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2001
27th May (pm) - A Christian's Judge and Judgement
MATTHEW 7:13-20

The interesting thing about The Sermon on the Mount, is, were it to finish at Matthew 7 verse 12, and then move on to chapter 8 of Matthew we could be excused for sitting back and admiring its teaching, its ethical imperatives, its perfect life. And sadly, that is all many people to. They admire from afar and think to themselves, 'that would be a noble way to live', if it were possible to live like that, and many have tried to live according to the teachings of The Sermon on the Mount without realising that this teaching given by the Lord Jesus himself, is, yes, a way of living but a way of living the values of the Kingdom of God. And so The Sermon on the Mount is thrust onto a different plane altogether. For if we are to live out the values of the Kingdom of God in our lives, then it says something about where our allegiance lies in the first instance.

So for example the call and challenge to be peacemakers in our society, recognises the need that we should be first and foremost in a peaceful relationship with God himself, for it should not be peace on our terms but peace according to God and Kingdom values which matters most.

The Sermon on the Mount is addressed to all, and here at the end, Jesus, having contrasted two kinds of righteousness and devotion, two treasures, masters and ambitions, now issues a clarion call for choices to be made. Is our choice going to be the kingdom of Satan, or the Kingdom of God, the radical, life transforming Kingdom of God? This is where we get to the heart of the matter in The Sermon on the Mount. This is the point where we stop admiring the teachings and ask the hard questions about the way we live our lives, the road we travel on, the fruit we bear, the pleas we make and the foundation we build upon. And as we ask these hard questions, there is no grey area. Many like to think there is a grey area, but when it comes to matters of kingdom living, there are no grey areas.

Matthew 7:13-27 is very much one unit of teaching, with four elements to it with the common theme of judgement running through each piece of teaching. There are two ways, two trees, two claims, two houses. We shall look at this evening the first two, and then the second two next Sunday evening. So if you like, at the of this evening's sermon the half-time whistle will blow and I hope you turn up for the second half next Sunday evening. So two ways and two trees:

TWO WAYS (VV13-14)

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it, says Jesus. What immediately strikes us about these verses is the absolute nature of the choice presented to us. There is only one choice because there are only two possibilities to choose from. As we consider this choice, there are some devastating truths we must come to terms with, which should impact on our own lives and destinies, and the reality in which so many people actually find themselves.

There are two ways. One way is broad and wide, it is easy. It is the easy life, life with no reference point. On this way there is plenty of room for diversity of opinion and laxity of morals. Says John Stott, It is the road of tolerance and permissiveness. It has no curbs, no boundaries of either thought or conduct. Travellers on this road follow their own inclinations, that is, the desires of the human heart in its fallenness. There is lots of space for comfortable grey areas and middle ground on the big issues of life, like death.

But there is also the hard way, and the boundaries are clearly marked. It is not spacious, but confining. Its narrowness is due to what God has revealed, therefore there is no room to set our opinions against the Lord's, no room to set goals in any way at cross purposes with the Lord's, no room to form attachments which challenge the place Jesus Christ must have in our lives. The reason the hard way is narrow is because poverty of spirit is not easy, prayer is not easy, righteouseness is not easy, God-centered attitudes are not easy to cultivate. In fact without the grace of God, these things are impossible.

Yet, there are also joys and freedoms on this road - personal knowledge of God through relationship with Jesus Christ, liberty of sins forgiven, purposeful living, joy and hope in the face of death.

For each way, the broad and the narrow, there is a gate. The gate for the broad way is a wide gate. It is easy to get on to this broad way, and becuase the gate is so wide we do not have to think to seriously about the luggage we may bring with us. We need leave nothing behind, not even our sin, our self-righteousness, our pride, our comfortable answers.

The gate for the narrow way is a narrow gate. It may be difficult to find, it can so easily be missed. Jesus said that it is as narrow as a needle's eye. The narrow gate, like a strict customs gate asks us if we have anything to declare. For if we are going to enter this gate we must declare our sin, our self-ambition, our covetousness, even family and friends. For no-one can enter this gate who has not first denied themselves. Jesus says: I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. (John 10:9)

Then there are two destinations. If we are on a road somewhere, there is a destination. It is not the pathway that is of ultimate significance, it is the destination of each pathway that is of ultimate significance.

The broad way entered by the broad gate leads to destruction. The end result is not nice. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, Jesus teaches about the reality of hell. And if you are travelling on this road, this is what awaits you. This is reality. Reality is not the carefree attitude that many seem to have, who have turned their back on God and Jesus Christ. Reality is destruction, it is hell, and many people are travelling on this road. For many enter through the broad gate, which leads to the broad way, which leads to destrucution. Are we concerned about this awful truth which the Bible teaches us? We ought to be!

Are we concerned about the destiny of our own lives? Are we concerned about the destiny of family and friends who have turned their back on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we concerned that many people in Ballyclare are on this road to destruction? When it comes to matters of eternity, there is no grey patch, it is all black and white. And our Christianity is lacking something if we have no concern for lost people. Jesus Christ, the most loving person ever, spoke about the reality of hell and the path that leads to destruction. He didn't tell us to merely inform us. He has told us to challenge us, to awaken us to the incredible need in people's lives to be introduced to the person of Jesus Christ, that they may come to know him as their Lord and Saviour.

But the narrow way, entered by the narrow gate, leads to life, life in all its fulness, eternal life, beginning in the here and now, and lasting for, well, eternity.

But maybe for some in this church this evening, you're thinking to yourself, "I am on the wrong path." You suddenly realise that you have been living life according to your own rules, including the religious aspect of your lives and now for the first time, you see where it is leading - destruction.

The gracious invitation of Jesus Christ is for you. He is the way to the Father, the way that leads to life, for he is the truth and he is the life, giving his life for your life, dying your death so that you may cross over and enter through that gate which leads to life, liberty, and eternity.

Two ways! Which way are you going? Which gate have you entered? Which destination are you heading for?

TWO TREES (V15-20) ... every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, says Jesus. The context of these verses is that of false disciples. The theme is again judgment coupled with two kinds of fruitfulness. Michael Green having asked the question for the previous verses, Have you entered in? now asks the question in relation to these verses, Is there real change?

In other words, it is possible to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and there be no evidence to back it up. The concerns of such a person are still worldy, and one wonders whether their profession of faith in Jesus Christ was genuine to begin with. Just as the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so the proof of a profession of faith in Jesus Christ is in the evidence, or the fruit of that person's life.

Jesus in these verses is also emphasizing that there may even be teachers in the church who are pretending to be Christian, but in reality, know nothing of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. They come disguised as Christians, but underneath the disguise, their lives reflect little of the person of Christ and Kingdom values. It is no accident that Jesus' teaching on false teachers comes immediately after his teaching on two ways, gates and destinations. For false teachers will blur the issue of salvation, they will muddle and distort the gospel. They will not spell out the cost of either rejecting Christ, or of following him. Their's will be a cheap and easy grace. They may even deny the reality of hell and destruction. No wonder Jesus calls such teachers wolves, because they are dangerous. A professor in theology in many universities these days does not necessarily have to be a Christian.

If we care about God's truth and God's church then we must take this teaching of Jesus seriously - we must not merely accept everything we hear or read, but judge it against the Scripture, pray for the Spirit's enlightenment. A failure to do so will result in an imbalanced understanding of Biblical theology at best, and entertaining heresy at worst. We are to love the Lord our God with our mind as well as our heart, soul and strength. For as Michael Green states: Unless we are sure at where we stand ourselves, we shall be no use at helping others.

So Jesus calls us to exercise some wise judgement, not judgementalism, but wise judgement. What fruit is such a person's life bearing? Is there evidence of a Gardener at work in this person's life? Is there evidence of a Gardener at work in each life that professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour?

Many professing Christians show little of the saving grace and keeping grace of Jesus Christ. For we who profess Christ as Lord and Saviour, are we bearing fruit? Sad to say, that at times we seem to excel in a form of Christianity, where what seems to be of ultimate importance is defending our rights, when the one we claim as Saviour relinquished all his rights for us, unworthy sinful men and women. And we at times seem to excel in a form of Christianity which has more concern for outward material affluence but which is unmoved by the plight of the poor and oppressed in our society and world. And we at times seem to excel in a form of Christianity which has more concern for preserving ivory towers but which is unmoved by the plight of many who are on the road to destrucuti0n because they have entered by the gate that is broad. And at times we seem to excel in a form of Christianity which has more concern for personal comfort and happiness, and shows little evidence of the radical nature of Christianity which challenges the secular values in the world.

We have at times been deluded by wolves in sheep's clothing. We are allowing ourselves to be blinded to Kingdom values by the attractions of this world.

Jesus is looking for fruitfulness in the lives of those who profess him as Lord and Saviour. He is looking for lives which are growing in conformity to the norms of the kingdom. He is looking for lives which reflect righteousness, humility, purity, trusting and persistent prayerfulness, obedience to his word, truthfulness, love, generosity, grace, rejection of all that is hypcritical. Jesus is looking for lives which are seeking first the Kingdom of God. He is looking for lives devoted to him, for he is the way, the truth and the life. This applies as much to teachers in the church as every professing disciple of Jesus Christ.

What is Jesus seeing in our lives? Are we allowing the Gardener to do his work? People judge a tree by its fruit. They see an apple and say, that is an apple tree, or an acorn and say that is a sycamore tree. The awesome truth Jesus teaches in these verses is that God does this too. God looks for the evidence of our profession of faith in his Son. Will he find what he is looking for? Or will his lament be in the title of a secular song, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

And again the warning of judgement comes to us: Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. There is a way which leads to destruction. There is a form of fruitfulness which is useless and fit only for the fire. Different images, the same end result. Bearing the right sort of fruit in our lives is the same as storing up treasure in heaven. Of course, this is contingent on choosing the right investment policy for our lives.

Jesus stated in John 15: If a person remains in me and I in them, they will bear much fruit; apart from me they can do nothing. Jesus is the right investment policy for fruit that will last, for the narrow way which leads to life. The narrow way may seem narrow, because it is exclusive - it is God's way. Yet when we walk this path, we are continually amazed at the vastness of God's mercy, the extravagance of his grace, and the width and length and height and depth of the love of Christ. We sometimes sing,

I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus the Nazarene,
and wonder how He could love me
a sinner, condemned, unclean
How marvellous! How wonderful!
and my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! How wonderful!
is my Saviour's love for me!

But let us not forget that the Gardener is still looking for the fruit, still looking for the real change which our profession should point to. The evidence of walking with Christ, is a life and lifestyle which reflects the values of the Kingdom of God, which reflects the person of Jesus Christ himself.

Two ways, two trees - what way are we going, what fruit are our lives producing?

AMEN!