Choose Today

INTRODUCTION:

Happy Fathers Day! Thank you Eli

For the last eleven weeks, we've been walking through the Sermon on the Mount.

We've talked about being poor in spirit.

We've talked about trusting God.

We've talked about prayer.

We've talked about generosity.

We've talked about loving enemies.

We've talked about worry and anxiety.

And if we're not careful, we can leave a series like this thinking that success is simply hearing good teaching.

But Jesus ends His greatest sermon with a very different conclusion.

He doesn't ask, "Did you enjoy the sermon?"

He doesn't ask, "Did you agree with the sermon?"

He doesn't ask, "Did you take notes?"

He asks one question:

"What are you going to do with what you've heard?

Because hearing Jesus is not enough.

Obedience is the foundation.

Story

A few weeks ago, I thought I was dealing with a kidney stone.

Instead, doctors discovered kidney cancer.

The encouraging news is that everything we know right now points toward this being very treatable. For that, Jamie and I are incredibly grateful.

But when you hear the word cancer, all of a sudden the things you've preached become things you must practice.

It's one thing to preach about trust.

It's another thing to trust.

It's one thing to teach about surrender.

It's another thing to surrender.

It's one thing to tell other people not to worry.

It's another thing to sit in a doctor's office and live it yourself.

And God has reminded me of something through this process:

Circumstances do not create our faith.

They reveal it.

It reminded me of a simple illustration.

If I take an orange and squeeze it, orange juice comes out.

Why?

Not because the pressure created orange juice.

The pressure simply revealed what was already inside.

The same is true for us.

Pressure doesn't create faith.

Pressure doesn't create trust.

Pressure doesn't create fear.

Pressure doesn't create anxiety.

Pressure reveals what is already there.

Circumstances never develop our faith. They reveal it.

And that's exactly what Jesus is teaching as He concludes the Sermon on the Mount.

TRUTH

1. Two Paths

Matthew 7:13–14 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”

Everybody is headed somewhere.

The narrow road is not simply believing the right things.

It's following Jesus.

Many men say:

I'll trust God when things get better.

I'll start giving when I make more.

I'll serve when life slows down.

I'll lead my family when I have more time.

But every one of those statements assumes obedience belongs in the future.

Jesus says the decision belongs today.

2. Two Trees

Matthew 7:15–23 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Trees are known by their fruit.

The issue isn't what we say we believe.

The issue is what our lives reveal.

Nobody knows what kind of fruit is on a tree until the season reveals it.

In the same way, pressure reveals what is truly growing inside of us.

Maybe:

Cancer didn't create faith in me.

It revealed whether the faith I've preached for years was actually there.

3. Two Foundations (7:24-29)

Matthew 7:24–29 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.”

This is where Jesus lands his sermon…

Jesus says both builders heard the same message.

The difference wasn't information.

The difference was application.

One heard and obeyed.

One heard and did nothing.

The storm came to both.

The rain didn't discriminate.

The wind didn't discriminate.

The flood didn't discriminate.

The difference was the foundation.

The wise man wasn't wise because he knew more.

He was wise because he acted on what he knew.

That's the Father's Day challenge.

Many men know exactly what they should do.

Pray with their family.

Forgive someone.

Trust God financially.

Get involved in church.

Read Scripture.

Lead spiritually.

The issue isn't knowledge.

The issue is obedience.

Closing Thought:

Church, I don't know exactly what the next few months hold.

There will be appointments. There will be scans. There will be decisions.

But I can tell you what I know.

For years, Jesus has been teaching me to trust Him.

And now I have an opportunity to put into practice what I've heard.

Not because I enjoy the storm.

Not because I would have chosen this storm.

But because hearing Jesus is never the goal.

Obeying Jesus is.

Men, fathers, families—don't wait for a storm to decide whether you'll trust God.

Build now.

Obey now.

Surrender now.

Because when the rain falls, and it eventually will, the storm will not determine the strength of your house.

The storm will simply reveal the foundation you've already built.

So here's the question Jesus leaves us with after the greatest sermon ever preached:

What truth from this series must you stop admiring and start obeying?