Two Roads To Travel Series

One of the elements of a sermon is the invitation. A sermon is more than information preached. In the invitation there is a call to action. What are you going to do with what you heard? How will you respond to how God has spoken to you?

Jesus has just preached the greatest sermon in all of history in Matthew 5-6. It is known as the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew Chapter 7 is the greatest invitation of all times that concludes Jesus’ sermon. What will you do about what Jesus has said? This is the call to commitment. This is the time for responding to Jesus’s message and committing to action.

There are two ways to respond. Which will it be.

The narrow gate or the broad road?

The good fruit or the evil fruit?

Follow a religion or have a relationship with God?

Have a foundation of rocks or a foundation of sand?

Jesus did not pull any punches. The Christian life is not easy. Part of sharing the gospel is telling it like it is. Following Christ is the difficult way. Jesus is asking you to come and die to self. We don’t need to gloss over this part of becoming a Christian.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

What will it be? Only a few find the narrow gate. The road is narrow, and the path is difficult to follow. It will mean following Christ even when persecution comes for being a faithful follower of Jesus. It means staying faithful when it requires sacrifice.

This kind of faithfulness doesn’t just happen. There is a deliberate act of the will to die to self and live for Christ. The way is narrow to enter, but the invitation extends to all. We enter into God’s kingdom, the kingdom of God through Jesus. Only a few find this way. But for those who do this path leads to life.

Christian life may be hard, but worth it. There is eternal life, heaven, a crown of righteousness. These are what lay waiting for the one who finds the narrow way. This is what is in store for the ones that run the race with endurance.

Then there is the broad road that is the easy way to find. It is the path of least resistance. It is the road you will end up on if you are drifting along. This road has a wide entry gate. It is the road that is for the many. The destruction on this road is separation from God.

Think about how an animal trap works. The animal is lured in with bait and enters a wide easily accessible entry. But it can’t get out. Nothing is left for the animal but to wait for destruction. You stand at a crossroad of the wide and narrow road and Jesus calls for a decision.

There are two gates. There are two roads. There are two destinations. The narrow way is only found by a few, and the broad road is traveled by many.

There are two trees with two kinds of fruit. There is the bad tree with bad fruit. Then there is the good tree with good fruit.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:15-20)

How do you know if someone is a prophet or a pretender? You know by their fruit. By their fruit is how you recognize who they really are. You can find the worst-case situations where a false prophet led people to do horrible things. How come people did not know? False prophets appear as lambs when they are really wolves in sheep’s clothes.

It is not good to have a wolf in charge of feeding the sheep. Because these false prophets are bad by nature, they can only produce bad fruit. You don’t get grapes from a thornbush. False prophets speak wonderful words, but their lives do not match up with their words.

In contrast to a false prophet a true prophet will produce good spiritual fruit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)