Thursday, February 02, 2006

Two Hearers

Matt. 7:
24."Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.
25. "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.
26. "And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.
27. "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."


Luke 6:
47. "Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like:
48. he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
49. "But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."


In these passages we view two different kinds of hearers of Jesus words as he explains of those who apply His truth and of those who do not. We must understand that He is not talking about those who openly reject His teaching but those who profess to be believers but do not practice what they profess. On the other extreme we find those who practice Christianity without having a saving relationship with Christ. Both of these situations practice “broad path” theology that ultimately leads to destruction. 1John 1:6; 2:4 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 4. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;

John Stott writes, “We need to consider that the Bible is a dangerous book to read, and that a church is a dangerous society to join. For in reading the Bible we hear the words of Christ, and in joining the church we say we believe in Christ. As a result, we belong to the company described by Jesus as both hearing His teaching and calling Him Lord. Our membership therefore lays upon us the serious responsibility of ensuring that what we know and what we say is translated into what we do.”

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Post Script to the Sermon on the Mount

Matt. 7:24-27
24."Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.
25. "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.
26. "And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.
27. "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."

Luke 6
47. "Everyone who comes to Me, and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like:
48. he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood rose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
49. "But the one who has heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."

The Sermon on the Mount is now finished; Jesus has laid down, in great detail, the vital principals of those who enter the kingdom and those who do not.
He herein tells us that there are only these two kinds of people. Jesus offers the truth of the narrow path and man offers and prefers an easier broad path that He tells us leads to destruction. Who should we listen to? In the last analysis, to whom do you place your faith; Jesus words or man’s reason; God’s revelation or man’s rationalization? Truth is non-negotiable; kingdom or destruction; heaven or hell.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

The Good News

V23. "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'

Now the good news is that if there were a human being who perfectly kept all the law, mankind may have a glimmer of hope. This One could represent Adam’s race. Enter Jesus of Nazareth who would be our sacrificial lamb. Paul explains this in Romans. In his first three chapters he explains the doctrine of sin and at the end of chapter 3 he explains the doctrine of mans justification: Rom. 3:21-28 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22. even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24. being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25. whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26. for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Man must at first understand his hopeless condition or he will never see the need of a savior to save him from the deadly sin disease. A knowledgeable sick man that is terminally ill earnestly seeks a doctor. This savior/doctor must have the resources of righteousness to act in man’s stead before the Judge, to pay his sin debt. Jesus met all the criteria requiring the demand of the law providing a spotless blood sacrifice that would reconcile man’s sin debt. Upon the cross Jesus received God’s wrath for every sin committed and for every sin that will be committed by His elect. All others will hear, “I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness.”

It all boils down to this: Either Jesus Christ, who has the resources to pay your sin debt, will do so through your faith in His completed work, or you, who practice lawlessness and have not the resources to pay your own way out can present your own estimated righteousness and have faith in yourself. Many years ago the Christian slogan was, “One Way,” this still remains true for today. I pray that you get it right.

The Good News

V23. "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'

Now the good news is that if there were a human being who perfectly kept all the law, mankind may have a glimmer of hope. This One could represent Adam’s race. Enter Jesus of Nazareth who would be our sacrificial lamb. Paul explains this in Romans. In his first three chapters he explains the doctrine of sin and at the end of chapter 3 he explains the doctrine of mans justification: Rom. 3:21-28 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22. even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24. being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25. whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26. for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27. Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Man must at first understand his hopeless condition or he will never see the need of a savior to save him from the deadly sin disease. A knowledgeable sick man that is terminally ill earnestly seeks a doctor. This savior/doctor must have the resources of righteousness to act in man’s stead before the Judge, to pay his sin debt. Jesus met all the criteria requiring the demand of the law providing a spotless blood sacrifice that would reconcile man’s sin debt. Upon the cross Jesus received God’s wrath for every sin committed and for every sin that will be committed by His elect. All others will hear, “I never knew you; depart from me you who practice lawlessness.”

It all boils down to this: Either Jesus Christ, who has the resources to pay your sin debt, will do so through your faith in His completed work, or you, who practice lawlessness and have not the resources to pay your own way out can present your own estimated righteousness and have faith in yourself. Many years ago the Christian slogan was, “One Way,” this still remains true for today. I pray that you get it right.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Acceptable Righteousness?

Matt:7
V23. "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'

Depart from me,” is the command that directs one to the dead end of the broad path which is destruction. I list the footnote in our textbook (A Harmony of the Gospels by Robert L.Thomas and Stanley N. Gundry): “In Jesus’ teachings, to find life was equivalent to entering the kingdom, and to meet with destruction was equated with exclusion from it. One’s relationship to the anticipated kingdom was thus of crucial importance.”

Those who meet destruction do so because they are those who practice lawlessness. This is a crucial Christian doctrine that all must clearly understand. Let me start by saying that for one to be just and righteous he must be above the law or he must have lived a holy/spotless life completely within the law defined by the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-7; Deut. 5:7-21). This is not good news (gospel) because we all have transgressed some if not all of these laws. Man then reasons that he is not that bad and bases his comparison with something of lower than God’s standard. The bad news is that God does not recognize man’s lowered standards of what is righteous and just. He set the standard for Moses to proclaim circa 1500 BC and the same law and standard applies to man as long as the earth turns.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Just Reward

Matt. 7:
V23. "And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'
I never knew you
are the final words of the Judge to the charlatan religionists who utter the ultimate blasphemy of “Lord, Lord” before men while seeking to steal the glory from the one true Lord. These words are the final communion declaring the most horrible verdict of an eternal destiny of destruction without any hope of rest or hope of any hope. The most difficult part of all is the knowledge that the punishment is just and you are fully informed that you worked hard to gain this just reward. Your life was totally consumed with your own self interest and no room was available to dedicate to being obedient to His word while on the late planet earth. You now have a new home totally devoid of comfort. Now your mind will spend eternity remembering the way things should have been.

In the most literal form, this statement made by the just Judge saying, “I never knew you,” and pronouncing this kind of punishment would not be just. Obviously you would have to be known to receive this sort of judgment. The just Judge is omniscient; He knows all so we must see that there is more to the word “knew” than what our normal English would allow. Simply on the surface it is oxymoronic for omniscience to lack knowledge. To comprehend the concept of “I never knew you,” we look to the first book in the Bible and see the kind of “knowing” relation that Adam had for Eve in the most intimate setting. Gen. 4:1a. Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. (AV)

To know Jesus is to have a lot more than a “Lord, Lord” lip service relationship. Many warming the church pews today will be right at home with the charlatan preachers and axe murderers alike because there is no “knowing” Him honestly as Lord. Let’s face it; it is not natural to want for anything but that which pleases our self. And, this is the key; Christianity is supernatural.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?