That Christian Next Door

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Matthew 7 v 20 King James Version.

In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior presents us with one of the great explorations of the human heart and mind.

The message contained within was the culmination of the Sermon on the Mount that began two chapters prior and provided the clearest signal yet that the ministry, lordship and kingship of Jesus Christ would be the antithesis of the prevailing culture of the time – in fact, the antithesis of all of the prevailing cultures of man’s time on Earth.

The message being that the strongest power in all the world is tied up in God’s love for us and the only valid responses to it: full-hearted, full-souled, full-minded and full-strength love for God and for neighbor. (God being the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.)

This was not a message of self-sacrifice for self-sacrifice sake or a message of caring by convenience or with a kindness that could be withdrawn. No! Jesus Christ’s message was also not about sloganeering or “positive vibes only”. It was a true message about the kind of love that God Himself practices. Agape love. Others-first always love. Love that we can focus towards a receiver by fixing our eyes on the perfect love of God towards us.

In Matthew 7, as Jesus speaks about this love, it becomes clear that every thing that the kingdom of God is; every thing that heaven is about; every thing that earth is groaning to be about is this certain type of love.

It was to be by the fruits of this love, this self-sacrificial love, the love of the Faithful and True God, that any individual’s character would be known. So, we either accepted God’s love and loved Him and others or we did not.

It was all or nothing then. It still is now.

In verse 1 of Matthew 7, Jesus spoke against mote-hunting and living our lives focused on what was wrong with each other. In verses 7 to 11, he spoke of the access we all had to the perfect Father so that we did not have to covet what each other had but could instead willingly look to God our Father and allow ourselves be subsumed by his goodness.

In verse 12, Jesus touched on human self-interest and, instead of lambasting his listeners for this, he attempted to redeem the good out of it. Being so good and so focused on the good, he tried (and is always trying) to channel our self-interest towards the good of others with benefit to us: “whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Of course, these things we do must be in line with “the law and the prophets.”

In verse 14, he spoke of the strait gate and narrow way that led to life and how so few find it. Finding always begins with looking. We may look intentionally (Matthew 13 v 45 – 46) or incidentally (Matthew 13 v 44) but we certainly look. Given that only a few find this way that leads to life, we can then surmise that some look and some do not; some search and some give up; some see and some get scared by what they have seen; some stay the course and accept the cost.

Matthew 7 finishes with the parable of the House on the Rock. In this, our Lord Jesus Christ was very specific with his words. He says:

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Matthew 7 v 24 – 27 King James Version.

Matthew 7 is about the love for God we should put into practice with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and the love for our neighbors we should put into practice as we would for ourselves. It is about more than just having love. It is about having love that is put into action.

The heart of God, of Matthew 7 and all of scripture is poured out of Him through the words He says to us.

All of our lives, our loves, who we are, what we stand for and what counts for us after all is said and done culminates in the things we do and the things we do not do in response to what He has done and what He has said.

Be blessed.