Choose Well

We’ve come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount this morning.

We’ve done our best to explain the texts and challenge each of us accordingly to live out the truths in ways that Jesus desires.

Before we examine our text this morning, I want to highlight two significant verses from the beginning of Jesus’ message.

I really think that unless we grasp the significance of what Jesus says at the beginning, we will not grasp the significance of what He says at the end.

We need to remember the significance of Matthew 5:3...

Matthew 5:3 NASB95

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Until we come to grips with the depth of our sin problem, we will never fully appreciate the depth of God’s grace in saving us.

Poor in spirit = spiritually destitute...

Can we really sing “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free” with passion and sincerity” if we don’t pause long enough to consider the strength of those chains?

We could not break them on our own...

This is an attitude required of all disciples of Jesus.

It is a complete dependence upon God...a recognition of utter helplessness to be holy as He is holy...

It is an attitude of humility and contrition that recognizes there is nothing within any of us that deserves God’s grace and forgiveness.

We also need to remember what Jesus says in Matt 5:20.

Matthew 5:20 NASB95

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

There is no way any one of us can enter His kingdom without possessing the righteousness Jesus requires.

The “righteousness” the scribes and Pharisees thought was “good enough” was in fact, not good enough...it was only external…

Those who are poor in spirit see the significance of their sinfulness and realize they have no righteousness of their own...so they receive the internal righteousness that only comes from Him.

So now as we come to the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges his listeners (including us) to make a decision about who He is and what He says.

Jesus makes it perfectly clear this decision comes down to two choices...

By faith, accept God’s gracious provision of salvation through Him alone and walk in obedience to Him or

Reject God’s grace, keep on thinking and acting like all is well, and walk in open rebellion.

To reject God’s grace is to reject Christ’s Kingdom...to reject Christ’s Kingdom is to accept Satan’s kingdom...

Which leads us to our main point...

Main Point: Kingdom Citizens Choose Wisely!

Jesus concludes his sermon with a series of challenges to make wise choices, evidenced by obedient actions.

We need to hear the strength of Jesus words as warnings...the consequences are extremely severe for making the wrong choices.

Jesus’ conclusion extends through verse 27, but we are only going to examine up to verse 23 because there is a lot to digest.

He lays the choices out for us as a series of paired contrasts...a common practice in Jewish wisdom literature...

The choices are between life and destruction.

Similar to what we see from Moses in Deuteronomy 30:19–20 ““I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.””

Psalm 1 speaks of two paths...righteous and wicked

Jesus makes it clear that our present choices have eternal consequences, so choose wisely!

The first paired contrast is...

We must choose between two paths (13-14).

Matthew 7:13–14 ““Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

What Jesus talks about here is the rigors of true discipleship.

Remember the Sermon on the Mount is about what it takes to be a member of God’s Kingdom...the expectation the King places on his disciples.

He goes after matters of the heart because the condition of the heart is what matters.

Jesus calls us to make a decision because He issues a command...

Enter = imperative...calls for immediate and decisive action...there is no riding the fence here...

It is in the 2nd person plural...meaning everyone listening to him.

Jesus commands everyone to enter the narrow gate…the way of personal faith in Him.

The Pharisees missed that point!

we will look at the narrow gate more closely in just a moment...

The significance of this is in understanding that choosing the broad gate is an act of rebellion!

If we don’t choose the narrow gate, we disobey!

Jesus employs a metaphor in verses 13-14 to describe the inevitable choice everyone must make...

The Wide Gate and Broad Way Lead to Eternal Death (13).

Wide = having great extent from side to side...

Broad...spacious and roomy...accommodates the crowd...it’s the popular choice.

The gate is big enough to accept everyone with all their baggage...no need to give up anything, no efforts required...no need to change anything...

It is the road of no restrictions.

Ideologically it is open-minded.

“love is love” — explain

Truth is relative...

whatever feels good to you, you should do...

You decide the path you want to take...

Live your best life now...how ever you want to live it

Morally it is has few rules.

No accountability to anyone but yourself...

Sin doesn’t exist...sin is a sickness

Spiritually it is inclusive.

Many — the easy road is heavily travelled...most people prefer it...one is never alone on this road...

All paths lead to God...there is no hell...love wins.

This broad road is not new.

It has been around a long time.

You can find its origin in the garden of Eden when Satan tempted Adam and Eve to listen to bad counsel that removes God.

The broad path leads to destruction.

Destruction = annihilation, complete and utter ruin with no hope of restoration, waste.

The broad path may be filled with fun and excitement and ease now, but know this...it will end in total waste and ruin.

The Narrow Gate and Narrow Way Lead to Eternal Life (14).

Jesus makes it clear that the way to God is exclusive and restrictive.

It is interesting to note that in the English we see the word narrow twice...

The first use of narrow in verse 13 means “constricted”, only wide enough for one person at a time...

with no room for any baggage, no desires for self-indulgence

We must come to God on our own…

We can’t enter because our parents entered, or our spouse...individual choice...

one at time through the turnstile...

Being his disciples means we may have to leave our friends and family behind…

But here’s the joyful reality...we gain a new one!

We hold nothing in our hands...

we are inadequate to save ourselves.

We come in consciousness of our sin...poor in spirit.

What makes it hard to find is that we are not naturally inclined to give up anything to follow Christ,

it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to convict and convince us...

especially when we understand the second use of the word narrow...

The second time we see narrow, Jesus uses a word that comes from a root word meaning “oppression, affliction, distress, suffer tribulation, trouble.”

The narrow path is not a path we would normally choose because everything about it is counter-cultural...its hard...It is paved with suffering...

The path of discipleship involves cross-bearing...Mark 8:34

Mark 8:34 NASB95

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Just as Jesus took up the cross and suffered for us...our union with him means we also must take up our cross and suffer for Him.

Matthew 5:10 ““Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Bearing our cross is never meant to be easy or smooth...not designed to make us comfortable.

It is also hard because our flesh doesn’t like limits...

the narrow road places boundaries upon the disciple of Christ.

We sing “Jesus commands our destiny”, but do we mean it?

Our limits are defined by God, not us.

Truth is no longer relative, it is absolute.

Truth is not determined by the majority or the sincere...it is determined by God alone.

We cannot excuse sin...sin is not a sickness...

it is prideful rebellion against a holy God and deserving of death...

Our affections have boundaries...love is not love when we love the things God hates.

Our thoughts have boundaries...

Col 3:2...set our mind on things above

Phil 4:8...think on what is true, right, noble...

2 Cor 10:5...bring our thoughts captive to Christ

Our conduct has boundaries...

There are things believers do not do...

Although the path is restrictive and marked with suffering, there is real freedom and joy because we know it leads to life!

The end of the narrow road is the eternal kingdom of God.

Few who find it…

No one can stumble into God’s kingdom...by accident...

There must be a conscious decision of the will to accept the truth of Jesus and from the heart, evidenced by a submission to Him as Lord, knowing that his call to discipleship is costly!

Our faith is a thinking man’s faith...

We must choose between true and false influences (15-20).

Matthew 7:15–20 ““Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

False prophets are nothing new.

They existed in the OT...Jesus day (Pharisees and Sadducees)...and throughout the NT life of the church...(they are mentioned in nearly every NT letter)

Just like they existed then, they exist now...

In fact, Jesus implied they would increase ...Matt 24:11-14.

Beware — another imperative...every disciple of Jesus is commanded to be watchful...to be discerning...literally “Hold your minds away from them...”

By telling us to beware, Jesus communicates there is an objective standard by which all proclaimers of truth must be measured.

How would we know they are false unless there is some standard of what is truthful?

So in Jesus’ standard there can be no mixture of truth with falsehood...no deviation from truth towards falsehood…

Beware of them as they are both dangerous and deceptive.

“who come to you in sheep’s clothing”

In other words, they look just like Christians ought to look...they say what Christians ought to say...but their goal is to destroy and steal people away from God, t

Jesus calls them ravenous...the word is also used to describe swindlers, robbers…

These false prophets are not your standard heretics.

Jesus’ language here demands that we understand these false teachers are extremely subtle.

They tell others things are okay when they are not...like those in Jeremiah’s time who proclaimed there was peace when there was not...Jer 6:14; 8:11.

They speak what others want to hear instead of what God says like those in Isaiah 30:10 “Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.”

They seek to persuade you with cleverly worded arguments that make you question or even doubt God’s Word...

Jesus says “Beware” and then provides the test...

Be A Good Fruit Inspector

Twice Jesus says “you will know them by their fruits” to emphasize how to protect ourselves.

Know - exact or full knowledge...“We don’t gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles.”

Fruit = 7x in these five verses to indicate it is crucial for us to look for it.

You may not see the fruit right away, but eventually you will see some.

You go to Lowe’s and you buy a tree labeled “apple tree”...you plant it...you observe it...and then low and behold you see oranges!

You’ve been swindled!

You know exactly when you have an apple tree because you see apples growing on the tree...

You also know the apple tree is a healthy apple tree when the apples are good.

Good = beautiful, fine, useful

Bad = evil, wicked, useless.

Clearly from this text, Jesus tells us that what a person does reveals who he is.

It is also true that what a person is governs what he does.

The false prophet’s nature determines his actions:

he/she is incapable of producing good fruits, because they do not belong to God.

And if one does not belong to God, who do they belong to...Satan...

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”

A true prophet’s nature determines his actions as well.

He/she is incapable of habitual evil because they belong to God and obey Him.

By the same token, just as good fruits signal that a tree is healthy so the true prophet’s ‘good works’ identify him as a ‘good man’ as a faithful follower of Jesus.

Their works are good in that they bring blessing to the followers of Christ and glorify God.

Remember Matthew 5:16.

Their fruit will be useful....you can trust what they say because their life and speech align with truth.

True believers have been radically changed...2 Cor 5:17.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

True believers are not perfect, but they are progressing.

Yes we will have moments when we do not live up to the standard Jesus sets forth in the Sermon on the Mount.

But are we growing according to the pattern of Eph 4:22-24?

However, over the course of time, genuine believers will manifest the character of belonging to God’s kingdom...perseverance of the saints

True believers will bear the fruit of the Spirit... Galatians 5:22, 23.

You will know who to follow by seeing how closely they follow Christ.

By nature of being false, and with the subtilty they employ there is an implication that we would also evaluate what they teach and what they don’t teach.

They don’t talk about the exclusivity of Christianity...only one way, the narrow way...

Critical elements are missing from their message…

So let me be crystal clear here...GOSPEL...

Every human being is born dead and lost in sin...that sin separates us from God...God is holy, and we are not...nothing we do can close that separation and make us holy enough to see God...Without Christ we are and will continue to be dead and lost in our sin with no hope of eternal life with Him...

There is no other way...there is only one road that leads to life, there is only one gate that opens into heaven, there is only one path that leads to glory and it is paved with suffering...it is hard, it is exclusive...

Jesus is the gate...Jesus walked the path of suffering for us...

John 14:6 NASB95

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

If you are here and never trusted Christ, I am warning you now as Jesus does...the road your on is leading you towards an eternity separated from Him and confinement with Satan and all his followers in the fires of hell...you will experience the same fate as the false teachers...

Jesus declares the false teachers will eventually be exposed by the fruit of their teaching and practice.

...cut down and thrown into the fire

Choose well who you allow to influence your thinking and beliefs.

The third set of contrasting pairs

We must choose between obedience or rebellion (21-23).

Matthew 7:21–23 ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

The words Jesus says here are very terrifying and quite sobering and we need to really let them penetrate our hearts.

These words should drive us to look inward to the condition of our own hearts, and not the hearts of others.

Everyone will face Jesus as the Judge.

‘on that day’...speaks of the day of judgment...

The same Jesus that preached the Sermon on the Mount is the one who presides as the Judge on that final day.

The day is coming when every person will have to address Jesus as Lord.

Philippians 2:9–11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

‘Lord, Lord’ is an indication of a full awareness that He is who He said He is...God.

As God’s Son, to know Him, is to know God the Father...to obey Jesus is to obey the Father.

The Judge tells us what He is looking for in all who claim to be his followers.

Obedience proves one belongs to Him (21).

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

Does = same word Jesus used for bearing fruit...Jesus equates doing with fruit bearing...this is not a salvation earned by works, it is salvation proved by works...

The emphasis here is on doing God’s will instead of just giving Jesus lip service.

Luke 6:46 ““Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

Jesus’ point is that it doesn’t matter how much we say we love God, if we don’t obey Him we will not enter.

It is also true that no matter how much we do, if we do not say we love God we will not enter.

Our professions must match our practice as much as our practice matches our professions.

Disobedience proves one does not belong to Him (22–23).

Their “spiritual resume” is impressive by human standards...

What they claim to do is in fact what Jesus did...they claimed a successful ministry with supernatural power!

Surely if we can do what Jesus did, and do it in his name, and with His power then we will be welcomed into His kingdom.

We should be warned that counterfeits today will look very much like they are carrying on the work of Jesus.

But listen to what Jesus says to them and us regarding the insufficiency of good works...

“Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”

Jesus quotes from Psalm 6:8.

In this psalm, David warned evildoers of their judgment, subsequent to his petition to God.

Depart is in the present tense with an imperative force of the verb, meaning “go away.

“practice lawlessness”...practice evil.

This is significant in light of Jesus’ clarification of the original intent of the Old Testament law in 5:17–48.

I never knew you...not once did I ever...you were never a part of my kingdom.

There are some who will be not revealed as false until the final judgment!

Jesus draws a line in the sand regarding kingdom righteousness...

The only righteousness that matters is what Jesus gives to us through our faith in Him.

If we’ve never experienced a true heart change, anything we do that resembles what Jesus did, or even saying it was done for him, is not enough.

...without a heart change we fall into the category with the scribes and Pharisees of law breakers.

So we are challenged with only two choices...

Lesson for Life: Let’s Make Sure We Don’t Make Choices that Cheapen Grace!

We cheapen grace when we sing “my chains are gone” and then show no fruit of being free.

We cheapen grace when we preach forgiveness without repentance.

We cheapen grace with a discipleship that does not sacrifice sin and self.

We cheapen grace when we expect blessing without persecution.

We cheapen grace when we want joy without righteousness.

We cheapen grace when we want to be Christ-like but without obedience.