WEBVTT

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 Well, this evening we come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and what we discover there is

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! that Jesus concludes everything that He has been saying by calling us to respond to what He has taught.

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! And He does this by laying out a series of options, three options in total, and urging us to choose.

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 This evening you have to make a choice about what you're going to do with what the Lord Jesus has

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 been teaching us through Matthew 5 to 7. The idea of choice is a really significant thing in our

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 culture, isn't it? It's in our discourse, we talk about it a lot, and it's something that we think

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 is absolutely key to any flourishing society. In his book titled, The Paradox of Choice, Why More is Less,

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 Barry Schwartz, you may have come across Barry Schwartz, he did a TED talk on this as well,

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 you might have read the book. But he describes what he calls the official dogma of Western

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 industrial societies. Quote, if we are interested in maximizing the welfare of our citizens,

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 the way to do that is to maximize individual freedom. And the way to maximize freedom is to

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 maximize choice. The more choice people have, the more freedom they have. And the more freedom they

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 have, the more welfare they have. This is so deeply embedded in the water supply that it wouldn't occur

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 to anyone to question it." End quote. We highly value ideas of freedom and choice, and everyone

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 considers them to be good things. We don't need to argue for the goodness of freedom and choice.

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 But what Schwartz shows in his book, and what we actually know from our own experience, is that the

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 more choice we have doesn't actually lead to more freedom, or more happiness, actually. Schwartz again,

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 quote, "...one effect, paradoxically, is that it produces paralysis rather than liberation. With so

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 many options to choose from, people find it very difficult to choose at all."

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 The philosopher Renata Salacho has written a book called The Tyranny of Choice. Even the title gets

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 at the point, because she understands what happens if we've got all these choices in front of us.

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 Anxiety comes upon us, fear, and, well, all kinds of emotions. Negative emotions are associated with

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 the sense of confusion and paralysis. If we choose here, we might miss out on something over here.

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 Then more choices we have doesn't actually lead to more freedom. We love freedom, and we want to be

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 able to have options. But by choosing one of those options, we, by definition, are ruling out others,

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 and we just get kind of anxious about that. What if we make a mistake? What if that was the better one,

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 and I've chosen this? It doesn't matter how good it was. This one over here could have been better. And

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 that sense of uncertainty leaves us feeling unsettled and unhappy. So when Jesus tells us that we need to

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 choose, we don't immediately think, great! That's easy. That's awesome. He has made it clear all the way

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 through the sermon that we can't remain neutral in relation to what he's been saying. We can't take

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 the Sermon on the Mount and keep it at arm's length. We can't take the Sermon on the Mount and think,

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 that's just talking points for me and my friends. We can keep it in the realm of ideas out there.

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 It's not like that. We can't do that with what Jesus says. We have to respond. But this will mean

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 choosing. And it'll mean choosing one way at the expense of others, and that makes us anxious.

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 We like open options. But those open options, as we've just said, can paralyze us.

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 So what I want us to see this evening is, as Jesus puts this choice before us, and there are three

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 choices. Well, there's one choice, I think, and it's expressed in three different ways.

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 But what I want us to see is that Jesus wants to persuade us to make the right choice. He doesn't

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 say, well, look, I'm concluding this sermon, and I'm saying, you can have my kingdom, take it or leave it.

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 It's up to you. He doesn't say that. He's not saying, my kingdom is one choice on a menu of equally valid

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 choices, equally good options. You know, you go to the restaurant, and you could have

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 one of many choices on the menu. And, you know, you may prefer one over the other, but they're all

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 basically okay. They're all basically good. And whether you have pepperoni or you don't,

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 it doesn't really matter. It's not like that with the kingdom. He's not saying, take it or leave it,

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 one of many equally valid options. No, but Jesus wants us to make the right choice, and he does it

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 by showing us the future. He shows us the future. In effect, what he says here in this section is,

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 I want you to follow your options to their conclusion, to see where they lead, consider

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 the consequences, both good and bad, and then make your choice. He's not saying, take it or leave it.

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 He really wants you to make a particular choice, and he's trying to persuade you accordingly.

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 So, choice number one. He says, choose the right path. Choose the right path.

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 13 and 14. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction,

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 and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life,

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 and those who find it are few. Gates and ways are different images making the same point. He's saying,

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 choose which path through life you're going to take, and there are two options.

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 And this two paths kind of illustration is a common Bible thing. Think of Psalm 1 and the contrast there

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 between the way of the wicked and the path of flourishing. And that idea, there is one path that

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 goes one way. There's another path that goes the other way. Jesus takes it here and develops it,

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 and he urges his followers to choose the more difficult path. That's what we're being called

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 to if we're going to follow Christ according to the Sermon on the Mount. We're going to choose a more

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 difficult path. Narrow here translates literally as troubled or difficult. Choose the troubled or

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 difficult path, but know that it's the right path. There is a wide path, says Jesus, an easy path,

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 a popular path, but it doesn't go where you want it to go.

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 Now, in the church, I think we often think of the wide gate, the easy way, as,

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 well, it's often depicted as a path of wild living. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. That's the wide path,

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 the easy path. That's the way of the culture. But I think we should see in context that it's more

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 appropriate to see it as the way of the Pharisees, actually. Now, that might sound strange to us,

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 but remember, the whole way through the sermon, Jesus has set the wholeness that he is calling for,

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 wholehearted, deep, whole person, all the way down to the heart-type righteousness,

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 type discipleship. He has set that up against the scribes and the Pharisees,

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 who pursue external righteousness. And so it would seem strange that he's changing course now.

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 He's introducing a whole new category of people. I don't think that's what he's doing.

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 So what I think we need to see here is that the contrast is between the path of righteousness that's

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 merely external—not murdering, not committing adultery, doing religious things—and the true

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 righteousness that goes deeper than mere behavior all the way down, putting its roots into our hearts.

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 Opening your heart to the work of God, surrendering your desires to Him is much harder than turning up

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 the church, praying a bit, and being a moral citizen. Plus, let's not forget that the narrow path is also the way of

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 persecution for Jesus' sake. Chapter 5, verse 10,

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 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. That is the path of rejection.

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 Surrendering the very center of your heart to the Lord Jesus, and choosing to do that when you are going to be

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 rejected precisely because you do that is hard. You can see the appeal of the wide path.

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 You can see why many go that way. But Jesus says, look at the destination. Look where it leads.

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 Yes, the road is narrow. It's difficult. But it's the same path that Jesus walked.

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 And the path to life with Jesus, that is, life that is truly life, is beset by those same trials and

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 temptations that He faced. But it is the only path to life, life that is truly life, eternal life,

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 life in relationship with the One who made you for Himself. If we want His life and glory, we have to

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 walk His path. If we want to follow Christ to glory and to triumph, we have to walk the path of rejection

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 that He walked to get there. Easier said than done, right? Choosing the narrow way, the difficult way,

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 and making that choice every day, that's what we're called to, is so tough. We look at those who reject

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 Christ. We look at those who just don't seem to care at all, don't even give Him a second thought,

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 and their lives look fine. They even seem to prosper. Yet here we are, praying for God to help us,

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 to hear us in our struggles, to listen when we cry out to Him in our pain, and our words seem to go no

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 higher than the ceiling. We look over there, and they are loving life. And here we are. We want a spouse,

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 and there's no suitable Christians. We want a child, and it's just not happening. We want a job to provide

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 for our family, and we keep missing out. All good things that godly people desire. But it feels like

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 God doesn't hear. It feels like God doesn't care. Meanwhile, the people on the broad road, it's one

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 brilliant thing after another for them. Asaph struggled with this in Psalm 73. He struggled

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 with exactly this thing. He saw how those on the wide road prospered, healthier and wealthier than

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 the godly, and he cried out, Surely in vain I have left my heart pure. Do you know what that feels like?

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 Is that a cry that you can make? I am submitting my heart to you. I am choosing the narrow path.

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 It feels like a waste of time, God. But what does Asaph do? He goes where Jesus is taking us here,

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 to the destination, and he says, I thought I was wasting my time doing this. Then I understood

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 their final destiny. He saw that the end of the ungodly was ruin.

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 It's a hard path, but it's the only path that leads to life.

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 So can I encourage you to stay on it? Stay on it. Those of you who are persevering,

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 and it feels like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, stay on the narrow path. Young people,

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 let me speak to you for a moment. Choosing the difficult path, that is genuinely submitting your

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 life to God rather than just faking it until you leave home. Doing that is hard.

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 Especially when you look at your friends who seem to have a much better time.

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 When you find yourself going, ah, remind yourself of their final destiny. Remind yourself of their

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 final destiny. Flying down the road with a smile on your face is only something to envy if there's

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 no cliff at the end of the road. But that is where the wide road leads, Jesus says.

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 Whatever you look at, young people, in your friends' lives who don't know Christ,

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 whatever you look at in them and you think, I wish I had that.

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 Why am I bothering with all of this effort to submit my life to the Lord Jesus?

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 Remember where the wide road leads.

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 And perhaps warn them of that. Don't envy them. Warn them.

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 Call them to Christ.

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 Only on the narrow road do we receive the kingdom of heaven.

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 Only here is there comfort from God. Only on this path do we inherit the earth, receive mercy,

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 and see God. It is only on this hard road that we meet God as our Father.

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 St. Ferguson has a lovely illustration comparing what Jesus says here about the kingdom to Dr.

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 Who's TARDIS. Might be a little dated. I don't know if Dr. Who still goes. Is Dr. Who still a thing?

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 Yeah? Okay. Still got a TARDIS? Great. It's maybe not outdated after all.

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 Ferguson says this, Dr. Ferguson, from the outside, the TARDIS looks like an old-fashioned British police

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 box. But on the inside, the TARDIS is the setting for a whole world of excitement and adventure.

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 The paradoxical nature of the TARDIS bears a striking similarity to what Jesus tells us

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 about the kingdom of God. Everything depends on whether you experience it from the outside or the

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 inside. On the inside, we see that the road that at first appeared so narrow is the only one that leads

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 to life. I wonder if you're here this evening and you haven't yet made the decision to submit your

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 life to the Lord Jesus. Because you look at the narrow road and you think to yourself, I don't

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 want that. But there's something in your heart that knows that it's true and knows that it's right.

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 I want to invite you, as it were, into the TARDIS. I want you to come to this side of the line,

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 submit your life to the Lord Jesus, and step across that line and view the Christian life from the

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 other side. The road is narrow, but what you see down that road is life. Life that you are meant to have.

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 Life that is truly life. Settle in your heart to choose and keep choosing the right path. Number two,

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 choose the right teachers. 15 to 23, choose the right teachers. Beware of false prophets who come to you in

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 sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You'll recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes

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 gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thorn bushes? So every healthy tree bears good fruit,

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 but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 19, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and

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 thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. The prophet explained and applied

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 the word of God to the people of God. The prophet was God's spokesman calling his people to the terms

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 of the covenant. And Jesus is picking up here then a familiar warning that you see in the prophets.

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 Beware. It's a warning that runs through the Bible about false prophets. And again, I think he has the

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 scribes and the Pharisees in view here, which means he's warning. The warning isn't just about those who

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 don't say the right things and who teach error, but those who appear outwardly holy and yet lack this

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 whole person righteousness that marks out citizens of God's kingdom. So in order to tell the true from

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 the false, we don't just consider their teaching, but look at their lives as well. That requires

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 discernment, obviously, because false prophets aren't immediately obvious. Do you see verse 15?

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 They come in sheep's clothing. They could look like one of God's flock and may even sound like

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 they are followers of the good shepherd. But Jesus says, actually, they are wolves in disguise. So how

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 can we know? How can we know which teachers to avoid? Well, I want to suggest three things. First of

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 all, three things to look for. First of all, look at their attitude towards God's people.

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 Look at their attitude towards God's people. Whatever their appearance, whatever their chat,

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 do they follow the example of the good shepherd and lay down their life for the sheep? Or do they

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 devour the flock like ravenous wolves? Verse 15.

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 Here are questions you can ask. Does the teacher carry their leadership as a right or a responsibility?

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 Do they see it as something to be stewarded? Or do they see it as a right that they have and that you

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 should recognize that? Do they promote peace and unity in their leadership? Or do they cultivate

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 division and turn the flock on each other? Do they clearly love those entrusted to their care? Or do

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 they lord it over the church? Lay six feet above contradiction. That attitude will reveal a lot

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 about the integrity of the teacher. Look at their attitude towards God's people. Secondly, look at the

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 fruit of their teaching. 16. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes

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 or figs from thorn bushes? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

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 Look at the fruit of their teaching. It is generally true that as the leader goes, so go those who are led.

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 Whether a teacher is faithful or false will be seen not just in their character,

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 but in the character of those that they teach. As you look at those under the leader's care,

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 are they growing in Christlikeness? If you go to a church and you speak to the minister and he seems

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 perfectly decent and his teaching seems biblical, but after a while you find the congregation are

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 actually fairly unpleasant. They're proud and they're cliquey and they're mean-spirited.

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 The qualities that marked out the Pharisees as it happens. You should ask questions about why that is.

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 And there's a decent chance that it is trickled down from the leaders and these are teachers

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 to avoid. Look at the fruit of their teaching. And then thirdly, look at their character,

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 not just their gifts. Look at their character, not just their gifts. There are some teachers who have

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 been used by God even to do remarkable things, but who are not truly his. Verse 21,

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 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will

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 of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name

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 and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them,

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 I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

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 I can tell you standing here, those are chilling words. It is possible to preach so that people are

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 brought to Christ. It is even possible to exercise supernatural gifts or see sincere manifestations

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 of the work of God and yet be a stranger to God's grace. The magicians in Egypt performed some of the

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 same miracles that Moses did. The Apostle Paul tells us, is it possible to have an appearance of

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 godliness without its true power, without a sincere relationship with the living God? The things that

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 people can do in public ministry are no sure sign of their righteousness.

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 The false teacher places his confidence in what he has been able to do. Verse 22,

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 Lord, Lord, did we not do these things in your name? But gifts are given by God to be used for the sake

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 of others, not for the sake of the gifted individual. So we can never point to gifts alone as a mark of God's

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 favor on our lives. When we confuse gifts with grace, gifts with character like this, we push people forward in

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 ministry because they've got gifts, but they haven't yet been appropriately shaped by the grace of God, and their

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 character is lagging miles behind. That creates problems of all sorts, not least that they might not even know the

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 purpose of God. Let us know the purpose of God. Let us know the purpose of God. Let us know the purpose of God.

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 Powerful preaching says nothing about the preacher.

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 Miraculous activity says nothing about the heart of the one doing these things.

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 Look past the teacher's gifts to their character in order to discern what they're really like.

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 Hold your ministers at this church to these standards.

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 Choose the right teachers.

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 And Jesus moves to conclude.

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 Not just this section, but the whole sermon.

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 He's bringing the whole sermon into land with one final choice, and it's this.

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 He says, choose the right foundation.

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 Choose the right foundation.

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 The first two sections he gives us a command.

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 Enter, beware.

00:23:00.280 --> 00:23:04.019
 Here the exhortation is more implicit, but he employs the most vivid image of all.

00:23:04.060 --> 00:23:04.440
 Do you see?

00:23:05.120 --> 00:23:08.120
 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them,

00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:10.879
 will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

00:23:11.379 --> 00:23:14.579
 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house,

00:23:14.619 --> 00:23:17.839
 but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:24.059
 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.

00:23:24.539 --> 00:23:28.659
 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell.

00:23:28.660 --> 00:23:31.140
 And great was the fall of it.

00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:38.759
 So in light of the whole sermon, as Jesus brings us to a conclusion, he is saying,

00:23:39.320 --> 00:23:41.500
 there are two possible ways to live.

00:23:42.620 --> 00:23:44.380
 One is wise, verse 24.

00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:48.279
 The other is foolish, verse 26.

00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:49.660
 In fact, the word is strong.

00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:52.640
 It's the word that we get our word moron from.

00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:58.960
 And he's saying, the destination of each of these reveals why one is wise and the other is foolish.

00:23:59.120 --> 00:24:02.700
 One leads to flourishing, the other destruction.

00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:07.259
 So he says, build your life on the right foundation.

00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:14.560
 And the imagery of foundations fits well with Jesus' consistent call to heart-level righteousness.

00:24:15.620 --> 00:24:20.580
 The difference between the wisely built house and the moronic one isn't immediately apparent.

00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:22.819
 You think about it?

00:24:23.199 --> 00:24:24.899
 It can have lots of the same features.

00:24:25.899 --> 00:24:28.759
 The difference lies in what is initially hidden.

00:24:30.179 --> 00:24:34.799
 And that which is initially hidden only emerges when the storms hit.

00:24:36.359 --> 00:24:38.699
 This is true when it comes to those who follow Jesus.

00:24:38.859 --> 00:24:40.339
 Two people may look very similar.

00:24:40.779 --> 00:24:43.899
 Their commitment to the things of Christ outwardly may look identical.

00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:48.159
 But the sincerity of their faith, the foundations upon which they have built,

00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:50.139
 will show when the storms hit.

00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:54.720
 This may be the storms of life that challenge our faith.

00:24:55.399 --> 00:24:59.339
 The trials that test and refine us under God's providential ordering of things.

00:25:01.240 --> 00:25:05.339
 If our righteousness, if our Christianity is only external.

00:25:07.139 --> 00:25:09.740
 Are we going to keep going?

00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:13.579
 Really?

00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:16.119
 Can you?

00:25:16.579 --> 00:25:17.019
 All right.

00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:17.019


00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:17.019


00:25:20.579 --> 00:25:34.460
 Thanks, Yuki.

00:25:36.139 --> 00:25:36.939
 Where were we?

00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:37.639
 Foundations.

00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:41.680
 You can look externally.

00:25:42.100 --> 00:25:43.780
 Two people can look exactly the same.

00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:52.040
 But what is hidden only comes into view or only becomes apparent when the storms hit.

00:25:52.140 --> 00:25:54.460
 And it may be the storms of life that challenge our faith.

00:25:55.860 --> 00:26:00.040
 Maybe the things that come our way because God has providentially ordered it that way.

00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:03.339
 The things that he wants to use to refine us.

00:26:04.460 --> 00:26:10.220
 Things that he wants to use to expose the reality, the quality of our faith.

00:26:10.379 --> 00:26:15.680
 And the truth is that if our righteousness, if our Christian faith is only external, when that happens, we'll be blown over.

00:26:16.019 --> 00:26:17.619
 We'll be thrown into disarray.

00:26:17.619 --> 00:26:20.599
 If you're putting it on.

00:26:20.779 --> 00:26:22.979
 If you're putting on your Christian faith.

00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:27.959
 If you are behaving as a religious person, but your heart isn't really in it.

00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:32.039
 When the slightest bit of pressure comes, you will fold like a deck chair.

00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:38.799
 And if for some reason you don't, you manage to fake it all the way to the end.

00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:41.639
 Jesus has here an eye on the storm of God's final judgment.

00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:45.359
 When the sincerity of all of our hearts will be revealed.

00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:52.740
 And on that day when those who have not embraced a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

00:26:52.740 --> 00:26:55.259
 That goes beyond merely external religion.

00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:58.059
 Merely performing in a religious way.

00:26:58.740 --> 00:26:59.839
 We'll be blown away.

00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:05.039
 So Jesus is saying choose the right foundation.

00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:11.339
 Choose heart level righteousness that doesn't just hear the words of Jesus.

00:27:11.659 --> 00:27:13.079
 But puts them into practice.

00:27:13.399 --> 00:27:18.299
 Doesn't just merely listen on a Sunday or at home group and then leave unchanged.

00:27:18.939 --> 00:27:19.699
 But lives it out.

00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:23.799
 One commentator has said this.

00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:28.480
 Perhaps no passage in the New Testament expresses more concisely and more sharply.

00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:32.980
 That the essence of discipleship is found not in words.

00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:35.140
 Nor in religiosity.

00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:39.420
 Not even in the performance of spectacular deeds in the name of Jesus.

00:27:39.420 --> 00:27:42.000
 But only in the manifestation of true righteousness.

00:27:42.900 --> 00:27:43.380
 I.e.

00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:48.000
 The doing the will of the Father as now interpreted through the teaching of Jesus.

00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:49.000
 No words or good deeds.

00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:51.160
 No words or good deeds.

00:27:51.160 --> 00:27:56.160
 Can substitute for the full picture of righteousness the evangelist has given in the sermon.

00:27:57.680 --> 00:27:59.799
 No words or good deeds.

00:28:00.279 --> 00:28:03.160
 Nothing that you put on at a merely external level.

00:28:03.660 --> 00:28:06.400
 Can substitute for the full picture of righteousness.

00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:08.640
 The heart level righteousness.

00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:12.800
 That the evangelist has given in the sermon.

00:28:14.300 --> 00:28:15.740
 So the sermon on the mount.

00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:17.300
 Is a call.

00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:18.660
 To cultivate.

00:28:19.520 --> 00:28:20.740
 Wholeness of heart.

00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:21.759
 And life.

00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:26.580
 It is a call to humble ourselves before Jesus.

00:28:27.380 --> 00:28:30.980
 To listen to his teaching and to follow it wherever it leads us.

00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:34.540
 However unpopular it may seem to the cool kids.

00:28:34.539 --> 00:28:39.599
 And tonight.

00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:42.759
 He is calling us to choose to do this.

00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:46.519
 He is calling you to choose to do this.

00:28:47.339 --> 00:28:49.899
 Have you surrendered your heart?

00:28:50.619 --> 00:28:51.420
 To Christ.

00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:56.119
 He is calling you this evening to choose the way of wisdom.

00:28:57.180 --> 00:28:58.599
 And that is the narrow path.

00:28:59.700 --> 00:29:03.279
 He is calling you to choose to reject false teaching and embrace the truth.

00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:07.099
 And to make that truth the foundation of your whole life.

00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:16.519
 And whilst choosing to follow Jesus means we are choosing not to do other things.

00:29:16.680 --> 00:29:18.420
 We are restricting ourselves.

00:29:19.599 --> 00:29:23.240
 The outcome of those choices show why choosing him makes perfect sense.

00:29:23.740 --> 00:29:26.420
 And why we would be morons to do anything else.

00:29:26.420 --> 00:29:27.420
 He is.

00:29:28.420 --> 00:29:32.000
 He is not one equally valid option among many.

00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:34.420
 All the others lead to destruction.

00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:38.600
 Only Jesus is the way of life.

00:29:39.100 --> 00:29:39.620
 And blessing.

00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:41.100
 For eternity.

00:29:42.259 --> 00:29:43.039
 Let's pray together.

00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:43.619
 Let's pray together.

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