Building Life on a Firm Foundation
BUILDING LIFE ON A FIRM FOUNDATION
Virgil Warren, PhD
This chapter concludes our thirteen studies in the Sermon on the Mount. The whole set of essays is entitled Building Life on a Firm Foundation because of the parable Jesus tells at the end. Building life on a solid base means building it on his teaching rather than on the teachings of false prophets of that day.
I. Recognizing False Prophets
The last half of Matthew 7 divides nicely into three parts. The first section is 7:13-20:
Enter in through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many that enter through it. But the gate is narrow and the path is narrow that leads to life and few find it. Watch out for false prophets that come to you in sheep’s clothes but inwardly are savage wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do people gather grapes off of thorns or figs off of thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
The principal difficulty here is recognizing false prophets for what they are. In every age, it has been important to distinguish God’s legitimate spokesmen from impostors. To identify false prophets, we should ask several questions.
First, “Are they glorifying God or benefiting themselves?” Jesus suggests this question by characterizing false prophets as wolves in sheep’s clothes. Religious charlatans resemble wolves in wool trying to deceive so they can devour. We rightly get suspicious when men of God overly benefit from their ministries, especially when lots of money is involved. They may be drawing more attention to themselves than to the God they supposedly represent. Some of these people are the kind that want be out in front of everybody all the time. They are “lime lighters” who latch onto religion to get attention. They seize the opportunities it provides for getting leadership positions, attention, and money.
Jesus evidently brings up the subject of false prophets here because there were people in his day that his disciples should not be following. Earlier in the sermon he talked about the scribes and Pharisees, who could qualify as false prophets because they misinterpreted God’s Law (5:20-6:18). Furthermore, they were doing their religious observances for show, thereby glorifying themselves rather than God (6:16-18).
The next question to ask about prophets naturally follows: “Do their motives match their looks?” In 6:1-18 Jesus lays bare the hypocrisy behind certain contemporary religious practices. Hypocrisy resembles wolves in wool because at first they look like something they are not. In every dispensation we must evaluate those who claim God has spoken to them; so Jesus warns us against religious show. Those who act this way present religion in a false light. They are not to be admired but avoided. True prophets demonstrate behavior patterns that come from unselfish motives.
A third question is based on the material in chapter 7 more generally: “Do their actions match their claims?” This is the real test of a true prophet. People who say, “Lord, Lord,” are identifying themselves with the Lord. But the question is not so much what they claim but whether their actions match their claims. In Hebrews 13:7, the writer encourages his readers to watch those who have the rule over them and, considering the issue of their life, to imitate their faith. We need to watch people for a while to see where their way of life leads. First impressions may be positive, but hypocrisy has a way of coming out in subtle ways that become more obvious over time. That is the point of the fruit illustration. Not only do we not get grapes from thorns or figs off thistles, but fruit bearing takes a while. It takes a whole growing season to develop a grape. If we watch people long enough, most of the time we can tell whether their claims are legitimate by measuring them against their results.
A fourth question examines the message of prophets: “Do their teachings match previous revelation?” Jesus’ corrective teaching from 5:20-6:18 addressed this very problem. A long time before, God had laid down in Deuteronomy 13:1-5 a principle for testing whether God was speaking through a prophet. Whatever a true prophet says now must match what true prophets have said before. God does not contradict himself as he goes along. Moses put it this way:
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or wonder and the sign or wonder comes to pass whereof he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods (which you have not known) and let us serve them,” do not listen to that prophet or dreamer of dreams because the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. Walk after Yahveh your God, fear him, keep his commandments, obey him, serve him, and hold to him. Put that prophet and dreamer of dreams to death because he has spoken rebellion against Yahveh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage to draw you aside out of the way that Yahveh your God commanded you to walk in. In this way put away evil from among you.
If someone arose in Israel teaching doctrines that did not match what had already been taught by Moses the normative prophet, the people were to disregard that new prophet. But not only that, they were to execute him for leading rebellion against Yahveh and his people. God had operated clearly through Moses in his triumphant confrontation with the Egyptian magicians and in the stupendous miracles God worked while freeing the Israelites from Egypt and leading them toward the promised land. God had obviously been with Moses. Therefore, all those who came along later had to teach what harmonized with Moses’ message. The principle applies in all circumstances even into our own day: anyone that contradicts previous revelation is a false prophet.
A fifth test question for prophets relates to the kinds of things they do: “Do their ‘mighty works’ require divine assistance?” All kinds of unusual things happen. Some of them are simply magic, sleight of hand—natural occurrences we do not know how to explain. Deceivers can use such things to get a hearing even from God’s people. Consequently, God laid down another test in Deuteronomy 18:20-22: “The prophet that speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that speaks in the name of other gods—that same prophet will die.”
A practical question, however, comes up:
If you say in your heart, “How are we going to know the word Yahveh has not spoken?” When a prophet speaks in the name of Yahveh, if the thing does not follow or come to pass, that is something Yahveh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Emphasis falls on the last word: “Do not be afraid of him.” Not only should people not fear the prophecy that failed, but they should not fear him. When a true prophet speaks in God’s name, his prediction always comes to pass. From time to time, people who are not God’s prophets make predictions that do happen. They may just make a lucky guess. Maybe their signs were “paranormal” occurrences—things they did by natural ability, but abilities not everybody has—perfect pitch, for example. We probably do not understand the full range of human capacities. Some cases may have demonic connections, but unlike these other possibilities, God’s prophet always succeeds, and his miracles bring positive results rather than negative or neutral ones. The mighty works a prophet displays require divine supernatural assistance. Otherwise, he could be authenticating himself by using natural capacities or demonic powers. If we regard such acts as reasons for believing that God is empowering him, he will mislead us by the teaching he authenticates by those acts.
The last measure of prophets is this: “Do they teach what works?” God created us and the world we live in. He teaches us how to live in this environment in ways that will work on the long term. Sometimes people claim divine sanction for their teaching, but they say things that simply appeal to our self-centeredness—our desire for health, wealth, attention, and power. When lives based on such teaching do not yield good results on the long term, life does not end up as it ought.
There were false prophets in the Old Testament era. Men claimed to be prophets in Jesus’ day. There are false prophets today. What Jesus tells us here can help us distinguish between those we should follow and those we should disregard.
II. “We did mighty works in your name” and “I never knew you.”
The next group of thoughts come out of 7:21-23:
Not everyone that says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by your name,” or “by your name cast out demons,” or “by your name do mighty works?” Then I will profess to them, “I never knew you. Leave me, you that do iniquity.”
How can these people be prophesying in God’s name and yet be people Jesus never knew?
One suggestion might be that these prophets were doing deceptive signs during their lifetime and simply lying at the judgment. Things will probably be too serious on judgment day for a person to try telling a lie right to God’s face. Perhaps Jesus sets up this situation as a rhetoric device that enables him then to reject the relevance of the claim. Another suggestion has been that they were doing divine miracles but were not saved. Writers sometimes entertain the possibility that people can have the power of the Spirit and yet not be in fellowship with God, but having the Spirit is the hallmark of the Christian experience.
Sometimes the case of Simon Magus in Acts 8 is understood as meaning that he could do miracles; yet in the interchange with Peter the text says, “Repent of this wickedness and ask the Lord if perhaps the thought of your heart will be forgiven you because I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity” (8:22-23). A couple things about the episode are unclear. First, the account does not say that Simon Magus had received a miraculous gift from Peter and John. Second, it does not say that Simon was unsaved. Peter told him to ask for forgiveness but that does not necessarily mean he was never saved. The case is sufficiently unclear that we should not use it to argue that God gives a lost person the power to do miracles.
Another suggestion is that they had been doing miracles by virtue of their office even though they themselves were not saved. One proposed example is in John 11:47-53. Caiaphas, the high priest at the time of Jesus’ trial, prophesied that one man should give his life for the people rather than have the whole nation destroyed. This is a doubtful example of supernatural prophecy through an office held by a reprobate person. Caiaphas may have said more than he realized. In his mind it was better to sacrifice one person than risk having the Romans destroy the whole nation in dealing with a Messianic uprising. Another proposed example lies in the series of events associated with Balaam in Numbers 22-24. Balaam led Israel to sin and so is normally regarded as a lost person; yet he did make prophesies. Again, some elements in this episode are unclear. For one thing, Balaam’s repentance is mentioned (22:31-35). Perhaps that is the reason he made these prophecies rather than the ones Israel’s enemies wanted him to make. Leading Israel to commit sin probably happened after he had made his prophesies.
The reason for doubting this approach is that doing miracles aside from a saved condition works against the purpose of miracles. Supernatural results have to come from supernatural causes—from God (John 3:2). Miracles are one way God shows that the prophet has come from God. Miracles prove the claims of the miracle worker. In Romans 1:4 Paul says that by the resurrection Jesus was powerfully declared to be the Son of God. Raising him from the dead confirmed the claims he made during his ministry. A similar point is found in Mark 2:1-12 when a paralytic was lowered through the roof. The account concludes by saying,
Which is easier, to say to the sick with the palsy, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up, take your bed and walk?” That you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he says to the sick of the palsy, ‘Get up, take up your bed and go to your house.’ He got up, picked up his bed, and went out in front of them all insomuch that they were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We’ve never seen such a thing before.”
These two passages along with others indicate that miraculous manifestation is one way God marks true prophets. If God enabled lost people to do miracles even in a divinely appointed office, he would be undoing what he intends miraculous manifestation to do.
A fourth suggestion about mighty works done by people Jesus never knew is that they had done divine miracles but afterwards apostatized. Of course, adopting this suggestion depends on whether a person believes that God allows a person to fall away from salvation. We do not have to deal with that issue here, but we can leave that option open.
The fifth possibility is that they thought they were doing divine miracles, but their mighty works were really demonic miracles. This curious suggestion has perhaps some merit. The confusion could arise from the fact that there are two sources of supernatural power—divine and demonic. There are ways, however, to distinguish them from each other. Of all people the ones doing the mighty works ought to know the source of their powers. Besides, God evidently does not allow Satan to do miracles in Christ’s name (Mark 9:39; John 9:31, 33).
A better suggestion is that they thought they were doing miracles but their mighty works were really “paranormal phenomena.” Such occurrences have a natural explanation, but we do not know what that natural explanation is, because not everyone has the capacities involved. They are not “normal,” they are “paranormal.” So there is the divine, the demonic, and the paranormal.
Lastly, we could say that Jesus was speaking in a general way that might include more than one possibility, especially the apostasy situation or paranormal phenomena. These pseudo-signs made them think even on judgment day that they had been legitimate prophets—or they were “grasping for straws” on judgment day.
III. A Wise Man (7:24-27)
Last comes the parable of the builders that Jesus uses to close the sermon.
Everyone that hears what I am saying and does them is like a wise man that built his house on rock; and rain fell, floods came, and wind blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall because it was built on rock. Everyone that hears what I am saying and does not do them is like a foolish man that built his house on sand; and rains fell, floods came, and wind blew and beat on that house and it fell; it was a total loss.
Much of the teaching in the Sermon on the Mount deals with what makes a person wise. There are three main characteristics of a wise people.
First, wise people live by values. Jesus says, “Everyone that hears these words . . .” “Hearing words” means living by values—heeding these words, which contrasts with living by popular opinion, going along with the crowd, traveling the wide road. Wise people do not live by drives; Jesus prohibits lust and anger. Wise people do not live by what the environment stimulates them to do. They live consciously and intentionally. Even one of the pagan philosophers said that the unreasoned life is not worth living. If people do not live by principles, they are tossed to and fro by all kinds of pressures inside them and around them.
Second, wise people put out the necessary effort. They dig down to bedrock and lay a good foundation. Building on sand recalls the hypocritical behavior talked about in chapters 5 and 6. Such patterns of weak behavior may at the moment seem to be the easiest way to go. We are not to love just our friends but our enemies also. We need to work at reconciliation with people in strained relationships with us.
Third, wise people live life on the long haul. The wise builder took the extra time to build a house that would last through the hard times to come later. There is more to construction than just going out and starting to build with no thought for the long term and no effort to exceed the demands of the moment. “Just doing it” may be fine for a while but it may not last. Wise people do not take the path of least resistance. Any old religion will do when everything is going fine, but we need the kind of power that will take us through storms as well as through sunny days.
Jesus talked a lot about things that lend power to deal with life and so we talked about psychological strength in the last part of chapter 6. That concern underlies the Golden Rule in 7:12. Person with inner strength can cope with the strains of life if they conduct themselves according to the values of their Creator. Many of God’s “blessings” are really the outworkings of behavior patterns he commands us. Instead of being direct outpourings, good experiences are indirectly his blessings inasmuch as he told us what to do and we obeyed with good results we praise him for.
Living life on the long haul also means that the blessings God gives us work like time capsules. As times go on, if we are living the way he says we should, certain blessings start taking effect. We cannot have the blessings that come forty years down the line if we do not live meantime in a way that prepares for those later blessings. The way we raise our children now illustrates the principle. Happiness in the golden years depends on properly raising our children during our younger years. The blessings of life are based on living by values, putting out the extra effort, and living life on the long haul.
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