The Scariest Passage in Scripture

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on March 26th 2023  by Colin D Cruz. For the audio & video please click here. To listen to the worship please click here.

The Scariest Passage in Scripture

Matthew 7:21-23 ²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The is the scariest portion of the scripture. Isn’t it?

Mathew 7:24-27 - ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

We’ve all heard sermon on the mount. This is the greatest sermon preached by the greatest person. Towards end of this sermon, Jesus tells us about 2 things –

Matthew 7:21-23 and Mathew 7:24-27

1.   Matthew 7:21-23:

Matthew 7:21 - ²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

In this verse, we see “Lord, Lord”. The word “Lord” is said twice. The meaning of this is that the person using this has a deep intimate connection with the other person. The person saying to Jesus had a deep intimate connection with Jesus. But how did Jesus respond to this person? He responded saying not everyone who calls him “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Isn’t that scary? Only those who do the will of God enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7:22-23 - ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Many may explain things which they did. Things like prophesying, performing miracles etc., but if they haven’t done the will of the Father, then Jesus would say that He never knew them and he would call them evildoers.

Matthew 7:20 - ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Jesus is saying that if you really want him to be the Lord of your life, then there must be some fruit. Anybody can say, “I Love Jesus, I follow Jesus”. That’s not enough. Jesus says that the proof of our faith in Him is our fruit.

In John 15, Jesus talks about obedience to His commands. He says that if we really love Jesus, we will obey and keep His commands.

2.   Matthew 7: 24-27: 

This is a parable of 2 men who have a few things in common, a few in contrast and a conclusion. Let us call them Rocky and Sandy.

Both the men heard the Word of God

Both built houses.

Both houses were tested

Both the houses looked the same. When we see some nice building, do we say, “Wow! What a great foundation!”?

Let us look at the foundation on which these men built their houses.

The first man, our Rocky –

Matthew 7:24 - ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 

Rocky was called wise by Jesus. He heard the Word of God and put them into practice. He is like a house built on rock.

The depth of the foundation determines the height of the building. Digging is hard work. He kept digging till he hit the rock and that’s where he started building the foundation. 

The second man Sandy –

Matthew 7:26 - ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

Sandy was called foolish by Jesus. No effort is required to build a house in sand. He heard the Word of God but did not put it into practice.

We are all building something – our lives, marriage, families etc. What is our foundation? Without the foundational principles, it may not withstand.

Both the men faced the same storm.

Some people say that when you come to Jesus, all your problems will be gone. But what does the Bible say? 

John 16:33 - ³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

When we give our lives to Jesus, we will face storms in our lives. But what’s the difference? The difference is that Jesus is with us in those storms. He is with us in the same boat.

Storms are very important in our lives. Either we have just come out of one, entering one or very much going through one.

Storms reveal the foundation on which we’re being built. People may say that they’re facing storms because they came to Jesus. Others may say that even amid the storm, Jesus is with me and I will not waver.

Storms can be minor, or major or sometimes they are just consequences.

Just rain could be minor. But rain, wind, and floods all three together are major.

Some people mix up storms with consequences.

For example, suppose you went on a vacation, came back and found that everything inside the fridge is rotten because of no electricity.

If the electricity had gone for some valid reason, then that’s a storm. But if the electricity had gone because you didn’t pay the electricity bill, then that’s a consequence. 

Why do these storms occur?

1 Peter 1:6-7 - ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 

Verse 6 says that there will be grief. But verse 7 says why we go through storms. During storms, our faith is tested. It depends on how we respond.

Storm is an opportunity to glorify God. During this, we dig deep into and reconcile.

During a financial crisis, do we stop ourselves from giving our tithes and offerings or be generous in our giving?

Every time we are in a storm or a hard situation, we must always think about how God wants us to respond. God wants us to become like His Son Jesus. We build our lives little by little with God’s Word.

People who obey God’s commands are like the person building his house on a rock. Storm came and it did not fall. People who don’t obey God’s commands are like the person building his house in the sand. Storm came but it fell with a great crash. 

John 13: 17 - ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

You will be blessed if you do what you hear.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.  

Faith/Works | Colin D

This message was preached by  Colin D at Word of Grace Church on November 10th , 2019. To listen/download the audio please click here. To listen to the Sunday's worship and propheticcontributions please click here

When we were at Challenge in Mumbai, there were two kinds of pools – one was shallow and one was deep. St Jerome shared this – The word of God is shallow enough for a child to come in and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for a theologian to swim in without ever touching the bottom.Theologians are struggling with so many things in the Bible. Bible has a lot of deep truth just as a coin has 2 sides. Sometimes we focus only on one side without looking at the other side.

There are many paradoxes like trinity…

Paradox:- Faith and Works

Eph 2:8-9 – For it is by Grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast.

But Matt 7:21 – Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Some Christians emphasize on works and others on faith. Faith without works is death. The righteous will live by faith. Balance between Faith and Works

Matt 7:24 – Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 

Account of the Wise and Foolish builder:

Matt 5:21-22 – “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘you shall not

murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement. But I tell you that anyone

who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgement.

Matt 5:27-28 – “you have heard that it was said, ‘you shall not commit adultery, but I tell you

that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his

heart. Raising the standard – what we see in the above verses is that Jesus has raised the standard. Matt 5:43-45 – “you have heard that it was said, ‘ love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven.

These are amazing truths. But towards the end Matt 7:24 – “ therefore, everyone who hears

these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Matt 7:24-27 – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into

practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Similarities:-

1. Both of them heard the Word

We are all builders. If we heard his word, we are a builder.

2. Both are building

3. Both men were tested

In this world, we will have troubles and trials.

And on the other side, there are blessings, peace, prosperity

What happens to foolish man?

When we come to faith, we trust in Jesus and his truth comes to us.

In Psalm 23, it’s written that he would prepare a table in the midst of our enemies.

James 1:2-4 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, or whenever you face trials of

many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let

perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Differences:-

The first one built his house on the rock and the second one built his house on the sand.

Matt 7:26 – But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not puts them into

practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Matt 7:24 – Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice

is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Here, Jesus is talking about us. When we read the word and obey, it means we’re building on the rock.

On the other hand, when we read the word and not disobey, we are building on sand.

The house built on sand fell and the house built on rock did not fall because it’s foundation is on the rock.

How many commands are there in the New Testamant? 1050 commands.

Rom 12:19-21 – Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written; “It is mine to avenge; I will repay”, says the Lord. On the contrary; “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he’s thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap

burning coals on his head”. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Faith is important, our salvation is by faith, we are saved by faith alone. Martin Luther said, “We are saved by faith alone” Faith that saves is never alone. But works will follow. If you are truly saved, we will begin to obey God. Your salvation is secured. Praise God!

Imagine when they show on movies or books – “All characters are purely fictional” - disclaimer

Husband and Wife:

Husband works hard and comes home. Imagine – wife has gone out for shopping, with no food

cooked, leaving the house untidy. This shows that wife doesn’t love her husband. When they

got married they committed to each other on certain things.

Jesus is the bride groom and we are the bride. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. Did

Jesus show His love for us? YES!

How do we show our love for him?

John 14:21 – Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me…

We show our love to Jesus by obeying His commands.

Does hearing a sermon or reading the Word bring a blessing upon you?

Matt 7:24 – Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice

is like a wiseman who built his house on the rock.

Matt 7:26 – But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice

is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.

There are 2 kinds of people –

1. Those who love Him

2. Those who does not love Him

John 15:9-10 – As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you

keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commands

and remained in his love

It is very clear that faith is important. Faith leads us to heaven.

Rom 1:5 – Through Him, we received grace and apostleship to call all the gentiles to the

obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.

But what next?

Luke 17:28 – “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and

selling, planting and building.

Luke 17:27 – People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage upto the

day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

All they did was eat and drink.

Luke 11:27 – As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is

the mother who gave you birth and nursed you”.

Luke 11:28 – He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it”

John 13:17 – Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

So, hearing the word or reading the word is not enough. You don’t get blessed hearing or

reading the word.

You are blessed when you practice whatever you have heard and read.

You are saved by Faith alone. But Faith that saved you is not alone.

How can we practice whatever we hear or read?

Maintain a journal. Daily, in the journal, write down any of the SPECK

S – Sin to avoid

P – Promise to hold onto

E – Example to follow

C – Command to obey

K – Knowledge to rejoice in

Even Jesus obeyed God.

Heb 5:8-9 – Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made

perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated

by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek

Jesus was tested in each and every way. We will also be tested in different ways. But we need

to obey God’s commands so that we will be strong during the testing time.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.