Biblestudy: Matthew (Part Twelve)

Matthew 7:14-29 (Review)
#BS-MA12
John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)
Given 16-Dec-81; 74 minutes

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Let us go back to the book of Matthew. At the last Bible study, we got as far as the last two verses of chapter 7. However, I want to go back a good bit further up into chapter 7 because I was bothered after the Bible study was over. I knew that there was something that I had left out; something that I wanted to say, and somehow or another, it never came out of my mouth last Bible study.

So, I want to go back again and just refresh something in your memory in regard to verses 15 through 20 where He is talking about the false prophet, and the wolf in sheep’s clothing, and so forth. I remember I said that false teaching tends to produce four different forms or ways of life.

Now, this can all happen within a congregation or a church much larger than just a congregation. And it is highly unlikely that they will all appear in any one congregation. But at any rate, I said that the way a false minister will tend to produce fruits will show up in these four ways.

One was that he will get people concentrated on externals so that the church will become nothing more than a social club. People will be attending on the Sabbath, and they will be very concerned about rituals—of going through the motions. To them, that is what religion is. That is basically the way the Pharisees were. They were all concerned about carrying out all the tiny regulations that had built up through the centuries in regard to a way of life.

The second one is that they will tend to concentrate on the negatives—no dancing, no smoking, no going to movies, etc. And I showed you the verse in Colossians 2 how Paul dealt with that kind of a situation. He even said that it looks religious.

Then the third way had to do with liberalism, where people pay little attention to sin. And again, Paul had to deal with that, shown very plainly and clearly in Romans 6 where he made that statement, “What? Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” that we do such a thing. Well, he was dealing with people who were teaching within the church that God was glorified by being able to forgive sin. And so the more you sin, the more grace would be shown by God, and therefore God was glorified; really strange reasoning. But nonetheless, there is evidence of it in the Bible.

The fourth one was where the way of life is completely divorced from reality. This has not shown up too much at all in the church. However, we do see it, or we certainly have seen it to a great extent in Catholicism which is responsible for the forming of the monasteries where the monks went off to spend all their time poring over books, and doing things that had nothing to do with the realities of life.

The part that I forgot was, “What will this produce within the congregation?” Well, it will produce division, disunity, and disharmony; anything that leads to splitting off into cliques.

That is a fruit that is easily seen by anybody. And if you are in a congregation anywhere where there is a great deal of cliquishness, where there are people in one corner of the room who believe one way, and others in another corner of the room who believe another way, and another corner of the room where they may believe a third way, you are in a congregation that has got some false teaching going on among them.

I am not talking about one person who may believe something different here and there. I am not talking about that kind of thing. But we have experienced within the history of this church, that very thing where congregations would be split because of the teaching that they were receiving from somebody.

This was one of the major reasons why Mr. Armstrong sends Gerald Waterhouse around. He wants to keep everybody pointed in the same direction, following the same teaching that is emanating from God's apostle, so that we are all speaking the same thing, not dividing off into various cliques.

Now, the major fruit that will be produced by false teaching will be disunity. And that is very plainly seen in the books of I and II Corinthians. Paul even began the book, “Is Christ divided, as I hear that there are some of you who say, ‘I'm of Paul,’ and others say, ‘I'm of Apollos,’ or, ‘I'm of Peter.’” These people were not really of Peter, they were not really of Paul, and they were not really of Apollos, because there is no indication that those men disagreed; their teaching was essentially the same. But that is what the people were saying, that they were rallying around this particular personality. Actually, they were following their own teaching. They were making that teaching available within the congregation. And so the congregation was dividing into various segments.

Now, let us drop down to versus 24 through 27:

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded upon the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell. And great was its fall.”

In order to really catch the full impact of those verses, you have to catch it in its context beginning all the way back in verse 13. And so, our whole Bible study the last time encompassed those verses, 13 through 27, and how in verses 13 and 14, Jesus showed that life consists of the making of decisions that there are two paths that we can go: The straight and narrow, or the broad way. And He shows very plainly and clearly that it is the person who chooses the straight and the narrow who is going to be going the right way, even though it is in most cases the more difficult of the two.

Then in verses 15 through 20 He showed the importance of being a real student of the teaching that one receives. This is very, very important, because we are going to be making our decisions based upon the teaching that we receive. If we receive the wrong teaching by wolves in sheep's clothing, then no matter how sincere we are, if we follow that teaching, we are going to take the wrong path. We are almost always going to make the wrong decision.

Now, this becomes very important, because the teaching that we have received—the spiritual teaching from this world—has been basically wrong. Until the time that God calls us and begins to give us His truth, we do not really have a firm basis for making sound spiritual decisions.

How can you ensure that you make sound decisions? That is what verses 24 through 27 are for. Also, to some degree, verses 15 through 20. You have to be very careful of the teaching that you receive.

Now let us conclude this. I will take a little bit of time to summarize it.

Remember, I gave you those three principles encompassed within verses 24 through 27. If you are going to follow the straight and narrow, if you are going to end up in the Kingdom of God, the first thing is you have got to look ahead. If you are going to make wise decisions, you have got to look ahead.

This is implied in the decision as to where you are going to build your house. Are you going to build it on sand? Or are you going to build it on a good foundation? Any wise builder is going to look over the lay of his land and decide upon the site where his building is going to be. To us spiritually it means we have a choice: We can build on one foundation or the other.

The rock, of course, refers to Jesus Christ. The sand refers to this world. (We will see that a little bit more clearly as we go along.) And if one builds his life upon the spiritual education that he has received from this world, you may as well not build that house at all, because as He said, the trials are going to come and you are not going to be able to stand. Your spiritual house is going to be washed away. So, in order to look ahead, it requires that one be quite thoughtful—a thinking person weighing evidence and always trying to measure this evidence against the Kingdom of God, what one understands about the Kingdom of God.

We again get back to the reason why Mr. Armstrong has Gerald Waterhouse going around. He wants to make sure that the people really get their spiritual eyes focused on the World Tomorrow, so that there is always that relationship in our lives that never leaves our spiritual vision, that we can make decisions with the Kingdom of God in mind.

If you are not a thoughtful person, then you must be thoughtless. A thoughtless person is going to make decisions almost invariably on appearances. And that is always going to mean that the person is going to take the broad way, the pleasurable way, the easy way to mollify things for a little while; to put the test or trial of building character off to sometime in the future.

There is a real good verse back here in Hebrews 11. I just happened to think of it. Let us go back to Hebrews 11 where Paul was giving examples of people who live their lives by faith. And we read those verses regarding Moses up there in verse 24. We will get to that maybe a little bit later. But in verse 35 he says,

Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again. [He is saying this occurred because these people lived by faith.] Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance.

I will tell you, that is a powerful phrase. How many times have you sinned? How many times have you taken the easy way out because you wanted to relieve the pressure? It happens all the time. Well, Paul is just warning us there that the people who live by faith are going to have pressure, and we are going to have to face up to it; that the people who live by faith, they do not accept deliverance except the deliverance that God gives them, and they take the straight and narrow course all the time.

You know, it says in II Corinthians 5:7 that we live by faith and not by sight. And this fits right in with what Jesus is saying here, that the wise man is going to be very careful about where he builds his house. He is going to try to look into the future as to what it is going to be like in this particular site from one season to another. That is why He mentions the rains and the floods coming because at one season of the year, the piece of ground that one chooses to build on may look like it is nice and flat and level that in another season of the year, he finds that he has built his house right in the middle of the stream bed.

For a person to live by faith, he has got to be able to look off into the future. If he is only living by sight, he will be living by appearances—the way things look right at the present. And I think I can guarantee you that in most cases that person is going to take or choose the broad way.

Let us go on to the next one Jesus said. He says,

Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine. . .”

The second thing that a person has to do in order to make right decisions is to listen very carefully. Well, this is more advice on verses 15 through 20 about the false teachers. One has to listen very carefully and discern the spirits carefully, and thoughtfully turn things over in one's mind. Far too many really do not know what Jesus said. They know what they think He said, but they do not really know what He said.

Of course, involved in this is not only the hearing of sermons, but also one's personal and private Bible study and prayer and meditation. Then the next thing He says that one must do,

Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, . . .”

If you want to learn to make right decisions, you have got to do the instruction that has been given.

Go back to Romans 12, verses 1 and 2.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice [that is, someone who gives], holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed [or be changed] by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

How does one prove the Word of God? By giving oneself as a living sacrifice! He means by doing—living by faith. And in so doing the Word of God will be written in your hearts and in your minds—it will become a part of you. You will taste the good fruit of the Word of God. So then when you know that you know, your confidence level—your faith—increases; it goes higher and higher.

Go back to I John 3, verse 18: It says,

I John 3:18-19 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.

You want to know where faith comes from? It tells you right there. You can have confidence—you can have real faith—if one does what one knows to do of the words of Jesus Christ.

Back to Matthew 7. Something is implied here, it is not actually stated, but it is implied, and I think it is an interesting principle one needs to think about once in a while: “Everybody has to live in what they build.”

We are, of course, talking about a spiritual house. We live with what we are. Every house will be tested. That is Jesus' promise. Are we going to build with wood, hay, or stubble? Or are we going to build with gold, silver, and precious stones? There are some wonderful analogies—they are good teaching analogies in all these things.

There is one factor that we did not mention, and it is without a doubt, maybe the most important one of all. He says in verse 24,

Matthew 7:24 “I will liken him [the person who hears and does them] to a wise man who built his house upon the rock.”

Now, these principles that I gave you of looking ahead, of listening very carefully, and doing what one knows, are principles of success for just about any endeavor. I do not care whether it is salesmanship, or whatever. But if you listen carefully, and you think ahead, and set goals for yourself, and then you put into practice the things that you have learned, the chances are very great that you are going to be a success; that you are going to prosper in what you do—if you put forth the effort.

But Jesus is interested in things that are spiritual, and He has given us the most important factor of all, and that is, “What are we building upon?” This is extremely important. Remember, we are still talking about making decisions. That was the theme that began back in verse 12 and He is finally concluding these remarks in regard to how to make decisions. We have got to be built on the Rock or otherwise, we are going to be built on the shifting sands of this world.

The shifting sands of this world typify all the different ideas that have come from the philosophies or theologies of men on the things that men have experienced, and think they know and understand. Some of these things are true. A great many of them are false. We cannot help but build our lives upon these things because it is all our parents knew and so they reared us on these things. It is all our schoolteachers knew, too, and so that was the basis of their teaching. It is all anybody knows except as God has revealed Himself to people.

God has given us the opportunity to build upon the Rock in order that we might have the right basis for making the right decisions.

Go back to I Corinthians 10.

I Corinthians 10:4 And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Now, Christ said back in Matthew 7:24 that we are to build upon the Rock. Here is the factor that is missing in these principles of success. Christ is the Rock, but He is a lot more than the Rock, as we are going to see in just a second. Notice, it says in verse 4 that they all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them. Now, we know of course that he is speaking here in a metaphor. It is an analogy. It is a comparison. And he wants us to understand that these people were being fed spiritually; spiritual knowledge was coming forth from Jesus Christ to these people. Of course, we understand that they rejected it.

Drop down to verse 13. Now, after going through a listing of the kind of things that they were tested in, he begins to make the point for you and me. He says,

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you such as is common to man; . . .

Remember Jesus’ advice in Matthew 7:24, that the winds and the rains came and the floodwaters mounted up and the house fell down. Now that wind and rain represent the trials that we go through in our life. Here in verse 13, after talking about the Rock that fed these people spiritual water, he says, “There is no temptation or trial that has overtaken you but such as is common to man.”

We are not unique in the areas in which we receive testing. People in the world get sick. We get sick. People in the world have financial disasters. We have financial disasters. People in the world have children and they have to take care of those children. We have children; we have to take care of those children. Their children go to public schools; our children go to public schools. They have to clothe and feed them. We have to clothe and feed ours.

What he is saying here is that we are going through basically the very same things that other people are going through, whether they are in the church or not. We are not really, in that sense, unique. The question is: How are you meeting the trials of life—the wind and the rain blowing? Are you coming apart at the seams? Are you standing tall and strong? Are you building character through it all? Are you filled with self-pity? Are you all frustrated? Are you all depressed? Are you getting weary? Worn out? Ready to commit suicide? People in the world do those things. How are you dealing with the trials of life?

Let us go on. We have something on our side though.

I Corinthians 10:13 . . . but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. . .

No, he does not promise that for the world. He promises it to us that we will not be tested above what we are able to handle. A lot of us do not really believe that. We think our trials are greater than we can bear. But really, if you understand right, you are calling God a liar if you say that. We can endure the things that come upon us. And not only can we endure them, we can overcome them, because He says at the end of the verse,

I Corinthians 10:13 . . . but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Now, we may have to suffer, but we are going to be able to bear it, and I am sure overcome it. But how? How are we going to overcome? How are we going to bear it? Jesus told you back in Matthew 7:24-25 that it all depends on what foundation you have. That is the main ingredient—that is the key.

If you are founded upon the Rock, then no matter what trial or test comes, you are going to be able to endure it and overcome it. You may not endure it and overcome it to the degree that God might like, or that you might feel satisfied with, but nonetheless, you are going to be able to endure it and overcome it.

But if you are built upon the shifting sands of all the ideas and concepts and beliefs that have come out of this world, the chances are you are going to be swept away with the trial. That happens to far too many people.

Let us go back to that example of Moses again in Hebrews 11. I think this is a wonderful example. It says in verse 24,

Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather . . .

He made the choice. He took the straight and narrow. He took the difficult way. If he had been living by appearance, if he had been living by what he could see with his eyes, he would have taken the broad way, which would have been to stay in Egypt, to stay with the Egyptians, to stay with all the pomp, popularity, glory, and power that his position would have given him. But instead, he chose the difficult way, which was to give all those things up.

Hebrews 11:25-26 . . . choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming . . .

Again, showing thought, thoughtfulness; esteeming means he evaluated the situation.

Hebrews 11:26 . . . the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Now that shows very plainly that he used vision. He looked ahead; it shows there that he was very thoughtful about the circumstance that he was in. He listened to the teaching, and he did the right thing.

Hebrews 11:27 By faith . . .

Because he could not see, actually literally could not see the end result of what he was getting involved in. He did not know that they were going to be 40 years wandering around in Sinai. He did not know that they were going to suffer all that hardship; that they were going to have to go for periods of time without food, without water. I do not think that he understood completely the tremendous burden of having the responsibility of several million people behind him or on his shoulder. He could not think of all the particulars of what he was getting into.

Hebrews 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Moses made it because his faith was founded on the Rock—his spiritual life.

Let us begin to put this into our context.

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit that gives life; . . . “

Remember I Corinthians 10:4 about the spiritual Rock that fed them spiritual strength, or substance.

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

The words, the concepts, the principles, the vision; it is not the words themselves, but it is the teaching that they connote; the ideas that they put into our minds; the hope that they give us; the vision of the future, and understanding of life—of human nature; of why things are the way they are on this earth, and of the way they are going to be in the future, in the World Tomorrow, they are spirit, they are power, they are light.

But verse 64 says,

John 6:64 “There are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.

Now, we have to grow in faith. There is no doubt about it. It is quite possible, maybe other than the Sardis church, or the Laodicean church, maybe as far as faith is concerned, maybe we are the weakest of the other remaining four in terms of faith. Maybe that is why Jesus said, “When He returns shall the Son of Man find faith on the earth?” Are we so involved with the around, with appearances that we are weak in faith? I think that has a very great deal to do with it.

You know, Mr. Waterhouse said something in a sermon that really buzzed in my mind. And he did not go into it very deeply at all. In fact, it almost seemed like a passing comment. He just dropped it, and then went right on. He made the statement that he wonders if we realize how affected we have been by this world's teaching. And I do not think we do. I do not think that we take the time to think things through enough to recognize how imbued we are with the teachings that we have had from the time that we are children. And we do not realize how it is affecting our attitudes, reactions, and decision making.

John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”

Now, what are you going to drink from Jesus Christ? What are these words that He is talking about? That is what you drink in! You drink into your mind His truth.

John 7:38 “He who believes in Me . . .

This is why He is mentioning faith—believing—because what do you believe? You believe words! The words that are in this Book!

John 7:38-39 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” But this spoke He concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Now, where is our foundation? Is it still in the shifting sands of this world? Or is it really anchored in Christ?

We have in Psalm 1, I feel, a little bit deeper understanding of what it means to be on the right foundation. He says,

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

Here is a person described who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly. It means (if we just flip it over) somebody who is keeping the commandments of God, who believes the truth of God, and is not being swayed by the ideas of man. “Nor sits in the seat of the scornful.” You might remember when I gave that sermon on pride that one of the ways in which pride is exhibited or manifested is in scorn.

Scornfulness is an attitude of looking down upon, rejecting as unworthy. Well, that is what men have done to God's Word. They have rejected it as unworthy of their consideration, by and large.

(We have a big argument going on in Arkansas where creationism is being laughed at, scorned by the “wise” lawyers of the ACLU.)

Now, if you want to draw upon God, you have got to have your roots of your spiritual house in Jesus Christ.

Psalm 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

Here is this thing of the principle of listening that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 7:24; really hearing the Word of God, turning it over in one's mind, comparing scripture with scripture, thinking about application, thinking about its practicality. How can I put it to use? What do I need to change?

“His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” Now here is going to be the result:

Psalm 1:3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. . .

He is in a place where there is plenty of moisture. You see the analogy? “To him who is thirsty, let him come to Me.” That is what Jesus said in John 7 on the Last Great Day, talking about His Holy Spirit.

Psalm 1:3 . . . planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

We mentioned back in I Corinthians 10:13, and also in other places, that we have to be very careful about where we have the foundation of our spiritual house. And if it is founded upon the Rock, then God says that He will not give us a trial that is too great for us, and He will provide a way out so that we can escape from it so that we might endure it.

Now, here we see a person who is typified as a tree. Every tree has a root system. That is the foundation of the tree, and it is buried deeply within the ground. Even though a tree's roots may be buried deeply within the ground, what if the ground happens to be sand? Well, it is possible for a tree to be blown over quite easily. If it is founded in good soil, and near a lot of water, it is going to be deeply rooted; it is going to be a tree that is going to live through all of the trials that come its way.

Let us apply that to a man. If he is really rooted in the foundation of Jesus Christ, what we are saying here is that he is going to be fortified with the resolve, with the strength of mind, with the strength of will to activate his faith, make the right decision, and endure the difficulty of whatever trial comes along—because he believes. And because he believes he has tapped into the water supply—the strength of Jesus Christ.

Let us look at this analogy a little bit closer. Let us do a little bit of brainstorming here.

If I say “tree” in the context of what we just read here, what is the first thing that hits your mind? Somebody says fruit. What does it say here in verse 3? It says whatever he does shall prosper. A person who has his roots in Jesus Christ is going to be prosperous. It does not mean that he is going to be rich, but he is going to be prosperous. He is going to be a successful person. He is going to be a flourishing person. He is going to be a growing person. He is going to be a productive person.

What else can you think about a tree? Longevity? How can we fit that in? Let us just hold that in reserve. I do not think you are wrong.

Strength. What is another synonym for strength? Endurance. Let us keep going with the synonyms that are along this line. Think of a man. Strong, …stable. There we go. There is the word.

Now, you see, if a tree has a deep living root system, it is going to be stable, nothing is going to move that tree. A flood can come along, but because its roots are way down in the soil, the flood is not going to push it along. Because it is drawing on the waters, you see, which is of God's Spirit, it is going to be able to bend in the wind; it is going to be a supple tree, it is not going to be stiff, it is going to bend, it is going to give, but it will not break.

You begin to see the comparison here. So a person who really has his roots in Jesus Christ and is drawing on that strength, he is going to be a prosperous person, he is going to be a stable person.

What is another one? Shade. Let us begin to draw that a little bit, a place of protection. You are on the right track, but I am looking for another word that is really more expressive. I think that I shall never see a poem *blank* as a tree. Lovely! That is right.

Let us begin to drag that out. I think it is some synonyms of lovely. Beautiful. What is another one? Kind. That is good. You see if you begin to think of a tree, and then transfer those traits over to a man, you begin to find out what a godly person is like. That is what he is describing here in Psalm 1. If somebody is really drawing on the Spirit of God, he is going to be like a tree.

The word that I was really looking for is gracious, a very expressive word. A tree is outgoing, is it not? It is beautiful. It gives shade, it gives beauty, it gives fruit. If you begin to apply those things to a man, it means that a man, in the comparison, is kind, he is compassionate. He is giving the way a tree gives shade, the way a tree gives fruit, it asks for nothing in return except a little bit of care, a little bit of water now and then.

Did you by any chance hear how much a tree produces over its lifespan of about 50 years? Paul Harvey had that on several weeks ago. I think (I am not real positive, but I am pretty sure) that he said an average tree over its lifetime of 50 years contributes about $50,000 each to humanity. When you think of all of the air that it recycles, when you think of all of the fruit that it produces, he had a whole list of things that somebody had figured out; that each tree is worth about $50,000. That is a lot of money. I am rich! I had all those trees in my backyard, but they are not my trees anymore.

That is the point of building your house upon the Rock, and that rock of course represents, really, the Spirit of God. It is what is transmitting the power of God, the strength of God, the mind of God, the character of God to us and that we are able to draw on it. If we are on the right foundation, it is the truth of God, the Word of God. And if there is anything that is going to save us from making the wrong decisions, it is truth. That is the rock that never changes. It is the truth of God.

And of course, Jesus Christ represented that truth. He was the Teacher of it. And if you want things to work out in your life, by faith activate God's truth, put it to work, and things will work out. You will be prosperous, you will be a gracious person, you will be a stable person.

Let us go on to verse 28.

Matthew 7:28-29 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Let us go back to Luke 4 where there is a companion event given there; probably one of the very first times that Jesus actually taught publicly, and He did it in His own hometown. And in verse 22 it says,

Luke 4:22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?”

They were astonished because as far as they could see, He had no formal training. He was not a Levite, and so therefore He did not go through the normal training that a priest or a Levite would have received, and yet it was very obvious from the things that He said, that He knew far more than any teacher that they had ever heard. They knew that He was the son of a contractor, just very common people. And yet they recognized in what He said, truths that they knew. I do not mean that they could quote them chapter and verse. I do not mean that, but what He said had a ring of truth to it. It was good common sense. You know very well that when you hear something that is true, it just sounds so logical and right; that is the kind of truth that I am talking about. Even though they could not (maybe) quote the scriptures, they knew that what He said had a ring of honesty in it. It was clear and understandable in most cases.

And not only that, He had an authority about Him in that He spoke dogmatically and they knew, they could tell that He was living what He said and it gave further impetus to what He said.

Now, this all adds up to something that is important to you and me, because what God eventually wants us to come to is that His Word is also our word, and our word is His Word; that His Word is written on our hearts and in our minds; that His law is in our hearts and in our minds; that we will have the same kind of authority that Jesus Christ had, and the people would be astonished. Right now, they might not be astonished, but we are coming to that place.

We are growing toward that end because we are to come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We are to come to the knowledge of Christ, not about Christ, but Christ’s knowledge. Until we have that authority, we are not going to be able to speak the way that Jesus Christ spoke. So it is important that we move in that direction, and then we will have the same authority.

He had that authority because He was living it, because it was really written in Him. He did not speak like the scribes and Pharisees who had to quote decisions, cases, and maybe the writings of other men. When Jesus spoke, “You have heard it said of old time, but I say unto you,” it was His word, and He was the Authority.

Now, if this Man was this way, and He was, it makes me ask a question that I intend to answer here because I asked the question of myself when I was putting the Bible study together: Why did they kill Him? If they loved Him so much and they loved His teaching, they loved what He said, why did they kill Him?

This is important to you and me because those Jews killed Him for the same reason that you and I would kill Him if we were on the scene then. The same principle that worked in them is also working in you and me.

Let us go back to John 7, verse 45. Let us begin to build a case here.

John 7:45-49 Then the officers [This was right after the Last Great Day after He was talking there on that day.] came to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” [These people were sent out to bring Him in.] The officers answered, ‘No man ever spoke like this Man!’ Then the Pharisees answered, “Are you also deceived?” [a bit of insight there] Have any of the rulers of the Pharisees believed in Him? [You dumbbell! You see their attitude?] But this crowd that does not know the law [you see, the ignoramuses] is accursed.” [Because they are hearing and believing Christ.]

Now into John 8. We will follow this theme right through here. Let us begin at verse 14 because here Jesus was having a confrontation with these people right out on the street.

John 8:14-15 Jesus answered and said to them [because they wanted to know, Who are You? Who gave You the authority to speak this way?], “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from and where I am going. [Here comes a big principle] You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.”

It is just another way of saying, “Look, you are judging what I say by appearances. You are not living by faith; you are judging by sight.” You are thinking carnally is another way of saying it. Carnal simply means fleshly—it means thinking of, or by means of what the world has taught us.

Now, what we are seeing here is that Jesus is pinning them down regarding the way that they were thinking. Their minds were prejudiced.

Let us go on a little bit further, down in verse 23.

John 8:23-24 And He said to them, “You are from beneath [He says, “You're from this world, you're of this world. You're thinking carnally.”]; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

You see? He was giving them words. And of course, there were some deeds to back up what He said in order to identify who He was, but nonetheless, He was asking them to believe things that He was saying—truth.

John 8:25 Then said they to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.”

He was saying, “Dummies! I have been telling you from the very beginning who I am.”

John 8:26-32 “I have many things to say and the judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.” They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” As He spoke these words, many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then are you My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

You see how this connects up with Romans 12:1-2? The way to prove out the truth of God is to do it. And in order to do the truth of God, you have got to put your faith to work. You have got to quit living by sight, you have got to quit living by appearances, you have got to put your trust in what God says in His Word, which is His truth.

You will want to connect this with Matthew 7:24-25 where Jesus said, if you want to make good decisions, if you want to be in the Kingdom, if you want to be somebody who is going to be stable, prosperous, unmovable, gracious, beautiful, outflowing, He says to do My words. You see, we keep going in a circle. Everything hinges on whether we put the faith to work and do what Christ says. And then when we do what He says, then we understand that it is true. As long as we hold back and fail to use the faith, we will never understand, we will never get it. It just will not sink in.

John 8:37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me [Why? These are the very people who said that they believed.], because My word has no place in you [His truth has no place].”

Now, who wants to take a guess as to why they were rejecting what He said or rejecting Him? That is really what it amounted to.

[audience replies] “It didn’t fit their lifestyle.” You are partly right. Remember I gave you a clue. I said that they were prejudiced. “They did not want to change.” But you see that there was something that was keeping them from wanting to change. “Tradition.” Now we are getting somewhere. “He kept telling them that He was God.” There you go. It was not in agreement with their human reasoning.

You see, they had preconceived ideas of what the Messiah would be like. That is a well-known fact that they were expecting a conquering king who would come and put down the military dictatorship. He would head an army and then He would sweep through Palestine and establish them as free people as the top nation in the world.

This is just one facet of their preconceived ideas, but it was an important one. Now, how important is this principle to you and me right now? We still have our own preconceived ideas of the way that God is, of the way Jesus Christ is, of the way the church of God ought to be. We have our own ideas that have been taught to us by mom and dad, have been taught to us by the Methodist church, the Presbyterian Church, the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Baptist Church, and all of the other churches that we went to; the school we went to, and on and on.

They have pumped these things into our minds and of course we were unable to resist them. We had nothing to work with and we are innocent victims in that case. And of course, God is very merciful as a result of that.

So, you see, these people are rejecting it, not because they were any more evil than we. God is giving us in principle exactly the same thing that we have done. That is why Peter said back there in Acts 2, “You are guilty of the death of Jesus Christ,” and he means all of us. We did not lay a hand on Him, but we did the same things the scribes and Pharisees did.

What is so hurtful is that we bring these things into the church with us, and they continue to have an influence on our thinking. (See, that is why this thing with makeup was such a shock. It did not fit with our concept. I really want to thank you ladies because you really took it well. You made me feel proud of your response because you took it off. You may not have wanted to do it, but you took it off and maybe not in the world's best attitude all the time, but I still think that you responded very well.)

Let us go on with this. Let us go down to verse 40. He says,

John 8:40 “But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.”

Why did not Abraham do it? He was not carnal, that is why. He was a spiritually minded person.

He says,

John 8:41-45 “You do the deeds of your father.” Then said they to Him, ‘We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me [you see that those principles are so plain and clear], for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe Me.”

It is a beautifully clear principle. They had their own image of what God would be like. And so have we. But God has very mercifully removed that to a great extent from us.

Let us go back to II Thessalonians 2. Now we are talking here about the false prophet, and it says,

II Thessalonians 2:9-11 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because [here is why they are perishing] they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie.

Now, I would like to read part of this from the Revised Standard Version. I want you to listen very carefully to the way they change the wording.

II Thessalonians 2:10 (RSV) and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused the truth and so be saved.

What word did they change? There are several words, but there is one that really changes it, “refused.” You see, in the King James it says they received not the love of the truth. That is not absolutely wrong, but the Revised Standard gives a better understanding of it. Do you see what he is saying here? People make the choice to reject God's truth. You see, they refused.

Now, that puts a shade of difference. It really makes it more important to you and me because we have that option. We have that option more vividly and more forcefully than the world does by far, because their minds are much more clouded than ours are regarding the truth of God. But you see, we still have the option of rejecting God's truth.

God says He will heal. He does not say when, He does not say how, He does not say by what means. He only says that He wants us to repent of sin and He wants us to believe. Now, we have the choice of rejecting that and going to a man to be healed, or we can accept what God says and wait patiently for Him to do the healing. See, that is our choice. We can refuse it; refuse to believe what He says. And we do it. Hopefully, we are growing out of that, but we nonetheless do it. We refuse to accept His Word at face value, and just do what He says, or believe what He says. That is no different than those scribes and Pharisees were doing, exactly the same principle.

The Revised Standard Version says then that they refuse to love the truth. What does it say was the result of their refusal? The natural result of rejecting truth is to be deceived and believe a lie.

Let us go back to Adam and Eve where it is really plain to see. One day, God talked to Adam and Eve and He told him His truth. The next day, Satan came along, and he told them a lie. What did Eve do? She rejected God's truth. She refused to believe the truth. And what was the result? She ended up deceived. She believed a lie.

Let us explore this a little bit further. Let us go back to Exodus the fourth chapter. Oh brethren, it is so important that we put our faith to work, because if we do not put our faith to work, we are going to end up believing lies. It is those who do the truth of God whose faith is increased and who understand the truth.

Exodus 4:21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all the those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he shall not let the people go.”

Let us put this principle to work. Let us understand. How did God harden Pharaoh's heart? It is beautifully simple. How did He do it? Now, Pharaoh rejected the truth. He rejected the truth that Moses was telling him or demonstrating before him.

Now, what did God do? The answer is that God did nothing. He simply allowed Pharaoh to come to his own conclusion. And thinking carnally, there was only one conclusion that Pharaoh could come to, and that was to harden his heart. You see, to reject the truth and believe a lie.

You can see this also in Joshua 11:20 in regard to the Canaanites. God did the same thing to them.

Now let us go back into the New Testament to Romans 1. And I think you will really see it clearly here as to why these people rejected the teaching of Jesus Christ and why we have so much trouble overcoming.

Romans 1:20-22 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools.

God is showing through Paul here how the world went off the track. Now, I want you to know that God was known to them, even as God is known to this so-called Christian society out here. God is part and parcel of their thinking. And you know it is. There are churches on practically every corner in South Carolina. Everywhere you go, every crossroad, there is a church. It is this way practically across the length and breadth of this country.

On our money it says, “In God we trust.” God is part of our thinking. So God is not unknown to this society out here.

Romans 1:21 Because although they knew God, they did not glory Him as God.

What did they do? What have they done? You see, in the context of this verse, God is talking about the God of creation. So He is known by His creation. A large number of people know that God is Creator. But we know that in reality, they are worshipping Satan. But God is not unknown. But why did they reject the God of creation? By what means do they reject Him? Well, they refused to honor Him. How could they honor Him? By doing what He said. So what are they rejecting? His Word! You see, they rejected His Word.

They will give lip service to the fact that there is a God who is the Creator and then turn right around and reject what He says.

That is what Paul says happened here. Just as Pharaoh rejected what Moses said, and what Moses did, and instead believed to lie, so has this whole society done that.

Now, what I want you to see is the natural result of rejecting the Word of God.

Romans 1:22-23 Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man—and birds and a four-footed animals and the creeping things.

Here comes the worship of Satan in there.

Let us go down a little bit further to verse 28,

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.

That is why things are the way they are, because the Word of God has been rejected. Even though people will give lip service to the fact that there is a Creator, that He exists, they reject His Word. And because they reject His Word, the natural result is delusion, deception, chaos, and confusion.

Now you see, God has restrained Himself from doing anything, except for His church. He simply has not chosen to reveal His truth in a general way. That is why you understand, and they do not.

Their mind is not being defiled. Their conscience is not defiled. Their character is not being damaged because God has simply chosen to do nothing—yet.

I will tell you; we have such a precious gift in understanding these things that its value is beyond computation.

Well, let us just conclude that by saying that we need to ask ourselves a question from time to time. And that is, how are we doing in regard? Do we really believe God? Are we just paying lip service to Him? Are we really putting our faith to work? We have the faith. God will give it to us, because we are tapped into the right Source. And we have the faith available to us. We have His promise that He will never allow us to get into something that is over our heads. He will always provide a way of escape. And so the faith is there.

If God has evaluated you that He has allowed you to fall into a certain difficulty, the reserves, the strength, the will, the faith is there for you to carry through and endure it and overcome it. But it will only be resolved in the right way, if we really believe what He said. It comes down to such simple terminology.

Then when you believe and you do, then you understand, then you know that you know. And that bit of character, that bit of His Word becomes yours. It is written in your heart, and it becomes yours, and your confidence grows. It is such a simple growth process. And sometimes we get lost in a kind of maze of thinking that is probably there in order to get us to avoid doing the right thing.

JWR/rwu/drm