This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 10 July 2022. The full video recording of the service can be found below along with the transcript.
‘All religions are one. O, they may look like different paths, but they all go the same destination. They are simply different ways to travel up the same mountain. In the end, it doesn’t really matter which path you take. For every road eventually leads to the top.’
I’m sure you’ve all heard someone say that before. Perhaps a colleague or friend told you this was their philosophy when you tried to share your Christian faith with them. Or perhaps you are here this evening, and this is what you think. For you, Christianity is but one flavour of ice cream. That is, one possible philosophy among many. It is one way to God, but not the only way. Indeed, to believe that would be too exclusive and narrow. Not the kind of inclusive and broadminded attitude that is fit for the 21st century. Well, if that is what you think, or if you just have questions about how other religions relate to what Christians believe, our passage this evening is a great place to start your enquiries. For if Christianity really is just one path among many, we see here that nobody ever told Christ about this.
Since Easter, we have been walking through Matthew 5-7, this famous speech by Jesus called the Sermon on the Mount and this evening we cover its final paragraphs. If you have been following our series, you may have noticed that we were about to cross over into its conclusion last week. For in 7:12, Jesus summarised ‘the Law and the Prophets’. That phrase is a verbal clue that Jesus is about to complete his teaching, for it is exactly how he began the main body of his sermon back in 5:17, when he said he had come to fulfil ‘the Law and the Prophets’. And so, like all good compositions, this sermon has three parts: a beginning, a middle and an end. It starts with an introduction (5:1-16), focuses on fulfilling the Law and the Prophets in the middle (5:17-7:12), and then concludes (7:13-27).
And in this conclusion, Jesus paints a very different picture to that given by the ‘all religions are one’ philosophy. For in 7:13-14, Jesus says there are two gates that lead into two paths. And that far from them both heading in the same direction, meeting at the top of some mystical mountain, they take travellers to two very different destinations: one road runs to life and the other to destruction. Do you see here that rather than telling us we are all standing at the foot of a mountain, with every path ascending to the top. Jesus actually tells us we all stand at a fork in the road, that we have to decide between two very different paths and destinations. If you are not a Christian this evening, Jesus’ point is very plain: pick the proper path, take the right road. Each one of us stand at this fork in the road, having to choose between these two paths, And so, Jesus calls to us in 7:13 to, ‘Enter through the narrow gate.’ That is, take the road that leads to life, not destruction.
If you are already a Christian this evening, this will probably all feel very familiar. You understand yourself to have taken that narrow path, to be following Jesus, heading to eternal life, to be a Christian. Well, if that is you this evening, before pressing further down that path, can I urge you to stop and notice one final detail in 7:13-14. For here Jesus not only tells us about two gates, two paths and two destinations. He also tells us about two crowds. In 7:13, he says there are ‘many’ entering through the wide gate, that is there are many heading down that wide way to destruction. In contrast in 7:14, he says there are only ‘few’ who find the small gate and narrow way, only a few that follow that road to life. Many and few. One crowd crammed onto the wide road to destruction, perhaps like the A3 at rush hour, the other a trickle of travellers taking the narrow path to life, like some country backroad that few people go down.
Further, as we go through our passage, we see that one of most the tragic things about these two crowds is that many misunderstand what road they are on. We see that in 7:22, where Jesus tells us that ‘many’ will say to him on that last day ‘Lord, Lord’. That is, many will journey through life, believing they are on the narrow way, heading towards eternal life, but find out at the end of their journey that they were mistaken all along. That the road they took was actually the wrong one, and that it is too late to turn back. Friend, how sure tonight are you that you are on the right road? That you are travelling to eternal life? Could you be wrong? Could you have taken the wrong turn? Could you be among the many in 7:22 who are mistaken on that last day? Well, in the rest of our passage Jesus gives us three pictures to help us perceive whether that is the case for us personally. And so, whether you have been a Christian for decades, or just a few years, can I ask you tonight to stop and check your compass. Consider your surroundings. Confirm whether you are really plodding along the right path. As we walk through the rest of our passage, we will see we can all do this by asking ourselves three questions: (1) Who are you following? (7:15-20); (2) What are you trusting? (7:21-23); (3) How are you responding? (7:24-27).
1. WHO ARE YOU FOLLOWING? (7:15-20)
Grandma, what big eyes you have! All the better to see you with my dear. Grandma what furry ears you have! All the better to hear you with my dear. Grandma, what large teeth you have. All the better to...well we all know what happens next, don’t we? In the famous children’s tale, little Red Riding Hood learns too late that dangerous wolves can be found in unexpected places. The story has been around for centuries, but the idea of a hidden wolf is even older, with the famous Greek storyteller Aesop first popularising a fable about a wolf in sheep’s clothing over 2500 years ago. Perhaps the same analogy in 7:15 would have been familiar to those who had heard Aesop’s story. However, regardless of whether he echoes Aesop or not, Jesus is certainly echoing countless warnings within the Old Testament of false leaders who prey on God’s people. And these warnings continue throughout the rest of the New Testament, as churches are repeatedly warned about false leaders, wolves sneaking in and causing carnage among the sheep. Perhaps some of you have seen a chicken run after a fox breaks in, well imagine what a sheep pen would look like after a wolf is let into it.
Last week we were reminded of the blessing it is to all travel through life together as part of a local church: to have companions for our journey and leaders to guide our way. And yet, here Jesus warns us to consider what leaders we are following, to take care when trusting someone to guide us. In 7:15 he warns, ‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.’ Here we see not all leaders are to be trusted, for some so-called prophets are really predators. They look like sheep on the outside, but inside are ‘ferocious wolves.’ They may tell you they are leading you on the narrow path to life, but it is really the broad road to destruction. And like LRRH, you don’t want to find this out too late...
In order to avoid her fate, Jesus provides a principle in 7:16-20 that can help us detect wolfish deception. Did you notice that little section begins and ends with the same phrase in both 7:16, 20: ‘by their fruit you will recognise them.’ Here Jesus changes the picture from a wolf in sheep’s clothing to fruit on a tree. As he says in 7:18, ‘A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.’ Jesus explains that we identify imposters by inspecting them. That if you want to work out whether a tree is bad, that is whether a leader is false, you must examine their fruit, what they are producing, the doctrine they teach and deeds they do.
Now by wearing sheep’s clothing, they may at first appear to be genuine. And yet, Jesus teaches their true colours eventually come through. By looking past what they wear, and focusing on what they bear, we can determine who they really are. It is not how someone first appears, but what they ultimately produce, that is evidence of eligibility for church leadership. In the end, if they are a bad tree, they will manifest this by producing bad fruit. Their wolfish characteristics will eventually come through. In this way, Jesus is urging us not to be LRRH’s. Initially fooled by grandma’s clothes, she really should have known something wasn’t right when she started to notice the large eyes, furry ears, and huge teeth! For if they look like a wolf, sound like a wolf, and act like wolf, that is almost certainly what they are!
Brothers and sisters, fellow members at Grace Church, see here the importance of inspecting those we call to be leaders, assessing those we ask to be teachers. Those we trust to guide us on our way. As we were reminded at SBC a few weeks ago, we must look not just for gifting (sheep’s clothing), but most importantly, godliness (fruit). That is true for those who are to serve as elders, but it also true for all other leadership responsibilities in our shared life together: whether Sunday School, Tuesday Club or Coffee Morning. We must appoint people carefully, lest we unwittingly set a wolf with the sheep, give others a guide who will lead them down the wrong path. It is only after we begin to see good fruit in their lives that we can entrust others to their care.
However, secondly, on a more individual level, do you see here that we must take particular care over voices we listen to from outside our local church. You may be able to pop onto the internet or turn on the TV and enjoy engaging and entertaining sermons from all over the world. Or you can plug into a parachurch organisation locally, whether it is a CU at university or another kind of bible study or support group, which will feed you God’s Word, help guide you in life. However, brothers and sister, take great care if you decide to do so, for relying on distant leaders, whose lives you cannot see, is risky. And it is dangerous to depend on organisations without the accountability structures that God has given for the local church. As you walk your path, you want to be able to see the fruit of the leaders you are following. Or know that a group of godly Christians in a local church see this person’s life and are keeping an eye on what they produce. Friends, who are you following? Can you see good fruit in their life? For that is how to determine whether they are leading you in the right direction.
2. WHAT ARE YOU TRUSTING? (7:21-23)
Here, in 7:21-23, Jesus’s challenging conclusion begins to get a lot more personal. For having told us to examine others, those we are following, he now tells us to examine ourselves. Warns us that there is not only a danger of being deceived by others, but also a danger of deceiving ourselves. In some of the most challenging verses in the Bible, Jesus calls us to consider that last day, at the end of our travels, when, as we thought last week, we will be judged. And on that day, he explains that there will not only be false prophets, but also false professors. That is, those who profess, claim to be Christians, think they are following Jesus, but turn out to be mistaken. They thought they were walking the narrow path to life, but when they get to the end they discover their destination is actually destruction. This truth should make all of us who call ourselves Christians, stop and do what Paul exhorts us to do in 2 Corinthians 13:5, ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.’ For as Jesus explains in 7:21, ‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven...’. [...]
How do we conduct this self-examination? Well, we see here that we do it in the same way that we examine our leaders. For just as we can recognise them by their fruit, we see here that Jesus will recognise us by our fruit on last day. And yet, it may not be the fruit that we first expect. For perhaps what is most remarkable about this mistaken crowd is that at first, there appears to much to commend them, suggest that they are following Jesus just like they say. First, you have their profession itself, this two-fold title they use, ‘Lord, Lord’. They clearly know who Jesus really is, ascribing to him all authority and power, repeating it twice to emphasise their loyalty to this Lord. They know who Jesus is, and yet it seems he doesn’t know them. It is a helpful reminder that while theological accuracy, knowledge about God, is a wonderful thing, it is not a saving thing. No matter how accurate our knowledge of the Bible or Christianity is, we cannot trust in it for that last day. Entrance into Christ’s kingdom does not depend on what we know.
However, it’s not just what they know, for in 7:22 we see that it is also what they have done. They not only know Christ’s name, but they have also done much in his name. Those 3 activities they mention are exactly those that Jesus and his disciples will go on to accomplish in the next few chapters. And yet, these amazing acts of power in Christ’s name do not guarantee them entrance into Christ’s kingdom. In the end, all their supposed service is said to be sin, for in the last word of his verdict, Jesus calls them ‘evildoers’. Works not of good but of evil. They seem to say the right things and do the right things, but in the end discover they were on the wrong path all along. O brothers and sisters, do you see here how closely someone can resemble a Christian and yet still not enter Christ’s kingdom? We have thought about how careful we need to be to detect a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And yet see here that we need to be equally as careful to distinguish between a sheep and a goat. Between someone who is a Christian and someone who just looks like a Christian. Between a Peter and a Judas. Both got the same teaching, performed the same miracles, and yet one would betray his so-called Lord with a kiss.
How then can we know? If neither profession nor service is sufficient to be able to assess whether someone is truly a Christian, what kind of fruit should we look for? Well, Jesus tells us exactly what he will look for on that last day in 7:21. How can we know whether we are walking the narrow way? Here Jesus tells us that it is neither true theology nor spectacular service that marks true disciples: it is ordinary obedience. The fruit Jesus looks for is simple rather than sensational. Faithful rather than dramatic. It is the kind of quiet godliness, secret holiness, consistent obedience, that Jamie spoke of this morning. As strange as it may seem, the sign of a Spirit filled life is not casting out daemons and performing many miracles, but rather it is thanksgiving, speaking, singing and submitting to each other. That is, doing the simple things God has told us to do. As the disciple John puts it in 1 John 2:3: ‘by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.’ We do not become Christians through obedience, but rather through faith and repentance, and yet all who become Christians go on to obey. If we love him, we will keep his commandments. There will be fruit, there may not be the sophisticated fruit of theological brilliance, nor the spectacular fruit of impressive service, but there will always be the simple fruit of an obedient life.
If you have travelled abroad recently, I’m sure you have gone through the hassle of sorting out all the COVID tests and passes. As you approached the border police perhaps you had your file of documents ready, just waiting to pull out the relevant vaccine passport or test result should they decided to stop and challenge you.
Brother and sister, what are you trusting in tonight? If the Lord stopped you on your way into his kingdom, what would you try to pull out as evidence of your eligibility? What might you point to prove that you were a true follower? Lord, Lord, I helped at Tiny Treasures in your name? Lord, Lord, I served as a deacon for many years? Lord, Lord, I preached or taught the Bible to others? O, we must take great care that our acts of service do not become central to our claim to be a Christian. That they remain expressions of our obedience rather than becoming crutches for our assurance.
Brother or sister, if God swept away all your avenues for public service by illness, or by calling you to care around the clock for a loved one, what would you do? Would you still delight to serve your Saviour in the ordinary obedience of the Christian life? In patience and thanksgiving, purity of heart and telling the truth, in forgiving others and praying quietly for their good? In such circumstances, would you be content to be an ordinary obedient Christian? Or are you living off the fumes of your own activity, drawing energy from your endless busy service? Brothers and sisters, can I encourage you to stop for a moment this evening, and check that road you are running down so quickly is really taking you in the right direction. Friend, when the dust cloud of all your activity settles, is there a living relationship with your Lord beneath it. Underneath all your work for God, are you walking with God? Friend, as MLJ put it, being ‘over-busy is one of the high-roads to self-deception.’
There is a beautiful example of this kind of quiet ordinariness in MLJ’s own life. The most prominent pastor and greatest British preacher of the 20th century. And yet, when his friend Iain Murray visited him in 1980, a year before he died, his health had declined, and he was confined to his home. Iain Murray recalls the visit like this: When I arrived in his room he had a [verse]. It was a [verse] for me, and [one] he had obviously been preaching to himself: [It was] ‘And the 70 returned again with joy saying "Even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name."...[But] our Lord [said] rejoice not, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.’ The lesson of the text, [MLJ] said, is that if we are living upon what we do, if our happiness is based upon...our service for Christ, there is something deeply wrong. ‘Not in this,’ says our Lord, ‘but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’ [MLJ continued by saying] The ultimate test of a preacher is what he feels like when he cannot preach. It is a real snare for the preacher to live upon preaching. People say to me now ‘It must be very sad for you not to be able to preach.’ ‘Not at all,’ he would reply ‘I was not living upon preaching.’ It was a great privilege to hear him say that. He went on to say that though he could no longer preach, God was helping him to pray. He was rejoicing in the quietness that God had given him, with more time to pray and was not downcast that he was not preaching.’ O brothers and sisters, as MLJ prepared to meet his Saviour, do you see that unlike these false professors, he was not leaning on his learning or trusting in his great activity. He was not getting ready to introduce himself at heaven’s gates as the most famous British preacher of the 20th century, but rather as the humble servant of a gracious Lord. He loved the Lord and was happy to obey him in whatever circumstance he was set, in whatever quiet way he commanded. And so surely when we arrived, he was not asked ‘who are you’, but rather welcomed in as God’s good and faithful servant, was able to enter into the joy of the master whom he loved.
3. HOW ARE YOU RESPONDING? (7:24-27)
Finally, then, we come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, this famous picture Christ paints of two builders: a wise man who builds his house on the rock and a foolish man who builds his house on the sand. It is rightly well known, and often told separate from the sermon which it is set in. However, do you see how closely it is connected with all Christ has been saying so far. All three pictures have some kind of deception involved: the wolf in sheep’s clothing has to be uncovered, the false professor is in the end discovered, and here the difference between the two houses lies under the surface, in its foundations, only being revealed when a storm sweeps one away. Further, do you see that each picture is picking up an aspect of the previous one and focusing in on it. Like a microscope with three lenses, at first we see the cell on the surface, but then *click* and we zoom in a little further, and then *click* we zoom in again. In that first story of false prophets, we see that it is by examining someone’s fruit that we can uncover the genuineness of their faith. Then *click* in the second story we see that this fruit is neither accurate theology or impressive service, but the ordinary obedience of the Christian life. And now *click* we zoom in again and see this obedience is not just obeying the will of the Father (how Jesus put it in 7:21), but is obeying the words of his Son. Did you notice that development? How do we know this will of the Father in heaven (7:21)? Well, it is through the words of the Son on earth (7:24)?
We have already seen how central Christ is in these pictures, for in 7:21-23 he tells us he will be the one determining our ultimate destination, the one to whom we must plead, the one who will judge us on that last day: ‘Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord,...’. However, here in 7:24-27 we see that Jesus is not just the judge who hands down the sentence, but he is also the criteria upon which that sentence is decided. Christ sees himself and his teaching as the great test, the difference between heaven and hell, between the path of life and destruction. Where his hearers that day [and this day] would spend eternity was going to be based upon how they responded to what he had said in the Sermon on the Mount. Would they be hearers only, or would they also be doers? Would they respond with obedience, do what he said?
Perhaps you can understand now why the crowds in 7:28-29 were so amazed and astonished at what he said. He was not teaching them like other teachers of the law. He was not even teaching them like Moses in Deuteronomy 30. Jesus was not just telling them there were two ways to live, he was telling them that the difference between those two ways was how they responded to him. In teaching that day, Jesus was not just commentating on God’s law, he was commanding God’s law. He was speaking as the very voice of God. That’s why the crowd walked away that day not just amazed at his provoking teaching, but puzzling over who this person really was! This one who claimed he was the eternal judge, this one who said he spoke with the same authority as their Father in heaven.
How are you responding to Christ’s commands? If you have been with us over the last few months, you have heard all that he said in this Sermon on the Mount: what will you do with it? Will you take the rock of this teaching, this teacher, and build your house upon it, place your weight upon him, put your whole life in his hands? Or having heard all that Jesus had said, will you be like those hearers in 7:26, who hear and yet do not do. Who go and build their life on something else? Place their hopes and dreams, their joys and trust, upon another foundation? Friend, you have to build your house somewhere. You have to live your life on some foundation, what foundation will you choose? The eternal unchanging rock of God’s Son? This one who is a sure and steady anchor, has hands that will hold you fast, has laid a firm foundation. Or will you choose the shifting sand of everything else? Friend, if you pick that sand this evening, if you turn away from Jesus and go to another foundation. See here that even if you build a palace, the storm of God’s judgement will sweep it all away if it is not built on Jesus. Even if you construct a castle in this life, achieve all you could ever hope and dream, in the end if it is not built on Jesus, your castle may as well be made of sand, for when that tide comes in, and its sandy foundation is discovered, it will all fall ‘with a great crash’. O, how are you responding to Jesus?
In some ways, it is a dangerous thing coming here on a Sunday evening, a perilous thing to hear these words of Jesus if you are not going to do them. By hearing these words, and not putting them into practice, you only highlighting your foolishness, knowing so much and yet doing so little with it. For the one who sat on that mountain to teach us will one day sit on a throne to judge us. And here we see that he will judge us based on what we have done with him and his word. It is a dangerous thing to listen to the words of Jesus if you aren’t going to do them, and yet listening to his Word is also a wonderful thing, for they tell us the way to life. Young people, that is why your parents bring you along, not to increase your condemnation, but to see you come to salvation. They bring you not so that you will merely be hearers, but that you will also be doers. For in this last picture do you see that there is a foundation that will see you through both the storms of this life and the eternal tide of judgement to come. O yes, there is a way to destruction, we have thought about that this evening. But see also, that there is a way to life. There is a road not just to hell, but also to heaven. For Jesus is one who came to tell us, in John 14:6, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’ The one who came to make a way for us to be right with God. Who came to bear God’s judgement on the cross for all who will turn from sin and trust in him. Who died in our place and rose from the grave to open up a path of peace and life, a road to a relationship with God again. He laid down his life so that he might be the rock upon which we can build ours.
In one sense, Christianity is narrow and exclusive. It’s tells us that there are only two ways to live and only one of those takes you to the top of that mountain as it were. And yet in another it is the most inclusive and broadest religion of all, for all are welcome, Jesus turns none away who truly come to him. This is a road open to all, free for any to start down tonight. If you are standing at the fork, unsure which way to go, come to Jesus. Put your trust in him. Begin to build on this rock. And you can be sure that nothing in either time or eternity will be able to sweep you away.
ALEXANDER ARRELL