[Note: This sermon continues the exposition of Matthew 23:29–39, returning to the theme of sonship from the previous sermon. Delivered 31 May 1981, Montreal.]
Today we continue our exposition of the Lord's teaching in Matthew 23. We will again read verses 29 to 39, where the Lord addresses the scribes and Pharisees. Last time we established one crucial point: sonship in scripture is not a matter of status. It is a matter that finds expression in conduct — in what you are and how you behave. Today I want to reinforce this point before moving to the question of why people do the very thing they said they would not do.
Let me illustrate the difference between status and character in sonship with my own father. He was a government official who expected absolute dedication from everyone in his department. He arrived half an hour early, left half an hour late, and would not tolerate the slightest corruption, which was remarkable under the nationalist administration when corruption was rampant. As a result he was feared. One of his staff once said to me: it must be very hard to live with a father like that. But my impression of my father was quite different — at home I played chess with him, he taught me to box, I debated and argued with him, and in spite of our strong disagreements and our very different characters, I had access to him at any time. I could walk into his office no matter how busy he was, because of my status as a son. Status gave access regardless of the differences between us.
But this is precisely the notion we must not carry over into scripture. In scripture, sonship is not merely a matter of status. It is tied inseparably to inner transformation — to likeness of character and conduct. In scripture, if your thinking and your conduct do not correspond to the character of God, you are not a son in the biblical sense. To say "I have been baptized, I made my profession, I have the status of a son, therefore I can sin and it does not affect my salvation" is to prove that you do not understand sonship in the Word of God. Matthew 5:44–45: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father." Notice the word "so that" — the conduct is the evidence that you are a son. Verse 48: "Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect." Matthew 5 ties sonship directly to the likeness of God's own character and love.
John 8 makes the same point. Verse 37: "You seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you." They claimed God as their father in verse 41; Jesus denied it in verse 42. "If God were your father, you would love me." Verse 44: "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning." Their desire to kill shows whose nature they share. Romans 8:14 says those led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God — not those who hold a certain status, but those who follow the Spirit. 1 John 3:8–9: "He who commits sin is of the devil... No one born of God habitually commits sin." Sonship is likeness of action, likeness of thinking, likeness of character. As long as people continue to teach that a Christian can live in sin and still be saved because of their status, the church will remain a disgrace to God, as it is in so many corners of the earth today.
Now, having re-established this point, let us face the fascinating and disturbing question in verses 29–30. The Pharisees said: "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets." That is the very thing they proceed to do, just as their fathers did. How is it that people do the very thing they declared they would not do? This is not unique to the Pharisees — how many times have you yourself said, "I would not do that," and then did it? This is exactly why I say the Christian life is not possible in our own strength. It is totally dependent on grace. And here is the point that exposes the false teaching on status: when you accept the idea that status as a son allows you to live as you please, you have no need of grace. What do you need grace for? Grace is absolutely essential precisely because I seek to live as God would have me live, and I need his enabling every step of the way. Grace is necessary because I cannot do it by my own strength. But if salvation requires nothing of your conduct, grace becomes unnecessary — which is the very opposite of everything the New Testament teaches.
[Continues in Part B]
# Sonship and Self-justification — Matthew 23:29–39 (Part B) — The Psychology of the Sinner; Self-deception; Vipers and Chicks
[Note: This is Part B of the sermon on Matthew 23:29–39, continuing directly from Part A. Delivered 31 May 1981, Montreal.]
Man is caught in a twofold bondage. The first is the inability to do what is right — he intends not to do wrong and then does it anyway. The second is the inability to distinguish what is right — he does what is wrong and actually thinks he is doing what is right. That second condition is the most pitiful state any person can be in. This is what the Pharisees are doing: they put the servants of God to death and persuade themselves that these are false prophets, that they are doing God's service. They can no longer tell right from wrong. How does a person reach this state?
I find the root of it in what I call the psychology of the sinner: the tendency toward self-justification. Every person I know, without exception, has the tendency to justify himself when you point out that he has done something wrong. Why did you burn the food? There are a thousand reasons: the pot is too thin, the phone rang, the stove is unreliable. It is never simply, "I'm sorry, I burnt the food." When Adam sinned, did he say: Lord, I am sorry, I was a fool, I ate of this fruit you told me not to eat? No. "The woman whom you gave me — she brought me the fruit, and I ate it." He blames both Eve and God for putting her there. And Eve? "The serpent told me it was all right." Neither simply says, "I am wrong." I wish I could find more people who, when corrected, say simply: yes, I am wrong — and that is it, finished. In this respect, Yara and Mavis have set us a very fine example: no excuses, no arguments, simply "I am wrong," and it is done. That is a rare and beautiful thing.
A child caught pulling the cat's tail will never simply confess. "Johnny, stop pulling the cat's tail." "Mummy, I'm not pulling the cat's tail — the cat is pulling its own tail. I'm just standing on it." It is so typical. We never lack for reasons to justify the wrong action, and the habit only grows with age. When we practice self-justification long enough, we gradually lose the ability to tell right from wrong altogether. We convince ourselves that our wrong is right. The extreme example is the Yorkshire Ripper who murdered thirteen women and at his trial claimed that God had told him to do it. Eve passed the blame to Satan; this man passed the blame to God. Whether he was lying outright or had genuinely so deceived himself that he could no longer tell good from evil, either way the Isaiah 5:20 diagnosis fits: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness." Everything is turned upside down.
And here is the danger this poses to our salvation: self-justification closes the path to repentance. If you cannot admit you are wrong, you cannot repent. And if you cannot repent, you cannot be saved. The first woe in Matthew 23 says it plainly: you shut the door of the kingdom against others and you will not enter yourself. Self-justification locks that door. This searching process must also turn inward: have we become Christians by a process of self-deception? Do we believe because we have a need for comfort and have invented a God to meet that need? If you are a Christian for that kind of reason, alas, that is false religion. We do not need any more invented gods. The French astronomer who declared "I swept the universe with my telescope and found no God" was justifying his unbelief; the English scholar J. W. Hawley rightly replied that his reasoning was as sound as saying "I took my violin apart, examined each piece under a microscope, and found no music there." The famous criminal lawyer Clarence Darrow said he had never seen or touched God; his colleague Roy L. Smith replied that it was credibly reported that Darrow had a mind, but he had never seen it or touched it either. We justify ourselves with reasoning that seems convincing to us but cannot withstand examination.
Let us therefore put away all self-justification. So long as we keep justifying ourselves, we will never know what it is to be a true Christian. Notice in conclusion that the Lord Jesus consistently compares Christians to defenceless animals. Chicks have no teeth, no weapons — they are utterly defenceless. But the sons of the devil are compared to vipers: poisonous, well able to take care of themselves. A true Christian does not defend himself. He does not need to, because the hen defends the chicks. God defends his people. "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay." If you are right and I am wrong, I do not need to defend myself, because truth will vindicate itself. If I am right and you are wrong, I do not need to defend myself, because God is my defender. All we need is to learn to repent, to flee to him like a chick under the wings of a hen. Then we will know what it is to have eternal life and to be a child of God. Let us pray. We do not need to run away.