string(7) "m-66998" Burnt Hickory Baptist Church

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Jul 25, 2021

Final Wise Choices

Final Wise Choices

Passage: Matthew 7:13-29

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Sermon On The Mount

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: faith, sermon, salvation, sermon on the mount, matthew 7, right and wrong, accept christ, how to be saved, bible truth, bible verses on faith, am i going to hell?, how to accept jesus, be saved from hell, does truth matter, jesus is lord of life, foundation on jesus, final choice, be saved today, be saved bible verse, how to have faith in god, how to have faith in jesus, ask jesus for forgiveness

This week as we conclude the sermon on the mount, we reflect on Jesus’ closing to his sermon delivered in Matthew 7:13-29. We see that we have an ultimate decision to acknowledge Jesus as Lord of our life, or to reject him. Either the path that is straight and narrow, or the wide one that leads to destruction and to a very real eternity in hell. As we look that the fork in the road, we see in scripture that we need to choose wisely our influences and set our foundation on Jesus. You see, we can know Jesus, but until He knows us, we are lost. We can look past this harsh reality in scripture and see it as a wonderful offering of salvation, all we have to do is believe. Are there influences in your life that are not pointing you to Christ? Are you comparing the things you are being taught against biblical truth? Do you know, profess, and believe in Jesus being the Lord of your life? Reach out to us today with any questions, we’d love to talk to you about accepting Jesus as your savior – burnthickory.com/next.

Good morning church, it is good to be in the house of the Lord. Amen. It is good, it is good. I am super excited about this morning. But on the other end, I'm kind of a little bit sad about this morning because we today God willing, we're going to close up our series today on the greatest message ever preached by the greatest preacher, Jesus, and it's the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5, 6 and 7, Jesus has given us this incredible text that we can really set our lives and set our gaze on to honor Him and to honor others. Well, this morning, if we had to kind of give today, a title for Jesus's final landing spot in this message, it would just simply be three words, and it would be Final Wise Choices. In fact, if you have a copy of the Bible today, if you've got an app, would you fire that up, would you get with me to Matthew chapter 7, and we are going to jump into the second half of this chapter today. And I just want you to, in your mind, think about this; Jesus at this moment in the Sermon on the Mount, He is landing the plane, He's getting to His conclusion. And if I remembered anything from English class at all, is that your intro and your conclusion better be good. Its better wrap everything together, tie a bow around it and send you out wanting to come for more. Well think about this. Jesus is talking to all of these people. And he's getting to this final moment in this conversation in the Sermon on the Mount. And he's doing something incredible with these guys, and their minds are blown. Because if you've been with us throughout this summer, or if you've ever read the Sermon on the Mount, you'll remember that these people had never heard what Jesus is saying. These things that their having in their minds and being put into their lives. They go really countercultural, they're not something that our broken spirits would just come up with on our own, and their minds are blown. They're leaning in, they're hearing the final words of what Jesus has given on this message and catch this, they're not even ready to fill in the last blank of their notes and leave during the invitation. They want to know what's happening. They're leaning into Jesus's final message and Jesus has said a lot. If you remember back over the sermon of these three chapters, what we've been given by Matthew in the Bible is really just the executive summary, if you would.

If you're old school like me, it's probably just the cliff notes. Or if you're new, it's the spark notes or whatever you're reading now. It's really what the Holy Spirit would have us dial into, to be able to live what we've said every week to live this flourishing life, this life that God has offered to us. Now, that's an incredible statement. Because here's what I want you to realize, we have spent nine weeks as of today, walking through three chapters in the Bible, and we haven't covered everything, but what God has given us has absolutely had the chance to change your lives. Well, Jesus gets to this moment in the Sermon on the Mount. And He's drawing down this moment. And He's looking at you and He's looking at me and He's saying this; you have to make some decisions. You've got to make some calls; you've got to make some final exclusive wise choices. And He boils it down to this, that either you're going to make by living your life one way, or you're going to make by just your life drifting another way. You see, here's what I know about you and me. We don't normally drift towards God. In our hearts, we drift away from God. So, what Jesus at the end of this message is doing is He's given His readers and He's given us this command to point our eyes to fix our focus to set our gaze on who Jesus is. And I need you to know that this is not just a nudging from Jesus. We're not just inferring this. Jesus is commanding you and He's commanding me He's a commanding His readers that were under Him that were listening to Him that you need to make a decision. You got to make a choice. But I want you to know this is not the first place in the bible that this comes up. You see, if you go back to Joshua Chapter 24. Joshua tells us real plainly in verse 15, that you need to choose today which God you're going to serve. And in fact, in Proverbs chapter 1, it tells us that Solomon tells us that either you're going to choose the path of the righteous, or you're going to choose the path of the wicked, you're going to choose one or the other, he says. Proverbs 15 says, you're going to choose the way of the slacker, or choose the way of the upright. But I love what God says in Deuteronomy 30. I put this on the screen for you. God says this. "I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now," God just says, "choose life so that your children may live, and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life." So, what we're seeing in Matthew 7 is that Jesus is taking this opportunity to drive this old truth home and that truth is this. We can't live pleasing both sides, we just can't. So, Jesus draws this line in the sand and says, you're going to make a decision. And it's going to set the course of your life here on this earth. But it's also more importantly, it's going to set the trajectory for your eternity. That's what we're about to see. So, I just need you to know this morning, upfront, that we're about to look at one of the heaviest and one of the most direct passages in the whole New Testament where Jesus looks at you and Jesus looks at me and says, Listen, you can't live both ways. You can't. In fact, you need to make a decision. And by not making a decision, you're making a decision.

Jesus gives us four choices I want to look at this morning in the text. Number one, Jesus says this. He says that you need to choose wisely, your path. What Jesus does in verse 13, in His final message of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus presents to us that on this path of life that we're on, there's really only two distinctions when you think about it. There is a wide path in that there is a narrow path, He says there's really only two directions, and those directions is the wrong direction, or it is the right direction. And He really says that there's just two distinctions. And then the distinction is, there's a path that leads us to destruction. But there's also catch this, there's a path that leads us to life. The joyous life to full life to everlasting life and that's the life that Jesus wants to give us. But when I say that I know there's tension. I know there's tension, because we've been conditioned not to think of things in absolutes. We've been conditioned to think of things that don't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive. We've been conditioned to think that we can really and truly just remain on the fork of life and never choose a team. But Jesus today is about to show us that there is no Universalist thinking in the Bible. It's just not there. And then Jesus is showing us that there is a direct and a distinct path, listen to me, that leads to specific places. Look at the text. So, I want you to see the decision here, when He says you got to choose your path. Look at verse 13. Jesus says this, He says, "Enter," alright, now that's a command. Alright? That's a command. That doesn't mean come later, Jesus is saying, hey, you need to come now. Not when you get the wildness out of you. Not when you finally break up with that person. Not when you get the college out of you, or you just want your kids to have a little Jesus later on. Jesus says, enter. Keep going. "Enter through the narrow gate."

Now which gate is Jesus calling us to walk through? That's good. There's six of us that are on the same team here, narrow, that's fabulous that we're going to get there. I'm telling you we are narrow. He's calling us to enter the narrow gate. Keep going, "For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." So how many people walk through the wide gate? Many, woohoo we're there, many. Alright, verse 14. "But small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life."

Now that life is the flourishing life, that's what we've been created to be. That's who we've been created to live. That is the fullness of how you can be a human being and a child of God. Keep going. "But small is the gate, narrow is the road that leads to life. And only a few find it." Now I want to take just a minute. And I want to show you and describe to you the two paths because the two paths are important. And you need all the information given to make the decision. What path Are you going to walk on? The first path is the well-traveled road. It's the well-traveled road. And I want to describe it how Jesus described it. Jesus says that this road is broad, that this road is popular, that this road is beat down, that this road is incredibly attractive, that this road is where most people are walking, it is well known ideologically. So, for thinking about in our minds, this path is, this wide path is not narrow, in its thinking. In other words, this wide path that is open minded, and it is all inclusive. Alright? This path morally, it's not restrictive, this path says hey, you can pretty much be who you want to be, you can do what you want to do. As long as that's where your heart is drawing you. And it doesn't hurt anybody. Right? His path spiritually, when we look at this path, the well-traveled, it's inclusive of all thoughts, and it's inclusive of not restricted in any behaviors, as long as I'm not hurting anybody, spiritually, when we think about this wide path, let me describe it how Jesus does, he would say, that it's inclusive of all thoughts, as long as they're from my heart. And really those people that are on this path, all right, they would all look together and say that there's many ways on this path, you can kind of go where you want to, just look up the mountain, and whether you're right or left or forward or backward, eventually the grace of God, this path would tell us that, eventually you're going to all get to the right place. But also, this well-traveled path, it's not a new path. I need you to feel this. It's an ancient path. It's been around for a long time. Actually, it's been around on this earth since Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter three, we have God has created an incredible paradise for us to walk in, in a perfected Earth. We are sinless. But there's only one thing he said don't do. But what did Satan say? He came in tempted in Genesis three, one, listen to what Satan said to Eve, he said, Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? This is where this path came from? You know why? Because at that moment, Satan said to Eve, hey, I know God said this, but really isn't the path bigger than that? Can't you just kind of do this. And when you feel like it, just kind of come back over here. You see, here's my heart in this, I want you to hear it. This wide. This well-traveled path. Pay looks beautiful from the outside looking in. It really does. And it looks like it would fulfill you. But here's the problem with it. Those people that are on it don't realize the finality of it. And they don't realize what the destination of that path and where is it going to take them that is the path well-traveled. But the second path that Jesus tells us is it's the road less traveled. It's the road this Less Traveled now, this path. This is the one of Jesus, this is the road that not only leads to Jesus, but this is Jesus's row. This is the path that he's been describing all through the Sermon on the Mount. It's been all of five in Matthew chapter five, in Matthew chapter six, in the first part of seven, where Jesus has looked at you and he's looked at me and said, hey, there is a path to flourish. And let me give it to you. What does the Bible say about this path? Look at it in verse 14, again, it says this, but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life. And only it says if you find it, now what does that mean? That means that this road that is less traveled, okay, I need you to hear that less traveled.

Maybe it has a really small opening, really small. Now there's some people that say that it doesn't, but I'm going to show you that the path that is less traveled, it has a really small opening. Isn't this what Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." Acts 4:12 is another example. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there are no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Another example how small of a path is 1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people." I just need you to feel it, there is a very small opening onto the path that leads to Jesus. Also on this path, this path is not only hard to get on to, or small to get on to, but this path is narrow once you get on to it, it's narrow. Well, Matt, you're not really talking people into anything. Not my problem. This is Jesus talking, right? You see, it sounds harsh. But once you get into the path through Jesus, right? This pathway does not put into our minds that you can just do what you want to this pathway is really confined. And here's what it means. It's not only exclusive, but it's restrictive. It's a restricted path, we're on a path to a place. And Jesus tells us right here that it's a difficult path. It's hard. What does that mean? That means sometimes on the pathway that's narrow there’s suffering. Sometimes there's questions. Sometimes there's things that we don't understand. But listen, I just want you to know that it's going somewhere. It's going somewhere. What else does Jesus say about this narrow path? He says that only a few people find it. Only a few find it. Man Matt, this is getting heavy. Wow, the doom and gloom! Well, look, you can either see this whole message as doom and gloom, or you can see it as an offer for true life.

That's what He's given us. It's not gloom and doom. This leads, listen real closely, this narrow path leads to life. And it leads to life that the wide path will promise to give you, but it never will. It will always pull up short. It will always leave you; it will always turn on you, and the people that are on the wide path, they might look really good for a moment. But it isn’t going to last. It's not going to last. Here's the piercing question. Which path are you walking on? Because there's only two. There’re only two paths. Jesus has told us, choose wisely. The path, listen to me, you can't stand on both paths at the same time. Doesn't work. Number two, Jesus says this. Jesus says, choose wisely your earthly leaders and influences. Choose wisely. Those people that you let influence you. And those people that you cling on to what is Jesus saying? He said, Hey, the path matters. All right. Why? Because the narrow path is the one that leads to me. But it's not just the path. It's also who is it that is speaking into your life? Who is it that is influencing your life, and I love what Jesus is saying? He's saying, hey, you need to make sure the people that are influencing you are influencing you in the direction of the narrow path and not in the direction of the wide path. Well, Matt, how do I know you're about to see it in just a minute? Because Jesus answers it for me.

Listen real closely to me. People influence us every day without us knowing it. You say, Matt, how do you know that? Listen to two-year-old sing songs. Sometimes they got no idea what they're talking about. But what's coming out of their mouth is like, Oh, my. It's the influence of the world. And I love what Jesus does here because I can almost in my sanctified imagination, just dream, like think of Jesus just leaning in and going hey, sometimes those people look really, really good, but just give it time. Just give it time. But this is not a new message. Jesus talks about this later on. In Matthew 23. Jesus says, hey, there's false messiahs and false prophets, they're going to appear, and they're going to perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. In other words, even those inside the church who know Jesus, but here's the question, who is influencing you? And how do you know when they're influencing you? Well, Jesus answered it. But I need you to know when he talks about false prophets. He's not talking about somebody walking around with a staff in a robe, right? He's talking about all influences that are in our lives. In fact, look at what Jesus does right here. Because He tells us how to identify false prophets. Look at verse 15. He says this, "Watch out." That's the second command, right? The first one was to enter, now He's saying, watch out. Watch out, in other words be on your guard for false prophets. Then look what Jesus says. He says, they come. They come. The question is not will they come? We've already answered that. Yes, they will. The question is, how will these false prophets come? They never come telling you the whole story. They never come with your interests. at best. They never come in the daylight that never come when things are going well, and they're going to look good. Watch what he says right here. "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." In other words, they might look like a poufy little, no harm sheep that is useful for a lot of things. But inside of those people, all they will do when given the chance is devour you. That's what Jesus is saying. I love this, because Jesus does about three things here, in this text kind of knowing some of the history. I mean, the first thing he kind of does is he looks at this and goes, hey, false leaders, they always look like sheep. They always look harmless, and they always just look like, Awe, look at that, I want to pet it, I want to be with it. I want to just snuggle up to it, right? He also is looking at the Pharisees at this moment, out of the corner of his eyes, because they would only wear pure wool. And He was looking over at them going, Hey, and those guys. But third, He's giving us an incredible principle here. And I want you to write this down. He's telling us that we've got to get beyond the external facade of people. And we've got to start examining where their heart is pointing us towards. That's what Jesus is saying. He's saying look, you can look at people all the time you can be drawn to people, they can be the most put together, incredibly beautiful life ever. But if their heart is not pointing you towards Jesus, then they are a false prophet. They are a false prophet; it's what Jesus says. But how do I know who they are? Verse 16. He answers the question, "By their fruit, you will recognize them.

Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. And a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." Verse 20. "Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them." How do we recognize the evil influences in our life fruit? Is it something that is pointing us to Jesus? Or is it something that is pointing us away from Jesus? It is incredibly clear. I love how D.A. Carson says it. He says this, and I quote, "The False Prophet is anyone who does not advocate the narrow way presented by Jesus." Now pay close attention because what is it asking us to do? It's asking us to test every information that is given to us through the lens of Scripture. It's asking us to test every leader that is in front of us through the lens of what Jesus would have us do and who Jesus would have us be. It's asking us to test every word in the light of who Jesus is, and what Jesus has called us to do. This is why every single week you will hear come out of my mouth standing right here, take out your Bibles, fire up your apps, compare everything, I beg you to compare every single thing that is said from this place in the light of Scripture. Compare it, but I also beg you listen to me closely, to compare everything anyone else says to you in the light of Scripture, and if it doesn't line up, run. Why? Because it may look fluffy, but it's a wolf. It's a wolf. It's what He's saying. Choose wisely, who is speaking into your lives, eventually they will turn on you, they're going to turn on you, I promise you. There’re two things about false teachers that Jesus says here. The first one is, He says that they will eventually be detected, they'll eventually be detected. If you know this, you followed people in your life that eventually you've seen like a man, they'll eventually be detected and it's either by the scriptural test, or the practical test, doctrinal test or practical test in one way or the other. But He also says that these false teachers will eventually be destroyed. And I know that doesn't sound really sensitive, but it's just the path they're on. That's where it leads them. They can't help it. It's just where they've chosen to walk. Look at verse 19, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Let me just be as honest and sincere as possible. Who are you allowing to speak into your life? Not only that, what influences are just oozing into your life? What is Jesus saying? We got to choose wisely. Choose wisely, who. Number three, not only does He say choose your path. Choose the narrow path, choose your influence point towards Jesus. But number three, He says this, and these two are shorter I promise you. He says choose wisely your Lord. Choose wisely your Lord. Listen to me. You have a lord in your life. The question is Who? The question is who is the Lord? This is such a massive thing all the way through the Bible. Right? The whole Old Testament points towards the Lordship of Jesus. The whole gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John point towards us watching Jesus’ learning from Jesus, the epistles, all of the letters are pointing back to the Lordship of Jesus. I love what Adrian Rogers says about the Lordship of Jesus. He says, "You don't make Him Lord. He's already Lord. You just recognize it." Man, I love that. Some of us think we have the audacity to name Him Lord, He is Lord, whether we name it or not. That's what He's saying right here to just identify your life connected to him. But let's see what Jesus says about this lordship decision. But listen, I'm just going to warn you now, you thought the week on judging was rough, get ready for what's about to happen. Because we're about to step into some waters here that some of you are going to have a problem with, because I know that there are people listening to this message that are not sure if they believe or not that one day that people are going to be separated from God. There are people listening to that. And if they do believe it, they believe it will only be the most grotesque sinners on this planet. But listen, I need you to hear, and I need you to feel what Jesus is saying. And then I want to read what Jesus is saying, okay? What Jesus is saying right here is there are many people out there that have said the word Jesus that I've identified who Jesus is, there are so many people out there that have even said that he is Lord and even done things in his name that are not going to end up being with Jesus for eternity. Now, on one side, that is an incredibly scary message. But I want you to hear how Jesus says it right here. Look at verse 21. He says, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones who do the will of the Father who is in heaven." Many of your scariest verse to ever preach in the Bible. Let's be honest. "Many of you will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not perform many miracles?" Verse 23, "Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. One of the most haunting verses in the whole Bible, verse 22, and 23. Why? Because the question is not do I know Jesus? The question is, does Jesus know me?

That's the question. See, this completely flips the script on easy believe Islam. And it looks at you and it looks to me, here's the hair, I want you to write this down. It looks at us and gives us this principle. We can profess Jesus as Lord without knowing Jesus as Lord. The result is shown by a transformed and obedient life. That's exactly what it says. Matt, what do you mean by that? The Bible tells me to confess Jesus as Lord and I'm saying, no, no, no you missed the second half of the verse. It says, confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that belief is an active belief as in which you are purified, you are forgiven, and Christ is now your King. This is what he told us right here in the text. Check it out in verse 21, "only the ones who does the will the Father, who is in heaven." Who are the ones who does the will of the Father? Those are the ones who have absolutely submitted their lives to the Lordship of Jesus, and He has washed them clean, He has forgiven them, He has given them new life. These aren't people that just recognize who Jesus was walking down the road. These aren't people who just happen to have been at church on Easter or Sunday, or even listening to a message on the Sermon on the Mount. These are people who come to a point in their life where they realize their brokenness, they realize that He is the Savior and I have submitted control and the forgiveness of my sins onto the man named Jesus. Look at the last verse, verse 23. Look at how he describes these people, "Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" Let me give you an incredible truth. I want you to hang your life on God will never call his children evil. Why? They've been washed. So don't look at this as gloom and doom. It's not. Because what has God done right here? He's offered us kingship. He's offered us to become His. He's telling us right here, make me the Lord. And you will walk with Me.

See, when we read this through a carnal mindset, we see this as one of the most divisive, one of the harshest, one of those difficult texts ever. But when you see this as an escape, no one ever complains about being gifted an escape. That's what He's done. Here's the question. Who is your Lord? Do you know about Jesus? Or do you know, Jesus? Here's the fourth thing really quick. Choose wisely your foundation. What does Jesus do here? I love it. Because Jesus begins to talk about what we're building our lives on. And He basically looks at us and says, look, you can build your life on money, and you can build your life on dreams and family and love and all this stuff, but that's not it. He jumps into the story about these two men. And these two men are strikingly similar in the story right here. They both heard the same message. They both heard the same gospel, they both built essentially the same house around the same place. They both built a nice house. But the problem is the only thing that differentiated between the two of them is what they built the house on. It all looks the same until something happened. Watch this, verse 24. Jesus says, "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, the winds blew and beat against the house, yet it did not fall because its foundation was 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 the sand. The rain came, the streams rose, the winds blew, and beat against that house, same storm, same message. But it fell with a great crash. Now we know the great crashes, right? Life events, deaths, divorces, job loss, cancers. But that's not what it's talking about. It's talking about the final storm. In other words, here's the deal. Unless our foundation is built on the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we will not stand in the end. That's what Jesus is saying.

Now, look, I get it. This is heavy. We can view it through, that is the most dogmatic, that is the harshest thing I've ever seen. You have the right to do that. Or you can look at it as the most generous offer that has ever been made to you. You see the difference? People all the time are like that is so harsh. I think it's one of the most beautiful offers ever made. Why? Remember when our kids were young?

When they took off towards the road what would you do in their lives, to stop them from getting into that road? You would run, you would scream, you would holler, you would tackle them. If need be. What is Jesus doing? He's doing the same thing. Why? Because when my kids were young, and I did that, I could see things from a different perspective than they can see things, right? What is Jesus, the Maker of the heavens and the earth doing for us in this passage? He's looking at all time and all places in all people and He's saying this to us? Who don't understand?

You don't understand? Get on the narrow path. Make me your Lord, make me your foundation? Because I know what's coming. I don't know about you. But I want the one on my team that knows what's coming. That's what Jesus is saying. Matt, it just seems to me, I know it it's coming this week for somebody, just seems to me that Jesus is trying to scare the hell out of people. Well, maybe, maybe on one side? They don't clap for that. Don't know, don't get me don't know. We don't got time for that we got to go. Maybe, but maybe we flip it the other way. And say we would be so much more frightened if we can see how He says. And we would be so much more willing. If we could see what He sees. What does He see? He sees a small entry into a narrow path that leads to an incredible place where He is our foundation. He has grabbed us as our Lord and listen, it is no longer up to this guy. This guy. Here's the question this morning. I'm just going to put it on the table. Do you have a relationship with Jesus? Have you settled the Lordship decision? Have you? I can't talk you into it. I can't talk to you. I know that's the Spirit's job. But here's what I can do. I can make the offer. Listen to my voice, I can make the offer. Here's the offer. Do you need Jesus today? Do you need him today? right now. You say Matt, I don't know. I don't know how to do that. Here's how you do that, Jesus, I need you. I need you. I need you to come into my life and forgive my sins and be mine. And be mine. And I'll be yours. And we'll walk together on a foundation that you have provided. Would you bow your heads with me? Lord, today, I fully realized that we fall here into the category of the many people and the few people. And God, that's what keeps me up at night as a leader of this place. That there are people that are here that don't 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt, know, that they know that they know, that you are in their lives, and that they've surrendered their lives to you. You know with your heads bowed this morning; I just want to ask you something. Is that you? Have you played the church game long enough? Maybe today through a different light, something in your heart is drawing you to go, I need to give my heart to Jesus, I just need to make sure that He's mine.

I want to be one of the few. Hey, look, nobody's looking around today. But this is just what I want to ask you. If today, you want to make that decision to make sure that He is your Lord, would you do me this favor? Would you just raise your hand wherever you're at nobody but me is looking? Had a lot in the last services said Yeah, I need Jesus. I need to make sure that He is my Lord. That's what this passage is about. Is that you? Would you just raise your hand? I just want to pray. Okay, who else? All right. Who else? I just want to drive that in. I see you. Who else? Any others. All right. Come on. Yep. Keep going, who else? This is big. This is eternal. It's not something I'm talking you into. Something Jesus is saying, this is the path you need to walk. Listen, if that's you, I just quite simply in your spirit just want you to say this to the Lord. Lord, come into my life. I know you’re the Savior. I recognize that you have died for my sins. Forgive me and be mine. Thank You, Jesus for coming into my life. And if you're online with us, we just ask you to reach out to the next steps. But I just want everybody to look at me for a minute. If that, was you, in just a minute, we're going to stand up, we're going to have some time of worship? And this is what I'm going to ask you to do. This is going to be bold; I get it. It's bold. It's not where we've been for a long time. I want to ask you just wherever you're at, to get up, to walk, however you need to, to get right over here to this next step sign. And I want you to look at the person that's standing there and just say this to them. I just met Jesus for real. And they'll do everything else. They want to pray with you. They want to encourage you; they want to talk to you. This matters for the rest of you. Maybe you need to look at your foundation, your path and who's influencing you this morning. This is what the rest of this times is for. For those of you that gave your life to Jesus, now's the time to test the Lordship. He's not Lord if you're not willing to walk at some point in your life.

Lord, walk with us, Jesus. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Let's stand together. Those of you who made that decision. Come on, let's talk.

Follow Along with the Message

Final Wise Choices

July 25, 2021

Deuteronomy 30:19–20
19 …I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,…
4 Wise Choices from Jesus

1. Choose wisely your .

Matthew 7:13–14
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Two Paths

1a. -traveled road

Genesis 3:1
“...Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

1b. Road traveled

Matthew 7:14
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Acts 4:12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
1 Timothy 2:5–6
5 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people…

2. Choose wisely your earthly leaders and .

Matthew 23:24
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Acts 20:28–31
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard!
2 Peter 2:1–2
1But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
1 John 4:1
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Matthew 7:15
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

Principle: We have to get beyond the external of people and start examining what their heart is pointing towards.

Matthew 7:16–20
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

“The False Prophet is anyone who does not advocate the narrow way presented by Jesus.”
— D. A. Carson

2 Things Jesus Says about False Teachers

2a. False teachers will always be .

2b. False teachers will be eternally .

Matthew 7:9–12
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

3. Choose wisely your .

“You don't make Him Lord. He's Lord already. You just recognize it.”
— Adrian Rogers

Matthew 7:21–23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!

Principle: We can Jesus as Lord without truly knowing Jesus as Lord. The true result is shown by a transformed and obedient life.

4. Choose wisely your .

Matthew 7:24–27
24 “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. 25 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. 26 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. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his…
Matthew 7:28–29
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Additional Notes

 

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