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Amen and amen and amen. If you got your Bibles, and I hope you do, we're gonna be in Matthew, chapter seven. We are wrapping up this kind of mini series within a series. We're studying the book of Matthew for basically the whole year. For the past six weeks, we have studied what we're calling season two, mountain to mountain. This is called the Sermon on the Mount. And I'm just gonna tell you, man, you weren't here Thursday night, but I was. And I'm hoping and praying that the spirit of God moves like he did on Thursday. And let me tell you where the spirit of God shows up where he's wanted. So sit up. If you're saved, tell your face. I know sometimes, I mean, we gave you 22 more minutes, but sometimes 9 o' clock's got a little, you know, you gotta stretch out a little bit, get ready. This ain't gonna be fun at all, but I pray that it's meaningful. Here's the question I want to ask, and I want you to answer. Not out loud, right now. The question I want to ask is, how do you know if you're saved? How do you know if you're going to heaven? How do you know? And then you should ask yourself again. Don't answer out loud. Are you. Are you saved? Are you going to go to heaven? It's pretty important, man. Hell is hot. Forever's a long time. You want to nail this one. And here's what I know. There will be millions of people sitting in churches today that are not on their way to heaven and they don't know it. So how do you know this is what Jesus is going to deal with, directly with. As we got to this text, I thought about this event. It was between Christmas and New Year's, that kind of weird time of the year. I got invited to go to the Passion Conference, and my friend Louis Giglio runs it. He and his wife Shelly started this years ago. It's amazing. It's for college kids. It's, like, saturated. What we know is saturated. It's this conference been going on for years called the Passion Conference. It's incredible. I love it. You. It's all about helping people just understand the glory and the renown of the name of Jesus. The church has been impacted by it in an incredible way over the years. It's awesome. Okay. And so Louie asked me if I'd be there. I said, of course. If I can bring my daughter, Reagan. And he said, of course. And so Reagan and I went. It was Great. And we're sitting in this thing, and I'm telling you, dude, the worship is just off the chain. I mean, the great. Some of the most anointed worship leaders of our time are leading in worship. There's 8,000 college kids at the Texas Rangers Stadium. Just every song. Everybody's got their hands up. It's loud. It's awesome. They got the best preachers you've ever heard, man. I mean, the lineup is incredible. I heard some of the best sermons. You'll hear them, too. Cause I'm gonna rip them off and preach them to you over the next few years. I'll try to give credit when I can remember who I heard it from. And then my friend JP Pacluda gets up. JP Is incredible, incredible expositor of the Word of God Gospel center, dude, he'll be preaching for saturated this year for us, okay? He's awesome. You're welcome. You don't know it yet, but you're welcome. And JP gets up and he asks this question to 8,000 college kids who have given up a section of their Christmas break to go to this worship thing where you hear about 100 sermons and sing about a thousand Jesus songs, okay? And he says, on a scale of 1 to 10, if I were to ask you if you were to die tonight, you're standing before God. And he says, how you getting into heaven? On a scale of 1 to 10, how sure are you? How confident are you that you're getting in? Then he says, all right, if you're like a one to three, and I don't want you to raise your hand, it'll hurt my feelings as a pastor. So he says, on a scale of one to three, raise your hand. Bunch of hands go up. And I go, praise God, man. Praise God. Here's a bunch of college kids that showed up at this thing, and they go, I don't think I'm getting in, but I'm interested and I'm here, and so what do you have to say? And so I kind of got excited about that. That's actually where Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are you when you are poor in spirit and you realize, I don't think I have what it takes. So yay for the one to three crowd, quite honestly. And then he was like, what if you're about. On a confidence level between 1 and 10? What if you're like a 3 to 6 and a bunch of hands go up? I'm like, what does that. How are you a six? What does that even mean? And then the one that terrified me was this. And if you think you're like a 7 to 9 on the confidence scale of going to heaven, raise your hand. And a bunch of hands come up, and I go, oh, no. Oh, no. These kids don't know the gospel, man. And these aren't your average college kids. These are kids that are at the Passion Conference. They paid money, they got on a bus. They know all the songs. I watched them. They all have their hands up with their eyes closed, and they know all the words, and they think they're a nine, which means they think. I think I've done some stuff. I'm not quite sure if I've done enough, but I've done some stuff, and I think I might be getting in. And then finally he goes, who's a 10? Me and Reagan, we're tens. I'm a 10. By the end of this sermon, I want you to be a 10. I want you to know that you know, that you know confidently that you are gonna spend eternity with Christ, not because of anything that you've done. You see, the moment you stand before Christ in heaven and he goes, why should I let you in? You don't answer with personal pronouns. There's no because I. If you start with, well, because I didn't. No, no, it's because of you. Like Alistair Banks said, because the man on the middle cross said I could come. I want you to know, and here's how I know. My confidence is not in me. My confidence is in Christ and what he has told us in this word. Philippians 1:6 says, I am when I memorized it in the NIV. ESV says, I am sure to if I like the NIV. I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in me will bring it to completion on the day of Christ Jesus. That's how I know. Or Romans 10:9. Romans 10:9 says, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will not. Might be not 9 out of 10, you will be saved. Romans 10:13 says, for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. When John is writing one of his epistles, 1 John 5:13, he says, I write these things to you who are in Christ that you may know that you have eternal life. So do you know? I want you to know. Now, here's the thing. I don't want you to question your salvation unless you're not saved. The only thing more dangerous than the lack of the assurance of your salvation is a false assurance of your salvation. And this is what Jesus is going to talk about. There's going to be a lot of church people, man. There's a lot of church people who have put their faith something other than the free gift of grace that Jesus offers. Again, Jesus starts the whole sermon. Here's how you know what a sermon's about. How does it begin? How does it end? And the whole Sermon on the Mount, it begins with the gospel. It's gonna end with the gospel. It's a big old gospel sandwich. That's what it is. And then everything in the middle is, what does it look like if you've actually been run over by the grace strait? These are the symptoms of the gospel infected life. And so he starts his sermon with this. Blessed congratulations are you when you were poor in spirit. When you realize, I don't bring any merit to the equation of my salvation. The only thing I bring is the sin that needs to be forgiven. And so that's true, man. If you just. If this is your first time, you've been 1122, you picked a doozy. But I. And I'm not even actually talking to you. Cause if you know that you're a sinner in need of a savior, congratulations, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Cause then he gets to, I think, the most important verse in the whole sermon in the Mount, Blessed are the meek. Meek doesn't mean weak. Meek means. It means bit, bridle and horse. Blessed are you when you turn over the reins of your life to a different master. Let me tell you who this sermon is for. It's for church people, man, that think God owes them heaven. It's hard for church people to get saved. Do you realize that? It's real hard for church people to get saved because they think they have some righteousness. So this is what he's gonna talk about. He's gonna close the Sermon on the Mount. He begins with the gospel, he ends it with the gospel. Now, the majority of the sermon is about how we act when we turn the reins of our life over to him. And so I think part of the reason that he ends with the gospel is because the moment the human mind is so twisted that the moment you begin to talk about the activities that believers should be participating in, we get the order mixed up. And we think our activity determines my identity. So if I do good stuff before a good God, then I ought to be good. Good, not good. And so he says, he talks about all kinds of things. We should be salt and light. We should impact this world and the way we Christians, followers of Jesus, through anger and lust and marriage and forgiveness and money and prayer and the way we treat our enemies and judgment and how we sing and pray and give. All of that should be different. And if you read the Sermon on the Mount and you come away with it as just a new ethic on how you ought to live and in order to be right with God, then you miss the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount. The whole point of it. This is not just a new law. It's not like Moses went up on Sinai and received the Ten Commandments and Jesus went on the Mount of Beatitudes and he gave us different commandments. That's not how it works. If you read the Sermon on the Mount rightly, you ought to look at it and go, oh, no, I can't do any of this. I mean, I've never murdered anybody. But have I ever been angry in my heart? Are you serious? Every day of my life. What am I gonna do? Which leads to the question, who is gonna save a wretch like me? And so to make sure that we don't miss it. Cause Jesus knows, he calls us sheep. Not cause we're cute and fluffy. Cause we're nasty and dumb. That's why he calls us that. So he closes like a freight train, like a grace train. That's how he's gonna close. And so you don't hear the Sermon on the mountain go, amen. That's not enough. It's not enough to agree. It's not enough to feel a thing. It's not enough. But when you turn over the reins of your life, when you get hit by the grace train, it changes everything about everything about everything. All right, so back to my questions. How do you know if you're saved? And again, if you answer with the I, then you don't understand salvation. Is it church attendance? Is it more good than bad? Is it trying hard? Do you think there's a sin that has disqualified you? Is it your baptism? Is it believing right doctrine? All right, we're going to answer that. I'm going to start in verse 13. I know, Pastor Britt. Pastor Britt covered these last week. I love listening to him preach so much. Great job, Pastor Britt. Matthew 7, beginning in 13. Because we got to get a little running start before we get to this part, I'm supposed to preach Matthew 7, 13. Jesus, in this one continuous sermon, says, enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy. That leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard. That leads to life, and those who find it are few. And so with that in mind, that there's a whole bunch of people that would be the kind of people that would show up to listen to Jesus preach a sermon. There's a whole bunch of people that are on the wrong path. And with that in mind, verse 15, he says this. Beware. This is the second time in his sermon that he's given a warning. Watch out. Be on guard. Be aware. And there's only two times he gives this warning. The first time, he said this. Beware of practicing your righteousness in front of other people. This is kind of in the same vein, okay? Because you got a bunch of Pharisees and Sadducees, religious leaders here, and they think that their activity earns them a right standing with God. And so he says, beware of false prophets. Now, a false prophet is simply somebody that tells you something in God's name that does not line up with God's words. That's what a false prophet is. And the ones that Jesus is primarily talking about here are the people that think external obedience earns a right standing before God. Now, that's not the only type of false prophets. They're all over the place. But anytime, any person, I don't care how big their church is, how big their YouTube following is, I don't care what credentials they claim, how many doctorates they have. If somebody tells you something that is not in alignment with the word of God and they're trying to speak on behalf of God, that is a false prophet. They are telling you lies that lead to death. But here's the thing. They're gonna say it in a really good way. He said, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. I get invited all these church things, man, because of you. You invite all your Wilmores, they get saved. Our church grows. I have nothing to do with it. I get invited to the conference. That's how it works. Good job. And I get asked this question, what do you think is the biggest danger that the church is facing? And I always say this. It's the pulpits. The biggest danger of the church is on the inside, not the outside. The church has always handled external persecution really well. Do you know where the biggest move of the church is right now? You know where the fastest growing, most multiplying churches are right now? You'd never Guess this Iran, that's a fact. How do you think their YouTube subscribers are doing it? Don't go good. You can't do a public prayer meeting. They'll cut your head off. And yet they get hammered by the enemy. And that faith drives deeper and deeper like a nail. And then the good news of the gospel is spreading everywhere. It's not the external that you gotta watch out for. It's that internal wolf dressed in sheep's coat. Smells like a sheep, looks like a sheep. Use church language, but perverts the gospel or perverts God's word. And then he says, you're gonna recognize them by their fruits, plural. So for the gifted class, don't get this confused with the fruit singular of the spirit. No, no, no. He says, you're gonna recognize them by their integrity, by their teaching, and the way that you gotta give fruit a season to grow. He says you're gonna recognize them by their fruits. Like, do they primarily preach about themselves or about Christ? That's what you got to pay attention to. Then he asks a couple questions. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes? No is the answer. In case you're not a horticulturalist or you're a Baptist and don't know about grapevines. Okay. Do figs come from thistles? No. So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Like, you don't manufacture fruit. It is produced from the inside out. In other words, I wrote a whole book on this. When you get run over by the grace train or the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it changes everything about everything about everything. You don't earn a right to get a ride on the train. You get run over by the train, and then the spirit of God just compels you and drags you along to be a follower of him. That's how it works. Then he says, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. He's talking about hell. Anybody that's like, man, I don't know about Jesus being my savior, but I love his teachings. You haven't done a good study of his teaching. Because I don't know how you love the message that says, oh, if you just believe in the words that I say, but don't believe in me as Christ, you're going to hell. That's a rough teaching. He's not meek and mild. He was very offensive. Then he says, thus you will recognize them by Their fruits. And then he turns the corner a little bit and he says this. Not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Does that make you nervous? If it doesn't, you should take this very seriously. Not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Listen man, it's actually, it's easy for the rebel to get saved. Do you realize this? It's easy for the rebel to get saved. And in fact, we love it. I'm telling you, I bet we have baptized more face tattooed people than any other church in the history of the face tattoo churches. And I love it. Or like we got a biker gang on the front row right here. I love it. And here's the thing, man, when you have rebelled against the Lord, it's easy for you to, to find yourself at the pig sty flat on your back, realizing all I got. I just, the only option I have is to look up, you come to your senses and we realize, I need a savior. Okay, sweet. Let me tell you, it's hard for church people because you don't think you need salvation. I mean, you believe in it. Theologically, we just think, well, I do good things. And Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Here's what I need you to pay attention to. He's not talking to atheists because they don't call him Lord. He's not talking to people that follow after a demonic false religion because they don't call him Lord. He's talking to church people. Now if you pay attention to my sermons, which dozens of you do, and I appreciate that, you're like, wait a minute, Pastor, I've heard you say a hundred times, there's a prayer that God always answers for all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's Romans 10:13. But do you see the difference here? The words matter. There's not a wasted word in scripture. Jesus says, not everyone who just says to me, lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. And then Paul in Romans 10 says, but all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. So what's the difference what it means to call on the name of the Lord, it's like praying in Jesus name. That that doesn't mean you just tack his name onto the end of it and ask for whatever you want. That means that you surrender, that you have put yourself under the lordship of Christ. And his name would be like his character and integrity. So I'm going to submit and Surrender my life in alignment with the character and integrity of who God is. I'm not just calling out your name. That's the difference. Cause here's the thing, man. Right now, in America, dude, Jesus PR campaign's going good. It's, like, kind of cool to be a Christian again for a minute. Have you noticed everybody's a Christian now. Politicians, they don't believe anything Jesus taught, but they claim to be Christians. Podcasters, everybody. I mean, like, Bible sales are through the roof. Church attendance is through the roof. I mean, Joe Rogan's going to church. Sweet. I really believe I'm gonna meet that dude one day. I like him. I think he's awesome. So all of a sudden, he made it cool to go to church. Here's the problem, though. Here's what Jesus is saying. Are you a follower of Jesus Christ or are you just a fan? That's not the same thing. Like, are you interested in the teachings of Jesus or. Or are you in Christ? These are not the same thing. Are you surrendered to the lordship of Jesus, or is he like, an accessory that you've added on to your life because you think it'll make your life better? We're not talking about the same thing here. In Matthew, chapter 26, I can't really preach this because I'm going to later on this year, and I can't take away my sermon. So here's in Matthew 26, we'll get there. Whenever we get there, on the night Jesus is betrayed, he's sitting around the table with his disciples. They're all sitting there, and he goes, one of you is going to betray me. And everybody's like, what? And then the Bible says in Matthew 26, they start going around the table one by one, and each of the disciples say, is it I, Lord? Is it I, Lord? Eleven times. Then they get to Judas and Judas says, is it I, Rabbi? Judas goes to hell. He was filled with the devil, and he was in close proximity to Jesus. He just never trusted him for his salvation. He was a part of the miracles. He was there. He was a treasurer. He had a job in Jesus Incorporated, and he didn't make it. Not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Here's who does enter the kingdom of heaven. How do I know if I'm saved? But the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. You're like, ha, ha. There it is, Pastor. So what do I have to do? Well, you have to do the will of the Lord. Well, what's the will of the Lord? Is it just do good? Most people think good people go to heaven. That's a very faulty theology. Even before you get to the scriptures, you got to ask yourself, if good people go to heaven, how good? Don't you think God would give us a grading scale in the Bible? I mean, is it 51%? If you just have one more good thing than bad thing, then maybe you get in. Or does he use, like, the college grading system? You make a 51 in chemistry, guess what? You failed. So what is it? How good? And not only that, don't you think if good people go to heaven, God owes you a progress report? Like, where are you on the good or bad scale right now? Cause by the looks of it from here, some of you cats ain't got enough time left in the semester to make up for previous work. You know what I'm saying? You remember that? Remember sitting in school, trying to do the math? Going into that final exam, you're like, well, there you go. Need a 206 on this one to pull this puppy out. Yeah, man. Good people don't go to heaven. Forgiven people go to heaven. So what does it mean? What is God's will for your life? 2nd Peter 3. 9. This is what God's will for your life is. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you. Not wishing, not wanting. This is his will. That. Here's what God wills. That not wanting that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. God's will for your life is that you would repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You would turn from yourself, from your past, from your sin, from this world. And you would turn to him. That's his will. First John, chapter three, verse 23. And this is his commandment. This is what he commands. This is what he wants. This is what he wills. That we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he has commanded us to love God's will. What it means to do the will of my Father is to admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. To put your faith in Christ. That when he died on the cross, somehow that counted for you. And to surrender your life to his lordship. That's what it means to do the will of God. Verse 22. And on that day, this is the day of judgment. And on that day, many will say to me, lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out Demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name. Not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. And then there's a group of people, when they hear they're not in. They're like, whoa, what do you mean I'm not in? Did I not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name? Here's the thing, man. Think about this. There's some people in line on the judgment day, and they're waiting for their turn, and they're like, dude, I'm totally in. Like, you are? Mm. I know I'm in. How do you know? I'm on the exorcism team, bro. I've cast out demons. Demons? What do you run, parking? We'll see. Then the guy in front of him, dude, I'm a prophet. I have prophesied. And here's how you know that they don't know him. Because the moment they hear it, not everybody that says to me, lord, Lord, will we enter the kingdom of heaven. Be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. Can I speak to your manager? I don't think you have this right. I got receipts. And the receipts that they bring out is their religious activity to prove that God owes me something. That's it, man. I was preaching a version of this years ago because I really only have one sermon. And this guy in our church named Jack Johnson. Not banana pancakes guy. I don't know if he goes to church, but there's just a guy in our church named Jack Johnson, and he sent me this text, and he says, the only paperwork that matters on the day of judgment is not your religious resume, but your RSVP to the invitation of Christ. That's it, man. And these guys, they're trying to stand on their good works. That's what they're trying to do. And then Jesus says this. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. And by the way, if you remember previously in the sermon, and I know you remember it because I said it and you remember everything I say that Jesus said, I did not come to do away with the law. I came to fulfill it. So when he says that they're a worker of lawlessness, that's Jesus way of saying, you have this Christless religion that doesn't have anything to do with me. It just has to do with your good works. I never knew you. Oh, and when he says, I never knew you, God's not like me and can't remember people. You're Like, I'm the worst. I'm the worst. So listen, when we meet or re. Meet or meet for the 10th time, please don't assume I'm smart. Please don't be. Like, when I say, oh, it's good to meet you tonight. Well, we met once before. Oh, okay. God loves you and knows everything about you. I don't. I'm so sorry. I wish I did. This doesn't mean God doesn't know what's going on. In fact, later in the sermon, Jesus says he knows the very hairs on your head. Now, for some of us, that's an easier count than others. But how about this, ladies? He knows the hairs that are yours and the ones that you're renting right now. Like, he knows. I don't know. It looks great. It looks great. But he knows. But here's what he's saying. When he says, I don't know you, what he means is this. There's no relationship here. You know about me and I know about you, but we are not in a relationship together. Because you and I have believed on my son Christ and received the right to be a child of God. And then he's gonna give the final illustration. Okay, now listen. Jesus is very binary, trigger, warning. But it's up, down, heaven, hell, life, death. There's two trees, a fruitful and an unfruitful. There's two paths, a narrow and a wide. There's two builders, wise and a foolish. And then here's his final illustration to help us know if we know Jesus. Because that's the question, is, do you know him? Do you know him? And oftentimes when the Bible uses the word know, it can also mean to love. So when I say, do you know him? I don't mean know about him. I mean, do you love him? Like in Genesis, the Bible says, and Adam knew Eve and Eve bore a son. Like, there's no one. There's no one. You know what I'm saying? Like, this is an intimate relationship. Do you know him? Do you love him? This is what keeps me up at night, man, is do you know him? And I don't know how to make you love what I love. And I love him. And the reason I love him is cause he loves me. I can't get over the gospel. Cause I know me, man. There's no reason he should save me. There's no reason. And yet he demonstrated his love for me in this. That while I was still all jacked up before I ever came looking for him, he sent his only begotten son, and died a sinner's death on the cross to rescue me and redeem me. And he wants to do that for you. And I want you to know him and love him, not just go to church sometimes, man, do you know him? And he says, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them not just checks the boxes on the Sermon on the Mount because we can't. In fact, right before he got to this section, Jesus says in chapter five, verse 48, he says, you therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. So what do you do? You turn the reins of your life over to him. And with him in us, we live the gospel infected life. This is the point of the Sermon on the Mount. This is not simply about right and wrong. It's about life and death. Cause you could have inspiration, you could have revelation, you could have motivation. And if you don't have application, it don't do any good. Anybody raising a teenager? Raise your hand if you're raising a teenager. Okay, let's talk about deodorant. You can believe in deodorant. You can purchase deodorant, you can enjoy a deodorant commercial. You can have sticks and sprays and balms and all the things. But if you don't apply deodorant, that's all irrelevant. And he says, so everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. So put it on the bottom shelf. The house here is your life. And the wise man builds his life on the rock. What is the rock? Well, every. All those religious leaders there, they had memorized all of the Bible, including the Psalms. Psalm 18:2 says this. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. The later in that Same chapter, verse 31, for who is God but the Lord and who is a rock except Our God? Verse 46, same chapter. The Lord lives and blessed be my rock. And exalted be the God of my salvation. Jesus is saying, the wise builder builds their life on the rock. Who is the Lord God? Later in nine chapters, when Jesus gets the Caesarea Philippi and he asks the disciples, we'll teach this later this year. And he asked the disciples, who do people say that I am? And they answer like they would answer today, a good moral teacher, some kind of religious leader. And he goes, and then Jesus asked the most important questions that you'll ever deal with in your entire life. But who do you say that I am? Your answer to that question determines your eternal destiny. Balls in your court. And then who's gonna talk first? Who's gonna talk most? Peter. He's like, ooh, ooh, ooh. You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus is like, winner, winner, chicken dinner. It's not exactly what he says. Don't look for those words in the Bible. That's what he means. He said, bro, you nailed it. Way to go. This didn't come from you. I know you. This was revealed to you by my father in heaven. I'm about to change your name. Your old name was Cephas. Your new name is going to be Petra. Rocky. And upon this rock, different version of that word, and upon this public declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. What he's saying is, for those who build their life on the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you're a wise builder. Here's why you're wise. Cause God builds the house. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house. And you're like, wait, what? But I was hoping if I built my life on you, then I. Cause. What's that called? Florida. That's called a hurricane. So you mean Jesus. If I follow you, I still have to face the same storms. Yeah. My friend Eric Dillonback sent me this quote this morning. He's a deacon here at the church. He says so many of us want Jesus to be an epidural, but he's really a midwife. I thought I'd get one, Mama. Amen. Right there. Come on, ladies. You miss me? Just leave me hanging up here. Yeah, man. We're not spared pain. We're not spared the valley of the shadow of death. We just get the promise that he will walk with us through it. The rain fell and floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. We're going to get two different houses, same materials, same circumstances. We're gonna get a different outcome. And then, listen, if Jesus ever asked me for some sermon help, and if you're not picking up on the sarcasm there, you're gonna have a tough time here at 11:22. Okay, see, when you pre. What you do is you start with, like, the bad and then you end on the up. You start with the foolish builder, and then you end with the wise builder. Cause everybody feels good at the end when you sing the last song. That's not what he does, man. He's going to end with tragedy, and then there's no ending. He doesn't close it up. He just stops. Because he wants this. He wants us to feel the weight of it. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them, does not surrender their life to Christ. But you think, forget you, God. I got this. I mean, I might say Lord, Lord, but it's evident by my fruit that I'm the Lord of my life. You'll be like a foolish man. You know what the word in Hebrew, I mean, in Greek for foolish man is? Moron. I had some sweet, sweet person send me an email that I shouldn't use the word moron. Moron. It's supposed to sting a little bit. Moron means godless. That's what it means. You're gonna be like a moron who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell. And great was the fall of it. Listen, man, I don't want your life to fall apart. I mean, I don't want this life that you're living to fall apart. And I say it all the time. We don't follow after Jesus because he makes our life better. We follow after Jesus because he is better than life. But quite honestly, in and around the south, if you do Jesus stuff, life goes better. Like when you read the directions from the Creator of life, if you do life his way, it goes better. Like if you apply the Ten Commandments to your life and you don't kill people. Life's better if you only sleep with your wife. Better if you don't lie, cheat. Still better if you don't buy things with money you don't have. Life is better. But he's talking about your eternal life. So not only do I not want your life to fall apart, now, I definitely don't want your eternal life to fall and you fall into the pit of hell, because great is the fall of it. So what are you building your life on? Are you building your life on the eternal saving Christ or the sinking sands of this world? There are only two options. There's no middle way. I hate that language. Middle way. No, no, no. When it comes to Christ, there's no middle way. What are you building your life on? Cause here's the thing, man. You could build a beautiful house, and you could decorate it with all Kind of Jesus trinkets. But if it is not built on the rock of the salvation of Christ through his life, death and resurrection, when judgment comes, your life will fall for eternity and great will be the fall of it. And here's the hard thing, man, from here, everybody's house looks the same. I mean, y' all look great. Everybody looks great. Some a little more than others, but you look great. Might be the best looking church in the history of churches, but so what? So what are you building your life on? We teach this all the time. 1 John 2:15. Do not love the world or the things of this world. For all that this world has to offer is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. And there are so many church folk that say, lord, Lord. And you're building your life on the things of this world. Some of you are building your life on the lust of the flesh. You're building it on relationships that all of your hope is when other people think about you. Or some of you will take a good thing and elevate it to a God thing. And that's a really bad thing. Some of you are building your entire life on your family. And your family is giving you as a gift to steward. Amen. But you begin to worship them. When you idolize somebody and you realize they're a human and they let you down, you will demonize them. Some of you build your whole life on feelings, man. Good vibes. And you drink stuff and take stuff and smoke stuff and sleep with whoever you want and still say lord, Lord. Some of you, this is very dangerous these days. You are building your whole life on self determination. Like I go to church. But God, I tell you who I am. You don't get to tell me who I am. And you don't get to tell me who I get to sleep with. And you don't get to tell me how I can spend my money. No, no. I do what I want with who I want. But I'm gonna sing you some songs. And some of you are building your whole life on a hobby. Do you realize how dumb that is? Listen, man, if you're a grown man with kids, you get one hobby. Choose wisely. And wives, your husband needs at least one. He needs one life giving hobby. All right, but if you spend your whole life on some hobby, what are you gonna have at the end of your life? What a scorecard. There it is. I shot par. No, you didn't. You don't even play by the rules. Let's be Honest. You're a liar. You're a liar. Listen, I get it. When I play, I'm a Christian. I play by grace. You're not that good. If you were good, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be at work down the road. Let's be honest. Yeah, man, it's a sinking saying. So many of us build our life on the lust of the eyes. We just want some stuff. Oh, man, I'm just telling you, man. You ever play Monopoly? I've never finished a game. I don't have that kind of patience or self control. But what do you do at the end of Monopoly? I don't care how many hotels you got on Boardwalk. What happens at the end of Monopoly? It all goes back in the box. Same thing is going to happen in your life. Actually, it's a little bit worse. We're not even going to put it back in the box. We're gonna take your stuff that you had to have and we're gonna sell it for $2 at Hope's closet. And we ain't gonna make money off your dead self. That's what we gonna do to the glory of God. You see, we're gonna talk about this later this fall. So many of us, our life is built on money. And money lies to you. Money is a liar, man. I told you before. But listen, Money. Here's what money says to you. Money says, if you love me, I'll love you back. But it says it real sexy. It's like, if you love me, I love you back. Did you hear that? Money really loves me. What will you do for me, money? I'll give you satisfaction and security. You're like, that's what I've been looking for. You just can't. It just can't give you those things. It's a sinking sand. And then a bunch of us build our lives on the pride of life. We build it on self. I'm going to make much of me. Seeking approval and status and promotion. Self Help, the largest section in every bookstore. Self help. Has anybody realized self is not the savior? Self is the problem. Play its way out in business or whatever, or physical fitness, man. And listen, this is a good example. You should be a good steward of the temple that God has given you. Yes, and amen. And you should work out and stretch and so that you can do ministry for a long time and play with grandbabies and all that kind of stuff. But the moment that thing begins to turn inward and you begin to worship your body instead of using it as a vessel of God, you're in trouble. I've told you a million times, you've met the person, their ideal body weight, everything looks great. They got abs and all the things, and time and gravity is undefeated. And if you got a little folding change, you can put that thing off for a little while and you can tuck it and nip it and plump it and suck it out and add some more to other places and you can do all the things, no problem, man. Eventually you look like Mr. Potato Head, but I ain't got time for that. And I know you're like, are you talking about me? Maybe. But the fact that you gotta go back and back and back and back and back and back is evidence that the sand is sinking, man. Or maybe the most dangerous one is religion. If you build your life on religion about your religious activity, to try to stand right before a holy and just God, don't you realize religion is just self help with a choir robe and a to do list? And here's the problem. When you think your right activity earned you a right standing before God, I'm telling you, you think you go get to work at the HOA of heaven, walking around with your checklist and you look down at your nose at everybody else is like, your shrubs ain't right and your shrubs ain't right and your shrubs ain't right. And you didn't fast on Wednesday. And it leads to bitterness or it leads to exhaustion. Cause you try and you try and you try, but. But your house is not built on the rock of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That he did for us what we could not do for ourselves. It's not what we do. It's what he has done for us. Religion leaves you naked and afraid with handmade fig leaves that are inadequate to cover the sin and shame. That's where it leads. So what are you building your house on? Your life? And then he just ends. No conclusion. He just stops. He doesn't bring out the band. And then there's a little commentary. And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowd was astonished at his teaching, because they were like, I think I'm going to hell. Yeah, you probably are. For he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. So how do you know that you're saved? It's not complicated. Jesus starts with, blessed are the poor in spirit. This is when you get to the place where you admit it, I'm a sinner in need of a savior. I'm not a Bad person that just needs to try harder. I'm a spiritually dead person that needs to be made alive. You got to admit it. If you don't know that you're lost. A map will be useless to you. If you don't know that you're drowning. A raft, a lifesaver, you won't even reach for it. You gotta admit it. And then you believe. Trustuo is the Greek word that when Jesus died on the cross and pushed upon his nail, pierced feet and says, it is finished, Somehow that counted for me. Even if you can't explain all the theological terminology, no problem. Neither could the thief on the cross. He simply said, the man on the middle cross said I could come because he believed that when Jesus went before his father, he asked him for a favor. Would you remember me? And then you confess. Romans 10:13. You call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved. Here's the hard part. If you're a church person, how many times have you heard that? In Luke, Chapter 15, the most famous of all the parables of Jesus, we call it the parable of the Prodigal Son. It's not a great name. Parable means lavish. The real lavish one is the dad. He's got lavish love for his kids. Younger son comes to him, says, dad, you're dead to me. Give me my inheritance. Now. The dad gives him his inheritance and he's a rebel. He squanders everything he has on reckless living in a faraway land. His world falls out from under him. He falls flat on his back and all he can do is look up. And then the Bible says he comes to his senses, he changes his mind, he repents, and he comes home. And the dad, who represents God through the person and work of Jesus, sees him from a long ways off, runs to him, wraps his arms around him, and what it literally says in the Greek is, and fills up his face with kisses. I hope you know the kiss of the father, puts a robe around him, brings him back into the family, not as a slave, but as a son, and then throws a party for him. We love that part. We love that part. It's easy for the rebel to come home. Where else are they going to go? They've already exhausted all of their other options and realize it doesn't work. It's just sinking sand. But the part that scares me, as the lead pastor of what might be the fastest growing church in the history of the United States of America, think about that first, second, it's from here. Everybody look saved. To me, there's an older brother, he represents the religious person. The older brother's ticked because his brother gets a party and he's thinking, that's not fair. Then the Bible says, Jesus says that the dad leaves the party. Here's what you gotta understand, man. First century honor culture. The landowner would never leave the party, would never leave the seat of honor. Certainly he wouldn't hike up his robe and run after his son and lay on the ground and hug him and stuff. And now he's gonna humiliate himself another time. Cause he's got another son who's not in the party. This is the church person. This is the person that serves every week and tithes and does all the things. And yet that kid is bitter cause he thinks he deserves a party. The dad comes out and he's like, son, what are you doing? He's like, dad. He doesn't even call him my brother. He says, this son of yours, it's not fair. Why does he get a party? I've obeyed you every day. Yeah, right. Then the Bible says that the dad entreats the older son. In Greek, the word entreat means to beg. It means to cry. It means to get on your knees and say, son, what are you doing? What are you doing? You're my son. Everything I have has always been yours. And if you think you're gonna earn this, you're gonna miss everything. You think you can come to the party too? This party is for your brother because he was dead. Now he's alive. But this party's for you too, son. Won't you just come into the party? Church people that have been checking the boxes or the rebel. You just started coming. The God of the universe, the sovereign king over salvation would humble himself. He would be brutalized and mangled naked, shamed on a cross to beg you. Please, won't you come. Please won't you come? Please don't build your life on the sinking sand of this world. It's a trick and it's a trap. And when the trap door springs, it goes to eternal separation from God. Please build your life on the rock of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Imagine this. Thought about this Thursday. Imagine if you could go back in time and you could go to New York City. September 10, 2001. The day before the Twin Towers went down. And at least 3,000 people lost their life that day. And you could stand in front of the towers. What would you say to the people? People walking in, have a nice day? Oh, no. If you've got the spirit of God in you. If you care about humanity at all, what would you say? You would entreat them? You better listen tomorrow. Take tomorrow off. Please don't come in tomorrow. Whatever you do, don't go to. Don't come to. Tragedy is going to happen if you show up in this place tomorrow. You would share the gospel with these people. And if one person was like, man, what you kook. You wouldn't let that one person saying no stop you from every single person. Why? Because you know the future. Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of everything that is, can see the end from the beginning. And right here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, he's like a man on a sidewalk who. People are marching towards their own death. And he is entreating them, please, please, please don't build your life on the sinking sands of this world. Please put your faith in Jesus Christ. And you. When the wind and the waves come, when Judgment Day comes, then your life will not fall apart because you're not holding it up that you have put your faith in Christ Jesus. So if you have never put your faith in Jesus on behalf of Christ, I entreat you do it today. Admit it. I ain't got this. Believe that when he died on the cross, it counted for you, too. And call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved. Would you bow your heads? Would you close your eyes? And that's you. And today, for the very first time, you are ready to put your faith in Christ, to repent, to turn away from yourself and this world and the sins of your past. And you trust or you believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow it counted for you. And today, for the very first time, you are ready to surrender your life to Christ, to call on the name of the Lord. I. I would ask you right where you are. Would you raise your hand as high as you can and you simply say, lord, save me. And I promise you from the testimony of the Scriptures, from the testimony of the angels in heaven, that in this very moment, every one of you. Keep it up. Keep it up. Every one of you, calling on the name of the Lord. In this moment, your sins are being washed away. The righteousness of Christ is being counted to you. You are adopted into the family of God. And one day you will hear these words, well done, my good and faithful servant. Our good and gracious heavenly Father, God, we love you more than anything because you first loved us. And God, I thank you that even this day, Jesus, you are worthy of your name. Because you came to seek and save that which was lost. Jesus. You came to save sinners like us. And God. We don't deserve it, but God, we just receive it as the free gift that you offer. And Lord, the only thing that we can stand on is not our goodness, but we stand on your righteousness. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Church, would you please stand to your feet. We're gonna close like we always do. I hope you'll stay. This part matters so much, man. We're gonna sing true things to God like one big prayer at all of our locations right now. At the same time singing the same thing. We're gonna sing cause he's worthy of our worship because of who he is. We're gonna bring our tithes and our offerings as an act of worship to say, I refuse to be discipled by this world, but I'm gonna be discipled by this Word. And I bring you my first and best as a response to the reality that you first loved me by giving me your best in Jesus Christ. And we are going to pray for all of the people who like God, that, that, that blessed are the poor in spirit thing. That's not just a one time place before your salvation. That's the posture of the believer every single day of their life. God, I can't do this on my own. I need you. So let's sing, let's bring, let's pray, let's respond.