#1- A Decision

o 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.”

The gate is narrow! The way is hard!! Anyone ever picture the narrow gate being like a tight squeeze into a dark cave? I don’t think I’ve ever envisioned the ‘narrow gate’ being like a cave squeeze. I think I’ve always thought of it more like a narrow pathway. (anyone?) Interestingly, when you look at the Greek, I think this cave squeeze is actually a better picture of what Jesus was actually talking about here. The Greek word used here for ‘narrow’ or difficult’ is ‘Thleebo’. To press (as grapes), or press hard upon. To trouble, afflict, distress. (It’s the pressure of life crushing in from all sides) And so the literal definition is… a compressed way, narrow, contracted, constricted, small, very narrow & difficult. Jesus said that the narrow gate was going to be hard!!!

This journey isn’t going to be easy! Jesus says the path is very narrow and very difficult! But the destination is worth it, because this is the path to life!

Interestingly, the path to life in strictly biological terms, also involves a difficult, painful, very narrow, constricting journey! But even though the process of childbirth is painful and difficult, the process is worth it, because this is the path to new life!

o If I knew I had to squeeze through a tiny hole, then I think it makes me think differently about what I’m bringing along with me on this journey. Junk that I just keep hauling around that is only weighing me down! Stuff in my life that frankly just doesn’t fit on this path that I’m supposed to be walking!

It would be kinda like me trying to bring a refrigerator along with me as I try to squeeze through that cave because occasionally I might like a cold beverage. Of course I can’t bring a refrigerator… it just won’t fit! And as stupid as that sounds, we play the same dumb game with our spiritual lives.
We say we are on the path with Jesus while we continue living lives that don't fit with scripture!

And as Jesus wraps up the Sermon on the Mount, he concludes by giving the disciples a choice. A clear decision! This way or that way? The wide gate or the narrow gate. The easy path or the difficult path.

#2- A Warning
Then, #2 Jesus gives them a warning! And there’s a lot to this warning. First is this…Jesus giving his disciples full disclosure! Stop, and think about this decision because it’s not going to be an easy path. There’s going to be sacrifices and challenges along the way! Count the cost!!

-Sometimes there can be a tendency within the church to oversimplify the path to salvation. And I of course understand this tendency. God’s forgiveness is a FREE GIFT. All we need to do is ACCEPT & BELIEVE. It couldn’t be easier right? In fact when I was a kid I remember those little tracs that would explain that accepting Jesus was as easy as ABC. Admit, Believe, Commit. Easy peasy lemon squeezie!

-And whereas that is all correct, and coming to Jesus is quite simple… It is also true that there is a cost! This path isn’t going to be easy! And Jesus tells His disciples as they sat there overlooking the sea to Count the Cost!!

-We know that Salvation is by Grace alone so that no man may boast. Forgiveness is a FREE GIFT, and there is absolutely NOTHING that we can DO to EARN salvation!

But....It is also true that there is a cost to discipleship! It’s the only free gift that will cost you everything!!!

So Jesus warned about the narrow, constricting, pressing, tormenting, difficult, hard, and confining path. And if that was not enough of a warning… Jesus continues, check this out…

o Matthew 7:15- “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

BEWARE
Pro Tip- When someone starts a sentence with the word BEWARE, you should pay attention to what follows! If someone’s going to be nice enough to give you warnings about upcoming pitfalls and hazards, you should pay attention to that!!!

-Jesus concludes the Sermon on the mount by saying BEWARE!

o Beware of False Teachers. Not everyone who claims to speak for God are true. Beware!

o Beware, because there is such a thing as TRUE, and there is such a thing as FALSE. Beware!

o Beware because False Teachers won’t tell you that they are false! They are either trying to deceive you for their own gain, or…

o We need to Beware because many False Teachers actually believe their own lie. They think they are teaching truth because they are deceived themselves!

o We need to Beware because the stakes are very very high! It’s life of death!

Ravenous-
Jesus used the term ‘ravenous wolves’. Interestingly, this word used here for ‘ravenous’ is the same word for extortion and robber. It’s essentially, a con-man. On the outside they are slick and polished. They do a lot of the right stuff and say a lot of the things. They blend right in! They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but Jesus warns that underneath they are actually ravenous wolves! BEWARE!

-This of course begs the question… if they look like sheep and act like sheep, then how are we supposed to know the difference?

o 1st- This may seem obvious, but…Wolves are not in it to help the sheep! Wolves are ALWAYS in it for themselves! Wolves are ONLY concerned about what they can GET FROM the sheep! Namely… Dinner!

-One way that we can identify a False Teacher in our midst is that they are SELF INTERESTED! Self-interest can express itself in any number of ways. Could be the desire for financial gain, or the desire for an easier life, or for personal prestige, accolades, fame and attention, political or professional advancement, power etc. etc. etc. Ultimately, it’s more about THEM! Jesus says, BEWARE!

-Watch out for people that will tell you everything that you want to hear and skip over the hard truths because don’t want to offend. These are people that care more about your opinions than they do about the word of God.

-These are people that will water down the truth if it means that the attendance will rise! Tell em what they want to hear, and the people will come! Jesus says BEWARE!

-False Prophets tell you things that titillate your ears. They are not so much inclined to the hard truths, but instead they tell you things you want to hear. Things our culture embraces! Their services don’t want to make people feel “uncomfortable”. Even in the church, Hard Truth is being replaced with Religious & Social Tolerance! The narrow gate is being replaced with a wide, tolerant, & openly inclusive way!

-Jesus warned us that false prophets would be trying to coax you onto the wide road, telling you what you want to hear for their own gain. And Jesus uses the word BEWARE!!

-Currently, I believe our ENTIRE CULTURE is trying to guide you onto the wide path! We’ve got Oprah Winfrey telling us to embrace YOUR TRUTH. There is no such thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH.

-Jesus said it was a narrow gate! And as much as we might like universalist idea that all good well intentioned people are all going to heaven… that’s not what Jesus said. Jesus said,

John 14:6- “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

-There’s not a lot of wiggle room there for differing paths! Jesus said… I am THE WAY, and THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE. NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME! The path to salvation is a very narrow path! Jesus doesn’t leave us a ton of wiggle room! Jesus is THE WAY. Jesus is THE TRUTH. Jesus is THE LIFE! It’s a very narrow gate!

Spotting the Wolves
-If you want to be able to identify the false teacher and spot the wolf in the room then all you need to do is remember this simple math equation. Jesus plus or minus anything equals nothing!

o Simple way to spot them. If someone wants to add or subtract ANYTHING to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then that is a false teaching! So what do I mean by add and subtract? It’s things like this….

-I believe the Bible, but I don’t believe in the divinity of Christ. (Which is precisely what the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe by the way.) And so they will avoid and remove passages that speak to the divinity of Christ. They will subtract from God’s word! That’s a false teaching!

-I believe the Bible, but I believe God is a God of Love, and so all paths will ultimately lead to God! (Rob Bell was a popular Christian teacher from just a few years back that taught this in his book ‘Love Wins’.) The problem is that you have to ignore Jesus very own words when he told us that the gate would be narrow and only a few would find it. You have to subtract from scripture! That’s a false teaching!

-I believe the Bible, but I also believe this other inspired book. (Which is what the Mormon’ do by the way… They will tell you that they believe the Bible, but then they will hold the Book of Mormon up as equal to the scripture! They will tell you it’s a new revelation. Which is a clever way of saying… Jesus plus something new. They’ve quite literally added an entire book onto the end of the gospel. They have added to scripture! That’s a false teaching!

I believe that Jesus is the path to salvation but you also need to____________. Fill in the blank. And this could be any number of things. It can even be good things… Holy living, church attendance, or charitable giving. All of which are good things, but none of which are the path to salvation. And when someone places an additional condition onto salvation, what they are doing is adding to scripture! That’s a false teaching!

You Will Know Them By Their Fruit:
-Jesus continued by giving the disciples a very specific way to distinguish between Godly Shepherds and False Prophets. Jesus said, you will know them by their fruit! Check this out…

o Matthew 7:16-18- “16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.”

-Jesus says that “You will recognize them by their fruits.” And whereas wolves are able to blend in and conceal themselves among the sheep… there is no way to hide bad fruit! As a matter of fact… it’s pretty darn easy to identify bad fruit! Starting with the cloud of fruit flies hanging out over your kitchen counter. Not to mention the stink. There’s no hiding that! You’re gonna know it’s there!

-It is not hard to identify bad fruit, and the opposite is also true. Good fruit is so very good! Perfectly sweet, crisp, cold watermelon on a summer day. A fresh ripe Georgea Peach. Fresh Pineapple when you’re in Hawaii. Good fruit is SO GOOD! And bad fruit is SO BAD!

-What exactly were the fruits that Jesus was taking about here? They can be broken down into 3 different aspects of their life and their ministry.
-We should pay attention to their manner of living.
-We should pay attention to the content of their teaching.
-We should pay attention to the affect of their teaching.

-Let’s start with their manner of living and code of conduct as a Christian. And unfortunately, since this is the most visible… sometimes this is the only criteria that every get’s considered. And certainly, it is true that our Elders and Teachers ARE supposed to be held to a higher standard. That’s scriptural! But that being said, I don’t think that the fruit that Jesus was talking here about was JUST a simple code of conduct!

-The fruit that Jesus is talking about isn’t just about good deeds! (Mormons can have wonderful families with great family values and still be preaching a ‘different gospel’ as Paul described to the Galatians)

-In 2 Timothy, Paul even warned that in the last days, that there would be those that would come…

2 Timothy 3:5- “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”

-You hear that? ‘Having the appearance of godliness’… They’re going to look & act like sheep! You’re going to have to look beyond their outward appearance! And certainly, our outward behaviors are PART of what Jesus was talking about, but Jesus was talking about something far bigger! The fruit that Jesus was talking about was a radical transformation that changes everything! A heart transformation!

-Good fruit or bad fruit… You’re going to know! The apostle Paul taught the exact same thing in his letter to the Galatians. He put it slightly differently… He said, you’ve got the works of the flesh or the fruit of the spirit. (You’ve got bad fruit or you’ve got good fruit! )

-Unfortunately, as we listen to Paul’s warning, we are reminded of way too many examples of Christian leaders that have fallen from grace for any number of different reasons that Paul lists. Looking back we can see so many signs. The fruit was there if we had only been looking.

o Galatians 5:19-21
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

-You can’t hide bad fruit! Paul said, “The works of the flesh are evident”. Some of these things are going to be rear their head in their ministry! Are you watching paying attention?

·By the same token, you also can’t hide good fruit! Paul continues…

o Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

-A true disciple of Jesus and a true teacher of His Word will be marked by fruit! He’s talking about something way bigger than a simple code of conduct. He’s talking about a heart transformation that changes everything! He’s talking about the fruit of the spirit, and you can’t hide good fruit. You’ll see and taste the difference! You’ll know them by their fruit.

-Jesus also warns of NO FRUIT! Did you notice that?
o Matthew 7:19-20
“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

-Did you notice that the penalty for No Fruit is the same as the penalty for Bad Fruit?!?! Are you growing in your relationship with Jesus? Are you different than you once were? Is their fruit in your life? Is it good fruit or bad fruit?

The Final Warning-
There was one final aspect of Jesus warning that I don’t want to skip. And the last part of Jesus warning was actually a prophetic warning of judgement upon any would be False Prophets that seek to lead the flock astray. Anyone that might want to change up God’s word to fit their own agendas.
-Jesus says they will be cut down and thrown into the fire! Jesus doesn’t mince words here! Jesus doesn’t sugar coat it. If you want to change God’s Word to fit your own agenda..., then it will end in judgement! You will be cut down, you will be thrown into the fire! This is a prophetic word of warning!

Communion/ Response:
And as we head to the communion table this morning, I would ask you to be mindful of Jesus words to us this morning. Jesus gave us 2 things… A Decision & a Warning.

- A Decision. A clear choice. The Wide path or the narrow gate. It begs the question… what path am I on? Am I on the strait and narrow or have I allowed myself to have been coaxed onto the easy road?

- Jesus also gave us a Warning-
o He gave us a sober warning that this path would not be easy!
o He warned us about False Prophets and told us how to spot them. Look for their fruit!
o And in the same way that we can evaluate our leaders and teachers, Jesus simultaneously gave us a way to evaluate our own walk with Jesus. Is there fruit in my life? Is it good fruit or bad fruit? Are there more works of the flesh or fruits of the Spirit in my life?

Use this time of communion to evaluate where you are with God!