Welcome to Episode #206 of the Way of the Bible podcast. This is our sixth of eight episodes in our Twenty-Sixth mini-series entitled Return to the Sermon on the Mount. We’ve been marching along instruction after instruction of this closing Chapter of Jesus’ sermon until last episode when we expanded upon the word “Enter” to make significant the otherwise impossible entrance into the throne room of God’s Grace.

Jesus, in these closing snippets of instruction, gave his disciples boardroom-type insights into the kingdom of heaven. In particular, keys to knowing God the Father through the Holy Spirit by knowing increasing in the knowledge of the Son of Man, Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. I have been trying for the past several days to find the words that would sufficiently describe the deep things God our Father delivers to us regarding Jesus through his Holy Spirit, but have not yet found them. So, let us just continue where we left off in the Sermon on the mount.

Matthew 7:15-20 – “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

SIDEBAR: Jesus just dropped another huge block to discipleship and hearing from God. Who are you listening to? I pray you, as a listener, are like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 – Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. No matter what another person or I may say, always affirm your faith and what you hear by the Scriptures and affirmation by the Holy Spirit! False prophets are real and in our midst today, and God allows them to do exactly what he intends through them.

Let’s examine this sidebar. Prophets and their prophecies have been integral to the Biblical narrative since the very beginning of mankind on the earth. Prophets followed two specific paths, which sometimes merged in certain individuals. Some prophets revealed and explained the word of God already spoken and/or recorded to earlier generations to the people in their own day. Other prophets heard the Lord's word and instructions firsthand and either repeated them to the people through an oral tradition or recorded them in writing.

Peter tells us the work of the prophets who recorded what they heard from God in 2 Peter 1:20-21 – Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

This being carried along by the Holy Spirit was evident both in hearing the word of the Lord first-hand, in repeating the word of the Lord, and in giving the instructions of the Lord. The words and instructions from God entrusted to the prophets were both contemporary with the prophets and concerned people and events in the future that had not yet occurred. Isaiah provides one of the most telling of God’s prophetic statements in Isaiah 46:10 – I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'

Welcome to Episode #205 of the Way of the Bible podcast. This is our fifth of eight episodes in our Twenty-Sixth mini-series entitled Return to the Sermon on the Mount. On our four episodes so far on this mini-series, we’ve been speaking of the veracity of Jesus’ preaching to the crowds regarding the kingdom of heaven and the importance of having ears to hear. This week will be no different, as we take a deeper dive into the first part of last week’s passage and look at what it means to “Enter!”

Let’s begin by reading the passage for our last episode to give us some context for today.

Matthew 7:13-14 – “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. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Last episode, we hammered home the reality Jesus was pointing out to the crowd as he was winding down his talk focused on the kingdom of heaven. Specifically, there are only two places a person can go after their departure from this life. To destruction through the wide gate and easy way that many are upon. In fact, all humanity is born such that this road to destruction is the way all take unless something changes the course of a life.

I believe that if an infant or child, from conception, dies before reaching the age of innocence (the age at which God chooses to judge an individual based upon what they’ve consciously done), then that child, by the mercy and grace of God, enters into the kingdom of heaven. Once a child passes that age, they are of their own making, born into sin and death, already walking on the wide and easy way leading to destruction.

Of their own making refers to our individual responsibility to our conscience regarding right and wrong, and our consciousness of God in regard to who we are ultimately answerable to. The end of the age of innocence of a child is fluid and is greatly influenced by the actions of others. This is a universal reality, not respective of culture or nationality. It is a sad part of the human experience, and part of what Jesus came to make right.

A keyword Jesus used in this passage to point a hearer to the possibility of escaping the road to destruction and finding the gate to the hard way that leads to life was the word Enter. In Greek, that word is eiserchomai - ice-er'-khom-ahee. This word means both a physical entry into a space as well as a spiritual and or metaphysical entry into a physical and or metaphysical space. For example, a spirit entering our bodies, and/or our spirit leaving our bodies to enter a new space for occupation. See 1 Corinthians 15 for more details.

When we die a physical death, our spirit that God gave us returns to him for judgment of what we’ve done in the body, whether good or evil. For the believer, that judgment will be at the judgment seat of Christ and concerns our rewards given for divinely ordained and orchestrated works done through Christ that advance the kingdom. 2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

For the unbeliever, that judgment will occur at the Great White Throne judgment in Revelation 20:11-15 – Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the

Welcome to Episode #204 of the Way of the Bible podcast. This is our fourth of eight episodes in our Twenty-Sixth mini-series entitled Return to the Sermon on the Mount. On our first three episodes of this mini-series, we’ve been reintroduced to the veracity of Jesus’ preaching to the crowds regarding the kingdom of heaven and the importance of having ears to hear. This week will be no different, as Jesus again identifies a reality that few choose to accept as true.

Let’s just jump right into the mix and see what comes out by the end of this episode.

Matthew 7:13-14 – “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. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

If you are a believer, you’ve likely heard this passage and also memorized it at some point, hoping to figure out exactly what Jesus was referring to in regard to the two gates. One narrow and the other wide. One that is hard and found by few, and one that is easy and many are upon it. One leads to life and the other leads to destruction.

Like many of Jesus’ teachings, there are only two options. There is no third gate, or a fence to sit on, or a rest stop for weary travelers. Two gates, everyone is on one or the other. From an odds perspective we all would be far more likely to be found to have taken the wide gate, on the easy way, that leads to destruction. And in fact, we all entered the world by the wide gate and were on the easy road heading for destruction at one time.