Anchored to The Way | Matthew 7:24-27

Transcript is automatically produced. Errors may be present.

Good morning. Good morning. It’s good to see you all. If you’re new or newish. My name’s Aaron Borland. I’m one of the pastors here, and I’m excited to, to be here with you. And if you’re tuning online, we’re grateful that you tuned in as well. In order to settle my heart, I want to pray again, if that’s all right with you.

Maybe just take a deep breath, allow yourself to fully arrive here. I don’t know what you experienced coming in to the church service today, driving here, arguments you’ve had this week. Tensions, stresses.

We lay them down. At the feet of Jesus today. Father, I pray that you would speak to us today through your word. It’s in your beautiful ma name that we pray. Amen. Amen. So they didn’t exactly say it this way, but they definitely implied it and they certainly didn’t put the rumor to bed when they could have.

They never actually said it was unsinkable, but over time the rumors got out and the headlines came up and they started calling the ship the unsinkable ship. Then in April 14th, 1912, at 1140, the Titanic began to sink this unsinkable ship. Began to sink. They’d said things like practically unsinkable. See, they were leveraging all sorts of new technology in ship building.

And so they had these 16 compartments that would prevent the ship from being sunk because one could fill with water and the others would hold this ship afloat. But they were traveling at breakneck speeds. And they were disregarding some warnings because they felt invincible. And as a result when they hit the iceberg, five of those compartments were gased wide open instantly, and the intake of water was just too great.

And this practically unsinkable ship began to sink. The headline in the New York Times read this, the Titanic sinks four hours after hitting an iceberg. 866 rescued probably a hundred or 1,250 parish. It was a tragedy, and the reality is this was not an unsinkable ship. We know that from history, but there’s this problem that we run into when we think one thing to be true.

And we bank on that thing to be true. And it doesn’t align with reality. It does not align with the actual truth. And so I feel like our lives are like this sometimes. Our lives. We think the world says that this is how the life should work. This is what the good life should look like. This if you want to be happy, if you want to be secure, this is what you should do.

But the question mark is that really true? Because we know from situations like this or from situations that you’ve encountered with friends of yours or even in your own life, that if your life doesn’t align with truth, devastating things happen. Yeah, marriages fall apart because you didn’t think it was that bad, didn’t do the work or a business deal falls apart or on and on You bank on wealth or to be your happiness or whatever it may be.

And then you get to a certain point in your life and you’re like, I still feel empty. Like how do we ensure that our lives don’t do that kind of thing? Question is this, how do we ensure that what we believe aligns with reality, even if it’s counterintuitive? And the Titanic situation was counterintuitive.

There was so many preventative measures that they, the engineers put into the sheep. There’s a reason why they called it unsinkable. And it was counterintuitive for all of those engineers to even imagine a day when this ship could possibly sink. And yet it wasn’t aligned with truth. How do we ensure that we bel that what we believe aligns with reality, even if it’s counterintuitive?

And how can we ensure that our life is anchored to a truth that holds us up in the storm? I’m glad you asked that question because I don’t know what I was talking about if you didn’t ask that question. And did you know that you asked that question? I hope that’s what you’re asking. But today, I think our passage this morning is gonna give us some answers to this.

How do we ensure that we are anchored to truth? That’s accurate. That’s actually how things are in such a way that we can withstand any storm that life would send our way. That’s what we’re gonna talk about today and that’s what I think our passage has some insight for us. Before we dive into that, there’s a little bit of review.

We’re continuing our anchored series. If you weren’t here last week, we set up the anchor series. Here’s the premise of the anchor series. Just to catch you back up, if you missed last week. As Americans especially, we’re teased inside of this world, we like live in this world, in American society where freedom and liberty and options are like king.

We’re born into a nation that was founded on this idea that all men are created equal, that we’re given this inal rights to, to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We talked about that last week. I’m not gonna go through all of the details making this case, but freedom and liberty and decision, autonomous decision making is valued so high in America.

And I think that comes from the teachings of Jesus. I think there’s so much good in that and it’s caused so much good in the world. But the question we asked last week is, can freedom go too far? And that’s the premise of this series because the Apostle Paul and the teachings of the scriptures actually says.

That unbound freedom is a different kind of bondage. Unbound freedom is toxic to your soul. Yes, you’re designed to be out from under oppressive rulership and oppressive authoritarian sort of situations that sort of prevent people from thriving. But you’re also not designed for maximum freedom.

That’s not how you were made as a human creature. And so we read this quote. Last week by Fleming Rutledge, no one is capable being captain of his own soul or master of her own fate. Paul the Apostle, who writes much of the New Testament, unlike the typical American, does not think in terms of autonomous human beings.

Paul proudly identifies himself as a slave to Christ. And so this is how we set it, the thesis statement for this series was this. Achor. Freedom is different kind of bondage. Unanchored freedom is a different kind of bondage. So each week throughout the series, we’re gonna be exploring something that the scriptures teach us.

Is a gift, a boundary that’s a gift for your soul? Part of the reason depression’s on the rise, part of the reason our society is crippled in so many ways when it comes to mental health is because we have too much freedom. Did you know that? And so we’re gonna ask this question each week, what are some anchors that help us to thrive?

And today, from this passage, I believe that this is one of the things that we are to anchor to, and it’s this, the way of Jesus is the ultimate anchor for the soul, the way of Jesus, the teaching, the person, the character, and the way of Jesus is the ultimate anchor for your soul. Yeah, that’s what I believe we’re gonna be learning about today.

So maybe put another way. I’d say it this way. A life anchored to the way of Jesus survives the storm. A life anchored to the way of Jesus survives the storm. So if you want a life that no matter what comes your way, midlife crisis, financial crisis, it’s not a guarantee that the storms go away. As you’ll notice from the reading that we just listened to.

Both the wise man who builds on the rock and the foolish man who builds on the sand, they both have storms hit them, but one of them comes out maybe not unscathed, but still on a firm foundation. So that’s what we’re gonna explore today. So how does the way of Jesus, the way and teachings of Jesus protect us from the, from sinking.

So just by way of context, before we dive into this passage, let me just give you a little lay of land we find ourselves in the book of Matthew, and this is the very tail end of the Sermon on the Mount. If you don’t remember if you were here last year and the year prior, we actually went through the Sermon on the Mount together as a church.

And if you don’t remember that’s fine, you can go back and listen to that. But this is the last movement. In that sermon, this is sort of Jesus’s final words in his most famous sermon, and this sermon is sort of his magnum opus. It’s his ultimate expression of teaching. It is the most consolidated way that Jesus could articulate what he wanted his followers to see and believe and how to live.

And this text is the last word of that. His This is a conclusion. And we read this in verse 24, the beginning of our passage, Matthew 7 24. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds on the house, his house on the rock. So one of the things that Jesus is doing here is he’s actually calling back on an ancient model within the Jewish tradition, which is when.

A teacher of God or a prophet of God would articulate the words of God and then say, you need to obey these. This is a method that took place in the Book of Exodus and the book of Deuteronomy. Let me just give you two examples. So again, he’s using literary device to call back on these previous moments in his, in the Jewish history in Exodus 7 1, 1, 2.

It articulates this idea. You are to say everything I command you. This is God speaking to Moses. So when God talks to Moses, he says, tell them everything I command you to tell them. And then Deuteronomy five, five at that time I stood between the Lord and you. This is again Moses speaking to declare to you the word of the Lord.

And so in Deuteronomy and in Exodus, Moses spoke and Moses came to be seen by the people of God as. A representative is an illustration of the word of God. So when they’d say the words of Moses they’re referencing God’s word, and then he’s saying, I don’t speak what I wanna speak.

I speak the words of God. This is what Moses does. And then in Deuteronomy 32, I’m not gonna read the whole chapter two you, ’cause almost the whole chapter could be relevant. But it’s this beautiful expression of please obey these words. These are God’s words. These are God’s voice to his people. So obey these.

Listen, the wise person listens, the fool disobeys, these kind of, this kind of language. And then he says it this way in verse 47. They are not just idol words for you. They are your life. These words of mine, Moses, speaking on behalf of God are your life by them. You will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to, to possess.

And so Jesus is calling back to the Moses when Moses said, I’m speaking on behalf of God. And then Jesus has the audacity to do something a little bit different. Earlier in the same sermon, he says this, do not think that I’ve come to abolish the law. In other words, Moses’s words, Jesus didn’t come to get rid of Moses’s words.

Instead he says, I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them in myself. And that must have sounded a little bit bold for a person to say in it ancient Israel. And then back to our verse, therefore, everyone who hears these words, not of God, but of mine. So Jesus preaches a sermon and then has the audacity to say, what I say goes, what I say goes, Moses said, what God says goes, Jesus says, what?

I say goes, I’m king of kings. I’m Lord of Lords. I am the Lord of the universe. What I say goes, and so when they heard these words, it must have been a little bit strange for them, words of mine and put them into practice. And then he has this thrust that he, he believes that the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount and the rest of his teachings are actually possible to obey.

If you haven’t read the Sermon of the Mount recently, who. That is also a very bold statement ’cause he says some very hard things in the Sermon on the Mount, but he’s saying, my conclusion to my sermon is one, what I say goes two. It’s possible to obey. That’s some heavy words. And so I think the first thing we learn, a life that is going to stand the test of time, that’s gonna be able to stand up in a storm has this kind of attitude.

The Jesus way is the final word. The Jesus way gets the final word. So if you want a life that is able to face any situation, any circumstance, any storm that may come your way, the Jesus way has to have the final word in your soul. That’s how, one of the ways that you can withstand the storm. In essence, the Sermon on the Mount and the rest of the teachings of Jesus is this is Jesus’ teaching is giving the designers perspective.

Anyone recognize Ikea? Yeah. So I, when I was when our girls were a little bit younger, we had this tradition on Christmas. That we would have a sleepover under the Christmas tree on Sunday or on Christmas Eve, and that was twofold. One, so we could access their rooms to build or create any of the larger things we gotten or whatever.

And one of the Christmases, maybe seven or eight years ago, maybe even longer than that. I finished leading three Christmas Eve services here. We went home, we had some dinner, we did all this sort of thing. The girls got tucked in their sleeping bags under the Christmas tree, and I proceeded to go to my oldest daughter’s bedroom to build an IKEA bed.

It was about maybe 10 30 by the time I started, and it was about 4:00 AM when I climbed into bed. Don’t ask me how it’s humanly possible to take that long. I was tired. Okay. But have you ever noticed that those instructions have no words? It’s just pictures. It’s like miming instructions on building a product that my child will be in, sleeping in.

So I didn’t want to screw this up, and I built it twice, once incorrectly, and once. Maybe correctly she never fell, so I think it was correct. But I wish that I had the designer’s perspective. If he had just he or she, whoever designed and engineered this bed. I wish that I’d had the designer’s perspective that they could said like that picture is misleading.

Maybe you should use. This device. This is what the teachings of Jesus are. He didn’t only give us the greatest teaching humanity has ever seen. He designed your soul. He designed all the systems and structures of the universe, all of the science, all of the systems in your soul, everything. And he’s offering us the designer’s perspective on how it should work.

And so therefore, I propose to you that Jesus way gets the final word. What else can we learn from this passage that might help us sustain our lives and our souls in the midst of a storm? And it’s this found in verse 24 and second part there. I’m gonna read it here. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mind and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house in the rock.

The rain came, the storms rose and the winds blew and against that house, and yet it did not fall down. And I’m just jump down to this next section here, verse 26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is a moron. That’s the Greek word there. It’s pretty strong Language is a fool foolish.

We don’t use that language very often anymore. But the other thing that he’s doing here is, again, he’s calling back on a method and a way of communicating to his, to god’s that God communicated to his people from the Old Testament. And that’s through the Book of Psalms and the book of Proverbs.

He’s using the language of Proverbs. And so in the book of Proverbs. Wisdom is personified as this lady wisdom. The word wisdom in Hebrew is a feminine word. And the author there of Proverbs personifies wisdom as this lady of wisdom figure. So let’s just give you one example.

This is right in the very beginning of Proverbs, the proverbs of Solomon’s son of David, king of Israel. For gaining wisdom and instruction for understanding the words of insight for receiving instruction and prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair, forgiving prudence to those who are simple and knowledge and discretion to the young.

Let the wise listen. And to their learning and let the discerning get guidance. And so I think the second thing that we can learn from in this passage about how to establish a life that can stand the storm is this. The Jesus way is the way of wi of wisdom. The Jesus way is the way of wisdom. So wisdom in Proverbs is an interesting thing, and I think this applies to the teachings of Jesus as well.

I. Maybe if you get a false perception. I know I had this growing up as a kid, when I read Proverbs, it says like, if you go this way, you’re, it’ll go well with you. And I was like, okay, so check those boxes and nothing bad will ever happen to me. No, that’s not how wisdom works. Wisdom is a little bit more like an oil change.

It’s really wise and it generally speaking goes way better for your car if you do regular oil changes than if you don’t. Does that make sense? So wisdom is trying to align yourself to how the car is supposed to function. It doesn’t mean the car never breaks down, but generally speaking, people who get regular oil changes don’t have their engines seized because of a lack of oil changes.

See how that works? So Jesus’s teaching is the way of wisdom. It’s a guide that he gives us. Again, the designer’s guide that he gives us. To enable us to encounter a better way of living, a more preventative way of living. So let me put it this way. Wisdom is living in a right relationship with God, with others, and with his world.

It’s just, I think of it this way. It’s like a river headed this way, and then wisdom is saying, I’m going to go with the river that was designed to head that way. And foolishness is to say, I’m gonna try and march my way up the river of the god’s design. Now the scary part is the world oftentimes says that this way is the way the river’s going.

And so you think you’re aligning with the river by following the way of the world. In reality, you’re going against your very design. And so the fir the second thing we have to learn here is that Jesus’ way is the way of wisdom. There’s another thing here later in this section, in this passage of scripture that will give us some wisdom and insight down in verse 25.

I’m just gonna jump straight down there, but everyone who hears these words of mind and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who builts his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not. Oh, so this is. Further up, sorry, let me re, because it had its foundation on the rock.

So the teachings of Jesus, they’re the way of wisdom. They’re the way your soul was a designed to function, but they’re also the good life. The teachings of Jesus are Jesus’s way of articulating the good life. And I don’t get this fully from this exact passage. I get this for them. The entire sermon on the Mount when Jesus opened this sermon.

So again, we’re in the very conclusion of his sermon, and when he opened this sermon, he said these words. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And he went on and said, blessed are these people and blessed are these people. And I’m not gonna do a huge wordy word study for you there, but that word blessed is Rios.

And I did that word study when we kicked off the Sermon on the Mount series. So if you don’t buy this, then you can go back there and listen to me try and make a case for this word, but it means happy or blessed or good. Those who follow these words are living into the good life. And in other words, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’.

Guide to the Good Life. I didn’t say easy life. I didn’t say wealthy life. I didn’t say health, wealth and vibrancy in everything you ever wanted. It’s a guide to a life that is so secure that it cannot be swayed by storms. Dallas Willard said it this way. He is not just nice, Jesus speaking about Jesus.

He’s brilliant. Jesus is brilliant. He is the smartest man who ever lived. He always has the best information on everything and certainly also on the things that matter most in human life. Let us now, this is his introduction to talking about the Sermon on the Mount. Let us now hear his teachings on who has the good life on who.

Is among the truly blessed. And so the thing that we can learn here is that the Jesus way is the good life. So when I was preparing this message, I thought that was it. Conclusion of message, you should anchor your life to the teachings and the character and the person of Jesus. That’s, that was what I planned for this message.

But by God’s kindness, last Monday, I just happened to land in my scripture reading program that I’m going through in the Sermon on the Mount. So I had already written a bunch of this message and I landed in the Sermon on the Mount and I started reading the Sermon on the Mount chapter five of Matthew, chapter six of Matthew in the beginning part of chapter seven, and I started to realize this is so heavy.

Some of the things that Jesus asks of his followers in the Sermon on the Mount feel so heavy, threatening, even threatening to my autonomy, threatening to the way I want to do things. I’m not even sure I agree with everything he says there because it’s so heavy. And I have this perception, this idea of Jesus.

And every time I read the Sermon on the Mount, I run into this I think of Jesus as this. Tremendously kind, tremendously gracious person, and I believe that down to my core. But then I read the Sermon on the Mount and some of his other teachings, I’m like, goodness gracious. Could just talk with a little bit more gentleness.

And maybe that’s. You’ve encountered the teaching of Jesus and you’ve heard of Jesus and you’ve thought about Jesus and you think he’s a compelling character, but then you open your Bibles or you run into a teaching of his and you’re like, wait a minute, he wants that. He doesn’t even want me to be angry ever again.

Yeah. It’s not even possible. Never lust again. What are you talking about Jesus like and I. I don’t have time to make this case for you that there’s actually more kindness and goodness in the Sermon of the Mount. Go listen to the series if you want to, but it’s so kind, but it still comes across as heavy.

And so I thought that was a kindness for me to read the Sermon of the Mount again, because I had to ask the question. It’s easier said than done, and I had to ask the question, how do we get to the place where we can trust this person? This God person, this God man, the one who would have the audacity to say, my word goes, how do we get to this place where I can say, you know what?

Whatever you say, go. I trust you with all of me. Take anything. Everything is on the table for you, Jesus.

And I think that this is. The guide that Jesus gave me as I continue to read through the rest of the book of Matthew, the way of Jesus is designed by his love. The way of Jesus is designed by his love, and it may sound heavy and it may sound threatening in times and moments, but it’s designed by his love.

And so if you’re in a place where you’re like, I’m not sure if I’m ready. Or maybe like me, I need to make this decision 47 times a year, maybe 365 times a year. Do I still trust him enough to take this out of my soul and replace it with something of him? If you’re like that, you might need to be reminded that everything he says.

Is helping us step into his design, into his calling for our lives into the way we were made to function. In other words, he’s aligning us with reality. There is no iceberg that could possibly gouge a hole in the safety nets that we’ve built for our souls if we are aligned with a way of Jesus. And I just wanna read this other passage to you real quick.

’cause maybe you don’t know if he loves you. Maybe you don’t know that you’ve heard it. People have said it. We sang about it this morning. We talked about the sacrifice and the great lengths that he went to, to prove it to you. And yet today you’re like me. I don’t buy it. Lemme just read this passage. I can’t help you feel that I can tell you about it.

I can hope you feel it. I can long you feel it. I can describe moments where I have felt the love of God, but until you feel the love of God, your soul is not ready to surrender to the level that he needs you to surrender, to anchor to this kind of invitation. Ephesians three 14 says this. For this reason I kneel before the father.

This is Paul talking to one of his churches from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, and I pray. That out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in His love may have the power together with all the lord’s holy people to grasp.

How wide and how long and how high, and how deep is the love of Christ, and to know the love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness. Of God. I love this text because Paul is longing, like I’m longing today. Like I prayed through this space this morning. I’m longing for you to not just hear about his love, but to experience his love.

And he’s there’s only one way there. Spirit of the living. God has to help you. So he prays. I pray that you would have the spirit help you to comprehend this love. This is how great the love is. You can’t comprehend it by your own human mind. You can’t comprehend the love and the kindness of God. You need his spirit to speak it into your soul.

And so I’m hoping that’s what you experienced today. ’cause until you’ve experienced that, you’re not ready to surrender to everything he might ask of you. And until you’re ready to surrender to everything he might ask of you. You’re not ready to live a life that is unshakeable in the midst of storms.

So here’s just a few tips, some homework assignments if you want to experience that love. And we’re gonna take a moment. I’m actually gonna invite the team up as I just go through these few tips for you, and we’re gonna close in some more worship and we’re gonna extend this time. This is a time for you to do business with God.

If you want to experience that love, if you want a soul that’s ready to take the leap and surrender fully to him again today, here’s a few tips for you. Ask yourself this. Do I trust Jesus enough to let him rule my life? First question, the answer might be no. That’s okay. I’ve been there on many days. How do I get to that place of trust?

Ask him. Jesus say, I don’t feel it. I don’t know if I trust you today. I want you to ask him that, and maybe tomorrow you ask him again. Another tip, read the sermon on the mount. Do a cost benefit analysis ’cause it’s some heavy stuff. But then after reading the Sermon the Mount, go and read Matthew eight and nine.

I love this. This is the first time I’ve read it this way. I read the sermon on the mount. And then I was like, oh no, I’m asking a lot of this congregation. I’m asking a lot for my own soul. And then I continue to read in chapter eight and nine, and some of the interactions that Jesus has with the broken and the needy and the hurting are so beautiful that I was reminded, I love this guy.

He’s so kind. And the reason he can get away with saying the things that he gets away with saying is because he says ’em in such a way that he sees my soul and he sees yours and he knows that you’re a mess and he loves you anyway, all the way to the point of going and tying on the cross. So just read those chapters and ask yourself, could I trust this man?

This God who would come to this earth and demonstrate his love for me.

One final one. And then I want to sing, pray The Lord’s Prayer every day for a month, and ask yourself, do I really want his kingdom to come or do I want mine? Let the words of Jesus anchor into your soul. And ask yourself, am I ready to surrender to this amazing

Christ?

I’m gonna encourage the prayer team to come forward as well. We’re gonna go into a little time of singing, and if you just need prayer, no shame, and you just say, I don’t know if I’m feeling it today. I need prayer, someone to pray for me and to unlock them. They’ll be dotted around the room otherwise for you.

Just do some business with God and ask some of these questions. ’cause we want to get to the place where, a life where your life is anchored to the way of Jesus and survives the storm. And we do that by remembering that the way of Jesus was designed by his love designed this way for you and for your good.

Would you stand with me? We’re gonna take a moment in worship, do business with him, ask him to reveal his loving heart for you.