Sermon on the Mount
“Entering the Kingdom Part 2”
Matthew 7:21 – 8:3
Introduction
Jesus tells us something different, as we talked about last Sunday from Matthew 7: 15-20. He warned us all to be on guard and watch out for false prophets, preachers.
Paul also placed emphasis on these warnings in 1 Timothy; Titus; Romans 16:17-20; Ephesians 4: 14-15; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Phil. 4:1-5; Acts 20:19-31; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 3:17-18.
[These references are in your inserts].
It is somewhat easy to be accorded the status of Evangelical with out having been born again. I’m using the term Evangelical in what I consider its proper definition: “a person dedicated to promoting the good news about Jesus Christ. Combined, the description "evangelical Christian" is intended to indicate a believer in Jesus Christ who is faithful in sharing and promoting the good news.”
In Matthew 28: 19-20, Jesus commissioned the eleven disciple to go and make disciples of all nations . . . in essence all of us are to go and proclaim the good news and keep making disciples, and baptizing them in the named of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
An individual who hears the Gospel, believes the Bible is divinely inspired, infallible, who subscribes to the teaching of the depravity of man, the inerrancy of Scripture, the substitutionary death & atonement of Christ, salvation by the unmerited grace through faith in Christ, the literal existence of heaven & hell, the personal visible return of Christ to set up His kingdom; believe in the proclamation of the gospel & making disciples - why would then anyone willfully take up the narrow way apart from being born again?
Doing that, for many, could impair a comfortable life style - there are a lot that dominate the religious media. And billions are spent annually on publications etc for recording artist alone for the sell of thousands of CD’s.
Even Christian book stores, the bottom line is its PL.
Jesus saves, He also sells.
The Biblical life style is a good way to live - It isn’t surprising that it attracts those who practice its style without really knowing its inner realities —
We, the human race, have an incredible ability or capacity for self delusion. That is best demonstrated in the lives of many Christians who are not born again.
Soloman writes in proverbs, “There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, yet is not washed clean.” (Proverbs 30:12).
John Newton said: “If I ever reach heaven I expect to find some wonders there: first to meet some I had not thought to see there; second, to miss some I had thought to meet there; & third, the greatest wonder of them all, to find myself there.”
Our Lord anticipated the problem of false profession by those in the church & deals with it here at the end of His Sermon on the Mount.
This is a very strong driving warning against getting side tracked from the true faith. In verses 13-20 we saw last week where Jesus warned of the dangers from the outside - Jesus now warns us, of the dangers that comes from ourselves. They are, basing our salvation on lip service, and on lifestyle.
Religious Lip Service (21-23)
Mark read this morning our Scripture from Matthew 7: 21-29. In verses 21-23 Jesus holds up the example of people who give great professions of belief as they stand in front, before Jesus Christ on the day of judgment, but will be rejected.
John Stott gives four points on what makes this confession remarkable. 1) - It’s polite, they address Jesus as Lord, Lord - Even today it is a courteous tolerant way to refer to Christ. 2) - The confession is orthodox; “Lord”, (Kurios) caning ‘Sir”, also it is a divine title. 3) - The confession is fervent, “Lord, Lord!” It’s enthusiastic & given with zeal. And 4) - The confession is public; it’s made by those professing believers in front of everyone, not in some private setting with Jesus Christ confessing their allegiance.
This is a modal confession, a beautiful one. So what is wrong with it? Nothing really.
But correct Orthodox belief isn’t going to give one eternal life. That isn’t saying that correct belief is not necessary for salvation - On the contrary, it is, yes.
Romans 10: 9-10 Paul makes it clear -if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Anyone who refuses to say Lord, Lord will not ever enter the Kingdom - All true Christians say Lord, Lord.
But then, not all who say Lord, Lord are true Christians - Intellectual Orthodoxy does not a true Christian make. Intellectual, head knowledge is not an indication of saving faith.
You can be correct in your belief about Christ’s nature & person, His substitutionary death and atonement, His resurrection, have fought against heretics & still not be truly saved.
All the zeal & fervent emotions doesn’t bring eternal life - Remarkable works doesn’t bring eternal life; prophesying, preaching doesn’t prove a thing.
Ballam hired himself out; gave a correct message but he was hired & was a sinner, (Numbers 22 - 25).
Saul was used by God when he was under the spirit of prophecy but yet was lost.
A preacher can be fervent simply because he like his outline & likes to move people; but that doesn’t prove anything about the man himself.
These prophesying believers say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?
Can you do that and be outside the kingdom?
Luke 10:17 shows that Judas had such power. This is when the seventy returned and said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” - Jesus may allow power to course through a man though the man himself is lost.
In Matthew 24:24, false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. — Paul gives a similar example in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
A man can be able to do great things, get great results, but that says nothing about his salvation.
There are thousands who go around claiming that in Christ they have supernatural powers - Many go around using Jesus’ name - That in itself proves nothing.
Ephesians 2:2 still holds true today and tomorrow - you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
Orthodoxy, zeal, & great displays of spiritual power prove nothing.
At the beginning of verse 22 Jesus says “many” who do these things; He is going to reply to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
Sadly, many, multitudes of Christians are not born again - They are lost!
How is all this possible? 1)- They practice lawlessness, in verse 21 he gave a more positive reason - the one “who does the will of the Father, that one will enter the kingdom.
There are a lot of religious people out there in the world, including “evangelical Christians”, lost because they don’t do the will of God.
Jesus is referring to, not salvation by works, but in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, to the Beatitudes & the deep ethical, spiritual obedience found in God’s kingdom.
Jesus reveals God’s will in the Sermon on the Mount as having a profound heart obedience that isn’t just on the surface but spread throughout & present in every part of our inner being.
Can we test ourselves on this? Sure can.
Don’t look at the outward results, or the miracles, or your creedal orthodoxy -
Hey, I’m saved because Jesus He won’t let me go; I was picked before the creation of the universe; because of the statement of faith where you attend church; No, look to see if your life conforms to the character of the kingdom.
The Beatitudes of God —
Are you poor in spirit? Are you meek? Do you have that positive quality, strength to say “yes I am a sinner. No matter what others do to me I will stand up for truth & for God & for others?
Do you have merciful spirit? Are you compassionate to those hurting & lost & in physical need?
Here’s the big one, well, it is for me - Do you forgive or do you hold on to your grudges as your dearest possession. Do you continually accuse, judge, condemn?
How do you respond to Jesus’ statement when He said back in 5:20 - unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Now Jesus was severe with the Pharisees, calling them “whitewashed tombs,” “hypocrites”, & “sons of the devil,”- That’s what He points to as He raises the bar for righteousness.
This statement is not about earning our way into heaven - It speaks to the function of righteousness & the law of God in the life of a Christian,
Christ fulfilled the law perfectly in a way that the Pharisees, for all their being careful to do everything right, never could! -
Jesus’ flawless obedience counts for those who trust in Him, just as if they had perfectly kept the law themselves.
There’s more - Jesus calls Christians to a deep understanding of & radical obedience to the law as reflective of the character of God. Christ fulfilled the law perfectly in a way that the Pharisees, for all their being careful to do everything right, never could! -
Jesus’ flawless obedience counts for those who trust in Him, just as if they had perfectly kept the law themselves.
We cannot treat God’s law lightly because how we view God’s law indicates how we view God Himself.
The righteousness that we have through Christ exceeds that of the Pharisees because their obedience did not come from the heart. That is the mark that we have been saved & will enter the kingdom.
This righteousness we get exceeds that of the Pharisees in kind rather than degree or scale.
Those who are in Christ have been saved from the law through Jesus Christ; we fulfilled the law through Him, as the necessary means of salvation.
This is beautiful, & it’s exactly what our souls need, it is the perfect medicine.
How about you? This is truly the only gift that has no strings attached – God Himself paid Himself the cost for the redemption of His creation. Look to Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, God, Savior and you will have eternal life……
We’ll continue next week with the remainder of this message.
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