Matthew 7: Building on Solid Ground

MATTHEW 7 STRUCTURE
    │
    ├─ vv. 1-6    JUDGMENT    → How to see clearly before helping
    │   ├─ Plank/speck principle
    │   └─ Pearls before swine
    │
    ├─ vv. 7-12   ASKING      → How the Father responds to requests
    │   ├─ Ask, seek, knock
    │   └─ Golden Rule (summary of Law)
    │
    ├─ vv. 13-14  PATH        → Two gates, two destinations
    │
    ├─ vv. 15-23  PROPHETS    → How to recognize the genuine
    │   ├─ Fruit test
    │   └─ "Lord, Lord" warning
    │
    └─ vv. 24-27  FOUNDATION  → What makes the difference
        └─ Hearing + Doing = Rock

JUDGMENT → Must have clear eyes to help others
    │
    └─► Plank removal precedes speck surgery
        Not: don't help
        IS: help rightly

ASKING → How does cleared vision relate to prayer?
    │
    └─► The Father who helps you see clearly
        also gives good gifts when asked
        Confidence in asking flows from Father-knowledge

PATH → What do those who ask and receive look like?
    │
    └─► They choose the narrow gate
        Few find it because few want it
        It leads to life

FOUNDATION → How is the narrow path walked?
    │
    └─► Not by hearing alone
        Not by spectacular ministry
        But by doing Jesus' words
        │
        └─► The sermon ends where it began:
            Blessed are those who DO righteousness

THE PARADOX
    │
    ├─ v. 1: "Do NOT judge"
    │           +
    └─ v. 5: "THEN remove the speck from your brother's eye"
                =
            Wait... which is it? Judge or don't judge?

THE RESOLUTION
    │
    └─► Jesus isn't saying "never evaluate anyone"
        He's saying: remove your log FIRST
        │
        ├─ WRONG ORDER (hypocrisy):
        │   Criticize brother's speck → ignore your log
        │
        └─ RIGHT ORDER (restoration):
            Remove your log → THEN help him see

THE PRINCIPLE
    │
    ├─ STANDARD: Same measure returns to you (v. 2)
    │   └─► Harsh judgment invites harsh judgment
    │       Merciful judgment receives mercy
    │
    ├─ BLINDNESS: Plank vs. speck (vv. 3-4)
    │   └─► Why the hyperbole?
    │       A log in your eye is OBVIOUS to everyone but you
    │       The speck in your brother's eye is subtle
    │       │
    │       └─► What you obsess over in others
    │           reveals what you refuse to see in yourself
    │
    └─ SEQUENCE (v. 5):
        1. FIRST take plank from your own eye
        2. THEN see clearly
        3. THEN remove speck from brother's eye
            │
            └─► Goal is restoration, not condemnation

THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE
    │
    ├─ "Do not give DOGS what is SACRED"
    │   └─► Dogs = those hostile to holy things
    │
    └─ "Do not throw your PEARLS to PIGS"
        └─► Pigs = those incapable of valuing what's precious
            │
            └─► Result: Trample + Turn + Tear
                They destroy what they can't understand
                Then destroy you

THE BALANCE
    │
    ├─ vv. 1-5: Don't be hypercritical
    │
    └─ v. 6: Don't be undiscerning
        │
        └─► Remove your plank
            AND know when to stop offering
            Not everyone will receive
            Some will attack

THE TRIPLE COMMAND
    │
    ├─ ASK    → and it WILL BE given
    ├─ SEEK   → and you WILL find
    └─ KNOCK  → and it WILL BE opened
        │
        └─► Three present imperatives = continuous action
            Not: ask once and wait
            IS: persistent confident asking

THE GUARANTEE (v. 8)
    │
    └─► "For EVERYONE who asks receives"
        "The one who seeks finds"
        "To the one who knocks it will be opened"
            │
            └─► No exceptions listed
                The bottleneck is relationship, not technique
                │
                └─► Ask as a child, not a negotiator
                    You receive: provision, clarity, correction,
                    timing, or redirection - but you receive

THE FATHER ARGUMENT (vv. 9-11)
    │
    ├─ If son asks for BREAD → Father gives BREAD (not stone)
    ├─ If son asks for FISH  → Father gives FISH (not snake)
    │
    └─► "If YOU then, though you are EVIL,
         know how to give GOOD gifts to your children,
         HOW MUCH MORE will your Father in heaven
         give GOOD THINGS to those who ask him!"
            │
            └─► A fortiori argument:
                Evil parents → good gifts
                Perfect Father → HOW MUCH MORE

THE RULE
    │
    └─► "In EVERYTHING, do to others
         what you would have them do to you"
            │
            ├─ Not negative: "Don't harm others"
            ├─ IS positive: "Actively do good"
            │
            └─► "This SUMS UP the Law and the Prophets"
                All of Scripture's ethics compressed

CONNECTION TO ASKING
    │
    ├─ You just learned: Father gives good gifts
    │
    └─► Now: Imitate Him
        │
        └─► You want good things for yourself?
            Give good things to others
            The Father-hearted life

THE TWO ROADS
    │
    ├─ WIDE GATE + BROAD ROAD
    │   ├─ Easy entry
    │   ├─ Popular path
    │   ├─ "MANY enter through it"
    │   └─► Destination: DESTRUCTION (ἀπώλεια)
    │
    └─ SMALL GATE + NARROW ROAD
        ├─ Hard entry
        ├─ Unpopular path
        ├─ "Only a FEW find it"
        └─► Destination: LIFE (ζωή)

THE MATH
    │
    ├─ MANY → destruction
    └─ FEW  → life
        │
        └─► Popularity is not validation
            The crowd is not the guide
            Narrowness is the mark

THE WARNING (v. 15)
    │
    └─► "Watch out for FALSE PROPHETS"
            │
            ├─ EXTERIOR: Sheep's clothing
            └─ INTERIOR: Ferocious wolves
                │
                └─► They look like disciples
                    They devour like predators

THE TEST (vv. 16-20)
    │
    ├─ PRINCIPLE: "By their FRUIT you will recognize them"
    │
    ├─ ILLUSTRATION:
    │   ├─ Thornbushes → grapes? NO
    │   ├─ Thistles    → figs?   NO
    │   │
    │   └─► Nature determines fruit
    │       You can't fake what you produce over time
    │
    ├─ THE LAW:
    │   ├─ Good tree → good fruit (only)
    │   ├─ Bad tree  → bad fruit (only)
    │   │
    │   └─► "A good tree CANNOT bear bad fruit"
    │       "A bad tree CANNOT bear good fruit"
    │       │
    │       └─► Tree determines fruit
    │           Not effort. Not intention. Nature.
    │
    └─ THE RESULT:
        └─► "Every tree that does not bear good fruit
             is cut down and thrown into the fire"

THE SHOCK (v. 21)
    │
    └─► "NOT EVERYONE who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
         will enter the kingdom of heaven"
            │
            ├─ Right words: "Lord, Lord"
            ├─ Wrong outcome: excluded
            │
            └─► Confession without obedience = nothing

THE CREDENTIALS (v. 22)
    │
    └─► "MANY will say to me on that day..."
            │
            ├─ "Did we not PROPHESY in your name?"
            ├─ "Did we not DRIVE OUT DEMONS in your name?"
            └─ "Did we not perform many MIRACLES in your name?"
                │
                └─► Ministry credentials
                    Supernatural activity
                    All "in your name"
                    │
                    └─► And Jesus says: NOT ENOUGH

THE VERDICT (v. 23)
    │
    └─► "Then I will tell them PLAINLY:
         'I NEVER knew you.
          Away from me, you EVILDOERS!'"
            │
            ├─ Not: "I used to know you"
            ├─ IS: "I NEVER knew you"
            │   └─► No relationship ever existed
            │
            └─ "EVILDOERS" (ἀνομία = lawlessness)
                │
                └─► Despite ministry success
                    They lived without obedience
                    to the Father's will

THE ONLY CRITERION (v. 21b)
    │
    └─► "But only the one who DOES THE WILL
         of my Father who is in heaven"
            │
            └─► Not prophecy
                Not exorcism
                Not miracles
                │
                └─► DOING the Father's will
                    Obedience, not performance

THE WISE BUILDER (vv. 24-25)
    │
    ├─ HEARS these words of mine
    ├─ AND PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE
    │
    └─► Like building house on ROCK
            │
            ├─ Rain came down
            ├─ Streams rose
            ├─ Winds blew and beat against house
            │
            └─► "It did NOT FALL,
                 because it had its foundation on the rock"

THE FOOLISH BUILDER (vv. 26-27)
    │
    ├─ HEARS these words of mine
    ├─ BUT DOES NOT put them into practice
    │
    └─► Like building house on SAND
            │
            ├─ Rain came down
            ├─ Streams rose
            ├─ Winds blew and beat against house
            │
            └─► "It FELL with a GREAT CRASH"

THE DIFFERENCE
    │
    ├─ SAME storm (rain, streams, winds)
    ├─ SAME hearing
    │
    └─► DIFFERENT foundation
            │
            ├─ Rock = Hearing + DOING
            └─ Sand = Hearing only
                │
                └─► Both heard the Sermon
                    One did it
                    One didn't
                    The storm revealed the difference

THE REACTION
    │
    ├─ "The crowds were AMAZED at his teaching"
    │
    └─► Why?
        │
        └─► "He taught as one who had AUTHORITY,
             and NOT as their teachers of the law"
                │
                ├─ Teachers of law: "Rabbi X says..."
                │   └─► Citing tradition
                │       Appeal to authority
                │
                └─ Jesus: "But I tell you..."
                    └─► Claiming authority
                        Speaking as source

THE BUILDING-ON-ROCK LIFE
    │
    ├─ JUDGMENT: Clear your own eyes first
    │   └─► Then help others see
    │
    ├─ ASKING: Approach the Father confidently
    │   └─► He gives good gifts
    │   └─► Give to others as you'd receive
    │
    ├─ PATH: Choose the narrow gate
    │   └─► Few find it
    │   └─► It leads to life
    │
    ├─ PROPHETS: Test by fruit, not claims
    │   └─► Ministry is not relationship
    │   └─► Obedience is the mark
    │
    └─► FOUNDATION: Hear AND do
        │
        └─► The storm is coming
            Only doers stand

MY NATURAL GIFTS            THE NARROW GATE
─────────────────           ─────────────────
Speed                       Depth
Breadth                     Focus
Intensity                   Patience
Many paths at once          One path all the way through