So we'll just quickly pray again, and commit the sermon to God in prayer. So let's pray, let's pray. Our most gracious heavenly Father, once again we come before thy word, and Lord, we love thy word. We love the pages of this book. It is thy most holy word. It is blessed in every way. than a two-edged sword that is like a hammer on an anvil. It can break us, it can really break us down and it can remake us again if we are doers of thy words and not just hearers only. So Lord, help us, we pray, as we come before thy word. We want to give thee praise and honour and glory. We want to be challenged in our own lives. We want to think about our own profession of faith, whether it is actually a possession of faith. We want to examine ourselves according to thy word. We want to look into the engrafted word of God that is able to save the soul, this perfect law of liberty. Lord, thy word is perfect. the soul. So Lord we pray tonight as we listen to it, Lord it's been a long day, it's been a hot day but Lord we know that thou art able to close us in with thyself, take away the distractions, take away our tiredness, take away our apathy and take away all of these things Lord that so easily come upon us that we might get the most from the preaching of thy word this evening, that we might as it were be fed and we might leave this place infused So Lord, close us in by thyself and make us those who are alive to evangelism in our lives. Give us a passion in our hearts and lives to reach those who are not yet saved. We just commit all of these things today in Jesus' precious name. Amen. So did you know that not everyone who professes possesses Christ. Did you know that? That not everybody who says that they are a Christian is actually a Christian. There are those, maybe even teachers, maybe even preachers of the word who are not saved They were not saved. I remember Stuart Elliott, many years ago, preached in the Leicester Banner of Truth Ministers' Conference many years ago, and at the end of it, he said, I am not taft enough to think that every one of you ministers is saved, even though some of you are pastors who preach the word, I'm not taft enough to think that you're saved, because I believe the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, who said, there will always be the tears amongst the wheat, We know straight away the evil one came in to scatter some tares amongst the wheat, and as the wheat started to grow, the tares grew with them, and they were identical, you couldn't tell them apart. So while everybody who says that they are a Christian is actually a Christian, you can tell them by their beliefs, you can tell them by their behaviours. Quite often, sometimes they will appear as ministers of light, but they will be known for their darkness. They'll be known for their darkness. One of the biggest deceptions of our age is that we can't question anything. We can't question anything no more. It's become the biggest sin of our generation to question anything. We cannot question a person's profession of faith. It's become some sort of holy cow that we can't say, Do you know what? I actually don't think that they are a Christian. The truth doesn't appear to show that they are a believer. That's gone into society as well, as the Christian churches started to question itself and say, oh, we're not allowed to ask somebody, are they really a Christian? Well, you're sleeping around and you're living with someone and you're taking drugs and all of these things, but you say you're a Christian, so you must be a Christian. And now the world's taking it on. Anyone can claim to be anything they want. A man can claim to be a woman in society. A woman can claim to be a man. A person can identify as a rabbit. They can identify as a toaster, that as a child in a school identifies as the moon. Can you believe it? And nobody is allowed to question them. It's like the emperor's new clothes, isn't it? The emperor was deceived to think that he'd had some clothes made for him, but he actually didn't. They were pretending it was an invisible suit, and nobody would question it. All of his advisors wouldn't question it when the emperor said, do you like my new suit? And the emperor was in the all together as a child sang one day. It was only a child who spoke up and said, the king is in the all together. And nobody would question it. And that's the society that we're living in today. Nobody questions anything, even when it is absolutely blatant in front of us. When the leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, was asked not so long ago, what is a woman? He couldn't answer the question. He was too scared to answer the question, because there are people who are men who identify As women, it doesn't matter if they identify as a woman, they are not a woman. And Keir Starmer wouldn't even say what he thought a woman was. The Bible tells us, it is by their fruit that you shall know them. That's what the devil wants us to think, doesn't he? Judge not, lest ye be judged all of the time. But the Bible tells us quite clearly, with whatever judgment you do, You judge someone, that's the type of judgment that you are going to be judged with. So judge not, lest you be judged in the same way as you judge them, that Jesus tells us. So if you're happy to be judged in the manner that you judge somebody else, then that is fine. I'll tell you now, Jesus commands us to judge righteous people. Judgment, we are commanded to judge. So don't have somebody walk into your church and say, I am a Christian, and just take it at face value. Give them a while, maybe 10 years, or do it, and then you might have got to know them long enough to actually know if their fruit matches what they say that they are. If you went to the Asda, and you went to the section that said apples, and you walked over, and it was full of bananas, them over, excuse me, sir, could you just help me here? Where are the apples? It says here that there's apples and they say, they are the apples. And they say, but they're yellow and they're curly. So they're bananas. How dare you assume on their apple-ness or whatever it is. You would think that they had gone mad, that they had gone mad, wouldn't you? And that's exactly the type of society that we're living in. You'd say to the guy, I'm afraid not. They are apples, you must have only just left school and you've never seen. Rather, they're bananas. You must not actually know what apples look like. We would test the fruit, wouldn't we? We would test it and we would know that it is not an apple. So why do we, in a much more important setting, like the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, of which he is the head, question nothing? Why do we just accept everything and face value. We must make sure that a person is a Christian. When they say that they are a Christian, why does the church not look into important things? Someone once said, I'm a Christian to make But, they were going out all of the time, and they were partying, and they were drinking, and they were getting drunk, and all that type of stuff. They would miss church for absolutely anything whatsoever. If there was an ice skating competition, or whatever it was, they would miss church. As I say, they'd get drunk, they would gossip, they would backstab, they were horrible, they were nasty, they were bitter. said, I am a Christian and if you did say, do you know what, I've watched you for a while now and I actually don't think that you are a Christian at all, they would say, and somebody did say to me, who are you to judge me? And I said, I'm the person that you're asking to become a member of this church and I value the membership of this church so much that I will say to you, no, The evidence is you are not a Christian. So obviously they left the church to somewhere where they would get away with it and be able to become a member, somewhere that wouldn't question them. Jesus tells us clearly, Matthew chapter seven, verses 21 to 29, not everybody who says that they are a Christian is a Christian. They might say it with their lips, but their life does at face value. He tells us that it is by their fruit that we shall know them. So people can go to church all of their life and have lots and lots of religious stuff going on in their life, even amazing stuff, but still be lost and go to hell because they do not actually possess Christ in their life. So let's look at a few things and examine this reading tonight. this text. Firstly, I want to look at profession of faith versus possession of Christ. Then we're going to look at profession of faith versus practice, the practice of our faith. And then we're going to look at profession of faith versus power, the real power that is contained within a person who is a Christian. Some people profess Christ with their life. So what do we see? What do we see as we look through these verses? Firstly, there is caution. There is a caution. Verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will So Jesus clearly cautions us here, doesn't he? He gives us a caution that it is not what a person says, not everyone that saith. So don't just take a person at face value when they say, I am a Christian, not everyone that saith, but he that does, he that does the will of my Father. That is the evidence of being saved. What is? The will of the Father. What is the will of the Father that Jesus says that we must do? Well, it is to have the right beliefs. It is to have the right belief system and the right behaviour as evidence of those beliefs. John chapter six, verse 40. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. Faith in Jesus Christ is the will of the Father, that's what it is, that our faith is solidly rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ, and our faith has fruit, our faith bears fruit, it can be seen. James chapter two, verse 26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. So we must have a working faith. Faith, we must have a faith that works. It's no use having a car that doesn't work and it's no use having a faith that doesn't work either. So we must have a working faith. We need to get a grip of this because there are false leaders, there are false teachers, there are false Christians out there who may come into your church and profess to be Christian. Jesus tells them to look and see if they possess fruit. see if they have fruit. So there is a caution. Then there is a confusion. Verse 22. Many will say unto 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 to many wonderful works. So they are confused because they have done lots of works. They have done lots of things, but it was all in Jesus's name. It was not for Jesus's name. It was just in his name, but quite often for their gain, for their own gain. They were taking the Lord's name in vain. Oh, we are doing it in your name, but it's certainly not for. Take a look at some of those things there. I've got to admit, I've said this in the past. These are not things that you would ever hear a Reformed Baptist come up before God on the day of judgement and say these things. That's not talking about those who have a solid faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have we not prophesied? Well we know that prophets are not for today. There's no prophets in that. Whatsoever in this day and age profits are not for today. Have we not prophesied in thy name? Who would that remind you of? Well, maybe you're mistaken. So let's see what else they say. And have we not in thy name cast out devils? They have a prophecy ministry. They have a deliverance ministry where they cast them out of Devils as I say, you're never gonna have a reformed Baptist said this somebody once asked me to cast some demons out to somebody in our church And they said the person is a Christian and I said well They won't have any demons then because greater is he that is in me than he that is in this world And even if they did what the person needs is they need to be saved They need to be born again and the moment that the Holy Spirit enters into a person will allow a demon to live in somebody's life. Have we not prophesied? Have we not cast out demons in thy name and done many wonderful works? Signs and wonders, that's what they do, signs and lying, wonders, the Lord Jesus says, and prophecies and casting out demons. They are confused, very confused, We need to be careful, don't we, by thinking that activity, doing things, being active all the time, constantly active, will get us to heaven. It doesn't. Mother Teresa is evidence of that, isn't she? Mother Teresa, if she hadn't have repented before the end of her life, which I don't think that she did, will be in hell. right now, and that was a woman who went to Calcutta and helped all sorts of poor people and sick people, but all of her activity and all of her works would not save her because her faith was not in the Lord Jesus Christ, her faith was in Mary. That's where her faith was. She wrote it in one of her books. So there is caution here, there is confusion here, then there is a casting out in verse 23 that says this, and then, well I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, ye that work Iniquity, prophecies, casting out devils, doing all these signs and lying wonders, iniquity. Jesus says, Romans chapter 14 then, and verse 23, it says, for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. So if it's not of faith, it is sin. Even good things, even nice things, even giving money to charity, Helping all ladies across the road, if it is not of faith, it is sin. If it's not for the glory of God, it's sin, because that goodness is coming from within the person, and there is none that are good, no not one, so it is their own self-righteousness, and the Bible tells us that all our righteousnesses are filthy rags to God, so it is not by works, so Jesus will say, you. So it doesn't matter if you know Jesus, it matters if Jesus knows you. If your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, before the foundation of the world, I could go up to Buffingham Palace, knock on the door or the gate and the guard could come and I could say, I want to come in and see the King. I want to see King Charles. He's like, who are you? And I'll be like, I'm Eddie Roberts. I want to see the King. And he'll say, Are you on the invited list? Does the King know you?" And I'll say, no, but I know the King. I've even got a picture of him here on my five pound note. That's how well I know him. I carry a picture of him around in my pocket. He'll go, on your way, mate. On your way, mate. It doesn't matter if I know the King. Does the King know me? And that's the issue. Jesus said, to par for me you that work iniquity. I never knew you. You, that's the important thing, isn't it? Are we written in the Lamb's book of life? So how about you? Do you possibly think that Jesus would let you into glory? Or should I say, why do you think that Jesus would possibly let you into glory? Is it because of your righteousness? Is it because of your religiousness? Is it because of your rhetoric? Is it the things that you don't know, the things that you have said? What is it? Faith in Jesus Christ? Is your faith in Christ and Christ alone? Have you believed on Him who the Father has sent and what Jesus has done? Without it, without it, you're making a big mistake. If you're trusting in the things that you have done, you've made a big, big mistake. So there's a difference. So Jesus cautions us, Jesus says there will be confusion, and Jesus says there will be those who will be cast out into the outer darkness. What next? Well there is the difference between profession versus practice, versus practice and what we actually practice. Next we see a professing builder, who says that they are going to build a house. Never met any like them. People who say that they're builders and when you get some work done it turns out that they weren't actually builders at all. They were cowboys and then there's an actual builder, an actual builder, just like there's a difference between a professing doctor and a practicing doctor. You wouldn't just go into somebody who says that they're a doctor and let them prescribe something or do an operation on you. They'd actually have to be an actual practicing doctor. So what do we see in these next verses? First, we see two activities, two activities in verse 24. It says, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man that builds his house upon a rock. There's a wise man who's building his house upon a rock. Now both of these men hear the words of Jesus, a man who builds on the sand and a man who builds upon the rock. They both have activity. They are both getting on with something, but they're two types. of activity. Firstly, one man counts the cost. He works out how much the building materials are going to be. He does a bit of a survey of the land. He digs deep. He digs deep and makes sure he puts a solid foundation in and he thinks carefully, thinks carefully about where he's building and what he's building on. The second man, well, he just cuts corners. As I say, he's a cowboy, he has shoddy workmanship, and all of a sudden he builds on a bad foundation. One puts his trust in his industry, and the other one puts his trust in the instructions. He has actually read the instruction manual. One looks up history. He looks up the history to see if there's ever been anything built on this land before and if it's ever collapsed. He looks up the history, then he looks down at a solid foundation, then he looks forward to something that is going to last. Something that's going to last for a long, long time and be a monument to his good workmanship. The other one looks back at a pile of bricks. That's all he does. He just looks back at a pile of rubble and he has a whole If a person who makes a profession but doesn't practice their faith will just have a bankrupt life and they look back for all eternity and all eternity and see that they have made ruin of their life. The practicing Christian looks up history. He learns from mistakes of the past. He learns some church history. He looks at the mistakes and the successes of the past. He looks down at the solid foundation of the Apostles and the Prophets doctrine. That's what the church is built on. It's built on the Prophets and the Apostles doctrine. And he looks forward to a life of preservation in the storms. How God will preserve him and God will keep him. So there are two different types of activities. There are two different attitudes, two attitudes. in verses 24 and 26, one man's attitude was wise, the other man's attitude is foolish, because one was a hearer and he cared about sound practice and good fruit. So he was a hearer of the word and a doer of the word he heard. and he put it into practice. The other is a hearer who only cares about swift productivity, productivity, rush, rush, rush, rush, you need to do this, you need to do that, you need to do, the other always suggesting things, always putting things on the table, swift productivity, but it is futile. James chapter one, verse 22, be you doers of the word, and not hear us only deceiving your own selves. They're deceiving their own selves, our attitude towards the obedience of God's word betrays us. It betrays us that the people that will say, we don't need to put the word of God into practice. We don't need to look at the law of God. We don't need to worry about things like lies and murder and adultery and all of these different things. Don't you worry. about these things. We have liberty. We can do whatever we want. But what they're saying is we've got license. It is licentiousness. And what they are doing is they're making a mockery of the words of God with their attitudes. If a person doesn't care what the Bible says about how they practice their faith and how they live their life, then that is a bad attitude and they are building on sand and their life will collapse around them with their lives and be sure your sins will find you out. Two activities, two attitudes, two achievements in verses 25 and 27. And it says, the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon their house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. Verse 27, and the rains ascended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. One stood firm, the other slipped and fell. There's the two achievements, there's the two monuments, a solid house and a stack of stones, that's all that's left with. One builder's achievement lasted, his building stood, was lost. It came to nothing. It couldn't handle the pressure when the test actually came. So if you do what is right in your own eyes, you will fail. It's as simple as that. If you do what is right in God's eyes and you do God's will, then you will be a wise builder and you will be building on a solid foundation. So how about you? How are you building? How is it that you are building your life? Is there any spiritual activity going on in your life whatsoever? How are you building? Are you building according to the instruction manual or your own manual, your own ideas, your own philosophies? What is your attitude like? Do you hear the word and do it or do you hear the word and don't do it and you just make a rush job? of your Christian life rather than be still and know that I am God and walk the Christian walk with patience. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 58 says, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abandoning the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labour vein in the Lord. So we see profession versus possession, and then profession versus practice, and lastly we see profession versus power. Profession versus power. And Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. He did it with power, and the people listened to him when he preached the words of God. ever known or ever will known. What do we see? What do we see when Jesus preaches with power? Firstly, we see the astonishment in verse 28 of our reading. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings that people were astonished at his doctrine. They were astonished at Jesus' teaching. Jesus' teaching was amazing. His doctrine was deep. His doctrine was life-changing. All of the time when Jesus was preaching, the people listened to him with absolute astonishment. The people hadn't heard anything like this. They'd heard nothing like it in their lives. Jesus talking about sin. about people's sins, how all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, the sin of man, talking about judgment, that there is a judgment that is to come, preaching about repentance. He went about everywhere from town to town preaching repentance, that a man must turn from their sin to the Lord Jesus Christ, that you must repent, that God is commanding all men everywhere to repent. He preached repentance, he preached faith, that our faith and our trust must be in him, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. He talked about hell, he talked about hell more than he talked about heaven. He talked about a place of eternal torment. He spoke in Luke 16 about a man who opens up his eyes in hell being in torment. He spoke about, as I read this morning, about the person who must fear God, fear not Him who can kill the body only, but fear Him who can cast both body and soul into hell. Fear ye Him. He spoke about heaven. He spoke about hell, he spoke about self-righteousness, he spoke about his righteousness, his righteousness, and told us to seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all of these things shall be added unto you. So they couldn't stop thinking about it. It blew their minds. They could not believe that a person would speak Nobody ever does, and nobody ever will. All preachers of the Bible are just a shadow of what Jesus was, a sad imitation of Christ. It was mind-blowing to listen to Jesus. Jesus' words still astonish people today. This is the word of the living God, so spread it. Spread God's word, let it out the cage and spread the words of Christ to people and they will be astonished. So firstly, there is the astonishment that we see here with this power. Then we see the authorities in verse 29. And he told them as one having authority, not as the scribes, not as the scribes. We see the authorities, the scribes, the professed religious leaders and the leaders spoke, well they spoke about themselves, they spoke about their laws, they spoke about their own righteousness, they had the big long prayers, they had the nice robes, they spoke about their rules, they spoke about the nation, they spoke about the temple, they spoke about sacrifices, they did not speak about Christ, they were not interested, and they had no power whatsoever to influence the people because they did not have the Holy Spirit, so they could have no real genuine spiritual influence on the people. The Bible tells us, if we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of His, and that was what convicted me more than anything to start going to church when I suddenly started realising I was a sinner on the way to hell. I read J.C. Ryle's booklet, 10 marks of a person who has the Holy Spirit, and I didn't have any of them, and Liz didn't have any of them either, so off we went to church, thinking we can get at least one of them. The people who have the Holy Spirit like to meet with other people who have the Holy Spirit, so we thought we can crack that one, we'll tick that off, and by the end of our life we should have ticked off at least half of them, and we'll get to heaven. That's how we thought. But not at all. A person who has the Holy Spirit has all of these marks because they are the marks of the Spirit in a person's life. If you have not the Spirit, you are none of His. Authority only comes from God's Word. This is where all the power really is. That's why I love using the King James Bible. My dad always used to say to me, why drive a Skoda when you can drive a Rolls Royce? And I absolutely agree with him on that point. I didn't agree with him on every point, but I agree with him on that point. We have the Word of God that is absolute power contained within the pages of this book. whatsoever God tells us to do in this book, we need to put it into practice and be doers of the word. Many of today's religions have authorities like the scribes, they have people that are all show and no substance. It is all about them and their hierarchy and their pomp and no power whatsoever So we see the astonishment of the people, we see the authority, or the authorities rather, which are the scribes. Then we see the authority, the real authority. Jesus taught them in verse 29 as one having authority. All power and authority is given into His hands. He is the Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the Almighty. All power is given unto Him. The keys of Heaven and Hell are given to Him. They're not given to some Pope. They are His. All authority is His. Verse 23, then will I say unto them, depart. Do you see what he's saying here? Or have you missed it? Do you see that Jesus has the authority to cast people into hell? I will say unto them, depart. Jesus goes on to say later in Matthew chapter 10 and verse 28, fear not them which can kill the body only but not able to kill the soul, but fear Him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. That is Him, that is the Lord Jesus Christ who is coming back to judge the quick and the dead, the one who can and will cast both body And so into hell, if a person doesn't repent, Colossians chapter 1 verse 18 says this, in all things he might have the preeminence. Jesus holds the keys to heaven and hell as I say, not a Pope, not Saint Peter. It is Jesus Christ who holds the keys to heaven and hell. All authority is given unto him. So we better make sure that he knows us, that he actually knows who we are and that our profession has real power because it is based and rooted in Christ who has all power and authority. So how about you? Does he know you? Are you part of his family? Have you been adopted into the family of God the moment you put your faith and your trust in Christ? If not, plead to him for mercy, ask him for mercy. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. Do you live for him? Would you die for him? Do you believe in him? Not just do you live for him, but would you die for him? Does his teaching astonish you? Do all other authorities take second place? Church authorities, government authorities, do they all take second place? authority over to Him and does that authority inspire you? It should, it should inspire us. So let me finish, let me finish and say this. Are you building your life on the Word of God, on an absolutely solid foundation? Are you practising the Word of God, building on the Word of God but also putting it into practice in your life? Does Jesus, the living Word of God, have all authority in your life as the risen Word of God? If the answer to those questions is yes, then you better make sure that it is genuine fruit in your life. No point in saying yes to these things and then showing no fruit whatsoever and that there is a possession of Christ and not just a profession with your lips, your life must match That fruit can only come from being attached to Jesus, who is the vine. He is the vine. And if anybody is in Him, they will produce fruit, absolutely guaranteed, because they are in Him and He is the true vine. Because as I said this morning, a faith that can't be tested, can't be trusted, And that true fruit can be seen in the life of a genuine Christian. And it glorifies God. It doesn't glorify self as works. It glorifies God because He is working through us to do His good will. So, if you have true fruit and you are known by Jesus Christ and you are known by people who are belonging to Jesus Christ by this fruit, Well done, good and faithful servant that was being faithful in a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. If not, and you're trusting in yourself and your goodness and your self-righteousness, you will hear these terrible words that not Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. Amen. So we need to examine ourselves to see if we are possessors.