Could I turn you in God's word tonight, please, to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 7. Matthew's gospel, chapter 7. I wish to read some verses at the end of this chapter of the word of God. I'm not sure anybody will be recounting my life in a couple of hundred years' time. I'll be long gone from then. and in the glory, but I remember some time ago, it was the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, and I decided I would speak on Martin Luther, do a message on Martin Luther. I thought it would make it a little bit more interesting by speaking of Martin Luther in the first person. So I pretended I was Martin Luther, and I said I was born in Germany, et cetera, all those years ago. I did that all the way through the message. I thought I'd made it clear and plain at the beginning of the message that's what I was going to do. But there was a lady in the congregation had invited a friend of hers along. As they were going out at the end of the meeting, the friend said to the woman, I didn't realize your minister was a Roman Catholic priest before he joined the Free Presbyterian Church. So whether she, maybe I'm just a good actor, I don't know. Or whether she hadn't been listening to the first sentence or not, I'm not exactly sure. But that was her summing up anyway. So it's not going to be George Whitfield you're getting on Sunday night week. It will be Mr. Murray. And he might do it in first person, I'm not sure. But adds a little something to the meetings. There's a challenge for you can do it as George Whitfield, get the garb and all on. It'll make it a very talked about meeting, I suppose, if you do. So we'll turn to God's word, Matthew chapter seven. I want to be associated with the words of welcome, of course, to you tonight. Delighted to see everybody here. Matthew seven, reading from verse 21. These are the words of the Lord. Jesus, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. and 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 everyone 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. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Amen. We'll end our reading at verse 29, the end of the chapter. I'd like to draw your attention to verses 26 and 27 of this seventh chapter of Matthew's Gospel, where the Lord Jesus said, and everyone, notice everyone, he didn't just pick out one or two, everyone 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. We'll bow together just briefly in a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank Thee tonight for this meeting, for every person in the meeting. We bless Thee, O God, for each individual, whoever they might be, for homes and families represented here. We thank Thee for the messages and song, for the singing of the hymns of Zion, And for thy servant who leads up the work here and who ministers in this congregation, O God, we beseech of thee that thou wilt bless every person in this meeting tonight, that thou wilt come and speak to our hearts. Thou dost know our class, our condition. Spiritually speaking, in the sight of God, we are known unto thee. We are as an open book before thee. So we ask, O God, that thou who seest the need of our hearts, If there be one in our meeting tonight without Christ, one who needs a Saviour, once who ran well with Thee, perhaps some individual who once ran well with Thee, we pray that Thou would speak tonight to all of our hearts to the glory of Thy name. Hear our cry, Lord. Give help. Give help in the delivery of the message that Thou has laid upon my heart. In Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen. Amen. If you ever go on a trip to New York nowadays, you'll almost certainly go to what is now called Ground Zero. The Memorial Garden and the museum, which was the site of the two towers of the World Trade Center that stood on that site from the early 1970s, until the 11th of September 2021. Those two towers situated in downtown Manhattan had been one of America's most famous landmarks. Each tower was 110 floors high, reaching to 1,400 feet or 430 meters, a quarter of a mile they stretched up into the Manhattan skyline. For a year in the 1970s, those twin towers held the distinction of being the world's tallest buildings. They were New York's pride and joy, described by some as being more important and as symbolic to New York as the Statue of Liberty itself. Those twin towers were eight years in the building, at a total cost of 500 million pounds, a mind-boggling amount considering that the building took place 50 years ago. The two buildings were immense in every single detail. In a total of 12 million square feet of floor area, 43,000 windows, 99 elevators, they provided work for 50,000 people every day. and they attracted to New York and to the site thousands of visitors just to see them, just to ride up the elevator. And from the observation decks at the top of the towers, it was possible to see for 45 miles in each direction. Those towers were seen as symbolic of man's ability and achievements in architecture, in design, in construction, in building, in finance and in testimony to man's general greatness. You'll perhaps know that on the 11th of September 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Centre were completely destroyed in a terrorist attack and resulting fire. Did you ever hear of some terrible news and you remember exactly the spot that you were whenever you heard what had taken place. I'm showing my age now, but I remember the day that J.F. Kennedy was shot dead, 22nd of November, 1963. I remember the exact spot I was in, Brisbane Primary School. I heard over the lunch period teachers talking about how the President of the United States had been shot and killed. One of the other great dates that stick in my mind is the night that Elvis died, Elvis Presley. I had taken my mother, my sister to Portrush for the day, 16th of August, 1977. We were traveling home, coming through Ballymena, heading out from Ballymena to Brashean. I can take you to the very spot just outside the rugby ground on that Ballymena-Brashean road if you happen to know it well. The radio was on, the news came on, and the presenter said, the king is dead. The king is dead. One of the other moments that stick in my mind as to where I was was the period when I heard that the Twin Towers had been destroyed. A number of us were in a minister's fellowship prayer meeting. I was in Antrim at the time. We'd just had finished, like free Presbyterian ministers. We'd gone and got tea, of course, and chatted and cleared up the world that day. Driving home in the car, the news came on. And again, it's one of those occasions where you remember exactly where you were. Those twin towers failed to stand the insurgence when it came. They crumbled like a house of cards. And our text tonight speaks of another building that crumbled into a heap of rubble. It wasn't a large or an innate building, as was those of the World Trade Center. Its destruction wasn't recorded on camera and so didn't have the impact that the 9-11 terrorist activities had. It wasn't something that made the world news as that event did, but in many ways the destruction of this building was every bit as important, or maybe more so. because the demise of this building that we're looking at tonight was highlighted by none other than the Lord Jesus himself. And in speaking of this building, he provided a sad reminder of the individual who fails to heed the message of the gospel. And Christ, like him, the builder of this house, in verse 26 of Matthew chapter seven, to a foolish man. A foolish man. I hope there are no foolish men, no foolish women in this sense in this meeting tonight. I'd like for a moment or two you to consider with me what it was that made this man a fool in the eyes of the Lord. The first matter I'd like to highlight to you is that this man was a fool because he failed to choose the best foundation for the house that he was building. To most people, the building of a house is the greatest task that they will ever undertake in their lifetime if you decide to build a house. Most likely, it will be the most expensive thing that you spend your money upon. One of the most daunting experiences of your life indeed. Choosing the architect, deciding on the plans, getting the planning permission, hiring the builder, fitting it all into a chosen timescale. Acquiring perhaps a mortgage or a bridging loan or something to see you through. All those most expensive areas and aspects of building a new house. And you can picture this man, put yourself in his shoes. Picture this man in Matthew chapter 7 wanting to do the best for himself. Perhaps he had a wife and a family. And like any good father and husband, he wanted to provide for his family in the best way possible. 1 Timothy chapter 5 and the verse 8 speaks of the necessity of a man providing for those of his own house. Now in these days in which you and I live, we have the welfare state and the welfare state is necessary and it is vital for those who cannot find a job who cannot work because perhaps of illness or age or for some other legitimate reason. But generally speaking, the Lord has ordained and the Bible teaches that a man should provide or a man and a woman perhaps working together as many have to do nowadays to put food on their own table. They ought to work to provide a sustainable lifestyle for themselves and for their families. And an individual, a man and his wife perhaps, ought to work together in order to provide a home in which to live for themselves, for their family. And so this man decided that in keeping with this scriptural principle, he would do his best to provide his family with a house. A house, I suppose, that they would be proud of He wanted a place where they would be comfortable. He, I'm sure, wanted to ensure that they would never have to do the same thing again because nobody really wants to, in their lifetime, build two or three new houses. So this, perhaps, was a once-in-a-lifetime project for this individual. And in that thought, there is a picture of life itself. because you and I only get the one opportunity or chance at life. We can't be reincarnated to be given some second opportunity at living our lives. It's not like some DVD or video or modern TV that you can press a button and rewind to the start again and play your life over a second time or a third time. No. And what you make of life, and I'm thinking especially in relation to life being a preparation for the great eternity, what you make of this life and how you prepare in this life determines how you will fare in eternity. Because this life is but a preparation time for God's great eternity. That is why it is of vital importance to make the right spiritual decisions while you have opportunity in this life. Because it is too late to do anything about your soul and its well-being in eternity. The Bible says, as the tree falleth, so shall it lie. And you perhaps go for a walk sometime some of the forests round about here, especially after a stormy night, you'll see branches falling, or if it's particularly bad, you'll see trees have fallen. Perhaps the tree falls in a north or a southerly direction, easterly or westerly direction, depending on the wind. They fall, perhaps some of them to the ground. Some of the trees that will be blown over fall halfway on top of another. And that's usually how that tree will rot and decay. As the tree falleth, so shall it lie. So, how do you stand before God at death? determines how and where you will spend eternity. And the Lord ordeals that we only get one opportunity at life, at living. The rich man in Luke's gospel who died and went to the darkness and the torment of everlasting hell would have done things differently in life if he had been given another opportunity at living. But he realized that he only got the one chance. He could not turn the clock back again. That's why he asked Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his brothers. because he, that well-to-do individual, had failed to make preparation to meet God. And he knew it was impossible for him to return to earth again to get another chance at living and to get another opportunity at getting right with God. Unfortunately for him, life had run its course. And in that life, that one life that he had been given, he had made bad choices, and he had neglected God's salvation. And he knew of God's salvation, I am sure, because of Lazarus the beggar who laid his door. He was a child of God. My friend, you must face up to the same reality tonight. Once your time on earth ends, That's it, as far as your opportunities of salvation is concerned. For that reason, what you do with Christ now in life is of vital importance. And consequently then, it is imperative, it is vital that you make the right decision in regard to Jesus Christ. And you make wise decisions in regard to how you live your life and how you spend your time upon this earth because to refuse Christ and his offer of salvation is to make the wrong decision. And a wrong decision in regard to the Lord Jesus Christ and in regard to God's salvation will cost you your soul. That's why the Lord called this man a fool. You see, the gospel preacher, the gospel minister, deals with eternity. He deals with eternity. He deals with everlasting souls, the everlasting souls of men and women. And so, for a little time each evening this week, we seek to have you lift your mind from the realms of sense and time and everyday life. and make you think upon eternity and the well-being of your soul. A lot of people don't like to think about death. They don't want to think about eternity. They want to try and put it out of their mind. But I must say to you that in deciding what you do with Christ, you are confronting the most important decision that you will ever make because In either receiving Christ or rejecting Christ, you are deciding for heaven or for hell. And you are determining where you will spend eternity. That's why it's important. Great to see you in the meeting tonight. Coming to the meeting does not fit you for heaven or make you any nearer heaven. It's only Christ who can take you to heaven. This man, whenever he went out in Matthew chapter 7 to look for a place to build, failed to get the best site. He could have gone a little further away from the sea to a rock upon which he would have had a good foundation for his house, but he chose a place to build, not for the foundation, but in all probability for some other reason. As the Lord spoke these words he was sitting overlooking the Sea of Galilee just outside the city of Capernaum. Capernaum was on the sea shore and I'm sure that near to the sea there were many possible sites on which to build close to the water, handy for fishing, within walking distance perhaps of the beach, maybe beach fronted houses. But they weren't good sites upon which to build a house. They weren't safe sites. They weren't the best sites. Because it was impossible to get a good foundation on the sandy seashore. Sand is no foundation upon which to build a house. Sand isn't stable. Sand isn't secure. No right-thinking man would ever build a house on sand. But this man did. He took a chance. And every day that you live without Christ, you're taking a chance. You're taking a chance that you will not die today. And this man taking a chance, instead of finding a site with a solid foundation, he chose that which was second best. Maybe he wanted to be near the beach. Maybe it was a good view, he could see the waves across the water to the mountains on the other side of the shore. It was a lovely setting, but it was a death trap. Maybe he was a fisherman, wanted to be near his business. I don't know what it was, but something made him make this wrong and this disastrous decision that his wife and family put pressure on him. Oh no, don't build it there. Don't build it there. Here's a lovely sight. Here's a lovely sight. But it turned out to be the worst decision he ever made in his life. Think about what the Lord Jesus said here in verse 26. That everyone who hears the gospel but refuses to obey the gospel is just like that foolish man. They're trying to build for eternity upon sand. And you believe you will be in existence in eternity. You've been given soul that will live forever in eternity. You believe on heaven and in hell. You want to be in heaven. Only a fool does not want to be in heaven. But what is it that you are trying to build upon to get to heaven? Is it your church attendance? Or your good living? Or your giving to charity or some other generous trait? These things are fine and in their place, but they are not the means to get to heaven. No, Christ alone is the only way. He himself set out the way to get to heaven when he said in John 14 and the verse six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. No rich man, no poor man, no great man, no pauper, no man, no woman comes to heaven but by Christ heaven. is not obtainable by any other means than through faith, saving faith in the work, in the testimony, in the witness, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only foundation upon which to build for eternity. This man in the parable had other options as to where he could build. There were other safe and secure sites in the area. The wise man of verse 24 was able to find a rock in which to build, so the foolish man couldn't say he didn't have any other options. And that's just like you. You may be on the broad road tonight. Maybe you professed faith in Christ, but there's nothing really to it. You were like some of those grounds that are mentioned in the parable of the sword, you went well for a while, never really is it changing your heart. But whether you're on the broad road, as an individual, never professed faith in Christ, or whether you have professed faith in Christ, but you're not sure whether you're saved or not, there's another option. Another option. And that is to receive Jesus Christ by faith, to be dead on show this evening, that you're born again, that you're a child of God. Christ is not only the best foundation for eternity, he is the only foundation upon which to build for eternity. Because the Bible says, neither is there salvation in any other. This man was a fool. Wrong foundation. There's a further reason why he's termed as a fool. He forgot that there was a day of testing coming. He missed what was best, the best foundation. He forgot about the test. Now, the house with no proper foundation stood all right in the sunshine. I'm sure he built a house to be proud of, wouldn't any man? with enough bedrooms, spacious kitchen area, whatever he wanted, the very best that he could afford. I'm sure it was finished to the best standard according to his means. No doubt he looked forward to the day of moving in, maybe him and his friends at a housewarming party. And friends and families and neighbours gathered around to toast him in his new surroundings and for a while, Everything was fine, the sun shone. Maybe they had it positioned so that the back garden would get the sun in the evening, afternoon and evening, so that they could have their friends round for a barbecue, bite to eat, sit and look over the sea, watch the waves. And for a while the sun shone, the wind remained calm, the weather was most favourable, but then one day the rains come, and the wind begins to howl, and that house, like every other in the area, took a terrible beating. It's one of the great features of the Sea of Galilee, how quickly and how fierce the storm comes, unexpectedly, with very little warning indeed, that's what they Fishermen, the disciples discovered in the boat, experienced fishermen. And you'll know what happened as far as this particular individual is concerned. This is called a parable. And we think of a parable of a made up story, earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Who's to say this didn't really happen? Could very well. Could very well. And the Bible says that when this storm came, and the wind blew, and the flood came, the house fell. The foolish man took no heed of the fact that the sun wouldn't always shine upon that house. There would be a day of testing. There must be a day of testing. A day when it would have to stand against the elements. And when that day of testing came, this man's building was found wanting it. And all he was left with was what? Heap of rubble. Heap of rubble. We'd sometimes go to Port Stewart. We used to go to the New York Hotel at Port Stewart for food years ago, until Amici came across the road. Good food. I'm not in commission for Amici across the road in Port Stewart, but I feel you're looking for a good feed. Last year, whenever we were up in Port Stewart, the New York Hotel in Port Stewart was what? Just a pile of rubble. And so we pulled down, that site's now cleared to building apartments or something, but it was just a pile of rubble. And that's what happened to this man's house. Pile of rubble. Because whenever the test it was not built upon proper foundation. And perhaps that is like you in regard to the Saviour, just as the house was found wanting. You imagine that you don't really need him through life. After all, in your eyes, you've been through this far, whatever number of years it is, 20, 30, 40, 50 years, whatever it might be, you've got through this far without the Saviour. But the prophet Jeremiah asks a very telling and pertinent question. He would say to you tonight, how will thou do in the swelling of Jordan? When the cold, chilling waters of death are napping round your feet, how will you get through? You see, the test of what a man is building upon is not so much how it gets him through life, though that is important for a child of God. And we often go through things as God's people and we say, oh, if I wasn't saved, I'd never get through that. But in one sense, the real test of an individual's saviour is not so much, and I hope you understand what I'm saying, the real test of an individual's saviour is not so much how we get through life, but it's how we get through death. and where we go to in eternity, where our Savior takes us to in eternity. And so, can I ask you tonight, what are you building your eternal future upon? Will that Savior, that thing, whatever it might be, will it get you through death and the judgment? Will it take you to heaven? When the test came, those twin towers of the World Trade Center, they weren't able to stand, they crumbled, they twisted, they fell into thousands and thousands and thousands of tons of dust and rubble. And if what you are building upon tonight in the spiritual sense is not sufficient to preempt your entrance into heaven, the Bible says you're a fool. I don't call you that. The Bible doesn't call you a fool to belittle you or to embarrass you or to offend you, but to joke you, to shake you up, to make you see the error of your ways because you are resting the eternal future of your soul upon something that will fail the test if your soul is not resting in Jesus Christ alone. This man was a fool because he didn't choose what was best. He forgot about the test. I might say in conclusion that he's also a fool because he ignored the rest. He ignored his friends. That's what I mean by that. Because I can't imagine this man's friends didn't try to warn him about the dangers of building upon the sand. I can't believe that they would allow him to go on and not seek to sound a note of caution in his ear. That's what friends are for. That's what friends do. They look out for one another. They don't want to see others make mistakes. I know someone very, very well. Now a child of God, converted from the depths, but he still has friends in the world. Friends who, after the get their pay, and at the end of the month or whenever it is, very often, disappear. Two or three days. Think of somebody in particular. Family doesn't know where they are. And very often, man's wife would phone this particular man I'm thinking about, could you go and look for so-and-so? And he will go round all the old hunts, He'd phone others to see if they've seen this particular individual. He'd go out in his car and he'd drive for miles looking for him here, there and yonder. Everywhere he thinks he might be. Why? Why take the time? Because he's his friend. And friends don't want to see others whom they're friendly with making mistakes. And I cannot believe that this man's friends would allow him to go on with this building and not seek to sound a note of caution in his ear. You're building upon that which is not stable. It's going to end in disaster. But he didn't heed the warning. He knew better than they did. Couldn't be talked to. Bit of a stubborn streak in this man. Couldn't be talked to. And surely he would look nearby to where his compatriot was building and take from his example the fact that he would need a sure foundation. But he didn't. He didn't. Both the two houses, the wise man and the foolish man, they were built close to each other. Luke's account of this parable says that the same stream came against them both and beat vehemently upon both the houses. They both built in the same valley, perhaps an old dried up river bed. But when the waters returned, the floodwaters returned to that river bed and flowed around these houses and the women came, the one stood because it had a sure foundation, the other fell. And in Luke chapter six, verse 49, we read, the ruin of that house was great. because he ignored his friends advice. He ignored his friends example. And when the flood came, the whole place came tumbling down around him. He was washed away in the flood. I wondered, did he get out alive? I wondered if his family survived the calamity. Because this man, by his life, by his stubbornness, by his foolishness, he not only put his own life in danger, but he endangered the lives of his nearest and dearest as well. I wondered, did he get out? He was a fool. Began speaking about the Twin Towers. 2,996 people didn't get out of the Twin Flag powers. They perished in death, trapped among the falling rubble and the raging fires. I'm going to close tonight and leave the last word to Irene Smith. Her son was a fireman in New York at that particular time. He lost his life whenever he went into one of the buildings to rescue others. She made a comment during the memorial service in New York City for the victims concerning her son. And she said, my son, firefighter Liam Smith Jr., was the sunshine of my life. He gave his life so that others could live. That's what Christ did. He laid down his life so that sinners like you and me could have everlasting life, eternal life. Build your life upon the foundation of his death. Don't play the fool any longer. This is too serious a matter, too serious a matter for you and me to treat your soul like that. And so I trust that tonight, if you haven't already done so, you will ask Christ to be your saviour, repenting of your sin, trusting in him and in his finished work. And may the Lord make you wise tonight unto salvation.