We'll be turning to Matthew chapter
7. Our text will be taken from there.
Matthew 7, we're continuing our series of the Sermon on the Mount
taken from Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. And we're at the point
now where we're at verse 15. We'll be looking at verses 15
through 20 today. And in our passage today, Christ
sets forth a warning at the very beginning of verse 15 with the
command to Beware of false prophets. And he proceeds from verse 15
then to instruct us how to tell the difference between the true
and the false. So accordingly, I've titled today's
message discerning the difference, discerning the difference. As
with the subject matter of this entire sermon, Christ is speaking
of the gospel of the kingdom, of the way of entrance into heaven
itself, and we'll see that, especially here in the immediate context. In this warning in verse 15,
it really should give us all reason to carefully examine our
own understanding of the subject at hand, the way of entrance
into heaven. That is, when we peel away all
the clutter, and just get down to what we believe to be the
ultimate determining factor regarding our own eternal destination,
heaven or hell. That's what we're being encouraged
here, I believe, to look at when he tells us to beware of false
prophets. You may remember from our previous messages from this
series, in Proverbs 16, 25, we're taught, there is a way that seemeth
right unto a man. But the end thereof, the end
of the way that would seem right to us all, are the ways of death. Now, think about that. That ought
to make us all think. If we have embraced a way that
leads to eternal life, then that means that we must have discovered
by God's providential intervention at some point in our lives that
we were mistaken about the way of salvation itself. We were
heading the wrong way. Because that's what the Bible
says. You know, the Bible's real clear that we all enter into
this world at enmity with God. Enemies, alienated from God.
By nature, as the children of wrath were told. So, it tells
us that we're all initially head away that seems right to us,
but the end is eternal death. And using myself as an example,
I know for the first 30-something years of my life, I truly thought
I was on my way to heaven. I had done my part. I had believed. I had accepted Jesus Christ,
at least as I knew him to be, as my Savior. But here's something
that's important to note about that experience back then was
there was nothing about it that required a complete reversal,
see, of the way that seemed right in my mind. And so as we pick
up here in Matthew 7, 15 today, recall that it was the way of
salvation to eternal life that Christ is addressing here. He
contrasted the way of eternal life to the broad way that leads
to destruction. In fact, let's begin our reading
there in verse 13, just to catch it in the context. Christ commands,
excuse me, in verse 13, enter ye in at the straight gate, S-T-R-A-I-T,
meaning a narrow passageway. For wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in
there at, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life. And few there be that find it.
And then as we begin our text for today, he says so. Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves." Now, right here in this one verse
15, I want you to consider, he's warning us there will be false
prophets. And as such, he's telling us
three things, I believe. He's saying discern, beware. And then secondly, he's saying
there's a deception. He says they are sheep in wolves'
clothing. They come in disguise. So we
say in discern, there's a deception and it's dangerous. He said,
because they're not what they seem, they're ravening wolves. That word beware is translated
from a Greek word, which means to take heed, to be cautious,
to pay attention, watch out, be discerning. And what is it
we're to beware of? This is important. See, it's
something deceptive. And how are we going to determine
the truth from the false? Well, he says, beware of false
prophets. That is, they are imposters.
They're prophets, see, in the sense that they claim to speak
God's word. They're instructing men on the
vital issues of salvation and eternal life itself. But their
way is a false way. That's why they're called false
prophets. So, in the immediate context, then, a false prophet
is any who claims to speak God's word, but either openly or with
varying degrees of subtleties, some very subtle. They direct
sinners to the broad road that leads to destruction, though
they suggest to their hearers, and look, most likely sincerely
believe, many do themselves, that they are speaking, say,
of a way to eternal life, and that's a deadly deception by
which the souls of many are devoured by ravening wolves, to use the
example there. The Apostle Peter wrote in 2
Peter 2.1, he said, but there were false prophets also among
the people, and he says, even as there shall be false teachers
among you. So just as Peter likened false
prophets to false teachers, The general understanding I found
in my study of this reference to prophets here in Matthew 7
is any who set themselves up to be teachers of others are
set up to be teachers of others. For a scriptural description
of a false prophet of old, be turning to Jeremiah chapter 23.
Hold your place there in Matthew 7. And as you turn, what I want
you to see here is how misguided we would be to assume that the
only false prophets that we need to be aware of would be those
who would maliciously or intentionally try to mislead us. In Jeremiah
23, look down at verse 16. There we read, Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that
prophesy unto you. They make you vain. That word
vain there means they lead you astray. They make you vain. They
speak a vision, he says, of their own heart and not out of the
mouth of the Lord. They say still, that word means
peace. They're saying this way that
seems right, peace. It is right. You're heading on
the road, the right road, see. They say still unto them that
despise me. The Lord hath said, and the sense
of this verse is he's saying, they say, the Lord hath said,
ye shall have peace. And they say unto everyone that
walketh out after the imagination of his own heart, according to
the way that seemed right to him. They say, no evil shall
come upon you. And then look down in verse 26.
He says, how long shall this be in the heart of the prophets
that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of what?
the deceit of their own hearts. So we see he's speaking here
of men who prophesy or teach what they sincerely believe.
They speak from their hearts. They tell folks, this is what
the Lord hath said. If you look on further down there
in Jeremiah 23 verse 30, we read, Therefore, behold, I am against
the prophets, saith the Lord, that do what? That steal my words,
every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, he saith. You see, they use this book,
the very words of God. And of course, that adds to the
deception. Now, back to Matthew 7, if you
consider the context again, immediately following this verse, if you
look down in verse 22, we see Christ setting forth how some
of these very false prophets that he's speaking of, the ones
of whom we are to beware, that they sadly approach the judgment
fully expecting to be admitted into heaven themselves. They
say, in verse 22, 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. And Christ says, then I'll profess
unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Now, these were prophesying in
the name of Christ, and yet he says he knew them not. You see,
someone just possessing a little worldly-wise street smart, so
to speak, eventually can probably see through those who would try
to pull the wool over their eyes, to use the analogy of the sheep
here. And look, certainly such con
artists, they do fall into the category of an imposter, a false
prophet or a false teacher. But in our context, I believe
he's speaking of men who are sincere in their religion. They're
just sincerely wrong. And we get that again from the
immediate context of verses 21 through 23. So we can't determine
then the truth from the fault simply by assessing their sincerity
or integrity are based upon their well-deserved reputations as
judged in the eyes of others. Listen, those of you who know
me and trust that I wouldn't wouldn't lie to you. I'm basically
honest most of the time. You can't judge whether I'm true
or false based on that. That's not the standard of judgment.
Now with regards to their deceptiveness, they're described as those who,
what, come in sheep's clothing. In Hebrews chapter 11, most of
you know that's called by many the Hall of Fame of Faith. It's
a chapter that relates a lot of the Old Testament saints information
on them. And we read in verse 37 there,
those that were persecuted, the true saints of old, says they
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were
slain with the sword. It says they wondered about in
sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,
and it goes on. And from that passage, we see
that these Old Testament saints, they literally wore sheep's clothing. There's a verse, and I don't
recall it, that in my study I ran across in the Old Testament where
it was talking about false prophets of old, and it said they wear
long clothing. And the commentary I read on that said they actually
wore long clothing made of wool because they were trying to emulate
these that we read about in Hebrews 11, who wore sheep's clothing. You see, they, so what we know
from that, see, is a false prophet who, like we, says, I grew my
father Abraham. I have the faith that Moses has,
Noah, all those men mentioned in Hebrews 11. And look, in addition
to this literal understanding of clothing, sheep's clothing,
he may well be alluding here to the sheep that Christ mentions
in John chapter 7. The elect of God, those, he said,
were given to him by the Father and he said, who hear his voice. He said, my sheep hear my voice
and they'll come to me. So whether we take it literally
or figuratively, either way, it's clear it's referring, see,
to those who likewise claim, perhaps even sincerely believe
in their own hearts, that they too, they are among those sheep
who have heard his voice in the gospel message. But these false
prophets then must be like these he's spoken of down in verses
21 through 23, meaning they're just sadly mistaken. So as we
consider verse 15, we recognize that simply because one speaks
and teaches others in accordance with their own true, sincere,
heartfelt conviction, like those preachers mentioned here, it
doesn't change the reality of what they are on the inside.
They may mean well, but they are what they are. He says that
inwardly they are ravening wolves. That word ravening is derived
from a word that means to take for oneself, to seize or take
away. It comes from the word, I think
it was rapacious, which is like taking prey. In other words,
they lead astray. So it's clear from Matthew 7,
15 that there are those who would deceive us and they would lead
us down the broad road that leads to destruction under the presumption
now that we're actually on the road to eternal life. And that
speaks of a danger then of eternal significance. Excuse me, I can't
get the word out. It's a danger that we might remain
fooled. And you notice I said remain
fooled because that's what the scripture says of us all. That's
why the scripture says, except you repent, you'll perish. You
see, there's a way that seems right, but it goes to death.
So we all start out that way. But the danger here is that we
might remain fooled and then devoured by such ravenous wolves
that outwardly appear to us as harmless, well-intentioned sheep. So how do we discern the difference?
Well, he tells us. How do we distinguish the truth
from the false? Verse 16, ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns? You don't go to a thorn bush
to pick a grape. You go to a grape vine. 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." And I believe that is referring to
their ultimate and eternal destruction there. He says, wherefore by
their fruits you shall know them. You shall know them by their
fruits." What fruits? It needs some explanation. Some
suggest that would refer to their converts, that they have fruit,
converts. But we know that can't be so
if we consider Noah. The Bible says of Noah, he was
a preacher of righteousness. But we'd have to call him a false
prophet, see, because he had no converts. Some then think
that it refers to outward character and conduct of a person. And
we know from Romans there is a sense where the fruit analogy
is used to refer to those works of obedience that God finds acceptable. He calls one of them fruit unto
God and one of them fruit unto death. But what you have is you
have a group here that does good works. good things as measured
by men. They visit the sick, they give
to the poor, they pray fervently, they worship. You've got a group
over here and they do the same. They give, they pray, they worship,
they visit the sick. He calls one of them fruit unto
death and one of them fruit unto God. So what we discover from
that is it has to be something more specific in particular that
he's referring to here. And I wish I had time to go into
that Romans passage, because it's rich with information. But
you guys know how long-winded I am as it is, so we won't go
there. But Paul spoke to Timothy about corrupt men who had a form
of godliness. And in Matthew 23, Christ said
of the scribes and Pharisees, now remember, they were considered
by many, still are, to be among the most religious folks who
ever lived, the best keepers of the law. They did it all outwardly. He said of them, they appear
outwardly righteous unto men, but within, he says, they were
full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Now hold your place in Matthew
7 and be turning over to Luke chapter 6. And while you're turning
now, something we need to recognize is that we are all trees according
to this analogy. Good trees, corrupt trees. But
we know that the fruit that is produced, it cannot be distinguished
by its outward manifestation. See, all we have to do is look
down at those preachers there in verses 21 through 23. They
did many wonderful works, yet Christ said he knew them not.
Their works that appeared outwardly commendable before men, he called
them works of iniquity, sin. Romans would call it fruit unto
death. So this proves to us that he's
not suggesting here we can distinguish the truth from the false by looking
at that outward character and conduct. It wouldn't be deceptive
if you could. Here in the context of Matthew
7, the fruit spoken of is that which is produced by a prophet
or a teacher in that role. That's the subject matter. Beware
of false prophets. Now what does a prophet, preacher,
or teacher produce? A prophet prophesies, a teacher
teaches, a preacher preaches. In other words, they tell forth.
They provide instruction to others to point them to a way of salvation,
a way that supposedly leads to eternal life. And in so doing,
what are they doing? They're setting forth doctrine. And here in Matthew 7, that is
the fruit by which we are to distinguish the true from the
false by their doctrine. their body of faith. What they
purport, see here, to be the way of eternal life, the way
to heaven itself, that which they believe and teach others
is the real determining factor, what really makes the difference
as to whether one spends an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell. Now, to support that, I want
you to look with me at that parallel passage in Luke 6. Beginning
there in verse 43, Christ says, For a good tree bringeth not
forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit. Similar language. For every tree
is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather
figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. And now here as
we move into verse 45, I want you to pay particular attention
to how Luke's record explains what this fruit is. It said a
good man, speaking of the good tree, the analogy of the good
tree, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth
forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For of the abundance
of the heart his mouth speaketh. You see, so from this account,
we know that this good man or evil man, what he brings forth
is the fruit that identifies whether he's true or he's false.
And what is brought forth is that which is spoken, which is
told forth in his capacity as a prophet, a preacher, or a teacher.
It's what is prophesied. It's what is taught. And he says
that this fruit that is brought forth, it comes from the treasure
of the heart of which the mouth speaks. So ultimately, if you
think about it, men with any degree of integrity, they can
do no other. We eventually will measure on
that which we believe in our hearts makes the vital difference. Look back now at Matthew 7, there
in verses 17 and 18. Christ says that a good tree
brings forth good fruit, a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit,
and then he says a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. You see, it
can't mean our outward works of obedience, because the Bible
also tells us, if you say you don't sin, you're a liar. Paul, the apostle Paul, said,
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of
death? You see, but here he says this
good fruit cannot bring forth evil fruit. So we see again what
he's speaking to, and it's not the outward works of individuals. It comes from the essence of
the tree, from the heart, to apply the analogy here. I have
a peach tree on my property, and I'm not an arborist or tree
scientist, whatever you call them. But I know pretty much
that's a peach tree, and the most compelling evidence is that
when the season comes around, there's a peach hanging there.
I know it by the fruit. And if we made the silly assumption
that that peach tree could reason and say, I know I'm a peach tree,
but I think this year I'll make apples, he couldn't. It's not what he is. He said,
he can't do it because it's a peach tree. Likewise, see, it's not
the good fruit that makes the tree good. The fruit only manifests
the type of tree, whether it's good or corrupt. And remember,
we're talking here. The fruit is their doctrine.
So we see that the fruit's only good then if it's produced by
one whom God has made a good tree. And it's not called good
fruit because now all of a sudden God has enabled it to meet the
standard of perfection. It's not because God has now
somehow enabled the sinner to improve his or her performance
to an acceptable level, although their performance may very well
improve, but not We're talking about a holy God who requires
perfection. The believers' best efforts at
obedience. And look, to stay with the context,
the best efforts of true gospel preachers and teachers in directing
others to God's way of salvation. I'm talking about not false prophets.
I'm talking about God's preachers. A way conditioned on Christ alone,
the doctrine of Christ. Both of these examples fall miserably
short. a meeting standard of perfection,
see, that's required before a holy God. You've heard it said before
that the best sermon by a true gospel preacher that's ever been
delivered by a mortal man is full of enough sin. See, sin
penetrates to the heart, the motives, our pride, who we are. The best one has enough sin in
it to condemn us if we were judged thereby. No, it's good fruit,
see, because it's produced by a good tree. One who has been
judicially accounted perfect, righteous, so that he and his
efforts then are made acceptable before a holy God, not based
on the efforts themselves, not based upon anything that proceeds
from them, but based upon the perfection, the righteousness
of a suitable substitute being reckoned to their account, that
which the Lord Jesus Christ alone accomplished in his life and
in his death on the cross, they are accepted in Christ. To use
the scriptural language, they are accepted, see, in the beloved. To give you an example of how
deceptive and what a grave danger this really is, consider in 2
Corinthians 11, Paul wrote there in verse 13, for such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. And he said, in no marvel for
Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore,
it is no great thing if his ministers, Satan's ministers, also be transformed
as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according
to their work. So you're talking about wolves in sheep's clothing. How are we to beware of them
if they appear to be ministers of the very righteousness that
Romans 1, 16 and 17 tells us identifies the gospel message,
that which is revealed in the gospel. And that's what he's
saying they do. They come and they actually transform
themselves to be ministers of that righteousness. In other
words, they can set forth the true doctrine of Christ. Well,
the key here is the word transformed. It means, has the connotation
of a temporary change. The point is, they can't hang
there. You see, out of the treasure of the heart, the mouth will
ultimately speak. A corrupt tree eventually must
speak from that evil treasure. And so we're taught in 2 John
9, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not, abideth, that means
stay there. They're like the apostle Paul
who said, for I've determined not to know anything among Y'all excuse me. I'm glad my
daughter's not here. She makes fun of me when I get
all choked up. But this is serious stuff. He
said, I've determined not to know anything among ye save Christ
and Him crucified. In other words, they stay there.
They have to stay there. He said, whosoever transgresses
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. See, so ultimately they're true to their own heart. They
just can't abide in the doctrine of Christ. So that begs the obvious
question, what is the doctrine of Christ? Well, it's what Christ
has delivered throughout His sermon. So now we're going to
do a complete review of all 18 messages I brought from the Sermon
on the Mount. Look down at the end of chapter
7 in verse 28. It reads, And it came to pass,
when Jesus had ended these sayings, The people were astonished at
what? His doctrine. See, that shows
that's what he's been bringing. That's the doctrine of Christ,
the true gospel preacher, so we can identify the truth from
falsehoods, just what he's been teaching here. Now, if my count's
correct, this is actually the 18th message in this series I've
brought, and I know you're going to yell, we know. And I've learned
a lot from all the study that's been associated. I just wish
I could communicate half of what I've learned as a result of this
study. But those of you who have heard most of these, you also
know that he's really stayed on the same subject throughout.
It's just one simple message. It's the message, it's the gospel
of grace, of salvation conditioned on Christ alone. If we go back
to the Beatitudes, I won't go through the whole 18 sermons,
At the beginning of the sermon, you know, we have those verses
that begin, blessed are, speaking of evidences of those who are
the eternally blessed of God. It says, blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That is, they're
poor in spirit. They found themselves spiritually
destitute with nothing to plead before a holy God. They were
bankruptcy. And the only thing they could plead for was mercy.
That is mercy, and as we've studied, that mercy is not just unmerited
favor of God, it's the unmerited favor of God by way of satisfaction. Satisfaction to God's law and
justice, the perfection that is required and only rendered,
produced by the Lord Jesus Christ and by him alone. That word is,
it's the same word as propitiation. meaning that which removes God's
wrath, mercy is. So it's not just unmerited favor,
it's unmerited favor by something that only Christ could and did
accomplish. He said there in the Beatitudes
that these eternally blessed good trees, they're those who
are brought to hunger and thirst after righteousness. He said,
blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. And that If you think of it,
that rings true to the whole theme of the sermon. It's the
theme of the Sermon on the Mount is the gospel of the kingdom,
this rule or reign, dominion, grace reigning through righteousness.
And I'll point you one more time to the verse on the front of
your bulletin, where it says grace reigning through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's his righteousness.
Nothing added to it. Nothing in addition to it, nothing
in place of it. And Christ made it clear that
all of the salvation of any who enters heaven is conditioned
on him. Remember in chapter five, verses 17 and 18, he said, that's
why I came. Now, how dare we try to usurp
and provide something in addition to the very reason he came? He
said, I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it perfectly. Every jot and tittle, dot and
every I, cross and every T. And he goes on to say, remember,
that except your efforts, your righteousness shall exceed that
of the best of the best. The scribes and the Pharisees
put together, he says, you'll in no case enter into heaven.
And then in verse 48, he continued from there all the way to 48
saying, you know, the law says don't murder. And I say, if you're
angry with your brother, you're guilty of all. And then he answers
the question that should be in your mind at verse 48. Well,
how much must my righteousness exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees if I'm going to get into heaven? He says, be you
therefore perfect, even as your father, which is in heaven, is
perfect. That's what God requires. Now,
where does that leave a sinner? By definition, a sinner has no
hope of producing such a righteousness. You see, if one believes this,
they know that neither themselves or any other sinner can do anything
that will make the difference. And you're convinced then that
you have to look to Jesus for all of it, the author and finisher
of our faith, and you even know that the looking itself is excluded. Because there's nothing that
can be added to this perfection. You need mercy, real mercy. You need this perfect righteousness. And you being a sinner in fault
and deed, you cannot produce it. And yet Christ commands us
here in this same chapter we're in now to ask, seek, and knock. And He asserts. We saw that many
strive, well you looked at the verses, where many strive to
enter into heaven, but it says, the scripture says they're unable.
So we know it's not just desiring heaven. He's talking about something
specific. And of that something he's talking
about, he says, if you ask, you'll receive. If you seek, you'll
find. If you knock, it'll be open to you. But he's told us
what to seek in chapter 16, verse 33, when he said, Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness. You see, that refers, that righteousness
that we're to seek is the very satisfaction that Christ alone
made by his perfect obedience unto death. Only his person and
work merit any favor before a holy God, and only his vicarious death,
see, removes the guilt of sin. There's no merit before a holy
God to be found anywhere other than in the impeccable perfect
obedience and that infinitely valuable payment for sin that
was made by Christ the God-man. But these false prophets, preachers,
or teachers, of which we are to beware, they're called false. That word is pseudo. That means
they're suggesting something to the contrary, in opposition
to the doctrine of Christ. So while invoking His name, Lord,
Lord, they say, and twisting His own words as we saw, they
steal my words, God says. They suggest that salvation is
ultimately attained based upon some condition or requirement
that the sinner is able or enabled to meet. They'll say that Jesus
died for their sins and their trust in Jesus as I did. But
the truth of the matter is when you peel it all back, the thing
that makes the difference in whether they go to heaven or
hell is whether or not they did their little part. You see, they're
telling hearers that something other than or in addition to
that one righteousness produced by Christ alone possesses merit
before God. They may meet even and assume
that they need that righteousness, but they can do something to
procure it, which means they add merit to it. It's something
that would make them distinguish from those who perish. other
than that which Christ alone did. So they tell them that the
determining factor in their eternal destiny is ultimately seen in
their hands, at least in some small way, or to some degree,
and that's a false way. Look, it's to promote if you'll
do your part, be it ever so small, if you'll believe, if you'll
accept Jesus, invite him into your heart and life, say the
sinner's prayer, be a good person, Keep the Ten Commandments. Try
your best to keep the law. Get serious about spiritual things.
Clean up your act. Try to obey God. Pray. Pray daily. Confess Christ by
walking an aisle. Confess Christ in baptism. Look,
any of those things, any combination of those things, all of those
things are any other condition or requirement that might be
met is prescribed by them as they prescribe what their particular
religion or denomination requires for them to enter heaven. And
being deceived themselves, they tell people that this is what
God says and that they shall not surely die. And that describes
the broad road that leads to destruction. But those who enter
the straight gate and the narrow way that leads to eternal life
See, as they are convinced of the impossibility of either their
guilt before God being removed and or their being found acceptable
before God based upon anything that proceeds from them, anything
other than the righteousness that Christ established in His
life and death and that being reckoned to their account, well,
such one has nowhere else to turn. You see, a good tree cannot
bring forth corrupt fruit. They need that righteousness. They need the righteousness of
God to be made theirs by God's judicial imputation of it to
their account. They need mercy, and they know
that salvation is not in their hands, but rather in the hands
of a sovereign God, a sovereign God who said in Exodus 33, and
it was quoted again in Romans 9, he's going to have mercy,
he says, on whom he will. Well, in closing, be turning
to Isaiah 61. This is a great passage that I've referenced
in past sermons. Some respond to this message
of sovereign grace by thinking, well, I'm glad I don't believe
what you're saying. What that means is I'd be in a pickle.
I'd hate to think that I could do nothing to procure my own
eternal destiny. What if I want to go to heaven?
How do I get there? How frightful that must be. But
if you'll stop and think about it, and look, and if we'll be
honest, when confronted with the gospel of sovereign grace,
that's what every one of us thinks initially. But if you'll think
about this, the audacity, what we're really saying when we think
those thoughts, is that there is no valid motive for me to
worship God, seek Him, to obey Him, to do anything, unless I
can get something back for it. That's what that says. And that's
a reflection of our inherent sinful nature. We're ate up with
self. You see, there's really no fear
there as long as one continues to think that way, because what
they fail to realize is they won't have to worry about being
frightened by that as long as they think that way, because
none will adopt this message, this doctrine of Christ, God's
way of salvation. apart from God, doing a miraculous
work of grace in their heart. They have to be born again. And
when He does, He causes them then to bow at His feet humbly. And look, that gift of faith
and repentance that would cause them to bow, it's the certain
fruit and effect of what Christ bought for them, what He merited
for them in His life and death. And so this revelation of faith
They discover it is only given to those for whom Christ lived
and died, those whose sins he bore, those for whom righteousness
was established and imputed. So no one who truly pleads for
mercy, see, if you plead for mercy, you will find it. No one fails to find it. Because what happens is they
realize they've been blessed to have something revealed to
them by God's Spirit that they know they would never have naturally
chosen. They would not, it's impossible
for us to shuck off our own natural sinful determination to imagine
that salvation, that we can still make it happen for ourselves
and turn away from the way that naturally seems right to a man,
but the end thereof is death. Nothing will make us humbly bow
at the feet of a sovereign God, see, not one who's sovereign
in all things, not one who's sovereign in salvation. It takes
a work of grace for us to do that. You see, these who do,
they were made good trees when they were justified by the blood
of Christ at the cross of Calvary. And then in time, in each successive
generation, God reveals this blessing to them. And so their
fruit, their doctrine, is the doctrine of Christ. The truth
which God has graciously brought their way by the preaching of
the gospel. And he gives them spiritual life, all its faculties,
see, eyes to see, he says in the scripture, ears to hear,
hearts and minds to understand and value that which previously
they would not. And to do so at the exclusion
of anything else, he puts it in their hearts. And it may seem
a disturbing thing to conclude that you're really totally at
God's mercy when it comes to your own eternal destiny, but
once so convinced, you know, the objects of God's mercy, they
bow to that truth and they rejoice because they know that nothing
else will do for them a sinner. They need a suitable substitute
and they know that only those for whom Christ lived and died,
to whom righteousness was imputed, only they are able, made able
to see and embrace this radical change of heart and mind so they
find themselves in that number. And their distress turns into
comfort and assurance. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Christ said that all that the
Father gave him shall come to him, and they, and only they,
will. Well, there in Isaiah 61, beginning
in verse 1, we read, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the
meek. Now, this is Christ speaking
through the prophet here. And he says, he has sent me to
bind up the broken hearted. And then he continues a list
of things that he was sent to do. And picking up in verse three,
he says, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called what?
Trees. Trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord. that He might be glorified. See,
God will not share His glory. The planting is of the Lord.
As Jonah said, salvation is of the Lord. And every tree of righteousness
that He planted, they will bow to that truth in God-given faith,
submitting to God's way of salvation in Christ alone and repenting
for ever having imagined anything else. I don't know if you noticed
in our text, the Lord only presents two alternatives here. He says
we're all either corrupt trees are good trees, trees of righteousness
planted by the Lord. So I pray that all who hear this
message will be blessed by God to discern the difference.