Bible Talks - Sunday Night Church

Series: A Mountaintop Experience · Talk No. 6

Two ways…

Sunday, 27 August 2006

Neil Atwood

Matthew 7:13-29 ESV or NIV

1. Playing the options.
The well regarded Australian social researcher Hugh McKay is the person credited with labelling Gen X (those born between 1963 and 1981 or 2) ‘the options generation’. He says they have taken the concept and terminology of the web browser, and made it a model for their lives – the generation that is always looking for another option, always browsing for something new and interesting, clicking on the next link, finding it hard to settle on any one thing, whether it’s the choice of TV or movie, or life partner, or whatever spiritual path they follow.
Organisers of conferences, parties, weddings, sports events and the such, pull their hair out trying to work out how many people are going to come, because so many people will hold off making a decision in case a better option comes along. Gen X is the generation of choice and the worlds religions are just another area to choose from.
But that brings some problems with it. The obvious one is that Gen X will tend to have a disregard for things like the truth. Choice and the freedom to choose becomes such a part of their thinking, that it means they play off one choice against another based on very subjective criteria – what those options will do for me – rather than if one is objectively true or not.
The classic example of that is the ‘Mind, Body, Spirit’ New Age festival held at Darling Harbour each year. There you can walk around and choose any kind of new age spirituality that you like. It’s all there, side by side, saying lots of different kinds of things, and claiming lots of contradictory things. But because objective truth has been sidelined, they all just get along and ignore the essential differences, because no one is wrong, and everyone is right. All the different paths of new age (and other) spirituality all lead to the same destination, all climbing the same mountain – you just choose which path you want to travel on.
And this is why people are scandalised when Christians claim something very different. IE: that all religions cannot be right, because they are contradictory.
Gen X’ers put religion in the category of thought labelled “matter of opinion” rather than the category of thought labelled “right or wrong”.
Which is why it’s so important for us to keep talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Because either he did die or he didn’t die. Either he did rise bodily from the dead or he didn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. It’s a matter of what actually happened.
And so we Christians are either right or we are wrong. If Jesus died, then Islam is wrong. If he rose from the dead, then the Jews are wrong. If Jesus didn’t die or rise from the dead, then Christians are wrong.
But everyone can’t be right! That just doesn’t make sense.
People can talk about ‘your god’, or ‘my god’, or ‘your truth’ and ‘my truth’ if they want. But once you talk about ‘did Jesus live or not’, ‘did Jesus die and rise from the dead or not’, we are not talking about a matter of opinion, we are talking about something that did or did not happen – and what impact it has on us.
And that is how Jesus winds up this extraordinary sermon.

2. Two things about Jesus’ teaching
Back at the start, Jesus began by addressing his disciples alone. But it wasn’t really very private. The crowds were listening, and they were astonished at his teaching, because, according to vs 28-29: “…the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (NIV). The sermon started with the disciples, but finishes with the crowds. And what was astonishing about his teaching, was two things:
i) His authority, and ii) he was teaching them not like the scribes.
i) His authority.
It is amazing when you stop and think about it. Jesus isn’t quoting other great leaders who have gone before him. In fact, he seems to be setting himself up against other great leaders, and even the O.T! Think of all the times in chapter 5 when he says “You have heard that is was said… but I tell you…”. It was quite extraordinary, as he was putting himself above even the authority of the Scriptures. Eg: 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (NIV) Everything that the O.T. is looking forward to is found in me! It’s bold, it’s outrageous!
Look at 7:21ff “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven…’” (NIV) – Jesus claims to be the gatekeeper of heaven! When you get to the pearly gates, you don’t deal with Peter – but Jesus himself, as judge of all the earth!
He is claiming absolutely amazing authority for himself, and the crowds pick up on it well.
ii) Teaching not like their scribes.
But we need to remember: Astonishment does not equal agreement. You can be gobsmacked at what someone says, but not necessarily agree with it. Look again a v28-29 and find the one word that tells us that the crowd does not yet believe in Jesus…. [take answers].
The word is ‘their’. He was teaching them not as their scribes. Despite being impressed by Jesus’ teaching, they hadn’t given up on their teachers of the law. Jesus was not their teacher, their rabbi.
But the thing about Jesus and his authority is that he forces us to make decisions.
You can’t have a man making such outrageous claims, and being astonished at those claims, without making a decision for him, or against him. For either his claims are right and he is the judge of all the world, with a unique relationship with his heavenly father, the Lord of life and death, the fulfilment of the whole O.T. – or his claims are ridiculously false, and therefore he becomes one of the great liars and false prophets of all history. There is no room for the ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’, the inoffensive, warm and cuddly, nice man with lovely ideas and who taught us to love one another. That Jesus just does not stand up against what he says here in the Sermon on the Mount. That Jesus is only for those who have never read the Bible.

3. Two choices.
The importance and even inevitability of making this choice – between treating Jesus as a total fraud, or as Lord of the universe, with a claim on our lives – is forced upon us here in this last part of the sermon.
We have: Two gates, two kinds of prophets and the two responses to Jesus’ words. And each one is an either/or, true or false situation. There is no middle ground, you have to choose.
a) The Two Gates v13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (NIV)
There are four contrasts in this paragraph – take a moment and using the list on your outline see if you can find them: [A contrasting entry, a contrasting journey, the contrasting people, and the contrasting destination] – take answers.
The contrasting entry is the two gates: the narrow gate and wide gate. One is easy to find and obvious, the other easy to miss and hard to see.
The contrasting journey reflects the two gates. One gate is broad and wide, and so is the road that leads from it – it’s an easy road. Whereas the narrow gate leads to a hard and difficult way. Anyone who has been a Christian for a while will know the truth of that. The broad, easy way of the world v the tough, demanding and challenging road of Christian discipleship.
And so, there are two contrasting types of people travelling on the two roads, passing through the two gates.
On the broad road there is a multitude of people, for many find the gate and take the easy road. On the narrow road there are only a few who are travelling, for the road is narrow and the way is hard. Again, a common image of life even today. For most people, the choice about Christ is simple: follow the herd, take the wide and easy road. Go with the flow.
And it wouldn’t matter if the two roads led to the same place. But they don’t. We have in fact contrasting destinations. With Jesus, the destinations are radically different. It is the difference between heaven and hell, for one road leads to destruction, and the other leads to life.
So the choice has to be made. There are only two roads, so you can’t avoid making a choice. To make no decision is to decide for the wide, easy road.

b) The Two kinds of prophets v15-23
Then we come to the two kinds of prophets – true ones and false ones. And there are two aspects of this to consider:
(i) be very careful who you listen to: The character of the false prophets is one of lies and deception. Outwardly, they wear the best of sheep’s clothing. But their character is to try and lead the sheep astray, and seeking to destroy them. Where do these wolves in sheep’s clothing come from? In the main, organised religion. Organised religion markets quality sheep’s clothing! They have lots of styles and sizes to suit all kinds of deceptive behaviour and roles: beware of bishops and priests – those are among the most popular with wolves. Although a more recent very popular line is that of the sleek, smart Armani suit – preferred by many native American wolves!
So how do you tell a false prophet from the real thing? It’s there in v15ff “Watch out for the false prophets… by their fruit you will recognise them…”. The fruit can’t hidden and it can’t be faked. Healthy trees will give good fruit. Bad or diseased trees will give bad fruit – you can’t change or fake that.
But what is the ‘fruit’ of prophecy? What fruit do we look for on a prophet tree? Truth. That’s what true prophets are all about: speaking the true word of God. Truth that will change lives towards righteousness. That’s how the O.T. prophets were tested in Deut 13 and 18. One test is whether their predictions come true - although not all prophets predict things for the future. Secondly, whether they teach God as the one, true God – as Moses taught God, or whether they lead you off to another, false god.
You judge prophets by their teaching. So it doesn’t matter what church they belong to, or what degrees they have, or whether they teach a warm, fuzzy message – false prophets can be very good at all those things.
The best of the false prophets will look right. Will look and sound convincing, because their games is to gain many followers. But don’t be conned. The key is the fruit of truth, lived out in his life and the lives of those who follow him.
Of course, all false prophets will be revealed eventually, on the last day. On that day, v21-22 says, many will claim to be prophets. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’” (NIV)
They either think that they were true prophets, or more likely, they think they will be able to fool Jesus that they were true prophets. What are they using as false clothing? They claim to have preached in his name, they do miracles in his name, they cast out demons – all for real. So because of the quality of their sheep’s clothing, they hope to pass themselves off as true prophets.
But then comes v23 – perhaps the most awful verse in the Bible. “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (NIV). May none of us here ever hear those words spoken to us by Jesus, for they are the most terrible words in the history of mankind.
You see, the real difference in fruit lies in the good works they have done or not done in obedience to the Father. See the words back v21? ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (NIV), or v23 “…You evildoers”.
(ii) Be very wary who you become.
So the fruit of true prophets is to do the will of God. In the context of the sermon on the mount, it takes us back to the start. Jesus calls his disciples in chapter 4 to leave their fishing nets, come with him and become fishers of men. He then gathers a huge crowd as they travel through Palestine doing miracles, healing people, etc. But then Jesus gathers his disciples, sits them down and teaches them what we have been reading these last five weeks. He doesn’t promise them world, being adored by the crowds. He says persecution awaits you. They are going to hate you, but you must be different to them, you must be the salt and the light – radically, dramatically, observably different to the world around you. You are not here to be the leaders of a populist movement, you are here to be totally different to what the popular want. How are you to be different? 5:16 “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (ESV).
And so now, at the end of the sermon, Jesus warns them of false prophets, who preach and do miracles – but do not do the will of the Father, do not do the things that will bring glory to their Father in heaven. He’s warning them not to become the false prophets, because it’s so easy to become like them.
He’s warning them that popularity – the broad road with 1,000’s of people pouring along it is not the way of the Kingdom of Heaven. But the little, narrow gate, with just a few people struggling on a difficult path – that is the way of the Kingdom of Heaven.
You don’t judge prophets by the big crowd appeal. You don’t judge prophets by their capacity to do wonderful miracles, that draw massive crowds in, and fill their coffers with money, and build ever bigger buildings. That is not the sign of a true prophet. It’s those who do the unpopular will of the Father, whom the world will hate and reject and criticise and ridicule and persecute, and say all manner of evil about them. Because they do the will of the Father and speak the truth that the world does not want to hear.
Beware the seductive power of popularity, the seductive power of success, the seductive power of a miracle ministry, the seductive power of the mega church, because none of those things means that you are doing the will of your Father in heaven.
It’s very interesting discipleship training, isn’t it?
And it leaves us with:

c) The Two kinds of response v24-27
to Jesus’ words in the famous parable of the two builders, the wise one who builds on the rock, the foolish one who builds on the sand.
But note what the wise man and the foolish man have in common. Do you see it? It’s there in v24 and 26 – they both heard the words of Jesus.
Just the crowd gathered around Jesus and the disciples now. They heard Jesus all right, because they were astonished at his teaching. Wasn’t like their teachers at all!
Anyone who has read the sermon on the mount has heard Jesus.
Anyone who has opened a gospel has heard him.
Anyone who has been in church here tonight has heard him.
But the difference between the two builders is that one acts appropriately on the words of Jesus, and the other ignores the words of Jesus.
The foolish man is the person who has heard, but then pays no attention. He heard, listened, maybe even took notes, but he doesn’t act on what Jesus says to him. And Jesus calls such people foolish. They are indeed fooling themselves.
We only really know God by hearing his word and putting it into action, putting it into operation.
And so, in the end, the outcome is like that of the two gates, is like the two kinds of prophet. The outcome of one is life, safety and security, and the other is destruction.
And so here is the beginning --- and the end.
In terms of this sermon, the beginning is very important. Seeing the crowd, Jesus took his disciples aside. He didn’t want his disciples to be deceived by the success of his earthly ministry. He didn’t want his disciples to be false prophets and false shepherds. He didn’t want his disciples to be false followers.
The crowd – passing through the wide gate, heading down the broad road, were heading for destruction. They were listening for the miracle preaching and for false prophets, and they are astonished at what Jesus says, but they are still in bondage to lies. For they have heard the truth, but chosen the path to destruction instead.
Jesus’ followers must not be like the false prophets, you must be different, like salt and light, doing the good works that will bring praise and glory to your Father in heaven.

4. Two ways to live.
So Jesus present us with two ways to live. One way leads to death, and one to life.
Which way are you living? Which road are you on? You need to make your choice. Not choosing leaves you with the default choice – the wide gate and wide road. Easy to live, but leading you only to destruction.
To change metaphors, we are swimming in a river, and unless you choose to swim against the current, you, like the logs and flotsam and jetsam, will swim with it. That is the default position. But you can choose differently. You can choose to heed Jesus’ words, and I want to encourage you to do just that tonight.
Becoming a Christian is a very simple thing. You speak to God about it.
God has spoken to you through his word in the Bible, and you respond to Him in prayer. He gives you His Holy Spirit so that you might fulfil the promises you make to him.
What you pray? What do you promise? Three things:
1. You need to acknowledge that you have ignored and rejected Him. That you have been cruising down the broad road that leads to destruction.
2. You thank Him for sending his son Jesus, who has paid the price to open up the narrow gate, that you might be saved from destruction through his death and resurrection. If that’s new to you, then by all means chat with someone here tonight before you pray anything.
but 3. You pray that God would forgive you and change you, so that you would live with Jesus as your lord and master.
That’s all there is to becoming a Christian. It’s very simple. And so I’m going to pray it right here and now, out loud and invite you to pray it with me. You may be one of those people who is ready to make this choice, if so, pray it with me tonight.
If you still have questions or uncertainties, and you are not ready, then don’t pray it tonight. But please don’t leave tonight without speaking to someone who can help you work through those. Don’t allow yourself to be endlessly waiting for another option, another choice.
If you have already taken this step in your life, you may like to pray it along with me again, because it never hurts to re-commit yourself to the Lord Jesus.
Let’s pray. I’ll go slow enough so you can repeat each phrase silently to yourself.

Dear God, I know I’m not worthy to be accepted by you,
I don’t deserve your gift of eternal life.
I’m guilty of rebelling against you and ignoring you.
I need forgiveness.
Thank you for sending your son to die for me, that I may be forgiven.
Thank you that he rose from the dead to give me new life.
Please forgive me, and change me that I may live with Jesus as my Lord.
Amen.

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