Well, we're going to be in the
book of Matthew chapter 7 this evening. We've been looking at
the Sermon on the Mount, 5, 6, and 7. And tonight we come to
that last chapter, and we're going to cover the whole chapter
again. I think that most of the instructions that the Lord gives
us here are pretty clear. There's not a lot there for me
to say, well, this means that. a little bit, and we'll talk
about that in a moment. But I want to begin with the handout. You
want to open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7, because we
will be looking into our Bibles as we read through that chapter.
But I'll start with the handout, page 1, top of page 1. Consider
with me, if you will, the Lord's message to the two disciples
on the road to Emmaus. Remember that story? Remember
how the Lord was going along with the two men, and he was
asking them what they were sad for, and they didn't understand
why the Lord Jesus had to die? They didn't understand all of
that, and the Lord began to expound to them the books of Moses and
all the prophets. That means all of the Old Testament,
which was available at that time. Was it not a message of Him,
was it not a message about Him? He expounded in all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself. Now think about this for a minute.
Did He not expound the things of the Scriptures concerning
Himself? And I ask you this then, is there any difference here,
right now, in this passage before us? Is there any difference?
No. There's no difference at all.
The Holy Scriptures are a love letter, a letter of God's love
for a people, a people who were not called a people, a people
who sought not after the Lord of truth, a people who, if it
were not for the love of God, would go, as all mankind are
going, to their own destruction. This has become My most used
verse in all of Scripture. Gene, I remember Gene would say
this, he'd say this about several verses actually. He says, you
can look at my Bible and the oils from my fingers are starting
to wipe off the pages. Well this is one of those verses,
Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 7. But God, But God, if it wasn't
for His love, we'd be on that same road all mankind are on,
going to their destruction. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love, wherewith He loved us. even when we were
dead in sins, had quickened us, made alive, together with Christ,
by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made
us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward through Christ Jesus, through
Christ Jesus. This message our Lord and Savior
is bringing is a message of right and wrong, the law. The problem is natural man thinks
we can achieve these actions of right and we have no understanding
of the truth that we cannot, that he cannot of his own accord,
even to the slightest degree. Only those whom the Son of God
has revealed in grace are brought to see this truth about themselves. It was like I was mentioning
a moment ago, only God can reveal to the heart of His people that
you would not be seeking Him and He sought after you first.
If He hadn't called us, we all know this, if you belong to God,
you know this in your own heart, you would have never been, you
were never looking for Him. He found you and brought you
unto Him. Only those whom the Son of God
has revealed in grace are brought to see this truth about themselves.
I've recently been called an antinomian. Why? Why would one call me or any
of God's people lawless? The word actually means to no
longer be ruled or bound by the law. It's a biblical meaning. God's people are ruled by grace,
God's grace. Only one who is still ruled by
the law would use that term as a degrading offensive term against
someone else. What does it mean to live by
grace? To live by grace is to have an understanding that we
cannot fulfill the law in any way that is satisfying to the
Almighty God. We live only because He is gracious
to us. We look upon Him with reverence
because He is God. We look upon Him with love because
He has been gracious to a sinner deserving nothing but His wrath. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,
even of thy holy temple. The sovereign Lord God of all
creation inspired the prophet to say this, The Lord hath appeared
of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. with loving kindness I have drawn
thee." That was Jeremiah 31.3. Or how about Isaiah 61.10, I
will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he, only God can reveal this, folks. The rest of the
world's running around thinking that God has done something and
it's up to them to choose or up to them to receive. It's my
free will that exercises the salvation of God. That is not
so at all. Listen to these words. Listen
carefully. He hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation. Those who think that we declare
that we're antinomian, lawless people, because we teach that
God's grace is what saves us, not the participation or the
accomplishment of whatever part of law you think you can do.
And I'm going to tell you something, too. Those folks in Israel, they
were pretty good as far as man can be in doing the law. I'll
tell you something else, too. Those people that call themselves
Jehovah Witnesses, I've heard reports about them that are just
as good as far as men can be. They walk the line. They walk
the line as best they can. It's not good enough, but they
still walk a pretty good line. Our Lord is the only one who
can clothe people with righteousness, with his righteousness, with
his salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. I think of the day Adam sinned. Remember what happened? The Lord
clothed them. They tried to clothe themselves
with leaves. That's a picture of mankind's works. Not good
enough. Didn't matter. They were still
naked before God. And it took God himself to kill
an animal and strip it of its skins so that he could clothe
Adam and Eve. He clothed them in the robe of
righteousness, a picture of Christ. Robert Hawker wrote this about
our text in Matthew chapter 7. He said the Lord Jesus in this
chapter concludes his Sermon on the Mount and what a blessed
way he does in comparing the wise hearers of it to those who
build on a rock and the foolish to those who build on the sand. In this chapter, our Lord Jesus
concludes his Sermon on the Mount. Throughout this sermon, Matthew
5 through 7, our Savior draws a clear, unmistakable distinction
between true and false religions, between outward and ceremonialism,
and inward godliness, between religious hypocrisies and true
spirituality. In chapter 5, he showed us the
character of his people and the necessity of holiness. In chapter
6, he showed us the character of true worship and the necessity
of faith. Here in chapter 7, he brings
it all home to all who heard him, to all who read his words
today by making general but pointed exhortations and warnings that
we all need to be reminded of continually. May God, the Holy
Spirit, who has preserved these exhortations and warnings for
us upon the pages of Holy Scripture, graciously apply them to our
hearts. So let's begin with our Bibles,
if you would. Matthew chapter 7, begin with verse 1. In Matthew
chapter 7, beginning at verse 1, Judge not that ye be not judged. For with For with what judgment
ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye meet,
it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote
that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam
that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
let me pull out the mote of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in
thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out
the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly
to cast out the mote of thy brother's eye." Now, our Lord is not teaching
us that we ought to never exercise judgment about anything. In fact,
we are taught of God to prove all things, as it says in 1 Thessalonians
5.21. He's not telling us that we must
never condemn as evil the opinions, the behavior, and the doctrines
of men. One of the things that bothered
my mother the most was that we're not bashful about pointing our
fingers at false religions. Unfortunately, she would take
that as though we were beating up on the people. But I've got
every right to discern between the truth and a lie. And a false
religion is a lie. There's only one truth, and that's
the truth of God's Word. God's not talking about us judging
those kinds of things. If the Sermon on the Mount teaches
anything, it teaches us the necessity of spiritual discernment. That's
what the Lord's instructions are in Matthew 7, verse 15 and
16. Look at that with me, if you
would. Beware of false prophets. which come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly, so see here, see what I'm talking about?
The Lord's telling us we do need to judge certain things in this
world. But inwardly they are ravening wolves, verse 16, ye
shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns
and figs of thistles? So we see there the Lord's teaching
us to judge that. We try the spirits, as the Apostle
John states in 1 John 4.1, back in our handout, top of page three. We are to mark those who cause
division. We are to be a people of decided
values and a dogmatic doctrine. That means standing strong in
what the Lord teaches us. Standing strong for election.
standing strong for total depravity, standing strong for limited atonement,
standing strong for irresistible grace, standing strong for salvation
is of the Lord and not of man. In these verses, our Lord is
condemning a censerous fault-finding spirit. One who reaches out and,
oh, did you hear what, what's his name, did you hear what,
can you believe they're drinking wine and taking drugs? Can you
believe that? In these verses, our Lord is
condemning a censurous, faulting, finding spirit. And as J.C. Ryle
wrote, a readiness to blame others for trifling offenses or matters
of indifference, a habit of passing rash, hasty judgments, a disposition
to magnify the errors and the infirmities of our neighbors
and to make the worst of them, this is what our Lord is forbidding
us to do. Faith, which worketh by love,
teaches us not to be rash, not to be critical, not to be nitpickers,
but to be patient. to be long-suffering, forbearing,
and forgiving of one for another. Now, I fail in a lot of what
we just read there, but you know what? The Lord's teaching me.
He's still teaching me how to accomplish those things in my
life. I have a desire for them. Listen to 1 Corinthians 13, 4-7.
Charity suffereth long. Aren't you thankful that God
has suffered us long? You know what charity means?
That means love. That means love. Love suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, bearing all things,
believing all things, hopeth all things, and enduring all
things. We must never put ourselves in
the place of God, sitting in judgment over our brethren. acting
as though we have the ability or the right to condemn. Look
at Matthew 7, 1 again. Judge not that ye be not judged. That's what that's talking about.
Judgment is God's prerogative and His alone. This principle
applies to our attitude regarding everyone, regarding all people.
But it is particularly applicable to our attitude towards other
believers. Who art thou that judgest another
man's servant? to his own master, he standeth
or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand." How do we know that one that
we're pointing our finger isn't doing exactly what God... I was
reading this and I was thinking to myself, how often have we
thought about Jonah? Everybody wants to stop and point
their finger at Jonah. See what he did? The Lord told
him to go to Nineveh and he ran from the Lord. We know now, because
we've looked at this enough times, but that was exactly what God
had planned, isn't it? Could Jonah have done anything
else? Now, imagine yourself standing there one day, and you saw this
all brought up. You knew the Lord had told him,
and all of a sudden, you see Jonah run off down to the sea
to get on a ship, and you're thinking to yourself, well, that's
what this is talking about. That's what this is talking about.
How do you know what God has planned for Jonah? How do you
know what God has planned for me, or you, or anyone else? We don't. That's what this is
talking about. Any time we set ourselves up
as judges over others, we set ourselves up to be judged. That's
what Matthew 7-2 is telling us. We have work enough to do in
taking care of our own souls, don't we? That's what Matthew
7 through 5 is telling us. Because we cannot look into another
person's heart, we do not have the ability to judge the motives
of others. Page 4. And I put stress on that
because I'm just as guilty. This is a problem that we all
fall into at some point or another. Don't anybody sit there and say,
no, that's not me, because we know it is, don't we? Top of
page four, far too many are quick to condemn another believer,
a believer's conduct, and to tell a brother or sister what
they should or should not do. Not with the authority of God's
word, but merely with the measure of their own opinions. We would
be wise. wise to recognize that none of
us have the ability to discern what God the Holy Spirit would
have another to do. And unless we can point to a
specific passage of scripture that gives specific instructions
regarding the matter at hand, we have no right to even form
an opinion relating to the conduct of a brother or sister in Christ
apart from the Word of God. I'm guilty of that right now.
Right this moment, let us pray that God the Holy Spirit will
supply both ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ
with wisdom and grace to do His will in all things, and leave
it to Him to do so. In all our judgments of others,
let us be kind, gentle, and lenient. Therefore, in all things whatsoever
ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for
this is the law and the prophets. That's verse 12 of this chapter.
We'll get that a little deeper in a moment. If you must err,
folks, wouldn't it be better, if you must err in our judgment
concerning others, wouldn't it be better for us to err on the
side of lenience, not on the side of severity? Look with me,
if you would, at Matthew 7, verse 6. Give not that which is holy
unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest
they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend
you. Here is a word of wisdom concerning
the way we are to deal with those who oppose our God and Savior
and the gospel of his grace. Dogs and swine are terms used
in the scriptures to refer to unclean things and to refer to
wicked and reprobate men. Just after telling us not to
be rash in judgment, our Lord tells us that in preaching and
witnessing to men, we must make a judgment, deciding when to
work with men in patience and when to dust off our feet as
a witness against them. Matthew 10, verse 14, and whosoever
shall not receive you nor hear your words, when ye depart out
of the house of a city, shake off the dust of your feet. In
Acts 18, verse 6, Paul wrote this, and when they opposed themselves
and blasphemed, he shook his remnant and said unto them, your
blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From henceforth,
I will go unto the Gentiles. In Titus chapter 3 verse 10 and
11, we read, a man that is a heretic after the first and the second
admonition reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted
and sinneth, being condemned of himself. But we also read
this over in Proverbs 9 and 8, reprove not a scorner. lest he hate thee. As I was reading
that verse there, I was thinking of the man on the ridge. As he
ran along the ridge, David and his men were coming along with
him. And they were just going along.
And his men were listening to this man ranting on David, calling
him names, calling him all these names, these vile names. And
they were ready to go up and take his head off. And David,
as an example of our Christ, said, nah. Just let him on. All he's doing is ranting. He's
not hurting anybody. Prove not a scorner, lest he
hate thee. Page 5. Folks, we must never
be reluctant to confess Christ before men. But there are some,
like Nabal, to whom none can speak concerning the things of
God, and you can read about that in 1 Samuel 25, 17. If you speak
to someone like him about these things of God, and they obviously
do not want to hear what God has revealed, and I have family
members like this, then leave them alone. Let it be. Next, our Savior gives us a blessed
promise over here in his sermon in Matthew chapter 7. Look at
verses 7 through 11 with me. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth. And to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Or what man is there of you? whom if his son ask bread, will
he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he
give him a serpent? If ye, then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your Father, which is in heaven, give good gifts, good things,
to them that ask him? What a blessed promise we see
here. Our Lord encourages us back in our handout, mid-page
five. He encourages us to pray. There's nothing so plain and
simple as prayer. Here our Lord assures us of God's
readiness to hear and to answer the prayers of His children.
Listen to Hebrews 4.16. Let us therefore come boldly. This is the Lord talking to you
and I. Come boldly unto the throne of grace. that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. Using the
illustration of an earthly father, our blessed redeemer assures
us that our heavenly father, because of his love for us, is
inclined to bless his children. Does not a fallen, sinful man
naturally give good things to his children simply because they
are his children? If so, how much more the great
Father of mercies must be to give His Holy Spirit to His children. Our Heavenly Father, who though
unmasked has already given the greatest of all blessings in
giving us His darling Son, will He withhold any good thing from
us? Isn't that what we read in Romans
8, verse 32? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? Or how about John 14, verses
16 through 20? And I pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But ye know him, for he
dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless, I will come to you, yet a little while, and the world
seeth me no more. But ye see me because I live,
ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that
I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. Going back into our text again
in Matthew chapter 7, look at verse 12 if you would. Now I
want you to back up there to that first word. What do we see
there in that first word? Therefore. That always points us to what
the Lord has said before. And you can go all the way back
to the beginning of His message, if you want to, and cover all
of that. And what does our Lord say here?
Therefore, because of all those things, all things whatsoever
you would, that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. For this is the law and the prophets. These words summarize all that
our Lord has said in this Sermon on the Mount. But by this golden
rule, let us mold our behavior towards all things. Page 6. Let
this be the measure of our judgment and our reproof, our love, charity. and our severity and of our thoughts
and our conduct with regards to all men. This is the essence
of all that is taught in the Word of God concerning our treatment
of others, both the believers and unbelievers. May God give
us grace to live by this blessed rule. There is nothing that would
make us more useful to others than that. Look at verses 13
through 14. Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the
gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many
there be that go in thereat. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it." The straight gate, of course, is Christ himself.
He is the door of life, is he not? Listen to John 10, verse
seven through nine. Then said Jesus unto them again,
verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. Aren't you thankful? Aren't you
thankful? You know, I grew up in religion.
Both my parents were Baptists. I don't know anything about what
their religion was. I didn't listen to any of it.
I didn't pay any attention to anything until I was in my 40s.
So the Lord spared me from all those other religions. But some
of you have been steeped in other religions, and you know what
this is saying. This is saying exactly that.
The sheep did not hear them. They may have listened for a
little while, but God took them out of there eventually. I am
the door, he says. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. By
him alone, we have access to and acceptance with the Father.
The straight gate is exactly as wide as Christ himself, and
it's exactly as narrow as well. The wide gate is as broad as
anything and everything added to what Christ has done. Listen
to Galatians 5 and Galatians 5.2 and Galatians 5.4. Behold,
I, Paul, say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. Meaning that if you're circumcised,
it doesn't matter at all. You haven't helped Christ one
bit. And then in verse four, Christ is becoming to you no
effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law. You think you're justified because
you got circumcised? You have fallen from grace. Most people are on the broad
way to destruction. Therefore, our Lord graciously
urges us to strive to enter in at that gate. What I mean by
that, folks, is there's something for us to do. We strive to walk
the path. I'm not saying we do it in an
acceptable way, but isn't not our desire to do what our father,
what his will is? If not, then you might want to
reconsider whether he's your father. We strive to enter in
at the straight gate because straight is the gate and narrow
is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find
it. Salvation is by grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone. Having just urged us to
trust him alone for righteousness and redemption, the Lord Jesus
Christ warns us next in verses 15 through 20 of our text in
Matthew 7. Beware, it says in verse 15,
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns,
or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore,
because of that, by their fruits, ye shall know them. False prophets
come in sheep's clothing, professors to be sheep, professing to be
sheep, but they are ravening wolves, whose only object is
the destruction of the sheep. They creep into the church, as
we read in Jude. As Jude puts it, unawares, undetected,
but they can always be detected and known by their fruits. Their
fruits do not refer to their own outward conduct and behavior,
but to the doctrines that they teach in opposition to the gospel. I was sharing with Norm yesterday
on our drive, I think we went up to get some dessert or something
at the store. There was a pastor, some of you
remember, a retired pastor had come here to Well, eventually, we found out
what his fruit was. His fruit was he wanted to teach.
He wanted to teach progressive sanctification. And I wouldn't
let him, so he left. Eventually, they'll teach you
what their fruits are. They do not refer to their outward
conduct or behavior, but the doctrines that they teach in
opposition to the gospel. All false prophets and all false
religions teach a mixture of works with grace. They deny the
only Lord God, our Lord Jesus, by denying the efficacy of his
redemption, his righteousness, his grace, and they turn the
grace of God into lasciviousness. That means wickedness. They turn
grace, trying to mix it with their works, into lasciviousness,
which is wickedness, asserting that the teaching of the gospel,
salvation by grace alone without works, opens the floodgates to
immorality. That's what I was telling you
earlier about why would somebody call one of God's people an antinomian. Why? Because they believe in
works. They believe in works and salvation. And they won't let go and trust
in grace and grace alone. Call me antinomian all you want.
I can almost take it as a compliment if it wasn't with such bitterness
in the voice that was used. It was not a compliment. Augustus
Toplady wrote this, every religion except one puts upon you doing
something in order to recommend yourself to God. It is only the
religion of Christ which runs counter to all the rest by affirming
that we are saved and called with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to the Father's own purpose and
grace, which was not sold out to us on certain conditions to
be fulfilled by ourselves, but was given unto us in Christ before
the world began. It was long ago remarked by a
good man that it is the business of all false religions to patch
up the righteousness in which the sinner is to stand before
God, but it is the business of the glorious gospel to bring
near to us, by the hand of the Holy Spirit, a righteousness
ready rot, a robe of perfection ready made wherein God's people
to all the purposes of justification and happiness stand perfect and
without fault before the throne. Next we see back in our text
verses 21 through 22 the Lord warns us against presumption In verse 21, we read, not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name
have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wondrous,
wonderful works? And then I will profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of
iniquity. Oh, I went one verse too far.
That's all right. Grace that does not make a person obedient
to God is not the grace of the gospel. Faith that does not make
a man faithful is not the faith of God's elect. Salvation that
does not transform sinners into the image of the Savior is not
Bible salvation. Salvation is more than a religious
profession, an emotional experience, and the performance of religious
duties. Salvation is doing the will of
God. Does the Lord say, be humble
and thou shalt be saved? No. That's not what he says at
all. What does he say? He says, whosoever
believeth. That's in John 3.16. Salvation
is doing the will of God, believing on, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we read in John 6.29.
This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
sent. Do you know how many times I
read that verse? You talk, Norm, about reading a verse and all
of a sudden something pops out at you. I had been going to church,
I don't know, somewhere around 2010, Bill and I were on a trip
somewhere on a motorcycle run, and I'd been coming to rescue
for a long time, and I'd seen this many times, and all of a
sudden this popped out to me. This is the work of God. Do you catch that? Do you catch
that? This is the work of God that
ye believe in. That's His work in us that we
believe. Isn't that what it says over
in Ephesians chapter 2? Yeah, Ephesians chapter 2. It is not of works. We are saved
by grace through faith. It is not of works. Let's mention
both. I didn't put that exactly right, but you know which one
I'm talking about. This is the work of God. You believe on him
whom he has sent. Folks, salvation is the voluntary
surrender of our lives to Christ the Lord. This is the work of
God. If any man come unto me, and
hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren,
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. These are the red letters of
the Lord, folks. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of
you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth
the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest happily, after
he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it,
all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, this man began to
build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, going into war
against another king, sitteth not down first to consulteth,
whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against
him? with 20,000, or else while the
other yet is a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage and desireth
conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be
of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my
disciple." That's basically saying a very, this is kind of, the
Lord has spent a lot of time saying this one thing, Jesus
Christ must have the preeminence. We willingly acknowledge him
as our Lord. Salvation is leaning on the everlasting
arms of our substitute who died in our stead and shed his own
righteous blood, perfecting forever them that are sanctified, as
it says in Hebrews. And this is the work of God. Salvation is being born again
of the Spirit of God, who, like a wind, listeth where there he
shall. Or in other words, he says, I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Folks, this is by
the sacrificial blood of the righteous Son of God. Salvation
is of the Lord. Preaching or prophesying in the
name of Christ And even performing miracles in His name is not evidence
of grace and salvation. Page 9. If there's no union with
Christ here on earth, there can be no communion with Christ in
eternity. The Lord Jesus does not say that
few, but many will be found in that day of judgment who lived
and died in religion without Christ. Think about that. Many. Folks, this is grace. What a solemn fact this is to
consider. I thought to myself as I was
reading these and putting these words together, Lord, is it I?
Is it I? You know, that's what the disciples
said when the Lord told them that there would be one who would
betray Him. All the rest of them said this
very thing. Is it I? Could that be me, Lord, that
would go through that? Yes, it could be, outside of
His grace. Outside of His grace. Let us
ever strive to enter in at the straight gate, that we may be
found among the blessed few who have Christ, the hope of glory,
formed in them. In Matthew 24, verse 24 through
27, we read these words. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man which built his house upon a rock, And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the
house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these
sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish
man which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the
house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. Our Lord
is here drawing attention, our attention, and making a clear
distinction between true and false faith. Christ is the rock
upon which we must be built. He is the precious cornerstone
the Lord has laid in Zion. Those who believe on him shall
never perish but have everlasting life. Those who build on the
sand of their own works shall be buried in the everlasting
ruins of their own confusion in hell. Faith in Christ is compared
to the building of a house of refuge. That's what 724 is talking
about. Sooner or later, our house will
be tested by earthly trials, spiritual trials, rains of trouble,
floods of sorrow, and winds of adversity. That's what 25 is
talking about. If your house is built on Christ
the rock, it will endure. and the trial and stand the test
of time. If your house is built on the
sand, anything other than Christ sooner or later, the rains and
the floods and the winds will bring it crumbling down around
you. Lastly, let's read verse 28 and 29 once again, and it
came to pass. When Jesus had ended these sayings,
the people were astonished at his doctrine. for he taught them
as one having authority and not as described." Throughout this
sermon, throughout this Sermon on the Mount, our Savior has
exemplified the way gospel preachers are to preach. He taught as one
having authority. Brother Don Fortner wrote this,
he said, he did not propose questions for debate, he declared truth. He did not offer an opinion to
consider. He taught doctrine to be believed. He did not defend a religious
system. He taught a righteous salvation. He did not mutter with uncertainty
about speculative theories. He taught matters of absolute
certainty. as one having authority. As we read Matthew 5 through
7, chapter 5 through 7, and we hear the Lord Jesus Christ teaching
the gospel, showing us the way of holiness and perfection before
God, let us rejoice to know that he has fulfilled all for us as
our blessed surety and substitute. He is all our salvation. He is
all in all to his redeemed. Let us by faith build upon Him
who alone is the foundation laid by God and the whole superstructure,
both of the law and the prophets. In that great day when the Lord
God shakes the whole earth in judgment, let us be found in
Him and built upon Him as upon a rock, as that rock against
which the gates of hell shall not prevail." Remember what the
Lord said to Peter? upon this rock." Well, what was
that rock he was talking about to Peter? Peter's answer, thou
art the son of the living God. Robert Hawker concluded his comments
on this sermon with this prayer. He said, precious blessed Lord
Jesus, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense Yet to me,
be thou more precious than the mountains of spices. In thy person,
work, and offices, in thy character, and relations, in thy complete
righteousness and salvation, be thou my Lord, my hope, and
everlasting portion. Lord grant that I may never build
upon the sandy performance of anything of my own or mix up
with thy complete work the hay and the stubble of any legal
righteousness which can stand no wind of the day of God's wrath. But be thou the all in all of
all grace here and of glory forever. Amen. Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest and causest to approach, unto thee that he may
dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness
of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Our Lord says to those
that he has known from before the world was, those to whom
he sent his Son to be our salvation, come thou faithful servant, enter
thou into the joy of the Lord. Amen.