Download Matthew – Part 1, Lesson 4

Matthew, Part 1
THE KING AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Lesson 4
David Arthur
PRACTICING YOUR IDENTITY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
What does it mean to “seek first the kingdom of heaven”? What does it mean to seek His righteousness? Practice
His righteousness? What are we called to do when God says that we are to be” perfect” even as He, our heavenly
Father is perfect? That is what we are going to look at today as we open up the Word of God in Matthew 6 and 7.
Let's begin, though, by starting in Matthew 1, and let's do a review and catch our way up to Matthew 6.
Matthew 1 & 2
We are introduced to the King. In a significant verse, not necessarily a key verse, but a significant verse, which kind
of captures the essence of the introduction of this King when we're told what Hs name will be. (1:21) His name will be
called Jesus. And do we remember what Jesus literally translates out to be? “God saves”. And Joseph is told, “You
will have a son, and His name will be Jesus, and this is what He will do. He will save his people from their sins.” So
we have this introduction as King, and He's not just one who will sit on a throne and exercise His authority and power
to build up His own kingdom, but He is one who is coming for His people. His kingship is to rescue, to save his
people from destruction, from their own sins that lead them down a path of destruction. Okay. That's chapters 1 & 2.
Matthew 3 & 4
What else are we introduced to? The kingdom. Twice we're told what is preached by both John the Baptist and by
Jesus. Do you remember this message? ( 3:2 & 4:17) What is that message? REPENT. Why should we repent?
The kingdom of heaven is at hand or it is near. It's close. So, we have a message of a king who is coming. He is
coming to save His people from their sins. He is going to bring with Him a Kingdom that we'll find out that involves our
repentance. A kingdom that requires us to repent in order to be a part of it.
Matthew 5
Then in chapter 5 we started a series which we will go through today, chapters 5-7, and we described this as being
the what of the kingdom? Does anyone remember? Yes. The laws of the kingdom. Or you could say the way of the
kingdom. So last week we looked at chapter 5 and we unpacked the Beatitudes, the blesseds. And we got to verse
20, and I'm sure you had great conversation in your class. “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses
that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” That little nugget of a verse is buried in a
seabed filled with the blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who are mourning, those who are gentle and
humble, those who are persecuted. A list of blessings you would think don't go together. We're surprised by this list.
We don't normally consider people who are being persecuted as being blessed. We don't. That doesn't fit our ideas.
But He says yes- you're blessed!
And then He says you are the salt and the light of the earth. But we are to have righteousness. This is my -- the cross
is my code for righteousness. We are to have righteousness that surpasses what they thought at the time was the
standard… way up here. The righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. Remember, these were the guys who
wore their righteous on their outward appearance, so to speak. They were very outspoken about how righteous they
were. They wanted their acts of righteousness to be demonstrated. They wanted their acts of righteousness to be
seen and observed, and Jesus is saying-- your righteousness has to SURPASS, not match, not come within a graded
level there. But literally, go beyond the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees.
Matthew 6… RIGHTEOUSNESS
So, we're going to look at this practicing righteousness. And what I want to do is I want to wrap it around the idea of
what does it really mean “to seek first his kingdom.” We saw that in our text this week. Matthew 6:33, very popular
Christian verse. But what I want to ask is… what is seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness. What does that
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look like? Does the text answer that for us? In order for us to do that we need to make a definition of righteousness.
Let's think about righteousness. Let's back up to chapter 5 and righteousness shows up before. It shows up in the
baptism, but I want to take you to chapter 5. Here are a couple of instances of righteousness. ( 5:6) This is in one of
the blesseds. Jesus says “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what? Righteousness. For they shall be
satisfied.” So there's a picture here. What is someone who is hungry and thirsty about? What are they driven
towards? That which will bring them satisfaction. So the imagery that we have here is someone who is driven. They
are anticipating. They are eagerly working their way towards. They have an inner desire that is showing up and
manifesting itself in their actions and their direction. Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty. Those who are
seeking and pursuing … Righteousness. So we see righteousness as something we are to pursue. It is something
that we are to be driven towards.
Another mention of righteousness (5:10), “Blessed are those who have been persecuted,” Why? “For the sake of
righteousness.” So what do we pick up about righteousness there? What comes to those who hunger, thirst, seek,
and pursue righteousness? Persecution. Interesting. Righteousness is not something that we pursue. It's not
something we're driven towards, but it's also something that brings the effects and the consequences from the world’s
perspective of persecution. Yet we know its blessing.
And we also have in verse 20…It says “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes
and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” So, here we have righteousness in the sense of
something that is again pursued, but it is something that is a requirement for…. entrance into heaven. So, now we
have -- say if we were building a definition we would have to tie righteousness to the kingdom of heaven. That these
things go together. So, you don't enter the kingdom of heaven without righteousness. You don't go to the kingdom of
heaven in order to get righteousness, righteousness is somehow tied to the entrance of this thing we call the kingdom
of heaven.
Well, in all of this and all of the New Testament, if we were to go through and look at righteousness there is something
that we need to see. It implies relationship. This was eye-opening for me. In other words, righteousness is not
simply working your way down a check list of to-do's or not to-do's. It does involve our actions. It does involve our
pursuit. But righteousness implies a relationship. Why do we seek righteousness? We seek righteousness because
that is what our God is. We saw this last week out of Leviticus. We are to be holy. Which could be an Old Testament
kind of synonym for righteousness. We're to be holy. Why? Because God is holy. We finished last week looking at 1
Peter 1 and saw that again. That's not just an old covenant, an Old Testament, concept. We are to be like God. In
fact God tells the church in Ephesus (Eph 5:1). He says “Be imitators of… “Of God. Be imitators of God.” Be holy
like God. So relationship -- it's a relationship term. And you could define it this way. Righteousness is a right
standing before God. It's His design. It's His will. It's His ways. It's His purpose for us. And in order for us to be in a
dynamic, intimate relationship with Him, we have to stand “right” before Him. So, righteousness--- it's a way of life, it’s
activity. It’s actions. You do righteousness. You are righteous.
BEWARE…
So, it is a real complex thing. What I want us to see is righteousness really is a term of identity. It tells us who we
are. It defines us. If we say “he was a righteousness man”, what comes with that is a lifestyle… a characteristic, a
relationship between him and His God. It's a term of identity. So, if we think about practicing righteousness which is
how our text opens up. In Matthew 6:1, He gives us a couple of things to think about, and He starts off with a warning.
“Beware” -- and this is important to understanding how chapter 6 works out. This is kind of your verse that lays out the
idea of what will be taught literally in chapters 6 & 7. But in 6:1, he says “Beware of practicing your righteousness
before men to be noticed by them.” Here is what you get if you do that. “Otherwise you have no reward with your
father who is in heaven.” So what does it mean to practice? We're going to look at -- number one. We're going to
look at what does it mean to practice our identity? Practice our identity. And in brackets you could put our
righteousness. Practice our identity. What does this look like? Well, there are several categories that he gave us.
Let's back up to the verse before chapter 6. It’s Matthew 5:48. You remember this verse, right? You've probably got
it on a pillow somewhere in your bedroom. Or a bumper sticker. Anyone have this? No? OK, look what it says.
“Therefore you are to be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” Now, we saw last week that perfect doesn't mean
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sinless, doesn't mean that you never make mistakes. The Bible is very clear that we need to confess our sins. That
any man thinks he's without sin, he has fooled himself. That is 1 John. So, it doesn't mean that we're sinless and we
have no error, but rather it is that Greek word that means the goal. It means the purpose for which you were made. It
could be translated complete or mature. To be perfect is to be what God has made you to be, to be what He has
designed you, crafted you, and shaped you to be. Well, how do we BE perfect? It's interesting. As soon as he says
that he starts off with a … a warning (6:1). Interesting, isn't it? “Be perfect even as your heavenly father is perfect.”
And He knows that our instinct is to immediately become like the Pharisees and try to appear perfect. Anyone fall into
that trap? We do this when we go to church. “Hi, how are you doing?” We say “How are you doing?” And you say
“I'm good or I'm fine.” Right? I’m fine. How are you doing?” “Fine, I'm doing fine.” We're walking our way through
church, and we're saying this and really what we're saying is I'm fine means I'm frenzied, I'm insecure, I'm neurotic,
and I'm exhausted. Try this sometime when someone at church asks you how you're doing. Tell them how you really
are. Watch them. They'll go, “Maybe we shouldn't ask that.”
You know the Old Testament didn't have that problem because they were coming with their sacrifices. If a guy is
coming up with two bulls coming up behind him, you didn't ask him how he was doing. You knew. Rough week there,
Bob? You have two bulls. We have this way of putting forward an appearance of being perfect. Don't we? Let's
admit it, it is a temptation for us Christians. And Jesus starts off by saying “Now listen. I want you to be perfect even
as our heavenly Father is perfect. I want you to be what He's made you to be. Number 1, beware. Beware of putting
it on.” Isn't that what He's saying? “Beware of practicing righteousness before men in order to be…“Noticed.”
Wearing it on your sleeve. Working it in the conversation. You’ve done this? I was up to 11:00 studying my Bible. I
was up until 4:30 this morning reading through Matthew and I noticed…. What do I want them to hear? I want them to
hear I was up until 4:30. Right? That puts a gold star on my Christian chest. It makes me a super Christian. I was
over visiting widow so-and-so and…. You know. We work it in. Don't we? He says beware of this. So, we are to
practice our righteousness, We need to “beware”.
(6:1-18) He's telling us several subjects, and you've worked your way through these. Giving, praying and fasting. A
little bit of forgiveness is in there with the fasting. But with each one He wants us to know that motive matters.
GIVING
This is so important. Motive matters. Sometimes I look at myself, and I look at some of my peers in the Christian
professional world, and I think we're slipping right back into the Pharisees. We're slipping right back into the way
where it's just the matter of appearing to be right. On the inside. Have you ever done this, husbands? Have you ever
washed dishes for your wife? I worked hard all day. I've been slaving all day, and now you want me to wash dishes.
Okay, I'll wash dishes. And then you clank them. You make all kinds of noise. You leave a big fat mess. That is not
washing dishes for your wife. That's washing dishes at your wife. Motive matters. It really does. So, He starts off by
saying when you give don't give in order to be what? Yes. Let's look at it. Look at verse 2. “When you give to” who?
“The poor. Notice it's not “if” you give to the poor, but “when” you give. That's a subtle hint there. “When you give to
the poor, do not sound a trumpet.” This is crazy. “Do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do before you
in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be” what? “Honored.” Like don't give in order to be
honored. I've heard Randy Alcorn say if your intent of giving money to an institution is to get your name on a brick -that's the level I can play… the brick in the ground. Or your name in a building, which is NOT the level I'm at, but
some people are. If your intent is to get your name on the building or a gift, that's your reward. I hope you love it.
You just -- Randy says-- you just sacrificed your eternal reward there. He says don't give your gifts in order to be
honored.
PRAYING
What is the second subject that He talks about? Prayer. When you go to pray he says don't do.. what? (6:5). Don't
pray… that you may be seen by men. So, the first one is to be honored. Here He's saying don't pray in order to be
seen or to be noticed by men. Oh, I forgot that. Honored by who? Back in giving. Yes. That's important isn't it.
Honored by men. Seen by men. And the prayer here. He says don't use meaningless words? Don't get carried
away and whoop it up. Don't do it to get attention, but rather do it in secret. Go to the inner room He says to do
that(:6).
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FASTING
And then what's the third one that He brings up? Yes. Fasting. He says when you're fasting make sure, you know,
you look hungry. No? When you're fasting He says do what? Put oil in your face. In other words don't look like
you're fasting. What's the word there? Noticed… Noticed by men. Now did anybody, I didn't even notice this until
yesterday, but “do not” is all over this text. It's everywhere. In fact, I went and marked it. I marked the ones that are
commands. What do we pick up when Our Savior tells us to be perfect like our heavenly Father is perfect and then it
falls into a series of “do nots”. What do we get there? Do you remember how Paul was passing the baton in 2
Timothy 3 to Timothy, and he said “All scripture is inspired by God and it is profitable,” In other words, it is useful.
Don't put it on a shelf. Don't put it on pillows. Put it in your heart. Use it. It's profitable for training. I agree with that.
And also he says that word we don't like that much. He says it's profitable for reproof, and instruction, righteousness,
and discipline. The word is correction. Right? Do you feel the “do nots” coming up in there? The Bible is not just
say, “Here are some ideas. Here are some great suggestions to have a great blessed life.” A large part of the Bible
really is correcting our thinking. We need it because we don't come into this world wired ready for it. We don't come
in saying I know exactly what to do. We come in making bad choices. Even when we're this tall. We need reproof.
We need corrections. So, we see all of these “do not’s” showing up. He's telling us, not to do it. (:1) Why? So, that
others will notice me. So, as you pursue perfection or completion or holiness as God has called you to do that, we're
not to …do not.
A couple of notes about this section. One, and you probably talked about this. Back up and in His talk about giving
and praying, It talks about doing it in… In secret. Uh-oh, is that different than chapter 5:16? Jesus is describing His
people as the light of the world and He says (5:16) “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may…see
your good works.” Well, wait a minute. What is the difference between 5:16 and chapter 6:1-18 where we're
supposed to be doing it in secret? I thought nobody is supposed to know. Is He making a change? Well, again
motive matters, right? One of the main things that we need to pick up out of these first eighteen verses is WHY we're
doing it. The Pharisees did righteousness. They practiced in a sense righteousness, but they did it to be noticed. To
be honored. To be seen by men. But He says your righteousness needs to go beyond that. In order to do that, you
need to do it to be seen or for what? For God. He's the one who will give you the reward. So in 5:16, it's important
how that verse ends. He says so “that they may see your good works and glorify” … “Your Father who is in heaven.”
You see, when your motives are right you don't get the glory. You don't get the honor and attention. Instead you are
used to glorify God. So this done in secret and is not a conflict there. It is really going back to the heart. Those two
verses work well together.
LORD’s PRAYER
(:9) Many of you perhaps grew up praying this, literally praying it verbatim, and maybe it has become rote to you. It's
just become something you've memorized, and you can do it and think about the football scores or what you're going
to cook for lunch that Sunday afternoon and just work your way through it. In other words you can turn off your brain
and kind of emote it out. Just kind of say it. “Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name.” It just kind of
comes. Bullet- I want to draw your attention back. Jesus says this: Pray then in this way. In other words I think He's
connected. I think He's a good pray-er. Don't you? I think He knows the will and the heart of His father. If anybody
could tell us the best way to communicate to our Father, it would be His Son. And His Son has said… in this way, in
this manner. So, this really should become kind of a structure for our prayer time. I don't know about you, but we
say, I don't want to be bound. I don't want to be bound up. I want to just pray as the Spirit leads and such. And that's
OK. But sometimes we'll find even that becomes a pattern. A prayer life can quickly become “Lord, this is what I
need You to do today.” Here is Your to-do list, like we write a grocery list. Or it becomes simply just we say “Father”
every three words. You've done this. You've prayed this. You don't know what to pray so you pray “Father.” Or you
say “Lord, I just want to pray. Lord, we just want to ask. Lord I just want to.” And you listen to our prayers and it just
demonstrates a lack of understanding, a lack of intimacy and sometimes I wonder when we're praying do we really
anticipate Him to answer? Is there expectation that He will answer our prayers when we pray or are we simply going
through our own rote list. This happens to me all the time. I get stuck in this, tons of time. We have breakfast
together as a family. It is one of my non-negotiables. And in my breakfast they'll say, “Say the blessing”, and here it
comes. It's real simple. “Lord, thank You for this food. Make it nourishing to our” -- I don't use the word nourishing in
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any other language -- any other conversations. It just pops out. I'm guilty of this myself. “Lord, thank You for this
daily bread.” Every time it doesn't have to be this great charismatic prayer, but we need to be talking don't we? And
Jesus says look, here is a way to pray. Pray this way. In your homework you worked your way through that.
FORGIVENESS
And then finally I want you to see about what He says about forgiveness. And now in verses 14 - 15 it is kind of
wedged in there right with fasting, but did you catch the impact of this statement? Verse 14, “For if you forgive others
their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But” (these are strong words) “If you do not forgive
others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” My role as a pastor when I do the Lord’s Supper, one of
the things I make clear is please don't partake of this Lord's Supper if you refuse to give a brother or a sister
forgiveness because what you're doing is you're mocking the blood and the body of Christ shed for the forgiveness of
sins. If we harbor, if we say Lord you can forgive me, but I'm not forgiving this person who has transgressed me, then
we are mocking His forgiveness. We are limiting His power.
TREASURE
Let's look at the second point. If the first point described is practicing your identity of righteousness, then let's talk
about if we're going to do that, then we need to identify the challenges. Identify the challenges. In other words if we
are going to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, if we're going to pursue that goal, that maturation that He
calls us to, if we're going to do that, we need to know what are the pits in the road, what are the danger zones, what
are the things that can trip us up and lead us astray, and the verse we see begins in 19, and I think goes all the way
down through the end of chapter 6:34. Here is what He says in verse 19. “Do not store up for yourselves…” What?
“Treasures on earth where moths and rust destroy and where thieves break and steal, but instead store up for
yourselves treasures…” Where? “In heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break
and steal.” What is the difference between those two sentences? There is only one word difference, What is it?
“Earth and heaven.” It is not storing up for yourselves. Sometimes as Christians we think we're not supposed to do
that. It's for Jesus. It is for the kingdom. It is for God. It is for His glory. The Bible very clearly here says “store up
for yourselves.” This is Jesus talking. Both cases. Don't do it. Where? Here on earth. Why? Because … What can
happen to it? It can be destroyed or lost or stolen. But instead store it up in heaven. Because it can't be destroyed.
Here is the basic Chattanooga, TN version of this. Don't store it up on earth because it is stupid. It's ridiculous. It
would be like my wife going to Atlanta. She's an interior designer, going to Atlanta and calling me. You know she's
there for three days, calling me and saying “Guess what I did today?” “What did you do today, baby?” “Well, today
I redecorated my hotel room. I called the wall paper people in, I did some new furnishings, I did some new fixtures
in the bathroom. I spent about $15,000. I redecorated. You're going to love it.” How do I respond? “That's crazy.
You're leaving in just three days.” That's the whole point here. Don't store up treasures where you're going to lose
them. Store them up where you don't lose them.
But then He gives us a principle (:21). “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” This is important.
You need to note the order here. It is not where your heart is your treasure will be. But it's just the opposite. “For
where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” If you want a heart for missions, what does the Bible say to do?
Put your money there. I guarantee it, it works. Jesus says that's the way I designed you. “For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.” Did you know the average evangelical gift is less than 3% of our income? And that
includes Boy Scouts. That includes United Way and your church. Less than 3%. We're wealthier than we've ever
been in the world, and we give less than our income away now than we did during the Great Depression. Where is
our heart? Is it in the church? Is it in missions? How do you know? (:21) “For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.” Now in this text He talks about our treasure and in your homework you went through and made
a list about what He says about treasure.
Another thing He says about treasure was you can't serve both God and your wealth. Right? And your treasure.
Isn't it interesting? He doesn't put other things in that category. The one competitor that He brings to bear with His
kingdom and with His loyalty is our money. Oh, isn't that interesting? It's going to show up several times Matthew.
It's not a subject that He comes back to several times, and we'll see it as we work our way through. But He tells us
that the Master will either be money or it will be God. It cannot be both. Now, you might say “Now what does that
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mean?” Well, it means this. If you have to choose between following Jesus and making sure your bank account is
OK, you've got a problem. You have a crisis because He says you can't manage both. And I love this. Every time I
say this someone corners me afterwards. Are you saying we're supposed to give everything away. Maybe. There
are some people in the Bible God told to give it all away. You want to follow Me you've got to lose it. Some, no.
Some of them have great wealth. They use it for the kingdom, but He told us. He warns us. We'll see this later on
that a rich man, it's hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. There's that competition of masters.
WORRY
But He knew David Arthur. He said, “When I write this, I've got to give David Arthur some encouragement because
this is what David does with money. It starts in verse 25. What is that key word? You marked it from 25 all the way
down. He says do not be worried. I don't know about you, but I think He wrote that for me. When it comes to my
treasure, this is my main concern. I worry about it. Do I have enough? Will it be there? How do I spend it? How do
I save it? How do I get it? Always concerned about this worry and look what he says 5 times in a couple of verses.
He says don't be worried. What are the reasons He tells us not to worry. How much of worry is okay? In other
words, Can we have a little bit of worry in our life? Can you manage worry? Can you let a little in there? No. It
festers. It grows. Worry feeds itself. It has a way of expounding and getting bigger and bigger. Look at the reasons,
these are just three reasons He gave us not to worry. Verse 25, what is the reason there? He tells you life is what?
More than food. Oh, that's interesting. Life is more than food. You don't have to go far to think about where we
are as a culture. Food is our God. It is my God. It is one I struggle with. He says life is more than stuff. It's more
than food and clothing, etc. Life is not about that. But yet we get bombarded. Someone told me yesterday that
when you walk into this department store downtown, one of the things you see when you walk in, is focus on you.
The commercials say you need a new one. I don't care what it is. You need a new one. You need a faster one, a
bigger one, you need a better one. Our country is more in debt on a personal level than we've ever been in the
history of our country because we need more. Jesus is directly attacking this statement. Life is more than food and
clothing. Another reason not to worry, verse 27 He tells us that worrying -- look what He says. “Who of you by
worrying can add a single hour to your life?” Raise your hand if you're able to do that. How about the other way?
Those who consistently worry I bet we could make a medical case that they take time away from their life. They
have ulcers and anxiety attacks. Worrying in other words doesn't work. It doesn't work. It can't add time to your
life. And thirdly, this one shows up in verse 30 & 32. It even shows up way back in verse 8. Look at verse 8 talking
about the Gentiles who pray using meaningless words. He says “Do not be like them.” Why? (:8) this is good stuff.
“For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Oh, how powerful is that. Your Father knows. (:30,
:32) tell us that God is the one who will take care of us; God is the one who will meet our needs. Verse 33 He will
add those things to us. In other words, God is our provider. So, therefore, don't worry. That's a very basic Christian
principle that Jesus is teaching, but boy it is hard. How am I going to keep from worrying? How am I going to keep
from stressing out about finances or provision? Right now I have a daughter who would like to go to this fancy art
school. I think it takess more a year than I make. No. We can't do that. That's crazy, right? How am I going to pay
for her college? How are we going to avoid those things? What does He tell us He attaches to our treasure? “Seek
first His kingdom.” Not add your kingdom to your daily agenda, not try your hardest to think about God and His
precepts. And His truths. “Seek first his kingdom.” We saw this when we looked at Proverbs 3:5-6. Everybody knows
this. It says “Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways knowledge Him and he'll make your paths
straight” , etc. But we keep reading. We get down verses 9 & 10, and it says “Honor the Lord with your first fruits.”
The first of your wealth. Why does He say that? Trust. Exactly. He knows that we will want to take care of our
needs, and then whatever is left over will honor Him. But He flips that around. It's the same thing He did with the
Israelites when He said “Go pick up the manna, but only pick up what you need on these days.” And there were
some who said “No, I need some more just in case it doesn't rain manna tomorrow I'll take some more.” What
happened when they opened up their jar they looked at their reserve? It had worms in it. That was not a good
thing. That was a clear indication that God says “I want you to trust me for your daily bread. I want you to trust
me.” Seeking first his kingdom is built into the context of our stuff. So the challenge that can throw us off the track
of practicing our righteousness really can be our love of our stuff or our money, our treasure. That's a major
warning sign, a major challenge that God gets in there, but he addresses that challenge. I love a God that does that.
He doesn't just say “Don't do it.” But He gives you the strength and the energy to not do it. Don't worship wealth.
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Don't seek treasure first. But here, seek My kingdom. And here is why. I will take care of you. Your heavenly
Father knows your needs even before you ask Him.
FALSE PROPHETS
The third and final thing, if we're going to identify the challenges we also need to identify the challengers. So
number 3, the same thing as the 2nd one, but we want to add challengers. In other words we want to know who.
Who do we need to watch out for? And did you know in chapter 7 He talks about these people. For example, in the
heart of chapter 7, beginning in verse 15, He talks about who? (7:15) The subject is false prophets. What does He
warn us about false prophets? He says they'll come to you wearing sheep clothing, but really they're wolves. You
know that picture. What they show you on the outside is not what they are in the inside. If I have to watch out for
these challengers and they're coming to me and their appearance looks good, they might be televangelists. They
might be my pastor. They might be my neighbor. How do I know if they are bad or good? They have a little badge
they wear. Right? Bad guy. Or they're like the guys in the westerners they wear all black. This music plays when
they come around you. That's how we know the bad guy. What does it say? You will know them by their fruits.
What does this remind you of that you already studied in Matthew? Remember when John was baptizing, and the
Pharisees and Sadducees came up and said “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to
come?” and then he commanded them to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. The way we discern the bad from
the good is their fruit. And He does this from the first 12 verses.
JUDGING
He tells us that we are to judge or we are to be careful as we judge. And what's the implication here. What is the
imagery? “ You see a brother who has…A speck in their eye.” Bob come up here real quick.” Let's say Bob has
something in his eye. [No don't touch me, Bob. I have to fix you.] Watch out, there is something in your eye. Wait,
wait, wait. There is something in your eye. Can't you see it? Let me get it.” Isn't that crazy? That's what Jesus is
saying. He's saying “Look you have a log in your eye.” A beam. And you think you're going to fix somebody? What
are you? You're a hypocrite. Right?” In this same way you're laughing I imagine that's what was happening when
Jesus was teaching this up on the Mount. It's ridiculous. We think we can help someone. We think we can fix them.
When in reality we have major things to work on. That whole theme bleeds in to the next section that we judge
them not according to our righteousness, but according to His righteousness.
ASK
And did you notice that little section that comes between the judging and the false prophets? What is that subject
called? He says ASK. Interesting isn't it. Interesting place to put that section. “Ask and it will be given to you.”
As we go about identifying the challengers, the key understanding here is that we are to examine their fruit. We are
to examine their lives, and He says this over and over again in this text, but we're not to do it on our own. We're to
do it, understanding our own problems, but we're also to do it depending on … God. As we make discernments, He
describes it as casting pearls before swine, before dogs. That imagery. There he's telling us to use discernment, but
not discernment that we come by naturally. A discernment that comes from God.
CONCLUSION
(Mt 7:12) Whenever you see, therefore, you know it is a term of conclusion. You know He's coming to a close. So, if
you look at 12, and I did this in the homework, I showed you go all the way back to verse one. But in 12 He says “In
everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you.” And look what He describes this
beginning. This is the what? The Law. This is the Law of the kingdom. This is the Law & the Prophets. This is the
life that He calls us to live by, the life that He calls us to do. (Mt 7:13 & 14) the gates. We often today think gated
communities are good things. Protected. A sign of status. If you have to punch in a code to go home that makes you
important. Or, you are very worried because you're afraid someone is going to take your money. But either way we
think gated communities are really great, but depends on the gate doesn't it? A wide gate He tells us are for false
prophets, those who are leading us down a path of destruction. And then finally we look at what He calls us to do
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here (:17) all the way down talking about these fruits. I love this. (7:21) He says “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘
Lord ,Lord’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, you can talk until you're blue in the face. You can
claim it, you can name it, but until you do what? “Does the will of my Father.” And I want you to know there's a
difference between saying you're a Christian, saying that you are practicing righteousness and actually doing it. And
it doesn't take a long time to figure out in our culture today we struggle with this. The Christian culture. The divorce
rate is not that much different in the church than it is outside the church. The teen pregnancy rate is now climbing.
Substance abuse is now common. The things that used to separate us when we said we're a Christian that makes us
different, those things are starting to fade away. He says “he who does the will of my Father.” Then finally He gives
us a picture. “Therefore, everyone who hears these words.” (7:24) “Hears these words” and … “ Acts on them.”
Whose words? These words of Mine (Jesus). Do you hear?... what's Jesus doing? He has entered into the scene
here. He is the King. He is preaching the kingdom, and He is now setting up the laws of the kingdom, and He says
those who hear My words, My teachings, and acts on them is on solid ground. But those who hear My words and
don't act on them, their house is built on what? Sand. Sand that, when the Foundation is placed on them, crumbles.
It falls to destruction. Jesus is saying these are the laws of My kingdom.
I'm redefining what it means to be blessed. I'm declaring to you that you are the salt and the light of the earth. You
are my instrument to do this. And this will cause you to lay down your rights. That when an evil person comes to
you, you are not to resist him. He doesn't necessarily say redefine the Law in chapter 5, but he takes it further. And
in one essence (5:38 & 42), He says it's not -- you've heard an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you
give it up. Don't resist, turn the cheek. Let him take your coat. And He further explains this Law (6:7). Jesus here is
telling us… this is what My kingdom is like. Those who want to be a part of My kingdom…. this is how their life
needs to be patterned.
But you know you cannot do this. You know. You know you cannot do this… without the power of the Holy Spirit…
without Jesus being your King, without your heart and your pocketbook being allegiant to His kingdom. It's an ALLIN game with Jesus. Jesus is NOT to be added to your life. He is to REPLACE your life. And this is what He calls us to
do. May He be honored and may He by praised as we, his followers, take up His Word and follow Him.
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