A Righteous Life
A Righteous Life ~ part 2
Read…
Josh. 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Pray
Intro
√ Serving the Lord
Last week we began our study of Jesus’ closing thoughts in the Sermon on the Mount by saying that the key to understanding the sermon is found in Matt. 5:20 which answers the questions…
How can a person be made righteous?
How does a person gain entrance into the
Ap. Note the personal application
Very important that we don’t miss the Lord’s emphasis here, that is, personal application.
Jesus is no longer addressing the Pharisees…
…He’s speaking to those seated on the hillside, and to us!
Jesus presents us with a choice.
That is, those who heard Jesus teach are now responsible for what they have heard and must make a choice.
To do as Jesus said, or to reject His teaching and continue with the teachings of the Pharisees.
In our closing section of chapter 7 Jesus illustrates what happens in an individual’s life based upon the choices they’ve made (i.e. which path they chose).
We find these illustrations…
Vs. 21-23 ~ Two Lives
Vs. 24-27 ~ Two Houses (or foundations)
Vs. 28-29 ~ Two Teachers
Each one of us must chose whom we will serve and trust, that decision has eternal consequences!
Two Relationships (Vs. 21-23)
Matt. 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matt. 7:22 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?’
Matt. 7:23 And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
√ Two Relationships
You’ll remember that in this closing section that Jesus is comparing the teachings of the Pharisees with His own teaching by using contrasting illustrations…
Two paths represent the beginning of our spiritual journey.
Two trees represent the spiritual growth on the two paths.
Two kinds of fruit represent the results in life of the path we chose.
Now He presents two kinds of relationships with God that represent the end of person’s life and whether or not that person gains entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Recognize that the people on both paths proclaim to have a relationship with Jesus (they both say “Lord, Lord”)…
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven…” ~ vs. 21
But, only those who do the things that Jesus taught are granted access to His Kingdom.…
“…but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Vs. 21
The key then to obtaining both a right standing with God and entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven is to listen to Jesus and obey Him.
√ Not the Law!
Be careful that you don’t misunderstand what the Lord is saying. He is not creating a new Law that we have to follow in order to be saved.
That’s what the Pharisees were teaching, that keeping the Law and their traditions would save a person.
Rather, Jesus tells us that the ones who are made righteous and who gain entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven are those who…
“…do(es) the will of my Father…” ~ vs. 21
What is the will of the Father? Look at vs. 22-23 again…
Matt. 7:22 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?’
Matt. 7:23 And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Note that the sole criteria for entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven (ref. Matt. 5:20) is to have a relationship with Jesus!
That is, doing the will of the Father is not the keeping of the Law and the traditions of the elders (works)…
…the will of the Father is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and to trust Him for our righteousness and eternal life.
In John 6:28-29 Jesus claries this thought…
John 6:28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
Further more, Jesus declares that not only are good works insufficient to win heaven…
…good works done in His Name without a personal relationship are lawless!
That is, those who…
Minister in the Name of God
Perform signs and wonders in the Name of God
Heal the sick in the Name of God
Do all manner of good works in the Name of God
But, who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus are law breakers!
Note vs. 23…
“I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
That is to say that Jesus defines lawlessness (that which separates a person from God and eternal life) as…
Not the absence of good works
Rather the absence of a relationship with Jesus
We see that illustrated in the book of Acts where non-believers try to do good works in the Name of Jesus.
Ex. The sons of Sceva ~ Acts 19:13-16
Acts 19:13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
Acts 19:14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
Acts 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Acts 19:16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
So, Jesus is not adding a new law for us to follow, rather, He reminds us that He is the only One Who can fulfill the Law and make a person righteous.
√ End of life
There is a day appointed in which all of us will stand before the Lord…
Some will be granted entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Others will be turned away and cast into eternal punishment.
The only way into Heaven is to chose Jesus the…
Narrow Gate
…that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Two Homes (Vs. 24-27)
Matt. 7:24 “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:
Matt. 7:25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Matt. 7:26 “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:
Matt. 7:27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
√ Two Homes
The two homes represent the final condition of a person based upon the choices that they made in life (the path they chose).
Their lives end in either…
Eternal life
Eternal destruction
…represented by the condition of the house after the storm.
It either stood
Or it fell
Notice also that from the outside there’s nothing that distinguishes one home from the other.
They also both endure the same storm.
The only difference between the two houses is the foundation upon which they are built…
One is built on the rock
The other on the sand.
What’s the difference between the rock and the sand?
Doing what Jesus said vs. not doing what Jesus said.
That is, both people represented by the houses heard what Jesus taught…
The one who did what Jesus said is the life built upon the rock.
The one who didn’t do what Jesus said is the life built upon the sand.
You could also say that the one who built upon the rock is the one who trusted in Jesus…
…while the one who built upon the sand is the one who trusted in the teachings of the Pharisees (or themselves ~ Luke 18:9).
Ap. Chose you this day
At the beginning of our study I said that this closing section of the Lord’s sermon is all about personal application.
He’s no longer speaking to the religious leaders…
…He’s speaking to you and me.
As such the Lord presents us with a choice, to hear and do, or to hear and ignore.
That choice is yours today!
Jesus has proclaimed Himself to be the only One Who can…
Fulfill all the Law and the Prophets ~ Matt. 5:17
Properly interpret the Word of God ~ chapter 5
Accurately represent the Heart of God ~ chapter 6
Lead us to eternal life ~ chap. 7
Who are you going to chose?
The stakes couldn’t be higher, we’re talking about where we’re going to spend eternity!
Jesus put His life on display for all to see so that anyone could test His teaching against His life.
All we have to do is look at the fruit in His life and see if it’s in line with His teaching.
So, who are you going to chose, Jesus or the religious leaders?
Two Teachers (Vs. 28-29)
Matt. 7:28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
Matt. 7:29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
√ Two teachers
I like the reaction of the people to Jesus’ teaching, Matthew tells us that they were…
“astonished”
The word in the Greek text more accurately means…
“To put out of wits, to become astounded, insane, be beside oneself “
The idea is that the folks who heard Jesus teach looked at each other with mouths agape and said…
“Unreal!”
They’d never heard anyone teach like Jesus taught!
Ex. Embarrassing my family at “Blast”
I would laugh out loud and not even be aware I was laughing! Not because they were funny, but because they were doing things musically that were unreal!
What were the people astonished by?
“…for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” ~ vs. 29
That is, Jesus taught as a Spokesman for God while the religious leaders taught as spokesmen of the Rabbinical tradition.
Ex. Quoting the Talmud
A scribe would say…
“According to Rabbi Hellel the Law says…”
They appealed to the authority of tradition while Jesus spoke as the final Authority (as if He were God!).
Look back at vs. 22-23
Matt. 7:22 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?’
Matt. 7:23 And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Notice that Jesus didn’t say…
“Many will say to God in that Day”.
“Have we not prophesied in God’s Name”
Rather, Jesus speaks as if He is…
The Judge of all Mankind.
The One Who’s Name imparts the Divine Power to work wonders.
No other prophet in the Old or New Testament ever claimed such power, authority and glory for themselves!
Yet Jesus does.
Their astonishment then was that they had just heard with their own ears the voice of God Himself.
So, the people recognized that there are two kinds of teachers, Jesus…
…and everyone else!
Close
√ Two ways
Thank God that He has made it easy to find the path that leads to eternal life! While many false prophets proclaim…
“There are many roads that lead to heaven”
Jesus tells us that there are really only two paths…
One leads to Heaven
The other does not
Only by following Jesus will we get on the right path!