| Introduction Finishing a long series on a book of the Bible, or part of a book, is like saying goodbye to a friend that you have grown to know and love. Today we say goodbye to the Sermon on the Mount after having spent 34 weeks with it. So, here we are at the conclusion of the most magnificent sermon ever preached. Jesus concludes his sermon with power, just like he began it. And he finishes it by demanding obedience to what he just taught his disciples. The Sermon on the Mount "is the most admired sermon in human history. But Jesus did not preach it in order to be admired for his homiletical skills. He preached it to produce obedience" (Ferguson). "The sermon ends with what had been implicit throughout it – the demand for radical submission to the exclusive lordship of Jesus, who fulfills the Law and the Prophets and warns the disobedient that the alternative to total obedience, true righteousness, and life in the kingdom is rebellion, self-centeredness, and eternal damnation." Carson Pro. 12:7 – The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand. I. Notice That This Passage Is a Parable A. We could call it the parable of the wise and foolish builders. 1. The wise builder is the one who hears the words of Christ and by grace set out to do them. 2. The foolish builder is the one who hears the words of Christ and does not do the things that Christ just told him to do. B. Picture in your mind the scene described here. 1. In the rocky terrain, the best place to build a house is in a dry riverbed. a. But the problem with building in a dry riverbed is that eventually flash floods come down. b. So, in order for a house to stand, the builder needs to dig till he finds a layer of rocks under the sand, so that he can anchor his house on it. c. This picture is even clearer in the parallel passage in Luke. Lk. 6:46-48 – But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 2. We can imagine the wise builder's effort in digging while the foolish builder right away starts on the walls. a. By the time the wise builder is done digging, the foolish builder has probably finished building his whole house. b. The foolish builder conceivably set on his porch with his friends and made fun of the efforts of the wise builder. 3. When the houses were done, they look essentially the same. a. The life of the true believer and of the faker may look the same for a season. b. Things are fine for a while. 4. Both houses are battered with the same things, 25a, 27a. a. This is ultimately a reference to the final judgment when all things will be laid bear before the one with whom we have to do. b. The house that was built on the bedrock of faithful obedience to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ stands the scrutiny of God, 25b. c. The house that was built on the shifting sand of disobedience, even though it looked good, did not measure up to the judgment of God, 27b. d. So will it be with those who hear the words of Christ and don't do them. C. Jesus uses this example to illustrate that he is after obedience that is grounded in faith in whom Jesus is and what Jesus has done. 1 Sam 15:22-23 – So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king." 1. Notice how this passage follows on the heels of the warning about those false followers who will come in to the last judgment offering what they have done as the reason Christ should receive them. 2. Yet, here he says that those who do not obey him will be destroyed. 3. The difference between these two sets of people is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. a. You can see the tension of the Christian faith here between being declared righteous by faith alone in Jesus Christ and our becoming more like Jesus Christ by his grace through obedience to his words. b. Both go together, both are part of the Christian experience. c. James makes this point very strongly. Jam. 1:22-25 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. d. Martin Luther expressed this truth by saying, "We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone." Jam. 2:14-17 – What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. "There are two ways to respond. One is to put his sermon into practice in obedience; the other is to ignore it. The first is the path of the wise man; the second is the response of the fool." Ferguson II. Jesus Demands Obedience to "These Sayings of" His, 24. A. The phrase "these sayings of mine" primarily refer to the Sermon on the Mount and by implication to all that God says in the Bible. B. What are the categories of sayings that Jesus wants us to hear and obey? 1. He wants us to hear and believe that we are blessed in him, 5:3-13. 2. He wants us to be agents of preservation and redemption in the places we live, 5:14-16. 3. He wants us to love and be faithful to all of his Word, 5:17-21 (18). 4. He doesn't want us to harbor anger in our hearts toward our brethren; rather, love them and settle our conflicts through repentance and reconciliation, 5:22-26. 5. He wants us to have pure hearts and eyes toward those around us, 5:27-30 (28). 6. He wants us to be faithful to our spouses, 5:31-32. 7. He wants us to be truthful and faithful in our speech, 5:33-37. 8. He wants us to be selfless toward those who persecute us, 5:38-42. 9. He wants us to let his love govern all our relationships, 5:43-48 (44). 10.He wants us to be true (without hypocrisy) in our spiritual disciplines, 6:1-18. 11.He wants us to have the proper outlook on this life and the life to come, 6:19-24 (19-21). 12.He wants us to trust in his care and provision for us, 6:25-34 (core of the Sermon 33). 13.He wants us to judge ourselves and be merciful to others, 7:1-6. 14.He wants us to pray as those who truly dependent on his grace, 7:7-12. 15.He wants us to come empty handed to him, trusting only in him, 7:13-14. 16.He wants us to be zealous for his truth and to combat those who distort his Word, 7:15-20. 17.He wants us to be true bondslaves of his, 7:21-23. C. In essence, he wants us to hear what he says and then do what he says, 7:24-27. Conclusion Look at the reaction of the people to the Sermon, 28-29. They were astonished at the authority with which he spoke. They may have clapped for him or told him how great a sermon that was. But the Holy Spirit doesn't tell us that they did the things they heard. Jesus is not looking for your praises concerning his ability to preach. He is not interested in your comments on the preaching prowess. He wants your heart. And the fact that he has your heart is demonstrated by your faithful obedience to what you hear in his Word.  | |||
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Building on the Proper Foundation
