And welcome back to transitional justice at 4pm Hawaii time on a given Monday. And today we're going to talk about something we've talked about before which but which is dynamic, and has changed and since it's gotten worse, the military takeover in Sudan. And our, I guess our guests who has been with us discussing the same subject over time is Mutasim Ali welcome to the show Mutasim. Thank you for having me Jay, great to be here. We also have Ahmed Abdul Shafi toba with us. Can you introduce him to our viewing audience. Of course, yes, I'm going to have to waste a co founder of the Sudan operation movement army. This is a movement that was founded a little more than 20 years ago to respond to systematic marginalization in Sudan and to promote political change. And I would definitely leave it to him to further introduce himself on his activism, better Sudan. Well, welcome to the show both of you Mutasim and Ahmed really appreciate you coming down. This is a very hard time in Sudan. Mutasim and I talked about it a few weeks ago and as we left the story it looked like there would be peaceful protest in cartoon and elsewhere in Sudan, and that ultimately reason and peaceful protest would prevail. And that has not happened as it would toss it. Unfortunately, you know, after years of struggle right for for change in Sudan. And after moving the Africa's longest dictator, Omar Bashir from office, the Sudanese people are yet to realize change. That's because the elite and the military institution continue to hijack people's revolution. And the recent events in Sudan is a, you know, demonstrates how military institutions in countries like Sudan hijacked people's revolution, people's hops. But what is fascinating about what is happening in Sudan is that people are determined, despite the brutality and ruthlessness of the military and the militias in Sudan. Yeah, you've been following this closely I'm sure you're, you're in Baltimore now but you must be following this day by day because you have been associated with the as an activist or liberation movement in Darfur and and Sudan. So, what is the current state of affairs in terms of the violence that we thought this would be peaceful, but it hasn't been peaceful, and the violence has accelerated. Can you talk about it. Thank you so much for having me. I'm fortunate to come once again. And in the middle of what is happening people are just finding their way out of this great pandemic that left the whole world provides. With the hope in Sudan that people will work out of the pandemic and find a way what's democratic, peaceful democratic transition, unfortunately, as if Sudanese people are destined to believe in a such horrible life and their totalitarianism and dictatorship. However, the people of Sudan are very, very strong people very resilient and they have demonstrated a couple of times. They're their aspirations and their hope that they are looking to go towards democracy unfortunately with the reckless general, the leader of the coup has dashed all that hope. And the games that these people made the last two years out of that December 2018 revolution. Unfortunately, we are back to square one. This school has huge setback for Sudan's progress. And unfortunately, the leadership of the school know nothing but clean. They're all implicated in the works that rule. We have the whole world has been the genocide. The wars in the southern east house of Sudan we were mounting in the blue night and even in the capital of Khartoum when they brutally dispersed the city in that persistent. And they're all implicated. So now once again. We have seen in the last two days that the killing and the bitter arrest of the activists and the government officials from the Houndel's cabinet and yeah, we don't expect anything good out of any military. This is this is expected. Well the mask is off now isn't it. I mean because they're using tear gas. The military has arrested hundreds of people detained them. The military has used violence in the street. The military has killed dozens of people in these protests. At this time the people who are protesting. Am I right have remained peaceful. They are doing peaceful protest. They are not responding with violence. The sad thing to correct me if I'm wrong is that the military is going backward to 2019 you alluded to that. They are just putting people who were officials for Bashir back in office. They're returning to the time of the dictator Bashir. Am I right about that. We, the observers and the students people knew from the day that the CFM have, you know, signed that partnership with the military to form a transitional government. From the day when people have not so the nature of that partnership wasn't going well. However, people they buy the bullet and then for the sake of the transition, they kept going and they're trying here and there. Unfortunately, I'm very am generals of Bashir. They did the same thing. They, they, they violated the declaration for the constitutional declaration. And now they put us back into square one. Fortunately, the students people were very alert. They went to the streets millions of people across the world and now the generals that isolated at home isolated across the world and sadly looks like the general is going ahead with his own plans and despite the resistance of the students people and the rejection from here and there. Unfortunately, the decision the political decision is not in the hands of the, the, the public, the general. Yeah much I said you know we when we look forward a few weeks ago when we discussed this right after, as we discussed it right after the coup. We thought that it would be resolved somehow peacefully. But that hasn't, that hasn't happened and I have two questions for you what is what we know what we know what motivates the people. They want to have a reasonable democratic representative government. They've always wanted that. But what motivates the generals to try to stay in power and use violence to do that. What is what is their agenda here and what are they, what do you believe they hope to achieve. This is a very good question, Jay. I think there's a singular objective for the military leaders and and those who support them by the way. I guess they are, you know, the, the, the military take over was conducted by the army generals but also supported by other parties who joined the government as part of, you know, a political deal, right, a peace agreement. The quote unquote peace agreement in juba the capital of south Sudan in 2020. And so there's somehow support the military to take over in Sudan. And I can tell you just to answer a question. You know, the their prime objective is avoid accountability. These army generals. They take the leaders of the military take over in Sudan, all of them complicit or perpetrated crimes against the people of Sudan, specifically in the region Darfur was from part of Sudan. In the, in South could have fun. And in blue night. And as I mentioned, even in cartoon in the capital cartoon in 2019 during the sit in, they killed more than 127 testers of whom there are more than 40 of them. You know, were actually dumped in the river now. These are the same army generals that are leading the country today. Not to mention other crimes across the country. And so, because they fear accountability, and this is actually one of the demands of the Sudanese people, the demands of the democracy protesters. And accountability and investigations for the crimes in Sudan. And so that's part of reason why they do not want give up power. And I think their only protection is to hold on power, but this is not a sustainable. She was in power for more than 30 years. She was removed by the Sudanese people. Before Bashir, there were a number of governments, right, were removed by people. And so, yes, now they're holding in power to, you know, to avoid accountability, but sooner or later that accountability will happen. Yes, that's the only motivation that they're trying to protect their wealth, because they, you know, they have, of course, maybe this is one of the reasons they have enough wealth, but I think their, their main motive is avoid accountability. You, you would like to see a resolution of this, of course, you would like to see some agreement such as the agreement that was reached before the power sharing agreement between the civilian government and the military government. What are you seeking now what is, what are the activists want, and how do you think they can achieve it and can they achieve it. Thank you so much. What we want is a civilian government that is tasked with the, the specific agenda. And I would make the government as a caretaker government set the state for a transition that will end up in elections, and then the people will choose their own leaders. How to get there. That's a big issue. Are they the military trusted partner. No, not, they're not. They, they left no room for trusting them. People trusted them before. And they, in horrible way they just violated that trust. And now we are in a situation. The streets, the Sudan, the people of Sudan. The demand is one. No partnership with the military because that is not their job than a train to govern that train for specific job. The politicians, the, the, the, the people choose the original leaders, national leaders who can set the path towards a peaceful transition that will pave the way for a democratic transition and put an end to this horrible cycle of who after another who after another. Now, we cannot isolate the internal factor from the, the outside factor, because it is very important also to see the bigger picture, the region of Horn of Africa. So, it's a very fragile region. There are a lot of wars in Somalia wars and now we have war in Ethiopia in Sudan, and also cross the, the red sea region is geopolitical and economic of this region makes it very much interesting. There is so much and all the read the Indian Ocean and the Horn of Africa region and Middle East. All of them are intertwined and so much interest is vested there, and everyone is struggling to influence the political decision in this region. So, we are paying the price of such a situation. What are the best policies that can, you know, avert such situation. It's the interest of everyone in the region. See a peaceful democratic state of Sudan. That is not what's happening right now. A lot of influences and exploitation of this situation in Sudan and we're not able to get there. But it is important to understand the, the, the, the external, the outside dimension with the internal dimension that was mentioned in order to have a clear picture of what's next. But what I see right now, the military generals, they have no political decision in their hand because they are public. And it's only the citizens people that look and can regain the power and regain and reinstate the civilian government. I mean, I would suggest that, you know, this is a regional matter, and goes beyond any particular country. And I guess what that means it's it's not a coincidence that you have trouble in joining neighboring countries, and that there are people crossing the border, you know, having an effect and fomenting unrest, fomenting coup fomenting violence. And I wonder we, you know, we were talking briefly before the show about the connection, if you will, between what's happening in Sudan, and what's happening in right now, Ethiopia. And I suppose, as Ahmed said, you know, we should look at Somalia as well. And you were also mentioning Rwanda. We had a show with Project Expedite Justice concerning Rwanda and the genocide in the early 90s about that. I wonder if you could give me a picture of how this works, of how the trouble in one country affects, you know, other countries, and somehow people cross the border and create a problem in neighboring countries. Can you talk about that for a minute? Sure. I just want to, you know, you know, to emphasize what Ahmed was mentioning of the regional context. Particularly speaking of Sudan, right. As he mentioned, the army generals are not acting on their own. They actually implement regional, you know, agenda. They are being used by regional powers without naming them at this point. Unfortunately, what we see in Sudan is not a unique situation. We have Eritrea, right? It's still as an unstable country. We have European now. We've got, you know, the Tigray region forces and Oamo movement. Again, there's sort of, you know, moving ahead to, you know, to topple the government of Abi Ahmed, European Prime Minister. And, you know, and we have examples in the past, right? And we spoke as you mentioned prior to the show about Wanda and there are many other examples, the Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic. And so all of these conflicts, of course, you know, they are, as I said, regional and international interest, but in the end, I think, you know, as much as they influence the region in general, but I think for the people, let's say in Sudan or in Ethiopia, because they like political leadership that can lead people, right? We can always blame or internal struggles to foreign, you know, actors and all of that. In the end, I think the people of the specific countries Sudan in this case need to have a strong leadership that can deal with all of these elements, right? Because in the end, we would never end the foreign interest because this is what this is the world we live in. There will always be interest. And so how are we, as a people, going to cope with such complexities? And I have to say in our case in Sudan, so far, we have failed to deal with our domestic issues. And we have failed to come up with policies that were addressed on the foreign interest as well as domestic interest. That's really, I think, speaking of examples that we mentioned prior to the show, Wanda, and I think, you know, it is unfortunate that, you know, what happened in Wanda, you know, continues to happen elsewhere in Sudan today and in Ethiopia what happened tomorrow and there's nothing, you know, actually, we don't do anything to actually stop that. And this is really the unfortunate path, right? And, you know, at this point, I don't want to say I lost hope and faith, but I think the other thing that I can say is that all we can do is to mitigate the the damage that, you know, that is going to happen. And this is very unfortunate because I know that these conflicts of wars are preventable. But then, you know, we're playing politics. And this is primarily in the international community. Just today in the United Nations Security Council, I was just watching a, you know, sort of a session about the situation in Ethiopia, and you can see that even though countries agree that what is happening in Ethiopia is probably going to be a civil war, but then there's a disagreement on how the international community acts. And this is again because of, you know, international interest and this is very unfortunate. Amit, I want to talk to you about that. You mentioned that. And, you know, from this discussion and from the discussions we've had before about Sudan, in the absence of a reasonable, responsible, governing attitude by the military, it looks to me like we're going to have violence here. And the only way this can be resolved is, as in the case of Bashir, where the people take the dictator down. They take him down. And then the people get back in charge again and they create a representative government. But between now where we are right now, and that time, that strikes me that we will have to have violence. You agree? Well, this reminds me of the justification that the FRC put first when they signed the constitutional declaration. They said that this partnership with the military is primarily to avoid civil war and to avoid fragmentation of the state and to help if they pass towards the democratic transition. Well, that's a good agenda. Unfortunately, the very partners that they cohabit together into this transitional government, the one who turned against the past towards transition. They are the one now detaining people ill-lawfully. They are the one killing the very people who hold and people who toppled the Bashir regime. What is the difference?  What about the international community, Ahmed? You know that it's a mixed bag in Africa because the international community colonialized most of Africa and did not create a representative government culture, if you will, a legacy, if you will. And so when they left, or whatever the process was in leaving, they left some of these countries without representative government that was sustainable. This is a mixed bag. And then you say, well, maybe we need the international community to come back and be more active, the United Nations, the EU, the U.S. What would you expect them to do? What should they be doing? And what are the risks of bringing, of asking them to come back and doing it? I don't need to say that in this situation of Sudan, when the British left Sudan, Sudan was even better off, which is very strange. At least, then had the best civil servant system in the whole continent of Africa. We had huge development projects. We had foundations for a greater development in the Africa and especially in the whole of Africa. Sadly, the interventions of military in the governance has taught that all aside. And every time the military coup took place, it will go back to the square one. It's number one. The region is, like I said, it's an interest for regional and international powers. But they should know that their interest is only safer and secure when there is a stable democratic state, namely in Sudan, because the strategic position of Sudan is a glue for the Horn of Africa, of the north of Africa, towards the south of Africa. There is this strategic source, the Rivanai, which is now there is a competition over the Rivanai, Sudan and Ethiopia. These resources makes the region of Sudan is so interesting. And I remember it's on the 29th, October 29, after following the horrible coup, President Biden said that the situation in Sudan and therefore present a threat to United States national interest and national security. Now, before that having former President Donald Trump. Well, do you want more? Do you want more from the United States? Do you want more from Europe? Do you want more from the United Nations? You know, sanctions haven't really worked. The United States has withheld $700 million to the military government in Sudan. That hasn't worked. They don't seem to care about that money. What would you want Europe and the US to do to help, if anything? First of all, we appreciate the fact that they condemned and deployed the coup and they are called for the re-establishment of the civilian-led government. But that's not enough. What is needed now is to stand strong with the people of Sudan into their quest for civilian government and put those words in action. How would you want? That's what I'm coming. Number one, the military, they are not a partner in the government. They should stay at the back. And we have unlawful militia that is horribly killing people all over the country. This one should be rendered a terrorist organization because they're implicated, they're involved in the massacres in Khartoum. They are involved in genocide. They are involved in U.M.A. everywhere you go. And these are looting the resources of the country, of the nation. And when there's no resources left for the people of Sudan and there is no security, this is a direct threat to international peace and security. It has to be taken seriously. Security council, the European Union, they should outlaw this group. Number two, they should sanction those people, not the people, because the people of Sudan have been under sanctions over 30 years. They lost everything. Now we are trying to come back. And once again, we have these people jumping into the ranks of power and taking Sudan back. This is not acceptable. We understand the interests of other nations and the bilateral relationship that they're building is this a cult. It's not going to, it's not sustainable. If they want a secure interest, sustainable, it has to be established through the people's power. When the people are in power, I'm sure their interest is safer and secure and that will help everybody. But with these gags, no way. You know, one thing with Tassim, you both, you both referred to leadership. And maybe what's missing in at least some of these countries, maybe what's missing in Sudan is modern, progressive, strong, you know, popular leaders were qualified and competent to be leaders. If I had that, maybe that would help, not only in Sudan, but maybe also in Ethiopia, Somalia, Wanda, what have you. And it strikes me that the two of you, Tassim and Ahmed, you are the new generation. You are the ones that understand these issues. You are the ones that understand the need for leadership and what what what you need to have as a leader and what the leader needs to do. What do you think about that? Is there a generation of Africans like you guys who can step into that role and correct this and improve this, not only in Sudan, but everywhere where leadership is necessary. What do you think, Tassim? I 100% agree with that. There's a general rational change in Africa and Sudan is just an example. When you look at the Sudanese protesters today, all of the majority of them are young protesters, right. All of them were born just during the Bashir regime, but they're very resistant to autocratic regime and they're very persistent for their call to democracy and peace. They're very hopeful. And I think this is sort of, it became a trend, right. In Africa in general, there is movement in Algeria, there is a movement in Tunisia, there's a movement in Gambia, there's a movement in Uganda, and other ways. So basically this is really what is helpful, you know, in the continent. And I like to say also in other countries in Latin America or Asia. But in the case of Sudan, I think this is really inspiring to see young people protesting for democracy. This was not the case, you know, two decades ago. And I would like to mention something to what international community can do, America and Europe. I think this is really very important. Because in the end, it's important for the people of Sudan to continue their fight for democracy change. I think they need international support. And number one thing, and I think, I'm already mentioned, is that, you know, the in America, for instance, there's something called Global Magnesty Act. The essence of this act is to designate individuals, right, for economic sanctions, or travel bans, or for asset seizure, right. This is, this is, this would be very effective, right, to sort of limit the movement of the cool leaders in Sudan, let's say. And so if only, you know, acts like Global Magnesty Act sort of globalized, right, not only in America, but also elsewhere, I think that's going to contribute a lot or changes to that. And, you know, as we always say that the military leaders are very strong, they're very powerful, right, they, they, they're, you know, they have the guns, they have the guns, they have the money. And that's what gives them legitimacy. But the will of the people is stronger. And I see that happen, and the termination in the Sudanese people. And so, only if that coupled with, you know, with international assistance to designate individuals, like the leaders of the militia and the army in Sudan as for economic sanctions, travel bans and all of that I think that will contribute a lot to promoting change in Sudan. Thank you, Mutesim.  I hope Mutesim doesn't mind if I do that. And then can you talk about, you know, this new generation of leaders, including you and Mutesim and others, who understand what it means to do leadership, who understand what it means to achieve a representative government. Is that happening? Where is it happening? How do you see it unfolding in Sudan? What are your thoughts about? That's very important in the context of many countries, especially Sudan. Today it's not 60s, it's not 70s, it's not 80s in the 90s that where oppressive authoritarian regimes can impose their will against people. People's aspirations are different.  People are talking about climate change, people are talking about virtual classes, people are talking about businesses, multilateral, and all this, we are not part of that. Because our system has just failed us. And not only the system, it's the political elites, those with an old, old beliefs and ideas that does not translate into modern generations. In this case, people at the age of freedom, freedom of movement, freedom of travel, freedom of face and everything, you cannot just impose a will, the way I live, the way I speak, the way I want to be, you know, I have the right to run for office, I have the right to do everything that I want, with totalitarian system and beliefs. Again, it's old, so it is now called people's power, it's not militarist power. Unfortunately, we have to test the people against a gun. And that is not going to work. So the people will go into the street and the generals, they will go to the barracks, and that is coming. The military, the cool leaders, they will not survive, because people are determined, already at the grassroots, well organized, structure their resistant committees, and they're working towards that achieving today was the beginning of the, of the civil disobedience, which was announced by the FFC, and even tomorrow is the second, going to be the second day. The cool leaders, they felt isolated, they failed, they asked so many people to form their government, they couldn't, because people are rejecting it, they're refusing it, because it's the will of the people. So there's no way they can, they can govern, because you cannot govern just like that. And I think the young generation, they strongly feel about it's their future, it is their way of life. So they have identified their agenda, and they are moving forward with it. No one can stand on that pass, because when the will of the people is, the generals' guns will not. So, I believe this is a global, it is a continental, the African young people are coming up, and they want a, see an end to this dark era of coups and civil wars, and you want to, you want to see a democratic free world that they can fulfill their aspirations and leave the government for the betterment of the world. Thank you, Ahmed. We wish you well. We want to see the same thing happen. Thank you, Ahmed. I really appreciate you coming, really appreciate you telling us what's going on, and your aspirations for the future. And of course, we wish you well, we want everyone to wish you well, everyone to support you, and we want you to succeed. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.


Let's do a lightning round. If you were elected president, name some of the people that you expect or you would like to appoint as Secretary of State. Who for you would be a great Secretary of State and what? I don't know about that. I don't think I can answer that question because I don't really want to telegraph my choices like that. I love Tulsi Gabbard like her that she understands the importance of disentangling, of unraveling the empire and unraveling the war machine. Would you ban gas stoves? And this lightning round, we'll come back to these in depth if you would like. People are talking about banning stoves. The Biden administration is talking about banning gas stoves yes or no? Yeah, I would not ban gas stoves. Great, would you ban the use of roundup herbicide? Would I ban it? I would certainly make them label it and I would do everything I could to make sure that Monsanto is honest about the injuries that it causes that people are buying now with an open arms like negotiation understanding that they're buying something that's deadly poisonous. Okay, would you ban any major prescription or over-the-counter drugs that are now on the market? I don't come to mind at the moment, but you know. Would you have a personal history of substance abuse? Your family has certain recurring motifs along that, would you legalize drugs or what currently illegal drugs would you legalize? I would decriminalize marijuana on a federal basis and allow the states to regulate it. And I would have a federal tax on it though, I would apply that tax to building rehabilitation centers around the country and providing people drug rehabilitation. What about psychedelics, which have been decriminalized at the state level in Oregon and Colorado? I would definitely decriminalize psychedelics. Okay, would you support immigration reforms that make it easier for more people to come here and live and work legally in America? Yes, I would. Okay, would you make it impossible for people to cross-support illegally and I would open up immigration for legal immigration? Would you ban so-called assault weapons? Oh, I'm not gonna take away anybody's guns. But if there was a consensus where Republicans and Democrats voted a majority to do that, I would sign the bill. Great. Would you pardon Ross Ulbrecht, the founder of the Silk Road, the deep web drug market, Julien Assange of WikiLeaks or Edward Snowden? I would pardon Assange immediately because he's a newspaper publisher and it is crazy. It's crazy what they're trying to do to him. It's completely anti-American. I would pardon Snowden because what Snowden did for the American people was to help restore at least some semblance of democracy and the importance of the information he released was attested to by the fact that Congress passed legislation recognizing the disclosures that he had and making sure that, to try to make sure that those kinds of abuses didn't occur again. So I think he is a hero. He shouldn't be treated as a villain. With Ross Ulbrecht, I need to look into that. My understanding of Ross Ulbrecht, the way that I understand it now is that he was, is given two life terms for something that normally you would not be given that. And if I investigate this, which I'm gonna do very, very quickly, and I find out that he was not being punished so much for his crimes, but being punished as an example to teach a lesson or to increase the bias against Bitcoin and I will release him. Reasons audiences is largely made up of libertarians. We believe in free minds and free markets in limiting government and increasing individual autonomy. As you're running for president and you're pulling 15%, 18% in various polls, what is a message to libertarians who believe in free minds and free markets that you can bring to them? Well, I think I'm aligned. I've always been aligned with libertarians on most issues. I mean, there's tweaks that I have. As an environmentalist, I don't think libertarianism works well in the commons at least in any way that's practical. But I wanna, you know, and those are policy, those are assets that are not susceptible to private property ownership, like the shared assets of our community, what we call the public trust assets with the commons or the commonwealth, the air, the water, the wildlife, fisheries, public lands, aquifers, those kinds of things that you do need government regulation because of an economic law called tragedy of the commons which suggests that all of us will catch the last fish in the ocean. But doesn't that also imply that we should be privatizing more of the commons because when you have clear property rights, you tend to take better care of them than they're left to be. I, you know, I've seen schemes like that, you know, particularly regulation of fisheries that have worked well in some cases, but there's something really undemocratic about it. I mean, what, you know, one of the reasons that we, that the British, you know, rose up and fought the battle of running me, it was because King John tried to privatize the, you know, the rivers of England, the Thames and erect tolls on the Thames. He privatized the, you know, the game animals, the fish and the hare, which is what gave him a problem with Robin Hood. He privatized the fisheries and those assets were social safety nets.  And, you know, there's something very democratic. In fact, the magna, the full name of the Magna Carta is Magna Carta, the Charter of the Forest, because it recognized that the commons belong to all of us, that whether you're rich or poor, humble or noble, accurate white, European or, you know, African or wherever your origin is, if you were a citizen, you had an equal right to cross over a beach and pull out your fish. That was an excerpt from the reason interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's running for president. If you want to see another excerpt, go here. If you want to see the full thing, and you should go here. Come back next Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern time when Zach Weisz-Miller and I will be talking to somebody that you absolutely want to hear from.


Anyway, I'm happy to be here with you today, and I want to share with you now here we here we go I I should begin by saying this this passage before us is a very heavy passage I'm not gonna doctor it up and make it less than it is it is a very Heavy passage and it's going to be presented I believe in a way that does honor to the passage because what Jesus is speaking about here is not light weight We're living in an age in a time where we want to make everything seem to be kind of fluff You know and even Christianity for a lot of people even Christianity is something that has to be a feel-good Kind of faith and if you don't feel good about it, then man, it's not real You know, but the fact is Jesus Christ is about to conclude his message and as Christians We need to understand we need to understand that we are not exempt from pain There are a lot of people who believe that as Christians we're supposed to be exempt from pain I mean once you come to faith in Christ isn't everything supposed to be just really easy and smooth and and Jesus is speaking now in such a Serious way to those whom he was speaking to there on on this mountain for the Sermon on the Mount and he is bringing them to a conclusion now he's bringing his message to a to an end and He is going to deal with the reality that all of us experience now we have young people in here and And you have yet to experience some of the things that you will one day experience should the Lord give you some years You know and so at 20 if I'd heard this message I have to be honest with you if I'd heard this this message here the way I'm going to give it today I would have looked at that guy up there thinking I don't have a clue really what you're talking about Even though in my mind I would have thought oh, I know all of that already But when you get saved and you move on in your faith in Christ You are going to discover that life isn't always as easy as you thought it should be and You will sometimes maybe many times over the course of your walk with the Lord begin to question whether you made a good decision in Following Christ because Jesus Christ here in the Sermon on the Mount is Issuing a challenge to people and he's about to conclude it in such a way that it is so it is so real It is so honest that those who are listening are actually going to have an interesting response And you'll see it in just a moment as we as we look at this together So let's begin reading in Matthew chapter 7 at verse 24 I'll read to verse 29 and we'll get into our study a study that I chose to entitle two roads two trees and two builders beginning at verse 24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him to a wise man Who built his house on the rock and the rain? Descended the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house And it did not fall for it was founded on the rock now Everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man Who built his house on the sand and the rain descended the floods came the winds blew and beat on that house And it fell great was its fall and So it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were Astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes Notice how he closes his message It isn't a smile God has a wonderful plan for your life kind of conclusion He's giving a warning and he's speaking about what life actually is two men building houses One on sand and one on the rock Storms come one falls one remains and that's what we'll be looking at today as we are about to conclude The Sermon on the Mount so Jesus is using a series of comparisons in order that he might clarify the purpose of his message And he's now issuing a challenge for them to follow him completely as his Disciples and he's doing this in the form of a parable Now this particular parable here. It's called the parable of two builders This parable is intended to draw contrast the contrast that he intends to draw is between listeners or Hearers and doers so there's a contrast that he's Presenting to them right now and he's going to give people a chance to act in faith in response to what he's been teaching them Again, he's developing a series of contrasts. We've been seeing this in chapter 7 all the way back in verse 13 and 14 Because in verses 13 and 14 Jesus spoke of two roads and These two roads were intended to illustrate the need to decide to choose the right path and as we looked at this we saw that Life is filled with choices and a wise individual would choose to pursue the way of the Lord Seek ye first he has said the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you So there is a man who is being portrayed as having to make a choice Well, obviously Jesus is saying you need to choose wisely cheese choose to seek the Lord first and so we saw that the the story of the two roads and Then he begins to speak concerning two trees and remember with me one of those trees produces good fruit and the other tree produces rotten fruit and So he intended to reveal that our lives produce fruit that demonstrates whether or not we have a relationship with God a Good tree produces good fruit and a rotten tree produces rotten fruit So you need to know whether or not you are and this is his point You need to know whether or not you are a tree that produces good fruit because you're abiding him or if you are in Reality in your life producing that which is rotten that which is corrupt And so that's a pretty strong image that he was giving at that time now He concludes by speaking about two builders and By speaking about these two builders this reveals what is called the foundation of real faith So he does so with what is called the parable of two builders As I was preparing this message I began to think about how we speak a language We Christians born again Christians evangelical Christians speak a language that that has been referred to as Christian ease that's our language Christian ease and sometimes we have conversations that are In-house Conversations in other words there are things that my wife Marie and I will speak about together that that we know the background And thus I don't have to give a full account or even use words that that That everybody will understand I can speak in such a way as just to sometimes abbreviate what I'm saying And she knows exactly what it is that I'm speaking about it's it's it's an in-house Conversation I Could say she could say to me like you remember how your mom and she may say something and I go Yeah, I fill in the entire conversation with just the do you remember when we were and I can fill in the whole conversation It's in-house Conversation well we do that with one another and I do that from the pulpit all the time and I don't even realize I'm doing that so I'll say something to you I'll use the word parable and I'm assuming everybody knows exactly what a Parable is and of course that may not be true When I first got saved I Hadn't been a Christian more than a month or so and I was at a Bible study And it was a house Bible study And one of the young ladies after the study prayer meeting began to share because she said today is my spiritual birthday Today she said I have turned one year old in Christ and I'm thinking man She's ancient man. She's been with Jesus a whole year Because to me a year was a long time I was only saved for a month and I think I wonder how wise I'll be in a year And I still remember that I'm 20 years old just looking at her and then she says when I was in the world And then she goes again and in the world she used the term the world so many times I finally had it I said let me wait stop and I told her stop is one of those times They're only like 10 or 12 people so I could she was talking I said wait a minute Okay, you're confusing me and she goes what do you mean? I said what are you talking about when you say the world? I mean you keep saying the world I said as far as I know that's where we are right now. I mean What do you mean by that and I'm serious I mean I seriously did not know what she's talking about when she said when I was in the world because that's Christian ease You meet me speaking to somebody and say oh, yeah when I was in the world And you think they know what you're talking about they have no clue if they're not saved what you're talking about They really don't they'll just smile at you, but they don't have a clue what do you mean the world the world is a satanic system It is energized by Satan it is in distinct opposition to God and all that God wants It's a whole system that is in opposition to God and it's called the world That's why we're told love not the world neither the things of the world for the one who loves the world Well, the love of the father's not in him for all that is in the world less of flesh Let's say I it's pride of life that is all in opposition to God It's passing away and only the one who does the will of the father remains well We know that out of 1st John 2 15 through 17. We know that but when I was first saved I had no clue what that's what that means. Well, the same is true with the word parable See I'll use the word parable and that's found its way into the English language We use the term parable, but I wanted to share with you just as in brief You know when I say this is called the parable of two builders There are some in this room who don't even know what I'm talking about by using the word parable So let me define it for you for just a moment, and then I'm going to go into the parable What Jesus is doing here is he's using a parable a parable speaks of placing one thing next to another for the purpose of Comparison is taking something from heaven and using earthly language so that you can take heavenly truth Couch it in an earthly illustration so people will be able to get an understanding of what Jesus Christ is speaking about It's a story in which the nature and history of God's kingdom is portrayed figuratively and by using parables Jesus uses the familiar to communicate the unfamiliar Jesus used parables very often as a matter of fact approximately one-third of Jesus's recorded teachings came by way of parables parables are both mirrors and Windows as as mirrors we are we see ourselves in them as Windows we can see life through them parables reveal truth concerning his kingdom parables illustrate doctrine parables are used to develop spiritual Understanding parables are intended to both conceal as well as to reveal you'll see that when we get to Matthew chapter 13 You see truth is revealed to those who desire to know but it is concealed from those who are Indifferent we call them lazy or indifferent listeners A parable is something when it's used that somebody will listen and say I wonder what he meant by that Whereas a lazy listener or an indifferent listener will say who really cares? Why don't you speak more plainly that makes no sense to me at all So truth is revealed to those who desire it, but it's concealed from those who are indifferent Like it says in Proverbs 25 verse 2 it is the glory of God to conceal a matter But the glory of Kings is to search out a matter You see the same message That awakens one to truth Hardens another it is the same Sun that melts Wax That will harden clay The same message that Jesus gave that awakened people to want more of God that same identical message hardened others into Opposition to him in the same message that I give on a Sunday morning And I give an invitation There are some who come forward in the same message somebody got up and walked out same message So the indifferent or that the clay Hardens with the Sun Where the softer one whose heart is searching and longing for something else? Responds to truth and Jesus used parables very often in order to awaken people to heavenly truth He's giving people a chance to act in faith upon his words It is one thing to hear But it is truly something else to hear and obey And a true Christian not only hears and agrees in theory But a genuine Christian actually hears and obeys what the word of God has to say The fact is hearing and doing evidence is true faith in Jesus Christ The way that we live Ultimately will evidence whether we have been saved or whether we are unsaved and our lives really do Reflect that someone once said preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words Now some people actually really appreciate good Bible teaching They may even listen Attendably and with interest There are those who will say that they think the Bible is a fascinating book and probably the best book that's ever been written and Then sometimes they'll say that because they're sincere and sometimes they'll say that simply because they're saying that I don't know you know Donald Trump Recently was you know, what's a good book all the best book is the Bible You know, there are those who appreciate the Bible well Donald it also says they're not to use course language You might want to read it a little more, but that's just a bottom line people. Oh, I like it. It sounds good It's a great book and you know what if I use certain terms people are attracted to the terms I'm using and it might help them to appreciate me more we can do that and you say oh are you speaking about just Donald Trump? No looking your Bible. There was a guy by the name of Herod and Herod was an official and He was a man who actually listened to what the Bible had to say he listened to good preaching It's recorded in Mark chapter 6 verse 20 Herod feared John speaking of John the Baptist Herod feared John Knowing that he was a just and holy man and he protected him and when he heard him He did many things and heard him gladly Herod listened to him He protected him and the things that he said he'd listen attentively to and he appreciated what he was saying that to me It's very interesting. He listened to him But in the end when his wife erode has said I want the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter He had John's head cut off. Oh, he listened, but it didn't do anything to him It didn't change his life There are a lot of people who like good Bible teaching who appreciate it, but don't build their life on what they're hearing So Jesus is emphasizing the importance of not only hearing what he says, but also doing it The actual doing of his words is what reveals a person's genuine faith It's like what it says in James in the book of James chapter 2 verse 20 Do you not want to know oh foolish man that faith without works James said faith without works is dead So Jesus is giving a simple message to those who would follow him and though we come to faith in him Life is still filled with difficulties. I Wish I used to wish this so much That I could stand up and say something like this. I used to wish that I could stand up and say If you come to faith in Christ, you will never have a bad day again in your life If you come to faith in Christ your wallet will always be full of money You'll always be healthy. You'll never have anxiety or sorrow of heart Your children will become angels. I wish I could say that But the Bible doesn't teach that does it? The Bible teaches that though you come to faith in Christ, you still have difficulties. We we are not insulated against hard times We are not insulated against tragedies. We are not insulated against trials these experiences are shared by every believer and unbeliever alike and Believers Christians are not exempt from life So in this parable the wise man built his life on faith which is demonstrated by obedience to the word of God But the foolish one built his life on the the shifting sands of human wisdom When we look at this, I want you to notice this The two people involved in the parable encounter the same trials There's a difference the difference is one builder builds on the rock the other builder builds on sand Christians realize that we are not insulated against hard times and we know that we go through trials We all go through the same kind of trials. We go through the same kinds of situations that everybody else goes through The apostle Peter and first Peter chapter 4 verse 12 said it like this He said dear friends do not be surprised at the painful trial You are suffering as though something strange were happening to you. Don't be surprised by these things Don't think this is unique or something that we shouldn't have endured Like something strange is happening to you What happens with us as believers though is we are gradually learning to trust in God through his word and We ultimately come to trust him to rescue us and we know that going through hard times Actually turns out for the things that we have prayed God would do in our life We want to know him better We want to know his word Experientially not just intellectually Well, you will go through conflict. You will go through through pain. You will go through sorrow of heart You will go through those things because that's part of life But there are lessons that we learn as Christians through those things The psalmist in Psalm 119 verse 67 said it like this before I was afflicted I went astray But now have I kept your word Psalm 119 verse 71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn Your statutes. I've learned things through the pain. I've learned your statutes. I've kept your word So we're not immune from life's pain But we do know that God is in control and through the storm we hold on to him We understand That we're gonna take a walk It's a walk of faith and Sometimes in that walk of faith you walk through a place that's called the valley of the shadow of death But we learn to fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me We know that we're walking through but we're not camping out in this valley of the shadow We know that but that's how we learn this it's by going through these things We learn that God is in control We learn that God works his will and that he will have his good pleasure worked through us We count it all joy when we enter into a fallen to diverse temptations knowing this at the trying of our faith work It's patience, but we're to let patience have her perfect work that we may be perfect and entire lacking Nothing like it says in James 1 2 through 4 You see Jesus taught us that true disciples remain faithful especially in hard times a Genuine believer may be shaken But this genuine believer is drawn closer to the Lord through that trial a Genuine believer knows that that the trial refines us firms us Strengthens us that we might remain faithful to Jesus Christ and we know that we're going to go through these things John 831 and 32 says it like this if you continue in my word Then are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free Continue persevere hold on See non-christians will not build their lives on a sure foundation of the promises of God They don't even know them let alone cling to them and because they don't When trials and storms hit their lives very often they're devastated again Jesus says that their house is going to fall and he says and that fall is very great Their foundation is built on philosophy the philosophy of the world And cannot deliver them Ultimately they're left with nothing to help in the time of need and they end up without any hope They go to a Sister in a In order to draw water sisters during the time of Christ were were They were like tanks that were cut out of the rock They would cut a hole and then dig out through the rock and and they'd open it up And you could have up to 30,000 40,000 gallons of water that would be stored in these cisterns They they they would cut them out of the rock and then they would put plaster All through the interior they would get a lid and they would put the lid over that and they would store water because during the time of Christ to this day they have what they call the early and the latter rains and So there were dry seasons in between and when God would when God promised to bring the children of Israel from Egypt a Land that relied on the Nile River for for its agriculture and for water to drink and all of that Well, God said I'm taking I'm bringing you from a place that relied on a Magnificent river the Nile. I'm taking you from there to a land that has a small water source called the Jordan and God said and so that small water source is not going to provide the needs that you have it's not capable of doing that I mean if you go to the to Israel to this day you go there right now during the summer and and portions of the Jordan River are so so There this it's not very wide at all in some places you can basically just almost just walk across without any problem at all And it won't take you any time you can pick up a rock and throw it across the Jordan. It's not the mighty rushing Jordan It's a small Kind of water system.  You're relying on me who provides the water for you and So the children of Israel understood that and they knew that and they understood that that they needed to store water in time When when there would be thirst and so they would dig out cisterns for themselves And and they would take the water from the rains and they would pour it into the cisterns for the dry times and Yet Jeremiah quotes the Lord God speaking through Jeremiah says my my People have committed two evils They have forsaken me the fountain of living water and they have hewn for themselves Cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water You have gone to your cistern in your time of thirst You have dropped the bucket down to quench your thirst But because you have forsaken God he was telling the children of Israel You have forsaken me and my grace towards you because you have chosen to do that when you drop your bucket It just hits the dry ground because the cistern had a it was broken and the water you stored has seeped out And there's nothing there for you in your time of need You're going to a cistern that cannot help you in your time of thirst you see God is the living water Jesus said if we come to him, he would cause us to have living water through the Spirit of God and That's who we rely on Christians encounter the same kinds of things that people in the world do but we have a different perspective As a believer we learn to by faith see beyond the immediate with an eye on the future We know that we're not exempt from difficulties. We know that we're not exempt from hurt But by faith in Christ knowing who we have trusted in We not only endure we even triumph Believers trust that God works all things out for us We know that when we go through these things Not only do we endure and have victory and triumph, but we actually We know that God is going to do something to grow us deeper in him. It's like what it says in Romans 828 We know that all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purposes We know that all things are going to somehow coordinate working out together in our lives To produce what we've always wanted to have but sometimes we're not willing to pay the price for this parable Again Shows two people encountering the same storm They both experience notice with me heavy rain They both experience floods and they both experience hurricane force winds But there's a difference one house is built on the rock The other house is built on the sand One has a solid foundation the other doesn't You see a believer spends time in the word of God and as you're going through the word of God There are so many promises that God makes the you begin to learn to trust his promise And his promises are built on him the rock and thus are unshakable like it says in Psalm 18 verse 31 who is God except the Lord who is a rock except our God Those whose lives are built on the rock are not going to fall when encountering the storms We remain standing and that's because we understand that even during the hard times God is still at work Psalm 3419 says it like this many many are the afflictions of the righteous Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord Delivers him out of them all We go through difficult times don't we Every other person live goes through them We have difficult relationships We can have a painful marriage We can be hurt with our children We can bury our loved ones We can have families that are shattered We can lose our jobs We can lose our homes. We can lose our health We can lose our friends We can endure disappointments We can see our most cherished dreams shattered. We can see our faith stretch to a breaking point And yet we hold on And we hold on And we can have peace Even as we go through all of those things I Shared years ago, and I've shared this a couple of times since then How when my father went home to be with the Lord back in 2001 My father and I had grown very close When I was a kid when I was small my dad was real indifferent. He was real to himself. My dad was a real quiet Man he didn't have conversations with me at all. My dad just didn't talk. My mom did more of the talking She made up a lot for his silence That woman could talk and so but my dad My dad it was real quiet Like many of you who had a father similar to me my dad was quiet I mean I'd walk into the den and he'd be watching TV and and I didn't say a word to him He'd never talked to me and when it was a commercial I had two to three minutes to talk to my dad And he'd turn to me and he'd say so how are you doing son? And I'd say I'm doing fine dad and commercials over and he'd go right back to whatever it was He was doing that was my dad and I was used to it It wasn't like I didn't cry myself to sleep at night. Oh, I wish daddy would talk and I was my dad That's just the way he was My dad wasn't very nice sometimes too. My dad was very firm in many ways When he was young man, my dad had a bad temper and so You know, he was the kind of guy like when the when the bears in the house are kind of quiet That was my dad He could have a bad temper sometimes he was real gruff I mean it whenever he talked to you when I was literally it sounded like he was always yelling at me It was just just a kind of thing But he was my dad and I loved him to pieces and we never had a conversation until I got saved And after I got saved I started opening it up to my dad I started talking to my dad and we started over time having real friendship and and so In in after leading my father to christ and being his bible teacher from the time he was in his late 40s My dad and I over the years after he got saved became very very very close And my dad was everything to me and so when my dad died It was it was unexpected. He had a heart attack on one day and three four days later He was he was with jesus And I was not prepared. I had been raised believing my father was superman And my dad used to try to prove to me. He was superman. He would do super things And I had as a little boy. I thought my dad was superman I can still remember he said david go into the garage and and get this tool I need a tool and I say okay dad and I went walking in front of the house walked up the driveway to go to the back And I go into the very back and my dad's in the garage at the toolbox Getting the tool out and I said how'd you get here so fast dad? He said oh, I just flew over the house. My dad taught me he was super and that's a true story My dad said I jumped over the house I didn't want to wait for you and I went into the house mom Daddy flew over the house. She goes oh, he's superman And years later my mom said you you know your dad almost broke his leg climbing that fence to get into that garage To get that tool because my dad was my dad was jealous because I liked superman And he did not like the idea that I liked superman So he did everything he could to be my superman. That's my dad. That's what he was like And so when my dad died I honestly even as a 51 year old man was shocked that my father went home He was only 74 that he went home so soon. It was a shock and I didn't know how to deal with it to this day I'm talking about my dad and my heart still hurts forgive me It's a fact We were that close He was my dad and I loved him with all my heart So he went home to be with Jesus And I had to do all the things that a son has to do including burying my father and one Morning After he had his funeral service and all of that and we're still getting used to What's going on in our life and all I was in bed and I heard someone crying in the house You know and I mean we just lost my father and and I heard someone crying I thought it was one of my kids Because he was very close to my my children and so I I I could hear crying it was very loud the the cry that it was It was it was the the loud sobs that some of you have heard or perhaps even you you have You have experiences personally where you cry with you've cried and it's loud It's not a quiet at all It's a loud kind of thing go to a funeral or see somebody who has just passed on and see the family there and and the Sobbing and I could hear that I I heard the the loud tears that were There that someone was expressing it and I remember waking up thinking someone's crying And I was I'm the father I have to go and comfort whoever it was and you can't imagine what I felt like when I realized it was me I was crying I was crying in my sleep So loudly it woke me up And I'm looking for the one who's crying and I realized My chest is heaving and it was me You will go through pain And you will go through sorrow You will go through hurt You will go through shock and disappointment You will and if you haven't yet I'm sorry to have to tell you But you will Because life is just that way I wish I could stand up here and say hey get saved and you'll never cry again Get saved and every day is a happy day. I wish I could do that but guess what You go through pain, don't you we all do if I asked you please come up if I asked you which I won't Please come up. Tell us what really is going on in your life right now. Please Tell us how you really feel about your job. Tell us about your marriage. Tell us about your feelings with your kids. Tell me about If you really were honest for a moment, you'd say you know, it's been a struggle a little bit I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death right now. There are a lot of you who are I'm concerned I don't know what I'm gonna do about my job. I don't know what I'm gonna do I need to make a house payment. I haven't made enough. I don't know how I'm gonna how am I gonna put food on my table I'm gonna lose my house There are a lot of people like that. You're living paycheck to paycheck right now Or you went to the doctor just last week. They said to you you have this and you're saying what am I gonna do now? What am I gonna do now? I mean some of you have sat down like I have recently with an ophthalmologist and says you've got glaucoma and Your eyesight is gone. That's it. There's no cure There's no cure Then you go I need my eyes for a lot of reasons For a lot of reasons including reading this book that I'm reading to you I need to see Lord What are you gonna do? That's what you do But do you stay camped out in the valley of the shadow of death? No Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  You said you'll take me through there and that's the difference Between a believer and one who doesn't know the Lord very well We go through the valley, but I remember he said you will go you're not gonna stay And I'll be with you every step of the way I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake you and you will learn some things that you've wanted to learn You will learn them in the furnace of affliction that you may remain faithful to my word And you will learn some things that you wouldn't have learned any other way That's how it works And it's true We all know That God works in our lives Isaiah 26 3 says it like this you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on you because he trusts in you Paul and philippians 4 verses 6 and 7 don't worry about anything instead pray about everything Tell god what you need thank him for all that he has done If you do this you will experience god's peace Which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand His peace will guard your hearts and minds that you live in christ jesus All of us know of the man job So I've had people approach me and said they've said to me. Oh, I feel like job. I'm like job. No, you're not You're not You're going through a hard time, but please don't say you're like job.  He's a righteous man. He issues evil There's nobody like him on the face of the earth. So that automatically eliminates all of us It's a righteous and a just man And yet we know the story of job He lost everything that mattered most to him. He lost his children. He lost his health. He lost his reputation All of this was lost The enemy had come before the lord and god had spoken to the enemy. We know the story of job very famous story The time when the sons of god came before him god speaks to satan satan was there amongst them Where have you been god says to him? Well, I've been going to to and fro throughout the earth What what's that mean when you read and study the book of job? It simply means I've been up to no good and god is actually saying to him given a county yourself I know you've been up to no good. Now you tell me what you've been doing Now I've been going to and fro throughout the earth. Oh, have you considered my servant job? God says to him when the word considerate is used there. Have you looked at him tried? Tried him and found some weakness in him. That's what that word considered means Have you looked at him? And tried to find some weakness in him. Have you considered my servant job?  Oh, really? I give you permission go and take what he has And we know he loses everything but retains his health The next time he comes before I have you considered my servant.  Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate your counsel There's so many levels of wisdom that you're giving me here It's going to take a while for me to sift through them all Then he has his friends who come And as long as they're quiet they're good counselors And then they start saying I've never seen a good person suffer like you You've obviously got some hidden sin because you've lost your health and you've lost your wealth and god knows you're supposed to be healthy and wealthy come on Confess And they all come and lay it on him and he's there saying oh how I wish I had a mediator between god and me Someone who could be my dais man somebody who could be my my advocate somebody who could plead my cause Who is referring obviously to the one who would one day be with us jesus himself the mediator that we have our advocate How I wish I had someone to plead my cause before the lord i'm not guilty I haven't done what i'm accused of And as we read the book of job he says at one point job 13 verse 15 though he slay me yet will I trust him And job 19 25 through 27 i know that my redeemer lives he shall stand at last on the earth and And after my skin is destroyed this i know that in my flesh i shall see god whom i shall see for myself My eyes shall be hold and not another how my heart yearns within me I will see him my redeemer lives Finally the lord approaches job after all the counselors finally stopped their counsel And god himself says gird yourself like a man and answered me. I've got some questions. You've been asking questions of me job Let me ask you a few And you have this amazing confrontation that the lord has with job Tell me where were you when I told the waves to stop and go no further Tell me if you know all of these things listen i have named all the stars I know them by name can you give me some of that information you who are so wise and know so much You've been questioning me. Let me question you And job finally his response. We all know it I've been foolish. I've opened my mouth I now will close my mouth. I will sit in silence. I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear But now I see you with a scene at my eye How'd that happen job? through the affliction Through god sifting me and removing things from me till the only thing that was left is him Is that what you want? He will sift you Until there's nothing left in you except for him Is that what you want When you ask for it remember he'll give it to you And you will become like him. What was jesus if he was not a wounded healer? He understood us because he was with us and his human He knows what tears are like. He wept He wept for cities like jerusalem and he wept for people like lazarus He knew what it was like to be forsaken. He knew what it was like to have friends that he worked with He poured his life into One by one Forsaking him and fleeing until it's just some women and john at at at at calvary Who went all the rest Forsook him Do you think he understands you of course he does james tells us in chapter five verse 11 we count them blessed to endure You have heard of the perseverance of job See in the end intended by the lord That the lord is very compassionate and merciful You see those who have yet to come into relationship with lord jesus christ You don't have a sure foundation And because you don't when trials and storms will hit your life you can be devastated And jesus again said their house falls and that fall is very great. It's cataclysmic That's because the foundation has been developed by experience and the experience cannot secure They're left with nothing Nothing to help them in time of need. They've gone to the broken cistern. There's no water in it You see a true disciple not only hears and agrees in theory what god says, but they hear and they do Hearing and doing is evidence of true faith in christ And we see the value of the things we've gone through though. We don't understand them Like it says in psalm 1 19 71 again, it is good for me that I've been afflicted that I might learn your statutes So jesus in verse 24 says whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them Well, their house is built on a rock When it speaks of the rock, it's a house that's built on believing and obeying god's word And believing his word includes a call to trust god in all things Psalm 42 verse 8 says the lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime and in the night his song Shall be with me And in the night All of us go through night A season of night The season of night for your soul What are you going to do father? My son who's not walking with you What are you going to do father for my wife who is just diagnosed with cancer? What are you going to do father for my dad who doesn't know you?  I raised him right I brought him to church I gave him devotions Look what they're doing. It's breaking my heart. I told you this is a heavy message But it's real But it's real I've done my best But i'm in a season of night. We can say to jesus Where is the one who gives songs in the night? We get asked But we've built our lives on a solid rock on the rock. We all go through pain. We all go through trials But when we do We can cast our cares on him for he cares for us and we can have peace and we can be secure Again, that's because we trust the one who rescues We built our lives on jesus In luke 647 and 48 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and here's my words and puts them into practice He is like a man building a house who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock When a flood came the torrent struck that house but could not shake it because it was well built So we go through struggles. Yes, we run to the one who can rescue us when we go through these struggles Psalm 62 verse 7 in god is my salvation and my glory the rock of my strength and my refuge is in god We're not immune from life's pain. We just know that god is in control and we trust him True disciples remain faithful especially in the hard times He says in verse 26 and 27 everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them Will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand the rain descended the floods came the winds blew beat on that house It fell great was its fall Not only is your life built on that which cannot sustain But the ultimate Conclusion is eternal separation from god Because you didn't build on him There's a difference building on him And not building on him Again, we go through the same kinds of things H. G. Spafford was an attorney. He was a married man. He had four daughters. He was very successful And he became wealthy One summer he sent his wife and daughters overseas on an ocean liner to spend time in europe In the middle of the voyage in mid-atlantic the ship sank In a manner of minutes his four daughters drowned His wife was spared was picked up by a french boat landed in france And from there she sent a cable to her husband All lost I alone remain What shall I do She didn't know it But after a departure for europe there was a sudden bank crash Mr. Spafford lost his wealth And in one afternoon from being a wealthy man. He became a poor one Now he received a cable saying his four precious daughters are lost at sea And how did he react? He sat down and he wrote these words When peace like a river attended my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot now has taught me to say it is well It is well with my soul That's how you can respond It is well with my soul God is in control And when jesus is speaking Now is this the kind of way you want to conclude a message? How did they respond? He's calling them Make a decision What will you build your life on? And as he says that verse 28 So it was when jesus had ended these sayings the people were astonished at his teaching He taught them as one having authority not as the scribes They were astonished the word astonished means they were Astounded they were dumbfounded by the power of what jesus was saying He was teaching with the authority of heaven and he did that with power He denounced the religious leaders. He presented a clear way to salvation He wasn't quoting other rabbis. He was the premier rabbi and he was deep and he was eloquent And as he was speaking and they listened to him They wondered at his words It's kind of like later on in john's gospel how How some officers were sent to go and arrest the lord jesus christ They said go and arrest him And they came back without the lord and so those who had sent them said where where is it? We sent you to go get them and their only response. It's recorded in john 746 the officers answered They said never has a man spoken like this man There's no way that we would take him the eloquence and the power and the authority No, there's no way it would have been totally wrong For us to take this man. Nobody ever spoke like this man His message is true. His message is powerful But they only listened And did nothing He wasn't speaking in this way to inform them. He was speaking in this way to provoke them to come to faith He didn't want them to be amazed He wanted them to obey And that Is a point of all true gospel teaching and preaching For people to come to faith in christ Two roads Two trees Two builders And the question we have to ask ourselves today Is what are we building our lives on? We're all going to go through storms some of you are in storm right now Is your life built on the rock Or is your life built on sinking sand? My life is built on the rock And I will not be shaken because of jesus christ And I pray that you can say the same thing Today you will go through pain You will go through sorrow You will go through heartbreak You will go through disappointment But look up your redemption is nigh Jesus is waiting to take you and one of these days there will be no more tears There will be no more pain. There'll be no more sickness. There'll be no more disease. There'll be no more loss Just joy just join the presence of god and you will say oh, thank you jesus for bringing me through this And that is building your life on the rock