Matthew 7

Now we today as the Church can still learn a great deal from these passages. It’s like if I was invited to attend a seminar for, say, financial advisors. The room may be full of financial advisors and the speakers may be talking to them in terms that they’re familiar with and which I’m not. However, it’s probable that I’d still pick up a lot of detail that I could use in my own life.

Something else that’s very important to notice is that this chapter doesn’t start a new concept. It’s not separate from the previous chapters. Jesus didn’t give this sermon in chapter and verse. The chapters and verses, as valuable and indispensable as they are, are man’s invention.

This is all part of one passage and the audience, and the context hasn’t changed.

In order to get the flavour of the real message Jesus is teaching we need to see them in that context, as a continuation of chapter 6.

Now, it’s actually very hard to get the full context of this passage unless we read the entire sermon as one but it’s a bit impractical to do that every time we introduce a new verse for study. We’d be constantly repeating the entire previous chapters over and over again. So, let’s read from, Matthew 6:32 to Matthew 7:6.

 

For after all these things the Gentiles seek. (What things are these? Well food, drink, and clothing. Jesus has just branded those who worry about these things as having little faith because they don’t trust God to provide them, and they, being Jews and knowing scripture, should know to trust Him. We read on,

For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 

And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 

Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. 

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. 

 

Here we have another commonly misused teaching of Jesus.

We often see this verse being used as a sort of weapon in a debate. This verse might be plucked out by saying, “Well the bible says do not judge. How about you take the log out of your own eye before trying to take the speck out of mine. You call yourself a Christian?”

But, if we’re going to use scripture in debates or discussions we need to present it in the right context.

So, what’s really going on here?

 

We are in fact called to judge poor behaviour, and we’re supposed to do it in love.

But this “do not judge”, when taken in the right context, is talking about judging people’s salvation.

It’s judging whether or not they’re saved, whether or not they have received God’s forgiveness for sin and whether or not they have eternal life. And it’s making that judgement based on a personal summing up of what that person’s doing or saying. It’s judging them by their actions, their works, not their belief.

We really must keep in mind keep in mind that Jesus hasn’t gone to the cross yet. These people who Jesus is teaching don’t realise the full picture He’s painting here.

They will understand later, and we who are on this side of the cross understand because we’re reading past tense. To us today these things have now happened, so we know how the story unfolds. But these people here at this time don’t know.

 

Now if we go back through chapter 6 to verse 32, Jesus refers to the gentiles, “As the Gentiles do,” He says.

At this time the Gentiles were known to be unbelievers, deeply embedded in all manner of sin and quite often sin that would even turn our heads today.

They’re certainly not seeking God and they don’t even know what the Mosaic law is, and they generally don’t care.

Jesus says that these Gentiles, these lower than the low people, eagerly seek all those things. But for you, you who are the chosen people of God, you should know that your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things and if you worry about them you have little faith in your Heavenly Father.

So, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.

You see, the context is seeking the kingdom, the kingdom of God, and seeking God’s righteousness through which is the only way you can enter that Kingdom.

By the way, as Christians we need to know that if there’s ever been a time that we’ve called on Jesus to save us, we’ve already fulfilled Matthew 6:33, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

To seek first the kingdom of heaven is to recognize that this needs to happen prior to looking for anything else to fulfill us. This includes food, clothing, money, all our needs.

 

So, in light of the context here there’re these Jewish leaders Pharisees, scribes and probably many ordinary people as well who’re judging other people by their performance, by their outward appearance.

They’re judging others and their position with God, their ability to inherit the kingdom, by what they do. They’re judging on the outward appearance. They have, and never will have, the slightest knowledge of the true state of the heart of these people they’re judging.

Now, again they don’t know how the full story unfolds yet, but Jesus nonetheless is telling them something very simple. He says don’t judge so you won’t be judged. Don’t judge how they get saved based on their outward performance and appearance, because if you do, in the way that you judge whether or not they’re right with God you’ll be judged.

It’ll be by your standard that you yourself will be judged.

You see these pharisees, these religious hypocrites viewed their own standard as the highest possible that man could achieve and so therefore they were totally acceptable to God.

Their outward performance was wonderful and that was the standard they themselves used to judge whether or not a person was saved and was righteous before God.

You see they judged a person’s relationship with God against their own performance which they considered spotless. I think they genuinely believed that. That their own good works were sufficiently goof for God to save them.

How Jesus must have rocked their boat when He told them they must seek first the Kingdon of God and His righteousness. What? You mean Us? We don’t need to do that! We’re already righteous and you should know that!

 

Again and again, Jesus is going to point this out to these people. When we get to chapter 23 of Matthew we’ll see Jesus doesn’t hold back on them. He says in verses 27 and 28, and I read,

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 

Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 

See, ever and always it’s the inner man, the heart, the soul that Jesus is concerned with. We may do good works because of a right heart before God but never, ever to make the heart right with God.

 

Some of these scribes and Pharisees would later partake in real salvation. After the cross and the resurrection, they’d realise Who Jesus really was and that only through Him could they be righteous.

Sadly, most would not come to this understanding.

Therefore, they could never be judged righteous at the great Judgment because their righteousness, although great in their own eyes, was as filthy rags to the Lord.

Therefore, at the final judgement of the world they’d be judged the same way they currently judged others, by outward appearance and performance, by their works. Countless numbers of people have gone, and will go, to their graves and into eternity thinking their good works made them righteous.

 

Then Jesus says, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye?”

What’s that spec? In context this spec would be an outward sign, the performance, the appearance of righteousness. Jesus says to them, “Why are you looking at that spec in other people’s eyes, but you completely fail to notice the plank that’s in your own eye.”

 

Jesus then says, How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite first take that plank out of your own eyes see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

See, we can apply this teaching to us as Christians today.

Jesus didn’t say that it’s wrong to help a brother with the speck in his eye. It is a good thing to help a brother with his speck, but not before dealing with the plank in our own eye.

Before I start going around deciding about whether a person’s saved or not, I need to know how people are saved. I need to always know that nothing a person does or says outwardly can give me any certainty of their state of the heart and whether or not they’re saved.

I need to never forget that my own salvation, my own righteousness, and relationship with God relies purely and entirely on my believing In Jesus Christ.

I am righteous and therefore have an eternal relationship with God by no other means, not by anything I do, not by any good works. I’m saved only through my faith in Jesus, and I recognise my utter inability to sin less as a means of saving myself.

Relying on my own good works and my own outward acts in order to be righteous in God’s eyes IS the plank in my own eye just as it’s the plank in the eye of anyone who judges another person’s salvation by their own standard of good works.

Until we fully understand what the only way to salvation is, through the blood of Christ Who Is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, we have no business judging anybody else’s salvation.

 

Jesus then says, “Do not give what is holy to dogs.”

So, what is holy? The gospel, the good news of the way to salvation.

So, who are the dogs?

Well, the dogs in this context are Jewish people who have heard the gospel. They’ve tasted it and they’ve been enlightened to the only path to acceptability by God, but they’ve said no thank you. I reject Jesus as messiah.

Don’t give what’s holy to the dogs and do not throw your pearls before pigs. Again, the pearls are the gospel, and the pigs are those who’ve rejected Jesus as the promised and now arrived Messiah.

Now, these are not unbelievers who haven’t heard about Jesus. They’re the unbelievers who’ve heard about and by choice have rejected Jesus and His sacrifice.

When you give the gospel, that which is holy, to the dogs and the gospel, your pearls, to the pigs what will they do? They’ll trample them under their feet and then they’ll turn on you and tear you to pieces. They’ll hate that which they’ve rejected.

In the first 10 chapters of Hebrews, which is a letter written to Jewish people seeking for salvation, you won’t find a single mention of outward sin.

No lies, no cheaters, no thieves, no adulterers, no murderers.

The only sin ever mentioned is the sin of unbelief.

These folk went to the temple. They relied on the law.

We already know that no one’s found righteous through the works of the law, not one. So, in this letter the writer’s pointing this out and showing them how no one can be forgiven of sin through cutting up animals, but that how Jesus Christ was the last and ultimate sacrifice for sin.

In verse 28 of Hebrews 10 these Jews are reminded that when under the Mosaic law those who rejected that law died without mercy. Then in verse 29 they’re told that how much worse, how much more severe punishment will be to those who have trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

You see here that in order to reject the Mosaic law they had to first hear it.

Likewise, in order to trample the Son of God underfoot, the gospel, the pearl, that which is holy, they must have first heard it.

This trampling isn’t about an outward sin, it’s about an inward rejection of Jesus Christ. They’ve heard and rejected the free gift of salvation. They’ve said No, not for me thank you. I believe in the old ways and I’m going to keep slaughtering animals and sprinkling their blood and use the temple sacrifices to get right with God.

That’s why Jesus says to these people here in Matthew chapter 7 not to give what’s holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs or they’ll trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.

See how this is all lining up with salvation as we just read in chapter six, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Not their righteousness, by their works.

 

Then Jesus assures them in verses 7 to 11,

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 

Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 

Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

 

What are they to ask for here? His, God’s righteousness.

Whoever calls on the name the Lord will be saved.

What are they to seek? The way to Salvation!

Knock and the door will be open to you. Today if you hear his voice if you hear the Gospel, don’t harden your hearts like those Jewish unbelievers.

 

Everyone who asks receives. Now contrary to a lot of teaching around today this doesn’t mean asking for a better job, or more money or a bigger house or any other earthly wealth and riches. This is about something infinitely more important and valuable.

While the Lord does promise to supply our needs and He regards not relying on Him as a lack of faith as we’ve already as in Matthew 6:25, this’s not what Jesus is talking about here.

It’s about asking God to save us. To save us from eternal death into eternal life and into a perfect relationship with Him. Everyone who asks to be saved, everyone who asks for forgiveness everyone who asks the Lord Jesus to rescue them will receive.

The one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks that door will be open to them.

 

Then Jesus assures them by saying, “What person is there among you who, are just humans, when your son asks for a loaf of bread will give him a stone? Look you treat your own kids better than that don’t you? Don’t you think God is going to be much more gracious than you?”

“Or if that son asks for a fish would you give him a snake?”

So, what we see here in this passage when we look at it in in the correct context it’s about judging whether or not someone is made right with God based on the only thing anyone can see about them, their outward actions and appearance.

If that’s the way a person thinks then that person’s got a big log in his eye because he’s judging by his standards not God’s. He’s condemned another by his view of what the way to salvation is.

We see this in the words, “Call yourself a Christian? You’re not a Christian!” These are words often used when a believer fails at something or falls into anger or some sort of sin. You see that person is judging based on their own idea of what it takes to be a Christian, not God’s and that’s the plank in their eye.

 

To remove that plank that persons got to come to the realisation that the only way to get right with God is through His grace, by calling on Him, not by what a person does.

Whoever calls on the name of the lord will be saved.

That’s removing that log from their own eye, that log that’s stopping them seeing the true way to salvation.

Then and only then can a person start talking to other people in a loving way about outward sin.

There’re many Christians who have believed, but who live appalling lives on the outside and it’s easy to condemn them and judge them as unsaved, however that’s not the true measure of their salvation.

It’s the belief of the heart not the outward sign that renders us saved and that is an incredibly difficult concept for those outside of Christ and even for those IN Christ to grasp. And of course, we can’t grasp it until we understand the infinite grace and mercy of God.

Let’s back this up with scripture otherwise it’s a useless personal insight and nothing more.

Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 5:3

You’ll notice the context of this is that the apostle Paul has judged a man in the Corinthain congregation. By the way he’s already been disobedient to the “Judge not” scripture if we see it the way most do.

This chap is committing a sin that even the gentiles, those ratbag unbelievers wouldn’t do.

Even the worst unbelieving people wouldn’t commit this sin, which was that this bloke’s sleeping with, having sex with his mother. Possibly this chap’s father had remarried, and it may have been dad’s new wife he was sleeping with, but we don’t know that for sure.

So, Paul says that though he’s not actually there he’s judged him, the one who’s committed this sin, as though he were present, and the story goes on to say that Paul tells them to get him out of the church. He’s an embarrassment and he’s flaunting his sin in their faces.

So, we see here that there is some judgment that Christians are supposed to make. God’s not asking us to be silly and sit there and watch a guy commit open sin in the church. There’s a time where we’re called by God to go, in love, to a brother and talk to him about it. In this particular case the bloke was chucked out of the local church.

But look! In spite of this evil His spirit is saved!

 

Now we come to Matthew 7:2 and the famous golden rule,

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Firstly, we have to notice the first word, therefore.

Many people treat this golden rule as an entire doctrine in itself and some even believe it’s all you need to be saved. But most people don’t notice the word “therefore” which directly ties this verse into the previous ones. It’s still about salvation by works, how trying to keep the Mosaic law cannot save a person, judging people based on their works and judging others when the person doing the judging has the exact same problem, but they don’t know it or they don’t think they do.

This verse makes the law easier to understand, but it doesn’t make it any easier to obey. No one has ever consistently done to others as they would like others to do to themselves. We’ve all failed dismally at this, and since Jesus said this sums up the entire Law and the prophets, we’ve all broken that law. So, if our salvation relied on keeping the law, no man born from Adam has ever been able to do it so there would be no salvation for mankind.

But thanks to God and His plan before the foundation of the world to enter into humanity in the flesh of a man and willingly die as the all time sacrifice for sin we can be free of the law of sin and death.

 

To Matthew 7:13-14,

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. 

 

The picture given here is a bit like a funnel, a funnel of life if you like. We can enter in through the wide part where there’s lots of fun and all the good things this world offers. After we enter it keeps narrowing down until we come to the only exit death, destruction, and hell.

But we can enter another funnel and this funnel can only be entered at the narrow part. You see we’re already entering FROM the death, destruction, and hell that is already ours. That narrow entrance is Christ. He’s the narrow entrance. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He’s the way out of our natural state of death, destruction, and hell

He says in John 10:10,

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

And the longer you walk up that funnel with Him, the wider it gets.

 

There’re a lot of people telling us that the way to get right with God is by human effort. Some are saying we do it by avoiding sin. Some say we do it by having a list of good works. Some say it’s a combination of both, plus repenting, then begging and pleading for forgiveness each time we mess up.

We rarely hear any love in these voices, just condemnation and the promise of hell if continue to mess up. They have a hundred and one methods and lifestyle lessons and does and don’ts and they brag about how they found the proper ritual to live perfect human lives. In their eyes God’s amazed at how awesome they are. But it’s clear their focus is not on Jesus, but rather themselves. The next verse applies to many of these people.

 

Matthew 7:15-16,

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 

 

This is talking about the teachers who were, and are today, pushing this self-improvement junk. They’re FALSE PROPHETS.

Israel was warned against false prophets, and the church is warned against false teachers, but both classes come in sheep’s clothing.

Jesus isn’t talking about the congregation’s fruit here. He’s talking about the fruit of teachers.

In context, he’s talking about people teaching the wrong way to getting saved. If you teach people that the way to inheriting the kingdom is by human effort, there’ll be no fruit because no one can be saved that way. Noone’ll seek after Jesus if they believe the inheritance comes from us through our own human effort.

2 Peter 2:1 tells us

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 

The only way for teachers to produce fruit is by teaching that salvation comes from hearing and believing.

It comes from hearing the word about and trusting in the Lord Jesus and recognising that there’s nothing a person can do to work out their own sin problem. We are to recognize teachers by their fruits. That’s what we’re to watch for in their lives.

 

Now we jump to Matthew 7:21-23,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ 

 

Just because a person calls him Lord doesn’t mean they’re actually a believer and their collection of good outward works doesn’t mean they actually know Jesus either.

Let’s look at some very important passages about the will of the father.

John 6 verses 28-29,

Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6:40,

For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Matthew also writes about God’s heart and his will in Matthew 18:14,

In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

 

Now there’s no questioning that we should avoid sin. It’s a plague. But that’s not how we get saved.

Turning from sin is a normal outward result of an inner change at the moment of salvation. So, let’s look at these people who have apparently called Jesus ‘lord lord’ but who’ll not inherit the kingdom.

By paying attention to how they think they were performing we see that this performance is how they think they’re getting into heaven.

We see a group of people bragging about what they did. Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Jesus, didn’t you notice we cast out demons in your name? Jesus, weren’t you paying attention when we performed many miracles?

 

As we’ve said so often through these passages, salvation’s not about what we do for Jesus. It’s about what Jesus did for us.

These people genuinely think they’re doing all kinds of good works for Jesus.

They all think their human performance is enough. Lots of people miss that, and as a result, they miss the context of Jesus calling them workers of iniquity.

If we pay attention to the text we’ll discover that this inequity is not referring to outward sin. He’s referring specifically to the sin of unbelief.

 

Now notice something else.

These were not people who used to know Jesus, and then suddenly started messing up.

These people never knew Jesus. The keyword is NEVER.

Now remember there’s not a single mention of a lack of works or too much sin. This was about not knowing Jesus. Unbelief. And that was the inequity. And this brings us full circle back to the narrow gate.

The Jewish people were all about law-based salvation. They were not looking to the promised Messiah; Jesus and they certainly weren’t teaching Jesus as the way to the father.

Human law-based methods were what they believed in for righteousness.

Romans 3:12 tells us that ‘through the law no one will be found righteous, no not even one’.

That’s a wide gate and it only leads to destruction. There’s no fruit from that message. No one will be saved. And sadly, many people who buy into that message will likely stand before Jesus on judgment day, bragging about all the things they did for him, and Jesus will tell them plainly, Depart from me, I never knew you.

That’s frightening!

Now, these verses do not refer to believers today.

Every believer, living or dead, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. None will hear the Lord say, “depart from me.”

 

We’re saved by trusting God. Trusting that He sent Jesus to rescue us from our sins. What the law could not do, God did, sending His only begotten son that whoever shall believe in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

Now to verse 24 and 25,

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 

Christ is that rock, that immovable foundation.

1 Corinthians 3:11 says,

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

When we’re resting on Christ, we’re on a firm, immovable foundation on which to build our life on.

 

To verses 26 and 27,

But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like 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.” 

 

What is that sand? It’s human goodness and human effort.

It’s the old weakness of the flesh. My friend, we need something better than this flesh has to offer.

Matthew concludes this section by saying in verses 28 to 29,

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Our Lord Jesus taught with authority; He wasn’t just repeating something He’d read.

You and I have nothing worthwhile to say unless it’s with the authority of the Word of God and unless we believe it’s the Word of God.

We don’t want to hear manmade theories, and rituals and lifestyle messages. There’s a gospel to give and receive, a message of salvation and we know it’s real.

Friends, the Sermon on the Mount is a glorious passage of Scripture which we shouldn’t bypass but we must read it in its right context. When we do it’ll bring us to the person of Jesus Christ. It’ll show us how we fail to measure up to it. It will show us that we’re weak and guilty. It’ll make us cry for mercy and it’ll bring us to Christ for salvation. When we accept Christ as Savior, He’ll give us the Holy Spirit and through His power our works’ll become good works, acceptable to Him. But they’ll never be the method to get to Him.

Until next time my friends may God bless you with His revelation knowledge.