"The Whole Book"

Thursday, March 24, 2022

#1240 Matthew 7 Part 4 Beware of False Prophets

“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 thorn bushes, 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.

I Never Knew You

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.’ Matthew 7: 15-23 ESV

Matthew 7: 15-23

But you know that the early church was so worried about this that they had in the Didach a few little rules to help them. Now, these are not written by God, but these are written by some folks at that time who wanted to have some criteria to judge a true prophet. So they said, “A true prophet is to be held in the highest honor; he is to be welcomed; and his word must never be disregarded, and his freedom must never be curtailed: but He shall remain in your house one day, and, if necessary, another day also; but if he remains three days, he is a false prophet.” Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard’s Almanac, said, “Fish and visitors smell in three days.”

Now, we’re not denying hospitality, and we’re not saying that you shouldn’t keep somebody, but when a man comes along and says he’s a prophet of God, they assume that if he was a prophet, he was on a mission. And if he was really on a mission of God, he would be busy about getting onto his mission, not hanging around taking in all the freebies he could get at your house. Now it says, “He must never ask for anything but bread. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet.” Ho-ho, how about that one? If he asks for money, he’s a false prophet. Boy, with a category like that, you could sure stuff a lot of folks in. “False prophets claim to speak in the Spirit, but there’s one acid test: By their character a true and a false prophet shall be known.

Every prophet that teaches the truth, if he does not what he teaches, is a false prophet.” If he wants ease, staying around your house, if he wants money, or if he doesn’t live up to his teaching. “If he claims to speak in the Spirit, but he sits down and orders a table and a meal to be set before him, he is a false prophet. Whosoever shall say in the Spirit: Give me money or any other things, don’t hear him; but if he tell you to give in the matter of others who have need, then he’s a true prophet. If a wanderer comes to a congregation, and wants to settle there, and if he has a trade, let him work and eat. If he has no trade, consider in your wisdom how he may not live with you as a Christian in idleness – And if he will not do this, he is a trafficker in Christ. Beware of him.”

Well, a false prophet’s always in it for himself – pad his own pocket, fill his own greed, prestige, power, importance, money, the whole thing. Be aware, because they’re out there. And listen, people, I’ll say it again: they’re not the apostates and the heretics. They’re the ones that most people think are Christians. There’s a fourth word, and that’s the word damnation – damnation. The false prophets have an end, you know. You say, “What’s their end?” Verse 22, they are going to say, “Have we not prophesied in your name?” We’ve been Your preachers, and by the way, the word prophet here is not used in a revelatory sense that they receive revelation from God. - J Mac

Beware of false prophets - Jesus, in the same tradition of the OT prophets and John the Baptist, comes with a message of repentance, and warning. The Bible spends much time on this, and remember the two verses previous to this warned us about a wide and a narrow way. False prophets don't come saying this is the wrong way, this is the way to hell, in fact, the way you can recognize many of them is that they rarely speak of hell, of sin, or eternal damnation. They try to focus on the vocabulary that we have in common. They say, "Jesus, love, Bible, unity, Christian," but they make another Christ, play down the atonement, want people to fill pews, give money and like them, so they make light of those things which God hated so much that the only way to redeem us was to kill His own Son. Now we know of cults like Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Scientology and so on, those are easy to spot, but this passage goes deeper. So how do we spot these wolves?

1If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,” 3you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.… Deuteronomy 13: 1-3

Come to you in sheep's clothing - They look like one of the flock, and more appropriately, the shepherd, as they speak as if God has spoken through them, given them a sign, a vision, and they often claim that they have performed wonders. If you look at Deuteronomy 13 above, the greatest qualifier was not whether what they said came to past, it had to, otherwise they would be disqualified, but if what they predicted did come to pass, yet they led people astray, brought people into idolatry, in other words, if their claim of God was not matched with obedience to God's word, His law, then they were disqualified. They come wearing the clothing of a shepherd or back then some would put on camel's hair to look like Elijah or John the Baptist, hoping that people would see the outer garment and be deceived.

…3And if anyone still prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not remain alive, because you have spoken falsely in the name of the LORD.’ When he prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will pierce him through. 4And on that day every prophet who prophesies will be ashamed of his vision, and he will not put on a hairy cloak in order to deceive. 5He will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I work the land, for I was purchased as a servant in my youth.’… Zechariah 13: 3-5

#1239 Matthew 7 Part 3 The Golden Rule

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

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 many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7: 12-14 ESV

Matthew 7: 12-14 The Golden Rule

…35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question: 36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” 37Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’…

…38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”… Matthew 22: 35-40

Whatever you wish that others would do - Note that it isn't written an eye for an eye, as in whatever others do to you do also to them. Remember Matthew 5? As part of this same sermon He has already told them that those belonging to His kingdom look a certain way, like Christ, which means they act a certain way, "Blessed are the merciful', and 'love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you". Many cultures and religious systems have a very similar structure to this; we call it the "Golden Rule", you like freedom then don't be like Russia, don't go into another nation unprovoked. You don't like getting your stuff stolen, well then don't steal, don't wanna be killed, well then don't be a murderer. Even some of the more new age types will "send good thoughts out into the universe, so the universe will send good thoughts or vibes back to them." It's a pretty simple concept, so why then are there still wars, stealing, murder and all that stuff? Short and simple, men are all in a fallen state from Adam onwards, and at enmity with God. Men are made in God's image, so we strike out at what we can get to. We want others to follow laws, at least the ones that benefit us, and yet, if we break the law, then we want others to forgive us, but we are all hypocrites in this. When I wanted to be an atheist, I did mostly because I didn't like aspects of God's laws, yet I wanted to maintain my own moral structure, still desiring to call some things right and some things wrong, but without any fixed moral bar, eternal deity. So we end up with a form of this, yet we are still corrupt, so we fight for who get's to decide what's right and wrong, and it unfortunately comes down to survival of the fittest, might making right. Some think a fairer form of this is democracy, where a majority vote decides what's right or good, and that for others as well, but as a Christian, I would now contend that the majority can also be wrong too. The Golden Rule has no strength on it's own, so if the people with the biggest guns and best technology also happen to be the nicest people, then we have some peace for a while. If I say, I have invented the atomic bomb and I don't want to use it, but if you don't behave I will, then everyone behaves for a while. But people are also greedy, so eventually the secrets to this technology get sold elsewhere, and now there is a race in arms, and much tension, as we all hope this doesn't fall into the hands of the insane, someone who does not see the image of God in others and whose ego would allow for them to press the button. So now the golden rule is basically a Mexican stand off, don't drop your bombs and I won't drop mine.

Radical Corruption

Human Depravity Part 1

Human Depravity Part 2

Do also to them - Respect others based not on how they treat you, but on how you would like to be treated by them. This extends to infractions as well. When you back into my car this is not the signal, justification, for me to jump out of mine and pull you through your window. I need to show mercy, knowing that I have wanted that for myself as well. We are so quick to be judge, jury and executioner, let your ego go, which is denying yourself, and then God will use you in this situation to be a peacemaker, to bring glory to Him and His kingdom.

…17You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. 18Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. Leviticus 19: 17-18

…5For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another, 6if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm, 7then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.… Jeremiah 7: 5-7

Enter by the narrow gate - Now keep in mind, He is not talking to pagans who have never heard of God, He is talking to religious people and He has been dismantling the perversions of their system. He has called out their religious leaders, those who interpret God's law, as hypocrites. They believed they were righteous by their system, but they were leading men astray, keeping them blind to the context of Scripture, and not letting some anywhere near it. They were bigots, stuck up, proud, blind leaders of the blind. People esteemed them as holy, but it was all outward, and God was looking at their hearts, calling them murderers and adulterers based upon what He saw in there. They were at the wide gate, and those that followed them were going down that path as well. They thought that rich people were good people, that people who did outward deeds for the applause of men were good people. What does Jesus present? A narrow way, only wide enough for one person to enter at a time, the width of the one standing in front of them, a porthole made possible by Him and through Him, one way. He is offering self denial in place of self righteousness, mercy and repentance instead of sacrifice, faith instead of works, feelings or "good" intentions.

…6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. 7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. 8“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.… Isaiah 55: 6-8

9 To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.… Luke 18: 9-10

23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.… Matthew 16: 23-25

…16What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”… 2 Corinthians 6: 16-18

Pride, self-righteousness, self-indulgence, sins of all sorts are welcome on the broad road, but if you’ve got them, you don’t even get on the narrow road, because you can’t get through the gate with that stuff. A West Indian who had chosen Islam over Christianity said this: “My reason is that Islam is a noble, broad path. There is room for a man and his sins on it, and the way of Christ is far too narrow.” That’s the choice.

A letter was written to the Melbourne Daily paper after the Billy Graham Crusade of some years back. This is what the man who wrote the letter said: “After hearing Dr. Billy Graham on the air, viewing him on TV, and reading reports and letters concerning him and his mission, I am heartedly sick of the type of religion that insists my soul and everyone else’s needs saving, whatever that means. I have never felt that I was lost, nor do I feel that I daily wallow in the mire of sin, although repetitive preaching insists that I do. Give me a practical religion that teaches gentleness and tolerance, that acknowledges no barriers of color or creed; that remembers the aged, and teaches children of goodness and not sin.

“If in order to save my soul I must accept such a philosophy as I have recently heard preached, I prefer to remain forever damned.” And he signed his name. And that’s the choice everyone makes. You either invent a nice little religion that fits you, or you take the truth of God and accept it. That’s the choice you make. One gives life, the other death. Let’s pray. Thank You, Father, this morning for speaking to us so pointedly. These are hard words, hard words for us to face because of our sin. May we face them. Thank You, though, that when we enter that narrow gate there is great security and confidence, as our hearts cry out Abba Father, knowing full well that we’re Your children. - J Mac

It's not the popular message, the widely accepted message; few there are that find it. All you, who have found the way, have only God to thank for that, not yourselves.

…18Truly, truly, I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after He had said this, He told him, “Follow Me.” 20Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper to ask, “Lord, who is going to betray You?”…

…21When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me!” 23Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. However, Jesus did not say that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I return, what is that to you?”… John 21: 18-23

#1238 Matthew 7 Part 2 Ask

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Matthew 7: 7-11

Matthew 7: 7-11

Ask, and it will be given to you - Stop there, that and a bunch of jumping up and down on stage, with some clichés thrown in, that's a whole sermon for a Pentecostal prosperity teacher. That's a whole lifelong career for some. Next week it will be how "you have not because you ask not", and then it will be, "you didn't believe hard enough, you didn't hold on to your healing, you didn't write as big a check to my ministry as you should have." Is that what Jesus is saying here, does that fit with the rest of the sermon on the mount? If you are in a church like that, one that teaches the prosperity gospel, measures faith by bank account, come out of her. If it's on your tv then turn the channel. Go back and read Matthew six on how to pray, praying in God's will. That is part of this same Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6 on prayer

…2You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.… James 4: 2-4

Kent Hughes gives an important caveat regarding this well known verse warning that...

The instruction in this text should not be lifted from its context (Ed note" see importance of context in accurate interpretation and valid application) in the Sermon and abused. All of us have heard this done. "The Bible says, 'Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.' Therefore, all we have to do is ask for it with faith and persistence, and we will get it. 'You do not have because you do not ask' (James 4:2). So go for it! Name it and claim it!" This view sees God as a celestial slot machine. Pull the handle enough times in prayer, be persistent, and you will get what you want! Such thinking is entirely wrong! A text without a context is a pretext. Isolating this text from its setting in the Sermon on the Mount is deadly. The broad context of the Sermon sets down the surpassing righteousness, humility, sincerity, purity, and love expected of those who are members of the kingdom of God. These virtues are beyond human attainment apart from God's grace. The broad context underscores our need. In the immediately preceding context (vv. 1-6) Jesus has shown us the danger of condemning other people as if we were judges. He also has told us to get the plank out of our own eye before we attempt to remove a speck from someone else's. His warning is, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (v. 2). This standard is terrifying. Who is adequate for such things? How can we live up to such a high standard? We need to be cleansed. We need help and grace, but from where? Jesus answers, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (v. 7). This famous text is not carte blanche for our material desires. Rather, it tells us how to pray for the character of the kingdom in our lives. (Hughes, R. K. Sermon on the Mount: The Message of the Kingdom. Crossway Books) (Bolding added) - Precept Austin

For everyone who asks receives - Why do we ask? Because we don't have, remember, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness. God knows about the physical needs of His children, but there are things far worse to the spiritually reborn eye. After reading the sermon on the mount and hearing Jesus's own outline of prayer in Matthew 6, certainly all of us have reason for pause, and those being made alive, born again, see where they lack the most. When Jesus prays, He prays to the Father, and in accordance with the Father's will, desiring His kingdom. The Psalmist skips right to His greatest need, Create in me a clean heart Oh God and renew a right spirit within me. I deserve to be cast away, but please don't cast me away. Solomon was given, for all practical purposes, an open check, and what did he ask for? He knew he was going to be king over God's people, Israel, and what does a king need to decide justly, to rule effectively? Solomon realized a lack in himself, and he appealed to God for wisdom.

It may be a revealing exercise for some of you to find out how often in Scripture you are told to pray. You will be surprised to find how many times such words as these are given: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee” (Psalm 50:15-note). “Ye people, pour out your heart before Him” (Psalm 62:8-note). “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found; call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6). “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Mt 7:7-note). “Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation” (Mark 14:38). “Pray without ceasing" (1The 5:12-note). “Come boldly unto the throne of grace” (He 4:16-note). “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you” (James 4:8-note). “Continue in prayer” (Col 4:2-note). I need not multiply what I could not possibly exhaust. I pick two or three out of this great bag of pearls. - C. H. Spurgeon

…5One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!” 6Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.…

…8Your servant is here among the people You have chosen, a people too numerous to count or number. 9Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?” 1 Kings 3: 5-9

…4Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.… James 1: 4-6

The one who seeks finds - "Lord', I say after all of this, the beatitudes, God's bar for righteousness, 'I don't measure up, I'm unholy, I am the one with the plank in my eye, I am at a loss here, bankrupt." We ask for wisdom, but careful that we don't miss it when it comes. There is a collection of books called the Bible, that claims to be the inspired word of God. If this is true, then here is a good place to look. Don't walk past the wisdom that exceeds all the combined wisdom of man.

Seek (2212) (zeteo) means to attempt to learn something by careful investigation or searching, to desire to have or experience something or to try to obtain something from someone. Seeking is asking plus acting, implying earnest petitioning coupled with an active endeavoring to fulfill needs. When you seek something, you rearrange your priorities so that you can search for what you desire until you find it. Do you prioritize prayer? - Precept Austin

Puritan Thomas Manton wrote that "If we don’t receive by asking, then let us seek; if we don’t receive by seeking, then let us knock." - Precept Austin

Arthur Pink has a well reasoned explanation of why Jesus mentions prayer at this point and note that his analysis also relies heavily on the context...

What has been suggested above concerning the scope of our present passage will be the more apparent by viewing it in relation to its whole context. From Mt 5:20, onwards, Christ had presented a standard of moral excellence which is utterly unattainable by mere flesh and blood. He had inculcated one requirement after another, which it lies not in the power of fallen human nature to meet. He had forbidden an opprobrious word, a malignant wish, an impure desire, a revengeful thought. He had enjoined the most unsparing mortification of our dearest members (Mt 5:29, 5:30). He had commanded the loving of our enemies, the blessing of those who curse us, the doing good unto those who hate us, and the praying for those who despitefully use and persecute us (Mt 5:44). In view of which the Christian may well exclaim, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Such demands of holiness are beyond my feeble strength: yet the Lord has made them—what then am I to do?

Coming nearer still to our passage we find that in the opening verses of chapter 7 Christ gave two apparently contradictory commands. First, He says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged:” abstain from forming harsh estimates and passing censorious censures on your fellows. Second, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs:” discriminate sharply between the clean and the unclean, that you may not be guilty of obliterating the line which God has drawn between the righteous and the wicked. But to steer safely between such rocks as these requires not only spiritual strength but spiritual wisdom, such wisdom as the natural man possesses not. What then is the poor believer to do? The Lord here anticipates this difficulty and meets this perplexity. He is well aware that, in our own wisdom and strength, we are incapable of keeping His commands, but He at once reminds us that the things which are ordinarily impossible to men can be made possible to them by God. - Precept Austin

…10As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. 11There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”… Romans 3: 10-12

To the one who knocks it will be opened - This reminds me of the woman in Christ's parable who finally gains favor with an unjust judge, and with this persistence we shall win over heaven. How much more so even, for our God is just.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18: 1-8

Will give him a stone - God knows you need bread (food) to eat, and He is not cruel or indifferent to His children, so when you ask for something that is good, He's not going to give you something bad instead, for spite. "Here, chew on this stone, now quit crying and be thankful."

Spurgeon writes "Our Lord will give us the real thing. Sometimes we should be quite satisfied with the imitation of it. And sometimes we have to wait and be prepared for the reception of the real thing; it is infinitely better for us to wait for months than immediately to get ,a stone; better to wait for a fish than the next moment to have a scorpion. There were some in the wilderness who asked to be satisfied, and they were so, with the flesh of quails. They got their stones, they got their scorpions. But the Lord's people may sometimes find that they have to wait a while. ,God will not give to them that which is other than good for them."

Ask for a Fish, given a serpent - Now, I like snakes, so I wouldn't be terribly alarmed, but this is meant in the worse sense. A snake would be an unclean animal, so they wouldn't even be able to eat it by their dietary laws. It also represented danger, as in the deception of the serpent in the garden, and those that bit Israel in the wilderness. But now, we who ask for things, often ask for the serpent, calling it a fish, a need, a deserved thing. I hear that a lot from my generation to the present one, they even sell to us this way, "you need a vacation, no one is more deserving of this than you, you owe it to yourself." So, we often come to God demanding these "needs", that we "deserve", and sometimes He says no, but we try for it anyway. Many times, in our lack of trust in God, we ask God to bless an alternative that we came up with, like Abraham did. God promised Isaac, but Abraham, in unbelief, ran with plan B, Ishmael, and then asked God to bless what was basically the fruit of his unbelief and disobedience. This created a lot of turmoil. We need to wait on God, and we need to realize that some things we want are not good for us, and God uses some difficult things in our life to test and grow us.

…17Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth at the age of ninety?” 18And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!” 19But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.… Genesis 17: 17-19

#1237 Matthew 7 Part 1 My Favorite Verse

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

Ask, and It Will Be Given

The Golden Rule

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

A Tree and Its Fruit

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 thorn bushes, 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.

I Never Knew You

Build Your House on the Rock

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And 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. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

The Authority of Jesus

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. Matthew 7 ESV

Matthew 7: 1-6 Being Judgmental

1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?… Romans 2: 1-3

Judge not, that you be not judged - This has quickly risen to become the most quoted verse of Scripture in our age. I remember using it quite often, especially as a young man, when someone would point out that something I was doing, saying or condoning, was wrong. Sadly, I even knew better at times, that what I was doing was no different than Satan saying, "hath God said?" It's like quoting, "vengeance is mine," but leaving out the, "sayeth the Lord", as if it belongs to me. Also, in using it as a knee jerk defense against anything and everything, I was also refusing any evaluation of myself, even those objections to my behavior which were based upon clear evidence of my open rebellion, in what God had clearly deemed evil. I was also passing judgment in my use of this verse, accusing the other person of being in violation of Jesus's words.

1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. 2The good man obtains favor from the LORD, but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.… Proverbs 12: 1-2

So what is it saying here? Let's look at the context for understanding. We are still in the Sermon on the Mount which started with chapter 5, and we have been learning that religion that is pleasing to God is not judged by outward appearances. Jesus even said, "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees," which was an outward righteousness, "you will never enter the kingdom of heaven". God is looking at the heart.

…18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.… Matthew 5: 18-20

Matthew 5 Part 9

Christ has been dealing with hypocrisy, which is made very clear in chapter 6, where he intros the principles of giving, praying and fasting with being aware not to do these things, good things, as the hypocrites do, self righteously, to be seen of men, thus nullifying their reward from God.

With the measure you use, it will be measured to you - They liked being called teachers, being in places of authority, having titles, being greeted by those titles, and being seen as the keepers of the law. So, if you are all that, and you feel like your in such a place that you can be critical of others, than know this, you will be judged likewise. If you go around claiming to be a pastor, a teacher, a judge of the law, then you will be judged as an expert, as one who should know better than those you look down on. Often the Pharisees judged by rules they made up, clothes they wore, money that people had, cleaning the outside of the cup. They judged by family influence, ethnicity, flowery prayers, and some even changed their judgment for pay. It was a crooked line they walked, and taught others to walk, but they thought it looked straight.

1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body. 3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal.… James 3: 1-3

Guzik has an excellent exposition of this command writing that...

This is the Bible verse that seems to be most popular in our present day. But most the people who quote this verse don't understand what Jesus said. They seem to think Jesus commanded a universal acceptance of any lifestyle or teaching. If we see what Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-16, He commands us to know people by the fruit of their life, and some sort of assessment is necessary for that.. The Christian is called to unconditionally love. But the Christian is not called to unconditional approval. We really can love people who do things that should not be approved of. Instead, Jesus is speaking against being judgmental, that is, judging motives and the inner man, which only God can know. We can judge the fruit of a man, but we can rarely judge their motives with accuracy.

Jesus does not prohibit judgment of others. He only requires that our judgment be completely fair, and that we only judge others by a standard we would also like to be judged by. Most of our judgment in regard to others is wrong, not because we judge according to a standard, but because we are hypocritical in the application of that standard - we ignore the standard in our own life.

We judge others by one standard, and ourselves by another standard - being far more generous to ourselves than others. With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you:

According to the teaching of some rabbis in Jesus' time, God had two measures that He used to judge people. One was a measure of justice and the other was a measure of mercy. Which measure do you want God to use with you? Then you should use that same measure with others. (Mt 7:2). (Matthew 7) -Precept Austin

…5David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan: “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.” 7Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.… 2 Samuel 12: 5-7

Speck...and log - This is comical, a sort of cartoon illustration, that is like the blind leading the blind. It is also interesting in that the speck does need to be removed, and that it is a function of brotherly love. But here I am, concerned with what amounts to being a piece of saw dust in my brother's eye, yet I have this two by four in my own. It would be right for my brother to have some reservation in allowing me tweezers or some other tool, as I am glancing sideways, tilting my head around this board in my own eye, to do surgery on his eye. This is the board of self righteousness; it is cumbersome, and in the way of doing what verse 5 clearly states needs to be done. I know what the law says, I know that he is in violation of God's law, I see the speck, the fruit of it, but I am a hypocrite, not suited to help him, because I can't see the skateboard parked in my own eye. It's not that his sin is so small, for even the smallest sin in our eyes is enough to damn the whole of creation, but I have made so light of my pride, my hypocrisy, that I think I have nothing to repent of.

…14You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD. 15You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.… Leviticus 19: 14-16

…23If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath? 24Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.” 25Then some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?… John 7: 23-25

…15“so now I have resolved to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. 16These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates, 17do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely, for I hate all these things,” declares the LORD.… Zechariah 8: 15-17

So, are we not to judge? No, but we aren't to judge hypocritically. No sin should ever bother a man so much as his own.

Take the log out of your own eye - The condition is still there, and your brother needs your help; it is not described in a combative way, but like going to see a doctor, someone who will be honest with you, but who will also help you correct the issue. It is a privilege to help and restore, but the requirement is knowledge, that which recognizes the law and the infraction, love, that which cares for the person, and humility, that which recognizes that I am a fellow human being and sinner as well. I needed grace, I begged God for mercy, and what He has granted me I should be quick to show to others. Notice what the Psalmist goes through, the repentance which comes before teaching others.

…9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. 10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.…

…12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. 13Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. Psalm 51: 9-13

We shouldn't judge unjustly, discriminatingly. We shouldn't be respecters of persons or money, and here is a scary way one king dealt with such a pollution of that chair, the seat of judgment.

In Persia once, there was a judge – Montagne tells this story – and this particular judge was bribed; and so he rendered a wrong verdict, for money. Cambyses was the Persian king, and he heard what happened, and so he ordered the judge to be executed. And after the judge was executed, he ordered his soldiers to skin him: “Strip off all his skin.” He took all of the skin of that judge, and with it, he covered a chair. And on that chair sat every judge from then on who judged in that court in Persia. I would say that would be a fairly good reminder of justice. - J Mac form Stop Criticizing

We shouldn't judge hastily either, and that happens often, where we think we know a person's intentions, that we see their heart, and on limited information we pass judgment. In cases where we share this with others we gossip, and bring them into our sin as well. This is often a perch of superiority as well, where we think we have found a greater sinner than ourselves, and in this we rejoice.

…10“Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men— swindlers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’…

…13But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ 14I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18: 10-14

Are we exempted by this passage from being discerning? No, this same chapter and all of Holy Scripture demands that we exercise discernment. While there are those who are judgmental, there are also those who like to go along with the flow, and will say, "your truth, it's all good, as long as your happy", and they enjoy being liked, having their own hypocrisy that glories in the self righteousness of not offending anyone. They stand for not standing, for appealing to the largest sector, but are not really different from those who virtue signal today. The passage itself calls for discernment, look at verses 13 and 14, they ask us to discern the wide gate from the narrow gate. In verses 15 - 20 we find the need to distinguish false prophets from true, and to a know trees by their fruit. Many today use "judge not lest ye be judged" as a call to unity at the cost of truth, but this leads men astray, as it is in opposition to what God teaches us. The majority of evangelicals today despise doctrine, yet this is not a Scriptural position.

We need to divide truth from error:

14Remind the believers of these things, charging them before God to avoid quarreling over words, which succeeds only in leading the listeners to ruin. 15Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. 16But avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which will only lead to more ungodliness,… 2 Timothy 2: 14-16

1I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.… 2 Timothy 4: 1-3

…15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 17The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.… Philippians 1: 15-17

…10Test and prove what pleases the Lord. 11 Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.… Ephesians 5: 10-12

"The Whole Book"

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Thursday, March 24, 2022

#1240 Matthew 7 Part 4 Beware of False Prophets

Saturday, March 19, 2022

#1239 Matthew 7 Part 3 The Golden Rule

Friday, March 18, 2022

#1238 Matthew 7 Part 2 Ask

Thursday, March 17, 2022

#1237 Matthew 7 Part 1 My Favorite Verse

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