Study inMatthew’s

Gospel

Presentation 33

Sermon On The Mount

Right FoundationChap 7v24-29

Presentation 33

Presentation 33

IntroductionA glossy brochure described a children’s activity farm. It had everything: a racing car circuit, deer and animal farm, pitch and putt and a driving range. It promised an exciting holiday outing. Our family set out with high hopes. On arrival no deer were found. There were a few goats, hens, ducks and pigs. The putting greens resembled Savannah grasslands. Our high hopes were quickly dashed. Was this the same park illustrated in the advertising brochure? Yes, but the information was deceptive. We have all experienced the disappointment that comes from dashed hopes. Jesus describes the false hopes that some people have of heaven because they are self-deceived.

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False HopeVerses 21-23 are probably the most probing in all of the NT. Jesus hearers would have been stunned to hear these words. ‘Not everyone who says...’ For in these verses Jesus is exposing the most terrible and certainly the most subtle danger which confronts a man in his spiritual pilgrimage and which seeks to prevent him from entering the narrow gate. The danger of self-deception. There is nothing worse than being a self deceived man. A man who entertains a false peace that all is well between himself and God. Our passage so clearly exposes the danger of such false peace.

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False HopeFirst, notice that those who possess a false peace about their relationship with God often believe the right things. They can be passionately orthodox as far as Christian doctrine is concerned cf. v21 ‘Lord Lord.. They believe Jesus is Lord, that he is God. They believe that Jesus' sacrificial death was for the forgiveness of sins and the redemption of his people. They believe in the doctrine of the second coming and that all must appear before the judgement bar of God. But theirs is purely an intellectual belief, it has not subdued their hearts, it has not brought them to repentance and faith. Intellectual belief carries no currency in heaven, after all James reminds us that ‘the Devil believes and trembles’. The Devil has no difficulty accepting the fact of God’s existence and he knows why Jesus died upon the cross. But that kind of belief is a world apart from trusting Jesus as Saviour and Lord. The acid test for the man who says he believes in God is to ask, how that belief has shaped the way in which he lives his life.

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False HopeIf people are alarmed that holding orthodox Christian belief does not guarantee their salvation how much more does the discovery that mere Christian service also fails to provide such a guarantee. Listen to the words spoken to Jesus, ‘Lord did we not prophesy in your name....’ It is possible to proclaim God’s message, to speak prophetically and yet remain outside of the kingdom. The O.T. provides at least two examples of that in the lives of both Balaam and Saul. The H.S. came upon them but they remained outside of the kingdom. The fact that God has used us no matter how fruitfully is an inadequate foundation for a person’s confidence of heaven. At the time of the Cambuslang revival in the last century one minister was surprised to discover that not only were others converted under his ministry but he was himself converted in the course of his own preaching. Will the day of judgement reveal that many who have been instruments in God’s hands to advance his purpose, are themselves excluded from God’s kingdom because a work of grace had not been done in their lives. Is that not sobering!

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False HopeJesus describes not only those who claim to have preached in his name but those who have come up against the powers of darkness in his name and have prevailed. Demonic possession is not something which is very commonplace in the western world, though an increasing interest in and involvement with the occult may soon alter that, but speak to missionaries working in deeply animistic societies, parts of Upper Volta or Papua New Guinea and they will provide you with a different perspective. Now says Jesus it is possible for a man to be used by God to exercise demonic powers and yet for him to remain outside of the kingdom. The classic example of that is of course Judas Iscariot. The gospels tell us that during the course of his earthly ministry Jesus gave his disciples power to heal the sick and drive out demons. Jesus was included in that and exercised that power but it did not guarantee his salvation.

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False HopeThis leads us on to those who will claim to have done miracles in Jesus name. Surely the person who is able to do that can expect to feel safe and secure as far as his eternal destiny is concerned! Not at all. Just like these other examples the fact that God may use someone to perform some miraculous deed does not imply that that person is approved by God or secure in his salvation. God can work through people and accomplish his purposes through them without them wittingly submitting their lives to God’s Lordship. An obvious example of this in the OT is that of Cyrus the Persian king. God calls him his servant. He was the human instrument through which the Jews were repatriated to their homeland after their exile. Cyrus was a heathen king before he was used of God and remained a heathen king after he had accomplished God’s purpose.

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False HopeThere is yet another dimension to this whole matter that needs to be considered. God is not the source of all that is miraculous. Writing to the church in Thessalonica Paul speaks of ‘lying wonders’ miracles that have a deceptive power. Their aim is to delude and to provide people with a false sense of security cf. 1Thes 2.9-10..... Can I remind you too of the magicians of Egypt, identified in the NT as Jannes and Jambre who withstood Moses in Pharaoh's company and sought to compete with Moses miracle for miracle. These men were not the Paul Daniels of their day. It was not a case of sleight of hand. They had access to dark powers opposed to God’s rule. There are some people today who cite some miraculous event and who are therefore persuaded that it means God is with them. I once spoke to a Mormon bishop who described miraculous events that had taken place in his tabernacle and used these to argue for the authenticity of Mormon teaching. Clearly he had failed to take this passage seriously.

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False HopeJesus reply in every instance to those who relied on orthodoxy, Christian service, involvement in the supernatural was ‘depart form me. They all felt they had ground for acceptance but in the end were rejected. Instead of being welcomed as celebrities they are bounced out of the threshold of the kingdom. The common factor uniting each one of them is that they were self deceived. They had placed their trust in the wrong place. Jesus’ response is very illuminating he indicates that their use of his name was no more than a piece of hollow rhetoric. Call him Lord they may have done but they did not submit to his Lordship. There was no evidence of moral obedience in their lives. But secondly, notice Jesus says, ‘I never knew you’. In other words at no stage in their lives had they entered into a trust relationship with him.

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False FoundationsJesus’ teaching on the subject of deception continues as he paints for us what has become the well known picture of the wise and foolish builder. And what we really need to grasp about these men is that their lives are very very similar. They share the same basic goal, they want to build a house, perhaps even a similar kind of house. They both build in the same general locality. They both give themselves to the task. The only difference lies under the surface otherwise there is no apparent observable distinction between them. As a general rule we tend to say that it is easy to tell the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. Jesus seems to imply here that this is not always the case. He does however want to draw our attention to the fundamental and all important difference between these two men in order that our own building program for eternity does not collapse.

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False FoundationsWhat is this difference? Luke in the parallel passage tells us the wise man dug deep and laid a foundation, the foolish man did no digging, he laid no foundation. The foolish man was in a hurry to build. He looked for shortcuts. He is not interested in instruction. He is convinced that his building methods are best. He does not give serious thought to his building being tested by storms, or rivers in spate. He considers soil mechanics a bore! In contrast the wise builder is interested in durability. He wants to build something that will last. That will stand the test. here is the kind of man who has no confidence in his own ability. He is open to guidance. He values expert advice. he won’t rush things. he will not allow his emotions and enthusiasm to run away with him. His great concern is that no matter how long it takes, he has got to get it right. if he sees that his neighbour has reached first floor level while he is still digging out the foundations he will not be panicked. he knows that the foundation of any work is critical.

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False FoundationsWe look at two houses, two lives of professing Xns, both may seem good and sound to us. We cannot see the foundations. These men will attend the same church. They will listen to the same gospel. they will do the same things. Both enjoy Christian fellowship. Both are interested in forgiveness and a place in heaven. Both are interested in living lives of moral integrity. The one basic difference that separates them is the foundation on which they have built. When I worked as an architect I learned that the really crucial time to visit the building site was not when the contractor was about to leave the site and hand the keys over but when the foundations were being laid. If the contractor laid a suspect foundation. If the concrete mix was weak then it did not matter how good the materials that were used after that, serious trouble would always be around the corner. the foundations were always examined and tested before the building was begun.

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False FoundationsJesus point is that the foundation is the most phase of the building of our spiritual lives. We must not be deceived into thinking that it does not matter or find our selves thinking it is not too important since no one can see it. It lies under the surface of our lives. The man who hears Jesus foundational teaching and refuses to implement it, perhaps because he prides himself in the fact that he knows better and can manage fine by himself, that man, is in real danger. He has not acknowledged his own spiritual poverty. He has not mourned over his sin. He has not hungered after the righteousness that only Christ can supply. He rejects all that disturbs him and refuses to believe that his building is not as good as the other mans. He wants God’s blessings without a heart commitment to God. he wants to be comfortable but not to be holy.

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False FoundationsIn contrast the wise man listens to Jesus' instruction even when it hurts him to do so. He allows it to humble him and show him the full enormity of his need. He allows God’s word to take him down to bedrock. He rejects any notion that he might know better than Jesus. He recognises that the sure foundation of the Christian life is a faith relationship with Jesus himself. He sees he needs Jesus as Saviour. He is more interested in the person of Christ than in the blessings that he might bring. He sings:My hope is built on nothing lessThan Jesus blood and righteousnessI dare not trust the sweetest frameBut wholly lean on Jesus nameOn Christ the solid rock I standAll other ground is sinking sand

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False FoundationsIn Jesus' story only when the storm broke with frightening ferocity did the difference between the two foundations become apparent. The house on the sand collapsed while the other stood firm. Whether we think of the storms of life or of the last day when we all appear before God, the foundations upon which we have built our lives will be tested and exposed. We need to be sure we get the foundation right.

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ConclusionThe very worst form of deception is self-deception and for this reason Jesus concentrates so much of his attention on this area when he comes to apply his teaching. He knows the heart of man that is deceitful and desperately wicked and so before the storm comes he encourages his hearers to dig down an exploratory trench in their spiritual lives in order to make sure that they have the foundation right. May God help us all to that end.