Amazed at His Word
Series: The Sermon on the Mount
August 29, 2021 - David Stockton
David: To get us kicked off, we're going to bring up our reader for today. He's going to come up and read our passage of scripture. Yeah. Yeah.
Jake: Hello. My name is Jake Shores, and I'm in the high school group here at Living Streams. I had a good joke, but they won't let me tell it. So…
David: No jokes allowed.
Jake: I’ll be reading Matthew 7:24-29:
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
This is the word of the Lord.
David: Thanks be to God. Very nice. Very nice. Yeah. So this is the wrap-up. We have kind of the last words of Jesus, the last little kind of analogy that he gives. He talks about the the foolish builder and the wise builder. And the wise builder is the one who takes his words, literally his words, and puts them into practice — not just hears them, not just understands them but actually puts them into practice — is like someone who is really set, who's prepared for whatever might come, who can withstand the winds and the waves and the crashing and all of that that goes on. Someone who's planted firmly on a rock that's going to, you know, kind of stand the test of time. And as the tides come, and as things change, and feelings come, and emotions go, and thoughts come, and philosophies come, and doctrines come, and all these things, they're going to be able to find themselves not falling, not crashing, not being destroyed.
And that's the way he ends his sermon. He basically gave us the whole, you know, it's three chapters in the book of Matthew, but all of these words — about 15 to 20 minutes, if you were to read the whole thing — and then he sums it up with that.
And then immediately Matthew, the commentator says, “And when Jesus had finished these words,” when he finished the sermon, Matthew noted what happened to all the people that were listening. Now we know he primarily had pulled his disciples and he was using this as a time to teach them. But there was a larger crowd than just his disciples that were there. And they were on the side of the hill looking over the Sea of Galilee.
And Jesus had probably done this many different places around the Sea of Galilee. That was his circuit of ministry and teaching. And he was teaching people about the kingdom, but he was also ushering in the manifestation of the kingdom of God right in that moment. And people were getting healed, people were getting set free. Good news was being preached to the poor. They had the hope rise up in their hearts against the political and socioeconomic backdrop in which they were living.
But Matthew notes here, in that moment when Jesus is finished the sermon, there was silence, there was hush, there was stillness, you could hear the breeze, you could hear maybe a little bit of the sea. And he says in that moment there was this amazement, this kind of like awe that settled in on all the people. And they actually remarked — he remembers them saying — they were amazed at his words.
And what was so amazing to them was that Jesus was teaching unlike anyone that they had ever heard. He taught with authority, unlike the teachers of the law. And that's settled amazement was something that stuck with those disciples. That settled amazement is really what caused those disciples to continue to stay with Jesus. That settled amazement as you read through the the gospels you'll hear that over and over again. When Jesus said this, everyone was amazed. When Jesus said this they were shocked. They were in awe when Jesus said this. They didn't know what to do.
Later on, John, who was one of Jesus's followers, as he was writing about these two guys that were Jesus followers on the road to Emmaus. He describes it as them saying, “Did not our hearts burn within us upon the road as he spoke to us?”
I don't know what it was like to actually hear Jesus in the flesh speaking. I don't know if his voice was like high pitched or like super low. I'm sure as he spoke there was a lot of “hcch” because he mostly spoke Hebrew. But I don't know what it would have been like to actually hear it. And then also what Mathew says they were amazed. I just think when Jesus spoke these words, if you've been with us in the Sermon on the Mount, it's heavy. It's like a punch in the gut. Sometimes it's intense. It's challenging.
Jesus says that we're supposed to call our God in heaven Daddy, as opposed to what the Jews were teaching at that time, that you're not even allowed to write the name out because it's too holy and reverent. It was shocking. It was amazing.
But as Jesus finished, there was no condemnation for the people that heard it, and guess what, these people were not checking off all the boxes as Jesus taught this. They weren't saying, “Oh, yeah, I do all that stuff perfectly. Glad you said that.” But there was something about the tone of his voice, there was something about the look in his eyes, there was something away that he moved, that really helped all of these people believe that the one who was speaking actually was telling them this because he thought they could get there. That they could be perfect, even as their Father in heaven is perfect. It was an invitation more than a condemnation.
And yes, they were convicted. Yes, they knew, when he was talking about anger, “I was like looking at the ground on that one.” When he was talking about adultery, “I just thought maybe I should leave right now. But then I thought, everybody know I just committed adultery so I stayed.” All these different emotions as Jesus was pinning one by one, all these different things that we deal with as humanity, was calling out the depravity in us.
He even, at one point, says, “You are evil, and yet you know how to give good gifts. How much more will my Father in heaven give good gifts, who’s not evil.” Some intensity in all of this. And yet the people's response was not to go further away from Jesus. It was to get closer. It was to say, “Maybe, just maybe, if I stay close to this guy, some of the beauty that he just spoke of, some of the truth that he just shared, will start to show up in my life.” The words of Jesus — powerful. The words of God are so good.
And this is not just true in this little passage here, but we see this consistently throughout the whole of scripture. Way back in the Old Testament. It all begins with God doing what? Speaking. It says, “God said, let there be light.” And everything changed. There was light. There were stained glass windows. There were lights that are, like, blinding me right now. He created light when he spoke. He didn't have to speak.
He could have just done like the Jedi. You know, he could have just thought it. But for whatever reason, he spoke into that darkness to create light. He spoke to the ocean and it filled with fish. And life. He spoke to the cosmos and all of a sudden the sun and moon and stars appeared. There is so much power in the word of God.
And then you continue on and it's story after story in the Old Testament, how God visited someone — and what did he do? He spoke to him through a burning bush. He spoke to him somehow, just in his heart. He spoke in a vision. We don't know exactly all the different ways that God spoke to people, but we do know that God spoke to people and they recorded it for us time and time again. And it caused great change in their life.
In fact, in a real bizarre way, you ready to get crazy here? So the book of Ezekiel. Don't read it before you’re going to bed. It's creepy. It's totally bizarre. The Book of Revelation. You should read it because it's actually the only book in the Bible that says if you read it, you will be blessed. You just got to read it. You don’t have to understand it. Just read it and you'll be blessed. Just take the word for the word, what it's saying. But it also is just crazy out there.
And in both of these stories, you have this interesting thing. Both of them. One’s Old, one’s New. They're not connected at all. But you have these visions. Sorry, in case you're like wondering what's going on here. I know there's kids in the room and my wife's in the room, too. She's kind of like a kid in her brain.
But I hurt my my finger playing football yesterday because I'm old.
But anyway. So in these visions, you have Ezekiel and he's there and he's kind of caught up in the heavenly realm. There's angels and there's the throne of God. And all of a sudden he sees a scroll. And he hears this voice, this voice that says, “Take up the scroll.” And all the attention is put on the scroll.
And he takes up the scroll and then the voice says, “Eat it.” It's true. And I don't know how, if it was like tear a little piece off, eat it, drink a little water, I don't know how, put a little barbecue sauce on it, where he ate the scroll in the vision.
And same thing in Revelation. John's having this revelation. He’s there, caught up in the heavens. He’s like, “Oh, this is crazy, this is awesome.” And then the scroll appears. He’s like, “Oh, a scroll. That's cool.” And then he’s like, “Go take the scroll.” He takes the scroll and guess what the voice says? “Eat it.” So, he eats the scroll. He eats it. And both of them remark that as they ate the scroll, it tasted so sweet in their mouths. Like rocky road ice cream. Maybe a Bosa donut — like the chocolate covered one that's just fresh. Maybe four of them at the same time, stacked up, smashed down, or whatever. It was sweet in their mouth as they tasted it. They remarked. There was something about the word that was just amazing and wonderful as they took it in. But then it says, “And then when it got to their belly, it became sour.” Began to kind of shake things up. It didn't sit well in their stomachs.
And I think that's just a picture of how we're really supposed to take in the word of God. As Jesus spoke these words, the people heard it, and as they heard it, they were amazed. It was sweet in their hearing. But
And there are people right now who read different parts of the scripture and it's painful. It's disturbing. It cuts them in half. And there's a real sense in our society today to try and take God's word that's been preserved for us, and to kind of just throw it out, and not really let it have a voice at the table anymore. Or what's to me even maybe a little bit more dangerous, is it can stay at the table, but it's got to sit at the little kids’ table, you know, off in the corner, or the little baby seat. And we've stripped it of all of its authority.
Yet these people, when they heard the words of Jesus, that wasn't their response. They were challenged by it. And in fact, these disciples, they stuck with Jesus long enough to where it really cost them everything, including their own lives — to continue to walk in his ways and to put his ways above what they were feeling, what they were experiencing, what society was telling them to do.
And so we have a statement here at Living Streams that we really believe that this book — Old the New Testament, the full canon of scriptures preserved for us — it’s all inspired by the word of God, by God and by the breath of God. It's inspired. It's God-breathed. It's come to us because God has helped form this. Yes, there were humans involved. Yes, the chapters and verses were supposed to be helpful and sometimes they’re not helpful at all. It spans all kinds of different cultures and spans all kinds of years. So it takes interpretation. No doubt about it. And careful application. And it's been used horribly and abusively in many different situations. No doubt about it. However, it is the word of God breathed out by God himself for us, to help us know how to navigate the challenges that continue to rise in our own hearts and in our world around us.
And the other word that we call it, is we call it authoritative. It sits at the head of the table. And the community of faith, it's got a voice for us to help unpack it. The historical interpretations and traditions sit at the table to help us unpack it. And our experiences, our feelings, our emotions, those around us, the world around us, that has a voice, too. But it's the one sitting in the baby chair. Because it really does cause us to be confused sometimes. Because it's the least trustworthy, it's the least inspired, it's the least authoritative.
It takes me back to what Jesus said, that we could have a decision. Jesus said, “I'm going to share these words with you and they're going to taste sweet in your mouth. But when they get down in, there's going to be difficult. It's going to be challenging to walk this stuff out. It's going to be challenging to hold and stand your ground in these places when everyone else is falling away, when everyone else that you love is hurting because of some of these things, it's going to be tough. It's going to be tricky. There's going to look like there's a lot of other rocks that you're going to want to stand on. There's a lot of other ground that's going to look like maybe it's better.” But Jesus is saying this is the only rock that's going to be able to stand when the when the storm really comes. When all hell breaks loose, if you find yourself standing on anything else you're going to get washed away. And we don't want to be a people washed away and we don't want to teach our kids things that would help cause them to be washed away later on.
Kids in the room, you're going to hear a lot of different things about this book. But just hear me say that this book is trustworthy. It's a great guide for your life. No matter what the world might say around you, this book has withstood a lot of different worlds, a lot of different philosophies. A lot of people have tried to throw off the authority of this thing, and they've done so to their own peril.
So why are Jesus's words, why is God's word so important and so moving? Well, the first thing I want us to remember is the incarnation, right? So Jesus came into this world. He came from a place into this world. Now, it's a little tricky with God because God's outside of time and we are not. God is not confined in any way. We're confined in lots of ways. But God — who was God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit in the triune nature — at one point decided within our human experience to have Jesus come and take on human flesh. Actually, the way John his follower calls him — as he was trying to figure out what's the best way I can describe Jesus — he says I'm going to call him the Word that came in flesh. Because ultimately that's what Jesus was to John. He was this Word. He was this understanding. He was this moving language that was spoken to him that changed everything.
So in the incarnation, Jesus came from the kingdom of heaven into the kingdom of earth. So it made sense that, as you spoke about the kingdom of heaven, it was like nothing anyone had ever heard. If you came to me and you were like, “Hey, tell me about Morocco.” I'll be like, “It's over there somewhere. Starts with an M.” But I could probably find somebody that's been there, done that, and they can teach you about it. But then if you ask my wife and I about Belize, we'd be like, “Blah, blah, blah.” It would just come shooting out. Lots of stories to tell about Belize. And still, we don't really totally know about believe.
But Jesus came to us in incarnate from the kingdom of heaven, which also means that he was there when the world was created. And in fact, it was his own word that the Bible says is what created it, created everything; and it's his word that actually holds it all together still today. The word of Christ.
So when Jesus came and spoke about the kingdom of earth and the kingdom of heaven and the way people are supposed to live, it was a perspective so deep, so rich, so powerful, so undeniable. The incarnation.
The second thing was very interesting to me is that Jesus's words were so powerful because he linked his words to the inspired word of God. Multiple times in his life, and actually two different times in this little short sermon, Jesus talks about the law and the prophets as confirming what he's saying. He's not creating separation and distance between his words and the law and the prophets. He's actually linking them together because he knows that they are trustworthy and true. And he spoke of them in that way.
In this day and age, the Old Testament is getting a lot of bad press. And I get it, there are some tough things that need some cultural lenses. I'm so thankful we have Jesus's words in the New Testament to help us interpret the Old Testament. But the Old Testament is alive and well and important. It's a great revelation of how God works with people. It’s a great revelation of who God is. And Jesus was not embarrassed about it or nervous about it. He actually used it time and time again and linked his teaching to it — which is fascinating to me. Sometimes I wish he didn't do it. I'd love to write that whole thing off. But I would do so to my own peril because it's teaching us about who God is, in his full nature.
And yes, it needs to be interpreted through the New Testament and through the words of Jesus. But the truth is, you can't really understand the New Testament without reading and knowing the Old Testament. They're so connected. They're all inspired by God. I know this is super unpopular teaching, by the way. And I know that there's scriptures that really do hurt when we read them. In fact, if we're honest, all of us hurt to some degree, but some more than others and I understand that. But I really, really feel like it's my job to make sure and try and give us the things that are going to be good seed that ultimately would lead to good fruit.
I think there's just a lot of bad seed being planted in our nation. And I don't want it to be planted in our churches and I don't want it to be planted in our families. It might seem like really good seed. Just like Jesus talked about in these couple of parables before the the foolish and wise builder, it might look like a good seed. It might actually look like a good tree, too. But it's going to bear real bad fruit. And I feel like our nation is just grabbing so much bad fruit right now, trying to get some sort of satisfaction. And the Tree of Life is just sitting right over there. But they need to see it planted and expressed in us. They need to see the fruit coming out of our lives as we apply the word of God, as we put these things into practice, unlike a fool.
A couple of stories on that. I just love you people at this church. You guys are so awesome. I get a call from a young guy in our church and I was just like, "Hey, what's up, man?” He’s like, “I just want to catch you up. I've been gone for the summer.”
I was like, “Okay, what's happening?”
He's like, “Well, I got I got my first job.” And it's a big deal for a number of reasons. But he got his first job and he's going to get a paycheck and he's like, “I'm going to get this paycheck.” And, you know, they were paying him like a pretty good amount of money for, you know, like just the guy first starting out with a job. At least for me, it seemed like that because I was like “Dang, man, you’re making the same amount I”m making. What's going on here anyways?”
No, no, no big deal there. But it he was serious. He was so excited about about this new job that he had and that he was getting his paycheck. And I was just like, “That's cool, man. I'm so happy for you,” because, you know, he's even had some like, you know, visa type stuff and all the things. So it really is kind of a miraculous, wonderful thing that he's got this. But he's so excited about this paycheck and he just keeps talking about this paycheck.
And I was like, “What do you what are you asking about your paycheck, man?” I don't get it. And ultimately, he was saying, “I just want to give it to the Lord. And I want to talk to you about how do you do that. Like you just give the whole thing or should I give part of it or should I give some over here and some over here?” He was like, “What do you recommend?”
And I was just like. Oh, man. This is unbelievable. This guy is just so thankful to the Lord that he just wants to give firstfruits right to God. Not because, you know, he's burdened under some, you know, heavy, heavy teaching. Because he just wants so badly to please the Lord. He’s so thankful to the Lord. He wants to plant his life firmly on what he believes to be the words of Jesus.
So I said, “Give it all to me, man." No, I didn’t say that. Say, “I’m a pastor, man. You're supposed to give it straight to me. You know, and it's going to work out.”
No, I didn't say that at all. I didn't say that! Oh, I didn't say anything.
But anyways, we talked a little bit about tithing and 10 percent. And we talk about savings. We talked a little bit. And he talked a little about his family who had helped him through college. So it was cool.Just so you know, I'm not getting any of the money at all. Zero. Zero. Zero.
But anyway, so that was one story that was just like this is putting the words of Jesus into practice. It’s putting the word of God into practice. And it doesn't have to be this like heavy, hard, painful thing. We're actually supposed to, in the New Testament, interpret the Old Testament. We're supposed to give cheerfully. And this is a beautiful story of this kid just saying, “I'm so excited to finally be able to do this for Jesus. Because for the first time I have a job." I love it.
Second little story about applying the word of God in some really cool ways. We've been talking about the words of Jesus. A couple of years ago, we actually did a sermon series called "Church Around the Table,” and how we really feel like, you know, it's cool to to be able to meet together and all of these things. But really, the the some of the most special, some of the most challenging, some of the richest pay dirt in our spiritual formation and maybe even in evangelism, is around our own tables, in our own homes. And we were challenging people to kind of take the word of God and apply it to your own table at home and what would it look like? Remember Jesus was inviting himself over to people's tables, and he was meeting with tax collectors and sinners, and he was kind of bringing people together that didn't seem like they were allowed to be together.
And so what this guy and his wife decided to do was to create these dinners where they call them MGen, so they invite multiple generations to sit at the table together; because they're they're in the older generation. And so they literally are old enough to where they were able to invite five different generations together at this table. It was funny for Britney, you know, because we're no longer like the young generation. We're like in that middle aged generation. We were like, “Oh, it's happening.”
And then, you know, my finger and stuff. But anyway, so we're sitting around this table and there's this couple that are in their older generation, and then there's us, and then there's one couple that's younger, and then there was a couple that's older, and then another couple that was, you know, older and we all just started to share stories. I knew going in that, you know, not all of us were were believers in Jesus Christ, followers of Jesus Christ. I knew one of the couples was was a homosexual couple. So we just all sat there and we all just kind of shared our stories, shared about life.
And they went first and they got real. So then it was like, OK, well, they're setting the standard there. Everybody else was going as real as they could, you know. But Brittany and I went next. And I mean, as the believers around the table are sharing their stories, obviously they're just full of what Jesus has done, full of what Jesus has done. And yet no, like, challenge or weirdness there. And then everyone else is able to share their story and where they're at. And they felt a little bit obligated to share what their spiritual formation is like. And, you know, we all just kind of listen and that was it. We just had dinner together. We sat in the same space and enjoyed our time together and got to know each other. I thought it was just such a beautiful, beautiful way of applying the word of God and saying, “Okay, we don't want to just kind of do this one hour a week on Sunday morning.
We don't just want to do this when we go on a little missions trip and we go involve ourselves in a part of society that’s maybe not the exact same. We want it right here at our table. We want to go all the way in. And it was just so beautiful to see, so challenging. As I sat there and saw the word of God applied, but then also felt compelled, Okay, Lord, where do I go from here?
Those are the type of seeds that need to be planted right now. Those are the type of seeds that are going to lead to good fruit, are going to cause our nation — whatever kind of craziness it wants to do or not do — but ultimately, people are going to come to the end of themselves. They're going to come face to face with their own depravity, and they're going to say, “Is there any good fruit out there?”
And Lord willing, we'll have fostered relationships and we'll have allowed the word of God to abide in us to where it’s bearing good fruit in our life. They're going to say, “What do you have to offer?” And we’ll be like, “What’s up? Bam.” Apple. We'll have good fruit to offer. And people will get to know who God is and what he can do in their lives.
It all starts with the words of Jesus, and the words of Jesus are definitely here in the gospels, the four accounts: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The words of Jesus expand beyond those gospels into the New Testament. The words of Jesus fill the whole Old Testament, as well. All of this counsel is so good for us. The words of Jesus come to us from other places, as well. Come from sermons, come from friends. The Bible talks about creation, speaking about the invisible attributes of God. We have the Spirit of God that's been given to us who've accepted Christ, speaks to us from that. We have the saints of old that have answered a lot of the questions that we have, giving us information. The words of Jesus come to us from a lot of different places.
If we really want to hear God's word when he speaks, we’ve got to remember that he's teaching us the kingdom of heaven’s way. So when it is different than the kingdom of earth way that we're so familiar with, we should not be shocked. We should not argue, and we should not rebel. We should receive it and get in line with it, no matter how hard it is.
Because God is not really trying to help us win in the kingdom of earth economy. And if you haven’t figured that out through the Sermon on the Mount, listen to again. He's teaching us how to win at the economy of heaven, which is ultimately what really matters.
And if we want to hear from God's word, we must remember that it will be in line with the scriptures. I try to tell people all the time who want to prophesy to do it and don't be afraid. We're supposed to eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially prophecy, speak the word of God. Do it. Be bold. Be excited about that.
But I also tell them that as you're about to do it — whether it's with someone on a one-on-one or whether it's from the platform here or whatever it might be — I say, “Try and think of a Bible verse that says the same thing that you're feeling compelled to say and just use that instead, as a good rule of thumb, or at least use a Bible verse in conjunction with what you're saying to confirm what you're saying.” It's a really good practice because God's word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. God's word is alive.
One time there was a guy talking to me, “How do you really preach God's word? Like, what's the best way to go about it?”
I said, “Just let it out of its cage.”
God's word is so powerful. It’s been changing lives for a long, long time. Long, long time. And so to conclude, I just want to read a verse that sums this up, Isaiah 55:11-13 (GW) gives us one last picture.
And so, kids, this one's for you, this is a little picture. Remember how it was raining a bunch recently? All that rain coming down.You’ve got to think about that rain coming down. Or remember, I guess it’d be like February or something, when you wake up and the grass is all covered in dew? This is what that verse is all going to be about.
So, “My word,” God says, “which comes from my mouth,”
It will not come back to me without results.
It will accomplish whatever I want
and achieve whatever I send it to do.”
You will go out with joy and be led out in peace.
The mountains and the hills
will break into songs of joy in your presence,
and all the trees will clap their hands.
Cypress trees will grow where thornbushes grew.
Myrtle trees will grow where briars grew.
This will be a reminder of the Lord’s name
and an everlasting sign that will never be destroyed.
So just like when that rain comes down and settles on the earth, the earth does not stay the same.It might seem at first, like the earth all the same, but underneath that, you know, there's little seeds (and a lot of them are weeds, especially now) but there's little seeds — good seeds, bad seeds — all underneath the ground. And as God's words come, it causes those things to be quick and to come to life, those seeds to die, and all of a sudden, these shoots to start coming up and coming out.
I believe a little bit of 2020 and the shaking that we've been through is a little bit of God kind of bringing to fruition a lot of the seeds that we have planted as individuals and as a nation. And it ain't pretty. Except for where it's pretty.
My prayer is that we, right now as the church, God's instrument in this world, to help his name and his kingdom and his glory be known and felt. That we would be planting seeds right now like never before. We will be allowing the word of God to abide in us more than ever before. We would be speaking out and teaching our kids and our families and our communities the word of God like never before. So that, in due time — whether it just be the rains and blessings of God that bring it to fruition, or there's more shaking that comes that brings to fruition — we would get to see a lot of good fruit show up from the people of God. And it's happened many times before, where the people of God have been able to usher in awakening and renewal, and that's what I'm praying for again.
So we've got the words of Jesus. We just now have to put them into practice — like wise builders — and allow the good fruit to show up for our own families, but also for the community around us. Amen.
I mean, you did so good kids. Let's hear it for the kids.
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Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.