Why Are People So Confused?

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. This is what a lot of people today are coming up with these theories about a second chance. But where's the second chance in the Bible?

Jesus is saying the opposite. There is none. You know, there is no purgatory. There are no loopholes. What we do here and now matters for eternity. So, we see the importance of this statement. So, the Sermon on the Mount now is reaching its critical point where you need to get this part right.

So, it's important, another thing, with the context, who's Jesus speaking to? Who's he speaking to? What group of people? His disciples. But we would say that the twelve, with the exception of Judas, are not going to be thrust out of the kingdom, right?

Peter and John are not going to be thrust out of the kingdom. So, he's speaking to at least some Jewish audience that does not believe in him. We don't know exactly who it was. We don't know exactly how many people are listening to the Sermon on the Mount.

But Jesus probably went from place to place and taught a variation of this message. So, many of the Jews would have heard this. So, considering that Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience, he says here that the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they will be in the kingdom, but you will be thrust out.

Now, did the majority of the Jews believe in Jesus or reject Jesus? Right. He came unto his own, but his own did not receive him. John 1 verse 11. So, he's saying Abraham will be there, Isaac will be there, Jacob will be there, but many of you will not be there.

Because they thought they were included in the kingdom simply because they were Jewish. You know, the only parallel that I can make today is somebody thinking they're going to heaven because my parents are Christians.

And they brought me to church, and we have a Bible on the shelf, and we're just sort of generically Christian, and that's enough. Of course, God will accept me. Wrong. It needs to be a personal decision to believe on the Lord.

So, he's saying many of you will be thrust out, but many others will be brought in. Who are the many others? The Gentiles. You know, the people that the Jews look down upon, like there's no hope for those people.

And another parallel today, you could look at the people of this world, and maybe some Christians do this, and it would be sad if we did this. We shouldn't. But some Christians will look at just the sinners of this world, there's no hope for them.

There's no hope for this group. Well, there is hope. There's hope for anyone. And this is why we need to preach the Gospel message. Anyone who believes on Jesus can have a part of the Kingdom of God. So, many of the Jews would be cast out, but the Gentiles, many of them, would be brought in.

So, the people, like the Pharisees, the scribes, they would look down on others. And the irony is, no, the Pharisees, you're going to be excluded, and the sinners, they're going to be brought in. So, we kind of have to think about that, make sure we don't have that sort of Pharisaical attitude, that I'm just, I can be saved, I'm good, and just all these other people are without hope.

Well, we were without hope. Without Christ, we have no hope. So, what makes all the difference? Living a good life? Making sure you're in church every Sunday? Reading your Bible for 15 minutes a day? All, I mean, these are good things.

What makes the difference? What makes the difference? Being born again makes the difference. Putting your full trust in Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection, that makes the difference. So, the good news of the Gospel goes out far and wide.

It's available to everyone and anyone. That's the good news, but what's the bad news? Part of the bad news is that most people, the majority of the people, will not say yes to that offer. So, the gate is narrow.

It's the minority of people who will be saved. Remember, two paths, two gates, two destinations, and it all hinges on this, what do you do with the person of Jesus Christ? If He is the God-man, then He alone has the answer of how to bring man to God.

But you know this, the world is full of people who think that they can get to God, they can get to Heaven some other way, whether it's a different religion, their own good works, but Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, He is making it all about Him.

I know you've met people, and you try to tell them this, and it can't just be about believing in Jesus, right? I have to do this, and we have to be good, and we have to keep all these, okay, but what does the Bible say?

It really is all about Him. He is the only Savior. Just think of the terms that Jesus uses here, the narrow gate. So, when I hear a statement, I try to compare Scripture with Scripture. Has Jesus ever said anything like this elsewhere?

Okay, He's talking about the narrow gate in John chapter 10. Jesus says, I am the gate, or I am the door, right? He's talking about the narrow way versus the broad way. John 14 verse 6, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

So, believing on Jesus, following His teachings, it's the only way. The Apostle Paul, in the book of Galatians, commented how if there was any other way, if a person could be saved by keeping the law, then what?

Jesus died in vain. If you could get to heaven, if people could get to heaven by any other method other than Jesus, then the death of Jesus was totally unnecessary. Okay, this leads into the next section.

So, there's many people, according to Christ, who, you know, in theory, they would want to go to heaven, but when they stand at the judgment, they're not going to be let in. They're not going to be let into the kingdom.

Why? And some people think that they're going there, but they're not. They're deceived. Why? Why are people deceived? Why do people have these wrong ideas? Well, we get an answer. Let's go back to Matthew 7, if you haven't gone back already.

Jesus gives the reason, or one of the main reasons, one of the biggest problems in the church, and you know this if you listen to preaching and teaching from Morris Corner Church for any length of time, you know this is true.

One of the big problems is false prophets. Matthew 7, verse 15, Jesus says, False prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. So, people are confused. People are confused because they've been confused.

If you listen to a false teacher long enough, you yourself might start thinking a little off. This is why people are so off base, because they're listening to all these false prophets and false teachers.

So, let me give this illustration. Let's say there's a little town, and in this town is a church. And in that church, they open the Bible, and they preach the truth from the Word of God. But also, in this town, there's atheists, and unbelievers, and mockers.

Okay, well, it's pretty clear, right? You have the Christians, and then you have the unbelievers. There's nothing confusing about it. These people believe. These people do not believe, right? It's like black and white, very, very clear.

What happens, this is the problem, what happens when the devil decides he's going to set up his own church across the street from the true church? And now, the devil's minister is saying things, giving lip service to Jesus.

Well, we love Jesus, and they talk about the Bible even. But what they're teaching is the opposite as far as the Gospel, and salvation, and things like that. Now, all of a sudden, you have a different competing voice talking about Jesus.

That's where the confusion comes in. Because the average person who comes to town, and they see these two options, both claiming to be from God, speaking about Jesus. They're both got the name church on the sign, but they're saying different things.

That's what confuses people. And if there's an unbeliever listening this morning, listen, I understand why you might be confused. I think there's a lot of people that don't move forward in the Christian faith because they just don't know.

How do I know what to believe? This church says this. This church says that. And listen, it's not about being 100 right about everything. No pastor, no church is 100 correct about everything. That's not even the point.

I mean, there are some things that are hard, and we have different ideas of maybe secondary issues. That's not the issue. But the issue is who is Jesus? His person, the nature of God, the work of Christ, the gospel, that is paramount.

So when there's somebody saying completely opposite things, I understand why you're confused. But that's the bad news. Here's the good news. There's a way to be not confused. And what is that? How do we do that?

All right. So first, let's notice that Jesus, what does he call the false prophets? He calls them wolves, right? They're not these cute little dogs that you want to pet. You want to stay away from the wolves.

Okay. He calls the false prophets wolves, but they're in sheep's clothing, meaning they appear to be Christians. They say they're Christians, but they're wolves. Paul, how does a wolf devour the flock?

The Apostle Paul in the book of Acts chapter 20, he warned the Ephesian elders. He says in Acts 20 verses 29 and 30, for I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Also from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves. So this is how a false prophet devours a flock. He creeps in. He starts spreading false doctrine.

It creates division. The church splits. Or they try to draw people away from the good church into the bad church, or just draw people away from church altogether. Or they just create so much confusion that, yeah, people just throw up their hands and say, how could I ever know the truth?

Here's how you know there is a solution. What's the short answer? Look at what the scripture says. You know, tune that guy out. Tune this guy out. Turn the TV off. Look at what the Bible actually says.

That's the short answer. But Jesus says there's actually a way that we can identify false prophets. And what is that? He says, you shall know them by their fruits. You shall know them by what they produce.

Commentator. Matthew Henry, and see here I go quoting a man, right? Keep in mind, Matthew Henry, or me, or anyone else, you take this with a grain of salt maybe. The words of Christ, absolutely true, authoritative.

The words of man, might be right, might be wrong. But the words of man, I mean, Jesus has given teachers to the church, so this is okay. But test it. Matthew Henry says this about verses 16 through 20.

Nothing so much perverts men from entering the straight gate and becoming true followers of Christ as the carnal, soothing, flattering doctrines of those who oppose the truth. They may be known by the drift and effects of their doctrines, or some part of their temper and conduct is contrary to the mind of Christ.

You know, there's one type of false teacher who if you question him or disagree with him, he like flies off the handle and gets enraged. I mean, that's one bad sign. But then there's the other sign. This is more common, I think, these days.

I mean, the cult leaders might get mad and like, they might really try to thrust you out the door and throw you out. But this is more common today, the false teacher who has smooth and flattering words, right?

Smooth, flattering words. Doctrines that oppose the truth. But I mean, they sound so good. Like what if a pastor came up and said, you know, God, God is so loving. God is so merciful. The love of God is so amazing that in the end, everyone will be saved.

You know, there's a lot of people who want to hear that. Or at least most people will be saved. He doesn't even have to take it to the extreme of universalism, which would be an obvious heresy. He might just say, the overwhelming majority will be saved.

Paul said in Romans 16, 17, and 18,. Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.

And by smooth words and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the simple. Like if you buy into these people, because most of us, maybe you like to be flattered. Some people enjoy it. But most of us can spot it.

And when I hear someone who's just flattering me, which doesn't really happen that often, honestly. You know, I'm always a little on guard when I hear what sounds like flattery. But some people don't mind.

Flattering speech, who does it deceive? It doesn't deceive people who have discernment. It deceives people who are gullible, people who are naive. In the book of Jeremiah, we've been covering this on Wednesday night.

The prophet Jeremiah, he had to contend with the false prophets in Israel. And what were they doing? They were filling people's minds and hearts with a false hope. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.