Simple yet Serious Warnings for Complicated Times │ Msg 13/14

1:52 I'll be reading from the New Living Translation. Matthew chapter 7 beginning with verse 13 down through verse 23. You can enter God's kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. but the gateway to life is very narrow, and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit.

2:52 A good tree can't produce bad fruit and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. Not everyone who calls out to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. But I will reply, I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.

3:52 No better sermon has ever been preached than the Sermon on the Mount. It has all of the ingredients of greatness. It is insightful, and yet at the same time, it is interesting. It is profound and yet extremely simple. It is timeless and yet it is true. If you noticed, no matter what the generation may be, it would be appropriate at that time. I'm sure the original hearers must have been on the edge of the hill listening with uninterrupted thought as he went from one transition to yet another. teaching those he loved about kingdom living. It is also relevant and at the same time to the point. It's courageous.

4:46 At the same time, it is compelling. I found myself reading it again aloud this past week and feeling a lot like a moth that swarms around a campfire and maybe up next to a Coleman lantern that is burning full force. The heat and the light drew me in, and yet at the same time, when I got too close, I felt the burning rays of the truth. And they spoke deep down in my life. We are on such a pace going nowhere in our lives. We seem to be forever doing things and yet really counting for so little. it is a pleasure to come back to that which lasts through the centuries, such as the Word of God. One of our national periodicals released an interesting article entitled, Every Day in America, to give you some idea of what life is like in our great country.

5:50 Every day in America, 108,000 of us move to a different home. 18,000 move to another state The U.S. government every day in America issues 50 more pages of regulation 40 Americans turn 100 every day 5,800 of us become 65 And 8,000 of us try to forget our 40th birthday Every day in America, 167 businesses go bankrupt, while 689 new ones start up. Americans purchase 45,000 new automobiles every day and smash up 87,000 of them. Every day in America, 20,000 people write letters to the president.

6:52 more than 6,300 people get divorced, while 13,000 get married every day. Every day, dogs bite 11,000 citizens, including 20 mail carriers. God bless them. Every day, we eat 75 acres of pizza, 53 million hot dogs, 167 million eggs 3 million gallons of ice cream 1 million of which is eaten in my own home I believe 3,000 tons of candy are eaten every day We also jog 17 million miles and burn 1.7 billion calories while we're at it Every day, 4,109 Americans parachute from airplanes just for the fun of it.

7:55 2,740 children run away from home every day. and a burglar strikes every 10 seconds, and a car is stolen every 33 seconds. I thought that would bring you comfort, being away from home right now with your car parked somewhere else. On the move, doing things, eating things, jumping from things, biting things, constantly, constantly doing, going, changing, moving. But the word of our God stands sure. Continuing to expose us, convict us, reprove us, comfort us, and direct us. There's nothing like it.

8:48 Nothing like the book of God. you may recall in days past our giving you a simple little original outline of the Sermon on the Mount. We looked into chapter 5, and I suggested it was saying, out with hypocrisy. I even gave you a simple definition of a hypocrite as one who hides behind a mask. Taken from the ancient Greek plays where the one who wore a mask for comedy would be the same one who gave the tragedy comments later on in the drama. He was called a hypokritas, a hypocrite, one who hides behind a mask. And Jesus is saying, be a person of deep character, a person in the Beatitudes who is poor in spirit, who mourns deeply, who is gentle, who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, who is merciful and pure in heart and a peacemaker and one who can expect persecution for living like that.

9:55 Make a difference where you live by simply being salt and being the light. Keep on shaking it. Keep on shining it. Out with hypocrisy. When you get to chapter 6, it seems as though he is saying, down with performance. Down with performance. Don't put on a religious show to impress people around you. In fact, the first verse sets the stage. Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. For example, when you give, don't sound the trumpet.

10:39 Just give in secret. And your Father who rewards in secret will do so. verse 5 when you pray don't stand before thousands on a street corner and pray aloud to impress them with your great spiritual vocabulary or your deep piety go to your closet close the door and alone with god do business with him verse 16 when you fast don't put on a gloomy face and look all worn and tired out and dirty and beaten because you have been fasting. In other words, verse 17, when you fast, clean yourself up, anoint your head, wash your face. Today, if it were written, blow dry your hair, look comfortable, look contented. In other words, if somebody comes up to you and says, my, you look like you've been fasting, It isn't a compliment.

11:39 You've missed the point. No one should look as though he's been fasting if the person is fasting correctly. Your father who sees in secret will repay you. Down with performance. When it comes to living, don't live on the edge of panic. Live serving one master, verses 19 to 20 to 34. and then we began to get real real specific at least Jesus did in chapter 7 the first five verses seem to be saying up with tolerance take the log out of your own eye before you attempt to work with the speck in your brother's eye remember that sermon or more importantly remember Jesus words stop judging others the logs that are in your own eye are so enormous you haven't the time nor the right to pick at the lint in a brother's eye. But perchance you do take care of your own log, verse 5, you will then be able to help your brother with his speck.

12:45 Now the last part of the chapter seems to be saying, On with commitment. don't worry about the dogs and the swine, verse 6, keep on pouring out your pearls before those who are ready to take them in. Don't stop praying, verses 7 to 11, keep on praying regardless of the results at the present time. No matter what, keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. A-S-K, keep on praying. in verse 12 whatever you want others to do for you do for them it's called the golden rule treat others as you would like to be treated if you were in their situation in fact he's not he kind of wraps it up doesn't he in verse 12 for this is the law and the prophets it's as though he's kind of slapping his hands together saying and that's it but like a good preacher, he doesn't stop when you think he would. He goes on. Let me give you a thought here.

13:57 I believe Jesus in his mind rolls up the scrolls of the Old Testament and sets them aside and now looks directly into the eyes of his listener and perhaps leans forward in his sitting position and says, and now let me get down to business with you. I don't want to instruct you anymore. I want to apply this.

14:26 I want to drive this home so that you will never be the same. You don't need more truth. You need to apply what you have heard. And from verse 13 down to the end of the sermon, where he is driving away at commitment, he stops preaching and he starts meddling. He gets down deep into our lives and he says, let's apply it in places you might not have considered they apply. I confess to you that for my ministry, it has been the passion of my life to apply the Bible. I love teaching it. I love studying it. I love the disciplines that go into the insight that can be drawn from the text. But I have to confess my great love in Bible teaching is applying it.

15:28 So invariably, I seldom use that word, but I will now. invariably before I have concluded a sermon, I will say, now let's apply this. Or now let's see what it has to say in specific areas of our lives. You can't imagine how pleased I was to find that that is exactly what Jesus did in his great sermon on the mount. I had not realized that before. what does he do when he comes to this point I think he is hoping to keep those who are listening from thinking I need to make a few minor adjustments in my life you don't need to get a little more serious about these things need to try a little harder that's an insult people who listen to Jesus were never to stop and think I need to try a little harder. I need to make a few minor adjustments.

16:21 Jesus called for radical transformation down inside. He cared little about the surface, seldom even addressed the way a person looked or sounded. He constantly looked into the heart, so when he applied, he got down deep into the core of a life, into the nucleus inside the cells, and said, look there. that's where it's wrong look at it for yourself he offers four paired alternatives he offers two paths that are entered by two gates a little later on he offers two trees or if you prefer two different kinds of teachers and then two claims verses 21 to 23 followed by two different foundations and only two never a third never an alternative, never room to say, you know, I'm not sure. I'm going to wait for a while.

17:25 He said, make your claim, state your commitment, take the path, open the gate, go through. you won't be comfortable these are unpopular warnings but they're necessary especially to people who listen a lot to the things of the Bible enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter by it but there's another gate There's a gate that's small and it opens to a way that is narrow. And he says it, few are those who find it. Do you notice several contrasts? There's a contrast in the gate.

18:21 One is narrow, one is broad. There's a difference in the way. One is small and one is wide. There's a difference in the crowd. One is found by many and the other by a few. There's a difference in destination. One leads to destruction and the other leads to life. Think critically, men and women. Think critically when you read your Bibles.

18:50 Don't let your minds drift. how much more popular and appealing is the wide gate and the broad way? That's why many find it. That's what you look for when you get intellectual, when you get impressed with human wisdom. Nothing wrong with being intellectual. Something is drastically wrong when the intellectualism drives our lives. C.S. Lewis admitted to that. In his great autobiography, Surprised by Joy, he goes back to his days as a schoolboy of 13.

19:32 And he admits, I was soon altering I believe to one does feel. And oh the relief of it, from the tyrannous noon of revelation I passed into the cool evening twilight of higher thought. for there was nothing to be obeyed, nothing to be believed except what was either comforting or exciting. That's the way it is in the broad way. It's exciting, it's comforting, it's stimulating. You cut your head off, you commit intellectual suicide when you say the way is narrow, when you say the gate is small. But what you forget is that there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14, 12, and don't you forget it.

20:29 how many groups, discussion groups, there are all around our world that come together for the purpose of just discussing various ways. Now, nobody come to any conclusions. We're all just in a discussion together. That's the way it is in this class. That is not the way Jesus taught. at the risk of being overly simplistic, may I define the way and the gate? Turn from the gospel by Matthew to the one by John. Three books later in the New Testament, you'll find the gospel of John. Locate the 10th chapter, and I'll read for you one verse, different writer, different setting, same speaker, Jesus.

21:29 John 10, verse 9. Don't miss the definite article. I am the door. Remember when you were in grade school, just learning to read? Remember how every word was so important that even the these were pronounced like that? I am the door. It's not bad. It's worth reading like that. I am the door. I'm not one among many. I'm not one among four. I am the door. Continue reading. If anyone enters through me, that's singular. he shall be saved, shall go in and out and find pasture. verse 10 the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy not i i come that they might have life and when you enter my gate you have life that is life in abundance john 14 look at verse 6

22:47 same speaker different setting hours before he was nailed to a cross he was still saying the same thing. Jesus said to Thomas, again notice the definite articles, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. If you like to mark your Bibles, you might mark in the margin of your Bible 1 Timothy 2.5. 1 Timothy 2.5, which says, There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Couldn't be plainer.

23:39 Matthew chapter 7 again. Allow me to summarize. According to Jesus, there are only two ways. One is hard to find. One is easy. one is narrow one is broad there's no middle way there's no third gate which brings me to the second these ways are entered by only two gates there isn't a third one remember broad gate and narrow gate third they are taken by two crowds the many and the few And they end at opposite destinations. Destruction and eternal life with God.

24:23 Nothing is more unfashionable in our times than teaching like this. Nothing. It is offensive. The teaching of the cross is offensive to the person who believes I can make it on my own. that it is Jesus plus. Yes, I believe in Jesus. Sure, I believe in Jesus. I believe in good works. I believe in... You are lost. The only way one will go from earth to heaven for eternity is to come through the one gate, Jesus Christ. His blood, which was poured out at Calvary to wash the sins away, no other detergent will do, no other channel will work, no other mediator will get you to God. Period.

25:17 I've noticed lately while reading the presidential polls from the paper that there's always a safe way out if you are being interviewed by a reporter. You can either say yes, or you can say no, or you can reserve the right to say, I don't know. And you're entered into the poll. There's always a way out. this book offers no such third alternative. Those who step into eternity claiming the third are lost.

25:54 Beyond death, there is no other chance to say, wait, wait, I changed my mind. I've rethought it. Wait. It's an empty wailing cry. and hell is full of such cries.

26:15 Jesus says, the gate is narrow, the way is small, and few are those who find it. Question, have you found it? Do you remember reading Pilgrim's Progress? A lot of people along the way pointing toward the gate as Christian was searching, as Pilgrim was searching, a lot of them knew where to locate the gate. Do you remember that? They just hadn't taken it. and finally Christian working his way up that narrow path comes to the wicked gate remember that scene it's beautiful and the burden he's been carrying on his back all this time he goes through the gate the narrow gate and he sees the celestial city he sees the cross and he sees the empty tomb and the and the pack falls from off his back and he says thus far did I come burdened with my sin, nor could ought ease the grief that I was in till I came hither.

27:22 What a place is this. Must here be the beginning of my bliss. Must hear the burden fall from off my back. Must hear the chains that bound it to me crack. Blessed cross. Blessed sepulcher. Blessed rather be the man put to shame for me. the way the truth the life well if you're going to talk about that kind of narrow teaching you've got to talk about people who teach it and that follows that's why his very first words after giving such a stringent series of commands is beware watch out be on your guard.

28:21 Beware of false prophets who come to you with sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Tells me two things about false teachers. Number one, tells me they're deceptive. Their beauty is only fleece deep. They look like sheep on the outside, but underneath they are snarling wolves. They're dangerous as well. They'll send you right to hell. I have a friend who was in a liberal church for so long and finally realized the error of his way and turned to the cross of Christ and found a place that taught the Bible. And he said, as I look back, I got to tell you, Chuck, they would have loved me right into hell. That's the mark of a false teacher. They'll love you right to destruction.

29:15 note carefully what he says. They're false prophets. They come to you. They look like sheep, but inwardly they are wolves. In other words, they are counterfeit shepherds. If I'm shopping down at the local Safeway and I reach in my wallet to find a bill that I just ran off at home, that will pass for a $5 bill. You know, I never will fool them if it's cut in the shape of a triangle, painted yellow, with my son's picture on it. They will never believe it's a $5 bill. No, it's got to have Lincoln's picture on it, and it's got to have five in the corners, and it's got to look exactly like a $5 bill or it isn't counterfeit.

30:09 It doesn't pass. then how will I know I'm dealing with a counterfeit teacher? Well, read on. You will know them by their fruits. I think with a little humor, Jesus says, Grapes aren't gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit. But if it's a rotten tree, it bears bad fruit. Look at the fruit, he's saying. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit. And a bad tree, a rotten tree, cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will never make it. It's cut down and will be thrown into the fire. So then, he summarizes, you will know them by their fruits. Let's spend a little while on this.

31:03 Just a few minutes, okay? This is an instant age in which we live. We like quick stuff. We like charmers to deliver it to us. We like good service. We like it to look good. So we tend to be impressed with a teacher's charm, with a teacher's resume, with his education, with his ecclesiastical honors. We are impressed with him in the eyes of the public or with her. We like gifts of communication. We like those things, so we follow those things. Almost without thinking, because they look good, They're appealing. They make us feel good. They say nice words. Certainly he means well, even though some of the things he says are a little questionable. He certainly means well. We like what I call feel-good theology. We like it. but I see here a patient examining of the fruit.

32:01 I see a tasting of the fruit. I see time spent pondering the fruit. I see a careful eye. I see a critical ear. I see encouragement to think. Now, I'm not talking about heresy hunters. I'm weary of folks like that. There are always people that are suspicious of whoever, and so they're always on a hunt for heretics. Had you lived in the medieval days, you would have picked Calvin and Zwingli and Savonarola and Luther as heretics, because the church said they were.

32:39 In those days, the church had its Bible chained to the pulpit, and it was in Latin because the clergy spoke Latin, and there were great chains or great gates between the congregation and the clergy. and you were held in ignorance. And I, the clergy, had the truth because I knew the dead language. I knew how to read it.

33:00 Don't you dare try to find out. And along came a group of mavericks whom today are known as heroes, reformers. A Luther who had the audacity to say, cling to the pure word of God. A Calvin who said, all doctrines must be brought to the word of God as the standard in judging the false prophets. The rule of faith, that is scripture, holds the chief place. Heretical talk. No, not when you go to the Bible. They said the Bible belongs in the language of the people. They said every believer is a priest, and everyone who is able to read ought to have a copy of the scriptures so he or she could read the word of God and direct their lives accordingly and also detect heresy. You think the Bible isn't the watershed issue and will always be? No wonder the inerrancy of scripture is always under attack and will continue to be. You find a little wobble room in this book, you have wobble room in living. So we come back to the Bible. We listen with our ears perked up to whoever is teaching, and we go to the Bible and we say, does it square?

34:21 If it squares, you're fine. If it doesn't, get rid of it. It's false. Just be careful in the discernment process. It takes time to examine fruit. Just be careful. Be patient. Be alert. false teachers create false followers in case you wonder about them look at verse 21 not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven whoa and that doesn't make a person nervous i don't know what will especially religious person there are people who rely for salvation on a creedal affirmation lord lord it won't get you to heaven there are people who rely for salvation on good deeds and even right sounding statements many will say to me verse 22 lord lord didn't we prophesy in your name and didn't we in your name cast out demons and do the works of miracles. People who rely for salvation on supernatural power done in the name of Jesus. It won't cut it.

35:43 What's so difficult about all this? Well, it sounds so right. It looks so holy. It appears so sacred, so powerful. but it is not what is seen or heard. Hear me now. It is what is missing.

36:04 There isn't a deep seated life changing faith that is followed by fruit. The longer I live, the less I believe are saved. The longer I live, the less I believe are saved. I think individuals have mouthed words that someone has given them on a piece of paper. They have read them back, called it a prayer, said, I'm converted. But their life is a lie to the very words they stated back in 19-whatever.

36:42 Take a look at the fruit. Can you find righteous fruit in your past? Can you track it for the most part right up to the present? Yes, there are times when we slump. Yes, there are failures that occur, but the one who is converted will deal with it. He won't let it slide. He won't shrug his shoulders. He won't overlook it. Won't call it a little problem and rationalize around it. He will deal with it. He'll come to terms with it. Do you? Have you? Do I? Have I?

37:18 This is a sermon that forces us to think. we are saved by faith alone, no question about it. But the faith that saves us does not remain alone. It bears fruit. Look at these words in verse 23. In that last day I will declare to them who took the Broadway, who relied on what I call creedal affirmation, religious words, I I will declare to them, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness. That's the practicing as a habit of one's life.

38:14 John says it in his letter the same way. The one who believes righteously will live righteously, and he will not habitually practice error. unpopular warnings, three of them. Don't miss them. One, only one gate leads to eternal life with God. It's the narrow one, rarely chosen. Two, only one kind of teacher deserves being followed. It's the one who embraces the truth. If you follow a teacher who teaches from James 3 to control the tongue, but the teacher does not control the tongue. It's a false teacher. Quit following that teacher. You follow a teacher that can do great exposition with 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 on living a moral life, but sleeps around, it's a false teacher.

39:09 Quit following that teacher. A lie is being lived out. The third warning is only one kind of person can have the assurance of eternal life with God, and that's the one whose faith is matched with works. Faith saves, but it doesn't remain sterile faith. It produces, it produces, it produces, it produces. I find it most interesting in the foreign fields where missionary work goes on that very little is said about a conversion. We say much about a person who is converted in a crusade, for example, and God bless every one of those who came to know the Savior in a crusade. I believe in them. I encourage them.

40:04 But sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the crowd and to walk down front or to make a statement. and it's not a conversion. But over away from all of the lights, not much is said about conversion. However, the public does take notice when an individual is baptized because the person has taken his first public step to declare himself a Christian. That's often where persecution starts. And then that person's life begins to be watched. By whom? By everyone. Because the unconvinced public looks for fruit. and when fruit is seen, then people say the person has become converted. There's a change in his life.

40:58 If individuals followed you from the time of conversion until today, would there be a fairly good, we call it a paper trail, would there be a fairly good works trail that followed your life? if not you better go back to where you you talk to god and you better be sure that was conversion or you need to take care of it right now you know the immediate response to these things is where am i in these scenes have I gone through the right gate?

41:44 Am I following the teaching of a false prophet? Will I be the one to whom he says, I never knew you? Does my tree bear fruit? I've hesitated for years to give people a prayer to say back to me because I am always a little uneasy that they will think that saying the words I wrote down will guarantee them of being converted. Sometimes I do it just to give them something tangible, but today I'm impressed not to do that. I'm impressed to let the Spirit of God move upon us and touch your life and bring the words from your own heart. Let's allow that. Will you bow please?

42:44 We won't linger needlessly, but for a few moments. You've heard the warnings, haven't you? Yes, I'm sure you have. you've begun to examine your heart. deal now with things like motives fruit that abides changes that have turned you from the life of an unconverted sinner to a Christian, one who is a follower of Christ. Is there enough evidence there to convince an unconvinced public? today's the day to make to come to terms with it today's the day maybe you need to take care of it right where you're sitting you don't have to say a word you don't have to tell a soul right now you just in your heart Tell the Lord how lost you've been.

44:07 Tell him the ache and emptiness of your life, the need for forgiveness. Tell him you believe his son died on the cross and gave his blood to wash away your sins, and that you stake your entire life and eternity on his death and resurrection. and you will be saved. Blessed assurance, Jesus will be yours. To you, our Father, and to you alone, we pause in this quiet moment. We thank you for the truth of your son's sermon, what courage it took to tell it, to say it, to speak forth with such such unintimidated confidence while looking into the faces of some who were no doubt hypocrites and performers and false followers and false teachers, how it must have thinned the ranks.

45:31 But Lord, your son's death has opened the way for us to come and takes away the fear and the uncertainty and the confusion. I'm grateful you didn't give us four or five possible choices and then tell us to hope for the best, but you spoke the truth in unmistakable terms and the alternatives couldn't have been clearer. Thank you for some this day who have determined to give their lives to your son and to let you take charge. Encourage them and strengthen them in their walk. May fruit abide. Thank you for those who are at this moment struggling with that very real and difficult decision of walking through that gate.

46:23 bring them to an end of themselves and when the struggle has ceased bring them through Lord bring them in and we come finally our father to tell you how we worship you in our changing day and in an era where there are so many voices