Matthew 7:27

0:00 All right, let me put on my other hat. God's Word is brought to us tonight from Matthew 7 by me, Mike Carnicella. Okay, so go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Matthew 7. Who here has been through a horrible storm, like a tornado or a hurricane? Okay, quite a few people. Those of you who live in Prospect, you had one not that long ago as well. There's something horrible about being in the middle of a gigantic storm. It's unnerving.

0:31 You can feel the loss of control that you felt beforehand. The illusion of control that you thought you had quickly just melts away as you stand there helpless. You can't do a thing to stop the coming storm and what it's going to do. Well, Matthew 7, 27 is going to talk about this a little bit. So let's read our text for tonight. Matthew 7, 27. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house.

1:05 And it fell, and great was the fall of it. Well, many have read this passage and thought that it could be applied to the storms of life. Hard times are going to come into your life, but if you build your life on Jesus, you'll make it through those hard times. That's obviously a true statement, and we could draw that truth from other passages, but that's not what Jesus is talking about here. No, he's talking about the final judgment, what Greg was talking about this morning. So here's our main idea for tonight.

1:38 Judgment is coming, and there is one way of escape. Judgment is coming, and there is one way of escape. So point one, judgment is coming. This is the last line of the most famous sermon ever preached. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. And in the sermon, Jesus says a lot of things. But he ends it here with a warning about the coming judgment. At the end of time, God will judge everyone.

2:11 Some will be saved and live with God forever in paradise. And some will be condemned and consigned to everlasting punishment in hell for their sin. Does that sound harsh? The idea that God doesn't just save everyone? For non-Christians or for the world, I think it probably does sound harsh. If God is loving, why doesn't he just save everyone? Why doesn't he just let us off the hook?

2:44 God is love. Yet, he is also just. Would you actually want to believe in a God who ignores sin? God is just, and he has the right to judge. So why does God have the right to judge? At the end of time, why is God the one who will judge everyone who ever lived? Well, let's think about a few of God's attributes for just a minute.

3:15 We know that God, according to his word, is perfect. He's perfectly holy. He's never done wrong. No one can look at God or point to him and say, you took a bribe or you've shown partiality in this way. God is also perfectly good. He never does the wrong thing. There's no evil in him whatsoever. No evil actions, no evil motives or intentions either.

3:49 God also is all-knowing. He knows everything. Everything that has ever happened, God knows it. There's nothing hidden from his sight. He even knows your thoughts. So when you're judged by God, he's not going to be missing a fact. He's going to know everything about you. He's not going to be missing that one piece of evidence that you needed to be free of judgment.

4:22 Furthermore, God is all-powerful. There's not a single thing that can stand in the way of God and what he wants to accomplish. So we can be sure that when God is determined to do something or he makes a judgment about something, he's going to carry it out. So when we ask the question, why is God the one who will judge everyone at the end of time? It should be obvious at this point. It's God. God has all of these attributes, and we have none of them. If you think about it, though, there's one key thing that really makes it clear that God should be the one who is judged, and that's the fact that God created us all. He's the creator, we are his creatures. God made everything. Everything that exists actually belongs to him.

5:21 He created everything from nothing. It's kind of like house rules. So for instance, if I'm going to go over to Daryl Huey's house, how many of you know Daryl Huey? Yeah, Daryl's been a member longer than me. If you go over to Daryl's house to play a board game, And by the way, Daryl is the best board game player in this church. So if you think you're good at a board game, challenge Daryl to that game and see if you're actually good. But I'm going over to Daryl's house, and I'm going to play a board game.

5:55 We start playing Settlers of Catan. If Daryl says, okay, if you roll a seven in the first two rounds, we're not going to play the robber. It's not, you know, in the rules, but it's Daryl's house. Daryl can make that rule. it's a house rule. And it's similar with God. Only God's house is everything. Everything that exists is God's. So he gets to decide what the rules are. Not only did he create you, but he's also sustaining your existence right now. You can't take your next breath without relying on God.

6:34 Every moment we have is a gift from God. He could flip over the table in the blink of an eye and it would all be over in an instant. So because God created you, he has the right, he has the authority to judge you, to tell you how you should live, to know your thoughts, your desires, your motives, and to judge them. Judgment is coming. And like an F5 tornado or a Category 5 hurricane, there's no hope in stopping it.

7:08 Now, the mercy of a passage like this, though, is that the judgment has been announced in advance. Many places in the Bible, we see that God warns about the coming judgment. God has spoken clearly. The question is, are we going to listen and act? Which leads to our second point. There is one way of escape. Judgment is coming, but God has provided a way to escape. What is it? Well, thankfully, Jesus told us.

7:40 Just look back up a couple of verses. Starting in Matthew 7, 24, Jesus said, Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock, 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. 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. Okay, so we have to hear Jesus's words and do them. So what is he saying? That we can earn our salvation? No, I don't think that's what he's saying. Okay, so there's two builders here, right, in this analogy that Jesus is making. Two builders. Curiously, in chapter 7, there's actually three sets of twos that Jesus goes through. Maybe you notice this in our scripture reading this morning. The headings in your Bible, Matthew 7, the golden rule, a tree and its fruit,

8:44 I never knew you. Those headings aren't super helpful. They kind of hide the fact that there are three sets of twos here that Jesus talks about. So look back at, go all the way up to verse 13, Matthew 7, 13. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many, for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. So there's two gates or two roads, one that is wide and easy and one that is narrow and hard. Keep going. Verse 15, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. So there's two roads, there's two trees,

9:45 one that bears good fruit and one that bears bad fruit. Okay, so maybe Jesus is saying if we do good things then we'll be saved. No, he knew you were going to think that, and almost as if he knew, he says in the verse, the next verse, verse 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. 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? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. So Jesus clarifies that simply doing good works is not the way.

10:31 Obedience cannot earn salvation. Jesus' teaching here is meant to challenge the Pharisees. You see, the Pharisees believed that if they lived a righteous life, a life according to the law, then they could earn salvation from God. That was their whole project. They read the Old Testament. They knew it well, like passages that we looked at this morning. And they even believed in repentance. But the problem is, they believe that their repentance and their good works could earn salvation, but it doesn't.

11:05 Repentance is not a work that earns God's favor. Repentance is a gift from God, just like faith. And the Pharisees missed this. We often think of the Pharisees as the bad guys, right? They're the bad guys in the story, but morally, they were not bad. They're not the bad guy that you would think of today. They're not out there robbing banks. They're not on the street selling drugs. These guys were morally upright citizens living according to God's law.

11:36 They thought that if Israel could clean itself up enough, then Messiah would come and save them from their enemies, which at the time was the Romans. You see, they thought that they could force God's hand through their obedience. The problem was you can't earn salvation, which is why they constantly came into conflict with Jesus and his teachings. And the Sermon on the Mount just drives a stake through the heart of this type of thinking. Jesus' whole point in this sermon, Matthew 5 through 7, is that you cannot do enough to earn salvation.

12:12 No matter how hard you try, it's impossible. At one point in the sermon, Jesus even said, For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees? That's impossible, the disciples would have thought. Because these guys are the most holy dudes that we know. They scrupulously obey God's law, at least outwardly.

12:43 Surprisingly, that's actually what the easy road, the wide road is. Relying on ourselves, believing that we can be good enough. That's our pride. But again, that's part of Jesus' message. Outward obedience is not enough. Anger is murder. Lust is adultery. God doesn't simply weigh your external actions. He cares about the heart as well. So no matter how hard you try, you cannot live a perfect life.

13:14 We've all sinned and judgment is coming. No, the hard road, the narrow road, is bowing the knee to King Jesus, listening to his words, humbling yourself before him. This is the heart of the gospel, friends. Salvation is not by works. Salvation was won by King Jesus on Calvary. He offers it to you freely. All you have to do is bow the knee to him as your king.

13:46 That's the difference. For those who try to earn salvation and works, the wide road, the easy road, Jesus will say to you, depart from me, I never knew you. Salvation is for those whom the Lord knows, and he knows them because they have bowed the knee in faith and repentance. Judgment is coming, friends. We've been warned about it in advance. No amount of good works will save you. You need to listen to Jesus' words and do them.

14:20 That is, build your life on Jesus. So what is the foundation of your life? Greg hammered this this morning, so I'm not going to talk about it too much, but what is the foundation of your life? What are you building your life on? What are you leaning on? Is it your family? Your job? Is it your talents? your bank account, your church membership.

14:52 Friends, these are all good things. These are gifts that God has given to us, but they aren't a good foundation for your life. Like Greg said this morning, they simply can't hold the weight. They're like sand. And if you try to lean on them for salvation, they will crumble. They can't save you. There is one way to escape the coming judgment, and it's Jesus. So listen to his words one more time. In John 6, Jesus was talking with the Pharisees again, and he says, do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him, God the Father has set his seal. Then they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? A good question. Jesus answered them, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. Listen to Jesus.

15:54 Believe his words. Build your life on this, so that when judgment day comes and you stand before a holy God, you'll stand there with open hands, not saying, God, accept me because of these things. No, you'll point to Jesus and say, I don't have a leg to stand on, but this guy right here, he died in my place. He took the punishment I deserve, and he didn't stay dead. He's alive.

16:31 I'm trusting in Jesus to take my place for me. Friend, if that's you at the end, you will escape the judgment. So listen to Jesus' words and build your life on that solid rock. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for announcing in advance what you plan to do. You didn't have to do that. None of us deserve it, but you graciously give us these warnings in scripture, in your word, by sending your son, Jesus. You've provided a way for us to escape the coming judgment.

17:12 So we pray, God, that everyone in this room would put their faith in Jesus, that they would rely on him alone for salvation. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.