Building Your Life On The Rock (Part 3)

I declare you will experience God's faithfulness. You will not worry. You will not doubt. You will keep your trust in him, knowing that he will not fail you. You will give birth to every promise God put in your heart, and you will become everything God created you to be.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry.

Gotcha.

Got you caught off guard, did I not? That's exactly true. Sound like Presby-Cast. Sitting in a room laughing at your own jokes. Two stars for that podcast. One for the bad host, one for Jesus. I'll take that.

Mike Ebendroth here. Don't forget you can go to the Amazon site and order the new condensed booklet that is designed for ease of handing out to people. It's bad English, but I write better than I speak.

Short little booklet, small Jesus and Cancer, that you could give to somebody that has cancer. Probably more apt to read that than the other one, but there's two different versions now, Jesus and Cancer by Moi, and The Law Gospel, a primer that should be out soon as well.

Working on Faith and Repentance, a primer, and Sanctification as well. Some of those are coming out, been neglecting the book on parenting. I should probably get that thing done in light of everything in my life.

Maybe I'll tell you about my health things another time, but not today. Don't want to talk about it, talk about it too much already. I want to finish a little bit of the conversation that I had the last two days for the last two shows, at least, when it comes to the centurion and his sick servant and having Jesus heal him with the word.

You don't even need to come to my house, I'm not worthy for that, just say the word. I know what it's like to tell people to do things, I'm in the military, and I want nothing more than for you to heal my servant, but all you have to do is say it, because you're Lord, he calls him Lord.

That's Luke chapter 7, 1 to 10. And the great part about Luke 7, 1 to 10, it follows Luke 6, and Luke 6, Jesus said at the end of the sermon on what we call the plane, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you?

And then he said, if you come to him, Jesus, and you hear his words, Jesus's, and do them, that is to say, ultimately, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you have built your house on the rock. And when storms come in this world, or the ultimate, with the afterlife, you will be safe, building your life on the rock, building your life on the words of Christ, building your life on the person of Christ, building your life on the work of Christ.

What does that look like? So today's show is kind of the practical application of the last two shows. So that's what we're going to do today. We'll see how far we get and see what's going to go on. It's cold and snowy outside.

And did I mention it's cold and snowy outside? Brr, the older you get, the worse it is. My fingers are cold. I've lost some weight lately, and so maybe this is not the good time to lose weight. Kim doesn't bake very often because we're both just trying to avoid carbs, but we have some friends over, missionary and his wife and a couple of kids, and there's some kind of cranberry crumble or something that's there.

And so I took a tiny bite last night just to say I had it, and that was bad because.

It was just...

The leech has two sisters, give, give. Building your life on the rock, what would that look like for you? Number one, dear listener, if you want to build your life on the rock, you should believe the words of Jesus are true.

A life built upon the rock, Lord Jesus, is you believe that his words are true. And that would extend all the way out to believe all of the Bible is true, every bit of it. You cannot have a stable life when you pick and choose what is in the Bible, what is true, what is not true, and then you stand over the Bible as the authority over the Bible.

Actually, the greatest testimony of the Old Testament is Jesus himself. Jesus arrives on the scene and he affirms the Old Testament. He could have said, and he must have said, by the way, your manuscripts are corrupt.

Jonah's really a metaphor. These other books aren't in the Bible. These should be in the Bible. But Jesus affirms the Old Testament canon, the Jewish canon from Genesis to 2 Chronicles, for us, Genesis to Malachi.

And he quotes in his ministry, Jesus does some of the most fantastic supernatural events from the flood, Adam and Eve, Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot, Jonah. And he should have just said, you know what, these things aren't true.

And the moral of the story is be good, be nice. If you want to build your life on the rock, you've got to trust Jesus's word and therefore all the Bible. You have to say to yourself, I think it's sufficient for everything.

I think it's authoritative. I think it's God-breathed. I think it's without error. These are the literal words of God. When the Bible speaks, God is speaking. The wonderful parts, the parts that trigger society, unpopular parts, and you read sections about the death penalty, condemnation of sins, especially the pet sins of society today, like homosexuality and abortion.

And you read something about submission in marriage or destruction of the Canaanites or eternal hell or lake of fire. You need to believe those things. I've never met a stable Christian who selected what parts of the Bible were in the canon and which parts were not, what's included in the Bible and which ones are not.

When God saves you and regenerates you, it gives you new life, opens your eyes, you might have believed the Bible before, but if you didn't, then you do because that's recognizing the work of God. The Spirit of God illumines your mind so you can understand the Scripture, so you recognize the Scriptures to be true.

And even the parts that go against our grain or parts that we might not like, convicting parts, we still recognize this is God's Word. Building your life on the rock, number two, believe difficult doctrines found in the Bible.

Believe difficult doctrines found in the Bible. Now, it sounds like this is related to the first one, and it is, but I just want to expand this out a little bit, and I think you're going to be surprised at this one.

How about a hard saying or a hard topic for people to understand, like grace? You're going to even have to believe grace, and you're like, what in the world are you talking about? Grace is an easy one.

Oh, really? Is it that easy? I actually think grace is scandalous. Grace is scandalous. And I think many Christian leaders in our circles are afraid of grace. Maybe some of you in the congregation listening today are afraid of grace.

You love grace and salvation, grace and grace alone, by grace you're saved. But people are afraid of grace in the category of holy living or sanctification. When you hear someone magnifying the free grace of God, unmerited favor, demerited favor, what's your response?

Do you get a little unsettled? You get a little nervous? You get a little, uh-oh, what's going to happen? You're starting to talk about God's not going to favor you anymore if you obey and not disfavor you any less if you disobey.

Remember favors, grace is just all found in Christ. You know what? People, if you start talking like that, they're not going to obey. They're going to just slough off. Well, of course, the Bible anticipates something like that.

What should we say then, Romans 6? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who die to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into his.

Death?

People can abuse grace. People can misuse grace. People can misunderstand grace. People can try to turn grace into licentiousness and immorality, Jude 4. We are not to use our freedom to sin, but we also must not abuse grace.

We are motivated by grace. If you want to motivate people to obedience, talk about the love of God. Talk about the grace of God. Talk about how great God is. What a great father that will motivate people to obey.

Did you know grace motivates? It should not cause. It does not cause. The problem is found in the person, but grace itself is not even some kind of thing. It comes from God. The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works.

Did you see that? Grace motivates. The law doesn't motivate. The law guides only for Christians. Moralism, work harder, try more, athletic metaphor only. Yes, the Bible does talk about some athletic metaphors, but not only.

Military metaphors. I know the Bible talks about some military metaphors, but not only. Do more, try harder, be more committed, be more disciplined, be more zealous. Terry Bridges said, The realization that my daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit of Jesus instead of my own performance is a very freeing and joyous experience, but it is not meant to be a one-time experience.

The truth needs to be reaffirmed daily. Jesus paid it all. The blessings of God are not revocable. You don't return them. Jesus has paid for all your sins, and now you have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

What is sanctification? Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 35. Sanctification is a work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are a step enabled more and more to die to sin and live under righteousness.

God's working in your life, and there is a response, and the response is we kill sin and we live for righteousness. Obviously, we need to be committed and disciplined and obedient, but it is out of a response, guilt, grace, gratitude.

Building your life on the rock, even in the hard are misunderstood topics. Number two, building your life on the rock means that you believe that God loves you in spite of your sin. He loves you in spite of your sin.

Now, this is related to the last one. Bridges goes on, why is this such a well-kept secret? For one thing, we're afraid of this truth. We're afraid to tell even ourselves that if we don't have to work anymore, the work is all done.

We're afraid that if we really believe this, we'll slack off the Christian duties. But the deeper core issue is that we really don't believe we're still bankrupt. Now, remember the centurion, the elders, the Jewish elders said, he's worthy, he's worthy, he's worthy.

And the centurion said, I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy. Remember the first lines in the Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin? Our wisdom in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom consists entirely of two parts, the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves.

That's the first sentence. Knowing God's holy and knowing we're not, yet we're still loved because we're accepted by God in the beloved because of Jesus, his merit, his work, his person, his representative function, his substitutionary death, his resurrection, his ascension, his session, his prayer life for us.

Charles Hodge said the infinite, immutable and gratuitous love of God. In the first 10 verses of the fifth chapter of the epistle of the Romans and in the eighth chapter of that epistle from the 31st verse to the end, the apostle dwells on these characteristics of the love of God as affording and immovable foundation of the believer's hope.

You want to build your life on something, you build your life on the promises, the person of the Lord Jesus and how he loves you even though you still sin. Thomas Goodwin said, Christ is love covered over in the flesh.

And even though we stand before God now, still bankrupt because we need the righteousness of Jesus, he loves us. Doesn't that encourage you? Doesn't that give you stability and hope? Yes, it should give you both stability and hope and joy.

Number three, building your life on the rock. You believe God's promises. You believe God's promises. Most every day of my life, I repeat two of the promises of God. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

And there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. I will never leave you nor forsake you. No condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. All this drives us back to who Jesus is. All the promises are yes and amen in Jesus, according to 2 Corinthians chapter one.

And what we want to do in ministry, when you teach your children, when I teach you, when I teach the congregation, that self-examination, while secondary, is not primary. And every time you look at yourself, you're supposed to take 10 looks to Christ, Robert Murray McShay would say, sometimes even a hundred, looking to the promises of God in Christ Jesus.

We believe that Jesus died for us and was rose and rose from the dead. We realize we have his righteousness. We may, Spencer just put that part, take that part out. We're forgiven. We're declared righteous.

We have the Holy Spirit. We're joint heirs with Christ, heirs of God. And we take these promises that are found in scripture. If you believe you're saved and we say, yes, those are mine. And when the Bible says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, I'll give you rest.

Okay.

I'm coming by faith. Robert Traill said, never did a believer in Jesus Christ die or drown in his voyage to heaven. I'm going to believe that promise. That's building my life on the rock. I can have stability.

If you come to Jesus, he'll never cast you out. Isn't that what John 6 37 says? All that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never cast.

Out.

Unconditional promises, sure promises, not based on what you'll do. If you backslide, you're done.

No.

Can you imagine? This seems too good to be true. Calvin said, therefore, if we would not have faith to waver and tremble, we must support it with the promise of salvation, which is offered by the Lord spontaneously and freely from a regard to our ministry, misery, rather than our worth.

This is because I've done three shows today. I was not going to do that. Psalm 89, my covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Spurgeon said the way of reaching the state of justification is not by tears, nor prayers, nor humblings, nor working, nor Bible reading, nor church going, nor chapel going, nor sacraments, nor priestly absolution, but by faith, which faith is a simple and utter dependence and believing in the faithfulness of God, a dependence upon the promise of God, because it is God's promise and is worthy of dependence.

Boy, that's good news. That's building your life on the foundation. That's trusting the promises because you trust the Father. We believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. He provides everything we need.

He's going to make things turn to our good. He's a faithful father, and he didn't send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.

What should we say to these things, Romans 8 .31? Romans 8 .31, if God is for us, who can be against us? We're going to take up that promise. It's true. It's in God's word. It's John Calvin's life verse, by the way, Romans 8 .31.

If God is for us, who is going to be against us? It should not be shocking that God would be against us. It's shocking, though, that God is for us. There's lots of reasons he would be against us, but he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Giving and giving and giving, God sparing nothing. How generous is God? The answer is found in the sending of the Lord Jesus. And sometimes we think, you know, God, the father, he doesn't want to bless us and he's stingy.

No, not at all. He's the one that planned it, our salvation. Listen to what Luther said. What is the gospel? It is this, that God has sent his son into the world to save sinners and to crush hell, overcome death, take away sin and satisfy the law.

But what must you do? Nothing but accept this and look up to your Redeemer and firmly believe that he has done all this for your good and freely gives you all as your own, so that in the terrors of death, sin and hell, you can confidently say and boldly depend on it and say, although I do not fulfill the law, although sin is still present and I fear death and hell, nevertheless, from the gospel, I know that Christ has bestowed on me all his works and I'm sure he will not lie, his promise he will surely fulfill.

Upon this, anchor my confidence. I anchor my confidence for I know that my Lord has overcome death, sin, hell and the devil for my good. For he was innocent, as Peter says, who didn't know sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

Therefore, sin and death were not able to slay him. Hell could not hold him. And he has become their Lord and has granted this to all who accept and believe it. This is affected not by my works or my merits, but by pure grace, goodness and mercy.

Good news for the Christian. Good news for you. I have enough health problems where it says, and Luther said here, although sin is still present and I fear death and hell, I guess I know people that they say they don't fear death.

It's the dying part of the line, but death. I've had enough things happen to me where I think, death, how awful, how awful. Death, I have to come to my own, grapple with my own mortality. And you get the test back from the doctor and you're like, what in the world?

How many of these things can I get? I thought I was, you know, God's chosen one. And I thought I worked out all the time and tried to watch what I eat. And now this, I mean, prostate cancer, 16 days in the hospital, almost dying of COVID, leukemia, aortic aneurysm, happens to be growing.

Like what in the world? 64, work out all the time, energetic. So, have I feared death?

Yes. Should I?

No. If I feared hell?

Yes. Should I?

No. Luther says, nevertheless, from the gospel, I know that Christ has bestowed on me all his works and I'm sure he will not lie. His promise, he will surely fulfill. The finished work of Christ and the security that comes with it.

No wonder Paul says, who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. When we sin, sadly, we sin, sadly, period. But gladly, we're not going to be kicked out of heaven because we sin.

We have an advocate. It is Christ who died more than that who was raised, who's at the right hand of God, who is indeed interceding for us. Couple more, just make them super quick. Building your life on the rock.

You need to believe that God's law is good. That's what first Timothy says and Romans chapter 7. It is helpful. It is a guide. It is for your good. It is for God's glory. It is for your neighbor's good.

And when you say things like, when you read things like, don't worry, don't be anxious, you think these are good things for me, helpful. I don't need to be doing these things. And lastly, building your life on the rock is you believe God's power.

And in the passage, we saw his power to heal, but also his power to keep us to the end. Spurgeon said, it is not thy hold on Christ that saves thee.

It is Christ.

It is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee. It is Christ. It is not even thy faith, though that be the instrument. It is Christ's blood and merit. Dear Christian, you're believing in the right Messiah.

You have the right Messiah. Luke has showed you the right Messiah and you can believe in him. Now I'm going to turn to the message Bible and I'd like to know what it says about Romans 8, 31 to 39. So let's see.

Do you think it's going to be good? Sometimes, you know, I'm wrong and things are really good, but I've got a button here that I'm going to push an air horn or something in case things go bad. Romans in the message paraphrase.

So what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us?

And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The one who died for us, there was one who was raised to life for us. Is the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us?

He's sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ love for us? There's no way. No trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats.

How did bullying make it in here? Not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture. They killed us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks. They pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us.

I'm absolutely convinced that nothing, nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable, absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus, our master, has embraced us.

Just have one word with two syllables for that. Hello. Building your life on the rock. Isn't the Lord wonderful? Isn't he marvelous? Ike Avonroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry.