[Tourists stand in wondering admiration before some of the
palaces of the old world that have endured for more than a thousand years
without a crack or seam. The Pantheon at
Rome
stands just as it did well over two thousand years ago. This would be
impossible had not its foundations been right. The
Rialto
Bridge that spans the Grand Canal in
Venice, Italy was erected in
1588 A.D. It has stood as it now stands for over four
centuries, but that bridge rests on twelve thousand piles driven deeply
into the soil. What is true of buildings is also true of life. God
cannot and will not build the Christian virtues into your life, or fill
you with the Holy Spirit for His service, until the proper foundation of
receiving Christ and Him crucified as your Savior and Lord has been
laid.] [Author Unknown]
[When considering the Rialto bridge we would
have to acknowledge the success of this incredible construction.
This bridge has endured for more than 420 years.
That certainly demonstrates great success.
Everyone wants to succeed in life. We want to know that our life
mattered. If your life will
be a success then you must build your life upon the rock.
You must get the right
foundation under your life and build upon the rock.]
[Your Heavenly Father wants you to succeed in life and
you can only succeed in life through our Lord Jesus Christ, He says,
build your life on the solid rock and your life will endure, your life
will matter.]
Notice in this passage:
A.
An Enduring Foundation (vs 24-25)
- [Foundations matter in engineering and construction.
The endurance of a building, bridge, or any other construction is
wholly dependent upon the foundation upon which it is laid.
What is true in our physical world is true of our lives as well.
The foundation of your life is eternally important.
Build your life on the wrong foundation, or fail to lay a
foundation at all, and your whole life’s work will be lost in the
catastrophic results. The
foundation of your life matters!]
Our Lord Jesus Christ essentially and undeniably says
this at the end of this Sermon On The Mount.
He essentially says, don’t misunderstand the lesson of His
message, and know that if your foundation is not correct that
catastrophe will be the result.
But get the right foundation in place and you have a fortress
that will stand through all of the trials and storms of life.
You will have a harbor of safety
to protect you from the battering waves of life.]
[Now, it is important that we understand what our Lord
is really saying at the end of this Sermon on the Mount.
He is saying your foundation matters.
Our Lord waited to say this at the end of His message to
emphasize how important it is for us to understand His message.
In other words, don’t take this lightly.
Don’t just brush this message off.
Hear what our Lord is saying because these are the essential
foundation for everything else in your life.
Everything, absolutely everything, in your life will either stand
or fall based upon the foundation revealed in this Sermon On The Mount.
Get your foundations right and everything else in your life will
endure.]
[In our text our Lord Jesus Christ helps us to
understand what the sure foundation of our life consists of.
Notice, ]
1.
The
Faith (vs 24; Rom 4.19-22; 10.13-17; 1 Pet 2.2; James 1.23-25) [-
Therefore whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, . . . – Faith is the key
element in the foundation of your life.
But you must be certain that you fully understand what biblical
faith really is.
Many in our day
think that faith is merely one’s ability to believe something.
Now belief is a verb, but
the word for faith in the New Testament is always a noun.]
[Faith
–
πίστις (Gk) –
faith, belief, trust, pr. Firm persuasion, confiding belief in the
truth, veracity, reality of any person or thing.
I.
As in classic Greek. 1 Pr. and genr. faith, belief; Acts 17,31
p¸stin
papascñn
p‚siv,
see in par›cw
no.2. Rom 14,22 sÁ
p°stin
žxeiv, thou hast faith, i.e.
art firmly
persuaded. . . .[1]]
[The injustice done by modern scholarship over
the word faith in the Bible is to treat the word with ambiguity rather
than the absolute firmness of a noun.
Even Robinson seems to tend toward a softening of the word faith
and points toward Heb 11.1 as a Biblical definition of faith.
However, Heb 11.1 is not a definition of faith it is rather a
description of the results of faith in ones life.
The only biblical definition of faith is found in Romans 4.19-22,
which reads,]
[Romans 4:19-22
19 And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred
years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
20
He staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God; 21
And being fully
persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was
imputed to him for righteousness. ]
[Our Lord Jesus Christ in our text undeniably
and clearly defines faith for us.
Notice what our Lord says,]
a.
[Faith
Hears -Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them, . . . – You cannot obey anything that you do not
know and you cannot know anything that you have not heard.
Listen to the Apostle Paul’s words,]
[Romans 10:13-17
13 For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed?
and how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how
shall they hear without a preacher? 15
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is
written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of
peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16 But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
17
So then faith
cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.]
[You
cannot have faith apart from hearing the Word of God.
The Word of God is absolutely essential to your Faith.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and He said, . . .whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine . . .when you hear Jesus
you are hearing the Word of God.]
[You have your Bible in your hand.
Do you realize how important that Bible is to your life?
God says of that Bible,]
[1
Peter 2:2
2 As newborn babes, desire the
sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: ]
[Psalm 119:103
103 How sweet are thy words unto
my taste! yea, sweeter
than honey to my mouth!]
[That Bible is the soil and fertilizer of your
faith. You need to
understand that you cannot have biblical faith apart from that Bible.
If you want to grow your faith, what do you need to do?
You need to hunger and thirst for that Bible.]
[Faith hears,
but it doesn’t just hear anything, biblical faith hears God!]
b.
Faith
Heeds (James 1.23-25) [-
. . .
and doeth them, . . .
– Our Lord then goes on to reveal the second element in Biblical
faith. Biblical faith not
only hears but I heeds.
Faith obeys. Faith submits.
Faith surrenders. Listen to
what James wrote,]
[James 1:23-25
23
For if any be a
hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
25 But whoso looketh into the
perfect law of liberty, and continueth
therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer,
but a doer of
the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.]
[Our
Lord Jesus Christ says you must hear Him and do what He has told you to
do. You must be a doer of
His Word. You must be a
doer of the Word of God.]
[The late Adrain Rogers used to say,]
[Faith is to first Hear what God has said,]
Then you must believe what God has said,]
Then you must act on what God has said.]
[Faith is the key element in the foundation of your life.
Get your faith right and your foundation will be absolutely firm.
But you must be certain that your faith is God’s kind of faith.]
2.
The
Foundation (vs 24;
Luke 6.47-48;
2 Tim 2.15; 2 Pet 1.10-11) [-
Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him
unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: -
When you get your Faith right and realize that your faith is built upon
hearing and heeding the Word of God, then you will discover the true
foundation of life. Our
Lord says that those who hear and heed Him are like a man that built his
house on the rock. What
rock is Jesus talking about?
Luke wrote,]
[Luke
6:47-48
47 Whosoever cometh to me, and
heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which
built an house,
and digged deep,
and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose,
the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for
it was founded upon a rock.]
[Digged Deep -
ἔσκαψεν καὶ ἐβάθυνεν (Gk) –
Strong Concordance -
v. Apparently a primary verb; GK 4999; Three occurrences; AV
translates as
“dig” three times.
1 to dig.[2]
-
ἐβάθυνα; (1) transitively deepen, hollow out, excavate;
(2) intransitively go down deep, dig deep
[3] ]
[Hence, our Lord is saying, don’t take your
faith lightly; it is the essential foundation of your life.
You need to dig down to establish a sure foundation for your
life, and when you think you have dug far enough, dig deeper.
When you have dug deeper, dig again until you find the bed rock
upon which to build your foundation.]
[Consider what our Lord is saying and compare
it to,]
[2
Timothy 2:15
15 Study to shew thyself
approved unto God,
a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.]
[2
Peter 1:10-11
10 Wherefore the rather,
brethren,
give diligence
to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall: 11
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ]
[The Lord Jesus Christ is saying that it takes
purposed and diligent work to establish a right and a sure foundation
for your life.]
[So, how is your foundation?
Have you worked to be sure your foundation is the right
foundation? Have you dug
down, and then dug again, and then dug again to be sure that the
foundation of your life is upon the right foundation?
The only right
foundation for your life is that you Hear and Heed the Lord Jesus Christ.]
3.
The
Fortress (vs 25; Psalm 18.2) [-
And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell
not: for it was founded upon a rock. -
A house built upon the right
foundation will withstand.
This type of house will become a fortress for your life.
The Bible says,]
[Psalm 18:2
2
The LORD
is my rock, and my
fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I
will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation,
and my
high tower.]
[What kind of fortress will this fortress of
faith build upon the bed rock of the Lord Jesus Christ be?
This fortress will stand,]
a.
[When the Rain of life falls upon it.]
b.
[When the Floods of life batter against it.]
c.
[When the Winds of life pull upon it.]
[This is a sure and mighty fortress.
The old Hymn proclaims, (Soul Stirring Hymns, Page 161, A Mighty
Fortress Is Our God)]
[A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never
failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.]
[Did we in our own strength confide, our
striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.]
[And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.]
[That word above all earthly powers, no thanks
to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.]
[Do you have the enduring foundation of the
Word of God in your life?
Have you dug deeper and established your life upon the Word and truth of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Is
your Fortress build upon the solid rock of the Lord Jesus Christ?]
B.
An Elusive Footing (vs 26-27)
[- Our Lord does not stop by
telling us how to establish a sure foundation for our lives.
But he goes on the explain the elusive footing of the trusted yet
untrustworthy structures that many have built for their lives.
Now I say “many” based on the context of our passage for
our Lord warned that many would go in through the wide gate taking the
broad way to destruction (Matt 7.13).
Of These people our Lord says that they are,]
1.
Marked by Rejection (vs 26; Rom 1.21-23) [-
And
every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a
foolish man, . . . -
Notice that there are many who,]
a.
[Have Heard - And every one
that heareth these sayings of mine, . . . – They have heard the
words of our Lord. They
have heard the Word of God.
Paul said of these,]
[Romans 1:21-23
21 Because that,
when they knew
God, they glorified
him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish
heart was darkened. 22
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23
And changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to
corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things. ]
[Jesus
clearly states that they have heard God and the Word of God]
b.
[He
Refused - . . . and doeth
them not, . . . – Their problem is that when they heard instead of
becoming obedient to God they refused God, they didn’t do what God asked
them to do. Paul said in
the verses we just read from Romans that instead of being obedient
they,]
[Romans 1:21
. . . . became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ]
[They know all about God, but they refuse to
allow Jesus to be the Lord of their life.
They actually think they know better than God.
They will often say, “Yep, I know the Bible says that but it
doesn’t mean what you think it means.”]
[If you are not doing what God asks you to do
in His Word then you are rejecting the Word of God and you are trying to
establish something else as the foundation for your life.]
2.
Marked by Rebellion (vs 26) [-
.
. . shall be likened unto
a foolish man,
which built his
house upon the sand:
- Instead of doing what God asks them to do these people,
once they have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will then go on to build a
house. They don’t just sit
idly by and do nothing, they start building.
But as they begin they will proudly establish something else as
their foundation other than the bed rock of the Word of God.]
[Some
will make their,]
·
[Feelings
their foundation – What they feel is right about life and God.]
·
[Philosophies
their foundation – What they think about life and God.]
·
[Education
their foundation – What they have been taught about life and God.]
·
[Prosperity
their foundation – Surely if they have succeeded in life they must
be right with God]
[All of these are the shifting sands of life
and they (and many others) will not have the strength to stand in life’s
vicious storms.]
[Building your life upon anything other than
the Word of God is a mark of rebellion and demonstrates ones rejection
of the Lord Jesus Christ.]
3.
Marked by Ruin (vs 27; Ezek 13.10-14) [-
And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell:
and great was the fall of it. – Our Lord reveals what the end will
be for those who strive to build their life on anything other than the
Word and Will of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Their end will be ruin, it will be destruction, it will be
dismay. Ezekiel wrote,]
[Ezekiel 13:10-14
10 Because, even because they
have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and
there was no peace; and
one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered
morter:
11 Say unto them which daub
it with untempered
morter, that it shall
fall:
there shall be
an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a
stormy wind shall rend it.
12 Lo, when the wall is
fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where
is the daubing
wherewith ye have daubed it?
13
Therefore thus
saith the Lord GOD;
I will even rend
it with a stormy wind
in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and
great hailstones in my
fury to consume it.
14
So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with
untempered morter, and
bring it down to the ground,
so that the
foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall
fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof:
and ye shall know that I am
the LORD.]
[Someone would cry, “What kind of love is that?
That God would bring such a storm and would destroy my life’s
work.” Why does God do
such? To reveal your
foundation and in revealing your foundation, your loving God, is trying
to cause you to see that you need the only sure foundation that can
protect you in life. What
foundation is that? It is none
other than the Word of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.]
[You must know, oh vain man, that your
presumption and pride will lead to destruction, dismay and ruin in your
life.]
C.
An
Enthroning Faith (vs 28-29) [ - Now our Lord brings this
Sermon on the Mount to a conclusion.
We have studied it diligently and completely.
We have heard our Lord describe,]
·
[The Character that ought be in us.]
·
[The Conduct that ought to pour out of
us.]
·
[The Caution that ought to guide us.]
[Now we must respond to all that our Lord has taught
us. Make no mistake about
it; you are making choices even as I speak.
You have been making choices with each passing message in this
series of sermons. And now
the Bible reveals how people responded to our Lord’s Sermon On The
Mount. There were those
who,]
1.
Rendered Applause (vs 28) [-
And it came to pass, when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:
- Many hear the Sermon on the Mount, or any other passage of scripture
for that matter, and they just do not know how to respond.
This is exactly what is expressed in our text.
Notice,]
[Astonished -
ἐξεπλήσσοντο
(Gk) - from
ek
(1537), an intens., and
plé̄ssō
(4141), to strike. To strike out, force out by a blow,
but found only
in the sense of knocking one out of his senses or self–possession,
to strike with astonishment, terror, admiration. In the NT only in the
pass., to be struck with astonishment, admiration, to be amazed (Matt.
13:54; 19:25; Mark 6:2; 7:37; 10:26; Luke 2:48).] [Followed by
epí
(1909), upon, with the dat. (Matt. 7:28; 22:33; Mark 1:22; 11:18; Luke
4:32; 9:43; Acts 13:12).[4]]
[It carries the idea of a boxer being struck
and dazed. These were so
amazed they really didn’t know what to do.
There was so much in this Sermon on the Mount and its message was
so different that people would have to think about it and then try to
figure out what to do with everything that Jesus had said.
They applauded the Lord Jesus Christ for His great and profound
message, but then what?]
[Isn’t that what many do who come to Church?
They hear the message, and
on the way out of the building they say, “Great message preacher.”
But then what?]
[Folks, our Lord Jesus Christ just said what
you need to do in our text.
Don’t just hear the Word of God and forget it.
Do something with it.
Hear it and heed it.
Obey the things the God has asked you to do.]
[Applause without impact is nothing more than a
sandy foundation for your life.
Dig into the Word of God, and then dig deeper, and then even
deeper, until it becomes a foundation for our life.]
2.
Recognize Authority (vs 29) [-
For he taught them as
one having authority,
and not as the scribes. – Our Lord taught with authority because the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only true authority in life.
Make no mistake about it, fail to recognize who the Lord Jesus
Christ is and ruin will mark your life in eternity to come.
Yield to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life and
the Word of God and you will have an eternal and sure foundation for
your life.]
CrossRoads Baptist, June 21, 2009
