Different: Following Jesus in a World That Isn't | Sermon 8 | Pastor Derek Berry

Open your Bibles if you hadn't already in the book of Matthew, chapter seven.

We're going to look at the last few verses of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

We've been looking at it for several weeks, now almost probably eight weeks or so.

We've been looking at this text and looking at the thought of being different, different, following Jesus in a world that is not.

And I love these last few verses because it just opens our hearts and minds to sort of see exactly what it is behind what Jesus is trying to show us, showing it to us the entire time.

And as you turn your pages or find it there on your tablet, I thought about growing many when Megan and I were dating and we were getting planning to get married, we began to look, and she would love to look at houses.

And she'd want to drive in different neighborhoods and say, What do you think about this?

Or do you like this house?

And her and I would talk, and of course, you know, you point out what you like, and you know, you like the windows, or you like the way the door, or you like the way it's painted, or you like the brick, or you like the rock work, or the landscaping, and everything that we would see would obviously in our minds think in the future and dream about what we could have one day.

She would say, Man, that house is beautiful, or this house is nice, or this one I don't like.

But as I grew up and realized the most important part about the entire house isn't the windows that are being used, or the paint color, or even the material of the outside structure.

The most important part of the entire home, the structure of it, is the foundation.

And although the foundation is important, sometimes you don't realize the foundation is not any good until weather gets bad or the storms erode the dirt around it.

And I started thinking about how important it is of the foundation of a home or the structure.

But there's been many times that I have been invited to your homes, and I'll go inside and we'll talk, and I've never complimented the foundation of your house.

Most people wouldn't come over and say, man, you sure did do a good job building the footwork and the footers here at the house.

Why?

Because it's under the grade.

It's something that you'll never see, only compliment what way you've decorated or the paint colors or whatever.

So we got to realize the most important part of a home that we uh live in would be something that we'll never actually see unless bad weather erodes the ground or the house begins to settle in a ways that it should not.

So the most important part of a house is what you can't see.

What's underneath determines what happens above.

And as I think about that in my mind, I have to start looking and trying to read what Jesus is talking about.

So the most important part of a home is what you can't see.

It's underneath the ground.

Now let's look, because this is exactly the way Jesus chooses to end the Sermon on the Mount.

Verse number 24.

Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But every one who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

So as I think about the last few verses of the Sermon on the Mount, we've been looking at since chapter five, verse number one, Jesus is changing our mindset about life.

Each and every week we've seen how it is important from the heart, not the exterior, what's on the inside, not what's on the outside.

And now, hear how he ends it, the same concept.

The most important part of the structure is the foundation, the foundation which is under the ground, the foundation which no one actually can see, but it's something that you must do and begin to build on before you ever start putting the walls up on a home.

See, I think the strength of your life individually here, your life depends on the foundation that you build your life on.

So think about that for a second.

The strength of your life depends on the foundation with which you build your life on.

And there's gonna be a sentence that I'll use throughout our time together this morning.

Here it is: don't just hear the word, build your life on it.

Don't just hear it.

You got to build your life on it.

Because as Jesus finishes the sermon, remember the context, right?

They're having all kinds of uh ministry and their miracles, all this stuff's working.

Jesus pulls them to the side, has them sitting down on the mountainside and says, Let me begin to preach unto you.

And that's what we get, chapter 5, 6, and 7 of the certain, which is the Sermon on the Mount.

He's preaching them on the side of the mountain, telling them truth, and he's letting them know it's a heart thing, not an outside thing.

Now listen to me, you can be impressed by everything that Jesus says and still walk away unchanged.

I could be impressed by the words of Christ, the life that he lived, and still leave from being impressed by all of Jesus and just say, Man, that was good, Lord.

And I could build my life on anything that I so choose.

That's exactly what he's talking about here.

So the the question that we should ask ourselves is not, have I heard the words of Jesus?

Because if you're here today, I've already said a few words of Jesus.

So you'd say, Yeah, I've heard the words of Jesus.

So the question isn't, have you ever heard the words of Jesus?

The question is, what am I building my life on?

That's the question that I want to ask you, and that I want you to ask yourself, what are you building your life on?

As we opened the text and began in verse 24, it began with the word therefore.

So Jesus, as he started this, said therefore.

It's in red, Jesus said it, spoke it.

And you always have to see why that word is there, why is therefore there?

It is connecting to everything that he's already preached and proclaimed.

And as he sort of puts a conclusion on this, he says the word therefore.

So essentially what he is saying, in light of everything that I've told you over the last two chapters or the last, who knows how long that sermon lasted.

How long do you think this sermon preached?

You think it was a 30-minute three-pointer?

You think he preached for three hours?

I don't know, right?

I can try that.

You want me to try that this morning?

Hey, I'll keep you awake.

Now, listen to me.

Come on now.

Therefore, in light of everything that I've told you over the last three chapters, or chapter five through seven, because of all of that, what are you building your life on?

What are you building your life on?

Everything we've studied, you and I have studied for eight weeks.

Everything that Jesus taught us about our heart, in light of that, what are you building your life on?

Remember, we've looked at relationships.

We've studied money, we've studied worry, and we've studied enemies.

We've studied how to pray and how to have priorities and how to make right choices over the last eight weeks.

And based on that, Jesus is now saying in verse 24, because of everything that we've looked at, what are you building your life on?

In other words, you've heard me, now what are you doing about it?

How do you like that?

You've heard me, now what are you doing about it?

That's what he's showing us.

Let's look at this.

Let's break this thing apart.

Three points, of course, right?

Here's the first one I'll give you.

We'll see a little bit in verse 24, a little bit in verse 26.

Hearing Jesus is not enough.

And I say it like that because the Bible said it like that.

Notice in verse 26 and in verse number 24.

Verse 24 says, Whoever hears these sayings of mine, and then in verse 26 also said, Whoever hears these sayings of mine.

So he mentions it two times in verse 24, and then again in verse number 26, but he uh he is describing two things, a wise man and a foolish man.

And so I'm telling you, hearing Jesus is not enough.

How is it not enough?

The builders, who's the builders?

You got a wise one and a foolish one.

Guess what?

They both heard the same exact truth.

Is they heard the same truth, they left there, one decided to build on this, and one decided to build on that, and there were two end results that were so different.

How does that happen if they heard the same thing?

I put it like this the difference wasn't exposure to Jesus' teaching, the difference was the response to Jesus' teaching.

How can two people hear the same sermon and walk away differently?

How could my, you think about like I got five kids and I try to raise them the same and I hope that they all respond to God's word.

It's not just enough for me to expose them all to it.

I pray that they'll respond to what they are hearing.

Because the difference is they both builders wise, both heard it, both were exposed to it, but only one responded to it.

So both builders heard the same word.

We've got to establish that point, right?

Verse 24, they heard.

Verse 26, they heard.

They had the same teacher, that's something.

Heard the same truth, had the same opportunities, but the foolish builder decided not to listen, and the wise builder decided to listen.

And so, as I, how does that apply to my life?

How do I make sense of that?

To the difference wasn't that they didn't do what they heard, the difference that, man, I'm gonna, I listened, I heard it, I'm exposed to it, and now I'm gonna run and do whatever it is that I want to do.

Now look in verse 24.

Not only does he say they heard it, but then he goes and says that he does it.

So, so hearing it's not enough because verse 24 says he heard it, and then it followed up and said that he does it.

Verse 26 said, uh, he heard it, and it followed up by saying, but he does it, do it.

The difference is that one both heard, one did, one did not do.

I love that I can connect this to several verses throughout scripture.

You can jot down in your notes, James 1, verse 22.

James 1:22

James says, Be doers of the word and not hearers only.

I like that.

It's not always easy to obey, but he tells us that, man, I've got faith with works.

I've not just got to listen to it, I've got to actually do it.

Another thing, as I was studying out, and you can look at just a few verses prior, one that we looked at last uh Sunday in verse 21.

He says in this same chapter, verse 21, he who does the will of my father.

Last week he spoke about somebody that actually had action and actually did it.

What's he talking about?

He's not telling you and I that we have to earn salvation.

That's impossible.

No, he's saying because you're saved, you then uh obey and then you get, then you begin to do what he's saying.

That's what verse 21 is telling us, and that's exactly what Jesus is showing us in this last section of this sermon.

So knowing the word is not the same as obeying the word.

It'd be nice just to know it.

We could just quote it all day.

You know who else can quote the word of God?

Well, the devil, we've read that in scripture.

He was able to quote it.

He sometimes would quote it out of context or even change the words a little bit, but he knows the word.

So the difference isn't knowing the word.

The difference is I've got to know it and then I've got to obey it.

And this to me is where it gets personal.

You like to get personal a little bit?

Sometimes it's good to get a little personal, right?

Preacher, preacher, be careful.

Now listen, I want to get a little personal.

This is you and the Lord.

Let's get a little personal.

You and I can be in church our whole life and hear good sermons.

I can know scripture and even quote a few.

I can grow up in church, be exposed to truth week after week.

I can even agree to the biblical teachings that take place.

And I can even say amen a few times, and still I can refuse to submit to Jesus' word in my life.

That's where it gets personal.

That's how it connects us to the sermon that we heard last week and that Jesus preached last week.

It's that I can grow up, I can listen, I can be exposed, I can agree, I can like it, but if I choose not to obey it, the scripture is very clear right here where it lets us know that we would be like the foolish builder, not the wise builder.

See, I can know all about the forgiveness that Jesus had and refuse to forgive like Jesus did, and how smart am I.

I can know about worry.

We've already learned about it.

I can be exposed to it and even understand it, but be but not obey it.

I can know what he said about finances and money.

I can know what he says about relationships and prayer.

The difference is I've got to live according to his word.

That's what he's speaking about in this text.

Remember, the goal of God's word is not merely information, it's transformation.

If it was only information, we'd all be good at it.

A lot of us like to let everybody know how much we know.

But the difference of telling somebody how much I'm owe and living my life according to the transformation that has taken place inside of me is vastly different.

And that's what he's speaking about here.

Information, information, information's good, but if I don't apply it, how good is it?

What am I doing with what I heard?

It's a good question.

Maybe that's what Jesus was sort of asking.

What are you doing with what you've heard since chapter 5, verse number one?

Let me leave you with this thought right here.

Put it up for me.

Don't confuse knowing God's word with obeying God's word.

Sometimes, man, I know this and I know that.

You know what he said over there in chapter so-and-so, verse that?

Sometimes I'm thinking that's chapter uh uh book of opinions, chapter verse number three.

You know what I'm saying?

No, I mean I can I can take you to a text.

You heard what he said about no, don't confuse knowing it with obeying it.

That's the difference right here.

Let's move on, let's go a little deeper.

Jesus has shown us what happens when two people know the same truth and do two different things.

Let's look a little bit deeper in these verses.

So your foundation determines whether you will stand.

The foundation of your home determines if your home will stand or not.

First house ever bought.

I was, I think, 20 years old.

I was ready to move out.

Thought everything, the guy built a good house.

I noticed a nice crack across the living room wall.

What'll I do, man?

This is pre-Youtube, you understand?

I went to Home Depot, found the guy in the orange vest.

Bro, I got a crack in the wall, man.

He's like, man, put some mud in there.

Sheetrock mud, and man, and get it going.

I did.

Couple weeks later, crack showed back up.

I said, I'm gonna go to Lowe's, I guess.

I don't know, you know?

He's like, put tape on it.

You know what I'm saying?

Oh, okay, okay.

I'll put a little tape on it after the mud.

He listened it got, you know, so-and-so, you know, uh not you know, a quarter of an inch or so.

And I called the builder up and said, bro, got some problems here, man.

Mud ain't fixing this.

He said, Look, your house is settling.

And I was like, bro, what what does that mean?

20 years old, not really sure.

He explained it, and it didn't settle much more.

But the, but it could have been bad.

The foundation determines whether you stand or not.

So look in these verses, we'll we're breaking them apart just a little bit more.

We'll kind of put 24 through 27 together.

I think if you would look at the outside of the two homes, they would be very similar.

The houses would look the same exterior.

They'd have windows, they would have siding, they'd have roof.

But what was the difference?

Remember, the foundation.

One said, I will dig down and find a solid footing.

One said, I'm gonna take it easy and build it on sand so that it could be done a little bit quicker.

And so in Jesus' context, in as he's painting this picture for you and I to see and to apply to our life, one of the builders, one of the men, heard what Jesus said and did it, according to verse 24.

One heard what Jesus said and said, I'll do it my way instead, verse number 26.

How many times do we read the word and necessarily don't like what it's applying to us in this case?

So I'll say, you know what?

I'll just go do it Derek's modified way.

It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that, make works of it, right?

What's he telling us?

If we listen to him but fail to obey him, he equivocates that to the foolish builder.

So let's look at the two different foundations.

He mentions them both here in the text.

Verse 24, uh, he says, I will liken him to a wise man who builds a house or a rock.

Think about a rock.

Solid, hard.

You ever dug a hole in your yard to plant something and found a rock?

I mean, you could hit it with all kinds of things.

Did it not move?

You know what I did?

I just decided to put the plant over there instead of keep going, right?

You build a home and you get to rock, what do you do?

You guys there's a foundation you might have to blast, you might have to drill it out, etc., to make it work.

He says there's a rock, and then you look in verse 26.

But everyone who hears these things of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who builds his house on sand.

Now, don't think of this as somebody that built the beach house, okay?

Because if you built the beach house, I appreciate you, and I'd like to stay at it sometimes, right?

He's not talking about that.

What's he talking about?

He's talking about a sandy foundation that's not solid, that would give as weather begins.

So he shows us two pictures.

Wise man built the home on a solid rock foundation.

The foolish man built it on a shaky, sandy foundation.

Above the ground, the houses looked the same.

We've got to check that off and visualize two identical homes.

But the structure of them deep down was what was different.

The most important, crucial part was underneath the ground that you and I couldn't see.

And as I was studying this sermon, you can cross-reference verses.

There's a verse that in Luke, as Luke uh takes this down, he said it like this: Luke 6, 48.

This is how he explains the wise and foolish builder.

He said in Luke 6.48, he says, according to the wise builder, he dug deep and laid the foundation on solid rock.

And so you think about as they dug down until they could find the rock that's there to set the foundation, what does that require?

Hard work.

Now, this was before they had an excavator, I'm sure.

They were unable to have power equipment to drill the hole, or to be some sort of dozer in there to move massive amounts of dirt.

And so as you start thinking about hand doing this, how much easier would it be to just form it up on sand than it would be to use a shovel and a post hole digger and whatever else tools that were available at the time to dig down four, five, maybe even six feet to solid ground to put your foundation on?

What would be the difference?

One would be super easy, and one would be super challenging.

One takes work and effort, and what else?

Time.

What do we what does most of us feel like we don't have enough of?

Time.

I can tell when we drive down the road how fast everybody's going.

Because everybody needs to get somewhere quicker than time allots.

We're all given 24 hours in the same day, by the way, but we never feel like we have enough of it.

And so the foolish builder says, Man, I've not got time to dig deep.

I've not got time to find the solid foundational piece that's maybe four feet deep.

So I'm just gonna put a form on top of this sand, pour it, man, paint it, it's gonna look good.

Sand was easier, would you say that?

Building digging down to rock would be harder.

It would be time, it would be sweat, it would be work.

Rock requires digging.

Sand requires easiness.

Now think about this.

What I just said to everything Jesus has preached over the last few weeks.

Is forgiveness easy?

No.

But that's what he requires.

Sometimes it's hard to forgive somebody.

They've hurt us.

It hurts deep down.

I don't want to deal with it.

I'll just move on.

Well, what did he just say?

Foolishness.

Hard work to dig deep.

Forgiveness isn't always easy.

You know what isn't what else is not always easy?

Jesus said for us to love our enemies.

That's not always easy.

Because I would rather them just move on.

Me forget all about them.

But he tells us that that's what we're supposed to do.

Trusting God when you're worrying to death about something, is that easy?

No.

Trusting God and not worrying is not easy.

Some people don't worry, and some people were, they think that's their spiritual gift, is to worry.

I get it, right?

We're all different.

But the truth is, is you might have to work harder at that, and somebody else may have to work harder at forgiveness, or somebody else might have to work harder at loving the enemies.

We're all a little bit different.

We all have challenges.

He doesn't tell us to only do the easy stuff.

If we only did the easy stuff, man, we would all be the foolish builders.

Choosing the narrow road, was that easy or hard?

We learned that last week.

Wasn't always easy.

But easy isn't the question.

The question is, is will you obey so that you can stand?

That's what he said in the text.

Will it stand?

He said that, and I believe in one of the verses.

It's not always easy, is not the question.

Will it stand is the question.

Doing what Jesus said is not always the easiest way, but you know what it is?

The solid way.

It's the way that we should all strive to be.

What you build on matters more than what your life looks like on the outside.

This entire time, from when he was laying out the law down to the Pharisees, it says on the outside they did this, but on the inside they were rotten to the core.

Listen to me.

You may not ever, nobody might ever see the foundation of your life, but I'm telling you, you'll know that it's there.

That's why it's important.

What else does this text show us in these few verses?

It begins to talk about a storm.

Anybody get a storm last night?

Anybody still losing power?

Pat?

No.

Pat told me he lost power for six hours, right?

And I said, man, I was asleep.

I don't know.

I may have lost power.

There were some storms.

Trees fell.

He talks about a storm right here.

Verse 25.

And the rain descended.

And the floods came down.

The winds blew and beat on the house.

It did not fall, for it was founded on a rock.

Then verse 27.

We've noticed, remember, similar, same house, different foundations.

Verse 27, talking about the foolish man's house, and the rain descended.

The floods came, the wind blew, and beat on the house, and it fell.

Great was its fall.

Here's something interesting about storms.

Storm of life came to the wise man and the foolish man.

The storms beat upon the home of the guy that was wise and built on the rock, and it also came to the house that was built on sand.

It's important of this text because Matthew uses the same description for both.

Rain came to both.

Floodwaters came to both.

Winds blew at both houses, and both houses were beaten by the wind.

The reason why that it's both seen and both brought out in this that I felt like it was important to bring out is sometimes you and I that want to build our life on the foundations of the Word of God feel like our life is worse than others or it's tougher than theirs, et cetera.

No, the difference is we bate, we both will face storms.

The people that build their life on the rock of Christ and the ones that build their life on their own wants and desires, which is the sand, the uncertainties.

Storms come in both places.

Oh, the storms and the wind will rage in both spots.

Following Jesus does not mean that you and I will have a storm-free life.

I kind of wish that it would, don't you?

No, Jesus shows us all through Scripture that we, that life serves struggles and things happen in lives, no matter if we built it on Christ or if we don't.

The difference is we can survive on Him and we won't without Him.

Following Jesus doesn't mean that you won't suffer or even have grief at times, disappointments, hardships, troubles within your family doesn't mean that at all.

No, the storms come to both.

People that built on sand and rock both face the same storms, the same struggles, the same grief, the same disappointments, the same weary moments.

The difference was the storm, listen to me, just reveals the foundation.

Oftentimes when we go through the sufferings, the struggles, the disappointments, the heartaches, the struggles that we didn't anticipate, that is what reveals the foundation around us.

And a lot of times for me, I'll self-evaluate and think, man, I've got to get my foundation more solid.

I can't deal with this anymore.

I know that it's not right in this area or this area.

Storms come to strengthen us, not to harm us.

The storm doesn't create your foundation.

What does it do?

It reveals it.

These homes were similar, identical.

The difference was their foundations.

The storm didn't build their foundation, the storm revealed their foundation.

Same thing in your life.

Only one house stood.

Verse 25, it did not fall.

Why?

Because it was built on the rock.

And then verse 27 says, that particular one fell, and then it followed up by saying, and great was its fall.

So the difference wasn't the severity of the storm.

One didn't have a category six and one have a category three.

No, they had the same exact storm.

The difference was the foundation had been established before the storm ever showed up.

The greatest encouragement I can give you this morning is let your foundation begin to be laid now before the storm shows up.

The only way that I'll make it through the storms of life is if my foundation is built on him and him alone.

When I build it on self is when it seems to fall apart.

One foundation stood because it was founded on the rock, one fell because it was founded on sand.

But let me tell you this: every foundation will ultimately be tested.

He tells us that in the verses that we read last Sunday.

In verse 22, it says, In that day, if you remember, in verse 22, many will say to me, In that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied your name?

Remember that?

Verse 23, last week, he says, I never knew you depart from me.

What I love about verse 24 is it connected it to everything that was already preached and proclaimed.

Jesus' final judgment was in view, even as he walked towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount and concluded, he was not only pointing in that moment, but he was pointing to the ultimate moment when we stand before judgment one day, before God.

Life storms will reveal our foundation now, but ultimately there's coming a day when we'll all stand before the Lord and face judgment.

That's when he said in verse 27 of the text, great was its fall.

That to me carries the serious, eternal, uh carries eternal seriousness to me as I read that text.

This doesn't mean that we're going through something difficult.

It just means that one day I'm going to stand before the Lord and I'm going to give an account.

And my question is, is what did I build my life on?

Self or Him?

Jesus is talking about who will stand ultimately before Him.

Let me leave you this little thought and then I'll go to the last two verses.

Build your life on something that will always that will still be standing when everything else is shaken.

Build your life on something, the rock, that will still be standing when everything else is shaken.

All right, let's look at the last two verses of our text, 28 and verse number 29.

Why should the words of Jesus be the foundation of our lives?

He answers that in these two verses.

Jesus has the authority to be your foundation.

Look at verse 28.

And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings, that people were astonished at his teaching.

That word astonished is a verb, it's an action word that means to be amazed or to be strictly amazed in a positive way.

Then he goes on in verse 29.

For he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

So the crowd was astonished, verse number 29 28, amazed.

They were amazed at what Jesus had just preached to them.

They had, in their mind, had never heard teaching of this magnitude.

And what's interesting to me is for three chapters that we've read, chapters 5 through 7, Jesus had spoke with remarkable confidence and with authority the entire time.

But the important note that I like that I jotted down and noted was that Matthew tells us that they were astonished.

What I would have liked to have read is Matthew said, man, and they obeyed.

But it makes the sermon even more deeper because they were astonished.

They were amazed at the remarkable authority and the way that he proclaimed the truth on behalf of God.

But it doesn't say that they obeyed it.

It just said that they were astonished, that they were amazed by it.

So this point is being made even further as Jesus ends this sermon.

It connects back to the warning that he's been laying out the entire time.

You can be amazed by Jesus' words without obeying Jesus' words.

I can be astonished at the words of Christ, but still never move to the point where I obey the words of Christ.

Verse 29 says that Jesus spoke with authority and not as the scribes.

What I liked about that is you start, what does he mean?

Jesus is authority.

He is.

They had not heard teaching of this magnitude.

Remember, they didn't have the full canon of scripture like you and I do.

The New Testament was being written as as it is happening.

They had the Old Testament.

You and I have all 66 books of the Bible.

And it says in verse 29 that they were, verse 28, that they were amazed, they were astonished, and then it talks about in verse 29, his authority, but not as the scribes.

What does he mean by that?

What is he talking about?

Because the scribes, you've got to remember, they would always speak on behalf of somebody else's authority.

But Jesus is saying and has said throughout this entire sermon, but I say unto you, or I say this to you.

See, Jesus wasn't merely offering some opinion that he just pulled out of the sky.

He was speaking to the one that had all authority in the kingdom of heaven and on earth.

And if you look at the context and in full scope in verse 24 through 27, Jesus is saying, this is important because I'm laying out the one that has the authority to lay it all out in a hole.

The answer that he's beginning to make their mind think and think and think is why should I build my life on Christ?

And he laid it out in these last two verses, it's because I hold all the authority in heaven and on earth.

And as they heard that, they were listening.

But did they obey?

I don't know.

Maybe some didn't, some didn't, just like today.

Some obey and some do not.

Some are astonished when they read the text and think, man, how did God do this?

And how does this work?

But deep down, you and I've got to obey it.

Final thing I give you is if Jesus is the Lord of your life, his word should have the final word in your life.

And he shows this that time and time again.

It connects beautifully to the last verses that we read last week in verse 21 and 22 when he says, Lord, Lord, they came to me, Lord, Lord, and he followed up in 23, depart from me for I never knew you.

I love it because if I, me, Derek, this is personal here for just a second, you put your name in the box here.

If I genuinely think and believe that Jesus is the Lord of my life, and I say to him, Lord, Lord, I cannot treat his word as a suggestion.

If I believe that he is the Lord of my life, I cannot treat his word as suggestions time and time again.

So here it is, it's simplified.

I don't obey him only when I agree with him.

Doesn't work that way.

I don't follow him when it's convenient for me to follow him.

It doesn't work that way.

If he's Lord of my life, I'm gonna follow him whether it's convenient or inconvenient.

I don't get to accept the parts that I want to apply to my life and ignore the parts that cause me some level of discomfort.

It doesn't work that way.

If he's the Lord of your life, I'm either gonna fully obey him or I'm not.

The choice comes within.

It's an individual choice that you've got to make.

His authority extends over areas of my life, over to the full areas of my life.

It's not a buffet where I get to pick and I get to choose.

I mean, Jesus has spoken about our values, our influence, our hearts, our motives, our trust, our relationship, our choices.

And now he's hitting on the foundation.

So the question is not whether his word is real or not.

No, the question is, are you gonna obey it or not?

It's an individual question that you have to answer.

I can't answer it for you.

I wish that I could.

See, Jesus isn't asking you for you to admire his word.

No, he's calling us to stop and say, I'm gonna submit to it.

The difference.

I can admire it, I can be astonished by it, I can love it, I can say, man, this sounds so good.

He says, I need you to stop and I need you to submit.

Everyone in the world must decide what they're gonna do.

Obey or not.

We can stop by being astonished and say, man, that's great.

But we'll be like the guy that built on sand, not the guy that built on the solid rock.

The Sermon on the Mount Inns, verse 29.

The crowd heard.

They've heard him.

Guess what?

You've heard him for eight weeks.

Week by week, I lay it out.

Eight weeks, the question that I want to ask you is not did Jesus teach?

We know that he did.

The question that I want to ask you is, what am I gonna do with what he taught?

We know that Jesus taught, but individually, what are you gonna do with what Jesus taught?

And it brings us back to the two billers we just heard.

One obeyed, one walked away.

Every person listening right now has a decision to make.

You're gonna choose to obey, or are you just gonna choose to say, Man, that was a good one?

It's up to us.

As we conclude and I wrap this sermon series up, eight weeks we've set, I believe, on the mountainside, listening to Jesus proclaim the truth of the Sermon on the Mount.

As I read the text as I prepare, or even reread it later in the week, I feel as if I'm sitting there on the side of the mountain as Jesus is preaching this sermon to me.

And each week that I've laid out to you, and as I can start back over in chapter five and verse number one, and read time and time again, he showed us that we should have different values and different influences.

He showed us to have different hearts and different motives.

He showed us to have different trust and different relationships.

He showed us how to have different choices, and today he showed us how to have a different foundation.

So Jesus has told us what we as people of Him should value.

He's told us what we're supposed to and how we're supposed to influence the world.

I mean, he's dealt with our hearts, he's dealt with our motives, he's dealt with our trust, he's changed how we handle relationships, and he told us how to choose.

And now here's the end.

And we're asking ourselves, what are we gonna do with what we've heard?

Am I just gonna mark it down as another great one?

Man, I love the teaching of Jesus.

Or am I gonna say, I'm gonna stop messing around and I'm gonna build my life on the truth of Him.

The choice is yours.

What are you gonna do with what you've been taught?

Let's pray.

God, I come to you this morning thankful.

Lord, for the word that you've proclaimed.

Lord, I'm thankful for the sermon that you preached.

I'm thankful that we got to walk through it over the last two months.

Lord, my prayer is that we don't leave here saying that the words of you were astonishing.

We don't leave here just saying, Man, I'm amazed by the teachings of Jesus Christ.

No, I my prayer is that we internally look and think, what am I building my life on?

Am I just gonna be excited that I heard some good teaching of Jesus?

Or am I gonna make a decision and a choice to say I'm gonna start obeying the teachings of Jesus?

Lord, have your way in the next few moments of invitation.

I do pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Let's stand at