Your Choices Matter... A Lot,
Like Eternally
QUESTION...
• Are you ready to dive into the living and active word of God this morning?
• Are you going to approach His word today with that are minds ready to listen and with hearts that are ready to respond?
• Do you believe that God’s word has the power to do something significant in this place, in our lives... this very day... March 26th the year of our Lord 2023?
OKAY – let’s do this.
NOW - today is kind of bittersweet for me...
YOU SEE - this morning after 38 weeks we are wrapping up our deep dive in the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever walked on this planet.
NOW - personally it has not only been one the most challenging, but also one of the most rewarding studies that I have ever done in God’s Word.
I have learned so much, during these 38 weeks.
MGCC – 2000 years ago on a hillside overlooking the Sea of Galilee Jesus painted a vivid picture of the kind of lives...
that those who follow after Him,
that those who dwell in His kingdom will live, LIVES THAT...
• are poor in spirit
• mourn over their sin
• are meek, show mercy, hunger and thirst after right living, endure persecution, are pure in heart and strive to bring about peace between people
• control their both their anger and lust, honor marriage and whose yes means yes and no means
• when wronged and offended... turn the other cheek, go the second mile, give the spare coat
• endure persecution (because of the God they love and the lives they live), and that love their enemies.
• Give and pray and fast not to be seen my others in order to win their approval, but instead give and pray and fast to be seen by God, in order to bring Him glory.
• Refuse to worry about tomorrow, that trust in their Father in heaven to meet their needs, and that seek first His Kingdom and His way of living.
• Are neither judgmental or hypocritical, but that love God enough and care about people enough to remove the plank from their own eyes so that can speak truth into the lives of others..
• are always asking, seeking, knocking... always praying for God’s help to live out the kingdom life, so that they will do ‘to’ and ‘for’ people all the things they want others to do ‘to’ and ‘for’ them.
MGCC – what a life that God has called us to live.
QUESTION... Does anyone here want to live that life? Does anyone believe that it is possible to make real progress in living this life even though we will never achieve perfection?
A.S.K. (Matthew 7:7-11) is a ‘progression-persistent-passionate prayer,’ fueled by the promise of God to empower His followers who pray this way, to live out the kingdom life.
A life that passionately and consistently, does to and for others, all the things that would want others to do to and for them (Matthew 7:12).
AND LISTEN – all of this unpacking and deep diving for 38 weeks has brought us to the conclusion of Jesus’ Kingdom Manifesto our conversation for this morning,
“Your Choices Matter... A Lot, Like Eternally”
NOW – I gotta be honest, like I need to warn you upfront that the way Jesus concludes His sermon is some pretty scary stuff.
Scary stuff that should cause each and every one of us to pause and reflect on our lives (what we believe and the way that we are living) in the light of eternity.
NOW - there are two responses that I fear I might get in response to these words of Jesus.
1. some people may hear these words of Jesus, and who should find them very... uncomfortable, troubling, terrifying... who won’t and instead will leave these words of Jesus this morning unmoved and unchanged.
2. And there may be others who hear these words of Jesus and who ‘should not be’ troubled and terrified, but who will, and will leave here in a panic about their salvation.
MGCC – what I am trying to say... is that I am afraid that
• some people, who ‘should’ leave this place worried about what they believe and how they are living will leave here without a care in the world.
• and others who ‘should not be’ worried about their salvation and eternity will leave this place terrified about where they stand with Jesus.
MGCC... it’s March 26th 2023...
And Jesus as He concludes His Kingdom Manifesto wants you to know that...
“Your Choices Matter... A Lot, Like Eternally”
Your what? Your choices
NOW – we modern day Americans really like to have a lot of options when we are making our choices, and listen there are a lot of options out there.
I did a little research this week about the sheer magnitude of the choices available to us...
• cable channels 1,758 (we I was a kid 3 main channels 2 UHV and at midnight it all shutdown with Star Spangled Banner)
• mobile phone apps – 7 million
• songs on Spotify – 80 million
• types of cereal – 300
• different drink combinations at Starbucks – 87,000
• Colors of paint at Sherman Williams – 1,700
• movies on NetFlix – 3,781
• TV shows on NetFlix – 1,940
• Streaming Services – 50
• Restaurants in Cville – 407
• Items on Golden Corral dinner buffet ~ 100
OKAY – what I am trying to say is that when it comes to making choices we like to have as many options as possible
available to us.
HOWEVER – when Jesus concludes His sermon on the mount,
He says that when it comes to both life and to eternity there is only 1 choice with two options.
AND YEAH – I know that flies against the ‘Buffet’ and ‘there are no absolutes’ mindset that is so prevalent in our day.
AND UNDERSTAND – God calling His people to make a choice between two options is not new with Jesus.
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life...- Deuteronomy 30:19,20
Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:14,15
Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing. 1 Kings 18:1
AGAIN – God has always called on His people to make a decision, to choose.
AND TODAY – March 26, 2023... He is calling on each and every one of us to do the same. To decide. To choose.
AND LISTEN – the truth is, that is exactly what each of us will do this morning.
OKAY – to our text but let’s pray first.
Prayer
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers!’
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Matthew 7:13-29
MGCC – that’s our text for this morning. That’s how Jesus concludes the greatest sermon ever preached.
AND – the way I want us to attack it is by unpacking the 4 choices that Jesus presents us with.
The narrow way or the wide road (7:13,14)
True teaching or false (7:15-20)
Authentic confession or mere lip service (7:21-23)
A firm foundation or a faulty foundation (7:24-27)
I. The narrow way or the wide road
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7:13,14
UNDERSTAND – right out of the gate Jesus tells us ‘the way’ that He wants us to choose.
ENTER (an imperative, a command) by the narrow gate.
QUESTION – what is the ‘narrow gate?’
ANSWER - the narrow gate is actually Jesus Himself.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. – John 10:9-11
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
YEAH – I know that it is not politically correct to say this in our world today... BUT MGCC – Jesus is not just ‘a way’ He is ‘the’ way... and no one comes to the Father except through Him...
There is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. – 1 Timothy 2:5,6
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel:
It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’ - Acts 4:8-12
UNDERSTAND – according to the Word of God (our authority in all things) the gate that we must enter is a narrow gate.
AND LISTEN – it can be tough to enter through this gate.
It is a tight fit. There is not a lot of room.
SO – you have to lay some stuff down, LIKE...
Pride, self-sufficiency, human achievement.
And in humility acknowledge your need for Jesus as your only hope.
NOW – there is another gate beside the narrow gate and Jesus describes it in this way...
For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
Now the word that is translated as ‘easy Way’ – is a word that means spacious, broad and roomy.
DA Carson in his commentary on the SM writes...
There is plenty of room on the wide road for diversity of opinions and laxity of morals. It is a road of tolerance and permissiveness. It has no curbs, no boundaries of either thought or conduct. Travelers on this road follow their own inclinations, that is, the desires of the human heart in all of its fallenness. Superficiality, self-love, hypocrisy, mechanical religion, false ambition, censoriousness – these things do not have to be leaned or cultivated. Effort if required to resist them. No effort is required to practice them. That is why the wide road is easy. END Q
MGCC – Jesus say that the wide road is easy.
UNDERSTAND – on the wide road you not only can believe whatever you want, but you can do whatever you want.
If it feels good, do it.
How can it be wrong, if it feels so right.
YEAH – the wide way looks like a really good time
No rules, no limits
AND LISTEN - it really is ‘the way of the crowd,’ the way that most people in our are traveling on...
AND – why not.... it’s fun, it’s easy, it’s about living for the now, it’s the Epicurean Way... eat, drink and be merry. You only go around once, so grab all the gusto you can
BUT UNDERSTAND – according to Jesus the wide, spacious and easy way... ultimately leads to what? To destruction
Destruction – apoleia
Utter destruction, ruin, waste, eternal misery, to perish,
It’s the same word that is used in Revelation 17 to describe the beast that is going to its destruction.
BOTTOM LINE – the wide and easy way of believing whatever you want and doing whatever you want leads to an eternity separated from Jesus in hell.
It’s a path that many choose because they are living the pleasure of the now, without giving any thought to their forever.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. – Matthew 7:14
Jesus says that the narrow way is hard, is difficult.
NOW - the word translated hard, is a word that was used to describe grapes being pressed in a wine press.
UNDERSTAND - the narrow way is a fight, it’s a struggle.
It’s not easy to: turn the other cheek, to forgive and not hold a grudge, it’s not easy to go through life controlling our anger and lust, going the second mile, loving your enemies, following the golden rule. It’s a fight, a struggle.
I MEAN – Paul even says in Romans 12:2 that the world is going to try to squeeze us, conform us into its mold.
NO – the narrow way is not easy, where on the wide way, you can do whatever you want to do...
Like you don’t have to lay anything down, you bring all your pride and achievement and fleshly desires... there is plenty of room for all of that stuff.
QUESTION – so why, would anyone ever want to walk the narrow way... where it’s hard and we have to surrender and suffer and struggle and fight...
I MEAN – this narrow way... it sounds horrendous.
That is until we remember the ultimate destination.
The ‘Wide Way’ leads to destruction
The ‘Narrow Way’ leads life. A forever life with God in heaven to the fullest.
YOU KNOW – I see a parallel between these two ways, and trying to lose weight.
The reward in losing weight is delayed.
LIKE – when I say ‘yes’ to my favorite dessert the reward is immediate...
AND - when I say ‘no’ the reward is delayed... However if a say ‘no’ enough, then there will be reward a few weeks down the road when I step on a scale.
IN LIKE MANNER – we are so focused on making decisions that affect only right now...
YEAH – I get it, I am with you...
The ‘wide way’ looks pretty good right now.
It feels pretty good right now.
QUESTION – what do we spend so much time on making decisions that only affect right now, when we are going to live forever?
Narrow Gate > A Difficult Way > Few Find it > Eternal Life
Wide Gate > An Easy Road > Many Walk It > Eternal Destruction
The narrow way or the wide road
The choice is yours
Do you need to make a lane change?
II. True teaching or false teaching
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
UNDERSTAND – throughout Scripture we are warned about false teachers who are going to deny or diminish God’s truth.
As Paul was preparing to leave the church at Ephesus he said to the leaders there...
I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.
Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you. And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up... Acts 20:29-32
UNDERSTAND MGCC
As Jesus concludes His Kingdom Manifesto, right after telling us about the narrow way and wide way, He says...
‘watch out’ ‘be careful’ be forewarned’
Because there are going to people who are going to try to convince you that what I just said about these two ways and where they both ultimately lead is not true.
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Jesus says, watch out for these false teachers, because
#1 – they are dangerous
(they are like ‘ferocious wolves’)
And why are they dangerous – because truth matters!
UNDERSTAND MGCC
It matters what you believe about God.
There is, absolute truth
Yeah, I know that people do like to hear that in our day
But according to Jesus...
There is right and there is wrong
There is truth and there is error
These false teachers are not only dangerous, but they are...
#2 – they are deceptive
They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
In other words they appear to be what they are not.
They are dangerous and deceptive and so Jesus says be on the lookout for teachers who deny truth or diminish truth telling you that there is another way to go.
That they have a better path, a truer path, a more accurate path.
AND THEN – Jesus gives us some clue to helps figure who these false teachers are...
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. – Matthew 7:16-20
QUESTION – how can you tell if a tree, is an apple tree or a peach tree? By its fruit.
UNDERSTAND – Jesus is telling us that we can tell a false teacher by their fruit...
First by
the fruit of what they say...
LISTEN – we need to see if what they say is in agreement with the whole of Scripture...
MGCC - Scripture is our fruit (truth) detector.
NOW - let me give a few examples of false fruit (teaching) that is out there...
1. Following Jesus is easy and full of blessings. Jesus wants all of His followers to healthy, wealthy and prosperous.
2. Hell is not real; it is only a myth, and a loving God would never send anyone there.
3. Jesus is ‘a’ way, but He is not ‘the’ way
4. All those commands and teaching about how God designed and created sexual expression to be experience only in a covenant marriage between a man and a woman... those were words written by men in particular culture, times have changed and those words and truths no longer apply.
5. You can be a Christian without being a disciple who denies himself, takes up his cross daily and follows after Jesus. I mean, there is no need to get crazy and all fanatical about things.
AND LISTEN – let’s be honest, some of the false teaching that is out there we may want to believe that it is true, and even look for teachers who will tell us that it is true.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. – 2 Timothy 4:3,4
(myth – fiction, false stories)
the fruit of what how they live...
Is there’s a life of holiness, of godliness
Are they living a live that looks like the life Jesus lived when He walked this planet.
Are they humble servants, who put the needs of others over the needs of their own and whose lives demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control
the fruit of what they produce...
Like what does their teaching produce in those who follow them.
Is it bringing people closer to Jesus and Christlikeness.
Is what they are speaking bringing unity or disunity
Encouraging faith or discouraging faith.
Jesus says beware of those who try to get you off of the right path.
The narrow way or the wide road
True teaching or false teaching
The choice is ours to make.
III. Authentic confession (genuine believer) or mere lip service (make believer)
NOW – we come to that passage...
That many feel is one of the most terrifying passages in the entire Bible...
AND LISTEN – if we do not consider it as a serious warning and as a reason to pause and examine our own life...
We are most definitely hearing it wrong.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
MGCC – obeying God’s Word matters!
NOW – that does not mean that we are save by grace plus works... Understand Ephesians 2:8,9 is true...
We are saved by grace, not by works so that no one can boast. However the grace the saves results in good works.
In other words, we do not do good works to be saved, but we do good works because we are saved.
AGAIN – obedience matters...
In fact we read in John 14:15 that obedience is actually Jesus’ love language. “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.”
Many will say to Me on that day,
NOW - ‘that day’ is the day of Judgement.
UNDERSTAND – as Jesus concludes His sermon, He puts Himself in the sermon and makes an outrageous claim.
“One day all of mankind will stand before Me and whether they spend eternity in heaven or in hell... depends on Me”
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 in Your name perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, you evildoers !’ - Matthew 7:21-23
Literally you who ‘practice’ or ‘work’ (present tense) lawlessness.
Or you could say... you who continue sinning and doing evil, disobeying my commands.
UNDERSTAND – the Make Believer claims Jesus, and he even point to his own resume of what he feels are ‘impressive acts’
But he has no desire to obey Jesus or to turn from his sin or evil doing.
A guy named W.H. Griffin Thomas wrote the following...
Nothing is sadder, or more disastrous than the orthodoxy of lip without the orthodoxy of life. It is not only what we say, but also what we are and do that constitutes true discipleship, for every truth is to be transmitted into living.
UNDERSTAND MGCC...
THE MB believes in heaven and wants to go there.
BUT – does the mere desire to go to heaven get you there?
The Make Believer...
• Makes a false confession
• Fails to examine himself or herself
• Appeals to ‘certain works’ as a source of salvation (I read my bible, I go to church...)
• Will continue in their sin and refuse to repent.
• Causing Jesus to say as we read in Luke 6:46, “why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say.”
MGCC – that’s the profile of a MB?
One commentator I read this week wrote...
The person who professes to be a Christian, but who habitually and unrepentantly continues in ‘known sin,’ makes God out to be a liar, because His word expressly denies that such a person belongs to Him.
YOU KNOW – I found it interesting as I dove into this passage this week, that the Make Believers, actually seem to be appealing to their own resume, to what they did...
Prophesying, driving out demons and doing miracles...
Rather than to what Jesus did for them.
On the other hand – when the GB is asked upon what basis should you be let into heaven...
On the basis that Jesus loves me – died on a cross for me and rose to give me new life.
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 in Your name perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, you evildoers !’ - Matthew 7:22,23
Depart is to be cut off...
The word implies an infinite distance.
Is to be sent to a place that we read in Matthew 8, 13, 24, 25 a place darkness and fire and the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
UNDERSTAND MGCC – Jesus is not trying to scare us;
He is warning us.
AND – tragically according to Jesus many on ‘that day’ will be found out to be MB...
People who ‘claim Jesus’
But who have no intent whatsoever
In confessing sin
Turning from sin
Repenting of sin, or
Turning to Jesus and allowing the Holy Spirit to change them.
inscription inside the Lübeck Cathedral, Germany.
Ye call Me Master and obey me not,
Ye call Me Light and see Me not,
Ye call Me Way and walk not,
Ye call Me Life and desire Me not,
Ye call Me wise and follow Me not,
Ye call Me fair and love Me not,
Ye call Me rich and ask Me not,
Ye call Me eternal and seek Me not,
Ye call Me gracious and trust Me not,
Ye call Me noble and serve Me not,
Ye call Me mighty and honor Me not,
Ye call Me just and fear Me not,
If I condemn you, blame me not
IV. A firm foundation or a faulty foundation
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Matthew 7:24-27
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Matthew 7:28,29
