Discernment in Discipleship

Good morning

It is great to be with all of you this morning

I was eager to get back with all of you after being away last weekend

But I am thankful for the time away with Jeannie

And I am thankful for Colin and his faithful handling of God’s word

And I am grateful for another Sunday to open God’s word together with all of you

So, let’s open our Bibles to Matthew chapter 7

We are nearing the end of our time in the sermon on the mount and we will be finishing it up next week

Throughout the sermon on the mount, Jesus has continually shown us that living for the kingdom of God will necessarily mean that our lives will look very different from the world around us

And Jesus is going to show us this morning that looking different from the world is going to mean that we must make very hard, but clear distinctions in our lives.

Growing up we used to tune in on PBS after dinner and watch the Antiques Roadshow

And if you’re not familiar with the Antiques Roadshow, it was a show in which would bring in heirlooms to be appraised

Some turned out to be priceless, others worthless.

Some people thought they had a piece of junk and it turned out to be a priceless artifact

Others thought they had something significant and it turned out to be junk.

But here is the key: they all looked like the real thing.

Only the expert could point out the subtle differences between what was genuine and what was fake—and those tiny differences often meant the difference between treasure and trash.

The smallest distinction between truth and falsehood would expose the fraud or confirm the real thing.

And listen: That is true of the Christian life as well.

There are all kinds of claims to truth and all kinds of thoughts about scripture and Jesus and the Christian life

And while they might all look like the real thing, it is the small differences that reveal the treasure and the trash

What is true and what is a lie

And the differences can be so small, but have huge implications

This is why Charles Spurgeon said that “the difference between truth and heresy is not the difference between right and wrong, but the difference between right and almost right.”

And so we as a church family, if we are to truly be Gospel-people…

must be able to discern between truth and falsehood…

so that we can be confident that we are embracing and living out the true Gospel

And Jesus is going to show us exactly what that looks like

So we must give these words our full attention.

Matthew 7:15–23 ESV

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Big Idea: Discernment is essential for healthy discipleship. [6:00]

If we want to be a healthy church, we must be a discerning church—one that actively distinguishes between truth and falsehood.

And this has been God’s expectation on his people since the very beginning

That the people of God would be discerning and that they would learn discernment by listening to word of God

In the garden, in Gen. 2, Adam was told to cultivate and protect the garden by obeying God's command

He was to discern between what was good and what was not by listening to God’s voice

That same choice confronted Israel in the wilderness.

Moses told the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 30 that the choice of life and death was before them and that by listening to the word of God they would live.

The pattern throughout Scripture is that we need God’s word to help us know the difference between truth and error, good and evil.

And if we will listen to the words of God, we will be able to be discerning

And there is a passage that illustrates this idea so well, so I want you to turn to 1 Kings 3.

[Background]

1 Kings 3:9 “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?””

That phrase “an understanding mind” is literally “a heart that hears”

Solomon knows that in order to discern between good and evil he must have a heart that hears the word of God

Just like in the garden… Just like with Israel… God’s people must be a people who discern between good and evil by listening to the word of God

And look at God’s response to this request in verse 10: “It pleased the Lord that Solomon has asked this.”

Why? Because that is how it is supposed to work

It is God’s design that we listen to him so that we can be discerning in this world

And when we live by God’s design, it pleases the Lord.

The world will tell you to follow your heart

But your heart will deceive you

God tells you to listen to his word

And every word of the Lord proves true

And if we will listen to his word, we will be discerning.

And so discernment is essential for healthy discipleship.

So, back to our text in Matthew 7 for this morning…

[Bridge Question] What do we as disciples of Jesus need to discern? If we are to be confident as Gospel people that our discipleship is healthy, there are going to be two areas in which we absolutely must be discerning.

Healthy disciples discern…

Who we should follow (15-20) [11:00]

Jesus begins with a sobering command: “Beware of false prophets.”

In that command is an assumption—truth exists, and any deviation from it is false.

And a prophet in the biblical usage is one who claims to be speaking the truth of God

So, if truth exists and any deviation from that is false, then a false prophet is someone who claims to be speaking the truth of God’s word, but is actually teaching what is false.

Church family, you need to understand this:

There are people today who stand before churches, who write books, who have large social media ministries, who open Bibles, and who claim to speak with authority—all the while preaching lies.

They claim to be speaking the truth

And they sound convincing, but they are not what they claim to be

So we must be discerning in who we follow.

Jesus says, “beware”

That word means to “pay close attention”

And there are two reasons that we need to pay close attention and be discerning as disciples of Jesus

First, false teachers are deceptive

He says they are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

Sheep is a common metaphor Jesus uses to refer to his followers

And he is saying that false teachers will come, looking like sheep, but they are not sheep

They talk like us, serve in churches, say the right things.

Now, this isn’t cartoon imagery—A wolf with a sheep blanket draped over him

He means that, on the outside, they look indistinguishable from faithful disciples.

But inwardly, they are something else.

Which leads to the second reason we need to be discerning

Second, They are dangerous.

He calls the “ravenous” wolves

False teachers are dangerous to the people of God

How? How are they dangerous?

Let’s just consider for a minute the question: what is the most dangerous threat in the life of the Christian?

What thing or event or mindset is the most dangerous thing in your life as a Christ follower?

It is not the outcome of an election - it isn’t a cultural shift - It isn’t persecution.

Those are not threats to the Christian life, those are just realities of the Christian life

No, the most dangerous threat to the Christian life is taking your eyes off of Jesus

You need Jesus more than anything else, every moment of every day

And you will be in peril in your spiritual life when your eyes are off of Jesus and are fixed on something else

Because when your eyes are fixed on something other than Jesus, you will be led away from Jesus.

False teachers entice you with things that are tempting, so you follow them because they promise that if you will follow them and give to them and applaud them and platform them, then you will have that thing they promised you

So They promise you wealth

And They promise you health

And They promise you success

They promise blessing but distract from the gospel that we so desperately need.

That’s why they are dangerous.

They promise that you’ll have everything you want

But they deprive you of the one thing you truly need.

So how then can we discern who we should follow?

Look at v. 16-18

Matthew 7:16–18 “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.”

[16:30]

Jesus shifts the illustration to something very relatable

The condition of the fruit is a symptom of the condition of the actual tree

If there is something wrong with the fruit, you know there is something wrong inside of the tree

In the same way, teachers of the word will have visible things that reveal the condition of their inner lives..

Now, you have heard me say before that it is good that we listen to multiple shepherding voices as a church family.

I should not be the only voice you listen to

That’s why we have other faithful men fill preach

But you should also be listening to other preachers outside of harvest

And reading books written by good theologians

And reading biographies of other Christian lives

It is all part of our well-rounded discipleship as a church

But, we MUST be discerning in who we listen to and who we read

And so whether it is a preacher, an author, or a neighbor, we should look at the fruit they produce to discern if they are true or false teachers.

And there are three areas that we should look for healthy or diseased fruit

First, You look at his doctrine

A true teacher of the word who we should follow will teach what accords with sound doctrine.

He will have his theology clear and it will be informed by Scripture, not his own thoughts

He will have a high view of God and his word

He will call you to repentance and exhort you toward Christlikeness, even when it is unpopular

A false teacher will have a low view of God and his word and elevate his own voice

He will not call you to repentance, but will bless your sin

He teaches what is popular, even when it goes against God’s word.

A true teacher of the word aligns with the historic faith handed down through the ages

A false teacher has new ideas about God, church, and our place in the world.

I can promise you that any pastor’s new ideas are simply old heresies dressed up in trendy, new clothing

Whoever you are listening to, look at his doctrine

Second, you look at his followers

You have heard the phrase “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”

Often we use that phrase about the actions and attitudes of kids after we meet their parents

Well, it is also true of church congregations under the teaching of their pastors.

If a church’s pastor points to Christ and listens to God’s word, that church will look more like Christ and be more and more obedient to God’s word

They will be growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

They will be conformed from one degree of glory to the image of Jesus

It is a simple formula - Point to Christ and teach the truth… Your people will run to Christ and live according to the truth

But the opposite is also true - Point away from Christ and to the world, if they are being taught to follow and celebrate the pattern of the world, their lives will look no different from the world.

You can tell a lot about a teacher of the word based on how his people speak and live

If the people, as they follow their pastor, look like the world… It is because he teaches like the world.

If the people, as they follow their pastor, look more like Christ… Then you can know he is pointing them to Christ.

So, don’t just look at the teacher, look at the people who follow him.

But it isn’t just about him as a teacher…

The third fruit [what I would argue is the most telling, but also the hardest to spot] you look at his life.

Does the pattern of his life match the content of God’s word?

Does he strive to look more like Jesus each day?

I’m not saying a teacher of God’s word has to be perfect

What I am saying is that he should be experiencing the progress of Christian growth that Scripture calls all believers to

This is why Scottish pastor Robert Murray McShane wrote that the greatest need of his people was his personal holiness

The healthiest thing for a church is for its leaders to love Christ and desire holiness in their personal lives

But too often, we make excuses for inexcusable conduct and behavior because “he is so gifted.”

I can’t tell you how many disqualified pastors have remained in their posts because of how “gifted” they were.

Listen to me: Giftedness does not excuse godlessness

When a teacher of the word lives differently in private than in public

When his life does not match his message

The fruit of his life reveals that he is a false teacher

So how do we discern between good and bad teaching in the church?

Look at the fruit

Look at his doctrine

Look at his people

Look at his life

And we must be discerning now

Because no matter how big the ministry, no matter how gifted the teacher… The truth will come out, sooner or later.

Look at v. 19

The truth will either come out in this life or at final judgment when God exposes what has been hidden

And those who led people astray will answer for it.

But those who were led astray will also be judged.

This is why James says in James chapter 3 that teachers of the word will incur a stricter judgment

And this is why the book of Hebrews says that leaders will give an account for how their people live as a result of their teaching

There is a great cost to false teaching and to listening to false teaching

And so Jesus comes back in verse 20, “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits”

…to say “Look now - Discern now - So that you can be confident that you are following who you should be following.”

The cost is too high to be passive - We must be discerning in who we should follow if we are to be healthy disciples of Jesus

So, that is the first area in which we need to be discerning.

Second, healthy disciples discern…

How we should follow (21-23) [27:00]

Sitting under faithful, biblical, true teaching is not the only thing that we need to discern.

We also need to discern what is going on inside our own hearts as we follow Jesus.

Look at what Jesus says in v. 21

Matthew 7:21 ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

He draws a sharp contrast between what we say and how we live.

Some will say all the right things, use the right words, give the right answers—and still not belong to Him.

You might ask: But isn’t salvation by faith? I thought how you live doesn’t determine your salvation.

Acts 16: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."

Ephesians 2: "By grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not by works…”

The fact of the matter is that you and I could not earn our own salvation no matter how hard we tried

Because the only thing that you and I contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary

And because you and I could not earn our own salvation, Jesus Christ took on human flesh and lived a perfect life thereby dying as a perfect sacrifice for sin

And his resurrection confirms that his life was in fact sinless and that his death truly did pay for all of our sin

And when you and I believe that by faith, we are saved, forgiven of our sin, reconciled to a right relationship with God, and made a new creation in Christ

We are saved by grace through faith—not by works.

But here's the key: the faith that saves always transforms.

Saving faith is followed by a changed life.

The reformers during the protestant reformation would put it this way:

“We know we are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.”

True saving faith will then lead to ongoing sanctification

So the faith that brings salvation also brings with it the beginning of transformation.

The problem comes when “believe” is misunderstood as mere mental agreement: “Jesus died for my sins, I believe it, so I’m good.”

This is known as “Easy-believism” and it is a false gospel because it void of any call to repentance and obedience.

But that is not how your Bible talks about belief

In your New Testament, “Faith” means “dependence or trust”, not mere mental acknowledgment.

I depend on Jesus work on my behalf and I depend on him for all that I need in this life.

And I belong to him so I now desire to live my life for him

That is biblical belief.

And so the one who has truly believed and has received salvation by grace through faith, that person’s life will look different.

His desires will change

His priorities will change

And his life will demonstrate that his heart has changed.

That’s what Jesus means by “Does the will of my father”

You want what he wants, you desire to do things his way

Why?

Because your heart has changed.

We have to be discerning about how we follow Christ

Not in word only, but with our whole selves

With our thoughts, our words, our actions, and our hearts

Jesus illustrates this very idea in Matt. 21 [Turn there? - 33:00]

Matthew 21:28–31“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ [HUMOR?] but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.”

“Will of the father” - Same phrase

Listen to me: Jesus is highlighting that doing the will of the father is a matter of the heart before it is a matter of words and actions.

It is so easy to reduce the Christian life down to saying the right things and checking the right boxes

So we look back over our week and see how many boxes we checked and we use that to measure our spiritual health

The truly Christian life that is discerning and how we follow Jesus is the one in which we attend just as much to the state of our hearts before Jesus as we do the actions of our lives

Because it is possible to have the right words and check the right boxes with the wrong heart

But when my heart is changed to desire the will of God in my life… the actions and words naturally follow follow.

So, back to Matthew 7, Jesus now contrasts the heart condition of v. 21 with v. 22…

Matthew 7:22 “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’”

These people sound legit - They are checking the right boxes

They prophesied.

They performed miracles.

They cast out demons.

And they did it all “in Jesus’ name.”

So what is it about them that that isn't right?

What is it about them where they're not going to make it into the kingdom of heaven?

It is in v. 23… “I never knew you”

To “know” in Scripture is a term of relational intimacy and covenantal belonging.

Can I just say… it is entirely possible to learn to mimic the words and actions of Jesus, but want nothing to do with the heart of Jesus.

Many will publicly do the works Jesus, but privately reject the will of Jesus

Many will want the power of Jesus but reject the path of Jesus.

Many will want the benefits of the kingdom, but will not want to belong to the king.

When that is the mark of your life, wanting to look righteous but wanting nothing to do with God’s will for your life, look at v. 23 - “workers of lawlessness”

That phrase means “Doers of what is anti-law.”

You might look good on the outside, but your heart is against Jesus so Jesus am against you.

Church family, we have to head these words of Jesus and discern how we should follow him

Not through easy-believism where I get all the benefits of Jesus without the cost of following him.

But through knowing Jesus, following Jesus, and being transformed by Jesus

So, how then can we discern how we are following? How can we use God’s word to discern between true following of Jesus and false following of Jesus?

John tells us very plainly what it means to love God

1 John 5:3 “For this is love for God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

When I love God, I will want to do things his way and I won’t see his commands as a burden, but as good and right.

So we can discern how we are following with a simple question

Do you desire to obey God because his way is right and good?

If the answer is yes—be comforted.

You may not obey perfectly, but your desire to obey is evidence of transformation.

If your sin grieves you, and obedience is your desire, then Christ has your heart.

That desire does not come naturally from within, but is placed there by the Spirit who dwells within all who belong to Jesus

So the desire to obey and to follow Jesus with your whole life is a God-given desire that validates your salvation.

And though you struggle against sin in this life, know that the perfect life of Jesus has been credited to your account, and the substitutionary death of Christ has paid your debt, and the resurrection of Christ proves that all of your sins are forgiven

So you can rest, knowing that the work that God began in you he will bring to completion on the day that you see Jesus face to face.

Be comforted, knowing that you belong to Jesus

But if the answer is no—be confronted.

If your life shows no desire to obey Jesus—if your heart resists His commands and delights in self—then Scripture warns you: you do not know Him.

You may have claimed His name, done religious things, even served in ministry—but without surrender, at this present moment, you are not His

But that can all change: you can repent today. You can confess your sin, turn to Jesus, and receive his grace.

And have your heart transformed to see things his way and live life his way.

[Conclusion]

The pattern in Scripture is that we must be discerning by listening to God’s word.

As a church family, we must be discerning of who we should follow and how we should follow, all according to what God’s word says.

If we will do that, we will be a church that will know Jesus, glorify Jesus, and when we see Jesus, he will say, enter because I know you.

[40:00]

Communion

Remembrance of the finished work of Jesus

Spirit in us makes this a means of God’s grace

We must hold the work of Christ high

Be made right with God

Be made right with others

You’ll come as the team sings over us - (Directions)

2 elements - Gluten free on the sides

1 Cor. 11.