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Read: Matthew 7:13-29
We are about to end our nine-days devotion about the Kingdom of Heaven by reading and devoting to Jesus' teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. We have been navigating through three chapters on the book of Matthew form chapter 5 to chapter 7. And today, i was assigned to share my devotion on Matthew 7:13-29.“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. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. “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. 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?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. 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. 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.” Matthew 7:13-27
So for our devotion tonight, Jesus has been telling us that there are two types of things we should always consider; two gates and two ways in verses 13-14; two fruits and two trees in verses in verses 16-20; two people/disciples in verses 21-23; and two foundations in verses 24-27.; As we ponder upon these verses tonight, we will be seeing the contrast of these two types and see where we are at the end of; this devotion.
1. Verse 13-14;
“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. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.How Jesus begins the end of His sermon amazed me - He ended it by commanding us to 'enter the narrow gate'. We enter the Kingdom of Heaven only through the narrow gate, the only way, Jesus' way.
John 14:6 'Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'
Yes, I believe, most of us who are here are convinced that; when we professed and sang, 'I have decided to follow Jesus', that was it, you are now a Christian. Then we wear apparels with verses, download 'Christian' songs, and come to; church during Sundays, be with church people, and a whole lot more. Well, to tell you, if this is our view of Christianity then, the gate we entered; is not the narrow one but the broad one.
John MacArthur, an American Pastor and founder of Grace to You, said in his sermon about this topic that: choosing to enter the 'narrow gate',
we enter it through Christ,
we enter it alone - in a sense that we do not enter it
collectively: not because we are born in a Christian family, nor we belong to a gospel-centered church, nor we have 'Christian' friends.
we enter it naked - we leave everything and sometimes everyone behind and strain forward to what lies ahead.
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2. Verse 15-20
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.Sir Philip had shared to us his devotion about judging others this Monday. These verses does not contradict what judging others is about, but it compliments it in reminding us that we will never really bear the authentic fruits of the Spirit if we are never part of a good tree or the true vine.
Paul Washer, founder of HeartCry Missionary said, that 'The heart represents the very core of a human being. You don't need to know what is in the heart because it comes out to your mouth.'
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3. Verse 21-23
“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. 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?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’This was my prayer, that may we never miss this. That when we come to meet God, may we be welcomed and the angles of the Lord rejoice. This truth that Jesus had said to us, it is not discourage us or to tell us that we really cannot do anything to be in God's Kingdom, but by grace through faith, we could.
Jeremiah 29:13, God said, 'You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.'
4. Verse 24-27
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 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. 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. 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.”For our last point, notice the similarity of the builders here; they built the same house, on the same place, and the same storm struck them. What makes them different from one another is the result after the storm because of what they chose their house to be founded in.
Friends, we may not; know where a person's faith is founded until and unless 'a storm' comes. But, I believe; that you know in yourself where you have placed your foundation in; you know in yourself what gate you have entered; you know in yourself what way you are currently walking in; you know in yourself what kind of; tree you are from and what fruit you produce; you and God know what is in the depths of your heart and tonight, is not too late to make a choice. A choice to come afresh and ask and seek God to purify you once again.
This series will be garbage if you; just consider coming here everyday at; 8 PM to just hit like and react and tag people along.
So as we end, if you have been here for quiet some time or may be your first time to be with us looking for answers, seeking comfort, or whatever reason you have may I invite you to pray.
Photo by: Nathaniel Callanta
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