[0:00] Let's pray that it's true that we are known by our love. What a beautiful song. Luke chapter number 6.
[0:11] It may be the day that the church or us as individuals aren't known by anything and not known by our love because there is not clear distinction between us and the church and those outside of the church.
[0:24] I pray that would not be the case for our church and not be the case for you. But by and large that may be the case in the day that we live in. Not only are we families and individuals that have built our lives not upon the foundation of Jesus, but a church could also be built on the same way.
[0:39] And so I pray today we'll examine ourselves and pray that it is not the case. Luke chapter number 6. Because of a couple text messages I got, I feel that's necessary for those that are watching online to know the governor of Florida is not here today, okay?
[0:53] That's what I call Mindy's mom and dad, the governor and Mrs. Governor of Florida because that's where they're from when they visit. The governor of Florida, you are welcome. You can have a seat there with the Sykes family if you ever want to attend church here, but that's who I was referring to today.
[1:09] I had a chance to be in Mexico City this week and I had just a great time. As I went there, I would like to show you a picture of a building that I went on if they were able to get that.
[1:20] And so when the event was scheduled, I planned on being a youth pastor and that's what the meeting was about, was a meeting of youth pastors where we spend time together talking about ministry and praying together and it was very encouraging to get to do that, plus tacos.
[1:34] I can't, I would be remiss to not tell you tacos are incredible in Mexico. And ask Benjamin Sunco what happens if you order a flour tortilla taco in Mexico as opposed to the corn tortilla.
[1:49] The music stops, everybody looks at you, you just don't do that, okay? And it ministered to me on every way possible physically and then just in the ministry and praying together and I just really enjoyed it.
[2:01] Favorite part by and large, beginning to be in this church, a little 10 by 20 church, the third church plant, Vision Baptist Church there outside of Toluca where the Andersons are at, Bibles, plastic chairs, a guy up front with a guitar leading, singing, a pulpit.
[2:18] It was just beautiful. Take everything away that we often think is church and leave us with what we really need and it's just beautiful. People that were lost are now found. There's hope in that community and it was great.
[2:31] You've been so encouraged, church, and I'm blessed that I got to see it and I would love to share with you all that I saw about it because it was just very special to me. One of the things that when you go on a trip, that's a good thing to do and it's kind of enjoyable as well.
[2:44] We went on this, it's called Latin America, I believe, building. I can't think of the name of it, but something like that. And I spoke Spanish in Mexico. I lost it, but I promise you, I was amazed at what was coming out when I remembered of Spanish.
[2:59] And they were amazed too, to be honest. I was like, everybody was amazed, all right? And so we're on top of this building, I forget, maybe 38 stories. Not super high, but it allowed us to see 22 million people there in Mexico City, just a massive city.
[3:15] And we went up there to pray together and look at it. Well, while we're up there, Jonathan begins to tell me a story about how they have an alarm system for earthquakes in Mexico City.
[3:26] Because of where the plates are at near the coast, you have about a 60-second warning before the earthquakes would come there in Mexico City. And we were looking at where the alarms were at on top of that building and talking about how loud it would be.
[3:40] And I just began to not be too excited about the potential of those alarms going off. Honestly, I would be less afraid. It's not dying in the earthquake. It was the 60 seconds between that alarm going off and figuring out what happens if you're in an earthquake and you're on a 37-story building.
[3:57] That 60 seconds, I don't know that I would have made it. I may have just voluntarily jumped over. Like, I can't wait for what's going to happen. Too much anxiety for that. And just talking to Jonathan about it and talking about what buildings would stand.
[4:11] And then as I got to the middle of the roof and I grabbed a hold of a steel beam there and Jonathan kept explaining to me how that building, half of its distance was underground in the foundation.
[4:23] It was a newer building, so they had a very deep foundation. So even though you might not think that was a safe place to be, that would have been one of the best places to be in the city for an earthquake because of that.
[4:34] And so not a lot of places have that. Japan has an alarm, but most places don't get a 60-second alarm knowing that an earthquake is coming. And I just thought about how there's a day coming, and as the Bible tells us, the day of ruin that is coming for houses, your life being built either upon a foundation of Jesus Christ or it's not.
[4:55] And if God would allow me, I would like to give you a 60-second warning and just tell you there's a day that is coming of God's judgment. And if your life has not been built on Jesus, then you will not last.
[5:07] You will be ruined. You'll spend eternity separated from God. I want to remind you about that life, but I also want to remind you about the life of the person. You know, people who build their lives without a foundation, they often build nice houses, have nice yards, have nice kids playing in the front yard, and they make good neighbors.
[5:25] But if their life isn't built on Jesus Christ, then they're not prepared for the day of judgment. So I'll sound the alarm today. I pray that you'll sound the alarm as well to others. We live in a church culture today that delights in listening but not in doing.
[5:39] Before I get into this, I know what some of you are thinking. There is great emphasis in the Bible on the fact that salvation cannot be earned by works. The book of Galatians, large parts of Romans, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, it says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourself as the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
[5:58] And so I would not want to preach a false gospel to you and to tell you that you're going to earn your way to salvation, but I would also not want to preach unto you an incomplete gospel, which is to say that a saving faith would not transform your life.
[6:13] It would not transform your decision-making and your affections of your hearts. So just like those portions of Galatians and Romans, we have passages like 1 John and James, Luke 6, 46, And why call me Lord, Lord, when you do not the things which I say?
[6:29] Another way of saying it is don't get so busy building your house that you have forgotten include Jesus Christ as its foundation, because both of those are true. And if we're going to be honest to the Word of God, we have to preach both of those.
[6:43] First, I want to remind you that we're all home builders. That's not a choice. Believing people, unbelieving, we're all in here. We're all building a life. One of the neat things about visiting another country is you realize that you can change street names, you can change a lot of things, but we're all just basically the same.
[6:58] You're wanting to get your kid into the better school. You're wanting to provide for your family. You have one job and you're looking for another one. You want your home to be taken care of. You do what you can to protect it.
[7:09] Two different men in the story here. In verse number 48 it says, And he is like a man which built a house and dig deep and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the flood arose and the stream beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it.
[7:23] Second man, verse 49. But he that heareth and knew that not is like a man that without a foundation, he built a house upon the earth against which the stream did beat vehemently. And immediately it fell and the ruin of the house was great.
[7:36] Two men, a wise and a foolish man, both engaged precisely in the same type of work. They both were equally impressed with the need for building a house. They knew that they needed one and they immediately went to it.
[7:49] They both gathered what they believed to be the needed supplies to build that house. They saw they needed a house. They went about building it. They measured. They looked at it, counted the cost. One man dug foundation.
[7:59] Another man didn't. But they both had a chance to respond and gather what they needed. Both were equally well skilled in architecture as far as we know. Until that storm comes into their lives, until that comes, there's no reason to believe that one building was standing and another one wasn't.
[8:14] Nothing was said about that. And both finished their structure. Both lived their lives building the house and they were done. And so the moral lost man.
[8:25] Imagine your neighbor who plays with his kids, always willing to lend you a hand, volunteers at a local non-profit. Just the kind of guy you like as a neighbor. He just doesn't like to talk about religion.
[8:38] People that build their homes without a foundation can be good neighbors with well-behaved kids and nice manicured lawns. Jonathan Edwards speaks a lot about this. He calls it, talks about sinful goodness.
[8:50] And he would encourage you to see it like this. It's a limited goodness. That you can see a beauty in a person's behavior, but it's not a beauty that reflects the glory of God.
[9:01] It's just a beauty that reflects the goodness of a man. Many unbelieving people do nice and wonderful things. I have been, the nice things have been done to me by people who would admit their house is not built upon the foundation of Christ.
[9:15] But they did not, goodness, because it did not come from God. They did not make and glorify our Father. The Bible attests that as an unrepentant sinner, they're still guilty before a righteous Lord.
[9:27] This is true of a neighbor and it's also true of you and here today. Romans 3.25 For a God who was set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God.
[9:41] Romans 3.10 As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. Colossians 3.25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done.
[9:52] And there is no respect of persons. God has no respect of persons. You either build your life upon Christ or you're not prepared. I have respect of persons. Wrongfully, right?
[10:03] That I can tell you there's a person here and they're most certainly without Jesus Christ and they need Jesus. But here's another person and they're nice and they're moral and they don't have Jesus. But for somehow, in my opinion, it's just not the same thing.
[10:15] But God doesn't see it like that. Another thing that's true about all of us in here and anybody that you would ever bring into this room is we all desire to be protected from the storm that is to come. We're all born with an understanding that there is a God, but we are not him.
[10:30] Romans 2.11-15 Listen to what it says here. Romans 2 You can listen to every sermon that's ever been preached for the rest of your life and that will not justify you before God.
[10:53] But the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another.
[11:17] It is built into us to know that there is a creator of God and to see it. It is built into our conscience to know that we are breaking laws. The laws that we have heard from God's word and those without the word have it in their conscience where they say, I know this is right and I know this is wrong and I have chosen to do wrong.
[11:36] And they either get condemned by that and say, I need a savior, or they begin to excuse it. But they know that there's a day of judgment that is coming and they know that there is sin that is there upon their heart they can either excuse or they have to get forgiveness of.
[11:51] And here we're not simply talking about the trials of life, but we're talking about the wrath of God to come. It would be enjoyable for me to tell you today about how, as a Christian, you're able to weather the storms and trials better when you go through sickness and when you go through different things.
[12:07] And that's most certainly true. A house that is prepared for that day is a house that is prepared for every day. You being prepared for the day of judgment, you recognizing that your foundation is Christ, is going to help you in any storm of life.
[12:22] But the storm that's coming here in this passage, that the ruin of the house is great, that is not talking about just something you're going to face here in this life, a trial that is true for all people. We're talking about a day of judgment that is going to come.
[12:35] And those that have not built their house upon the foundation of Christ, the ruin will be great. Meaning that they will be separated from all eternity, from you and I and from the Father.
[12:46] Is any lostness worse than a remaining lost while believing that you were found? Is any lostness worse than a remaining lost while believing that you were found?
[12:57] Jonathan shared with us at the basilica there, how in his city of Tolucum, a lot of people would ride bicycles near the basilica, but then they would get off the bicycle, and they would spend the remaining part of their time crawling on their hands and feet to the cathedral, because they were wanting to show the sincerity of their heart, because they were trying to earn forgiveness of their sins.
[13:22] They were trying to atone for the forgiveness of their sins. And can you imagine the dilemma that you would have in your heart when you decide, is it okay to ride a bicycle or should I walk there?
[13:33] Because some people walk. And then if you did walk, if you did walk there, should you get on your hands and feet a quarter mile away or a mile away? How would you ever make a decision? How would you ever decide that this, what I'm doing is sufficient to pay for my sins?
[13:48] And so this is a type of lostness that believe it's found, and it's not the case. We are people that have an anchor for our soul, but we have not just an anchor for our soul on this day, but for all eternity.
[13:59] Here we're talking about a foundation that allows us to be ready for more than an earthquake, 60 seconds ahead, but be prepared for the day of judgment, the day that we would be seen as the sons and daughters of God.
[14:12] It's as easy today as it's ever been to say that you're a disciple of Jesus. And why call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? There was a group of people there that would call him Lord, Lord, but they wouldn't do the things that he would say.
[14:26] It isn't that what they would say that lets you know that they're a disciple, but we've already seen in this passage in Luke 6, 43, that you're going to know a tree by its fruit, not by what it says it's going to do, but what it does.
[14:39] You never go up to an apple tree and say, hey, what's your intention? What are you going to do someday? Apple tree says, I'm going to have some apples someday. No, you know it's an apple tree by the fruit that is created there. And that's true for us.
[14:51] You can know something about the foundation of your home by the way that you live in that home. You can know something about the foundation by your obedience to the scripture. Today, I'm not bringing in here to be a fruit inspector to look at the foundation of your home and to tell you I believe based on this or that, but I'm asking you to ask yourself, do you want to live in obedience to God's word?
[15:14] Have you decided that he is going to be the Lord of your life? Have you recognized he is the Lord of your life? And when you make decisions and you lay that brick down and you make those decisions, you say, God, I want to live a life according to your scriptures.
[15:29] It's not enough to say that you claim the disciple, but do you do what he says? Do you love what he loves? Do you live by his word? Jesus here is giving a warning against the verbal profession that is never accompanied by conversion of a person's life.
[15:44] And he does this by putting a great emphasis upon the differences in the two foundations. As we said, everyone's building a life. Everybody's doing it. So many people are doing it in a way in which they think that house in itself is going to protect them from the things to come.
[16:00] Maybe that home is filled with all kinds of religious signs. Maybe that home is looked after. Maybe the walls are painted. But that building that I was in that was 37 stories, there was nothing that I could see in that building that was giving me confidence if an earthquake was coming.
[16:16] My confidence found was in underneath that building and a foundation that was there, that was steadfast, that was secure, that was faithful, and that was not going to move.
[16:27] So the one he dug deep, he digged down and laid a foundation, verse 48, on a rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat, he was prepared. The other built upon the earth. He heareth and he builds it.
[16:39] He built upon the earth. The first home that I had was built on a concrete slab. And I just knew growing up in Kentucky, and usually to get under the house, I just removed the underpinning from the trailer that I was in.
[16:52] And you could get under there real easy. But I knew other houses had crawl spaces, and I'd never had a house before. And so I thought, well, I want to go under my crawl space. You know, this is, the whole thing's my house. I want to get underneath this house and take a look at it from every direction, you know, and see what was underneath there.
[17:07] So I walked around, and I couldn't find anything, and I just kept looking. And I don't even, I made a call, Brother Chuck, I don't know who I'd have called. I needed a more adult adult in my life to call. And I would say, I've walked around this house, and I cannot find the crawl space.
[17:20] I don't know how to get to it. And I realized it was just built on a concrete slab. All right, I would have never found it. If I would have found it, it would have been a problem, right? It wasn't, you weren't supposed to have any holes underneath that house.
[17:32] And so it was built upon the earth. It was built just completely there. And the things that our houses are built upon in religion outside of Jesus, it's just building upon the top of the sand.
[17:43] That's all you can do. It's nothing deep. It's just building on top of it. Just nothing underneath the ground. Just building on top, and it won't last. And so correct doctrine is not enough. To know the say, Lord, to say, Lord, Lord.
[17:55] Lord, correct doctrine doesn't save you in itself. Knowing and being able to repeat and call upon the Lord and saying who his proper name is, that's not enough. Emotions aren't adequate.
[18:07] When they said, Lord, Lord, they most certainly had full expectation. I mean, they call out, Lord, Lord, and he's gonna say someday, I never knew you. But he said, Lord, Lord, doctrinally, they may have been correct.
[18:18] They might have been emotionally. Maybe they had cried out, Lord, Lord, in other times in the past, in times where they needed something, and something was going bad, and they called out the Lord, and they would say that in a prayer. And then also, not only is doctrine not enough and knowing it in your mind, but not being true in your heart and not being sincere enough, because I promise you, the sincerity seen in those people crawling on their hands and feet was most certainly sincere.
[18:42] And another thing, activity can be very deceiving. Matthew 7, 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.
[18:54] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name I have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. All types of activity.
[19:07] He has to say, isn't my building fine? I mean, do I really need a foundation in you? Do I really need to dig deep and place you at the center of my life? Because look at all this activity I've done. Look at all the things that I've done, all these things that I've built.
[19:18] Is this not enough? And activity in the Christian life can be deceiving because you cannot do enough activity that is going to change the fact that you do not have a desire to be obedient to his word.
[19:32] In good days and in bad days, when it's good and when it's hard or when it's perfect in your life, a true believer responds to his word. So all that activity can be deceiving. I have a story to tell that's only loosely associated with this sermon, but it's very entertaining.
[19:46] So let's go, all right? And so Jonathan told me that El Chapo was one of the jails near there, you know, cartel and don't learn about Mexico from Netflix.
[19:56] I'll just go ahead and tell you that, okay? And so there's a cartel in El Chapo and ran one of the big cartels and near the prison that he was in, they built a building, a large elaborate building and the people would go outside all the time, outside of it and they would move wheelbarrows and they would do stuff all the time and they were staying very busy, even though they were gonna build something that they had finished already, but what they were doing is they were building a tunnel from that building all the way underneath the prison to the shower that El Chapo was in.
[20:27] True story, okay? Look it up on Wikipedia, all right? And then so the shower that they were going to and so had all this busy activity that was going on, but what was really happening was they were digging a tunnel that he went and fell, he went in and you could see the video of it.
[20:44] They had this thing nice, all right? I mean, this guy wasn't crawling through the mud. They made this guy like a beautiful hallway to come down the walkthrough and he came out and got on a motorcycle and rode off, all right?
[20:57] And it's wrong, it's sinful, but it's a little bit cool to be honest with you, all right? And so they had all this deception that's going on, but what was really going on was a tunnel was being built.
[21:09] And so I'm not looking today. I can't see what I'm looking for in your life. I can't see it in your life. From what I see, this is a beautiful group of people and I pray that everybody in here has a foundation in Christ.
[21:21] But if you have no desire to please him, if you pick and choose in your religion and say, I want to build, I want to do this and I don't want to do this, that when I build my house, I do not have a deep desire to do exactly what he says, that when I take the bricks of my life and I'll say, in the decisions that I have to make, I'm just going to do what's best for me.
[21:44] I'm just going to do what feels right. I'm just going to do what everybody else is doing and I'm going to lay that down with no consideration of who he is, that I want to tell you that though your life may look like a building of another person, it is not a house that is being built upon Jesus Christ.
[22:03] Because as believers, this is what we are doing. We're taking the matters of our lives and we're saying, God, we submit to your word. Now I'll tell you, I'll be the first to hear the myth that God has said, this is what I want you to do.
[22:16] This is what the Bible says to do. This is how I want you to lay down that brick. This is what I want you to do. And I'll say, it would be much easier, Lord, I just want to lay my brick down like this instead of the way that you said.
[22:28] And you know what happens to me? I obsess about that brick. The Holy Spirit in my life says, Trent, that is not how you lay down that brick. Trent, that is not the right way to treat your family.
[22:38] Trent, that is not the right way to do what you're doing. Take that brick back, pick up the brick, Trent, and lay it the way that it's supposed to be laid. And I'll pick it up as he convicts me and say, yes, Father, I am building my life upon you and that you have told me to do.
[22:54] And it works from the inside out, just like from the foundation in. And if you do not have the Holy Spirit living inside of you saying, obey the word, submit to the word, and you're just looking back and you're saying, I'm going to build my house and make it look like everybody else's house because their house looks safe.
[23:12] Let me tell you, my house is not safe by what you're able to see. My house is safe because my anchor is in Jesus Christ. And so your life can look just like my life and you will find yourself separated from God from all eternity because I am not the standard that you're meeting.
[23:29] My life being built upon Jesus Christ is the thing that I want to challenge you to make sure that is true today in your life. And so there is a plea here from them, not enough motion, not doctrine, not activity.
[23:41] And then it says that Jesus is the only safe teacher to follow. Luke 639, and he spake a parable unto them, can the blind lead the blind? And the answer to that, can the blind lead the blind?
[23:52] And shall they not both fall into a ditch? If a blind person was to lead another blind person, they're both going to end up in a ditch. Thinking of the Pharisees at this time that they weren't able to see, that passage where they had something in their eye that they weren't willing to remove.
[24:06] And now they're going to help you with spiritual matters, that you're going to go to people who have not had their foundation in Christ. You're going to go to some type of religion that doesn't even know how to deal with their own sin, much less deal with your own.
[24:19] You're going to go make confession to a man, and he can't deal with his own sin. He can't get rid of it. He can't hand it off to anybody else. It can only be given to God. And so there's only one teacher that can be trusted.
[24:30] There's only one foreman in building your house you can trust, and that is the person of Jesus Christ. And every teacher outside of him can lead you astray because they have sin they have to deal with in their own lives.
[24:42] And so we see it here. And so are you going to build free? Are you going to listen to the words of Jesus? Are you going to listen and obey? This is what Jesus says about his words. Matthew 12, 50.
[24:54] For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, which is in heaven, the same as my brother and sister and mother. Luke 11, 28. But he said, Yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.
[25:04] John 13, 17. If you know these things, happy are ye if you do them. John 14, 15. If you love me, keep my commandments. John 14, 24.
[25:15] He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings, and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father which has sent me. John 15, 14. You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command of you.
[25:26] 1 John 2, 3. John, knowing the words of Christ, under inspiration says, And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Jesus' disciples lived their life on his word.
[25:40] I'm not just speaking about Jesus and a book, but I'm speaking about Jesus and his words. I'm talking about God and his words. It happens to be contained today in a book for you.
[25:52] At one time it was contained in a scroll, and another time it came to us through the prophets, and then it came to us by the apostles. But these are the words of God, and in building my life on him, I say, Lord, I want to live by your word, because it was this word that I was born by.
[26:07] James 1, 18. Of his own will he begat us with the words of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Why would I not want to obey the word? I was born by the word.
[26:19] Without this word I would not know him. Such strong language is 1 John 2, 4. He that saith, I knoweth him, and keep not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. If I profess that I know Jesus, but I do not obey his words, then the Bible says, I am a liar.
[26:37] I am certainly aware today that this message that I'm preaching could very likely get me labeled a legalist, and that you believe that I'm telling you that you can work your way to salvation, but I'm willing to take that risk today to tell you that the Bible says a profession with your mouth, without a changed life, says that you're a liar.
[26:56] So many times I've heard it, and so many times I've said it before, my loved one and my friend, he professes to be a believer, he just doesn't live like it.
[27:08] And what is that category of person? Is it a person that you ought to feel comfortable about? No. When we say that person professes to know the word, but he doesn't obey the word, we're saying that person is not a believer, and they just don't know it.
[27:22] That they are not even aware of their lostness. This is a picture. God by his grace puts words in our hearts, his spirit in our own heart. James 1.21.
[27:33] Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your soul. And so first of all, we are born by the word, and that's something that you need to know, that you are born by the word.
[27:48] If you're in here and you're saying, what's the difference between a person that professes to be a believer, and isn't doing the will of God, and another person who professes to be a believer, but they have no desire to do the will of God, and that's simply it.
[27:59] If you're a believer in here, the word of God has authority in your life. That what it says, you know that you ought to live by it. And when you don't, there is conviction, and there is a desire to repent quickly, and to go back to it.
[28:12] But if you can live in here today, and you do not have that desire to obey the word, then you're not born by the word. If you're born by the word, you want to live by the word.
[28:23] And there's an unwillingness to leave it. John 6, 66, And the time when many disciples went back and walked no more with him, Jesus had said some hard sayings to them. He says, you must eat my flesh and drink my blood.
[28:35] And they're like, we don't know what you're saying. We don't have understanding of what's going on. And some of them left. Many of them left. And in verse 67, then said Jesus unto the 12, Will you also go away?
[28:46] Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. Where else am I going to go, Lord?
[28:57] You have the words of eternal life. I mentioned it in my life group today. Man, that's the excitement of visiting on the mission field. You may speak a different language. You may wear different clothes.
[29:07] You may eat different food. You may eat flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas. Whatever the differences are in your life, what's true about a believer throughout history, in any part of the world, a distinctive mark of them is that they are people who want to obey the word and they're not going to walk away from it.
[29:24] Because James 1.25 says, The perfect law of liberty that continueth there and that's not a forgetful hearer. Not the Old Testament law, but the law perfected in Christ. The words of Christ, the truth of Christ that liberates and sets us free.
[29:38] And so if you hear legalism that you have to earn your salvation, you should run from that. The Psalm 119.32 says, I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
[29:50] Bible believers, when we hear what the word of God says, we run to it. We say, You, Lord, are the Lord of my life. When we say, Lord, Lord, we mean it.
[30:00] We mean that He is the Lord of our lives and His word dictates the way that we are going to live. So we realize we cannot obey the law. It's the word planted in us, the spirit in us, the grace of God in us that moves us to follow the law.
[30:15] And it was Jesus that fulfilled the law completely in our place. The word planted in my heart is what makes me want to obey Him, nothing of myself.
[30:26] So I'm not telling you to try harder in here. If you have no desire to serve the God of heaven, I don't want you to try any harder. I want you to stop trying. I want you to let the word of God be planted in the day and it will take root and it will grow.
[30:40] And then lastly here, believers, we should obey the word wholeheartedly. James 1.22 could be the theme verse for that book. But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
[30:52] Bottom line is what James is saying is that the word invokes action. Thankful for God's direction as we lay down our bricks and we build our lives. I am no ways always obedient, but I always recognize His right in my life to tell me how to build my house.
[31:08] If there is no action, then there's no acceptance of the word. If your life is built on listening to the words of Jesus alone, then your life will ultimately and eternally end in destruction.
[31:21] This goes right in the face of what is commonly believed today, this idea that you can accept Jesus but not obey Him. That is not what the Bible teaches at all.
[31:32] If you've not accepted anything, it's not coming to life in action. If it's not coming to life in action. Now obviously, none of us are perfect, but the picture is when you accept the word of Jesus, when you receive Jesus humbly, His word is planted in you and it is moving you to action.
[31:49] And you can tell the word is in you by what's happening outside of you. And there's nothing happening outside of us. Then the question is, is there anything inside of us? That sin that's right there before you, that holding of the brick and when you're holding it in your hand and God says, this is the way that I want you to live your life, you need to say yes to Him today, believer, because that's the word that is fixedly in you.
[32:11] And if you continue to say no to Him and no to Him, then I want to tell you that it's very likely that the word of God was never planted in you, that you're not a new creature, that you do not continually get to tell Him no and call Him Lord.
[32:27] Here's good news for every believer. So you don't often find ourselves right there. We're worried that we're going to make the wrong decisions of what we're going to do. And here's the beauty.
[32:38] His word is planted in you and as you abide in Him, His spirit moves you so you continue to abide in Him and you trust His goodness. I know I've mostly framed this in a negative way, but let me tell you, isn't it wonderful of all the many decisions that you're going to face that you've never faced before in your life, that the Holy Spirit through the word will lead you to the actions that you need to take and the only decision that you're going to make is, yes Lord, I will be obedient.
[33:10] If I did not have the word and the spirit in my life, I would be most men miserable because then I would be left listening to the opinions of everybody in this world. But God wants an obedience to happen in your life more than you do and He's going to lead you by His word and He has planted it in our hearts.
[33:26] Occasely a young man in the ministry will be worried about getting married someday and finding a wife and I'll say this to them, the right man with the right heart taking the right steps ends up in the right place married to the right woman every time.
[33:40] All you have to do is take care of your heart. All you have to do is make sure you're right, which means you're saved, and make sure that you're just obeying Him and letting Him lead you and trusting the Lord with all your heart and leaning not onto your own understanding and all your ways and all your laying down of bricks.
[33:56] Acknowledge Him and let Him direct your paths. Just like He is the foundation, He deserves say in every aspect of your lives. And so brothers and sisters, what areas of your life has God been, has He been saying, do this and you have said no to Him?
[34:12] I want today to say yes to Him. You are bored by the word and you know that you're just slowing down the joy in your life by not saying yes to Him. Joyfully say yes to Him.
[34:24] And I'm warning the unbelievers, maybe this morning, just maybe, God has brought you here for the first time to realize that you have deceived yourself spiritually. And I'm going to ask you to do something that nobody can do for you and it's this.
[34:38] This is how it's said in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5, examine yourself. Is there a foundation in Jesus? Or did you just jump into this like everybody else and start building your house alongside a bunch of Christians in some neighborhood and never even think about the foundation?
[34:54] Did you ever stop? Did you ever receive conviction from the Holy Spirit and say, I am a sinner and Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life? Examine yourself. Whether you be in the faith, prove your own selves, know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates.
[35:13] Examine. Mexico City is sinking. There's buildings that once that didn't have basements, and they are now basements with things built on top of them, they are sinking. And I would encourage you to take the opportunity to build a foundation today that is in Jesus, to dig deep, to recognize in your heart where you stand before Him.
[35:36] I'll end with this quote, and it's a heavy one, but it says, the saddest road to hell is the one that runs under the pulpit, past the Bible, and through the middle of warnings and invitations.
[35:48] That's the saddest road to hell. If you're in here today, and you're just replicating the building of your life based upon what you're seeing from your Christian neighbors, let me tell you, that is not the Christian life.
[35:59] Today, you need a foundation in Jesus. And those of you that have a foundation in Jesus, you recognize the Holy Spirit's work in your life through His Word, how to live your life.
[36:11] And you say yes to Him, and when you say no to Him, the Holy Spirit is going to convict you because He loves you, and you belong to Him. And so would you examine yourself today?
[36:23] Are you living your Christian life from the inside out? Or is it just something on the external? Because that external, when the storm comes, it's not going to last, and there's going to be great ruin.
[36:34] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for everyone in here today. Lord, we know, Lord, that this is your message to this people, and so we trust today. Lord, it is my heartfelt desire that every man and woman in here has a foundation in Jesus Christ, that they truly are led by your Word and by your Spirit, and that they're not going through the outward motions.
[36:59] But Lord, you gave this gospel message and plea to people that would profess you as Lord, and that is what has happened in here today. As we continue to pray together, and as Kristen is playing the piano, on behalf of the Word of God, could I plead with you today?
[37:18] If you're not living your life on the foundation of Jesus Christ, if you have never put your faith and trust in Him and recognized Him as the Lord of your life, would you not be deceived any longer?
[37:31] Would you not let your activity, your ability, the quote doctrine, or even emotional responses you've had in the time past keep you from recognizing that your home is not ready for that day of judgment?
[37:46] If that's your case in here today, the greatest hindrance to you is simply going to be pride and recognizing it. And if you could get past that point, if you would raise your hand, look to me, I give you some instructions, those following steps would come so naturally to you as you would run to the Word and to His commandments.
[38:06] But that simple pride of not recognizing that in your life, don't let that be the thing that will keep you separated from God for all eternity. Is that you in here today? Would you raise your hand so I could pray for you?
[38:17] I'd never do anything to embarrass you, but I'd give you some simple instruction. Well, by your testimony, this is a room full of believers, and that's wonderful. Something that many places in this world would never have.
[38:31] But if you're in here today and you're a believer, I want to ask you, why are you fighting against what He's telling you to do? You've built your life on His foundation. It's built upon the Word. Do not fight against it.
[38:42] Give Him the yeses of your life to do whatever He is leading you to do. Heavenly Father, as I continue in prayer, I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, I thank You for the Word and how it leads us, Lord.
[38:56] I want my life committed to Your Word, Lord, not just studying it and preaching it, but living to it, Lord. You are the Lord of my life, and I love You so much.