Your Decision
Matthew 7:13-29
Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that there are only two ways to live: His way, and the way of the world. As Jesus concluded His sermon, He challenged people to make a choice. It is a choice everyone must make. Will you choose to build your life on Jesus and His teachings, or will you build your life on worldly standards?
Jesus taught that the gate to eternal life is narrow and may not be easy, but it is true and right and leads to heaven. A person must accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to enter and follow the narrow way. It demands submission to God and self-discipline. The gate to hell is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose to follow the easy way, which makes no demands and leads to eternal separation from God.
False teachers were common in Bible times just as they are today. Jesus warned the people to beware of the false teachers who sound religious but are motivated by money, prestige, or their own ideas. Their teachings minimize Christ and glorify themselves. Jesus said you can identify them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. Good trees produce good fruit. Bad trees are destroyed because they produce bad fruit. The way a person or a tree is identified is by the fruit they bear. Believers should know the Scriptures so they will be able to discern when someone is a false prophet.
There are people who talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk. They sound religious and may even call on the Lord, tell others about the Lord, cast out demons, and do other miracles in His name – but they don’t follow and obey the Lord. People will not be saved because they say the right words. Real faith is expressed in obedience to God. If people have not been obedient to God’s will, on the Day of Judgment Jesus will declare He never knew them.
Jesus ended His sermon with the parable of two builders. He knew that some people would become true disciples. He compared them to the wise builder who built his house on a rock. They would make His teachings the foundation of their lives, so when the storms of life came, they would stand strong.
He knew that most would hear but not accept Him as Savior. He compared them to the foolish builder who built his house on the sand and when the storms of life came, their lives would collapse.
Our responsibility is to help others stop and think about where they are headed in life and to explain the consequences of ignoring the message of salvation.
Johnston– Lessons in the BSL series for the fall quarter are being written by Virginia Johnston, a member of First Baptist Church, North Charleston, where her husband Dan is pastor.