Matthew 7:15-23 | "On That Day Many Will Say..." [The Truth]
[Sermon on the Mount] Living the New Life! • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 31:32
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· 1,066 viewsSunday, March 14, 2021. Matthew 7:15-23 | "On That Day Many Will Say..." [The Truth]. Many enter the wide gate, walk the easy way, and are destroyed. How is it possible to walk this way of destruction and not know it? The answer is frightening — many are deceived. This text begins with a warning to guard against those who deceive. It ends with a warning that we not deceive ourselves!
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I. Reading of Scripture
I. Reading of Scripture
[Matthew 7:15-23]
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
This is God’s Word.
Pray
II. Introduction
II. Introduction
A. Introduction to Text & Theme
A. Introduction to Text & Theme
I want us to hear again the words revealed in Verse 22. Jesus says:
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
When Jesus says, “On that day...”, He speaking prophetically of the end of this world.
He is speaking of the Day in which the Kingdom of God comes in fullness. When all Creation is restored and placed under Jesus’ eternal reign (Brown).
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
“That Day” will be the prophesied “Day of the Lord.” “That Day” will be the “Day of Judgment.”
What Jesus has been teaching in The Sermon on the Mount by way of Kingdom principles, and righteous priorities and revelations about Our Father in Heaven and the relationship we have with Him through Christ the King, teaches us that —
We need not wait, and we should not wait, and we cannot wait until “THAT Day” to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ!
Not when we are given THIS Day to do just that!
“Repent,” Jesus proclaimed, “for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17b, ESV).
We pray together, as a community of faith, as the Church of Christ, to our Father in Heaven with these words of petition:
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
The road to “that Day” is this day.
The will of God may be done on earth, as it is in heaven, as Christ reigns in the hearts of his people.
Yet —
In speaking about “That Day,” Jesus repeats a sobering word from his previous saying.
Jesus employs the word [ πολλοὶ ], the word “many,” to contrast the fate of the majority with the fate of the few.
Jesus connects the command of this passage with the command of the previous passage, and calls for situational awareness.
Give me a report on your surroundings. Where are you? Who are you with? Where are you going? What are you taking with you?
Are we camouflaged among the crowds, walking the popular way of most, doing what is right in our own eyes, or —
Are we near to Christ, with cross in hand, following after Him on the less travelled, difficult way?
Many enter the wide gate, walk the easy way, and are destroyed.
How is it possible, that there are so many on the way to destruction and they do not know it?
The answer, is that —
They are deceived.
But notice, “They” isn’t the word Jesus uses to address the deceived.
Jesus does not say: "I never knew them. Jesus says “I never knew YOU!”
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
This is a plural “You.” This is a group “You.” This isn’t a “few” of “You,” it is “Many” of “You”!
That means many people, many well-intentioned people, many professing, confessing Christians, are truly convinced that they are on the way to life, and they are not. They are deceived!
Deception starts by accepting a small lie by another, and grows into a big lie we eventually believe ourselves!
It is one thing to be deceived by someone else. It is a worse thing, to be deceived by yourself.
I sent out a letter in the first few months of pastoring this church, to members who haven’t been seen or heard from in a very long time — This did not go out to our homebound members, but to our non-homebound members who haven’t made an appearance in over a decade.
It was a “check up” letter, a way of asking with pastoral concern — “What is your status?” “How are you?” “I’m the new pastor.” “Where are you?” “Are you still with us?” “Have you moved?” “Have you united with another fellowship?”
Being the new pastor, I had a little leeway to do that because I didn’t know anybody! And I felt I was on pretty safe ground going for the group that had been distant for decades.
We received several gracious responses back. Some had, indeed, moved away. Others had, indeed, joined other fellowships. Many churches today do not receive members by transfer of letter, so we never received a request or were told of that person leaving us.
Several months after my letter, I answered a call from a man that received that letter. He came out swinging. Mad as a hornet! “You take my name off that roll if you want to. Just go ahead and do it! I’ve been a member of that church for however many years…just go ahead, take me off.”
I introduced myself, and the reason for the letter. I asked him when the last time he attended was — he couldn’t remember. I asked him if he intended to attend again, he said “no.” Do you pray? “No.” Do you read your Bible? “No.” I asked him if he knew the Lord, he said “Yes” and proceeded to tell me how the Bible nowhere says he has to go to church.
And with care for his soul, I began to quote to him the words of Scripture and he had none of it.
He was deceived. He was convinced he knew the Lord, but he had no relationship with the Lord. And he didn’t even know it.
Somewhere, sometime ago, someone told him he only had to profess knowing the Lord and he would be saved. And he believed that. And then began to live that. So that in time, he began to convince himself of that. He was deceived by someone else, and eventually became a deceiver of himself.
Many will be destroyed, because many are deceived.
An actor can pretend so well that they can fool anyone into believing they are someone they are not! But an actor that pretends too often, can even fool themselves into believing they are what they are not.
It is one thing to be deceived by another. It is a worse thing to be deceived by yourself!
III. Exposition
III. Exposition
A. 7:15-20
A. 7:15-20
1. 7:15
1. 7:15
So Jesus begins with a command of warning —
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
“Beware of false prophets.”
That word “Beware” when found in Scripture means to be continually ready and on guard against a lurking danger! (see LN). In other words —
PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION!
We only need to be told to “beware” the things that we are easily deceived by.
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
“Beware of false prophets.” (Matthew 7:15)
“Beware of people.” (Matthew 10:17)
“Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6).
Listen to these words of:
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
What does Jesus say to “Beware” of? What does Jesus say His followers are to pay careful attention to? What may we, as followers of Jesus, be easily deceived by?
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
The word is: “pseudo-prophets.” They are “pretend prophets.”
By the way, this is why:
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
We should not make it easy for someone to be put into a position by which they may become a “false-prophet.” Not knowing what they are doing, not understanding what they are speaking about, misleading others, and ultimately themselves.
Jesus gives us insight into what we have difficulty seeing with eyesight.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
We cannot rely on what we can see. Outwardly, the false prophet looks like a gentle, conforming sheep.
But Jesus sees what we cannot. Jesus sees what is on the inside. The inner being.
“Inwardly, they are ravenous wolves.” That is, they are “destructively vicious” (LN).
When Satan slithered up to Eve in the Garden of Eden, he clearly was not perceived as a threat. He entered into the serpent. He disguised himself as something not-threatening.
But who he really was, was never changed by his disguise. Behind that serpent was the “father of lies.” The “accuser of the brethren,” the thief come “only to steal and kill and destroy” (Jn 10:10). The anti-Christ. The ruler of darkness. A liar.
And Eve, and Adam with her, took him at his word, only later to see his fruit.
They “passed the bill so they could see what was in it” as our Congressional leaders tell us today.
Jesus teaches that we will not recognize a false prophet by their appearance. We won’t!
And because we can’t recognize them by their appearance, we may not be able to discern their true nature by their words.
The enemy contradicts the truth with half-truths that are so subtle they are easily believed!
Because we are easily deceived.
16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
What Jesus is saying, is that —
In order to tell if a prophet is a false prophet — you have to WAIT and you have to WATCH.
You have to test that person. You have to see if what they say comes to pass and with that — you have to see if they live by what they say. Are they acting, or the real deal?
This principle of righteousness is at work. Like with like.
The fruit is the visible expression of the root.
This is why you shouldn’t hop around to different churches, just like millennials do with changing jobs. Work a few weeks, quit, find another job. Stay a few years, quit, find a new church.
When you do that, you submit yourself to the spiritual authority of a new pastor and a new teacher, and you don’t get to watch the fruit.
You need to commit and stay, so you can watch and wait, and not be easily deceived.
For Jesus says, “you will recognize them by their fruits.”
You will! You will recognize what is on the inside when it comes out, as fruit.
But Lord, can’t a bad tree have some fruit that is good? I mean, most of the fruit looks good here. Just one bad apple. It’s like a block of moldy cheddar cheese. Let’s just take a knife, and cut off the mold and the rest of the block is good. Let’s just take off that one branch. Cast that bad fruit away and enjoy the rest. Just because there is one bad fruit on the tree doesn’t mean the whole tree is bad, does it?
And Jesus answers —
18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
The problem is down deep, in the roots. There is a disease.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
It will be utterly annihilated, because it is a bad tree. It will be burned.
20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Yes, in That Day of Judgment. But also, even now. Remember the preaching of John the Baptist, who proclaimed:
10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
What will happen on That Day, is already happening in This Day.
May God give us eyes to see.
I lament to share as an example, the late Ravi Zacharias. A well known apologist. A worldwide ministry, now falling apart after his death, upon the revelation that he abused women.
God knows the truth of what happened or didn’t happen. But what is left of his ministry and legacy is in shambles. His ordination was revoked. His name is being stricken from letterhead, buildings and signs. The damage is done.
Ray Comfort commented on what is happening with Ravi Zacharias by saying that he is saddened, but not surprised. For there was something noticeably absent from Ravi’s messages, especially in recent years.
There was no talk of sin, righteousness, and judgment in his teaching.
As Martyn Lloyd-Jones said of false prophets — “there is no straight gate or “narrow way” in his teaching.
If you listen to someone and don’t ever hear about sin, righteousness, and judgement - the taking up of ones cross and following Jesus — the tribulations and difficulties of this life — you aren’t receiving the truth!
If you pray: “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and you have not submitted to the reign of Christ in your own heart — you are a blasphemer of the worst kind!
As G.Campbell-Morgan said, “The blasphemy of the sanctuary is worse than the blasphemy of the slum.”
Because you are deceived!
“No one believes he is a false prophet.”
Because he or she is self-deceived!
That’s why they look, and dress like sheep.
That is why Jesus does not focus upon their teaching and words here — he focuses on their ACTIONS. Their works.
The good fruit — is the good works.
As Jeannine Brown observes,
Matthew Interpretive Insights
It is not “good fruit” of prophetic words or even miraculous deeds that are in mind in 7:16–20; instead, good deeds are best identified with those that have been given priority in the sermon—actions such as seeking reconciliation, faithfulness in marriage, nonretaliation, prayer and love for enemy, giving to the poor, and fasting (e.g., 5:21–46; 6:1–18).
A true prophet will live out the basic things Jesus teaches in The Sermon on the Mount!
And who is a true prophet?
Jesus is.
Jesus not only speaks of reconciliation, he makes it possible for us to reconcile one to another, by reconciling us to God by his death on the cross for our sin!
Jesus not only speaks of faithfulness in marriage, he makes it possible for us to be faithful by showing us what that looks like — with His bride, the Church. And giving Himself for her.
Jesus not only speaks of nonretaliation, he makes it possible by demonstrating it when he was beaten, and nailed to a cross, and taunted to come down by those who crucified him — and he could have called legions of angels to bring swift judgement then — but didn’t. He didn’t retaliate. At least, not in that moment.
Jesus waited in view of That Day. And He teaches us how to live in the waiting. How to pray. How to give to the poor. How to fast. All actions that require seeing by faith, beyond this moment — living this Day in light of that coming Day.
B. 7:21-23
B. 7:21-23
1. 7:21
1. 7:21
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
G.Campbell-Morgan, again says —
“You took My name to make your name; you took My name to work your miracles; you took My name for certain self-centered purposes; but you did not know Me, and I did not know you.”
(GCM, Matt, 79).
This word “Lord” may be a generic address. Much like the word “Sir.” A sign of respect.
But in Matthew — it is used of disciples for Jesus.
It is a discipleship word. “Lord.”
Which makes this verse all the more terrifying.
For the ones who call out to Jesus, and call him “Lord,” are deceived.
Addressing Jesus as Lord alone, does not save anyone. Does that shock you?
For Jesus calls for a better righteousness. A greater righteousness, than that of the scribes and Pharisees.
A righteousness that is known in the bonds of a relationship.
Relationships are built on the way, not in THAT DAY.
If you bow the knee to the Lord because of his judgement — it’s too late. Everyone will do that!
2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
It’s too late! You will bow with the heavens, the earth, and everything under the earth. No one will stand in THAT DAY!
And the many who entered the wide gate, now are told to “depart.”
And their fruits are revealed.
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
IV. Conclusion
IV. Conclusion
A. Gospel Proclamation
A. Gospel Proclamation
The Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims that you do not have to wait to have peace with God.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
You will be saved now. You will be saved tomorrow. You will be saved in that Day. You will be saved forever.
Saved by Jesus’ blood, shed for us on the cross. Saved by his burial and resurrection.
And we who are in the faith, who have taken up our cross, and follow Jesus — have peace with God. And this peace we celebrate now, in Communion with Him.
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
As these words are sung, submit yourself to prayerful examination. The invitation for salvation is open, as long as it is called “Today.”