Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 335
7:5-27
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own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will
see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
“Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your
pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to
you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to
everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
“You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them
a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of
course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to
those who ask him.
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the
essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway
to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But
the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few
ever find it.
“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are
really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the
way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good
tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So
every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown
into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can
identify people by their actions.
“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom
of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will
enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied
in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many
miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from
me, you who break God’s laws.’
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person
who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and
the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching
and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.
When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it
will collapse with a mighty crash.”
