mat8

Matthew 7:1-2 "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Again Jesus gives us a broad-spectrum standard of the Old Testament law and this standard given by Jesus is not to replace or do away with the law but instead to do away with the faultfinding, senseless, and angrily given judgments and decisions of the people. The judgments of civil courts, of the church, and other institutions are not done away with but instead are upheld as scripture shows us in Hebrews 13, 2 Peter 2, Matthew 18, 1 Timothy 1 and 6, 2 John 1, and Romans 16. We must remember that we can also stand in judgment seeking mercy so when distributing judgment keep that in mind and be loving and kind even in giving out judgment especially to Believers but yet firm reminding them of the need to stand accountable for their actions. How often have you heard this or said this your self "don't judge me and I won't judge you!" Quoting from Charles Darby, "The Lord gave me this - what does a judge do? I replied, "he hears all the evidence and then passes sentence." The Lord said, "have you heard all the evidence?" Then I understood, it's our responsibility to reprove evil and wrong living but to pass sentence belongs to God." Be cautious that all you do is reprove evil and wrong living because we seldom know all the evidence so do not pass judgment because true judgment, final judgment comes from God and God only.

Matthew 7:3-5 A mote is a tiny particle of something; a sliver or speck of dust while a beam is a log, or large piece of timber. This description given by Jesus is one that truly gives perspective to the importance of tending to your own back yard before tending to some one else's back yard. Jesus is saying that both people have problems in their life and the one pointing out another's problem has a greater problem. Jesus is teaching us that before we can teach another or show another how to live we must first make sure our life is worthy of being exampled (see Galatians 6). As a teacher or preacher we are in a leadership position and to take this position seriously must first clean our own house before we can help to clean and improve another's house!

Matthew 7:6 It is not truly clear here what the definition is but through much deliberation I would say that since according to Jewish law both dogs and swine were considered unclean and continually went back to their inbred traits it was worthless to put before them anything of value and likewise some people were of the same characteristics and no matter what you did they continually went back to their old way of life and one must be realistic realizing their comes a time you walk away and leave it up to the Holy Spirit. We are to do our best to teach, minister, and share the Gospel of Christ to people but we also should be capable of discerning when to walk away and just turn it over to God. There are those men and women that do nothing but confuse and strive to destroy the work of God and we see how Jesus handled this when He refused to answer the Pharisees, and the apostles to the Gentiles when scoffed and mocked at by some Jews acted with a similar response. So we must carefully (prayerfully) watch how much time we devote to trying to save one particular person. In most instances this person has one purpose and that is to destroy and defeat the Believer taking them from the kingdom of God. They also strive sadly enough with another purpose and that is to tie up the hands of the Believer working towards their salvation so they can focus on nothing else but that one person thus keeping the worker of Christ from reaching others that would receive. The lesson Jesus wants us to learn here is that there comes a time when we walk away because the swine, the dog, will never turn from their wicked ways.

Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, seek, and knock. Each of these words demands a response or an end result. To ask is to simply speak with the voice making a request expecting an answer. To seek requires use of the whole body, the eyes, the legs and arms, the mind, seeking to find something. To knock utilizes motion and initiative to make it known that entrance is desired and expected. And why should every one of these actions expect an answer - because Jesus says that everyone that asks expecting -- receives, everyone that seeks expecting -- finds, and everyone that knocks expecting -- will gain entrance. Jesus is saying that those that are the children of God will not be turned away when they ask in the right manner (pray according to God's will). What parent if their child asked for bread would give them a stone? Loaves of bread in this time were different shaped than what many of us are familiar with today and so a stone might look like a loaf of bread to a child but when they took it it would not be and it would be deception. We should not try to do things to deceive anyone! God desires to give only good things to His children and most commonly that is the desire of parents. So in reality the truth of this passage is that for those that are of God only the best will be for them and God will never allow harm to come to them. This does not mean that no one goes to hell because we are all God's children though, because unless you have truly accepted Christ as Lord and Savior you are not a child of God. It will cause God great hurt to see you lost but He honors His Word and that Word says we must be born again to be a child of His!

Matthew 7:12 And now Jesus goes a bit further and includes not just children but all people. He says that in everything we do unto others we should do it, as we want it done unto us! This Word given by Jesus here teaches the most vital principle - do unto others what you want done to you (Luke 6:31)! Put your self in your neighbors place, your enemies place, and than decide what you would want done! Of course this will only work if we have love for self! If we do not have love for self we cannot have love for anyone including God. Jesus says this is the law and also contains within it all of what was enlightened to us through the prophets also.

Matthew 7:13-20 Enter at the narrow gate says Jesus. Jesus describes to us two gates, one wide and one narrow and tells us to enter by the narrow gate because the wide gate, easy to enter leads only to destruction the other leads to life. The path before us set down by Jesus is not an easy path to follow and few will find their way to the end. The easy road will be full of false disciples, false prophets, attempting to lead the unwary to destruction. Not only does Christ warn us against the easy gate and the difficult gate to enter but Paul also told us about false prophets and teachers in Acts 20. These false teachers, preachers, and prophets come to you in sheep’s clothing to deceive, steal, and destroy. Jesus goes on to say that we will know them by their fruits if we are prayed up and watchful. Only good trees will bring forth good fruit, bad trees will bring forth nothing but spoiled fruit and is taken down and cast into the fire in due time. This means that no matter what it is all things will undergo the test of fire and eventually be found useless, so pay close attention to the Words spoken to you, the teachings taught to you, because truly by their fruits you will know them.

7:21-23 Jesus now begins to make known those who will and will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.” The phrase “Lord, Lord,” symbolizes a means of calling out to the Lord in prayer. The Pharisees and others of Jesus’ day felt that anyone that was truly devoted to prayer would receive salvation. They felt that all that was necessary was a devout prayer life and so they taught this to the people. Jesus is saying that this type of life style does not guarantee one entrance to heaven. The only ones that gain entrance to heaven will be those that not only pray, but also do the will of the Father God in Heaven. We must have knowledge of what is required for repentance. Just feeling sorry for sin is not enough; we must also make sure we do not continue in sin. We must be continually obedient to God, willing to keep sin from our life. We must take action and follow through with what we say we will do! Jesus says there will be many in that day (last day, day of judgment) calling out “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by they name do many might works?” Not all those that cast out demons, do mighty works, and prophesy are of the Lord. Many have other desires in mind pertaining to their actual servitude for God. Many will think because they do mighty miracles that they are on their way to heaven but if their life is not in line with God’s will they won't make it. God honors the heart of the Believer and a person can pray for another while there is sin in their life and the other person believing can receive! The condition of our heart is the important thing. And Jesus goes on to say that when the last day comes, those that profess Him but truly didn’t know Him will be told, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye workers of iniquity”(See also Matthew 25:41). There will be many that will think they are doing God’s work, but in actuality they have been deceived by false teachings and their success is due to deception. They will cry out saying things like, “I laid hands on the sick and they recovered.” “I did mighty miracles in Your name.” “I asked You what to do and You told me.” And Jesus will say to them, “You were deceived by false teachings, what you thought was Me was not depart you never knew Me and I do not know you.” There are many religious programs, works, ministries, etc., all claiming to be God’s work, yet if you truly look at them and you truly know the Lord you will see they are truly going against the Word and works of God.

Matthew 7:24-29 Every time I read these verses I'm reminded of the story of the three little pigs. Christ is the one defined by the word rock meaning that no one can teach any thing unless it is based on faith and trust in Christ and Christ alone. The foundation must be built upon the solid rock, Christ Jesus. You will not survive the storms of life, the floods, and the winds unless you are founded on the solid rock Christ Jesus. Take a look around at what happens to homes built on sand, clay, and materials less than solid they fall when the rains and winds blow and the floods come. God doesn't want to see a single home lost. He doesn't want to see a single heart lost; yet many will be because they stand on something other than the solid Rock!

Father, help me to always stand on Christ. Help me to build my house upon Christ in trust and faith, holding fast that which I know to be right in Jesus name, amen.
Where Jesus is Lord!
Living Vine Ministries
Pastor Thomas Miles

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