Two Paths
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Matthew 7:7-29
Matthew 7:7-29
Good morning, church!
We are going to jump right in this morning. We have some ground to cover since I didn’t make it through half of my sermon last week. But I believe once you see the flow of Jesus’ closing statements in the sermon on the mount, you will see just how clear Jesus was being.
Like we said at the outset of the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5, Jesus is proclaiming the Kingdom of God. The King has come and He is revealing His kingdom on earth to us.
And this sermon is a list of truths about those that are belong to His kingdom.
The whole time, you could have been asking yourself this question. “Am I truly apart of this Kingdom? Do I have this Kingdom principles in my life?”
Jesus is proclaiming what Kingdom citizens look like. Do you look like Jesus’ description?
Because today, in Jesus’ closing statements, we are going to see Jesus say, you are either in the kingdom or your not.
There is no middle path. And the core point today in Jesus’ word is asking are you in the kingdom?
Let’s pray and dive in to see what Jesus says will show weather we are or we are not.
Pray.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
“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.
If you’ll permit me, I’m going to circle back to vs 7-11 at the end. I felt like that Is what the Lord wanted us to do this morning.
So, in our explanation we will start in vs 12
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
This is what has commonly been referred to as the Golden Rule. My mom used to drill this in my head about my younger brother.
Its simply a rephrasing of the 2nd greatest commandment that Jesus explains in Matthew 22:38–40 “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love your neighbor as yourself, treat others like you want to be treated.
Simply put.
Be the type of friend that you want others to be to you!
Be the brother or sister that you want.
Be the spouse that you want.
Be the parent that you wish you had.
Be the grandparent that you wish you had.
Do to others what you would want done to you no matter the circumstance.
Instead of sitting around, waiting and wishing that someone would just be those things to you.
YOU do them first!
Now, 13-14 Jesus makes the kingdom clear. This is where He divides the world. Two paths. You are either on one or the other.
“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.
Two paths, one wide and easy.
One, narrow and hard.
Two gates to enter those paths.
Jesus says to be a kingdom citizen, you have to enter the narrow gate and walk down the narrow path.
Jesus explains this more in John 10:7-11
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus is one door.
Satan is the other.
Jesus’ door and path leads to life, eternal and abundant.
Satan’s path lead to theft, death and destruction.
Jesus’ path is narrow. Not many find it.
Satan’s path is wide and its crowded.
Jesus’ path is not easy. It can be hard.
Satan’s path is easy and meant to be not challenging.
There is no middle path.
What you have to do is ask yourself “What path am I on?”
Jesus is saying, look around you.
Do you feel like the sin in your life doesn’t really matter?
Do you feel like doing things like reading your Bible, praying, fasting, and helping the poor is optional for your life?
Do you feel like you can coast through this life spiritually, taking it easy in as long as you go to church once a month because you said a prayer back in middle school?
Does it bring you comfort that you can look around America today and compare you life to so many others around you who call themselves “christians” and see that they are acting the same way, living the same way as you?
You have to ask yourself, what path does it seem like I am on?
The way to life, the way of the narrow gate take seriously the problem of sin in our lives and its devoted to killing it.
The way to life is devoted to pursuing righteousness and seeking first the kingdom of God.
The way to life, requires Jesus Christ and His blood to enter the Kingdom.
The way to life is understanding that you need the Holy Spirit to walk this path. Your own efforts will fall.
The way to life can feel lonely at times. You might be called radical.
Look, only you and Jesus can answer the question what path am I on?
But it is perhaps the most important question ever.
A way to tell what path you are on is the fruit in you life.
“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 prophet is a person chosen by God to be His representative, delivering divine messages, warnings, and teachings to the people.
And we often use this passage to look at others and judge weather this person, that pastor, or that televangelism is a false prophet.
Yes, we can do that and this passage will be a guide in judging the words of others.
But in vs 1-5 of this chapter, we learned that we should never look around at others until we have looked deeply into our own lives.
Did you know that you could be the worse false prophet in your life?
Did you know that you could say things in your thought, believe things in you heart, and base you life off of false doctrines and unbiblical principles?
Think about this. What I just read about two paths, one leading to life and one leading to destruction.
Did any of you try to think differently about that passage?
Did any of you try to explain away the two paths passage?
Did you mind go, well, I mean, he didn’t mention grace. He didn’t talk about backsliding Christians.
Maybe there is a third option that is not mentioned in that passage.
Did your mind start arguing with Jesus?
Or worse, did you mind start speaking for God in a way that is different than what His Word says??
When you start explaining away the scriptures. or numbing down the truths read from the Word of God, make no mistake, you are false prophesying over your own life.
When we try to explain away the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we are false prophesying over our lives.
Because the truths that we do away with and the false truths or half truths that we speak over our thoughts and lives, will trickle out in the fruit that is produced in our lives.
Fruit is a churchy word for what is produced out of the overflow of our hearts, desires and what we love the most.
And if we produce bad fruit in our lives, it says again, that we will be cut down and thrown into the fire!
Fruit is shown not only in our lives but it can effect the fruit in others lives around me.
Parents, the things that you falsely prophecy over yourself will be prophecied over your children.
The fruit being produced in the over flow of your heart can reveal what path you may be on.
Galatians 5:16–25 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works (fruit) 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. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
Which fruit is produced in the overflow of your heart?
The fruit in your life can help reveal what path we are on.
And what path you are on is the most important question that you can ask yourself!
Because the next passage is one of the most scariest passages in the Bible!
“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. 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?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
The first things that you have to recognize is that Jesus is not talking to Sodom and Gomorra here.
He is not talking to the most sinful, God hating atheist.
Jesus is talking to those in the church.
Those who have called Him “Lord, Lord”!
Jesus is talking to people who did “good things”!
THIS is how important chapter 6 is! Jesus is saying that doing good things for the wrong reasons can actually trick you into thinking that you know God and fool you to think that you are on the right path that leads to life!
Listen, there is only one thing that matters in this life!!
Is Jesus your personal Lord and Savior?!
Is He sitting on the throne of your life as your chief love, your primary focus, the King of your life?
Is He the center point of your hearts focus and desire?
Because He is the gate! He is entrance to the Kingdom of God that leads to life eternal and abundant!
Not your works!
This life is NOT about external rules applied to your life hoping that you can be good enough to get to heaven!
Jesus speaks directly about the opposite!
Your deeds can not save you!
Ephesians 2:4–8 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”
ALL of that is God’s works and gifts to you!!
You can not earn it! Stop!
I pray that there is not a single person in this room that will have to hear Jesus say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
Because at THAT point, its too late. There is no 2nd chance. The judgement has been made. Eternal death and destruction lays in your future.
But there is a different path. A path that leads to eternal life.
A path that not only helps you in eternity, but helps you in this life too.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
This is the final words of Jesus in His sermon and it is one of hope, assurance, confidence and strength!
If you heard the things that Jesus taught, if you paid attention to these kingdom principles, these truths of the kingdom of God and do them!
Don’t just be hearers of the word but doer of the word!
If you recognize that you are poor in spirit and need the HS in your life to do good and stop doing wrong things.
If you desire to salt and light to the world so that others will glorify God.
If you strive to ask the HS to help remove even the desire to sin,
If you do good things for the right reasons,
If you treasure things that are in heaven and that are eternal.
If you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,
If Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life and has saved you from your sins,
Your life in this world will be like a house built on a solid foundation.
Listen, the truths Jesus taught is the foundation of your life, and the structure of your house is the good fruit that is produced, then it doesn’t matter what the world throws at you, you will survive and stand strong in it.
There is a confidence and surety that comes from being on the straight and narrow.
Its not easy.
It challenging to die to self every day.
Its difficult for the Lord to keep challenging you to trust Him more and more to grow your faith in Him.
But a life based on these kingdom principles will cause you to stand firm through everything.
And then, when your life is over, you will hear the Lord say, “well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your Master.”
But the wide path leads to destruction, death, eternal seperation, and when the winds and the rains of this life blow and whip, your life will crumble.
I bet some of you here today feel like that.
You relate more to the 2nd half of that passage than the first. Some of you here feel like your life is crumbling all around you.
I hope that it might show you that you are on the right path.
Jesus is the right path. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Him.
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
I wonder if there is anyone here that is astounded at the authority of the Word of Jesus here.
Listen, only He has the authority to say what He said here. He is God in the flesh come to pave a way for sinful man to be reconciled to God.
He gets to decide the path. Not you or me.
But PRAISE GOD THAT THERE IS A PATH!
We are hopeless without Him!
But know this, listening to truth is dangerous.
Truth is always good and always right, but you as the listener are in danger if you hear the truth and reject it!
Romans 1 and 2 talk about once you know the truth and have the knowledge of the truth, if you choose to ignore it, if you have a hard and impenitent heart to this truth that you are hearing today,
You are storing up for yourself the wrath of God when God’s righteous judgement is revealed!
It say, you will have no excuse!
It says, that though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God as the Lord of their lives, or give thanks to Him.
He says that they became futile in their thinking, they started false prophecying over their thoughts, convincing themselves of things that are untrue.
And their foolish hearts were darkened.
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things over the Creator of all things!
Church, listening to truth brings responsibility!
If you are here and you know you are on the wide path that leads to destruction and you walk out of here today without pleading with Jesus the gate keeper to let you on the right path, then the responsibility now sits squarely on your shoulders.
You can’t blame anyone other than yourself that you are heading towards destruction. And when you stand before Jesus and He tells you to depart. Only you are to blame.
Even now, the false prophet is speaking, “you can do that later, you have time.”
“What would people think? What would my wife think? What would my husband or kids think?”
“There has got to be a different way.”
I think Jesus and His Word has been very clear today.
What path are you on?
Maybe you are here and you are ready to switch paths.
Well, Jesus tells us the way.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Ask, invite Him in.
Ask Him to be the true Lord of your life.
Ask Him to sit on the throne of your life and be your everything.
I promise you this, you won’t have to ask twice. He wants to be there.
Ask Him to save you from the penalty of your sin.
Ask Him to change the desires of your heart to resist sin.
Ask Him to help your motives in doing good things.
Seek Him first.
Make Him your first love.
Pursue God with everything that you have. Like a man who found a treasure in a field and knew that the value of that treasure was so great that it was worth getting rid of everything to have Him.
Seek after a righteous life. A life the reflects the glory of God and shines bright in the darkness of the world.
Knock on the gate of the Kingdom. He is knocking on your door right now.
He is stirring in your heart and asking you to open up your heart to Him.
Let the King of Glory in.
Ask Him, invite Him to His rightful place and He will come in.
(invite the band)
Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
If God was a mean Father, He would reject your invitation. He would reject your asking Him to get you on the right path.
But if you as a father, know how to give your children good gifts, how much more does the greatest Father ever know how to give us, His children good gifts.
And the absolute best gift ever, is Jesus.
Romans 10:13 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””
God will give you the best gift ever.
But Luke’s account of Jesus making this promise goes an extra step.
Luke 11:13 “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!””
Not only will He give you Jesus, He will give you the Comforter, the guaranteer of our salvation, the one who seals us as believers.
The only one who can get us on the right path and keep us there.
The Holy Spirit.
This morning, all you have to do it ask.
Close your eyes.
Prayer partners take positions.
The responsibility to respond sits squarely on your shoulders.
Choose you this day, whom you will choose.
Pray a simple pray of the HS moving.
