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4. The Timely W arning. Surely we need it today. One builder h eard and obeyed, th e o ther heard and heeded not. The wise man did no t make th e rock. He tru ste d his building on it. The Rock on which we m ust build is Christ H imself (1 Cor. 3 :11 ; 1 P ete r 2 :4 ; Eph. 2 :2 0 ), as revealed by th e Spirit in th e Word. We build on H im by believing on Him and obeying His teachings (John 3 :3 6 ). The storm is coming surely; many believe th a t it is coming soon (2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 6:15-17. Are you ready for it? The gist of our lesson today is com prised in two words— ‘‘h earing ” and “ doing.” There is a series of c o n tra sts1 in th is whole chapter: Mote and beam ; p e a r l s and swine; HEART OF bread and stone; fish THE I j ESSON and serp en t; grapes T. C. Hot-ton and tho rn s; figs and th istles; faith and anx iety; narrow and broad; straig h t and. wide; wolf and sheep; rocks and sand. These contrasting figures are rep re sentative of th e two classes—-hearers and doers. There never was a tim e in the history of our country when th is lesson was more needed’ ttyan now. Obedience means subm ission to righteous au th o r ity. There m ust be recognition of au tho rity before th e re can be subm ission, and th e re m ust be teaching before th ere will be recognition. We have fallen upon sad times, days in which th e re is b u t little of real home life, and m con sequence bu t little recognition of the rig h t to rule. God is th e au th o r of law. He ru les by laws. He invested Adam and Eve w ith au th o rity to ru le and made them also subject to His rule. The violation of His au tho rity brought all th e misery and suffering the world has ever known. Disobedience to law is the source of all suffering. Obedience to law is the
are spent by plain people in th e public houses and music halls; while the upper classes rush to th e races, p referring to h ear th e panting of th e to rtu red horses to th e sentences of th e Word of God.” Since th en th e w ar has revealed more terrib ly th e resu lts of th e teach ings of “modern scholarship.” Why did it no t occur to Dr. B auer th a t the trouble began w ith him self and his fel low-preachers. Why should th e “ plain people” or th e “ upper classes” bother listening to a preacher preach a sermon on a tex t from a book th a t th e preacher him self declared he did no t believe because it was fu ll of m istakes? A . Their End, vv. 19-23. The use less tree is removed out of its place and cast into th e fire. The disobedient pro fessor is sh u t out. Those who will not accept Jesu s’ “ come” to salvation, must obey His “ d ep art” unto condemnation. R igh t conduct and rig h t belief can never be divorced successfully. The attem p t to do so always ends disastrously. In the days of judgm en t “ every man m ust give account of him self to God (Rom. 1 4 :12 ). II. Obedience an d Disobedience, w . 2 4 -2 9 . 1. The Obedient Builder, vv. 24, 25. He chose a rock foundation, one th a t was sure. He recognized the im port ance of th e foundation. B etter a good foundation and a plain house, th a n a poor foundation and a fine house. The wise builder had th e stormy days in view as well as the b rig h t days. The house th a t will stand the storm when it comes is a good one to live in every day (1 Cor. 3 :13-15). 2. The D isobedient Builder, vv. 26, 27. All he though t and did was the exact opposite of th e Obedient Builder. 3. The Proving Time. Each man bu ilt to su it his own taste. Who had b u ilt best was proved by th e storm . The proving tim e comes to all. No one can escape it. “We m ust all appear before the judgm ent seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5 :1 0 ).
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