Sermon Tone Analysis

In my hand is a broom.

It is a useful tool.

With it I am able to remove dirt, trash, and messes when used properly.

I owe McDonalds for teaching me how to use a broom.

I say that, because apparently this simple tool is not all that simple.

When I put it in the hands of my kids, they look at me with blank expressions that basically say, “What am I supposed to do with this?”

This same mentality is experienced just about every time we come together and hear the Word of God spoken.

The Words of Jesus are presented and shared.

By it we hear about how the dirt, trash, and messiness of life can be cleaned and our lives can be transformed.

Yet, like my kids dragging the broom around pretending they are sweeping, so many who hear the words of Jesus and go about demonstrating an altogether different pattern of life inconsistent with what Jesus taught.

Sure, we might say the right things and even do deeds in “Jesus name,” but as we saw last week, simply retelling right theology and doing busy work do guarantee that we are on the difficult path that leads to life.

Only until we hear the Words of Jesus and then do them will we demonstrate the kind of transformation the Gospel brings into our lives.

So...

What will you do with the words of Jesus?

What will you do with the words of Jesus?

Matthew 7:24–

By now it is clear that Jesus is calling His audience to respond to the message that He has shared with them.

In chapter 5 Jesus reveals the heart change that comes by way of spiritual brokenness.

This transformation becomes quite apparent when followers of Jesus live out counter-cultural lives.

Instead of retaliation and vengeance, they treat others greater than themselves.

Instead of hating their enemies, they pray for them, do good to them, and love them.

Instead of living out a righteousness the glorifies self, they live out a truer righteousness that glorifies God.

Over and over Jesus highlights the kind ethic that His disciples are to live out.

They are no longer under the rule of the Devil or of themselves.

Now they are surrendered to the rule of God in Christ Jesus who has come in power to overthrow the domain darkness.

The citizens of Christ’s heavenly kingdom no longer reflect the dark manners of the world, but the eternal light that is capable of revealing God to those on the path to destruction.

So Jesus calls us to respond to His words.

We are to forsake the treasures of earth for the eternal treasure of heaven.

We are to not live in worry, but in faith that God will supply our every need as He brings in to us His kingdom.

We do this by abandoning the broad gate and roomy way and entering through the narrow gate of the cross of Christ and walk the path that is filled with tribulation, but ends in eternal life.

There are many who have bought into the false, cheap gospels that wolves in sheep’s clothing have peddled.

These would-be disciples speak know the answers to the test, they do deeds that have the trimmings of Christianity, but in the end they are empty for they have not truly responded in surrender to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now once again, Jesus gives us another set of polarizing people—the wise man and the fool.

Naturally, we’d like to know which category we would fall under, and that all depends on what you do with Jesus’ words.

For...

What you do reveals who you are.

Earlier in verse 23, Jesus said that He will turn many away because they were committed to sinful practices.

In verse 21, Jesus said that those who do the will of His Father will enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Now Jesus says they must not simply hear His words, but do them as well.

Once again, Matthew demonstrates that Jesus is no ordinary teacher, He is God incarnate.

Just as humanity must live out the will of God the Father, must also adhere to the Words of God the Son—The Will of the Father and the Words of Jesus are one and the same and what you do with them reveals whether you are child of the kingdom or still lost in this world.

The Will of the Father and the Words of Jesus are one and the same.

Once again, we find ourselves in one of two positions.

Like the two ways, we are all committed to some form of building project.

Here, we have two kinds of people, and we are left with no other option.

There is one who builds his house on solid bedrock and another who builds his house on shifting sand.

Which are you?

Well that depends what you do.

Jesus says of the person who “hears” and “obeys.”

Now, in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that many will be dismissed from His presence because they practiced lawlessness.

But He also said, that the ones who will enter into the kingdom are the people who do the will of His Father (v.

21).

Now Jesus says that it is not a matter of only doing His Father’s will, but calls all people to obey His Words.

The Will of the Father and the Words of Jesus are one and the same.

Jesus said that both men are building.

That both will undergo rain, flood, and wind, but only one will endure it all.

This story pictures an autumn season that would have been familiar to Matthew’s audience.

With the hard, dry ground, a hard rain would not have time to soak in the water.

Instead, flash flooding would occur.

So the man who built his house on the rock experiences the torrential outpouring of the storm as the rain, waters, and wind crashes into his house, but then as the storm gives way and the sun peers out from the breaking clouds, we find that the man survived the storm along with his house.

This man, Jesus says, is wise.

Not so with the other guy.

Not thinking ahead of the potential dangers of what could befall him or his home.

The fool quickly builds for himself a place of living, only to go through the exact same storm as the other guy but with far grimmer results.

As the storm smashes into his house and then passes by, we are left with the seen of a demolished home and a destroyed life.

Growing up in Louisiana, the only serious storm I remember going through was hurricane Andrew.

This storm smashed Florida, and then got back into the gulf and struck Louisiana.

I remember how we tried to prepare for whatever could happen.

My grandparents stayed with us as we weathered the hurricane.

At one point our power was out and the wind was really pounding our house.

My grandfather just so happened to be walking by the sliding glass door when all of a sudden the wind blew it in on him.

Fortunately he caught and was not hurt.

And the damage was nothing that a roll of duct tape could not fix!

The wise man represents those who hear the words of Christ and does them, and the fool represents those who hear the words of Christ and then ignores them.

The storm, as in what we have seen earlier in this passage, represents the final judgment that is to come.

The ones who endure the storm and live to tell about it

The storm, as in what we have seen earlier in this passage, represents the final judgment that is to come.

The ones who endure the storm and live to tell about it.

The wise man represents those who hear the words of Christ and does them, and the fool represents those who hear the words of Christ and then ignores them.

Earlier, you had people who could talk the talk but failed to fulfill the will of the Father.

They were comfortable pretending to be disciples, but in the end they found themselves at the dead end of the broad road.

Here now, you have people who hear the words of Christ and consciously make the decision to either obey them, or to ignore them.

Both build.

Both face storms.

But only one survives.

This is because those who hear the words of Jesus, hang on to every word of Jesus.

His words bring life and are life.

Too many times we find ourselves simply agreeing with the message that comes from the word of God, but seldom actually doing anything with it.

Sure, we highlight here and there, occasionally say “amen!” or share an inspiring verse on social media, but then quickly move on from that word and go about the same destructive patterns that have always characterized our lives.

As Baptist, we believe ourselves to be people of the Bible, but I am not sure why.

We seldom read it, use it, or live by it.

At one point, this good book had the authority to speak into our lives, and we would listen with reverence and respect, and then react to what we heard with urgent obedience.

Where has that reverence gone?

Do we really believe the words we are reading, and is it as authoritative in our lives as it should be?

This scene is incredible and we need take notice the kind of response Jesus receives.

The crowd was amazed by the teaching of Jesus, but why?

It was because He taught in a manner they were not accustomed to.

Their scribes relied on the teachings of others and sought to preserve and repeat tradition.

So they never spoke out on their own, but stood on the words and ideas of those who were before them.

Yet, as Jesus spoke, it was with absolute authority.

He did not depend on other rabbis, and He was quite unlike the prophets of old.