WOULD YOU LOVE GOD THIS MUCH? MF Blume April 6, 1997 pm Mat 7:21-27 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. Everyone in this building is "building a house" your interest and concern for the things of God is evident since you are HERE to hear the preaching. you consider God and the Bible or you would not be here from the least active in the church tonight, to the most active, you are all building houses Jesus said the ones who build have one thing in common They believe and call Jesus "Lord" but you are either building on sand or a rock people all over the world are building houses let us leave out the people who do not believe in God tonight leave out the other religions all people who believe in JESUS are building houses they are trying to prepare for the storm that they know is coming other religions do not believe Jesus will judge us so they believe in no storm which Jesus is talking about. NOTICE JESUS' FLOW OF THOUGHT: Only those who do the Father's will can enter the Kingdom Doing God's will causes Jesus to KNOW us This is true because Jesus points out that we must do His will to enter the Kingdom and then explains how He will say He never knew some people, and will tell them to depart they cannot enter. He explains that knowing Him and doing the Father's will is hearing His sayings and doing them. We must understand that His sayings are the Father's will John 7:16-17 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. He told people the will of the Father And finally, John explains this very clearly. 1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. Here are His commandments: Mat 22:37-39 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. We see that God's WILL is that we love Him and love our neighbours. this is His greatest commandments John said we know that we KNOW Him when we keep His commandments and those who KNOW Him are the only ones who will be saved He will check whether He knows us at judgment. No wonder Paul said, "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM"! Phil 3:10-11 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. By all means we must attain to the resurrection of the dead. we cannot miss this resurrection. Knowing Him and doing His will are the same thing. without it we will not be saved. I. THE IMPORTANCE OF HIS WILL Jesus compared those who KNOW HIM to a wise man building His house on a Rock. winds blow and the house cannot fall. Those who cry Lord, Lord, but never do God's will are the ones who hear His sayings and do not do them. Jesus said they are like the fool who built his house on sand. many are building houses today I refer to Christianity. many say they are Christians that is why Jesus said many will say, "Lord, Lord." but a Christian by name is not a Christian as such desert dwellers those who call Jesus Lord better ensure there is something more to their Christianity than calling Him Lord. they better be doing His will they better know Him and we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments and His commandments are to love God and love our neighbours as ourselves. So if you love God and love your neighbours, along with calling Jesus Lord, you are a wise builder. By the way, loving God is more than SAYING you do. You must actually show it in DOING something. Actions speak louder than words. All the world will fall one day Heb 12:26-13:1 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. Let brotherly love continue. All the world will shake in judgment. only those in the Kingdom which cannot be moved will remain Jesus said those who enter the Kingdom, which Hebrews says cannot be moved, are those who do the Father's will love God and love the world. or as Hebrews said it, those who have grace. I must do God's WILL. to attain to the resurrection of the dead to remain standing while all falls away to nothingness to live eternally with the Lord. Will I love God that much that I will dedicate all and then LIVE for Him? living for Him is DOING His will. II. THE FATHER'S WILL We can see how doing the Father's will means everything it is building a house on the Rock that cannot fall. a storm is coming many people will be swept away many are not preparing a house since they do not believe in God and therefore do not believe in judgment day but many do believe in God and believe the storm called judgment is coming they are building houses they are going to Churches and fellowships of all sorts but many of them are only building on sand since they are calling Him, "Lord", by showing interest in God but are not DOING anything about it. Jesus said they are fools who build on sand, and their preparation is simply not good enough. observer of all and doer of nothing, you are building a house that will not stand think about it you are concerned enough to come to Church but you are not doing anything lasting you are doing something you are building a house on sand. Two groups and a storm are seen in Revelation. Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 144,000 represent one group Babylon represents another group The STORM of God's judgment is seen - "the hour of his judgment is come" The 144,000 STAND on a mountain Babylon FALLS House of the WISE stands in the storm - House of FOOLS falls in the storm Notice the link to the Father's will ...his Father's name written in their foreheads. The forehead represents your WILL and if the Father's name is on the forehead, then you must be doing the Father's will The ones who do the Father's will are like a man who builds on the rock, and cannot fall. BABYLON is noted for doing its own will Dan 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? It BEGAN in pride Gen 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And those who will not deny themselves and do the Father's will by loving Him and loving their neighbour will be cast down as Babylon. The 144,00 follow the LAMB wherever He goes Rev 14:4-5 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. Adultery and fornication spiritually represents loving the WORLD, when you are married to Christ. James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Follow the Lamb is obeying the Lamb's teachings. - all of them They are on the Rock of Zion after the flood of Noah was over, notice the ark was all that remained and it was on a mountain. In the midst of all that falling and standing in revelation 14, we read: Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. This sifting out of the fools and the wise reveals the TRUE saints who keep His commandments as life's problems in general come our way, the true saints always are seen to STAND counterfeit saints fall in trials all the time the true saints STAND in the all storms. Don't give up on the child of God, he'll be there when the battles over Do you love God this much? to be more than just someone who goes to religion? to DO what He says? is there someone here who has not yet dedicated all to Him? are you tired of just building on sand? do you feel like tearing down the wasted effort of weeks and months and years of never really building on the Rock? Are you tired of simply hearing about God's will and never DOING it yourself? Do you want to make sure you remain while Babylon falls? (Babylon is the place God's people were held in bondage when they were not doing God's will its more than simply not doing God's will those who do not do God's will enter into bondage are you tired of being bound? want to be set free?) How will the truth set you free? .....-by obeying it! More Bible Study Lessons