13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” 21"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. 22Many 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?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' 24"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. 25The 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. 26But 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. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." – Matthew 7:13-23
Jesus sets before us, in the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, the radical choice between obedience and disobedience. Not, of course, that we can be saved by our obedience but that, if we have truly been saved, we will show it by our obedience.
Firstly, Jesus warns us of the danger of a merely verbal profession (vv.21-23). To be sure, a verbal profession is essential. “Jesus is Lord” is the earliest, shortest, simplest of all Christian creeds. But if it is not accompanied by personal submission to the lordsip of Jesus, it is useless. We may even hear on the last day the terrible words of Jesus: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers” (v.23).
Secondly, Jesus warns us of the danger of a merely intellectual knowledge. Whereas the contrast in verses 21-23 was between saying and doing, the contrast now is between hearing and doing (vv.24-27). Jesus then illustrates it by his well-known parable of the two builders. It features a wise man who constructed his house on rock and a fool who could not be bothered with foundations and built his house on sand. As both got on with their building, a casual observer would not have noticed any difference between them, for the difference was in the foundations, and foundations are not seen. Only when a storm broke and battered both houses with great ferocity was the fatal difference revealed. In the same way, professing Christians (both the genuine and spurious) look alike, Both appear to be building Christian lives. Both hear Christ’s words. They go to church, read the Bible, and listen to sermons. But the deep foundations of their lives are hidden from view. Only the storm of adversity in this life and the storm of judgment on the last day will reveal who they are.
The Sermon on the Mount ends on the solemn note of radical choice. There are only two ways (narrow and broad) and only two foundations (rock and sand). On which road are you traveling? On which foundation are you building? (adapted from John Stott)
When studying this passage, I noticed something very interesting. The Greek word poieo, which means “to do” occurs 11 times in Matthew 7. The verses are below. The words the NRSV uses to translate poieo are in boldface.
7:12 In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.
7:17-19 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
7:21-22 "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 in heaven. On 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 deeds of power in your name?'
7:24 "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
7:26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
In all but one of these cases (7:22 - aorist), the verb is in the present tense. This implies continuous or repeated actions. This is very unique. The present always implies continued action.
This suggests that the "doing" is more of a way of life rather than an isolated deed. The "isolated deed" (aorist tense) occurrence is when those seeking to enter the kingdom tell the Lord about the many deeds of power they had done. They look back to what they had done sometime in the past (prophesied, cast out, and did).
Modern Day Application: All of us need to look at what we are doing now; not what we might have done, e.g., attended Sunday school class with a long string of perfect attendance pins, endured discipleship classes, went to church camps, etc. A critique I've had of many personal testimonies and the way many people talk about their churches, is that they are centered on something God did for/through them in the past. What is God doing now? How is God involved in you life of faith now? How are you living now? What things are you doing now in your Christian walk?
See you Thursday night!
pcraig
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