Matthew 7:12-19

12-14

v12- Jesus instructs that “we should do for others as we wish they would do for us” was given by the law and prophets, -twice in Matthew this is the instruction.

Matt 22:37-40 “You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind. this is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and Prophets.

We have the choice between right and wrong, to follow Jesus or to not. There are two options just like there are two gate options

v 13 & 14

Wide gate

board- spacious, easy

followers follow own inclinations and desires of their hearts

Take what we want, easy to find

Destination leads to destruction

Many are traveling this way

Narrow gate

the “hard way”- hard because our flesh wants to live as we have always desired

boundaries are clearly marked

divine revelation: restricts believers to what God has revealed in scripture

Christ’s hard and narrow way is also to be welcome as his “easy yoke” and “light burden”

Self must be denied, the body kept under, and corruptions mortified. Daily temptations must be resisted; duties must be done. We must watch in all things, and walk with care; and we must go through much tribulation.

Have to look for the gate, it is easy to miss

We must leave everything behind

Jesus christ himself is the door. if we enter by him we will be saved

Destination leads to life

Few are finding it

“While on the narrow road there is just a “happy band of pilgrims”, hand in hand, backs turned upon sin and faces set towards the celestial city, “singing songs of expectation, marching to the promised land.”

Word enter implies that neither crowd is ignorant of the issues; each has been presented with a choice and has deliberately “entered” one or other way.

v 15-20- once we have chosen the narrow gate we must be careful of False prophets

False prophets: Wolves in sheep's clothing

False prophets or false teachers blur the issue of salvation. they muddle or distort the Gospel so that they make it hard for seekers to find the narrow gate

example of 6th grade with the compass and metal. The man knew he was tricking us.

in jesus time he called Pharisees and Sadducees as “Blind leaders of the blind”

intentional deception- pretending to be something that they are not.

recognize by Fruit: healthy tree bears god fruit, diseased tree bears good fruit

challenge to go look up what these trees look like.

they don’t even look the same, unable to produce anything else because that is what they guniely are

people’s deeds- the natural outcomes of their choices and inclinations, Read Luke 6:43-45

James 2:14-19

How do you test what people are saying?

1 John 4:1-6 Test the spirits

Does it align with scripture?

are you reading scripture to know if it aligns

How did i know the teacher lead us astray, i look around.

Does that person’s actions align with their words?

it is easy to say things but the way we act speaks louder

Actions are louder than words

We all sin and fall short so their will be times when our actions might not align with God’s word. But a follower of Christ, repents of that action and turns from it.

Your foundation has to be solid which goes into the passage of scripture for next week