September 23, 2001
The Doorway to Heaven – Part 2
INTRODUCTION
Once in awhile I’ll have dreams that I can remember in the morning. For some reason it doesn’t happen that often. Kim on the other hand is a practically a professional dreamer. In fact, this has been one of the single most surprising things I’ve learned about her since we’ve been married. On any given morning she can tell you in great detail about every dream she had during the night. Sometimes as many as three or more separate dreams. Kim doesn’t just dream - she has sleep time experiences in digitally mastered technicolor with Dolby Surround Sound.
Last month, several days after an exhausting week of Vacation Bible School, she had a dream that she was talking with Al and Ellen Hsu. Al and Ellen commented, “Kim, you look tired. Maybe we could do the Children’s Ministry. Looking at each other they confirmed with their eyes and said, “We could do that. We’ll do the Children’s Ministry.” Kim thought, Wow, that’s sure nice of you. When Kim told Ellen about this dream, Ellen’s real-life response was not so energetic.
Kim had another dream not too long ago, in which she went through the entire birthing process, and after delivering her baby said, “That didn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would.”
Now and then she’ll have a dream that’s rather frightening. A couple of years ago I was getting up early to play basketball at the YMCA a few times each week. After I’d leave Kim would have the same dream. She would hear the noise of someone running upstairs followed by the sound of footsteps in our bedroom. She sensed that someone approached the bed and leaned over directly above where she was sleeping. She could hear the person breathing. As she dreamed she kept wanting to wake up, but she couldn’t. It seemed so real. She had this dream on three or four occasions. Finally to avoid the dream altogether, she decided to just get up when I left for the gym.
That’s scary. But no nightmare is any more frightening than the scene Jesus paints for us near the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7. People are gathered together at the great Judgment expecting to be welcomed into heaven, but to their horror they hear Jesus say, “I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers.”
Talk about scary.
Who are these people and why would Jesus say such a thing to them? Are they rebelliously defiant people who spit in the face of God? No. Did they intentionally lead others astray? Certainly not. Do they reject the notion that God exists? Not at all. Then why such harsh words from Jesus?
As we’ll discover this morning, these are ordinary people like you and me. People who professed to know Jesus and looked forward to heaven. People who went to church and actively got involved. But something was missing. So as you can see, this is scary. A nightmare none of us want to see become a reality.
I don’t picture Jesus saying these words with an angry tone. I picture him saying this out of great anguish in His heart. He wants us to understand the implications of what has just been said in the Sermon on the Mount.
This is serious. He’s bringing up life and death issues. And the message is there for anyone to see...
Big Idea: To avoid the nightmare of not being recognized by Jesus, I must recognize the truth and live by it.
Let’s stand and read what Jesus said…
***READ MATTHEW 7:15-23***
TRANSITION: To avoid the nightmare of not being recognized by Jesus I must…
I. FOLLOW ONLY ONE KIND OF TEACHER (v. 15-20)
Jesus says…
False teachers are like wolves:
For one…They are dangerous
He says, Watch out for them… Inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (v. 15)
On many occasions, Jesus describes his followers as a flock of sheep, of which He is the Good Shepherd. Wolves are the natural enemy of sheep. They can tear individual sheep apart and a pack of them can destroy an entire flock in short order. Wolves are dangerous. False teachers are like wolves.
One of the major characteristics of false prophets in the Old Testament was that they continually denied God’s judgment. The prophet Jeremiah, a true prophet of God, had been given a message to tell the nation of Judah that they had better change from their wicked ways or destruction was coming.
But his message was up against stiff competition from some other so called “prophets” who had a more popular slant on the current state of affairs.
In Jeremiah 8:11, God says – They dress the wound of my people as though it were not all that serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace.
And in Jeremiah 23:16-17 - This is my warning to my people, says the Lord Almighty. Don’t listen to these false prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for me! They keep saying to these rebels who despise me, “Don’t worry! All is well”; and to those who live the way they want to, “The Lord has said you shall have peace!” (LB)
You hear that message? Don’t worry. God’s not a judge. He’s a God of peace and love – why would he impose limits on people’s enjoyment of life? But judgment did come. And after allowing the city of Jerusalem to be destroyed, God says in…
Lamentations 2:14 – Your “prophets” have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They have not tried to hold you back from slavery by pointing out your sins. They lied and said all was well. (LB)
That’s what false prophets or a false teachers do. They attempt to get us to believe that all is well. They want us to think, you many not be perfect, but you’re not a sinner. You’re fine the way you are. Don’t worry about God’s judgment. Have peace.
False teachers are dangerous because they are responsible for leading some people to the very destruction they claim does not exist.
Not only are false teachers dangerous… They are also deceptive
They come to you in sheep’s clothing (v. 15)
They sneak in disguised as sheep – part of the true flock of Jesus. Those not on guard mistake them for true followers and give them an unsuspecting welcome.
They may sound like Christians, they may use the vocabulary of Christians, they may even quote from the Bible. Why would anyone suspect that their teaching is anything but God-directed and God-inspired?
The difference between the genuine and the counterfeit is always subtle – never obvious.
No one at the local supermarket would be deceived if I produced a 20 dollar bill that was oversized, yellow and had my mother’s picture in the middle. But if it were a crisp, perfectly shaped green piece of paper that bore all the marks of currency, felt like a twenty and looked like a twenty with that distinguished picture of Andrew Jackson in the center, many would be fooled.
And in comparison, to counterfeit money, religious deceivers are often more difficult to spot.
Following them leads to a nightmare finish!
How can we recognize them?
1. By their presentation of the narrow way
The message that the false teachers spread in Jeremiah’s day sounds terrific. In fact it is a message that is still widely popular today. Who wouldn’t want to have peace and know that all is well with their soul? It’s message that is promoted by successful TV talk show hosts and a message that fills dozens of book racks down the self-help aisle at your local bookstore. The problem is that this kind of teaching gives us a false sense of security, lulling us to sleep in our sins. It fails to tell us of the coming judgment of God or how to escape it.
God has revealed in the Bible that there is only one way to have that kind of peace and know all is well. And that is through recognizing our spiritual poverty and our inability to save ourselves and humbly calling on the name of Jesus Christ to give us a new birth and a new life. The Bible says in Joel 2:32 that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
So, it’s not an accident that this warning about false teachers in Matthew 7 immediately follows Jesus’ teaching about two roads, two gates, two crowds and two destinations. Jesus mentions this because false teachers have the ability to blur the issue of salvation.
Some contradict Jesus and assert that the broad road does not lead to destruction. Others make the gate wider than Jesus did by claiming that all roads lead to God – they may veer off in opposite directions, but they all end in life.
2. By their fruit
Illus – Buckthorn resembled a grape vine
Thistle resembled a fig plant
When the fruit formed you knew which was which
Sooner or later the false prophet will be seen for who he is.
When the character of Christ is missing we are justified in suspecting him to be an imposter.
When his teaching on Jesus consistently contradicts that of the Bible – we are justified in suspecting him to be an imposter (1 John 4:2)
When his teaching has disastrous effects on the lives of his followers – we have reason in suspecting him to be an imposter.
3. By knowing the truth ourselves
The better we know God’s truth the keener our eyes will be.
If you want to spot a fake $20 bill you have to first intensely study what a genuine twenty looks like.
Know the truth.
It concerns me that less than half of you listening to me right now attend any kind of group Bible study.
It concerns me that our church staff, leadership and existing teachers are not mentoring, training and producing more teachers of the Bible.
It concerns me that we have new people coming to CCCH who are not immediately pulled into a group or class.
This has to change. In fact, this will change. Maybe not overnight. Maybe not in a month. Maybe not in several months.
But gradually and intentionally this is going to become a church filled with people who study God’s Word both individually and in community.
The stakes are too high to simply skate through life without constant exposure to the truth. Too many messages. Too many things that sound a lot like the truth, but don’t lead to life, don’t lead to genuine intimacy with God, and don’t lead to authentic expressions of love for other people.
We have to know the truth ourselves.
TRANSITION: To avoid a nightmare finish – follow only one kind of teacher – a true one. Second…
II. POSSESS ONLY ONE KIND OF FAITH (v. 21-23)
Many will say they knew Jesus. Five good things could be said of their profession of Him:
1. Polite
They call him “Lord.” That’s as respectful and courteous a way as there is to address Jesus. Much like we’d call somene “Sir.”
2. Doctrinally correct
They seem to understand that calling Jesus “Lord” means more than just “sir.” There is some realization that Jesus is God’s one and only Son and that He is the judge. They probably even realize that Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh and died on the cross to save people.
3. Fervent
They don’t issue a cold or informal address, but rather, “Lord, Lord.” Almost like they want to draw attention to strength and zeal of their devotion.
4. Public
This isn’t some private or personal confession of allegiance to Jesus. Some of these people prophesied in Jesus’ name, which is to say they preached or gave a testimony on some public occasion. They weren’t shy about their ties to Jesus.
5. At times even spectacular
Some of these people even claim to have participated in supernatural experiences like exorcisms and miracles. They had been involved in signs and wonders.
They claimed to know Jesus, but Jesus states that He never knew them. What a nightmare!
How to avoid hearing those chilling words:
OBEY GOD!!
Illus – I was recently pulled over by a police officer just two blocks from the church right after that new stop sign at 59th and Clarendon Hills Road was put up. He said to me, “Son, that’s a STOP sign, not a SLOW DOWN A LOT SIGN!”
I thought I had stopped (at least the way I usually do!)
We can’t make of God’s rules what we want. They are there for a reason.
Luke 6:46 – Jesus asks, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say?”
“Why do you call me Lord and not settle disputes people have against you? Why do you call me Lord and live at odds with others in your church? Etc….”
“You’re calling me Lord, because……?”
Don’t misunderstand. No one enters heaven because of being obedient alone. However, no one is in heaven without living an obedient life.
James 1:22 – don’t just hear, DO!
I’m reading a great book right now called “The Sacred Romance.”
What I’m learning again from that book is that God really just wants our hearts. He has pursued us as the Great Romancer. God wants your heart. He doesn’t just want nice words, nice gestures, nice acts of service, or nice beliefs. He wants our hearts.
God is not insecure about who He is. He is the Creator and Designer of all that exists. All of His instructions are for our benefit.
We’re not being pursued by a God on the rebound.
To obey God…Questions. Do you have a…
Desire to do God’s will
Discover God’s will
Receive the empowering of the Holy Spirit to follow God’s will
CONCLUSION
I like to watch the old TV series called “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”
In one episode some prisoners are plotting a breakout scheme. One of the prisoners is up for parole. From time to time prisoners would die before their time had been served. Their bodies were, of course taken from the prison and buried. The plan is for his buddy to climb in a box with a corpse. The guy who is getting released would come and dig him up.
A little later in the story, the prisoner is on work duty, and is able to duck into the spot where the body of a dead prisoner is taken. He slips into the box with the body, careful not to make a noise or be spotted.
The box is hauled away and buried deep in the ground. Satisfied that his plan is working to perfection so far, the escaped prisoner decides to light a match. And in the light of that match what does he see? Lying next to him dead and cold is the body of his buddy who was to be released from prison that day.
What a way to end a story!
Life by no means needs to have a nightmare finish. Jesus wants us to have a future beyond our wildest dreams.
