You were with us last Sunday. We were in Matthew chapter five. The last verse in particular was our theme verse. Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect. We took a look at this devastating statement that Christ makes in the middle of what is perhaps the most famous sermon the Lord Jesus Christ never preached, the Sermon on the Mount. If you remember that statement, inflicted two great realities, one upon the sinner, in that it was a supernatural standard which he could not obtain. To be perfect, God in heaven is perfect. And in this way, Christ dealt a devastating blow to those who believed that they will attain some sort of saving grace from God simply because of the conduct of their good moralist. that salvation is not obtainable by the exertion of human effort. But rather, if sin means to miss the mark, and we are called to be as perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect, then very often, if not according to the scripture, as it says, always our righteous deeds are filthy rags in the sight of the Lord. We are always missing the mark because we're always aiming in the wrong direction. And so in this way, we come before the cross of Jesus Christ broken and say, nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy cross I clean. Naked, I come to you for dress. Helpless, I look to you for grace. I'm foul, and to the fountain I fly. Watch me, Savior, or I die. And the other half of that coin is that the child of God was known what it means to be broken. who knows what it means to be made poor in spirit, to be made to weep over sin, to be made low before the cross of Jesus Christ, recognizing our need. We turn and we look at it again and we understand to be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect is to acknowledge that a son looks like his father. And it was Christ's own estimation that the Pharisees resembled their father, the devil. thereby supplying us with a profound reality that we live in a global neighborhood, not a global brotherhood because we do not all have the same father. That verse was a sanctifying summons to the sons of God to look unto Christ, to see the divine pattern into which we are being conformed. and to set our sights where the apostle Paul set them and followed after Jesus. I've not yet apprehended that which I've been apprehended for, but forgetting those things which are behind us, I print on to the high and the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And in this we are to be perfectly minded, though we are frail and though we fail, we aim upon the perfection of God in heaven because this is our call and this is our duty and our privilege according to the spirit of grace that were sent us to enable us and one day when we pass into the presence of our lord at that moment we'll be known as the spirit of a just man made perfect in the presence of the lamb that verse really is the core heart of the whole of the sermon on the mount it's The flavor, it's the keynote. It's the whole color in which everything is colored. When we entered into the Sermon on the Mount, we dealt with these remarkable Beatitudes. And really, they dealt with us. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, or the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth. What? Crazy upside down. The teaching begins by saying, you know who the blessed are, don't you? You know those upon whom the favor of Almighty God rests. You know what it looks like, don't you? It looks like a man, a woman, broken, weeping over their sin. crying out, low before the throne of grace, desperately needy, a beggar who knows their hands are empty, who are willing to let go of the ashes and the dust of this world to open their hands heavenward that God may fill them with something from above that they cannot possibly have otherwise. And now we come from that marvelous beginning. where Christ, statement by statement, begins to upend and turn upside down everything religious man thinks he knows about God, heaven, eternity, self, righteousness, all of it. We come through the marvelous statement. Not only that your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, or you will not enter the kingdom of heaven, but let's go to the end of the chapter where it says, be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect, and bring us to the crescendo and the summit of God's righteousness, which is the minimum standard by which God himself will have any fellowship with another creature. And then come to the end of this wonderful Sermon on the Mount, where I hope, by God's grace, to take us today, if the Spirit will allow, into Matthew chapter seven. We will look at the narrow and the broad way. Follow along as I read aloud. We will take verses 13 through 23 for context, so that we can hear and understand our Lord. And then we will go back to verse 13 and 14. Lord willing, we'll spend our time there. Follow along as I read aloud beginning with verse 13 and hear the word of the Lord. Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Fifteen, beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, today I prophesy in your name. Every man can stop demons. Every man will perform miracles. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. May the Lord bless the reading of his word, and let us seek his face that he might be pleased to bless it once more. Holy Father, your son taught that he was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no man could come unto you except by him. O Lord, do not let one leave today without that be the burning, disturbing conviction of their heart. In Christ's name, amen. In the Old Testament, Proverbs chapter 14, verse 12, there is a kind of a gut-wrenching statement It'll shake your presuppositions if you ever really get a hold of it. Proverbs 14 verse 12 says, there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. That's a remarkable statement to make because according to this verse, if you understand it, it means that there is a way that ends in death. There is a way that ends in destruction. There is a way that ends in perdition. And what makes the way terrifying is not only that it ends in death, but it ends in destruction. What makes it sound sinless is the fact that the way that does lead to death just so happens to be a way that according to man seems right. Scripture says, The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked of all things who can know it. According to that text, that Christ is the light, the light in the world. Christ is the one who says, you know, I say it again, I am the light in the world. He who falls at the knees shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. Christ is saying, and it can only come to us, that where was he then in the beginning? Who said, Let there be light in the world? And the Father was his Son, the Father was his Lamb, the Father was his Spouse, the Father was in him, and the Father was in him. For the light to be projected through, the idea of Christ, what of that? He made the light of the world, and there will be light in the world. in a tangible sense. But according to him, we all are blind and stumble in spiritual darkness, not knowing where we go. And only by the light of the Son of God can our way be made known at all. And otherwise, there's ways that seem right, there's ways that feel right, as we grope in the dark, not knowing, being able to see at all, even a foot in front of us. We're groping the walls, but we're doing everything we can to discern. And according to scripture, Our hearts are also deceiving us every step of the way. I'm reminded recently, our son was exploring some of the acreage and the trees, and he had peeled off on one of the paths that we had carved out, a safe path, a known path. And his goal was to go from one side to the other. And as he was out in the midst and he was passing features he had never seen before, he had never been in any of these places before, he was using his best judgment, his best attention to detail, listening to sounds, looking at all the markers along the way. And as he was very carefully making progress, he rounded a tree just about the time he expected to be on the other side and realized he had curved and was back on the trail he began with. My son's journey looks a lot like those who journeyed this world without Christ. Who are groping and who are feeling their way by what feels right and by what seems right, not realizing that man does not naturally walk in a straight line. But rather we turn to the left and we turn to the right and whatever our proclivities gear us toward. Look at our main text here. Christ is saying, enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. This is the practical exhortation that concludes the Sermon on the Mount. It's this theme that runs us out to the end of the chapter and the warning about building upon the rock or building upon the sand, the warnings about discerning false teachers, discerning their fruits, the warning about the judgment to come. All of this last section of Matthew chapter 7 is teaching those who are listening that we are to live with the end in view, knowing that judgment is coming, knowing that we are not promised forever, knowing that we have no guarantee that we will get one more day, one more heartbeat, one more breath, but very suddenly and unexpectedly, the end of all things could come upon us. And according to the scripture, it's appointed unto every man once to die, and then comes the judgment. And in that moment, when you are standing face to face with the judge of heaven and earth, The question is, was your life, was your mind, was your heart geared in expectation and in preparation of that moment? Or have you now been taken so unaware and so cut off guard that all you can do is say, I need one more chance, please. But no chance will be given. This is where Christ has been heading the whole time in the entire Sermon on the Mount. This is what he has been gearing up for. This is what he has been preparing the hearts of the people from the moment he began to turn their understanding of the world upside down. He's bringing them in a crescendo to this high and terrifying appeal, this power. practical exhortation, this command, this is something we are called to do, this is in light of what he has said, in light of what he has taught, the information that he has given about what is blessed and what is not blessed, about the standards of righteousness for the kingdom, what is right and what is wrong, the standards of justice, the standards of judgment, the standards of this world in which he has made, trusting in him for our material purposes, Provision our need that we are not to serve provision. We're not to worship the idea of our getting finances and looking to our jobs But we are to be a people who trust in the hand of our father seeking first the kingdom of righteousness Knowing that he'll take care of our needs turning everything upside down along the way that we understand about this world And then bringing us to this point where he is in light of all this Telling us to do something because we know this to be true therefore Choose this day who you will serve. Choose this day the way in which you will walk. And as he lays out these two verses, there is two ways that we enter by by two gates. And there are only two different groups of people that make this pilgrimage called life. And there are only two destinations by which we will all arrive at the end of it. And the destination will be determined by the way we took to get where we're going. I gave this analogy once upon a time. Imagine a blind woman being led by the hand of a stranger to a bus. as she's asked, please take me to the bus that will bring me to my son's home in Birmingham. And instead, he leads the blind woman to the bus that leads her to Compton, California. And there, along the way, she asks no questions. She goes, this is taking a lot longer than I expected, isn't it? Something seems wrong. The temperature seems wrong. The noise seems wrong. but rather just simply with her eyes closed, takes the path that she finds herself on, questions nothing. And by the time she arrives at the wrong destination, it's too late. Christ is speaking to a crowd that according to scripture, by the time this sermon is done, they will marvel at what he has just said. What he says here is actually shocking. And I pray that by the spirit you'll come to a place where you understand just how shocking it is. Listen to these statements. He commands, enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and there are few that find it. According to scripture, within this pilgrimage, we find many who in light of this are not necessarily aware of the way in which they're in. And he's giving us credentials by which to discern and to understand. The gate is small, the way narrow, the number that go through there few that lead to eternal life. Those of us who have understand the gospel and understand the truth of God's word recognize that the gate is small, that we are those who are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. That when his call was repentance and faith, to repent, to turn from our sin, to look unto Jesus, to trust in him for our righteousness, that left for us a very narrow entranceway into the kingdom. This is what Christ said when he said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes unto the Father but by me. That was a tremendous statement of exclusivity when he made that. The scripture says there's only one mediator between God and man, the man, Jesus Christ. This is where all the religions of all the world differ from the clear and the true preaching of the scripture according to Christ. Christ will warn in this, not only in this sermon about false prophets coming, but he will warn again in Matthew chapter 24 that there will be many false Christs that will come. that there will be false teaching, that there will be false teachers, that there will be those who present to them a different way, a different Christ, who apparently will have religious language, who apparently will talk about God, who will talk about the Scriptures, who will talk about the Bible, and yet they present to them some other way than that narrow way that is expressed in the biblical Christ alone. and he's warning in advance, don't be taken by surprise when this happens. Christ is not sitting in heaven 2,000 years later, looking down at all the false iterations of his identity, of all the false claims about people who profess to know him, who really don't, saying things he never said, promising things he never promised, presenting to them a Jesus that does not comport with the Christ of the living word. He's not sitting there watching this and going, oh no, what happened? Where did this come from? But rather he is one who 2000 years in advance said, beware. Do you realize people that love to study their eschatology? And I'm not getting in to your particular view. I'm just saying that there are those who love to study their eschatology. When you get into Matthew chapter 24, one of the most studied texts, when it begins to present to us signs and earmarks of what is understood to be the last days, do you know what's remarkable when you read that and how people interpret it compared to the strength of what's being presented there? Read it for yourself. People begin to say, oh, look, there's going to be a roaring of waves. The Earth's going to be in tumult. Yep, that's mentioned in one place. Oh, there's going to be wars and rumors of wars. Yes, that's mentioned in one place. Oh, there's going to be these things taking place, these signs. Yes, that's mentioned in one place. Do you know what's mentioned multiple times over and over again as the sign, the thing to which Christ ensured that His church would be prepared for to take them even into the last days? The one thing He beat over and over and over and over again. Be not deceived. Do not be deceived. There will be many false Christs. There will be people who say, they're a Christ. Don't go. They will say, He's over there. No, He's not. No, I'm not. Don't go. Deception will be the mark of the latter days. You know what's interesting about the year 1830? 1830, what's interesting about that year is not what happened, it's all the things that had not yet happened. In 1830, Jehovah's Witnesses did not exist. Seventh-day Adventist did not exist. Mormons did not exist. Scientology did not exist. The Baha'i faith, so-called, did not exist. We have had, just within the past less than millennia and a half, two millennia, a hyper-proliferation of novel, brand new, just-dreamed-up false Christs that do not comport with the living Christ of Scripture. If you want to know what cults have in common, it's the word and. Cults are the religion of ands. You go, what do you mean by that, preacher? Hear me out. Christ said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. That's a statement of exclusivity. That means there's one, and there's only one, and there's no other. Christ, when he says, I alone. are the means by which you may access the Father. It's a statement of exclusivity. When he says, and the scripture says, that there's only one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ, that means Mary is not mediator, the other saints are not mediator, Buddha is not a mediator, Muhammad is not a mediator, Joseph Smith is not a mediator, Christ alone says, I am the mediator, the only access point, the only way. And he speaks in statements of exclusivity the cults of the religion of ant because then you have Roman Catholicism that says yes We believe in the authority of the Bible and church tradition and the Pope the Pope in Catholicism can speak ex cathedra that means his words in their view are infallible and are equal with the authority of scripture and Every time Roman Catholicism gets together and has one of their little councils in their synods, they hold whatever these men say as equal in authority with the eternal word of almighty God, which he said he divinely inspired and breathed out and did not come by the will of men, but came by the will of God, by the spirit, as men were moved to write as they did by the spirit. So you can pray to God through Mary. Not just Jesus, Jesus and Mary, Jesus and the saints. Mormonism, it's the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Over and over again, you find, even within our day and age, well, pastor, I like to be broad-minded. You know, I don't wanna be narrow-minded. People might think I actually have a conviction about something. People might think that I'm so closed off that I'm not willing to think through and to potentially discover something new hidden in plain sight right there that I missed and didn't see. I know. And here, this is exactly the mindset the living God is calling us to. When it comes to Christ, when it comes to his word, when it comes to the options that are before us, when it comes to which way you will take, be very, very narrow in your way of thinking. When it comes to the pilgrimage that is set before you with your eternal, never-dying soul, be convinced of the way in which you intend to take. Knowing that it is appointed unto every man wants to die and then comes the judgment Understand this these are Christ statements. This isn't something that belongs to any one denomination This is not something that belongs to any one stream of thought This is not something that belongs to something that came and evolved over the processes of time over people kind of gathering together Interpreting what they said these are the very words of Jesus Christ the statement of exclusivity the gate is small the way is narrow and And few there be that enter by it. Christ is not shrinking back. He's not afraid. Do you realize Christ is speaking this to the nation of Israel? He's come to his own people. He is the promised Messiah. The scriptures of old have prophesied everything concerning his coming. When he would be born, where he would be born, in Bethlehem. The fact that when he comes, he would be crucified according to Psalm chapter 22. The fact that when he comes, it would be the answer to the proto-evangelium way back in Genesis chapter 3. He's not a new idea. He's that which had been declared and prophesied and been the one whom we were expecting and being made ready for since the beginning of the dawn of time. And when he came in the midst of his people, He also fulfilled the scripture as it was written. He came and they saw no beauty in him that they should desire him. He came into their midst and scripture says we hid as it were our faces from him. It's the idea that Christ was like a walking offense. Everything he said offended us though he was good. Everything he did pierced us through the heart, made us gnash our teeth at him, though he was perfect and without sin. There was something qualitatively different about him than us, and that when he comes, it stirred and kicked something up in us that told on us that he was the light of the world. But man would rather live in darkness. He would rather hide from the light, lest his deeds should be exposed because his deeds are evil. And the standard by which Christ lived was a standard by which men not only could not attain, but we had absolutely zero interest in obtaining. And the life Christ lived told not only on his generation, but it told on every generation and it tells on us. And we prove it every time we do other than what Christ clearly commanded. And as we look at this one, whom all the scriptures point to, whom all the scriptures testify, just as he spoke on the road to Emmaus with those who had thought, oh, maybe it wasn't him. He died. We thought he might be Messiah. He says, oh, you of little faith who are slow to believe all that the prophets had spoken and beginning with Moses and through all the writings he expounded on all things in the scriptures concerning himself. It was always about him. The Old Testament showed that he would be wounded for our transgressions that by his stripes we would be healed, that he would be led as a lamb to the slaughter. This is hundreds of years in advance, but that he would see his offspring, he would see his seed, that he would have the throne of David, that his father would set him upon that throne, and he would reign with a rod of iron, dash the nations in pieces like a potter's vessel, and this is yet after he has died. And here is the resurrected Christ walking with with a few unbelieving knuckleheads that he spent three years discipling in their midst, proving himself through the text only at the very end to invite him in for dinner. He break bread, disappear and they go. It's him. How many times we walk blind with the truth of Christ? Right in front of our face, knowing the word, knowing what it says. Here is this one, the only one by whom man may come unto the Father. The gate is narrow. I stand with my brothers in our tradition throughout History since the reformation that have really stood firm on this truth. They have not yielded and even been killed and slaughtered even by Roman Catholics for standing on this truth. Sola Scriptura? Kill him. Oh, he wants to put the Bible in the language of the people so that they can read it for himself? Kill him. Oh, we found some Christians reading a Bible in private secret? Tie the Bible to their heads, burn them at the stake publicly, kill them. Not using strong language for the sake of it. That's real history. It costs the men of God in history. For the scriptures to be preserved in past generation to generation. It was the living God preserving his word, carrying it down even through the blood of his martyrs. And every page of this ancient scroll long since written down is stained in the blood of those who gave their life in the service of the king to preserve it and bring it to the next generation. And what we have before us is a token of God's love for us. What it says is not only that the gate is small. that the gate is narrow, but consider this for a moment. Did you know the way is just as narrow as the gate? As one preacher said, I'm afraid we have not been so quick and ready to defend that truth. The highway that leads to the king's throne will be called a highway of holiness. It will be the King's highway where we're called not to turn to the left hand nor to the right. It is a way hemmed in on both sides by clear commandments, clear examples by Christ, a clear truce of these one and others, a New Testament church life, a life being sanctified and being conformed to the image of Christ. a life that has been prepared and as we look out in front of us we see the blood-stained footprints of the Lamb of God who has gone out before him and the scripture says that the saints are those who follow the Lamb of God whithersoever he goes it is a way that has been prepared It is a way that has been opened. It is a way that through the shed blood of Jesus Christ has been poured forth like a red carpet to march us securely and confidently, even into the throne room of grace, to know that whatever hazard may come upon us on the left, whatever threatenings and desire to compromise may come on the right. that the way before us has been secured Christ the Good Shepherd has secured our way to the celestial city in himself and he calls us to not turn to the left do not turn to the right do not take on new revelation scripture as it says in Revelation chapter 22 if any man will add to the words of the book of this prophecy so shall I add unto him the plagues that are written in this book And the conversely being true, every stepping stone that he has laid out in that narrow way is required. Don't remove one. If anyone removes or takes away from anything of the words of the book of this prophecy, so shall I take away his name from the Lamb's book of life. The scriptures are not to be added to or taken away or twisted and mixed, as there are so many after the words that Christ preached here come in wanting to do, desiring to bring disciples unto themselves, stirring up people who have itchy ears, who want a teacher that will scratch them and who will turn their eyes away from Christ while they put their eyes on some other kind of hope, some other kind of thing, or at least mix it. And lose the whole thing. The way is narrow. It is as narrow of the gate as the gate. And it is a way of obedience. It is a way of sacrifice. It is as Christ said in Matthew chapter 16, verse 24 through 26. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. He says, for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Christ does not back down from this truth. He reiterates it over and over again. He calls to stricter and stricter demands. He shows that this is not a consideration. This is not just a suggestion by which we can decide on and move on with little consequence. This is a command of the king to be obeyed. The ones who follow the lamb, whithersoever he go, the ones that are in the narrow way that leads to eternal life are those who have known what it means to deny self, to be made poor in spirit, to mourn over their sin, to be meek, to made low like that wild horse that's finally been broken. at the foot of the cross, where Christ is now commander of angel armies and commander over your life, commander over what you believe, commander over what you do, commander over where you go. Whenever the priest was anointed into the priesthood, they put the blood on the right toe, the right thumb, and the right ear. The oil came right behind it. right toe, right thumb, right ear. And in the same way, you priests of God, if you are His indeed, your feet and your way have been sanctified for the King's purposes. Your hands and what you do have been sanctified and anointed for the King's purpose. And everything you give your ears to hear, take heed how you hear. Do you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying? Give your ear to the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Do not turn aside to the sweet whispering growls of a wolf who would love to devour you for selfish gain. Christ says, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. And a stranger they will not listen to and they will not follow. Christ is pulling no punches. He is proclaiming with all authority in heaven and earth. He is not interested in your novel, new, late century idea of what could be, or what might be, or what feels good, or what sounds good to you. The scriptures are whole and unbroken. The testimony's secure. The Old Testament corroborating and substantiating the new. Genesis to Revelation, one coherent mind, one coherent testimony, without contradiction, divinely preserved. And the Apostle Paul even says in Galatians chapter one, an angel from heaven does not have the authority altar to add, to take away, or to preach some new gospel. Paul says if it were possible even for him to come back he can't change the scriptures. We're too busy being too creative, coming up with novel ideas when he's clearly warned us to be sober and to be vigilant for your adversary. The devil is a roaring lion, which goes about seeking whom he may devour. And oh, by the way, that same lion looking to devour, scripture says, appears as an angel of light and his ministers as ministers of light. This is not a sermon about do good or immoralism. This is a sermon about the glory of Almighty God Jesus Christ Revealing his gospel to you hemming you in showing you that your best deeds You've ever done in this life fall woefully short from the glory of Almighty God the standard the absolute bare minimum Standard is the absolute supreme perfection of the righteousness of the Living God and with anything less he will not fellowship and enter Christ alone. That is our hope. Why did the Son of God die upon that tree? Because without the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross, there is no sufficient payment for your sin and for my sin. God cannot simply look upon your treachery against his holy kingdom. He cannot simply look upon your murderous heart, your adulterous heart, the sins, the lies, the blasphemies, the idolatries, the worshiping of every other thing, the holding in high position, When everybody else said other than what he said he cannot look upon that and enter into a relationship with that as if that were okay The stars of heaven do not disobey the king The planets do not disobey the king when he commanded the mountains to pick themselves up and exalt themselves They obeyed to the inch when he told the valleys humble yourself and cast yourselves down down they go Whenever he creates the worlds in the beginning the stars came out to sing his praises. They dare not defy the lord. He will not Reduce the supremacy of the majesty of his righteousness for those who hate him hate his ways hate his righteousness and being ignorant of his righteousness just want to go about establish their own and be a little God and a little king over their eternity when they can't even keep their own life breath going when they want to I'm a shocking reality of it all He says the gate is small. The way is narrow that leads to life. How many does he say? Find it. You. Or Jesus really, really says. Only few find it. And I I can say that. And I can also believe that you still don't really know what he means when he says that. So I want to give you something to think about. We read all the way out to verses 19 through 23. Get a better look at that one more time, please. Matthew 7, 19 through 23, look at that. It says, every tree that does not bear good fruit is, is what? It's cut down. It's thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits. Obviously we know in Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, against such there is no law. And what does an apple tree produce in terms of fruit? Apples. Very good. What does a briar patch produce? Briars and thorns and thistles. Is anyone here surprised? What he's saying is, it's that obvious. No one's gonna go up to a briar patch and see how touchy and painful and sharp and aggressive and uncharacteristic of an apple tree it is and go, I sure hope I can find some apples here. In like manner, no one's going to go up to the apple tree and say, behold, this grand briar patch I have found. There's something so fundamentally logical, basic, even childish, that the Lord is condescending to our level on and calling us to hear him. I'm gonna blow your mind, but what I'm about to say, some of you. Saints, holy ones of God, live, behave, act, and speak like saints and holy ones of God. That's what Christ is saying. Those who refuse his authority over their life, watch this, regardless if they tell you they're a Christian, regardless of how religious they paint themselves to be, regardless of what they tell you they know, if they live in such a way that when it comes down to it, they will obey their will rather than the will of God, then they are not His they are still by fruit rebels by nature You understand that and you're a rebel by nature that will offend you and it should But what I pray is it'll scare you to death when you look down at your feet and for a brief moment the lightning Flashes over your head and you get to see where you're standing and it's not good and the way you're on is not good And the destination you're heading to is far worse Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Can you hear the confusion and the cry on the day of judgment? Does this man's cries not enter the ears of your imagination at all to be there before the Lord of glory sprayed out everything has taken place the the prophecies have come true Christ has returned and there are those who have given their lives to some form of religion that involves them calling Jesus Christ their Lord not just calling him Lord but emphatically saying Lord Lord and not just calling him Lord living and with some degree of religious activity that actually took a major role in their life. How many of you here can say you have spent any amount of time in your life prophesying in the name of the Lord, who have spent any sincere amount of your time, even with the power to cast out demons out of people? who spent any amount of time in your life, even performing miracles in the name of Jesus Christ. Hear the words of Christ. There are those who have given themselves to this degree of service to who they think Christ is only to arrive at the judgment and hear the terrifying words. And I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. You who practice lawlessness. This is the terrifying reality, not only of Israel, because realize Christ is preaching this to Israel. Do you know how many of God's people to whom the gospel came? Their Messiah is in their midst. Do you know how much of them would reject him? Many. Do you know how many would receive him? Few. That pattern has never changed in 2,000 years because the gospel hasn't changed. in a church that gives itself to good religious behavior. Because there is, according to scripture, good, pure, and undefiled religion. Just care for the widow and care for the orphan. And we always, we never quote the third part, by the way, keeping yourself unspotted from the world. There is good religion. But here are the words of Christ, Matthew 15 verse 8. This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. Look at the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2, a church that was literally doing everything right, but they forgot their first love. He said he's going to remove their lampstand. Here, we are left with a truth that flies in the face of modern assumptions and personal opinions about heaven, about salvation. He's literally saying that a majority of those who call him Lord, many, many who call and acknowledge Jesus as some supreme authority, worthy enough to be called Lord, are going to enter into the judgment. He's warning us in advance. And though he's warned us here, Take heed that you have not come underneath the sound of this warning and you enter into the judgment and then act surprised as though he didn't give the warning There would be many Who say lord lord And they will immediately try and give a defense of look at look at my life. I gave myself to these things Did that mean nothing? And christ will say yes that meant nothing Well, everything that I did does that does that not count for anything correct it counted for nothing What about all my righteous deeds? You say there were filthy rags and I told you in advance, but you cast my word behind your back, enter into your portion with your father in the lake of fire that burns forever and ever. And all the angelic beings stand to their feet and they applaud the perfect justice of the king who alone is able to pierce down through our superficial religion, to pierce through our superficiality, to pierce through the externals that we want everyone else to ooh and ah after and get down to the heart of the thing and to be able to turn out and show up what is truly real and who really really knows Jesus Christ and who does he really really know savingly in fellowship walking growing in holiness being conformed to his image as those who are in an essential marriage covenant expressed in the life of the church and carried out through a daily life, growing in obedience to his authority and commands as Lord. There are so many people who are going to come in some other way. It's called the broad way. The gate is not narrow. You don't have to take anything off. You don't have to get rid of anything. You don't have to squeeze. You don't have to stoop. You don't have to humble yourself. You can follow the crowd. You can get in there. Shoulder to shoulder, bus car links. You can hide in the middle. You can get in there without even being seen. You can continue in that way because the rest of the way is broad. In their world, all roads lead to Rome. There's no one exclusive truth. Do as thou wilt. Go where you will do what you want at the end. Doesn't he know your heart? You mean well, don't you? And here comes the lies of the enemy whispering to us through our very culture, through our entertainment, through our media, through our sentimentality, and even through the very deceptions of our own heart, which is deceitful and desperately wicked, above all things. And how many go that way according to scripture? Many, many go that way. Many calling him Lord, serving self. Many who are honoring him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him. Many who say the right things and live as a hypocrite. Consistently many who say nice things about Jesus and they have no problem adding and saying it is Christ and This it is it were saved by Faith by grace through faith after all you can do it is trusting in the works of your own arm to get you halfway there Making it a customized Baskin Robbins 32 flavors religion of whatever you like best and Christ says It will not do I just wanna look at this parallel passage as my last and ending theme for us to consider. Luke chapter 13 verses 22 through 25. This is a point later in Christ's ministry where he refers back to some of the things he said here in Matthew chapter seven on the Sermon on the Mount. And he adds an emphasis that I want us to hear. Luke chapter 13 verses 22 through 27. And he was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching and proceeding on his way to Jerusalem. And someone said to him, Lord, are there just a few who are being saved? Isn't that the question you want to ask? Is it true, Lord? See, word had gotten around from the first time he preached this. Is it true just a few were being saved? And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Strive, strive in the Greek, agonizomai, which literally is the word from which we get the word agonize. Agonize your way in, oppress your way in, fight your way in, struggle, contend, labor, fervently strive. The scripture says, you will search for me and you will find me when you seek for me with all your heart. The scripture says that those who come unto him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. He says, draw an eye unto me and I will draw an eye unto you. And the very first thing you must acknowledge before the presence of this king, if you will strive to enter in, is to admit your absolute broken little ability to strive at all. your heartlessness in the pursuit, your sleepiness when your life is at stake, to confess that though you acknowledge and though you see in the scriptures these things are true and you want to believe, yet doubt clouds in. Confess that though what he says about himself is true, there is a heart, a wicked heart of unbelief departing from the living God within you at work. Ask him, say, Lord, search me, try me, see if there be any wicked way in me, and then lead me into the way everlasting. Christians from the beginning, dear friends, were not called Christians. That was a slanderous term that came later. The pagans, the Greeks in the Book of Acts, you'll see it, they were first called Christians in Antioch. That literally mean little Christ. So here go the little messiahs, the little Christ, they think their Christ is in them, that they're bearing him. We took it as a badge of honor because it's true. Christians originally were known as followers of the way. Followers of the way. In the days of John the Baptist, when John Baptist went and came out the wilderness, clothed in power from on high, full of the Holy Spirit preaching, calling the nation of Israel to repentance. So much so, people were abandoning their towns, going out into the middle of wilderness, nowhere, to be broken and repent in tears and to be baptized and repented to John Baptist. John Baptist will call people to repentance whose heart before that time had been hard. And there would be an awakening within Israel among a number, a few, but it was real, who really began to hunger and thirst after righteousness, who really began to look for Messiah, who really began to strive, to press in, to ask hard questions, even to agonize, to do whatever it took to know and to follow him and to listen. And Christ says, from the days of John the Baptist till now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. If you can hear the truths of Christianity, if you can hear the statements of exclusivity, if you can hear the profound warnings of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ who turned the world upside down, if you can hear the words of this Jesus and think to yourself, it is important, it does matter, my life is at stake, I'm tired, I'm going home to sleep now. Scripture goes so far as to say, if you put your hand to the plow and turn and look back, you're not fit to enter the kingdom of heaven. Strive. Agonize. Say, preacher, I thought it wasn't by works. It's not. Now agonize. I thought my works can't save me. They absolutely cannot. Strive with everything you got in you. Preacher, what are you talking about? Strive and work and labor to enter into his rest. That's the call of Hebrews. Long and learn and yearn and press because what is the rational mindset of someone who knows they are getting ready to perish forever? They're not trusting in their works. They're just doing everything they possibly can to turn over every leaf to see where is the exit strategy? Where is the hope? And I'm telling you, Christ says there is hope. There is a way. You may not see it. You may not quite grasp it. It may be clouded to your mind and incomprehensible in the confusion of the world lying in the wicked one. Your flesh may be lying to you. You may believe that salvation is not for you at all. You may believe that Christ would never have compassion on someone as wicked as you have been. You may believe a thousand things that the enemy has whispered into your ear. But I'm telling you, though the way is narrow, the gate is open. And Christ has swung open the way of eternal life. And he has said, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So labor and then go to him for rest. Realize you can do nothing good apart from him. Then go to him for rest. Struggle to find Him and realize you don't have the power and then fall upon Him for rest. He is the Rock of Ages. Scripture says everyone will either be broken upon Him or they will be ground to powder beneath of Him at the judgment. Regardless of which place you find yourself, no one will come before the King of Kings with a straight back. All will be broken. He will rule the nations with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. But as for me, I would rather be broken upon the king with him bearing my weight than be underneath of him in wrath at the last day, thinking I could stand on my own. Strive to enter through the narrow door for many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door saying Lord Open up to us. Then he will answer and say to you. I do not know where you are from Then you will begin to say We we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets He will say I tell you I do not know where you are from depart from me All you evildoers Beloved and friends Jesus Christ preached on hell if you study all the Gospels He actually preached on hell more than he preached on heaven One of R.C. Sproul's professors and mentors speculated. He said, you know, I wondered why that's so. And the only thing I can guess is perhaps we wouldn't stand or be willing to hear it from anyone else's lips. But the reality is, as he surmised, we can barely stand to hear it from his. But this is the case. There is a way which seems right to a man. But the end thereof are the ways of death. Are you trusting on the way you're on just because it seems right to you? Can you really base your knowledge of where you're going upon the word of God? Are you looking unto Christ alone for your salvation? Or are you looking and hoping and trusting in what somebody else said other than Christ? Scripture says God communicated to us by various means in various ways in times past But in these last days, he's communicated to us by way of his dear son Christ is the exclamation point exclamation point the punctuation the final statement the highest revelation Because after God has sent his own son, what higher word can he send? And either you're trusting in Him and Him alone for salvation, or you have been sold a false bill of goods. Either you're not trusting in your good works, but you're trusting in him alone. Or your works are gonna embarrass you on that last day. And rather than come in with the white garment of his righteousness, you'll have the moth-eaten, falling-apart rank garment of your own righteousness, which are like filthy rags from the side of the Lord. And the shame of your nakedness, scripture says, will appear. There is no do-overs, there is no take-backs, there's no one more time. Christ says it's appointed unto every man once to die, and then comes the judgment. You know this Christ reverently before Almighty God I say I stand in fear as the shepherd of a local assembly because I look out I see head nods and I see inquisitive looks I see the tear-filled frustrated look and I know Because regardless if I know where you're coming from or your background or not, I know what Christ says. And there my hope is built. And he says, few of you will enter him who call him Lord, Lord. May you never pass through the walls of this building and not be exhorted to take a heart-searching, serious look at which way you're going. Take heed. Father in heaven, Lord, the way is narrow and few there be that find it, but the gate is open. Father, thank you for this gate, which you have opened that you've called us to teach us what it means to strive, to enter in, to agonize, to enter in, to give you no rest, to assault the throne of grace with prayer upon prayer, to search out the scriptures like a starving man digging for food. Teach us what it means to know you and to be known by you. Help us, Lord God, to heed these warnings and not to cast them behind our back thinking we know better. Teach us to put all our hope in the authoritative word of God. Regardless of what any Johnny-come-lately, novel, individual comes along and eventually says later, let us stake our claim here and not be moved, for you say the person who does that will not be put to shame. Thank you Lord, in Christ's name, amen.