermon. And most translations even put a

a therefore there. Maybe your Bible has that he

says. Therefore, everyone who does

these words of mine, he's connecting this thought to the

past 15 minutes of his sermon. He's going, therefore, so early

in my walk with the Lord, I would come to just this passage

and I would think everyone who does these words of mine, it's

like the whole Bible and yes, like walk in obedience to all of

God's commands. But in context, Jesus is saying,

therefore, everyone who does what I've just been preaching

and teaching for the past 15 minutes, that sermon, that

message of the Kingdom, those are the words he's talking

about. Everyone who does these words of

mine, That's the one who's like a wise man and builds his house

on the rock. He's talking about the sermon

that he's preached. Jesus has already told us in

this sermon you can't serve 2 masters and now he's telling us

you can't have two foundations. There's only one or the other.

You're building on rock or you're building on sand.

Jesus is the master of black and white, contrary to popular

belief. Wide gate, narrow gate, good

tree, bad tree. But here he teaches us the how

of it all. He he doesn't just say don't be

a good tree or or or don't be a bad tree.

He doesn't say do be a good tree or don't be a bad tree.

He doesn't just say don't go on the wide path and do go on the

narrow path. He goes very specific and he

goes. Now you're probably wondering

how right? How what does it look like?

Well now he spells it out for us.

The how is made plain for the listener who was hearing him and

wanted to make sure they're on the narrow path.

They want to make sure they're bearing good fruit.

He gives the secret. It's who hears these words of

mine and does them obedience to the words of Jesus.

Particularly in the Sermon on the Mount.

That is the how that leads to the good fruit.

That is the narrow path. What?

Where is the narrow path? Well, Jesus is the path, He is

the gate. He is the door.

And also walking in obedience to him is what builds life on a

solid foundation. Both people heard the message.

Jesus doesn't say. The wise man is like the one who

heard my message and the foolish man is the one who didn't hear

my message. Both people heard the message of

Jesus. This is scary.

This makes everybody accountable.

Both people heard the message. Oh, I've been.

I've been hearing the word of God since I was a child.

That doesn't that doesn't help you.

John Michael. Yeah, Barry and Denise Clark

taught the word of God to me since I was a child.

That didn't. That didn't do it for me.

It's only obedience that builds my life on the foundation of the

word of God. Now, is that the ultimate head

start? Yeah, that's a bit of an

understatement to say that I had anyone who had parents who

taught them the word of God. To say you were privileged would

be like the understatement of the Millennium.

You know, we that's there is no greater privilege.

It is the greatest head start in life that a person could

possibly have. That is a wonderful gift.

And we receive that. And still we don't get to ride

on anyone else's faith. We don't get to build on anyone

else's foundation. My life is its own.

I'll stand before the Lord all by myself, as will you.

So both people heard the message of Christ in his example here.

Both were in church. Both had heard the words of

Christ. But one obeyed and one didn't.

Why does this happen? It's because it's harder to

build on rock than it is to build on sand.

To build on sand. I can just start laying things

on top of it and it's going to be fine for today, and it's

probably going to be fine for tomorrow.

It's actually going to be fine all the way up until it's not.

But I won't know until it's too late.

I'll go. It's fine.

Look, it's fine. Look, it's fine.

Look, it's fine. Look, it don't judge me.

That's where I'll go. That's where I'll finally go

when it all falls down. Don't judge me.

Well, I wasn't judging you, but I'm devastated for you.

And I do want to help you rebuild.

Well, come help me rebuild like this.

And I'm not going to help you rebuild on sand.

I'll help you rebuild on Christ. Well, then you're judging me.

No, there's just no other way to build.

There's no other way to build. I'm not going to build on sand

because I know what's going to happen with the next storm.

Oh, so you're just going to leave me to myself, then?

No, that's that's clever gaslighting on your part.

But I love you enough. And I know The Rock enough to

know what's best. And I want to apologize for the

Rock. I want to give you the highest

and the strongest possible foundation.

I'm going to build you a better house.

Do you want that? No, because that's hard.

Well, I agree it is hard. Pick your heart.

Choose. Choose your heart.

It's hard to crucify your flesh and follow the will of God.

But it's really hard to not have a heavenly Father as you go

through this life and to not walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

So pick your heart. And ultimately the eternal heart

becomes an easy comparison to make.

But it is harder to build on rock than it is to build on

sand. On sand, I just lay stuff on top

of it. It's going to be fine until it's

not. I might notice some cracks in my

drywall. So when you have foundation

issues, you might have a crack and you can patch it, but it'll

crack again. And you can patch it but it'll

crack again because you don't have a drywall issue.

But that's my temptation is like, oh, this is just a a

drywall thing. Let's hang a picture here,

right? This is the best way to to fix

my life. What's the What's the next book

I need? What's the next podcast I need

to listen to? What's the next philosophy.

So I start build, I start piece mealing my life, and I'm hanging

pictures to cover up all these cracks.

So far it kind of works. The problem is the storm hasn't

come yet. But when the storm's coming, and

it is, Jesus said it's an intense storm.

There's wind that comes, there's rain that falls.

There's floods that rise. And they all beat against the

house. Notice that both houses got beat

against. I live in Christ and I my house

will never be beat against. That is a lie.

That is not true. It's not biblical.

Living in Christ, you will have things that beat against your

house. Your life will be beat against,

just like everybody else's. The difference is when the storm

is gone, you won't be. That's the difference.

When the storm is gone for the person in Christ, you won't be

gone. But outside of Christ, when I

haven't built on the foundation of obedience to the words of

Jesus, let's keep clarifying what building on the rock means.

It's not I know stuff, but obedience to the words of Jesus.

That is what makes all the difference.

There are many people who sit in church for decades, and they're

not built upon the rock. They know the word of God.

They can recite the Scriptures. They may worship with with great

enthusiasm, but that does not equal obedience to the words of

Jesus. In particular, in the Sermon on

the Mount, how do you how can you judge maturity?

How can you judge fruit? Open Matthew 5-6 and seven and

see if the Holy Spirit won't start talking to you about some

things in your life. You're going, whoa, let me go

somewhere else in the scripture. Let me go compare myself to

maybe some some really, really obviously flawed Old Testament

saying like, oh man, at least I'm not David in that situation,

man, look at this guy, Look at this guy.

Instead of Jesus saying the standards here, this is what the

Kingdom is like. This is what my people do, and

this is what I empower my people to do.

So I've got the cracks in my drywall.

Maybe my doors aren't closing properly after a while, and

eventually the flood comes, the wind comes, and the house is

exposed for what it always was. It was a poor imitation for a

good structure. It was false.

This is your life and this is my life outside of obedience to the

words of Jesus. It's a little bit of brokenness

here. It's a little bit of brokenness

there, but you tell yourself that's life.

But God has stability and God has comfort for you.

God is much more compassionate towards you than you are to

yourself. He wants better for you than

what you want for you. His sermon, Jesus's sermon, will

rescue your whole soul, your whole mind, your whole spirit,

and your whole body. But digging on the rock, digging

into the rock is hard. Building on the rock required.

Digging into the rock. It was uniting with the rock and

then receiving the strength from the rock.

Jesus said it in his sermon back in verse 13.

Here, Chapter 7. Enter by the narrow gate.

For the gate is wide and the way is easy.

That leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many.

For the gate is narrow and the way is hard.

That leads to life and those who find it are few.

The interesting thing about the Sermon on the Mount is it

travels with you throughout your Christian walk.

You don't outgrow it. So everybody, wherever you are,

you feel like man. John Michael wrote this sermon

for me. Yes, I did.

And just like I write every sermon for you.

But the Sermon on the Mount will always travel with you.

Some of you mature Saints, you've been walking with the

Lord for a long time. This stuff hits you right

between the eyes. In fact, the more mature you

get, the harder it hits you. Go.

Oh Lord, help me. That's the humility that comes.

The closer you walk with the Lord, the more you know you need

the Lord and some of you who are younger than the Lord.

You going, this is hitting me like and it's not going to stop

hitting you. The Lord has another place for

us to go, another place for us to grow, because he's good,

because he loves us, and because he is renewing our minds so that

our ways actually would be His ways.

That our thoughts actually would be His thoughts.

But building on the rock requires digging into the rock,

uniting with the rock and then receiving the strength of the

rock. Jesus said enter by the narrow

gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy.

It's sandy to build on that the way that leads to destruction.

Those who enter by it are many. The gate is narrow and the way

is hard. That leads to life and those who

find it are few. Living life without the comfort

of a heavenly Father is hard. We said that, but denying your

flesh. Is also hard.

So pick your heart. Both houses get the same storm.

Both lives get the same storms. Both the obedient to Jesus life

and the disobedient to Jesus life face a world that is

broken, where the devil is bad and where things go wrong both

lives face all of it. Storms will come into your life.

Obedient Christian storms will come into your life, but God

will never leave you, Proverbs 2416 says.

For the righteous falls seven times and rises again.

But the wicked stumble in times of calamity, the righteous fall.

Yeah, over and over and over. The difference is the

resurrection power of Jesus. The resurrection power of Jesus.

The resurrection power of Jesus. So will your life fall?

No. Will the house fall?

No. Will you stumble?

Sure. So the idea here, The

implication, though, is that the wicked stumble and they don't

get up. The wicked fall and they stay

down. Can't you think about times in

your life? Can't you testify to all those

times where the Lord picks you up?

Can't you testify, for those of you who have walked in obedience

to Jesus testify to the strength of the rock?

The same storms you saw hit other people's lives You go on.

I don't know how people do it. That's it.

That is a common sentiment among mature believers they share with

one another. I don't know how people live

without Jesus like I don't. I don't know how you could

possibly do it. And the answer is you can't.

It's not. It's not actual life.

It's despair. It's anxiety.

It's fear. It's terror.

It's it's it's an extreme vulnerability.

I have no covering. I have no house.

I have no foundation. But the foundation makes all the

difference. Interesting thing to note here,

with the foolish man in his building.

The foolish man isn't always rebellious, but he's often times

just thoughtless, just often times not deliberate, just often

times not thinking it through. He's not paying attention.

He thinks his way is easier. He thinks it requires less of

him. But he doesn't see that it's

actually going to require everything from him.

It will demand his entire life. So what's the outcome of the

life that's built on the rock? And what's the outcome of the

life that's built on the sand? They stand, one stands, one

falls. But what's the eventual outcome?

Go to Revelation Chapter 21, the outcome of the life that's

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

built on the rock. What is the the final word on

it? Revelation, chapter 21, verse

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

one. Then I saw a new heaven and a

new earth. This is the revelation that God

gave to John, the revelation of Jesus Christ to John when he was

exiled on the island of Patmos. Then I saw a new heaven and a

new earth for the 1st heaven and the first earth had passed away

and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New

Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a

bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from

the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with

man. He will dwell with them, and

they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as

their God. He will wipe away every tear

from their eyes, and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore.

For the former things that passed away.

Saints, we can't comprehend how beautiful that moment will be

when we heard that spoken. And he who is seated on the

throne said, Behold, I am making all things new.

Also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy

and true. And he said to me, it is done.

I am the alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life

without payment. The one who conquers will have

this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

What a powerful and beautiful promise for the life that's

built on the rock. What's coming.

He wants us to taste and see all that we can taste and see now

all that we can receive by faith.

Now the Lord says yes. He gives his his yes and his

Amen. Even in the world that's broken,

even where the devil's bad? Even where things still go

wrong, we still look forward to the day when all things will be

made finely and totally and completely perfect.

But in the meantime, we walk in peace.

In the meantime, we have a life where we don't worry.

In the meantime, we have a king who cares for us still.

But what's the outcome of the life that's not built on the

rock? You're curious about that one,

too. Look in chapter 20, turn back a

page. Revelation 20, verse 11.

Revelation 20:11

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.

You do not want to be at the great white throne.

Judgement, Saints. The great white throne judgement

is a different judgement. It is not for the sheep, it is

for the goats. Then I saw a great white throne

and him who was seated on it from his presence.

Earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them.

So this is the fearful judge sitting on the throne.

The same one who died on the cross.

This is him who will judge the living and the dead as we recite

in the Apostles Creed. He's so terrifying that earth

and sky flee from his presence. The problem is they can't that.

Where can they go? There's nowhere to hide from his

presence. You make your bed in hell.

He is there. You ascend to the heavens, He is

there. So even earth and sky run in

terror from him. But they can't escape.

There's no corner to hide behind.

And I saw the dead, great and small.

That means rich and poor, influencer and not Super Bowl

champion and not and everything in between.

Pick your famous, pick your preference, pick your

politician, and pick your nobody.

I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and

books were opened. Then another book was opened,

which is the book of life, and the dead were judged by what was

written in the books according to what they had done.

And the sea gave up the dead who were in it.

Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were

judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

This is the second death, the lake of fire.

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

Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

This is horrifying. Back to chapter 21 and verse 8.

But As for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, As

for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters,

and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns

with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

The stakes are so high. So Jesus's sermon is not a

suggestion. It's not a, you know, do your

thing. Just know that I love you.

Yes, know that he loves you. And know that he is the one who

judges the living and the dead. That he is the one who on that

day people will say to the mountains cover us.

They'll say to the hills fall on us.

Please bury me. Where could I go to run, Hide me

from the wrath of the Lamb. But on that day, once our time

has run out. When our heart stops beating in

that moment, you know people say foolish things like to be absent

from the body is to be present from the Lord.

That is for the Christian. That is for the one who has been

rescued by Christ. That is for the one who actually

loves Jesus. If you don't love Jesus now, why

would you think you would love him later?

If you don't love him now, he's not yours later, so only for the

one who truly loves and fears the Lord and walks in obedience

to him. That builds the foundation on

the House that won't be destroyed.

But on that day, on the Judgement Day, every house will

be assessed, books will be opened, records have been kept,

records are being kept, and on that day the Lamb's book of life

is also opened. And if the name has been blotted

out, that person goes into the lake of fire.

I'm going to read to you from Second Corinthians.

You turn there, Second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse

2 Corinthians 5:10

10, Second Corinthians 5, verse 10.

2 Corinthians 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so

that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in

the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of

the Lord, we persuade others, but what we are is known to God,

and I hope it is known to your conscience.

We're not commending ourselves to you again but giving you

cause to boast about us so that you may be able to answer those

who boast about outward appearance and not about what is

in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves

it is for God. So for some context and some

clarity on the language here Paul was saying, hey the the

wicked will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ.

Therefore we persuade men we plead with them and now he's

making a quit a quick sidebar to talk about his ministry again.

He's going look these conflicts these issues that are happening

about well you follow this person or you listen to them or

I I'm Paul's not my favorite guy.

I like to listen to so and so. So he's, he's making a sidebar

teaching here. For if we are beside ourselves

or foolish, then it's for God's sake.

If we're in our right mind, it's for your sake.

For the love of Christ controls us.

Because we have concluded this, that one has died for all,

therefore all have died. This is the good news.

This is the substitution of Jesus.

One died for all. Therefore, by faith, all died

appropriately under the judgment of God.

We've already suffered according to the mercy and grace of

Christ, and he died for all that those who live might no longer

live for themselves but live for him who for their sake died and

was raised. So this is the argument that's

made. It's very logical, it's very

simple. Christ is the substitution and

God the Father said, I put the sin of the whole world on him

and I punish it completely and fully and totally.

And therefore we all died. So don't we have to die for our

sin? We did on the cross.

Yeah, but I didn't experience it.

Yeah. Welcome to mercy.

Welcome to grace. Therefore, your reasonable

response to worship and obedience to him would be.

Well, then I'll live for the one who did it for me.

Exactly. Exactly.

Now you've got it. That's the point.

Jesus did it all for you. Now give it all to Him.

Worthy is the lamb. Not just for me to sing, but for

me to live in obedience to from now on.

Therefore we regard no one according to the flesh, even

though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh.

Now he's making a sidebar, teaching in like we don't honor

people because of their how great their ministry looks or

how powerful it seems to be. Therefore, if anyone is in

Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who

through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry

of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was

reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their

trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of

reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for

Christ making his appeal, God making His appeal through US, We

implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God for our

sake. He made him to be sin who knew

no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Because the stakes are so high. Knowing the fear of the Lord,

Paul says We persuade men. He says because of the coming

judgment, judgment, hell and eternity are supposed to be

motives. It became uncool for a while in

the church, like, well, it's the goodness of God that leads

people to repentance. That is absolutely a verse in

the Bible. Congratulations on finding it.

I'm glad you read it. I'm glad you believe it.

Did you know it's not the only verse in the Bible that compels

people to repentance? Did you know there is a a whole

picture and we should take all of it and not just go?

I like that. Well, I like it too, but we got

to like the whole Bible and the whole teaching of the word of

God. And Jesus, the one who says he's

going to cut off branches and throw them into the fire,

believes in all of it. So all of that is actually the

goodness of God that leads people to repentance.

So if you want to understand the goodness of God, you can't leave

out the judgment of God because God is not good.

If God is not judging, God is just open.

It's not the same thing as being good.

So God has standards, but God is also the savior, and God also

makes his own sacrifice. The stakes are so high.

Imagine what if you could travel back in time to the year 2001.

It's the 11th of September and you're in New York City.

Maybe it's 7:00 AM, Maybe it's 8:00 AM.

Some men are boarding some flights in Boston right now, or

in about 20 minutes, different men will be getting on different

flights. And you step outside of the

World Trade Centers and you're there and you've come from the

future. What are you going to do this

morning as thousands and thousands and thousands of souls

walk up into these buildings? So you're just going to go, you

know what? I don't want to offend anybody.

You know, like they might see it differently than I see it and

and maybe they won't understand what I'm saying.

No. What would you do knowing what

was coming to those souls within just a couple of hours, knowing

what was going to happen? Would you not make a fool of

yourself? Would you not be eagerly

pleading? Would you not be dragging and

mourning and weeping to get whoever to to convince by some?

And you know it looks crazy, but wouldn't you still do it by some

standard, by some? Oh, what if you could get one

man, one woman? These grandmothers, these

grandfathers, these husbands, these wives, these sons, these

daughters, these souls, these people?

Surely not all of them are Christians.

Surely not all of them. Eternity is secure.

Would you not plead? Would you not be desperate?

And when some people dismiss you, go there's another psycho

on the streets this morning. You wouldn't.

You wouldn't be fazed by that. You would just focus on the next

person. Go.

Please listen to me. Don't go.

Please don't go. You would have done the same

thing in any situation if you could go back in time.

If you could go back to Europe the night the Titanic was going

to set sail, knowing what would happen four days later when

thousands of people would sink to the bottom of the North

Atlantic, you would do anything. But don't get on the ship.

Don't get on the ship. Seems like just another day for

them, but for you, it'd be so different.

Knowing the fear of the Lord, you would compel others.

Knowing that eternity is at stake, and if a few people

ignored you, it wouldn't faze you.

Every life is going to be tested.

Every life is going there. It might not be through a

surprise, it might be a little bit more predictable, but we

don't know. We don't get to predict.

We're really unsure. So it might not be in dramatic

terror event fashion, it might not be in famous unsinkable ship

fashion, but it's all we're all going the same route.

Everybody's exiting this place, everybody's going to die.

And for the church, this is a motive that we live with Saints.

We're we're to be aware of our limitations.

We're to be aware of our temporary status on the earth,

knowing that we're secure forever.

But this compels us to preach the message of Jesus and to obey

the message of Jesus even all the way up.

Where I can't wait. When we get to it at the end of

Matthew, all the way at the end of chapter 28, go into all the

world, make disciples, and teach them to obey everything I have

commanded you. What are you, some kind of like

Christian nationalist? No, no, no, I'm a Christian.

Everything. Everybody should obey everything

that Jesus says. Well, I don't see it that way.

Well, I am still compelled to do everything I can to persuade

you. Knowing the fear of the Lord,

knowing that you really are going to stand in front of the

one who will judge the living and the dead.

And knowing that he will throw people that he loves into the

lake of fire. And it will be their rightful

judgment that I deserve, that they deserve, that we all

deserve. Knowing that that's coming.

I have more motive, I have more courage and I have more love.

I actually have desire that because there is a test that

comes to every house. There are tests that come in

life and there's a test that coming that comes afterlife.

And the test is the Lord Jesus himself.

Will he say well done or will he be saying depart from me, you

worker of lawlessness? Because that's the distinction

that he makes. Remember Jesus told us earlier

in the Sermon on the Mount he didn't come to get rid of the

law. And here he is at the end of the

sermon saying whenever he was referencing false prophets and

and false converts, he says depart from me, you worker of

lawlessness, you worker of lawlessness.

So it was it was the sin as his evidence.

That's what's recorded in the books.

It's lawlessness. It's not you did your best.

It's actual sin. It's actual lawlessness.

It's actual disobedience to God. We're going to close with this

and Psalm one, which we read is our magnification this morning.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of

scoffers, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his

law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by

streams of water. That's me planted by streams of

water. That's only if your delight is

in the law of the Lord. You're meditating on His law day

and night, and you don't walk in the counsel of the wicked or the

ungodly. That man that life is like a

tree planted by streams of water.

That tree yields its fruit. In the right season, the leaf of

the tree does not wither, and all that he does he prospers the

wicked, or not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment.

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, For the Lord

knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will

perish. And I'm going to read these

final verses, and then we're going to pray from the Sermon on

the Mount, back in chapter seven and verse 28.

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.

Jesus, all authority in heaven and earth belongs to you.

Everything you say, everything you want, it's perfect.

Make us a people who walks in a deeper obedience.

God, we ask you to make us that because we can't make ourselves

anything. So it's only it's only our

humility that can protect us. It's only our humility that

makes us receptive. And then it's you who does the

work. Holy Spirit, come in right now.

Come in and move and minister to your people God.

As hearts have been cut, I pray that you would enter in deeply.

Enter in more deeply. Your word is has accomplished

its mission today. Enter in deeply Holy Spirit.

Strengthen, fill. Cause us to be such a tender

hearted people with such a motive of love for others,

knowing the fear of the Lord. We want to walk in obedience

because we see your goodness and we love your goodness, and

because we love others. We love our friends.

We love our family. We love our acquaintances.

We even love our enemies, and we want them spared.

We want them rescued from certain tragedy, from permanent

death, from eternal separation. You call us to be disciples who

make disciples. You've given us this ministry of

reconciliation that we would persuade, that we would compel,

that we would use every opportunity we have to tell the

good news about your Kingdom, that there is a king in heaven

and he rules over all the earth. Glorify your name among your

people. God strengthen and equip us for

every good work in Jesus name. And now the Lord bless you and

keep you. The Lord make his face shine

down upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great

peace. In Jesus name.

Amen.