“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. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” So then, you will know them by their fruits. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Let’s hear God’s holy word, beginning in Matthew chapter 7, verse 15. He says that just as we must be warned to enter into the kingdom the right way, through the narrow way, the way of faith and repentance, the way of trusting in Christ alone for our salvation, resting on Him, and walking on that narrow way, that way that requires us to walk in holiness and obedience by the grace of God, so also, we must be careful not to listen to the influence of those who would pull us away from the truth. And today, we are going to see a passage in which He warns us that there will be people who claim to be preaching about His kingdom, but who, in fact, are preaching falsehood. And so He sends out an urgent call to enter into the kingdom. He wanted them to participate in the life and in the blessings of the kingdom. He is a better teacher than any of the Pharisees that I have ever heard preach.” He didn’t want them to stand on the sidelines. He didn’t want them to say, “What an exalted teacher Jesus is. Jesus didn’t simply want people to stand around and admire the beautiful vision of the Christian life that He had sketched for them in this sermon.
The concluding section of this great sermon last begins in 7:13-14, where we found there an urgent exhortation for all of us to enter into the kingdom. We will continue our study in the Sermon the Mount. If you would turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7.
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