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“He who does the will”

Matthew 7:21-29

Proper 4a

May 29^th, 2005

Matthew 7:21-29

[Mt 7:21] “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. [22] “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? ’[23] “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

[24] “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. [26] “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. [27] “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

[28] When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; [29] for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord.’”

Both in these verses and in Matthew 25 we are told that simply calling Jesus, “Lord,” is not an automatic pass into God's kingdom. In these verses we are told very clearly that entering the Kingdom is for the one who; “Does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” To make someone Lord of my life means to put myself at his service and very few were tolerated less in Christ’s time than a person who took the Emperor’s seal but did not act on Emperor’s behalf. In short, I personally find that these words shake me to the core! How often, I cry out, “Lord, Lord,” then do only what I want.

The term for “will [NT2307 thelema]” means the desire or even a fire and comes from the root word for delight [NT2309 thelo]. This expression is much closer to the Hebrew understanding of God's will; to do the will of God is to do what delights [OT8378 taavah] God.

What is the will of the Father? What brings Him delight?

· God delights in obedience over sacrifice and ritual:

1 Samuel 15:22

Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”

· God is delighted by humility over pride;

Psalm 51:16-17

For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

· Jesus was God's delight;

Isaiah 11:1-4

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

But with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

In the same teaching, Jesus tells us what God despises: lawlessness. Yet, the focus of Jesus' anger was often on those who claimed to most adhere to Jewish law. It was the religious, the rulers, and the religious attorneys (scribes) that Jesus condemned.

So, what is lawlessness? We can understand it better if we understand what God despised:

· God hates the boastful, the false man who causes bloodshed and deceit;

Psalm 5:5-6

The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

· God hates worship without justice;

Isaiah 1:13-17

“Bring your worthless offerings no longer, incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.

· God hates empty ritual and praise in the midst of injustice;

Amos 5:21-23

“I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

Lawlessness then, is obviously not the lack of legality; it is the lack of compassion. It is crying, “Lord, Lord,” while the poor suffer hopelessly about us. To worship God, to follow Jesus, to make him Lord is to continue his singular mission in this world:

Luke 4:18-19

“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

God's will is not unclear; we know what God desires and what delights His heart:

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

In a time of comfort, complacency, and compromise we would like to think that all we need to do is say the right words, own the right bumper sticker, or wear the right t-shirt. It is this attitude that Christ confronts; “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

Does my cry of worship, “Lord, Lord,” lead me to do more justice, act more compassionately or live more humbly? If it does than I am in the will of God and the kingdom has taken root in my life.

“Thy kingdom will come when thy will is done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 7:24-27

“Hears these words of Mine and acts on them...”

Let's take a few of the words in this first section and examine the depth of their meaning:

· Hears [NT191 akouo]: We have studied this word multiple times and understand it to mean both to hear and to heed. We cannot call ourselves obedient if we just hear without heeding.

· Acts [NT4160 poieo]: Just to accent the heed part of hear, we are told we must act. This term doesn't mean; “try.” As in “I will try to do that.” It means to accomplish, even to become. This is the way God created us; we become how we act. We constantly instruct youth in our juvenile outreaches that you cannot think your way into new behaviors. We must act our way into new behaviors. To be a Christian is to act like one—not self righteous and pious—but compassionate and humble.

· Wise [NT5429 phronimos]: The root of wise [NT5426 phroneo] is an astounding word. It means far more than knowledgeable or smart. The word means to adopt a purpose, to feel concerned, and to live in harmony with those around you. This is the amazing promise of God, to act upon His will is to have purpose, to feel compassion and to live in harmony with those around us.

· House [NT3614 oikia]: The one who hears and acts is the person whose house will be unshakable. We have seen this word for house enough to understand that it is not just the word for dwelling. John also uses it in this verse: “In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you [Jn 14:2].”

We understand that the word is like the House [OT1004 bayith] of Jacob and it means descendents, or the children of Jacob. In its fullest form we could translate it like this: “A place or family where even my daughter (the most vulnerable of the Jewish tribe) could be raised in safety and the knowledge of the Lord.”

This was not just the word for a family (or God-forbid) an individual. This was the word for a people. That, in the family of God, all children would be eternally and spiritually safe from the worst storms and the chaos of life.

Romans 8:35-38

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

· Founded [NT2311 themelioo]: This is what it means to be founded on the rock; to hear and obey the will of God is to be a foundation to your family, your church, and your community. It is to be unshakeable in compassion, rooted in love, and passionate about service.

When I am hearing and acting on God's will, I do not need to call myself Christian; my family, the community where I live, my church (but mostly God) will call me a rock [NT4073 petra]. This, is the name Jesus called Simon [Mt 16:18] but we need to understand why. It wasn't because Peter was the perfect follower and never did anything wrong (far from it); it was because Peter was the first to call Jesus the Messiah:

Matthew 16:15-16

He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter recognized Jesus as Lord but really didn't “do what Jesus said” until his final commission from the Christ:

John 21:18-19

“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!”

Here is why Simon earned the nickname Peter, rock, foundation because—despite all his faults and failings—when Peter did fail it was beyond the edges where anyone else would venture. That's the kind of leader that God treasures. That's the kind of leaders we are called to be: we don't chase sheep; we lead them.

John 10:2-3

“But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

Will this generation find us to be a rock for them? Will we be a leader who offers them home, comfort, and a cup of cold water? That is the one Jesus calls wise.

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them...”

Let us again take a look at some of the critical words used in these verses:

Foolish [NT3474 moros]: This is the root of our word moron or even sophomore (wise fool). A “wise fool” is someone who knows what to do but doesn't do it. In speaking of foolishness, Christ also refers to the man who stored up treasures for himself in this life:

Luke 12:19-21

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Taken as a whole we can see the wise in God's way in contrast to the fool in this world. A wise man fills his life with compassion, service, and humility. A fool lives only for himself, he gets ahead and leaves shells of lives behind, he stores up treasures for himself only to find that the greatest assets in the world will not last a day after death.

“And the rain fell...”

A very important thing needs to be noted here; disaster fell on both the wise man and the fool. Tragedy happens to the wise and the fool alike; the difference is the results of tragedy between their lives. A tragedy in the life of a fool is the end of him. A tragedy in the life of a wise reveals his wisdom. The fool’s life is built on something passing and unstable whereas the wise man builds on eternal values which cannot be washed away.

These are the values we want to pass on to our children; they are like a compass points based on beliefs that won't shift with the wind or the waves. It is the unsurpassed peace of Christ that is not contingent upon external circumstances:

Philippians 4:11-13

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Matthew 7:28-29

[28] When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; [29] for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

He was teaching them as one having authority...

Jesus taught with authority because he had authority. Authority [NT1849 exousia] means not only the power but the right to act. Usually, authority was given by a ruler for certain actions, as in the case of the Roman Centurion:

Matthew 8:5-10

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”

However, Jesus did not have temporary or temporal authority had all authority:

Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

No wonder the people were amazed. The teachings from Jesus' mouth were fresh and filled with hope and compassion; a far cry from the harsh judgments of the Pharisees, the contractual diatribes of the Scribes, the head games of the Sadducees, or the tired rituals of the priests. Jesus' words were alive; they found their completion in action:

“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And he got up and went home.

This is the authority that Jesus passes on to his people with clear instructions for how we are to use it:

Matthew 20:25-28

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The wise recognizes his authority is from God and acts on it. The fool simply uses his own power to get his own way. In the end, the fool is left empty, clutching wet sand, as his world tumbles down about him.

The wise man is left with family, love, respect of community and the blessing of God. That is what is in store for the person who “does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”

Copyright Notice

“Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1988. Used by permission.”

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