July 21, 2024

Matthew 7:15–23

‌I just finished reading The Infinite Game, a book by Simon Sinek. He says many people, companies, and countries are playing the wrong game; they’re serving short-term goals instead of infinite ones. There’s some worth to the book, but it’s not without flaws. One of its weaknesses is in what he calls “ethical fading.” This is where you have a gradual compromise of ethical standards in, say, what a corporation allows in its business practices. The problem is he assumes an ethical standard without ever defining it or establishing any foundation for ethics. For us, as disciples of Jesus, He is the foundation of all ethics and all Truth. In short, ethics is derived from the Word of God.

Just after today’s Gospel, Jesus says,

24 “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: 25 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. 26 “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: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” [Mt. 7.24-27]

That’s the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, it’s the payoff: hear and do the Words of Jesus. Just before that is today’s reading, warning us against those who corrupt the Words of Jesus:

Beware of False Prophets

Prophet is synonymous with pastor or preacher.

The 15th c. reformer Jan Hus said we can expect to find false teachers inside the church: “Consider the two sect[ion]s of the clergy, namely, the clergy of Christ and the clergy of antichrist.”

So, we must beware, be on guard against false teachings and teachers. It’s not pleasant to talk about, but it is necessary.

The church is sadly divided. The great division, or great schism, happened in 1054, when Rome and the Eastern Church divided. Since then, there has been further division. This is horrible, and we must pray for and work for the reunion of all Christians. And we must do everything we can to preserve the unity of our own congregation and our church body, the LCMS.

We will never have a completely pure church on earth, i.e., free of people who are false teachers and false disciples. We will especially not have a church free from hypocrites, because this word can be spoken about all of us. St. Augustine said, “The church is a mixed collection of people.” Only on the last Day will it become manifest who it is that doesn’t belong. On that Day Christ will say the petrifying words, “I never knew you!”

People leave churches for good and bad reasons. Sometimes they leave a church because it teaches false doctrine, or allows open immorality. That is a good reason to leave.

Other people leave because they don’t get their way about this or that. Such is not the love of disciples. Disciples of Jesus must overlook many things to preserve the harmony and unity of the church.

This is where you see the tragic error of Rome, going back to that Great Schism of 1054, and growing ever worse. The church of Rome exalted its bishop over all other bishops, and said, he must be obeyed. This past week saw the anniversary of its decree, at the first Vatican Council, in 1870, that their bishop is infallible, i.e., that he is incapable of error when he makes a dogmatic pronouncement. Since then he has made several pronouncements are contrary to the Word of God. There are many admirable things in the Church of Rome, but we cannot just look the other way at the extreme errors. Because Jesus tells us to be on our guard against such things.

Now the word Jesus uses, that the NKJ translates as “false prophets,” can also be rendered “prophet of lies.” And Rome hasn’t cornered the market on lies about God’s Word. Other lies that we find taught by false prophets of our day include:

Baptism is a human work, not God’s gift;
The Supper Jesus established is just a symbol; when Jesus said, “This is My body,” He meant something else;
Marriage is a human institution, and we can change it;
Human beings, especially the smallest and most vulnerable, are expendable.

The most dangerous false prophets come camouflaged in the garb of piety

“Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11.14).

The False Prophet uses the Word to turn us away from the Word. Consider how the enemy approaches Eve with a theological question: “Did God really say?”

He leads her, and Adam, toward the idea of a better god, a nobler god who doesn’t make such rules.

The pattern of the false prophet is to take and twist God’s Word so it comports to our own idea of who God should be. God’s Word is step-by-step replaced with our own desires.

In his work Creation and Fall, Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes the work of Satan as approaching us with similar questions about the Catechism:

Did God really say: You shall not steal, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not bear false witness.…? Did God really say this to me? Or does it perhaps not apply to me in particular? Did God really claim to be a God of wrath toward those who do not keep God’s commandments? Did God really demand the sacrifice of Christ—the God whom I know better, the God whom I know to be the infinitely good, all-loving Father?

When we ask such questions, we place ourselves in judgment of God. We make ourselves higher than Jesus, instead of His disciples.

Instead of re-making God’s Word to suit our own passions, God’s Word is to remake us.

Every Good Tree Bears Good Fruit

‌The Lord Jesus says,

Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. [Mt. 7.17]

‌From our conception, we are by nature a bad tree.

Scripture says we are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3).

‌We are born enemies of God (Rom. 5:10).

Later on Jesus says, “Make the tree good and its fruit good.” In other words, we can’t change ourselves by having better works, no more than a thorn bush can suddenly produce grapes. The source needs to change.

That’s where Baptism, conversion, new birth comes in. This begins a process of transformation in us.

So what is the goal of the Lord Jesus for you? After His death and resurrection, He bestows the Holy Spirit on us, who is called the Spirit of regeneration and renewal.

That’s what we should all be concentrating on in this life, this renewal. But it’s too much to think about the rest of our lives, so we can start by thinking about tomorrow and this week:

How can I seek the Spirit’s help to mortify the passions? That is, How can I subdue and destroy my desire for evil? And then,
How can I ask the Spirit to work righteousness in me, bringing forth works of charity, words of peace?

Everything around us is a deception-machine, designed to turn us away from God’s Will and towards our own.

It’s really a religion of works, but the works done based on our own ideas, or the culture’s ideas of what is right and wrong. That’s what the prophets of lies are doing: turning you away from what God says is good and evil, and redefine it.

That is the way of death. Don’t follow it!

Cut Down and Thrown into the Fire

For

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [Mt. 7:19]

‌And many will say to Jesus in the Day of Judgment that they belong to Him. But

“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. [Mt. 7:21]

Not Everyone Shall Enter the Kingdom of Heaven

In today’s Gospel, Jesus condemns outward disciples whose lives are inconsistent with discipleship. What in your life is inconsistent with Jesus and His Word?

The blessed man is:

He who does the will of My Father in heaven [Mt. 7:21]

‌The Lord Jesus bids us not only to have the right doctrine, but also to take care how we live.

Luther: “When He gives us His Word, His Spirit, and His gifts, He does not want us to be lazy, sleepy, and idle.”

Conclusion

‌That’s not who you are. You are armed with the Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. You are baptized. You are God’s adopted sons and daughters.

‌You have left the way of death, and walk on the way of life. Don’t turn back!

Whatever storms come, they cannot wash away you who are founded on the Word of Christ!

Whatever barbs and bullets come, they cannot defeat you! Jesus is risen from the dead, and so shall He raise you.

Whatever allurements the devil offers, you will not be deceived. You know they are poison.

Stay strong, and act like men. The Father who adopts you, the Son whose blood cleanses you, the Spirit who now animates you – this God will preserve you through the fire into the eternal kingdom.