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| SERMON #189 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock, MAT 7:24-25. Let's direct our attention to Luke's counterpart to our text in LUK 6:48; "He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock." When we talk about building on a rock, we are speaking of building upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke prefaces this with V:46-48, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like." The description of one who is a follower of Jesus is "...like a man which built an house, and digged deep." What does it mean to dig deep? Let's look at REV 19:13, "And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God." When we talk about building on the Lord Jesus Christ, His name is "The Word of God." Therefore, we must dig deep into the Word of God to find His sayings. Take notice that in the context of Luke 6, Jesus had just spoken of these things. He is referring to the self-righteous beam that must be cast out of our eye. He is referring to the golden rule, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets," MAT 7:12. The gospel and the law hang upon the law of love. Our text says, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them [That is what is important!], I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock," MAT 7:24-25. When Satan comes with all his harassment and condemnation of the law, we do not tremble or move because our faith is founded upon the Word of God. Our hope and expectation is founded upon Christ who is "The Word." Therefore, we do not stumble. Hearing and doing are two different things. A preacher's ministry can cover the whole world via television, and then he can bring blasphemy upon that worthy Name of Christ when the news media come over that same television station to expose him for living in excess and open sin. Christ's name, the gospel, Christianity, and his whole ministry are blasphemed. Those who live the golden rule are a living sermon; they are a living ministry which brings glory to Christ and His cause. By their example they reach out with love; it is their living example that brings forth a most powerful living sermon. The life of Christ is as powerful a testimony as His sayings; it teaches us as much as His spoken ministry. Our text must be sorted out to understand the distinction between a legal religion and the exercise of saving faith. Many people speak of saving faith as a legal proceeding. What are they talking about? They teach only a legal salvation that justifies them before the bar of justice in a legal sense. Jesus is talking about the exercise of saving faith in the way of the obedience of faith. There is a difference between the legal sense of salvation and the exercise of faith. HEB 5:8-9 says, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." It was by His obedience that He wrought our salvation. That was the exercise of faith. This does not teach universal redemption, but salvation is given "...unto all them that obey him." Salvation comes only to those who conform unto His obedience of faith. It is important that we understand this. It means that to build upon the rock, we must do His "sayings" and live by the golden rule, i.e., the law of love. Holiness, which is the first table of the law, and righteousness, which is the second table of the law, must become our walk of life. Therein is salvation made manifest by the exercise of saving faith. Scripture tells us we must be purged from the pollution of sin. Everyone has a desire to be delivered from the penalty of sin, but do we desire to be delivered from sin? Every Christian religion has the desire to go to heaven to escape hell, but how many desire to be cleansed from the pollution of sin? "...this is the will of God, even your sanctification," 1TH 4:3. This section of the Sermon on The Mount summarizes our call to live by the spirit of the law, i.e., to love one another. It is so important to keep every verse of Scripture in the context in which it was written. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them...," MAT 7:24. What sayings of His is Jesus referring to? The entire Sermon on the Mount dwells upon the law of love. Each verse has been covered in a sermon in this series. We are to love God above all and our neighbour as ourselves. See the implication of the law of love in GAL 5:14-15, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [That implies the Golden Rule] But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." Keeping these says of Jesus is loving our neighbour as ourselves according to the golden rule; it is the law of love upon which the law and gospel hang together with the first table of the law. Any gospel that does not center on the law of love is not the gospel of Christ. If we do not understand the law of love, beware, lest we consume each other. Therein lies destruction. Our text says that it is not only hearing what Jesus taught, but doing what He taught that is building upon the Rock! In this message I want to demonstrate how the entire gospel hangs upon the law of love. See this in JOH 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." There are so many diverse opinions of what constitutes salvation. The words of Christ say, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples." Is this a mark of salvation? Certainly. I do not put down experience, but it must be combined with action. The Apostle John was a man of great experience; his was probably the greatest experience of any man on record. He was the disciple of love; he lay in the Saviour's bosom at the last Supper, he was with the Saviour on the Mount of Transfiguration, and on the Isle of Patmos where he had a revelation of Jesus Christ like no other living man has ever had. What does the Apostle John say is our evidence of salvation? Is it built upon one's experience? No! What is it built upon? "...By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." What does the word love really mean? It is a desire and a yearning to do that which fulfills the other person's needs. It edifies the other man. It is not centered in self or the old man of sin. It is such a solemn reality that we mock Christ by calling Him "Lord Lord," if we do not do the things which He says. For any person to make a profession of believing in Christ and not do the things which Jesus commanded is utter blasphemy. It is synonymous to MAT 27:29, "And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!" They were calling Him "Lord, Lord," blasphemously. That is what you and I do if we claim that He is our Lord and do not do the things He says. That is how important this is. Walking in the Spirit is a gift of God through the exercise of saving faith. Saving faith is professed before the world by our walk of life, being in conformity with the sayings of our Saviour. GAL 5:16 says, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." This means that we are to walk in the spirit of the law and the Spirit of Christ. We must walk in total submission and surrender to the will of God. Walking in the spirit of the law is a constant exercise of saving faith. If you tell me you have faith, and are not walking in the ways which Jesus commands in the spirit of the law of love, I must tell you that you are deceiving yourself; you do not even understand what faith is. GAL 5:17 says, "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." This tells us that the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of the law are striving against the lusts of the flesh. In other words, the beam of self-righteousness that we have in our eye by nature is striving against the Spirit. In the weakness of our flesh we are not able to do what we should do, but it becomes the desire and yearning of our heart to do them. Any transgression of the law of love brings our heart humble before the Lord. As the Spirit works within you His work of regeneration, you become "...renewed in the spirit of your mind...[and]... ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness," EPH 4:23-24. The new man is created after the image of God in righteousness. What does the word righteousness mean? It means conformity of life to the divine law of love. It means a right character, a right attitude towards our fellow man. It brings us in our right place before the Lord. Verse 24 also speaks of "true holiness." What is that? It is a right attitude under the first table of the law. It is the heart's desire to do the will of God and love Him with all the heart, soul, and mind. That is holiness. Some people really believe that depression is holiness. It is absolutely wrong. Holiness is a right attitude toward God under the first table of the law. It is so precious to understand how all the law and the gospel hang upon the law of love. The apostle goes on to explain what it means to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. The Scriptures qualify this. Notice as you read the following verses, EPH 4:25-32, how every part that the Apostle Paul is setting forth as being the renewing of the spirit of your mind deals with the first and second table of the law; it deals with our attitude toward our neighbour and that we love God above all. EPH 4:25-32 teaches us, "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." You see, it all hangs upon the first and second table of the law of love. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man," MAT 7:24. If we have the spirit of grace, the exercise of saving faith brings us with a heart of love for God above all and our neighbour as ourselves. Those are our credentials for eternal salvation; it is the exercise of saving faith. We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit; we are to put bitterness, anger, and other evils out of our lives. That is what the Apostle Paul teaches us is being renewed in the spirit of our mind. That is putting on the new man which is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now our text calls for the exercise of saving faith in doing what we are commanded to do in the law of love. MAT 7:24 says, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." The Apostle James so beautifully shows the connection between saving faith and its exercise. He demonstrates how the exercise of saving faith is our evidence of saving faith. He said in JAM 2:18, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works." Does that mean we earn salvation by our works? No, there is no salvation merited by works, but neither is there salvation without works. In other words, we do not do works for the purpose and motive of meriting anything. The motive of the works is the love which we have for the Lord and His will; it is the evidence of our saving faith. The love which goes into exercise by our works is our evidence that the Holy Spirit has renewed the spirit of our mind. Saving faith is much more than just an exercise of the mind. Much is taught about faith being the power of the mind which is nothing more than witchcraft. While driving one time I listened to a Christian radio station. The program was on the power of the mind, and how by the power of the mind we make things happen. It called that saving faith. It used Job's statement, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me," JOB 3:25, as the basis to establish the idea that whatever one had firmly in their mind would come to pass. The example was if one says they will have a cold every September, and if it is strong enough on your mind, every September you will have a cold. They used that to demonstrate the power of the mind which they called faith. I will tell you that is witchcraft. JAM 2:19-20 says, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" You cannot separate faith and works. Faith without works is as dead as a body without a soul. Satan loves overreaction; he either wants us to strive to merit salvation by works, or he wants us to attempt to claim salvation without works. Jesus shows by His teachings that hearing His words in itself will not profit, it is only by doing them that we are blessed. When we do these sayings of Jesus, our life becomes a living sermon to the world. Our conduct shows our faith. MAT 7:22-23 says, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Those who are not doing what Jesus says are the workers of iniquity. The admonition Jesus gave in MAT 7:15, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves," is as valid today as it was the day He spoke it. You and I still hear these sayings of Jesus today through His written Word; He speaks through His Word and Spirit, and by His ministers. How do we sort out His true ministers from the false prophets? The teaching of Christ's true, sent servants is not only to hear what Jesus says, but it is the teaching of the need of doing what He says. Many teachers of God's Word today echo portions of what Jesus says, out of context, but there is no admonition to do what He says. MAT 7:16 says, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" What fruit do we see as a result of their preaching? Do men stand in the ways of the Lord and turn from their wicked ways? Do they repent and turn unto the Lord? Is that the fruit of their preaching? If it is not, they are not sent by the Lord. That is absolute. The "grapes," i.e., the fruit of Christ's true servants is revealed by our thoughts, affections, words, actions, the temper of our minds, and our walk of life into conformity with the image of Christ. That is the fruit we should see in those that sit under the ministry of His true servants. Our text says, in MAT 7:24 "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." The man that hears and does is greatly blessed. It is a great blessing when God gives spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear as Jesus said in MAT 13:16-17, "But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear." It is talking of a spiritual hearing; hearing with the literal ear has no salvation in it. We must hear with a spiritual ear which is accompanied with the grace to do those things He commands us to do. We must have eyes to see the self-righteous beam which is in our own eye. We must have the eyes to see the fountain of corruption that rests within our own soul by nature. The more we see the fountain of corruption that dwells within us, the more gracious we are to our fellow man. We stop coming with that judgmental spirit. V:17 continues, "For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." The gospel of Christ which was brought forth, the mystery of salvation that was kept secret from the foundation of the world, is now being proclaimed in these verses by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is proclaiming it throughout His Sermon on the Mount. Spiritual hearing leads to conversion which is one of the most misunderstood words in the Christian vocabulary. From most pulpits the word conversion is supposed to mean the work of regeneration which happens within the soul by the work of the Holy Spirit, but with no reference to the renewing of the spirit of your mind, i.e., the putting on of the new man. The work of regeneration is distinguishable from the work of conversion. The work of regeneration brings about conversion. Conversion begins with the exercise of saving faith. There is no conversion without the obedience of faith. The obedience of faith is in fact, conversion. It is a change of the attitude and the person; it is stopping the lying, bickering, stealing, cheating, and coming against our fellow man. It is the obedience of faith. MAT 13:15 says, "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." To be converted means to come to a change of attitude, become a new man, to have the new man created within the heart to be renewed in the spirit of the mind, cf., EPH 4: 17-24. Hearing with spiritual ears leads to reconciliation as we see in MAT 18:16-17, "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Hearing must bring about a change of attitude. We may not count that person as a Christian brother if he refuses to hear and do those things which are spoken by Jesus. The sayings of Christ and the laws He has enacted are not only to enlighten our eyes, but are to be "...a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," PSA 119:105. Those things spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ are to be reflected in our walk of life. PSA 119:104-106 says, "Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. [It is by hearing, understanding, and receiving knowledge of His precepts that we come to hate every false way.] Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. [It directs our walk of life, our footsteps in this life; it controls what we do.] I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments." The gospel hasn't changed any; that Old Testament gospel is the same as ROM 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The word faith means "persuasion" in the original. It shows how a person is persuaded to believe by hearing, by spiritual discernment; the fruit of that hearing and understanding is visible in the person's walk of life. The good news of the gospel is to be saved from sin. We read in MAT 1:21, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Christ's sent servants are sent not only to inform our judgments, but to convert, i.e., to reform our hearts and lives. This means true, gospel repentance, not just the remorse over the consequences of sin, but remorse over sin itself. How can we say we believe Christ's sayings if we do not do them? Doing is the exercise of saving faith! Let's go back into JAM 2:20-24 where the Apostle James tells us that if we pretend to have Christianity without works, we are vain men. We can be the biggest professors of faith in Christ; we can speak of the most gracious experiences of receiving saving faith, but our works betray us. "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." It took great faith for Abraham to put Isaac on the altar because he knew in his heart and soul that from Isaac's seed would come the Messiah. Abraham's faith was no faith at all until it was revealed by obedience; it would have been vain if it was not followed by works. It was the act, the exercise of that faith, which established Abraham's faith. Abraham's faith was made perfect by his works; he didn't claim to have great faith without doing as he was commanded. This is what Jesus is saying; if you are hearing only, you are building on the sand. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock," MAT 7:24. Your faith becomes established through obedience, and by obedience of faith, faith is made perfect. "Abraham believed God..." Hold it, what does that mean? If he had not acted upon that faith, it could not be said he believed God. "...and it was imputed unto him for righteousness..." The word righteousness here means obedience to God's divine command, justification. He was found innocent. That word righteousness here is the same word in the Greek as the word justified in ROM 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." When we go back to the original Greek, these words righteousness and justified both mean to be found innocent by means of obedience, i.e., acquittal. If you are cited for a violation of the law and brought before the court, you may be acquitted if you are found innocent. That is not the same as satisfying the law by paying the fine. Abraham was found innocent by way of obedience, "and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God." How? It was by his acting upon his faith, by the exercise of saving faith that he acted and thereby it was imputed to him for righteousness. JAM 2:24 goes on to say, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." It is so precious to understand this for it is understanding saving faith. We can talk about all the faith we have, but if we do not act upon it, we demonstrate unbelief. It was by acting upon that faith that "it was imputed unto him for righteousness." You see now how man is justified by works and not by faith only. It takes more than having the knowledge and believing with a historical belief; we show what we believe by doing it. See how Abraham's obedience was the evidence of his salvation. This is an important point; his obedience was his credentials; the fact that he acted upon his faith was the evidence of his salvation. We see this in GEN 22:12 where the angel was speaking to Abraham, "And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." How did He know? He knew by the fact that Abraham acted upon his faith; he went to the point where he picked up the knife, ready to slay his son in obedience to the Lord. Fearing God means one has a holy reverence for the will of God, even to the point of putting your own salvation on the altar to sacrifice it unto the Lord in the way of obedience. The angel said, "...for now I know that thou fearest God." Is there ever going to be a God-fearing soul in hell? No. Never, never one! Why? Because this is the evidence of saving faith. The mysteries of the gospel were made known for the obedience of faith. That was the purpose of bringing them forth. ROM 16:25- 26 says, "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith." Without the obedience of faith, the gospel is our greatest condemnation. JOH 3:19 says, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." The obedience of faith is the mystery of salvation. This is a powerful revelation of what constitutes salvation. The mysteries of God that were kept secret from the beginning of the world are now revealed "for the obedience of faith," i.e., so we will understand that concept of saving faith, that concept of the gospel and salvation. It is by the obedience of faith that we are justified! The obedience of faith is the instrument whereby justification becomes ours; in other words, whereby our innocence before the courts of heaven becomes ours. We can stand before the Lord justified. James tells us of Rahab who revealed her faith when she hid the spies. What does that mean? If she had not hid those spies how would her faith have been revealed? It was by her actions that her faith was put into exercise. She was saved by the obedience of faith. We read in JAM 2:25-26, "Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Look what the Apostle James is telling us. You see a grave, an open coffin, and you see a body laying there without a soul. As surely as that person is dead, so faith without works is dead. Faith without works is no faith! The exercise of saving faith establishes faith. HEB 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The Apostle Paul directs our attention to the great cloud of witnesses spoken of in HEB 11 who were saved by the obedience of faith. HEB 11:7 says, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear [with a holy reverence for God's will], prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith," i.e., "by the obedience of faith." Abraham, the father of the faithful, entered the promised land by the obedience of faith as we read in HEB 11:8-10, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." He saw the land of Canaan as a type of the heavenly Canaan. By the obedience of faith Abraham put his Isaac, i.e., his whole hope of salvation, on the altar. HEB 11:17-19 tells us, "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Abraham believed God was able to raise Isaac up again; that belief, that faith, would have had no value if he had not acted upon it. It was putting Isaac on the altar in the way of obedience that God used as the instrument to convey justification him. By the obedience of faith Moses refused the pleasures of sin and chose to fellowship in the reproaches of Christ. Watch for his exercise of faith. We must understand these things or we will not understand salvation. "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward," HEB 11:24- 26. Moses refused to be called Pharaoh's son and chose to forsake the land of Egypt. That was his demonstration of saving faith; it was established by his actions. Those actions were the fruit of his faith. After setting forth all these monuments of faith, the apostle directs our attention to our lovely Saviour, and how He obtained our salvation by His obedience of faith. The gospel teaches us that Christ obtained our salvation by His obedience of faith. HEB 12:1-2 says, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us [How?], Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." It was through Christ's obedience of faith that the mystery of salvation is revealed unto us. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross," PHI 2:8. See how the Lord pleads with His people in the gospel in the Old Testament to walk by the obedience of faith. "Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. [They wanted to hear.] And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. [Do you see where they failed of the grace of God? They loved to hear, but they did not do! Our heart is revealed by what we do.] And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not," EZE 33:30-32. There is the same gospel in the Old Testament. The exercise of saving faith is doing what we hear, crucifying everything of self. They loved to hear, but they didn't do what the Lord had told them to do. Our text says in MAT 7:24-25, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." We must build the foundation of our expectation and hope upon the basis of the Word of God; it is not just hearing the Word. The Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. Thereby, we put saving faith into action; it is our evidence of salvation. It is building upon the rock; it is building upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The rains will come; we can be attacked from every side. The floods will come; men will come upon us like a flood to carry us away. They come with words, "Don't be such a goody-goody, don't be so legalistic, come with us, and join the crowd." They have a form of Godliness, but by their words they deny the power thereof. They go to their church and hear all these things which pertain to salvation, but those who hear don't bother to do them. Those floods of the ungodly can come upon us, but we are not moved by them because we are founded upon the Word of God. We do not obey out of legalism; our motive is love. We love God with our heart, soul, and mind, and we love our neighbour as ourselves. We live by the golden rule by the exercise of saving faith. We not only hear the sayings of Jesus as set forth in the gospel, but we do them! How do we come to hear the Word of God? I like Luke's counterpart in this. We dig deep into the Word of God for the way of salvation. Jesus commands us to search the Scriptures for in them salvation is revealed. JOH 5:39 says, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." We may not remain ignorant of the sayings of Christ, of His will, of His commandments, and thereby be excusable in not walking in His way. We must search the Scripture; we must dig deep and hunt as for the pearl of great value. Why? The mystery of God is revealed "for the obedience of faith." Amen. |
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