Building With a Solid Foundation
Notes
Transcript
Opening Illustration
Opening Illustration
In 27 AD, an amphitheater was built just outside of Rome by an entrepreneur named Atilius.
He wanted to capitalize on the public’s excitement to attend gladiator games as a ban on those forms of entertainment where recently lifted.
His amphitheater welcomed a huge crowd of about 50,000 individuals.
However, his amphitheater was cheaply built and collapsed.
This resulted in by far the worst stadium disaster in all of history.
At least 20,000 people were killed and many more injured.
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The Roman Senate responded to the tragedy by requiring that all amphitheaters built in the future be erected on a sound foundation.
The needed to be inspected and certified for soundness.
This tragedy could have been avoided...
If the right material was used then those people wouldn’t have lost their lives...
But the desire for instant gratification...
The desire for profit and selfish ambition...
The foolishness of cutting corners...
Lead to lives lost.
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This is what happens when you build a tower with playing cards...
Or build on a foundation of sand.
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I hope this illustration captures the necessity of building on solid foundation.
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Today we are going to look at how Jesus uses a parable similar to the illustration we just heard to tell His followers what they need to build their faith on.
With that let’s take a look at our text.
Sermon Introduction
Sermon Introduction
So, please turn your copy of God’s Word to the Gospel of Matthew.
We will be conducting our study in Chapter 7 and focus on verses 24 through 29.
Our message this morning called “Building With a Solid Foundation”
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Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Before we consider our text, please join me in prayer...
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Let’s turn to our text for today:
Reading of the Text
Reading of the Text
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 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.
26 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.
27 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.”
28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
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1) The Word of God is The Rock
1) The Word of God is The Rock
Verse 24: Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Church, pay close attention to this verse.
To those who “Hear” and “Do.”
Hearing the Word of God is not enough.
You can have perfect attendance at church...
And memorize every word of the Bible and still spend an eternity in Hell.
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Jesus is making it clear you have to hear and do...
You have to hear and obey.
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Don’t be confused about this point church.
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Good works do not save.
Your obedience does not save.
Only Jesus saves as by grace through faith as it says in Ephesians 2:8-9:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
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So, why is Jesus focusing on obedience.
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Because Obedience to the Word of God is not the root of your salvation.
It is the fruit of your salvation.
Recall what is says in 1 John 2:3–6:
3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:
6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
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If you are genuinely born again then the Holy Spirit that now lives in you will give you the obedience that you previously on your own didn’t have.
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So, in order to obey the Word of God....
We must know the Word of God.
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It must be on our minds and hearts throughout the day.
The Word of God has to be part of our personal study...
The Word of God needs to be on our hearts as it says in Deuteronomy 6:6:
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
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Consider this:
Anyone can memorize the 10 commandments.
I bet you Hitler knew them.
I know the Pharisees knew them.
I know Satan and his demons know them.
But it takes a divine act of God to put those commands on your heart.
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That’s when the Holy Spirit lives in you.
That’s when the Holy Spirit not only reminds you what the commandment are.
He convicts you.
He makes you feel bad just to think of breaking one of those commands.
He reminds you that to break one of God’s commands to to commit treason to a God who loves us.
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So, ask yourself...
Do you hear and obey?
Do you have a solid foundation that you are building your faith on?
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If you tell me your foundation is Jesus...
Then I have to ask...
Which Jesus are you listening to?
Is your Jesus the genie that grants your every wish and desire?
Cause that sounds like Satan when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness.
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Is your Jesus all love and no wrath?
Is Jesus to you a modern day hippie?
Cause is so then it may shock you to know that Jesus talked a whole lot more about wrath and Hell than He talked about Heaven.
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Is your Jesus the one who affirms your lifestyle and surprisingly lines up with all your doctrinal views?
Cause that sounds like a idol made in your own image.
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Or is your Jesus the Jesus of the Bible?
Does the Jesus you believe match what the Word of God says of Him?
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That is why saying you believe in Jesus isn’t enough.
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You have to believe in the biblical Jesus.
The One who preached repentance and called out sin.
The One who loved us so much He spoke of Hell and wrath often to warn us like the prophets of old.
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Yes, you have to believe in the biblical Jesus.
The One didn’t waiver from the truth to the point that men demanded He die.
The One who volunteerly gave His life for His sheep.
The One who died for our sins while we where still His enemies.
The One who physically rose from the dead after 3 days and is coming back again.
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That is the biblical Jesus you need to believe in...
And His followers will gladly obey His commands because we love Him.
As Jesus Himself said in John 14:15:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And by understanding the Word of God...
You will be properly equip for spiritual warfare and the storms of this world...
And that takes us to our next point...
2) Storms Will Come & The Word of God Will Stand
2) Storms Will Come & The Word of God Will Stand
Verse 25: 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.
Regarding this verse John MacArthur says,
“The house represents a religious life;
The rain represents divine judgment.
Only the house built on the foundation of obedience to God’s Word stands,
Which calls for repentance, rejection of salvation by works, and trust in God’s grace to save through His merciful provision.”
As a preliminary to final divine judgement...
Many crises and storms we experience help to reveal authentic or inauthentic spirituality.
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The reality is that storms will come.
That is a guarantee.
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What is going to happen to your faith when the storm hits?
Are you going to go the route of Job’s wife who said to her husband in Job 2:9:
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.”
Or will be respond to the world like Job and say back:
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
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If we know God’s Word and really genuinely believe it then no matter the storm in our life we will be able to stand strong.
Because we will be standing on the authority of the Word of God.
So, if we lose our job...
Or watch our friend get sick with cancer...
Or hear the news of a family member in the ICU...
Or if our precious child is called up to heaven...
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We will praise our God in the midst of the storm....
Because of the promises found in Scripture.
That God is both sovereign and faithful...
And as it says in Romans 8:28:
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
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Sometimes the storm comes in the form of false teachings and bad theology.
Many of those instances are of individuals who present themselves as religious leaders...
Individuals who can quote the Scripture and speak with pure elegance...
Yet, they are twisting the Scriptures and robing people of knowing what God’s truth really is.
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Take for example the temptation of Jesus by Satan...
Look at how many times did Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus and twist its meaning?
Keep in mind that Gospels only record a few of those interactions.
Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights.
If you go back to the original Greek you will get the understanding that the temptations Jesus experienced was all throughout His time in the wilderness.
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But from what is recorded in the Gospels we know How Jesus responded every time....
“It is written!”
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It was not just against Satan that Jesus uses this method.
Look at how Jesus responded to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes...
He said, “It is written!”
Our Lord and Savior taught us how to go through storms and respond to false doctrine and false teachings.
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Remember we do not battle flesh and blood as it says in Ephesians 6:12-13:
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
So, we know we must put on the full Armor of God.
And today we draw our attention to the Sword of the Spirit...
Which Ephesians 6:17 makes clear is the Word of God:
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
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So, the Word of God is both our solid foundation and it is our sword.
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Keep this in mind.
The Roman sword, that Paul would have been thinking of when he wrote this, is a short sword.
The advantage of a short sword is that in was both an offensive and defensive weapon.
And that perfectly describes the Word of God.
Remember what Scripture can be used for.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says:
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The first item to note from this passage is that it says all Scripture.
Not just the red letters...
Not just the parts Jesus says...
Not just the New Testament...
Not just the parts I like...
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But all of Scripture.
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And this truth fits in line with the rest of Scripture.
Some authors of Scripture would quote another book in the Bible and quote a part that God was not directly talking and say “God says” or “The Lord says.”
Why?
Because all of Scripture is God’s Word.
Don’t let anyone fool you into not seeing this clear teaching.
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Next, we see that Scripture is useful for teaching...
It is useful for reproof or rebuking someone...
Scripture is useful for correcting individuals...
The Word of God is useful for training others into living righteously.
These are all points that show that understanding the Word of God really does give you an offensive and defensive weapon.
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But that is not all.
Look at what else we can see from the passage...
Scripture is enough...
You don’t need Scripture and “insert whatever you want in the blank”
Look at what God says on the matter...
The individual that leans on the Word of God will be complete.
Not perfect but will have a complete tool set.
And this tool set is equipped for every good work.
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Church, I can’t stress it enough.
The Word of God is sufficient!
The Word of God is all you need!
The Word of God is enough!
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You don’t need your man made traditions added on!
Because it is the things of man that are sand and will fail you.
When final divine judgement comes will your faith stand?
Do you have genuine saving faith?
Or will your faith fall apart because when it is too late you would have discovered that your faith is fake?
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And this takes us to our next point.
3) Man Made Tradition is The Sand
3) Man Made Tradition is The Sand
Verse 26: 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.
To hear the Word of God and ignore it is complete foolishness.
Yet people do this all the time.
Some ignore the commands in the Word of God because they don’t really believe Scripture is God breathed.
Some will call it inspired but they have a warped idea of what inspired means.
What they actually mean is that the Word of God is inspired like an artist gets inspired and creates an artwork.
But that is not inspired really means in regards to Scripture.
Inspired really means that the Word of God is both infallible and inerrant.
So, inerrant means there are no errors in the Bible...
And infallible means there can be no errors in the Bible.
That is what is meant by the Scriptures being God-breathed.
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Additionally, some refuse to obey the clear commands of Scripture because they would rather hold onto man-made traditions.
They value man’s interpretation over God’s Word...
They typically add additional requirements to God’s commands and the Gospel message.
This was seen with the Pharisees and in many denominations that claim to be Christian but are not.
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So, to lean on one’s own knowledge or to lean on the traditions of man, one is to be foolish...
They are exchanging the solid foundation of Scripture alone that is a rock...
And building on sand.
But like storms will come and they will crash into those buildings made with a weak foundation.
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And this takes us to our next point.
4) Storms Will Come & Man Made Traditions Will Fall
4) Storms Will Come & Man Made Traditions Will Fall
Verse 27: 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.”
The only thing you accomplish by building a greater structure on sand is to guarantee it will have an even greater fall.
Maybe you will have a wonderful ministry.
Maybe you will reach people from all over the world.
Maybe you will heal the sick.
Maybe you will raise the dead.
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But if your faith is built on sand you will fall.
If you depend on your good works then you may feel confident to stand in from of God but He will call you out on your fake faith.
Don’t ignore the grave warning found directly before the passage we are studying...
Don’t ignore what it says in Matthew 7:21-23:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
They did may wonders but had no relationship with Christ...
Church, good works can’t save you.
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Can you prophesy?
Great…but it won’t save you.
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Can you cast out demons?
Wonderful…but it won’t save you.
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Can you do many mighty works in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
Splendid… but it won’t save you.
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Jesus said you can do all these things and still be considered a worker of lawlessness.
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If you listen to the Word of God and for whatever reason ignore it then you building on sand.
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So, I beg you. build you faith on something solid.
Build your faith on something that can survive the storms.
Build you faith on the only thing that has an authority.
Build your faith on God’s perfect Word.
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And know look with me at the last two verses in our study.
5) Only The Word of God Has Authority
5) Only The Word of God Has Authority
Verses 28-29: 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.
What was the difference between what Jesus is teaching in both this passage and the greater context of the Sermon on the Mount versus what the Scribes taught?
What was it that astonished the crowds and lead them to rightly understand that Jesus taught with authority?
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It was because Jesus’ teaching fully lined up with the Scriptures and in this case the Old Testament and the people knew it.
But the Scribes...
They could quote Scripture but when they taught they uses the man made traditions of past rabbis and teachers they respected for cleverness.
They leaned on their own knowledge and abilities instead of leaning on the plain understanding found in the Word of God.
The Scribes would quoted other earlier rabbis (as was custom) to try to establish the authority of their teachings....
In fact, the older the quote from the rabbi the better as they though that gave them even more authority...
However, Jesus was His own authority and Scripture was a witness all about Him.
So, Jesus did not refer to the rabbis when He taught at all.
He did not need tradition or any authority beyond His own authority.
He expounded the Hebrew Scriptures without the need of consulting others.
The Reformation Study Bible says this regarding this verse:
“The Scribes, like the later Rabbis, teach by citing what previous teachers had said.
Their authority is the tradition.
Jesus teaches directly from Scripture with His own authority, confidently correcting what previous generations have said.”
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The Pharisees where just like the Scribes...
And Jesus called them both out many times like He did in Matthew 23:23-28:
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
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A follower of Christ must know God’s Word and obey it.
This is not optional.
This is truth that stands on the authority of the Word of God.
Closing Illustration
Closing Illustration
As we close I want to stress the importance of knowing Scripture well.
Take a listen to the following and make a mental note.
Ask yourself if this statement is a verse from the Bible or not:
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“God works in mysterious ways.”
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“Spare the rod, spoil the child.”
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“Money is the root of all evil.”
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“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”
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“God helps those who help themselves.”
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“This too shall pass.”
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“God won’t give you more than you can handle.”
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“To thine own self be true.”
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“Love the sinner, hate the sin.”
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Now think...
Which of these are from the Bible and which are not...
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Let me give you the answer...
None of these statements are from the Bible...
Not one.
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Please note...
Some of the statements fall in like with what Scripture teaches and are even paraphrases of longer passages but none are an actual verse.
Also, many of the statement are just plain wrong and doesn’t even line up with what Scripture teaches.
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But many believe these a lot of these statements are somewhere in the Bible.
Most of the time that is the case because we don’t really read our Bibles...
And it shows.
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Instead of being vulnerable to someone misleading us because they talk about things not in the Bible...
Or maybe they quote the Bible correctly but apply it in a way that they twist the truth.
We need to be able to be protected from bad doctrine and bad teaching by knowing God’s Word like the back of our hands.
We need to meditate on Scripture day and night like it says in Psalm 1:2-3:
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
take that truth with you into the upcoming week and beyond.
Keep His Word close to you at all times.
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To God be all the glory.
Amen.
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Please join us for one more song from the Praise Band.