Words that Save

Call to Worship: Psalm 16:7-8 // Prayer

Adoration: Our Father, we adore you: you are the one we wait for, who has lifted us out of the pit and set our feet on a rock; who has placed us in the shadow of your wing, with forgiving grace; who has given us counsel in the night, and comforted us with your love.

Confession: And it is because of your unshakable love that we bring to you not only praise, but also our sins to confess: in the face of our many sins, your love doesn’t even flicker. You have cleansed us by the blood of your Son, and brought us near. You have taken us by the hand, and nothing can take us out of your hand. You have guaranteed heaven to us by the downpayment of your Spirit in us, and our inheritance is certain! What can we say in the face of such love?! So, we come to you to confess, and to remember your grace: our sins are many, and ever before us - have mercy on us, Father, for we have sinned against you! But what boundless mercy pours over us from the boundless love of your salvation, by which you have adopted us as your sons and daughters!

Thanksgiving: We had embraced darkness, but you have caused us to be born again to a living hope, made to behold the brightness of your glory and to shine with the reflection of it. We give you praise!

Supp: And may we shine more brightly with your glory as each year passes by, and may we be filled with boldness to proclaim the word of Christ with courage and joy to those who do not know it, and may your Spirit go before us to prepare hearts to hear and to be saved // and may your gospel go forward not only from us, but also from the saints of Bethany Bible Church: may they have opportunity, boldness, and accuracy in speaking the message of salvation to their neighbors // and we beg you for your people in Nigeria: that you would protect them from these armed bandits who attack them with impunity, on the one hand, and the false prosperity gospel which rages there, on the other - please give them truth, and protection, and glorify your name through them! // and in our own country, we ask for representative Bonamici of our district: that you would protect and bless her, and that you would steer her heart toward justice for unborn children in our state and our country // and now, as we open your Word, please bless us with a deeper grasp of your gospel in the words of Jesus...

Family Matters

Next adult SS class series: discipling others!

The breakfast in honor of the sisters in this congregation will be next Sunday during the Sunday School hour! Will be prepared by the men - talk to Darren (or me) to coordinate what you’ll bring.

Summer Fridays at Scholls - full schedule in Bulletin, mark the dates!

June 14 – Movie and Hot Dog Feed @ Scholls: Riot and Dance (Earth)

June 28 – BBQ and Fellowship Night @ Scholls

Hatfields membership!

Benediction

Now may the God for whom you wait, lift you up out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire and set your feet upon a rock, and may He place you in the shadow of His wings until the storms of destruction pass by. Amen.

(Dale Ralph Davis, various Scriptures)

Sermon

Read: Matthew 7:24-29

Intro

Salvation is found in Jesus’ words.

That’s the point of this passage.

Does that sound too simple to you? Too much like an easy kid’s Sunday School lesson? Something that you’ve already learned 10 times over? Something just for folks outside the church?

I submit to you that few messages could be more needed or more timely today — even inside the church.

Why? Because there are many competing voices in our world. Voices which don’t just claim to be true, but claim to have “the truth” — the truth that really matters.

Some are calm and sophisticated. Others passionate and fiery.

Some say only what is socially acceptable to say — they follow society’s official line, and they have expensive platforms and large audiences. Others beckon from the shadows of the internet, or from less “accepted” places: “We’re not fooled by the official line, but we have the real truth over here.”

Some voices come claiming to speak for God as prophets; others claim to have an exclusive true reading of the Bible different from the gospel of historic Christianity; others deny Christianity all together, or deny the Bible’s reliability, or even deny that God exists.

And we could go on: the world is an ugly battleground of competing voices - actively competing for your allegiance and devotion, and promising some kind of salvation if only you will listen and follow.

Imagine yourself on an outdoor reality TV show. You’re dropped at the starting point of your quest, which is to cross a dangerous and rugged valley.

But at the starting point, there’s a table, and it’s covered in maps. There should have been only one map there, but an enemy came by before you arrived and left a dozen more maps on the table, just to throw you off. Each map suggests a different rout though the valley that takes you to a different pass through the far mountains - but you already know that there’s only one actual survivable pass. So, the map that you choose to follow will determine whether or not you make it through.

The voice you listen to will determine whether you succeed or fail.

That is much like our situation: again, there is a great mess of competing voices out there, vying not just for your intellect, but for your devotion. Promising not just a little bit of truth, but an ultimate truth worthy of your whole heart. Trying to gain you as a disciple.

That’s the world we live in.

Now, the majority of you here have already chosen which voice you’re going to listen to. You’ve chosen that one voice which is different from the rest. A voice of such authority and grace that it is able to bring us through that dangerous valley in total safety.

You’ve chosen the voice of Jesus. You’ve chosen his words, and so you’ve received life.

But still there are a thousand competing voices - voices that don’t just lead unbelievers astray, but can also shake the confidence and hope of believers until we begin to think, “Yes I have followed Jesus… but will my house stand, when the flood comes, and the winds beat against it?” Or, “Yes Jesus’ words are true… but are they really adequate for the challenges of this age?”

And it’s not just your own peace that’s at stake, but can you speak into the life of a doubting or struggling fellow believer, and encourage that believer with the grace of Jesus’ words? Or can you direct an unbeliever toward the words of Jesus, confident that you are pointing that person to the fountain of life, the source of all wisdom — in spite of so many worldly voices that claim the opposite?

If you’re like me, you need to be refreshed with a vision of just how good and how vital Jesus’ words are. And as it turns out, that’s exactly what our passage this morning will do for us:

First, it will show us the astounding authority of Jesus’ words — that unlike the false authority of all those other voices, his words have the power to save;

Second, it will show us the wonderful security that comes from choosing Jesus’ words as your salvation;

And Third, it will show the tragic result of ignoring his words — just how vital they are for salvation.

And so it will teach us that salvation is found only in Jesus’ words.

The Astounding Authority of the True Prophet

As we look into this, it is helpful to remember where this passage is within the whole Sermon on the Mount: it follows right after a warning about false prophets. And it’s put together in that way so that as you read it, you get a contrast between false prophets and Jesus:

The words of false prophets, as we saw last Sunday, point people away from the gate that leads to life — the gate of repentance, where the sinner turns from sin to Christ, and finds life and forgiveness in him.

The words of false prophets do often seem to carry authority. Benny Hinn, for example, sometimes warns people that if they criticize his ministry, God will curse them. And then he quotes Psalm 105:15 out of context to support his claim. So he keeps folks in fear and under his control as he preaches the prosperity gospel. To them, he seems to speak with authority.

But when his false words are compared to the gracious words of Christ, his authority crumbles. He is revealed as a wolf who devours the sheep, as it says in vs. 15; as a diseased tree bearing bad fruit, as it says in vs. 17.

Compare that with the words of Christ — how he taught that ‘that the poor in spirit receive a kingdom; that the humble shall inherit the earth; that the pure in heart shall see God’ — words that if you choose them as your foundation, no storm ever fashioned can dislodge you.

Words that the great Shepherd brought from the Father to give life to the sheep. Words that bring salvation.

[His Authority vs. The Scribes] But it’s not just false prophets that Jesus is contrasted with — look at vss. 28-29:

Matthew 7:28–29 ESV

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

So now he’s contrasted with first century Scribes. Who were the Scribes? They were the highly educated, highly respected Bible teachers of the day — experts who taught the OT to the people. And on the face of it, that’s a good thing. So why this negative contrast?

Well, probably there’s two things going on here:

First, there’s a problem with how the Scribes often operated —

they would preach, but not practice what they preached;

they would load the people with burdensome regulations, but not help them fulfill them;

they would do spiritual things just to be noticed by others, and would eat up all the public honor they received for being teachers… and more.

But when Jesus spoke, he taught:

for the glory of the Father and for the salvation of those listening — not to gain honor and status from others;

and he spoke of a kingdom that would be a refuge for the weary, the troubled, the humble;

and he taught a righteousness beginning in the heart… and he practiced that righteousness himself

So when they people heard him preach, they recognized something different. The Scribes had largely lost the ability to communicate God’s saving promises from Scripture. But here was a teacher of integrity, speaking words of salvation. Here was the authority that their Scribes should have carried.

But second, even if the Scribes had been men of true biblical integrity — they still would have been merely human, and still would have been teachers of the Old Covenant, which was about to expire.

by contrast, here was the true teacher, the true prophet — actually, God, veiled in human flesh — come to announce that the long-desired kingdom had arrived; that the long-desired salvation was at hand

it is true that when human teachers of Scripture live and teach with integrity, it gives their words authority… but there is a unique and majestic authority carried by Christ himself, and by his words

Notice: when he taught on the law earlier in this sermon, he would say, what? “You have heard that it was said… but I say to you...” and then he would give his own teaching. Using those words, “But I say” was a huge statement. No mere human can speak that way. It’s claiming to be the origin of God’s Law. So then, Jesus was claiming to be the origin of and authority behind God’s law. He was claiming to be truly God, and so to have direct divine authority in his words.

So when the crowd heard his sermon on the mountainside, they marveled at his authority. Probably, most didn’t have the full picture of why; but we do. Here was the true prophet who was at the same time God, veiled in human nature. He spoke from the authority of a human life of integrity and at the same time with the divine authority of the Son of God. And so, he spoke words that have the authority to save.

The House Founded on His Words Stands

***And that’s what makes sense of this short parable at the end of the sermon — of why following Jesus’ words makes all the difference***

Jesus said (vs. 24-25):

Matthew 7:24–25 ESV

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

What is Jesus teaching here? Basically, that if you do Jesus’ words, you will be saved.

Now, at first it might sound like I just said — like Jesus is teaching — that you must earn your salvation by reaching a certain level of obedience to his words. Salvation by works. That is not the case! Salvation is by God’s grace alone, and is received by faith alone. And yet, we must still deal honestly with what Jesus is actually teaching here:

Notice, Jesus does not say in vs. 24, “everyone who hears and agrees with these words of mine” will be saved — but sometimes we give that impression:

maybe you’ve heard someone say, “to become a Christian just acknowledge that you are a sinner, and then ask God to forgive you.”

Brothers and sisters, that is not biblical: Jesus did not teach, “acknowledge that you are a sinner,” but, “repent from sin”

And so when he says here, in vs. 24, that it is those who do his words who will be saved, that first means repenting: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” — that’s the summary statement of Jesus’ message, according to Matthew 4:17. Turn from sin to Christ — or as he said earlier, enter through the narrow gate. Now, here, he calls the same thing, “Build your house on the rock.”

And this truth is very gracious, because it means that Jesus IS NOT requiring a certain level of obedience before you may enter his kingdom. Instead he is saying that anyone who has turned from the Old Master, Sin, to the New Master, Christ, will be saved. And when you cast yourself on the mercies of God in that way, at that very moment you are justified, accepted by the Father forever, already citizens of the kingdom with unlosable citizenship. And then, that’s when the battle begins — the battle to kill sin from your life and become more like Jesus. But at that point, the house has already been founded on Christ’s words — the house is already safe.

So, we are saved by the grace that we find when we first turn from sin to Christ and throw ourselves on his mercy. That is the moment, in the language that Jesus is using here, when we choose Christ’s words as our foundation, and so are saved.

[Flood Comes (flash flood/wadi), House Stands]

And what happens then? A flash flood. A torrent of water which carries away everything in its path. But the builder who chose to build his house on the rock is not washed away. His house stands.

[Wadi example?]

So when the flood comes — whether that means difficult situations in this life, or final judgement in the next — if you have chosen the words of Christ for your foundation, then your house will not fall — it will stand. You will be brought safely home to glory.

[application]

And this is good news because — if you hadn’t noticed — life is stormy! But in all the mess of competing voices, believer, you’ve chosen the one voice which will prove eternally true. You’ve chosen to build your house on the rock.

And Jesus is speaking individually hear. He’s talking on the level of an individual persons’s heart and life. But since this is true of individual believers, it should also be reflected in any congregation — our only foundation should be Christ and his message of salvation.

But then, what if this isn’t you? What if you’ve never repented from sin to Christ? In that case, this parable urges you to do so — to find salvation in the words of Christ:

The House Founded on Something Else Falls

***Really, that’s what the second half of the parable is about***

Jesus says (vss. 26-27):

Matthew 7:26–27 ESV

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

[Hearing but not doing] So the other choice was called wise… but this choice is called foolish. What is it? Hearing the words of Christ, but not doing them. And first and foremost, this means never turning from sin to Christ. Never seeking the mercy of Christ.

And sometimes this is obvious and outward: you meet a person who's heard the gospel, but never believed. Instead, that person has consciously chosen some other voice above the voice of Jesus — maybe the voice of self-actualization, or of worldly pleasure, or of placing self at the center of the world… or a thousand other false voices. Voices that Jesus calls, “sand.”

But sometimes it isn’t obvious for a while. A man builds his house and claims that the foundation is laid on stone. A person says, “I belong to Jesus.” But then the flash flood comes, and suddenly, the faith that seemed to be there is gone. Why? Because the external claim to belong to Jesus had always been combined with something else, even if that something else was hidden:

Something more precious than Jesus, which, when it was taken away, caused them to reject the Lord himself

Or, a belief which Jesus was never permitted to challenge — so that when push finally came to shove, that person simply walked away from the faith

Or, a greater loyalty to something other than Jesus, so that when tested in furnace of hardship, the faith is found to be false

This seems to be underlying reality beneath many deconstruction stories. Not so much a real faith that fails, but a false faith that is exposed.

[Flood - it falls] And what exposes the false faith? The sandy foundation? A flash flood — waters that crash through and strip the land of everything but houses build on the rock.

And again, this storm can refer to anything from a challenge in this life all the way to final judgement.

The loss of someone dear to you, or suffering a horrible injustice

Having Jesus’ words challenge a belief that you hold dear

Facing a choice between the pleasures of this world and the cross that Jesus calls you to bear

Or, facing the judgement of God on the last day…

But the guarantee is that the flood will come. And when it crashes against the house built on the gospel, that house stands. But when it crashes against the person who hasn’t actually repented, false faith is exposed and swept away.

And Jesus says, “Great is it’s fall!”

What does this all mean? If you haven’t yet turned to Jesus — you need his words! Salvation is found no where else. No one else’s words have the authority to save. Every other voice, no matter how convincing, how smooth, how sophisticated, how alluring — no other voice can provide you with the foundation which will hold up in the storm — especially in that final storm, the judgement of God on the last day. So repent, and cast yourself on Jesus’ mercy.

Because that one voice — the voice of Jesus — speaks words which can never fail those who trust in him. So, dear brothers and sisters, what storm are you enduring? Have you been slandered and mistreated? Psalm 62 says about liars attacking a righteous man:

Psalm 62:4–7 ESV

They only plan to thrust him down from his high position. They take pleasure in falsehood. They bless with their mouths, but inwardly they curse. Selah For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

Or is it that your whole world seems to be falling apart?

Psalm 46:1–5 ESV

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.

Or as the Hymn says,

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose

He will not, he will not desert to it’s foes

That soul though all hell should endeavor to shake

He’ll never, no never, no never forsake

That is the reality of your life if it is built on the rock, the words of Christ.

You know, we were at the beach in on our recent vacation and tried building a sand castle. Well, as it turns out, the tide was coming in. You know how it goes. First it was just eating it away a bit, and then the towers started to collapse, and eventually the whole thing was just gone. But if you’ve turned to Christ and become his disciple, your life will not be like that. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, he will bring you safely home to glory.

But then, there’s a whole nother side to this: Salvation is found only in Jesus’ words, and that means that Jesus’ words are the only hope your unbelieving neighbors have. And as it turns out, you have a commission from Jesus to tell them — to make disciples of all nations.

Conclusion

So then, at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount we see this: that Jesus’ words have a unique and amazing authority. His words are neither deceptive like those of false teachers, nor powerless like every other voice that competes for our allegiance. His words have the authority to save and give life. And so, everyone who does his words — that his who turns from sin and trusts and follows him — will be like a house build on a rock: everyone who follows him will be utterly safe, not only in the storms of this life, in in the final judgement also, and then will enter into the full life of the kingdom forever. Salvation is found in Jesus’ words.