Well, we come now to Matthew
chapter 7, and we're going to focus just on the last half of
this chapter, the last of the three chapters of the Sermon
on the Mount. And in the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus has been teaching Yes, yes. In the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus has been teaching his disciples and he's been talking about the
blessings of Holy Spirit regeneration, that when the Holy Spirit comes
and a man is born again of the Holy Spirit, born of God, that
that which wasn't there before is now there in a new creation,
in the man who is converted to the way of Christ, the blessings
of Holy Spirit regeneration. And then he goes on to talk about
the law and he says, don't think I've come to replace or to do
away with the Old Testament law, I am the fulfilment of that law.
Christ is the fulfilment of everything that the Old Testament prophesied,
everything that the Old Testament pictured, in type, and history,
and the nation of Israel, and the temple, and all of those
things. And then he goes on in chapter 6 to talk about the fruit
of regeneration of the new man of the Holy Spirit, the fruit
that is born of the Holy Spirit, in terms of alms, which is good
deeds done to others, in terms of prayer to God, communication
with God, in terms of fasting, depriving oneself of the things
of the flesh and the things of this world in order to be more
dedicated to the purpose and service of God. That's what it
means. But all of it to be done without hypocrisy, because in
these things, amongst the religious folk, there is so much hypocrisy,
so much of the blowing of their own trumpet to be seen. And then
he goes on in that chapter to talk about the cares of this
world and how the child of God in the purposes of God, should
not be concerned for the things of this world, but should lay
up heavenly treasure. And then we come into chapter
7, where, as we read earlier, there's a piece about judging
others, and not judging others. They get rid of this, doesn't
mean don't have discernment, it means do not negatively judge
others around us. He talks about cautious witnessing,
oh yes, go into all the world and preach the gospel, but to
those who are blatantly and obviously opposed to the truth, don't cast
your pearls before swine, for they'll trample over it. And
then again he talks about prayer, asking and knocking and seeking.
And in verse 12, we conclude with what's called the golden
rule. What's the golden rule? Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. The golden rule that so many
religiously think that that is the sum total of this sermon. And yet, to them, they read those
words, but they don't do it. Do unto others as you would have
them do unto you. Then in the passage from verse
13 down to verse 27 actually, because 28 and 29 are just the
closing comments on the sermon as a whole, in these verses there's
a phrase that stands out in verse 24 and 26 these sayings of mine. That's what I've called this
message. Jesus said, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and
does them. Whosoever hears these sayings
of mine and does not do them. Which sayings? Which sayings
of the Lord Jesus Christ? Maybe, of course, it means the
whole sermon, and to an extent I'm sure it's true. But I think
especially he's talking about the sayings that he's just put
before them, in verse 13 and verse 15. In verse 13, he is
saying, number one, Enter ye in at the straight gate. Enter ye in at the straight gate. In verse 15 is the second of
his sayings, Beware of false prophets. Beware of false prophets. Those are the sayings, enter
in and beware. So what I want you to see, first
of all, is the narrow way, because it says, enter ye in at the straight
gate. This is the first of the sayings,
the narrow way to eternal glory. Enter ye in at the straight gate,
for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads not to
salvation, but to destruction. eternal destruction. And many
there be which go in thereat. Many go through that broad gate,
that wide gate, on the broad way that leads to destruction.
Because straight, narrow, restricted is the gate, and narrow is the
way which leads to life, and few there be that find it. the narrow way to eternal glory.
Enter the kingdom of heaven by the only way. The disciples in
John 14 asked Jesus to show them the way, and Jesus said in verse
6 of chapter 14 of John, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Just look in John chapter 10
for a moment. if you will, John chapter 10
and the first nine verses. Read what he says here. John
chapter 10, this is Jesus speaking again. He says, verily, verily,
truly, truly, amen, amen, if you like, I say unto you, he
that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up
some other way, the same is a thief and a robber, but he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
door of the sheep. He has His sheep. He has, not
everybody in general, He has a people that He calls His sheep.
And there is one way into the sheepfold, which is a picture
of heaven. And that's Him. He is the door.
He is the narrow gate. The narrow gate into life is
Christ. And in what sense is it narrow?
It's narrow in this sense, that it's Christ and Him alone. not
Christ plus anything else, Christ and Him alone. The narrow way
is the way of God's sovereign grace, that it is of God who
chooses, it is of God who calls to eternal life. It is not of
Him who wills nor of Him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Sovereign grace, and particular
redemption, because He died to pay the penalty for the sins,
not of everybody without exception, not at all. That's not the teaching
of this book. If we're faithful to this book,
we cannot delude people by teaching them that that's the case. He
died for His people. He died for His sheep. The people
He calls His sheep. His flock, His own flock that
follow Him. His flock that hear His voice
and follow Him. His flock that will not follow
the voice of a stranger. His sheep hear His voice and
follow Him. And it's for them. He gives His
life, He says in that same chapter of John 10, I give my life for
the sheep. Who does he give his life for?
For the sheep. Did you hear it? It's for the
sheep, not for anybody else. He doesn't give his life for
the goats that we see standing up at the judgment at the end.
He gives his life for the sheep. And it's not Christ plus anything
you do. You are not saved, you are not
sanctified by Christ plus anything you do. It's Christ and him alone. Christ giving his life, as he
says, he gave his life a ransom for his sheep, not for the goats. Not for the goats. As he says
in Matthew 25, the sheep on his right hand, the goats on his
left. And I will say to them on my right hand, come, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
And to the goats, he will say, depart from me, for I never knew
you. Christ has a people, a multitude that no man can number. As innumerable
as the sand on the seashore is innumerable, you can't count
it. His elect people that the Father gave to the Son before
the beginning of time. And there are people from every
tribe and tongue and kindred, in every age. There are people
down the ages. Christ has a people for whom
He stood as the guarantor. as the surety in the covenant
of grace, and we read in Hebrews 7.22, he, Christ, is the surety
of a better testament, a better covenant, a covenant that secures
the salvation of those for whom Christ stood surety. He gave
his life, we read, a ransom for the many sheep, but not for the
goats. He is able to save to the uttermost
those who come to God by him, because he gave his life a ransom
for them. He is able to save to the uttermost
this great high priest that we have, who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the one who came to this earth and took upon him the flesh
of the children, that he might bring many sons to glory. Not everybody, many sons to glory. Determined by what? By the will
of man? No. Nowhere in the scripture
does it say that. Determined by the will of God.
Determined by the grace of God. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, says God. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. It's his will, not the will of
the one who decides. No. This is the narrow way. This doctrine is the narrow way. It's the narrow doctrine. You
say, ah, your doctrine is too narrow. You and your hyper-Calvinism,
they call it. You're hyper-Calvinist. Don't
you realize that? You're narrowing it down so much.
You're hyper-Calvinist. That's scripture. The Scripture. In the definition of religion,
Scripture is hyper-Calvinist. It really is, because it says
it is the people of God's choice, of God's sovereign choice. This
is the narrow way. This is the narrow doctrine.
But it's the only doctrine that saves sinners. It's the only
doctrine that satisfies the offended justice of God. All other Gospels,
the word Gospel means good news, and there are all sorts of Gospels,
but as Paul says to the Galatians about those that have been peddling
a Christ plus something else that you do Gospel, he said,
it's another Gospel which is no Gospel at all. All other Gospels
are no Gospel at all. What do I mean? I mean Arminianism. I mean that which says that the
choice is all down to you. God has done everything he can,
now it's over to you. There's a lot of people believe
that, and that is not what the Scripture teaches. There's Fullerism,
of those that claim to be Reformed, to be Calvinistic, to believe
in the sovereignty of God, and yet, in their doctrine and their
practice, they utterly deny this narrow way of Christ. Their message
is a message of the ability of man to choose for himself. And it's ineffectual. And when
it comes to the Day of Judgment, when you must have that currency,
that spiritual currency, which will purchase your way into the
presence of God for eternity, these other ways, these other
no gospels if you like, will be found to be absolutely worthless. This is what it is to be on the
broadway that leads to destruction. The broadway. And many, he says,
many. How many are on the broadway?
Many. The vast majority are on the broadway. Oh, look at the
numbers that we get. I tell you, don't brag about
the numbers you get. Look what Jesus says here. It's
not the many. He says, few there be that find
the narrow way, the true way, the only way that leads to life. There are few that find that.
That's why Jesus talked to his people. He said, fear not, little
flock, little flock, not great multitudes, not the majority. Oh, look at all the rest of them
outside. Look, we're in them. No, don't ever think that because
you get numbers, because your cars are parked up the street
when you're not in lockdown, don't ever think that that is
a seal of approval, that what you're doing in the gospel you're
preaching is the truth? Absolutely not. If anything,
beware that it isn't exactly the opposite. No. Broad is the
way that leads to destruction, and many there be that are on
that way, but few there be on the narrow way, through the straight
gate, through the narrow doctrine of Christ. Don't despise small
numbers. Zechariah 4 verse 10 says, Who
has despised the day of small things? You say, for the Church
of God we're always living, as it seems, in the day of small
things. The majority is always in the
kingdom of Satan, but Christ will complete his kingdom. That
all these little flocks, down time, will add up to a multitude
which no man can number. As John saw in the vision in
Revelation 19 verse 1, it says, And I beheld, and he heard this
great, great sound, and I beheld much people in heaven. This is
it, a multitude that no man can number. So then, the narrow way
to eternal glory. And then the second saying in
verse 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's
clothing. but inwardly they are ravening wolves. They're wolves
dressed up in sheep's clothing. They're wolves, they've killed
the sheep and they've wriggled into the sheepskin so that from
the outside they look as harmless as a sheep, but inside there's
a ravening, there's a fierce wolf, which is a very, very effective
killing machine and predator. Beware of false prophets, because
the false prophets are the ones that try to tell you that Christ's
narrow way is not so restrictive, and it doesn't need to be so
restrictive. What is it that makes these false prophets? They'll
tell you that the broad way is probably okay, that the narrow
way is too narrow, that you don't want to be quite like that, you
don't want to be quite as restrictive as that. Jesus warns that those
who preach like that, who preach that message, are in actual fact
not gentle, and sheep-like, and cuddly, and soft, and woolly. They're ravening wolves. They're
fierce. They're Satan's subtle ambassadors. The kingdom of Satan has got
its missionaries, you know, and most of them are in religion.
Convincing people that their broad way is the way to life
when it's anything but, it's the way to destruction. They're
peddling a false gospel. They're peddling, why is it false?
Because it's offering, it's claiming, it's putting forward a salvation
from sin without the satisfaction of divine justice. Sin can only
be forgiven if justice is satisfied. God can only forgive sins and
justify the sinner if the sins are paid for and the debt is
cancelled, the debt is wiped out. You see, these false prophets
that we are to beware of, they don't have God's Spirit. They
don't speak with the authority and truth of God's Word, and
as Jesus says here, they don't bear true spiritual fruit. But
they're often, beware, beware, he says it on purpose, beware,
they're often very well disguised as those who are true prophets. Superficially, they appear as
Christ's sheep. How many people I've heard say,
oh, well, you know, I'm not very happy with the church I go to,
but, you know, it's all right, and we need to go for the sake
of the children, and we need to have contact with other people.
I know it's not a very appropriate illustration in the days in which
we're living with the lockdown, but, you know, what the pastor,
what the minister is preaching is very much a secondary matter
to them. Let me tell you, what the minister
is preaching is 100% to nil the most important thing. Don't
bother about anything else. You know, what do you need in
a pastor? I know people that seem to think that a pastor,
to be effective, he needs to be a religious social worker.
Nothing of the sort. What's the thing that a minister
of God should do for his people? Study. Show thyself approved. Preach the word. Be instant,
in season. That's his task. Not to be a
religious social worker. to be a minister of the truth
of gospel grace. To teach that? No. These false
prophets look like sheep. They appear as Christ's sheep,
but really they're wolves. They haven't come into the sheepfold
by the door, for He is the door of the sheep, but they've climbed
up some other way, as thieves and robbers. They're false. They're hirelings. When the wolf
comes, they'll run away. They'll leave the sheep to themselves.
They, and those who follow them, these false professors who follow
them, These, in verse 21, everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord,
these false professors who follow the false prophets down the broad
way, they claim great things for the kingdom of heaven, don't
they? They claim great things. Look
what they say. Not everyone that says to me,
Lord, Lord. See, first of all, they call
him Lord. They call the Lord, Lord, Lord. They won't enter
into heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is
in heaven. Because you see, these will say, verse 22, many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? Haven't we preached? Haven't
we done a good job of preaching for you? And in thy name we've
cast out devils. We've fought against the kingdom
of Satan, haven't we? And in thy name we've done many
wonderful works. Oh, look at the numbers of people
we fed just the other day. Oh, what a wonderful thing that
we did there. Many will say to me, oh, isn't it wonderful the
things that we have done? And he will say, He will profess
to them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. You see, they claim great things,
like Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 6, 13 and 14, from the prophet
even unto the priest, because his day was fully corrupt in
religion. Everyone deals falsely. They
have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly. There's a kind of a hint of the
truth about it. They say, peace, peace, but,
There is no peace. There is no peace. They say,
you're all right with God, when there isn't. They've made, as
it says in Isaiah 28, a covenant with death. Their religion is
a refuge of lies. It is a religion that says, ah,
we'll be all right. Yes, in our brand of religion,
we'll be all right. God will accept us for our sincerity. And he says, depart from me.
I never knew you, because you see, you're not on the narrow
way. You're not proclaiming the gospel,
which is the narrow way. What have they not done? He says,
they haven't done the will of my Father, which is in heaven,
verse 21. That's what they haven't, they
haven't, what is the will of the Father who is in heaven?
John 6, 28 and 29, the Jews asked Jesus, what shall we do that
we might work the works of God? What's the will of God for us?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God
that ye believe on him whom he has sent. This is the work of
God. For everything that the law requires
and everything that God requires is in the Lord Jesus Christ and
it is appropriated It is grasped by faith. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. These others, these false
professors, they climbed up some other way. And he says to them,
depart, I never knew you. Oh, let a man examine himself,
whether he be in the faith. And then we see in verses 24
to 27, the wise and the foolish builders, because Hearing what
Jesus has just said about the narrow way and about false prophets,
hearing what He has just said about that, you either, I either,
respond in accordance with it, or contrary to what He has just
said. You either hear and determine
to do, or you hear and judge the way too narrow, and the message
of the false prophets credible. You see that? Whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him to a wise
man which built his house upon a rock. Are you with the little
flock, or with the majority? How you react, he likens to building
a house. What's the picture here? What's
the symbol? Well, a house is a place to keep
you safe from the weather. It keeps you sheltered from the
weather. It keeps you dry when it's raining. It keeps you warm
when it's cold outside. It keeps you cool when the sun's
beating down. It's a shelter. It's a shelter
from all the different things that come on the outside. It's
a dwelling that will keep you safe. And he talks about people's
religion as being house that they're building to keep them
safe for eternity. That's the objective. Now I know
many people in this world try to kid themselves that there
is no God, that there is no eternity, that there is no judgment. So
there's no need for such a house as he's talking about. And I
just think if you think that people in religion are are putting into practice a blind
leap of faith. I can't think of a bigger leap
of faith than that. The fool has said in his heart,
there is no God, no God for me. The fool, that's just foolish. That really is just foolish.
But many are in religion thinking that they're building themselves
a house of doctrine that will shelter them from all the storms,
spiritually, that are to come. Both the wise and the foolish
alike acknowledge the need for a house. They acknowledge the
need for a form of doctrine that gives them peace concerning eternity. In all religion, they're building
a house that affords them some peace concerning the future,
and their meeting with God in eternity, and the things that
will happen in this life. They build side by side. Superficially,
for a while, they look the same. They both are structures. They
afford shelter. They've got, you know, lintels
inside and they've got the wiring and all the other things that
we take for granted now. They've both got that, but they're
on completely different foundations. One of these houses that the
Lord Jesus Christ talks about here is on the rock of Christ
and the salvation he has accomplished for his elect, effectual. His
salvation is not a salvation that is made possible for people
if only they will believe. His salvation is not a salvation
that is an offer for you to accept. His salvation is a salvation
which is accomplished. It's finished. were justified
from all eternity in Him. He is the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, Revelation 13 verse 8. The Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. This is the rock which is Christ
and the salvation that He has accomplished for His elect. And
it is effectual. Effectual gets the job done.
It works. But the other house, although
it looks like a house, although it seems to offer shelter, it's
on shifting sand. You know how the sands shift?
Where I grew up was next to Morecambe Bay in the northwest of England,
and there used to be, I think there still are, guided walks
across Morecambe Bay. You have to paddle across a couple
of shallow rivers when the tide is out at its maximum. And when
the tide goes out, you've got hundreds of square miles of flat
sand with a few rivers just running and you can wade across these
and you can cross to the other side. But if you don't go with
the guide, it's almost certainly a sentence of death, for you
will get lost, you will get stuck in the quicksand, you will sink
in the quicksand, the tide will rush in, it will cut you off,
it will come behind you. All of these things, it's a perilous,
perilous place to be. This is like the shifting sand
on which religion without Christ, the true Christ, oh, many people
say here is Christ and there is Christ. He said, Jesus himself
said, don't believe them. There's only one true Christ,
the Christ of Scripture. There's only one true doctrine
of Christ, the doctrine of Scripture. No, the second house, the religious
house, the merely religious house, is built on shifting sand. It
looks impressive sooner because it went up quicker. The former
the house built on the rock, that calls for effort to dig
down to the rock until you've found the rock, and to put in
proper foundations, and you don't see much for quite a long time.
You really don't. If you put all your work into
the foundations, for sure it will stay, and it will stand,
but you don't see much for quite some time. But the one built
on the sand is rapidly, it rises up very, very quickly. What is
it that the rock pictures, the rock foundation, what does the
rock foundation consist in? Well, I would suggest it is knowledge. It is knowledge. Knowledge of
what? It is the knowledge of God in Christ, based on God's
Word. It is the knowledge of God in
His Word, by His Spirit applied to the soul. How firm a foundation,
ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent
Word. What more can He say than to you, He has said, you who
unto Jesus for refuge have fled? knowledge based on the Word of
God, on the Christ of God, for He is the Word of God, of the
one true God, knowledge of who the true God is, of His majesty,
that He dwells in unapproachable light, of His holiness, that
His ways are high above our ways, His thoughts are high above our
thoughts, of sin, of what it is to be a sinner. That's the
foundation. That's a solid rock foundation.
What it is to be a sinner, to understand from God's Word how
that God must punish sin and what divine justice demands.
How it involves repentance, that without repentance there can
be no true acceptance with God. Repentance and faith go hand
in hand. Faith in Christ alone, who has
dealt with every requirement of the justice of God against
the sins of his people. confidence in redemption accomplished
for the multitude for whom Christ stood as surety. This is the
solid foundation, this is the solid rock, this is the narrow
doctrine, the narrow way, the straight gate that he's been
talking about, this doctrine that assures his people that
God's just wrath the wrath that is right for God to have against
sin, that that wrath is calmed, is turned away, is propitiated,
that the blood of Christ which has paid the penalty is applied
to my conscience, so that I can say that by faith I know He's
taught me, I know He died for me, I know He shed His precious
blood for me. I know He did this for me, that
I might be made the righteousness of God in Him, when He took my
sin upon Himself, when He was made my sin and the sins of all
His people, to pay the just penalty of that sin to the offended law
of God, that He might make His people the righteousness of God
in Him. But the sand foundation is universal
redemption. applied individually on the exercise
of the individual's faith. That sand foundation is that
broad way, which is not so restrictive as to limit it only to the elect
of God, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
It's a universal thing. And the thing that makes the
difference is the will of man and his decision. but I tell
you there's a storm coming to batter both houses. Let's quickly
look at the coming storm. Both houses, that built by the
wise man on the rock which is Christ, and that built by the
foolish man on the broad way to destruction, on the shifting
sand, both houses are intended to protect from the storm. Remember
Noah's ark, Noah's ark in the flood of divine judgment. The
flood of divine judgment was a literal flood that covered
the entire earth. And there was only one place
that was safe. And that was in the ark that God told Noah to
build. That was in the ark that protected Noah and the seven
others that were with him and all the animals that were in
there. It protected them completely from judgment against sin. Inside
the ark, they were completely safe. Outside the ark, there
was certain destruction. What about the storms coming
to test the houses of your religion and mine? First of all, think
of this. I've only got four here, just
to be quick. But doubts and fears, we all
have doubts and fears, don't we? Everybody has doubts and
fears at times. The frailty of human flesh, it
causes even God's people to doubt their salvation. Even though
we're children of God, we can be tossed to and fro by every
wind of doctrine. But if faith is true, true faith
grows stronger when tried by fire. God likens it to the trials
as like the metal in the crucible, and the fire burns off the impurities,
and the more the fire comes, the purer the gold becomes that's
in the crucible. True faith is like that. True
faith is like that. It grows stronger when tried
by fire. The unchangeable truth of accomplished
redemption removes those doubts. The more true faith is tried,
the more it settles down onto that which it knows, which is
the unchangeable truth of accomplished redemption. And that removes
those doubts and fears, whereas religion built on the sand on
the broad way of broad doctrine, gives no assurance when the storm
comes. When Satan's flood, remember in Revelation 12, Satan in his
fury defeated at Calvary, but in his fury he sends a flood
out of his mouth to try to wash the woman which is the church
back into conformity with his worldly kingdom. and the earth
helps the woman and swallows up the flood. But when Satan's
flood comes along, if your house is built on that sandy foundation,
that shallow foundation, that shifting foundation, all that
flood of Satan will sweep it away. Whereas the one who has
true faith, the true faith of the narrow way, of the narrow
doctrine, that true faith, we have an anchor that keeps the
soul steadfast and sure as the billows roll. An anchor that
keeps the soul. Doubts and fears then. The true
is tested and tried and proven to be the true. Secondly, the
trials that are common to man. We're all going through it at
the moment. The whole world, it seems, is in lockdown to varying
degrees with the coronavirus. And there are economic trials
happening for some and looming for the majority. It's a case,
you know, that's the real dilemma. How soon do they ease off on
the restrictions which will allow opportunity for the virus to
spread more widely, but the cost of it is that the economy of
the world and people's own personal finances is under great trial,
and believers are not exempt from that at all. But in trials
common to man, the storm that comes, if your house is built
on that rock which is Christ, on that solid foundation, you
know this text, Romans 8.28, don't treat it glibly, it is
so profound. We know that God causes all things,
all things, all things to work together for good to those who
love God, who are the called according to his purpose. That's
it. The called according to his purpose. He causes coronavirus. He causes
the economic shutdown. He causes it all to work together
for good. For what is his goal for his
people? It is eternal glory. And when we get to that day of
judgment, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is Christ that has died. There is no more charge outstanding
that isn't paid for. There is no charge to answer.
No, for God's elect, there is nothing to fear. Nothing can
thwart God's purpose of good to his people. If my house is
built on my decision though, on the shifting sand of my decision,
on the broad way of the doctrine that leads to destruction, Well,
what if God wasn't party to my decision? What if my decision
wasn't good enough? No. Again, we see that which
is built on the rock against that which is built on the sand.
Persecution will come from this world around, but the house on
the rock is anchored. the house on the rock is anchored
solidly. Whatever the world might say,
I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and
though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
It's anchored on the solid doctrine of the absolute accomplishment
of Christ. But that which is on the sand,
to use another analogy, to use another parable, it's like the
seed that fell amongst the thorns and the thistles, and it seemed
to grow well, but then the cares of the world came up and choked
it. The sand of its shallow doctrine,
the sand of its broad way that leads to destruction doctrine,
did nothing to anchor it firmly when the persecution of the world
came. And finally, of course, there's the final judgment. There's
the storm of God's wrath against sin that is coming. You know
that there was a storm on the Sea of Galilee, on the Lake of
Galilee, and the disciples were in a boat, and Jesus had gone
aside to pray, but the disciples were in the boat on their own.
He told them to go across to the other side. And there they
were in the night, and they were rowing ferociously because there
was a storm that they couldn't counter it. They couldn't get
to where they were going. They feared for their lives.
They feared that they'd be drowned. and they saw Jesus walking on
the water. And he came into the boat and
he just told the storm to be still, peace be still, and it
was. The storm of God's wrath against
sin is calmed by the voice of Jesus for his redeemed people.
Look what I've done, it's gone, that's it, the storm is over.
The smile is there, the anger is turned away. God's Word has
promised, Jeremiah 50 verse 20, the iniquity and the sins of
Judah and Israel, the people of God, will be sought for on
the Judgment Day, and they will not be found, because they're
not there, because He has taken them away. As Matthew 25 verse
33 says, he says of that day, he shall set the sheep on his
right hand and he will say to them, come you blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. But the goats for whom he didn't die, whom he has
not redeemed, who do not believe his truth, he will set them on
the left and he will say, depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Which side will you be on? the side whose house is built
on the rock of the narrow doctrine of the narrow way, or that which
is built on the broad way. It sounds like the truth. It's
preached by wolves in sheep's clothing who sound so plausible
Which side will you be on? Believe, says the scripture,
and you shall be saved. He that believeth on me, said
Jesus, shall be saved. You say, you've taught me that
I can't believe by myself. I know I have. That's the truth.
It's not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God
who shows mercy. But do you remember the account of the man who had
the withered hand? And the one thing he couldn't
do was stretch out his hand. And Jesus came and said to him,
stretch forth thy hand. And with the command to stretch
it forth, came the power to stretch it forth. And he stretched it
forth, and it was made whole. When Jesus calls you to believe,
he gives you ears to hear, and he gives you the ability to believe.
He makes his people willing in the day of his power. With the
command to believe comes the power to respond and to believe. Whosoever believeth in me shall
not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the truth of God.
Amen.