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Key Verse: Matthew 7:24, ““Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
As we look at human history the word “authority” has been met with great opposition and resistance.
When Jesus came on the scene in His context you had two abusive authorities in power, roman occupation and religious authoritarian ism that said do what I say but not as I do. One was tyrannically abusive and the other spiritually, religiously abusive.
Jesus was totally different, speaking with authority.
What is your view when it comes to authorities? Good ones? Or Bad ones?
If someone speaks into your life and they are a trained, teachable, hard-working authority in the area in which they’re offering advise, they’re worth a listen. When it comes to the Bible we’ve got too many so called “tik-tok” theologians out there, and they have no authority. Just because someone says something doesn’t mean it’s true. Check it with Scripture, the inerrant, true, authoritative word of God.
Context (Matthew 7:1-29)
Jesus exhorts His listener and us to watch out for self-righteousness and live with humble grace coupled with biblical discernment. Based on our wonderful relationship with God we should treat others like we want to be treated, the intended meaning of the Mosaic law & prophetic writings. Jesus addresses ear-tickler teachers and false converts who say lord but don’t let Jesus be Lord of their lives.
Our lives must be built on the rock of Jesus, not sinking sand.
- Fruit (Matt. 7:15-20)
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
(v. 15) Heretics sound knowledgeable and like authorities on biblical matters, but in reality they are not and we need to beware them because they twist Scripture to support their own ideas, not God’s. Lifeway says, “False prophets can be hard to identify because they look and sound good. They seem to be part of the Lord’s flock, but they are wearing sheep’s clothing. Outwardly, they seem genuine, but Jesus described them as ravenous wolves. False teachers pursue their victims viciously, hunting susceptible prey.” Pastors are called upon to fight off the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
(vv. 16-17) False prophets have bad fruit. That’s how well recognize them. You can’t gather a different kind of fruit from a unique fruit group. It’s impossible. Same for false teachers. What you’ll get is what they are. Healthy trees show forth healthy fruit, and bad trees bad fruit.
Lifeway says, “Applied to false prophets, some genuinely godly teachers may be incorrect on occasion, but they do not intentionally deceive others. Conversely, phony prophets may say some things that appear true, but their motivation is rotten.” True teachers who honor God and who are the most effective for God are first and foremost teachable and willing to be corrected, not false teachers. That’s a clear determining factor between the two.
(vv. 18-19) We see the use of “Parallelism,” a literary method that creates emphasis, by repeating the same thought in different ways. Jesus emphasized-using the tree illustration that people healthy bear healthy fruit and unhealthy people, bad fruit. We can’t turn a blind eye to an unhealthy tree, because it will infect the healthy trees; to turn a blind eye to it is in some degree to give credence to it before others.
It’s important to understand that Jesus was not advocating works-based salvation in verse 19. Gospel: This isn’t works salvation. The gift of God’s grace in Jesus produces genuine fruit of His life. Ephesians 2:8-10, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” An appearance of goodness in a lost person doesn’t pull the wool over God’s eyes.
(v. 20) Scripture is the great evaluator of whether someone is false or true as a teacher, and when we pass what’s being said and done through the filter of Scripture we will have spiritual discernment to correct it, not self-righteous judgmental-ness.
Discussion: How can we better seek to live with spiritual discernment in our lives, and guard from overbearing judgmental-ness?
2. Obedience (Matt. 7:21-23)
I personally believe this is one of the most sobering passages of Scripture in the Bible.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
(v. 21) Jesus has covered how false prophets are identified and handled first; now He speaks to false converts, false believers. Those who claim salvation In the pews but have no genuine conversion, not genuine relationship with Christ. There is a claim from these individuals that “Jesus is My Lord,” based on their mighty works for the Lord, when in reality there’s no relationship there at all. They are blinded by all they are doing for God so much so that they’re missing out on the relationship with God whereby he does the works in and through them on the basis of His knowing of them. It’s an important subtlety for the Christian life.
Has there been a point of real submission to Jesus and His reign and control, and saving grace over one’s life, or did you just decide one day to start “living for God” “going to church” I decided that I’d be a saved person,” take caution. There’s a lot of people out there who have ideas about what salvation is that aren’t Bible-ideas, they’re man-made, me-made ideas. What does God say true salvation is? It’s raising the white flag of surrender to Him once for all.
John 1:11-12, “He came to his own,[a] and his own people[b] did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Acts 3:19; 16:31, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,.. And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
(v. 22) Biblical scholarship sees the Day of the Lord as His return, blessing for believers, and judgment for the unbelieving, unconverted. (see Acts 2:20; 1 Cor. 1:8; 1 Thess. 5:2-3; 2 Tim. 4:8).
Application: If you’ve never truly surrendered to Jesus and been converted, don’t let pride keep you from being saved today and escaping the Day of the Lord as a recipient of this judgement.
In Matt. 7:13-14, Jesus explains the surprise and terror-filled shock of those who’s hearts were never truly God’s. These individuals listened mistakenly and believed false teachers without discerning the biblical viability of their false gospel, and reaped the consequences for it according to Deut. 13:1-3.
They’ll even site miraculous activities and healings and casting out demons, but it’s still not good enough to save them. An exorcist who makes his life’s work casting out demons can be subtly tricked by those demons and the evil one to think he’s saved because of his ability to cast out demons per say-which seems to be a popular movie-making subject matter these days-, when someday he’ll realize it was a trick all along. He was relying on his “demon-casting-out-ing” rather than the finished work of Jesus on the cross. One man may have a pet sin he caudles for years while going to church Sunday after Sunday, even serving and think, he’s “ok;” when in reality his heart is calloused and his conscience seared, far from God. He’s ignoring the warning of, I John 3:9, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning [there’s something in him, really someone in Him, the Holy Spirit, that says, “Enough with this! I can’t take it anymore! This sin needs to be killed put to death in me immediately.], because he has been born of God.”
(v. 23) Jesus only knows them as their Creator and through his omniscience-His all-knowing-ness-but not in personal relationship. There’s a willful rejection of God’s commands and a willful choosing to ignore them and do one’s own thing. Real believers on the contrary structure their lives, choices, decisions, and priorities around obedient devotion to God.
3. Wisdom (Matt. 7:24-29)
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” 28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
(vv. 24-27) Using the final illustration of the foundations of the two houses, Jesus emphasizes in His conclusion the imperative importance of heeding what He has just preached, the whole message. There’s the hearing and obeying life that’s founded on the rock, and the hearing and not doing life founded on sinking sand. A little opposition, and the two are defined. Some double down in their disobedience, others will realize their foundation is faulty and acknowledge to God they’re not saved after all, repent, believe, and then share the good news of their conversion with their church family publicly in baptism. Maybe that’s you. Don’t let pride hold you back.
Jesus is our Rock: I Peter 2:7b, ““The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
(vv. 28-29) Jesus taught with astonishing authority, as He is the living Word made flesh Who dwelt among us. What a powerful, sobering moment of awe this must have been. We too must hold true to the authoritative conviction of the Word of God.
Invitation: I would encourage you as you teach this lesson to pray for your listeners, and eliminate distractions. I would also encourage you to urge your listeners that if there is uncertainty in their salvation, whether they would be welcomed into Heaven on the final day, that they need to make certain of in your group. I would encourage you to lead them in a prayer of salvation in the finished work of Jesus on the cross and to turn from any and all patterns of sin in their lives. Church attendance doesn’t cancel out ongoing sin, only the blood of Jesus Christ. I would also say this: No amount of Sunday School Lifeway Explore the Bible Lesson Teaching can cancel out the debt of sin we owe. Only the blood of Jesus can pay for your and my sin. And we need to make sure that we are headed for our eternal home in heaven based on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and our receiving of His gift of salvation personally, nothing else. Let’s teach the Bible always from a place of acceptance and grace and joy and excitement because of what Jesus has done for us, not just going through the motions or trying to earn favor from God. Jesus earned it all. “Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.” Hold forth the Word of Life this Sunday, and give folks a chance to respond.
Caleb Walker 
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