This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome to day four of our look through the last part of Matthew chapter seven.
We're talking this week about decisions that set the direction of our life, and
we're going to look at a couple of them today. We're going to talk about a
narrow gate, and we're going to talk about some false prophets and how we
respond to these things in setting the direction of our lives.

Let me begin by reading what Jesus had to teach in verses 13 and 14. Jesus said,
"Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the
road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

" Wow, this has a lot to say about how to make the right decisions in life. Let
me just try to distill this message in these verses into two simple statements.
First, that the path of least resistance is usually the wrong decision.

And then he teaches that the road of popular majority is usually the wrong
direction. First, the path of least resistance is usually the wrong decision.
The way is broad that leads to destruction.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to make the wrong decision? How tough it is
to make the right decision? That's what Jesus is talking about here.

I will never begin to consistently make good decisions until I'm willing to make
tough choices. If I always do what feels right, if I always do what's easiest to
do in the moment, Jesus is teaching us here, you're going to make a lot of wrong
decisions in life. So enter by the narrow gate.

He also is teaching that the road of popular majority is usually the wrong
direction. Small is the gate. Narrow the road that leads to life.

Because the popular majority road is the wrong direction, you're going to face
opposition when you make the right decision in life. People face disagreement
and criticism, so you don't base your decisions on the acceptance of other
people or you'll make a lot of wrong decisions. You may feel lonely when you're
making the right decision because everybody else is going the other direction.

So you don't base your decisions on your emotions, on feeling good about how
other people feel about you. You're going to face doubt from others when you
make the right decision. Even self-doubt because I feel all alone here.

So you don't base your decisions on having no struggles with doubt. Now as you
read this, I've been talking about all the decisions of our life, but it's
obvious that Jesus is talking about life's most important decision here. He says
one way leads to destruction, the other leads to life.

He's talking about salvation. One way leads to destruction, separation from God
for all of eternity. The other way leads to life.

Narrow is the road that leads to salvation. The road to hell is a broad and
popular road. Don't let that fool you.

It fools a lot of people. Well, because a lot of people are on this road, it
must be the right road. Well, have you ever gone into a restaurant where a lot
of people are in that restaurant but it was still terrible food?

That's a silly little illustration to say just because a lot of people are there
does not mean it's the right place to be. The road to hell is a broad and
popular road. The road to heaven is a narrow, often unpopular road.

But don't let that scare you. Don't let it make you think that somehow something
is wrong. We live in a world somehow that thinks that if I'm on a road all by
myself, it has to be the wrong road.

Well, the question is, is Jesus with you on that road? Is it the road that he
wants you on? You see, he is the one that you look to.

You and I, we lift our eyes above the crowd. Which way are they going? And we
look for where Jesus is going.

If he goes through that gate, I'm going through that gate. If he takes that
road, I'm taking that road. Now, there's a moment of humility here as we read
these verses.

It's the humility to admit that I can be fooled into taking the wrong direction.
That my emotions or the crowd can easily fool me. Starting in verse 15, Jesus
adds to that humility as he reminds us that there are people out there who are
actually looking to fool you.

So you need to be humble enough to realize I can be fooled and not get caught up
in going the wrong direction. In verse 15, Jesus talks about a second decision
in this day's look. First you enter through the narrow gate.

The second decision is, watch out for the false prophets. Let me read what he
had to say about false prophets. He had quite a bit to teach about it in the
Sermon on the Mount.

Verses 15 all the way down through verse 23, Jesus taught, "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 into 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, did we not prophesy in your name
and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? ' And then I will
tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.

'" Jesus is teaching us here that if you want to go the right direction, you
have to be aware of those who will lead you in the wrong direction. Now, why are
they being false? Why are false teachers false teachers?

It's not up to me to judge an individual false teacher. I can't see into their
heart. But it is up to us to discern, to watch out, and to realize there are
people who, for their own pride, will try to lead you in the wrong direction, or
out of their own hurt, their own pain, will try to lead you in the wrong
direction, or just out of the evil temptation that's in their heart will try to
lead you in the wrong direction, or out of their own confusion will try to lead
you in the wrong direction.

And Jesus said, "Watch out," and then he taught us how to watch out. He said,
"You will know them by their fruit. " Now, what is the fruit that I will know
them by?

If you read through this, it's very clear the fruit to look for. Is the fruit,
for instance, is the fruit to look for the way that they talk, the way that they
preach, the way that they teach a Bible study? Well, Jesus tells us here that's
the worst indicator.

He says many will say the right words. They'll say, "Lord, Lord," but they don't
know me. Just because someone talks with great conviction or skill or confidence
does not mean they're telling the truth.

But that has fooled a lot of people over the years. The skill of a communicator
has nothing to do with the content that they are sharing. But a lot of people
have been fooled by a confident, skilled communicator who's telling a lie.

So that's not the fruit. It's not the way that they talk. How about the results
of their ministry, the things that happen out of their ministry?

Well, maybe. I mean, maybe that's a better indication than the way that they
talk. But good results sometimes can be achieved by human effort.

Or maybe it's someone else's effort that created the good results in that
person's ministry. Jesus says at the end of time, people are going to say, "Hey,
we cast out demons in your name. " But Jesus says, "I never knew you either.

" So just because it's grown to be real big or it's real popular, that does not
mean that that's a fruit of that ministry. So what are you looking for in that
communicator? Is it the way they talk?

No. Is it the results of their ministry? That's not that great a result of the
fruit, an indicator of the fruit.

Maybe it's their doctrinal purity. Well, there's no doubt that it is helpful to
check out everything someone is saying and doing by God's Word. I hope you do
that as I teach, as you hear any other teacher.

Is this what God's Word says? Not is this what that pastor says or is that what
that church says. What does the Bible say?

What does God's Word say? So it's good to check it out for doctrinal purity, but
you can say the right things publicly and still have the wrong motives, still be
a very selfish person, still have the wrong actions in your private life. So
what's the fruit that you look for?

The best fruit to look for is the fruit of the Spirit. You look at personal
character. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

So if there is a teacher and they do a great job of teaching, but there's no
patience in their life. There's no kindness. They don't have any self-control.

They always have to have what they want when they want it. Something is wrong or
something wrong with the fruit. You might think, well, the message sounds great.

Something's wrong with the fruit. Do they exhibit love? Do they exhibit joy?

Do they exhibit peace in their lives? That's how you see the true fruit of
ministry. That's how you understand if somebody is a false prophet or a true
prophet.

Those who are wolves are doing it for themselves. They want to feed off of you.
There's something they need out of you that feeds something in them that helps
them to feel better about themselves.

But those who are true shepherds, they do it for the sheep. They protect the
sheep. They love the sheep.

They teach the sheep. They teach the truth. So you'll know them by their fruit.

You look for the person of character who's living out the character of Christ.
You're not going to find a perfect person. You're going to find people who
struggle many times in life.

But when they struggle, what do they do? Are they humble enough to admit that
struggle, to ask for forgiveness? You look for that kind of fruitfulness in the
life of people that you follow.

That's somebody who's teaching the truth. Let's take a moment as we talk about
these two things, entering by the narrow gate, watching out for the false
teachers, to talk to Jesus about these two things. Would you pray with me?

And just say, "Jesus, I want to do that. I need your leadership and guidance to
do that. I want to go the way that you're going.

I want to follow you. Not the crowd. I want to follow you.

And I want to live the way that you've called me to live, not the way some false
teacher is calling me to live. So help me to recognize them by their fruit. Help
me to recognize when somebody's appealing to my pride or they're appealing to my
selfishness.

And to recognize in that, that although in the moment it might sound good to me
to get that much more, to do that much more for people to look at me that way,
that the very fact that they're appealing to my pride and selfishness shows that
the wrong fruit is there. Help me to look for the person that appeals to Christ
in me and Jesus, you becoming more and more the one that I'm following in my
life. Help me to recognize the false teacher, but also to see the true teacher,
the person who has helped me to understand your word and live out that word.

I ask for this, Jesus. I need your discernment and leadership, guidance, and
judgment. So I ask for that.

In your name. Amen. Well, tomorrow Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount.

And he finishes it with one of the clearest pictures of the choice that we make
about our life direction that you're ever going to see. So we see you tomorrow
for the end of the Sermon on the Mount.