Matthew 7:12-23
The narrow road
Manuscript
Well today is our second last sermon on the Sermon on the Mount. And from verse 12 through to the end of the chapter forms the summary and conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. The first word of verse 12 is “so”- or in some versions, “therefore”. That means that this last part of chapter 7 is the summary and the conclusion of the whole sermon on the Mount. And who can give me one word to describe the Sermon on the Mount? “Difficult”. Yes, difficult to do. And so it is no surprise then that the summary and conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount is also difficult. In it Jesus talks about narrow roads, false prophets in sheep’s clothing and all sorts of other really difficult stuff. But this conclusion has something that should really should make us sit up and take notice. You see, in the passage we are looking at today Jesus tells us plain and clear that our reaction to His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, whether we obey it or not, is the difference between life and death, between an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell. And so this sermon today is pretty important. Well let’s get stuck into the passage and have a look at it. Verse 12 starts with “So” – or “therefore” in some versions. That is, Jesus now summarises the whole sermon on the Mount with the famous words:
Matthew 712 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”
and then He says
Matthew 7:12b for this is the Law and the Prophets.
In other words this little statement of doing to others what you wish they would do to you, not only does it summarise the Sermon on the Mount, but Jesus says it summarises the Law and the Prophets. The expression “Law and the Prophets” was often used by Jews in Jesus’ day to describe their Bible – what we call the Old Testament. In other words “whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them,” basically sums up the ethnical teaching of the Sermon on the Mount as well as the whole Bible. Well – it makes sense if you think about it. What sort of things have we been looking at in the sermon on the Mount? Being salt and light so others can glorify the Father in Heaven. Now if you’d never heard about Jesus, wouldn’t you like someone to be salt and light to you so you could glorify God? I know I’m very grateful to my grade 11 teacher who told me about Jesus and what He’d done for me. And so I should do that for others - be salt and light and so glorify and show others who God is.
We’ve also looked at anger - not calling your brother or sister “fool.” Reconciling with those we are out of sorts with. Now you don’t like it when people call you “fool”- so don’t call others fools. And you like it when people reconcile with you, so then reconcile with others. We also talked about lust and flirting, marriage and divorce. I’m sure we’d all like our spouses to remain faithful to us. We also don’t like the thought of someone else ogling our wives – or future wives. So we should do to others what we would like for ourselves. We looked at truth. We like others to tell us the truth – to be honest with us. So we should do the same to others. We talked about retaliation. We would like others not to retaliate against us when we make mistakes, to cop us a bit of slack, so we should do the same to others. We talked about giving to the needy. If we were needy, if we were one of those starving Africans in Somalia right now, we’d sure like someone to help us, to give us a chance of life, to help us feed our kids so they wouldn’t die of starvation or disease. So therefore we should do the same to others that we would like done to us. The Sermon on the Mount – the Law and the Prophets – the Bible - can quite simply be summed up in
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.”
Simple isn’t it? Well…… simple to say. Not quite so simple to do. If it was so simple to do, then why do we still have wars and man-made famines? Why do we have marital affairs, divorce and domestic violence? Why do we have lawsuits and arguments and why do some churches have church splits? Why does all this happen if it’s so simple? Well, the fact is, it’s easy to say, but it’s hard to do. The basic problem is that we don’t do to others what we want them to do to us. Why? Because for each one of us – the most important person in the world is – me. I know that’s often true of myself. But you know, there’s always two sides of the story. There’s my side. And then there’s my other side. What we excuse in ourselves we don’t excuse in others. We are self-centred creatures.
It is difficult to do to others what we wish they would do to us. It’s really difficult. And sometimes when we read through the Sermon on the Mount we wonder if Jesus realises how difficult it is for us? Well the answer is – He does. In the next two verses Jesus says:
Matthew 713 “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. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Yep – living the way Jesus wants us to live is not easy. It is the narrow gate. It is the hard road. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has given us a whole lot of really difficult teaching, and we have two choices: There is the easy road. The wide road. The way most people go. That is, ignoring God’s way of living and going along with the crowd - going the easy way.
Or – you can go Jesus’ way. But Jesus says, my way is narrow, the road is hard. It is – yes – difficult. And Jesus says that most people go along the easy way. Most people choose the wide gate, the easy way. And only a few go through the narrow gate, along the hard and difficult way. And Jesus tells us which way to choose. Hey says:
Enter by the narrow gate
He tells us which gate, which road to choose. Why does He do that? Well – it’s because He loves us and He knows the consequences. You see, these gates and roads lead somewhere. The wide gate, the easy road, leads to where? To DESTRUCTION! Jesus doesn’t mince His words. The wide, easy gate, that is – ignoring His commands, living our own way - it is the easy way that most people take, but it leads to destruction and an eternity in Hell! Ouch!
The alternative? The hard, narrow, difficult way that Jesus tells us to go on. Where does it lead? It leads to life. And my friends, it is the ONLY way that leads to eternal life. There is no other way. Is that hard? Yes it is is – especially when we think about the eternal consequences. And because it is so hard, there are many so-called Christian teachers out there who will tell you something different. Who will tell you that it doesn’t really matter what you do, it doesn’t matter how you live your life, all you have to do is believe in Jesus and you’ll be saved. There’s teachers out there who will tell you that the Christian life is one of ease, that Jesus came to make you happy, whole and fulfilled, but they never mention this hard stuff. Or others who will say all we need to do to be saved is to accept Jesus as our Saviour, but the hard stuff – the obeying Jesus stuff - that’s just an optional extra for the really devoted Christians like pastors and deacons and missionaries and chaplains and so on, but it’s not something that every Christian has to do. Well you know what? - Jesus saw these teachers coming, and He talks about them in the next few verses
Matthew 715 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Jesus is saying there will be false prophets who will preach the wide, easy way. And these prophets are those who masquerade as Christian teachers. How do we know this? Because Jesus says they come in sheep’s clothing. That is – they look like one of Jesus’ followers. That is, these false prophets are not Muslim prophets, or Hindu prophets or secular prophets. No - these prophets are ones who look like us, who like Jesus’ sheep. And we’ll see more of that soon when we go onto the next few verses. But although they look like Christians they are in fact ravenous wolves teaching not so much false doctrine, but a false way to live. How do we recognise these false prophets? Well Jesus tells us in the next few verses:
Matthew 7 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. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Their fruits. Do they teach – and not just teach – but do, what Jesus tells us to do? Friends - there’s lots of teaching out there that claims to be Christian. On the TV, on the radio, on websites, in Christian bookshops. Some of it is very popular, some of it is listened to by a lot of Christians, some of them write songs which we sing, but we need to look at their fruits. Friends – have a close look at anyone, including me, who claims to teach in Christ’s name. A few weeks ago we looked at Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.” And when we looked at that sermon we saw that Jesus was not giving a blanket ban on not judging, but to be very careful how we judge. But now in our passage today, Jesus is commanding us to judge the teachings that are out there. In verse 15 Jesus say, “Beware” - “Beware of false prophets,” and then gives us criteria as to how to judge true from false teaching.
Well – look at their fruits. A healthy tree will bear good fruit, and a rotten tree will bear rotten fruit. Someone who is a true prophet will bear good fruit and someone who is a false prophet will bear bad fruit. Well then – what is good fruit and what is bad fruit? Fruit – is obedience to the commands of God - doing God’s will. And in the next few verses Jesus elaborates on this. And before we read the next few verses we need to brace ourselves, because here Jesus is not talking just about teachers, but about all of us – and the eternal consequences of not just what we say, but what we do. Let’s read:
Matthew 721 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Wow this is pretty heavy passage. It is basically saying – words are not enough. It is not just enough to say “Lord, Lord.” It’s not just enough to say “I follow Jesus”. But the words must be followed with action. Let us have a look at this passage and see who gets into the Kingdom of Heaven and who doesn’t. Well – we find the criteria for getting into the kingdom of Heaven in verse 21 is the “the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Yep – it’s those who don’t just say – but do – the will of God. God’s will. Well what is God’ will? We’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s have a look at who doesn’t get in, or better said – what’s not enough to get in.
You see Jesus tells us something that should make all us sit and pay attention. In verse 22 Jesus tells us about various people who on the judgement Day will face Jesus. Some will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?” Surely they’d get in wouldn’t they? That is, people who professed the name of Jesus. People who preached in Jesus’ name, people who taught in Jesus’ name and declared the counsel of God in Jesus’ name. No, Jesus says, not enough, not good enough. And then they say, “Didn’t we cast out demons in your name, and do mighty works in your name?” And Jesus says to them – it doesn’t matter what you say, it doesn’t matter how much you prophesy or do miracles in my name, if you don’t do God’s will, then I never knew you – depart from me you workers of lawlessness.
So what is God’s will? You know, God’s will is a pretty popular topic in Christian circles. We all want to know what God’s will is for our life. Who does God want me to marry? What does God want to to do for a living? I’ve heard people say – I’ve thought about being a missionary or a pastor, or teaching R.E. or helping out in youth group, but I’m not sure if it’s God’s will. You know the whole idea of God’s will is very misunderstood. We often think God’s will is some specific command that He will individually communicate to each one of us - who to marry, where to live, what to for a living. If you are a missionary – which country to go to - even whether to be a missionary. That is, God tells us what to do, and if He doesn’t then we don’t do it. Sometimes Christians even think that if God hasn’t told me specifically to do a particular thing, then it would be out of God’s will to do it – even if it’s a good thing.
But what does the Bible say about God’s will? You know the Bible does not talk about God’s will like this. To give an example, we quote Paul’s being set apart in Acts 13 for missionary service as proof that someone needs a specific call to be a missionary. Yet Paul received that call AFTER he became a missionary. Paul received that call when he was in Antioch, but what was Paul doing in Antioch in the first place? He was a missionary – already a missionary when he got that call. Paul went to countless places on his missionary journeys. How many of them did he receive a specific call for a particular place? Only two: Macedonia – and then back to Jerusalem. The rest of the places – well he just went to the next town that hadn’t yet heard about Jesus. Was Paul out of God’s will those other times? No! Why not? Because God had already told Paul – and us – His will. It’s in the Bible - to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to every person on the planet. And so Paul just went around doing that.
Friends I’ve even heard people talking about the will of God in a way that actually stops them doing the will of God. How many times have I heard someone saying something like: “I’m not going get involved in ministry in the schools, or help with the youth group, or witness to my workmates because I haven’t heard God call me to that.” Or “I don’t give to help the poor because God hasn’t laid that on my heart.” Perhaps most of us have been guilty of something like that at some time or another. But friends – as well intentioned as we may be, those excuses can sometimes actually go against the will of God!
Where do we find the will of God! Here! In the Bible! Yes, God can and sometimes does speak to different people to do something specific, but the vast majority of the time He reveals His will to us from His Bible. The will of God is not some mysterious thing we have to try and mystically find out. It’s revealed to us in the Bible. The Bible already says – give to to the poor – God doesn’t have to lay it on your heart. The Bible says to tell people about Jesus – so if you have ability and you can make the time – yes you should be an R.E. teacher or youth group helper or tell your workmates about Jesus – or whatever other opportunities present themselves to you. Friends the will of God is plain and clear and revealed to us. Who should you marry? Well the Bible says Christians should only marry Christians. So if you want to marry someone and they are a Christian heading in the same direction as you in the Lord and you get on well and love each other and other people think you’d be a good match and that person would also like to marry you, well then marry them! Friends – the people who do the will of God – these are the people who go to heaven.
And getting back to discerning between true and false prophets, when we hear or read a Christian teacher, look at what they are teaching. Do they teach the will of God as contained in the Bible? Do you see fruits – actions from their ministry and their life that are what the Bible says? Do they talk about the narrow road- the difficult stuff in the Bible? Or do they only talk about the easy stuff? You know you can pick up a Koorong catalogue, or switch on a Christian TV show, and you’ll see lots of so-called teachers out there that don’t preach what Jesus preached. It’s very popular nowadays for preachers to only preach the easy stuff - Jesus wants you to be successful - that you have it all here and now. They skip the hard stuff. So before you follow a particular person’s teaching, Jesus says, look at their fruits. Are they teaching and doing God’s will? It doesn’t’ matter how many people they heal or raise from the dead, if their life is not holy, if they don’t talk about sin, repentance and the eternal consequences of that, then don’t listen to them, because our Bible passage today tells us they are ravenous wolves. Jesus talked about eternal consequences more than any other topic. And He was always talking about sin and the need for repentance. If a teacher only talks about Jesus as someone to help you through life, to be your life coach, to help you feel fulfilled and happy, but never mentions that we are sinners who need to confess and repent of our sins, then they are a false prophet who never mentions that the Christian life is one of sacrifice and often of suffering. In other words, if their teaching and practice doesn’t line up with the Bible – all of the Bible - then they are false prophets, and you listen to them at your peril. And how will you know if there teaching and practice line up with the Bible? Well you need to be familiar with the Bible and its teaching yourself, so make sure you are reading and doing it, which we’ll talk more about next week.
So that’s our passage for today. But now some of you may be asking, What about Grace?” Does that mean we are actually saved by our works – what we do? Jesus says the ones who get into heaven get there because they’ve done the will of God, not just because of what they say. Well the answer to that is, we are saved by Grace – God’s gift to us in Jesus. Why? Well, it doesn’t’ matter how much we try and do God’s will, we’ll never do it perfectly. We have a massive debt of sin with God, and we don’t have enough good works to pay it off. We are spiritually bankrupt. We need someone to pay the massive debt of sin for us. And only one person has enough righteousness to cover our debt - Jesus Christ. And He calls us to repent of our sin, and to trust in Him and turn to Him to pay off our debt. But this is the key - Jesus doesn’t want just words, to just sign on the dotted line for the fire insurance that will get us out of Hell. But He tells us to repent. That means – to turn from our ways, and to start living His way, according to His will. We won’t always do it perfectly, but He expects us to be heading in that direction.
You see – words are easy. It’s easy to say “Jesus is Lord,” but it’s a lot harder for Jesus to actually be Lord. Jesus ought to be our Lord, and that’s why Jesus says about those who say “Lord, Lord,” and who prophesy in His name and cast out demons in His name and do miracles in His name but don’t’ do His will - Jesus says to them in verse 23:
“I never knew you.”
What a terrible thing to have Jesus say to you on the last day. I never knew you. Why didn’t Jesus know them? Well – it goes back to the verse 20 when Jesus says how to recognise true and false teachers:
“Thus you will recognise them by their fruits.”
Jesus also recognises us, knows us, by our fruits. Not just by what we say, but what we do. If you are truly saved, if you have truly repented, if you have truly made Jesus your Lord and have been born again, then you will bear these fruits and Jesus will know you on that last day.
Today’s sermon is very serious. I hope it has given us all pause to think about our lives and whether Jesus really is Lord. If you are challenged by this sermon, and you don’t like it, well I’m not asking you to like it. I’m just passing on what this Bible passage says. If I did anything less, if I tried to water down this passage and make it easier, then I would be a false prophet who is preaching that the wide gate and the easy way is okay – when it in fact it leads to destruction. If you ignore this message because it sounds too hard, then you are like the cancer patient who ignores the doctor’s instructions. Ignoring it won’t make the cancer go away. I’m going to try as hard as I can not to be a false prophet, but tell it to you straight.
I want us all to think about our lives. Perhaps you aren’t sure if you really have repented and turned from your sin and made Jesus your Lord. If that’s you – your eternal destiny is at stake. Come and talk to me after the service.
And for all of us, this is a warning to us that just saying the right things, just going through the motions of Christianity is by itself not enough. The true indicator of whether Jesus knows us – recognises us - is by our allegiance to Him, which is measurable in whether we seek to do His will – or our own.
