13 “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. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21 “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:13–29, ESV)

Introduction

• Example: art gallery (appreciate) vs. art class (participate)—Jesus does not want us to merely study and admire his sermon about his upside down kingdom, he wants us to enter into and participate in it.

Jesus’ conclusion is a series of contrasts.

• This is the conclusion, as Jesus has just given his summary statement (7:12—for this is the Law and the Prophets).
• Two Ways (13-14), Trees (15-20), Confessions (21-23), Builders (24-27)
• The stark contrasts Jesus presents help disciples know where they are headed:
  • Two ways: separation from the majority-—enter the way of Jesus (13-14)
  • Two trees: separation from false teachers-—follow true followers of Jesus (15-20)
  • Two confessions: separation from self-deception-—be truly known by Jesus (21-23)
  • Two builders: separation from inactivity-—practice the words of Jesus (24-27)

Jesus wants to take us from appreciation for his sermon to a practitioner of his life.

• Theme: Jesus’ upside down kingdom curriculum doesn’t end with a takeaway, but with a choice. There is his kingdom and an anti-kingdom, and Jesus invites every hearer to choose his.

Enter the Way of Jesus (13-14)

13 “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. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Grace sequence: the gate comes before the way.

• Gate: Jesus’ gospel—emphasis: exclusivity
  • For this trying and challenging passage, one that urges us to choose, we must remember first the great sacrifice of Christ.
  • He became the gate! We must rejoice there is a gate at all!
• Way: Jesus’ teaching—emphasis: difficulty

Jesus is making plain that his way is not the path of the majority—many take the way that leads to destruction, while those who find Jesus’ gate and way are few.

• The problem of popularity—Popularity is a terrible grid for ethics.
  • Jesus did not preach, “Do whatever pleases you.”
• Wide and easy speak of a wide range of comfortable life options from which people choose. Narrow and hard speak of the disciple’s decision to step into Christ’s way.
  • Example: Black mountain at Toro Park—it is nothing to see someone on the roads at the base of the mountain, but a big deal to see someone else on the narrow and difficult trails near the top. Celebrate others on the journey with you!
  • Example: Noah’s Ark (Genesis 6-8)
    • Life for anyone, but you had to enter the door God offered. But even though the ark was well known and the door was open for decades, people still did not enter. It was not chosen.
  • Issue: surrender of control.

Enter the way of Jesus.

• First, by going through his narrow gate: faith and repentance.
  • Jesus is not majoring on statistics when he says few find it, but is instead—go through the gate and find the way!
• Second, by pursuing his way for life.
  • It leads to real life, a truly vital existence before God.
• But there is a lack of ease attached to it, primarily because it is not the majority path.
  • Elsewhere in Scripture, the broad path is thought of as the world.
    • Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (1 John 2:15–17, NLT)
      • The desire to feel.
      • The desire to have.
      • The desire to be.

Christ-followers must choose the right way.

• Moses: “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil… I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live…” (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19)
• Psalm 1—and other Bible passages as well—presents us with the two ways.
  • Word-receiving vs. Word-rejecting
• “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life…Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.” (Proverbs 4:23, 25)
• Example: Encourage those who are in the difficult beginnings of choosing the hard way with Christ.

Follow True Followers of Jesus (15-20)

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Jesus warned us about false prophets.

• They appear innocent (sheep’s clothing) but are actually dangerous (ravenous wolves).
  • They are often inside the community.
  • And they appear plausible.
  • Gate/Way: overt — Sheep’s clothing: covert
• But we will recognize them by their fruits, because teachers produce what they are. If diseased, they produce bad fruit. If healthy, they produce good fruit.
  • Is there a filter for uncovering a false prophet? (Bruner)
    • Not every person you disagree with is a false prophet.

Doctrinal test: do they point to Christ as the narrow gate?

• Marcion error (second century): He rejected the Old Testament God and developed a message that focused exclusively on God’s love while omitting the fear and judgment of God—a very sheep-like message but a ravenous wolf.
• Liberal Christianity: no wrath, no sin, no judgment, no cross…
  • No call to repentance. No mention of hell. No costly obedience. An implied equation of faith with earthly flourishing.
  • They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14)
• Does a teacher present a whole Christ—Servant-King, Merciful Judge, Love and Exclusivity?
  • Or is Jesus merely there to help people live a more fulfilled version of their existing lives? This is wide gate preaching.
  • My heart: to keep the edge of grace and truth sharp—to preach bold grace and truth.

Ethical test: do they emphasize obedience to Jesus’ hard commands?

• This ethical test must include the fruit of their own lives.
  • The Message (a helpful oversimplification): Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say.
• Discipline is an index to doctrine; lifestyle is the evidence of core convictions.
  • Example: Dashboard indicator—the false prophet’s lifestyle indicates their doctrine.
• Does a teacher neglect allegiance to Christ—how do they relate to sex, money, and power?

Follow true followers of Jesus.

• What do they believe about Jesus?
• What kind of person are they?
• Required ingredients:
  • Time
  • Proximity
  • Community

Be Truly Known by Jesus (21-23)

21 “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

We enter the kingdom by doing the will of Jesus’ Father in heaven.

• His will is not:
  • Powerful messages—did we not prophesy in your name?
  • Powerful deliverance—cast out demons in your name?
  • Powerful miracles—do many mighty works in your name?
  • These are not the sum total of his desires—they are insufficient as evidence of true regeneration.

What is the will of Jesus’ Father in heaven?

• Jesus: “I never knew you…” (7:23)
  • Notice how Jesus takes his rightful divine seat—he is the ultimate judge.
  • His statement suggests they never gave him access to their interior life.
  • They did all these in Jesus’ name, and so appeared Christ-centered, but there is no mention of…
    • The Beatitudes—poverty of spirit, meekness, or purity of heart
    • Inner transformation—anger, lust, trustworthy, gracious, loving
    • Spiritual dependency—giving, praying, fasting
    • Financial trust—non-anxious regarding provision
    • Lack of an ultra-critical spirit
  • “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1–3, ESV)

• The Father’s will: that we should trust Christ his Son.

  • “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:39–40, ESV)
    • And trust leads to obedience!
  • Shock: He wants to know us!

Be truly known by Jesus.

• Example: Judas Iscariot—sent out on mission (Matt. 10:1-4), called Jesus ‘Rabbi’, and was on the ministry team, but he did not know the Lord, so the Lord did not know him.
• Frightening reality: it is possible to be intoxicated by the power of Jesus and perform “successful” ministry while remaining a “worker of lawlessness” whom Jesus never knew.
  • Be not self-deceived! None of these things can save:
    • Attendance
    • Signs and wonders
    • Social Christianity
    • Apologetics
    • Academia
  • We need the blood: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace…” (Ephesians 2:13–14, ESV)
• Allow the powerful life to be the overflow of an inner life that has been in close relationship with Jesus.

Practice the Words of Jesus (24-27)

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 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. 26 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. 27 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.”

Jesus is making clear that applying and practicing his word is what matters.

• The difference between a life that stands and a life that collapses in the storm of judgment is not the hearing of the Word, but the daily practice of it.
• His audience needed to hear this conclusion in their own way.
  • Disciples: challenged to an authentic commitment.
  • Crowds: move beyond amazement to action.
  • Religious Leaders: pious hypocrisy leads to destruction.
• To identify his own words as our rock is an implicit claim to deity.
  • Example: A good, modern Bible teacher would never say this.

Jesus means that his words are worthy of building your life upon.

• David: “The Lord is my rock” (2 Samuel 22:2).
• Storms come for everyone.
• The life built Jesus’ way will survive.
  • Q: Survive what? Trials or eternal judgment?
    • A: A bit of both, but mostly eternal judgment.
  • This is where we must remember the goodness of the life he’s designed. Though the gate is narrow and the way hard, it is a good life, one well suited form the inevitable storms of life.

Practice the words of Jesus.

• Step 1. Know his words.
  • This is not a trivial part of the process.
• Step 2. Act on his words.
  • Example: commanding officer’s commands—you don’t think about them, highlight them, have discussion groups about them, or memorize them without doing them!

Conclusion (28-29)

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:13–29, ESV)

At the end of his teaching, the crowds were astonished at Jesus’ authority.

• The authority of Christ was not bound up in the power of his delivery.
• The authority of Christ was bound up in his original, self-grounded authority.
  • Scribes did not teach that way, but were mere quoters of quoters, building their thoughts on the thoughts of others.
  • But Jesus’ teaching was different—and is different—because its authority is derived directly from his person.
    • He was like a new Moses:
      • “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Deuteronomy 18:15).
• He is the:
  • Gate to the Father
  • Prophet to the flock
  • Lord who knows our hearts
  • Rock who sustains us in the storm

Theme: Jesus’ upside down kingdom curriculum doesn’t end with a takeaway, but with a choice. There is his kingdom and an anti-kingdom, and Jesus invites every hearer to choose his.

• My pastoral encouragement:
  • 1. Allow Jesus’ kingdom curriculum (Matthew 5-7) to become a curriculum for life.
    • Jesus wanted this: “…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ” (Matthew 28:20)
  • 2. Overcome inevitable fears and make firm commitments based off Jesus’ kingdom curriculum.
    • Jesus encouraged us to lower ourselves, extend mercy, serve, evangelize, deal with anger, fight against inward sin, pursue sexual fidelity, keep our word, respond to hostility with grace, generously give, pray, fast, trust him regarding material provision, not be overly critical, and to use our Spirit-fueled imagination to discern how to treat others. Find ways to commit to this kingdom life as the years progress.
  • 3. Praise him for his gate and his way.
    • The gospel news he provided us is incredibly good.
    • The gospel life he won for us is also incredibly good.
  • 4. Turn and believe in him.

Study Questions

Head (Knowledge, Facts, Understanding)

1. Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount with four pairs of contrasts—two ways, two trees, two confessions, and two builders (Matthew 7:13–27). What is the distinct emphasis or warning of each contrast, and why do you think Jesus arranged them in this particular order as the conclusion to his kingdom curriculum?
2. In Matthew 7:21–23, Jesus says many will appeal to their prophesying, exorcisms, and mighty works, yet he will declare, “I never knew you.” What does this passage teach us about the relationship between spiritual activity and genuine regeneration? How does this fit with Jesus’ identification of his own words as the rock upon which a life must be built (Matthew 7:24)?

Heart (Feelings, Impressions, Desires)

1. Jesus says the gate is narrow and the way is hard, and that those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13–14). When you consider being on a path that the majority does not take, what stirs in you—comfort, loneliness, resolve, fear, or something else? Where do you feel the pull of the wide and easy way most strongly in your own life right now?
2. The most sobering moment in the passage may be Jesus saying, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). At the same time, the passage carries the shocking implication that Jesus wants to know us. How does sitting with both of those realities—the warning and the invitation—affect your affections toward Christ today?

Hands (Actions, Commitments, Decisions, Beliefs)

1. Jesus warns us to recognize false prophets by their fruits, applying both a doctrinal test (do they point to Christ as the narrow gate?) and an ethical test (do they live in obedience to Jesus’ hard commands?) (Matthew 7:15–20). What concrete practices—time, proximity, community—will you put in place to follow true followers of Jesus and to evaluate the voices currently shaping your faith?
2. Jesus draws the line not at hearing his words but at doing them (Matthew 7:24–27). Looking back across the kingdom curriculum of Matthew 5–7—lowering yourself, extending mercy, dealing with anger, pursuing sexual fidelity, keeping your word, responding to hostility with grace, generous giving, prayer, fasting, trusting God for provision, refusing an overly critical spirit—what is one specific command of Jesus you will commit to practice this week, and who will you invite to walk it out with you?