December 25, 2024 • 38 mins
Jesus warns us in today’s passage that “many” will be shocked on the last day to find out that they never truly belonged to him. Though they called him “Lord” and performed many works in his name, he will claim that he never knew them. How, then, can we be confident that we are truly following Jesus? In this message from David Platt from Matthew 7:12–27, we are confronted with the decision about whether we will enter by the narrow gate or the wide gate—whether we will truly follow Jesus and live by his teaching or merely maintain a superficial attachment to him. Gratefully, entering God’s kingdom isn’t ultimately based on our own obedience but on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Salvation comes by relying on him.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
So this is the last sermon inthis series on the greatest
sermon ever preached, the Sermonon the Mount.
So for, if you are here, ormaybe just joining in today with
(00:21):
just a little recap, we starteda journey at the beginning of
September, in the beginning ofMatthew, chapter 5, where we've
walked through, and the way Iwould describe it is Jesus
casting vision for the good life, the better way to live in this
world and in light of the worldto come, and so I thought it
(00:41):
might be helpful to give a quickrecap of the whole sermon.
That then will set the stagewhere we're going to look at
today, which is a climactic andshocking conclusion from Jesus
that I think would have left theoriginal hearers with their
jaws on the ground, with massiveramifications not just for
(01:02):
their lives but for every one ofour lives in this room.
So here's the summary.
We'll put this up on the screen.
End of Matthew, chapter 4.
So read verse 23.
So now just turn back a couplepages.
Matthew 4.23 says Jesus wentthroughout all Galilee teaching
in their synagogues andproclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom and healing everydisease and every affliction
among the people.
(01:22):
So this is the lead up to theSermon on the Mount.
What Jesus is about to do is toteach and proclaim, preach the
gospel.
That means good news of thekingdom.
That's what the Sermon on theMount is about.
This is the good news of thekingdom, which is totally
different than the kingdoms ofthis world.
So this whole sermon is aboutcontrasting the kingdom of God
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with the kingdoms of this world.
So this whole sermon is aboutcontrasting the kingdom of God
with the kingdoms of this world.
And Jesus says over and overagain the kingdom of God, the
kingdom of heaven, is so muchbetter than the kingdoms of this
world, and the kingdoms of thisworld are all ultimately false
and fading.
So if you want to live yourlife for what counts, what
matters, then don't live for thekingdoms of this world, live
(02:05):
for the kingdom of heaven.
There's only one true kingdom.
So in the summary we're aboutto walk through really quickly.
I'm going to use two words overand over again True and better,
because I think that's whatJesus is talking about A true
and better life focused on thetrue and better kingdom.
So Jesus starts with a pictureof true and better happiness.
(02:26):
Holcern begins with theBeatitudes, this
counter-cultural description ofblessing, of happiness that's
better than anything this worldoffers.
So true and better happinesscomes from being poor in spirit
and meek and merciful, frombeing a peacemaker and even
being persecuted in the worldbecause you're living for a
(02:48):
reward in another world.
That's a totally different wayto live, and Jesus is saying
it's better.
The way of my kingdom, thekingdom of heaven, is better,
it's happier than the way ofthis world.
True and better happiness,which then leads to a picture of
true and better influence, asJesus says, to live as salt and
light in the world, in a waythat people see this world.
True and better happiness,which then leads to a picture of
true and better influence, asJesus says, to live as salt and
(03:12):
light in the world, in a waythat people see in your life a
reflection of the goodness ofGod, the King, and give glory to
him in heaven.
Which then leads to true andbetter righteousness.
Jesus makes the bold statementin Matthew 5, 17 that he has
come to fulfill all of God's lawperfectly.
Then he says in verse 20, I'mcalling you to a righteousness
that's far greater than even theelite religious leaders of your
(03:33):
day.
This is a righteousness thatgoes to the heart of who you are
, and from there he addressesturning from anger and turning
from lust.
It talks about faithfulness inmarriage and integrity in speech
.
It teaches about notretaliating when wronged and
loving your enemy, which thenleads into a picture of true and
better religion.
Jesus takes head-on thehypocrisy that was prevalent in
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the giving, praying, fasting ofhis day.
He says no, true and betterreligion finds reward not in
doing religious activity for theapproval of others, but for God
alone.
And in this whole section Jesustalks about the reward that's
found in what only God, theFather, sees.
When we studied this passage, wesaw the most important part of
your life and my life is thepart that only God sees.
(04:22):
It's the most important part ofyour life which then leads to
true and better treasure.
Jesus says don't live fortreasure in the kingdoms of this
world.
They won't last.
Live for treasure in thekingdom of heaven.
It's going to last forever.
So stop serving worship andserving and worshiping money and
stuff in this world.
Serve and worship God alone.
Live for the true and bettertreasure you have in him and
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don't do this just for him orfor the good of others.
Do this for yourselves.
Store up treasure for yourself,true and better treasure, which
then leads to true and bettertrust.
Three times in the last part ofMatthew 6, jesus says don't be
anxious, don't be worried aboutthings in this world.
I've come to set you free fromworry and fear through trust in
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me and in my love for you.
Seek me in my kingdom.
You can trust me with all thesethings.
Don't worry about anything,including tomorrow.
Trust in me.
Which then brings us to chapter7, where Jesus gives us a
picture of true and betterrelationships with God.
We saw God's generosity towardus in prayer last week, as he
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promises to give us good thingswhen we ask, and our
relationships with others,including the way we judge the
mercy we show to others.
And Jesus makes this summarystatement in Matthew 7, 12.
Whatever you wish that otherswould do to you, do also to them
, for this is the law and theprophets Love others as yourself
.
That will change the way youlive.
(05:52):
So all of that leads to thislast section, which we're gonna
look at today, which I'm gonnacall true and better faith,
where Jesus gives us threecontrasting pictures that bring
people at the end of the sermonto a point of decision.
So this is where everythingcomes to a head, and if you're
taking notes, here's what God'sword is gonna say to everybody
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in this room today.
So just bring the sermon not toa bunch of people 2,000 years
ago, but right to where you'resitting right now.
So two things.
One everyone will make aspiritual decision.
So in these last verses, jesusis about to divide humanity into
two groups People who choosethe kingdom of God and people
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who choose the kingdoms of thisworld.
And every single person's life,now and for all of eternity,
hinges on the choice, thedecision you make between those
two.
And not to choose is not anoption.
In other words, there's noriding the fence here.
Every single person in thisroom will either live for the
(07:03):
kingdom of God or for thekingdoms of this world.
And if you decide to live forthe kingdom of God or for the
kingdoms of this world, and ifyou decide to live for the
kingdom of God, then your lifewill look a certain way now and
forever.
And if you live for thekingdoms of this world, then
your life will look a certainway now and forever, a very
different way.
Everyone will make thisspiritual decision.
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That's the first thing God'sWord is going to say to us today
.
The second thing God's Word isgoing to say is beware the
danger of spiritual deception,meaning you can actually think
you've decided for the kingdomof God and others can think
you've decided for the kingdomof God, when the reality is
you're living for the kingdomsof this world.
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You're deceived.
Maybe another way to put it youcan think and even say that you
are a Christian, when thereality is you are not.
Jesus is about to tell us aboutmany people he's going to use
the word many, not a few, butmany people who will be shocked
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in eternity to find out that,though they thought they were in
the kingdom of God, they werenot.
They thought they were going toheaven, but they were not.
We're about to see that it ispossible to be completely fooled
about your own spiritualcondition in a way that affects
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you now and will affect youforever, which makes these words
from Jesus extremely, eternallyimportant for all of us to hear
.
Whether it's your first time inchurch or you've grown up in
church, whether you're a memberor a leader in the church, any
(08:57):
one of us can be spirituallydeceived, which means all of us
need to listen really closely towhat Jesus says here.
No matter who you are, whatyour background is, how old you
are, this is eternally importantto hear.
(09:20):
So start in verses 13 and 14.
Jesus begins the conclusion tothis sermon with these words
Enter by the narrow gate, forthe gate is wide and the way is
easy.
That leads to destruction, andthose who enter by it are many,
for the gate is narrow and theway is hard.
That leads to life, and thosewho find it are few.
(09:40):
So do you see the decision,spiritual decision every one of
us must make in these verses?
Two gates in front of each ofus, with two ways or paths
behind them.
One gate is narrow, the othergate is wide.
One way is hard, the other wayis easy, and most people choose
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the wide gate that's easy.
Jesus is telling us here that weare prone to gravitate toward
what is easy and popular in thisworld, toward the wide gate in
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this world that's inviting to us, that's attractive and alluring
to us with all this worldpromises us.
It's a gate and a way withoutrules, without restrictions,
without requirements.
It's a way that's paved withwhatever you want.
It's you in control of yourlife, however you want it to
(10:43):
look.
And don't be mistaken, jesus issaying this way can be
religious.
Remember the context here.
Jesus is speaking to people whoare very religious, some of
them religious leaders, meaningthere's a religious road that
you can control and make it whatyou want it to be.
(11:04):
So, yeah, maybe you choose to goto church all the time, or you
choose to go to church here orthere.
If you go to church at all,maybe you choose to stay distant
from the church.
You pray here or there, readthe Bible occasionally All while
you essentially live the wayyou want to live.
(11:26):
You call yourself a Christian.
As you make the plans you wantto make for your life, you're
not actually following himwherever he might lead you.
You're following wherever itfeels most comfortable or makes
the most sense to you.
You prioritize what you want toprioritize in your life.
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You spend money the way youwant to spend money.
You spend your time the way youwant to spend your time and you
tack Jesus on as part of allthese things.
Did you know that, according tomultiple research polls, I found
approximately two-thirds ofAmericans today profess to be
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Christians Two out of everythree people in our country.
But did you know that, out ofthose who profess to be
Christians, the same researchshows that many of their
lifestyle patterns look exactlythe same as non-christians, as
well as their beliefs?
Over half of professingchristians don't believe in
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moral absolutes, in a sense ofright and wrong.
That applies to everyone,including us.
Over half of of professingChristians believe that people
are basically good and that ifwe do enough good things we'll
go to heaven.
Over half of professingChristians believe in karma.
There is a wide, supposedlyChristian way that's easy,
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that's accommodating to whateverwe might believe or however we
might want to live in this world.
And it actually looks a lotlike this world and many take it
.
The only problem is it's notactually the way of Jesus.
Jesus says enter by the narrowgate, and the word he uses for
narrow there carries the idea ofexperiencing pressure, even
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tribulation, pushing through it,which makes sense in light of
everything Jesus has said beforethis right.
This is where the whole sermonstarted.
Matthew 5.3,.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
Let's face it the poor inspirit are not rewarded in this
world.
Matthew 5.5,.
Blessed are the meek, theyshall inherit the earth.
(13:36):
Meekness is not the key toclimbing the ladder in this
world.
Meekness is hard in this world,as is verse 6, truly hungering
and thirsting for righteousness.
That will lead your life tolook very different in this
world.
I mentioned verses 10 and 11earlier.
Blessed are those who arepersecuted for righteousness'
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sake, for theirs is the kingdomof heaven.
Blessed are you when othersrevile you and persecute you and
utter all kinds of evil againstyou, falsely, on my account and
no one in their right mindnaturally likes to be reviled
and persecuted and lied about.
Then, after this, we see all ofJesus' instructions about
fleeing lust, pursuing purity inyour thoughts, your speech,
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your motives, not gettingrevenge, praying for your
enemies.
This is not the easy, popularway to live in this world.
It was really interesting.
We were in Atlanta, metroAtlanta, for Thanksgiving with
my family and I met anotherfamily one Sunday Husband, wife,
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seven kids, five of whom areadopted and a couple of whom
have significant special needs,one of whom was in a wheelchair
and they shared their story withme.
The husband and wife grew up intotally secular homes in the
West and Northeast, but whenthey moved to the South and saw
more churches, they decided weshould go to church.
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It seems like the moral thingto do.
That would, yeah, seemsbeneficial for our two kids at
the time.
And the way the husband put itto me.
He said we basically decidedwe'd become cultural Christians
and we tack on these moralteachings of Jesus to our
comfortable, successful lives.
But then something happenedthat they didn't see coming.
(15:27):
They actually met Jesus andthey realized that following him
means him changing everythingin their lives.
So they followed him and heturned their lives upside down,
leaving them to expand theirfamily by caring for children in
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need and just talking with them.
I could tell this road has notbeen easy.
But this husband and this wifesaid with tears of joy in their
eyes Jesus saved our lives fromourselves and he has given us
true life.
Now I'm not saying that truelife is only found in adopting
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five children, but I am sayingwhat Matthew 7 is saying that
when you follow Jesus, you don'tkeep your life as you know it.
When you follow Jesus, you loseyour life as you know it.
You find entirely new life thatlooks totally different from
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this world.
Cultural Christianity is nottrue Christianity.
It is impossible to followChrist and live like the culture
around you, which is not aneasy way to live.
It includes massive changes inyour life that go against the
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grain of this world, which iswhy Jesus is saying the gate
that leads to life is narrow.
The way is hard that leads tolife in this world, and only a
few find it.
Why only a few?
Because we're all prone tonavigate toward what's easy and
popular in the world, and evento call it Christian, to
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manufacture our own version ofChristianity.
That's a far cry from the callof Jesus Christ, which all leads
to what he says.
Next.
Take a look at verse 15.
Beware of false prophets whocome to you in sheep's clothing
but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them bytheir fruits.
Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, are figs from thistles.
(17:40):
So every healthy tree bearsgood fruit, but the diseased
tree bears bad fruit.
A healthy tree cannot bear badfruit, nor can a diseased tree
bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not beargood fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire.
Thus you will recognize them bytheir fruits.
And then keep going in verse 21.
Not everyone who says to me,lord, lord, will enter the
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kingdom of heaven, but the onewho does the will of my Father,
who is in heaven.
On that day, many will say tome Lord, lord, do we not
prophesy in your name and castout demons in your name and do
many mighty works in your name?
Then I will declare to them Inever knew you.
Depart from me, you workers oflawlessness.
Do you see what Jesus is sayinghere?
(18:23):
Not only are we prone togravitate for what's easy and
popular in this world, but wecan profess publicly what we do
not possess personally.
In verse 15, jesus startsaddressing false prophets, false
professors of Christianity.
They come to you in sheep'sclothing On the outside.
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They profess to know God, theyspeak like they know him and
don't miss what we read in verse21.
They even address Jesus as Lordwith great fervency.
Lord, lord, are you seeing this?
You or I, any one of us canprofess publicly something we
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don't actually possesspersonally.
We saw this earlier in thestats I shared Two-thirds of
Americans professing to beChristian but not actually
believing or obeying the wordsof Christ.
That leads to one clearconclusion they're not all
actually followers of Christ.
Get the picture here in Matthew7.
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These people are prophesying,driving out demons and
performing miracles.
How is that possible if theydon't truly know God or have
faith in Jesus?
And the answer is allthroughout the Bible, god uses
all kinds of people who areopposed to him to actually
accomplish his work.
Whether it's Balaam on hisdonkey prophesying the Old
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Testament, or the sons of Scevacasting out demons in the New
Testament.
All kinds of people say and doall kinds of things, but the
bottom line question is do youactually know Jesus?
That's the language Jesus uses.
I never knew you.
You were doing all kinds ofthings in my name, but you are
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not doing them in personalrelationship with me.
Think about that.
Is that possible To be a memberin the church, to be a leader
in the church, to be aprofessing Christian, but not
personally know Christ, but notpersonally know Christ According
(20:40):
to Jesus?
It's not just possible, it'sprobable for many.
I mentioned this earlier.
See it now, verse 22.
On that day, many will say tome Lord, lord, you will not do
all these things in your nameand I will declare them.
I never knew you.
Depart from me.
Those verses keep me awake atnight as a pastor, to think that
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there may be many people not afew, many people sitting here on
a Sunday morning who think theyare safe spiritually when they
are not.
Many people who think theireternity is secure but will be
shocked to stand before Jesusone day and hear him say I never
(21:26):
knew you Away from me.
This is not Jesus speaking toirreligious people.
This is Jesus speaking todevoutly religious people doing
all kinds of religious activityin his name.
Which means the most importantquestion for every single one of
our lives is this Do youpersonally know and love and
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worship and walk with Jesus asthe Lord of everything in your
life?
Not just do you believe inJesus, even the of everything in
your life.
Not just do you believe inJesus.
Even the demons believe inJesus.
Big deal.
The word for know here carriesconnotations of intimacy and
closeness in relationship.
I was meeting this week withsomeone who's visited NBC on a
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couple of occasions.
Is exploring Christianity.
We were talking about coming tofaith in Jesus and how.
It's not usually on a couple ofoccasions is exploring
Christianity?
We were talking about coming tofaith in Jesus and how.
It's not usually like alightning bolt that just comes
out of the sky, but view it moreas a process of getting to know
someone.
It's not some transaction whereyou just turn on belief.
It's a decision to explore,begin a relationship, and some
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of you, maybe many of you, haveseen faith in Jesus as
transactional more thanrelational, believe certain
things, maybe even say a certainprayer and you're in, and that
misses the whole point.
To intellectually assent tocertain things about Jesus and
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then assume you're a Christianand you're going to heaven,
while your experience of prayerbecomes more like a rote
religious routine than it is apersonal, passionate
conversation with the God youworship.
Your experience of reading theBible feels more like mechanical
duty than relational delightChecking off boxes instead of
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reading and reflecting on thewords of the one you love.
The pursuit of holiness feelslike a boar.
That's keeping you from thepleasures of this world that you
really want, instead ofconformity to the image of Jesus
being the supreme longing ofyour life, over and above
everything in this world.
That's biblical Christianity.
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Biblical Christianity revolvesaround a relationship with Jesus
marked by growing intimacy andcloseness and talking with Him
through prayer and listening toHim through His Word and walking
with Him as you become more andmore like them.
And this, jesus says, is howyou recognize a true follower of
mine.
Look at the fruit of my life intheir life flowing from them.
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Look at their fruit, jesus says.
Do you see the fruit of myspirit?
Do you see supernatural,otherworldly love and joy and
peace and patience and kindnessand goodness and faithfulness
and gentleness and self-controlflowing from them?
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Do you see good work that'sshining like light flowing from
their walk with God?
And obviously it's not that anyChristian will be perfect in
every one of these ways, butwhen you're in relationship with
Jesus truly, then you arecontinually wanting to follow
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him and bear the fruit of hislife in your life.
It's the overflow of love,relationship with him.
You'll know Christians, jesussays, by their fruitfulness and
their faithfulness.
Did you hear verse 21?
Not everyone who says to me,lord, lord, will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but the onewho does the will of my Father
(25:15):
who's in heaven Now.
As soon as we read that, youmight think wait a minute.
Does this mean that my entranceit's a language into the
kingdom of heaven, into God'skingdom now and for eternity, is
based on what I do, what hedoes, that I need to do enough
good things in order to earnentrance into God's kingdom?
(25:37):
And the answer to that questionis a resounding no, and I want
to show you this in the finalpart of Jesus' sermon.
So let's read it together,starting in verse 24.
Everyone, then, who hears thesewords of mine and does them will
be like a wise man who builthis house on the rock and the
rain fell and the floods cameand the winds blew and beat on
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that house, but it did not fallbecause it had been founded on
the rock.
And everyone who hears thesewords of mine and does so follow
what Jesus is saying here.
We can wrongly assume personalsalvation without right biblical
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foundation.
So the last picture here thatJesus paints involves two
builders who have so much incommon Same materials build a
house.
Implication is their houseslook just like each other and
both face the same storm, butone of the houses stands and the
other doesn't.
So what's the difference?
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The difference is thefoundation.
Every builder in this roomcould tell you the foundation
makes all the difference.
So what's the proper foundation?
And you see it in this onephrase everyone who hears these
words of mine and does themthat's the difference Hears
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these words and does them.
These words of mine, a referenceto everything Jesus has said in
the sermon.
And where did it all start?
We looked at it at thebeginning of this series.
And where did it all start?
We looked at it at thebeginning of this series.
We've gone back to it multipletimes today.
Blessed are the what Poor inspirit, for theirs is the
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kingdom of heaven Whole sermon.
It's all a sermon series.
Do you remember Mike's sermonthat day?
The starting point for life, forthe good life, is poverty of
spirit, which means total anddesperate dependence on God.
The way Mike put it was quote adeep awareness that you cannot
produce what God requires of youand you cannot earn what God
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provides for you.
Life starts with saying I needGod to do what I cannot do, and
this is the gospel of thekingdom.
The good news of the kingdom isthat God has done for you what
you could not do.
God has made a way for you toexperience the good life, true
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life, now and forever, not basedon your work for him, but based
on his gracious work for you,especially if you're visiting
with us or exploringChristianity, like my friend who
I was meeting with earlier thisweek.
Please hear this today it's thegood news of the Bible and it's
the greatest news in the worldGod has made each of us for
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personal relationship with him.
You were made to find life inrelationship with the God who
made you, who knows what is bestfor you, who wants what is best
for you, who loves you so much.
The problem is we have allturned aside from God and his
ways to ourselves in our ownways, thinking we know better
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than God.
The Bible calls this sin, andour sin separates us from God,
and the effects of thatseparation are all around us in
a world of pain and strife andwar and conflict and suffering
and death.
And if we die in this state ofseparation from God, we will
experience eternal separationfrom him and judgment due our
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sin.
And no matter follow this, howmuch good we do in this world,
we can't get rid of the sinthat's in our hearts.
So, contrary to popular opinion, even among many professing
Christians, heaven is not filledwith people whose good
outweighs their bad.
Heaven is not filled withpeople whose good outweighs
their bad.
If you are trusting in yourgoodness to gain you access to
(29:46):
the holy God, you are sunk fromthe start because you're a
sinner.
We are all sinners who deserveholy judgment from God.
That's the bad news.
But the good news is, god hasnot left us alone in this state.
God has come to us in the personof Jesus.
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This is what we celebrate atChristmas.
God with us.
And why did he come?
He came to live the life wecouldn't live, a life of no sin.
And then, even though he had nosin for which to die, he chose
to die on a cross to pay theprice for the sins of anyone who
would trust in him.
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He died for our sins.
And then the good news keepsgetting better, because he
didn't stay dead for long.
Three days later, he rose fromthe grave in victory over sin
and death, so that anyone,anywhere, no matter who you are,
no matter what you have done,if you will turn from your sin
and yourself, including all yourefforts to overcome your sin
(30:46):
with your own goodness, and youwill trust in his love for you,
in Jesus as the Savior and Lordof your life, god will forgive
you of all your sin and restoreyou to relationship with him,
now and forever in his kingdom.
This is the greatest news inthe world and it's the starting
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point of the Christian life.
Hearing Jesus's words and doingthem starts with acknowledging
your need for God to save youfrom your sin and restore your
relationship with him, not basedon your work, but based on his
work for you.
And then so now follow thiswhen you are restored to
relationship with God throughfaith in Jesus, how do you live?
(31:32):
You live out of the overflow offaith in Jesus, in relationship
with God.
It sounds so simple, but wemiss it.
We view it as a transactionOkay, I'm forgiven, I got my get
out of hell free card.
Now I know I'm good and I'lljust live however I want in this
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world, spend my life, my time,my money, however I want in this
world.
No, we're walking with God.
Now Our lives are totallydifferent.
We're living according to HisWord, not the ways of this world
.
Our life is on a totallydifferent foundation at this
point, on the Word of God.
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And if we're in relationshipwith God, then what do we want?
We want to hear His Word.
I don't have to study the Bible.
I want to know what God saysabout the way to life and I want
to live according to it,because I know God and I'm
worshiping God and walking withGod.
Now you've got the rightbiblical foundation for life
(32:38):
Hearing and doing the words ofJesus, in relationship with him.
And Jesus is saying here do notbuild your life on any other
foundation.
Many people, jesus is saying,are building their life on
religious traditions, worldlyideas, even cultural trends, and
(33:00):
when you walk through thestorms in this life which are
coming, none of those thingswill be able to hold you up.
I think about two people in mylife who are very close to me,
who are suffering with terminaldiseases.
One's in the hospital right now, the other's about to receive
hospice care.
Both of them enduring storms ofpain and suffering in their
(33:25):
bodies, but both of themstanding strong, you know how?
Because they know God andthey've built their lives on the
rock of his word, which meansthey're getting diagnoses that
any of us would dread, butthey're filtering those
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diagnoses through the rock-solidpromises of God to sustain them
and strengthen them and satisfythem and give them security
that, no matter what happens inthe days to come, they are safe
in the hands of the king whoconquered death on their behalf,
and they have no need to fearReligious traditions.
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Worldly ideas can't hold you upwhen brain cancer and leukemia
are attacking your body.
When I think about Abby in thatvideo, amidst a storm that no
13-year-old girl wants to walkthrough.
She's standing not becauseshe's in touch with the latest
cultural trends, but becauseshe's banking her life, just
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like her mom taught her to, onthe rock-solid Word of God.
And the reality is, one day,the ultimate storm of God's holy
judgment towards sin is comingfor every single sinner in the
world, including every singleone of us.
We will all die and standbefore a holy god.
(34:51):
If you have built your life onbeing a good person and doing
all kinds of good things, thenyour life will not stand on that
day.
But if you have built your lifeon the love of God for you, on
(35:11):
the Son of God who gave his lifeto pay the price for your sins,
if you are in relationship withGod through faith in Jesus,
having trusted in him, livingout of the overflow of
relationship with him, you willfind that foundation forever
(35:32):
secure.
This is life, this is the house, the life that will stand
forever.
Which then leads to thisquestion in this room today is
that your life?
I wish I could just ask everysingle person individually.
So importantly did I justdescribe you?
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I said at the beginningeveryone will make a spiritual
decision.
I'll put it more specificallynow everyone will either turn
from Jesus as Lord or trust inJesus as Lord.
That's the decision thatdivides the world, including
everybody in this room, into twogroups, and the stakes could
not be higher.
Did you see the language?
(36:18):
Over and over again.
Broad is the road that leads todestruction.
Many enter through it.
Every tree that doesn't bearfruit is cut down.
You see the language over andover again.
Broad is the road that leads todestruction.
Many enter through it.
Every tree that doesn't bearfruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire.
You build your life on the waysof this world.
Your house, your life will fallwith a great crash.
Those are the words Jesus usesto end the Sermon on the Mount.
(36:40):
This masterpiece of speech endswith a dire warning of judgment,
because this decisiondetermines the state of your
life now and for the next 10trillion years and beyond all of
eternity.
And we live in a world wherethe devil is deceiving people
into thinking they're safe foreternity, when they're not Like
the imagery is frightening.
(37:01):
Here Nobody builds a housethinking that it's going to fall
.
Nobody knowingly does that.
Jesus is saying it's possibleto do that and to not have the
sand under your life exposeduntil it's too late.
So I want to give you a momentto reflect, just between you and
God.
And here's the question I wantto ask you If you were to stand
(37:22):
before God right now, would itbe clear Jesus is the Lord of
your life.
You know him as the Lord ofyour life.
You're in relationship with himas the Lord of your life.
There's no more importantquestion I could ask you, no
more important question youcould answer than this.
(37:43):
Knowing not one of us isguaranteed tomorrow.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
So this is the last sermon inthis series on the greatest
sermon ever preached, the Sermonon the Mount.
So for, if you are here, ormaybe just joining in today with
(00:21):
just a little recap, we starteda journey at the beginning of
September, in the beginning ofMatthew, chapter 5, where we've
walked through, and the way Iwould describe it is Jesus
casting vision for the good life, the better way to live in this
world and in light of the worldto come, and so I thought it
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might be helpful to give a quickrecap of the whole sermon.
That then will set the stagewhere we're going to look at
today, which is a climactic andshocking conclusion from Jesus
that I think would have left theoriginal hearers with their
jaws on the ground, with massiveramifications not just for
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their lives but for every one ofour lives in this room.
So here's the summary.
We'll put this up on the screen.
End of Matthew, chapter 4.
So read verse 23.
So now just turn back a couplepages.
Matthew 4.23 says Jesus wentthroughout all Galilee teaching
in their synagogues andproclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom and healing everydisease and every affliction
among the people.
(01:22):
So this is the lead up to theSermon on the Mount.
What Jesus is about to do is toteach and proclaim, preach the
gospel.
That means good news of thekingdom.
That's what the Sermon on theMount is about.
This is the good news of thekingdom, which is totally
different than the kingdoms ofthis world.
So this whole sermon is aboutcontrasting the kingdom of God
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with the kingdoms of this world.
So this whole sermon is aboutcontrasting the kingdom of God
with the kingdoms of this world.
And Jesus says over and overagain the kingdom of God, the
kingdom of heaven, is so muchbetter than the kingdoms of this
world, and the kingdoms of thisworld are all ultimately false
and fading.
So if you want to live yourlife for what counts, what
matters, then don't live for thekingdoms of this world, live
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for the kingdom of heaven.
There's only one true kingdom.
So in the summary we're aboutto walk through really quickly.
I'm going to use two words overand over again True and better,
because I think that's whatJesus is talking about A true
and better life focused on thetrue and better kingdom.
So Jesus starts with a pictureof true and better happiness.
(02:26):
Holcern begins with theBeatitudes, this
counter-cultural description ofblessing, of happiness that's
better than anything this worldoffers.
So true and better happinesscomes from being poor in spirit
and meek and merciful, frombeing a peacemaker and even
being persecuted in the worldbecause you're living for a
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reward in another world.
That's a totally different wayto live, and Jesus is saying
it's better.
The way of my kingdom, thekingdom of heaven, is better,
it's happier than the way ofthis world.
True and better happiness,which then leads to a picture of
true and better influence, asJesus says, to live as salt and
light in the world, in a waythat people see this world.
True and better happiness,which then leads to a picture of
true and better influence, asJesus says, to live as salt and
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light in the world, in a waythat people see in your life a
reflection of the goodness ofGod, the King, and give glory to
him in heaven.
Which then leads to true andbetter righteousness.
Jesus makes the bold statementin Matthew 5, 17 that he has
come to fulfill all of God's lawperfectly.
Then he says in verse 20, I'mcalling you to a righteousness
that's far greater than even theelite religious leaders of your
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day.
This is a righteousness thatgoes to the heart of who you are
, and from there he addressesturning from anger and turning
from lust.
It talks about faithfulness inmarriage and integrity in speech
.
It teaches about notretaliating when wronged and
loving your enemy, which thenleads into a picture of true and
better religion.
Jesus takes head-on thehypocrisy that was prevalent in
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the giving, praying, fasting ofhis day.
He says no, true and betterreligion finds reward not in
doing religious activity for theapproval of others, but for God
alone.
And in this whole section Jesustalks about the reward that's
found in what only God, theFather, sees.
When we studied this passage, wesaw the most important part of
your life and my life is thepart that only God sees.
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It's the most important part ofyour life which then leads to
true and better treasure.
Jesus says don't live fortreasure in the kingdoms of this
world.
They won't last.
Live for treasure in thekingdom of heaven.
It's going to last forever.
So stop serving worship andserving and worshiping money and
stuff in this world.
Serve and worship God alone.
Live for the true and bettertreasure you have in him and
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don't do this just for him orfor the good of others.
Do this for yourselves.
Store up treasure for yourself,true and better treasure, which
then leads to true and bettertrust.
Three times in the last part ofMatthew 6, jesus says don't be
anxious, don't be worried aboutthings in this world.
I've come to set you free fromworry and fear through trust in
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me and in my love for you.
Seek me in my kingdom.
You can trust me with all thesethings.
Don't worry about anything,including tomorrow.
Trust in me.
Which then brings us to chapter7, where Jesus gives us a
picture of true and betterrelationships with God.
We saw God's generosity towardus in prayer last week, as he
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promises to give us good thingswhen we ask, and our
relationships with others,including the way we judge the
mercy we show to others.
And Jesus makes this summarystatement in Matthew 7, 12.
Whatever you wish that otherswould do to you, do also to them
, for this is the law and theprophets Love others as yourself
.
That will change the way youlive.
(05:52):
So all of that leads to thislast section, which we're gonna
look at today, which I'm gonnacall true and better faith,
where Jesus gives us threecontrasting pictures that bring
people at the end of the sermonto a point of decision.
So this is where everythingcomes to a head, and if you're
taking notes, here's what God'sword is gonna say to everybody
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in this room today.
So just bring the sermon not toa bunch of people 2,000 years
ago, but right to where you'resitting right now.
So two things.
One everyone will make aspiritual decision.
So in these last verses, jesusis about to divide humanity into
two groups People who choosethe kingdom of God and people
(06:41):
who choose the kingdoms of thisworld.
And every single person's life,now and for all of eternity,
hinges on the choice, thedecision you make between those
two.
And not to choose is not anoption.
In other words, there's noriding the fence here.
Every single person in thisroom will either live for the
(07:03):
kingdom of God or for thekingdoms of this world.
And if you decide to live forthe kingdom of God or for the
kingdoms of this world, and ifyou decide to live for the
kingdom of God, then your lifewill look a certain way now and
forever.
And if you live for thekingdoms of this world, then
your life will look a certainway now and forever, a very
different way.
Everyone will make thisspiritual decision.
(07:26):
That's the first thing God'sWord is going to say to us today
.
The second thing God's Word isgoing to say is beware the
danger of spiritual deception,meaning you can actually think
you've decided for the kingdomof God and others can think
you've decided for the kingdomof God, when the reality is
you're living for the kingdomsof this world.
(07:48):
You're deceived.
Maybe another way to put it youcan think and even say that you
are a Christian, when thereality is you are not.
Jesus is about to tell us aboutmany people he's going to use
the word many, not a few, butmany people who will be shocked
(08:11):
in eternity to find out that,though they thought they were in
the kingdom of God, they werenot.
They thought they were going toheaven, but they were not.
We're about to see that it ispossible to be completely fooled
about your own spiritualcondition in a way that affects
(08:37):
you now and will affect youforever, which makes these words
from Jesus extremely, eternallyimportant for all of us to hear
.
Whether it's your first time inchurch or you've grown up in
church, whether you're a memberor a leader in the church, any
(08:57):
one of us can be spirituallydeceived, which means all of us
need to listen really closely towhat Jesus says here.
No matter who you are, whatyour background is, how old you
are, this is eternally importantto hear.
(09:20):
So start in verses 13 and 14.
Jesus begins the conclusion tothis sermon with these words
Enter by the narrow gate, forthe gate is wide and the way is
easy.
That leads to destruction, andthose who enter by it are many,
for the gate is narrow and theway is hard.
That leads to life, and thosewho find it are few.
(09:40):
So do you see the decision,spiritual decision every one of
us must make in these verses?
Two gates in front of each ofus, with two ways or paths
behind them.
One gate is narrow, the othergate is wide.
One way is hard, the other wayis easy, and most people choose
(10:01):
the wide gate that's easy.
Jesus is telling us here that weare prone to gravitate toward
what is easy and popular in thisworld, toward the wide gate in
(10:21):
this world that's inviting to us, that's attractive and alluring
to us with all this worldpromises us.
It's a gate and a way withoutrules, without restrictions,
without requirements.
It's a way that's paved withwhatever you want.
It's you in control of yourlife, however you want it to
(10:43):
look.
And don't be mistaken, jesus issaying this way can be
religious.
Remember the context here.
Jesus is speaking to people whoare very religious, some of
them religious leaders, meaningthere's a religious road that
you can control and make it whatyou want it to be.
(11:04):
So, yeah, maybe you choose to goto church all the time, or you
choose to go to church here orthere.
If you go to church at all,maybe you choose to stay distant
from the church.
You pray here or there, readthe Bible occasionally All while
you essentially live the wayyou want to live.
(11:26):
You call yourself a Christian.
As you make the plans you wantto make for your life, you're
not actually following himwherever he might lead you.
You're following wherever itfeels most comfortable or makes
the most sense to you.
You prioritize what you want toprioritize in your life.
(11:46):
You spend money the way youwant to spend money.
You spend your time the way youwant to spend your time and you
tack Jesus on as part of allthese things.
Did you know that, according tomultiple research polls, I found
approximately two-thirds ofAmericans today profess to be
(12:07):
Christians Two out of everythree people in our country.
But did you know that, out ofthose who profess to be
Christians, the same researchshows that many of their
lifestyle patterns look exactlythe same as non-christians, as
well as their beliefs?
Over half of professingchristians don't believe in
(12:27):
moral absolutes, in a sense ofright and wrong.
That applies to everyone,including us.
Over half of of professingChristians believe that people
are basically good and that ifwe do enough good things we'll
go to heaven.
Over half of professingChristians believe in karma.
There is a wide, supposedlyChristian way that's easy,
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that's accommodating to whateverwe might believe or however we
might want to live in this world.
And it actually looks a lotlike this world and many take it
.
The only problem is it's notactually the way of Jesus.
Jesus says enter by the narrowgate, and the word he uses for
narrow there carries the idea ofexperiencing pressure, even
(13:15):
tribulation, pushing through it,which makes sense in light of
everything Jesus has said beforethis right.
This is where the whole sermonstarted.
Matthew 5.3,.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
Let's face it the poor inspirit are not rewarded in this
world.
Matthew 5.5,.
Blessed are the meek, theyshall inherit the earth.
(13:36):
Meekness is not the key toclimbing the ladder in this
world.
Meekness is hard in this world,as is verse 6, truly hungering
and thirsting for righteousness.
That will lead your life tolook very different in this
world.
I mentioned verses 10 and 11earlier.
Blessed are those who arepersecuted for righteousness'
(13:57):
sake, for theirs is the kingdomof heaven.
Blessed are you when othersrevile you and persecute you and
utter all kinds of evil againstyou, falsely, on my account and
no one in their right mindnaturally likes to be reviled
and persecuted and lied about.
Then, after this, we see all ofJesus' instructions about
fleeing lust, pursuing purity inyour thoughts, your speech,
(14:19):
your motives, not gettingrevenge, praying for your
enemies.
This is not the easy, popularway to live in this world.
It was really interesting.
We were in Atlanta, metroAtlanta, for Thanksgiving with
my family and I met anotherfamily one Sunday Husband, wife,
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seven kids, five of whom areadopted and a couple of whom
have significant special needs,one of whom was in a wheelchair
and they shared their story withme.
The husband and wife grew up intotally secular homes in the
West and Northeast, but whenthey moved to the South and saw
more churches, they decided weshould go to church.
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It seems like the moral thingto do.
That would, yeah, seemsbeneficial for our two kids at
the time.
And the way the husband put itto me.
He said we basically decidedwe'd become cultural Christians
and we tack on these moralteachings of Jesus to our
comfortable, successful lives.
But then something happenedthat they didn't see coming.
(15:27):
They actually met Jesus andthey realized that following him
means him changing everythingin their lives.
So they followed him and heturned their lives upside down,
leaving them to expand theirfamily by caring for children in
(15:49):
need and just talking with them.
I could tell this road has notbeen easy.
But this husband and this wifesaid with tears of joy in their
eyes Jesus saved our lives fromourselves and he has given us
true life.
Now I'm not saying that truelife is only found in adopting
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five children, but I am sayingwhat Matthew 7 is saying that
when you follow Jesus, you don'tkeep your life as you know it.
When you follow Jesus, you loseyour life as you know it.
You find entirely new life thatlooks totally different from
(16:32):
this world.
Cultural Christianity is nottrue Christianity.
It is impossible to followChrist and live like the culture
around you, which is not aneasy way to live.
It includes massive changes inyour life that go against the
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grain of this world, which iswhy Jesus is saying the gate
that leads to life is narrow.
The way is hard that leads tolife in this world, and only a
few find it.
Why only a few?
Because we're all prone tonavigate toward what's easy and
popular in the world, and evento call it Christian, to
(17:20):
manufacture our own version ofChristianity.
That's a far cry from the callof Jesus Christ, which all leads
to what he says.
Next.
Take a look at verse 15.
Beware of false prophets whocome to you in sheep's clothing
but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them bytheir fruits.
Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, are figs from thistles.
(17:40):
So every healthy tree bearsgood fruit, but the diseased
tree bears bad fruit.
A healthy tree cannot bear badfruit, nor can a diseased tree
bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not beargood fruit is cut down and
thrown into the fire.
Thus you will recognize them bytheir fruits.
And then keep going in verse 21.
Not everyone who says to me,lord, lord, will enter the
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kingdom of heaven, but the onewho does the will of my Father,
who is in heaven.
On that day, many will say tome Lord, lord, do we not
prophesy in your name and castout demons in your name and do
many mighty works in your name?
Then I will declare to them Inever knew you.
Depart from me, you workers oflawlessness.
Do you see what Jesus is sayinghere?
(18:23):
Not only are we prone togravitate for what's easy and
popular in this world, but wecan profess publicly what we do
not possess personally.
In verse 15, jesus startsaddressing false prophets, false
professors of Christianity.
They come to you in sheep'sclothing On the outside.
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They profess to know God, theyspeak like they know him and
don't miss what we read in verse21.
They even address Jesus as Lordwith great fervency.
Lord, lord, are you seeing this?
You or I, any one of us canprofess publicly something we
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don't actually possesspersonally.
We saw this earlier in thestats I shared Two-thirds of
Americans professing to beChristian but not actually
believing or obeying the wordsof Christ.
That leads to one clearconclusion they're not all
actually followers of Christ.
Get the picture here in Matthew7.
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These people are prophesying,driving out demons and
performing miracles.
How is that possible if theydon't truly know God or have
faith in Jesus?
And the answer is allthroughout the Bible, god uses
all kinds of people who areopposed to him to actually
accomplish his work.
Whether it's Balaam on hisdonkey prophesying the Old
(19:47):
Testament, or the sons of Scevacasting out demons in the New
Testament.
All kinds of people say and doall kinds of things, but the
bottom line question is do youactually know Jesus?
That's the language Jesus uses.
I never knew you.
You were doing all kinds ofthings in my name, but you are
(20:14):
not doing them in personalrelationship with me.
Think about that.
Is that possible To be a memberin the church, to be a leader
in the church, to be aprofessing Christian, but not
personally know Christ, but notpersonally know Christ According
(20:40):
to Jesus?
It's not just possible, it'sprobable for many.
I mentioned this earlier.
See it now, verse 22.
On that day, many will say tome Lord, lord, you will not do
all these things in your nameand I will declare them.
I never knew you.
Depart from me.
Those verses keep me awake atnight as a pastor, to think that
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there may be many people not afew, many people sitting here on
a Sunday morning who think theyare safe spiritually when they
are not.
Many people who think theireternity is secure but will be
shocked to stand before Jesusone day and hear him say I never
(21:26):
knew you Away from me.
This is not Jesus speaking toirreligious people.
This is Jesus speaking todevoutly religious people doing
all kinds of religious activityin his name.
Which means the most importantquestion for every single one of
our lives is this Do youpersonally know and love and
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worship and walk with Jesus asthe Lord of everything in your
life?
Not just do you believe inJesus, even the of everything in
your life.
Not just do you believe inJesus.
Even the demons believe inJesus.
Big deal.
The word for know here carriesconnotations of intimacy and
closeness in relationship.
I was meeting this week withsomeone who's visited NBC on a
(22:12):
couple of occasions.
Is exploring Christianity.
We were talking about coming tofaith in Jesus and how.
It's not usually on a couple ofoccasions is exploring
Christianity?
We were talking about coming tofaith in Jesus and how.
It's not usually like alightning bolt that just comes
out of the sky, but view it moreas a process of getting to know
someone.
It's not some transaction whereyou just turn on belief.
It's a decision to explore,begin a relationship, and some
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of you, maybe many of you, haveseen faith in Jesus as
transactional more thanrelational, believe certain
things, maybe even say a certainprayer and you're in, and that
misses the whole point.
To intellectually assent tocertain things about Jesus and
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then assume you're a Christianand you're going to heaven,
while your experience of prayerbecomes more like a rote
religious routine than it is apersonal, passionate
conversation with the God youworship.
Your experience of reading theBible feels more like mechanical
duty than relational delightChecking off boxes instead of
(23:24):
reading and reflecting on thewords of the one you love.
The pursuit of holiness feelslike a boar.
That's keeping you from thepleasures of this world that you
really want, instead ofconformity to the image of Jesus
being the supreme longing ofyour life, over and above
everything in this world.
That's biblical Christianity.
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Biblical Christianity revolvesaround a relationship with Jesus
marked by growing intimacy andcloseness and talking with Him
through prayer and listening toHim through His Word and walking
with Him as you become more andmore like them.
And this, jesus says, is howyou recognize a true follower of
mine.
Look at the fruit of my life intheir life flowing from them.
(24:10):
Look at their fruit, jesus says.
Do you see the fruit of myspirit?
Do you see supernatural,otherworldly love and joy and
peace and patience and kindnessand goodness and faithfulness
and gentleness and self-controlflowing from them?
(24:31):
Do you see good work that'sshining like light flowing from
their walk with God?
And obviously it's not that anyChristian will be perfect in
every one of these ways, butwhen you're in relationship with
Jesus truly, then you arecontinually wanting to follow
(24:54):
him and bear the fruit of hislife in your life.
It's the overflow of love,relationship with him.
You'll know Christians, jesussays, by their fruitfulness and
their faithfulness.
Did you hear verse 21?
Not everyone who says to me,lord, lord, will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but the onewho does the will of my Father
(25:15):
who's in heaven Now.
As soon as we read that, youmight think wait a minute.
Does this mean that my entranceit's a language into the
kingdom of heaven, into God'skingdom now and for eternity, is
based on what I do, what hedoes, that I need to do enough
good things in order to earnentrance into God's kingdom?
(25:37):
And the answer to that questionis a resounding no, and I want
to show you this in the finalpart of Jesus' sermon.
So let's read it together,starting in verse 24.
Everyone, then, who hears thesewords of mine and does them will
be like a wise man who builthis house on the rock and the
rain fell and the floods cameand the winds blew and beat on
(25:57):
that house, but it did not fallbecause it had been founded on
the rock.
And everyone who hears thesewords of mine and does so follow
what Jesus is saying here.
We can wrongly assume personalsalvation without right biblical
(26:26):
foundation.
So the last picture here thatJesus paints involves two
builders who have so much incommon Same materials build a
house.
Implication is their houseslook just like each other and
both face the same storm, butone of the houses stands and the
other doesn't.
So what's the difference?
(26:48):
The difference is thefoundation.
Every builder in this roomcould tell you the foundation
makes all the difference.
So what's the proper foundation?
And you see it in this onephrase everyone who hears these
words of mine and does themthat's the difference Hears
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these words and does them.
These words of mine, a referenceto everything Jesus has said in
the sermon.
And where did it all start?
We looked at it at thebeginning of this series.
And where did it all start?
We looked at it at thebeginning of this series.
We've gone back to it multipletimes today.
Blessed are the what Poor inspirit, for theirs is the
(27:31):
kingdom of heaven Whole sermon.
It's all a sermon series.
Do you remember Mike's sermonthat day?
The starting point for life, forthe good life, is poverty of
spirit, which means total anddesperate dependence on God.
The way Mike put it was quote adeep awareness that you cannot
produce what God requires of youand you cannot earn what God
(27:55):
provides for you.
Life starts with saying I needGod to do what I cannot do, and
this is the gospel of thekingdom.
The good news of the kingdom isthat God has done for you what
you could not do.
God has made a way for you toexperience the good life, true
(28:17):
life, now and forever, not basedon your work for him, but based
on his gracious work for you,especially if you're visiting
with us or exploringChristianity, like my friend who
I was meeting with earlier thisweek.
Please hear this today it's thegood news of the Bible and it's
the greatest news in the worldGod has made each of us for
(28:41):
personal relationship with him.
You were made to find life inrelationship with the God who
made you, who knows what is bestfor you, who wants what is best
for you, who loves you so much.
The problem is we have allturned aside from God and his
ways to ourselves in our ownways, thinking we know better
(29:02):
than God.
The Bible calls this sin, andour sin separates us from God,
and the effects of thatseparation are all around us in
a world of pain and strife andwar and conflict and suffering
and death.
And if we die in this state ofseparation from God, we will
experience eternal separationfrom him and judgment due our
(29:24):
sin.
And no matter follow this, howmuch good we do in this world,
we can't get rid of the sinthat's in our hearts.
So, contrary to popular opinion, even among many professing
Christians, heaven is not filledwith people whose good
outweighs their bad.
Heaven is not filled withpeople whose good outweighs
their bad.
If you are trusting in yourgoodness to gain you access to
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the holy God, you are sunk fromthe start because you're a
sinner.
We are all sinners who deserveholy judgment from God.
That's the bad news.
But the good news is, god hasnot left us alone in this state.
God has come to us in the personof Jesus.
(30:06):
This is what we celebrate atChristmas.
God with us.
And why did he come?
He came to live the life wecouldn't live, a life of no sin.
And then, even though he had nosin for which to die, he chose
to die on a cross to pay theprice for the sins of anyone who
would trust in him.
(30:26):
He died for our sins.
And then the good news keepsgetting better, because he
didn't stay dead for long.
Three days later, he rose fromthe grave in victory over sin
and death, so that anyone,anywhere, no matter who you are,
no matter what you have done,if you will turn from your sin
and yourself, including all yourefforts to overcome your sin
(30:46):
with your own goodness, and youwill trust in his love for you,
in Jesus as the Savior and Lordof your life, god will forgive
you of all your sin and restoreyou to relationship with him,
now and forever in his kingdom.
This is the greatest news inthe world and it's the starting
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point of the Christian life.
Hearing Jesus's words and doingthem starts with acknowledging
your need for God to save youfrom your sin and restore your
relationship with him, not basedon your work, but based on his
work for you.
And then so now follow thiswhen you are restored to
relationship with God throughfaith in Jesus, how do you live?
(31:32):
You live out of the overflow offaith in Jesus, in relationship
with God.
It sounds so simple, but wemiss it.
We view it as a transactionOkay, I'm forgiven, I got my get
out of hell free card.
Now I know I'm good and I'lljust live however I want in this
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world, spend my life, my time,my money, however I want in this
world.
No, we're walking with God.
Now Our lives are totallydifferent.
We're living according to HisWord, not the ways of this world
.
Our life is on a totallydifferent foundation at this
point, on the Word of God.
(32:16):
And if we're in relationshipwith God, then what do we want?
We want to hear His Word.
I don't have to study the Bible.
I want to know what God saysabout the way to life and I want
to live according to it,because I know God and I'm
worshiping God and walking withGod.
Now you've got the rightbiblical foundation for life
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Hearing and doing the words ofJesus, in relationship with him.
And Jesus is saying here do notbuild your life on any other
foundation.
Many people, jesus is saying,are building their life on
religious traditions, worldlyideas, even cultural trends, and
(33:00):
when you walk through thestorms in this life which are
coming, none of those thingswill be able to hold you up.
I think about two people in mylife who are very close to me,
who are suffering with terminaldiseases.
One's in the hospital right now, the other's about to receive
hospice care.
Both of them enduring storms ofpain and suffering in their
(33:25):
bodies, but both of themstanding strong, you know how?
Because they know God andthey've built their lives on the
rock of his word, which meansthey're getting diagnoses that
any of us would dread, butthey're filtering those
(33:45):
diagnoses through the rock-solidpromises of God to sustain them
and strengthen them and satisfythem and give them security
that, no matter what happens inthe days to come, they are safe
in the hands of the king whoconquered death on their behalf,
and they have no need to fearReligious traditions.
(34:06):
Worldly ideas can't hold you upwhen brain cancer and leukemia
are attacking your body.
When I think about Abby in thatvideo, amidst a storm that no
13-year-old girl wants to walkthrough.
She's standing not becauseshe's in touch with the latest
cultural trends, but becauseshe's banking her life, just
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like her mom taught her to, onthe rock-solid Word of God.
And the reality is, one day,the ultimate storm of God's holy
judgment towards sin is comingfor every single sinner in the
world, including every singleone of us.
We will all die and standbefore a holy god.
(34:51):
If you have built your life onbeing a good person and doing
all kinds of good things, thenyour life will not stand on that
day.
But if you have built your lifeon the love of God for you, on
(35:11):
the Son of God who gave his lifeto pay the price for your sins,
if you are in relationship withGod through faith in Jesus,
having trusted in him, livingout of the overflow of
relationship with him, you willfind that foundation forever
(35:32):
secure.
This is life, this is the house, the life that will stand
forever.
Which then leads to thisquestion in this room today is
that your life?
I wish I could just ask everysingle person individually.
So importantly did I justdescribe you?
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I said at the beginningeveryone will make a spiritual
decision.
I'll put it more specificallynow everyone will either turn
from Jesus as Lord or trust inJesus as Lord.
That's the decision thatdivides the world, including
everybody in this room, into twogroups, and the stakes could
not be higher.
Did you see the language?
(36:18):
Over and over again.
Broad is the road that leads todestruction.
Many enter through it.
Every tree that doesn't bearfruit is cut down.
You see the language over andover again.
Broad is the road that leads todestruction.
Many enter through it.
Every tree that doesn't bearfruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire.
You build your life on the waysof this world.
Your house, your life will fallwith a great crash.
Those are the words Jesus usesto end the Sermon on the Mount.
(36:40):
This masterpiece of speech endswith a dire warning of judgment,
because this decisiondetermines the state of your
life now and for the next 10trillion years and beyond all of
eternity.
And we live in a world wherethe devil is deceiving people
into thinking they're safe foreternity, when they're not Like
the imagery is frightening.
(37:01):
Here Nobody builds a housethinking that it's going to fall
.
Nobody knowingly does that.
Jesus is saying it's possibleto do that and to not have the
sand under your life exposeduntil it's too late.
So I want to give you a momentto reflect, just between you and
God.
And here's the question I wantto ask you If you were to stand
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before God right now, would itbe clear Jesus is the Lord of
your life.
You know him as the Lord ofyour life.
You're in relationship with himas the Lord of your life.
There's no more importantquestion I could ask you, no
more important question youcould answer than this.
(37:43):
Knowing not one of us isguaranteed tomorrow.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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