Matthew 7 Sermon on the Mount Concluded

The transcription is about the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, a significant teaching by Jesus. It emphasizes the importance of relationship over religious rituals, focusing on the true connection with God rather than traditionalism. Jesus challenges the Pharisees' self-righteousness and highlights the essence of righteousness in actions and intentions. He discusses almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, cautioning against seeking recognition for religious acts. Jesus emphasizes the need for genuine relationships and warns against judgment. The teaching uses various word pictures and practical advice on how to relate to others authentically. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kuri pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kuri pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kuri pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kuri pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kuri pralaimėjo į įvartį. 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Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. Ačiū visiems, kurie pralaimėjo į įvartį. All right. We are finishing up this morning We are finishing up this morning the Sermon on the Mount. Three chapters, five, six, and seven. Three chapters, five, six, and seven. Which has effectively been called the Magna Carta of the Kingdom of God by many, many scholars. Identifying that what Jesus is doing here He's giving opportunity to all of the religious leaders who were later on in chapter seven you will hear them identified as false prophets and we'll talk about that as we get to it in chapter seven. and we'll talk about that as we get to it in chapter seven. And in chapter five, that Brother Jimmy did so beautifully you have several things that were happening. The Beatitudes, one, and then the attack that Jesus had on the law where they were more importantly keeping the law than they were being relational to God. And all the way through this there was a new word that was introduced and that new word is relationship. And what Jesus is trying to say to them is that faith and religion is not a sect, nor is it a cult, nor is it a club. It is a relationship. You have a relationship with Jesus Christ the personal Savior. By doing that, you also have a relationship with God as His heir. A joint heir with Jesus Christ. And so we are relational one to another. And what Jesus is trying to do to help His disciples and also to help the religious leaders come to a different conclusion than what they were coming to to come to understand that they needed to get away from all of the traditionalism and all of the activism and all of the hatred that they had for other people and He was trying to help them come to an understanding that they needed a relationship with Almighty God. They thought they had one. But quite frankly what they had was a relationship with the book. They had a relationship with the Torah. They had a relationship with the law. They had a relationship with the Old Testament prophets. But they did not have a relationship with God. And that was what Jesus was firmly trying to help them understand. You remember He told them when Brother Jimmy was teaching this in fact after the Beatitudes the Lord Christ began to look at the Ten Commandments in chapter 20 of the book of Exodus and as He looked at the Ten Commandments He said, It is said of all thou shalt not steal but I say unto you if you have an inclination in your mind to think about being a thief you've already stolen it. And then He went on to say, It is said of all do not commit adultery. And He went on to say if you consider another person of another sex in an unusual situation you've already committed adultery. And then He said, You shall not lie. But if you consider the possibility that you might want to it's already done. So Jesus was trying to help them understand that God was more interested in the activity of a person doing that which was righteousness, not trying to live a self-righteous life. And that's what the Pharisees were doing. They were living a self-righteous life. So after the Beatitudes and after the commandments in chapter 6 last week we came to understand that Jesus started talking about praying fasting and almsgiving. Giving money praying and fasting. And this was three of the major activities of the unrighteous Pharisees. Because they were so prominently available and they were so prominently in the view of everybody because these Pharisees loved to give their alms in the temple. We talked about that last week. How they had the big bell on the offering plate and as they dropped the big heavy temple coins they made all kinds of noise and everybody in the women's court now remember this was happening in the women's court. It was not happening back where the sacrifices were being made. When Herod the Great enlarged the temple he enlarged the temple to include a place for women to come and pray but also for women to come give their offerings and that was more important than it was for them to come pray. So in that women's court he put four offering plates four offering boxes with great big brass bells on the top for them to come and put their offering in. Pharisees loved to do that. In fact sometimes they even hired trumpeters so that the trumpeters could trumpet out across the women's court. Here I am y'all get ready I'm getting ready to give it. Watch how much I'm going to give. Self-righteousness all over the place in alms giving. And Jesus said when you do that and everybody sees you remember you have your reward. You're not going to get it in heaven you've already gotten it. You've got it here. He talked about alms giving he talked about praying when he studied the Lord's prayer and he said don't pray as the Pharisees long long long long long prayers. Three times a day in the streets in the synagogues in the temple where men will see you. Remember I told you they had to pray three times a day morning night morning and noon which David in his psalm said Lord God I will lift up my voice to you in the evening in the morning and at noon and that every day at 9 o'clock they were sacrificing in the temple and they came to pray in the morning at 3 o'clock they were sacrificing in the temple and they came to pray stood in the streets and loved to pray where men could see them. And Jesus said you have your reward. You're not going to get it in heaven. Now you come to the end of that they start talking about fasting. Now quite frankly the Jewish male was only required to fast one time a year. Are you aware of that? There was only one required fast. Do you know what it was? On the day of atonement Yom Kippur. That is the only fast in all of the Torah that was required of a Jewish male. They only had to fast if you please one time a year on Yom Kippur. That was the requirement. But the Pharisees had taken it and put it into such a situation that they were fasting 2 or 3 times a month sometimes 2 or 3 times a week to be what? To be seen of men. And they loved to put on their old dirty clothes they loved to be in the streets old shaggy beards. They looked like they were fasting. And Jesus said when you fast take a bath. Clean up. Put on your best clothes. Go to work. Don't act like you're fasting. Act like you do every day. And God who sees your fasting in secret will reward you in the open. Just the opposite. See everything in 5, 6 and 7 is just the opposite of what the Pharisees were doing. And that's why Jesus had this thing called Sermon on the Mount. Now today in our lesson he's going to get into strong relationships. First of all he's going to tell his disciples how they are to relate to other people. And this is going to be very important because in this particular chapter Jesus uses a multitude of word pictures. Jesus was a great teacher. He understood that if you use word pictures that people can understand rather than using words they can understand what you're talking about a whole lot better than time and space. Well this is what it looked like and you try to describe it to them but you could just use a word picture and they immediately understand. In fact you're going to run into about 6 or 7 different word pictures in chapter 7. In chapter 7 Jesus has turned away from the law, the tradition, the Pharisees except to remind his people, his disciples along the way that these Pharisees are still trying to get the separation of men and he's going to tell them here's what you need to do in relationship to one another. And in chapter 7 he begins with judge not lest you will be judged and whatever judgment you judge with God is going to judge you. Now in chapter 7 what you have is just a point, point, point, point all the way through. Two verses, one verse, three verses, five verses. It's not a continuous kind of a situation where you have a story going all the way through. It's little tidbits of here's how you relate to one another. And he starts off by talking about judging. Now it's kind of interesting how we judge. We judge one another and as we begin to judge them our judging continues. In fact this is what Jesus was so concerned about. He was concerned about people continually judging people and he said in chapter 7 verse 1 judge not that you be not judged for with what judgment you judge you will be judged. And with the same measure you use it will be measured back to you. Now what Jesus is saying to them is here he's saying whichever way you judge other people that's the way God is going to judge you in the same relationship. And what Jesus was trying to help the disciples understand was that the righteousness of the Pharisees the unrighteousness of the Pharisees was always judging other people by whom? By themselves. Ladies and gentlemen Are you aware of the fact that a Pharisee could quote the entire Torah completely at any point and could give you any scripture you wanted? In order to be a Pharisee they had to be able to quote the entire five chapters of the first book of the law called the Torah. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In order to be a Pharisee you could say to them what does Deuteronomy say You got it. What does Exodus say? You got it. Think about that. They could quote the entire Torah completely at any point at any time. That's pretty tough folks. That's pretty substantial. I mean that's kind of a worthy activity toward which we ought to go. That was the whole point. The Pharisees were so self-righteous and they were so involved in who they were and they were so involved in what they knew and what they practiced that they were totally uninvolved with the one who gave them what they knew and what they practiced. They were totally uninvolved with God the Father. And of course when Jesus Christ came as his son and his representative here, his ambassador to the world, they treated him the same way they treated God. Why would they change? If they treated God that way so that they were self-righteous and God was not righteous, why would they not treat Jesus in the same way with their self-righteousness and no right? So Jesus said, you don't need to judge for whatever way you judge, that's the way God's going to judge you. So if you judge other people to be less than you, as the Pharisees did, if you judge people to know less than you know, as the Pharisees did, now you're beginning to pick up the unrighteousness of the Pharisees. Jesus said, you Pharisees, when God gets to the point where he's going to judge you, he's going to judge you with the same judgment that you judge these other people. Now these Pharisees loved to measure. They loved to measure. The measurement was how much they knew and how much they could respond. And they loved to measure themselves against the other people who were less measurable than they were. That's why in the second verse it says and whatever measure you use, you're going to be measured that way. Both judging and measuring. And so what he's saying to his disciples here is when you're working with other people, understand that you don't need to be in a position of total judging. Back off. Don't continue to judge. Back off. Don't be a judge. Be a person who can evaluate. Now, was Jesus saying you don't ever need to make an evaluation? Untrue. Jesus said you need to value what's going on. You need to understand what's going on. You need to make evaluations. You need to see what's important and what's necessary. What I'm saying to you is important and necessary. But you don't need to judge in and of yourself in a self-righteous manner. So that's the relationship he said you disciples need to have to other people. Then he uses a very interesting word picture. He uses a speck and he uses a telephone pole. Or as the scripture actually says, a plank. Like you would build a house. A great big plank that you'd build a house. It's called the speck and the plank. Or it's called the speck. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eyes but you do not consider that you have a telephone pole in your eye? Now, this is so ridiculous. How could you get a telephone pole in your eye? Well, you can. It's a relational story. He's trying to compare a little bitty speck to a great telephone pole. And he says what happens is these Pharisees have such blindness, they have such large poles in their eyes, they're not able to see the little bitty speck. Now, it's kind of interesting. I gave you some information about a speck and a plank. The Greek word for speck is harpos. H-A-R-P-O-S harpos. And it means a little bitty piece of lint, or a little speck of twig, or perhaps a seed, or perhaps an eyelash. How bad does it hurt when you get a little bitty speck in your eye? The first thing you want to do, you want to rub your eye, you want to get some stuff put in it, you want to put some eye drops in it, you want to blink your eye and try to get a little bitty speck. In fact, I even have the description of a speck in here. It could be a dried twig, a dried piece of chaff, a piece of skin, or it could be a grain of wheat. Little bitty, bitty things. But it just gives us all kinds of trouble. Now, the word for plank is dokos, which means telephone pole. Or, which means a plank which you would use for building a dwelling. Like a three by six, or two by six, 14 feet long. That's a plank. Or two by eight, 14 feet long. That's a plank. Or two by 12, 20 feet long. That's a plank. And he's saying to these Pharisees, now you have a, what you have in your eye, you have a dokos in your eye. How in the world, with that much in your eye, do you think you're capable of seeing a little bitty speck in your brother's eye? So, here's the thing you need to do. If you want to help your brother, remove the dokos from your eye, and then you will be able to see the speck in his eye. And that's just a little short word picture. Makes lots of sense. And that's what he said the Pharisees were doing. They had the plank in their eye. Now, what he's saying is, as my disciples, you cannot afford to have your eyes blinded in such a way that you don't understand how you can minister to these people who are hurting very, very little. He's talking about ministry to them. And then he uses another illustration. He starts talking about dogs and pigs. I mean, right after the plank and the speck, he starts talking about dogs and pigs. Now, it's kind of interesting why he's talking about dogs and pigs. Are you aware of the fact that during the time of Jesus and before, during the Old Testament, that dogs ran in wild packs? And they were vicious. They would attack in packs, they would attack everybody. They would attack human beings, actually kill them. They would attack other animals and kill them. They ran, and I use in my message, in my material, I put wild in parenthesis, because it's not in the Scriptures. It just says dogs. And I know that was wild dogs. Oh, by the way, do you all relate to a guy by the name of Ahaz in the Northern Kingdom? And to his wonderful, wonderful wife for whom nobody's ever named, Jezebel? Do you all relate to Ahaz and Jezebel? Do you remember what the prophet told Jezebel and Ahaz? He said, in the final analysis, the dogs will lick your blood and eat your flesh. Now, that's what the prophet told Ahaz and Jezebel. I can imagine that after that, every time a dog barked, I bet Jezebel jumped about this high. Because the prophet told her that the dogs were going to eat her flesh. Now, all of a sudden, it didn't appear that this was going to happen. All of a sudden, Ahaz got in a battle. And Ahaz was hit with an arrow and in his chariot he was bleeding to death and they brought him back to Jerusalem and his blood was running off the chariot and guess who came up to the chariot? A wild pack of dogs. And they licked up his blood. Hello, Jezebel. I can imagine Jezebel really jumped out. Because, you see, later on she was captured. She was thrown off the wall of her castle and she was crushed on the ground below and guess who came and ate her flesh? The wild dog. Now, that's what Jesus is talking about here. He says, look, we have dogs and we have pigs. Now, what do the Jewish people think about a pig? Well, if you read the Old Testament, you read the Torah, it's one of the hated meats. They were not to eat pigs. They were not to eat bacon and shame on them. I mean, how good is breakfast without bacon and ham and, you know, good old stuff? Well, the interesting thing is are you all aware of the fact that they have pigs in Jerusalem? I bet you didn't know that. Oh, pigs' growth in Israel is one of the largest kinds of economy. How do they grow them? The Scripture says that a pig is not supposed to touch the ground. They grow them up on platforms and in big buildings. And pig production is very high and prominent in Israel. But they don't touch the ground. But a pig was a cursed meat. Now, the Jews still don't eat it, but they produce it for everybody else to eat. They won't eat it themselves, but they'll produce it for you to eat and get all that fat and stuff in your cholesterol and let it kill you one day. And so he's talking about dogs and pigs. Now, what he's saying is a wild pack of dogs has no idea of relationship with anything. All they're looking for is something to attack and something to eat. And all a pig is looking for is something to eat and make a mess. And watch what he says. He says, would you do this? Would you give that which is holy to dogs? Or would you cast your pearls in front of the pigs? Oh, by the way, someone said you can put lipstick on a pig, but it won't change your look at all. In fact, it irritates the pig. Now, he says, would you cast pearls in front of these dirty, filthy pigs? Or would you give your that which is holy to dogs? Because, you see, a wild dog has no value whatsoever. And a pig has no relationship to beauty. A pig would not wear a string of pearls. And if you cast your string of pearls in front of a pig, they're not going to put it on and wear it. They're going to trample it. He says, you see, if you do that, they'll turn and trample it to pieces. And so he's saying, what I'm telling you is, you need to be very careful with whom you present the gospel. He's talking about the presentation of the gospel here. He's saying, you need to be very careful with whom you present the gospel. Not to say that you shouldn't tell everybody about the kingdom of God, but it is to say that as you tell everybody about the kingdom of God, you need to be aware of those who are truly seeking the kingdom of God. And they are the ones with whom you share the holy things, and they are the ones with whom you share the pearls. You don't put it out in front of pigs, and you don't put it out in front of dogs. You put it out in front of people. He said, I want you to be relational. Now, the disciples could have gotten the idea of, hey, we just need to get away from people. If we get away from people, and we back off, and we're not with people, we're in pretty good shape. No, that's exactly what God didn't want them to do. He wanted them to be with people, and to be with people as kingdom leaders, and as wonderfully saved individuals, and persons who could share with them the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's using this illustration about a pig. And then he goes on to say something else. He picks up another illustration. He says, you see, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks, it shall be opened. Period. Okay. I like that, Lord. I'm your child. I love you. You love me. I'm redeemed by your blessed Savior. Lord, I'm going to ask you, and I want to see that you give it to me. You said ask, and I get it, by the way. Prosperity preachers who preach the prosperity gospel use this passage as one of their major passages. That's not what this passage is teaching. Because Jesus is going to follow up this passage with another illustration about this passage. Now, it's kind of interesting. It seems to say that if you ask, seek, and knock, you can get it. That's not true. The next illustration will show you why it's not true. But Jesus comes on here to tell them there's nothing important about these words. Ask, seek, and knock. You see, I'm going to do something. James, hand me that card. No, no, I don't want you to have it. I'm giving the illustration. James, see? What was he going to do? That's exactly what I wanted him to do. You see, I asked him for one thing, right? Now watch. James, James, James, James, James, James, James, would you please hand me that card? You see, these three verbs are present, active, imperative. They mean continuous, continuous, continuous, continuous activity. How long do you keep asking God? Continuous, continuous, continuous. Present, active, imperative. How long do you keep seeking? How long do you keep knocking? For you see, Jesus says, for he who seeks, and he who asks, and he who continually keeps knocking, God will hear him. Do you think that God, Jesus is saying as he moves to the next illustration, do you think that God is any less wonderfully available than your parents? Then he talks about a piece of bread, and he talks about a fish. Watch what he says. If a child asks his parent for a piece of bread, will he give him a rock? A stone? Or if that same child asks his parent for a fish, would he give him a snake? Jesus goes on to say, if you know how to give your children good gifts, how much more does your Father in Heaven know how to give those who ask, and seek, and knock? When does it stop? When do you stop asking? When you get it? When do you stop seeking? When it's there? When do you stop knocking? When the door is open? See what Jesus is saying is, relationship with my Father is relationship like talking to Robert. I have a relationship with Robert. I can talk with Robert. Robert can talk with me. We can have a marvelous conversation. Conversation can go on here. If I get home once in a while, I call him on the phone. We all have this kind of, he says, that's the kind of relationship I want you to have with your Father. Your kids have a wonderful relationship with you. They ask you for things. Now, let me ask you a question, Jesus says. Would you give your kids something that injured them? A rock? Or if they ask for something to eat, a piece of a rattlesnake? He says, if you then, as human beings, know how to give good gifts, how much more does my Father in Heaven know how to give to those who ask Him? See, ladies and gentlemen, my problem is, we just ask and go away. We just seek and go away. We just knock and go down the road. It is a relationship. Where is God? He talks to some people and says, He's up there. Other people say, He's far away. So, in the life of a Christian, the Lord God lives in your heart. He's not there. He's not far away. He's right here. He's with you every day. He's just, He's closer to you than your best friend. In fact, somebody said, God is closer to you than a wet t-shirt. Now, that's big. You ever wear a wet t-shirt? God's closer to you than a wet t-shirt. And He wants you to be His friend. He wants you to love Him. He wants you to talk to Him. He wants you to fellowship with Him. He wants to be relational to you. He loves you. Do you know how much He loves you? He gave His Son. That's what Jesus is trying to get into the heads of these disciples. They have been thinking about the law. They've been thinking about God way out there. They've been thinking about God back with our Father. They've been thinking about God in the temple. God's not in the temple. When Jesus was here, nobody was in the temple. Did you know that? When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple, He took the Ark of the Covenant. It never came back. The Holy of Holies was empty. It had a fire pan in it, so that when the priest went in on the Day of Atonement, he could throw blood in the fire pan, and it would make smoke. And when the smoke came up, they thought God was there. God was not there, folks. He left. And He didn't come back. And Jesus is here saying, He wants to be relational to you. Oh, by the way, John made a beautiful statement in his gospel. He saw Jesus coming out of the temple one day. Listen to what he said. Behold the Lamb of God, who's going to take away the sins of the world. And he went on to say, he said, and John said, behold He who is God is coming, and we beheld His glory. John said, we beheld His glory, Jesus' glory, even the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Ladies and gentlemen, when did the Shekinah glory come back to the temple after 586 B.C.? And how did it come back to the temple? Did it come back in fire down from heaven, or did it come back as we beheld His glory, even as the glory of the only begotten of the Father? You see, ladies and gentlemen, when Jesus was here, there was nothing in the Holy Body. It was sham. It was show. It was nothing. And Jesus was trying to help them understand, you know, what He said about Himself so many times, Ego, I am. I am. You want to see God? Look at me. I am. You want to know what God can do? Look at me. I am. You want to know how God wants to relate to you? Look at me. I am. If an earthly parent knows how to give children good gifts, don't you think the Heavenly Father knows what you need? By the way, there are three answers to prayer. Yes, no, you've got to be kidding. You've got to be kidding. You've got to be kidding. Okay. So, we move on to see what else is going on. At this point, Jesus stops relationship to the others, and now He's going to turn on relationship to Himself. He's saying, now, here's how I want you to treat other people. Don't judge them. Get the blank out of your eye. Help them to understand that you don't give good stuff to dogs or pigs. Be aware of the fact that you need to seek and you will find, you understand that human nature is not like God's nature. Jesus is talking about His relationship to His disciples, to other people. Now, Jesus is going to turn and talk about His relationship to Himself. Jesus' relationship to disciples. And He begins it by giving them... Did you all ever have, when you were in school, a ruler that had on it do unto others as you would have them do unto you? Any of you ever have a ruler with that on it? Sure you did. I did too. And we called it Golden Rule. And that's verse 12, chapter 7. Verse 12, chapter 7. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also unto them. For this is the law. You want to go to the Law and the Prophets? This is the Law and the Prophets. You want to do good? It's the Law and the Prophets. But Jesus is getting ready to give them a little different story than the Law and the Prophets. He's getting ready to say now, here's how I want you to relate to me. You related to the Law and the Prophets. You even understood how to do good in the Law and the Prophets. But I'm going to help you understand how to do better in a relationship, not to the Law and the Prophets, but to me. And he's going to start talking about relationship to himself. And he begins it by using a word picture. Isn't that interesting? Jesus loved word pictures. He's a great teacher. Every teacher uses word pictures. I love Brother Jimmy's illustrations, don't you? I love Brother John's illustrations. You may not like mine, but I think they're pretty cool. Okay, now watch him. He's getting ready to give his disciples some interesting information about relationship to him. He starts talking about two doors. Isn't it interesting how Jesus often used two things? Judge and relate. Dogs and pigs. Seek, ask. He says to them, Enter by the narrow gate, for the wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many that enter in it. Because narrow is the gate, and it's a difficult way which leads to life, but there are few who find it. Just two simple verses. There are two gates out here. One's big, one's restricted. One's large, one's small. He said there are two gates. And in life, you're going to have to enter into one of the two. If you enter into the broad gate that leads to destruction, you're not going to make it. That's where everybody goes. Everybody goes in the broad way. Because it's very easy. There are no real problems. You don't have to work anything out. You don't even have to think about it. Just wander down the road. I remember a song that I love to sing. I wandered down a lonesome road, and no one cared for me. The burden of my lonely heart had brought me to despair. I often complained to Jesus how folks were treating me. And then I heard Him softly say, My feet were also weary upon the crowded road. My cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load. Be faithful, weary children. The morning you shall see, just lift your cross and follow close to me. The broad way is easy. The restrictive way is hard. And what Jesus is saying to them is everybody has to make a choice. This whole world is set up in choices. You either make a good choice or you make a bad choice. You either choose that which is a blessing to you or choose that which is a curse. And Jesus says, I'm not going to tell you which one to choose. I'm going to show you what options you have. And so as my disciples, I want you to know, we are going to enter into the restricted gate. It's going to be hard. It's going to be difficult. I am going to have a hard time. I'm going to die. But I'm going to rise again. But I'm going to have a hard time. And so Jesus is saying to them, you have to make a choice. Either choose the restricted gate or the wide gate. Then he uses two more illustrations. He says, by the way, beware of these false prophets. Now, who do you think he was talking about? He said, beware of these false prophets. Who do you think he was talking about? Pharisees. Thank you. Yes. In a different way. He was talking about the people inside the Jewish faith. Not only the Pharisees, but the priests and the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the lawyers and the Sanhedrin. He was preaching about all of the internal mechanism that directed and ran the Jewish faith. He said, not only are the Pharisees false prophets, but everybody who's on the internal situation of their relationship are likewise leaders who are leading the people in the wrong direction. So what he says here, he says, beware of false prophets who come to you in cheap clothing, but inwardly they are rambling wolves. You will know them by their fruit. Now he's getting ready to give you two other illustrations. He's talking about a false prophet, but he says, you will know them by their fruit. What was the fruit of Pharisaism? Self-righteousness. What was the fruit of the priest? Money for Rome. What was the fruit of the Sanhedrin? To rule the nation. What was the fruit of the lawyers? To give wrong instruction. See, all of the internal people were working against people outside. He said, let me tell you about that, because there are going to be two kinds of trees. There's going to be a good tree, and there's going to be a bad tree. Now, what kind of fruit does a good tree give? Good fruit. What kind of fruit does a bad tree give? Bad fruit. Do you ever see bad fruit come on a good tree? Do you ever see bad fruit come on a good fruit tree? No. Sometimes they rot and fall off, but that doesn't mean they're bad. But see, have you ever seen any good fruit come on a bad tree? No. And so what he says is, do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but every bad tree bears bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus is saying, your relationship to me has to be a relationship of goodness and righteousness. If your relationship to me is a relationship of self-righteousness and heresy, then you will be cut down and you'll be thrown into the fire. He's simply saying, unless you come into the kingdom of God through faith in me, you will spend eternity separated from God. A good tree and a bad tree. Now he's coming to another illustration. In this illustration in 21, he says, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father. Now, what do you think the Pharisees, now remember, Jesus is teaching everybody here, his disciples, the crowd, and you can surely understand it is full of Pharisees and lawyers and priests. You can be sure every time Jesus spoke, they were there. You can be sure every time he gave any kind of information, the religious aristocracy were there. You know when he says this, they're listening to him on the mountain. They're there. In fact, when we get to chapter 14, Jesus is going to make a statement which is going to be a revolutionary statement. He's going to say, I will no more talk to them. Have you ever looked at that verse? Jesus said, I will no more talk to them. What Jesus was saying was, beginning from this day on, my ministry is going to be with my disciples. I'm no longer going to fight the Pharisees. I'm no longer going to fight the religious aristocracy. I'm no longer going to fight the temple. I'm no longer going to fight what you believe is true. I am not going to talk to them anymore. And he cuts it off. And from that point on, Jesus does not take on the Pharisees. Until the last week. And in the last week, the Pharisees take on him. And they try to get him all. In fact, that's when we talk about, if a man marries a woman, and he dies, and she marries his seven brothers, when she gets to heaven, whose wife is she going to be? Isn't that a wonderful question? In Judaism, if a man dies, his wife is supposed to marry his brother. That was the way he did it. She had seven of them, married all seven of them, and she gets to heaven. This was a question by the Sadducees. Do you know Sadducees didn't believe in heaven? They didn't believe in eternal life. They didn't believe in life after. Watch the question these stupid Pharisees ask Jesus. Whose wife is she going to be in heaven? They don't believe in heaven. And so he says, you know, here's your problem. You say, Lord, Lord, you claim me to be your Lord. You claim me to be your Sovereign. You claim my Father to be your Eternal Father. You say, Lord, Lord. You say it all the time. And yet you are unrighteous, you're self-centered, you're vicious, you're ugly, you're filthy, and all the other words I can't think of. And then he says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Now, Jesus is talking to his disciples. Here's how they're going to end up. How are you going to end up? Therefore, in verse 24 he says, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, here comes another two illustrations. Now, Jesus is saying, I'm getting ready to get through. I'm going to give you one last illustration. You heard the illustration about what's going to happen to the religious aristocracy. You heard that they called me, Lord, Lord. You heard that they're not going to enter into heaven. You heard me say that. Did you not? I want you to listen very carefully to this next statement. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built a house upon a rock. A solid foundation. A rock. And when the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock. Oh, kind of interesting. Who do we say Jesus is? The rock. What does Daniel say about the rock who was cut out of the mountain that roared down the hill? Go back and study that rock. And so now we're picking up a very useful and very usable illustration of who Jesus was. They knew. They knew Daniel. These disciples had read the book of Daniel. They understood the rock that was cut out of the mountain in the book of Daniel. They understood what he was talking about. If you're going to build your house, you build it on the rock. They understood. And rains will descend now. In Israel, it's always dry. But there are always little valleys and always little ravines. And sometimes they have torrential rains. And when the torrential rains come, they flood the whole of the area. And they come down the valleys and the ravines and they sweep everything away that's not on solid foundation. And Jesus is getting ready to say now the foolish man builds his house on shifting sand. And when these same rains come and these same ravines fill and these same valleys flood, that man's house will be washed away and great will be his loss. Now, Jesus is saying, do you remember what I said about the religious leaders? Do you remember what I said about their relationship to God? They call me Lord, Lord, but they do not do the will of my Father. He says, I want you to know that those who do the will of my Father will be the ones who will be built upon solid rocks. And the rains descended and the floods came and the wind blew and beat and great was the fall thereof. End of sermon. Period. Jesus told them about how the disciples would relate to one another and now he's told them about how the disciples are going to relate to him. And he gave them multiple illustrations. He gave them planks and specks. He gave them pigs and dogs. He gave them all that which was asked and given. He gave them illustrations about trees and he told them, here's what it's going to be like. And now he comes to the end. And as it was so, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at his teaching. Because he taught them not like the scribes and the Pharisees who didn't know what they were talking about, but he taught them as one who has authority. Now, at this point, Jesus is going to come down and his ministry in Galilee is going to start moving. When Brother John comes to do chapter 8, you're going to begin seeing the great Galilean ministry of the Synoptic Gospels. Now, let me share something with you so you'll understand what I'm talking about. Matthew, Mark, and Luke do more of their writings of activities that happen in Galilee. Oh, there are some that happen down in Judea. There are some that happen down in Jerusalem. But when you put a relationship on how many in Galilee and how many in Judea, all of a sudden you see Matthew, Mark, and Luke which see alike, Synoptic to see alike, are happening up in Galilee. All of this is happening in Galilee, folks. And the rest of their books will be happening a great deal until the last week in Galilee. But John, most of John's Gospels happen in Judea. And his is the Judean ministry. So you have the three Synoptics in Galilee and you have John's ministry in Judea. Now, it's sure John talks some about Galilee, but he doesn't talk nearly as much about Galilee as Matthew, Mark, and Luke talk. So when brother John picks this up and he starts talking about, and when he comes down from the mountain, great multitudes follow him, and behold, things begin to happen. Where did this sermon take place, folks? In Galilee. Or the mountain just on the north side of Capernaum. Big mountain that you see when you get into Capernaum. There it is. In fact, I was on the mountain of the Beatitudes one day, and I was told by my guide that 32 feet down the way here, if you can make it, there is a big plaque. I think you would like to have a picture of it. So he and I walked down the mountain going toward the city of Capernaum, to where this plaque was. And the plaque said these things. Had beautiful scriptural carvings on it, and it said, this is the spot where Jesus sat and taught the Sermon on the Mount. And I have a picture of it. And just looking down, I took it with the picture looking down toward Capernaum. The Sermon on the Mount. And it's in Galilee. And from this point on, Jesus is going to be ministering in Galilee. A lot of good things are going to happen. A lot of people are going to be healed. A lot of stories are going to be told. You're going to see how Jesus ministered to the people of Galilee. Thank you for hearing me this morning. Thank you for putting up with this terrible voice. I appreciate it. God bless you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for this passage. I thank you that Jesus wanted to tell us how we are to relate to others. Help us figure it out. Not to cast our pearls in front of spines. And help us, Father, understand that we are to continuously seek, knock, and find. And Father, help us to understand that we're to relate to Jesus in such a way that when we say Lord, Lord, we really are talking about Him as our brother and God as our Father. And for that we give you a great praise. Thank you, Father, for the Word of God. Thank you how it fills us with your love and compassion. And thank you how it thrusts us out into our lost and dying world to tell them about the wonderful relationship they can have with Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. And in that we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. See you next week. John will be teaching.