Danger in 3D

Today, you may have noticed a theme in our worship music of “more love”. My premise is that “more love” is experienced the nearer we get to the heart of Jesus. To help us understand “near” to the heart of Jesus, here is my friend Grover… show Near/Far video clip

Earlier this week one of my High School classmates posted a link to an article by an author who claims to be a Christian by the name of Jen Hatmaker. In this article Hatmaker writes that people have the right to leave denominations or churches that do not align with their social understanding of justice. And I agree with that assertion. However, she claims that there is more “freedom and joy and life and light” as one aligns with a church that denies the Biblical definitions.

As to which choice is a better choice, I would suggest Hatmaker join me in reading Jesus’ words recorded by Matthew in today’s text

Deviance Leads to Destruction (vv.13-14)

Matthew 7:13–14 (ESV) —“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. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Two Ways, 2 Gates, 2 Crowds & 2 Destinations[i] (Stott)

1. One marked by wide, easy, many & destruction

2. Other marked by narrow, hard, few & life

Several of you have commented or reacted to a social media post I made about pre-born life. One commentator, whom I love deeply but disagree with his position on this issue, (yes, it is possible to deeply love people with whom we disagree!) supported his claims with the statements “science ubiquitously agrees” and “the reality is almost never wrong”.

His arguments would describe one path, but that is not the gate that Jesus tells his listeners to enter.

3. Jesus is NOT claiming that the narrow gate is preferred because it is the minority position. He commands entry into the narrow gate because that is the one that leads to life.

Clarification

1. You may not like the label that I have put on the wide gate. I’m not trying to say that only deviants choose this path, but that those who do choose the wide path deviate from Jesus’ instruction to choose the narrow path.

2. “The gate is narrow because it requires a person to turn from sin to follow Jesus, to do the will of God as taught by Jesus. It is narrow because it is the surpassing righteousness of 5:17–48, the deeper righteousness of 6:1–18, the single-minded righteousness of 6:19–34, and the wise way of life as seen in 7:1–11”.[ii] (McKnight)

3. Deviating from my position is not the problem. Deviating from Jesus’ instruction is what leads to destruction.

4. This is what makes a person evangelical or not! “Evangelical” is not based on voting or church membership, whenever you hear me use the term evangelical, I mean that the evangel/Gospel/good news/revealed will of God has authority over one’s decisions.

Application

1. Which path are you on?

2. Is your moral/ethical compass set by Manuscript or Multitude? By crowds or by Christ?

3. In Luke 13:23 Jesus’ disciples pick up on his statement here about few who find the narrow gate. They ask, “will it really be few?” Jesus doesn’t answer their question, but redirects it by saying “Make sure you strive to enter by the narrow door.”

4. “This is not a matter of more and less successful attempts to follow the lifestyle of the kingdom of heaven, but of being either in or out, saved or lost. The two routes lead in opposite directions and their destinations are totally apart.”[iii] (France)

5. Some like to assert that Jesus never claimed directly to be God, but Mt 21:28-32, Mt 22:1-14 & 25:31-46 all claim that one’s entrance into the kingdom is based solely upon one’s relationship to Him.

6. “There are according to Jesus only two ways, hard and easy (there is no middle way), entered by two gates, broad and narrow (there is no other gate), trodden by two crowds, large and small (there is no neutral group), ending in two destinations, destruction and life (there is no third alternative).[iv] (Stott)

Transition: These 2 verses deal with the 2 paths and ask “which path are you on?” The next section warns us about those who lure others to through the wrong gate.

Deceivers Deserve Fire (vv.15-20)

Matthew 7:15–20 (ESV) — “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Explanation

1. Not all prophets are true – false

a. “In telling us to beware of false prophets Jesus made another assumption, namely that there is such a thing as an objective standard of truth from which the falsehood of the false prophets is to be distinguished. The very notion of ‘false’ prophets is meaningless otherwise”[v] (Stott)

b. “One of the major characteristics of false prophets in the Old Testament was their amoral optimism, their denial that God was the God of judgment as well as of steadfast love and mercy…They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, “It shall be well with you”; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart they say, “No evil shall come upon you.” ’2 It gave them a false sense of security. It lulled them to sleep in their sins. It failed to warn them of the impending judgment of God or tell them how to escape it.[vi] (Stott)

2. Deception is dangerous – Beware

a. This has more urgency than “consider” or “remember”

b. It tells us that this is more than a possibility, it is a likelihood.

Forgive me if this Illustration is too crass, but I chose it because I believe it describes a situation that we all have experienced at one time or another.

Many of us awakened sometime during the night or first thing this morning and found our way to one of the rooms in our homes that uses indoor plumbing. How many of us inspected the fixture first to make sure there was not a snake under the lid?

Now, how many of us have ever used an outhouse? I bet you were much more likely to check that seat before sitting down.

Why do you check one for snakes, but not the other? Because one has a much greater likelihood of danger!

c. Jesus is telling us that a true danger that we must be alert to and avoid is that of false prophets who appear to be one thing, but are truly ravenous.

3. Deceivers are tested by their Fruit

a. The first kind of ‘fruit’ by which false prophets reveal their true identity is in the realm of character and conduct.[vii] (Stott)

b. A second ‘fruit’ is the man’s actual teaching. In general this was whether the teachers’ message was in accord with the original apostolic instruction,1 and in particular whether it confessed Jesus as the Christ come in the flesh, thus acknowledging his divine-human person.2[viii]

Illustration

South African pastor Trevor Hudson tells the story of a West Indian woman in London who had just been told her husband had been tragically killed in a street accident; the woman suffered for days.

She sank into the corner of the sofa and sat there rigid and unhearing. For a long time her terrible trancelike look embarrassed her family, friends, and officials who came and went. Then the schoolteacher of one of her children, an Englishwoman, called and, seeing how things were, went and sat down beside her.

The teacher put an arm around the tight shoulders of the grieving wife. A white cheek touched the brown. Then as the unrelenting pain seeped through to her, the newcomer’s tears began to flow quietly, falling on their two hands linked in the woman’s lap. For a long time that was all that was happening. Then at last the West Indian woman began to sob. Still not a word was spoken. After a while the visitor got up and left, leaving her monetary contribution to help the family meet its immediate practical needs.

Trevor heard this story from John Taylor, who interpreted, “This is the embrace of God, his kiss of life.”

At the judgment Jesus will not ask us about our gifts. He will ask if our cheeks have touched the cheeks of those who suffer, if our hands have held the hands of those who endure pain, and if our gifts are directed at those who most need them[ix] (McKnight)

Application

1. The question is not “Is he a deceiver?” The questions is “am I a deceiver?”

2. What effect does your speech have upon your listener? Does it undermine faith, promote ungodliness or division? Sound teaching, by contrast, promotes faith, hope, love and godliness.

Transition: Jesus first asks “what path are you on? Then he asked “what effect do your words have on others?” and now moved into the 3rd Dangerous dimension.

J.C. Ryle was an Anglican bishop born over 200 years ago who wrote on this text, “The Lord Jesus winds up the Sermon on the Mount by a passage of heart-piercing application. He turns from false prophets to false professors, from unsound teachers to unsound hearers.’[x]

Delusion results in departure (vv.21-23)

Matthew 7:21–23 (ESV) — “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Explanation

1. What we say

a. the kind of Christian profession Jesus describes at the end of the Sermon appears—at least on the surface—to be wholly admirable.

b. To begin with, it is polite. It addresses him as ‘Lord’

c. Next, the profession is orthodox. It is more than “sir” prophetically Jesus knew that after the resurrection citizens would be required to say “Caesar is lord” which was impossible for the Christians to say with a clear conscience.

d. Thirdly, it is fervent, for it is not a cold or formal ‘Lord’ but an enthusiastic ‘Lord, Lord’.

e. The fourth point is that it is a public confession.

f. What better Christian profession could be given? Here are people who call Jesus ‘Lord’ with courtesy, orthodoxy and enthusiasm, in private devotion and in public ministry. What can be wrong with this? In itself nothing. And yet everything is wrong because it is talk without truth, profession without reality. It will not save them on the day of judgment.[xi]

2. What we do

· They may claim to do mighty works in their ministry; but in their everyday behavior the works they do are not good, but evil. Because to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees, words and deeds must be born out of relationship with Christ Himself.

3. Who we know

a. The reason for their rejection by him is that their profession was verbal, not moral. It concerned their lips only, and not their life. They called Jesus ‘Lord, Lord’, but never submitted to his lordship, or obeyed the will of his heavenly Father.

b. The kingdom is about more than words or deeds, it is about heart.

Conclusion:

I’ve spoken about Danger in 3D—Deviants, Deceivers and Delusional. But I would like to conclude by introducing a 4th D--Disciples are those who have entered by the narrow gate, bear good fruit, and know the Lord relationally.

It is disciples who gathered around in the upper room for the Last Supper, and it is disciples who are invited to join as we celebrate the Lord’s table. This act of celebration is for those who draw near to the heart of God.

As we prepare our hearts to receive the elements, join me in singing…

Song of Response #497...... “Near to the Heart of God”

[i] John R.W. Stott. The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture. The Bible Speaks Today. (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 195.

[ii] Scot McKnight, Sermon on the Mount, ed. Tremper Longman III and Scot McKnight, The Story of God Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 258.

[iii] R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publication Co., 2007), 287.

[iv] Stott, 196.

[v] Ibid., 197–198.

2 23:16, 17.

[vi] Ibid., 199.

[vii] Ibid., 201.

1 E.g. 1 Jn. 2:24; 4:6.

2 1 Jn. 2:22, 23; 4:2, 3; 2 Jn. 7–9.

[viii] Stott, 202.

[ix] McKnight, 271–272.

[x]J. C. Ryle, Expository thoughts on the Gospels by J. C. Ryle (1856: anniversary edition of Matthew and Mark, Zondervan), 69-70.