THE GOSPELS: LESSON 25: SERMON ON THE MOUNT: CONCLUSION
TEXT: MATT. 7: 7 -29
Verses 7 - 12: Asking and receiving
Verses 7, 8: While we traditionally speak of these verses in the context of prayer and Christian service, they speak to much wider possibilities. In ALL of life, the ones who seek are the ones who find, and as they say, “You don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Verses 9 - 11: If we know what to give when it is asked of us (and we usually do), then surely God will give us what we need, if we but ask for it. Is this an adequate foundation for those who are preaching “prosperity Christianity?” Not really, for the context is clearly in the realm of what we need, not all that we desire. We must ask wisely, or we will not receive, as James 4: 1 - 4 clearly teaches.
Verse 12: this principle of giving and receiving properly is extended to us. We are to give as God gives – what is best for the other, not just what the other wants. For example, if a man comes up to you on the street begging for money and you know the chances are more than good that he will just spend the money on drugs or alcohol, don’t give him money. Instead give him what he really needs – maybe food, or words of comfort, or the knowledge of God’s love. As in the last chapter, the principle remains the same: we are to act like God, out of the desire for one’s best good, not guided by our own selfish and short-sighted ideas. Forgive as God forgives. Judge as God judges. Give as God gives.
Verses 13, 14: the wide road and the narrow.
Enter what? THE ROAD. What does the road represent? A way of living and acting. Two roads, two ways of life: the right way and the easy way.
TWO GATES:
1. The first gate is narrow and difficult to squeeze through. That gate opens upon the road to eternal life. There is little traffic on that road, because it takes too much work to choose the right way.
2. The other gate is wide and easy. Most people make this easy choice. The gate opens upon the road to eternal destruction. There is MUCH traffic upon that road.
In other words, our salvation is our choice. Choose wrong and we die in sin. Choose rightly and we live with God forever.
This parable (or allegory) reminds me of the poem by Robert Frost.
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
And leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost 1916
Verse 15 - 23: The litmus test for good and evil men.
Verses 15, 16: False prophets will come. And when they do, how do we judge them rightly? By their fruits. What are fruits? Their actions, their manner of living. We tend to judge people in four ways: by their words, by their accouterments, by their acquaintances, and by their actions. We must ignore the first three and concentrate on their actions. People can lie to us. Clothes never really make the man. It’s not really what you have or who you know. But, a man is what he does, especially what he does in secret.
Verses 17 - 20: Good men do good things. Bad men may say all the right things, but ultimately they do bad things. Consider as an example a certain politician (who shall remain nameless). He always is championed as a great man who is a man of integrity. However when his beautiful wife was in a terrible car wreck and was very badly deformed as a result of it, he divorced her and married another woman. Is this the action of a good man? Definitely not. And no matter what people say about him, I will always recognize him as the scum he really is.
We can rightly judge men by their actions.
Verses 21 - 23: There will be a lot of people who consider themselves great Christian leaders who will not be in heaven. Only those who do the will of God will be saved. Again, it is actions not words which are most important. We can use actions to judge the nature of people because that is how God will judge them.
“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done.” Rev. 20: 12, 13.
Notice that even “miracle workers” may not be saved. In case you needed to be reminded, the presence of spiritual gifts like prophesying, tongue speaking, and healing are NOT adequate proofs of salvation.
Verse 24 - 27: Parable of the wise and foolish men.
Verses 24, 25: HEAR and DO. That is the eternal blueprint of our faith. HEAR and DO. (See James 1: 22 - 27.) The wise man builds his house on what foundation? The words of Jesus. See also Matt. 16: 16 - 18. Note that Jesus has not promised the righteous blessings `1only (as so many false teachers claim), but also storms and rain and floods.
Verses 26, 27: Hearing is not enough! Isn’t that what the book of James teaches us. Faith without works is DEAD. The foolish ones also heard the words of Jesus, but they did not do what was required of them.
Verse 28, 29: Results of the Sermon on the Mount.
When Jesus finished the crowds were astonished, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as their doddering old scribes taught. People have always been astonished at men who teach with real authority. And they have always despised teachers who are obvious poseurs.
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