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Matthew 7 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Chapter 7 of Matthew is going to circle
0:04back and summarize some of what we've
0:06already covered. He's [music] going to
0:08go back to some of the problems in how
0:11brothers relate with brothers and he's
0:14going to show us how we fulfill the law.
0:17Not through the omission of bad things,
0:20but through living out love. Do not
0:22judge so that you will not be judged.
0:27For in the way you judge, you will be
0:29judged,
0:31and by your standard of measure, it will
0:33be measured to you.
0:36Why do you look at the speck that is in
0:39your brother's eye, but do not notice
0:42the log that is in your own? Or how can
0:46you say to your brother, "Let me take
0:49that speck out of your eye, and behold,
0:53the log is in your own eye."
0:57You hypocrite,
0:59first take the log out of your own eye,
1:03and then you will see clearly to take
1:05the speck out of your brother's eye.
1:10Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do
1:13not throw your pearls before swine, for
1:17they will trample them under their feet
1:19and turn and tear you to pieces.
1:23So in this section of Matthew 7, he goes
1:27back to this first section after the
1:31persecution section in chapter 5. He's
1:34saying one of the things that is
1:37destroying your unity, one of the things
1:40that is keeping you from living the
1:43kingdom life together with your
1:45brothers, is that you guys are just way
1:49too critical of each other. And you are
1:53quick to go find what is wrong in your
1:56brother. Because if we see what's wrong
1:59in our brother, we feel like we don't
2:01have to love him the same. We feel like
2:04we don't have to serve him the same. We
2:06feel like he's not worthy of our effort.
2:10And so judgment is the fragmenting,
2:13[music] fraying, divisive dynamic of the
2:17devil that makes the people of God give
2:21up on the corporate project of being his
2:24people, his community.
2:26You don't judge because you hate. You
2:30judge because you're weary of serving
2:33and you want an excuse to stop doing it
2:36for people who you think are not worthy.
2:39So you find people's problems to let
2:42yourself off the hook. But even that
2:44framework proves that you're doing it
2:46for them instead of your father who sees
2:49in secret.
2:50And so he says, "You've got to get the
2:54beam, the log out of your own eye before
2:58you can pull the splinter from your
3:00brothers." And that's a powerful image.
3:04It It's like you picture humans like
3:07unicorns with this great beam protruding
3:10out of their eye. That's a shocking
3:14image. And we ask, "What is that beam?
3:19What is that beam?
3:22It's the beam of our worthiness.
3:26It's the beam that doesn't allow us to
3:30show mercy after we have mourned and
3:33repented in seeing our own bankruptcy
3:37that we talked about in chapter 5.
3:40You cannot show mercy until the beam of
3:43your worthiness is gone. and not gone
3:47once but gone forever. Only then can you
3:51see clearly
3:54to help others get what's wrong in their
3:57life fixed. And he wants you to help
4:00your brother. But one is a help. It's a
4:04I can help you carefully remove this
4:06splinter.
4:08And it acknowledges that your brother's
4:10fault is small. It's just a splinter.
4:13But the other I it's a judgment. It's a
4:16aha. I don't have to treat you right. I
4:19don't have to love you, serve you, care
4:21for you, work with you because I see
4:23your problem. Right? One is a judgment
4:26and one is a help. But all of that
4:29changes when the beam comes out of our
4:32eye. And ultimately that beam is the
4:36beam that Jesus was nailed to.
4:39It's the beam that of human pride
4:44passing judgment on the son of god and
4:47saying crucify him crucify him. That
4:50beam is what makes our whole body full
4:54of darkness. That beam is the evil eye
4:58that he was speaking about in the
5:00previous chapter.
5:02That beam is being obsessed with others
5:05faults and thinking that we can see it
5:09rightly when our vision is wrong, our
5:12perspective is wrong. So our whole body
5:14and our whole church body is full of
5:16darkness until we get that beam out and
5:20we say, "Lord, I was the one who should
5:22have been nailed and I can never forget.
5:26I can never lose awareness that I am
5:30worthy of hell. And yet you loved me.
5:34You forgave me. You showed me mercy. And
5:38I who have been loved much. I who have
5:40been forgiven much want to love much.
5:45Ask and it will be given to you. Seek
5:50and you will find. Knock and it will be
5:54open to you.
5:55For everyone who asks receives,
5:59and he who seeks finds, and to him who
6:02knocks it will be opened.
6:05Or what man is there among you, who when
6:09his son asks for a loaf, will give him a
6:12stone?
6:13Or if he asks for a fish, he will not
6:16give him a snake, will he?
6:19If if you then being evil know how to
6:23give good gifts to your children, how
6:25much more will your father who is in
6:29heaven give what is good to those who
6:33ask him?
6:35In everything, therefore, treat people
6:37the same way you want them to treat you.
6:41For this is the law and the prophets.
6:46This is such a powerful section of
6:48verses because he's now returning to the
6:53idea that we should get help from God
6:55and not ourselves and not the opinions
6:58of others. And he's coming back to this
7:00idea that we should trust God because he
7:03knows what we need. And he tells us that
7:07we should ask, seek, and knock in our
7:11relationship with God.
7:13And he's telling us that if we are evil
7:15and are capable of doing good, how much
7:18more can we trust that God is going to
7:21do good and give us what we need?
7:25And he finishes with this idea of the
7:29golden rule. And this is the fulfillment
7:32of the law that he's talking about. He
7:35we should not understand that he was
7:37suggesting observance of the law but
7:40fulfillment of the law. Do unto others
7:44like you want them to do to you and this
7:47fulfills all the law and all the
7:49prophets. Stop living for yourself. Even
7:54more, stop distrusting God and give to
7:59others the way you want to be treated.
8:02Give them what you need and he will give
8:05it back to you.
8:08There's a progression in this ask, seek,
8:10knock that is very powerful in guiding
8:14our relationship, our prayer life with
8:17the Lord.
8:19We ask
8:21when we have a need, but it's not yet
8:23defined. Oh, God, help me.
8:27We seek when he points us toward an
8:31answer that we don't yet possess. God
8:35told me I need wisdom. Where is that
8:37wisdom? And we knock when we arrive at
8:41the place where the answer is, but we're
8:44not yet touching it, and we want to get
8:46closer to it. That's a good way of
8:50progressing in our life with the Lord.
8:53Ask when you're hurting, when you're
8:57needy, but you don't even have a
8:58definition for what the answer is. Seek
9:02when he tells you what the answer is,
9:04but you don't have it yet. And knock
9:07when it's just one
9:11doorway
9:12from being yours.
9:15And now he's going to talk to us about
9:17the other things that could mess up our
9:20life in the kingdom.
9:23Enter through the narrow gate, for the
9:26gate is wide and the way is broad that
9:30leads to destruction. He's just told us
9:33to ask, seek, and knock.
9:36Then he's told us to trust God that he
9:39knows how to give good gifts. Then he's
9:42told us in everything we should treat
9:45people the way we want to be treated.
9:47And now he comes back to this and he
9:50says it's a door.
9:52The ultimate door is a door of faith
9:56where we leave the life of our own
9:59making. The life of our anxieties, the
10:03life of our judgments, the life of our
10:05captivity to sin, the life of our fears,
10:08the life of our money, the life of self.
10:12And we step into the house
10:15where God is enough, where God is
10:18present. And he says everything that
10:22he's described to us up till now, the
10:24attitudes,
10:26the persecution,
10:28the rejection of men's praise,
10:31the dealing with our relationships, all
10:34of this is the narrow way. This is the
10:37rugged path that gets us to the doorway
10:41of the house. He's calling it a house.
10:43It's the same thing as the kingdom.
10:46Enter through the narrow gate.
10:49For the gate is wide and the way is
10:53broad that leads to destruction
10:57and there are many who enter through it
11:02because or for the gate is small and the
11:06way is narrow that leads to life and
11:09there are few that find it. This sermon
11:12does not give us a way to be happier
11:16only. This sermon does not give us a
11:19disciplehip plan only. This sermon gives
11:23us the way to life. This is salvation.
11:27This is oneness with God. This is how we
11:31are pursuing perfection and being
11:34changed to be more like him. And he's
11:37saying please people enter through this
11:40this way. Enter through Matthew 5. Enter
11:43through Matthew 6. enter through Matthew
11:467.
11:47And he says it's it's a very narrow way.
11:51It it doesn't leave you a lot of wiggle
11:53room. It's a righteousness that goes
11:56beyond that of the scribes and
11:58Pharisees. You can't take pride in it
12:00because you can't do it alone.
12:04You can't take pride in it because it
12:06won't be you. It'll be your father who
12:07gets the glory when you really do start
12:10to shine in this way. But you've got to
12:12enter. And he's saying because the
12:16alternative is the broad easy path of
12:19following Jesus that is a complete
12:22fraud. It's the wide way that leads to
12:26destruction.
12:28And after he's introduced these these
12:31two different gates, the gate that leads
12:34the narrow way and the gate that leads
12:36the broadway, he says, "Beware of false
12:39prophets
12:41as if preachers and prophets are going
12:45to open to you one or another of these
12:48gates. They're going to say you can find
12:51your life in God through the Broadway or
12:54they're going to say it's a narrow way
12:56and you're not going to be able to take
12:58any credit and it's going to be
13:00stumbling and falling and removing beams
13:04and forgiving as you are forgiven. But
13:06it's the way that leads to life.
13:09Prophets open gates because he's given
13:12them the keys. And either they're
13:14opening the the keys to the kingdom or
13:16they're opening the keys to an illusion,
13:19a lie, a con.
13:23Beware of false prophets
13:26who come to you in sheep's clothing,
13:30but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
13:36The prophets who deceive you
13:39are themselves hungry for you.
13:43They want your acceptance. They want
13:46your approval. They are not hungry for
13:49the reward from their heavenly father.
13:52They are hungry for the praises of men.
13:55Beware of false prophets who come to you
13:57in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are
13:59ravenous wolves.
14:02You will know them by their fruits.
14:06Grapes are not gathered from thorn
14:07bushes, nor figs from thistles, are
14:10they?
14:11So every good tree bears good fruit, but
14:14the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good
14:17tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a
14:20bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree
14:23that does not bear good fruit is cut
14:25down and thrown into the fire.
14:28That's what's at stake here. This makes
14:31us think of when he says, "If your eye
14:32causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast
14:35it from you cuz you don't want to end up
14:37in hell."
14:39that elevated this path of
14:41sanctification and obedience
14:45to be so consequential if we neglect it,
14:48we're going to end up in hell. He's not
14:50telling us to cut pieces of our body
14:52off. He's saying to be radical with sin.
14:55And that's what he's saying here, too.
14:58Every tree that does not bear good fruit
14:59is cut down and thrown into the fire. So
15:01then you will know them by their fruits.
15:04Anybody that tells you to beware of
15:06false prophets and then tells you that
15:08you won't be able to tell whether they
15:09are or they're not, that person
15:11themsself is a false prophet because
15:13Jesus starts by saying you can tell who
15:15they are and he ends by saying you can
15:17tell who they are. Don't you be scared
15:20of false prophets. You look at their
15:22fruit.
15:23And fruits are not appearances.
15:26Fruits are not manners or clothing or
15:30even lifestyle. Fruits
15:33are something that you eat and that
15:35gives life and energy to you. So if you
15:39look around someone who claims to be a
15:41minister
15:43and the people in his life
15:46have life from his teaching.
15:50Their love is flourishing. Their joy is
15:52real. Their power and victory over sin
15:55is visible. They are growing in regard
15:59to love and all of this that we have
16:01read from in this sermon. That's real
16:04fruit. But if you look around and you
16:06see appearances, nobody ever ate
16:08appearances. That's like eating a menu.
16:10You can read the menu, but you can't eat
16:13the pictures in that menu. You need to
16:15eat the fruit. So when you taste and see
16:19what a prophet is offering, and it gives
16:21you strength and power and grace and
16:24joy, you can trust it. But when you eat
16:27it and it doesn't give you the power to
16:29walk in this narrow way, you spit it out
16:32of your mouth. It's a lie. It's a fraud.
16:34It's a con. And don't let anybody make
16:37you believe that you can know them by
16:39their doctrine.
16:41He doesn't say you'll know them by their
16:43doctrine because your doctrine may be as
16:44wrong as his. You will know them by
16:47their fruits.
16:48And anybody who judges people by their
16:51doctrine and not by their fruits has
16:53adopted a different model than Jesus
16:54gave us. And that starts to sound a
16:57little bit like a false prophet also.
17:00Not everyone who says to me,"Lord,
17:04Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven,
17:06but he who does the will of my father
17:08who is in heaven will enter. So here
17:11he's contrasting saying and doing. And
17:15that's the contrast of appearances and
17:18fruits. So he's saying, "You're not
17:20going to know the prophets by what they
17:22say. You're going to know them by what
17:24they do, how they live, how they love,
17:28how they serve, how they manifest Jesus,
17:33not themselves to others. Not everyone
17:36who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter
17:39the kingdom of heaven. But he who does
17:41the will of my father who is in heaven,
17:44he will enter. Many will say to me on
17:47that day, Lord, Lord, many from the
17:51Broadway will say this. Did we not
17:54prophesy in your name and in your name
17:56cast out demons and in your name perform
17:59many miracles? And I will declare to
18:00them, I never knew you. Depart from me,
18:03you who practice lawlessness.
18:08So in this equation, knowing Jesus
18:11empowers us to live fruitful lives.
18:15If we said we knew him, but practiced
18:19sin, we did not know him. And he'll say,
18:22"I never knew you." By this we know that
18:25we have come to know him if we keep his
18:27commandments, especially his commandment
18:29to love. So he's saying here that many
18:32are going to say to him on that day, and
18:34they're even going to throw out the
18:36gifts that they functioned in. They
18:38prophesied, cast out demons, and
18:39performed miracles. Those aren't fruits.
18:44The fruit of the spirit is love, joy,
18:46peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
18:48gentleness, self-control. Against such
18:51things, there is no law.
18:53So, it's important to to to perform the
18:56ministry, but that's not fruit.
18:59That could be more appearances, but the
19:01fruit, it doesn't lie.
19:04Therefore, everyone who hears these
19:05words of mine and acts on them may be
19:08compared to a wise man who built his
19:10house on the rock.
19:12And the rain fell, and the floods came,
19:14and the winds blew and slammed against
19:16that house, and yet it did not fall, for
19:19it had been founded on the rock.
19:21Everyone who hears these words of mine
19:23and does not act on them will be like a
19:25foolish man who built his house on sand.
19:28The rain fell and the floods came and
19:30the winds blew and slammed against that
19:32house and it fell and great was its
19:34fall. In the previous verses, he tells
19:36us to knock at the door of the house.
19:40Then he tells us to enter through the
19:43door and gate of the house. And now he
19:46tells us to build the house. But it's
19:49all talking about salvation, that refuge
19:53that is built of God. Everybody has a
19:56house that they re re recede into.
19:58Everybody has their zone of comfort. And
20:01some people hear the word of God and it
20:03doesn't stick. They don't build on it
20:05because they don't act on it. They trust
20:07their emotions to to to like it. They
20:10trust their memory to re recall it, but
20:13they don't go change something in their
20:14life. And so they don't have a real
20:17house. They just have this makeelief
20:20that is built on sand. But when you act
20:22on God's word, you're actually building
20:25out something that can withstand the
20:27storms. When Jesus had finished these
20:30words, the crowds were amazed at his
20:33teaching. These words that cover Matthew
20:375, Matthew 6, and Matthew 7. They were
20:40amazed at his teaching, for he was
20:42teaching them as one having authority
20:45and not as their scribes.
20:50So, in these two chapters, we've learned
20:54the attitudes and progression of
20:56repentance.
20:58We've learned not to be afraid of
21:01persecution, but to let our light shine.
21:04We've learned that personal
21:05relationships, anger, grudges, words are
21:08the first thing that derail the kingdom.
21:10We've learned that we can't fight the
21:12state or evil with the power of the
21:15devil, or we'll become like them and
21:17overcome by them.
21:19We've learned that we shouldn't be
21:21controlled by peer pressure and the
21:23opinions of people in giving to the poor
21:25or in the way we pray. And that that is
21:28a very powerful thing. But we need to
21:29cultivate our reward [music] from our
21:32father and that we can trust our father
21:34because he knows what we need. We've
21:37learned that anxiety derails us, but it
21:40doesn't help us. And so we need to trust
21:43God again. We've learned that judging
21:46others
21:48is when we forget what our beam of
21:52unworthiness and we go after the
21:54splinter and that that divides the
21:56kingdom. We've learned that the golden
21:58rule that fulfills all the law and
22:00prophets is doing to others what we want
22:03them to do to us. We've learned that we
22:06ask, we seek, and we knock, and that our
22:09father knows how to give good gifts
22:12certainly better than we do.
22:14We've learned that this way that we've
22:18just described is narrow, rugged,
22:21constraining, and difficult. And because
22:23of that, people are choosing a different
22:26way. They both claim to go to God. They
22:29both arrive at eternity, but one is a
22:31fraud and one is legitimate. Then we've
22:34learned that prophets are marketing and
22:37selling these two gates. They're
22:39standing there saying, "You can walk
22:41this easy [music] way." But they're
22:43actually wolves because they're hungry
22:45for the opinions and praises of men. But
22:48you don't have to be afraid of them
22:49because you can tell them by their
22:51fruits.
22:53And then we've learned that we [music]
22:55better not just hear these words, but we
22:58better act on them or else we're
23:01building on sand. Sand of human emotion,
23:04sand of human wants, sand of human
23:08memory. But if we'll actually start
23:10changing our lives by his grace through
23:13the ask, seek knock method,
23:16we're going to become more and more like
23:18our father. And he'll impute to us
23:20everything we're lacking on that journey
23:22of becoming more like him.
23:25[music]

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