| Introduction At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says it is not enough to listen to it, praise it for its beauty, think it was a well-delivered sermon, and not do the things he speaks about in the sermon. He places before his audience, and before us today, some serious choices that we must make: · between two gates that lead to two separate and exclusive ways (13-14); · between two influences in our lives (false prophet or true prophet, 15-20); · between two claims of ownership (21-23) · between two builders (24-27). Notice that in all these scenarios, there are only two choices. Jesus is saying that you either follow him, or you don't. He does not offer a third choice of neutrality. Mt. 12:30 – He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. I. These choices are not between religion and irreligion, but between true religion and false religion. A. The false prophets try to look like two prophets, 15. B. Both groups claim Jesus as Lord, 21. C. Both houses look exactly the same, 25-26. D. That leads us to conclude that the two gates are two gates of religion. E. So, Jesus here is primarily warning those who profess to be his disciples and calling them to action – this is a warning to the Church! F. What false religion is Jesus warning his Church about? 1. Because of the intense interaction throughout the sermon with what the Pharisees believed, we conclude that the false religion is the religion of the Pharisees. 2. The religion of the Pharisees was about self, 6:2, 5, 16, 7:5. 3. The religion of the Pharisees dictated that they have access to God because they have been so good. a. They have earned the fellowship with God. b. They have pulled themselves up to God by their own sandal straps. 4. All the while saying that they are servants of the Most High. II. We get upset with the Pharisees, yet Pharisaism is our default setting. A. We want to bury the Pharisees under a pile of stones for their hypocrisy because we despise them. B. Yet, we are by nature just like them. 1. We want to be in charge of how we come to God. 2. We boast about the puny things that we have done in life as if they were the greats feats in the universe. 3. We approach God as if God is so lucky to have us serve him. 4. We trust in all the good things we have done as the reason why God should have us. C. Because we by nature tend to this legalistic relationship with God, Christ warns his Church to always be in the look out. III. This way of talking about true religion and false religion permeates the Scriptures because it is a covenantal way to talk about our relationship with God. Dt. 30:19-20 – I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. Pro. 15:19 – The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, but the way of the upright is a highway. Jer. 21:8 – Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.'" A. There is quite a bit of discussion in the literature concerning this passage concerning where the gates are in relation to the roads. 1. Some suggest that the roads lead to the gate and the gates open into heaven or hell. 2. I think that Jesus mentioned the gate first for a reason: a. The gate is the entrance into religion. b. The road is the way we live according to the religion we chose to enter. B. So we have these two gates and everyone goes through one or the other. b. People can come in groups. c. You can bring with you every thing you want. 3) Your selfish ambitions. 4) Your view that the good things you do will earn you favor with God. d. This gate is attractive to many. 1) It doesn't require much to go through it. 2) As a matter of fact, it doesn't require anything! e. The only problem is that this gate eventually leads to eternal destruction in hell. a. This gate is intensely personal. 1) Only one person goes through at a time. 2) You go alone through it. b. The price to go through this gate is immensely high. 1) The only reason this gate is open to us is because Christ opened it with his life, death, and resurrection. 2) Going through this gate also costs your life. Gal. 2:20a – I have been crucified with Christ…. c. There is no room for you to bring anything with you through this gate. 1) Nothing! No good things, no family tree, no excuses, no self. 2) You have to divest yourself of all these things and count them as loss. "Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law's demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die." Augustus Toplady "Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul;
Not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole.
Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God;
Not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load. Your voice alone, O Lord, can speak to me of grace;
Your power alone, O Son of God, can all my sin erase.
No other work but Yours, no other blood will do;
No strength but that which is divine can bear me safely through. Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin;
Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within.
Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord, to Thee,
Can rid me of this dark unrest, And set my spirit free." Horatius Bonar d. The key to the gate is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. V. The two gates open to two roads. A. The two roads are the lives of those who have gone through the gates. B. One of the roads is called Broad Way. 1. Lots of people are there. a. There are not perils when travelling on this road. b. We might be able to drive our SUVs very comfortably here. 3. There are many challenges to your beliefs. 4. The crowds are there and we are by nature crowd people. a. We like strength in numbers. b. If everybody is doing it is must be right. When I became the principal at Heritage Christian School, one of the first things I did was to institute a uniform dress code. I spent quite some time fielding complaints that a uniform would stymie the individuality of the students. The students themselves complained about not being able to express themselves through what they wore. Yet, every time we had a free dress day, the students would largely dress alike: the same type of shirt, the same type of pants, even the same type of socks because that's what everybody else was doing. d. That's our crowd mentality. 5. The only problem with this road is that it leads to eternal destruction in hell. "Democratic decisions do not determine truth and righteousness in the kingdom." D.A. Carson 6. And this is the way that some of you choose to go on. "No man, in his wits, would choose to go to the gallows, because it is a smooth, pleasant way to it, nor refuse the offer of a palace and a throne, because it is a rough, dirty way to it; yet such absurdities as these are men guilty of, in the concerns of their souls." Matthew Henry C. The other road is called the Difficult Way, 14. 1. The word translated difficultis related to the word for tribulationand persecution. a. Contrary to the Broad Way, those walking in the Difficult Way are going to face persecution. b. The world, the flesh, and the Devil will try to push you off the road. c. The sinful world system hates the One whose name you bear and will try at all costs to get rid of your faith. d. The remnant of the old nature that we had checked at the gate still tries to steer us to the Broad Way. e. This agrees with the overall teaching of the Scriptures. Acts 14:21-22 – And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." 2 Tim. 3:12 – Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Mt. 16:24 – Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." f. That's why Jesus urges those who flippantly want to do through the narrow gate to count the cost. Lk. 14:25-33 – Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see itbegin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." "If you think it is a life in which you are going to make a great name, and be praised, and one in which you are going to be made wonderful, you may as well stop at this point and go back to the beginning, for he who would enter by this gate must say goodbye to self. It is a life of self-abasement, self-humiliation." Lloyd-Jones 2. You shouldn't assume that the Difficult Way is unhappy while the Broad Way is happy. Gal. 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 1 Pt. 1:6-9 – In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, beingmuch more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Is. 26:3 – You will keep him in perfect peace, whosemind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Ps. 16:11 – You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. "Suppose a man was going to New York to take possession of a large estate, and his [carriage] should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way; what a fool we should think him, if we saw him ringing his hands, and blubbering out all the remaining mile, 'My [carriage] is broken! My [carriage] is broken!'" John Newton 3. This way leads to eternal life with Jesus, 14. VI. The roads lead to two destinations. A. The narrow gate opens to the difficult way that ends up in life. B. The wide gate opens to the Broad Way that ends up in destruction. "'Do not be deceived,' Jesus is saying, 'what I am setting before you is a life-and-death issue. Look along with me through the gate, right to the final destination. Look at where these entrances will lead you.'" Sinclair Ferguson VII. How shall we then live? Verses 21-23 answer this question for us – we shall live by faith. A. Nobody wants to hear words like, "You have been fired," or "There has been an accident," or "Cancer," or "It's not you, it's me." 1. But there are no words scarier or more devastating to hear than the words that Jesus promises to say to false followers on Judgment Day: "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" 2. Matthew emphasizes what Jesus says in v. 23 by putting the word NEVER as the first word of what Jesus says. 3. That is why it is of utmost importance that you answer the question: Who is your master? B. Who are these people in v. 22? "If vv. 15-20 deal with false prophets, vv. 21-23 deal with false followers." D. A. Carson 1. They professed to be followers of Jesus Christ. 2. They had done great things in the name of Jesus. a. They prophesized in Jesus's name. b. They cast out demons in Jesus's name. c. They did many powerful things (wonders) in Jesus's name. 3. These are the things that the apostles themselves had done when Jesus sent them out. Mt. 10:1 – And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 4. Jesus never denies that they did the things they said they did. 5. Yet, our Lord calls them workers of the lawlessness. a. It is not just lawlessness in general. 1) It is the lawlessness. 2) The lawlessness of trusting on what you do instead of trusting in Jesus. 3) This legalistic approach to a relationship based on our doing is actually lawlessness. b. So these good things are lawlessness when done apart from faith in Christ. "The astounding things men can do in public is not certain indication of where they stand in private before the judgment of Jesus Christ. What really counts is how we are related to Christ himself. That is why the gospel has so much more to say about the power of Christ changing our characters than about the power of Christ changing the course of nature. "That distinction is a timely warning to our own generation. We are as easily mesmerized by people with unusual powers as was our Lord's generation. We are fascinated by 'signs.' But Jesus is not a wonder worker; he is a Saviour." Sinclair Ferguson 6. We often find a movement attractive when we see the people in it active, happy, loving one another. Never mind that the movement doesn't really get Jesus right. a. And these things must be attractive to us; they are good things. b. But Jesus says getting him right is the most important thing. C. What is Jesus looking for in that day of judgment? 21. 1. This passage tells us that there is more to confessing Jesus as Lord than simply saying, "You are my Lord." 2. Jesus says that in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, one has to do the will of his Father. a. Sometimes we talk about the will of God being described in the law of God, which is correct. b. There are places in the Bible where the expression "the will of God for you" is used. 1 Thess. 4:3a – For this is the will of God, your sanctification… c. But in the mouth of Jesus the will of the Father is related to faith. Jn. 6:40 – And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 3. Doing the will of the Father is believing in the Son; in another place Jesus puts it in this way: Jn. 6:29 – This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent. a. The work that pleases God is not primarily prophesying, casting out demons, and doing powerful things. b. The ultimate work that pleases God is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. c. Isn't it what Paul tells the Romans? Rom. 10:9-10 – that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 1) Notice how Paul begins verse 9 with confession and ends verse 10 with confession. 2) But at the heart of the passage is heart of faith. So what is it for you? Are you all about playing religion while you go in your merry way to destruction? What gate have you gone through? Is it Christ who lives through you now? "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the lifewhich I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Gal. 2:20 Who is your master? Whose slave are you? Is Jesus Christ truly your Lord? What words will you hear from him in the Day of Judgment? Is Jesus going to say, "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…?" Or, is he going to say, "Go away from me; I have never known you?"
Rom. 10:9-10 – that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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