This sermon is auto-transcribed and may contain inaccuracies.
The Parable of the Two Builders: Hearing and Doing
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. It came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
A Parallel in Luke 6:46-49
And we find a parallel in some way, perhaps we might think of it as expounding and explaining some parts of the sermon from the Gospel of Luke. In chapter 6 we have it, and these words we’ve read are connected with the previous verses as well. In verse 46 of chapter 6. And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like. He is like a man, which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth, against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.
The Authority and Purpose of Christ’s Teaching
And so the Saviour is speaking with authority, and doubtless intended to awaken conscience. That would probably be the distinction, the primary distinction, between the teaching and preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the matter, of course, that he taught. But the manner of his teaching and the authority of his teaching was addressed to and to the Lord Jesus Christ. And intended for the awakening of conscience. The doctrines of men were putting sinners to sleep, and men were going to eternity with a lie in their right hand. And they were false prophets, who came in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they were ravening wolves, and they were to be warned of, and the danger of following them was to be warned against.
And this authority that Christ spoke with was, of course, a divine authority. He was pointing them to the true import and the true meaning of his own holy word. I say unto you, no mere man can speak like that, and expect to receive any recognition or credibility among the wise who might hear. But here is one who speaks as never man speak, whose words are the words of eternal life, whose words are from heaven, and he speaks as the one who has the authority to speak in that manner. Thus saith the Lord, and I say unto you, what a solemn thing it is to be hearing the word of God, to be under the authority of the word of God, addressing our conscience.
Another way in which we can think of the words and the teaching and preaching of Christ, by which the people were astonished at his doctrine, when he taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes, was in connection with the end to which he pointed them. That is to speak plainly, but also to speak with most solemn authority concerning the end of the world. And the measure of every life and the judgment of every person shall take place at the end of the world. And every sermon you hear and every time you attend to the word of God is to be in the light of and in view of the great eternity to which you are going. And that is the manner in which Christ is speaking.
And that indeed is the focus of the closing words of this sermon, which the Savior delivers to the people. He is bringing to their attention a day of judgment, a day of judgment when the men shall be judged according to their works. And he identifies it as that day, that day. Many shall say to me in that day, oh, what authority is this? Identified and claimed and asserted by the preacher here. By the preacher here. Many shall say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Here is our divine authority indeed to tell you, not only that that day shall be and what that day shall be, but that he is the Lord of that day, that he has the, he will have the authority to judge on that day. The very one who’s speaking is going to judge the world in righteousness. And many will come to him and speak to him as Lord in that day. And I will profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. There is authority indeed. There is power and authority asserted. Most fearful views are given of that day in this sermon. The unquenchable fire, the fearful ruin of the soul and the body. Better fire to cut off your right hand, to pluck out your right eye, than to have your soul and your body cast into hell fire. Warning of the great day of judgment, then, is prominent in the teaching and preaching of Christ. And it is a most solemn consideration indeed that the preaching of the word of God has that ultimately as the consequence. When men are standing, preaching the word of God, and when sinners are hearing, sitting under the word of God, it is the consequences for eternity, it is the consequences for eternity, in a lost eternity, that should be very prominent before our minds. Are we going to escape that fearful place? Straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Well, how many there are who would prefer not to hear it, and prefer not to deal with the question, and going out speaking to others, and the ravening wolf, the ravening wolves in the sheep’s clothing, will be known by their fruit, and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. There are no more dangerous men in all the world, and those who will refuse and do refuse to warn, such as they preach to, concerning the wrath which is to come, and who speak smooth things, and that is not what Christ did, that is not what Christ did, and that’s not what he’s doing here. He’s telling those to whom he’s preaching of the plain, sobering, solemnizing, terrible reality of an eternity, a great and never-ending eternity, in lostness, in ruin, in the blackness of darkness forever. The ruin of that house, the fall of that house, shall be very great.
Understanding the Parable of the Builders
Well, we are no doubt familiar with the words of this portion. We might think of it as a parable. It is not expressly called that, but it’s a likeness. I will liken him. I will tell you what he is like, so that we are encouraged to throw together the two pictures. That is what a parable is. Para is together, and vole is to throw, to throw together, and that’s very easy for us to understand. The children here use that in their education all the time, I’m sure, to compare one thing with another, to learn what it’s like, and that’s the method and manner of the Saviour’s teaching. I will tell you, I will liken him. I will tell you what he is like. You need the Word of God to tell you what you’re like, and I need the Word of God to tell you what I’m like. That is what indeed we need, when we are under the Word of God to show us what we are like, that we would not be mistaken as to what we are like, that we would not be in the fearful position of being mistaken when it is too late to know what we are like, and what we really are. Well, here is the one who knows, and here is the one who knows and therefore speaks in plain terms, and the picture is, of course, of a building, and a man, two men, a wise and a foolish man who are building. Both are building, and it would seem that the implication is that everyone is building, and we are either building like the one man or like the other man. We’re either building wisely or we’re building foolishly, and if we’re building foolishly, it’s wise for us to stop and to start building wisely, and if we’re building wisely, we need to be encouraged indeed, not to be afraid, not to be in fear of the consequences, whatever fears we might meet with, and the expectation of this test is apparent. The whole sermon is pointing to that, as we said, it’s pointing to the end, the test, the trial of what people are like, and those who are wise may often be tempted to fear, and there is encouragement for them here, but more particularly those who are foolish, those who are foolish, who do not weigh the matter more wisely, and who continue on building, building, building, building, a superstructure upon a sandy foundation. Oh, what folly, what sin, what folly, what ignorance, what darkness, what catastrophe awaits them, and is it not the end and design of the Saviour’s preaching to halt the building, yes, to pull it down if need be, so that we might dig deep again, that we might find the foundation on which our building can indeed endure, and will indeed pass this trial of which he speaks, and so we would like very simply to take the four elements of this parable, and to draw out the lesson intended from each, so that we can compare the wise and the foolish.
Four Elements of the Parable
1. The Foundation
Firstly, there is the foundation. And of course, it is in connection with those who hear those who hear his sayings, and that is true of both, both the builders, they are both equally privileged, we might say, to be hearing these sayings of mine, and hearing these sayings of mine is, say, the privilege of those who are under the Word of God, and who are acquainted with it. The Jews had that, of course, and the disciples had it in a very wonderful way, and perhaps that’s the intended immediate application, having described who his disciples were, and what his disciples were like, he is also describing those who were the scribes and Pharisees, who were also hearing his sayings. And here is the difference, the one were hearing and not doing, the other were hearing and doing, and so this is like a man who is going to build a house, and what does he do? He inquires as to where he is going to build it, and he sets about the task of building a house upon one or other of these two foundations.
And the Savior is intending surely that the doing of his sayings is the great matter of finding this foundation on which to build, and by doing he is not, of course, referring to the doing that is divorced from and separate from believing. That is how some like to think of this, that it doesn’t matter what we believe, as long as we do in our lives, in our practice, then we’ll be like this man, as long as we do, it matters not what we believe. And how universally that has been exposed as a fallacy. The relationship between our believing and our doing is fundamental to the very teaching of Christ here. The doing embraces and includes the believing, and the receiving of his sayings. It includes the receiving of them in a way that is not only just a head, intellectual knowledge, and an intellectual faith of affirming, assenting to the truth, but such a kind of faith, such a faith that has an influence and an effect in a saving, gracious manner upon the life, upon the doing. That is the difference, of course, between the faith that rests upon the Word of God and the faith that rests upon the wisdom of men, and that really is the distinction that he is making. These sayings of mine, and not doing them, is the man who is really rejecting and ultimately turning aside from the truth of God, and applying his own wisdom, and applying his own understanding to the sayings of Christ, and ignorant of what Christ is teaching, and ignorant of the spiritual meaning, and the spiritual import, and the consequences for himself, and the teaching concerning man’s condition, and man’s need, and the manner in which Christ meets and addresses that need. He rejects the counsel of God against himself, and applies even the teaching of Christ, even the Word of Christ, in a corrupt and a fleshly manner. The Jews, of course, were expert at that, deflecting from the the force of truth. They turned the Word of God into something that it wasn’t saying. We have heard that it has been said by them of all time, but I say unto you, they were using the Word of God in a way of abuse. They were corrupting the Word of God, and they were, the philosophies and opinions, and the doctrines and commandments of men were making void the Word of God, the traditions of men, interfering with the authority, undermining the truth of the Word of God. That was, and that perhaps is, the primary and first application that the Savior is here making, the corruption of his own truth by these false teachers, and by these false prophets, who were not doing the things that he says.
But this relationship, then, between the foundation and the doing, the hearing, rather, and the doing, is like a man who builds a house on a foundation. A wise man will build his house on a foundation. He will dig deep. He will search, and look, and wait, until he has found a solid rock on which to build. And that, so elementary, so obvious to us, is the picture that the Savior would give of his people, of those who are believing on him unto salvation, of those who are entering in by the straight gate, to use another figure, which leadeth to life. They are such as dig deep, until they find the rock, and they build upon that. They make that their business, to find and to be sure that the house that they are going to build has a security, a certainty, and it is the truth of God, it is the Word of God, that it is the eternal truths of the Word of God that they are building on, not the doctrines, and opinions, and commandments of men, and not the evasions, and the misrepresentations, and the misinterpretations, and the misapplications, and the corruptions which the heart of man seeks out and desires for his comfort, and for his ease, and for his peace, that is a false peace. And so the Savior is describing his people then, who are indeed building on a foundation, and they are building on a sure foundation, and that is what we were singing in the psalm, the stone which the builders refused, which was made the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes, and that is the foundation that Christ is, and Christ’s Word is, that foundation laid in Zion, which the prophet spoke of in the Old Testament, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded, and other foundation Peter said, can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, that other foundations there are in relation to salvation, and how a person is to be saved, and how a person is to attain to eternal life, but here is the one foundation laid in Zion for a foundation, and it’s the God of heaven, the Word of God that reveals it, the Word of God that unfolds it, and Christ has come to speak of it, and in his preaching of the everlasting gospel, it is to remove men from every other confidence, is to shake the confidence in their own resources, in their own works, in their own righteousness, that is a gospel and doctrine was, and it is to draw them and direct them to himself as the one sure foundation laid in Zion, and so he that heareth these sayings is surely identifying the wider revelation, not just this sermon, not just the terms in which he spoke at this particular occasion, but as he claims an authority to speak, even correcting the errors and mistakes regarding the moral law itself, and the revelation which he gives concerning his father, and concerning his father’s will, and concerning God, he is claiming that authority to speak the words of God, the whole revelation of his word, and that is where sinners are called to dig, to find the foundation, to examine and search the scriptures which testify concerning him, and those who dig deep into that ground, to find a foundation, will find this glorious revelation concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, that he is indeed, he is the one foundation, the one sure certain foundation in the work that he has performed, in the life that he lived, in the righteousness that he brought in, in the death that he died, in the atoning death which he suffered, that is what we were singing in the psalm, blessed is he in God’s great name that cometh us to save, we from the house which to the Lord pertains, you blessed have, this is the Lord’s doing, it is wondrous in our eyes, this is the day God made in it, we’ll joy triumphantly, save now I pray thee Lord, I pray send now prosperity, it was the foundation that the church of God was looking for, it was the foundation that the people of God were desiring, Christ the foundation stone, and Christ as the righteousness of his people, save now I pray thee, coming in God’s great name to work out salvation, to work out a righteousness, and that the foundation on which sinners were to build and to rest, for a never-ending eternity, for salvation from sin, and salvation from the wrath to come, and salvation from the wages of sin, and the salvation from the power of sin, it is a foundation laid in Zion, a sure foundation, a precious cornerstone, elect of God, chosen of God, that’s what makes it a foundation, that’s what makes it secure, it is his truth, it is his word, it is the authority of heaven that speaks of it, you remember the Jews when they came to Christ in the chapter we were reading on, was it Friday or Saturday, Friday it was, in John chapter 6, and they came and they asked him what shall we do, that we might work the works of God, and that is the question that many have, what must I do, what must I engage in, what works should I perform, that I would be accepted with God, that I will find the favor of God, is that the thought that’s in your heart tonight, what must I do, what must I do, it will be a good question, it will be a worthy question, start digging, start digging deep in that ground, begin to work out what it is that you are to do, dig deep into the scriptures and you will find an answer to that question, very readily as far as Christ’s words and Christ’s sayings are concerned, what did he answer them, what did he say to them, when they said what shall we do, that we might work the works of God, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent, this is his commandment, that ye believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ, this is the word and commandment and authority, a straight and awful command from the God of heaven, that you would renounce tonight, today, if you hear his voice, that you would be finished and renounce all your own righteousness, and all your own works, and all your own law keeping, and all your own religion, as of being of no value, no worth, no refuge, no security, no way of salvation, and that you would believe on the name of his son, that you would rest all on the finished work, on the glorious righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten son of God, this is the condemnation, light has come into the world, men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil, they do not come to the light, they do not come to Christ, lest he warn them, lest he shake their foundation, lest he expose the futility of their own righteousness, the corruption of their lives, the sin in which they’re living, so he that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, is the man who goes to the foundation to rest on him, that’s the doing, that’s the doing that his glorious gospel calls to and commands, obedience to the gospel is the great calling of the word of God, they who obey not the gospel shall be punished with everlasting destruction, there is an obeying of the gospel here, he that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, he is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock, and so this connection between the doing and believing is very plain, they who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they will do, they will do his sayings outwardly, they will live according to his sayings, there is the connection, they have a foundation and they build upon it, they build upon it, it affects the way they live, it influences everything about their life, but on the other hand there is these, there are, there is this foolish man who built his house upon the sand, he is looking to and hearing the word of God, he’s receiving the message, the same truths perhaps, but he is not doing, he is not believing, he is not digging deep to find a rock on which to build, he is attending to the principles and philosophies and thinking of nature, of human wisdom, human learning, he is either on the one hand as the Jews were, forsaking God’s righteousness, going about to establish his own righteousness, not submitting to the righteousness of God, or he is turning aside to some vanity, some idol, some foolish doctrine and principle by which he would live, that’s the picture of the foolish, it’s a sandy foundation, it’s contrary to or beside the word of God, and it is in opposition to the finished work and perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the other foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, if any man will build on that, on another foundation, if any man will build his own, his own, on his own foundation, there is a day coming which will try it and test it, and that is what the Saviour is drawing attention to here, he is warning them that the sandy foundation is just that, it is both unreliable, unappointed, it’s not the place to which the word of God is directing them, anything other than and outside of the word of God, anything contrary to it, anything that undermines it, anything that deflects from it, as to a sinner’s justification, anything that diverts from, distracts from, hinders from, arresting and entrusting on the finished work, on the perfect righteousness, anything that adds to or takes from that one foundation, yes, it is indeed sinking sand, it is a sandy foundation, the doctrine of the Church of Rome, concerning the atonement of Christ and the satisfaction of divine justice by the death of Christ, is a sandy foundation, it is not a perfect righteousness, because they are encouraging, they encourage sinners to works of righteousness of their own, works of penance, good works, to try to patch up what is deficient in the righteousness, which the word of God declares to be perfect, what a travesty, what a mockery, what a blasphemy, that man would require to offer sacrifices for the quick and the dead, to perform penances, penances, to deliver their souls from a temporal punishment, and to save their souls out of an imagined place of refining and purgatory, such as the teaching that corrupted the world, that corrupted the minds of men and the principles and philosophies and the ideas and doctrines of men, and there are teachings abroad in our generation, not far removed from it, not far removed from that, which in God and His mercy swept away at the time of the Reformation, and it is the native, natural tendency of the human heart to look to the righteousness that he can spin out for himself, and to forsake this glorious foundation, as the one foundation laid in Zion, and it is the desire indeed and purpose and resolve of the heart of man by nature to contribute something to his own salvation, to do something to merit God’s favor, to earn it in some way of repenting, some way of reformation, some way of changing his course, some way of improving his behavior, and ah, God will be pleased with me. Young people here growing up in the Visible Church, that is indeed the grave, serious, solemn danger that you are in, that you would find a resting place in the heritage, the privileges, the opportunities, the blessings you have. You are to come and dig deep in the Word of God. You are to dig deep, to discover in the Word of God what it has to say about all human merit and all creature and all creature righteousness and all religious attainment. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, we are full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. There’s no foundation in the efforts and attainments and righteousness that we can do, and our works and our attainments in religion, will prove to be, will be settled and shown to be sinking sand. Dig deep, find that glorious foundation in the Word of God. God is the Lord who unto us hath made light to arise. Here is a glorious, secure foundation laid in Zion. The Lord Jesus Christ, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, and whosoever believeth in him shall not perish. But shall have everlasting life. The righteous Pharisee, the self-righteous Pharisee, is as warmly and heartily and urgently invited to come and renounce that self-righteousness and be done with it forever. As the poor publican who could not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast and said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of both kinds, both varieties. I came not to call the righteous, for there are none. There are none, but sinners to repentance. Oh, have you heard that saying? What have you done with it? What are you doing with it tonight? What are you doing with the gospel? What are you doing with Jesus, the Son of God, in the everlasting gospel? Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom God will impute righteousness without works. That’s the blessedness, that’s the blessing of Abraham. God imputed righteousness to him without works, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. There’s a foundation on which Abraham began to build, and God blessed him, and blessed was his building.
2. The Building (The Character of Life and Hope)
Well, that’s the second thing. The foundation laid on the rock, the man can begin to build. And what is this building? What is this representing? Well, we can think of it this way. It’s the whole of the character of the person in the entirety of their life is affected by and influenced by the relation of that to the foundation on which they’re building. Faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the finished work of Christ, will have an influence and does have an influence upon the life which follows. They had, the apostle speaks of them in his epistle to the Romans, who were pursuing after the things of this world, and pursuing after the things of this world, and pursuing after the vanities of this world. And know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. But God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you, being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. He’s comparing what they had when they were under the dominion of sin, in the service of sin, and he says, what fruit had ye? What effect did it have on your life? What fruit had ye? In those things whereof ye are now ashamed, for the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and become servants to God, and how is that? By obeying the form of doctrine, by obeying the gospel, by trusting to the righteousness of Christ, by resting on his righteousness, ye became servants of righteousness. Ye yielded yourselves servants to Christ, to his righteousness. You lent, you built on that foundation, and ye became servants of righteousness. Being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. It affects everything. It affects the manner in which the law is viewed, the manner in which the law is kept. The new relation that a sinner has to that law will affect his keeping of that law. He brings forth fruit unto God, fruit unto holiness. His life is affected by, and informed by, and influenced by his knowledge of, and relation to Christ as his foundation, Christ as his righteousness. We can put it in this way, we can think of it in this way, that a sinner who is broken off from the covenant of works, and grafted into the covenant of grace, is now living in a way that his obedience, and his new obedience, is running in a new channel, a channel of faith, and love, and delight in the law of God. He is now rejoicing in, and making the law of God his delight. The law of God is his choice. He is now under the law to Christ. He is not without law to God, he’s under law to Christ, and it is a new relation. It’s a channel for new obedience, and that new obedience is the obedience of the heart. It’s the obedience of love. He delights in the law. The old covenant of works by which men are trying to earn the favour of God is like a drudgery, it’s like a bondage. A woman that is bound to her husband, and she’s under him as long as he liveth, and that’s the relation that Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 7. You were under that husband who was exacting obedience from you, demanding you to keep every single precept. That’s what the covenant of works is saying, do and live, and unless you do, you cannot live, and unless you obey me, you must be punished, and he’s severe, he’s like a cruel husband, no relief, no relenting, no mercy, no forgiveness, no pardon, no sparing mercies. That’s what the law is demanding of a sinner who is trying to establish a righteousness of his own, and what kind of a life will he produce? What kind of a life does it produce? A corrupt, weak, feeble, deficient, empty kind of religion, a law keeping that is grudging, a law keeping that is evading the terms of that law and has no delight in that law. What fruit had ye in those things? Well, so too the sandy foundation of man’s corrupt principles and the philosophies of the world. What fruit does that produce? You can see it all over the world we’re living in. A desperate wickedness produced evil bitter fruit because resting upon and influenced by vain philosophies, vain principles, ungodly lives produced by ungodly principles. That’s the superstructure which the apostle is, which the Savior is here warning of. It may look fair in the eyes of men, but it is an abomination in the eyes of God, highly esteemed whether the religiosity of the Jew or the civil morality of the Gentile, whether the entertaining pleasure-seeking of the world, or whether the self-righteousness and hypocrisy of a mere religious externalism. It may be highly esteemed in the little circle of admirers which men may gather around them, but it is an abomination in the eyes of God, and it’s on a sandy foundation. It’s unaffected by and uninfluenced by the Spirit of grace. It’s not produced by a living union and communion with Christ. It’s not flowing out of a heart changed. It’s not a bringing forth fruit to God. It’s not unto holiness. It hasn’t got life in it. It’s not everlasting life that it shall be its end. It’s a foundation of sand that such a house is built upon, and the conduct of the life will expose it, yes, expose it, yes, but it’s perhaps we can think of it in this way, too, that the building is identifying the hope that the person has, the hope that they have in view of the future, and that’s what people do in their lives. They build up. They go through life building hope. They live with hope. They try and they pursue their hopes and their dreams and their imaginations. They give them encouragement to continue. That’s what people are doing. That’s what you’re doing. If your hope is not in Christ today, it’s in something else. If you’re resting, if you’re not resting on the promises of the gospel, you’re resting on something else. You’re hoping in something else. We can’t live without some hope. We would very quickly descend into despair if we didn’t have some hope. It’s like a building. Hope upon hope upon hope. False hopes. Empty hopes. That’s the foundation of sand. That’s the house that’s built on it. But the hope of God’s people is sure. They have a ground of hope. We’re singing that in the psalm. Remember, Lord, thy gracious word, thou to thy servants speak, which for a ground of my sure hope thou causest me to take. There’s hope in the everlasting gospel of Christ. There’s a good hope through grace. There’s reason to hope in the finished work of Christ. There’s reason and ground for a good hope for time to come. Faith in the promises of God is a worthy hope to have. It’s worthy to entertain the hope that what God has said he will do. Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life. The hope of God’s people is affecting the life that they live. They’re hoping continually. They’re hoping in the time of affliction, in the time of trial. I with expectation will hope continually and yet with praises more and more I will thee magnify. They’re looking unto Jesus. They’re waiting on him. They’re trusting in his word. Their hope is in his word. Hope is like the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, entering into heaven. They’re looking beyond the things that are seen and temporal to the things that are not seen and eternal. That’s the kind of building they’re building. They’re building on a foundation and it’s a good hope through grace where there is everlasting consolation. They fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before them. What is your hope today? Do you have a reason to entertain the hope that you’re on your way to heaven? On what ground is that hope resting? On whom is it resting?
3. The Storm (The Test)
Well, the third thing, and very briefly it is, and clearly and simply and solemnly, it is the test of that hope, the trial of that foundation. What is coming to test the house that you’re living in? What is going to happen when the foundation that you’re building on is put to the test? Will it endure? And the picture is here of the rain descending and the floods coming and the winds blowing. As we said, it seems to be pointing to not so much the afflictions and trials of this world, although that might be in it, but more particularly the coming of the great day of judgment. The coming of the great day of judgment when God will try every man’s work of what sort it is and he’s going to try yours and mine. What our foundation is and what our house built on that foundation is, the whole of our life, the character of our religion, the nature of our hope, the character of our law-keeping, the nature and character of our worship. Is it according to the wisdom and doctrines and commandments of men? Is it according to the principles of self-reliance and self-righteousness and self-praise and vainglory? Does it contain that element and that poisoned root of boasting, trusting to the merit and worth and value of our own goodness? Or is it going to be seen and exposed to be on the finished work, on the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and that you’re saying with the apostle that I might be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith. Well the day of judgment is a storm indeed. Death is a great terrible storm. Who will abide in that day when death brings you into eternity and after death the judgment? That is what the Savior is pointing us to, what the word of God points us to. He that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house. It beat vehemently as Luke says. There’s a vehemence that cannot be described or reckoned. We cannot compare it with anything we’ve met with in this world. There is a fearful storm awaiting the ungodly to take them by surprise and if temporal troubles weary them, if temporal troubles afflict them, oh how will they do in the swellings of Jordan if thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee. If in the day in the land of peace and quiet comparatively thou has been wearied how would thou contend with horses when the battle is a facing you with the great fearful consequences of a never-ending eternity looming of a great white throne standing before you and the books of your life to be opened and examined and searched and the whole character of your religion the whole character of your life your relation to the law of God and the standards of the word of God your relation to the commandments and doctrines and teachings of the word of God when that is put to under examination and when your relation to Christ to the gospel of Christ these sayings of mine is examined and searched out and put to the test what will become of you where are you in relation to Christ friend where are you in relation to the gospel are you resting on the finished work of Christ or not do you believe on the name of the son of God are you trusting to the merit of that death the value and preciousness of that righteousness are you looking away from yourself are you building on that foundation laid in scion to you that believe he is precious but to them that be disobedient the stone which the builders refused the stone which the builders refused it’s made ahead of the corner a stone of stumbling a rock of offense even to them that stumble at the word being disobedient that’s the one thing you’re refusing you may have an outward life that’s conformed to the word of God but the one thing you’re needing the one thing you’re refusing is a resting place on the finished work of Christ and union with him by faith and communion with him in his glorious grace so that you would bring forth fruit to God that’s the test of the day of judgment that will be the test and Paul his hope was that he would be found in that day not having his own righteousness but that which is the righteousness of God by faith by faith.
4. The Outcome
Well, that’s the outcome of the storm for the Lord’s people they it fell not for it was founded upon a rock their religion their life their whole character their hope will be seen to be a worthy hope they will be received and approved and accepted and acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment for they are founded upon a rock their the character of their religion derives from and is immediately and gloriously and beautifully harmonized with and flows from and is built upon the glorious foundation stone laid in Sion and they will endure the storm and they will be proof against all the fearful storms that shall destroy the wicked that shall sweep them away when the prophet speaks of the overflowing scourge that will pass through the land when those who made lies their refuge and they trusted to their own righteousness as though they were making an agreement with death as though they were coming to some terms with hell and saying as it were to God that it will not come near to them it will pass them by oh he says the rain will sweep away the refuge of lies and overflow the refuge that you’ve made for yourself in anything short of Christ in anything other than Christ in anything in addition to Christ and anything that supplants free sovereign grace in Christ it will be swept away it will be swept away and you will be overthrown by it the rain shall sweep it away and great shall be the fall of it false hope false dreams false expectations grounded upon and founded upon sandy sandy earth and there are multitudes of millions living in this world building on a sandy foundation and the variety of that kind of building is of a vast vast variety vast variety and the fear and the concern that we have tonight if you’re here under the word of God not resting on Christ is that you are of them you are like that foolish man.
Conclusion and Exhortation
And so we ask you we beseech you we implore you dig deep dig deep look for Jesus Christ the righteous search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life possessing the bible is not enough learning its content trying to model your life by its principles is not enough seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all other things will be added to you all that you need for time and eternity will be yours a good hope for eternity will be yours seek seek first beware of false prophets beware of false doctrine beware of false teaching concerning the great fundamental matter of your relation to Christ and your relation to the law of God ask that you might receive seek that you might find knock that it might be opened unto you ask that God would show you the way of salvation through the righteousness of Christ imputed to you.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found call upon him while he is near let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteousness man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.
This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Speaker: Rev David Campbell
Congregation Santa Fe
Text: Matthew 7:24-27
Date: 8 June 2025
Series: Texas Communion June 2025