Part Three
Chapter seven of Matthew’s gospel begins with a change in emphasis. The last few verses of chapter six explored the need for trust and the benefits of putting God’s kingdom first and separating ourselves from a dependence on the things of this life. I picture Jesus pausing for a few moments to give His audience some time to contemplate what they have been taught so far. He is once again about to change the course of His instructions. We are going to be returned to contemplate our behavior and the need for self-examination.
“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men”
Mountain
The Sermon on the Mount: A Training Manuel for Disciples
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth come by Jesus Christ. – John 1:17
Matthew Chapter Seven
We are now going to be focusing once again on the conditions of the heart that are essential for service in ministry.
Judge not, that you are not judged (Matthew 7:1).
We are being reminded here that our judge is God, who will be judging us for our judgments. We are being warned not to put ourselves in His place as the judge of others, because we are simply not qualified for the job. In our flawed state, we are totally incapable of evaluating another’s spiritual condition because we are saturated with our own collection of spiritual defects. One sinner is not qualified to judge another sinner, because,“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God “(Romans 3:23). We need to recognize this principle if we are to be used effectively in God’s service.
We’ve all been guilty of judging others at one time or another, it’s easy to do. The root of our judging is the heart sin of pride that is entwined among the roots of our human nature. It is one of the weeds that must be dug out of the garden of self. We always think we are a little better than the people we have placed beneath our self-righteous microscopes. We can never afford to lose sight of the fact that we are sinners ourselves, just like the people we are putting beneath ourselves in our self-appointed mental courtrooms. We can never afford to be in a position of spiritual superiority above another.
Jesus shows us that if we judge another we will be judged by God, whose x-ray vision into our heats is always accurately aware of our short comings. Do we really want Him to access us with the same attitude that we are inflicting upon another?
Jesus continues to warn us of the consequences of judging others.
For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again (Matthew 7:2).
We are being returned to the principle of reaping what we sow (Galatians 6:7). Luke reiterates the point in his gospel, - Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned: forgive, and you shall be forgiven (Luke 6:37).
We will be judged according to how we have judged others. If we sow merciless judgment upon another, we will receive the same merciless loss of reward when we stand before the Lord at His judgment seat.
Critical, unloving assessments of another are being rebuked here. We are being told to evaluate the spirit in which our judgments are being motivated. We will not be rewarded by God for judging or condemning another, especially when our judging is coupled with the unwillingness to forgive another’s behavior. We will receive from God what we have inflicted upon another, in our minds and with our words and actions. God wants us not to have to be ashamed before Him at His coming (I John 2:28).
Jesus wants us to recognize how important it is to evaluate ourselves and to also be constantly aware of our own spiritual shortcomings.
We do not possess God’s insights into the human heart, therefore we can only have the ability to access the outward appearance and behavior of someone, as the scriptures wisely remind us. – Man looks upon the outward appearance, but God sees the heart (I Samuel 16:7). Only God knows what makes another tick so to speak. He knows their backgrounds, their hurts and fears; all the things that make them the way they are and influence the way they behave.
Each one of us comes to God initially carrying a huge case load of unwanted, damaging baggage that our walk with Jesus is designed to help us unload. Our journey with God is a growing process and we cannot see what a person is going to be like as he matures, but God who sees the future, can. This is one reason why we are told not to judge anything before the time (I Corinthians 4:5).
If God accepts, loves and values us, while we are yet riddled with our imperfections, then we also must accept others in the same manner that God accepts and loves us if we are to be true disciples of our Lord.
And why do you behold the mote that is in your brother's eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye? (Matthew 7:3).
We are being called here to examine ourselves before we attempt to judge another for their apparent flaws. And if we are indulging in the sin of self-righteous judging, then God sees that as a much bigger “beam” than the mote that is perceived in another.
Or how wilt thou say to your brother, ‘Let me pull out the mote out of your eye; and, behold, a beam is in your own eye?’ (Matthew 7:4).
That’s a great question. We can’t be qualified to correct another if we are not correcting ourselves before the Lord first.
He is showing us that He does want us to minister correction to another when needed, but it must be done in the right spirit. The Apostle Paul reiterates, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted (Galatians 6:1).
If we are not evaluating ourselves and allowing God to correct us, then we are not qualified to minister correction to another. The Lord shows us in the next verse that He views a lack of self-examination in this area as the dreaded enemy of true faith – hypocrisy!
You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then you shall see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother's eye (Matthew 7:5).
I always appreciate the Lord’s honesty. He’s never reluctant to refrain from calling things as they are in order to avoid offending anyone. But I am sure He said these words in love and with a smile on His face. The great psychologist knows what He needs to do in order to get people to accept His message. I am sure many in His audience at the time were giggling at the imagery of someone attempting to pull a massive beam from his eye before he can get to the person with the mote problem.
Jesus wants us to be qualified for ministry. A disciple will refrain from judging others and understands that no one is above another and also recognizes his own need for reformation before he attempts to reform someone else. The flaws of pride, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, must be recognized, repented of and brought to God to be eliminated by His Spirit.
As disciples we are called to minister to each other and that also includes ministering correction when needed. We can examine the fruit that someone is producing in their lives, and recognize when a little pruning is in order for their welfare. But as we have been shown by our Master Gardener, in order to be effective and not damage the fruit in the process, we need to be aware of our own imperfections and always approach another in love and humility. We are equally flawed and each one of us is on the same journey toward the holiness that God has called us to, “Be holy as I am holy” (I Peter 1:16, Leviticus 19:2). We are to reflect the character of our Savior, who in turn is the reflection of the character of God. We’re all on different levels upon the same up winding road. Let’s help each other along the way and guard our hearts against the sin of judging and condemning one another.
How we treat others in this life, has ramifications. Jesus’ description of the His judgment seat, shows us that the sheep who ministered to the “Least of These” are accepted, while the pharisaical goats are rejected (Matthew 25:31-46). “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (I Corinthians 11:31), is meant to apply to that moment in our experience with Jesus when we shall be evaluated by Him for what we have done in this life. Therefore it is vitally important that we take His instructions to us very seriously. Too often many churches are negligent in preparing the Lord’s people for this most important moment in a Christian’s future.
We sit with Jesus for a while quietly contemplating and applying the lessons we have just been taught, before Jesus changes the subject once again by inserting a somewhat puzzling analogy.
Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you (Matthew 7:6).
We were told not to judge others, but there is a big difference between judging someone and being able to discern the spiritual condition of someone based on their responses to the gospel. We are being shown that there is a difference between judging someone and using discernment in ministry for the protection of the ministry you have been entrusted with.
In this verse, Jesus is showing us two types of people likened to dogs and swine. It’s important to understand that the Lord loves these people in spite of their rejection of Him, and He is referring to the spiritual conditions and spirits operating in those types of people; unbelievers, and sometimes even professed Christians.
A dog is a carnal person who is solely focused on gratifying his carnal desires, and who possesses no genuine desire for the things of God.
A swine, or pig, is someone who is demon possessed or influenced, and will deliberately attack a believer, verbally or otherwise. These people are opposed to the gospel and will do anything within their power to oppose it. A Christian cannot be possessed, but can be subject to demonic influences.
Both of these types, “dogs and swine,” have no interest in changing and they are not the Lord’s. They are incapable of understanding the higher, spiritual pearls of insight and wisdom God gives to His people, and for this reason the Lord is warning us that when attempting to minister to dogs and pigs, the ministry of the gospel will be rejected.
We are called to communicate the gospel to everyone. But once the basic nature of the person has been discerned, then it is pointless in either case to share on a deeper level, those pearls of spiritual wisdom and depth that you have been given by the Lord.
The dog, the carnal man cannot receive the deeper things of God (Romans 8:7), and the swine who prefer the things of the devil, do not want anything to do with the gospel. To both of these types you are a minister of death (II Corinthians 15, 16).
God knows through His foreknowledge those who are His (I Peter 1:2); those He knows will be faithful to Him. Dogs and swine are not in this category.
We can sometimes tell when we are dealing with a Fido or a piggy by their initial response to the gospel. But many who reject the gospel initially may still be the Lord’s and will eventually receive Him. The Lord is showing us the need for the gift of discernment.
By now you have probably discerned that you need the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including discernment, to help navigate the thrilling, yet oftentimes dangerous work of sharing the gospel. You realize at this moment how inadequate you (we) are for ministry. Jesus knows that, He wants us to know that too, and be willing to let Him equip us for the job.
How do we obtain this gift of discernment, as well as the other spiritual gifts available to help us be successful in our walk with the Lord? Jesus tells us how in the following verses.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: (Matthew 7:7).
We begin by asking for the things we need. If we are not humble enough to recognize that we need help, we’ll never ask and end up being woefully unprepared for what He wants us to do. God will supply all the spiritual equipment we need for our particular ministry. If we ask for discernment or any other gift we need for ministry, it will be given to us. We are to seek for the best gifts, and we will find the ones that are suited to our particular needs. If we don’t understand what they are for, or if we have any other questions concerning God’s word, or for our direction in ministry, knock, be persistent and what you need to understand will be “opened to you” – revealed.
The greatest gift we can ask for is wisdom and He is eagerly willing to bestow this most valuable treasure on anyone who asks Him.
For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened (Matthew 7:8).
The Lord is assuring us here and in the next three verses that God will respond to our requests. He is encouraging us to have faith to ask and “believe” that we will have the things that we are asking Him for.
This is a promise from our God who never lies to His children. When we come to Him with the right motives, for the right purposes, He will never fail to provide what we need for ministry, whether it be finances or spiritual gifts.
For those who may be harboring any doubts about this principle, Jesus continues to give us an illustration to emphasize this truth, relating His message to that of a child making his requests to a loving father.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son asks for bread, will he give him a stone? (Matthew 7:9).
In this day and age of abusive parenting, there are some parents who would not only give a stone when his child asks for bread, but would actually throw it at him. Here Jesus is talking about a good parent who loves his children and who only has their best interests at heart. Jesus likens this relationship to the parent/child relationship God desires to have with His people.
If the child asks for something he genuinely needs for his survival, a good parent will provide what his child needs, because he loves him.
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? (Matthew 7:10).
A good parent will not respond to his child’s request by giving him something that will harm him. The gifts God gives us are good, and He will not give us what will hurt us, but will help and benefit us and our ministries.
The serpent, the devil, does not want God’s people equipped with gifts that are designed to help the Lord’s people defeat their spiritual enemy and rescue people from Satan’s death grip. The devil fights against those who teach others that God wants to bless us with His spiritual gifts that are always available. Sometimes Satan manifests himself in those “swine” we learned about earlier, to thwart God’s work and His purposes.
God will provide for our physical needs, and also those intangible gifts we need to help us in our spiritual survival. God knows what is best for us when we ask, and He won’t give us things He knows won’t be in our best interests. He will distribute our material blessings and the particular spiritual gifts He knows we need, at His discretion, because He understands what we need better than we do.
Jesus concludes by comparing an earthly father’s response to his children, with the response we should expect from our heavenly Father.
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? (Matthew 7:11).
Jesus ends this particular segment of His sermon by asking us a question that is designed to cause us to evaluate ourselves in comparison to our God who is so much greater than ourselves. Our capacity to love is infinitesimal to our God who is love (I John 4:8).
Jesus is asking us to use some logic here. If flawed human beings can give good things to their children, how much more will God, who is perfect love, respond to the requests of His children? The child who asks, should be confident in the fact that he is asking a Father who will not reject a child who is seeking the Father’s kingdom first. We can be confident that He will supply everything we need for the ministry He has chosen for us. Now go ahead and ask Him to give you everything you will need for the work He has called you to do and also for the necessary things you require for your physical survival.
At this particular moment in Jesus’ instructions, I picture Jesus pausing for a moment to look back over the landscape of His words before He summarizes the point, purpose and principle behind everything He has shown us in His entire discourse so far. –
Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, you do even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).
While those in His audience have been waiting for Jesus to quote Moses’ words, or one of the prophets verbatim as they have been accustomed to hearing from the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus has just told them in His sermon, that He has been teaching them the law and the prophets all along. He was teaching them what the law meant, what it is really all about. Again, Moses told us what the law is, Jesus tells us what the law means. Moses told us what to do, Jesus tells us what to be. It’s all summed up in three words, “Love one another” (John 15:17). This is Jesus’ commandment that summarizes all of the previous commandments God gave through Moses, and the principle behind the majority of His Sermon on the Mount, where we realize that it is all about how to love God by loving people. God’s law is not a to do list magnetized to your refrigerator to be checked off on a daily basis. It is instead an outline of what God intends us to become.
The law itself was never capable of transforming the soul into the reflection of the One who gave it in the first place. The law, the outline for our behavior, was only part one. The fulfillment of that plan of action is sitting before us now on our mountain of intimacy with God. It would be through the prophesied plan of redemption that God instigated before the foundation of the world, fulfilled by Jesus that would enable the believing soul to become the new creature God intended all of His children to be. Through Jesus’ death, the Holy Spirit is released into a repentant, believing heart and the transformation begins.
The finale to His sermon deals with the obedience that will save the soul; entering the strait gate of the gospel of salvation.
You enter in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go through it: (Matthew 7:13).
Picture the strait gate Jesus is talking about in the shape of His cross. The people Jesus was addressing at that time, would understand that the Lord was talking about entering the narrow path of holy living, and that is true. But those of us who are reading His words in the light that is shining through the wounds in His nail-pierced hands, view His words with a more complete understanding.
We know now, that it is not possible to be justified by our own holiness, or righteousness. We are justified by Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins alone. That is the narrow gate that we must enter in order to be saved, and enables us to live a holy life because He is living His life in us.
People who refuse to squeeze through that narrow gate are on the broad way to destruction.
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:14).
As of this writing, approximately only three percent of the population in Israel are believers in the Messiah Jesus. The world’s population is about eight billion people. Out of that multitude, only 2.5 billion people are Christians.
God has been gleaning His remnant throughout the centuries forming a vast multitude of believers, but compared to the masses, they represent a very small number of people who have chosen to enter through the straight gate of His cross.
The gospel is important and in Jesus’ sermon we are being prepared to share it, and lead as many as possible through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life.
Jesus now turns our attention to another subject that is vital for anyone in ministry to understand: the dangers of spiritual deception.
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matthew 7:15).
Jesus is describing people who pose as Christians, but they have never entered through the narrow gate of His cross. Instead, they walk on the broad way that runs parallel to the strait path of the truth. Their goal is to deceive those who have chosen life, to abandon the cross; faith in Jesus’ atonement and the only hope of salvation.
Many of these “ravening wolves” have been deceived themselves by the devil into thinking they are proponents of the truth.
Because these ones have never come to Jesus by repenting of their sins and accepting His atoning sacrifice, they have never genuinely received the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ Spirit in the believer causes the inner reformation and produces the fruits of the Spirit in a believer’s life over time. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22,23). Possessing these fruits is the goal of the Christin life and should be included when we ask, seek and knock on our Father’s door for the things we need in ministry.
Keeping this in mind, Jesus tells us how to recognize a false prophet. –
You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:16).
You can’t harvest something good to eat from a bush that only produces thorns and briers.
The genuine fruits of the Holy Spirit cannot be produced artificially from the thorns of false doctrine. We will know a false prophet by examining the doctrines they are expounding. Are these ones emphasizing the atonement? Are they truly following Jesus and His first century founding apostles? Are they teaching what Jesus and His apostles are teaching?
The apostles warned us of these ones. - Little children, it is the last time: and as you have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us (I John 2:18,19).
We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error (I John 4:6).
A pastor I know said this in one of his sermons. I don’t know if it originated with him or if he obtained it from someone else, but the wisdom of it is from the Lord. He said, “When the church is in apostasy, then the truth becomes heretical.”
This is very true. Someone who is a false prophet or following one who is, will rebel against anyone who is advocating following Jesus and His apostles as the sole source of foundational doctrine. Every teaching must spring forth from the pages of God’s word, and be verified by it. Therefore it is essential for anyone called to ministry to be thoroughly saturated with scripture before attending any seminary or Bible school because these are the first places the devil will send his apostate counterparts.
Always check anything you are being taught with the authority of God’s word. Maintaining sound doctrine in ministry is vitally important. Let the apostles emphasis be your emphasis.
Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit (Matthew 7:17).
The roots of a good tree are buried deep within the purity of God’s word and faith in Jesus. The roots of a corrupt tree are buried in the polluted soils of pride, the philosophies of men and self-righteousness.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit (Matthew 7:18).
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit because a good disciple will obey the Lord and “abide in the vine” (John 15). Likewise, a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, because those trees are not abiding in the vine, the doctrine of Christ; therefore the “fruit” that they are exhibiting is not being produced by the Holy Spirit through them.
To help us understand this principle, let’s take a look at Jesus’ instructions to His disciples in John 15, where we will also learn how to avoid giving or receiving the prickly response of a religious spirit.
Jesus says in the first verse of John 15; “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman” (farmer). Jesus is the true vine; “I am the way the truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6).
In John 15:5, Jesus tells us again that He is the vine, and His disciples are the branches: “He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing."
We cannot bear fruit, the holy character of Jesus, and we cannot be conformed into His image unless we abide in Him. Those who do not abide in Him are “cast forth as a branch, and is withered” (John 15:6). The Holy Spirit is the “sap,” so to speak, that flows from the Father through the true Vine of His Son into us, the branches. The Holy Spirit produces the fruit in the life of the believer whose roots are planted in this good soil. The Holy Spirit cannot flow into those who are not abiding in the doctrine of the Messiah Jesus. These ones spiritually “wither” and are susceptible to the false doctrines of men. – “and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6).
Returning to Matthew’s gospel, Jesus co-ordinates His teaching in John 15, with the following verse. –
Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 7:19).
Every tree that is not abiding in Christ and is not producing the evidence of that union, the fruit of a genuine salvation, will be rejected. Those who are professing Christ, but are not abiding in the cross of Christ, are promoting a counterfeit Christianity.
Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them (Matthew 7:20).
Not only are we to use God’s gift of discernment to identify false prophets, but we are to examine the doctrine to see if it lines up with scripture, and discern whether their lives are reflecting the love that is the foundation of all the other fruits of the Holy Spirit.
I want to reiterate the importance of sound doctrine. The apostles are the expositors of the gospel and theirs is the standard upon which all other subsequent doctrines or teachings are based. Beware of any additives or subtractions that contradict or do not match what has been established by our founding apostles as the standard of our faith.
In the book of Revelation we are shown an illustration of the Lord’s church as a beautiful city, the New Jerusalem. Her jeweled foundation represents the twelve apostles of the Messiah Jesus (Rev. 21:14). There is no other foundation upon which the true church of Jesus Christ is based, other than the Lord Himself (I Corinthians 3:11).
Returning to our text, we have been shown that we are to discern a false prophet or teacher by the fruits and doctrine they are producing in their lives and ministry. Jesus continues to warn us that not everyone who professes faith in Him is a true believer.
Not everyone that says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).
The will of the Father is that we believe in His Son and receive the plan of redemption He has established for the salvation of the soul. - And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).
Without that foundation the entrance to the kingdom of heaven will remain closed. Jesus is the only door to that other dimension where God resides. – Truly, truly, I say to you, He that enters not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep (John 10:1,2).
I am the door: by Me if any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture (John 10:9).
If the Lord Jesus is not received, no fruit or works that will be acceptable to God can be produced as we have been shown in the previous verse. We cannot reinvent or adjust the gospel into “another gospel” and be saved.- But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
For if he that comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him (II Corinthians 11:3,4).
There are many in these latter days that have chosen to follow others who have diverted from the doctrines established by the Lord and His apostles, therefore:
Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? and in Your name have cast out devils? and in Your name done many wonderful works?’ (Matthew 7:22).
This group of professed believers were operating in name only. The substance and foundation of the faith, the atonement, salvation by grace alone, had been eradicated. The evidence of this is apparent by their attempt to justify themselves before God by the works they had done in the name of Jesus. There is no work we can do to justify ourselves before God, that is only evidence that we have fallen from grace - Christ is become of no effect to you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).
The works these false prophets are using to try and justify themselves in verse 22, are not works of the law under the old covenant, but works that were and are operational under the New Covenant; prophesizing and casting out devils. Because the atonement had been eliminated from their theology, these ones were operating under “another spirit” (II Corinthians 11:4).
Because these people had deviated from the scriptures and the gospel, they are rejected.
And then will I profess to them, “I never knew you: depart from Me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:23).
These are the most terrifying words in the Bible: “I never knew you.” This is the same indictment that Jesus declares upon five of the ten virgins in Jesus’ parable (Matthew 25:1-13). These five who had let the Holy Spirit, the oil of the truth (the gospel) in their lamps dwindle out, had abandoned the atonement, the foundation of the gospel which is Jesus’ death for the remission of sin, and denied that He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).
Those who are attempting to justify themselves by their spiritual works as evidence of their salvation are guilty of the same error and they in turn are symbolized by the five virgins who also saw themselves as believers.
We need to return to Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:11-14). In this example, a man has entered the wedding without a wedding garment. That garment is the righteousness that is imparted to a believer by Jesus through faith in His atonement, which makes a believer acceptable to God. Only Jesus has been ordained by God to remove our sins. The person who attempts to enter heaven, without that wedding garment is rejected, just like the false prophets and the five unwise virgins that represent them. All our righteousness are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). No one can be accepted by God unless we come to Him though the plan of redemption that He has established for mankind’s salvation.
Because Jesus’ righteousness is missing in these ones, no work they do for God in their flesh can be accepted and thus their works are viewed as “iniquity.”
As we have been shown, a believer must “Abide in the Vine,” the doctrine of Christ, in order to be able to produce fruit or works that God will receive. These works are done by Jesus through a yielded heart. Because the false prophets have been preaching another Jesus and another gospel which the founding apostles did not preach, then these false prophets have disconnected themselves from the true vine that can save them.
And because they are also lacking in the moral fruits in many cases, they are also literally practicing lawlessness; operating in opposition to God’s moral laws. Holiness is a fruit or evidence of a life that has been transformed by the grace of Jesus.
No one who willfully, knowingly and deliberately practices or continues in sin has ever seen God or known Him, as the original Greek implies in I John 3:9 indicates. A changed life is not the means of salvation, it is the evidence of a genuine salvation.
The word of God is our guide for conduct in this life and if we are saved, we will allow the Holy Spirit to feed us the word that God uses to change us into the people He wants us to be; loving reflections of the Savior who loved us and gave His life for us.
Again, we are never justified by our works, good works are evidence that we are justified by Jesus’ death for our sins. He that does righteousness is righteous (I John 3:7), a living reflection of Jesus’ righteousness, because of what Jesus accomplished for us on His cross.
Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock (Matthew 7:24).
If we are saved, we have heard Jesus’ words and obey them. It is the desire of any true believer in the Messiah Jesus to be obedient to the commands of our Lord. If we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15), which are summarized in three words - Love one another (John 15:12).
Those wise servants, like the five wise virgins in Jesus’ parable, have built their house, their faith, upon the solid rock, the foundation of their faith which is the Messiah Jesus. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). These ones know that there can be no salvation apart from the Jesus of the Bible, the same Savior and Lord that is proclaimed by His apostles.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock (Matthew 7:25).
The house, which is the faith that is built upon the truth of Jesus will stand when the storm winds of persecution come against the believer. And when those elements are the literal devastations of natural disasters, the loss of material possessions and even loved ones, will not move those who have genuinely put their trust in Jesus.
And every one that hears these sayings of Mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: (Matthew 7:26).
The words of Jesus are life. The sand represents the doctrines of men and their philosophies. The word of God says that when people prefer the doctrines of men above God’s words, then He will remove their understanding. - Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men:
Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid (Isaiah 29:13,14).
Cleaving to the purity of God’s word and desiring it above the precepts or opinions of men, will preserve our spiritual houses from destruction.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:27).
Jesus shows us here what will be the destiny of those who have built their faith upon the sands of men. The faith of these ones is not enough to sustain them in times of persecution or other trials. The fall of their house is very great, for here Jesus is referring to the loss of the soul. Mortal houses can be repaired or rebuilt after a storm, but once the human soul is lost, it cannot be restored.
We have just been left with a solemn warning which concludes Jesus’ instructions to His disciples. He has also left us with a choice. We must choose which foundation we are to build our faith and our lives upon. The wise will make the right choice, and these ones are His disciples.
At the conclusion of His discourse I picture Jesus arising and returning back down the mountain to the souls who did not make that climb and remained at the base of the summit waiting for His return. To these ones, He spoke in parables (Mathew 13:10-16). To those who are genuinely seeking the truth, He speaks plainly. To those who are not seeking on that level, He provides the parable method that hopefully will provoke some at perhaps another time, to be willing to exert themselves to reach the heights of the relationship with God that Jesus is bringing. But to His disciples He affirms; But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear (Matthew 13:16).
In the meantime, Jesus turns to face all of us with a smile as He gives us one of His commandments that the wise will obey. -
(Matthew 4:19).
Return to Chapter Six
Copyright 2020 by H.D. Shively