A TAIL OF TWO BUILDERS (Matthew 7:24-29)

And today is the 40th and final sermon of our study through the Sermon on the

Mount. And honestly, I can think of no better way than to celebrate, to officially close out year two as a church, than by looking at the closing statements of our

Savior here in the greatest sermon ever preached. Perfect timing, amen. As if the

Holy Spirit knows what he's doing in preparation and timing with his word. And I pray that these past few months throughout this series of looking at Jesus' Sermon on the

Mount, I pray that it has served to form each one of us in here more into the image of his son.

I know that the word of God never returns void, that's what it's promised, right? Sharper than any two -edged sword.

And I know that as we've looked at it, it has penetrated into my life, it's penetrated into many of you that I've spoken to, but I pray that for all of us as God continues that process of sanctification in our lives.

But I also, I pray that as a church, as a whole, that we have become more

Christ -centered. That we as a people and as a church, a covenant body of believers, that human propensity towards hypocritical, self -righteous legalism is being mortified amongst us.

And it is, we are being made more into the image of our savior and being transformed away from what this world would consider morally upright or righteous.

And I also pray that we have begun to see that obedience to God's precepts is not merely outward adherence.

It's not an outward adherence to the law of God, it's a changed heart.

A heart that loves the law of God. A heart that loves what our great and kind and gracious king has prescribed for his people.

A heart that with the help of the Holy Spirit, of course, informed and awakened to the true meaning of the law.

Seeing that the law is at the core of the very character of our God. That's what the law is, isn't it?

It's not arbitrary. God didn't just pick this and pick that and say, I'm gonna restrict them from this,

I'm gonna restrict them from that. No, it's for a reason because our God is just and perfect. That the law of God is less of a prohibition.

It's less of a don't do this and don't do that and more of a gracious kindness.

A, I get to do this. And now, if I'm in Christ, I now have the power to obey it from the heart.

I now have the power and the ability and the desire to obey what God has prescribed for me.

And if you have been with us through this series any amount of time and that is not the driving thrust of what you've walked away with, then you haven't been hearing the words of Jesus.

This entire sermon has just been driving towards that entire thought of this is a heart matter.

You cannot obey it outwardly and you don't love it outwardly. So let's go ahead and read our text today and just as we always do,

I want us to get context. So our primary passage will be verse 24 on through the chapter but let's start reading in verse 21.

And Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?

And then will I declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against the house and it fell and the great was the fall of it.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes.

This is the reading of God's holy inspired word. Let's stop and let's pray that he would give us wisdom to see it.

Give us illumination to understand it. Oh, dear heavenly father, Lord, we come before you once again and we ask.

We ask in our frailty and in times in our own laziness for not pursuing your word the way we ought but we ask that you would illuminate your truth to our hearts and minds.

God, these beautiful words of our savior here, they hold great value that we cannot even begin to comprehend the fullness of.

But God, I pray that you would just allow us a glimpse of your truth. Guard me from error,

Lord. I pray that I would not speak untruth about your word. If I do, I beg of you that you strike me dead before they come out of my mouth.

God, I pray that you would give us wisdom, that you would guard us. Oh, father,

I pray that we would honor you in what we are speaking about today from your word in Christ's name, amen.

Once again, we have seen over the past three weeks, Jesus using this juxtaposition language.

It's that two -way language that we talked about. If you remember in verses 13 through 15, he introduces two gates.

He introduces a wide gate that's on a wide way that leads to destruction.

He introduces a narrow gate and a narrow way that leads to life.

So this two -way comparison. And then in verses 15 through 20, we saw two contrasting trees.

We have a healthy tree and the healthy tree produces, good fruit. Y 'all have been listening, wow.

And the unhealthy tree produces bad fruit, okay. And then he jumps into verses 21 and 23 where Jesus points to two claims where Pastor Jeremiah addressed last week in his sermon.

And these two claims, we have the claims of works essentially. And Jesus says, depart from me,

I never knew you. And you have the claims of relying on the works of Christ and you have entered the kingdom.

So these two contrasting ideas. And now as we get into verses 24 on here through 27,

Jesus introduces us to another juxtaposition, two builders. We have a wise builder.

We have a wise builder who builds his house on the rock. And we have the foolish builder who builds his house on the sand.

And each of these four juxtapositions that we have seen over the past few weeks, they have a unique purpose in and of themselves, but not only that, they build upon each other consecutively.

But Jesus uses them to point us back to what he has been teaching throughout this entire sermon as a call to action.

This is Jesus's closing statements. And he's using these comparisons saying, hey, let's see if you actually heard what

I've been saying. You've been standing here, you've been listening, but let's see if you've actually heard what I've been telling you throughout this.

Because these are your two options as he goes through. One leads to destruction, one leads to life.

Such as you're not even in the ballpark of what I've been saying until you go through the narrow gate.

Until you go through the narrow gate, you can't even begin to comprehend what

I've been saying throughout this sermon, speaking of Jesus. But once you're on the narrow path, he says, watch for false teachers, doesn't he?

Bad fruit. Because they're gonna try and detract you from the narrow way. They're gonna try and pull you away and make you less fruitful.

They're going to try and choke you out. They're going to try and find those before they even make it to the narrow gate and distract them from it.

That's their purpose, they have bad fruit. And then watch for good fruit in your own life lest you deceive yourself about being on the narrow path.

As Pastor Jeremiah talked about, there are those who are there on the wide path but somehow deceive themselves and think they're on the narrow path.

They think they're doing the will of God. They think that they're doing what God has prescribed for them, casting out demons and such as they said.

Lord, Lord, didn't we do these things in your name? And he says, depart from me for I never knew you. But leading up to, you can see how they're building on each other.

Leading up to the fourth and final, often misunderstood warning of these two builders.

And I say often misunderstood because this analogy is frequently taught as an exchange of outward obedience.

What do I mean by that? I mean that according to this, this is how it's taught.

If I simply apply the principles of the Sermon on the Mount, if I take what Jesus has previously said and I apply them outwardly, things like meekness, things like mercy, if I'm a peacemaker, if I love my enemies, if I give to the needy, if I fast, if I pray properly, then that means that I am building my life on the solid rock.

And if I wanna withstand the storms of life, then just do these things that Jesus has told me.

This is how it is often taught and misunderstood. I've even seen this passage applied to business principles and they take these like business conferences and I Christianize them and they take biblical principles and they'll take the words of Jesus and the

Sermon on the Mount and they'll point to this and they'll say, hey, the storms are coming in your business, but if you apply these principles, then you'll be able to withstand the storm because you'll be on the rock.

And just simply apply moral standards. That's the way the world does things.

That's their MO, right? Is that really how Jesus is closing out his sermon though?

This great sermon, the last things he says, hey, here's some good principles and you'll be on the rock.

Because if that's what he's saying, then he's contradicting everything that he's taught so far.

So this obviously can't be what Jesus is meaning. So now we know what he's not saying.

Let's take a closer and deeper look at what he is saying. Let's look at our passage. Verse 24.

Verse 24 here starts off with everyone. Let's stop there.

We didn't get very far yet, did we? We're just gonna creep through this thing a little bit and then we'll move a little faster. Everyone, I want you to take note of this.

Make note of this word that's used here. The word that Jesus uses in the original language, it means without exception.

Meaning that for everyone in this category of what he's about to say, the outcome is going to be the same without exception.

Okay? Following me? Everyone. Every single person who falls into this category, the outcome will be the same.

Doesn't matter. Let's take a look here. Everyone then. Stop there. I actually like the translation from the

New King James Version. Most of us are reading from the ESV. It says then, it's not wrong, it's good, but I think the

New King James gives it better. It says therefore. So everyone, therefore.

So when we see a therefore, what's it? What's it there for, right? We'll look back at the verses we just read previously.

Pastor Jeremiah addressed last week. He says, not everyone, in verse 21, not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. But the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven.

And then verse 23 says, and then will I declare to them, I never knew you departed from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Those who are not doing God's will. Those who think they're doing God's will, but they're obviously not doing

God's will. And he comes right out of that and he says, now everyone, therefore, in light of that, everyone, therefore, who is it that's carrying out the will of God?

That's what he's saying. Who is it that's carrying out the will of God? He's getting ready to tell us that.

Look back at our verse 24. Everyone then, or everyone therefore, without exception, who hears these words of mine.

Whoa, did you just catch what he did there? Those, the words of mine.

You can't just skip over this. It's subtle, but it's of eternal consequence here.

It's very subtle. Jesus has just told us that those who do the will of the father will enter the kingdom of heaven.

And now he puts his own words on par with God's will. Do you have any idea how much this would have infuriated the religious leaders that are standing there listening to him?

This would have angered them beyond belief, but it shouldn't have shocked them. It shouldn't be too shocking to them because throughout the entire sermon,

Jesus has given this contrast, you have heard. Hey, by the way, from all your religious leaders, they have been interpreting

Moses and the law. They've been interpreting, you've heard, but I say to you, he's been telling them the entire time.

But before, as he's telling them this, it could be, there's some wiggle room to interpret that as Jesus saying that I am giving you the proper interpretation of the words of Moses or more specifically the words of the father.

So you can hear, you can see these religious leaders as they're listening to Jesus. They say, you've heard it said, but I say to you, they're going, well, he's contrasting us and he's just trying to give another interpretation of the law, the words of God and the words of Moses here, the prophets.

And they would have thought this for a second and that would have been bad enough for these religious leaders, but they would have been angry about that.

But here in this text, Jesus isn't saying I'm quoting the prophets. He makes it very clear.

He said, he's saying, I'm not quoting the prophets. The prophets quoted me.

Catch that? You can imagine their heads exploding like what?

This guy is claiming to be God himself. And yes, that's exactly what's happening, right?

Paul tells us in Colossians 1 .15, jot this passage down. Colossians 1 .15 and 16, Paul says, he, who's he talking about?

He's talking about Christ, right? He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

All things means the sacred writings that these religious leaders held so dear.

It means the stone and the scroll that those sacred writings were written on. He's the author of those.

And it even means that he's the author of the actual prophets who wrote them, that he used them.

Jesus is declaring his deity as the very last thing that he does. The very last thing that he says in this sermon is he says, by the way,

I wrote it, it's all mine, I'm the author. If there's any mistaking that you think

I'm interpreting the law, I wanna tell you the reason I was able to interpret it is because I'm the author of it.

And we see this affirmed by these listeners and recorded by Matthew here at the end. Look at verses 28 and 29.

This very thing is affirmed. Matthew says, and when Jesus finished these sayings, talking about the sermon, the crowds were astonished.

I love the word that Matthew uses here. He doesn't say they're impressed. He uses a word that they were stopped in their tracks.

They were stopped in their tracks from what they were thinking, the way their whole world and everything they perceived as reality as far as what

God's word had to say. And I would say, you know, a lot of preachers say, well, at the end of the sermon, I can only imagine there was probably a standing ovation and everybody's clapping.

Now, I guarantee you, this is Nathanology, right? But I think that at the end of the sermon, there wasn't anyone clapping.

There were people that were angry and booing and they were making noise and distracting. But then there was another group of people in there that probably stood in dead silence or fell down on their knees.

And the reason is, is because they had just realized that they were standing in the presence of God himself. The reality of it had set in on them.

So I can only imagine the awe that some of these people that the Holy Spirit had awakened to the truth are standing there.

I'm not gonna have a standing ovation. I'm gonna stand there and go, I literally just heard God in the flesh speak the truth of his word to me.

And then verse 29, he says, for he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes.

Don't skip over that. This is what Jesus is doing as he wraps up this sermon.

Look back at verse 24. Everyone, without exception, then, therefore, who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a man, a wise man, who built his house on the rock.

Y 'all know what one of my favorite passages is. I mention it probably every week here.

But right, James 1 .22, be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

I can't help but think of this passage as I'm looking at the words of Jesus here. Those who do my will, those who hear my words and do them, they are doers of the word, not just hearing, not the people just standing out there and taking in the information and going, oh, these are good principles.

No, actually carrying out what Jesus said. Now, this seems to play into the misconception about this verse that I mentioned earlier, an exchange of outward obedience.

Essentially, my obedience is what places me on the rock. Jesus is saying, if I obey the words, if I listen to his words and I do them, then

I will be placed on the rock. And this is a propensity for all of us because it is at the root of all of self -righteousness is at the root of all false religion, right?

That propensity to think that way. If I do this, then I will receive what the promise of this is.

If I outwardly obey a set of standards, and in this case, the words of Jesus in this sermon, then

I'm good. If I'm a peacemaker, if I pray just right, if I fast just right, if I can just do all these things just right.

But the problem with that is, if you've been with us throughout this series, you know that Jesus has already made this very clear.

He's already proven to us the fact that we're not capable of it. We're not capable of obeying

Jesus's words in this sermon. I can prove it to you. Let's take one example.

Go back to Matthew chapter five, verse 21 and 22. One example. This is just one area here where Jesus is showing us you can't do this.

Matthew chapter five, verse 21. He says, you have heard that it was said to those of old, right?

There's this comparing their words with what his true interpretation is. You have heard it said of those of old, you shall not murder.

That's the law of God, right? And whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, the one that wrote that law, the reason that law exists,

I'm telling you what the actual interpretation is. I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.

Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council and whoever says you fool will be liable to the hell of fire.

Is there anyone in this room that has never been angry or upset with another person, right?

Never been angry, never been upset with anyone. If you've ever been angry with someone, you're guilty of the whole law, every bit of it.

That one feeling of anger that was stirring up in your heart and in your mind has now caused you to disobey all the words of Jesus.

You're not capable of carrying out this law. And here in this passage, Jesus tells us that only those who do the will and do his words will be building their house on the rock.

It's a scary thought, right? There's nothing we can do. I can't truly obey every ounce of everything

Jesus said. So does that mean my house is built on the sand? Am I the fool?

Maybe. Let's talk about that. First, what's the benefit of having your house on the rock?

Let's talk about the benefit. What is the benefit of actually having this house built on a rock that Jesus is talking about by obeying and hearing his words?

Look at verse 25. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

That's the benefit. As being on the rock, the house will not fail.

And this is in contrast to verse 26. It says, and everyone, there's that same word, without exception, mind you.

This is the outcome of everyone in this category. Every single person who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And what are the consequences of that? Verse 27, and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it.

I want you to notice something about these two contrasting builders. Jesus did not distinguish between the types of building materials.

Jesus doesn't say that the wise man built with stone and the foolish man built his house out of popsicle sticks.

He doesn't say that the wise man had an engineering degree and the foolish man did not.

According to the information that we have, we can assume that they built very similar houses using similar materials, similar techniques with one and only one distinguishing difference, the foundation.

You see, Jesus has been laying out the law of God. He's been saying, you shall not murder, but I'm gonna take it even further, right?

You can't even have anger in your heart towards another brother. He's saying, you shall not commit adultery.

I'm gonna take it even further. You can't even lust after another person or you're guilty of the law.

And he's saying, here's a set of rules and regulations and what the religious leaders of that time and the people there in Israel, what they had understood in second temple

Judaism is this idea that if I just outwardly obey these things, they're using essentially the same materials we're using to build the house.

They're seeking to be outwardly obedient, right? There's one distinguishing difference is a foundation.

So turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. I want us to see something here. 1

Corinthians chapter 10, verse four. And the apostle Paul here is speaking of the people of Israel and he's referring back to Exodus 17,

I believe. The rock at Horeb, you remember the story where they're thirsty and Moses strikes the rock and the water comes out.

And Paul's referring to this here in 1 Corinthians 10, verse four. He says, and all drank the same spiritual drink.

For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was

Christ. Our God is referred to as a rock throughout scripture.

1 Samuel chapter two, there's none holy like the

Lord. There is none beside you. There is no rock like our God. The psalmist writes in Psalm 18, the

Lord is my rock and my fortress. And remember

Christ has already affirmed his deity as the second person in the Godhead by speaking with authority.

I want us to look at another passage briefly.

1 Peter chapter two, verse six. 1 Peter 2, six. Peter is quoting

Jesus here. He says, behold, I'm laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

Who's he speaking of? Jesus. Well, he's actually quoting the

Old Testament here, but it is Jesus' words, right? See, in that day, the foundation of a building was referred to as a cornerstone.

This is how they would build these buildings, any kind of house, any kind of structure.

All you had to do with a building, if you wanted to demo a building, was remove the cornerstone and the whole thing would implode on itself.

This is a foundation. The entire building would just collapse on itself and this is what Jesus is being referred to here as, is as a foundation.

And Peter's making it clear that Jesus is that cornerstone. Jesus is the foundation.

And this is what I believe Jesus is referring to here in the Sermon on the

Mount as he closes this out. What else would Jesus end on? Himself, right?

Hey, look to me. I'm the rock, I'm the foundation. It makes sense, doesn't it?

Jesus has been giving us this bleak picture of our ability to obey his commandments.

A total inability. He's told us to go through the narrow gate. He's saying, you're on the wide path.

You're born on the wide path. That's easy. I'm telling you, you must go through the narrow gate, which is me.

And that trajectory is the way to life. This is what Jesus is pointing us to.

I wanna see one last thing about these two builders. Notice that they both go through the same storm.

Look at verse 25. The wise man, he goes through, says, and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house.

And then the foolish man in verse 27, it says, and the rains fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house.

I want you to look closely. There is only one difference between those two statements.

Can you catch it? You see the difference between verse 25 and verse 27 is only one.

The wise man, it says that the winds, the storm beat on that house, but the foolish man, it beat against that house.

Well, to understand what's being said here, we must understand what this storm is referring to. What is

Jesus using this storm as in this analogy? Jesus is speaking of the wrath of God.

That coming storm that's coming to every single one of us, every person that has ever lived will undergo this storm.

Well, I say that every sin that's ever been committed will undergo that storm. Again, this is not a parable for the storms of life.

Don't let any preacher tell you that, well, this is just a principle. These are the storms of life and you need to be able to bear them.

And if you have Jesus and you're on that rock, then you're gonna be able to withstand the storms that are coming in your life.

The Goliath that comes in your life, right? You're not David, right?

But Jesus is warning us of the wrath of God that is poured out upon every sin. He's saying it's coming.

Comes to the wise and it comes to the fool. And those who have built their house, essentially with the same blueprints, a pseudo -Christian worldview, a set of moralism, trying to base things upon the 10 commandments, essentially building with the same materials.

They're building that house, trying their best to obey the law of God, trying to just be a good old boy, right?

I'm just a good guy, thinking that they're morally upright. I don't do this.

I don't go and do these things like these other people do. I think I'm on the straight and narrow. I'm building my house.

I'm using the same materials. I'm taking it from scripture as best I can. Those trusting in their own merits, trusting in their own goodness, or even trusting in the fact that they prayed some sinner's prayer one day and were baptized in their church.

And say, huh, that pastor told me, mark the date down in my Bible. And if I ever doubt, I gotta go back to that day and remember and I'm safe.

I can live like the devil. I can go and I can do whatever I want to, but I'm good because I said the sinner's prayer.

I don't have to be a committed member of a church. I don't have to be obedient to everything Jesus has to say because I've got my insurance card and easy believism.

Trusting in their own merits and goodness, trying to be a good neighbor, trying to be a good citizen.

I'm a good guy. I'm a good businessman. I'm a good church member. I'm a good father.

I'm a good mother. I'm an obedient child. I'm building my house.

I'm trying to use the right materials. Building their house on false obedience only to find out that when the storm of God's judgment comes and it will come, there is no cornerstone.

There is only sand. That sand, the residue of the ground up self -righteousness of those who came before that couldn't withstand the weight of God's judgment that was burned.

Everything, every stud they put in that house, every brick they laid, every piece of furniture that they put in it, every roof they put on burned up and turned into sand for another person to come and build on top of with their own self -righteousness.

And that storm will be against that house. And the inhabitants of that house will not only be crushed under the weight of all of their works, but more fearfully under the wrath of an eternal, holy, perfect, just, and righteous creator, one that will send them into eternal torment and be just in doing so because they disobeyed the words of Christ.

They looked at the Sermon on the Mount and they said, ah, I can live up to that somewhat and missing the heart of it altogether.

No true heart for God. No true desire for obedience. No true hunger for His word.

No true hunger to be in His presence. No true desire to mortify the sin in their life, the sin that their

Savior has died for or our Savior has died for. It may not be their

Savior. Oh, but for those who have entered the narrow gate.

Here's where the hope comes in. Jesus has already told us. He says, go through the narrow gate.

The ones who have persevered, the ones who have gone the way that have truly been on the narrow path through the help of the

Holy Spirit, mind you, not on their own power. Those that have had the privilege of obeying the law of God out of a heart of obedience because they've been given a new heart.

Those who are the ones whose house is built on the rock. It's not because they did the things.

Simply because of Christ being the rock. And then all of that building was them seeking to be obedient.

Building a house according to God's blueprints. But now this house can withstand because of its foundation.

It is eternal. The ones who built their house on the rock, just like the people of Israel.

Do you remember the story when the people are in captivity in Egypt and God is coming through, the

Holy Spirit's gonna come through in judgment and he's going to kill all the firstborn of every home?

What did the people of Israel do? They take the Passover lamb and the blood and they put it on the doorpost and the whole family sets inside of their home and waits while the judgment of God comes over and what happens?

They're safe in that house. Very similar here, the imagery.

We are safe from the wrath of God within that house that is on the rock of Christ.

We too are safe within there for that storm beat on that house, not against.

And I think Jesus used a different language in each one of these very intentionally. The storm beat on that house.

What does that mean? It means that that wrath was poured out upon our Savior.

I said earlier, I said every sin, the judgment of God will be poured out on every sin and that's very true.

For those who have built their house on sand, the judgment of God comes in, wipes out the house and the judgment that is due them will be poured out upon them.

Oh, but us? Oh, we're sitting in that house on the rock and we have sought to be obedient to God.

We have listened to the Word of God. We have listened to the words of Christ. We've sought to be obedient to them and we now have the power to and we desire to, but we're on the rock and now the judgment of God has been poured out on his own son at the cross.

All of those sins, the sin of self -righteousness, sin of disobedience, the sin of indifference, sins of omission, sins of commission, all paid for, tetelestai, paid in full, right?

Don't become numb to that, guys. That should incite emotion and worship within us when we hear that truth, paid in full.

Jesus says, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

This morning, we get to celebrate

God bringing us together as a people for two years, but that comes into a far second in my mind at this moment.

That's all fun. All the stuff out there is gonna be great. I'm looking forward to that. My question this morning for you is, have

I been building my house on the rock or have I been building my house in vain? Am I in Christ or am

I just seeking to outwardly obey some moral standard, some rules that I can't even live up to if I wanted to?

That's the ultimate question because we can fool ourselves. This is Pastor Jeremiah, the text he preached last week.

You can stand before Christ someday and say, Lord, didn't I obey your words as best as possible?

Oh Lord, I didn't cheat on my wife. I didn't do this,

I didn't do that, God. Depart from me, you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you.

You're not on the rock. I pray that for each one of us, that we would evaluate, we would examine, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, right?

That we should evaluate ourselves, that we should look into our lives and examine the fruit.

Is it good fruit or is it bad fruit? Am I a healthy tree or am

I part of a healthy tree or am I part of an unhealthy tree? Well, we see this great truth of Christ displayed for us in a unique way through the ordinance of the

Lord's Supper, don't we? As part of what we do on Sunday mornings, we believe we must see the word.

And that's part of why we go to the table because that's what Christ has prescribed. So let's now prepare our hearts to go to that table.

If you, in here, are on that rock, if you are in Christ, if Christ knows you and you are in good standing with an evangelical church, you are welcome to this church.