Sermon on 28 February 2021 by Ps Justin
Matthew 7:24-27 - ““Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.””
Jesus talked about the nine characteristics of a good Christian and the nine wrong attitudes from a Christian. Jesus concluded the sermon on the mount.
Matthew 7:27 - “When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.””
Jesus told us about the 2 kinds of men and the houses they built. Obviously, the house on the rock is built by the wise man and the house on the sand is built by the foolish man.
Matthew 7:24 - ““Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.”
They walk out everything that they hear. Jesus will only teach all that he does. Everyone who wants to teach must do all that he has taught if not there’s no meaning.
Acts 1:1 - “In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach”
Matthew 7:25 - “Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.”
A wise man is someone who attends church and obeys. When we do that, we are like someone who builds our house on the rock. Whatever we hear and learn will not stay as knowledge. We want to keep digging till we hit the rock, which is the will of God. We live according to the Spirit because we set our mind on the Spirit.
Romans 8:5-6 - “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
Jesus said to his disciples to go to the nation and make disciples and baptise them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Matthew 28:20 - “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
You must abide in Jesus Christ, not only following Him. If you want to know the Ruth’s and be set free from the bondage of sin, you need to be a disciple of Christ. If you build your house on the rock, you will constantly hear the cry of God.
Luke 6:47-48 - “I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.”
John 14:15 - ““If you love me, obey my commandments.”
We want to be very serious about building our house - strong spiritual foundation. When we read the word, we have to go deep. We have to dig way past our will and knowledge to come before the Lord. In His name, we will do what He wants us to do. If you say you love God, do you keep His commandments? If you dig deep, you will live out that verse.
He will dig deep until he hits the rock that is the will of God. Faith in Christ will lead to obedience. Genuine and sincere faith will go through testing so that your faith will be strengthened that you lack nothing. Come in all joy when you go through trial and testing. Even in the midst of great success, you will go through trials. Without the valley, you cannot reach the mountain. Look for the presence of God when you are in the valley. Any faith you have that does not lead to obedience, you aren’t building your house like the wise men. The world can tell you that you have to help yourself but the Bible says that God helps those who are weak. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do anything but we acknowledge His ways. He makes our path straight. We wait upon Him and not rely on our own intellect. We walk in the narrow way. But, how narrow is the way? It is so narrow like the width of the needle. When you dig deep, naturally you would want to carry the Cross. Without faith you cannot please God and without love you cannot imitate God. You wouldn’t want to serve 2 masters. No one can serve 2 masters, you have to make up your mind. Don’t get me wrong, let us all serve wholeheartedly in the workplace. We are also called to work to glorify Him. Let people see the honesty in you and the light in you that is from Christ. This is living out the gospel.
Matthew 7:13 - ““You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.”
Matthew 19:24 - “I’ll say it again—it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!””
Matthew 16:24 - “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
Matthew 6:24 - ““No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
The wise man built his house on Lord Jesus Christ. We are called the living stones. Peter in Hebrews means little stones. We build our faith in Christ Jesus. The forces of darkness will not prevail. We stand tall because of the grace of God. The grace of God is Jesus stooping down to us.
1 Corinthians 3:11 - “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.”
Matthew 16:18 - “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”
The foolish man built his house on the sand.
Matthew 7:26 - “But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.”
The sand refers to your mind, emotions and knowledge. It is more of the external. The foolish man attend church, read the Bible, have spiritual gift and have a huge ministry, but they lack obedience. They are not doing what they have learnt. They are the hearer of the word but they don’t act it out. They are a different person when they are alone. They live a double life. However, we cannot hide from God. Obedience is much more important before knowledge. We must have the discernment between good and good. We must reference God's goodness.
Jeremiah 17:19 - “This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the gates of Jerusalem, first in the gate where the king goes in and out, and then in each of the other gates.”
James 1:22 - “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”
These are the nine wrong attitudes these people have:
1. Anger
2. Lust
3. Lying
Proverbs 6:16 - “There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests:”
God hates lying.
4. Retaliation
5. Hatred
6. Hypocrisy
7. Lover of money
8. Anxiety and worry
9. Judging others
Faith without work is dead.
John 8:31-32 - “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””
God said that if you have all these things, you are building your house on the sand. When there is rain, the fall will be bad. A foolish man is one who hears, receives but doesn’t apply. He has not gotten victory over sin. Let’s walk in life and love so that you are always pleasing Him in His sight.
Revelation 22:14 - “Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.”
He desires obedience more than sacrifice.
Matthew 7:21-23 - ““Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”
The fall is very great. This verse is scary because many Christians fall into this category. They receive the word but they don’t put it into practice. They live a double life. They call ‘...‘ (the works in the verse) the genuine Christians. But Jesus said that He never knew they as they practice lawlessness.
1 John 3:4 - “Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.”
Lawlessness is sin. Even though these people know Christ and do all those things, they live a double life. The Lord has already warned us long ago. Do not follow the man, follow the word. Jesus taught us how to identify the false prophets.
Matthew 17:15-20 - ““Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.” Jesus said, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well. Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. ””
By their fruits, you will know them. If anyone Christian is impressed by a preacher because of their big ministries and their gifting, we should humble ourselves down and read this portion. We must discern that it is by their fruits that we know who they are. We must be aware that our role as a Christian is to be a light and to live out the gospel. We are called to walk humbly. Our calling is all there. We are called to live ourselves as a living sacrifice. I will be careful of these preachers. I encourage us to be careful so that we can dig deep.
What is the key message of the wise builder?
It is about our spiritual foundation - our obedience! We want to spend our time to build our faith in Him so that we hit the will of God. To Him, blessed are those that follow what is written in the Bible. They will put on the white robe of Jesus. We have to always stay alert and be ready. Knowledge is good but if we only have knowledge, Jesus says that we don’t know Him. We have to act it out. Only when we love our brothers and sisters, we can initiate God. We will have the nine blessings.
Blessed are those who:
1. Poor in Spirit
2. Those who mourn
3. Those who are meek
Matthew 5:3 - ““God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.”
Matthew 5:5 - “God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.”
4. Hunger and thirst for righteous
5. Merciful
6. Pure in heart
7. Peacemakers
8. Those who are persecuted for righteousness
9. Those who are reviled and persecuted for Christ
You will be firm because you build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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