Brad's Bistro

Text: Matthew 7: 13-23(NIV)

¹³"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

¹⁵"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

²¹"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. ²²Many 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?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Discussion Questions

-Read verses 13 and 14. From the list below, what do you think Jesus is referring to by the way that leads to life:

-Jesus speaks of gates as well as paths. In other words, something we enter as well as a road we walk. What does this say to you about the Christian life?

-Re-read verses 15,16. Have you ever run into someone who claims to speak for God, but turns out to be a fake? How can we identify these types before they can do any damage?

-Review verses 17-20. Does the quality of fruit determine how good the tree is, or does the quality of the tree determine how good the fruit is?

-If the sermon on the mount represents examples of good fruit, what do these verses say about how our lives can produce it?

-Verses 21-23. What is at stake here? How does this underscore how important it is to really understand what Jesus is telling us?

-Is there something wrong with what people are doing in verse 22? Does verse 23 give us a clue as to what Jesus will really be looking for on judgment day?

-What is something you can do to make sure that you are living a “fruitful” life in the kingdom?

Each study on the Sermon on the Mount is based on the fact that God has translated us into the Kingdom of God, with all of the benefits and expectations being things that should currently characterize our “life in the Kingdom.” Each lesson illustrates an important Kingdom principle that, when taken together, will help achieve a “Kingdom worldview,” in order to live healthy and significant lives while we await the complete fulfillment which will attend the second coming of Christ.

Review of Kingdom principles so far:
5-12 (Beatitudes): The eternal perspective on our lives which comes from living in the Kingdom should be able to transform our attitude toward life because we have constant access to what is really important.

13-16 (Salt and Light): Good works are not the means to God’s salvation, but are still critical in order to accomplish Kingdom ministry and mission in this world.

17-20 (fulfilling the law): We cannot keep the law of God by trying hard—we keep it by becoming the kind of people who naturally live in accordance with what God desires for us.

21-32 (sex and violence): Healthy relationships with others come from dealing with the underlying heart issues of selfishness and pride rather than just managing our outward behaviors.

33-47 (integrity and crazy love):The confidence we have as children of God and citizens of the Kingdom give us a different value system which allows us to be in control of situations where other people are trying to control us.

6:1-18 (Impressive Piety): people who live in the kingdom of God are motivated to pursue spiritual disciplines; not out of a sense of ritual or duty or in order to impress other people, but to deepen their relationship with the Father.

6:25-34 (Anxiety Antidote): when our value system is aligned with the Kingdom of God, our lives in this world become much healthier.

7:1-12 (Community of Care) Helping people grow in godly living doesn’t come from condemning them or trying to “fix” them; but happens through respecting them, developing a relationship with them, and praying for them.

The kingdom principle in this passage reviews and reiterates the main point of the sermon on the mount: behaving as good citizens of the kingdom is not a matter of trying hard to do the right things, but rather it is the result of becoming the kind of people who naturally do the will of God because of our relationship to Christ.

-Read verses 13 and 14. From the list below, what do you think Jesus is referring to by the way that leads to life:

The key to this question is to understand the end result of following either of the two paths: life or destruction. Most people will automatically select number 3 as the answer that sounds best. They will be right, of course. Doctrinal correctness isn’t enough, and certainly we don’t earn eternal life by what we do. A relationship with Christ is the essence of what it means to be saved. In reality, however, these are all related. We don’t have to have everything just right regarding everything we believe about our faith, but we at least have to believe the right things about who Jesus is. And doing the right things will be the natural result of a relationship with Christ, if it is the “right kind” of relationship that the question refers to.

-Jesus speaks of gates as well as paths. In other words, something we enter as well as a road we walk. What does this say to you about the Christian life?

There is some discussion about whether Jesus intends to gate to be at the beginning or the end of the road. I believe that misses the point, which is the nature of gates and roads. Gates are something you go through once, and roads are something you walk on for a journey. This paints a good picture of what Scripture always affirms about salvation: it is both an event and a process, and they are both important. The same is true about the road that leads to destruction. The gate that starts us on that road is really big, since we all go through it when we’re born. And the road is everything except a right relationship with Christ. The wide gate and broad road is the “default” for human beings unless we change it.

-Read verses 15,16. Have you ever run into someone who claims to speak for God, but turns out to be a fake? How can we identify these types before they can do any damage?

Biblically a prophet is not just someone who tells the future, but anyone who speaks for God. Some claim to do so, but their lives reveal them to be “sheep in wolves clothing.” We all know of TV preachers and cult leaders who fit this bill, but unfortunately, we probably also have personal experience with people who “talk the talk” but don’t “walk the walk”, some of whom make claim to be spokespersons for God. Jesus says that they are not just irritants, but really dangerous. We need to always be alert for the lifestyle signs that reveal falsehood in those who are trying to claim spiritual authority to lead us. Pride, ambition, selfishness, anger, and treating people as inferior are some of the red flags we need to be on the lookout for in order to keep from being hurt.

-Review verses 17-20. Does the quality of fruit determine how good the tree is, or does the quality of the tree determine how good the fruit is?

Obviously, Jesus’ point is that the most important thing is how good the tree is. If it is in good shape, then good fruit happens naturally. The real discussion about this happens with the next question, so move ahead to that:

-If the sermon on the mount represents examples of good fruit, what do these verses say about how our lives can produce it?

This is the main point of this passage, and underscores the essence of the sermon on the mount as examples of those who live their lives as citizens of the kingdom in relationship to their sovereign Lord. Jesus is emphasizing that right behavior is the result of being the right kind of person, not vice versa. While “practicing” the kinds of behaviors represented in the sermon can be helpful, ultimately we want them to be a natural “outgrowth” of who we are. So we focus more on the health of the tree in order to produce good fruit. Those things that really develop a deep connection to Christ should be our primary focus.

-Verses 21-23. What is at stake here? How does this underscore how important it is to really understand what Jesus is telling us?

The stakes are nothing more or less than who is in and who is out. It is vitally important for us to truly understand what Jesus wants us to understand.

-Is there something wrong with what people are doing in verse 22? Does verse 23 give us a clue as to what Jesus will really be looking for on judgment day?

Clearly, the whole point with this description of really magnificent religious accomplishments is that they are not, in and of themselves, bad things. But they are inadequate. Jesus says in verse 23, “I never knew you.” So we return to the importance of the relationship with Christ that leads to right behaviors. No doubt it is intentional that Jesus uses things like driving our demons, prophecy, miracles etc. because they are so external and so public. He wants to make a deliberate distinction between what is internal and private in the relationship we have with him. That is what will result in the kinds of outward expressions that at judgment day Christ will actually recognize as legitimate fruit that came from a good tree.

This is just an opportunity to ensure that people are pursuing a real relationship with Christ that will get them through the narrow gate, rather than relying on just right behaviors, or doing the right things.

-What is something you can do to make sure that you are living a “fruitful” life in the kingdom?

Again, focus on making the tree good. If someone responds with some good work they could be doing, don’t deny that as valid, but make sure to bring it back to the question of what we can do to deepen our relationship with Christ in a way which will cause us to become the sorts of people who naturally behave in kingdom ways.