“It’s Not Easy Being a Christian”

Series: The Gospel Truth

Text: Matt 7:1-6; 13-23

Introduction: (What?)

Too often the idea is floated around that once a person decides to follow Christ, their life will be a bed of roses. We have the assumption that life will be easy once we are Christians. However, the exact opposite is true. Jesus said in Luke 9:23 “If anyone wants to follow after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” In Luke 13 He spoke of entering through the “narrow door”, and in Luke 14:26 He said, “If anyone come to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life---he cannot be My disciple.” In the hymn “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?” there is a stanza that goes, “Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas?”

Examination: (Why?)

The Speck, Beam and the Pig (vv 1-6)

Matt 7:1-6 “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the splinter out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a beam of wood in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother’s eye. Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.”

There is a difference in righteous and unrighteous judgment. This passage speaks of the hypocritical, self-righteous, unfair judgment that springs from wrong motives. The primary motive of those who judge this was is to bring someone down. Those who resort to this type judgment of others set the standard for God judging them. If you judge harshly, you will be judged harshly. If your judgment is tempered by mercy, so will God show mercy in His judgment of you. This is one of the many “if-then” passages in scripture. While we have been created to be responders, should we choose to try to be initiators, God will respond in kind. Those who choose this type of negative judgment of others often overlook the flaws in their own character. It seems that we are quick to judge others for the negative things in our own lives, while giving ourselves a pass. The speck describes something so small that it is easy to overlook, yet the unrighteous judge makes a big deal of it. The beam on the other hand is significant wrong in the life of the unrighteous judge that he/she overlooks. Jesus uses these polar opposites to make a point. In order for a person to judge righteously, he/she must first deal with themselves. This calls for confession and repentance of sin (the beam) that God reveals to them. Once they have dealt with their own sin, then they can see clearly enough to judge the sin in the life of another.

I’ve found that many times the things that I deem to be wrong in the life of someone else are actually things that are wrong in my own life. It is easy for me to condemn my own sin in the life of someone else. So, anytime I notice sin in the life of another, I’ve learned to pause and examine my own life under the lens of the Holy Spirit to see if that same sin is in my own life. Once I have done this I can then admonish (not judge) a brother or sister regarding the sin I have seen in their life.

The second principle in this passage deals with the interaction between a disciple of Christ and unbelievers. When Jesus went back to Nazareth after He had started his earthly ministry, it was noted that Matt 13:58 “And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.” Notice that the word says, “did not” rather than “could not”. Jesus Himself experienced the result of giving to dogs what is holy and throwing pearls of wisdom before pigs. Both dogs and pigs were deemed unclean by Jews in that day. Jesus’s point is that you are wasting your time to present the gospel to those who are not ready to receive it. That is the underlying truth of the parable of the Sower. If his seed is sown on rocky ground, or in a brier patch, or among weeds, there will be little return for his labor. Often it is more productive to spend time preparing the soil before sowing the seed. It is easier and more productive to share the gospel across a positive relationship than it is with a total stranger. Someone has said, “No one should hear the gospel twice until everyone has heard it once.” There is an element of truth there. If you go around willy-nilly flinging the gospel AT everyone and hoping that it “sticks” with someone, you will probably wind up being discouraged. However, if you take the time to cultivate a relationship, you stand a chance of winning the right to be heard. The ground has been prepared and there is a greater receptivity to the gospel. Mass evangelism (large crowds) is far less effective than personal evangelism (one on one) linked with discipleship. After all, the Great Commission is all about teaching others to do what you’ve been taught to do. An example of the effectiveness of this selective sharing of the gospel is found in the following article.

If you were an outstanding gifted evangelist with an international reputation, and if, under God, you could win 1,000 persons for Christ every night of every year, how long would it take you to win the whole world for Christ? Answer: Ignoring the population explosion over 10,000 years. But if you are a true disciple of Christ, and if you are able under God to win just one person to Christ each year; and if you could then train that person to win one other person to Christ; and if you could then train that person to win one other person for Christ each year, how long would it take to win the world for Christ? Answer: just 32 years!

The Narrow Gate and the Fruit Inspector (vv 13-20)

Matt 7:13-20 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.”

Becoming a Christian is not easy. From this teaching of Jesus we find that the wide gate and the broad road leads not to heaven but to hell. On the other hand the narrow gate and the difficult road leads to heaven. An example of the wide gate is saying to a person, “all you have to do is say this little prayer”. There are many people today who would quickly say, “Yes, I’m a Christian. I have prayed the sinner’s prayer.” Would it surprise you to know that there is no “sinner’s prayer” in scripture? The closest scripture we can find is in Ro. 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Paul is quoting Joel 2:32 “Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised, among the survivors the Lord calls.” In context this refers to those who are observing the “last days” as God’s judgment begins to rain down on mankind. It is acknowledgment of the sovereignty of God and the only way of salvation. God calls them and they respond by calling on Him for salvation.

Jesus emphasized over and over during His earthly ministry that following Him is both difficult and costly. Matt 10:38 “And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” In Jesus’s day the cross symbolized one thing…death. His use of this phrase meant that in order to follow Him, one must be willing to die to self. Paul said it best in Ro 6:11 “So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Also, following Christ will earn you the hatred of the world’s system. Jn 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.”

False prophets are those who preach an “easy believeism”. The “prosperity gospel” of the “name it and claim” it preachers is false teaching. In Acts 14:22 “strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus admonished those who followed Him to become “fruit inspectors”. Good trees produce good fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit. Carefully examine the lives and the legacy of those who invite you through the wide gate and down the broad road. Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” The fruit of a true follower of Jesus are the “good works” that grow out of their salvation.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise (vv 21-23

Perhaps the scariest scripture in all the Bible is Matt 7:22-23 “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’”

On the day of judgment many will tout their “works” as their ticket to heaven. (preaching and teaching, deliverance, and miracles). One of the most insidious tools of the devil is his counterfeiting so-called miracles. Just like the magicians in Egypt were able to reproduce some of the plagues that Moses brought on the people, there are many today who appear to do the miraculous, but their power comes from the Evil One.

Your salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. The “good works” are what Christ does through you as you are surrendered to Him. No one but Jesus can save. No one but Jesus can heal. No one but Jesus can deliver. If He uses you, but you claim the glory for yourself, you are on dangerous ground. Acts 12:21-23 “On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them. The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

Are you certain that you have surrendered your life to Christ?

Are you guilty of judging others while ignoring your own sin?

Are you listening to false prophets and even sharing their false prophesies?

Are you giving God the glory for the results of your good works?