A Messiah of Decision
Text: Matt. 7:13-29
Introduction
1. Illustration: William P. Barker tells of a machinist at Ford Motor Company in Detroit who became a Christian. He responded to the invitation and was baptized. As the Holy Spirit began renewing this man he became convicted of his need to make restitution for some parts and tools he had stolen from the company prior to becoming a Christian. So the next morning he brought all the tools and parts back to his employer. He explained how he had just been baptized and asked for his foreman’s forgiveness. This was such an amazing turn of events that Mr. Ford, who was visiting a plant in Europe at the time, was cabled with the details of the matter and asked his response. Mr. Ford immediately returned a cable with his decision: “Dam up the Detroit River, and baptize the entire city.”
2. We all make decisions every day.
a. What to eat
b. What to wear
c. What to do
3. However, the most important decision that we make is whether or not we are going to follow Christ. In Matt. 7:13-29, we see...
a. The need for decision
b. The reason for decision
c. The result of decision
4. Read Matt. 7:13-29
Proposition: We need to decide if we are going to follow Christ and understand the consequences of our decision.
Transition: First, we need to understand...
I. The Need For Decision (13-14)
A. The Narrow Gate
1. The final section of Jesus teaching, often referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, deals with Jesus command to enter by the narrow gate.
2. He says, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate."
a. There is a similar passage in Lk. 13:24, but emphasis there is determination - "Strive to enter..."
b. However, here it is upon immediacy. Do it now. There will not always be time. The gate will not always be open (Horton, 131).
c. We do not know what the future holds, and put Jesus off thinking that we can always deal with Jesus when we are older can be a fatal decision.
d. You get one chance at this, and in this case the old saying "if you snooze, you lose" has eternal consequences.
3. Jesus continues saying, “...The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way."
a. Greek, Roman and Jewish writers often employed the image of the two paths in life, and those particularly concerned with the future judgment especially employed the image of the two ways, the narrow one leading to life and the broad one to destruction (Keener, IVP NT Commentary: Matthew, 163).
b. We should get a picture in our minds of a wall to a city with two doors - one wide and the other narrow.
c. The wide gate is easy to get through, and there a very few obstacles or challenges.
d. It will seem easy and smooth, but suddenly, as if a bridge collapses without warning, these people find themselves in hell.
e. This once attractive option all of the sudden doesn’t look so good.
f. There will be many who will choose to enter by the wide gate because it looks easy, but the end, it leads to destruction.
4. Then Jesus talks about the other option - the option to follow Him. He says, "But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."
a. In contrast, there will be few who enter by the narrow gate because it is obviously more difficult, and therefore, less attractive.
b. There are more obstacles, and the navigation is more difficult.
c. This gate requires that you give up your rights, desires, and selfishness.
d. "Narrow" implies persecution, affliction, distress, and pressure (Horton, 133).
e. However, it leads to a much better destination - eternal paradise.
f. A city whose streets are paved with gold, and whose citizens are never old, sick, tired, or sad.
g. No one drifts through the narrow gate by accident or chance. They seek it and find it only when they hear the command of Jesus and respond to his word (Horton, 133).
B. Two Choices
1. Illustration: When I returned from my trip to Europe, back in 1982, I remember a conversation I had with an high school classmate. He asked me if I heard about Vick, another classmate of ours. Vick was one of my old partying buddies from before I accepted Christ. His parents were good Christian people, but he chose to reject what they believed. After my conversion, there were many times that I tried to witness to him and share my faith with him, but his response was always the same. He would tell me, "Mark, I know that you are right, but I am having too much fun right now, and I can deal with Jesus later. Well what this classmate told me about Vick was that he had started running drugs for the mob and had been skimming money from them. They found out and planned to kill him, so he took a gun and took his own life before they could. As I listened to this story all I could remember were those words "I have more time later."
2. There are only two options in life.
a. You can choose to follow the Devil. He offers you fun for the moment, but the future is bleak.
b. He tells you things like "if it feels good do it," or "don’t worry about the consequences, you never get caught anyway."
c. Numbers 32:23 (NLT)
But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.
d. Even if you think that nobody knows, God knows for nothing is hidden from him
3. The other option is to follow Christ.
a. He offers you life more abundantly here and now.
b. He offers you blessing that will not run out and won’t leave you feeling empty and used.
c. He offers you things like love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
d. Above all he offers you the greatest retirement plan of all.
e. 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NLT)
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
f. That is a plan that the Devil simply can’t match.
4. The time to make this decision is today.
a. No matter what lie the Devil may have told, or what you may think, time is not on your side.
b. You don’t know what the future holds.
c. You don’t know what the rest of the day may hold.
d. This could be your last chance.
5. Jesus is awaiting your reply.
a. Revelation 3:20 (NLT)
“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
b. The ball is in your court.
c. The decision is yours, now what will you do with it?
Transition: Jesus also gives us...
II. The Reason For Decision (15-23)
A. Wolves
1. There is a dual picture painted by Jesus in vv.15-23, one is that of good and bad trees, and the other is wolves disguised in sheeps clothing.
2. Jesus says, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves."
a. By coming in sheep’s clothing, the false prophets pretend to be sheep though they are in fact hungry wolves who have come to prey on sheep.
b. False prophets first seem to be genuine members of God’s flock by their talk and association with the group, but their intentions are evil, like a wolf who ravages a flock for its own gratification (Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, 323).
c. The wolves masquerading as sheep can be detected when measured up against the standards of Jesus.
d. If their actions do not correspond with the spiritual and ethical standards of the kingdom they are to be exposed as false (Turner, 120).
3. Jesus says, "You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit."
a. Jesus asks a classic rhetorical question: "Can you get useful fruit from worthless weeds?"
b. "Fruits" refer to words, deeds, and life-style (Horton, 133).
c. Both good and bad trees produce corresponding fruit, it is impossible for them to do otherwise.
d. The nature of a person’s heart will be disclosed by his or her words and deeds (Horton, 135).
e. The image of the tree and the fruit also reminds us that behavior flows from character, and in Christian teaching character comes through being born again rather than merely through self-discipline.
4. Jesus says that "So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire."
a. Disciples repent and obey Jesus, they are the good fruit. Others, the bad trees, turn away from Jesus and the Kingdom and produce bad fruit.
b. These people will be like trees that produce bad fruit - they will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
c. Jesus draws the conclusion that the false prophets, even though they may look good and say all the right things, can be discerned by the fruit they produce.
d. For Matthew, a person’s spiritual identity is determined not by what he says, but by what he does (Turner, 116).
e. It confirms the old adage that actions speak louder than words.
5. Jesus shows that there is much more involved here than simply making a spur of the moment decision. He says, “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."
a. Jesus continues to deal with the false prophets who claim a special relationship to him and expect that their great works entitled them to be accepted (Horton, 135).
b. There is a difference between good works and good character. Anyone can muster up good works, but good character comes from within.
c. Churchgoers today are no more automatically saved than those who ate with Jesus in the past.
d. Just because you sleep in a garage doesn’t make you a car!
e. Not those who claim to "know" Jesus but only those who do the Father’s will have any claim on Jesus.
f. Our goal is not to be converted but transformed.
6. Jesus shows this when he says, "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.’"
a. The "many" here are those who a separated from the rest of those confessing Jesus because, despite their accomplishments, they have not been doers of the will of God (Horton, 137).
b. Notice that there will be "many" of these people. This indicates that the danger of this is considerable, and the only way to avoid it is to be in right relationship with God.
c. It doesn’t matter how "successful" this people might seem. The many will do great things, work miracles, and cast out demons.
d. However, that alone is not enough. Success in the eyes of the world is not sufficient to earn heaven.
e. In fact you cannot earn heaven at all! You can only receive Christ by faith, and a part of that faith is to follow Him and His commandments.
7. Jesus reply is chilling: he affirms that despite their claims he never knew them.
a. The word translated "reply" here is a legal term meaning "to make an emphatic declaration, often public (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
b. He does not accept their calling him "Lord," and he utterly renounces them as follower.
B. True Disciples
1. Illustration: George Barna wrote The State of the Church in 2002. Barna conducted a survey of self-pronounced Christians and here’s what he found about their knowledge of the Bible. Now, remember these are Christians.. • 48% could not name the four Gospels. • 52% cannot identify more than two or three of Jesus’ disciples. • 60% of American Christians can’t name even five of the 10 Commandments. • When asking graduating high school “born again Christians” over 50% of them thought Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. • 61% of American Christians think the Sermon on the Mount was preached by Billy Graham. • 71% of American Christians think “God helps those who help themselves” is a Bible verse. No wonder George Barna said, “Americans revere the Bible but, by and large they don’t know what it says. And because they don’t know it, they have become a nation of Biblical illiterates.”
2. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT)
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
3. Being a disciple of Jesus involves commitment.
a. Commitment because Christ is the most important thing in you life.
b. Committed to prayer
c. Committed to the Word
d. Committed to church
4. Being a disciple of Jesus involves surrender.
a. Surrender your past, present, and future.
b. Surrender your wants, desires, and sins.
c. Surrender your time, talent, and resources.
5. Being a disciple of Jesus involves priority.
a. Revelation 2:4 (NIV)
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
b. How ever we prioritize our life Jesus must come first.
c. He won’t accept second place to anyone or anything.
Transition: Where is Jesus on your priority list?
III. The Result of Decision (24-29)
A. Anyone Who Listens
1. Next, Jesus use the illustration of two houses built along a "wadi" which is a dry gulch in the summertime but becomes a raging torrent in the winter rains (Turner, 117).
2. He says, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock."
a. The wise, who show themselves as such because they respond in obedience to Jesus, are pictured as the one who builds their house on solid rock.
b. When the trials of life come at them, and notice that they will come at them, they are able to stand firm because they are built on a firm foundation.
c. In addition to the tests of life, this illustration also refers to the final test - judgment.
3. The person who doesn’t respond in obedience to Jesus is seen as the foolish person who build his house on the less stable foundation of sand. He says, "But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
a. As a result, when the storms of life come, as they will, their house crashes to the ground.
b. Notice the subtle yet profound difference in the reponse of the wise and foolish person.
c. The wise person listens, and the foolish person ignores.
d. Hearing and doing are inseparable and can be summarized as "the obedience of faith" (Horton, 137).
e. Romans 1:5 (NLT)
Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
f. They both hear the teaching, but the wise person applies the teaching, whereas the foolish person chooses to disregard the teaching.
g. Which one are you?
4. Matthew adds a commentary on Jesus sermon by saying, "When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law."
a. The crowds respond to Jesus’ teaching as disciples and crowds often responded to his other acts: with awe (Keener, 167).
b. When Jesus was done teaching, the people were amazed.
c. The word used here means "to be so amazed as to be practically overwhelmed - ’to be greatly astounded (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
d. With greater authority than the scribes who expound the law, greater authority than Moses who gave it, the authority indeed of the One who will judge humanity on the final day, Jesus declares God’s word, and the people recognize that he speaks with authority unlike their other teachers (Keener, 168).
e. The reason is that Jesus taught with real authority, authority that can only come from God, and real authority needs to be obeyed.
B. Reaping the Benefits
1. Illustration: Reaching the end of a job interview, the Human Resources Person asked a young accountant who was fresh out of school, "What starting salary were you thinking about?" The Accountant said, "In the neighborhood of 100,000 a year, depending on the benefits package." The interviewer said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5 weeks vacation, full medical and dental, Company Retirement Fund to 50% of salary, Executive Share Option Scheme, Profit Related Pay and a company car leased every 2 years - say, a 5 series BMW?" The Accountant sat up straight and said, "Wow! Are you kidding?" The interviewer replied, "Yes, but you started it."
2. Following Jesus means living life to its fullest potential.
a. John 10:10 (NLT)
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
b. Jesus gives life more meaning.
c. Jesus gives life more purpose.
d. Jesus gives life fulfillment.
3. Following Jesus means living life without concern.
a. Jesus takes away stress because you know he is in control.
b. Jesus takes away worry because you know he cares for you.
c. Jesus takes away loneliness because you know he is with you always.
4. Following Jesus means living life without end.
a. 2 Timothy 2:11 (NLT)
This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him.
b. Death has no hold on us.
c. The grave has no hold on us.
d. Corruption has no hold on us.
e. All because Jesus does have a hold of us.
Conclusion
1. The question is what are you going to do with Jesus?
2. The crowds were amazed at Jesus teaching, but some of them ignored him and some crucified him. Only a small majority followed him.
3. Following Jesus is not popular, easy or without cost. But it is worth the price.
