Matthew 7

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational we call this a textual community let's rejoice and learn God's Word in an interactive and enjoyable new way let's open our Bibles tonight to the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew where we continue and we hopefully hopefully finish out the Sermon on the Mount let's pray Lord we're a unique gathering we're a textual community we have gathered with a common belief that you have spoken and everything that you want to say to us has been given by the principles that we discover in your word from Genesis to Revelation it is our privilege to mine to dig deep and to discover the riches and make application to our lives many truths that we will uncover Lord tonight we have read before they are familiar to us it is ground that we know we've covered it before but we need reminders of this that we might not only be hearers but doers have your word that we might grow that's what we want we want growth we don't want to stay the same we want maturity and we know that's what you want so Lord we know we're praying according to your will and based on that we pray that even though the teacher is limited the human teacher is limited tonight we pray that the Holy Spirit the divine teacher would supersede and do a work in every single life that is gathered this is this is your family these are your kids we always see this as gathering together in a giant living room and just simply going over the scriptures that you have given and seeing how they fit with us we invite you Lord to be our intimate friend and instructor in Jesus name Amen we have four Gospels Matthew Mark Luke and John the four Gospels are really a four-fold portrait of the same person it's the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ from four different perspectives look at the four Gospels as a stringed quartet whose instruments are perfectly beautifully tuned and they make harmonious music all together each instrument playing off the other instruments kept in harmony by a common conductor making it all work and we behold the beauty of each but it's the beauty of the whole where the real glory is or look at the four Gospels sort of like four cameras on a Hollywood set all controlled by a director and so you've got Matthew he's got his angle mark he's from a different angle Luke and John all of them assume a different emphasis one will Pan the crowds and get the reactions another camera will focus closely in on what is being said by the main character another will focus on rapid segues transitions that take place so you have Matthew Matthew was written to the Jews to show that Jesus fulfilled all of the promises of the Messiah the coming king that the Old Testament wrote about and so Matthew's oft-repeated word is the word fulfilled he tells us this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of by the prophet that's Matthew that's his camera angle marks a bit different mark didn't write for the Jews mark wrote for the Romans it would seem and his view of Christ is that of the perfect servant the hard-working servant and his favorite phrase or word is the word immediately it's amazing how many times you read that word in just the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark and immediately Jesus did this and immediately they went there and immediately this happened because he is portraying in rapid sequence what a servant does in fulfilling his master's orders Luke has a whole different vantage point he's writing for the Greeks the Greeks were all about the perfect man the ideal man so Luke the doctor portrays Jesus and says look here is your perfect man here's your ideal man and his favorite phrase is the son of man then there's John totally different than the previous three synoptic Gospels we call them John writes for the whole world the whole world and his word is the word believe believe believe he says that over and over again about a hundred times in his book so the emphasis of Matthew the book were currently studying is on what Jesus said that's why Matthew focuses his camera angle on the speeches the discourses of the Messiah mark his emphasis is on what Jesus did and like a rapidly moving movie script we follow him from place to place as he does good and teaches but heals and works like an ambitious servant Luke tells us how Jesus felt the good doctor dr. Luke who gave us that gospel and the book of Acts gives more of the emotion of the Messiah than any other book and John he helps us understand not what Jesus said not what he did not what he felt but who he was these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God he writes in John chapter 20 so four different camera angles and the one we have been looking at is that of Matthew Matthews whole thing is that Jesus is the promised Messiah the one the Old Testament has predicted over and over again the one who is at the center of God's plan of salvation for the whole world and this is his kingdom in Matthew five six and seven the Sermon on the Mount these are the ethics these are the standards these are the values of Kingdom living under King Jesus the Messiah the one who fulfilled all of those promises we finished chapter 6 chapter 7 verse 1 is before us Jesus continues you notice if you have a red letter Bible again it's all red letter Jesus is giving one long dialogue one long monologue judge not that you be not judged for with what judgment you judge you will be judged and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you some people have read those verses and based upon especially verse one have said Christians are to make no evaluations whatsoever they're not to make an evaluative statement they're not to be critical of how things are done or what is being said or paying too careful attention to doctrine not to critical and would even disparage those who are in discernment ministries because Jesus after all said judge not that you be not judged therefore the Christian is to make no critical evaluation of anyone else now if that is what verse 1 means we have a big problem we have a problem for example with Elijah the Prophet who spoke forcefully against King have the king of Israel and the false prophets of Bale we have a problem with Paul the Apostle who spoke against the Judaizers who infiltrated the church and said that you have to keep the law of Moses to be saved boy did Paul come against them and we have a huge problem with Jesus because Jesus tells us commands us to make evaluative critical judgments for example in John chapter 7 Jesus said do not judge according to outward appearance but Judge you a righteous judgment he commands us to do it in Galatians chapter 6 if anyone is overtaken with any fault you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness but way before that that beautiful restorative word that he gives in Galatians chapter one the Paul says even though we or an angel from heaven come and preaches to you a gospel that is different than the one that you have received let him be accursed eternally condemned boy is he being judgmental so here is Jesus saying judge not that you be not judged but does he mean make no evaluation no critical evaluation whatsoever never use discernment because if Jesus meant that go down to verse 6 do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast your pearls before swine well you're gonna have to make some sort of evaluation to understand who is a dog and who is a swine versus those who are not correct it's the same context or skip down a few more verses down to verse 15 beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves you can't be aware of them you can't be on the lookout for them if you are not prepared to make some sort of critical evaluation so then what does Jesus mean when he says don't judge he simply means and the word is credo in Greek Kri no means a harsh self-righteous censorious judgment a hyper critical evaluation that pretends to know the motive of a person when in reality you don't have all the facts let me give you an example if I were to see somebody at a restaurant and say what is that person doing here what is that family doing at this restaurant I know what they make they can't afford this thing no wonder they're in poverty they go out to places like this now I don't have all the facts and I've just made an evaluation based upon not having all the information and judging the motivation it's a horse and saw rias and self-righteous evaluation now they could be in that restaurant because somebody graciously gave them a gift certificate they're cashing it in that night the Lord is blessing them if I say yeah that person gets up late every morning man I tell you what a bum well maybe that person is up late the night before working on some project trying to get through school or working hard for the family maybe a second or third job so when Jesus says don't judge that's the kind of judgment he is talking about that harsh self-righteous judgment not knowing all of the facts there's there's three reasons we're not to judge number one you're not the final judge God is God knows everything see God reserves the right to be God don't try to be him yourself if you don't know something don't make an evaluation about it it is amazing to me how many people spout opinions after not researching things but just during the opinions of other people thinking it must be the right opinion that's tragic happens all the time I see it even in newspapers and magazines I see a journalism that is not a journalism of integrity they just simply take what another journalist has written and instead of doing all the hard research and asking all of the fundamental questions they just sort of reprint it they stated in their own words it's just sort of a sloppy plagiarism and it gets them in trouble sometimes so Jesus then continues in verse two and here's the second reason you're not to judge because judgment is a boomerang with what judgment you judge you will be judged with what measure you use it will be measured back to you you've heard the old saying that if you live in a glass house you shouldn't be throwing stones and judgment has a way of boomeranging creating a gallows that you will hang on one day you remember the story in Esther chapter seven of Haman who built a gallows to hang righteous Mordecai the Jew on and things turned around against him and he was hung on the very gallows that he made most of you remember that fewer of you will remember the next example there was a king a Canaanite king named ad and I be Zek he comes to us and judges chapter one now Adonai be Zek was captured by the Israelites and they cut off his thumbs and his big toes it's an odd passage you go why is that in the Bible you ever find that in a verse why'd they write that what's the deal with the thumbs and the toes the idea of cutting off one's thumbs is to take away the dexterity the manipulative dexterity in the hands you lose it you lose the ability to fight to wield a sword taking off the big toe you lose balance well after they do they to him adonai B Zach says there are 70 kings of which I have cut off their big toes and their thumbs who were beggars under my table and now the Lord has repaid me it seemed that he made a practice of doing that with other kings that he had conquered and now it happened to him he judged by a measure and he was judged with that measure alright some of the ancient Jewish rabbis used to say that God has two measures whenever he judges the the measure of justice and the measure of mercy which measure would you like on you if - God is judging you which measure do you want God to use you are mercy right which judge which measure do you usually grab when you judge other people mercy or justice usually justice worse the cop when you need him that guy just did 90 miles an hour when you're in a hurry you don't seem to mind that you got away with it verse 3 here's the third reason why you shouldn't judge because it's hypocrisy why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye you see a splinter excuse me brother I see a splinter in your eye oh excuse me I'm sorry to hit you with the pine tree that's hanging out of my eye that's the idea or how can you say to your brother let me remove the speck from your eye and look a plank is in your own eye hypocrite first remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye as I was going over this something occurred to me the spec the splinter and the plank the pine tree is essentially the same substance one is the other one is much smaller the other is much bigger the reason I can see little splinters in your eyes is because I'm familiar with the substance I've got a huge piece of it in mine we are good typically at spotting sins and other people because we're familiar with them in our own lives and we become unfortunately very judgmental over the sin that lurks in us David committed adultery he took the only wife of Uriah the Hittite a faithful soldier in David's army and had an adulterous affair her name was Bathsheba you know the story David had many wives he was very wealthy he could have any one of his wives that he wanted at any time but he took Uriah the Hittite s-- wife committed adultery with her and so Nathan the Prophet paid him a visit one day it said David I've got a little problem I need your help on there were two men living in the same town one was a rich dude one was a poor guy the rich guy had many herds and many flocks the poor man had nothing just one single you'll am a female lamb a little lamb it's all that he had it was his pet he cuddled with it every night on his chest he he he fed scraps from the table it was like a daughter to him David the rich guy had a friend coming from out of town and rich guy said well I got to make him a meal so instead of going to one of the sheep in the many flocks that he had he stole the one small little pet from the poor man and killed it and they ate it for supper David said that man shall surely die Nathan said really because you are that man you had many wives God has blessed you with so much and you stole the wife of Uriah the Hittite and what you said about that man that he should die is what you have done now here's what's interesting why did David say kill him that wasn't the law the law of Moses it didn't say kill him the law of Moses said if somebody steals somebody's sheep you got to restore it fourfold four times pay him back because David was so familiar with the sin of the man in the parable because it was his own sin same substance spec plank I see the speck it's because I had the plank there was a family that had a elderly grandpa he was a bit cranky and he came to visit the family one Sunday afternoon and he was taking a nap after supper he was cranky through the whole supper I don't like this I don't like that he was just one of those kind of guys cranky old man he's taking a nap in one of the back bedrooms so what did the grandsons thought let's play a trick on grandpa so they took some Limburger cheese you know what that is right you know stinky that is and rubbed it on grandpa's mustache and just waited the old codger woke up some time later and you could hear him in the back bedroom this room stinks open the door started walking through the house smelling goes man this whole house stinks walked outside smelled because the whole world stinks it's because he's carrying around the stink right under his nose here's David going that guy stinks he can smell his own smell and so often when we pass judgment we are critical in the same areas that we ourselves have so what do we do what is the right approach not to be censorious not to be hypocritical not to be smug and self-righteous but to be helpful here's the right approach be helpful to your brother look at verse five hypocrite first removed the plank from your own eye that's what you do you first take that out and then you will be able to see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye do you know that when you confess your sin to God and you admit it before the Lord you're actually helping in the process of restoring other people who have similar situations that's the first step in helping them is you confess your own sin before God that helps to restore rather than to destroy other people around you so that's the first step first remove the plank from your eye in Psalm 51 David wrote that beautiful Psalm about how sorry he was that he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and done what he had done against Uriah the Hittite and you remember that little portion toward the middle of the psalm where David says create in me a clean heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me restore unto me the joy of your salvation then listen up then I will teach transgressors your way then others will be converted to you once I make confession of my sin and humble myself that's the first step in the restoration process I remove the plank out of my eye second step be discerning be helpful to your brother be discerning of your neighbor verse six it seems like it's out of place but it's part and parcel of the same speech do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast your pearls before the swine lest they trample them under feet and turn and tear you in pieces we have a balance in verse 6 - what has been stated in the first five verses now when you read about dog here don't think of a pet dog in those days most people didn't have pet dogs dogs were scavengers they ran around the city they carried disease dogs and pigs were considered unholy you'd never find a Jewish home where there was a pet pig I say that tongue-in-cheek because it's become sort of fashionable in the last couple decades to have those little Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs have you seen them they're little pets I was at Franklin Graham's home years ago and he had a pig running inside of his house and he goes look at my Pig it's a pet I really didn't know what to say I'm just kind of looking at this is okay I'm in the south just kind of checking it out huh and Jane said any cute I said it's a pig you don't give a pearl necklace to a pig you don't give what is holy to the dogs now the context isn't modern America but ancient Israel dogs and pigs were considered unholy unco sure unclean you'd never think about taking the meat offered in temporal sacrifices and letting the dogs take it away and trample it and eat it and tear it oftentimes people were known as dogs or pigs there used that way a couple of times even in the scripture to refer to a person who is so filthy as to trample the truth of God underfoot and to pay no attention to it so there is a balance Jesus's don't judge sand seriously self-righteously hypocritically in a way that impugns the motive of another person at the same time you need to sermon be discerning be loving be forgiving but be discerning was Jesus ever that way many times on one occasion the Pharisees said boy Jesus you better get out of here because Herod's been looking for you he wants to kill you Jesus said go tell that Fox that I must do the works today and then the third you know I'm all the way up to the third day I've got to complete the works go tell that Fox now a fox is a sly cunning beast it's not a compliment he called Herod by what was his true nature that of a beast a sly cunning self-serving beast Jesus said to the Pharisees you are whitewashed tombs you brood of slimy snakes wait wait wait wait wait wait where does that fit in and judge not that you be not judged fits perfectly Jesus said judge a righteous judgment it was a righteous judgment he was right on the mark so the the balance be loving be forgiving but by all means be discerning verse seven ask and it will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and he whose and to him who knocks it will be opened now there's a promise there you will find it will be opened but notice that the promise is attached to a command it's put in the it's put in the present active imperative asked it's a command the way it's written is I command you ask not to me that's fascinating why on earth would God ever have to command you to pray just think about that for a minute why would God ever have to command you to pray well perhaps because he knows that we don't perhaps it's because he knows that either by our own pride by our resistance to do it or maybe we might say I'm not worthy or I'm in such despair or we just forget about it because he knows human nature he asked every now and then give us a commandment to do it do it ask me for something can you imagine a parent saying son come here I want you to ask me for something right now for Christmas ma right cool because whatever you ask son I'll give it to you Oh awesome now that's a commandment you can't go to bed till you do that okay yet we find that same command in other places in the Bible Jeremiah 33 verse 3 called to me God said that's a command in Hebrew and I will answer you and I will show you great and mighty things which you know not so the command the promises attached to the command ask and it will be given seek and you will find knock and it will be opened to you for everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds and to him who knocks it will be opened what this shows me and I say this these verses this command to pray along with all of the other verses that Jesus talks about praying in what this shows me is the heart of God in wanting to give his sons and daughters good things that's his heart a kid a child knows that the nature and temperament of that child's father and mother will determine how much or how little that child will ask a father a mother if you have a very harsh austere dad who doesn't want to be bothered and makes that known and is very stingy about what he gives or a mom about what she gives that child is gonna be very hesitant to ask for anything after a period of time that kids gonna learn don't ask mom for anything but if the father is very generous and kind loves to give and loves to see that child with a smile on his face the child is gonna ask a lot the way we pray is determined by our view of God do we think God is harsh do we think God is holding back he's not generous that he's vengeful and hurtful that's how the Greeks viewed their gods even among many of the Jewish people 2,000 years ago God was very aloof very distant in the temple there were courts there was a wall that said death to any non Jew Gentile passed this point but when Jesus died on the cross one of my favorite things that happened in the crucifixion the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom God was saying I don't want this separation any longer because of what my son has done man you guys can come close and have intimate fellowship with me I love that but I was so discouraged when I found out that the Jews sewed the veil back up now I think we do the same thing and there's a number of ways we do it God is saying I want intimacy come close ask seek knock and we put up barriers I was brought up with the belief that God can't be bothered by a mere mortal you can't come directly to God you can't come directly to Jesus you can come to his mother because what what son would refuse a mother if the mother asks so I was taught growing up don't talk to Jesus talk to Mary or talk to these Saints and they'll sort of you know get in line and get God on a good day that's the hierarchy that's the celestial pirate hierarchical rule and then I read the Bible and I read the book of Hebrews therefore let us come boldly before the throne of God that we might receive grace to help in time of need or in the nick of time some translations render it and that just blew away everything I'd been taught growing up God wants a relationship he wants me to ask he wants me to come he wants to bless he wants to give verse 9 is the illustration of that or what man is there among you if his son asks for bread will he give him a stone imagine how ludicrous or if he asked for a fish will he give him a serpent if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him this is simply stating God's love for his children via answered prayer in the illustration is a child asking for a favor from his dad in verse 9 dad can I have a piece of bread sure son that's a little quirky smile on his face and slips a stone in there that looks just like a piece of bread imagine if family went to McDonald's the dad ordered a Big Mac and took out the Patty and put in a little stone severe son love you how cruel that would break the son's teeth and his heart at the same time or can you imagine dad I I'd love a fish sandwich sure here you go dad what's that rattle doing in my sandwich oh it's attached to a snake why is that there again it's so ludicrous here is Jesus using the most intimate selfless human relationship which is parents who care for and love their children it's the most basic selfless relationship and he said ok if that happens on an earthly level how much more how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him much more verse 12 therefore whatever you want men to do to you also do to them for this is the law and the prophets we have a question that was texted in we love to throw these up on the screen this is what you have asked the question is how can you ask for something and yet stay humble and unselfish to me that simple I'm asking for something I'm not demanding it I'm not commanding it I'm filtering it through the Lord's will Lord if this is your well you know what I need this is what I want I believe this is what I need but I'm asking then the less and in Lord you may just want to lavish something I don't need you didn't promise me that but you may want to do it so I'm just simply asking you for God has the right to say no I always know that I never walk away saying God never answered my prayers I walk away saying God answered my prayer he said no that's an answer I didn't like his answer it's not the answer I was hoping for but he answered it nonetheless so I don't see that as prideful I ask I pray in Jesus name and then I leave it to him and I submit my will for his acknowledgement so in verse 12 therefore whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets first 12 you have the the summary statement the bottom-line summation of kingdom of God ethics of how we God's kids are to treat other people this is the Mount Everest if if ever there was if the Sermon on the Mount is climaxing all the way through coming up to a pinnacle this is the pinnacle this is the most famous thing Jesus ever said I have found this statement even in secular places like greeting cards and plaques and many many places like that the Golden Rule unfortunately however I find it quoted without the first word of the sentence now you'll notice the first word of the sentence is therefore whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets in other words just as God is so kind and so loving and wants to answer the prayer of his children who depend upon him because he set the example and he is the model therefore model your life after that God does it for you do it for other people now this golden rule is what sets Christianity apart one thing that sets Christianity apart from every other philosophy and every other religious system there is no system of belief or religion that has anything like this in it as some of you are looking at me a little funny I think because you're well-read and you have read on world religions and you're gonna wait a minute I want to dispute that this is very similar to many other religious systems and so you might want to quote the Talmud to me the saying of one rabbi Hallel who said whatever is not helpful don't do that to other people or you might want to quote the philosopher Confucius who said don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you or still some of you say well I know Greek philosophy and among the stoic philosophers they said something similar they said whatever you want people not to do to you don't do that to anyone else but do you see the difference all of those are negative all of those are about self-preservation dude you don't want to get hurt don't be me to anybody that's a far cry from do to others what you want them to do to you that's the positive it's one thing to live in the negatives it's another thing to the negative and turn it into a positive back in the 1600s the 17th century somebody and Bennett invented a great instrument in Europe called the harpsichord now the harpsichord has a keyboard like a piano and you play chords and you play notes on it you you push down the keys and what happens is there's a little arm underneath that has a pick a plectrum like a guitar that plucks a string and the string vibrates and you have a note and that was a chief instrument in Europe for century and a half almost two the problem with the harpsichord is that it was slow and it was very limiting wasn't as responsive so around the end of the 18th century somebody had a brilliant idea of taking a keyboard and attaching it to an armature that had a hammer that would strike the string rather than pluck the string and the piano was invented changed music completely from a harpsichord to a piano that's what Jesus does yes there's been these principles and many other religious systems around the world but Jesus comes along and invents the piano it's not this limiting slow- thing it's something very positive and very unique to the teachings of Christ and Christianity whatever you want men to do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets simple application you've been a recipient of God's goodness now bless other people bless other people think what would bless that person if I were to say this or encourage that person in this manner or or drop that little favor by what would that do to them because I sure love it if people would do it to me now don't go run over to do it to me that that's sort of that you're living in Confucius land and stoic Ville and Hallel do it to them be a distributor of it verse 13 enter in by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way the leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it now here's something you discover all throughout scripture God makes it easy for us he boils things down to the irreducible minimum there's two choices there's two gates there's two roads there's two destinations take your pick which do you want to go down which gate do you want to enter into because whatever gate you enter into will bring you out into a road that will lead to a destination and there are only two that you can choose from life and death Heaven and Hell restoration or destruction now Jesus says narrow is the gate difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it first of all notice again we have a command and in Greek it is a commandment enter in the gate here's Jesus saying see that gate that's me that's the narrow way go there it's a commandment he didn't say ponder the gate admire the gate he says the end of the gate Jesus never said ponder me admire me he said follow me have you surrendered your life to Christ are you following Jesus personally or he said yeah you know I studied that class in college and comparative religion and and I've always admired Jesus I respect Jesus there are many who respect Jesus who have never received Jesus enter into that gate now there's a question it says there are few who find the right path few not many not most very few why is that if I'm reading this correctly just taking Jesus word for word he's saying that most people aren't saved most people won't make it to heaven that very few people enter into life very few people make the right choice why is that few people enter in because it's so narrow Christianity is so narrow-minded who ever heard that you are such a narrow person when people tell me they go thank you by the way you probably have no idea how narrow I really am because the way to life the narrow way is the way of being poor in spirit the way to heaven is the way of mourning over your sin blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who mourn blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness blessed are those who are persecuted it's not that few enter in because God only wants a few or he only wants a certain kind he wants everyone but few by their own choice will enter in because the way is narrow it's too restrictive you know I kind of want my own deal I kind of want my own agenda they want the wide way they want the less restrictive way they want the easy way beware of false prophets verse 15 who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves you will know them by their fruits do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles even so every good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree Bears bad fruit a good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire therefore by their fruits you will know them why does Jesus immediately after saying enter into the narrow gate say beware of false prophets pretty easy to figure that out right because the false prophets are the one who say don't listen to that actually it doesn't matter which way you choose all roads lead to God choose the wide path choose whatever you're into it's all the same deal it's all the same God it's just a smorgasbord but you're all going to get fed in the same restaurant you know throughout the scripture there is a constant warning against false prophets Deuteronomy chapter 13 in the Pentateuch is a chapter devoted entirely to the false prophet the false dreamer the miracle worker who doesn't represent God Isaiah the prophet warned against prophets who speak lies in my name Jeremiah said woe to those prophets who prophesy lies and my name's I have not sent them jesus said many will come in my name and say I am the Christ and deceive many many false prophets will arise and deceive many Matthew chapter 24 there's that constant flow of warning through the Bible because like we've said before and it was even articulated this last weekend at the conference when you turn on the light the bugs come when you preach the gospel of the narrow way the true path the singular path the false prophet will come along and try to disrupt that now Paul false prophets are disguised okay they don't knock on your door and go hi I'm her neighborhood false prophet see my name take false prophet I've come to deceive you no they they come looking like Christians you say are you a Christian oh yes do you believe Jesus yes you believe in the Jesus of the New Testament yep you believe he's the son of God I do now what you should do then is have them define the word Jesus define the Son of God and define salvation because I'll guarantee you many of them pour into the word the same word a different meaning than you pour into it so a definition of terms is important and so the clothing works sheep's clothing when you get to the book of Revelation there's the Beast chapter 13 the Antichrist same chapter there's somebody called the false prophet John says I saw another beast arise out of the sea that's the false prophet and he's described by John as somebody who looks like a lamb but he speaks like a dragon and so we refer to him as the false prophet in the Great Tribulation Period who will work miracles in the name of the Antichrist and get people to worship the Antichrist all the way through redemptive history is the warning against false prophets now Jesus says in these verses you'll recognize them eventually notice therefore by their fruits you will know them fruit is the evidence that a tree produces if I were to tell you hey I have a lemon tree at home you'd say excuse me a lemon tree oh yeah I have a lemon tree at home now I may have a lemon tree but not outside in this climate it'd have to be inside it's possible but if you're skeptical all you have to do is say prove it now how would I prove it I bring you lemons of course you probably want to see that I picked him from my tree and not got him from the store but the fruit would be the evidence that I really have a lemon tree cause you can see the lemons when it comes to profits of God so called the fruit what they produce in terms of their character in terms of their doctrine all of that is the evidence that they are either true or false so again this balance is out verse one judge not that you be not judged here Jesus is listen beware of false prophets well how can you do that unless you are willing to make a critical evaluation of a person's character and doctrine and say that's a false prophet that's not a false prophet so next time somebody says you shouldn't judge people just say you're right I'm not gonna be a judge I'm only gonna be a fruit inspector and that's what you are called that is what I am called to do inspect the fruits they prove it let me see the fruit man not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father and haven't noticed the difference between a person who says and a person who does many will say to me in that day Lord Lord now just Lord but Lord Lord and often times in Scripture a word is repeated to speak of fervency passion this guy's passionate about the Lord Lord Lord is the idea many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name and I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness what they say about the Lord is one thing they say the right things about the Lord but they do not submit to the authority of the Lord they have eternal language but they don't have eternal life and eternal languages Lord praise the Lord hallelujah bless God thank you Jesus all that is language you've heard in churches not everybody who says the right language has the right relationship now there's a couple things notice that that person is missing first of all he's missing a lifestyle notice Jesus said in verse 23 depart from me you who practice lawlessness you're not practicing righteousness you're practicing lawlessness it is a perpetual habitual lifestyle contrary to Scripture nobody's perfect we all struggle with sin but a Christian doesn't perpetually live in sin though occasionally may fall into sin you understand the difference somebody put it to me this way a Christian is somebody to whom sin clings an unbeliever is someone who clings to sin it's not somebody who struggles with it that's not an unbeliever I don't care about the struggle they just do it they're into it but they call themselves a believer they say Lord Lord so they're absent they're missing the right lifestyle I read an article a few years back about a doctor who was arrested for malpractice for practicing lawlessness get this he said he was a doctor he hung up the parchment that said I'm a doctor he only finished three years of medical school he didn't graduate from medical school see that fourth year that's a doozy you need that fourth year you gotta pass the exam after the fourth year you got to take the boards and then you get the real parchment so he was saying he's one thing but he's practicing something else and the rate reason they caught him was was malpractice making stupid choices dumb decisions and actually hurting patients so he lacked a lifestyle he missed that second thing according to Jesus this person misses a relationship notice not everyone who says Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven many will say to me Lord Lord they'll say what we've done I will declare I never knew you now that's relationship and when God says I never knew you doesn't mean I'm sorry what's your name I forgot who you are I don't know who you are I don't know anything about you that's not what it means he knows everyone knows their name and knows everything about that person it means I don't know you intimately relationally I don't know you as one of my own disciples who have placed their faith and trust independence in me I don't know you in that capacity it's a experiential relational knowledge he speaking about all of you here know the President of the United States not personally but you know what he looks like you know how he talks you know what he says and you may have even met him but to say I know someone is different than I know who he is or what he looks like or what they do and that's the idea here I never knew you you lacked the relationship so how can you know God is the big question think about that tonight how can you tonight walk away and say I know God well you got to be born into his family jesus said unless a man is born again he will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven have you been born again have you simply trusted in the Savior have you made a decision to turn from your sin and turn to Christ as your saved personally have you done that does that mark your life you see Jesus said as many as received him to them he gave the power the authority to become children of God to those who believe in his name that's how we come to know him verse 24 therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain descended the floods came the winds blew and beat on that house it did not fall for it was founded on the rock but everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rains descended the floods came the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall the first thing you should do is look at the house now if you look at two houses side-by-side you couldn't tell the difference they look great they look the same and so right now in this room if you were to look around at the people sitting around you you don't know who really follows Christ and who really does not you can't tell where people we look the same we're all sitting in the same church so look at the house but then Jesus says next look under the house what is the house built on what is the foundation is it sand or is it bedrock get this in Jerusalem I could show you homes they've uncovered still standing on their solid bedrock foundations with archways and everything after two three thousand years you know we talked about a vintage home it's a hundred years old Wow that's just like yesterday look at the house look under the house what is your life built on are you submitted to the master architect to the master builder look at look under and then look ahead look at the storms the rains descended the floods came the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall there's a hurricane coming Jesus set there's our storms of life that sift out the true from the false and the biggest storm is the one of judgment and great will be the fall of that house and then we close off the chapter and so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having Authority and not as the scribes let's bow our heads and I'm having you do it for a reason think of all these principles that we have just heard and think how the people marveled to Jesus because he spoke with such authority his word was authoritative and the last words were whoever listens to these words and does them that's a wise person whoever listens to my words and doesn't do them that's a fool it's a foolish person and so in closing our eyes were just shutting everyone around us out we're not talking to anyone we're not thinking about tomorrow morning or what happened today or we're just thinking about our relationship with God are we under his authority have we entered into the narrow gate the one that leads to eternal life or are we still cruising on the broad way the wide way the way that is less restrictive the way that we think is good for our lives not God's Way for our life just know that there is Jesus telling you get in that gate enter into that gate maybe tonight you're just tired of chasing so many pots of gold at the end of rainbows that haven't produced you've looked for satisfaction and in relationships and status and education and jobs the well is empty you're thirsty tonight God isn't telling you get religious he's saying get real get right with me get real and that's by receiving Christ some of you remember making some choice years ago but you're not walking with Jesus tonight how many of you here tonight right now would say yes to Jesus as Lord and Savior whether for the first time or maybe a recommitment but you want to get your life back right with God I want you as our heads are bowed you raise your hand up I want to acknowledge your hand and pray for you as we close god bless you ma'am and you in the middle and you sir in the middle toward the back raise it up so I can see it I see your hand god bless you and on my left anyone else raise that hand up a few of you right there to my right and toward the back anyone else Scott speaking to you then just say yes to him don't hold back any longer here's God saying I've got stuff for you I have gifts for you I have blessing for you leave the old life anybody else father I pray for those many who are raising their hands right now those who are listening by radio or by internet the same thing and we pray father that lives would be changed in our very midst in Jesus name Amen would you stand to your feet as Waverly sings this last song very famous altar call song if you raise your hand get up from where you're standing right now whether you're right up in the front in the middle of an aisle in the very back and find the nearest aisle and you come and you stand right up here and I'm gonna pray a prayer to receive Christ tonight right here right now come right on up as we say [Applause] [Music] if you're tuning in by radio or you're watching a live stream on the internet I'm gonna lead those who have come forward here in a word of Prayer right where you're at you can pray and you can do the same thing and make the same choice you can also call the radio station you can log on we have a cyber pastor in cyberspace who's if you're watching by Internet can talk to you and lead you also in prayer hey those of you who have come forward and there's a lot of you tonight we're so grateful to God for that okay now it's crunch time right this is it this is transaction time this is where you give your life away you're giving your life to an alien will you're saying my life isn't my own anymore you you you made me anyway I'm giving my life back to you God to live for you and your glory the Bible calls that repentance your turning from sin your turning to Christ so I'm going to lead you in a prayer and I'm gonna ask you to pray this prayer out loud after me from your heart to the Lord let's pray lord I give you my life I know that I'm a sinner please forgive me I believe that Jesus died that He shed his blood for me that he rose again from the grave and I turn from my sin I leave my past I turn to you as my savior I want to live for you as Lord help me in Jesus name Amen yeah

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 8,935

Rating: 4.8540144 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Sermon, Matthew, Calvary Church, judge, judgment, prayer, promises, ask, seek, knock, golden rule

Id: RpbP8wAy4PY

Length: 66min 7sec (3967 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018