The Choice of Life and Death

INTRO

Today we’re in Matthew 7. The first six verses of Matthew 7 are about being careful not to judge others. Verse 3 tells us that if we have something in our own eyes, we shouldn’t point out what is in someone else’s eyes. Yesterday, we talked about the importance of the eyes being able to let light into our lives but keeping out the darkness.

TEACHING

In the verses we’ll study today, Jesus talks about two of everything: two gates, two ways, two destructions (death), two groups of people, two houses, two builders, two fruits, two trees, two claims. I believe that it is essential for us to understand the choices that we have. We are constantly on a journey of choosing (Deuteronomy 30:19; Psalm 1:1-2; Jeremiah 21:8). Every day that we wake up, we have a choice––the way of life or the way of death. Which way do you want to choose to honor King Jesus? That’s the backdrop of these verses.

Matthew 7:13-16: Jesus said there was a wide path that was easy to follow, which many people were going through, but that led to destruction (v. 13). Nelson’s Commentary stresses that “the vast majority of people in the world have the same attitude as the scribes and Pharisees. They simplistically believe that their external works are what count.”¹Then, Jesus presented the other gate as narrow, the path as difficult, and that few people will find it (v. 14). These passages are about the cost/reward of each way: Matthew 25:46; John 17:2; and Romans 9:22. The wide path leads to destruction. The narrow path leads to life. There’s an obvious, real contrast between what He’s asking us to do. Most people like easy messages and broad paths (Matthew 10:38-39; 16:24-25; John 15:18-19).

Many more people want to communicate the message of the broad path rather than the narrow one. That leads to verse 15: “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves” (Acts 20:29). They’ll be the ones that say Jesus doesn’t want you to suffer but wants you to get more stuff for happiness. MacArthur says that “these deceive not by disguising themselves as sheep, but by impersonating true shepherds.”²They’ll have messages that sound really, really good.

Peter wrote, “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves” (Jeremiah 6:13-15; 2 Peter 2:1). How then will we judge the difference? There are two trees, those that bear fruit and those that do not (v. 16). MacArthur says that “false doctrine cannot restrain the flesh, so false prophets manifest wickedness.”³Bad trees cannot produce good fruit.

Matthew 7:17-20: Good trees produce good fruit and life, but bad trees produces bad fruit and death (v. 17). “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So, you’ll recognize them by their fruit” (vv. 18-20). The two gates and the two trees have parallel consequences. The wide gate and the bad fruit tree are both destroyed; the narrow gate and the good fruit tree give life. You have a choice to pursue the path of life, or the path of death (Jude 3-4). One of the issues in American society is that we’re not even aware that there are false teachers out there. We take whatever we hear at face value, without testing the truth of the statement. That’s the alarming part.

Matthew 7:21-28: In verse 21, those who are found to not have followed the will of God will have to depart (go away) from God. All these options lead away from life. Wiersbe explains that “the two ways [gates] illustrate the start of the life of faith; the two trees illustrate the growth and results of the life of faith here and now; and the two houses illustrate the end of this life of faith, when God shall call everything to judgment.”⁴ For verses 24–25, we can look at the first of two houses or two builders. The house was built on a good foundation of rock—it weathered the storm without damage. The people here heard and acted on what they heard. Verses 26-27 describe the other builder and house that was built on a terrible foundation of sand that could shift––it collapsed during the storm and was destroyed. These people heard and didn’t act.

One commentator stated that the house could represent your religious life, the rain could imply divine judgment, and only the one built on the foundation of obedience to God’s Word stands. In verse 28, when Jesus had finished the sermon, “the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.” Why were the crowds so astonished at His authority? The scribes and Pharisees did not teach their own ideas, instead “always quoting the various rabbis and experts in the law. Jesus needed no human teacher to add authority to His words, for He spoke as the Son of God.”⁵

Jesus spoke with all authority, without referring to any other opinion (Mark 1:22). The more that I walk in dependence on the Holy Spirit, the more I speak with the authority that He gives me. The challenge is, will we walk in this authority that comes from the Spirit (Mark 1:22; 11:28)? When we believe that we have authority, we can walk on the narrow path, begin to experience good fruit, and can build our foundation on the Rock, when we believe we have King Jesus with us. We have nothing to fear any more. Luke 6:48: “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built.” When we dig deep into the Word and into the cornerstone of Christ in our lives, nothing is going to shake us. No destruction will affect us. We will walk with this authority.

CLOSING

It’s time that the church today begins to walk with this authority . . . that we actually have Christ in our lives and that we have been radically changed, so that people will want what we have. Let’s continue to dig deep in the Word of God so that our foundation cannot be shaken.