Look Closely

God you are good you love us. You pursue us. You made a relationship with you possible. I would deeply appreciate that and I want to give her gratitude and Banks and Shut this moment under your breath give God. Thanks for accepting you and loving you at this time. Just require them to give you about 10 seconds.

God thank you. Now. We just want to hear and receive from you in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. We're finishing Out The Sermon on the Mount here this morning and it's actually incredibly interesting place because Jesus has ended his teaching right around verse 12 of chapter 7 where he says, so whatever you wish that others would do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets. It's essentially a summary of everything that Jesus has laid out everything that Jesus said as he's giving his last point. And now what Jesus does to conclude his teaching is he's not changing the subject that would make no sense as a teacher. It would make no sense for me all day to talk about love to tell you all to go eat hot dogs this afternoon. Woodwork you go. What is he talking about? This is a continuation of what Jesus has already taught and he's giving three examples to the people that are listening and it's really unique because he's talking to those who would be Travelers those who would be farmers and those who would be Builders and he's looking around and he's looking at the crowd that is with him and he's going to give them three examples about two ways with one judge at the end of all of this and so this morning as we get ready to read this and how it lays out is going to look at Gates that are narrow and wide trees that are good and bad in fruit and Foundations which art rock and sand. And what Jesus wants us to see in this is something that I opened up this morning with is something that we talked about here often isn't breaking this category of Simply viewing people as good or bad or innocence religious doing things to maybe get God's favor and then those who are bad and there's this category of what it actually looks like to have relationship with God and absolutely mind-blowing and some of the examples that he uses. For example, the narrow gate one in which we would assume that if you were to walk into it would ultimately Crush you but it's infinitely large on the other side Once you walk through it. Where is the wide gate served more as a funnel that if you walk that path, it'll become incredibly narrow and Crush you in the end. SOS, Jesus is talking about this this morning. He wants these listeners to not simply look at externals but internals, so let's read what he has to say to us this morning picking up in first 13 enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are mini for the gate is narrow and the way is hard life and those who find it are few beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves, you will recognize them by their fruits are grapes gather from Thorn bushes are figs from thistles. So every healthy tree bears fruit, but the diseased tree Bears Bad fruit healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit your can a diseased tree bear good fruit every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That's you'll recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone is Destiny Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day many will say to me Lord Lord. Did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name if you many mighty works in your name and then why declare to them? I never knew you depart from me. You workers of lawlessness everyone. When he he who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain fell in the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been found it on the Rock everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand the rain fell the flood came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell and great was the fall of it. No trees last few verses cuz they're not throw away is incredibly important when Jesus finished the Saenz the crowds were astonished at his teaching he was teaching them as one Not as their scribes. So when we look at this today and the examples that Jesus uses we have to come under the assumption and understanding that back in Jesus's day and even prior to that they lived in what we would consider a highly religious Society now for those of us today, we've moved quite a bit away, especially through the 80s and 90s from being every religious Society just simply culturally in America and has been a recent phenomenon of coming around to some sense of spirituality spirituality where you talk to a lot of people and they say I'm not religious but I'm a very spiritual kind of person and that's a bit of a new movement that has come away from just simply the atheistic or agnostic position, but in the history of the world people have been vastly religious by in March. And sometimes we begin to lose sight of that even when we're reading the scriptures and what Jesus is telling us about and in Jesus's day, there were people who definitely lived by a code of ethics are the moral way of living in a few weeks ago. I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean anybody remember the movie but on the ride one of the images I have in my head of ancient Rome are the ancient world. It was all like Tortuga Tortuga that place was just debauchery and filth and sinfulness and everybody was doing what they thought was right in their own a site and mine and I and there's this in my biblical imagery or my biblical imagination. I built up the sense of that world was or riffic and was just filled awful people but in my own mind having to come to grips with that actually isn't the case. Those societies prided themselves on moral codes of Ethics. They prided themselves on serving the gods and doing what was right by them. In fact, Rome itself had what they called the most memoriam code of ethics which I want to just briefly bring to our attention this morning in order to understand what Jesus is getting at. The first one is this word feitos the Latin word fight as you're going to see these up here and Compasses several English words to just trust trustworthiness good-faith faithfulness confidence reliability and credibility. This was one of the Roman code of ethics if they prided themselves on it would seem that you could take this directly even from the teachings of Jesus that we ought to be trustworthy. We should let our yippie. Yay and Nay be nay that we should be faithful reliable. The next one was Titus was the Roman attitude of dutiful respect. The gods home and parents and family which required the maintenance of relationships in a moral and dutiful Manor Cicero Define pious as Justice towards the God. He won't be on sacrifice and correct ritual performance to enter devotion and righteousness of the individual. So you have this code of ethics which was one in which you would treat your neighbor rightly and justly and kindly discipline is the next one. It was a military character of Roman society is suggested the importance of discipline. We just got done with Paul writing letters to Corinth and talking about not just church discipline to what it means to be a disciplined person in the face. This is related to education training discipline and self-control gravitas and Constantine gravitas was dignified self-control. The next is virtuous was constant. The ideal of the true Roman male gayest discusses versus in the same for in some form is work and says that it is virtuous for a man to know what is good evil useless shameful or dishonorable dignity and actor Otis. These were the end result of displaying the values of the ideal Roman and the service of the state in the form of priesthood military positions and magistrates essential at the end. You can see their Prestige and respect and what this tells us is that would be very difficult to look at your common Rome person. And even your common Jewish person and make a Distinction on whether they were religious or not because both groups of people there praying groups of people both groups of people there worshiping groups of people. They may worship different DTS, but they have is aspect of worship in Which they would participate in both groups of people had some kind of gathering they would attend would have sacrificed. They would do unto their true God Yahweh or The God and so would have been incredibly difficult to Simply segregate people out and say Here's the religious ones and here's the bad ones. And here's the good one because there's a Melting Pot and not culture of really this moral code of ethics at some followed some baby. Didn't follow. They tried to follow and then Along Comes Jesus. Astonishing the cross because he's telling them something incredibly important this morning. He's not contrasting good and bad people is contrasting religious people and Christians see this this morning. This is very very important. This is the background and then what we'll discuss and how it applies to us this morning for the most important thing about these two ways that Jesus is talking about this morning. It's how to discern one from another religious people and Christians look a lot alike. Trust me. Have you ever looked around and noticed that when you even look at what Jesus is saying here? It doesn't say there are two trees a tree with fruit and a tree without fruit. That wouldn't take much to CERN meant at all what you would easily be able to look at the tree without fruit and say that tree is absolutely dead. It isn't producing leaves. It has nothing on it is of no use of no good. Let's cut it down know. He says there's one tree here, but there's fruit on this tree and he says you'll recognize them by their fruit a good tree cannot bear bad fruit a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Now, here's what we need to know the word bad doesn't mean shriveled. It means poison in Poison. So you wouldn't know because from all outward appearances. It would look like every other one when I was a kid. I lived in southern Oregon and that used to be just filled with orchards pear Orchards to be exact and we used to sneak in to these pear Orchards as fifth graders and fourth graders, and we would have terrified and yeah, it was super fun really destructive and probably made a lot of farmers mad, but our brains were boys that they weren't developed yet. Okay, we didn't think of her like 30, so just to put that one out there. That's a wrap reach up there and you would grab a pair off the tree and sometimes you get a nice hard one, but from the eye you wouldn't know if you were getting a hard one or you drive one sometimes and once you ripped into it and you squish that thing up and just smear it on somebody with a beautiful thing to do. The hard ones, you know, you took them out on some people other people use a nice soft one. Anyway, you couldn't tell just from the I there had to be more to it and able to actually destroy and the word bad here has this idea that there is a poison because the trees look exactly alike or how about this the foundation how would you know what Foundation was built on you had to look a little closer. Outward appearance you just doing a drive-by of homes. You think they all have the same foundation and my last house had this gnarly Rock foundation and not like Smooth. It was like Jagged lava rock that they got from the volcanoes to build the foundation of the house. Nikki was gnarly hot at a crawl under there a few times. It was not the light. And so you would have to actually look a little bit more. Why what's visible looks the same? It's only what's hidden that makes a difference. This is what Jesus is getting up this morning. Anybody can see the difference between moral and immoral Behavior. People inside the church and outside the church though. We're being smothered were dying. Spiritually. Why because they can't tell the difference between religion and Christianity. This is a common message to some degree at this church. But this is also going to be a warning for many of us here this morning. Not just so we understand this on the outside and look within our own hearts and say have I just done through the religious act and ceremony of what it looks like to be a Christian but to actually look within our hearts and do some introspection and say what am I? What are we portraying to the world around us? What kind of fruit is being produced in our lives a Jesus saying I want you to be able to distinguish between the right one and the bad one. Now, we have to consider this every single person holds to a religious Creed of some sort. Even the irreligious those who say and no no. No, I don't believe in a god ultimately you have some set of values some set of rules some sort of way. Which determine your outlaw. On life it might just simply be that culture tells you what to do what to believe how to act it might be some crazy 8 made up deity that you think directs the world then sits on the back of a turtle and that's what you bow down to and worship and tells you to be nice to Mother Earth. There is something out there. I promise in which you're being directed by whether it's natural real thing or not, but internally go. This is why I need to be a righteous kind of rain good whatever it is kind of person in this world because I need approval and acceptance from this thing in order to belong and Jesus looks at these groups of people and he says my goodness they are very similar very similar. Read later on extinct in Matthews account that there will be people in the Gatherings of churches and he's separating the sheep from the goats writes the wheat from the chaff.

And what Jesus talks about is there a people doing all sorts of similar kinds of things but for utterly different reasons on the inside. But different results in the character this matters this is going to impact you this impacts me now to unravel this and impact this for us this morning Jesus first warns of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. In the Old Testament, whenever Jesus our seas whenever God writes about talks about Shiba since Universal term understanding of sheep are God's people then we have these prophets who, which means they're speakers their teachers are the one for play me some kind of word to those that are listening as far as the eye can see their sheet. They're not Skeptics. They're not atheist. They're not immoral kinds of people on the outside. They look religious. They look more because what their profits and then some sense there then virtuous people and this Prophet doesn't just say Lord. He says Lord Lord. Listen, if I want my kids to understand an emotion of mine may be an emotion of frustration may be an emotional. I've asked you 10 times to pick that up there going to get middle name's Ava Marie Benjamin William. All right if you get middle name. You know, it is bad. You know, there is a sense of emotion. That's actually charge behind what's being said Here In this passage. Jesus says, they're not just saying lord lord lord is my safe Martha Martha Mary Mary. I want you to hear the intensity of Mighty motion will the false prophets the false teachers there in this sense T Lord Lord. We love you. We follow you. We rejoice in unit all kinds of emotions that is attributed to what they're doing. And the person coming up and saying I believe in God, I moral I prophesied in your name. At least at the very least meet. I taught about you. I spoke about you or I've been deeply involved in these incredible things happen if involved in Ministry and Jesus says, I never knew you. ever nail what's the last time you meditated on that Passage? Who's last time yet to you in Jesus times a little Matthew 7 and consider what Jesus is saying there? I never knew you was not like he says, oh what you used to be my follower. Now, you're not you know what you just sort of change what he says. No, I never knew you this tree is one with bad fruit. Absolutely. Amazing is on the outside. They all look the same following the Ten Commandments trying to be moral behaving being kind to their neighbors put on the inside or something. I really different going on as to why they follow why they obey why they take The Sermon on the Mount serious. What are the differences? Way to go look at your sort of religious people right. Now. The difference is religious people. Do they give to the poor? They pray they do all of these things. It's for what reason we don't have to look very far. If you just turn back maybe a page or look at Matthew chapter 6 verse 2. Jesus says us when you give to the needy sound no trumpet before you as the Hypocrites do in a synagogue and in the street, they may be praised by others Pop Quiz. Why do they give to the poor? Yes, never said that louder. To be praised by others are doing this thing in order to get something in return from the person. They're either doing it for our from culture around them to look at them and say you're such a good person. You're such a kind person then what is Jesus a truly? I say to you they have received their reward. Do they do it for the pores sake? No, they do not they actually do it for their own sake sake wide to get honor from men. Do you understand and honor glory? It's something that every single person crazed desires. Once we all need that add a boy or somebody to come alongside us and Pat has on the back. But ultimately we desire to be accepted truly the only one who's acceptance it actually matters that it comes from And see what happens if humans have leaned into this idea that if I can get enough praise from other people if I can get enough brownie points, then I'll have Glory I'll be filled I'll be home but they're doing it for the wrong reason the attention they need. It's coming from other people and it's incredibly dissatisfied because it's for their Glory their Kingdom and look sometimes it even looks like it's under the name of Jesus. So what happens is people they're called ravenous wolves and I'm going to slide up here. I've always liked that cuz it kind of makes them sound like this like ferocious might be one of the words of the NIV has their says and you got this depiction of them and they just look mean and horrible and awful. Of course, we should be able to pick them out what it actually says in the text is they are inwardly and the word that gets translated into English for Rochas but a better way this could actually be said and should actually be said is inwardly they are swindlers torsion or blackmail That's the way this word should actually use it the way she was all throughout the rest of the New Testament in the Greek, but it doesn't really do that. And what happened to me use this word ferocious it actually gives us the wrong idea of what's going on. But could you imagine being a translator and all the sudden you're reading this passage? And it says an inward lie there blackmailers turn on blackmail works not in word blackmail myself. I blackmail somebody else but they're saying inwardly on the inside. They're blackmailing. They're extorting themselves. They're swindlers of themselves. Why does it say this or why would this be a better run rendering? Why would it sound like that are nonsense. Because all of us that's not what's going on there, but it is what's going on. If you understand the context of this passage, are they black mailing themselves inside they deaf We desperately need to assure ourselves. There's something worthwhile about us. You do I do. We need it. We crave it there something significant something important something of value something that tells the world were of value. And so what are they do they're going to make the world give us what we need. We're going to make people think we're good people trying so hard to be great parents successful businesswomen are businessmen in the community. Well thought up We crave that we need that. I'm going to make somebody fall in love with me. And what's going on on the inside. Jesus says we lack in her honor. We don't have it. We want it We crave it. We can't get it on our own. So we're just like the Hypocrites good sounding that trumpet. Look at what I'm doing for the community love me. Look at what I'm doing for the world around me. Praise me. I'm good. I'm great. I'm fantastic and I'm going to make the world. Give me what I need for what happens because incredibly burdensome on us. Be religious person and we do this with others and we do this with God. It's essentially saying God will have to bless us. If I do this. I'll have to give me the life. I want answer my prayers the way I want people then spy do things for them will meet. You honor me. You'll have to do good things back for meme people then we'll say you're a good person. Can I do all these things deep down on the inside? What happens though when you don't get what you want from God or from others?

Hear this a lot. Chat with many people over 17 years almost 18 years of ministry and I hear I did this for God and this is what I get in return.

I love selflessly my neighbor and this is how they repaid me. Not only then is it something against my neighbor but then God's ways don't work. And what we've done is we've read later this idea that all of life is a transaction that were having and we're participating in and if I do the right things then God has to do something back and what that create in US is a chapter 7 verse 1 of Matthew judgmental attitude towards other people what that does is it causes us then to despise people to look around of them and save their foolish what's wrong with them? You become rigid with others. You become heartless towards others and ultimately you use your religion to try to get what she want excluding others around you in order that you're propped up and elevated. We need to change we need to change our thinking on this we need to move away from the idea that all of life is just one massive Transaction. What do I mean by that? You showed up here this morning and many people probably don't even run this through the grid of their minds but there's going to be an aspect in which you said yourself. What did I get out of that today? I never said that at church. I have I got off that did nothing for me today. Right? I came here expecting something is going to be a transaction when I hang out for example of some of my friends tonight. I have a transaction happening. I expect to get laughter from them. I expected have this Joy I might give something but I expect something in return so much of life is spent in this way of thinking in which were always looking at everything I do in order to get something back from it, and it's reviewing the motive of the heart. If I get my time, what are they going to do for me? How about worse? I gave my time and they didn't even recognize me. Quit second. I helped load that trailer. I helped set up that coffee. How come they think and not him? You have an inward glory honor problem. Because we're looking at life in terms of transactions and really it's just this big religious game. I'm praying I'm doing I'm singing. I'm just like all the other Christians. Why isn't it looking like this for me? And we've treated God in the same fashion and he's calling us on the carpet and he saying a whole body you better look deep within your hearts because they're going to be those that say Lord Lord, but your motive was off. It was all for your own Glory. This is why religion is exhausting. This is why people quit the church. Expect things on a certain relationships and they don't get them and then their tit not at the church there ticket the relationship that didn't work out or they're mad that they gave to a church and all this and the church did something different. They wanted them to an upset about that. I'm leaving. Listen. We're looking at things with the wrong heart motive. A relationship break down and fall apart and interpersonal relationship with one another you didn't give me what I expected thought. I deserved what I had learned from you rather than being a kind of people. I can simply love in which the way Jesus have called us to love because we're first loved by him free to love others reviewing all of life and these transactions look religion always starts on the outside and it works its way in If you want to know if your religious you're doing a lot for God and your bitter on the inside. You doing a lot for God and you're always angry and upset you doing a lot for God and you're shaking a fist back at God. You are religious. I'm sorry. Maybe you need to repent maybe you need to look within your heart. But that is a sign of religiosity your heart. It starts from the outside and works its way in or as being a Christian friends on the inside and then Works its way back out into the world. That's the difference a Christian is somebody had their life radically changed and you're not trying to have to maintain a way of living or tried to maintain the sinner Glory, but it's simply been given to you as an inner fullness. I got a few minutes left. How do I get to this place? The first thing Jesus the same as was astonishing the crowds is you need to lose your religion lose your religion. Lose the ways in which you think this is how I Curry favor of God. Is the things I do in order to find favor and to get something from him lose the identity you built up by being a religious person lose the places that you point to in your life. It's now, you know, I must be a Jesus follower. Look at what I do. I feed the poor help the needy you are sounding the trumpets you are doing exactly what Jesus is warning us up in this teaching of his you're using the things you do for God to justify your life rather than just simply believing and receiving that God has accepted you wear your how do I get there? Jesus is unlike any other religious teacher cuz in The Sermon on the Mount he doesn't say this is how you get to God, but he's showing God came down to you. astonished at him I can't believe the things out of his mouth. Not just because it was a moral code of ethic that he's talking about how to actually conduct and live our self but he himself is providing the way he is the narrow way. He declares at the end. He is the judge that you stand before and it's by relationship with him and what you can know that you are actually accepted. We are being drunk in were to examine our lives and our modus motives and look to what God is doing. We also seen here that the authentic Christian surrenders their will to him. Punched about moral or immorality or more self-controlled or less self-controlled?

But it's the submission to what is God calling us to do I will surrender my will I will surrender my life to you and then he says build your house on the rock.

You entered in through the gates. Is a real change is a fruit bearing in your life. Now we build we build what does that look like?

Don't just be busy for Jesus this morning. But somebody maybe need to become unless busy for Jesus some of you may be needed a little bit of an undoing and if you become a person is constantly pointing towards what you do for God nor to prove yourself let go and spend time before him. This would have been a staunching for the crowds there. That's that day when they heard this teaching and lastly will be done cuz I'm so far out of time. Jesus is saying do whatever it takes to get to me. this morning What is it in the way of you actually knowing Jesus your own works. So religiosity the very things that you point to in order to prove. He says come unto me all you who are heavy. Laden and burdened. I will give you rest. Some of us are very weary in her cuz I've done a lot for Jesus and you need to know step back consider. Why? Remember what it's like to just simply have a relationship with him? I love him to sit before him stood up this morning Jesus. Thank you. Thank you for a simple reminder.

And we can so quickly and easily get removed from that place.

In which we get so caught up in our activity in which we look to our religious actions and works to make value for ourselves. And we forgetting the value for down the value of already placed on us.

Set today me we sit before you and we sing before you may we submit I live before you and they will be changed by you in this place do the work and needs to be done and be receptive to the work that you want to do in Jesus name. Amen.