We are continuing, in fact, we're wrapping up our series on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus, most famous Sermon, you might say, Matthew chapter 5 through 7. We're looking specifically this morning in Matthew chapter 7, verses 13 through 29. Daniel already helped me out a big a lot last week by talking through many of the verses in this. We're just going to kind of tie it all together here one last time. Here's where we wrap things up in this passage. But before we jump right in there, let me remind you of an illustration or a little story that came to my mind. Many of you may have seen the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It's one of my favorite ones that are out there. In fact, we've got the first Sermon slide there, Michael. There's this picture in this last movie and I'm assuming that if you're going to see, you would have seen it. I'm not revealing anything, but there's this last thing, this whole quest of this movie, as you know, for Indiana Jones, is looking for the Holy Grail. The cup that was used at the Last Supper for Jesus there. And they finally get across there that they've come into this old guard who has been guarding this, and has been experiencing, apparently, immortality himself. They're guarding the Grail, but as you can tell and look behind them, there are all kinds of Grails that are there. And the one that comes across must choose wisely. The guy tells this. If you remember the story, those that have seen it, the guy on the bottom left here, forget his name, but he chose poorly. You might remember. And then, of course, Indiana Jones on the right, chooses wisely. You can even see the difference in the cups here that you see here. One looks shiny. If it was going to be the Grail for the King of Kings, seems surely to be the one on the left. But Indiana Jones with his vast knowledge and theological expertise knows that Jesus, of course, was a carpenter. And what kind of Grail or Cup would a carpenter have had? And he chooses wisely. But I've chosen the title of the Sermonus morning to choose wisely, because I think in the midst of completing this sermon, and Jesus has told us many, many things. Remember, he started out talking about who is blessed, who is happy in life? And what does that mean? What does that entail? And he's gone on. He's talked about things like our treasures. And we're going to invest in investing for his kingdom, or not. He's told us how to pray. He's told us the importance of fasting. He's taught us many things in this fasting. He's talked about marriage. He's talked about all kinds of things. But he's going to wrap things up here, and he's going to bring it all to an end here. And I believe in these last verses, he is basically, in essence, telling us there's a choice to make. And obviously, his encouragement to us is that we would choose wisely. Proverbs 9.10 says this, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And that tells us lots of things. But it should tell us this in the premise that wisdom does not come naturally. The ability to choose wisely does not come naturally. It must be something even that God gives us. In fact, James 1.5 says, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault. And it will be given to him. God tells us that we need to ask. God tells us he's a generous God to give wisdom and to impart wisdom. So this morning, as he wraps things up, as we look here, we're given a choice. Choose poorly or choose wisely. And let me read now the text, your Matthew, chapter 7 verses 13 through 29. Here, God's word. Jesus said, enter through the narrow gate for wide as the gate and broad as the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small as the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing. But inwardly, they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit. But a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy in your name and in your name, drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught us one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law. This is God's word. Let me pray for us. I've got to ask that you would come and that you would be the teacher. Father, you say your spirit is our guiding counsel and the one that guides us into all truth. The one that brings delight and allumans your word and pray that your spirit would do that here this morning. You would speak to our hearts. God, you would open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear. God, give us a healthy fear for you that we might come to know you and the knowledge of God the Father and experience wisdom that we might choose wisely. Between the past and guides and hopes that you place before us. We pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Well, there is an insert in your bolt in there of the three or at least three things here that I think are present in this section of Scripture and as we wrap things up that Jesus is telling us that we have a choice between and the first is I believe he tells us to choose your path. Choose your path. Verses 13 and 14, the first two years say again, enter through the narrow gate for why does the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction many enter through it but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. It was this past summer that we had an opportunity as a family to go to North Carolina and to kind of be there and rent a cabin for a week and go one of the days to grandfather mountain. In fact, I think the next slide I got a picture of that next slide. There we go. Now, you can see why you would want to go to grandfather mountain if you haven't been there. A beautiful set there in the part of the mountains there in North Carolina. As we set off inside of you know, we know that you can climb there, you can hike and we've known others that have been there. In fact, I've been there in the past and years. I want to take my kids there. We decided to wander up there and we had some choices when we got there on the top. Go to the next slide. We had the path of many. In fact, how many of you have ever been in grandfather mountain? I'm just curious. There are a few out there. Some of you maybe have done this. You can go up there to the very top and a nice paved road all the way up to the top and a visitor center there. And they have this swinging bridge that you can walk across and you can see on the bottom slide a little bluff over here that you can kind of walk up and look out and over. But this is not grandfather mountain, the peak. In fact, in the other slide, which is let me go back, go back, back slide. There, the picture on the left, you actually see the actual peak of grandfather mountain. This is the reverse angle down here, people going the other way. So people are actually coming down here and I mean, you know, I mean, you can, you can mean a wheelchair. I guess if you need to get across this bridge, I mean, it's got it's got guard protecting rails. I mean, we took Davis across. We felt very comfortable, very safe and it was very crowded. In fact, we weren't even there on a crowded day. I'm sure it even be worse most days. It was the path of many. But the puckets weren't going to settle for the path for many. Were we? No, no, no. The puckets next slide settled for the path of a few. We decided, hey, you know, we're quick, we're young, we're strong. At least some of us are and we're going to go off and actually take a trail and head up to grandfather mountain peak with a two year old, actually a one year old at the time. And with a four year old. And so we set off and it was like a two and a half mile hike one way. So do the math, five miles total for us. I'm going into that and we wandered in and you can kind of tell here we got to that one place. Do you see me on the top left picture there behind Laura is a ladder? Well, about 30 30 feet below. Is anybody hike this by the way? Anybody here? It's my family. About 30 feet below that is the bottom. And let's not let's not ask how we got Davis up there and whether or not that was a good thing or not. Let's just not ask that question right now. But we decided that all right, here's the ladder. We got to go up. And what you can't really tell you can kind of get an idea with the with the trees behind there is that for some reason you were to slip on this ladder, it would not be good. I mean, there's just a small edge beneath it where the trail leads up to it. And it was really kind of scary. It was one of those things where you just like don't look backwards, don't look backwards, don't look backwards. And I had Davis on my back going up this thing and we got to the top and took a few pictures here as we were looking out there and we're not you're not seeing the face the grandfather mountain. We didn't actually go that high, but I'm telling you this, the path less traveled was so worth it to come to have the experience to work together as a group to come and be able to look out here and get a view that the masses were not seeing down across the swinging bridge. But seeing only a glimpse of what only few people were seeing was very, very much worth it. It was just a reminder to me looking back on the choices that we have to make in the past that we take in life. And there are very real challenges and they're very real rewards for either way. The scripture tells us here, Jesus says there's a wide road and there is a narrow road. The wide road, you know, it seems attractive. It seems safe. But Jesus says very cleanly, it says it leads to destruction and many enter through it. Then he talks about this narrow road, the narrow road, which seems obscure and it seems dangerous and few enter through it, but he says it leads to life. Now, just looking at this little part of Jesus speaking here, he's wrapping things up. Jesus is telling us more than just saying, hey, there's a choice in path to take. Jesus is saying there's a very, very important choice, two paths that go very different directions that have very, very different results. And Jesus is not trying to water things down here and he's trying to give a warning in the midst of this. He's saying, look, there is one that's easier. There is definitely one that's more attractive. There is definitely one that's more populated along the way. There is one that will come naturally to you, that you'll be drawn to. But Jesus gives that caution, but it leads to destruction. And then on the flip side, Jesus is making it very clear, there is one that is much more obscure. There is one that, truthfully, maybe more dangerous in some respects or at least appears that way. And there's one that is not traveled by many, meaning that there will be times of loneliness and isolation along the way. But Jesus says it leads to life. He encourages here and he challenges us. He says, we ought to question our instincts. We ought to question our instincts naturally as human beings, but we ought to trust his direction. In fact, this is what Jesus, I think, would say, really is wisdom. The fear of the Lord, we think about the fear of the Lord. Think about fear. Isn't it fearful? I remember the times I've done a little bit with mountain climbing and repelling. I remember the first time I went repelling. How many people have ever repelled here off a cliff at all? If you have, do you remember the very first time you did it off the cliff, the bluff? When some Mike and I said, oh no, let me do a little figure eight thing here on your little clip here. And you stuck in like this thing that's like not even as thick as your seat belt in your car. Okay, and you've got this rope and they're telling you some lies on the other end who's your belay. You know, who don't worry. Don't worry, they'll stop you if you start to fall. And then they just say, all right, just back up. You're like, what? Just back up. And I trust your little tying on my carabiner and figure eight here. And trust that this rope was, you know, is in good condition. And trust that you say somewhere down there, there's somebody who is watching and caring for me, who will catch me, and just back up. I remember backing up the first time in every poor my body was sweating. And I was a teenager at the time. I was on a youth group trip. Every poor of me was sweating, thinking every instinct in me said, this is stupid. This is wrong. Right people in their right mind don't back off the edge of cliffs, rope or not. And I remember the first time that, you know, because by the way, if you ever done this, the technique is not to lean forward with two hands. The technique is to lean backwards and to keep one hand, which controls your descent speed and stops you behind you. Again, not going with your instincts here, totally opposite. I almost start sweating, thinking about it again, what the experience was like. And it was wonderful once I got going, but it will be worse than that. If you choose the narrow way that God provides for you, because it will go against everything that you think is instinctive in you of what is safe and what is right, what makes the most sense, and what has your best interest in mind, it will go against those instincts very clearly. And Jesus is a gearing team. He is telling you it will. He is telling you ahead of time. But he is telling you there is a very clear difference in where each path, where each road leads. The decision is made, you know, both once and daily. Nobody makes the decision in taking the narrow path of the road path and say, they make it once and that is it. I mean, think about this, if you do make that decision to follow the path that Jesus is saying. I think very clearly often times, many times of the stretch of your life, you can very easily see the other path. In fact, you often see it all the time. You see the path that others not only have taken, but others are on. And you can see sometimes what looks like, now why am I on this path? Look at those people out there. They are not seeming to have all these troubles, they are not kind of wanting around, there is not bushes hitting them as they walk through on things. You know, they have gotten a well-worn path up there, it is beaten through, people have walked it. It can be very easy to look at that. It is a daily decision. I think Jesus is even coming reminding us here. As he has talked about in the sermon on the mount here, yes, there is a gate, there is a path to choose. And there is a path to continue to choose, to continue to walk on daily, to continue to pursue and move forward. You know, there is a danger of rubber necking for the believer, to be constantly looking back. You know what it does? I think when we are on the path that God has walked forth, we constantly look at what others are doing. It causes us to stop walking on the path. It causes us to look and to covet and to kind of wish. I mean Israelites did this too, right? We have been reading in our one year Bible, many of us here in the church. How many times did they say, you took us out of Egypt to let us die in the desert? We need food to eat, we need water to drink, we need protection from this enemy. We should have stayed in Egypt. It is easy for us as Christians to rubber neck, to question, to wonder and to pause. But Jesus encourages us to take and to walk the narrow road. All the Robert Frost wrote this, many, all of you probably have heard it, two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference. Jesus says there are two paths choose wisely. Well not only is there, does he tell us to choose your path number two, he tells us to choose your guide. Choose your guide. One of my other favorite movies that I get to watch, in fact even on spring break, I got to watch with some of my kids was Lord of the Rings again. And if I go to the next slide here, remember in the story of this, even just read the books. Or you know that Frodo is kind of the main guy here, the one who's got the mission, the one who's on the task, the one who has the ring that haunts him and yet also drives him on his mission. But you know also too, during much of the story, he has two guides that are with him. He has Gollum who comes and who by the way is quite familiar with the ring. And by the way, who's the only one that actually has been there where they're trying to go and does indeed know the way in many respects. And then he's got Sam, Sam Wise who's his friend and trusted friend from years back who in some ways is just as clueless as he is. And there's a tension between who to be his guide. And even in the final movie, we know too is that those decisions are made wrong decisions are made along the way. But in the end Frodo comes and realizes that there really is only one true guide that was trustworthy all along. There was only one that had his best interest in mind. There was only one that came and had the intimate relationship with him that he could trust. Even though one seemed to perceive and to have a knowledge that he desperately needed, what he needed more was one who had his best interest in mind, who he could trust. And of course Sam is the one that guides him safely through and assist him and walks with him. And in fact, 11th and the last scene is carrying him, carries him, the final stretch, the final way. Jesus tells us in verse 15 to 23 that the choice of your guide is very important. He says, watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. And he tells us how to find them. By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. And Jesus tells us that it's by their fruit. Now, at first glance, you look at this and you're like thinking, wow, that's good. We have insight. God tells us how to pick them out. But if you think about it, it's by their fruit. Let me ask you this. If you plan a tree, how long does it take for it to bear fruit? Anybody here having orange tree? How long does it take for an orange tree to bear fruit? Five years. Five years. That's a long time. You mean I've got to sit here and wait for this thing for five years. This button is where a lot of people buy them already grown and so on. But to have to wait five years before I get my first piece of fruit from this, good night. Do you understand that Jesus is saying it is going to not be instantaneous. It's going to be difficult. You're going to have to test. You're going to have to, in fact, the scripture tells us to test the spirits to discern what is the voice of God and what is the voice of man. To determine what is the voice of wisdom and what is the voice of good intentions or easiest ways. Jesus is telling us here that there are false prophets and he tells us it's not going to be easy to pick them out. In fact, you're going to have to look at the fruit of what they say, the fruit of their lives down the road. It's not going to be an instantaneous thing. In fact, he tells us here that false prophets can and often will display characteristics of faith. This makes it even harder. They'll call Jesus Lord, right? Many will say Lord Lord. They will perform miracles. They will prophesy in his name. They will cast out demons. The very power of God can surround and be around what they're doing. When I think of this and I'm thinking, God says it's unbelievable. I think of Judas. Judas comes to mind. Judas was part of the 12 and part of the 70 that Jesus sent out to say, hey, go out and heal the sick. Go out and cast the demons out. And we're never told that well, all 11 did except for Judas. No, Jesus Judas, sorry, went out and displayed the very other power and acts that he had by going into power in the name of Jesus Christ. And we are all quite familiar probably with how Judas life ended up. In Jesus' own words saying it would have been better for him never to have been born. The one that would betray the Lord. The one who was a false prophet, false prophets, their fruit is empty. Their intimate relationship of God is not present. And why do I talk about that being important? The intimate relationship of God will notice what Jesus says to them. He says in verse 23, then I will tell them the false prophets plainly. And what is the judgment against them? I never knew you away from me. You evil doers. Well, evil doers. Hello. Call you Lord. That's that's evil. Healing the sick, casting out demons, prophesying or proclaiming the truth in your name. That that's an evil doer. Hebrews tells us that anything done without faith cannot please God. I don't care how righteous the act is. And this helps us understand friends church here today, why you think what about good people? What about people who do good things? Jesus saying what about good religious people that display the actual power of God working in their midst? Jesus says it has no consequence ultimately for that person's salvation because they do not know Jesus. Jesus does not know them. There's not an intimate relationship with them. It is not done for the glory of God. It is not done out of a heart that obeys the first commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart so mind and strength. There is no love for God because there's no relationship with God. Jesus warns us. Choose your guide. Be very careful. See, there are false prophets but Jesus very indirectly having preached this sermon here today having proclaimed them having told them this and even in the last verses memory. It says he spoke as one who had authority not as the other teachers of the law. Jesus is making it clear that he is the true prophet. Watch out for false prophets and listen to the true prophet. Jesus himself. Hebrews 1, 1 through 2 says this, it says in the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets and many times and in various ways through true prophets by the way. But in these last days he has spoken to us by his son whom he appointed air of all things through whom he made the universe. God had used prophets throughout the Old Testament and even summoned to the New Testament here with John the Baptist but now God was going to speak through his son. He was going to speak very clearly. The true prophet, his fruit is full of an intimate relationship with God and Jesus displayed that perfectly. Jesus even says this in John chapter 5, he says, I tell you the truth, the son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what he sees his father doing because whatever the father does the son also does for the father loves the son and shows him all he does. Jesus is revealing his intimate relationship with God the father and his source of power, the source of what made him a perfect man, perfect God was that he walked in our place and he had that intimate relationship. His power flowed from an intimate relationship with the father and Jesus tells us the true prophet has that and the true prophet imparts that. False prophets might impart many spiritual things but false prophets will not impart an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that comes only through Jesus Christ and that is what he imparts. Be reminded of this, some voice will guide you in your life. You must choose wisely. Well, not only does Jesus here tell us to choose your path, first secondly to choose your guide, third he says choose your hope, choose your hope. Many of you know that this weekend that I had the unfortunate opportunity to have to attend a funeral of a friend of mine, Tim Stone, up in Detroit, got home about 1 o'clock last night so I apologize for fatigue that might be displayed as a result of that. But that was a place that didn't expect, I mean I hope for it, no pun intended here, I hope for it, but I didn't expect to taste and to see the amount of hope that I did in the midst of that. You see Tim was a friend just like many of you are friends to me. Tim was a part of University of Presbyterian Church when I was there as on staff and as a pastor with that. Tim worked with me in the worship ministry there. Tim sat right back at a sound board over there. Tim went with me on a group on a mission trip to Japan and went with us on a trip there. Tim and his wife Kristen hung out at our house, they were in a small group Bible study with us for many years. Tim jumped on a trampoline with my kids, I have pictures of Tim holding my kids at different stages of their lives. But Tim reached a place in his life, a point of despair in his life, we're not only death might be tragic, but where Tim took his own life, even more tragic. And so in the one week I've had a process and prepared to think about that, that's been a very, very difficult journey for me in thinking about all right, I know there's, there's supposed to be hope. And I have hope, but how do you reconcile and make sense of a friend and Jason lost a friend just a few weeks ago, similar situation, how do you make sense of that, who makes that level, that kind of choice. What I was amazed to find, and what I'm glad to report to you today, is that to come to gather with friends and family from all across the country, and to hear the stories, and to hear the eulogies, and to hear a personal friend pastor speak and do the sermon at the funeral. For me, as the pastor helping with the worship part there, a personal friend and being involved there, it was to hear the hope that was in this room. To hear people talk about Tim's life, to hear people talk about his struggles, and to talk about even how he trusted God in the midst of his struggles.
And don't get me wrong, I wish I could have said here today that he had the strength at the very end to hold firmly to God like I'm sure wish he had as well too. But what I was amazed to find is that even in the midst of that, and even as I studied in preparing for this, other stories and listen to sermons that other pastors had preached in their churches, pastors are respected about people in their churches with similar experiences. I begin to realize that this path, although it's not common for the believer, it does exist, that there is still hope in the midst of that. J.R. Tolkien said in his books, not all who wander or lost, what Tim was wearing down on his T-shirt his last day.
And Tim's last note, he says, see you on the other side, and I had the hardest time trying to think, how do you have hope in the midst of all that? How do you have hope when your grip of God is slipping and your white knuckles are not sufficient enough any longer to hold?
What Tim was hoping in, what the testimonies of those around remind us was hoping in, was that there is one whose fingers and knuckles hold us firmly who will never turn white.
And the scriptures tell us that when God has us in His hands, nothing can rip us out of His hands. Daniel did a great job, I don't need to develop this point last week, that storms will come because they certainly will. But what the storms reveal like nothing else can is where your foundation is and where your hope is. And I was reminded of that this weekend. First Corinthians 3 says this, if any man builds on this foundation, and he's talking about a foundation in Christ, if any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is because the day will bring it to light. It will be reeled with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it has burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only has one escaping through flames. God tells us here that even for the believer whose foundation is in Christ, the choices that we make, the legacy we leave behind, some will burn up and some will remain. And even though Tim was an executive in the Ford Motor Company, and one that was big enough to go and serve in India in different places, and even though I heard his co-workers come and share, nobody talked about his accomplishments with any significance other than to say he was a good worker, nobody resonated, nobody talked about his job performance. Although we received promotion after promotion year after year, they talked about his hope, they talked about his relationship with God, they talked about how he came along with them and how he was a good friend. It was very clear what survived and what was important and what really, really mattered. And God's saying with us, it will be that as well too. And of our hope is in Christ, our life will reflect that, and the things that we think are so important now that we claim to, it just won't matter one day.
He said, we have a choice in choosing our hope, will it be self-salvation or will it be God's salvation? Jesus said, I'm the way the truth and life, no one comes to the Father except through me, but our choice for hope is, will Jesus be the way the truth of life, or will I be my own way, my own truth and my life? Jesus is the way the truth and life, and He is the rock that we build, and He calls us to come and trust Him in. He calls us to choose our hope and to choose it wisely. Let me just wrap this up here as we finish up with just some closing thoughts here. This is a choice. Every preacher longs and wishes that he can persuade his congregation and persuade himself sometimes to make the right choice and to do it. But don't hesitate for a second here, you have the power of choice this morning. I'm not questioning any of God's sovereignty when I say that. He's ultimately sovereign completely. But you have a choice this morning. You have a choice of path. You have a choice of guide. You have a choice of hope. Nothing can take that from you. And by the way, you can't procrastinate. Did I fail to mention that? You automatically choose every single day. Every person in every life automatically chooses. This decision can't be delayed. It can't be delayed for a single second. You make a choice every second.
So let my encouragement be here today as Jesus does. Jesus doesn't come in with some kind of clincher here. He just says, look, there's a choice to make. And I'm telling you the truth. And I can be your way, your truth, in your life, or you can be your way, your truth, in your life. But the storms will come. And there is no question that there's only one foundation. Let's pray. God, as we respond this morning to your word, as we respond to your call, as we finish up the sermon that Jesus spoke there. God made the weight and the somberness of the gravity and its full magnitude rest on our hearts here this morning. God, that we indeed do make choices. And we have choice. And that your call is offered to us. And your truth has revealed to us the way in which we can walk to find life. So God made us let us not be deceived this morning to think that there is any other way apart from you. God, keep our hearts trusting and acknowledging. God, that although there is a way that's broad, that many travel it, that there are also, there's a world full of many who have no hope, who have no real eternal reason for living, who have no real love, joy, and peace that can only come from the Holy Spirit from you. And God, will you call in quietly? Call us and give us faith to believe this morning, and to walk the path that you provided for us, the path that Jesus walked perfectly, and the path that Jesus willingly, lovingly desires to carry us along and to carry us through. God, may we come and find our rest in you and our trust in you. And may we come and come and realize that you have already walked the path. The path that took you through the cross that also took you through the empty tomb, that has taken you to serve the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, raining in your kingdom. God, may your kingdom come, may it come to our hearts this morning. I pray this in Christ's name, amen.