Matthew chapter 7 and I want
to read from verse 24. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 24. Therefore, and the Lord Jesus
Christ is speaking, 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. 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. And everyone that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. 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. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. Lord Jesus Christ is bringing
his Sermon on the Mount, as it is called, to a conclusion. His message is complete. on this occasion anyway, and
we are going to see shortly that he is about to finish the speaking
that he has been doing there on the hillside. Three chapters
have been taken up with the content of this sermon since the Lord
sat down and began speaking. His message, his lesson, his
sermon is at an end. His doctrine, which has been
carefully, concisely, and simply set forth, is now being brought
to its conclusion. And I'm always challenged, and
I trust you are too, I'm always challenged by the simplicity
of the Lord's preaching, the simplicity of His message, the
way He simply draws pictures of ordinary things, things that
men and women would be well aware of and would understand and would
feel an intimate awareness of and recognition for. That these people knew what he
was talking about when he spoke about the sheep, and he spoke
about the weather, and he spoke about the flowers that grow in
the field, and he spoke about the crops that would be harvested
in pictures. that he presented to them, which
were clear and simple, but doctrine that was deep and profound. And there's a loveliness about
this way of presentation that the Lord employed. We thought
a little bit last week in the previous section to our studies
in the Sermon on the Mount from verse 13 about the fact that
the Lord described himself as the straight gate and we saw
that that was a description of himself. He was referring to
himself as the gate in the same way as he referred to himself
elsewhere as being the door or the way. If you want access,
you go to the door. If you want to find the right
way, then you go to the straight gate. The Lord was showing people
that there was a need to come to him, that there was a necessity
to approach God through the means and by the method and the way
that God had ordained. And that way is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that exclusively. People
sometimes say, you know, you're too narrow. You're too exclusive. There are other ways of people
finding fulfillment and meaning and the blessings of life and
approaching God. Well, you know, it's not us that
sets out the parameters of approach to God. It is God himself. And the Lord Jesus Christ describes
himself as the straight gate, the narrow way. the straight
gate, and he has shown that he is the entrance, the alone entrance
to spiritual life and experience. He is the door, he is the gate,
he is the way. He testified that of himself
and others testified it of him. The prophets in the Old Testament
knew that the Messiah was coming, the Messiah who was the chosen
one, who was the anointed one, who was the revelation of God
to men, and they anticipated him, and they recognised that
when he came, it would be he and he alone who would lead them
into truth and who would accomplish the purpose of God. And so Isaiah,
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ in his own prophecy in chapter
35, verse 8, he says, and a highway shall be there, and a way, and
it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not
pass over it. but it shall be for those, the
wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. What a mercy is being described
to us here. Here the Lord Jesus Christ is
described to us as a highway. He is the highway to heaven,
a way of holiness. He is that way of approaching
the Holy God. He is the way that will lead
sinners into that experience of the perfection and the righteousness
and the holiness of God. We cannot come into the presence
of God in our sin. in our iniquity, in our transgressions,
in our natural state and condition. The unclean shall not pass over. Isaiah knew that. The Lord Jesus
Christ testified to the same thing. It's a straight gate.
There is a broad way and many there be that go in there. But the narrow way, the way of
holiness, that highway, That way which
is Christ, my, even wayfaring men though fools will not err
therein. A wayfaring man is a pilgrim. is one who is on the road. We
used to call them tramps. I don't know whether that's a
word that you're familiar with, but the sort of vagabond type
of individual that was passing through. Well, we are passing
through. We're passing through this world.
This world is not our home. And though we be wayfaring men,
Even there in Christ we will not err. The simplicity that
is in Christ will not allow the most foolish of men or women
to err in these holy things. Those who are the Lord's people
will be brought all the way through. We will be taught of God. We
will have these truths revealed to us. We will be made wise in
our foolishness. These travelling men, these wayfaring
men, these pilgrims, these who journey through life. They remind
us that we are all on a journey. The journey from the cradle to
the grave. The journey from time to eternity. And your life is different from
my life. Our experiences are all unique. No journey is the same. and we
all make mistakes and we've all acted foolishly. We have all
served ourself and not God. We have pursued the desires of
our nature, the lusts of our flesh, and we have indulged that
sinful nature to the best of our ability. But by God's grace, fools are
made wise. Wise unto salvation, wise in
spiritual truths. These truths that we now hold
so dear once seemed like foolishness to us. We couldn't understand
why people would talk about these things, would believe in these
things, would want to join with other people that believed in
those things and worship. And now these very same truths
that we once rejected and scoffed at are the dearest things to
us. for they lead us into the understanding of who the Lord
Jesus Christ is and what he has done for us. We are taught to
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not something that just
happens. It can't just happen. The nature of man is sinful. It is antagonistic. It is rebellious
to the things of God. We have to be taught. We have
to be tutored. And that's what God does. He teaches us. He teaches us
the truth. He teaches us about Himself. He teaches us about the Lord
Jesus Christ. He sends His Holy Spirit, His
Spirit of truth and revelation. that we might be made wise unto
salvation. He gives us the Holy Scriptures.
He places us in a community of believers. He allows us to hear
the gospel preached, that he might teach our souls, our opening
mind, the truths of heaven and the glories of his purpose of
redemption and salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
preached, he preached simply. He preached a straightforward
message. He declared himself in no uncertain
terms, and the men and the women around about him, they heard
what he had to say, and they knew what he was talking about.
And here, in the close of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, is
another example of exactly that. It is a simple, clear statement,
a clear gospel message from the Lord Jesus Christ. He talks about
two men. He talks about two builders. He talks about two houses. And
he talks about two outcomes. It couldn't get any easier. And
yet he sets up in these statements a great and profound contrast. He shows that the one is not
the same as the other. He is setting out that there
is a clear distinction, that there is a separation, that there
are two different ways. as he has previously done in
speaking about the straight gate, the narrow way and the broad
road that leads to destruction. There's no confusion in these
matters. The Lord has been absolutely
frank and straightforward. So straightforward, in fact,
that one almost feels that whatever I might say this evening, It'll
only cloud the clarity of the message that the Lord Jesus Christ
has given. The blessed Saviour is bringing
his sermon to a conclusion. And yet, perhaps the Lord will
be gracious to us this evening and he will permit us to hear
once again and afresh something of the message of the Lord Jesus
Christ as the way of life, the truth and the only way of approaching
God. This is a Sovereign Grace sermon. Does it surprise you to learn
that the Lord Jesus Christ believed in Sovereign Grace? This is a sovereign grace sermon. The Lord speaks of whosoever
cometh. The parallel passage in Luke
chapter six to this narrative of the wise and the foolish builders
speaks about those that come as well as those who hear and
those who do. The Lord says, whosoever cometh,
whosoever heareth, whosoever doeth. And I just think it's
lovely that the Lord doesn't spend 20 minutes at the end of
his sermon with soft music playing in the background. inviting,
cajoling, and appealing for sinners to come to him. He just says
it as it is, whosoever cometh, whosoever heareth, and whosoever
doeth. The Lord Jesus Christ believed
in sovereign grace and he didn't appeal for sinners to come to
him. He was not pleading for them
to do that which he knew it was impossible for them to do. He wasn't offering them spiritual
life upon impossible conditions. He knew that all who come to
Him are drawn to Him, are taught of God, are brought by the power
of God the Holy Spirit into a sense of need, a desire after the things
of God, a longing for the peace, the sense of forgiveness, an
awareness of their own unworthiness, And yet he too knew that all
who are drawn of God and taught of God and have these things
revealed to them by the Spirit of God will indeed come. And so he says, whosoever cometh,
whosoever heareth, and whosoever doeth, I will liken him unto
a wise man. He knew that none have ears to
hear, except those who are effectually called by God the Holy Spirit. He knew that to do the will of
the Father required first a powerful work of enlivening. that there
be a grace bestowed, a gift granted, that there be a work of regeneration,
a work of bringing to life quickening where there was previously a
deadness and a coldness and a hardness and a rebelliousness against
the things of God. These things are needful. These
things are necessary. And the Savior likens those that
come and hear and do to wise men, wise men who have been fools
but who have been made wise, who were rebels but have been
constrained by God, who were in darkness but have been enlightened
as to the things of the Spirit of God and have had that spirit
of illumination brought into their experience. In Acts chapter
22 and verse 6, we read, And it came to pass that as I made
my journey and was come nigh unto Damascus at noon, suddenly
there shone from heaven a great light round about me. Saul of
Tarsus goes on to say that he heard a voice speaking to him
from heaven. And oh, you say to me tonight,
I wish I could see a light from heaven. I wish I could hear a
voice from heaven, just like Saul of Tarsus did. If I could
see that light, if I could hear that voice, then I too might
know something of the assurance of my sins forgiven. I too might
know something of that powerful work of God in my life. And I say to you, friend, Christ
is that light. Christ is that voice. Just as he is the narrow, straight
gate, just as he is the way and the truth, he is the light. He is the living word of God. When we hear the gospel preached,
we hear Christ speak. We see the light of the world
lifted up in the preaching of the gospel. He is the living
word. And the sovereign grace gospel,
that gospel, it leads those who have a desire placed in their
heart. a need, an awareness, a sensitivity
to their own unworthiness and their sin. It leads them to lay
hold upon that light and to trust in that voice and the words that
that voice gives to them. So here we have a sovereign grace
sermon. What that sermon is about, what
the Lord is drawing our attention here to in these closing verses
of his sermon is the fact that there are two men, two men, one
who is wise and one who is foolish. Now, I know that people don't
like when we divide the world into two. They just don't like
that. We find ourselves saying there
are two kinds of people in the world and people don't like that. I once said that and the retort
came to me. I said there are two kinds of
people in the world and the person said, yeah, there are two kinds
of people in the world. There are those who think there
are two kinds of people in the world, and the rest of us who
live in the real world. And yet, Scripture speaks about
two kinds of people all the time. And that's what the Lord has
done here. So we are doing no worse than the Lord. And we can
do no better than the Lord when we bring to men's attention the
fact of the contrast between these two. These two men, a wise
man and a foolish man. Those who are wise in the things
of God and those who are foolish in the things of God. And we're
speaking spiritually here. We're not talking about IQ. We're not talking about education. We're not talking about experience.
But we're talking about those who have had these spiritual
truths revealed to them and those who have not. Those who have
been made wise by that spirit of revelation and truth and those
who are still in their darkness and in their sin. The Lord sets
the gospel forth in these words. He sets forth the way of salvation. It is Christ who is lifted up
here. It is the truth of the gospel
that is declared. And when Christ is lifted up
and the truth of the gospel is declared, people will divide. People will separate. They will,
as it were, prove the validity of the two kinds of people notion
because some will say we will hear more of this man and others
will say why do you listen to him he's mad just as they always
have done the natural man says in his heart this is all foolishness Those who are made to see their
need before a holy God, they declare, Lord, be merciful to
me, a sinner. What makes the difference between
these two reactions? These two men? What makes the
difference? their parents, their lineage,
their culture, their education, their traditions. What is it
that makes the difference? It's grace that makes the difference.
That's all, just grace. Just grace. That's why we talk
about sovereign grace. That's why we talk about free
grace. That's why we talk so often and so much about the grace
of God because it's grace and grace alone that makes the difference
in the heart of an individual. The wisdom of this world is foolishness
and and yet it accomplishes much. We have seen the evidence in
the past few days. One man in his vision wants to
send a massive great rocket into space and carry all things into
space and put them there in orbit and we look at it and we say,
how can men conceive of such things, far less actually do
it? And then we talk about the millions
and the billions of dollars that come crashing off the stock exchange
and then go back on again and the ebbs and the flows of all
of these amazing things which are beyond our comprehension
just go on in the world and we marvel and we rejoice at the
accomplishments and the advances and the science and the wonder
of it all. And the Lord says it's foolishness.
It's foolishness. It's vanity. Not because it doesn't achieve
much or cause great advances or great cures or give us pleasure,
but as far as the eternal realities of what this life is about, it
can teach us nothing. of how to approach God, how to
get to God. It is merely playing in the dirt
and building our little castles as far as transcending into the
courts of glory and the presence of Almighty God. The world talks about the foolishness
of the gospel. And yet the gospel is that means,
that vehicle, that approach that God has given us to understanding
the truth of His ways and His purpose. The gospel is taught
to us in Holy Scriptures. And it is those Holy Scriptures
and the Gospel that is contained in them that make men wise unto
salvation. The Apostle Paul recognised that
in the life of Timothy. And faith is God's gift. That's the work of grace. we should always seek opportunity
to hear the gospel. And I look around this evening
and I know that you're a faithful group and you come out and you
hear the gospel and I applaud that because I tell you this,
it will do your soul good to hear the gospel. This is the
means that God has given us. This is the light from heaven
on the Damascus road. This is the voice from heaven
and the experience of the Lord's people, whom he calls, whom he
speaks to, whom he enlightens. He does it through the lifting
up of Jesus Christ in the gospel by the Holy Scriptures, which
will make men wise unto salvation. Always hear the gospel whenever
you have the opportunity and always make it your prayer that
in hearing the gospel, the Lord will make me wise in spiritual
things. The Lord will lead me into his
truth. So there were two men and these
two men were both builders. They're builders, these men.
They both built a house. Now a house speaks of security
and it speaks of protection and it speaks of comfort and it speaks
of rest. That's the place where we want
to put our heads down on a night. That's the place that we build
around about us to give us a sense of security and independence
and protection. It's a basic need of people in
this world. And you build according to the
dangers that you fear. I'm always amazed at the difference
between even the building materials that are used in different places.
Some people will make a house out of sticks and straw and it'll
last them all their lives. Others have to put big boulders
on top of one another and make these walls as thick as they
possibly can be because they have to withstand driving rain
and snow and winds and hurricane. and we make our houses according
to the perceived dangers that surround us. But the great danger is not the
cold or the wind or the weather. The great danger that we have
in this world is the fact that death is coming. and judgment
is coming and we must stand before the Holy Lord God. If, as Isaiah said, the unclean
will not pass over, what are the unclean to do? If, as the prophet says, wickedness
cannot stand in the presence of God, what are the wicked to
do? Death and judgment is coming
upon us. And we're building, we're building,
right now we're building. You are, and I am, and every
person is. That's what our life is. It's
a building that we're putting up. But is it security against the
judgment that is coming? Will it protect us against that
cold wind of justice? Will it withstand when the law
brings its convicting power and seeks to crush down on top of
a soul? We have our families. We have
our money. We have our accomplishments. We have our good works. We have
our reputation. All of these things that are
part of the construction that we make around about us. Well, here's the question. Will
that all stand the cleanliness test? Oh, there is a storm coming,
friends. The likes of which this world
has never seen before. There is a tsunami of righteous
judgment fast approaching. There is a whirlwind of condemnation
about to fall upon us. There is a deluge of punishment
that will sink untold millions into hell. Will your house stand in that
catastrophe? Will its foundations endure that
overwhelming, irresistible cataclysm of judgment? There is only one structure that
is going to endure. And that is the house that's
built on solid foundations. And I'm not talking about the
premises in which we dwell. I'm talking about whether our
lives are founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness. The house built upon Christ,
the house that rests upon the chief cornerstone, the house
in which faith dwells, where righteousness rules and grace
marks the inhabitants thereof, where gospel truth speaks peace
to the souls of men and women. Ephesians chapter 220 says, Lord's
people are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. Here we have two builders, two
kinds of people in this world. We're all building, but is our
building built upon that solid foundation? Will it withstand
the judgment of God that is coming upon us? The Lord says that there
are Two men, two builders, and two outcomes. One house fell
not, and the other house collapsed upon itself. When trials come
in this life, to whom do we turn? When temptation creeps in to
our life's experience, and causes us to sin, where do we go to
find forgiveness? When the old man rises up in
our breast and we doubt the hoped for grace
of God and goodness of God, When these old experiences resurface
that we had long hoped had gone away, where do we go to find
our peace and calmness when it's taken from us? Where do we find
security and protection and comfort and rest? Where are we going
to find salvation? Where are we going to find deliverance? Only in the blood and righteousness
of the Saviour. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
whisper peace to the troubled soul. Only He can protect, deliver,
and bring us safe to glory. And that's the theme of the Gospel. That was the message of the Lord's
Sermon. That in its simplicity and clarity,
that in all of its beauty, speaks to us of the way of life, the
way of hope, the way of faith and grace. What our Saviour accomplished
on the cross, what He achieved by His sacrifice and what He
endured in His suffering is the ground of our hope when we consider
the judgment that must fall. Not what I've done, not what
I've achieved, not what I've accomplished, but what Christ
has done and achieved and accomplished. We look to Him, we look to that. work of Christ himself in his
sacrifice, in his shed blood and in that relationship which
he has forged with God for sinners like us through the union that
he took in his own body, in his human form to men and women. His substitution, His redemption,
His atonement. These truths are the plan that
we follow while we're building our house. The soil into which we dig are
those truths that He has given us in His Word. about what he
has done for us. The materials with which we construct
our house are these spiritual blessings that comfort us and
protect us and deliver us from the trials and the tribulations
and the issues of our life. And Christ himself is the rock
upon which that house is built. The message of the gospel is
clear. The word of Christ is simple,
but it is sure. It's heaven or it's hell. It's everlasting life or everlasting
destruction. It is unspeakable glory with
Christ for all eternity or unmitigated suffering and separation from
the presence of the holy Lord God. These are the outcomes. This is what the Lord is speaking
about. This is the contrast that he is setting up. He is speaking
about mercy and grace and peace and holiness and heaven and life.
Or destruction and fire and rejection and separation. Psalm 107 verse 43 says, And
here the blessed Lord Jesus ends the lesson. That's what he says,
this is it. He has set up a contrast between
these two men, these two builders. He has shown the two outcomes
that will follow. And he says to the people that
are there, there's only these two ways. I'm going to liken
the one who comes, the one who hears, the one who does to a
wise man. His house will stand when the
troubled day comes. and the house of the fool will
fall. Will you be wise or will you
be foolish? Will your house stand or will
your house fall? Will you be found built upon
Christ for cleansing and righteousness? Or will you be frantically patching
up your leaky, crumbling, man-made religion as the just judgment
and righteous indignation of God falls upon sinful men and
women. Do you know what people are going
to shout out in that day of judgment? They're going to cry for the
mountains to fall on them. Why do you need a mountain to
fall on you? to protect you, to protect you from the severity
of the righteous judgment of God. But haven't you got a house
to go to? Oh no, my house has collapsed long ago. I need a
mountain to cover me now. Are these not fit questions to
ask? Ought not every one of us seek
to give a truthful answer to those questions? You and me both. Shall we hear the sayings of
Christ and hearing them be doers of his word and his will? Will
we walk in that narrow way? Will we take that straight gate or having heard them, will we
carry on our way, follow our own paths, pursue our own ends,
and do things our way? That's the broad road that leads
to destruction. Lord, give us grace. Make the difference. Make the
change in our lives. Make us by mercy what we could
never be by works. Make us wise in Christ to the
saving of our precious souls. Cause us to stand in that evil
day, and having done all, to stand. Lord Jesus Christ, He
is our rock. He is our foundation. He is our
strength. He is our hope. He is our all
in all. May the Lord bless you and these
words to our hearts this evening. Amen.