Not long ago, someone asked me, “What are the most important things that you have learned about God and faith over your years of study?” I wish they hadn’t emphasized “years of study” so intensely! I grew up in the church – attending VBS, and children’s worship, and Sunday School. My family attended church faithfully. If we missed a Sunday, it was because we were out of town – and we didn’t go out of town all that often.
I began studying the Bible more deeply when I was in high school. Part of the reason for my study was teaching a Sunday School class of fourth and fifth grade boys. But part of the reason was the thought process of our youth minister. He was a deep thinker and encouraged the same from those in the youth group. While many believers my age were reading The Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings, I was reading collected works of Francis Schaeffer and Josh McDowell.
That puts me studying the Scripture since at least 1970 – 55 years! What have I learned? What is important?
Three Truths
I have come to rest on three vital truths in Christianity which I believe most faithful people either don’t understand or simply overlook. Two of the truths are found in Jesus’ simple parable of the Lost Sons, recorded in Luke 15. First, the story redefines sin. When we hear of the younger son taking his inheritance and squandering it on wine, women, and song, we relate because we understand the sins of the flesh. While we may not have ended up eating slop with the pigs, we realize the process that would get us there.
But this parable explains that even the obedient son was lost. While he never strayed from the father’s home, he wandered afar from the father’s heart. Most believers don’t relate to that because most believers have tried hard to “be good.” The parable shows us that even in our goodness, we fall short of the Father’s glory. Perhaps that is the reason Jesus was so tough on the Pharisees – He realized they didn’t really realize their sinfulness. Perhaps we are more like the Pharisees than we realize.
The second truth from this parable emphasizes the extravagant – yes, prodigal – nature of the love of the Father. He was gracious and forgiving to each son. He went above and beyond to pursue and welcome each. He went far beyond what we would expect of a father. Francis Chan calls God’s love for us “crazy.” Hymn writer John Newton called God’s grace “amazing.”
The third truth that we want to talk about today examines what it means to be truly spiritual. We are going to look at a passage that will shock you – and fits hand-in-glove with the truths from the parable that we have been studying.
New American Standard Bible | Luke 15:1-2; 11-32 NASB
New International Version | Luke 15:1-2; 11-32 NIV
Message | Luke 15:1-2; 11-32 MESSAGE
New English Translation | Luke 15:1-2; 11-32 NET
Our Study
The student will understand that being truly spiritual is not measured by outward compliance to the Law, but by the inward submission of a heart that pursues God.
- Why is it dangerous to judge faithfulness by outward appearance and actions?
- Do James’ words about demonstrating faith by works have any bearing on our conversation today (James 1:19-22)?
- If the Father does not expect perfection from us, why is it so difficult for humans to feel the same way?
- How would you describe a spiritual person?
Schaeffer’s Spiritual Insights
When I was in high school, I had three books written by Francis Schaeffer that I truly loved and that I read often. Two of them I read and read trying desperately to understand them. One book was titled, The God Who Is There. The other book was titled, He Is There and He Is Not Silent. The two books provide an amazing apologetic for the reality of God. The books are amazing. But they are written by arguably one of the world’s most brilliant thinkers. Both books are still available fifty years after they were published.
The other book by Schaeffer I could read and understand. His vocabulary was still amazing, but it spoke about being a spiritual Christian. The book was titled True Spirituality. Here is one of my favorite paragraphs from the book.
I think what Schaeffer is trying to emphasize to us is that when we talk about being holy or spiritual, it is easy to focus on outward results. Don’t do this. Make sure you do that. The concepts are very basic. The Law helps us understand that actions can be good or bad.
But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that the Law – being spiritual – is more than that. “You have heard it said, ‘Do not kill,’ but I tell you don’t even be angry.”
Schaeffer shows that the last commandment brings the concept to our minds. Coveting is an inward thing. You can’t tell from a person’s actions whether they are coveting.
We have two passages today that we need to consider, but they do not seem to be related. The first passage is from the final verses of the Sermon on the Mount. In many ways the verses serve as a summary of everything that Jesus was saying. The other passage that we will examine at the end of the lesson is from the life of David.
Summarizing the Sermon
“Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it!
15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful deeds in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’
24 “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation had been laid on rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed—it was utterly destroyed!”
28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching, 29 because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law (Matthew 7:13-29 NET).
Our Passage of Scripture
New American Standard Bible | Matthew 7:13-29 NASB
New International Version | Matthew 7:13-29 NIV
Message | Matthew 7:13-29 MESSAGE
English Standard Version | Matthew 7:13-29 ESV
Lexham Version | Matthew 7:13-29 LEX
New King James Version | Matthew 7:13-29 NKJV
New Revised Standard Version | Matthew 7:13-29 NRSV
New Century Version | Matthew 7:13-29 NCV
New Living Translation | Matthew 7:13-29 NLT
Holman Christian Standard Bible | Matthew 7:13-29 HCSB
Voice | Matthew 7:13-29
Greek | Matthew 7:13-29
Spanish | Matthew 7:13-29
Two Pairs
As Jesus brings the Sermon on the Mount to a close, he asks us to notice several “pairs” of things – two gates, two paths, two trees, two sheep, and two houses. Our mind almost always interprets these as “good” and “bad.” But that interpretation might well be missing the point Jesus is making.
Take the analogy of the fruit from the trees. Jesus is not telling us to look for a good fruit and another fruit that is rotted and withered. Both fruit look the same – but the word “bad” is the word for “poisoned.” One of the fruit is poisoned the other not. But both fruit look the same. A good tree cannot produce a poisoned fruit.
There are two sheep, One says, “Lord, Lord” – the Hebrew usage of emphasis and importance (refer to “Martha, Martha” or “My God, My God”). Lord, Lord – we prophesied in your name. Two good sheep – sheep is the Hebrew analogy for a follower of God. Notice Jesus’ response. He does not say, “I used to know you – what happened?” He said, “I never knew you.”
Two houses – both look awesome. But when the storms come, one will stand and one will fall.
Does this sound like our parable? Two sons – one strayed, one stayed. Both were lost.
The lesson is always the same: you cannot tell from the outside. It is what is on the inside that counts. The Pharisees knew the Law better than most. But they failed to know the Father.
A Spiritual Heart
So let’s conclude today by looking at a confusing passage of Scripture. Before he becomes king, Samuel describes David as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14.) Centuries later, Paul uses the same Scripture to describe David (Acts 13:22), years after David’s sins and indiscretions. How could David still be called a man after God’s own heart? Part of the answer relates to our lesson today.
Think through this. All of us sin: those of us who wander to the far country and those of us who stay at home. God does not owe us anything just because we did not leave the house. Both our motives and our actions reinforce our need for a savior.
Fortunately, man judges the outward appearance, but God judges the heart. The older son kept all of the father’s commands, but he lacked a passion for the father. We cannot – we will not – maintain both perfect actions and perfect motives. But inside the heart needs to pursue the father. Is that the state of your heart?
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Let me be truly spiritual – let me worship you in Spirit and in truth.