An exposition of The Gospel According to Matthew
by David L. Cooper, Th.M., Ph.D., Litt. D.
Installment seven

WITH THIS MONTH'S INSTALLMENT we conclude the discussion of the "Sermon on the Mount." We should remember that the Lord began the discourse by laying emphasis upon the spiritual condition of the heart. As we have already noted, the entire sermon presupposes the regeneration of the heart, for only those who are thus regenerated are able to carry out the instructions which He gives throughout the message. In concluding the sermon, the Lord Jesus constantly contrasted the two ways of life--the one that leads to life everlasting and the other that leads to everlasting destruction. Those whose righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, as set forth in 5:20, are the ones who are able to carry out the instructions given here.

Chapter 7 began with a prohibition against judging: "Judge not, that ye be not judged." From the context it becomes immediately evident that our Lord was condemning the idea that is expressed in the familiar way: "Sizing up one at first sight." Others speak of it as giving another the "once-over." In other words our Lord is condemning people's forming conclusions concerning others without sufficient and adequate evidence. One does another a positive injustice if he, without facts and evidence, forms conclusions regarding him. That this is the correct interpretation of what the Lord meant is evident from the fact that He told us that a tree is known by its fruit. If a person steals and lies and we know positively that he does those things, we are not violating the injunction against judging, but are simply looking facts in the face--and should act accordingly.

In connection with this prohibition our Lord assured His disciples that they should be judged in the manner in which they judge others. In other words, a man reaps exactly that which he sows.

Moreover, the Lord Jesus warned His disciples against criticizing and condemning others for some slight deviation from the correct standard, whereas the critic is guilty of great excesses, going far beyond the conduct of those whom he condemns. He therefore told His disciples that they should first remove the beam or log that is in their own eyes before they attempt to take the little speck out of their brother's eye. In other words, people must first examine their own hearts and lives with the purpose of being right with God and free from sin before they are in a position to point out the errors and the shortcomings of others. Let us therefore first see that we are free from faults and failures before condemning, in most critical terms, others who are living close to the Lord--much closer than we are. If we ignore His injunction, continue to cherish our own failures while condemning others, we are hypocrites.

In verse 6 of this chapter the Lord forbade His disciples giving "that which is holy unto the dogs," and casting their "pearls before the swine." In this setting it is clear that our Lord was not talking about literal pearls, dogs, and hogs. Dogs and hogs do not have any conception of spiritual values or holy things. If pearls and the finest gems were thrown before hogs, they would trample them under their feet and, not having their hunger satisfied by that which was cast to them, would turn in rage upon those who thus tantalized them. By the dogs and hogs of this verse our Lord was referring to men and women who have no appreciation of spiritual truth. According to Isaiah 61:1, the Messiah, when He would come into the world, would give the good message of salvation to "the meek." Our Lord, when here upon earth, avoided giving the truth to those who were not eager to receive it. There was not time to fool with those who scoffed at and rejected the Word. He does not want any of His children to present spiritual things to people who instead of receiving the truth as they should will simply ridicule and scorn the sacred things, which pertain to light and life. Whenever I am in a conversation with a person who convinces me that he is simply talking for the sake of argument, ridicule, or scorn, I instantly break off the conversation. I will not cast my pearls before swine.

In verses 7-11 our Lord gave every assurance that all prayers will be answered. Thus He said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone that asketh received; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." As we read these verses and ponder upon them, let us remember that the Lord was speaking to His disciples, regenerated, saved people, and was telling them that every petition which they ask will be granted. But I hasten to say, in this connection, that the answer is not always what we expect or what we may desire. The Lord knows what is best for us under the circumstances when we pray and the conditions under which we are living.

Sometimes His answer to a most fervent request is "no." At other times it may be "yes." And on still other occasions His reply may be that we should wait until some future time when He will grant the request. We do not always know what is best for us. Sometimes we very earnestly ask the Lord to give us those things which He knows would be a positive injury to us. Loving us as He does, He will not give us anything that will not contribute to our good. Very frequently He gives us things that are of far greater value than the things for which we ask. He has our welfare at heart always.

In concluding His instructions on this point, the Lord Jesus illustrated God's willingness to grant the petitions of His people by showing that any natural, normal father would grant the petitions of His children who cry for bread and food. There is no one, declared our Lord, who would give his hungry child a stone when he was suffering from hunger and crying for food. The conclusion to be drawn from this illustration is that men, whose hearts are naturally evil, will grant the petitions of their hungry children; so will our Father, who is good and holy, grant to us those things for which we make request--provided they are best for us.

In verse 12 we have the golden rule. "All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets." This rule as stated by our Lord was something unique and different from any and all utterances of men. Some have thought that Confucius, for instance, taught the golden rule. He did not. He only stated it in a negative way. Many Jewish scholars have tried to find statements from the rabbis parallel with this one of our Lord, but all the attempts have ended in failure. This statement rises to the highest pinnacle of human relationships. Only those who have been genuinely born again and in whose hearts the Spirit of God is dwelling and dominating can carry out the golden rule as set forth by our Lord. But those who are thus spiritually equipped can carry this precept out to the letter as well as in the spirit--it they are fully yielded to the Lord and trusting.

There are two ways, over one of which everyone must travel through this life as he journeys to eternity. One is the broad way which leads down to everlasting destruction; the other is the narrow way which leads to life. One is traveling the broad road if he ignores spiritual things and refuses to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his own personal Saviour. On the other hand, those who, having learned of Christ, accept His loving invitation to come to Him and do so are regenerated, born again, and are the ones who enter through the narrow gate and walk the straight path which leads to everlasting life. On the last day of His earthly ministry Jesus declared to Philip saying, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). It is appointed unto men once to die; after that, judgment (Heb. 9:28). One must be certain that he enters the narrow gate and travels the pathway that leads to life everlasting.

Knowing that impostors would come in sheep's clothing, whereas they are devouring wolves, our Lord warned in verse 15 against false prophets. That this warning against such men was necessary, history has proved. There are many false teachers today. In fact there have always been and will continue to be those who pervert the way of the Lord until He returns.

The Lord expects His people to use good common judgment and sense. We are not to receive everyone who poses as a religious teacher and accept his message because he comes to us as a true messenger of the Word of God. The life must back up the claims of everyone. "By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" (Matt. 7:16). This question demands a negative answer.

In this connection our Lord showed the importance of the new birth by saying that every good tree brings forth good fruit, but the corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. The heart of man is desperately wicked and is capable of committing every crime in the long category of sins. In his natural state man cannot please God. His heart is not subject to the law of God neither can it be. Only by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit can man's heart be cleansed in order that he might produce the good fruit. On this point the Apostle Paul declared in Ephesians 2:8-10 that we are saved by the grace of God through faith and that we who are in Christ are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. So then, while we are by nature bad or corrupt trees, we may be good trees by accepting Christ and by being regenerated by the Spirit of God. After that we can, in the power of the Holy Spirit, bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and thus be a blessing to humanity and glorify God in our lives.

Not everyone who claims to have accepted Christ has been born again. Profession is one thing; living the Christ life is an entirely different matter. It has tersely been said that oftentimes what one does speaks so very loudly that others cannot hear what one is saying. The life must correspond to the profession. "By their fruits ye shall know them."

In verses 21-23 Jesus showed that there are or will be two classes of men who come before the Lord at last. There will be many people who will be surprised when they come before Him to hear the words, "Depart from me, I never knew you." Being religious, or belonging to some church organization is not salvation. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything, but a new creature in Christ Jesus. Not everyone who shall say unto the Lord Jesus, "Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven." From this statement we see that only those who really and actually do the will of God are the ones who will enter into the glorious kingdom of heaven when the Lord Jesus Christ returns. In this connection let me warn against anyone's thinking that he can by works satisfy the will of God and obtain salvation and entrance into the kingdom of God eventually.

On this point let me call attention to the fact that the Pharisees on one occasion asked Jesus, "What must we do, that we may work the works of God?" To this query our Lord replied, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he has sent." From this question and answer we see clearly that the first step in doing the will of God is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ whom God the Father sent to be the Saviour of the world. As stated in the preceding section, when one believes on the Lord Jesus, his heart is regenerated and the Spirit of God enters into his soul in order to strengthen him and to enable him to do the will of God in daily conduct.

One may ask, How is it possible for one to do the will of God by accepting Christ as Lord and Saviour? The answer is to be found in the quotation from Psalm 40 given in Hebrews 10:5-7 and the apostle's comment upon the same appearing in verses 8-14 of the same chapter. The animal sacrifices and offerings were authorized by the Lord to serve as types and shadows of the real sacrifice of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Israelites were commanded to offer these sacrifices constantly. This ritualism was given to Israel by the Lord at Mount Sinai. Approximately five hundred years later the Spirit of God spoke through David the message of Psalm 40. In this revelation God made known the fact that those sacrifices were only of a temporal nature and that they typified the great sacrifice of the Son of God. Hence, according to this passage, the strong Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, said to the Father when the time came--when He came nineteen hundred years ago--that He would come to carry out the will of God as typified by those sacrifices. The writer of Hebrews therefore, having quoted from Psalm 40, explained that the Lord Jesus Christ in His coming fulfilled this passage and by His sacrificial death upon the cross did the will of God as expressed in the quotation, "Lo, I am come (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, 0 God." From this comment we see that the Lord Jesus Christ in His offering Himself upon the cross of Calvary did the will of God with reference to the atonement of man's soul. According to John 6:29, as we have seen, one does the will of God by believing upon the name of the Lord Jesus. These passages supplement one another. Christ, by becoming obedient to death, did the will of God so far as the atonement was concerned. We, by accepting His sacrificial death, do the will of God. Our Lord's doing the will of God perfectly in His sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection, is imputed to those who accept Him. They therefore in their substitute do the will of God.

All who accept Him and are regenerated are urged and exhorted to maintain good works and thus do the will of God by fully surrendering to God and offering their bodies as sacrifices--holy and acceptable unto God. Thus one can do the will of God in his daily life. All of these things are involved in the passage which we have under consideration. Only those who thus do the will of God will enter the kingdom of heaven.

On the other hand, many, when they appear before the Lord, will say to Him, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works?" There can be no doubt concerning these people that they will be sincere in their claims. No one would be, so very much deceived that he would attempt to make false claims before the Judge of the universe, thinking that he, upon his own testimony, would be acceptable. These people doubtless are those who choose to serve the Lord in their own way and to approach Him as they think. Solomon told us that there is a way that seems right unto men but the ends thereof are the ways of death.

In reply to these individuals the Lord Jesus will profess, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." There is no excuse for one's not receiving the truth. God has guaranteed that He will bring it to everyone who will receive it. The invitation goes out to one and to all. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. God therefore assumes the responsibility of getting the truth in His own good way to everyone who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. If the Lord cannot use one means, He will adopt another. But He will certainly get the message to every soul regardless of all circumstances and conditions, whenever such a one is longing for the truth and will accept it. The responsibility then rests upon the one to whom the truth is brought.

Not a one of these who in that day will make the claim that they have prophesied in the name of the Lord and done many mighty works and who is rejected will have been saved and experienced the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit; for Jesus will declare to them, "I never knew you." It is true that they doubtless will have been very religious and probably will have made profession of having accepted Christ. Among these there may be some Christian workers who will make these claims; nevertheless the Lord will declare that He never has known them--they have never accepted the grace of God by faith and have never been regenerated. The Lord therefore will not have known them in the sense of having accepted them and of their having been regenerated. They will therefore be told to depart from the Lord, because they have worked iniquity.

The two foundations upon which one may build are set forth in verses 24-28. Our Lord declared that everyone who hears His words and does them will be like the man who builds his house upon the rock. The rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon that house; but it does not fall, because it is founded upon the rock. Those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ and do His teachings are thus built upon the Rock of ages. All of the adversities of life and all the attacks of Satan and evil spirits may come like an avalanche upon them, but their spiritual house will not fall. On the other hand, those who hear the words of the Lord Jesus but do not do them, are like the foolish man who builds his house upon the sand. When the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow against that house it falls. So is everyone who hears the words of the Lord Jesus and who does not act upon them. Many in that day will be disappointed. The one question that should be foremost with every one is, Have I built upon that one foundation, the Rock of ages? The next question is, Since I have built my house upon that one foundation, am I by the grace and power of God living daily for the Lord Jesus and thus laying up treasures in heaven?

Of the reader I would ask, Have you built your house for eternity upon the Rock of ages? If you have not, do so now by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ by faith.

When Jesus completed His sermon, the multitudes were astonished, for He did not teach as the rabbis of His day and time. When we look at the Talmud, we see how the various leaders taught. One rabbi would quote from another rabbi, who in turn had quoted from some other one whom he considered as authority. All teaching was based upon the traditions which were handed down from one generation to another. It was not thus with our Lord. He spoke as one who had authority and not as the scribes and the Pharisees. There were freshness and power that characterized every word of His. His auditors could feel this power that was flowing out from Him through His marvelous, matchless message.

When the Lord had thus finished His sermon, He went down from the mountain and great multitudes followed Him. This fact is set forth in chapter 8, verse 1.