Faith Bible Church - Sermons
Deep Is As Deep Does (Matthew 7:24-29)
Hey, once more, good morning. It's fun to be able to say that and even more. It's a special blessing to be able to stand where I am standing and get to see so many smiling faces. I also realize if I can find the camera that I can't see those of you that may be smiling at home. But we are glad that you are joining us today via our live stream and it's just a blessing to be able to gather, to worship God together. If you have your Bible or Bible app, would you go ahead and open it please to Matthew chapter 7? And our passage this morning is a part of Jesus' sermon on the Mount and it's actually the very last part of Jesus' sermon on the Mount. So we're stepping in at the very end where the Lord is almost done. He's been winding down and finishing up and I want to get started today by reading our text to Matthew 7, beginning with verse 24, reading down to verse 29, "If you would follow along with me," and Lord, before we read once again, we take time just to pause and pray and thank you for your word. We believe that it is living and active. Jesus, you taught this many years ago. You are reigning today as our King, as our Redeemer, our Lord. And as we look at your words from your sermon today and this time, would you give us ears that hear and eyes that see and hearts that are ready to truly and humbly receive your word, speak to us Holy Spirit through your living and active word. Thank you ahead of time, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Next to you, chapter 7, let's get started with verse 24, "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them," the NIV here says, "puts them into practice, 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 upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them or does not put them into practice, 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 that house and it fell. And great was the fall of it. And when Jesus finished these things, the crowds were, notice, astonished at His teaching for He was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. Now those two verses at the very end are very descriptive. Are they not? At the end of this sermon, we could say since it is Jesus' sermon, probably the greatest sermon that's ever been preached, Matthew tells us that all of the people that were listening to Him, they were astonished, they were amazed. And by the way, that's a very strong Greek word that means astonished in the sense of undone. Okay? They were overwhelmed. Today we might say they were thunderstruck. They were an absolute awe, why? Because this teaching was unlike anything that they had ever heard. Because unlike the teachers of the law that simply parroted or pointed to tradition as their primary source of authority, Jesus, Matthew tells us, taught as one having authority. In fact, if you have studied the sermon on the Mount, no doubt you remember that several times Jesus would say, "You have heard that it was said," and He quotes from the Old Testament, but then turns around and says, "But I say to you." Or in today's passage, He refers to these words of mine. So He's not speculating here on theology or sociology, the way say a philosophy professor might. Now He is actually a king declaring the nature of His kingdom and explaining what life in the kingdom looks like, what it's all about. And as a result, the people, man, they were amazed. So why this particular text today? Well, as we continue in our series, Deep Roots, Vibrant Faith, we are thinking through the theme of grow. Rooted believers maturing in wisdom and grace. And I simply want to point out that practically every single one of those words are very important. Look at them once more. Grow. All right? So am I growing spiritually? Is there life? Is there fruit? Rooted. Okay. And what kind of soil? What kind of foundation? Believers. Am I? Do I? How do I truly know? Maturing in wisdom and grace, all of those are important. And this is a huge theme that encompasses a big, big part of the Christian life. And so when I knew that I was going to be given the privilege of being able to unpack this today, I immediately began praying about, okay, Lord, I need some direction. There are many passages that address this. What scripture would you like for me to preach? And I just kept being drawn back here to the very end of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. And you might say, why do you think that is? And my answer would be because in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses all of this and more. But even more specifically, after laying out what life and growth in the kingdom looks like, I want you to see what does Jesus emphasize right here at the very end? What does He do? What does He say? What does He want His audience to understand and do? And that's what I want us to see today. And so I want you to notice, He begins by talking about two houses that from the outside appear to be almost identical, but they are sitting on two very different foundations which are under the surface. In other words, you can't necessarily see the foundation. And in addition, He points out as He's wrapping things up, this storm that is coming. And according to Jesus, when the storm hits, it is the foundation or it is where they are rooted that determines whether the house stands or falls. And so what Jesus is essentially saying to us is that we need to periodically look beneath the surface so to speak, that what's underneath the house is just as important, maybe even more important than what's in the house or around the house or to put it another way. When we think through what it means to be a rooted believer who's truly growing and maturing, folks, here's the question I think Jesus is posing. What are we building on? How are we building? How are we growing? What are we living for? What are we depending on? Upon what or who does our ultimate hope and security rest? And I'll go ahead and get right to the point. What Jesus is teaching is basically this. You can have two people side by side. And from an external perspective, they may look like both of them are happy, both are healthy, both appear to be growing and prospering and doing really, really well. But the real difference between these two individuals is what you cannot see. One of them is a wise, prepared soul, ready for the storm that's coming. The other is a foolish, unprepared soul that's going to end up being devastated by the storm that's coming. And here's the thing. You may not be able to tell the difference between the two of them until the storm comes. In fact, I want you to look back at the text and notice that Jesus is crystal clear about the fact that a storm is coming. Does everybody see that? That's one of the things that he's emphasizing in this final section. In fact, look at verse 25 and look at verse 27. Jesus describes it like this, the rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and beat on that house. And I am saying, that is coming, all right, that is coming. So what did Jesus mean? Well, in his commentary on these verses, I think John MacArthur is on to something when he writes that the rain and the floods and the winds do not represent specific types of physical judgment, or at least they're not limited to that, as much as they tend to sum up God's final judgment. And so the storm that Jesus is describing is the ultimate test that the house of every human will face. Now, in addition, it's been pointed out that while you're reading Scripture, if you want to pay close attention to all the exclamation points, then be sure to notice where God repeats Himself. And that's exactly what Jesus does here. First in verse 25, then in verse 27, He describes this coming storm twice, as if to say, "Pay attention, pay attention, pay attention." Not only that, but this is actually His fourth illustration of the storm that's coming. We are at the very, very end of His conclusion. His conclusion, if you want to see the start of that, you've got to back up to at least verses 13 and 14, where there He gives four explicit back-to-back illustrations, again warning us about coming judgment. If you back up there, notice that He talks about two different paths, the wide way leading to destruction, the narrow way leading to life. And then He goes into two kinds of prophets, two kinds of preachers, two kinds of teachers. One He says is true, one He says is false. That's followed in verses 21 to 23 by two kinds of followers, one genuine, one deceived. And now at the very end He puts the closing emphasis squarely on two different kinds of foundations in their corresponding houses, one foolish, one wise. And so this is clearly something that Jesus wants to make sure we do not miss. And I'll go ahead and acknowledge the obvious, the passage that the Lord has led me to today. This is not a quote unquote fluffy topic, right? In fact, most people don't even want to hear this. It is not popular today to talk about sin, wickedness, judgment, and hell. And there are many that would say, wouldn't we be much better off if we could just stay focused on positive upbeat, feel good messages, and just kind of avoid or ignore all that negative stuff? No, Jesus would not agree with that. In fact, let me illustrate it like this. Let's say that we've got a family living in a house and the kids have been tucked into bed and mom and dad are now cozied up together on the couch and they turn on the television to watch a little TV, but suddenly their show is interrupted by an emergency weather announcement that says that an F5 tornado is on the ground and headed straight toward them. And as they quickly scan the radar images, they can clearly see that their neighborhood is in fact directly in the path of this thing. In fact, as they're watching that unfold, they now are hearing the sirens themselves. Okay. Here's my question. What kind of parents would they be if they looked at each other and they said, oh my goodness, we have got to get down into the basement right now. However, let's not disturb the kids because they were so tired when we tuck them in tonight. They need their rest. Okay. That would be like crazy and sane, right? In fact, that would be the most irresponsible, unloving thing that you could possibly do. It would be totally unloving for the parents not to run up the steps, wake up the kids, warn them that a storm is bearing down on them and tell them we got to get into the basement like right now before it's too late. Once again, can you think of anything more unloving than for parents not to make an issue out of the tornado that is headed their way? That is what Jesus is doing as he sums up the Sermon on the Mount. So let's unpack this again. Two builders, two houses, two foundations and two very different outcomes. And as we look at these in more detail, one of the things that caught my attention was how closely these builders and their two houses resemble each other. Notice there's quite a bit of similarity between the two descriptions in verses 24 and 25 and verses 26 and 27. In other words, Jesus is not only repetitive about the storm, but he is also repetitive about the details. So why are they so similar? Well don't miss the fact that Jesus isn't painting the picture of this godless pagan that's standing outside looking at the sky, shaking his fist at God, saying that I'll never have anything to do with Jesus Christ. That is not who's being described here. Instead, you've got two individuals that happen to be very, very similar. In fact, it's possible that these two guys or gals even attended the same church. And I say that because if you look closely, it says they both heard the words of Christ. Does everybody see that? And so it's possible that both of these builders were in the same church. They both listened to the same sermons. They both heard the same words of Christ. They both may have read the Bible. They both built similar homes. They encountered similar storms. And so in every guard, they were a lot alike. But according to Jesus, only one of them was truly wise and secure. The other was very foolish and headed for a devastating crash. And what's the difference, church? The difference is one heard and obeyed. One heard and acted upon what they heard. The other did not. In other words, the mark of true growth, the mark of true maturing, the mark of true discipleship is not merely hearing and believing or even a meaning, but rather believing and practicing, believing and doing, believing and obeying, right? You can even imagine that, if that's true, right? In fact, I want you to listen to Luke's account of this same teaching. Jesus says, "As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and notice, puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. And when a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built. But the one who hears my words, again, notice and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. We're talking total annihilation. And I really like the imagery of that little phrase, "dug down deep." What a terrific description of what it means to be rooted, right? Rooted. And think about how it would have obviously been a lot more challenging for the guy to dig down deep, to get all the way down to the rock than it was for his neighbor who showed up to the place to build and just threw up his house. I want you to get this guys, one built for the moment, the other built for eternity. And the Christian life begins with the right foundation. But to get there, we have to dig down deep, meaning what exactly? I mean, starting next Sunday, should we come in and start passing out shovels? Is that what it means to dig down deep or are you saying, "Hey, if you're going to grow in the Christian life, it's all about digging, digging, digging, working, working, working for your salvation?" No, not at all. So what did Jesus mean? He is connecting the truth of the gospel to the very deepest parts of us. And again, notice the contrast, one digs deep to be absolutely certain that he is building on the rock while the other skips the foundation all together. So the second guy is like, "You know what, come on, just give me the quick fix right now, easy fix." You know, pray a prayer, walk an aisle, sign a card, we're in, right? Let's get on with the building. Is that the way it works? No, that is not the way it works. The gospel is not a quick formula for salvation. Now sadly, it has been reduced to that in a lot of places today. The idea being, hey, Jesus is really easy if you just follow the formula, you know, you want to get saved? It's really easy if you follow the formula, I can do this for you right now. You've got 30 seconds, just say these things. Pray this prayer, repeat after me, work this recipe. It's really, really easy if you just follow the formula. Love ones, that is so dangerous and so destructive, not to mention, that is not in the Bible. It's an invention of this century. Now at the risk of, you misunderstanding me, let me tell you what I'm not saying. I'm not trying to minimize the significance of belief in the heart. I believe in belief in the heart. It's with the heart we believe and are justified. Paul makes that crystal clear in Romans chapter 10. I'm simply saying that the gospel is not the quick, easy, quote unquote, Jesus pitch we throw on the end of a feel good message. In fact, if you were to go back a hundred years or two hundred years and read some of the testimonies of how people were painstakingly brought to a place of genuine brokenness over their sin. And then and only then they fell upon the grace and mercy of God for their forgiveness. That is conversion. That is digging down deep and laying your foundation on the rock. Does everybody see that? In fact, as I was praying through this this morning, God brought to mind again a passage that I often refer to again and again and again. It's from Isaiah 66 verse 2b. In fact, I've probably used it in messages. Listen to what God says. This is the one I esteem. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at my word. Did you get it? Humility, contrition and a deep awe that recognizes, hey, this is the very word of God. And as such, I willingly, in humility and in contrition, bow my knee, bow my heart. I come under its authority. Another way to say it would be to point out that Jesus has called us to make disciples not decisions. And I fear that the reason our church is today are often filled with people that do not really know Christ is they have been encouraged to quote unquote just follow a formula. But they never really face their sin in repentance, in brokenness, in humility, in contrition, and come to Christ absolutely helpless and broken for His forgiveness. You know, we talk today a lot about the spiritual highs. I love the spiritual highs, but we say very little about the quote unquote spiritual depths. And really, this is not new. In his own day, Charles Spurgeon wrote this, he preached this, quote, want of depth, want of sincerity, want of zeal and religion. This is the want of our times, want of an eye to God and religion, lack of sincere dealing with one's soul, neglect of using the lancet with our hearts, neglect of the search warrant, which God gives out against sin, carelessness concerning, living upon Christ, much reading about Him, much talking about Him, but too little feeding on His flesh and drinking of His blood. These are the causes of a tottering profession and a baseless hope. And Spurgeon did mess around, did he? Do you understand what he was saying? He was saying the same thing that Jesus was saying, everyone then who hears these words of mine and what does them, puts them into practice, will be like a wise man who builds his house on the rock and all other ground is nothing more than sinking sand, folks. So again, are you building for the moment or are you and I building for eternity? That is such an important question because Jesus is saying that if your house is built on sand or anything other than the foundation of the rock which is Christ, I say this lovingly but I say this truthfully, a crash is coming, a crash is coming. And Jesus is saying that you're going to lose everything except your loneliness, everything except your isolation, everything except your misery, you're going to lose everything but those things. And so the wise person again is asking, hey, what am I building on? Am I deeply rooted? Have I dug down deep? What am I building toward? What am I living for, deep down? When I look at my motivation and my choices and my priorities, where am I headed? Where is this taking me? Again upon what or who does my ultimate hope and security rest? I'll give you a couple of illustrations. If I'm building my life on romance or the pursuit of pleasure, you know, if that's my true north and I'm forgetting that charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, I realize our culture is trying to convince us that, hey, 50 is the new 30. Well you know what? We're not going to look at age 50 or 60 the way we did when we were 25, right? I mean wrinkles form, hair disappears and I'll just stop right there. Or if I'm building on the foundation of career, bad plan, eventually you're going to get replaced, will be forgotten. None of us get to sidestep the truth of Ecclesiastes 2 and all these things we've toiled and worked so hard, we're eventually going to pass along to somebody else and we have absolutely no control over whether they will be wise with it or whether they will use it poorly. How about this one? What if I'm building on the foundation of family? Is family important? Family is very important. But there will come a time when I am separated from my children or my grandchildren. They eventually are going to grow up, they're going to move out, they may eventually move away, they might even die. I will eventually die. There will come a time when every spouse will be separated from their spouse. Divorce happens, disease happens, death happens. What if I'm building my house on the foundation of recognition? I just want to be praised, I want to be remembered. It's a pretty sobering thought that in all likelihood my great great great grandchildren will never even hear my name. And in all likelihood my name, my reputation, all my accomplishments, James says they are going to go poof and vanish away. And that is where I'm headed if I am building on that foundation. But I also want you to get this. All of these things that I've mentioned, things like romance, career, recognition, family, these are all beautiful gifts from God. And when kept in proper perspective, they are actually good gifts that God lavishes upon us and it is totally a-okay to enjoy all of them. Maybe somebody is thinking, "Okay, but what do you mean by "when kept in proper perspective?" What does that look like? Well, that's a great question. So again, rooted believers who are growing in wisdom and grace understand that all these things as wonderful as they are, they are just signs and shadows. Jesus is the substance. All of these things are pointers and Jesus is the point. And in the end, we're all going to discover that our longing for love and romance and recognition. You know what that is? At its deepest level, it's really our hearts crying out for the one who calls himself the bridegroom, who has deep, deep and everlasting love and affection for his bride, his people. And so our temporal pursuits of love and romance and relationships are ultimately a pursuit of what only Jesus can provide in a lasting way. Jeremiah 31.3 comes to mind. God says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." We sang that this morning and completely known, completely loved. We have no idea, we have no idea how loved we are in Christ. And loved ones, here's a sobering reality. When we do mistake the pointers for the point – by the way, by definition, that is what idolatry is – when we mistake the gifts for the giver, when we mistake the signs and the shadows for the substance himself, that's Jesus, the most terrifying thing that we could ever imagine hearing is, "I never knew you. Not from me, not depart from your career, not depart from your spouse or your kids or your parents, not depart from recognition, not depart from your wealth, not depart from whatever foundation of sand you have chosen to build your entire life on." Now, those are not the words that truly devastate. The truly devastating loss will be the words, "depart from me." Because in Jesus has found the fulfillment of every longing of every human heart. Does that make sense? And so loved ones, you've got to get this, whatever may be vying for your heart or your affection or your attention more than Jesus, please keep in mind. It's all an appetizer. It's all prelude. Remember every good and perfect gift from where? From above, pointing above to the source, to the substance, or as Paul said it, in Romans chapter 11, "For from him and through him and for him are all things to him be glory forever a man." Okay, look back at verse 24, and let's finish up with the promise that Jesus does make to the wise who build on the rock and therefore will not collapse like the foolish who have chosen to build on sand. In fact, I want you to look at verse 24, it's on the screen right now, and I want you to notice the very first word. I'm going to count to three, I want everybody to say it out loud. Very first word, one, two, three. Amen. Amen. What a wonderful word. This is for everyone. Aren't you glad? This is not for most. This is for everyone. And then who what? Here's these words of mine, and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And I want you to grab that little phrase, these words of mine. We have got to ask and answer the question, okay, what is that? What is that? What is he describing? He is describing Scripture. That is the foundation he's talking about. So again, if you want to grow, if you want to be a rooted believer who is maturing in wisdom and grace, here's the way we get that done, church. We stay in the word, we study the word, we live the word. We stay in the word, we study the word, we live the word. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Moreover, when Jesus says these words of mine, it's also important to understand that he's not just talking about the quote unquote "red letter words," right? How many of you have Bibles that have the words of Christ in red? Yeah, I do too. It's okay. That can be helpful. We're not going to kick you out of the church. You have a Bible like that. I just want to remind you that this whole book is the word of Christ, the whole book. For example, in Luke 24 we're told that beginning with Moses and the prophets, so here's Jesus going all the way back to the Torah, Jesus explained to them what was said, listen to this next little phrase, in all the scriptures concerning himself, all the scriptures, not just the red letter sections, all the scriptures. In other words, if Moses said it, or Jeremiah said it, or David said it, or Paul said it, or James and John said it, then guess what? Jesus said it. None of these men were speaking on their own behalf. Peter makes that crystal clear in 2 Peter 1, 21, where he explains that no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, none of them. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Or as Jesus put it through the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, notice all scripture. How much? All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproved for correction and for training and righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Again, Jesus is talking about all scripture and that is an integral part of building our lives on the rock. But in addition, there's another passage here in Matthew where the word rock gets emphasized. And it's when Jesus essentially changes Peter's name from Simon to just Peter. It's found in Matthew 16, most of you can quote it. It's where Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you Simon Bargeona? For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church." In other words, from now on, your name, it's going to be rock. That's what Peter means, rock. That's who you're going to be from this point forward. However, not because of who you are, because you're faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive. No, I'm not referring specifically to you, Peter. Your days of collapsing, they aren't over yet. No, it's because of what you said. It is your confession that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God. I am going to build my church on that. I am going to be the cornerstone, the very foundation upon which the entire thing is built. I think Psalm 62, 2 says it so well. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress. I will never be shaken. Okay, that is our foundation, right? So again, if we want to grow, if we really do want to be a rooted believer who is maturing and wisdom and grace, it is developed in the person of Christ through the Word of Christ. So once more, read the Word, study the Word, live the Word. In fact, once more very quickly, look back and be absolutely sure to notice that this is true of everyone who hears my Word and what does them, who puts them into practice. I know you know this, but it's in the text, so I'm going to say it again. It is not enough just to hear or to know or to even amen when we're in agreement. Jesus says we do. Jesus says we practice. Jesus says we are changed by both what we hear and what we live. And you know what, this syncs up with something that Paul wrote to the Ephesians, Wayne actually unpacked this, taught on this at the very beginning of the series. In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul is describing how God actually designed us to grow individually as well as how he designed the body as a whole to grow. And I want you to listen, I'm going to put it on the screen so you can follow along and read it with me. In Ephesians chapter 4 verses 15 and 16, Paul's just finished making a comment that rather than being perpetual little children, that end up being just tossed to and fro by every new trend or wind of doctrine that happens to come blowing through the body of Christ. Rather he says, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. I so love this, I so love this at the end of the day. The singular test of our maturity is the growing love that we have one for another. But equally true, notice that Paul is talking about love that manifests itself in service. So how do we grow? How does the body of Christ get built up in love? Well look at the very last part of the verse. Paul says it happens when each part is working properly. The NIV says it happens when each part does its work. Can I just stop and ask who are the parts? I'm looking at the parts. I'm looking at the parts. It happens when each part is working properly. So how does Paul define love? Through each part of the body doing its work, through each part of the body actually living the Word. Let me help you apply this, and I commend this to you in love. I will not mature as a Christian apart from significant involvement in ministry. I will not mature as a Christian apart from significant involvement in ministry. This is such an important application of what it means to actually live the Word. Do the Word. So if you've gotten to the place and you're a Christian walk where you think, Pastor Buck, I don't know man, I just don't seem to be going anywhere. Okay, then you really need to get this. The answer isn't me needing to master more information. That is not the answer. I don't need to connect with one of the pastors and have them explain another verse to me. "No, I am not going to get any further spiritually till I begin to take the truth that has been given to me and then turn around and give it to other people through loving service." Again, we are changed by both what we hear and what we live. I am serious. If you ever wondered why sometimes we do kind of just plateau spiritually, just kind of level off, it's because if you don't start giving out some of what you're taking in, you will stop growing. And this happens to so many Christians. They recognize that something's not right. So this is what they do. They get out thinking, "I'll get a new book," or "I'll go to a new seminar," and some even say, "I'll go to a new church." And I am saying it is not an information issue. Most of us have enough content. We have to start taking what has been given to us and giving it out through what Paul calls the work of ministry, the work of service, Ephesians 4, 12. Again, that's one of the ways that we actually live the Word. So let me close with this. Most of you, I know, very familiar with the warning that James provides, and James 1.22 where he says, "Do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves. Do it," it says. In fact, we're so familiar to this that it's easy to hear it read and kind of go, "Yeah, I know that. Check it all. Let's move on." Now, let's not move on. Let's sit here for just a minute. Some of your translations render it this way, but prove yourselves doers of the Word and not merely hearers who delude themselves. So we've got to be a doer, not just a hearer. In fact, when there's hearing without doing, that sets us up for what James calls self-delusion or self-deception. Does everybody see that? This is not my opinion, I'm pointing you to what the Holy Spirit said through James. You say in what way? In this way, biblical knowledge does not automatically lead to spiritual maturity. It doesn't. Paul Tripp often points out that our heads learn faster than our hearts, and that can be a very, very dangerous thing. Just because you can articulate an idea, say, theology, doesn't mean necessarily that I have submitted myself to it. And if we're not careful, we'll mistake our knowledge as the barometer of our maturity. Tripp calls it the "acadimizing of our faith." And it's when we define our spiritual growth and our maturity by our, quote unquote, biblical literacy. Can I remind you guys that the Pharisees, they had tremendous biblical literacy. Some of these guys could recite from memory large chunks of the Hebrew Pentateuch. And so these guys knew the Scriptures, they knew their Bible, they also hated Jesus. They murdered the Messiah. So theological knowledge in and of itself does not automatically mean that we are spiritually mature, hence the title today. Deep is as deep does, Church. Again we've got to listen in, and then we've got to live it out. In fact, we can listen to sermons for a lifetime, but if what we're hearing isn't being incarnated, isn't being actually put into practice, then James says we might be self-deluded. We might be deceiving ourselves. Jesus equates it with foolishly building our house on the sand. You say, "But I go to church every Sunday." You can. And you can still build your house on the sand. Somebody has pointed out that the devil is actually a better theologian than any of us and is still a devil still. And to that I say, ouch. Again, we need to grow, and we are changed by what we hear and what we live. In fact, you know where the Scriptures put the emphasis, if we're going to, as I wrap things up today, if we're talking about, okay, how would you even know? What is a good barometer for whether or not I am actually growing into being conformed into the image of Christ? Here's where Scripture puts the emphasis, Scripture puts the emphasis on fruit, puts the emphasis on fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love. So you want to evaluate your spiritual maturity, start there, love. Well, I know what the Greek word is there. I'm glad you do. Am I learning to love, am I deepening in love? Husbands, how are you doing with your wife? Parents, how are you doing with your children? It's joy, it's peace. You want to evaluate how you're doing in terms of your spiritual maturity? How patient are you becoming, especially when you're inconvenienced, when you're pressed upon? How kind are you? It's goodness. It's seen in faithfulness. How about this one? You want to know how you're doing spiritually in terms of your maturity? How gentle are you becoming? And then self-control. So I'm going to pray in like 30 seconds, and before I pray, I want to ask all of you a very, very important question. You're ready? Here it is. What is going on in your heart right now, right now? Because God says, "This is the one I esteem. He was humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." So Father, as we pray together in response to your word, would you grant because you're a God of amazing grace, a humility that models our Savior, Jesus Christ? Would you grant a repentance that comes about through the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit leading us to a deep contrition? Would you enable us to truly tremble at your word to come under the authority of your word? Help us to be doers. Help us to hear. Help us to live for your glory. Even now, as we begin to respond with worship, having an opportunity to sing in response to what we are hearing you say through your word to our heart, would you continue speaking to us? Would you give us the gift of being able to hear? What are you putting your finger on in terms of where I've heard? I know that I need to deepen when it comes to what I need to do, what I need to do. Speak Holy Spirit for your glory in Jesus' name, amen.