Sermon - Trinity VIII 2024 - Matthew 7:15-23

The Two Foundations, Religious Tract Society, 1880

The narrow, good, and strong way to salvation

1. Few find and follow the narrow and hard way of Christ

2. Listening to the good fruit of pure doctrine from the Good Tree

3. The church founded upon Christ the Rock is strong and stands

Tolerance used to be a bigger buzzword than it is today. Not because those shouting for tolerance just gave up, but because they won. By and large religious folks have acquiesced and have become far more tolerant, accepting, and embracing of beliefs inconsistent with their own. Multiculturalism and religious pluralism have blossomed in our country. A century ago a lot of religious education time was spent showing the differences between Christians church bodies, and insisting on the dangers of being exposed to those false teachings. That was then, but today we’ve become so accustomed to tolerance that many have a hard time saying Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Mormons won’t go to heaven but hell unless they repent and come to Christianity.

This tolerance strikes even closer to home, however, when we refuse to acknowledge that all sin separates us from God and unless the person repents he or she will not go to heaven but hell. We want to believe that God is so gracious and welcoming that He wouldn’t send hardly anyone to hell, except the most evil people. We want to think that hell isn’t real, and if it is real that it’s mostly empty. We want to think that it doesn’t really matter what you think or how you live, and so long as you’re mostly a good person by your own metric of what a good person is, then you’ll go to heaven.

Jesus’ conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount disillusions us to that demonic notion. Immediately prior to our reading Jesus said: “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.” It’s an uncomfortable truth to recognize that the way to paradise is narrow and hard, not broad and easy. There is only way into eternal life and that is through Jesus. He tells us that He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” Just as there was one door into the ark by which Noah and his family were saved, so is there one Door into God’s eternal mansions by which we are saved; and that door is Jesus.

There is only one Savior who bled and died to take away our sins: Jesus. No other religion can save. Even if those religions claim to worship the same God the Father as the Christians do, unless they trust in Christ they cannot be saved. The only way to the Father is through the Son, Jesus. 

No man-made works can save, either. If you did sinful things before, but now you try to keep God’s law, that doesn’t save you. Thus, for instance, a drunk who is now sober isn’t saved because he sobered up. Likewise, a couple who lived together in fornication without marriage isn’t saved because they got married. Doing the right thing is good, but doing the right thing doesn’t save you, only repentance and faith in Jesus’ work of forgiveness saves. Thus the drunk and the fornicator are saved because they confess their sins and are absolved. The gate is narrow, the way is hard, that leads to life, since it is only as wide as the one God-Man Jesus Christ.

In addition to life only coming through the narrow way of Jesus, so does faith in Jesus only come from the good tree of His Word. “Every 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.” So what are the good fruits we look for from prophets? We look for the pure and unadulterated Word of God. The fruit of a preacher and teacher is the stuff they say. 

It’s easy to become fooled by their outward appearances and good works, to be deceived that since they live a good life what they say must also be good. But Jesus tells us to “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Outwardly they appear good and holy, but their fruits, their teachings, are filled with lies. Likewise, just because a preacher has sinned, that doesn't necessarily mean that his teachings are invalidated. For example, Moses, Abraham, David, and Paul all sinned, but their teachings are true regardless of their personal failings. 

In some ways this makes it easier to judge good trees from bad trees, good preachers from false preachers. You have to look beyond the sheep’s clothing, look beyond the exterior, and look to the teachings. Is this preacher saying what accords with the rest of the Bible or not? Thus, this does make it easy for you to judge which preachers are good, because you can judge what they teach by comparing it against the standard of holy scripture. On the other hand, however, this can be difficult and impossible to judge which preachers are good if you do not yet know the scriptures, or know them only poorly. Don’t be distracted by his externally successful and attractive christian life. Although the Christian life matters a great deal for preachers, don’t strain out the gnat and swallow a camel, missing what is of eternal value.

Because the external appearance of the preacher will not save you, instead it is his preaching and teaching which may lead you either onto the broad and easy road of perdition, or the narrow and hard road of life. When the good preacher proclaims the name of the Lord Jesus, not just as lip service, but with integrity, His teaching is able to lead you away from the broad and easy road and back to Jesus. 

This is a lesson which needs to be applied beyond church. It certainly matters what the pastor says in the pulpit, however it also matters what the talking head or meme says on the screen. Just because a politician, a news actor, or a celebrity claims to be for you, on your side, even talking about God, that doesn’t make what they say true. The political convictions of your political party may or may not align with the holy Word of God, so listen with much discernment and a critical ear. Those people may be wrong, and they have led you astray down the broad and easy road without your realizing it, so be open for correction from God’s Word.

Afterall, having entered into the faith through the narrow road of Jesus and having listened only to the good tree of God’s Word, those who have done so are built upon the strong and solid rock of Christ, and will prevail against the storms of life. Immediately after our reading Jesus said: “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.”

Those who do not do the will of the Father, who do not hear and do the words of Jesus, are like the fool built upon the sand, and as the storms of life come along, and the judgment on the final day, they will be crushed beneath their load of sin. But those who follow the narrow and difficult way of Christ, who listen to and trust His word alone, who are contrite, believing, and forgiven, they are the wise ones built upon the rock of Christ, and shall endure unto the ages of ages. This church, God’s church, is meant to be a house built upon Christ. It reflects the imagery of the ark, where you are sealed inside of this place through Holy Baptism. God through His Word strengthens you to endure every assault of this evil age in which you live. Built upon this faith in Jesus, you may stand secure and undaunted by the raging and roaring of the world. If you try to stand without Christ, it will be easy and tolerable in this world, but you will be crushed beneath God’s almighty hand. If you abide in Christ, it will be difficult and exclusive in this world, but by the uplifted arms of Christ on the cross you will be preserved unto life everlasting.