the wisdom of him who builds upon a rock, and thirdly, To conclude with a practical application.
I. 1. And, first, I am to consider the case of
him who builds his house upon the sand. It is
concerning him our Lord saith, Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven. And this is a decree which
cannot pass: which standeth fast for ever and
ever. It therefore imports us in the highest degree,
throughly to understand the force of these
words. Now what are we to understand by that
expression, That saith unto me, Lord, Lord? It
undoubtedly means, "that thinks of going to
heaven by any other way than that which I have
now described." It therefore implies, (to begin
at the lowest point) all good words, all verbal
religion. It includes whatever creeds we may
rehearse, whatever professions of faith we make:
whatever number of prayers we may repeat,
whatever thanksgivings we read or say to God.
We may speak good of his name; and declare
his loving-kindness to the children of men.
We may be talking of all his mighty acts, and
telling of his salvation from day to day. By
comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we
may shew the meaning of the oracles of God.
We may explain the mysteries of his kingdom,
which have been hid from the beginning of the
world. We may speak with the tongue of angels
rather than men, concerning the deep
