 We are going to finish our final session by looking at the end of the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus ends as I said with a punch. So if you would turn in your Bibles to Matthew 7, Matthew 7, 24. As I mentioned in the Q&A time, I grew up in a minister's home with a godly father who exposited Scripture. So as a young girl I had many opportunities to learn some songs and some I still remember today. And one in particular I think was probably taken from the text that we're going to end with and the way Christ ends the Sermon on the Mount. And the words to the song go like this. The wise man built his house upon a rock, the wise man built his house upon a rock, the wise man built his house upon the rock and the rains came tumbling down. Don't worry I won't bore you with the rest of the song. The song is right, the rains came down, the floods came up and his house stood firm but then there was the foolish one, right? And he built his house on the sand. The rains came, the floods and the house on the sand went flat, right? So the whole idea is build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ, so build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ and on and on it goes. Now as catchy as that children's song may be, the words from Jesus' sermon that it was taken from are far more than just catchy. More like astounding. In fact he fills it in with a bit more detail than that catchy song I learned as a young child. So let's listen in to what he says as he closes his sermon. Therefore whoever hears these things of mine and does them I liken to my wise man who builds his house upon a rock. The rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that hears these things of mine and does not do them is likened into a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. The rain descended, the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass when Jesus said into these sayings that people were astonished at his doctrine for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Now as we consider our lesson wise man, foolish man, which are you there's just two points to this outline. We're going to see three similarities between the wise man and the foolish man. However we're also going to see three differences between the wise man and the foolish man. And my prayer is as we end this session that you will find yourself in the category of the wise woman and not the foolish woman because it has great implications which are very serious. Now as I mentioned earlier Jesus is drawing his sermon to a conclusion. These are his final words and the reason we know that because Matthew 8.1 says that after he ended these things he came down from the mountain and the crowds followed him. And so this is the end of his sermon. So let's begin and as we do Jesus is going to start first of all with the wise man. And he starts with using that word therefore which points back to everything he has said in his sermon. Therefore because of everything I have said on the mount this sermon I have given to you. Jesus says then you have a choice. You've got a choice. You can do what I say or you can not do what I say. And ladies whoever here is universal. Doesn't matter who you are. You can be a pastor's wife. You can be a Sunday school teacher. You can be a worship leader. You can be a choir member. You can be a deacon's wife, elder's wife. You can be poor, rich, male, female, Jew, Gentile, doesn't matter. Whoever you are it doesn't matter. What doesn't matter is your response to what Jesus has spoken. So Jesus says if you hear these things that he said and you do them you're wise. And ladies notice Jesus is clear that the sayings that he says are what? Mine. His. Mine. You might say why are you bringing that out? Ladies please be careful. Please be careful in this day and age where false price and false profits have arisen more and more. It seems like every day. Everything that you hear should be a saying of Christ. If it's not don't listen to it. You know people will send me links from time to time. What do you think about this teacher? What do you think about this? Many times I will listen to 10 or 15 minutes or read 10 minutes of a blog and I say I thought it takes. I don't need to finish listening to this sermon. I don't need to finish reading this blog. It's heresy. Ladies be careful. Be careful. Jesus is clear. Whoever hears the sayings of mine. Not a false teacher. Not a false prophet. And notice what he says if you hear his sayings then you're wise. You're wise. Ladies the hearing is essential but there's something that's more essential and this is where the wise man is very different from the foolish man. Notice what the wise man does. He does them. He doesn't just hear. He doesn't just audit. Some of you have come this weekend to audit. You know you're checking me out. But when I leave and you leave you're not going to go out that door and do the homework. You're auditing this weekend. You're not going to do what Jesus has told you to do. Not what I've told you what he's told you to do. Well you're not a wise woman. You're a foolish woman and I didn't say that. Jesus said that so you can take it up with him when we're done. Ladies if it's your desire today to be a wise woman then you must do what Jesus says. You must do it. Paul says very clear in Romans 2.13 for not the hearers of the law are justified. But what? The doers of the law are justified. Jesus says in Luke 11.28, Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. In fact in the upper room he says if you love me keep my commandments. In fact he says you're my friends if you do whatever I command you. In fact the last book of the Bible the book of the revelation. You know what John says? Blessed are those who what? Do his commandments and they have right to the tree of life. Ladies the doing hearing is important. I hope you listen to good sermons. I hope you're in a church that preaches the word of God. The hearing is very important listening. But the doing is very important. Now this person is wise which means they're discreet they have understanding. In fact we know the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So ladies we would do well to sit in awe as we listen to this sermon and have an awe and a fear of God. And Jesus says this wise man builds his house on a rock. Now the word for rock here indicates it's a massive rock a big formation. And again as Jesus so masterfully does he illustrates because he himself is on a mount. He's on a big rock formation so it's not movable. You can't pick up this rock and move it. Ladies I hope your foundation is built on a rock. Christ the solid rock right? Paul says in 1 Corinthians you are God's workers. You are God's field. You are God's building. As a wise master I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. But he says let each one take heed how he builds. For there is no other foundation anyone can lay except that which is Jesus Christ. My friend if your house is not built on the solid foundation of Jesus you're not only unwise but you're in great trouble as you're going to see in just a moment. However if your life is built on Christ the solid rock then you have no fear of what to come. Jesus speaks of what's going to happen look at verse 25. The rain descends the floods come the winds blow and beat on the house. But it did not fall why for it was founded on the rock. Now you don't live in Oklahoma but you live in Florida. But you probably have the same kind of things we have. You know torrential rains. You guys had a hurricane last year. So you understand what Jesus is saying right? When he speaks of rain the rains descend the floods came. In fact a few years ago our church was flooded. We were under a flood watch and water came in six inches throughout our whole church. So we're all familiar with that floods, winds, rain, torrential storms. They can have massive impact on your home. In fact we've all seen videos I remember watching the videos last year in California. The homes just you know sliding off the hill. That's a very scary thing floating down the river. It's devastating. But you know what a physical storm is not what Jesus is referring to. Why do I know that? Because even wise people build their house on rocks massive rocks and ladies those homes are just as susceptible as falling down the hill as the foolish one who builds on the sand. And neither is Jesus talking about storms of life as some have advocated. That's again not the correct interpretation of this passage. Ladies we have to think context. What's Jesus talking about? We must think about what he's saying. He's been talking about what? Two ways, two roads, two trees, two types of fruit. He's winding down his sermon and it's fairly simple to understand what he is saying. He's keeping with the theme of what he's been trying to say throughout the whole sermon. You're either a genuine kingdom citizen or you're not a genuine kingdom citizen. You're either headed down that narrow road that's hard. You have to agonize. You've got to struggle to get through. Few there be that find it or you're going down that big road, that broad road that most people are heading that leads to destruction. Now this would not be a new thought to the Jewish audience because they would more than likely when Jesus talked about the rains and the wind and the floods they more than likely the Jew would be thinking of Ezekiel 13. They would know that Jesus was talking about the final judgment. Eschatological judgment. In fact, turn over to Ezekiel 13. I want you to read this with your own eyes. Ezekiel 13 beginning in verse 8. This is what the Jew would be thinking. Therefore says the Lord, because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I'm against you, says the Lord. My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies. They will not be in the assembly of my people nor be written in the record of the house of Israel nor will they enter into the land of Israel. Then you will know I am the Lord God. Because indeed, because they have seduced my people saying peace when there is no peace and one builds a wall, they plaster it with untempered mortar. They say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar that it will fall. There will be flooding and rain. Oh, great hail stones will fall. A stormy wind will tear it down. Surely when the wall is fallen, will it not be said to you, where's the mortar with which you plastered this? Therefore says the Lord God, I will cause the stormy wind to break forth in my fury. There will be a flooding rain in my anger. Great hail stones and fury to consume it. I will break down the wall you plastered with untempered mortar. Bring it down to the ground so its foundation will be uncovered. It will fall and you will be consumed in the midst of it. Then you will know I am the Lord. Thus will I accomplish my wrath on the wall and those who have plastered with it untempered mortar. I will say to you, the wall is no more. Know those who plastered it. That is the prophets of Israel who prophesy concerning Jerusalem and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace, says the Lord. Ladies, Jesus has been saying the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount as God says to those in Ezekiel's days. Ezekiel is addressing the same issue. There are true children of God. There are false children of God. Much like the scribes and Pharisees, the false care for themselves, not for others. They thought they were building a wall that would last like many religious people I know today. But ladies, the same storm is going to come on them as it's going to come on us. And they will not stand. Ladies, there's always been true. There's always been false. True prophets, false prophets. There's scribes. There's Pharisees. There's genuine Christians. There's nominal Christians. But you know one thing we're both going to face, whether we're the real thing or not the real thing, we're all going to face eternity. That's what Ezekiel is talking about. That's what Jesus is talking about. The judgment, the wind, the flood, the hail, they both will stand, some will fall, some will not. In fact, the end is what Jesus has been speaking about in the Sermon on the Mount as he's winding down his sermon. So the end comes, the final storm of life, so to speak. And the wise man whose foundation is built upon the rock of Christ can go through that final judgment. She or he does not fall. Why? Notice what Jesus says. Because they're founded on the rock. Ladies, notice the house was saved because of the rock, right? Not because of anything that you or I do. Ladies, Jesus is the only one that can save you. That's what the scribes and Pharisees were doing. They were trying to build their own walls. They're trying to build their own rocks. Their rock is not the foundation of Christ. The songwriter put it, Well, on Christ the rock I stand, all other ground is what? Sinking sand. Well, Jesus will now contrast the foolish man with the wise man and we're going to begin to see their dissimilarities as well as their differences. Look at verse 26. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and doesn't do them is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The word bud is the word of contrast. So here in contrast to the wise person, we have the foolish person. We also hear the sayings of Christ. Isn't that interesting? And ladies, our churches are filled with them. They are filled with foolish people who come Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and they hear the same teaching that you and I do but they don't do anything about it. And I know that because I've been a pastor's wife now for 43 years and we have many in our churches that never their lives never change. Even though we've known them 20 years, they never change. So the foolish, they also hear the sayings of Christ. And so if you're taking notes, this is the first thing that is similar to both the wise and the foolish. They both hear the same sayings. They both hear the same sayings. However, the wise man does something about what he hears. He obeys. He obeys what he hears. The foolish man does not. So this is the first difference between them. They have different responses. The wise man obeys. He does the words of Jesus. The foolish one does not. He does not do the words of Jesus. But didn't Jesus already say that in the Sermon on the Mount? Whoever breaks one of these least commandments and teaches them so, the same is the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever what teaches and does them, the same is what? Greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I say unto you, unless your righteousness exceeds that, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ladies, our righteousness has to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. In fact, the words do not here in Matthew 7.24 means an absolute denial. They do not do them. In fact, they go out the doors on Sunday and they have no intention of doing them. Isn't that a great sermon we just heard by the pastor? Isn't that just great? I mean, isn't he a powerful preacher? And they, you know, go to lunch or go turn on the golf channel and they have no intention of doing anything. That was just spoken from the pulpit. Jesus is very clear. If anyone loves me, he will keep my commandments. He'll keep them. Well, Jesus calls here those who do not obey his words. He calls them foolish. You know what that means? Stupid. You're a moral blockhead. In fact, you know from this English word or this Greek word we get our English word moron. I didn't say it. Take it up with him. Then there's moron. But you know what? That's what we are. Do you know Psalm 14.1 that says the fool has said in his heart there is no God? Do you know what that literally literally reads in the Hebrew? The fool has said in his heart or her heart, no God. No. It's not that there is no God. Everybody knows there's a God. God has placed eternity in every man's heart. It says that in Ecclesiastes. So we know that's not what Psalm 14.1 says. It says the fool has said no God. I hear what you're saying, but I'm not doing it. No. So the fool builds his house not on a rock, but on the sand. So this is the second difference between the wise and the foolish man. They not only have different responses to Jesus' words, but secondly, they have different rocks for their foundations. One has a solid mass. The other one is sand. The wise man has a solid mass for its foundation. The foolish man has one that is built of sand. One is solid. One is a bunch of itty-bitty rocks. In fact, sand is defined as loose granular substance composed of rock. One is solid like this pulpit. Another is mushy like this little flower. But there's one more thing they have in common. Look at verse 27. The rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on the house, and it fell, and great was its fall. So the second thing the foolish and the wise men have in common is this. They not only hear the same sayings, but they encounter the same storm. They encounter the same storm. Ladies, if you're wise, or if you're foolish, it doesn't matter. You know, everybody in this room, whether wise or foolish, is going to stand before the Lord. We're all going to face that final judgment. No one's going to be exempt. I know some of you think you are, but you're not. Hebrews 9.27 is very clear. It's appointed unto man once to die, but after this, what? The judgment. It doesn't matter. You could be a fool. You could be wise. In fact, Paul says in Romans 14, we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, all, every one of us. So Jesus is clear that the foolish man's house falls, which means it crashes. And Jesus doesn't in there, but he says, great is its fall. The word is mega in the Greek. It's huge. It's a big fall. So the third difference is not only do they have different responses, not only do they have different rocks for foundations, but they have different results. One stands in judgment. One falls. One stands. One falls. Your sister hearing the teachings of Christ without doing the teachings of Christ is dangerous. It's dangerous. In fact, it's eternally dangerous. It could send you to hell. The only one who's going to stand in judgment is those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, the ones who've bowed the knee to the Lordship of Christ, the ones who've traveled down the narrow road, the ones who have agonized to get in. In fact, in the physical sense, do you know sand is easier to get a hold of than a massive rock? It's easier to get a hold of. It weighs less. It's easier to maneuver than a big rock. But you know that's what Jesus already said. The broad way, it's easy. Lots go that way, you know? But it leads to hell. The narrow way, the one that's built on the solid foundation, it's hard. It's hard. It's only those who do what Jesus says who will be able to stand. They will not fall in the judgment. In fact, another songwriter put it like this, in times like these you need a Savior. In times like these you need an anchor. Be very sure. Be very sure your anchor holds and grips the solid rock. This rock is Jesus. He's the one, right? Well, in fact, in Psalm 1, I didn't bring this out, but in Psalm 1 an interesting contrast between the ungodly, you know? Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. The river's of water brings forth its root in its season, but listen to what the ungodly. The ungodly are not sober like the chaff which the wind driveeth away. Therefore, the ungodly will not stand in judgment. Same thing Jesus is saying. They won't be able to stand. They're going to fall. Well, this is the end of the Sermon on the Mount, but it's not the end of what Jesus says. He ends with these words in verses 28 and 29. And here we see our third similarity between the wise and foolish man. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that people were astonished at his teaching. The sermon's over. Jesus has ended what he has to say, but the people were astonished at his teaching. And rightly so. You know, we've only had five lessons. I've had the sermon on the Mount memorized for years, and yet, I'm always astonished and convicted all over again every time I read or study. In fact, Debbie says, how do you live with yourself? Well, I'm always convicted, you know? That's how I live with myself. It's hard. And it's astonishing. You've got to be kidding me. Is this what he really means? Yeah, it's what he really means. Jesus doesn't lie, right? So what does it mean to be astonished? It means they were struck out of themselves with astonishment. They were amazed. They were dumbfounded, struck dumb out of their mind. You can almost see them with their jaws dropping. You've got to be kidding me. Is this what he really means? So ladies, the third thing they have in common, the wise and the foolish men, not only do they hear the same sayings, not only do they encounter the same storm, but they both have the same response to the Lord's words. They're both struck dumb. Wise and foolish. They were struck dumb. It's interesting, Matthew doesn't divide the audience into two categories, but sufficient to say every one of them, foolish or wise, were struck dumb. Why? Why were they astonished? Notice what Jesus says in verse 29, where Matthew says, For he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Jesus taught like no one else. He taught with authority. He didn't teach like the scribes. You know the scribes were the professionals. We call them today. These are the guys that have gone to seminary. They got their theology right. They got their doctrine right. They got everything right. They can preach great sermons, but they have no power. Ladies, that describes a lot of ministers in our day, doesn't it? There's no power there. There's no authority. There's a lot of professional preachers, but few who speak with power and authority. In fact, they tell us, according to church history, a lot of the copies of the teachings that we have of the rabbis were dull and boring. They had no life. How could they have life? They didn't have the Spirit of God in them. How could they have life? But not Jesus. He spoke with the authority of truth, the reality of freshness and morning light. In fact, one man said, the sermon made a profound impression, ended with the tragedy of the fall of the house on the sand, like the crash of a giant oak in the forest. There was no smoothing over the outcome. Well, in summary, there are three similarities between the wise and the foolish man. They hear the same sayings of Christ. They have the same storm, which is judgment at the end. They have the same sobering response, which is they were struck dumb. Ladies, we also, whether foolish or wise, have heard the sayings of Christ this weekend and throughout our life, right? We also, whether we're foolish or wise, every one of us in this room is going to stand in the judgment right before we step into heaven or hell. We all, whether foolish or wise, are struck dumb, not only at this particular sermon this weekend, but hopefully all of God's Word, right? Kind of leaves us speechless from time to time. Is this really what you mean, Jesus? Is this really what you want me to do? You want me to love my enemies? You want me to submit to my husband and everything? You want me to do all this? The similarities we share are hard factors in determining whether we're foolish or wise, right? But not with the three differences. Here's where we can really determine what camp we lie in. They have three different responses. This is the first difference between them. They have different responses to Jesus to say, one does them, one doesn't. They have different rocks. One is massive, one is sandy. And they also have different results. One stands and enters into eternity with Christ. One falls and the fall is very great. In fact, the fall results in these words, depart from me, you worker of iniquity, I never knew you. And ladies, I think these differences help us to determine which category we fall under. Am I foolish or am I wise? Now, true. You might not know till judgment day whether you built your house on a rock or on sand. Some of us are going to be deceived right into judgment. That's why we're going to be among those who say, Lord, Lord, I did this, I did that. And he's going to say, depart from me, I never knew you. But the issue of obedience is something right now we can tangibly measure. Ladies, remember, Jesus is not comparing the saved with the lost. He's comparing those who are saved with those who think they're saved. Both heard Jesus as saying, so we might say, both come to church. They hear sermons. They look the same. They know all the religious songs. They know the religious words. Both of them teach Sunday school classes. Both of them ties. But they each have made a different choice. My sister, you've heard the sayings of Jesus on the mount. But have you obeyed the sayings of Jesus on the mount? One man says this. We sometimes admire the response of those who listened in amazement to Jesus' sermon. And there is something admirable about it. But there's something inadequate about it. Matthew points out, or he frames from telling us that the people obeyed it. He doesn't say that. They thought it was the most admirable sermon they'd ever heard. Indeed, it is the most admired sermon in human history. But Jesus did not preach it in order to be admired for his homiletical skills. He preached it to produce obedience. He preached it so that the authority that people would recognize in his preaching might be realized in their lives. You have seen the authority in his sermon. Now will you submit to it? Ladies, this was my life for 30 years. I was like the scribes, the Pharisees, the hypocrites. And if God hadn't reached down and thrown me in a hospital bed for two weeks so that I had to come face to face with my sins, I would have been deceived right till the end. In fact, I've mentioned before, my husband used to say before I got saved he was going to put on my tombstone, she did it her way. So that tells you about my life before Christ. I heard the same sayings. I grew up in a great home with a dad who exposited the Word. Warren Wearsby was then my pastor, then my husband was my pastor. I heard great messages. But I didn't obey. Never. Rarely. Outward, you know, works of righteousness. But I didn't obey. That's the difference. That's how you can tell. Do you have a desire? Do you have a hunger to do the right thing? Will you take the messages that we've heard this weekend and take them home, think through them, and begin to implement changes in your life? Or will you just allow the conviction that you sense and go out the door and get busy, you know, raising your kids, what you're supposed to be done, but you know what I'm talking about. Drounding out conviction, doling your conscience. There's an interesting passage in Deuteronomy where Moses is saying goodbye to the Israelites before he dies. You know, he tells them, he says, I know after I die you're going to go back to all your evil ways. You're not going to obey the Lord. Rascals, those little rascals. And he basically leaves them with the choice of choosing eternal life or choosing eternal death. And that's the same thing our Lord leaves as he ends his Sermon on the Mount. And so I want to close with just a few of these words by Moses. He says, see, I've said before you today life and good, death and evil. I command you to love the Lord, to walk in His ways and keep His commandments. So that you may live and multiply. But if your heart turns away and you don't hear and you're drawn away and you worship other gods, I announce to you today that you will surely perish. I call heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live so that you can love the Lord your God with the voice that you may cling to Him for He is your life and He is the length of your days. Father, I do pray earnestly for these women, Lord, that they have not come this weekend to just listen to some messages, to just fellowship with like-minded sisters. But Lord, I pray that they have come to earnestly sit at your feet like the disciples did while you taught the Sermon on the Mount with the intent of not gaining more Bible knowledge. But Lord, with the intent of heeding the words spoken by Christ that they would desire to obey. Father, if we love you, we will obey you. And Lord, God, we cannot do this by ourselves. That's what the scribes and Pharisees tried to do, by their selves. We are so dependent on the grace of Christ and the Holy Spirit to help us and our fellow brothers and sisters. And so, Father, I pray that you will give us a passionate desire to be obedient. And Lord, for any that are struggling in this room, I pray that you would allow them to humble themselves and seek help and accountability. And Lord, if there's others in this room that are like I was many years living a life of hypocrisy and deceit, I pray, dear Lord, that they would bow the knee, that they too would wail and mourn and weep over their sin. And Lord, that they would come to faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. And it's in His name I pray. Amen.