75. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - What can you do?

 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

 

            Which words did Jesus refer to? “These words,” the words He had just spoken in the past few hours during the Sermon on the Mount. He compared our obedience to a man who builds a house. When we are born again and start our relationship with the Lord, we build ourselves a spiritual house, a haven. “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him,’” (John 14:23).

Our relationship with Jesus and Father is our home, our protection against the storms of life. To paraphrase Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:24-27: “I have spent several hours teaching you the rules of My Kingdom. If you obey and apply what I’m teaching you, I will be pleased with you, and you will be secure in me. You will have a stable, powerful life and ministry. But if you ignore my teaching, I cannot protect you against the storms of life or the onslaughts of the evil one. At that point, you have sinned, and the Father and I can’t live in the same house with sin. If you continue to disobey my teaching, your fall will be great in the end.”

          This great teaching of Jesus is the fulfilment of the law. Many Christians believe that they must

wait for God to minister to them during praise and worship. They want to experience the presence of God during meetings and expect God to do miraculous things for them while they continue their mediocre, comfortable lives. The surprise, however, is that if we obey Jesus’ teaching, He and the Father will make their home with us. They will minister to us, bringing revelation and revival (John 14:21 and 23). On the contrary, if we do not obey His teaching, they will not make their home with us and not bring revelation and revival.

           It is now time for complete honesty. To what degree have you put Jesus’ teachings into practice? Take a few moments of silence before the Lord to consider this. Look into your heart and find the courage to apply what you have learned and see what difference it will make in your relationship to God and the world around you. Don’t wait until you feel like doing what the Lord expects of you to do; just do it. The flesh never feels like doing what the Spirit wants. It would not be easy for the flesh to obey, but if you overcome the resistance and just do what God expects of you, your flesh might be angry, but your spirit will be refreshed.

          Dear Lord Jesus, I want to obey You to the letter. Please give me the courage and conviction to do so. The great men and women of God in history obeyed Your teachings to the letter. I also desire to be used greatly by You, even if it is only in my immediate surroundings.

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. (Matthew 7:28, 29) 

         How do you teach? Do you repeat traditional information that you have heard two-and-plenty years ago, or do you teach what the Holy Spirit reveals to you? Do you think you are not a teacher? Then maybe it is time to start obeying Christ’s command in Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations . . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

            All of us teach (or should teach) some time or another. Talking about the Lord in a casual conversation involves teaching. Much of our teaching comes from our own experiences with the Lord. All of us should make use of every opportunity to teach.

            When anointed teachers instruct on revelation from the Holy Spirit, as well as when we teach experience knowledge, we teach like Jesus did. When we teach religion, we are like the teachers of the law. Therefore, we need to hear from the Lord all the time, because He wants to teach His people through His disciples and servants.

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74. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Watch Out! Part 2

 This is our second and last discussion of the passage on false prophets found in Matthew 7:15-23.

Another kind of false teacher believes in the full gospel as it is written, but due to selfish motives, he preaches the Word to benefit himself. “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear,” (2 Timothy 4:3).

This is the real danger to the sheep, because this person teaches to please people and make them feel important. He preaches prosperity and goodwill messages and does not encourage people to obedience and service, which please the Lord. This teacher puts the sheep at ease, reassuring them that God wants to bless and prosper them as long as they give financially—a gospel business deal.  “Men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain,” (1 Timothy 6:5b).

Who is this teacher’s real master—God or Mammon? What is the fruit of these trees (people)? How many of them have gone to the trouble of visiting prisoners, giving sacrificially, opening their homes to the needy, or clothing the naked from their own wardrobes?

How many hungry people could have been fed, how many-long term missionaries could have been supported, and how many Bibles could have been printed and distributed with the money that pays for these teachers’ luxurious cars, houses, and church buildings? We can always use the Bible to justify our actions. Some of these teachers might say, “The Lord blesses me because I am giving and doing His work well. We teach the people to give so they may receive.”

By their fruit you will recognize them. If we examine these prosperity churches, we can’t help

but ask why only the senior pastor usually prospers. Why do most of the givers in the church stay average to poor if the principle of giving and receiving will make us rich?

On the other hand, why do the leaders and pastors of many missionary organisations, who do the will of God, live average lives? Surely the Lord blesses them just as He blesses all His children. Maybe in their case it is because they correctly use the funds that the Lord provides for His work.

Bad or diseased trees do not have only financial motives. The devil thought up many motivations for hindering God’s work. Other common motives are control, power, manipulation, self-fulfillment, and ambition. In many such churches the pastor maintains control and people become passive, not being used in their gifting. Preachers with these motives are not spiritually healthy, so their followers do not get healthy spiritual food and end up in an unhealthy spiritual state.

What is a healthy spiritual state? It is when believers follow the Lord independently, through hearing from Him personally and responding in resulting faith, by actively flowing in their gift.

What is an unhealthy spiritual state? It is when anybody apart from the Holy Spirit is in control of your life. These could include your flesh, the evil forces, or other people. When others manipulate us, either by opinion or direct control, our relationship with the Lord is not healthy. Anything that determines our decisions should be tested against the will of the Lord through prayer, fasting, and the studying of the Word of God. “Diseased trees” use control to keep people under their power and away from the fullness the Lord has in mind for them. They do not preach and teach complete obedience, and they stop their people from hearing it from other sources such as other churches or television.

            Jesus taught this lesson for a reason. He knew the power of Mammon. He also knew our hearts. He wants us to be like Him and His disciples—obedient in spite of suffering. When Jesus died, He owned nothing but a garment. When the apostles died, they had experienced much suffering as a result of their obedience and also owned nothing. When John Wesley died, he owned a horse, some clothes, and a Bible. They all, however, had one thing in common—a rich harvest of saved souls.

Read Hebrews 11 again. On which side will you be? 

Dear Papa Father,

We live in a world controlled by Satan. We are only pilgrims on a journey. We have a mission to bring as many people as possible to heaven with us when we return there.

Life in this world, however, is not easy. Mammon hammers us with his demands, and even the church often preaches his doctrines. We pray, Lord, that you help all your children to obey your commands. Let none of those you have chosen and have drawn to you hear the words ”I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Please help all of us to know Your will for our lives and to do it. Help us always to preach the truth.             

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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73. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Watch Out! Part 1

 

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:15-23) 

 

This is written in the context of the wide and narrow road. The Lord Jesus said we must look for fruit in the lives of teachers. In doing this, we must be very sensitive. We can’t recognize them on our own. The Lord, through the Holy Spirit, has made available the gifts of discernment, words of knowledge, and words of wisdom by which we will recognize them.

False teachers will come to you in sheep’s clothing. They appear to be one with you. They will agree with you in doctrinal matters. Their preaching will sound acceptable and innocent, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. What motivates them? What can this false teaching do for them? What is the fruit by which we will recognize them?

Consider Jesus’ audience. At the beginning of the sermon, He saw the crowds, and His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them (Matthew 5:1). It appears that the audience grew as curious listeners joined, for at the end of the sermon it states that the crowds were amazed at His teaching (Matthew 7:28).  Not all of them believed, but all of them were interested. Both believers and potential believers sat in the audience. This holds true today. 

The clearly definable and well-known false prophets, who deliberately deceive people, target

potential believers as well as young believers. They have one motive: to deceive people away from the freedom that Jesus bought for them with His blood and tie them up in works again. Paul said to the Galatians: “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?” (Galatians 3:1-3, 5)

This is what these sects or false teachers try to do today—imprison people in self-effort and prevent them from being set free by grace through faith. Often, their motive is money, because these prisoners who live by the law give a lot of money to “the work of the Lord” due to guilt. These are well known false teachers and the average person avoids them. 

But there are false teachers that are much more subtle. Their teaching appears very acceptable and they usually draw scores of followers. Their false teachings are doctrine based. They leave out crucial doctrines, such as the need to be born again and to be baptised. Salvation is based on baby baptism and the covenant of the parents - a false foundation. People following these teachers are deceived into believing they are okay and do not realise that without rebirth and being baptised as a believer one cannot enter God's Kingdom (John 3:3 and 5, Mark 16:16).

How can false teachers be avoided? Test their teaching to the Word of God. What does the Bible say about doctrinal issues? Let us look for example at Mark 16:16. The person who believes and is baptised will be saved. Can a baby believe? Read the Bible and believe it as the Holy Spirit reveals it to you and not as people interpret it to you. To be continued.

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72. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - The Fork in the Road

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13, 14)

 Why are the gate and road to life narrow, and why are the gate and road to destruction wide and broad? It is because of standards. With the wide gate and road, anything goes. Everyone is free to do as she likes. Despite the influence of others, one rule abides: anything goes. Society does have rules and values that rein us in to an extent, but isn’t that only because God keeps an eye on things since Jesus conquered the devil? What was the state of the world just before the flood? What happened in Sodom and Gomorrah? There were no righteous people. They probably had government laws, but when it came to moral laws, there were none. Everyone ran after his own lusts.

The only moral rules and values the world tolerates today are those applied by either a God-fearing or religious society or by a government. Men and women on the wide road desire the freedom to do what they want. That was what the world was like before the flood and in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. That is where the world is headed today.

Consider the “liberation” that took place in the past hundred years. Abortion (murder), homosexuality, drug abuse, and violence are increasing. Abortionists constantly lobby for the relaxing of abortion laws, while free sex is rife. Name the sin and somebody is involved in it. Individuals and groups justify their sinful actions; in their eyes, they are doing nothing wrong.

Besides sin, the wide road has another component: beliefs and doctrines. There is room for any belief. We have seen the uprising of New Age theology and related beliefs. New Age adherents present some of their false doctrines so subtly that Christians see them as innocent. They are interwoven with medicine, health, and self-defence. On the wide road, there are no rules. Everybody travels merrily, allowing each to do what he likes, repeating their mantra: “Don’t tell me what to do; I’m in control of my own life.” The king of the wide road is the ruler of this world, Satan, and all his principalities such as Mammon.

Jesus said many find the wide road. Why? It is because there are no restrictions. Even Christians

are welcome on the wide road. It’s easy to access because it leads away from God and toward destruction. The goal is to destroy as many people as possible.

Why is the other road narrow? It is because it is linked to one person. Nothing else but worshipping and serving God is necessary. The rules of worship and service narrow this road. If you study the New Testament teachings, you’ll get a picture of how strict the rules are. Within the rules we are free, but not to do what we wish. Paul said, “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me,’—but I will not be mastered by anything,” (1 Corinthians. 6:12).

God does not force us into anything. We are free to do what we like, but not everything we do benefits the Kingdom or falls within the expectations of the narrow road. The moment I am mastered by anything but God, I miss the narrow gate.

Not everybody can enter through the narrow gate because on the other side of the gate, on the road, is no place for self. The main criteria for entering through the narrow gate are the motivation and attitude of the heart—doing the will of the Father. It appears that many Christians have hidden agendas in the Kingdom of God. Many people worship pastors and Christian leaders instead of God. Some Christians serve God for what they can get, especially money. The problem is that they are not easily recognizable. They appear to be good. Sometimes they don’t realise the motivations of their own hearts. “For false christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles, to deceive even the elect—if that were possible,” (Matthew 24:24).

What is this will of Father? It is clearly written in Jesus’ teachings. The obstacles to overcome are self, laziness, and materialism. It is hard to humble ourselves, to get out of our comfort zone, and the hold that materialism has on us. Few manage it—the few who find the Narrow Gate and stay on the Narrow Road. Are you one of them?

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