Reading Assignment: Matthew 7:13-29
Key verse: Matthew 7:13-14
Main Idea: Only two ways to live.
Jesus teaches this true dichotomy with four illustrations:
1. Two roads: One leads to life, the other to destruction/condemnation. One is popular, the other chosen by a few. One narrow, the other wide.
2. Two trees: The good tree bears good fruit and the bad tree bad fruit. Our lives will show whether we are followers of Christ or not. Jesus always transforms those who truly follow after Him.
3. Two doers: One does as he wishes, the other does the will of God. One listens to God and keeps His word, the other tries to do God a favor and pursue his own desires. Regardless of what they may call Jesus, if they do not seek and live by the will of God, they are unknown to Jesus, and on the day of judgment, they will face God with no Savior.
4. Two builders: The one who hears Jesus’ words and puts them into action is the wise builder. Even if a person has heard, if he goes on with life without putting God’s word into action, he is a fool.
There are only two options. We either choose the way of Jesus and walk the pathway to heaven or we walk the godless ways of this world. Jesus shows us there is no third option. There are only two ways and He urges us on to make the right and wise choice. Jesus calls us to examine ourselves to see where our heart is. Are we committed to Him to keep His word truly, or are we on the broad way to destruction, or do we try to make a third comfortable way of life for ourselves? Jesus teaches us there are only two options.
Prayer Suggestions:
1. Make an honest assessment of yourself before the Lord. Is He truly your Lord or not? Is He the supreme authority in your life? Or is it your own will or someone else? This is a time to be settled on this very important matter. Either Jesus is Lord and therefore you are committed to keeping His word, or He is something else to you. Jesus is calling us to make a firm decision.
2. Jesus, I am Yours. You teach me from Your word, and I follow You. Whatever You say, I am here to carry out Your word. I have no doubt You love me and I trust you fully.
3. Jesus, I am not perfect. I do not always do the right thing. I need Your help and guidance. Help me to be a faithful disciple as I on my part keep listening to You and putting Your word into action in the best way I know how. I depend on Your Spirit to help me.
4. I want to be a voice for Your truth. Help me to speak courageously to those around me that they too might hear Your voice and follow You.
Transcript
Let's pray together.
Our Lord, thank You that we can draw near to You this morning. Thank You for Jesus who came to save sinners. He came to save us. And thank You that there is hope for everyone who trusts in Him; and in our hearts, we trust in Him. We trust in His every word. There is no one like Him. There's no one who speaks the truth like He did. We now give our attention to Jesus’ precious words, so that our lives and our minds and our hearts may be shaped by His truth, and not by the ideas of this world. Please guide us and teach us in this time, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, we are at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and today’s reading assignment is the final section of this sermon, Matthew 7:13-29. The main idea in this last section, as well as the main truth, is this: There are only two ways to live. Only two ways to live. The key verse is 7:13-14 where Jesus says these words: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Jesus gives us a true dichotomy, a true binary option, that there are only two ways to live. There's one way that leads to destruction and then there's the other way that leads to life, that is, eternal life. He also shows us that there are many people who prefer and choose the broad way that leads to destruction. This is rather simple and straightforward. Most people in the world today do not truly believe and follow Christ. And Jesus states it as it is, that the pathway that leads to destruction is indeed the popular way. And then there's the second option, the only other option, which is the narrow way. And Jesus explains that there are only a few who even find it, let alone walk by it. And this is indeed the way that leads to life.
In our world there are many false dichotomies, false binary options. You know, if someone says, well, “Do you like chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream?” You might say, “Well, I actually prefer pecan praline or rocky road or any of the other million other ice cream flavors.” And so if someone offers you only two choices of chocolate or vanilla, that's a false dichotomy. There are other options out there. There are many things like this in life, but when it comes to eternity, Jesus shows us that there are only two destinations and there are only two corresponding pathways. And Jesus’ call to us is that we make the right choice. So, the main lesson here is that there are only two ways to live, and that we ought to choose the way of life.
Jesus teaches this lesson with four illustrations.
The first one is the one we just covered; it’s about two roads, or two pathways.
The second illustration is the picture of two trees. One is a fruitful tree that bears good fruit, the other one is a bad tree that bears bad fruit. And here Jesus is specifically talking about what kind of leaders we should follow, who we should we listen to. He talks about false prophets who are like the bad trees that bear bad fruit, and He says that you're going to know who they really are by watching their lives. If you would, you can tell a false teacher or a false prophet by looking at how they treat their family members, how they treat their friends, or how they treat their church community. You can also look at the way they live their life, whether they live lavishly and indulgently, or they live humbly and sacrificially. This is Jesus’ point. He says you will know them by their fruits. And of course, it's the same thing, with ourselves as well. If we are a true follower of Christ, it should be evident in our lives. Our lives will show it, and so He says there are only two kinds of trees. He is calling us to be the good tree that bears good fruit, not the bad tree with bad fruit.
The third illustration is about two kinds of doers. This one is less an illustration, and more a direct statement. He shows us that there are people who call Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” and do the will of God. These are doers of God’s will. Then, there are doers of their own desires. They're not very interested in doing what God says. We can say that these are the doers of self-desire. In the story, these happen to be religious people. So Jesus describes people who were actually doing the kinds of things Jesus did. They performed miracles, they exorcised demons, etc; yet Jesus says on Judgment Day, they will be sorely disappointed because they never submitted their lives to God. They practiced lawlessness. They did as they wanted, not as God instructed them in the Bible. This second group has a veneer of godliness but they are actually unbelievers in disguise. Jesus clarifies here that even if someone seems religious and they say the right things like “Lord, Lord,” if they do not actively pursue understanding and carrying out the will of God, they are not on their way to heaven. They are not saved. On Judgment Day, Jesus will tell them, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Jesus shows us that words alone do not show whether we are true believers, but our actions will show it. Believers are those who have submitted themselves to the law and the commands of God. Unbelievers are those who reject God’s laws and prefer to do whatsoever fancies them, even if those activities are religious and “spiritual” activities. What Jesus is pointing out here is true conversion of the hearts, whether a person is truly born again. If so, there is evidently a change in their orientation. They go from living their own life on their own terms, to surrendering themselves to Christ by confessing him as Lord by serving Jesus as their Master. They pivot from their self-seeking manner of life and do a whole 180° about-face. This is the mark of a true believer.
Fourthly, Jesus talks about two kinds of builders. He shows one builder who built his house on a rock, and so when the storm and the flood came, the house stood because he was firmly founded upon the rock. But then there's a second builder who built his house on the sand. When the storm and the flood came, that house collapsed. Jesus tells us what this story is about. He likens the wise builder to the one who hears, in the words of Jesus, “these words of Mine,” and acts on them. They are wise builders who built their house on the rock. As for the foolish builders, Jesus says that these are people who hear “these words of Mine” and does not act upon them. And so what's the difference between the wise builder and the foolish builder? They both heard Jesus's words. But Jesus says what one does afterwards, this is what renders one a wise man or a fool. What ultimately counts is whether you put Jesus’ words into action or not. According to Jesus, this is what makes all the difference. And in terms of the meaning of the storm and the flood, these describe Judgment Day. And Jesus says, those who are true believers, they will hear Jesus's words and act on them. These are the ones who are true disciples of His, who, on Judgment Day, God will deem as righteous because they have trusted in Christ truly and their sins are paid for by Jesus’ death on the cross for them. There is no way for us to earn our forgiveness or earn our way into heaven. No amount of following Christ or walking on the right path will pay off our sins. Only the death of Jesus for sinners can do that. But all those who truly believe will heed Jesus’ words and our pursuit of living by His word is the evidence of true conversion and true saving faith.
Thus, with these four illustrations, Jesus shows us, there are indeed only two ways to live. Jesus concludes His sermon in this way, because He wants us to examine ourselves, whether we really are a follower of Christ or not, which way have we chosen, which kind of tree are we, which kind of doer are we, etc.? He wants us to assess whether we are a foolish builder or the wise builder. Do we hear the word of God as good information or do we hear God’s word to put it into action. Jesus wants us to have clarity about where we stand before Him. And so Jesus teaches us there are indeed only two ways to live.
I think most people in the world, they want there to be a third way to live. They say, “Well, I'm kind of a halfway Christian or, you know, maybe I'm 3/4 of the way there, but I'm not all in; I'm not ready to let Jesus take over my life; I’m not quite ready to do whatever He tells me to do in the Bible. That's a little too much for me. I would like to just have a happy home life, and you know, just sort of a normal American dream kind of life. And then when I die, I want to go to heaven.” But Jesus teaches us that the pathway to heaven is a pathway of a wholehearted commitment to Him and to His words. Jesus makes a call for us to do some self-examination. This is the time to ask ourselves, “Lord, where is my heart before You? Am I really dead serious about following You, or am I half-hearted?” And if there's any doubt in your mind, this is the time to confess that to Jesus and make it right with Him. We must not resort to a false idea, a comfortable yet a false idea, that there is a third way, that I can pave my own way to heaven, as it were. But, of course, there is no such a thing. Jesus teaches us there are only two ways. There is the way to heaven and then there is the way of destruction, and He is calling us to a wholehearted commitment to following Him and walking the narrow pathway to heaven.
Now, how might we pray in response to this? I only really know of one way to pray, from my own heart, but you know, this is something each one of us needs to honestly assess our own hearts before Jesus and tell Him the truth about where we really stand. But I would simply pray something like this: “Jesus, my heart is committed to You. I want to keep Your word. I want my life to be aligned to Your every word. I don't always do that perfectly, but I thank You that You are patient with me, that You know my heart's commitment is to say ‘yes’ every time. Now, teach me the strait and narrow way. Help me to be a man who bears good fruit. Grant to me every wisdom that I need to take your words and put them into practice. That is my heart’s desire and commitment to You. Thank You that You love me and that You went to the cross for me. I wholeheartedly trust in You and I give myself to You. And I pray that my life would be pleasing in Your eyes. Through Your word please teach me the will of the Father, that I would not squander my life on vain things, on chasing after wind, but that I would live my life for the glory of God. Amen.”
I think maybe another thing pray about is to express a willingness and a commitment to be a voice for Jesus to those around us. There are people in our lives, our colleagues, our family members, or our friends and relatives, who are not followers of Jesus. We should absolutely be a voice of God’s truth for them, to lead them to the right path. This is another topic to pray about. This is a wonderfully clarifying passage of Scripture, where Jesus shows us that there are only two ways to live, and that we ought not to come up with a third comfortable way of life for ourselves, but that we should take heed to what Jesus says, and say “yes” to His call to the pathway of life. I trust that in your heart, you all desire to do just that. Well, that's it for today. Lord bless you, and I'll see you on Friday.