Enter, but Beware
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In Matthew we have seen that Jesus of Nazareth is the long expected Messiah. The anointed One who would save.
In the Sermon on the Mount (5-7). The Messiah, the King, issues the radical demands that distinctly delineates the ethics or behaviors of those in th Kingdom of God vs. what the predominantly religious culture expected.
They heard how their righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and Saducees (Mt. 5:20). A call to perfection. (Mt. 5:48).
These Kingdom ethics and behaviors have been well Preached by Christ, and ultimately they culminated in the all-embracing principle of Matthew 7:12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Now we find Christ landing the proverbial plane. His sermon is coming to end, and like all good sermons there is a time for self-evaluation and personal reflection. A response is to be demanded, and he illustrates this response by providing 4 groups of twos that vividly contrast true and false discipleship. Today we will look at the first 2.
Two Gates/Ways
Two Fruits
Let’s look at our first two’s. Read Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
When we think gates we think a chain link fence gate, or if you have young kids or pets around we think “baby gates”. Those gates exist to keep something in or to let something out. But the gates referenced in our passage or more gates of antiquity. .
As a missionary I’ve seen some old gates. Gates like the ones’ Jesus is referencing here. And by showing them to you I think it could really help us in discerning the response Jesus is asking for.
Gates that look like this:
**North Africa Gate—
**India Gate---
Often times the gates are labled by the city to which they lead. So in India if we exited our city through the “Ajmeri Gate” we would wind up in Ajmer. In essence, you choose the gate based upon the destination you intend to reach.
In our passage today, Jesus wants us to Enter the narrow gate for its destination is life (eternal life).
If then it leads to eternal life, why is it so narrow? I want to use my first point to answer that?
The Narrow Gate is EXCLUSIVE
The first reason The gate is narrow and the way is hard is that it is exclusive. There is only 1 gate that leads to life.
Many deem this our “evangelical decision”. And this will offend some, but Scripture is crystal clear. There is only one way to the Father.
I can say this because it is exactly what Jesus himself taught in **John 10:9, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.”
The same imagery is used here in Matthew 7:21 when people come to the gate and say “Lord, Lord” but not all will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Enter what? the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus is the gate into the Kingdom. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody comes to the Father except through Him.
This offends many. So many in fact that they choose not to enter.
“I thought God was love, if he really loved why is there only one way?”
“That is so intolerant. If he were good there would be more ways.”
Yet, the truth remains. He is emphatically exclusive that there is only one gate that leads to life.
And all doubters, or resisters to his claims of exclusivity assume that God is unloving, lacking in goodness, or unjust.
but let me offer a different perspective.
Instead of meditating on the fact that there is only 1 way, maybe we should rejoice that there even is A WAY!!! It is actually his love, goodness, and justice that has provided us a way. He didn’t have to. But he has.
One commentator wrote, “questioning God’s love because he only gave us one way is like putting Sir Alexander Fleming on trial for only giving us penicillin.”.
Because the gate is emphatically exclusive it makes it Narrow and hard.
But as I just explained, in light of there actually being A GATE we should ask… why do people go so wide? Why not the narrow one? LET ME GIVE YOU 3 REASONS.
Reason #1 The Wide Gate is Easy
Vs. 13. The first reason people go wide is because its easy!
Vs. 13. The Gate is Wide and the Way is easy. Remember the photo!
You can drive your cars, belongings, whole family, boat, baggage, career. It will fit anything!
It is a gate and way that doesn’t demand a removal of sins, our self-righteousness or our pride. No self denial. No cross.
No need to change. No need to leave anything behind!
It beckons… “Come on in, as you are, enjoy life, find pleasure.”
But look where it leads! eventually, undoubtedly, it will lead to destruction!
This wide gate and way is the path of instant gratification. Instant gratification is the desire to experience pleasure or fulfillment without delay or deferment, or denial.
The Wide Gate and Way promises this. Instant pleasure.
Delaying what we think can fulfill us now, for something more satisfying later is HARD! Hard for me to practice, but especially hard for me to teach.
Hudson’s sword. It is easier for me to buy it, but by doing so (or creating a habit of instantly gratifying him) I’m effectually putting him on the road to destruction!
What does this mean In light of the Sermon on the Mount, it is simply much easier to
Judge someone’s speck and not worry about your log.
Its easier to gratify your lusts by laying up for yourselves treasures on earth.
It’s easier to gratify your gluttony… because who really likes fasting!
It’s easier to hold grudges, then forgive.
it’s easier to pretend spirituality by practicing your righteousness before others then letting God deal with your heart.
Its easier to hate your enemies.
its easier to eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.
Let’s be honest… to live in alignment with Jesus’ radical demands from His sermon is hard! Impossible even!
So most choose to walk the wide road, simply because its easier.
Reason #2: We are prone to EVIL
The second reason so many go wide is because we are prone to evil…
Hey, hey… simmer down. I’m not calling you evil. Jesus is.
“If you then, who are evil, (7:11)… you see apart from Christ..
We have been given up to the evil lusts of our hearts (romans 1:24)
We are dead in our trespasses and sins.
We live in the passions of our flesh.
We are bent to carrying out the desires of sin.
THE CARDS ARE STACKED AGAINST YOU, its not just that we are prone to traveling that road, but due to sin you were born on the wide path.
And the news gets worse… you can change the course you are on. Sin is so powerful over you that you are a slave to its desires… destruction.
You don’t just wake up one day and say… “hmm, today I will exit this wide path and go more narrow.” You aren’t powerful enough to make that decision, definitely not powerful enough to follow through.
You have to have something more powerful than sin set you free!!! And Good News, that power is Jesus of Nazareth who as Matthew has shown is the Anointed King overcame every temptation yet was without sin, and ultimately paid the unblemished price of sin for you so that he may save you from your sin.
You need the Narrow Gate.
So many choose to walk the wide road, because we born on it, and are drawn to it because we are prone to evil.
Reason #3: We crave CONFORMITY
The last reason I see here that we so often choose the wide gate and easy way is because of the pressures for conformity. We all want to belong. We all want to be accepted. To feel secure. To be part of the crowd. Nobody likes the feeling of looking different, talking different, or being different. SO we conform to the social expectation of the MANY because the crowds let us feel like we belong.
The wide road and those who enter by the wide gate are MANY, but those that walk the narrow gate and way are FEW. .
Church, those who enter thru Christ, and walk the way of Jesus will not conform to the sociatal pressures of our cultures.
To walk the narrow way one has to make a concious choice to leave the crowds. Living in the Kingdom of God, obeying the ethics of the King as laid out in this sermon will create an immediate distinction between you and the world. Jesus was teaching his disciples then, and us now that this is a despised minority movement and it will be much easier to just go with the flow and move with the crowds.
Let me illustrate my Point:
Josiah’s Follow Class
So what does this mean for us today?
The first response is to actually Enter
Jesus wants us to Enter by the narrow way… But you can not come standing upon your own works. Or believing that by simply being a good person will gain you access. It is not broad enough for Jesus and ______. It is only by Jesus alone. And he bids us Enter.
Second is to ask… Is the way that I live my life different than the world around me? Is my love distinctive? Are my behaviors in alignment with the Sermon on the Mount?
Summary
Enter… but be warned. It is exclusive.it isn’t easy, we are prone to evil, and we will have to leave the crowds to do it.
But its also hard for another reason… notice the illustration of the two Fruits.
Notice now the 2 Fruits
Notice now the 2 Fruits
Read Matthew 7:15-20
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
A contrast of fruits… healthy trees produce good fruit while diseased trees bear bad fruit.
As Jesus says Enter the gates and ways… here he says Beware.
Choose Your Guides Wisely
Jesus tells us beware because there are a lot of guides out there. And some are lining the broad way coaxing you to death!
Matthew Henry wrote, “Nothing so much prevents men from entering the narrow gate, and becoming true followers of Christ, as the carnal, soothing, flattering doctrines of those who oppose the truth.
Unfortunately, just as in Jesus’ day there are spiritual teachers today whose greatest ambition is not concerned with the condition of your soul (or what path you are actually on), but their own popularity. They are not concerned with pleasing Christ, but pleasing man. They want you to feel secure, comfortable, warm, and make you feel good.
You won’t hear a lot about sin, repentance, or the radical ethical demands of discipleship.
You won’t hear from them about “hating your own family, yes even your own life also.”
You won’t be encouraged to pick up a cross, to deny yourself, or to renounce all that you have.
You won’t hear about the exclusivity of Christ.
You won’t hear about treating others without reciprocity.
You won’t hear about dealing with logs.
you won’t hear about exercising restraing in your accumulation of treasures. Etc. Etc.
But they will spiritually massage you so that you keep coming back, unchanged, comfortable.
You will hear a lot about how its all about being a good person. And love. And acceptance. And tolerance.
Disguised as angels of light (2 Cor 11:14-15) and wearing sheep clothes. Don’t think that these are amoral, atheistic, praying to Lord Voldemort people. They are within us. They look like us. And as they please you and warrant your favor you may not know it but your on a swift path to destruction!
Church, BEWARE. Due to sin, we are already inclined to listening to these false teachers. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth. (2 Timothy 4:3)*
So not only is the wide gate and broad path already more appealing. Not only is it more inviting because the masses move in that direction. But there are teachers, people we think we can trust who slowly, overtime, lead us like sheep to the slaughter… step by step closer to destruction.
What are we to do? How do we guard ourselves against the false teachers?
Recognize Them. How?
Recognize them by the fruit of their lips.
Well, according to Jesus you can’t trust the way they look. Because they look like sheep but theyre not!
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” These guys are false prophets, but it seems so true… The best way to recognize the falsity of their message is to be so so infatuated and saturated in the truth of Scripture, that we can more quickly distinguish false truths. That’s why what we allow to enter our minds is so critical.
Psalm 119:11
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
and Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I set your rules before me.
Read it. Memorize it. Sing it. Hang it in your homes. Write it on your mirrors. Pray it for yourself, your kids, your family, your friends.
Recognize them by the fruit of their lives.
Remember, these aren’t blatantly amoral people, but teachers who look like sheep. Ministers. Clergy. Spiritual influencers. Listen not just to the fruit of their lips, but look at the fruit of their lives.
This is terrifying. Why? Because I’ve been called to teach… that means, Oh Lord, that I am inviting you to engage the faculties of your mind as it regards my teaching. Now, I’m not asking you to be critical, or judgemental, and send me emails about my grammar please. But to see if the fruit of my lips is consistent with the fruit of my life. Because, as the SoM teaches… true heart change is reflected in the living of our lives.
So pay attention to fruit.
And we aren’t talking about numbers in seats, budgets, or buildings.
Since when did the masses ever become a litmus test for the authenticity of God’s teacher?
The narrow way is hard and those who find it are _____ few!
Now I’m not saying that a big church is obviously an indicator of false prophets at the helm.
But I am saying that “fruit” doesn’t just mean a following.
The rise and fall of Mars Hill… shocking because nobdoy said anything because “obviously God is behind it”… Church— the end does not justify the means. The Sermon on the Mount is about the heart! And if you think that a teacher is of God because he has a large following, where is the heart at in your recognization of their health?
Jesus is telling us to BEWARE and to recognize teachers by their fruit, are they Galatinas 5:22 Loving, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, possessing self control?
Perfect? No… but growing. If in sin, repentant.
Summary
For 3 chapters Jesus has shared with us the distinctives of His Kingdom vs. the Kingdom of this world. The demands are radical, and they require a response.
Either we enter by the narrow or wide. Walk the easy or hard. Either we choose to be despised as a marganizlied community for the sake of King Jesus, or we conform with the masses. Either we stew in our displeasure about the claims of exclusivity or we rejoice and follow the One who actually made a path for salvation. There is no neutrality. So Enter… but beware. This path is hard. Can be lonely. And rife with false teachers. Saturate yourself in truth, and recognize them and yourselves by fruit of our lips and the fruit of our lives.
Communion
Now in a moment we are going to take Communion, and I’d like to invite those who are serving in that capacity to go ahead and make their way to their spots.
Communion
I’m not sure there could be a better way for us to reflect and respond to Jesus’ conclusion of his longest sermon. Communion is a sacrament of the church, instituted by King Jesus himself, designed to proclaim his death for us until his coming again. Communion is for those who have made profession of their faith in Christ, and if that is not you this morning I ask that you simply let the elements pass by, but I do invite you to conisder what they represent and allow them to indeed proclaim his death to you this morning.
But as we prepare for Communion I want to remind us that partaking requires two biblical responses:
To Reflect: In Paul’s letter to the 1 Corinthians 11:27-28
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
Therefore: before we take communion together, we are going to take a moment for this reflection. To reflect on the way I may be walking, and to ask the Lord to search our hearts for any deviation there may be.
Commuion is also a time to Remember:
To remember that His death that effectually provided a gate for us to find eternal life.
So as the team begins to play I encourage you:
Take a moment to reflect. And take a moment to remember. And in a moment I will lead us in taking of the bread and the cup.
Taking the Bread:
In 1 cor the apostle paul writes,
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Let me pray for us, and the team will lead us in song.