These Words

Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 8:18 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:

Just a Closer Walk with Thee / Unknown

I am weak, but Thou art strong,

Jesus, keep me from all wrong,

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 7 (quoting vv. 24-29 NIV 1984):

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

What Words?

Jesus was probably referring to these specific words he had just spoken in what is commonly referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount.” Yet, I believe we can take this to include all instructional words Jesus spoke (all God-breathed words in scripture) for the edification, encouragement and strengthening of Jesus’ followers. Yet, what are these words he had just spoken?

He had just spoken words of blessing on those who are humble, contrite, repentant, submissive, mournful over all sin, thoughtful, kind, generous, forgiving, and restoring, who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who are merciful and compassionate, who are pure (honest; sincere) in heart, who lead others to peace with Jesus Christ (with God), and who are persecuted for the kingdom of God because of their testimony for Jesus Christ.

He had just expressed the importance of being effective in this world of ours in our testimony for Jesus Christ both by how we live our lives, and by our words. If we are hiding our lights (of the gospel) and we are not sharing our faith, and/or if we are not living what we profess, then we are not very effective for God’s kingdom work.

He also communicated how all the law and the prophets pointed to Jesus Christ, so he is, thus, the fulfillment of all that was written in the Old Testament, some of which is yet to be fulfilled. So, we are not done with the Old Testament, for it still speaks God’s truths to our hearts, yet all must now be interpreted through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and his ultimate purpose in coming to earth to save us from our sins.

He addressed the issue of how some Biblical truths were being taught on a surface level only, or of how what was being taught was not a complete picture of the underlying principles behind the laws, such as he taught how we murder others when we hold on to hate, resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness (anger) against them in our hearts, and how we commit adultery when we lust (longingly) after another person who is not right for us to have, whether the lust is emotional only or is sexual in nature.

He, as well, discoursed on how we need to not be hypocritical by doing our “righteous acts” before men so that we can receive their praise, such as not announcing our giving to the needy, not praying in public for the purpose of being seen of men, not pontificating in our speech or in our prayers in order to sound spiritual, and not being showy about our fasting for the goal that others will be impressed. And, then he gave us the model for how we should pray (in what manner we should pray) – see Matt. 6:9-14.

He told of the importance of not stock piling a whole bunch of worldly and earthly stuff, which is not exclusive just to material possessions, but can include attitudes, behaviors, ways of thinking and believing, cultural norms, religious practices and traditions, et al, but that we should be stock piling what will have eternal value, such as love, kindness, generosity, obedience, holiness, godliness, surrender to God, tenderness, compassion, and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ so that others can come to know him, too.

He declared our need to stop worrying about everything, but to put our hope and trust in him for all things. If he can take care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, can’t he take care of us? Life is more important than all these things, and we cannot add a single hour to our lives by worrying, and in fact, we will probably cut our lives short. God knows all we need, and he will take care of us. We just need to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and he will provide all that we need to live this life on the earth.

He preached against hypocritical judging of others, i.e. if we look down on others, we reject or condemn them, and/or we try to correct them when we have much bigger sin issues in our own lives, hearts and minds with which we have not dealt at the cross of Christ. We should first repent of our own sins and make sure we are not giving way to sin in our own lives before we try to help others get rid of sin issues in their own lives (cf. Gal. 6:1).

He cautioned against sharing our pearls – the gospel, the words of Christ/God, and the pearls of godly wisdom, knowledge and understanding with those who have previously treated our pearls with disdain, rejection, scorn, hardened hearts, et al, lest they take what we share with them, and like vicious dogs chew us up one side and down the other.

He encouraged us that the treasures we have in Christ, such as righteousness, humility, purity, love, obedience, repentance, and the ability to act upon all that we have just heard, etc., is available to us for the asking. Jesus will not ask us to do anything but what he will give us all that we need to accomplish what he desires for our lives. Yet, we have to seek his face, we have to spend time on our knees in prayer, we have to listen to what he says, and we have to do what he shows us, and he will give us all we need to do all of that, too.

He exhorted us to understand that the Christian life is not the broad and wide road to heaven that many say that it is, but that it is narrow and restrictive, and few find it. The wide gate is inviting and accommodating so that more people will want to travel it, yet it is deceptive in that it does not teach the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The broad road says you don’t have to repent (turn from your sins) and you don’t have to obey Christ as a requirement for salvation, and God is pleased with you no matter what you do, so come and have fun. The narrow road says that if you want to come after Christ, you have to die to your old life of sin, you have to die daily, in fact, to self and to sin, and you have to follow Jesus in obedience and surrender to his will for your life. This path will involve much opposition, rejection and persecution, but it is the only one that leads to heaven.

He warned us, too, against those false teachers of the gospel who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They may have the appearance of being one of the sheep, i.e. they may try to make us believe they are one of us, and they may say all the right words in all the right ways, or seemingly so, yet they don’t teach the narrow way, i.e. they teach this false gospel that does not slay the sinner but that entertains him, as Tozer so eloquently put it. Jesus said we need to be discerning here by looking at all that these teachers say and do (their fruit), praying that the Lord Jesus will show us what is true and what is false, so we are not prey for their deception.

And, he strongly and emphatically expressed the reality that not everyone who thinks he is a Christian really is one, and that one day we will all have to stand before our Maker and to give an account for what we did with Jesus, with his words, and with the true gospel. Just because we say the right words and go through the seemingly correct motions, does not guarantee us eternity with God in heaven. We must come to Jesus Christ in genuine faith via his loving grace he provided for us through his death on the cross and through his resurrection, and we must turn from our sins, allow his Holy Spirit to change us into a completely new person, and then we must walk in obedience and surrender to our Lord.

Therefore

Jesus wants us to not just be hearers of the word only, but to be doers of the word. James put it this way (James 1:22-25):

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

Jesus said that if we put these words of his words in practice, we are wise, because we have built our house (lives) on a solid foundation (Jesus Christ). When the storms of life come crashing in, and/or when judgment falls, we will not fall, because our foundation is on the Rock, Jesus Christ, because we put his words in practice with all the strength and power of his Spirit working within us to do the will of God in our lives.

Yet, if we think that just saying words, or just going through the motions of religious practice or good deeds will get us to heaven, think again. We are saved by grace, through faith, and this is not of anything we can do to earn or to deserve our salvation, for it is a gift from God. Yet, it does not come without cost to us. We must leave our lives of sin behind us, and we must be transformed into completely new creatures in Christ Jesus, and we must follow him in obedience (not perfection) and surrender to his will for our lives if we want to survive in his judgment, and if we want to spend eternity with him in heaven.