The Choice Is Yours!

They set an ambush to kill themselves;

they attack their own lives.

Those on the broad road say, “All aboard!” They say, “Come join the party.” Little do they consider that this road is a dead end of eternal destruction. They are, as Solomon warns, setting their own eternal ambush.

Jesus calls us to walk the road less traveled. He calls us to pursue the narrow gate and the “difficult road.” Why? Two reasons are given. First, this road leads to a gate called eternal life. Second, because this road is difficult, “few find it.”

There is no universalism in the teachings of the Bible. Not everyone is going to be saved. There are not many roads that lead to heaven. Just consider the words of Jesus, Peter, and Paul:

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim 2:5)

Jesus is crystal clear in his teachings. The way to God is exclusive and restrictive. There is only one way, one road. The road that follows Christ is a road that is difficult and will involve suffering and persecution (cf. 5:10-12), but it takes us to a gate called eternal life. It is a road that can cause us to doubt and even despair if we get our eyes off the end game. If we lose sight of how it will all turn out, we will lose hope. Sinclair Ferguson points out the wisdom of Psalm 73 at this point (Sermon, 164). It is worth reading the entire psalm, but it is important for our study to notice the psalmist’s observation of the broad path. The psalmist says,

I envied the arrogant;

I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

They have an easy time until they die,

and their bodies are well fed.

They are not in trouble like others;

they are not afflicted like most people. (Ps 73:3-5)

The psalmist, however, realizes that the end of the broad road is a “slippery place” that makes those on it “fall into ruin,” “become a desolation,” and be “swept away by terrors” (Ps 73:18-19). This realization leads the psalmist to remember why he ought to pursue righteousness:

I was stupid and didn’t understand; . . .

Who do I have in heaven but you?

And I desire nothing on earth but you. . . .

Those far from you will certainly perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, God’s presence is my good.

I have made the Lord my refuge,

so I can tell about all you do. (Ps 73:22, 25, 27-28)

There are those who will certainly perish. Then there are those who will discover God’s presence is their good. The latter travel the road I want to be on. It is the road that we find our Jesus on.

Matthew 7:15-20

Jesus now moves the discussion from the path of destruction to teachers of destruction. He calls false prophets wolves in sheep’s clothing (v. 15). Just as it matters which spiritual and moral road we travel, it also matters which spiritual teachers we listen to and which moral guides we follow. Looks can be deceiving, so we must pay close attention. In order to discern whom to follow, Jesus tells us to watch how teachers act toward God’s people and to examine the fruit of their teaching. In the end false prophets will be exposed as those who walked on the broad road that leads to eternal destruction.

Before examining verses 15-20 we should note that the New Testament repeatedly addresses the danger of false teachers. Jesus will do it again in Matthew 24:23-26. Paul will do it in Acts 20:28-30; 2 1 Corinthians 11:3-4, 12-15; and 2 1 Timothy 3:1-9. Peter will do it in 2 Peter 2:1-22. John will do it in 1 John 2:18-23; 4:1-6; and 2 John 7-11. Jude will dedicate his short, twenty-five-verse book to the subject. False teachers produce bad fruit. We need to be careful from which trees we pick our fruit. Matthew 7:15-20 provides three principles to help us pick well.

Jesus once again fires off a command in our direction: “Be on your guard against false prophets.” “Be on guard” is a present imperative. It means to pay attention, be on the alert. Keep your spiritual guard up. The devil and his false prophets are working against you. However, they do not work fully exposed and transparent in their intentions. Rather, they dress themselves up like us. They come in “sheep’s clothing.” In reality they are not sheep. If you get past the façade, you will find “ravaging wolves.” Spurgeon well says, “Sheep’s clothing is all very fine, but we must look beneath it and spy out the wolves” (of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Eloquent speech is not the issue. Faithfulness to the Bible is.

Charles Quarles notes, “False teachers disguise themselves as Jesus’ disciples in order to live undetected among the sheep of the flock and thus devour the sheep with great ease” (Sermon, 322). However, the wolves need not succeed. Jesus tells us we can “recognize them by their fruit.” He then provides a contrasting illustration to make his point. He makes the simple observation that grapes come from grapevines, not thorn bushes. Figs come from fig trees, not thistles. Not only are grapes and figs this way, but all good fruit comes from good trees, not bad trees. All bad fruit comes from bad trees, not good trees. In the same way, good teaching comes from true prophets, not false prophets. False teaching comes from false prophets, not true prophets.

Two essential tests will expose those working to slip into our communities of faith: the doctrinal test and the practical test. The doctrinal test asks, Do their teachings line up with the gospel of Jesus Christ that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone? It asks whether they avoid the deadly mathematics of false teachers that add to the Bible, subtract from the person and work of Christ, multiply the requirements of salvation, and divide the people of God by a divisive and destructive spirit. The practical test asks, Are they antinomians on the one hand or legalists on the other? It asks whether they throw off all constraint to the extreme or seek to shackle us with legalistic obligations that are suffocating. If we closely watch doctrine and practice, then rotten fruit will expose a rotten teacher.

The destiny of false prophets is a signed, sealed, and settled reality. They do not produce good fruit. In the end they are “cut down and thrown into the fire.” The words of our Lord echo those of his cousin John the Baptist who says, “The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 3:10). False prophets are on the broad road to hell. Those who follow them will face the same fate, the same eternal destiny. This is the Word of God, not ours. The responsibility we bear is found in verse 20: “So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.” Daniel Doriani is right:

Matthew, 299–300)

Matthew 7:21-23

These are some of the most terrifying verses in all of the Bible. They follow naturally from verses 13-20. I tremble every time I read them. To think I could say, “Jesus is my Lord,” and hear him respond to me, “I never knew you,” is frightening. To think I could preach and even do miracles in his name and have him say to me on the day of judgment, “Depart from me, you law breakers,” is horrifying. These words should send shivers down our spines and cause our hearts to skip a beat. They should drive us to ask not, “Do I know Jesus?” but instead to ask, “Does Jesus know me?”

The idea of true lordship dominates the passage. The word “Lord” appears four times in two couplets. Jesus will make a clear distinction between a false profession and a genuine confession. He will provide an ironclad, rock-solid test to distinguish between the two.

Jesus begins with a surprising and even startling statement in verse 21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus does not say our profession of him as our Lord is unimportant. Scripture makes clear that our confession of Jesus as Lord is important. Paul says in Romans 10:9 that “if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (cf. Phil 2:9-11). The implication is that by the Spirit’s enablement we can truly and authentically declare Jesus is Lord and that this is an evidence of authentic Christianity.

But Jesus wants us to understand that we can profess Christ as Lord without knowing Christ as Lord. It is possible to profess Christ as Lord and for Jesus to deem that profession as false and inauthentic. What is the test of a true profession of faith? A transformed and obedient life reveals true faith. The one who “will enter the kingdom of heaven” is the one who professes Jesus as Lord and “does the will of my Father in heaven.” Obedience is evidence that a profession of Christ is true. Spurgeon says it so well:

An orthodox creed will not save if it stands alone. . . . Without personal holiness, the caster-out of devils will be cast out himself. . . . Nothing will prove us to be true Christians but a sincere doing of the Father’s will! (Exposition, 45)

Three times in verses 22-23 the false professors declare that they did what they did “in your [Christ’s] name.” Standing before God in eschatological judgment (“On that day”), they will declare, (1) we prophesied in your name, (2) we drove out demons in your name, and (3) we did many miracles in your name. Nevertheless, they will hear from the one they called Lord, “I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers” (cf. Ps 6:8). The word “lawbreakers” (Gk anomia) connects back to the idea that they failed to do “the will of my Father in heaven.”

Once more we are confronted with what I call “demon faith” (cf. Jas 2:19). There is an orthodox confession and even an impressive spiritual resume as judged by men. God, however, sees things in a completely different light. He sees us as we truly are. Don Carson brings a helpful perspective on all of this when he writes,

It is true, of course, that no man enters the kingdom because of his obedience; but it is equally true that no man enters the kingdom who is not obedient. It is true that men are saved by God’s grace through faith in Christ; but it is equally true that God’s grace in a man’s life inevitably results in obedience. Any other view of grace cheapens grace, and turns it into something unrecognizable. Cheap grace preaches forgiveness without repentance, church membership without rigorous church discipline, discipleship without obedience, blessing without persecution, joy without righteousness, results without obedience. In the entire history of the church, has there ever been another generation with so many nominal Christians and so few real (i.e., obedient) ones? And where nominal Sermon, 131)

Quarles insightfully adds, “Just as false prophets were ravenous wolves who disguised themselves as sheep, some goats (25:31-46) [attempt] to masquerade as sheep as well” (Sermon, 330).

These verses teach us how important it is to stay close to Jesus, to know him, love him, and obey him. When you and I consider the road to walk, we must remember that Jesus is the way and no one comes to the Father but by him (John 14:6). When you and I consider the two gates that open before us two eternal destinies, we must remember Jesus is “the gate for the sheep” (John 10:7). As the Lord promises, “I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved” (John 10:9). When you and I consider the teachers whom we will follow and whom we can trust to give us the words of eternal life, we must heed the words of the apostle Peter who said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). And when it comes to the essential wedding of our confession and obedience, we will daily recall the words of our Savior in John 14:15: “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” Life is filled with choices. May we always choose Jesus. We will never be let down or disappointed if we choose him.