No Richard, thank you. I loved what the Lord is doing there. It encouraged me. The body is young, happy, hungry, and responsive. A preachers joy. May the Lord keep the spirit of the fellowship simple and hungry.

The Sermon on the Mount Matthew 7:13-14

INTRODUCTION We are coming to our last two studies in the Sermon on the Mount - in which Jesus has been teaching us about the realities of the Kingdom of God. 1.) The Real Christian (5:3-16) Character traits of the citizen - by virtue of the new birth 2.) Real Righteousness (5:17-48) More than outward actions - a matter of heart…… We find that God demands a righteousness that we do not possess….. It is a righteousness that can only come through faith in Christ!

3.) Real Religion (6:1-18) 4.) Real Riches (6:19-34) Real religion is not MAN-CENTERED…. It is concerned first and foremost with GOD Giving / Prayer/ Fasting are all wrapped up in knowing God…. Who He is… His will 4.) Real Riches (6:19-34) God’s Kingdom has a different value system than that of the world. It is ETERNAL in nature…. Thus it places a premium on the use of temporal wealth for eternal purposes. 5.) Real Judgment (Ch.7) Chapter 7 begins by telling us WHAT - WHEN and HOW we are to judge.

In Verses 13-29 Jesus is going to set forth to His listeners… the CITIZENS of the Kingdom…. The way by which they can JUDGE THEMSELVES concerning the things of the Kingdom. KEY INSIGHT: Jesus KNOWS that one of our greatest dangers is that of self-deception. The scribes and Pharisees were the consummate example of self-deception. NOTE WELL: JESUS NEEDED to close this manifesto of His Kingdom on this note BECAUSE it is possible for people to Know the right language… Believe intellectually the right doctrine…. Obey the right rules And still not be saved!

Jesus will use several pictures to illustrate this so that we might rightly judge ourselves and those who might lead us astray. (Mat 7:13-14 NKJV) "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. {14} "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. In a world that is run by public opinion poll, or majority opinion, Jesus speaks with authority and finality regarding the MOST important choice a man or woman will ever make.

Jesus insists that ultimately there are only TWO possibilities and thus only ONE choice. KEY OBSERVATION: At the very beginning we are stopped in our tracks by the NATURE of the choice presented by Jesus. Jesus cuts right across the grain of diversity. He cuts right through that part of us that prefers many choices rather than only one! Jesus will not allow it! The Bible is very clear on the FACT that there are ONLY TWO PATHS from which to chose - (Psa 1:6 NKJV) ….. the way of the righteous…. the way of the ungodly

Let’s look at what Jesus has to say about these TWO PATHS. THE EASY WAY (Mat 7:13 NLT) "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. KEY OBSERVATION: One way is EASY. KEY INSIGHT: The word means broad, spacious, roomy Some manuscripts combine these images and call this way ‘wide and easy’.

NOTE WELL: There is plenty of room on this easy way for diversity of opinions and absence of moral restraint. People choose this path BECAUSE it is the road of tolerance and permissiveness. It has no curbs, it has no boundaries for either thought or conduct. Travelers on this road follow their own inclinations. No effort is needed to resist anything That is why the BROAD PATH is the EASY PATH. Superficiality, self-love, hypocrisy, mechanical religion are there.

KEY OBSERVATION: The BROAD PATH is not only the EASY WAY… KEY OBSERVATION: The BROAD PATH is not only the EASY WAY…. It is also the POPULAR WAY. CRUCIAL: We MUST NEVER judge the correctness of our spiritual decisions by statistics. The majority is not always right. The fact that “everybody does it” is no proof that what they are doing is right. The majority cried “Crucify Him!!”

THE HARD WAY (Mat 7:14 NLT) But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it. The NARROW PATH is the HARD WAY. What makes the NARROW PATH the HARD WAY is the fact that on THAT path you CAN’T do what ever you want. It’s boundaries are clearly marked. It’s narrowness is due to something called ‘divine revelation’….. Which restricts the traveler to the confines of what God has revealed in Scripture to be true and good.

CRUCIAL: The person on the NARROW PATH has a Lord who governs his/her life. He defines our lives by His Word. In his autobiography C.S. Lewis described how as a schoolboy of thirteen he began to ‘broaden his mind’. “I was soon altering ‘I believe’ to ‘one does feel’. And oh, the relief of it! … From the tyrannous noon of revelation I passed into the cool evening of twilight of Higher Thought, where there was nothing to be obeyed, and nothing to be believed except what was either comforting or exciting.”

TWO GATES KEY OBSERVATION: There are NOT only TWO PATHS, there are TWO GATES. The gate leading to the EASY WAY is WIDE. It is SO WIDE that there is no limit to the luggage we can take with us. To enter the wide path - the easy way - you don’t need to leave anything behind…. Not even your sins, self-righteousness or pride. THAT is why it is the EASY WAY and the POPULAR PATH!

BY CONTRAST - The gate leading to the hard way is NARROW. You could miss it if they aren’t looking carefully; it is easy to miss…..One has to look for it to find it. As Jesus said in another context, it is as narrow as a needle’s eye. CRUCIAL POINT: You CAN’T get in the NARROW GATE while holding on to the baggage of self-will. (Mat 16:24-25 NKJV) Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. {25} "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

KEY QUESTION: Did your profession of faith in Christ cost you anything? If not, then it was not a true profession. Many people who have supposedly “trusted” Jesus Christ never leave the broad road with all of it’s appetites and attitudes. They have an easy Christianity that makes no demands on them. Yet Jesus said that the narrow way was hard. We cannot walk on two roads, in two different directions, at the same time.

Two Destinations TWO PATHS TWO GATES The ERROR of modern church culture is that it has offered to the world a BROAD GATE - EASY PATH form of Christianity - which is not Christianity at all. Subjects such as SIN / REPENTANCE / HOLINESS / THE CROSS / AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURES are omitted because they do not attract crowds - in fact they will turn people away!! TWO PATHS TWO GATES Two Destinations

(Mat 7:13 NKJV) "for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction…. KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus taught that the easy way, entered by the wide gate, leads to DESTRUCTION. CRUCIAL: The way that APPEARED so right because it was so PAINLESS, so POPULAR, so PROMISING, leads to destruction. KEY INSIGHT: That is Satan’s great illusion and deception. “You don’t want to enter in by the NARROW gate. You have so much to lose entering there.”

“You don’t want to walk on the narrow path because it is so lonely.” “You don’t want to walk on the narrow path because it is so HARD and CONFINING “Having a Master who tells you what to do and where to go is the END of life.” “Come in this way. It’s painless, it’s popular.” KEY INSIGHT: But here is the deception – The way that is so BROAD at the start ends up SQEEZING the life out of you. The BROAD PATH is the suicide road.

It is AMAZING how so many people find themselves wasted by choosing this path and then end up blaming God for the waste that their life has become. BY CONTRAST - The HARD WAY, entered by the NARROW GATE, leads to life. The LIFE hemmed in by the Lordship of Jesus is WIDE – ABUNDANT. According to Jesus 1.) There are only two ways - HARD and EASY (there is no middle way), 2.) There are only two gates, BROAD and NARROW (there is no other gate),

3.) There are only TWO destinations, destruction and life (there is no third alternative). There aren’t many roads leading to God. There is only ONE ….. Everything else is on the easy way and it leads to death - NOT God! Even as the LIFE that Jesus promises is ETERNAL - so too is the destruction at the end of the EASY WAY (Mat 25:46 NKJV) "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."  (2 Th 1:9 NKJV) These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power

TWO CROWDS Two Destinations TWO PATHS TWO GATES NOTE WELL: Jesus tells us that there are only TWO crowds. One is large the other is small. But most importantly, there is no neutral group!

KEY QUESTION: Which group are YOU in? The choice is yours. The choice can be judged. If you say you are on the narrow path But your life is marked by permissiveness, Has no curbs Has no boundaries for either thought or conduct IF follow you own inclinations… I THINK…. I FEEL You are DECEIVING yourself!