Matthew 7:13-29

Illustration

He Stood in the Plains of Moab and Said to the Thousands Who Were Listening to Him: (No Slide of Verse)

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

These are the Words of Moses Just Before the Children of Israel Were Going to Cross the Jordan River

And Just After He Had Given Them the Law of God For the 2nd Time

Israel Received the Law of God…

And Then They Were Presented With a Choice

Obey This Law and You Will Have Life

Disobey This Law and You Will Die

Matthew 7:13-29

Matthew Has Made it His Mission to Show Us How Jesus is Reliving and Fulfilling the History of Israel

And Part of That Mission is Also to Show Us How Jesus is the 2nd and Greater Moses

Matthew Even Structures His Book to Resemble the Pentateuch (First 5 Books of the Bible; Written By Moses)

Matthew’s Gospel is Structured Around 5 Discourses/Teachings of Jesus

Like Moses at Mount Sinai and in the Plains of Moab…

Jesus Has Just Given the Law of God to the People

And the Final Part of His Sermon is the Same as Some of the Final Words of Moses

Jesus is Going to Give His Listeners a Choice

Obey This Law and You Will Live

Disobey This Law and You Will Die

There are Only 2 Options

To Make Jesus Our Lord, Serve Him, and Obey His Law

Or to Reject Jesus, Refuse to Serve Him, and Disobey His Law

There is No Middle Ground

Too Many of Us Want a Middle Ground

But There is No Middle Ground

C.S. Lewis - “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, is of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

With This Lesson This Morning…

We are Going to Be Forced to Make a Decision

And Every Single Person Will Make a Decision Before You Leave This Building

You are Going to Decide if Christianity…

If Being an Active and Faithful Citizen of Jesus’ Kingdom is:

Of Infinite Importance to You

Or of No Importance to You

You are Going to Be Forced to Make a Choice

A Choice of Life or Death

Whether You Know it or Not, You Will Decide This Morning

Matthew 7:13–14 (NASB)

“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.”

Jewish Literature Often Used a Road to Symbolize a Moral Path

A Narrow Gate/Way Represents a More Restrictive Path

One That is Not as Easy to Navigate

You Have to Watch Your Steps On the Narrow Path

You Have to Be Disciplined

You Can’t Veer Off to the Right or Left

Jesus Has Presented Us With the Narrow Gate/Way

His Teachings in the Sermon on the Mount are Very Restrictive and Difficult

Most People Will Not Find/Choose This Gate/Way

But Those Who Do Will Find That it Leads to Life

Most People Will Choose Wide Gate and Broad Way

It is a Much Easier Gate to Enter and Path to Walk

You Don’t Have to Watch Your Steps

You Don’t Have to Be Disciplined

You Can Veer Off to the Right and Left However and Whenever You Want

Most People Choose This Gate/Way

It’s an Easy Choice Because it Satisfies Our Desires With Instant Gratification

But What Many of Them Don’t Realize is That This Path Only Leads to Destruction

Jesus Forces Us to Make a Choice

Obey His Teachings and Have Life

Or Don’t Obey His Teachings and Lose Your Life

Matthew 7:15 (NASB)

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Jesus Warns Us of False Prophets

There Will Be People Who Pretend to Be Innocent Sheep in Jesus’ Flock

But They are Actually Ravenous Wolves

Ravenous = Violently Greedy

They are Out to Help Themselves, Even at the Expense of Others

How are We Supposed to Know a Wolf From a Sheep?

Matthew 7:16 (NASB)

“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

We Will Know the Wolves From the Sheep By the Fruits They Bear

Thorns and Thistles Don’t Produce Fruits

A Wolf Can Wear Sheeps Clothing and Fool Many For a Little While

But Eventually Their Hunger Will Give Them Away

Thorn Bushes and Thistles May Fool Us into Thinking They are Grapevines and Fig Trees For a Little While

But Eventually Their Dangerously Sharp Points and Lack of Fruit Will Give Them Away

Matthew 7:17–18 (NASB95)

“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 Good Tree (Good = Kind, Generous)…

Bears Good Fruit (Good = Beautiful, Desirable)

A Good, Kind, Generous Person Will Show Good, Beautiful, Desirable Characteristics and Behaviours

The Bad Tree (Bad = Rotten, Worthless)

Bears Bad Fruit (Bad = Evil, Wicked)

A Bad, Rotten, Worthless Person Will Show Bad, Evil, Wicked Characteristics and Behaviors

But We Don’t Just See the Good or Bad Fruit in the Prophet’s/Teacher’s Lives

We See Those Fruit in the Lives of Those Who Listen to Them

You’ll Know a Good or Bad Prophet/Teacher Based On How Their Message is Affecting You

When You Eat Their Fruit, the Seeds of Their Fruit are Planted in Your Heart

And Those Seeds Will Grow into Fruits in Your Life

What Types of Fruit are You Producing?

If the Messages You Take in are Leading You to Have Good, Beautiful, and Desirable Characteristics and Behaviors…

Then You Can Trust That Those Whom You are Listening to are Good, Kind, and Generous Trees

But if the Messages You Take in are Leading You to Have Bad, Evil, and Wicked Characteristics and Behaviours…

Then You Can Trust That Those Whom You are Listening to are Bad, Rotten, and Worthless Trees

Good Trees Don’t Produce Bad Fruit

And Bad Trees Don’t Produce Good Fruit

Matthew 7:19–20 (NASB95)

“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.”

When Jesus Returns, Every Tree That is Not Producing Good Fruit Will Be Cut Down and Burned

Well, How Can I Know For Sure Which Fruits are Good and Which Fruits are Bad?

Look at Jesus’ Sermon

The Fruits That Bad Prophets/Teachers Bear Themselves and Lead Others to Bear are:

Anger

Lust

Division

Dishonesty

Retaliation/Revenge

Hatred

Selfishness

Greed

Idolatry

Anxiety/Worry

Being Judgemental

Not Treating Others the Way You Want to Be Treated

The Fruits That Good Prophets/Teachers Bear Themselves and Lead Others to Bear are:

Reconciliation

Self-Control

Unity

Honesty

Submission/Non-Retaliation

Love

Self-Lessness

Generosity

Faithfulness

Trust

Mercy

Treating Others the Way You Want to Be Treated

Trees Are Known By Their Fruits

Choose Carefully Which Trees You Eat From

And Be Careful Which Fruit You Produce

Matthew 7:21–23 (NASB)

“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.’”

Not Everyone Who Calls Jesus Their Lord and Master…

Will Be True Citizens of His Kingdom…

And Have Access to Eternal Life

There are Going to Be Many on the Day of Jesus’ Return Say:

“But Master, We Prophesied, Cast Out Demons, and Performed Miracles in Your Name!”

Regardless of Whether or Not That is True…

They Never Obeyed His Will

A True Servant of the Master…

Not Only Confesses His Lordship Over Their Lives…

But They Actually Submit to His Authority and Obey His Commands

It Doesn’t Matter What Amazing Things You May or May Not Have Done For the Cause of Christ

If You Haven’t Surrendered to His Will…

And Allowed His Teachings to Transform Your Life…

He Doesn’t Know You (Acknowledge You as One of His)

Jesus Forces Us to Make a Choice

Eat From and Become a Good Tree That Produces Good Fruit…

And Receive Life and Entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven

Or Eat From and Become a Bad Tree That Produces Bad Fruit…

And Be Cut Down and Burned…

And Be Denied of Receiving Life and Entering the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 7:24–25 (NASB)

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.”

Those Who Continue to Listen to and Continue to Obey the Sermon on the Mount…

Are Compared to a Wise Man Who Built His House On a Solid Foundation

When Jesus Returns to Judge the Wicked…

Those Who Have Built Their Lives On the Firm Foundation of Jesus’ Teachings…

Will Be Unscathed By the Destructive Storm of His Judgement

Matthew 7:26–27 (NASB)

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Those Who Continue to Listen and Continue to Not Obey the Sermon on the Mount…

Are Compared to a Foolish Man Who Built His House On an Unstable Foundation

When Jesus Returns to Judge the Wicked…

Those Who Have Chosen Not to Build Their Lives On the Firm Foundation of Jesus’ Teachings…

Will Be Utterly Destroyed By the Storm of His Judgement

Did You Notice the 1 Thing the Wise and the Foolish Have in Common?

They Both Continued to Listen to Jesus’ Teaching

They Might Have Even Both Agreed With Jesus’ Teaching

But Only One Obeyed Jesus’ Teaching

Let’s Allow Jesus’ Brother James to Clear This Up For Us:

James 1:22 (NASB)

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

You’re Only Fooling Yourself if You Only Listen and Don’t Obey

James 1:23–24 (NASB)

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

When We Look in a Mirror, We are Analyzing Ourselves

We Look in a Mirror to Correct Any Flaws in Our Appearance

We are to Do the Same with the Teachings of Jesus in a Spiritual Sense

We are to Look into His Law and Analyze Ourselves

We are to Fix Any Flaws in Our Character and Behavior

But a Person Who Only Hears the Teachings of Jesus But Doesn’t Seek to Obey Them…

Is Like a Person Who Sees Their Flaws in a Mirror…

But, Instead of Correcting Them…

He Walks Away and Forgets About Them

James 1:25 (NASB)

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

Jesus Forces Us to Make a Choice

Live Wisely By Obeying His Teachings and Survive His Judgement

Or Live Foolishly By Refusing to Obey His Teachings and Be Destroyed in His Judgement

Matthew 7:28–29 (NASB)

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Jesus Has Finished His Sermon on the Mount

The Greatest Lesson That the World Has Ever Heard

The Crowd Recognized That

They Were Amazed

The Verb Tense Indicates That They Continued to Be Amazed

They Just Couldn’t Get Over it

The Thing About His Teaching that Seemed to Amaze Them the Most Was:

That He Taught With Authority

It Was Common For Rabbis to Appeal to the Authority of Their Rabbinic Predecessors

“You Can Know My Teaching On This is Correct Because Rabbi Hillel/Shammai/etc. Said the Same Thing!”

His Teaching Wasn’t Based On the Scriptural Interpretation of the Teachers Who Came Before Him

His Teaching Was Based Solely On His Own Interpretation of the Scriptures

“You’ve Heard That it Was Said… But I Say”

Jesus Claimed That the Rabbis That Came Before Him Has Misinterpreted and Twisted the Scriptures

Now He Has Come to Rightly Interpret and Deliver the True Message of God

Jesus’ Jewish Listeners Were Amazed at His Unorthodox, Authoritative Teaching

They Had Been Taught Such a Twisted, Distorted, and Corrupted Form of the Law…

That Hearing the Pure Word of God Was Amazing and, Without Doubt, Refreshing to Their Ears

Application

We Can Be Guilty of Doing the Same Thing to Jesus’ Law as the Rabbis and Scribes Did to the Old Law

We Often Misinterpret and Twist it

There are So Many Christians Today Who Were Converted to a Twisted, Distorted, and Corrupted Form of Christianity

What We Need to Do is Get Back to Jesus

Only Then Will We Find True Christianity

A Methodist Missionary Named Stanley Jones Was Once Told By a Hindu Professor:

“The Jesus of dogma I do not understand, but the Jesus of the Sermon on the Mount and the cross I love and am drawn to.”

He Was Also Told By a Muslim Teacher:

“When He Read the Sermon on the Mount He Could Not Keep Back the Tears”

The World is Drawn to Jesus

But Oftentimes We Christians Get in the Way

Whether By Refusing to Live By His Standards For the Kingdom

Or By Twisting His Teachings

Let’s Each Start With Ourselves and:

Listen to the Sermon on the Mount

Obey the Sermon on the Mount

And Let’s Allow Jesus to Draw Others to Himself By Teaching the Sermon on the Mount

Jesus Has Given Us the Sermon on the Mount

Now We Must Make Our Choice:

Are We Going to Listen to His Teaching and Walk Away, Forgetting it?

Or are We Going to Take Jesus to the World Around Us By Living and Teaching His Words?

The Day of Jesus’ Return Will Reveal the Choice We Make

Surrender to the Gracious King and He Will Give You Life Freely