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

Following Jesus in a world that is not.

And we have looked week by week in the Sermon on the Mount, and here we are in chapter seven and the last few verses of this sermon.

And if you've missed it, you can check out online and catch up and see and hear one of the ones that maybe you perhaps uh missed.

But I love these last few verses as it brings everything together.

So find your place in chapter seven in verse number 24 of the word.

And as you flip over or open up on your tablet or your phone, uh have you ever uh looked at houses?

And as you've looked at them, you noticed something about them that you like.

Megan and I used to, when we were younger, we were getting married, she's she said, let's go look.

And we would look, I like this part, or I like this color choice, or I like this brick, or I like the door that they use there, or the windows that they used there.

And as you start looking at these houses, you get to see what's above the surface.

You get to see what's on the outside, the material that they used, uh, the color choices that they picked.

And, you know, you can make a decision or an opinion if you like it, or if it flows, if it doesn't.

But one of the most important parts about the house is the foundation, which is what we don't usually see.

You see the above the ground, above the grade, and you can decide how the roof pitch looks or the shingle color and all that.

But below the surface, which is the foundation, that's what we don't see.

But what is important is to realize that that's what truly matters about a house.

It can look pretty and it can look nice and everything could flow perfectly together.

But the foundation is the most important part.

And a lot of times on the outside you'll see it and it looks great.

But then over time, because of weather and because of storms and because the rain makes the ground move and shift, that's when the foundational issues will eventually show up.

So as I looked at houses at 20 years old, I never thought about that side of the house.

I just looked at the outside and made a determination, or really just allowed her to just tell me what she thought as you uh are young and sort of dreaming about things of the future.

And as I got older, I realized the importance, but I can also promise you this: I've been in many of your homes.

You'll invite me over, I'll hang out, eat dinner, or just conversate.

And I've never entered your house and said, man, I really love the foundation of this place.

No, I'll talk about the choice of, oh, yeah, that's pretty, or the decor.

What do you think about this?

Oh, that's great, or that looks nice, or whatever.

But I've never walked into your home and said, man, I love the foundation.

You did a really good job building it.

Why?

It's because all we can see is what's above the ground.

All I can see is what's right in front of me.

But what's important is to realize that what's under the ground, what nobody can see, often determines the stability of the structure.

Well, the same thing is true in our lives.

See, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been preaching since chapter 5, verse number one.

Remember, he called the disciples up to the mountaintop and had them sit down for a moment, and he's proclaiming the truth in front of them.

And as he lays the truth out, time and time again he's speaking about what's going on in the heart.

And on the outside, we can appear to be this way, but what's up with the heart?

So time and time again, he speaks about the issue that's underneath something that you and I can never see, but yet you know yours, and I know mine.

So as we sort of walk our way towards the end, I want to read these verses to you, and then we'll preach some truth through them.

Verse number 24.

Look what Jesus begins with.

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

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

But verse 26 says, But everyone 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, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on the house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

Verse 28 says, And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at his teachings, for he taught them for as one with authority, and not as the scribes.

So Jesus finishes up, concludes the sermon on the mount.

And one or two things I'll give you before we sort of break these verses apart, and I think this is so important to see as why he uses this text and these words to finish this such important sermon.

I want to show you this this morning.

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

No different than the home that you live in.

I'm talking about the spiritual life that you build.

The strength of it depends on the foundation that you lay, the foundation that I'll never see, that the world around you will never see, but you will know your foundation.

And as I sort of think about those, I want to sort of repeat this time and time again through our sermon, so I'll put it on the screen for you.

Don't just hear the word, build your life on it.

See, the Bible is clear, right?

The word of God is clear.

We've got 66 books to read and to live our life by.

But one thing that I want to make sure that I say time and time again, it's good to hear it, but it's even better to obey it.

I can hear a good sermon or I can hear a good word, and I can walk away saying, Man, I love the way that was said or that that was applied.

But if I'm not obeying it or applying it to my life, then what?

What do I have to show for it?

So Jesus is finishing up.

He's laying, landing his plane, he's getting to the conclusion of his thoughts.

And I can almost hear and think how the disciples were probably on the edge of their wherever they were sitting on, and they were sort of anticipating what sort of ending this is going to take place.

And he sort of ends in this way, bringing it really to me all together.

And I think what he's saying is, is guys, you can walk away from this sermon and say, Man, I am impressed by everything Jesus just laid out.

But if you walk away astonished and then don't put your life on the teachings of him, then essentially I've walked away by just saying, Man, that was a good one, Jesus.

We appreciate it.

Come back next week for a good sermon.

And therein lies the issue and why Jesus is laying it out in the way that he does.

It was astonishing.

It was mind-blowing at times.

And he wanted his disciples and you and I to not only just say, yes, it was good, but to build our life on something with stability.

So the question that I want to ask you is not, have you heard the words of Jesus?

Because I know that you've had.

I've just read a few of them just now.

So I know that you've heard them.

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

Here's the question.

The question is, is what are you doing with the words that you heard of Jesus?

See, obeying it is where he's at.

He wants you and I to apply it to our life.

So notice this in verse 24.

The word uh begins with therefore.

Chapter 20, uh, verse 24, I'd really jumped ahead.

Verse 24 begins with therefore.

Why is that important?

It's important because Jesus is connecting what he's about to say, the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, with everything that he has just been preaching for the last 35 minutes, right?

How long do you think Jesus preached this sermon?

Was it 35-minute, three-point, and an ending?

Oh, was it a 45-er?

Oh man, it could have been a two-hour one.

I don't know.

But I'm telling you, it was it was so enriching and so at much depth.

He is saying, I'm at the end of this.

I'm I'm laying it down.

I want to add some understanding.

So he begins verse 24 with the word, therefore.

We have to wonder why did he start with that?

Because we've looked at this before.

Therefore is in there for a reason.

He's connecting it to everything that he has just preached since chapter number five.

He's essentially saying, in light of everything that I've just told you and laid out for you in depth, everything that you and I have just read or in this context, everything that you and I have just studied over the last eight Sundays together, Jesus is taught a lot about the heart and what happens internally.

He's saying, in light of all that, a light of the relationships that he spoke about in chapter five, and in money and chapter five, and worry and relationships and enemies and prayer and choices.

He's saying, in light of all of that, I'm talking about how are you gonna apply those teachings and that truth to your life.

In other words, Jesus is saying, now that you've heard all this about me, what you gonna do?

I can just hear Jesus saying it now.

You've heard all this, now what you gonna do?

Let's look together at three thoughts this morning.

We're gonna start right here in verse 24 and see this thought.

Hearing Jesus is not enough.

Hearing Jesus is not enough.

And we find that in two places in the scripture.

He said in two verses, verse 24, and also in verse number 26, he says that they heard his words.

He said it specifically in verse 24, and also in verse number 26, he says, Whoever hears these sayings of mine, in verse 26 he says, Everyone who hears these sayings of mine.

So as I understand that, two different individuals, as he paints this picture for you and I, a wise builder and a foolish one, they both heard the same words of Jesus.

And as I sort of try to understand that, I start thinking about we all hear the same thing, but what happens after we hear it?

So they were both exposed to the same truth.

One responded, and one did not.

And I've asked myself that all the time as a Megan and I have five kids, right?

And so we're thinking about, man, how do I want to teach them, train them, but I also want them to be successful.

I want them to live for the Lord in their adult life.

And I can think about now, I want to teach them and expose them to a much biblical truth, but then I want to say, guys, at some point you got to respond to the exposure that you've had of Jesus' word.

And Jesus is saying, guys, there were two guys, two builders, a foolish and a wise.

They were both exposed to the teachings of Jesus.

One of them obeyed and one of them didn't.

One responded and one of them didn't.

So let's look at these two verses, 24 and verse 26.

There's some parallel words that sort of go on.

In verse 24, whoever hears these sayings of mine, I kind of underlined that in my study Bible.

Whoever hears that.

And then in verse number 26, but everyone who hears these sayings of mine.

So now I'm starting to understand this.

They both heard, they both heard the teacher, capital T there.

They both heard Jesus.

They heard the same truth.

And honestly, they had the same opportunity to respond to that truth, but one did and one did not.

See, what was the difference here?

The difference was that they did what they heard, and one did the opposite.

One did what he wanted, and one did what Jesus taught.

I know that because if look at the contrast, we'll stay in verse 24 and 26.

After verse 24, when they heard it, what did he say?

Comma, and does them.

So verse 24 says that they heard his words and then did them.

Verse 26 says, and all everyone who heard these sayings of mine, comma, and did not do them.

So one uh both heard, one did, one did not.

And I think about other scriptures and texts throughout the Bible.

James is a great one in James chapter 1, verse 22.

James 1:22

You've probably read it before when he tells us to be doers of the words and not just hearers only.

James chapter 1, verse 22.

James 1:22

And I read James and it lets me realize that there's got to be faith and action.

I can't just sit there all day and think about it.

I gotta get up and do it.

Doers of the word, not just hearers only.

And there's other spots within scripture.

It was uh a few verses ago that we studied last Sunday, if I'm not mistaken.

In verse number 21, chapter 7, he says, He who does the will of my Father, remember last week, the narrow road, the wide road.

He showed us that, man, some will do the will and some will not.

He followed up in verse 23 and told them to depart for him, for he never knew them.

That was last week's.

But some listened and some did not.

In this text, some listened and some did not.

Now I get what he means.

Obedience is there's no way I can obey I can't uh earn salvation.

I obey because I'm saved.

That's the context of last week.

But still, the point is, is they both heard, one did, one did not.

Both listened, both made two different choices, though.

As I start trying to understand the mindset behind that, I have to realize this, and I wrote this down.

Knowing the word is not the same as obeying the word.

I can know what to do and not do it, and that's my choice.

We all have kids that are those that have kids know that we want them to do something.

They listen, but they don't always do it.

Same thing as a follower of Christ, he's my father in heaven.

There's times where I don't, but I know I should.

So I have to distinguish the difference here.

The difference is knowing the word is not the same thing as obeying the word.

And this makes it personal for just a moment.

Y'all want to get personal?

Oh no, nobody likes getting personal in church, right?

Preacher, preacher.

No, let's get personal for a moment.

Individually, you and yourself in this moment.

And a lot of times, this is where the the rubber meets the road in our lives.

Let's get personal just for a second.

We have been in church long enough, or those that have heard many sermons.

If you're like me, I'll listen to other guys, my friends, or people that I've never met before that I like.

I love how they lay it out.

I've listened to many, many sermons, and hopefully you have as well.

Listen, we're in church long enough, we'll know some verses.

You may not be able to quote every verse in the Bible, but you know a few to quote, I hope.

Or sometimes I'll say a verse and you'll remember it.

It'll bring a memory in your mind.

I can hear sermons, I can know scripture, I can grow up in church, I can understand biblical teaching, I can even alike some biblical teaching.

I can even say amen at certain times and say, man, I praise the Lord, I love that.

And sometimes we say it within ourselves, we're agreeing to it.

I can do all of those things, and I can still refuse to obey what God's teaching.

And that's what he's getting on right here.

I can hear it all, I can know it all, I can agree with it and say amen and hallelujah.

But there's a difference between obeying it.

And what Jesus is saying in these two examples in verse 24 and verse 26 is like this.

We've learned about forgiveness.

So I can know that Jesus forgave, but sometimes I can talk myself into saying, man, that person over there, I just don't know if I'll actually be able to forgive them.

Jesus showed us in depth of how to forgive.

But sometimes we can tell ourselves, I just don't know if that meets.

He showed us how we're not supposed to worry.

And that's a tough one.

Some of us are worry warts, right?

And I've like, I understand it says don't worry, but you just don't know how God made me.

And I get it, because we're all different.

There's somebody in here that has that's their largest struggle, and then there's somebody else in here that's got something totally different that you don't deal with.

We all have struggles.

And I can talk myself into saying, I get what the Bible says here, that applies to them, but not me.

And that's what he's talking about in this text.

He showed us about praying, he showed us about relationships, and he showed us time and time again that all of those things have to be applied to our lives.

See, the goal of God's word is not just for information, it's for transformation.

And if I looked at the word of God and thought my goal totally was to just know as much about the Bible as I can, that's just information.

I want the word of God to transform me.

And the transformation takes place from within, not on the outside.

And that's essentially the Sermon on the Mount, right?

Time and time again, he dealt with the heart of these individuals.

And I can tell you all the knowledge I know, but if I don't apply it to my life, what good is the knowledge?

Obey.

Apply.

The question is, what am I doing with what I've heard?

What are you doing with it?

Let me leave you with this and then we'll move to the next thought.

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

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

Two different things.

Oh, it's good to know it.

It's good to, it's better, it's gooder.

That's a word, right?

We're Paul and County.

It's gooder.

It's gooder to know it and obey it.

Okay?

Let's let's go let's go a little deeper in our thoughts.

We'll stay in these couple verses in just a second, 24 really through 27, and I'll show you this.

Your foundation determines whether you will stand or not.

Your foundation is gonna determine whether or not you stand or not.

No different than your home that you live in.

The foundation is where it's at.

In this text, we'll look in verse 24 really as a whole through verse number 27.

And as I read, I've read 24 and 26 a few times, and I'll get to the 25 and 27, I promise.

But as I read 24 and I read 26, it speaks about the home that was built.

And so as I am a visual learner and I'm trying to uh visualize the situation that's going on here, I visualize two identical homes.

The difference is where they're built, the foundational side of them.

So visualize two identical homes, two homes that look similar.

Let's just say they're both ranch style, they both have one story, they both have the same color windows, they both have the same roof pitch, they both have the same amount of exterior doors.

That's all the same.

They even have the same shrubbery around the foundation.

Everything on these two homes are very similar, is what Jesus is showing us.

The biggest difference is the thing that you'll never see if you walked up to it in the neighborhood.

It's the foundation.

The foundation, what happened underneath the ground, is the largest difference in this comparison.

One man heard Jesus' words and did what Jesus said.

The other man heard Jesus' words and did what he wanted to do.

And there's your difference.

One built on a rock and one built on sand.

Now let's look at the foundational side in this text.

The foundational, verse 24, says the house was on a rock.

And verse number 26 said the house was on sand.

So the wise man built on a rock, the the foolish man built on sand.

So visualize that.

Some of you are visualizing a house on top of Stone Mountain.

Okay, I get it, right?

And that's not necessarily what he means, but if that's what you want to visualize, go ahead.

But if you talk to home builders that dig foundations, they dig down to solid dirt.

They dig down, sometimes four feet, sometimes larger, sometimes they hit rock earlier around here in Paulding.

It's real rocky.

And they'll dig to a certain spot, there's hitting rock, they can't go any further, and it may even change if it's going to be a basement or a slab or a crawl space now.

But, anyways, they dig down, if you got a good one, they'll dig down and hit a solid surface and then begin to build their way back up.

On the other end of that is when it says sand, don't visualize they built their house on the beach because we would all like that, okay?

That's not what he's talking about.

He's talking about he just went out here in the yard over there and said, man, let's just lay it down right there.

That looks good.

I don't feel I'll just form it up, call the concrete man, and I'm pouring my slab and I'm good to go.

So visualize two similar homes, except the foundation is vastly different.

Above the ground, houses look the same.

Below the ground, they're critical differences.

I was studying and I looked over in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6, in verse number 48, as Luke sort of lays out these same truths.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

His uh words added a uh when he said the wise builder, he said that they dug deeper unto the rock.

Uh Luke 6, 48, if you want to go back and read it.

But anyways, Luke says that they dug deeper and laid the foundation on the rock, which is gave it giving you the picture that I just described.

They dug till they found solid ground.

And so the question that you and I might ask ourselves in this moment when we think about the actual structure of the home some would dig down and found the solid rock, and some just say, Man, I ain't got time for that.

Let's just go ahead and lay it out.

You might ask yourself, why would that be?

Let me give you a couple examples.

You know how hard it is to dig up the ground to find the rock?

Now, this is this is before excavation.

I mean, they didn't have a mini dozer or a mini excavator that they could go rent from Sunbelt to do this, right?

And this may have even been pre-post hole diggers.

You understand what I'm saying?

I don't know what tools they had, but it sounds like they didn't have what that you and I would have had.

And so I could only imagine digging down three feet, two feet, four feet, six feet, whatever was necessary to find the solid rock to build the home on would have took what?

Time.

Took what?

Sweat, heartache, headache, annoyance, all those.

So the easier side would have been, man, that looks good.

I don't feel like digging.

That's good enough.

Let me just lay the foundation.

I'll form it, we'll pour it, we're moving on.

So let's understand the difference.

Rock requires digging, work, effort.

Uncomfortable.

It's probably not easy, sweating to death, digging this up.

Sand made it a lot simpler.

Just move on.

Let's just hurry up and get the walls done.

So let's think about that for just a second.

I can connect this again.

Remember, verse 24 started with the word, therefore, so we can connect it with everything that Jesus has already laid out, starting in chapter 5, verse number one.

It's the same sermon.

And so I can connect it to all of those.

He talked about forgiveness.

Is forgiveness easy at times?

No.

It isn't.

It's easy when somebody messed up and they own it and they run to you and say, I'm so sorry I should have never done that.

Man, that's easy.

But there's always been times in my life and maybe even in your life where somebody's done me a certain way and they've to this moment never owned it, but I had to forgive them and move on because I never thought I could move on my Christian walk with the Lord if I was holding a grudge and being angry about something that, man, that I can never change.

Is forgiveness easy?

No, so it requires a little digging sometimes.

A little excavation at times.

It would have been easier just to put it on the sand, man.

I'm over them.

I'm mad about it, but I don't understand why they wouldn't do that.

How about loving your enemies?

I think Jesus preached about that earlier.

That's not easy.

Sometimes that requires a little headache, a little work, a little digging, a little sweat.

How about trusting God when you worry?

Man, I know there's several of y'all that can relate to that one.

I can as well.

I worry about some things that I ain't got no business worrying about.

God says, let me handle it, Derek.

So that sounds like a good idea, Lord.

I should have thought about that.

We know it, but we can't do it sometimes.

Worrying instead of trusting, it's not always easy.

Remember, sometimes digging is a little tough.

How about loving others that aren't always lovable?

How about living for the Father's approval instead of people's applause?

That's not always easy, but yet that's what he calls you and I to do.

How about choosing the narrow road isn't always easy?

So he's painting a picture here of sand and rock, and one's going to require a little work and a little heartache, and one is going to be a lot simpler.

So here's the question.

Here's the question.

Here's the question.

Do we expect it always to be easy?

Because if we're always just trying to build on sand and not doing the work behind it, of course.

Easy's not the question.

What's the question?

The question is, is will I stand?

So if I choose to do it my way and not his way, I won't.

I'll fall in the end.

Doing what Jesus said is not always the easiest way, but it's the solid way.

And that's what he's trying to show us in this text.

When you build on what matters more than what your life looks around you, that's what matters.

Let's go a little deeper.

Look at the storm.

Verse 25.

I told you I'd read 25 and 27.

25 says, and the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat on the house, and it did not fall.

For it was on the rock, right?

Look at verse 27.

The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, beat on the house, and it fell.

Why?

He says, and great was its fall.

Why?

Because it was on the sand.

So here's something that just popped out to my mind as I was studying this.

Matthew essentially uses the same exact description of the storm to these two very similar houses, so that there was no difference in regards to one was a bad storm and one was not as bad.

One had rain and one didn't.

One had wind.

No, it was the exact same description of the actual storm.

Rain came, floods came, winds blew, house was beat upon.

The wise builder, the wise builder wasn't spared.

The scripture doesn't say the wise builder who built on solid ground never had a storm come to his house.

That's not what it says.

The wise and the foolish both had a storm come their way.

The reason why I point that out and to show it to you in this point in the sermon in this text is that sometimes in our life, I want to tell myself that following Jesus means that no storms will ever come.

And that's just not the truth.

It's not the case.

Storms are going to come to the foolish builder and the wise builder.

Storms are going to come to a person that lives for the Lord and obeys for the Lord at every turn of events, and the person that stumbles day by day.

Life serves struggles.

We're all going to face the storms of life.

And I don't want to tell myself that I won't face any just because.

Verse 25, for it was founded on the rock.

And then verse 27, I like how he followed up with this because it to me it points to some eternal things, and great was its fall.

The difference wasn't the severity of the storm.

The difference was the foundation that had been established long before the storm.

If you and I want to start building our foundation when the storms come, we've waited a little too late.

And actually, the best thing for us to do is to start today.

Storms come and they go.

Think about it last night.

Storms came at my house.

Trees blew around.

I couldn't even get down Buckhead Highway last night.

I'm thinking, man, I need to go.

If I could get past the tree, I go get my chainsaw and come back.

You understand?

It was a bad, it was blocked all for a long time.

And then everywhere you went, there was power lines blocking it.

I didn't think I was ever going to get home.

Why?

Because storms come and they go.

We have no control over that.

What I do have control over is where I am building my life.

Am I building it on him or am I building it on self?

One foundation stood because of where it was built, one foundation failed because exactly where it was built.

Let me leave you with this thought before we move to our last little text here.

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

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

Alright, let's let's go into this last little thought.

Why should the words of Jesus be the foundation of your life?

Verse 28 and verse number 29 show us.

Look with me.

I know I've read some of those other verses several times.

Let's read verse 28 and 29 again because we need to be reminded of what he said here as he finishes and concludes in verse 28.

He says, And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings, he's about to close in prayer, that the people were astonished at his teaching.

Notice the comma there, it continues.

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

I love these words that are used in this, these two verses here.

In verse 28, he uses the word astonished.

And what's interesting about that particular word is it's a verb, right?

So it's an action word.

I'm no English teacher, y'all can, y'all know that by now, but I understand what a verb is, and it's an action word.

It's something that moves.

And as I was studying that word astonished, it's almost as if he's saying they were amazed.

Almost to the point where they were amazed and it was like struck with amazement.

They were in awe.

Their mouths dropped.

They were on the edge of their seat, anticipating the words that were coming out of Jesus' mouth.

And I visualize almost sitting on the mountaintop with them as Jesus is preaching these words.

And he and they are astonished, they are amazed, they are struck with pure amazement at the words that he has been laying out verse by verse that we've read word by word.

And then he follows up in verse 29 and says, For he, meaning Jesus, taught them as one having authority.

That word authority is power.

He taught them with power.

And he followed up after that comma and said, And not as the scribes.

Because the scribes did not possess power.

They only preached about somebody else who had power.

Like me, I'm preaching about Jesus who holds all power.

In this text, as I read it, it says that having authority, having power, Jesus throughout the entire sermon would often reference what he is saying.

Wasn't opinions, it was power.

And as these two verses sort of conclude this, my mind begins to think about this crowd for just a second.

Verse 28.

The crowd was astonished.

And what's interesting to me that you and I have been looking at verse 24 through 27 in length.

What was the difference, right?

One obeyed and one did not.

What I would have loved to read as I read verse 28, I would have loved for them to say they were astonished, and they obeyed.

But the text doesn't say that.

The Bible says that they were astonished, they were amazed by the words of Christ.

So the question that I began to ask myself, did they obey or did they not?

I have no idea.

Because it really doesn't matter.

What matters is, am I going to obey or am I not?

I can read the words of Jesus, and I can have an immediate reaction of, man, I'm astonished by the words that he has just proclaimed.

I can say I have never heard teaching like that.

And although you and I have the full canon of scripture, I can read from cover to cover and see Christ written through it all.

These guys were on the edge of their seat, they knew the Old Testament, but they didn't have the New Testament was being lived out in that moment.

So they were astonished because they were hearing something from the very first time.

You and I could have read the Sermon on the Mount multiple times, but I'm telling you, I can read it and be amazed and astonished all at the same time, although I read it years ago or last week.

And it's good to be astonished and amazed at the words of Christ, but what's even greater is obeying it.

These men were astonished.

These men were amazed.

But it doesn't tell me that they obeyed it.

We have been warned time and time again that you gotta not only hear it, you got to obey it.

Jesus can amaze you with his words, but the greatest thing that Jesus wants you all to do is to be surrendered to him.

We can be amazed, we can be astonished, but the greatest thing that you and I could ever do is not just be amazed and astonished, but be broken to the point where I am surrendered to obey whatever he has for me.

That's what he wants.

Now let's look at verse 29: the power, the authority.

Jesus spoke with authority.

The scribes, over time, they would appeal to traditions of men and also the others that had authority.

But Jesus, throughout the entire Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5, 6, and in the current chapter that we're in, they all say, as you read it, Jesus will say some words and he'll say, But as I say, but as I say.

See, Jesus wasn't merely offering his opinion about life.

He was spoking as the only one that has the authority to define the kingdom of God.

He is the one, the only way.

These things are so simple, but yet so hard to apply to our life at times.

It answers the question that I asked a moment before we started these two verses is what should I build my life on?

The answer is clear.

We're in church, we should all know it.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

We know the answer, but now the question is are we going to do it?

Are we going to do it?

If Jesus is the Lord of my life, why wouldn't I?

Now I know in chapter last Sunday, we were in chapter, the same chapter, we were in verse 21 and 22.

Verse 21 says, Lord, Lord.

Verse 22 says, Lord, Lord.

Remember, these people were coming to him, and he said in verse 23, for depart from me, for I never knew you.

So my question to you is as you're sort of processing all this, if Jesus is the Lord of your life and his word is the final authority and word in your life, I have to realize that it, I don't get to pick and choose what I want to obey.

I have to obey it all.

That's what he's telling us to do.

If I genuinely say that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life, I can't look at this as a suggestion.

It's a command.

You know, in life, sometimes I'll tell my children something and they think it's a suggestion, but it is no suggestion.

Parents, you understand this, right?

I'm like, I'm gonna give them the I, you know what I'm saying?

Why?

Because I want them to realize that I'm asking or telling it in a way, but I want them to have the initiative to go do it.

Jesus is letting you and I know that if he is the Lord of our life, he's not suggesting this.

No, it's a command.

I don't obey when I get to agree with all that he says.

Because there's gonna be some times where I'm like, man, I don't, oh man, I'm gonna change something in my life.

I don't get to obey when I agree.

I don't, I don't, I don't get to follow what is convenient.

What if I only follow Jesus when it was convenient?

We could always find a lot of other things to do.

Well, I don't get to accept the parts that fit my life and not accept the ones that I feel like I'm gonna have to change something or confront something.

That's not what he means.

His authority extends over every aspect and part of my entire life.

So the question isn't whether his word is actually authority over all areas.

The question is, Jesus, he's not asking you and I to admire his words.

He's asking you and I to surrender to it.

And I think there's been times in our life where we'll sit back and say, Man, that's good, Jesus.

That's good, preacher and preacher, and the preacher, me or somebody else is only reading what the Bible says.

That's good.

It's time to stop admiring it and go from admiring it to surrendering to it.

That's what he's calling you and I to do.

Surrender.

Everyone must decide what you're gonna do with what Jesus said.

The crowd heard it, and what did they say?

They were astonished.

Didn't say they obeyed it, and they may have.

For eight weeks, you and I have been looking at the Sermon on the Mount, and we see what did Jesus teach.

Now the question is, is what am I gonna do with what he's taught us?

We've seen it week by week, which obviously this brings us back to where we're at this morning.

Two builders.

One obeyed and one did not.

Every person that's listening to us in this moment has got to decide which builder you're gonna be.

Are you gonna be the one that obeys, or are you gonna be the one that does it on your own?

Look at this thought I have for you.

If Jesus is Lord, his word must have the final word in my life.

If he's Lord in your life, if he's not, today's the day of salvation, tomorrow may be too late.

But if he's the Lord of your life, his word must be the final word in your life.

For eight weeks, you and I have sit sat at the foot of Jesus as he's preached the Sermon on the Mount.

Week by week, verse by verse, we've read it.

He has taught us each week something different.

He showed us different values, different influences.

He showed us how to have different hearts and different motives, how to trust differently.

He showed us how to have different relationships and different choices.

He showed us this morning how to have a different foundation.

Jesus has told us what people that follow him should value.

He's told us how people that follow him should have influence.

And he's dealt with our hearts.

Jesus has dealt with our motives.

Jesus has dealt with our trust.

Jesus has showed us how to change relationships and how to make choices before him.

And now he's asking you and I, as he finalizes the Sermon on the Mount, what are you going to do with what you've heard?

That's a question that only you can answer.

What are you going to do with what you have heard?

Jesus isn't mainly saying, build on me, you'll be happier and you'll be more stable.

No, he's saying you've heard my words, and now you individually must decide are you going to build on him or are you going to build on self?

Everyone's got a choice to make.

Would you pray with me?

God, I come to you this morning praising you for how good you are.

God, your word is real.