Our house must be built upon the Rock of truth. Christ is our cornerstone. Let us hear Him and build by doing what He says to do. Faith built upon sand will shift and will fall.(Matthew 7:24-26; Isaiah 28:15-17)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11934
11:00 AM on 8/9/2020

P. Schaller –

Thank you, that was so beautiful. Are we ready to study the Bible this morning? Are we ready to focus on it and
concentrate? Are we ready? That great family over there. Great family. James and Dana from
Tennessee are here. P. Chris Moore and Gosia and Caleb from Texas. They drove up with the
F150 Ford truck and the house on the back end of it. They drove up and have been with us for
the week. When do you go back? After church. P. Ron Delouis and Michele from Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh is a popular town around here in Baltimore. There are some Raven fans in this room
right now! We’re having a good time. We had a great week. Bob and Rachel also from
Pittsburgh, PA. They are here, too.

Yeah Pittsburgh! Let’s move around a little bit in the beginning. Matthew 7. We have been having profound truths imparted to our spirit by God’s grace through the week. And I mean literally. We had extremely rich times that stick in your mind and heart. One I heard from Bruce Moon from Mexico. They have 34 years they lived in Mexico and
they are just learning Spanish! No, you already learned Spanish. To be a missionary in Mexico
City for 34 years, wow! That’s touching. Very touching. Jesus talked about hearing him and
obeying. Matthew 7:24, do you think it’s important to hear the sayings of Jesus? Is that important?
We had a message the other morning about subjective and objective and that’s very important
how I hear. I can hear subjectively. I have an inferior complex and when I hear you talk to me; I
feel you are putting me down. I hear your words through my inferiority.

My starting point is me and I listen to you what you say goes through me or my dad was always yelling at me. When I go to the church and hear the Bible, I feel God is yelling at me because I am subjective. I’m
hearing you through me, my life, my experience. You might say pastor that’s normal. Yes, it is.
That’s why I’m saying it. You have to get beyond that. You have to start to hear not you, you
have to start to hear God. What God is saying. You might say I have an addiction to alcohol. I
will never get over it. Whenever I hear a preacher, I know whatever he says is going through me
and I know nothing will change. That’s subjective hearing. You have to get adjusted to being
Spirit filled and humble and say it’s got to be the way God says.

Another example: God showed Ezekiel a valley of bones, and he said to Ezekiel, “can these bones live?” Well, if you were studying at Johns Hopkins as a scientist you would say, no. Those bones can’t live. My answer to
God would be no, they can’t live. Because I know enough about dry bones that they are dead
and it’s over and they will not live. Ezekiel didn’t say that. What did he say? Oh, Lord God, thou
knowest. Thou knowest if these bones live or not. Do you hear what we are saying? We limit
the Holy One of Israel, Psalm 78:19 by our spirit and unbelief, by our personal life, by science. Of
course, bones can’t live and you can’t walk on water and water cannot come out of a rock. Wait
a minute. There has to be more to life than me, my life, my pain, my wounds, my fears. More
than science and the laws of gravity and medical science and so on. There has to be more. Why
do we say that?

Jesus said, he that hears. Look at the verse again. Vs. 24. He is talking and there
is a hearing that is different from another hearing. I hear. How many times have you been in a
class at school and it sounds like [indistinct] and you are falling asleep. What are you hearing?
Not much. Not much. Not much. I just hear someone is talking behind the wall. That’s all I can
hear. That’s how people hear God, by the way, in this universe. They just hear some (noise)
behind the wall. They believe he is there, but they can’t really hear him. But here is the good news for us. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we were born of the Spirit, born again and he
gave us ears, circumcised ears, circumcised heart and now we are able to worship. Because
hearing is a kind of worship.

How many of you have teenagers at home or children at home? How many of us have talked with someone and as they listen to mom or dad, they may have an attitude. We really need the lawn to be mowed. Hint! Hint! We really need to clean up the house. Hint! Hint! But their attitude is they are in a different place so in a way, people are like
this too with God. But when we come to God with this respectful attitude of worship, when we
put our hearts before him, and we are now able to do this because we have new hearts and
able to love, now we are hearing. Example: David was with his mighty men. He’s out on the
battlefield. He’s thirsty. He remembers. It’s kind of like it happens when you are on a baseball
field or somewhere doing something else and you say, it would be great to have a burger. Or
after this I’m going to get a Gatorade.

That was David saying, I’d like some cold water from the well of Bethlehem. That’s all he said. There are three guys that heard him. They not only heard what he said but in their hearts they wanted to do it for him. It wasn’t like talking to a teenager about mowing the lawn. It was something else. That has happened to you. You want to be at
the church. You want to hear what God is saying. You want to explore your Bible. You want to
live by faith. You want to hear what God is saying. Jesus says it this way in vs. 24. There is the
big part of it. That’s the kicker right there. He hears these sayings and he doeth. How could that
happen? There is a parable by Christ in Matthew and it’s one I say often on the street to people.
I’ve done it many places. I’ve done it in Sweden, in Azerbaijan, in Russia. I see a bunch of people
and I say, can I tell you a story? I’m an American.

Can I tell you a story? Where are you from? New York. Oh, New York! Wow! We know where New York is. I’ll tell you a short story. Do you want me to? I ask them! You don’t have a choice. Do you want me to? A certain man had two
sons. He said to the one son would you work in my garden. The son said, no. I won’t. Then later
he did. He said to the other son, would you work in my garden? Yes, papa. Yes, of course. And
he didn’t do it. Which one, teenager, did the will of the father? The one that said no. So the one
that said no did it. Why? Why did the person that said no end up doing the father’s will?
Because he had a change of heart. Something happened. His heart changed. Why did Jesus tell
this parable? He’s talking to Jewish religious people. They said, yes, yes, but couldn’t do it. Then
Gentiles don’t have a clue and they say no, and they do it.

Because of the new birth. The new birth has given us this obedience, this willingness, this desire. I want to do it. You might say I have areas in my life. I understand. That’s why you are here. We are all the same. There isn’t
any difference really. You say, yes, I will work in the vineyard. Yes, I will. But I don’t do it. Or it’s
the other one. No, I will not. And I don’t. But the third possibility is that man who said no had a
change. He was born of God. He believed in Jesus. Now he has a willingness, an ability, a desire,
to hear and do. This is a change of mentality, a change of heart. This is a change that is the most
greatest miracle in the universe. God only has two people to work with. The ones that said yes
and don’t do it. The ones that say no and they don’t do it. Where could I find someone who
would do it? The man that said no is the one that finds grace. He says I can’t. I won’t. And he
finds Christ. Christ changes his heart and now he delights in the will of God. It says that about
Jesus.

I delight to do thy will oh God in Hebrews 1:8. It happened to you. It will grow in you. You will learn it. It’s an amazing foundation for your life. It’s a whole mindset where it grows, and it
lives. It’s like a living thing that is moving. Ever been in the airport and stood on one of those
horizontal sidewalks that are moving? It’s kind of like that. I accept Jesus and I’m kind of
moving. It is something beyond you. It’s the filling of the Spirit. It’s the wisdom that stimulates
you in more wisdom. Ever talk with someone that is so refreshing and it moves and lives and
grows. Vs. 24. On a rock. We can make a diagram for our focus here. We have the rock. We can
make a foundation here, something like this for a house to go on or a rock.

In the ancient world, the cornerstone rock was a large square rock, and everything was built a square off of
that. P. Bob Colban gave that illustration which P. Lange referred to. P. Colban in the
construction business, in home repairs, was invited to a house they said our windows are not
square and our doors swing open. He looked around and…they wanted the windows and the
doors fixed. P. Colban put a ball down the floor and the ball made its way. It was not level. He
went down in the cellar and saw the foundation was deteriorated. He said we could work on
your doors and windows, but you have a deeper problem. If we solve the deeper problem,
maybe all these other things will go square. So they lifted the house, squared off the
foundation, dropped the house and every window worked. Every door was square.

The whole thing was straighten out. That’s like your life. You think you have a marriage problem? You do,
but you also got a deeper problem. Huh? Maybe that wasn’t the best illustration. You think you
have a health problem? You do, but you have a deeper problem and so on. So this is good
news. If you can hear me, and do what I say, your life will get squared up. Things will change.
Well, I need it done right now. How long will it take? I don’t know but I’ve seen people. One
brother told me; he was from Ecuador. Pastor Hadley was a missionary in Ecuador and that man
that told me this lives in Texas with P. Chris. He told me I heard Pastor Hadley. I knew he was from
God. I just started to obey.

I kept at it. I never had a real big salvation experience. I never felt it so to speak. I just heard him and kept following and I was believing Jesus and my life changed. I said how long did it take? I don’t really know. I just believe. I’m walking by faith in what God is saying and I’m honoring him in my heart. I’m hearing it and obeying it and it’s happened. It continues. I’m so glad I found this. I’m glad I found Jesus. I was the guy that said no but now I’m
doing my father’s will by the grace of God. This is the gift of God. The ministry of God. How are
people living today? They are building on sand. Let’s make a short list on what goes on with the
sand. We know that it’s going to wash away. It’s going to change. It’s going to shift, the wind
and water and storm and so on. How about if I start it off with me. I build on me. I’m a pretty
smart guy you know. I have some diplomas at home.

I got a nice personality. I got some determination and hard work. I got a good upbringing. I’m not talking about myself. I think I misled you! I’m talking about a guy. A guy can say these things. I got my family, my background,
my education, my talent, – all of this. I’m able to build a life of business, of family. I’m able to
love people. I’m able to be a good guy. That’s fine but this isn’t about normal. This is about a
storm. This is what happens in the storm. We’re not talking about when everything is normal,
and your paycheck hits your bank at the right time, and everything is firing on all cylinders.
We’re talking about trouble. Vs. 25. How many are there like that? I’m telling you everybody is
like that. You go to church in America today, anywhere, you got people saying, yes, I will do it. And they don’t. Then you have people that say I will never go to the church.

I’m not interested. I’ve heard this saying of Jesus before. I can pick and choose. But then Jesus is saying, no. I’m
telling you when you build on me, no matter what happens, no matter how the storm goes.
Who is it? Knock at the door. Who is it? I don’t know what to say right now. Who is it? Its death.
Death. The Grim Reaper is knocking on the door. Go away. I’m not ready for you. It’s too late.
It’s your time. I’ve been waiting for you. I am prepared. I have been living and hearing Jesus and
doing what he has said. I built my life on a rock and the gates of hell cannot be stronger than his
empty tomb. The tomb is empty. The promises are sure and precious. The Spirit has been
speaking to my heart through years.

Remember that brother I met up in Havre de Grace soul wining? He said his wife died fifteen years ago. He said before she died he said to her, whispered to her, I’ll see you in heaven. I’ll meet you at the south gate! I said to him, did you tell her to be on the right or the left side of the gate? What does it mean? That guy had an
assurance and he’s living the rest of his days here but has a living hope. What does it mean
when you build your life on a rock? No matter what happens there is something precious. Now,
I want to say something else about it. I was reading about gems and how they test, their
quality. One of them is a water test. You take a gem. Let’s say a diamond. You have diamonds
but it’s very simple. If you put it in the water, it will sparkle.

There can be a diamond or a fake diamond or an artificial stone and it doesn’t have the same properties in water. You know the test we are talking about are not human. They are test of our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4, God is the one that tries the hearts of men. Proverbs 17:2 the furnace is for gold and the crucible for silver, but
God tests the hearts of men. Testing our hearts. What is in them. I believe when we obey Jesus,
it folds back on itself the joy and the peace. We were out evangelizing on Saturday, and we
drove to Sykesville, a van load of us, just to go down main street and talk to people about Jesus
and listen to them and pray and be there. We meet people. We call that divine appointments
like Zacchaeus in the tree in the gospel was a divine appointment.

The woman at the well was a divine appointment. We met some that morning, Saturday morning. When we got back in the van, we have this Holy Spirit witness. When you do his will, when you hear his word and do his
will, you kind of feel this is right. This is right. God is with us. When I left this morning my home
earlier this morning, I could have gone out the door and my wife is in bed still, I thought I need
to go to her and see if she is awake. And have prayer for the day. I was with her and we had our
prayer. I felt like this I right. God is in this. You see, whenever you hear what Jesus is saying and
you end up doing it, it feeds itself. The Lord is saying to you, this is the way, walk in it. This is my
will. I’m sorry for the people that build on the sand. Let’s put down a couple things. A college
education. If I got a college education, I got it made.

How about getting married. There are people that have that idea. I’ll marry the right person and that’s my life, my goal. A house, money, my reputation is very important to me. I got to have a good reputation. If I have the
right reputation – by the way, you might say this is superficial. I’m saying no it isn’t.
Psychologists that have counseled people for 30 years and made a list. I have it in my office. If I
have or if I do. There are two categories. If I have money. If I am good looking. If people will
respect me. Imagine that one. If people will respect me then my house will be standing. It will
be standing but on sand. The day is only a matter of time when your marriage is not good, your reputation plummets, your finances are troubled, your health is hurting and so on. We know
this. It’s called in Isaiah 28, I want to close with that, Isaiah 28:15.

Can you imagine making a covenant with hell. Has anyone ever heard of anyone making deliberately a covenant with hell? Yes. I’ve heard it this way. I sold my soul to the devil. I believe Mick Jagger said it in one of the
Rolling Stone magazines that he made an agreement with the devil. The devil would make him
popular or famous or rich. Does the devil have that authority? He does. He offered it to Jesus
and Jesus did not say you are a liar, or you have no authority to give me anything. He met him
on other terms, quoting the Bible and saying it is written thou shalt not worship any other god.
Everything he answered was from the book of Deuteronomy Jesus know his Bible and deals with the
devil based on the Bible. But if you make a covenant with hell or a covenant with death, then
you are building on a foundation that is destructive and will destroy you. It’s written here. Vs.
15.

This could be a military invasion. It could be covid 19. It could be a number of things. What
does that mean? People live in lies. Lies are a comfort. Lies are a refuge. Lies are how we live.
Lie to me. Just lie to me. Don’t tell me the truth. I’ll feel better. Tell me how great I am. Tell me
the lie. Lie to me. I will feel better. I don’t want to know the truth. That’s how people live. Is
that profound? That’s amazing. Lie to me. Lie to me. Have we seen many lies today around the
world? Have we seen and heard them? It’s ridiculous. Okay. I live in your lie. What does it say
will happen? Vs. 15. I’ve been in different parts of the world and I’ve felt it. I’ve felt it. I’ve been
in Communist countries. I’ve been in other places with the religions and I’ve felt the lies. I’ve
felt the lies. It’s amazing. Lies. Lies. We make the lies our refuge. It’s a tragedy. Come on. The
truth is a great gift to us.

Are we perfect? No. Do we know everything? No. I’m not saying that, but Jesus told us we have the spirit of truth. And the Spirit will guide us in truth. Though we may be far off sometimes, we got a much greater shot at it through Jesus Christ. He’s the answer. A humble heart he will not ashamed. He that believeth it will not be ashamed. It means you won’t be shocked that I never knew, or I didn’t know, or I can’t believe that. Like someone
in a tsunami. They had no idea what the lie was. They had no idea. They lie down in sorrow in
Isaiah 15. I can’t say it strong enough. I’m getting the point to you and I’m a bit angry about it.
It’s ridiculous. Vs. 16. What kind of stone? A most incredible one. The one you know is true. The
most awesome one. What kind of stone? Tested, tried, absolutely true. I give you this stone. I
give it to you. You build your life on him.

The most incredible gift to us is the truth. You will not be ashamed. You grow in confidence and faith. Come on! Are we living in the USA and I don’t have total confidence in our government. I don’t have confidence when someone in our government is saying that when you have a little boy and he says he’s a little girl and people get
behind him in a lie. That’s a lie. The Hungarian government I just heard passed a law in the
parliament that in Hungary the law is your identity is defined by your biology, by genetics. Duh!
That’s a law. Now watch what the EU says about it. Now watch what the EU says about it. They
don’t like it. But the Hungarians have enough sense to say that’s the way it is. Period. You are
living in a lie if you believe anything else. Your identity is not defined by your psychology. Your
identity is defined by your biology and your genetics.

Obviously. Hundreds of thousands of years we have been saying that, but we are smarter than our forefathers. We’re smarter than them. No, we are greater liars than they are. They were liars too. But we are greater liars. We are greater liars than our forefathers. No, but we have our iPhone. You got an iPhone and
you’re an idiot. That’s all that means. Straight up fool believing in a lie and building and taking
refuge in lies and building on sand. When the trial comes you won’t have a clue. You think you
are confused now. Wait until it hits the fan. You’ll be more confused than ever. It’s crazy. I want
to close. This is a long message. It’s so logically laid out here. Let’s go a couple more verses. Vs.
16. You will be at rest. He that believes shall not be frustrated, worried, afraid, anxious, but he
that believes will be solid. Believing on him and the Spirit is ministering to you. Vs. 17. Don’t we
love the plummet line.

The plummet line means the gravity is not lying. The vertical line is from
this point to the ground. It’s a plummet line. It’s true. You don’t like it. Everyone is leaning and
saying, oh, we’re straight. We got it down. We know more than everyone. We’ve been
advanced. We’re advanced. We have an iPhone. It’s like could anyone get a plummet line and
put it to that guy? And tell him he is a liar and living in a lie and tell us the truth. Could the
church of Jesus Christ be saying the truth by the Spirit of God here and everywhere in the
world. Amen, Lord. Yes. You have sent us in the world to be salt and light and not believe a lie
but stand up and say I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that. What? What? You don’t believe
that? Yeah. Hello? Get your head out of the sand. I don’t believe it and you don’t believe it.
You’re a liar and I’m a liar but you are a bigger liar than I am.

That kind of talk. You know what I am saying. You digest it. Vs. 17. If you flood the ground, animals in the holes better get out or they drown. You flood the ground and the animals that can’t survive under water have to get
out to get air. I will force you out of your holes, your lies where you have refuge. Reality will
knock on your door. Its reality showing up. You better get out of your lie. You better get out of
your hole because the flood is coming and is going to find you. If you can’t make it, you better
get out of the lie. You better come to Jesus. You better come to Noah’s Ark. If you don’t get on
Noah’s Ark, it’s over. You better come to Christ. And by the way, if you come to Christ, the best
thing you can do is hear what he says and do it.

That’s the way to live. It will build up in your soul, rooms in your soul. Confidence will grow. You will be changed from glory to glory. You will. The righteous are as bold as a lion. You show up. It’s a time to go back to church. It’s time to
have fellowship with sisters and brothers. What about covid19? Is it 19? What about that? I
don’t know but I have 99.9% chance that I’m not going to die from it. Is that correct? It is. 99.9%
that I’m not going to die from covid19. Wait a minute. I’m still going to die but I want to say
something more about it. I’m going to get in my car and drive home today. What is the chances
of me getting in a car accident? Maybe 99.9999 or whatever it is but I’m still going to get in my
car and drive home. I’m going to swim in the ocean. But there’s sharks in the ocean. Yeah, but
the possibilities are let’s just go swimming.

I’m going to get candy out of the vending machine. Do you know there is a possibility the vending machine will fall on top of you? And crush you! And you will internally bleed to death. Wait a minute. Back up. Pastor Schaller, don’t you know this is serious? I do. I have heard and any medical person can tell you it’s a horrible thing. It’s a
horrible death in a way. I don’t want that, and I don’t want that for anyone. I’m talking about
reality folks. There is tuberculosis and cancer and gun shot wounds. By the way, you have a
higher possibility of getting shot in New York city than dying of covid19. Statistically, that’s on
the books. I get shot in New York. That’s why I don’t go there not because of covid19. Because I’ll get shot in New York. That’s why I don’t go there. Let’s finish the message. I’m going off
here. I’m telling you. Have we noticed anything about this world we live in? Have you noticed
how important the church is and your freedom?

Have you noticed the joy and the authority that is built up in your soul from obeying God? I think when you obey God last October it brought you some blessing to something here in August of 2020. I think when I obey God back
some years ago, maybe I’m living in the blessing of it today. I do not know; I just know it works.
If I can hear and do what he says, it will change my life for the good. When the storm comes,
and they are coming, the storm comes, and let’s not think about that part so much. Let’s just
enjoy all the good things. In the back of my mind, let’s acknowledge the fact that there is a
covering that is too short.

That’s in verse – the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on.
We had some NBA players in Budapest, and we couldn’t find a hotel that had a bed long
enough for the NBA players. The blanket is too short like on the airplane. It’s too short. It can’t
cover me. That’s how people are living. It doesn’t work. It’s not helping me. I cannot make it.
We are saying we understand. What you need is Jesus Christ in your life. Hear what he is saying
and obey him and follow him by grace and you will find he is enough. It’s good.

Amen.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.