SS09-28-03
“KINGDOM EVIDENCE.” MATTHEW 7: 13-27.
MATTHEW 7: 13-14, 15-20, 21-23, 24-25, 26-27.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO MATTHEW 7.
In the first 12 verses of Matthew 7 we are warned against judging other. God is the only One qualified to Judge others. James 4: 11-12 says, “He who judges his brother judges the law---there is One Lawgiver—who are you to judge another? Judge not, that you be not judged, for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged.” Since we are not qualified to judge others we should have more time to examine our own lives. Most of us at some time or other have looked at our life and questioned whether or not we are actually living in the Kingdom of God—were we really born again?
I have met more than one person who questioned their salvation. They were uncertain. One lady said, “No one can know for sure they are saved and going to heaven until they get there.” Our lesson today will answer “The Life Question,” How can I be sure I am already in God’s kingdom and will spend eternity with Him?”
In the secular worldview, the interests of this world rule out concern for the kingdom of God. Worldly people have no interest in entering God’s kingdom as presented in the Bible. Some of them would like to go to heaven when they die, but most are unwilling to make the commitment necessary to enter the kingdom. Even fewer are willing to live according to the Word of God.
A person needs to be sure that he or she is a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Some people do not believe that we can be sure of it but the Scriptures are clear that we can be sure. In fact, Christ desires us to be secure about our relationship with Him.
In Vs. 12 Jesus gave us the Golden Rule; “Therefore, whatsoever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
In Vs. 13 we begin our study of the two ways of life.
1, PLEASE READ MATTHEW 7: 13-14.
This closing section of the Sermon on the Mount is a gospel application. Here are two gates, two ways, two destinations, and two groups of people; two kinds of trees and two kinds of builders, building on two kinds of foundations. Christ is drawing the line as clearly as possible between the way that leads to destruction and the way which leads to life. Everyone is on one of these ways headed for one of the destinations.
Both the narrow gate and the wide gate are assumed to provide entrance to God’s Kingdom. Two ways are offered to people. The narrow gate is by faith only through Jesus Christ. It represents true salvation in God’s way that leads to life eternal. The wide gate includes all religions of works and self-righteousness, with no single way, but leads to hell, not heaven.
God created us as persons, not puppets. Among other things, we have the right of choice But we are responsible for the choices we make.
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, speaking of Jesus as the chief cornerstone, said in Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” You recognize at once that he, just as did Jesus did, was urging his hearers to enter the narrow gate.
The narrow gate is a tight place. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” The hard road leads ot life; the broad road leads to damnation. Moses in Deut 3: 19-20 told the Israelites, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses, now choose life so that you and your children shall live.” Joshua in Joshua 24:15 said, “and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. But as for me, and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Narrow, not only refers to the number of people on the way but to the level of difficulty of following this way. The narrow way requires pursuing with great care and exactness. You have to watch your step! Jesus said that few or a small number choose this road. The gate is narrow because many people shrink from repentance and commitment. Only with God’s power and grace can we deny self, take up our cross and follow Christ. The narrow road leads to salvation. The tragedy is that comparatively few ever find it.
Many people miss the narrow gate because of their sin, but those who find it will find the true blessings of God and the true meaning of life.
Let’s turn now to look at two kinds of prophets and two kinds of trees.
2. PLEASE READ MATTHEW 7: 15-20.
When Jesus forbade judgment between kingdom citizens, He did not forbid being discriminating. This is especially true with respect to true and false citizens or those who merely pretend to be Christians when they are not.
In fact, Jesus specifically warned against being taken in by false prophets. These were false teachers or preachers of error. A false prophet taught for self-interest-monetary gain, personal prestige—solely to declare his own ideas rather than the Word of God.
There were many such false prophets in the O.T. They prophesied what people wanted to hear rather than a message from God. In Matt. 24:24 Jesus predicted that false prophets and false messiahs would plague the church. In Acts 20:29-30 Paul warned the Ephesian elders about those who posed a danger to the Christian gospel, saying, “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”
In the epistles we read of Judaizers and Gnostics and see the apostles defending the true faith from corruptions and heresies.
Jesus said that they could recognize false prophets by their fruit. False prophets were a serious problem. The early church document called, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, gave instructions on how to spot false prophets: True teachers proclaim that which was taught by the apostles. Jesus warned the disciples not to listen just to their words but to look also at their practices.
Jesus’ warning was indeed timely. But more than that, as we view the modern scene, we see that Jesus’ warning also is timeless. Anyone who teaches salvation other than by grade through faith in Jesus Christ is a false teacher. Anyone who presents Jesus Christ as less than the eternal, virgin born, sinless Son of God who was crucified for our sins, was bodily raised for our justification, is coming again, and will reign as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS is a false prophet. And Jesus warned us to beware of them.
“Now who is a false prophet? He is not everyone who just happens to disagree with you. Nor is he one who expresses Christian truth in words and forms different from yours. The test is not in the wrappings but in the substance.
In Vs. 17-20 Jesus changed His metaphor to that of a good tree and a corrupt tree. A tree is known not by its outward appearance but by its fruit. Each tree yields fruit in keeping with its inner nature. The fruit of a genuine believer is obedience to the will of God. The fruit of one who is not a genuine believer is disobedience to God’s will. People who join our churches but do not follow up with daily lives of obedience to Christ weaken and actually hurt the church. Bad refers to things unusable or unfit. People who profess Christ but do not possess Him in their lives do not bear useful and godly fruit for the kingdom of God.
Drawing from a fact of life Jesus said that a tree that bears evil fruit or rotten fruit is hewn down and used as firewood, leaving nothing but ashes. The Lord pronounced the judgment God brings upon false prophets and others who professed to be genuine. They will suffer like trees that do not produce good fruit. They too are cut down and thrown into the fire. In Scripture fire is often a symbol for judgment. Prophets who professed genuine faith but who were actually false faced God’s judgment. Their true character would be revealed.
Then He draws His conclusion. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Ross McLarren wrote, “False prophets are not recognized by how they appear, but by what they produce. Christians are not to be fooled by imposters. Disciples can discern false teachers by their character, by their conduct, by what they teach, and by what they produce.” Our responsibility is to identify and to avoid them. You will know them by their fruit!
Jesus now deals with the danger of self-deceit.
3, PLEASE READ MAT THEW 7: 21-23.
Simply saying words with the mouth that do not come from the heart is meaningless. Such people deceive themselves into thinking that they are in God’s kingdom. As the saying goes, “talk is cheap.”
Some interpreters see these verses as a continuation of Jesus’ warning related to the false prophets in Vs. 15-20. Others see them as a new warning addressing false disciples. This seems to be the correct view. These self-deceived false disciples think of relation to Christ as doing rather than being. Theirs is a salvation by works rather than by grace through faith in Jesus as Savior. They never grasped the fact that good works are not the root but the fruit of salvation—that we are not saved by but unto good works as spelled out in Eph. 2:8-10. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
In that day refers to the final judgment day at the end of the age. Apparently they have just heard of their consignment to hell. But when they point to all their many wonderful works, Jesus will reply, I never knew you. Since they had sought to substitute their good works for God’s plan of salvation, Jesus had no experiential knowledge of them. Or, they had not experienced salvation through faith in Jesus. Ignoring God’s requirement for salvation and trying to be saved through their self-righteousness actually constituted iniquity on their part. When we consider the price God in Christ paid for our salvation to ignore it for a human substitute is wicked indeed.
Barclay, in his commentary on Matthew gave us a fitting conclusion to this study., “A man may succeed for long in maintaining the pretenses and the disguises, but there comes a day when the pretenses are shown for what they are, and the disguises are stripped away. We may deceive men with our words, but we cannot deceive God. Ps. 139:2 says, “Thou understandest my thoughts afar off.” No man can ultimately deceive the God who sees the heart. Jesus emphasized these things in these verses: The fruit we bear in our lives and deeds reveals who we really are. More people profess Christ than actually follow Him. Salvation is a matter of the heart’s relationship to Jesus, and then it involves works that grow out of that relationship. False disciples can be sincere about their beliefs but sincerely wrong.
So wisdom dictates that you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior now. Then live for Him with all your heart and soul. You will never regret it in this life; and on the day of final judgment, when all hearts are laid bare, you will be eternally glad that you did.
One of the “Wise Choices” that you can make is to “Choose Christ as your Savior”—in fact, it is the wisest choice that you can make.”
4. PLEASE READ MATTHEW 7: 24-25.
In these verses Jesus invites people to build their lives on His teachings as he only foundation for success. In Vs. 24 Therefore refers back to all Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. He had been talking about how Christian kingdom citizens should live. They had become kingdom citizens by receiving Him as their Savior. Now they must build their Christian lives on what He taught.
Jesus used the figure of a wise builder. Since Jesus had been a carpenter, this figure was not merely and academic deduction. Born out of His experience, Jesus knew the importance of a house resting on a firm foundation. So He used the figure to speak a spiritual truth. “Hear” is a key word in the Bible. Hearing is important, especially hearing God’s Word. A number of Bible verses, however, remind us that hearing is not enough. Those who had first heard the Sermon on the Mount were challenged to do more than hear, more than remember, and even more than teach it to others. They were to do it, put it into practice, and obey the Lord’s words.
Doeth is the key word in these verses. The present tense expresses repeated or habitual action. They must keep on doing or have the habit of doing what Jesus said. Barclay summed up hearing and doing with the word obedience.
The one who doeth Jesus’ words, is likened unto a wise man, that built his house upon a rock. The work wise refers to a thoughtful, practical person of good sense. He was wise enough to build his house on a rock. As verses 24-25 show, this was not the only location on which to build. The soil was sandy and rocky. Sand often covered a shelf of rock. The wise man had sense enough to dig down to the rock. Luke 6:48 goes into more detail about what he did. “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.” He was wise because he knew that storms come, and only houses built on a firm foundation survive the worst storms. Why did his house stand? Because it was built on a strong, sure foundation. This of course refers to Christ as the foundation. Paul reminded us in 1 Cor. 3:11 “other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” His words are the open, spoken manifestation of Himself. To build on His words is to build on Him. Because of who He is and what He has done for us, He has the right to demand absolute obedience from us. If we obey, we can endure whatever storms life may offer.
Investing in the building of a house required much effort and money. How much more does the investment in one’s life require?
5. PLEASE READ MATTHEW 7: 26-27.
Foolish indicates the other builder did not take the storms into account in laying the foundation for his house, for he built his house on the sand. Jesus did not specify the materials of the superstructure of each house; we may assume they were the same. Further, the same elements pounded on both houses. The only difference was in the foundations—rock and sand. A house built on solid rock was able to withstand the elements because of its firm foundation. But unstable sand would be blown and washed away, leaving no foundation.
Both the wise man and he foolish man heard; only one did according to what he heard. The latter heard, so he knew; but he did not do. His was a sin of knowledge against the Lord’s will.
Jesus now spelled out the point of the parable. The wise man who built his house on a solid foundation represents those who hear Jesus’ teaching and put them into practice. The foolish man who built his house on sand is like people who hear Jesus teachings but do not put them into practice. Thus both hear the Word, but only one obeys the Word.
What did Jesus say we followers should do? Following the Beatitudes, Jesus reminded us that we are ti be salt and light in the world. We are to be healing, preserving, and bringing zest to life in the world. We are to lead others to the Lord, thus bringing glory to His name and person. Then, denying that His coming meant the end of all the O.T. law, He selected certain of the Ten Commandments and other O.T. laws and interpreted them in terms of their spirit, not the mere letter. Thus He showed that they were more binding than previously supposed. He did not change God’s law but explained its true meaning. In agreements, He said, Oaths were unnecessary for His followers; our word should be our bond.
With respect to religious acts such as giving alms, praying, and fasting, Jesus taught the futility of such if they wee done merely for the praise of other people. Regarding prayer, He gave the Model Prayer, thereby showing us the things for which we should pray. He called on His followers to lay up treasurers in heaven rather than on earth. And He taught that we should not be anxious about life’s necessities; instead, we should trust God to supply them. Our Lord warned against being judgmental about the faults of our fellow believers while ignoring even greater sins in our own lives. He gave the Golden rule as the guiding principle in dealing with all people. Finally, He warned against pretense and insincerity. Hearing and doing these things is the rock foundation for a wholesome Christian life.
In interpreting this passage we must remember that Jesus spoke the Sermon to those who had believed in Him as Savior. No doubt, in His audience were many nonbelievers. Jesus was not telling them how to be saved. He was telling His followers how to live the Christian life.
The elements of nature (the rains, floods winds) in the story represent various trials in life that come upon believers. Those who hear and do what Jesus teaches will know life’s storms, but they will have strength to withstand the worst that life can do to them. Those who hear and do not do what Jesus teaches will not have strength to withstand the worst that life can do to them. They have save souls, but wasted lives.
This parable also reminds us that the element of judgment is in both time and eternity. Christians who hear but do not do Jesus’ sayings will find themselves not only stumbling under the trials of this present life, but they will have less glory and reward in heaven.
Someone said to me, “But I thought that everyone in heaven will be as happy as can be!” Right! But the degree of happiness in heaven will be greater for those who hear and do Jesus’ teachings than will the degree of happiness in heaven of those who hear and do not do what Jesus taught.
Matt. 7: 28-29 says “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine (teaching): For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” These verses are Matthew’s comment about the effect of Jesus’ Sermon had on His audience. He suggests a “buzz of astonishment.”
NEXT SUNDAY WE BEGIN A NEW FOUR SESSION STUDY OF “LIFE IN THE SPIRIT.” THE OCTOBER 5 LESSON, FROM JOHN 14-16, IS DESIGNED TO HELP US ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO CONTINUE JESUS WORK THROUGH US. A.V. DAUGHERTY 9-28-03.