Are You a Wise Man or a Fool? #1

Welcome to the Truth Palpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Thanks for joining us as we continue teaching God's people, God's Word.

Don begins a new message today, so without further delay, let's join him right now in the Truth Palpit.

It's admittedly a little bit bittersweet for me to open up the Word of God for you this morning, because this is going to be my final sermon on the sermon on the Mount from Matthew's chapters 5 through 7.

We've just come to the end of it, and part of what you do when you preach is when God is done speaking on a particular topic, you stop speaking as well, you don't continue on.

But this morning I just took the opportunity, I had some time alone, and it was just really encouraging to me to look back on everything that we've studied in the sermon on the Mount and just what the Lord has done in my own heart during that time.

But we come to the final passage, Jesus is wrapping up the sermon as we come to Matthew chapter 7 verse 24. He's bringing it to a pointed conclusion, and he is pointing out the reality of eternal hope and eternal destruction.

What is it that Jesus has taught us through this sermon beginning back in Matthew chapter 5 verse 3?

Preeminently as we've said so many times, preeminently Jesus has taught us in this sermon what the redeemed life looks like.

He has shown us the path and the nature of true repentance.

As I've said many times before this sermon was even preached in Matthew chapter 4 verse 17, invite you to turn there because we need to set the overarching context to have the full impact of what Jesus says here in the passages before this morning.

In Matthew 4 17, Matthew records a summary statement that would characterize the thrust of Jesus' teaching throughout his ministry.

He says from that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's a summary statement.

And just within a few short verses Matthew records the sermon on the mount. And in Matthew chapter 5 verse 3, look at that with me, he says, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And that phrase, the kingdom of heaven is a verbal link between those two passages that forms an interpretive link for understanding the sermon on the mount.

The sermon on the mount explains what true repentance looks like. Now with that little statement said that I've said so many times over the past two or three years, but from that basic statement let's get something clear and are thinking right from the start.

Jesus in the sermon on the mount makes a great emphasis on the ethical nature of the Christian life and of what true spiritual life in the kingdom of God looks like.

But understand, beloved, that he is not teaching us in this sermon that we can save ourselves by the merit of our own good works. That is not his point in this passage at all.

The sermon on the mount starts with a recognition of our own spiritual bankruptcy that we have no spiritual good of our own to commend ourselves to God.

The sermon on the mount starts with the person of the Beatitudes who is mourning over sin, who is hungering and thirsting for righteousness, hungering and thirsting for that which you do not have in your own self.

That's the starting point of this entire sermon. It is someone who has broken over sin, broken over his spiritual lack.

And so Jesus doesn't come into someone in that condition and say, okay, now here's how you can work your way into heaven. That would be ridiculous.

No, he's teaching us something different. He's teaching us what repentance looks like and what the life is that flows from that person who repents while he is mourning over sin.

Because true repentance results in a true life change. And the sermon on the mount shows us what that life change looks like.

Now just to emphasize this point just a little bit more and see it even in the context of the sermon on the mount, in the model prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples in Matthew 6, verse 12, look there.

This is not talking about attaining a spiritual perfection through your own works because even embedded in the model prayer that Jesus gives to His disciples, He teaches us to confess our sins.

He says, pray this way and part of that prayer is Father, forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

As an ongoing matter, we are confessing sin and confessing our spiritual lack. And so this is not about how to work your way into heaven.

That can't be said often enough, particularly in light of the passage that we're going to consider this morning.

Elsewhere in the Bible, as you know, God teaches us in His word that salvation does not come from our own works.

For example, in 2 Timothy 1.9, 2 Timothy 1.9, the Apostle Paul said, God has saved us and called us with a holy calling.

Not according to our works, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted in Christ Jesus from all eternity.

So we do not, we cannot save ourselves with good works that somehow merit favor with God. He saves us by His grace.

He imputes the righteousness of Christ to our account when we turn from our sins and put our trust in Christ who bore the wrath of God against our sins when He died on the cross.

The Bible is clear about that. Jesus is not contradicting that in what He is about to say to us this morning.

But with that basic principle about salvation firmly entrenched in our minds, at the same time, the Bible teaches that true salvation transforms the life.

God gives us a new nature when He saves us. He gives us a new heart with new desires and that new nature expresses itself in a life change.

And that life change can be recognized by the spiritual characteristics of the sermon on the Mount. That's the idea.

Now get this because this is where we're starting to zero in on where Jesus is going in this passage.

That life change is inevitable for someone who is truly redeemed.

The spiritual characteristics of the sermon on the Mount will manifest themselves in one degree or another in every person who is truly saved.

And the absence of that change, this is a pivot point in the sermon, the absence of that change is the mark of someone who has not yet come to true faith, no matter what they say about Jesus.

I like to say that if a person's lips say one thing and affirm Christ and their life says something else, you always listen to what their life is saying, not what their lips are saying.

In Luke chapter 6 verse 46, Jesus said, why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do what I say? Why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do what I say?

What is it with this hypocrisy? What is it with this mocking of the name of Christ? The Bible would say to someone like that.

In the book of James, James chapter 1 verse 22, James 1, 22, it says, prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves, who are self deceived.

In the epistle of 1 John, 1 John 2 verse 4, 1 John 2 verse 4, it says, the one who says, I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments is what?

And the truth is not in him. He is lying when he says, I have come to know Christ and has a life that mocks the commandments of God.

And so the Bible is very clear about that. And against that backdrop that I have spent the past few minutes developing, against that kind of backdrop, beloved, Jesus closes the sermon on the mount with a warning, a very sobering warning against empty professions of faith.

He warns us against the consequences of false faith so that we could be assured that we ourselves are on the narrow path that leads to heaven.

And with those things in mind, turn to Matthew chapter 7 verse 24, I'll read down through verse 27, as one of Jesus' greatest sermons comes to a brilliant climax.

Verse 24, Jesus says, therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them, literally in the Greek, does them.

Everyone like that may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and slammed against that house.

And yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and slammed against that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

This is a word of final warning, as Jesus closes this message, and yet at the same time he gives this warning as an expression of his grace.

He warns people in order that they might check themselves, and be able to examine whether they are truly in the faith.

He gives us this last opportunity before he closes this sermon to examine ourselves, to see whether we are self deceived or not, and to prove the reality of our faith.

This is a final warning in a series of closing warnings about how to find your way to the narrow gate, how to avoid the dangers that would keep you from entering the narrow gate.

In verses 15 to 20, he said, beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing.

He's giving us a warning about a threat to entering the narrow gate of finding true salvation.

He says, beware of these false teachers and turn away from them, lest they lead you away from the narrow gate.

It's a word of warning that's designed to help us as we seek to understand Christ, as we seek to follow Him, as we seek to secure the eternal blessing of our own eternal soul.

He warns us about the mortal threats to that seeking.

Then in verses 21 to 23, after he's warned against false teachers, he warns us against self deception and false peace.

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not do all of this stuff? And he'll say, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

He says there will be many people who have known nothing but an empty false peace, who never truly knew Christ.

And through his word, he says to you today, be careful that you're not one of those. Be aware of this danger and turn away from it, because many people will be surprised when God turns them away from heaven.

And oh, the awful tragedy it would be if one of you were accounted among that number, among that awful number, those whose fates are worse than death.

Jesus in His grace warns us that these things are happening, that self deception is a very real threat.

And it's in that context that today's passage comes, conveying a final warning.

Jesus here in this passage that I just read, is warning you against taking God's judgment lightly.

He is warning you against hearing His words but not obeying them.

He is warning you against having an empty faith that does not produce a life change.

He's warning you that kind of empty faith leads to eternal hell.

And the destruction and the run of a soul that is in that condition is great.

It is unspeakably great. There is a boom at the end of this sermon that says the fall was great.

And then Jesus is done.

The last words that are left ringing in your ears at the end of this sermon is that the fall of this foolish man was great.

And he warns us to help us.

Now what he does in this passage is he draws a contrast between a wise man and a foolish man.

A wise man and a foolish man that have certain things, many things actually, in common.

They both built a house and they built it in a common location.

He told that it was in a common location because it was the same storm that hit both houses.

And what he does here is he uses as the pivot point of the contrast.

He describes a storm that comes.

And what he is describing here is a typical storm in the local climate of that time.

In a fairly dry region, but yet there would be those times where high winds would come.

Torrential rains would fall.

And ravines that previously had been dry would suddenly turn into a flooding river with much power,

with a force of water that carried away almost everything in its path.

Jesus uses that picture that would have been common and familiar to his hearers to describe a spiritual reality.

The most serious spiritual reality.

And the comparison that he is drawing is this.

God will test everyone who hears the gospel in his judgment.

There is a coming appointment with the judgment of God that every man is going to face.

That includes you and me.

We've talked about that in the past and I can only allude to those CDs and passing here.

But the comparison that Jesus is making here by way of summary introduction now we'll look at it at detail is this.

The wise man in the face of that reality, in the face of the reality of the coming judgment of God,

the wise man is the one who submits to Christ in such a way that it actually transforms his life.

That kind of man will pass through the judgment of God into eternal life.

He will be rescued from the wrath that is to come.

His hearers will not be singed by the wrath of God as it were.

He will come out safe on the other side when the storms of judgment comes.

The storm is a picture of God's judgment.

That's the wise man.

The foolish man is the one who only pays lip service to Jesus.

The one who hears but does not obey.

That man, Jesus says, will meet with unspeakably great and eternal ruin.

You remember back in verse 13 of Matthew chapter 7 that he said there is a broad way that leads to destruction.

And when we went through that passage a few weeks ago, we said Jesus is talking about eternal destruction, eternal condemnation, eternal hell.

And now what follows because the eternal consequences of everything he said in this sermon are so vast and so great.

He gives a series of warnings, lest anyone think he was kidding.

Lest anyone think that he was not serious.

Lest anyone be deluded into thinking that Jesus was not teaching for keeps.

Jesus is speaking with the utmost sobriety here.

And he intends us to take his words seriously.

And that's why he delivers these warnings at the end.

It's interesting. This sermon really doesn't end on a very great note of comfort, does it?

It ends with a warning.

And so that's the atmosphere in which we are looking at this passage today.

The question for you today, really the only question that matters in all of life.

In light of what Jesus is saying here, are you a wise man or a fool?

Nothing else matters. That is the singular point that Jesus drives to at the end of this sermon.

Are you a wise man or a fool? Your eternal destiny, your eternity will be different depending on the answer to that question.

And so Jesus wants us to take it seriously.

So we're going to look at this contrast in detail and the sequence that Jesus gives it to us.

The first thing that we're going to look at, we're going to contrast the wisdom that leads to heaven and the foolishness that leads to hell.

The wisdom that leads to heaven contrasted with the foolishness that leads to hell.

The first thing that we consider is the wisdom that leads to heaven.

Look at verse 24 with me again so that we can really see minted in our mind as we contemplated in these brief moments together.

Jesus says, therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house.

And yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.

Now that opening word, therefore, connects this conclusion to the prior statements he had made in the sermon.

Basically the flow of the thought, the train of Jesus' thought here is this.

He says, because the gate to eternal life is narrow and few people find it,

because false teachers abound who will lead you into eternal destruction,

because self-deception and false peace are such threats to the well-being of your soul.

Therefore, in light of those realities that I have just been talking about, Jesus says,

therefore, whoever hears my words and does them will be considered a wise man.

In light of these eternal unseen realities, if you hear my words and follow them and obey them

and take them to heart, then Jesus says, you're a wise man.

And let me show you what it's like.

And that's what he proceeds to do.

We could say that the wise man is a sensible man.

He is a prudent man.

In the picture that Jesus uses here, this wise man wants his house to last.

He wants to build a structure that will survive the test of time,

that will survive the test of the elements that are inevitably to come in his region.

He understands the danger of future storms, of future floods, and he plans for them.

He makes accommodation now before the threat has presented itself.

He makes plans while he has time, and he goes to the extra effort to excavate

and to build his house deep on the bedrock.

That's just the essence of wisdom in building a house.

You build it on a firm foundation so that it can stand against the elements in the test of time that are sure to come.

Now, with that simple illustration that all of us can understand,

Jesus shows how a prudent person should respond to his words.

He takes that which we all can obviously commend and say, yes, of course, that's what you do when you build a house.

But apparently, we, as fallen men, are too dense to quickly understand the reality of applying Jesus's words to our own situation.

We are careless.

And so Jesus is warning us and commending to us the wisdom of a man that would know the truth of what Jesus says,

recognize his authority, understand its eternal implications, and act upon it.

This wise man in the spiritual realm that Jesus is describing hears Jesus's words and obeys them.

The wise man in this picture is someone who actually repents and believes in Christ.

He actually ceases to do evil and learns to do good.

He actually, he actually loves Christ and wants to be like him.

That's the wise man. That's the picture.

And in verse 25, Jesus says, that wise man who hears my words and acts on them,

is going to see a similar result to the wise man who built his house on the rock.

When the storm of God's judgment comes, he's going to survive the test.

This wise person will pass through God's judgment safely as represented by the house that did not fall in the illustration.

This man's belief in Christ will stand the test.

God's holy judgment will not destroy him. Christ himself will be the shield that protects and upholds him.

That's the wise man. That's the picture.

The house is a symbol of the building of his spiritual life.

The storm is a picture of God's judgment.

And the house built on a sincere faith in Christ that produces and results in a life transformation will stand even in the fury of that storm.

That's the picture that Jesus is giving us.

That is the wisdom that leads to heaven.

The one who takes the words of Christ seriously and acts upon them.

Well, my friends, before we go, I just want to say a word of thanks to you for listening to the truth, Paul Pit,

and for the words of kindness and support that we get from so many of you, and also for your support.

We've been doing this broadcast now for some 10 years or so, and the Lord has provided our every need through friends just like you.

And so I thank you for all that you've done.

Thank you for your interest in our ministry, for your prayers, for your gifts that help us to continue in this way.

And we just want you to know that our interest in you, our love for you, is genuine.

And sometime, if you want to drop us a note, you can find a contact us link at the truthpulpit.com.

Drop us a note and let us know what the teaching means to you.

That would be a great encouragement to us.

In the meantime, we'll see you next time on The Truth Pulpit.

And that's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit.

Join us next time for more.

As we continue teaching God's people, God's Word.