The Seed Blog: Sermon on the Mount, Part 9

We are nearing the end of our journey through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount! For those just joining, please understand that this entire Sermon given by Jesus Christ Himself...Was to bring His people back to the original intent and focus of all of the Laws and Principles that have ever been given in Scriptures!! To let us know that we have become lost in the legalism and religion of His teachings...
And have missed the single most important thing... The ONLY thing in which all of His Commands have ever been about in the first place...The condition of the heart behind them!  Have WE truly been motivated by nothing but love for Him and others?  If not, we have missed it all!

In this next passage of Scripture... Jesus gives some of the ABSOLUTE most serious statements given thus far...
 
Matthew 7:15-20
 
Jesus warns us of listening to, and following, those who teach false doctrines which are contrary to His Written Word! Hidden in our own churches! The warnings against these false teachers coming in the latter days are so numerous...We could simply read the Scriptures through the entire service, and say nothing else!! These false doctrines which Jesus warns us to avoid include...
Adding or Removing passages because we say this Book is incomplete, incorrect or outdated...
 
Revelation 22:19
 
Reinterpreting passages in light of the "Great wisdom" of our modern society, to better suit the times or gain more acceptance of the masses...
 
1 Peter 1:24-25
 
 Do you think we are the first generation...The first society to be disliked or receive persecution...
For God's Word?
 
Hand-picking passages and stressing them out of context to give a completely unintended meaning that meets the reader's desire...Completely ignoring passages that address certain issues which are unwanted or unpopular...
 
Galatians 1:9-10
 
This warning against false teachers could not be needed by any generation...  More than it is needed today!!! When the masses of self-proclaiming Christians... Are too ignorant of the Word to discern Truth for themselves, when they hear these, "False prophets!" And when the leadership of many churches have become much more intent on... Building numbers, amassing wealth and gaining power... By pleasing people through political correctness, self-serving motives, and feel-good teachings! The CHURCH has become the greatest threat to Christ in many ways!! (We expect it from the world!) These things should not surprise or trouble any of us...Because Paul warned us of these things in the latter days!
 

1. Timothy 4:2-4

 
Is this not precisely what we are seeing all around us today? As more and more people look for any Gospel that can be preached to them...  Which will suit their wants and desires... Rather than looking for a Holy God's wants and desires...In the teachings of the REAL Gospel?!
 
To show you just how serious this is to Christ, pay close attention to the following...Remember in this very Sermon...When Jesus told His disciples that He would rather see them poke out an eye or lose a limb... Than for YOU to fall into a sin which could take you away from Him in your heart?!
Well, in comparison... Listen to what He'd rather see you do... Than be one who leads another away from the Truth!!
 
Matthew 18:6
 
In this statement... Jesus literally says He'd rather see you dragged to your death at the bottom of the sea!!! (Imagine the passion) Than to see you lead another believer away from Him in sin!!!
I would say THAT is about as serious a warning as possible! Listen as Paul expresses the same seriousness in his writings to the Galatians...
 
Galatians 1:6-8  
 
WHY would such a Loving God act so seemingly harsh and dogmatic?! A truly loving God...
Could be NOTHING BUT harsh and dogmatic towards false teachers and deceivers!!!!
 
And THIS is why...
 Because God has a reason for EVERY WORD of His Scriptures...And those Words are all based upon REAL LOVE!
                     If you are wanting to purposefully change or disregard His Words...
                     It is because your motive is NOT love for Him or anyone else...
                     But to simply SERVE SELF...
                     In what you can get...
                     In how you want to live...
 And you have NO TRUE DESIRE to help anyone with your twist of Scriptures to please them... 
You are simply telling them what they want to hear...
Because you are more worried about...
 Making friends...
Being popular or successful...
Or avoiding trouble upon yourself...
Than you are truly worried about helping someone or bringing them to the sweet love of Christ!
You are more worried about pleasing them temporarily for your own gain acceptance 
Than you are about the fact…                                          
That you may be helping them condemn themselves for eternity!
 
If Jesus desperately loves those whom you are purposefully deceiving and driving from Him... HOW COULD HE NOT BE HARSH AND DOGMATIC IN THEIR PROTECTION?!!
                      These false teachers whom God speaks so strongly about...
                     Come from the leaders AND the flocks of His own churches...
                                They are even in this church...
                                I have watched and heard as those in these very walls...
                                Have tried to win others and fit in...
                                By twisting God's Character and Words to please them...
                                When we do this... We STOP being part of the Flock...
                                And WE BECOME THE WOLVES SATISFYING OUR OWN APPETITE!
 
Acts 20:28-30
 
Messing with HIS property!  Did YOU die for them?
 
2 Peter 2:2-3 
 
1 Timothy 6:5
 "Men will rise up speaking perverse things..."
"By covetousness (greediness), they will exploit"
"Suppose godliness is a means of gain..."
 The motives are simple and terrible...To justify their own perverse desires...And to use the Word of God for their own private gain and acceptance!
 
If you are a leader of a Church, Bible Study, or any other group which claims to follow Christ...
Or someone who is willingly following the leadership of another that twists Scriptures to suit their own desires or gain...Please seriously and openly contemplate THE HORRIBLE RESULTS OF YOUR ACTIONS...One- You have traded an eternal life with the One who loves you more than His own life... For your love of self, of empty treasures, and self-destructive sins!
 
You have purposefully blurred the distinction between…The repentance of sin and…Expecting God to accept your sin...Between living to please your Holy and Perfect Creator...And expecting YOUR HOLY CREATOR to live for and please YOU! Thereby literally leading others to hell!
  (We have seen what God thinks of that!)
 
How can you ever know God's true Character or show His Character to others, when you twist and misrepresent His heart? How can you counsel others to be selfless and humble in love, when you refuse to humble yourself before God? How can they learn to put others before themselves...When they are taught that even GOD must change to suit THEM? How can you ever experience the true joy and peace of giving yourself completely in MUTUAL commitment for the One you love... When you never learn to give yourself away? You simply expect a one-sided dedication to your desires?
 
One of the MAJOR problems of our generation...Is the fact that we have become so acquainted with, and influenced by, some of these false teachings...That we are completely unaffected by these teachings which God curses for their destructiveness and evil...
 
See if you have been influenced by any of them... A number of movements today...Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and even Catholicism...Teach us that we are saved through our works of righteousness...And/or that our Salvation is dependent upon the word of someone other than our Jesus Christ!! Causing our hearts to seek after the attention and approval of men in this world rather than Our Savior... And causing our motivation to be one of seeking our own Salvation...And not the love and trust of the One who saved us!
 
So many today teach that coming to God...Is coming to our own personal "Blessing Machine!" And that He is here for our happiness, comfort and advancement! (Through wealth, possessions, health and perfect relationships!) These ministries cater to our "Me-first", "I'm-worth-it" attitudes... (And become a part of our "American-Dream" schemes!) Bringing hundreds of thousands to God for absolutely the wrong reasons and expectations... With not one TRUE thought of knowing or loving Him better... Not one TRUE bone of thankfulness or allegiance for His Sacrifice... It's simply... I WANT MORE! Many even carry this into the "Spiritual Realm"…Teaching, wanting and seeking Spiritual Gifts and Power... To the point THAT has become the sole focus of their whole walk! The Gifts have become God over God! Others have carried this into the intellectual realm... Just as the Pharisees did in Jesus' day…Placing all of their own righteousness and worth...Upon their own intellect and learning! Seeking knowledge OVER the heart-felt love for Christ and His people! WE ARE TO COME TO HIM... To serve HIM...To BLESS HIM... Because He's ALREADY served and blessed US! Our goal is to live for and please the One we love… For HIS SAKE... BECAUSE HE DESERVES IT... Whether blessings OR hardships follow! Otherwise the focus was never on HIM anyway!
 There is a massive movement today that stresses... God's Word has evolved and grown over the years… And it does not mean today, what it meant to previous generations... And many things that were considered immoral, selfish and hurtful...Are no longer considered to be so...As long as we do them in love!! Meaning we can divorce when we want...- Have open sex... Enjoy porn... Live together... Maintain active homosexual lifestyles... Change our God-given gender... As long as it's all done in the name of love!  (Love for WHOM?!) God's Word is always relevant...And always the True way to selfless love!If Basic Training just told how perfect you were…Would you ever become better? A soldier? If we would drop the pretense that we are smarter and more holy and loving than God Himself... And trust that HE is literally showing us the only way to real, intimate, passionate, satisfying love... We could discover a world far greater than many have ever experienced!
 Then there are those who teach that we can live casual, luke-warm, self-focused lives...Never really being concerned for knowing or doing God's will...Never really seeking after God's heart over our lives...Never really living sacrificially for God and those around us...Living OUR LIVES, OUR WAY…And as long as I had a moment when I acknowledged Jesus as my Savior...  And I try to sin less than the world... I'M ALL GOOD! NOWHERE DOES JESUS EVER EVEN HINT THIS DOCTRINE IS TRUE!! YET IT IS THE PREVALENT DOCTRINE IN OUR WORLD. To the point that many of you saw nothing wrong with these statements even as we just heard them!This type of "easy-believism" has no foundation in real love and dedication to Christ...But in the desire to be saved and satisfied in our own lives! 
When you hear many of these false doctrines...You may wonder..."Well good grief, how many people today are truly living in the REAL TRUTH of God's Word at all...It sounds like we are all off base!" And the honest TRUTH is... YOU ARE EXACTLY RIGHT!!! Oh, This is why Jesus just said in this same Sermon, "Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way..." In these closing verses, Jesus says again... These fake Christians, leading others astray will, "Be known by their fruits..."
 
Are their lives, their desires, their actions...Built around real, SACRIFICIAL love for God and others?
 Are they trusting His Word to shape their choices and lifestyles? Or shaping God's Word to fit their lives? Is their goal in life to seek and do His will? Or to do their own will...And simply ask His blessings on their own desires? Does their walk literally cost them something...Or does their walk expect payment for the trouble? And most importantly...IS GOD AT THE CENTER OF EVERY THOUGHT AND MOTIVATION...OR IS SELF AT THE CENTER OF EVERY DECISION & ACTION IN LIFE?
 
They are not SAVED by these acts... But the REAL, saving love and faith that is their ROOT...
Cannot help but grow outward as a Fruit of the roots!!!
 
Listen to the Words Jeremiah spoke to the people of Israel...When they were doing their own thing... And finding teachers and prophets that would affirm and comfort them in their sins...
 
Jeremiah 23:16-17
 God gave this warning right before He brought judgment on them for their selfish ways! And let's close with this sobering thought: Peter gives a powerful warning to those Christians who started their journey with Christ in earnestness...But were tempted back into their selfish ways...- BY FALSE PROPHETS who promised liberty in Christ... While allowing them to delve into selfish sin... Causing these people to TURN AWAY FROM CHRIST AGAIN!
 
2 Peter 2:18-20
 
Remember this whole Sermon from Jesus was to test the REAL CONDITION OF THE HEART!
How many here today are playing the part well? Maybe to the point you fool yourself…But not what you seem…How many here today, OR LISTENING NOW…Are one of the wolves in the midst of the Sheep? I don’t think it’s a question of, "Are there any?” …But, "How many?" Seeking to satisfy your own appetite, making your own way... Even at the devouring of those Sheep around you? While your selfish ways not only condemn YOU...But slaughter them as well!
God says He would rather you die today…Than continue in those ways!
 
FOR EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS INSANE, MISLED GENERATION OF SO-CALLED BELIEVERS…
 
IN WHICH WE FIND OURSELVES…STAND FOR HIM!! IN LOVE FOR THE TRULY MISLED! STAND AGAINST THE FALSE, HURTFUL, LIES…Which are spoken about Him from our pulpits and even members today! Don't make Christ have to one day say to you,  "I never knew YOU!"