to those verses that he read to us. And I'll start right at the end of his reading, verses 28 and 29. We read these words, and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings. Which sayings? Well, the whole Sermon on the Mount, beginning at the 5th chapter to the end here. when he had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

My subject tonight is doctrine that is astonishing. Doctrine that is astonishing.

Now when our Lord began the Sermon on the Mount, He had left the multitudes behind. And he went up on a mountain to preach and teach his disciples. But as he did that, as he began to speak, more people gathered until at last it was a great multitude that were listening to his sermon on the mountain. And we know that from the first verse of the eighth chapter, which says, when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

So he started in chapter five with just the 12 disciples. And then more of the people who had listened to him earlier, they followed him and they began to congregate around him as he sat, which was the typical posture of the teachers and preachers. He sat and taught the disciples and then lots of other people came and joined in the congregation.

When he began to teach, I'm sure that the people were amazed at this relatively young man that they didn't have a lot of knowledge of at this point. They had no doubt heard he was the son of a carpenter and his wife. We know better. We know he was the son of God. But they thought he was a carpenter, that he was a man who worked for a living with his hands, working with wood. And to most of the people, he was just an ordinary, common laborer. They didn't know much about him. He'd received no training. They were confident of that. no training from the rabbis, no education from men like Gamaliel, as Saul of Tarsus was instructed. He was not a Pharisee. He was not a Sadducee. He was not a scribe. To most of the people, he was just a very ordinary man who lived a very ordinary life.

It's not at all surprising then that they were astonished at the things that he had to say. What he had to say and the way he went about saying it was very unexpected. He had no degree. He wasn't brought up in the temple. He was from Nazareth and Cana of Galilee. And yet, in every way, he was so different from any other teacher that they had ever heard. He was very unusual. And they were astonished at him.

What caused the astonishment? Well, number one, it says here in the 29th verse, he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. You see, the scribes, when they taught, and you can go back and read a little bit of Jewish history on this, Josephus will tell you, when the scribes taught, they always went back to the old writings of rabbis and older traditional writers and expositors that were known to the Jewish people.

The negative part of this is very important and not as the scribes. You see, our Lord did not appeal to those dead Jewish teachers as the foundation for the things that He taught. What He appealed to continually was The Word of God. And that was refreshing, that was different. He had such a knowledge of the Scriptures, and the Scriptures at that time, as you know, was just the Old Testament Scriptures. He spoke as one who had been educated, and yet he had not been educated by men. The things that he said, he said them with such force, with such conviction that they were astonished that He knew the things that He knew and that He spoke with such outstanding authority.

You see, the scribes always appealed to men who were dead. The Savior appealed to the Word of God. And he would say to them on a number of times in this very message, and you can go through and look at it, he would say, I say unto you, I say unto you, he spoke with authority. He didn't need to rely upon the word of some dead rabbi. He didn't need to appeal to or mention or base what he had to say upon some Pharisee that had lived maybe hundreds of years before this. That which he spoke, he spoke with conviction. He spoke with knowledge. He had a thorough knowledge of everything that he spoke about. He didn't send them back to the dead expositors of the law of God. He said, I say unto you, let me show you a few of these verses. Go back in chapter five. Look at chapter five, look at verse 18. Chapter five in verse 18. For verily I say unto you, and he will use those words time and time again, I say unto you. He speaks as one who had authority, and indeed he did have authority.

Little did they know, but his spirit had inspired all the Old Testament writers to write of the coming Christ He had been spoken of throughout the Old Testament, though they did not recognize that. But His knowledge of the Scriptures was so thorough and so clear, and the reason was this, they were His Scriptures. This is the Word of God. This is the Son of God speaking to them. And He's not hesitant to say what He had to say. He wasn't unclear about the doctrines that he presented. He spoke as one who had authority. These people had never heard any preacher, any student of the scriptures, any teacher, they had never heard anybody talk about the things of God like Jesus of Nazareth did. He had such a grasp. on the Word of God. His whole method of giving out the truth was different to anything they had ever heard. He was characterized by his originality of thought. He didn't lean on others. He leaned upon the Word of God. And it was not only what he said, but the way he said it. He spoke as one who had authority. And they were astonished. Astonished at his authority and also astonished by his doctrine.

Well, what was his doctrine? Well, first of all, he identified himself as being the one who had come into the world to fulfill the words of the prophets and to fulfill the law of God. Go back to, if you're in chapter five, look at verse 17. Chapter five, verse 17. He says, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Number one, he fulfilled the prophets. All of the prophets wrote of him. All of the prophets spake of him. They preached that he would come. Isaiah preached that he would be born of a virgin, that his name would be Emmanuel, which Matthew interprets for us by the power of the Holy Spirit, which means God with us.

The prophet spoke about his life, about the miracles that he would perform. In fact, Isaiah wrote of him in Isaiah chapter 61, and then when our Lord preached in chapter 4 of Luke, and by the way, that message that he preached in Luke in the synagogue, chapter 4, evidently an expositor's Once in a while, they have some difference of opinions, and there's a slight difference of opinion on this, but they all say, John Gill says that the first message he preached publicly was not this one, but the one recorded in Luke chapter four.

Now, I wouldn't argue either way on that. But in Luke chapter four, the scriptures were given to him and he read the passage of scripture that's right out of Isaiah chapter 61. Which, if you look back at Luke, look at Luke chapter four. He's come to Galilee, he's in the synagogue, and the scriptures were given to him to read. After all, this is where he was raised, He went in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, stood up to read, verse 17, there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and it was Isaiah chapter 61.

The Lord of Providence arranged things that the portion of Scripture the priest chose to be read that day was Isaiah 61. which speaks of the Savior prophetically, and here the Lord Jesus is reading the very passage of Scripture that was penned by Isaiah hundreds of years before this. It says, When he had opened the book, he found the place which was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. Our Lord did that. He preached the gospel, the gospel of grace, the gospel of sovereign mercy, the gospel of his own death, the gospel of the necessity of his redemptive work. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to the poor in spirit. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

He closed the book, he gave it back to the minister or to the priest, and he sat down and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And then he began to say to them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. He came to fulfill the prophets. The prophets all wrote of him. They all preached of him without exception. Isaiah wrote of his birth. That's why I began the scriptures. One of the reasons I began the message by reading the scripture out of Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah wrote of his death, Isaiah chapter 53. wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our inequities. A chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes were healed. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. God put him to grief. These are things that are written in the prophets and our Lord Jesus at the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount says, I came to fulfill the prophets. The prophets who spoke of him, who preached of him, and who wrote of him.

And then he says, I came to fulfill the law. All of God's law he totally fulfilled. And he not only fulfilled the precepts of God's law, because he said himself, I always do those things that please God. But being the fulfiller of the law also meant they had to fulfill the penalty for us breaking God's law. All of God's elect were chosen in grace before the world began, chosen unto salvation, we know that. But in Adam's fall, we fell too. In Adam's transgression, we transgressed too. For by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, even God's elect. For we all sin in Adam. And I tried my best to tell you this morning that the wages of sin is death. That's the curse. That's the curse of God's law. And Christ came to bear the curse. He was made a curse for us by God himself. That was the necessity or the requirement of him in order to put our sins away. The Old Testament scriptures spoke of him, prophesied of him. He's the law keeper. He's the law giver. He's the law keeper. and he fulfilled the law of God by being crucified for us. God's law said somebody's got to die, and somebody did die. The Son of God laid down his life. He lived up to the demands of the law in his life, and he died under the penalty of the law in his death in order to redeem us. He perfectly and thoroughly took care of the curse of the law. There is therefore now no curse for any of those for whom he died.

Now having said that, remember that throughout this message he constantly refers to himself as being that one who is the Son of God, because in chapter 7, look at chapter 7 in verse 21. Look at how He refers to Himself. And ultimately, this sort of talk, this sort of preaching will result in the people rising up against Him and crucifying Him. He says in verse 21 of chapter seven, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father, of my father, which is in heaven.

When he gave instructions for us to pray, he says, after this manner, pray ye. Our father, that didn't upset him. When he said, our father, well, the Jews believed that he was their father. But now he says, my father. Now he's declaring equality with God. It's like that passage in John chapter five, when he healed the lame man. who waited for the troubling of the waters, but he couldn't get in in time for the angel to heal him of his infirmity. But the Savior came through in sovereign mercy and chose this one lame man to heal him. And upon healing him, the Savior said, take up your bed and walk. And the Jews got upset because this man's carrying his bed on the Sabbath day. And they got into a bit of a verbal clashing. Who did this to you? Who told you to take your bed up and walk? Somebody by the name of Jesus. And then they went after the Lord Jesus. Why do you work on the Sabbath day? And he said this, my father, my father worketh hitherto and I work. And then they were ready to pick up stones and stone him. And in this message, he identifies himself as being the father's son. He's the son of God.

Furthermore, he said of himself that he's the coming judge. All judgment's been given to him. Look what he says in verses 22 and 23, because now he sets himself forth as the judge. Many will say to me, in that day, what day? The judgment day. This is the one that they're amazed at his doctrine, and now in his doctrinal statements, he's identifying himself as the one who is the final judge over everybody. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, and by the way, when they will call him Lord, Lord, nobody's going to be rebuked for them saying that. He is the Lord. And he's the judge. And that day many will say unto me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Then will I profess unto them. I is the judge. I is the one who decides each case. I'm the one who sees the heart. I'm the one who sees the motivation behind the act. Then will I profess unto them as the judge, I never knew you, I never loved you, I never chose you, I never foreordained you to everlasting life. Depart from me. Ye that work iniquity. His judgment of these people is they were just workers of iniquity. That's all they were. They were religious. They were zealous. They sought to do things in the name of God, but they were not ever known by Christ himself. He's the judge. So he identifies himself, this is part of his doctrine. I'm the judge, I'm the one who will decide every case.

Now, I want you to look at four things in the end of this message. Four warnings, I would call them, in this passage that Matt read to us a little while ago.

Here's a warning about following the crowd. A warning about following the crowd. And that's in 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, the crowds, many there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

Straight means fixed, established. There is one gate that leads to eternal life. Our Lord Jesus said in John chapter 10, I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and go in and out, and find pasture.

Straight also presents the idea of that which is confining, or maybe we want to use the word kind of cramped. Not much room. There's no room for you and your baggage of supposed righteousness. There's no room. You can't get through the gate. And the Spirit of God strips us of all ideas of personal righteousness and goodness because all of that is just excess baggage that keeps you out.

One old writer said, it's not your sins that keeps you from the salvation of God, it is your supposed righteousness. that supposed goodness. You think that you've done something that will impress or has impressed God and based upon what God has seen that you have done or that you will do, God will let you into heaven.

It's a straight gate. It's a narrow way. Few there be that find it. It's a way of grace only. It's the way of Christ only. It's the way of the Scriptures only. It's the way of faith only. No works are involved here. The only works involved in the salvation of sinners is the works of Christ Himself. He obligated Himself to save us By His perfect life and His death of substitution and satisfaction, He obligated Himself to do that in the covenant of grace. He's the surety of the everlasting covenant.

Our salvation is by works, but it's not of works that we've done, but according to God's mercy that He has saved us.

There are many that go in or seek to go in at this gate. But it's the way to destruction. You say, but a lot of people, they seem sincere. I'd say the Pharisees who, the Sanhedrin who insisted that Jesus of Nazareth be crucified because he claimed to be the Son of God, I'd say they were sincere. That's pretty zealous to kill somebody. That's about as zealous you can be. I mean, it's one thing to argue with somebody about religion. It's another thing to strike out against them and kill them.

Pilate said to the Jews there in the Gospel of John, what shall I do with Jesus? who is called the Christ. They said, crucify him. That's what we want. We want him to die the worst death, the most painful death possible. Kill him. That is zeal. And Paul says, they have a zeal for God, but it's not according to godliness. It's not according to truth. What they preach is what men must do, not what God promised to do and what God covenanted to do. And they don't preach what Christ has already done. Finish the work of redemption.

And let's don't be mamby-pamby about these things. Say, well, I don't wanna upset people. I tell you what, people need to get upset. They need to be shocked. I think that's one of the most powerful things about Barnard's ministry was the shock therapy, right? The shock therapy. People need to be shaken up by the Word of God and unless we preach the Word of God, they're not gonna be shaking up.

Just because somebody is zealous, about religion, that doesn't mean they're saved. One of my neighbors, he's a nice guy, but he's a pastor and some kind of pastor in some kind of church. And I saw him Saturday and I said, hey, how you doing? He said, fine. He said, let me tell you where I'm going. I said, okay. He said, I'm going to pray with a family that's going overseas to be missionaries, and I'm going to go pray with them. I thought, you know, the master wrote about people like you. Why did I need to know that? That's none of my business. I don't know his true motivation, but I would say it's this. He wanted to put his good works out in front of me so I'd be impressed.

The Savior said, the things that you do, don't do them for the eyes of men. Isn't that what he said? Don't put them on display. I went back in the house and I said, you never guess what this guy's talking about. She said, why did he tell you that? I said, he just felt compelled to tell me. And according to the scriptures, according to what the Savior said in the Sermon on the Mount, apparently it was to be seen of men, to be recognized as somebody who's religious.

Who are you trying to impress anyway? I'm not trying to impress anybody. Because God is only impressed with his darling son. He's impressed with his faithfulness, with his righteousness, with his blood redemption. That's what God's impressed with. Nothing that I've done.

Christ warns about falling the crowd. It says many. And I look at religion today, there's many people in religion. And many people are loud, they're boisterous, they draw attention, many people do. But our Lord talks about few, few. He said to the little group that followed him, fear not little flock.

I was talking to Jason before the service. We were talking about millennialism, premillennial, amillennial, and postmillennial. And I'd like to think that postmillennial is right, and postmillennial is that we go through the kingdom And then Christ will come back and in the kingdom that scores of people will be saved. I hope that's true. I really do. Jonathan Edwards was a brilliant man. That's what he believed. And we were talking about Lorraine Bettner and I'm sure you've read Lorraine Bettner and several others of you have read Lorraine Bettner and I appreciated his writings as an old Presbyterian. Privileged to talk to several years ago.

Post-millennials, that there'd be a giant turning to Christ by the sovereign grace of God. But what's going on in religion today is anything but revival or true conversion. There's a lot of enthusiasm, there's a lot of people, but there's no gospel, not in what they say. And I would warn you, don't follow the crowds. They thrive. They thrive on excitement. They thrive on entertainment. I know how to get a crowd. Just entertain them. Just have a famous gospel singing group come. I'm not saying they can't sing, but I'm saying they don't sing gospel truth, except occasionally, and they don't believe what they're singing.

Don't follow the crowd. You follow the crowd, you follow them to hell. Straight is the gate, narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Who are the few? They're God's elect. They're chosen vessels for the Master's use. They're people to whom God has shown His free and sovereign grace. Don't follow the crowds.

And then secondly, here's a warning about false prophets. That's verses 15 through 19. And false prophets are likened to devouring wolves who destroy. They're like thorns and thistles. They hurt people. You say, well, these religious preachers on television, they do a lot of good. They do no good. They do no good whatsoever. Don't be so foolish as to watch these guys. That guy from Houston, don't watch him. Why would you give your time that God has given to you? Why would you use that time to watch him? He's like a therapist with a little bit of religion tossed in.

Osteen. He didn't know the gospel. He didn't preach the gospel. Jim, you shouldn't say that. Why shouldn't I say it? He's a false prophet. He didn't glorify God. I've listened to his messages. They said, ask him one time, how come you don't call people sinners? He said, I don't want to offend people that kind of language. We all make mistakes. And his mistake is he's not honest with people about the things of God. That's his mistake. And if you watch him, that's your mistake. And if you send money to him to support him, or if you support any false prophet, you'll perish with him. You be careful who you send your money to. Better be men who preach the gospel of God's grace.

Here's a warning about false prophets. He talks about here thorns and thistles. They do harm. They're not a good tree. They're a corrupt tree. It says in verse 18, a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. If you're listening to a preacher of the gospel, I have two of them right here tonight, three of them including me. If you listen to the messages that we preach and we're preaching the truth, and if you believe what we're preaching, you're safe. On the other hand, If you listen to a preacher who preaches error, you listen to him and you believe what he says, you're in trouble. You're the evil fruit. You see, people who believe what the preacher says, they're either good fruit or bad fruit, depending upon whether he's telling the truth or not.

Here's a warning about false prophets. No wonder John says in 1 John chapter 4, try the spirits. Try the spirits. You see, I've got a lot at stake in this. It's my soul. I don't want to listen to the wrong message, and I don't want to preach the wrong message. And there's something even more important than the safety of my soul, it's the glory of God. Who's glorifying God? You brag on man's will? Brag on man's decision? Who are we going to brag on? We better brag on the Lord and His grace. You can tell a false prophet, just listen to what he says. Lay his words down beside the word of God. Who's getting the glory?

Y'all, I said about everybody you listen, every preacher you ever listened to, whether it's Ron, Brother Allen, Brother Danny, me, Make sure that what we have to say is right out of the Word of God. If it isn't, then you better dismiss us. But if what we say is according to the Word of God and glorifying to the Trinity, glorifying to God, honoring to the Father who originated this salvation, Glorifying to the Son who redeemed sinners by His death, He accomplished redemption. Glorifying the Holy Spirit who regenerates and calls sinners to faith in Christ. Who are we preaching? We're not here just to take up time. Why are you supposed to go to church on Sunday? Is that all this is? Our Lord warned the false prophets. And then real quick, he warned about building our hopes for eternal life upon something we've done. And that's what it's all about here in verses 21 through 23.

A lot of people call Jesus Lord. Kenneth Copeland, who's one of the wealthier men in the United States. He closes his service. I've watched him. He says, make Jesus Lord. He calls him Lord. Well, he must be okay then. His messages are poisonous. They'll result in your death, eternal death. Not everybody who says, Lord, Lord, gonna enter into the kingdom of God. Our Savior's gonna say to a bunch of people, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. No, we didn't work iniquity, we was doing good things. And the Savior said, all you were doing was just working iniquity. The iniquity just piling up.

And then the last warning is about laying a false foundation. And you're familiar with this portion of scripture right at the end of this. Wise man and foolish man. The wise man builds upon the rock. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All, all other ground. It don't matter whether it's Baptist or Pentecostal or Presbyterian or Mormon or whatever it is, Every other way is sinking sand except Christ the rock. He's the rock of our salvation. He's the foundation of our salvation. We stand firm on Him. How long will He keep us? He will keep us forever, because the rock will hold us up.

We used to sing a little chorus. I'm on the rock, hallelujah. Did you ever sing that? I'm on the rock to stay. For he lifted me from the miry clay. I'm on the rock to stay. To stay. You see, the Holy Spirit, as it were, picked me up out of the miry clay and set my feet on a firm foundation. Christ the rock. He's a rock of our salvation.

Turn with me, and I won't expound upon that part of the passage, you know it well, but I want you to turn with me to Isaiah 28. And I'll wrap this up real quick here. Isaiah 28. Listen to what the Lord says. Isaiah 28, 16. Isaiah 28, 16, Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, pay attention now, listen up, I lay in Zion, I lay in the true church for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone. God tried him, said this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. The law tried him, He said, this is a perfect man. Satan tried him and found nothing in him with which he could work. Men tried him. Pilate tried him and said, I find no fault in this man. Millions had built their hopes upon him and have never been ashamed. He's a foundation stone, he's a tried stone, he's a precious cornerstone. Watch this, a sure foundation. I like things that are sure, where there's no doubt, no doubt. Well, he's the sure foundation. Nobody's ever built their hopes upon Christ Jesus and then went out into eternity to regret it. Never. Never.

This one who spake the words of the Sermon on the Mount, he's the one I trust. And the faith that I have in him is not of myself. I want to make that clear. I didn't have it. I wouldn't have it now if He hadn't given it to me and I wouldn't have it now if He didn't keep me believing. If the Lord took His hand off any of us, anybody, if He took His hand off of us, we'd have no hope. Lord, hold me fast. In fact, there's a song, He Will Hold Me Fast. You know that one, Marty? When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast, and He won't let me go. I'm on the rock. I'm on the rock. I build all my hopes upon Him. You can build yours on your baptism if you want to. That's sinking sand. You can build yours on your decision. Build yours upon the time you walked the aisle and made your Decision for Jesus, that's building on the sand. I build all my hopes on that one who is God Almighty, who stood in my place, who died the death that I deserve, who paid the debt that I owed, that if I'd spent a trillion years in hell, I could never pay the debt that I couldn't even begin to. I trust the debt payer. because his blood has washed me from my sins.

Well, let's sing