The Life of Christ (27)

1. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:13-14) • The ‘two ways’ • Matthew 7:13–14 (NASB95) • 13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. • 14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. The Life of Christ (27)

2. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:13-14) • The two ways compared and contrasted. • These verses describe two gates, two roads, two types of people, and two destinations. • The small gate and narrow road lead to the destination of life and the smaller group of people arrives there. • The road is narrow, which means that you cannot walk anywhere or in any way; the rules for walking on the narrow road are found in the principles of sound doctrine. • The broad road and wide gate leads to destruction and is traveled by the majority of the human race. The Life of Christ (27)

3. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:13-14) • The two ways compared and contrasted. • The narrow road and the few refers to those that believe the gospel, place their faith in Jesus Christ, and who will eventually live in Heaven. • The wide road and the majority refers to those that do not believe the gospel, do not accept Jesus as their savior, and who will eventually live in the Lake of Fire. • Most people are not willing to listen to the truth because it does not allow them to live their life as they please; the few are willing to obey God and live their lives according to His will and not their own. The Life of Christ (27)

4. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:15-23) • False Teachers • Matthew 7:15–23 (NASB95) • 15“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. • 16“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? • 17“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. • 18“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. • 19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. • 20“So then, you will know them by their fruits. • 21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. • 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ • 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ The Life of Christ (27)

5. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:15-23) • Warning against false teachers. • This warning against false teachers emphasizes the fact that not all of those who are negative to the Word of God appear outwardly antagonistic (hostile). • Some may have an outward appearance of loving God’s Word but do not really study it or teach it to others. • These people are described as wolves in sheep’s clothing. • The analogy (comparison) is to a wolf that disguises itself as a sheep so as not to be noticed by the shepherd until it can get into the flock and kill and eat some of the sheep. • In the same way, false teachers try to look and sound like positive believers in order to disguise his false doctrine and fool young or immature believers into following his way. The Life of Christ (27)

6. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:15-23) • Warning against false teachers. • The believer must recognize that all threats do not come from those outside the church; even believers who have been positive in the past can go negative and begin to believe and teach false things. • Acts 20:28–30 (NASB95) • 28“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (pastor-teachers), to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His (Jesus’) own blood. • 29“I know that after my departure savage wolves (false teachers) will come in among you, not sparing the flock; • 30and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. • Very often, these people are not content to just believe or teach false doctrine, they desire to drag other believers away from the truth and destroy their Christian lives. The Life of Christ (27)

7. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:15-23) • Warning against false teachers. • The best protection for all believers is to stay close to the shepherd (the pastor-teacher) and listen carefully to what he teaches. When others come to you and start to say things that disagree with your shepherd (pastor-teacher), you should get away from them as soon as possible. • The analogy (comparison) to fruit is one that means that what you can see outwardly in those who come to you and attack the truth of sound doctrine should warn you about them. • If they begin to skip Bible class, speak badly about the prep school teachers, deacons, pastor, or others in the local church, it is a warning that something is wrong. • Certain thorn bushes produced a fruit that looked like grapes from a distance but as you got closer to the plant it was easy to tell the difference. The Life of Christ (27)

8. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:15-23) • Warning against false teachers. • Things that characterize the false teachers: • False doctrine and teaching. • Flattery; they will tell you how smart or wonderful you are so you will listen to them. • Pride (approbation lust) in how they appear to others, seeking the approval of others by compromising the truth. • A lack of seriousness about the truth, missing class too much, seeking to have fun rather than serve God (who does provide fun for us in His time). The Life of Christ (27)

9. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:15-23) • Warning against false teachers. • Things that characterize the false teachers: • Putting a price on the truth by selling tapes, books, doctrines, or other materials. • Telling you that you can get the truth anywhere; these people often move around since they are not loyal to the truth taught in the local church. They might tell you all churches are the same. • Listening to other teachers on tapes or the internet beside their own pastor-teacher or prep school teachers. • The often begin to verbally attack the pastor, deacons, teachers or others in the local church.. The Life of Christ (27)

10. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:24-27) • Building your house on the rock. • Matthew 7:24–27 (NASB95) • 24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. • 25“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. • 26“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. • 27“The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” The Life of Christ (27)

11. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:24-27) • Building your house on the rock. • The wise man builds his life on a foundation of the truth (sound Bible doctrine), just as a wise builder constructs his house on a foundation of solid rock. • When bad weather comes the foundation of rock is secure and is not damaged by the weather and the house remains standing. • Likewise, when testing comes into the life of the positive believer, he applies the doctrine he has learned and does not fall apart, panic, run away, or lose confidence. • The unbeliever is compared to the man who builds his house on a foundation of sand like you see at the beach. The Life of Christ (27)

12. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:24-27) • Building your house on the rock. • When bad weather comes, what happens to the sand on the beaches? It is washed away, it erodes and anything on it goes with it. • If there is a house built on the sand when the hurricane comes, it is washed away from underneath the house and the house will eventually collapse and be destroyed. • This is analogous (equivalent) to the unbeliever (or even negative believers), who has no spiritual foundation of sound teaching and he cannot handle the difficulties that life eventually brings to us all. • He will panic, give in to fear, run from his problems, blame others, and refuse to trust God. • It should be remembered that both houses will be tested by the storms; positive believers will face many of the same tests that unbelievers and negative believers face; the difference is that with Bible doctrine, the positive believer can handle his tests because he has the truth and trusts God. The Life of Christ (27)

13. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:28-29) • Conclusion. • Matthew 7:28–29 (NASB95) • 28When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; • 29for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. • When Jesus finished His teaching the crowd was amazed because they had not heard this quality of teaching from their rabbis. • They were not accustomed to the Word of God being taught with such authority and confidence. • Their spiritual leaders had no confidence in the Word of God and did not teach like Jesus did; they always appealed to others to validate their teaching because they could not be sure they were right. The Life of Christ (27)

14. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:28-29) • Conclusion. • This is the same way many people feel when they first come into contact with a local church that teaches sound doctrine; the pastor-teacher who is properly studying and teaching the Scriptures will teach with a confident authority that most people have not heard and cannot handle. • They can reject authority because they are too arrogant (proud) to admit that the adjusted pastor-teacher knows more than they do and has the right to teach and enforce his authority (which God gave him). • Titus 2:15 (NASB95) • 15These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. • 1 Timothy 5:20 (NASB95) • 20Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning. The Life of Christ (27)

15. The Life of Christ (27) • The Sermon on the Mount • Scripture (Matthew 7:28-29) • Conclusion. • Those that will not come to class and humble themselves and learn from the man God has appointed (Pastor Teacher) will be failures in the Christian life…do not be one of those. • 2 Timothy 4:2–4 (NASB95) • 2preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. • 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, • 4and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. • Acts 20:28 (NASB95) • 28“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (pastor teachers), to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. The Life of Christ (27)

16. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • Matthew 8:5–13 (NASB95) • 5And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, • 6and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” • 7Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” • 8But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. • 9“For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” • 10Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. • 11“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; • 12but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” • 13And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment. The Life of Christ (28)

17. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • Luke 7:1–10 (NASB95) • 1When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. • 2And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. • 3When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. • 4When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; • 5for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” • 6Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; • 7for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. • 8“For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” • 9Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” • 10When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health. The Life of Christ (28)

18. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • Although there are differences in the two accounts, the emphasis of both is on the faith of the centurion. Matthew’s account seems to be abbreviated and Luke’s supplies more detail; however, they are not contradictory (conflicting or opposing). • After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus returns to Capernaum. • What we know about the centurion: • A centurion was an officer in the Roman army who commanded 100 men. • He was a Gentile, not a Jew. • He had helped the Jews previously according to Luke’s account. Luke 7:5 • In order to have built the synagogue for the Jews, the centurion had to be rich. • He was an honorable master and really cared about his slave. • Although never explicitly stated, what Jesus says about the centurion indicates that he was a believer. The Life of Christ (28)

19. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • Differences between the two accounts: • In Matthew’s account it appears that the centurion speaks to Jesus. • In Luke’s account the Centurion never speaks to Jesus, but sends others. • In authoritative systems like the Roman military, when an officer or other authority sends an order or message via another person, it is repeated word for word and has the same effect as if the sender himself is speaking. • Luke goes into greater detail about who is actually speaking, Matthew emphasizes only the words of the centurion without going into the detail that they were carried by two separate groups. • As John the Baptist felt unworthy to baptize Jesus, so this centurion feels unworthy for the Lord to enter his home. Matthew 8:8 The Life of Christ (28)

20. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • As a military man, the centurion understood authority since he had authorities to whom he had to answer and he had men under his authority who obeyed him. • Having heard of the works of Jesus, he fully believes that Jesus had the power and authority to heal his servant. • He recognized that all Jesus had to do was issue a command since he knew that he did not have to be personally present to give orders to his men and he knew those orders would be obeyed. • The man had faith that this would be done and Jesus not only recognized his faith but honored him before those that were present. • Jesus was amazed since He had never seen or heard anything like this since He had begun His ministry. Matthew 8:10, Luke 7:9 The Life of Christ (28)

21. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • As a Gentile, the centurion lacked the spiritual background that the Jews of the area had; yet none of them showed as great an understanding as this Roman soldier did. • Matthew 8:11-13 is a prophecy about the positive volition of the Gentiles with specific reference to the Millennial banquet seen in Isaiah. • Isaiah 25:6 (NASB95) • 6The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. • Isaiah 49:12 (NASB95) • 12“Behold, these will come from afar; And lo, these will come from the north and from the west, And these from the land of Sinim.” • Isaiah 59:19 (NASB95) • 19So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the Lord drives. The Life of Christ (28)

22. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • The east and west is a reference to Gentiles coming from all over the planet to dine with the Patriarchs of the Jewish race. • The sons of the kingdom is a reference to unbelieving Jews (Matt. 8:12) who think they belong to the kingdom simply because of their race. • There is no place for racial arrogance among any people since God does not favor Americans, Mexicans, Chinese, Russians, Italians, Jews, or any other race or nation above another. The Life of Christ (28)

23. The Life of Christ (28) • The Centurion’s Faith • Scriptures Matt. 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10 • All men are in need of salvation and their national origin and racial origin does not give them any advantage with God or stop them from believing in Christ. • The weeping and gnashing of teeth is a clear reference to the mental and physical torment of those that are separated from God for all eternity in Hell (Lake of Fire). • Jesus’ purpose is to shock His Jewish hearers by saying that the fact that they are Jewish, descendants from Abraham, will not get them into the kingdom. Matt. 3:9-10 • Romans 9:7 teaches that only believing Jews are actually considered as Abraham’s true descendants; there are three kinds of Jews, racial, religious, and regenerate (believers). • The servant was healed because of the centurion’s faith and the fact that it was God’s will for Jesus to do so; this is an example of the servant being blessed by association. The Life of Christ (28)