“I believe in God is perhaps one of the most meaningless statements that we can make today.” This is a statement by Erwin Lutzer, current senior Pastor at Moody Church in Chicago. He goes on to say in his book, Ten Lies About God, says “the word God has become a canvas on which each is free to paint his own portrait of the divine; like a boy scribbling on his desk, we can draw God according to whatever specifications we please. “ (page 3) I would agree with him in this statement –to say I believe in God is almost meaningless.
We live in a time when, in our Canadian culture, many people believe in God. Polls and surveys state a majority of people believe in God. But that definition of God varies quite widely. And that is why to simply say, I believe in God, is almost meaningless. God, by someone’s definition, can be anything from the God of the Bible to the God of Islam to the God of our inner self to the psychic energy that exists in the universe to, well, a door knob.
And in many ways to even say “I am a Christian” is almost meaningless. Now don’t get me wrong here, I tell you right now I am a Christian and I do believe in God. But there are many who say, I am a Christian but are not really followers of Jesus Christ. They are Christian because they were raised on a Christian home, or they live in Canada which they perceive to be a Christian country.
The danger, the very real and eternal danger, is that we can slip through life and into life after death and be suddenly faced with the truth that just saying we believe in God or that we are a Christian isn’t enough –in fact it is terrifyingly inadequate!
All we have to do is top and seriously look at the teachings of Jesus Himself, not some interpretation, not some preacher or religious guru or television evangelist but the very words of Jesus himself. We look this morning at the words of Jesus, the last bit of teaching that we find in his sermon on the mount found in Matthew 5-7. This morning we look at the last of that wonderful, enriching, deep and powerful teaching where Jesus give some very sobering warnings about being a true and authentic follower of Himself.
We read from Chapter 7 the following verses. (verses 15,16, 21-27.
Over the summer we have been going through what it means to be an authentic follower of Jesus Christ. We started with the beatitudes found in chapter 5. Jesus has been giving some good practical guidance and also some pretty hard teachings. But the overall focus has been the glory of the Father. All through the life and teachings of Jesus he has had that one central theme –the glory of the Father.
As he teaches this theme, although not overtly stated is underlying everything. We see elements of it in such verses as 5:16; 5:48; 6:4; 6:9-10; 6:24; 6:33. Jesus now ends his discourse with first the choice of entering the narrow gate or not. This narrow gate is Jesus Himself. In John 10 we read that Jesus said, I am the gate and whoever goes through him will be saved (verse 9). He later says in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by him. We are given a choice –we can either accept Jesus as the way to the Father or not –we can enter the gate and become a follower of Jesus, have our sins forgiven, find our way to God the Father, or we do not. Simple choice –to believe that Jesus is the son of God, died for our sins, buried and risen again, to believe in Him as the only way and John 1:12 says all who receive him, accept him as Lord and savior, he gives the right to become the children of God.
That becomes the distinction between believing in God –a generic kind of faith in some higher power or the belief in the Eternal Father in heaven who gave his son. It makes the difference between being born into a Christian home or just going to church or even being a good person and having faith in the one and only way to the Father –Jesus Christ.
Belief is more than just mental ascent. Belief, as Jesus states here and elsewhere, is to live for the glory of the Father, to live in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, to show the fruit of our belief. Belief in Jesus is a transformative belief –it is a belief that is transforming us into the image of Jesus himself. Jesus says we are to follow Him, to submit to him, to “seek” him –to set our sights on Him and Him alone and pursue Him. We follow the narrow way –His way.
Jesus now gives a warning about three types of people who claim to be Christians, but are not. The first he names in verse 15 –false prophets. A prophet is someone who comes and claims to give a word from God. A prophet is not just someone who tells about future events, but speaks the words of God for the present day. We could put in the word preacher, evangelist, spiritual guru, any religious type that claims to speak for God or even about God.
These prophets, Jesus says, come looking like they belong –like sheep (note Jesus would in John 10 call those who follow him sheep and he is the shepherd –the same place he talks about being the gate. He even warns there about those who come to steal His sheep). But they are no teachers, or true speakers for Godt –they are wolves –they are seeking to distract, dissuade and destroy the followers of Jesus. How do they do this?
Paul talks about this in his letter to the Galatians. Let me read to you 1:6-9. Preaching or prophesying a false or different gospel. What is the gospel –Jesus Christ, the son of God, come to this earth, living a sinless life, dying on the cross for our sins, rising again on the third day, sitting at the right hand of God and someday to return. The gospel is this -believe in Him as the only way and you will be saved. The gospel is this we can have peace with God, eternity with the Heavenly father through Jesus Christ –only though Jesus Christ, completely through Jesus Christ, by faith in Jesus Christ and Christ alone! Any other message, any other gospel is, as Paul says, perverted, any other good news, Jesus says, is false!
There were those then and there are those today who will say just believe in God! You don’t really need Jesus. There are other paths other ways to God. Well, okay you can believe in Jesus AND do this or believe in that as well. You don’t need to believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, just follow the law. Paul says let those who preach any other Gospel be condemned! Strong words, Yes Why? Because eternity is at stake! Your soul is at stake, your being in heaven with the heavenly father is at stake!
Back to the words of Jesus –Watch out! Their fruit is destruction! Listen again to the words of Jesus (19). What is the fruit? That God is glorified, That He is exalted, that His son Jesus is proclaimed and believed in. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we have salvation. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we can enter Haven. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we come to the Father. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we have any hope of eternity with the Heavenly Father. It is not Christ and, it is not Christ or - it is Christ and Christ alone. Any other message from a prophet or messenger is false. Jesus himself says watch out! They will seek to take you off the path –the narrow path Jesus talked about in verse 13 –the narrow path of following Him.
The second group Jesus cautions against are those who think they are on the path but are not. These people are good people, they do good things and do good works. Jesus here says that they are ones who have prophesied driven out demons and even performed miracles. But Jesus says, he will tell them “I never knew you. Away from me evil doers!” Those are pretty harsh words, very serious words, very sobering even scary words. These words should make everyone of us sit up and take note.
What does Jesus mean by this statement, “I never knew you?” We look again to John 10, the same passage where Jesus talks about being the gate or the door, about being the great shepherd and about thieves trying to steal his sheep. Let me read for you chapter 10 verses 14-15, 27.
His sheep, his followers, those he knows first know him. Not about him but know him. The word is not a mental or intellectual acknowledgement, but one of a deep relationship. To say I never knew you means there was never a relationship –a connection. Those who know Jesus know that he is the Christ, the son of God, they know that he has laid down His life for them, they know that he is the way the truth and the life and the only way to the father. They know in a personal relationship Jesus.
These are sheep –people, who have accepted Him as shepherd, who believe and have become the children of God. They have come by faith and given themselves in faith to Jesus Christ as the Good shepherd. It is not by their good deeds, not by their performing miracles, not by their speaking or doing good things –it is by faith they are saved, by faith they are his by faith they are on the narrow path. And Jesus adds in verse 27, they follow me.
There are a lot of good people, well intentioned people, people who believe in God and may even say they are Christian but they have never come to Jesus by faith and accepted him as the way, the truth and the life. They have never given themselves over to Him and follow Him. One of the deeply troubling things is that these are not just people who are outside the church but people who are in the church! And the horror the deep sadness is Jesus will say “I never knew you, away you evildoers!” Evil doers?
To understand this we need to look back a bit to verse 21 –those who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do the will of my Father in heaven. What is the will of the Father in heaven? Well, let’s catch a glimpse (and this glimpse is enough for today) of what this is from what Jesus has already said –the beatitudes, bringing praise and glory to the father (5:16), seeking His kingdom first (6:9-10, 33), serving Him alone (6:24), entering in through the narrow gate and following the narrow path (7:13-14), bearing good fruit. Evil doers are those who have the veneer of being a Christian but not the relationship with the Christ and do not live as a follower of Christ and for the glory of the Father –they do not seek the kingdom of God first and foremost!
As a pastor, as a prophet, as a messenger of God, judge my words by the words of Jesus, judge these things I say with what Jesus says –if you are not in a relationship with Jesus, if you have not submitted to Him as the shepherd, if you do not know the Him and are following him heed the words of Jesus –I will tell you plainly I never knew you –depart from me, you evil doers. I must tell you, Jesus is the only way –not good works, not being in a Christian family, not being baptized or going to church –faith in Christ and Christ alone is the way though the gate. The good news, the great news, the gospel message is this –to all believe in Him he gave the right to become the children of God.
The third group Jesus gives warning about are those who, as Jesus says here, hear the words of Jesus but do not put them into practice (verse 26). This may be where many of us are today and many in the church today. We hear and ignore or we hear and do not put into practice what Jesus teaches. And we do so at the peril of collapse.
The parable or example Jesus gives is a clear as can be –build on solid rock versus building on sand. Often we think of Jesus as the foundation –which he is –He is the rock, the solid rock. But that is not what Jesus is saying here. The context is one of hearing and doing. Listen again carefully to verse 24 –hear my words and put them into practice. Versus hear my words and do not put them into practice.
It comes down to a word we don’t much like to hear –obey. Jesus said, if you love me obey my commands He said this three times in his last night with his disciples. We have it just a few verses earlier in the warning about those who have good intentions but never give their lives to Christ. The ones who do the will of my Father.
Now we have those who appear to start the relationship but have no intention on following through with the obedience. The mark of an authentic disciple is one who has the relationship AND the obedience. If you love me obey what I command (John 14:15 and 23).
The words of Jesus are a time for us to take a serious look at our spiritual journey. There will be those who seek to distract, dissuade, and even destroy us in our pursuit of following Jesus. Jesus says Watch out! And there is the serious need for us to look at our relationship with the Father through the Son, Jesus Christ. Have we through faith confessed out separation and sin, have we through faith accepted the gift given through Jesus Christ, have we through faith, not of works but through the work of Jesus become a child of God? And even more, are we living out his commands and teachings –do we obey. The words of Jesus in warning against the false prophets are equally valid here –does our life show the fruit of our connection with Christ? Is our life being built up as a house on rock or sand?
To live as an authentic follower of Jesus Christ we look to Christ and Christ alone –he is our shepherd, our guide. IN him is truth and in focusing and knowing His truth we can stand against the false prophets. In Christ and His truth we can come into a relationship with the Father and be assured of our eternity with Him. In Christ and His truth we can live such godly lives that are built in the solid truth of Christ that we can withstand the storms, the winds, the surges of life that buffet against us. In Christ and His truth we can find the life that is blessed and glorifying to the Father in heaven. In Christ is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Him. Praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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