APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING -- Matthew 7:13-27

Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason,  March 16, 2003

In 1884 a young man died, and after the funeral his grieving parents decided to establish a memorial to him. With that in mind they met with Charles Eliot, president of Harvard University. Eliot received the unpretentious couple into his office and asked what he could do. After they expressed their desire to fund a memorial, Eliot impatiently said, "Perhaps you have in mind a scholarship." "We were thinking of something more substantial than that... perhaps a building," the woman replied. In a patronizing tone, Eliot brushed aside the idea as being too expensive and the couple departed. The next year, Eliot learned that this plain pair had gone elsewhere and established a $26 million memorial named Leland Stanford Junior University, better known today as Stanford University! 

Things are not always what they seem to be.

Our text for today is found in:

Matthew 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it."

It Contains A Call To Action:

It is to that point that Jesus comes in the Sermon on the Mount. He has given his disciples the principles of the Kingdom and now he presents them with a call to action.

The beginning point was the quality of being poor in spirit. His disciples were to practice it, live it, teach it to others and apply it to all their relationships. Submission, allegiance and obedience to Christ are all part of the narrow way.

The teachings of Jesus always have a "rubber meets the road" aspect to them. It is not just enough to know what Jesus taught. The devil knows that. No! Jesus’teaching demands action. It is in the application of truth that the difference is found in the disciples of Jesus.

Jesus has taught his disciples. He has encouraged them to get their spiritual priorities straight. He has challenged them to be right in their relationship with God. He has encouraged them to get things right in their relationship with their fellow men. They are to trust God and seek His kingdom and His righteousness as the first priority in their lives with out judging anyone else.

The power to accomplish all that is to be accessed through the asking, seeking and knocking of complete dependence upon God for everything. That is the essence of trust, of faith. Believing God is the essence of the Christian Life.

Jesus is saying here…you have heard the principles of the Kingdom. Now you have to apply them to your everyday life. And the place to begin is here with the very first responsibility:

The gospel always demands a decision. We have to get into the narrow way by following Christ.

Appearances Can be Deceiving:

We need to remember that: A mule dressed in a tuxedo is still a mule.

Two Gates:

There are two gates and two ways man can choose. One of these gates looks really good and is quite appealing. It is wide and easy to go through. Lots of people are taking it. The way is broad and accepting of everything you can imagine. It must be the best way to go, right?

Where does the process of getting things right start? We begin by looking for this straight and narrow gate. You have to go out of your way to find the narrow gate.

Martin Luther for example, was in his cell, fasting, sweating and praying, seeking the straight gate. For a long time he did not know what he had to do. He was wrong in his ideas for a long time, but by diligently seeking the narrow gate he found it. He rediscovered the truth that the just shall live by their faith.

Once you have found the narrow gate you have to act upon what you have found. It is narrow now and continues to be narrow in the future.

"Enter by the narrow gate…for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction" Matthew 7:13.

The tense of the verb enter is this: it is a commitment to a decisive choice. Jesus says. Get started in the Way. There are few who find it because there are few who seek it. To do that you have to make the choice to enter through the narrow gate…for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and narrow is the gate and straight is the way that leads to life."

Having seen the truth and having expressed my agreement with the truth of the Good News about Jesus Christ, I must ask myself…"What must I do to make this work in my life?"

M. Luther said: A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. 

We have to enter the narrow gate. We must choose. We must do more than just talk about it.

While D.L. Moody was attending a convention in Indianapolis on mass evangelism, he asked his song leader Ira Sankey to meet him at 6 o'clock one evening at a certain street corner. When Sankey arrived, Mr. Moody asked him to stand on a box and sing. Once a crowd had gathered, Moody spoke briefly and then invited the people to follow him to the nearby convention hall. Soon the auditorium was filled with spiritually hungry people, and the great evangelist preached the gospel to them. Then the convention delegates began to arrive. Moody stopped preaching and said, "Now we must close, as the brethren of the convention wish to come and discuss the topic, 'How to reach the masses.'" Moody graphically illustrated the difference between talking about doing something and going out and doing it.

It requires a specific act of my will. Have I committed myself to this way of life: Is this way of life what really controls my life? There will be a price to be paid if we are to go down through the narrow gate and down the straight and narrow way. This is apparent because there are not many who go down that way with us. There will be times when the crowd is going the other way. The easy gate and the broad way are quite appealing. We need to recognize that by choosing not to enter the narrow gate means that we are already on the broad way.

The broad way often requires no choice at all…people can just meander through life and make the wide gate and the broad way. Some make the definite choice to go to their own destruction, but most simply make no choice and wind up in the road to destruction. It is one or the other…the broad way or the narrow way. There certainly is a fascination about the broad way that people are willing to risk their eternal soul for it. Look ahead to see what is coming to you on the pathway you have chosen to take.

Life on the broad way is full of pomp, glory and luxury. However, can one imagine anything so utterly empty and meaningless? What satisfaction is there with this kind of life? In Romans 6:21 The Apostle Paul asks: "Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death." What did you get out of that kind of life anyway? What was the gain to you? Where was the satisfaction? It was superficial; full of envy and jealousy, folly delusion, shadow and false appearances.

However, to go down the broad way and to do so without considering the consequences is foolish. What is the ultimate price to be paid at the end? Where is that kind of life leading: Death and destruction. It leads to suffering, misery, shame, agony and despair. The broad way is full of those things.

Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." Real freedom is to be found in the narrow gate and down the straight and narrow way that leads to life. The call of Jesus here is that we believe the Gospel. The we act upon it. Choose to be in the way and we find that Jesus walks down the way with us.

There is an interesting thing that takes place when a person chooses the wide gate and the broad way. It is wide open in the beginning but as a person goes down the path it becomes narrower and narrower because it leads to one place and that is the prison house of destruction.

The narrow gate is like a turnstile. It will allow only one person at a time to enter and seems to be so restrictive and narrow. However, as a person travels it becomes less and less restrictive as they realize that it begins to offer all the possibilities of life and blessing. On the narrot way we discover that the one who said "Follow Me!" goes before us and with us down that way to life itself. We lose nothing and gain everything.

Once we have found the gate and decided to enter through it there is a third thing required of us: We must continue down the narrow way. We commit ourselves to it as the way we live our lives.

We recognize that we are just pilgrims here. We are just passing through this world. I no longer belong to Satan and I am a stranger here.

The second Principle Jesus introduces to us is found in verses 15 to 20:

Beware: of false prophets. This is a long term, life style response that we are to repeat every time this situation presents itself.

Appearances can be deceiving: A false prophet will look just like a real prophet.

He comes in sheep’s clothing. He looks like the real thing.

How will you know them apart?

It is quite easy Jesus would say. "By their fruit you shall know them." Just look at their fruit of their lives.

They look good…Jesus says beware of false appearances. Don’t be deceived by false appearances. Don’t be deceived by false zeal or fervor. The false prophet has bad fruit. He is rebellious and is not content unless he is leading others astray from the true Word of God. He says, "Lord, Lord" A person’s life will reveal the truth of their discipleship not just what they say. The false prophet will sound correct. That is part of the deception. In the early church the people were enjoined to accept those who came to them preaching the Word of God. However, if someone came and stayed more than three days they were to send them on their way. If they came and asked for food, they were to send them on their way. If they came demanding money they were to send them on their way.

In Jesus day there was a buckthorn bush that had small black berries on them that had the appearance of grapes. There was a thistle that had a seed pod that looked much like a fig. So when Jesus begins speaking about fruit…this is what would come to the minds of the disciples who heard him speak. You would not go to the buckthorn or the thistle looking for good fruit.

Two men and Two houses: Appearances can be deceiving:

A man who lived on Long Island was able one day to satisfy a lifelong ambition by purchasing for himself a very fine barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home, he was extremely disappointed to find that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck, pointing to the sector marked "HURRICANE."  After shaking the barometer very vigorously several times, its new owner sat down and wrote a scorching letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument. The following morning on the way to his office in New York, he mailed the letter. 

That evening he returned to Long Island to find not only the barometer missing, but his house also. The barometer's needle had been right--there was a hurricane! 

The third Principle is clearly stated by the illustration Jesus uses of the two men and the two houses.

They had the same desire…to build a house they could live in.

Notice if you will, that the differences in the two houses are not related to the kinds of houses, or the materials used to build the house or the types of calamities experienced.

The difference is in the foundation. The foundation is everything. The one man has no foundation. He simply builds on the sand. The other digs down to the bedrock and builds a foundation for his house. He prepares for the rainy day.

When the storms of life come and burst upon the houses one is washed away and one remains standing. It is the one with the foundation.

The message of Jesus is this…take these sayings of mine (The Sermon on the Mount) and build your lives upon them and no storm will ever destroy your building. Be able to detect the differences in my way which is the narrow way and the broad way of the world before it is too late. Do it while there is still time.

There is a story told of W.C. Fields. He was never known as a man of Christian principles. However, before he died he was found in his hospital bed reading the Bible. Someone asked him what he was doing reading the Bible. He responded: "Looking For Loop Holes." There will be no last minute loop holes. He had lived his life on the broad way and on the brink of destruction he was looking for loop holes! It would appear that without being judgmental that he had built his house with no foundation and the great storm of his life was upon him and he was not ready. If the foundation is wrong, then the house is wrong. He was looking for loop holes.

Who is the man who experiences loss? It is the man who hears and disobeys. And the storms of bereavement, temptation and sorrow beat upon the house and ultimately there comes the day of judgment. On that day unless the house is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ there will only be destruction and loss…and it will be eternal. And all because the truth was heard and not obeyed.

If you are seeking the narrow gate, you will find it. When you have found it…Jesus says, make the choice to enter the narrow gate. Continue traveling down the narrow way because it leads to life and blessing. As always, the choice is ours. Choose wisely!

--Dennis Gleason