Sermon on the Mount

Thank you again, Mr. Baker. I would also like to welcome all those who are tuned in to the webcast. We're glad to have you with us as well. Also, I wanted to make sure I mention that services are at 1 p.m. next Sabbath. That's pretty important because of the GCE and doing the video for the GCE services will be at 1 o'clock next Sabbath right here at the JCC. Well, brethren, do you want to be sure that your spiritual house is built on a firm foundation, that it is built on the rock, on our Savior Jesus Christ?

Do you want to be sure that your spiritual house will not seriously waver and certainly not fall, no matter how difficult the times are in the future? Well, then, it only makes good sense to study the teachings of the rock, the foundation, the chief cornerstone, the head of this church, the head of God's church, Jesus the Christ.

It only makes good sense to not only read and study the words or teachings of Jesus Christ, but more importantly, to certainly strive to live by every word of God every day of our lives. We need to put into practice the things that are shared with us in the Sermon on the Mount. So, as Christians, we do need to take to heart Christ's words. We need to write these laws in our hearts and in our minds. His teaching in Matthew 5, verse 7, is vital for us Christians. Here we find instructions, we find words from the Word of God, and again, it's the foundation upon which we should build our spiritual house, our spiritual temple.

So today we're going to continue Christ's foundational teaching. In fact, I believe we're going to conclude the series of sermons on the Sermon on the Mount. If all goes well, I think we'll finish up today. So, we're going to talk about some very important topics today, like the importance of dealing first with our own sins before trying to give advice and guidance to others about their lesser sins.

We're also going to talk about the importance of asking, of seeking, and knocking, and what that's all about. We'll talk about the importance of following the golden rule of doing to others as you would have them do to you. Christ brought new meaning to that teaching. We'll also talk about entering into God's kingdom through the straight gate upon the narrow path that leads to His kingdom and staying away from that path of destruction that's wide where Satan would love to have you go.

We'll also talk about the need to avoid the wide path that leads to destruction. I guess we talked about that. And we'll also see the vital necessity of rejecting false prophets and false teachers by studying the fruits of their lives and the teachings that they bring and determining whether or not they are truly doing God's will or their own. So, we have a lot to talk about today. So, let's go to Matthew 7. We'll read the first several verses and then we'll dissect them a bit one by one. But let's go to Matthew 7 and read the first six verses together.

Judge not or condemn not that you be not condemned for with what judgment or condemnation you judge you will be judged and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, let me remove the speck from your eye and look a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Do not give what is holy to the dogs nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you in pieces. So this first section has a lot in it. That first verse, judge not that you be not judged. The word for judge is from the word krino, k-r-i-n-o. In the Greek, it properly means to distinguish. That is, to decide by implication to try to condemn, to punish, to avenge, to conclude, to damn, or to condemn, to judge.

It means a lot of different things. But I think we'll see in these verses, it's primarily talking about a critical spirit and condemning others. In the church, we've often said that the primary sense here is to condemn not that you be not condemned. Condemnation is God's prerogative. It's not man's prerogative. Only God may condemn. God is our Creator. He's the one that gets to make those determinations, not you and not me. We don't condemn anyone. And I certainly don't disagree that this may be Christ's primary emphasis, but perhaps you may have been stressing simply a critical spirit and an approach to others, not necessarily a condemnation of others.

I don't know that most people go so far as to condemn others, although some certainly have and do. But many have an attitude of superiority and a critical spirit. And that speaks to each and every one of us, frankly. In John 7, verse 24, the principle is given that we are to judge with righteous judgment. So it's certainly not wrong to judge.

In fact, there are many scriptures in the Bible that talk about the importance to judge righteously, to judge faithfully, to be able to discern between good and evil, between right and wrong, and, of course, to choose that which is good and that which is right and pleasing to God.

So we do have to make judgments. We have to make them continually. The scripture even tells us that we will be involved in judging angels. So certainly it's not that we will not make judgments. We certainly will. But how do we make our judgments? So getting back to verse 2 now, For with what judgment or condemnation you judge, you will be judged. So if you're a condemning type person, if you go so far as to condemn others, then that's what you can expect from God, because God does not like that type of behavior.

He doesn't like that kind of approach toward his children. So a condemning spirit is one that needs to be purged away from anyone who would have it. And even a critical spirit, a negative critical spirit, God does not approve of that type of spirit. So if you have a critical spirit, then expect God to judge you critically.

That's what the scripture tells us. We're going to be judged in the same manner that we judge others. And we need to learn to judge as God judges. God judges righteous judgment, but he also judges mercifully. And he looks on one's heart, and he tries to... Obviously, God does have all the facts, which we can't always have all the facts, so we have to be even much more careful in the type of judgments that we make.

Verse 3 says, Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye? So a speck is tiny, and somehow you can see the speck in your brother's eye, and your brother may well have a speck. He may have an issue, but comparatively, it's far less than the one that you may have yourself. So you look at a speck in your brother's eye, but you do not consider the plank.

A plank is huge! A big beam coming out of your eye makes it pretty hard to see any speck if you have a plank in your own eye. So your judgment is going to be greatly affected by that. He says you are a hypocrite if you behave in such a manner.

If you are condemning or very critical of someone else, and yet their issues, their sins, are less than what you, frankly, should be dealing with, but aren't, then you're going to be judged in that same way. So this is something that each of us really needs to take to heart.

How do you treat your fellow man, your brother and sister in Christ? How do you treat people that aren't in the Church of God, but are still made in God's image? They're still God's children. How do you treat them? How do you approach them? I don't know how many times I've seen damage done in God's Church because this principle is being violated. People with critical spirits are quick to find fault, and yet they have even larger faults that they ought to be dealing with themselves. So we should really take to heart and make sure that we're not guilty of these verses.

Christ says you are a hypocrite if you behave in this manner. First, remove the plank from your own eye. Verse 5 says, get the plank out of your own eye first. That's what you really need to do first. You need to repent of that plank that is obscuring your spiritual vision and is hurting you as well as others.

So repent, remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. It isn't that you might be of some help, but you need to take care of yourself first, your sins. You need to be a repentant person so that you can truly help others. So these verses, these first five verses, are critically important for us. It's a human tendency to be very critical of others. You may think that you're not a critical person, but I think all of us are critical, at least at times in our lives.

We all have to struggle with having a critical spirit and a critical approach toward others. Somehow it's easy for us to see a small weakness in someone else, some frailty or some sin, while we are not able to admit our own huge weaknesses.

The first thing is we have to see our sins. We have to be able to see them and admit them, go to God and ask for forgiveness. That's where we should spend the bulk of our time, considering our own spiritual condition. Are we spiritually right? Are we doing that which is pleasing to God? Are we keeping His commandments? Not just in the letter, but are we keeping them in the Spirit? And if we're focusing the majority of our time on those issues, we really aren't going to have a lot of time to be critical toward others.

So it is very important that we consider our own sins.

That's why the Passover season is so helpful to us each year. We take some special time to look at ourselves, to consider our sins, to seek repentance, to cry out to God, to help us see ourselves, we examine ourselves. Again, you're not going to be able to pull out a small moat or speck from someone else's eye if you're blinded by the huge beam that's in your own eye. I talked about hidden sins on the last day of Unleavened Bread. What sins have you not yet discovered in you? And oftentimes it is the Spirit of the Law. Maybe you're not committing these sins in the letter of the Law, but it's the Spirit of the Law that you're transgressing. If you try to get a speck out of someone's eye and you have a huge plank, what kind of credibility are you going to have with that person? Are you going to be able to help them at all? It would be very easy for them to say, who are you to talk to me? Why are you coming to me when you have this huge beam that you need to concentrate upon? If you really want to help others, then you have to first help yourself through seeking repentance.

It's very easy for someone to get defensive when someone approaches them with a problem with an issue. It's very easy to get defensive, and the more they can look at us and say, well, you're far from perfect. That makes it that much more difficult for them. So let's get things in the right order from now on.

Let's make sure we look at ourselves and repent of our sins first, and then help others. Let's move on to the next section. Well, I might mention, do not give what is holy to the dogs. Obviously, this is in context, it's along with these verses that we've just read. So what is this telling us? Well, our relationships are very important to God. Your relationships are extremely important. In fact, we should have holy relationships with God's people. We are God's children. We have His Spirit. God is very concerned about the relationship that we have with each other. And if you treat this lightly, then in a sense, you are throwing that which is holy before the dogs. And that is before the swine. And that is not something, of course, that would be pleasing to God, because it's going to backfire on you. So you really need to take to heart your relationships with others. If you're harboring hatred and resentment toward another person, if you have a difficult time talking to them, you avoid them, then it should be apparent that you need to focus on this relationship and strive to do what you can do to help better that relationship. Too often, people in God's church tend to ignore people rather than work on these issues, rather than try to face these issues humbly and try to get some results that God would be pleased with. And it does take two people. It takes two humble people to be able to make progress in a relationship. So I would encourage all of us to be humble with each other and in our relationships and really strive to find God's mind and put on the mind of Christ when it comes to our relationships with others and how we treat one another.

Alright, let's go on to verse 7. And again, we'll read several verses together, and then we'll go back and look at them. Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you, for every one that asks receives, and he that seeks finds, and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son asks bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? Therefore, all things whatsoever you would, that men should do to you, do you even so to them? For this is the law and the prophets. So let's go back and look at each of these verses. Verse 7 and 8 together. Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you, for every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened. The Christian way of life is a way of doing. It's a way of being involved, of taking initiative. It's not just sitting back and not getting involved and not doing something. It's a very active way of life. To be a true Christian is to truly be an active person like Jesus Christ. Christ was very active. He didn't avoid people. He didn't avoid things. He dealt with issues and problems. So we should go to God and we should ask rightly, first of all. We should ask that which is right and good in God's sight. What would be pleasing to God? Those are the things that we should ask for. And we should be a lot more motivated on asking for other people than we should be for ourselves. If we are looking outward in love toward other people, and we're asking of God to help others, that's a very good thing to be concerned more about others than yourself.

So ask, and you shall receive, but you have to ask rightly. You have to ask according to God's will if He's going to answer your prayer.

And also have faith. Ask rightly in faith. Believe that God will answer your prayer, as you have thought to ask only that which is right and good. A true Christian should be motivated to do something right and good, and must overcome a natural reluctance to get involved. There is a natural reluctance in most people, anyway, to not get involved with things. But we should be involved, and we should do it in a right and godly way. So ask rightly, and expect to receive it. Have faith. Ask, and it shall be given to you. Trust that God will give you that which is right and good.

And of course, seek to do right. Seek to set the right example for others. Seek first the kingdom of God. Scripture, Matthew 6, 33, says, seek first the kingdom of God. Seek his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

In other words, your prayers will be answered. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Seek the good in life. Believe it's going to happen in your life. Trust that God is going to answer your prayers. God does desire that we prosper and be in good health. Of course, we know that life is also full of trouble and problems and trials, and God also allows those things to test us. And it's how we respond to those trials and those problems that we have to face. That really shows our true character. And are we patient? Will we wait on God? Will we still have faith that God will answer, if we've asked rightly, that God will answer those prayers? And if God doesn't answer in the exact way that we believe he should, then we also have to have faith that God knows best, that we don't know best. God knows best, and that we learn to deal with whatever answer God gives us. And that takes a lot of faith when we don't get the answer that we think we should have, and we get a different type of answer. It takes a lot of faith to accept that the promise that God will never leave us nor forsake us is a true promise, and that God is aware, and God, for whatever reason, has chosen to act in a certain way or to allow certain things to happen. The problem is not with God, and we should strive not to blame God, although I know sometimes that's what people do, and it's easy to do because God is all-powerful, and certainly God could intervene. God's power should not be in question. God has the power.

That should not be in question. God has the power. He's all-powerful. So, He can certainly do whatever it is we're asking, but for whatever reasons, He may choose not to do it exactly the way we would hope that He would, or we think that He ought to, or that we believe we have faith in.

So, it's difficult to deal with these things when they don't make sense to us.

And that takes faith to continue on and to persevere and to have patience, and to seek for answers, and to cry out to God and ask for answers, and believe that He's going to answer you, that eventually, in time, you'll come to understand why things are going the way they are.

So, have faith. Believe and trust in God because God loves every one of us. He gave His own Son for us. That should never be in question, either. God's love should never be in question. God loves you. God loves us all. God loves those who are sick and afflicted and suffering and in pain. God is love. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. If you refuse to knock, then do not expect to get in the house. If you refuse to knock, don't expect to get in the business or whatever it might be. Again, you have to act. Knocking is something active. You have to knock. Whether it's in business, whether it's in life, whatever it is, knock. Knock on the door and expect an answer. It will be open to you. The same is true about the Kingdom. You have to knock on the door of the Kingdom. Knock on that door. Keep knocking. God will answer. The door will be open for you. You will enter His Kingdom. So do your part. Do your part. We know that God will do His part. That should never be in question. God always does this part. God's perfect. God is not in question, so you must be persistent and keep knocking. Eventually, you may realize that maybe you're not asking the right questions. Maybe you're not asking for the right thing at that point. God has a different perspective. He has a different way of looking at whatever it is. Then you have to come to accept His outlook. David fasted while the child that was conceived with Bathsheba was in adultery.

But it certainly wasn't the child's fault. So David was praying for that child, praying that God would spare the child. He fasted and prayed until the answer was clear. The child had died. That was the answer in that case.

Every case is different. We don't know how God's going to react. God could have spared the child. God could have done that, but He chose in this case not to. He might in another similar case. It takes faith to know that God knows what's going on and that God is in charge.

But keep persistent and keep knocking until an answer is clear. God will give an answer and it will be clear eventually. So keep seeking, keep asking, keep knocking.

Now in verse 9, Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? That's a good thing to ask for bread, right? We all need to eat. If a child is hungry and he asks a parent for bread, is that parent going to give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, is he going to give him a serpent? Well, of course not. Any good parent is not going to play those kind of games with his children. He's going to give them what they need. Now, Barclay says there was a certain type of bread that looked very much like a stone. William Barclay in his commentary on the book of Matthew, there was a certain type of bread that looked very much like a stone, and at first glance one could mistake the rock for a piece of bread. He says the serpent was likely a reference to an eel, which at first glance might have been taken as a fish, but of course the eel is unclean, and an Israelite would not have eaten an eel knowingly and would certainly not give an eel to his children. A normal, somewhat decent person would not try to deceive someone into eating a stone or an unclean eel. If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. That's true. We try to give good gifts to our children. We don't give them serpents. We don't give them stones. We give them something good. If we, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven—this is Jesus Christ talking about His Son— how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?

Whatever the answer is, if we ask in faith and we believe and we trust in God, and we know that God is perfect and God is not at fault, somehow all things do work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. So again, it takes faith to believe in that and to know that.

God gives good things to those who ask Him. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Now, in Luke 11, it says, if you, then, being evil— Luke 11, verse 13, is a parallel with what we've just read— if you, then, being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? So that's certainly something good that we should be continually asking God to give us more of His Spirit and also to stir up the Spirit within us so that we might walk in the Spirit. Again, so we can set a good example, so we can be of help to others, so we can be pleasing to God. If you, then, being evil know how to give good gifts, then how much more will your heavenly Father give you? And how much more will He give you His Spirit? So ask for His Spirit, and His Spirit will allow you to deal with whatever answers God gives. Whatever answers God gives, God's Spirit in you will give you discernment. It will help you comprehend. It will help you understand. It will help you cope with whatever the answer is from God.

So we do need to realize that we are evil in many respects. We are carnal. We have fleshly minds. We know that the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to God's law, nor can it be. But again, we're not going to, even as evil as we are, we're not going to give bad gifts to our children, typically. That's not normally how someone who's a halfway decent person is going to treat their children. So we should have great faith that God will act in our best interest.

He is going to act in our best interest at that time and at that moment, and we have to accept His answers. So, verse 12, Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, this is the conclusion here of these verses that we just read, Therefore, what you want men to do to you, do also to them. Try saying, if there's a certain way that you want to be treated, then make sure that you're treating others in that same manner. That's a very important principle. It's a very positive approach that Christ has taken to this teaching. Whatever it is, however it is, you would like to be treated. Make sure that's how you're treating others. And if you will do that, then obviously your relationships are going to improve immediately. If you always do that, if you always treat someone else in the same manner that you would like to be treated, then typically they're going to feel pretty good about that, because typically we don't ask for things that aren't good for us. Well, sometimes we do. But this is talking about asking for the right and proper types of things, and then we're going to do that for those people we come in contact with. Treat them in the same manner that you would want them to treat you. If you would want them to be friendly, then you should be friendly to them. If you want them to be mean and nasty to you, then you need to get examined. You need to have your head examined. You need to go somewhere, check yourself into an ER, and ask them to analyze what's going on in your brain, because something's not functioning properly. Things aren't right. Or go to God and ask Him to fix you, because something's badly wrong. So remember what we refer to as the golden rule. Treat others in the manner that you would want them to treat you. Alright, let's go on to verse 13. Enter by the narrow gate, for white is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. So we need to enter by the straight gate, the path that is narrow and straight, because there's a broad way out there, and it's a way that leads to destruction. We need to stay off of that path, that broad path, that most people go. The billions of people on earth, they're not on the narrow path. They're on the broad path. So we don't want to get in line with them. We want to find out where God's people are, and we want to go down that narrow path. It's fundamental that a true Christian understands that the path to eternal life is a straight and a narrow one, and it's one that must be diligently adhered to. We have to diligently adhere to this path. We need to stay on the path. It's very dangerous to get off the path. We need to stay on the path. We shouldn't gamble with our lives. We should stay on the straight and the narrow path. We should not deviate from the straight and the narrow path. It is a path that goes straight to the kingdom of God. It goes straight to God's kingdom, this straight and this narrow path. If it is followed carefully and faithfully, it will lead you to His kingdom. So we need to, obviously, find this narrow path. I believe you have found this narrow path. The narrow path is revealed in God's Word. We are to be students of the Bible. God has opened our minds to understand the truth about God's church. That Christ is the head of the church. That most people are not being called today, or many are called, but not the majority of people are called. And very few are responding to the call. It is a narrow path that God's people are on.

So we should be very, very grateful that we are on this narrow path and that we see this path. God has revealed this path to us by the power of His Spirit.

Again, there is a very wide path that leads to destruction. Satan is the God of this world. He is the God of that wide path that leads to destruction. And most people are on that path.

It is a very evil path. It is also a very deceptive path. Now, those of you who went to our fun show that we had, I think, in February, January, or February, we had a fun show. It was in Arlington over at the Homefront Building. And Chad Benedict sang a song entitled, Long Black Train. Josh Turner is the author of this song. Ever since I watched it, I must admit, I've played that video a lot.

My wife is getting sick of hearing me sing it. But I go around singing this song quite often. I actually know all the words, and there aren't many words. There aren't many songs I know all the words to. But in the song, it says, Rails of Sin, only evil remains. Watch out, brother, for that long black train. And really, there are many long black trains out there, and they're all on that wide path that leads to destruction. There are many long black trains. There's a whole variety of long black trains, because Satan knows that if he can't get you one way, he's likely to get you in another way.

So there's all these long black trains heading to destruction. And so it's important to realize that as the song says, and their only destination, the long black train and the only destination is the middle of nowhere. That's where it's headed. It's headed toward the abyss. It's headed toward the lake of fire. That's where the long black train is going. And you don't want to be on that train. You don't want to be on any of those long black trains that are out there. And the moral of this song and this story is that you need to cling to the Father. That's part of the song.

Cling to the Father, because there's protection and there's peace in Him, and He will help you burn your ticket on the long black train. Satan is very willing to give us all tickets on the long black train. And frankly, Satan has kept us prisoner until God opened our minds and revealed His truth to us. So in a sense, we all have a ticket on the long black train.

And we have to go to God to have that ticket burnt. We want to burn that ticket. We don't want to cash that ticket in. We don't want to get on one of these long black trains that's heading to destruction. The song also says that there's an engineer on that long black train. And He's waiting on your heart to just say, let me ride on that long black train. Because He knows that in our hearts there's a part of us, that carnal part, that evil part, that wants to get on that train. We want to get on it.

We want to ride it because it's sleek. It looks cool. It looks like, man, that would be awesome to get on that long black train. That's a great looking train. In fact, the song talks about... Oh, where is it? I wrote it down here. It talks about that train is a beauty making everybody stare. You just want to look at it and stare at it because it's pulling you in and the whistle's blowing. And I can hear it a mile away.

I can hear that whistle a mile away and it's beckoning me. It's calling me to get on that train. Get on that long black train. But you don't want to be on that long black train. It's deceptive. It's very, very deceptive.

It goes fast, but it leads to destruction. A lot of people like the fast lane. They want to get on the fast trains. Actually, there's a very ugly, painful ride. It's a very ugly, painful ride on the black train. But we get on it thinking it's going to be a cool ride.

It's going to be great. It's just the opposite. It's just the opposite of what we expect. Satan is the author of confusion. Satan is out to deceive every one of us. In fact, the Bible says he's deceived the whole world. And he's using these long black trains. Just an analogy. Many others could be used. And you have to learn to say no to that whistle. Because that whistle is always blowing. It's always blowing out there.

It's trying to pull you in. You have to learn to say no to that whistle. But it sounds so good. It just sounds good. It just wants you to get on that train. And that train, everybody's staring at that train. Because it looks good. But you need to get on the straight and the narrow path.

It's not a long black train. It's probably a white train. And God's the engineer on that train. And it's on a one straight path. There's only one. Maybe I should write a song about that long white train.

So we need to get on that white train. We need to cling to the Father. And we need to allow God to work in us. Because there really is victory in the Lord. That's what the song also says. There's victory in the Lord. God will give us victory, but we've got to have sense enough to get on the right train. And we've got to say no to the deceitfulness of riches, to the deceitfulness of the lust of our flesh. Because that's a powerful, that's a very, very powerful pull. That's a long black train. People want to get involved in premarital sex. That's a long black train. And it looks good. It really looks good. And that whistle is blowing long and hard.

But if you go down that path, you'll pay for it. You'll pay a price. It'll be a painful ride, even though you may think you're having a great time for a while. There are pleasures of sin for a season. Moses talked about that, and he was wise enough to reject those pleasures of sin for a season. Because trust me, it'll be a short season. Compared to eternity, it's going to be a very short season. You don't want to get on that train. There's a lot of scars on that train.

Also, adultery, that's another one. That's another one. That's a long black train.

You want to stay as far away from that train as you can stay. And there are so many trains out there. There's trains of envy and jealousy. There are trains of every possible thing. Go to Galatians 5. There are trains of strife and hatred. You can get on those trains, but you're going to pay a heavy, heavy price. Then you're going to have to get off that train. And if that train is speeding along toward hell, it's not so easy to get off the train. You've seen people jump off trains. Usually there's damage done when you have to jump off the train. You roll and you get all bloodied up. That's what happens when you get on these trains. And finally you come to your senses, and the only way is to jump off the thing.

So my advice, of course, is to stay off those long black trains.

Stay on the straight and the narrow path. That's going to lead to God's kingdom and to eternal life. Now at this time and in this age, fewer are going to be able to stay on the narrow path, at least to eternal life. Some have gotten on it, but they couldn't stay on the narrow path because they weren't faithful. They weren't vigilant. They weren't diligent. Satan came along. Satan deceived them. We've seen people come and go left and right, in and out of the doors of God's church. It's a narrow path. And you have to be vigilant. You have to be diligent. And you have to really want it in your heart. And your heart has to be right with God. God looks on the heart. So you have to seek it with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your might. If you're going to hang around for 40 or 50 or 60 years, like quite a few of you have, your heart's got to be good. It's got to be right.

So, again, if you know where that white train is, and God's the conductor, and he's the engineer, thank God for that. Get on that train and stay there. And cling to the Father. Cling to the Son, because there's victory in the Lord, I say. So, it's wonderful to be a part of the firstfruits. It's a calling that is a high and a holy calling, one that we should treasure. Okay, I've waxed eloquent on that long enough. I still want to get done on time here. All right, let's go to the next section. Choose the narrow way. Verse 15, Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. I think you can see how this goes along with the long black train analogy. There's false prophets out there. There's false engineers. That song also talks about that the devil is the engineer on the long black train. The devil's the engineer. He's the conductor and the engineer. You've got to stay off that train, and you've got to be aware of his prophets, his false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. They look good. They look sleek.

Maybe we stare at them and think they're wonderful people.

That they're close to God, and we're being deceived by Satan the devil. It talks about how Satan's ministers can be ministers. They look like ministers of light, but they're ministers of darkness. We have to discern that which is truly good and that which is truly right. What's the counterfeit? Where's the counterfeit? How do we know? How can we tell a counterfeit? It'll tell us right here. You will know them by their fruits. That's how you know. You've got to spend some time and effort examining their fruits.

Their fruits may be good, or they may seem good, but eventually, if they were at one time good, if they truly were good, and they were good fruits, but then you see something going astray. Good people can turn. They can go in a different direction. You have to look at the fruits. Are they still producing good fruit? Maybe they produce good fruit for 20 years. But now, something bad is coming out. Something that's not right. It doesn't smell good. It doesn't look good. And yet, you're so close to these false prophets, false teachers, that it's difficult to believe what they're saying could be lies. It's difficult to believe that they would sow discord among brethren. It's difficult to believe that they would cause division within the body of Christ. So, we have to be on guard. Some things are more obvious than others. Some things we don't know until we truly examine the fruit. And sometimes it's not until we're right in the middle of it, right in the middle of a crisis or a trial or a problem. We have to be able to look at the fruits of how is this person conducting himself right now? Is he telling the truth? Is he being kind and loving? Or is he trying to tear someone's reputation down? What kind of approach is he taking? Is he breaking biblical principles? These are things that we have to be aware of. We have to be looking at the fruits.

We really do need to beware, it says. Beware of false prophets. You have to beware of them. Hopefully, 1995 taught us to beware.

I took some people by surprise. Not everyone was beware of what was happening. Some accepted false teaching. Some hopped on that train. That long black train that leads to nowhere. Others were able to see through the great delusion. It was a great delusion that came upon God's church back at that time. I'm not necessarily saying it was THE great delusion, but it was certainly a great delusion. People bought into the lie. They followed the false prophets, the false teachers who were attempting to do away with God's law of love and God's law of true freedom. They were describing it, in some cases, as that old slave law. I heard ministers referring to it as the old slave law, talking about God's commandments. The old slave law. I heard them even quoting Martin Luther King saying, Free at last! Free at last! Free from that old slave law.

That's a deceptive message that's out there. There are many religions that believe the law has been done away. That's a long black train. You don't want to get on that train. Some of us were singing, and we were desperately clinging to the song, How Love, I Thy Law, It is Ever With Me. It is my meditation all the day long. It's a good thing we were clinging to that song, because that was the narrow path. That was the narrow path. We have to be able to discern these things and make the right choices. Look at the fruits of the prophets and teachers. Look at their lives. Are they living by every word of God? Are they keeping God's commandments? Are they teaching and living through unity? Or are they causing division and sowing discord among God's people? Are they attempting to tear down, as I mentioned before, someone's reputation? Are they casting doubt upon God's true servants? What kind of an approach are they taking? What kind of a public persona, perhaps, are they doing? Are they using the Internet in ways that are devious and that are wrong? These are things that we have to be able to discern.

So don't follow someone who claims to be a minister of righteousness, but he's leading rebellion. He's leading a rebellion against God and His truth in his way. You shouldn't follow someone that's going down that path. That's a long black train.

So these are all good questions. I think they're very legitimate questions that we should ask ourselves. We don't know what's going to happen in the future. We need to all be prepared. Let's go on to the next section. I don't think I even read all of that one, did I? Verse 17, Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Eventually, the bad fruit shows up.

Often times it's bad right away, but sometimes maybe it's good and maybe someone is a true servant of God. But then they get on that long black train. And they start doing that which is evil and that which is wrong. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. So if they start bearing bad fruit, then something's gone astray. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them. You have to look at the fruits. So yes, we have to discern righteous judgment, don't we? We can't stick our heads in the sand. We can't be like the ostrich who sticks his head underneath the sand and can't see what's happening around him. We have to be active Christians.

Alright, let's read the next section. Verse 21, 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. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. So that's a part of the fruit, isn't it? Someone who's practicing lawlessness. Whatever law it is, I mean, the Scripture tells us clearly that we have to follow all of God's laws. The book of James talks about if you don't murder but you're committing adultery, you're guilty of breaking God's law. You come under the death penalty. And we should not follow people in those ways. No matter what it is, no matter what direction, if it's all going in the wrong direction to the abyss, to the lake of fire, then you have to have enough sense not to go down that path.

So the litmus test is, are you doing the Father's will that is clearly revealed in the Word of God? That's the litmus test. Are you doing the Father's will? How would God have you behave? What decisions would He have you make? It's important to be close to God so you can have that kind of discernment. Again, ask for more of His Spirit to help you make these decisions that need to be made.

If someone is working iniquity, no matter what kind of iniquity or sin or evil it is, don't follow them. Refuse to follow them. Don't go down that path. Refuse to hop on. Again, don't hop on one of these long black trains.

Let's go on to the next section. Verse 24, Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, and He's not talking about just the last few verses that we've been covering today, but He's talking about all of the verses that we've covered in the last ten sermons, the last ten sermons that I've given on the Sermon on the Mount. That's what He's talking about. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, I'm sorry, therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, all of these sayings and wherever Christ has sayings, not just the Sermon on the Mount, everything that Christ says. The whole Bible, you know, we believe that Christ primarily was the God of the Old Testament, not that God the Father didn't have an active role as well, and He has revealed in the pages of the Old Testament that Christ also came to reveal the Father. I and my Father are one. So the entire word of God, it is all of Christ's sayings, but the Sermon on the Mount capsulizes much of what this is all about. That's why it's so important. That's why I've taken all these sermons to discuss the Sermon on the Mount. So whoever hears these sayings and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. A wise person built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. And of course, that rock, spiritually, is Jesus Christ. Christ is our Savior. He is the Messiah. We come to know the Father through His Son. The Father calls us to His Son. His Son further reveals Him. It's a wonderful, wonderful plan that God has put into motion. When we give honor to Christ, we give honor to the Father. Automatically. When we give honor to the Father, we give honor to Christ. They're completely unified, and they set the example for us in what unity is all about.

But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them... OK, you've heard these sayings. We've gone through them, and... In the sermon on them out in detail. You've heard these sayings. So if you go out and build your house on the sand, then who do you have to blame?

Who do you have to blame?

If you have ears to hear, then hear. If you have eyes to see, see clearly what God is saying to you and to me. Everyone who goes out and builds on the sand is a foolish man. And the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and it beat on that house. And great was its fall. It was a great and terrible fall. Don't build your house on the sand. That's like hopping on a long black train, leading to nowhere.

And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished. They were astonished at His teaching. I hope you've been astonished by His teaching. I've been astonished. It's great teaching. I've enjoyed talking about the Sermon on the Mount, giving these sermons.

He taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes, but one who truly had authority from God Himself, from God the Father. Christ had the authority. Jesus Christ was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was there in the Old Testament. He was the one who created all things.

He taught as one who had authority because He had all authority. So many godly principles are brought out in the Sermon on the Mount. How many principles have we discussed in eleven sermons? We've discussed at least six major principles today. If we average six every sermon, there's something like 66. Not 666, but 66. There are a lot of principles that we've covered. There are many, many godly principles upon which to build our lives. We have discussed them in some detail. So, brethren, I would suggest that you go back and listen to these sermons from time to time. If you found them boring, then the problem was with you.

I'll clearly state it was with you because all I've been doing is teaching God's Word. If that's boring to you, then you have a problem. And you should address it.

I would suggest you go back and listen to these sermons from time to time. But more importantly, be sure you're living by these principles that we've discussed and that are revealed in the Sermon on the Mount. By our Lord and by our Master Jesus Christ. He is the rock that we should follow and build our lives upon. He is our faithful engineer. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the captain of our salvation. He is the chief cornerstone. He is the firm foundation. He is the rock upon which we should build our lives. Or upon whom we should build our lives. If you want to build your spiritual house on the rock, then take heed to what Jesus Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount.