Flashy Works Vs. Pious Service

I was reading this afternoon from the Matthew Henry commentary, still working through the sermon on the mount. If you think that's long, you should read what Matthew Henry has to say about it! I'm currently in chapter 7, verses 21-23, about the false prophets and Jesus saying "I never knew you."

In these verses, those who have done mighty works in the name of the Lord are using their past records to show that they really knew God. But Jesus says that just because someone has done "wonderful" works - casting out devils and prophesying, for example - doesn't mean they knew Him. The one who shall enter the kingdom of heaven is the one who "doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven," which will is defined by Matthew Henry to be "that we believe in Christ, that we repent of sin, that we live a holy life, that we love one another. This is his will, even our sanctification." The works full of wonder couldn't matter less; it's the pious and merciful, obedient ones that count. God cares whether we treat our neighbor Christianly, whether we repent when we sin, whether we are what we seem.

It's funny how in our fast readings of this gospel, we tend to assume we're safe if we don't practice exorcism or prophesy on a regular basis. But the point here is the outward flashiness, which can take many forms, as opposed to the quiet, regular obedience. What we look like doesn't matter so much as whether we are producing good fruit, as shown in vereses 16-19. We can look entirely like a grape vine, but if no grapes are showing up, but in fact figs, we can't argue that we looked nice and therefore should be considered a grape vine.

It's far better to look ordinary and be obedient than it is to look wonderful and be a hypocrite. In fact, the latter is defined here as a "false prophet" - one who touts the Lord's name, does works that look Christian, but is in fact disobedient in heart.