1. Sermon on the Mount (XI) Enter Through the Narrow Gate Mt 7:12-27

2. The Narrowness of the Gate Mt 7:13-14 “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.”

3. The Narrowness of the Gate “Few who find it” “Gate” suggests decision –A gate must be “entered”: Acts 2:36-38 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

4. The Narrowness of the Gate “Few who find it” “Gate” suggests decision “Narrow” suggests unpopular, difficult. “Way” suggests a course, a life to be led.

5. Beware of the Wide Gate of Religious Error False prophets or false teachers who come in sheep’s clothing Matthew 7:15-20 “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.”

6. Beware of the Wide Gate of Religious Error False prophets or false teachers who come in sheep’s clothing –A great falling away was to come 1 Tim 4:1-4 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude”

7. Beware of the Wide Gate of Religious Error False prophets or false teachers who come in sheep’s clothing –A great falling away was to come –Already started in the NT Acts 20:28-30 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”

8. Beware of the Wide Gate of Superficiality Mt 7:21-23 “ 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, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

9. Beware of the Wide Gate of Superficiality Outward profession not enough, even if apparently sincere. –“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’”: John 8:30-31 “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine’”

10. Beware of the Wide Gate of Superficiality Outward profession not enough, even if apparently sincere. –“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’”: John 2:23-24 “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men”

11. Beware of the Wide Gate of Superficiality Signs of God’s power are not even enough: –“Have we not in your name performed…?” –Were they real? Mark 9:39 “But Jesus said, ‘Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.’”

12. Beware of the Wide Gate of Superficiality Signs of God’s power are not even enough: –“Have we not in your name performed…” –Were they real? 2 Thess 2:9 “that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”

13. Beware of the Wide Gate of Superficiality Must do God’s will –vs. Zeal without knowledge –or, Knowledge without zeal

14. Beware of the Wide Gate of Foolish Foundations Mt 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”

15. Beware of the Wide Gate of Foolish Foundations Two kinds of builders: Wise and foolish –Based on the kind of foundation –Which is revealed in times of trouble: Prov 10:25 “When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.”

16. Beware of the Wide Gate of Foolish Foundations

17. The Wise Man’s Foundation: –“These words of mine” – “And acts upon them”