“The Narrow Way of the Gospel”
Matthew 7:13-23
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… One of the main virtues our culture holds up as noble is that of tolerance. As an idea, tolerance is good and is a sign of love, a willingness to bear with other people despite problems that may exist. But as we know all too well, tolerance has long since left its proper place in our society; it now rules supreme over all. No longer is it considered acceptable for someone to question another person’s lifestyle or beliefs or choice of gender identification. You must tolerate and accept them, even if you think their behavior or philosophies are false or immoral or just plain wrong. In our culture, getting along is more important than getting at the truth.
And that sort of thinking has infiltrated organized religion as well. The momentum in the vast majority of church bodies is on the side of those who just want to get along, to come together, to gloss over doctrinal differences at the expense of the truths of God’s Word – and all of this in order to achieve some sort of outward unity. If you hold firmly to a Scriptural statement of faith which may have the effect of separating you from other Christians, you will be seen as unloving. After all, they say, doctrine divides; it’s the Gospel that unites.
But the response to that is simply this: Scriptural doctrine, Scriptural teaching is the Gospel. To divorce them is to separate what God has joined together. All Biblical doctrine ultimately centers on Christ. Or to put it another way, Biblical doctrine is the Gospel of Christ in all its articles.
To illustrate this point, there are many who say that all that really counts is whether or not a person believes in Jesus, and everything else is just details. What really counts is that we believe the simple Gospel as it is given us in John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Agreed. But there are a few things in this verse that need to be clear and explicit.
Such as, if God so loved the world, just who is this God? Is it the same god that the Muslims, Hindus and other religions worship? Certainly not. The Scriptures make it clear that there is only one true God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the God who is 3 in 1. So, in the very first word of John 3:16, we are already into what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of the Trinity.
This verse also speaks about people perishing; so why are people going to perish? The Scriptural answer is that such is the curse of man’s rebellion against His Creator. Man is a fallen creature under God’s judgment. So, John 3:16 also involves an understanding of the doctrine of original sin and the nature of mankind.
Then this verse talks about the only-begotten Son. What does “only begotten” mean? And who is the Son? Is Jesus only a divine being? Is He also human? The answer, according to the Scriptures, is that He is fully God and fully man in one sinless person. John 3:16 involves the doctrine of the two natures of Christ.
Then this verse speaks about having eternal life. How was that won for us? Is it something that my good works contribute toward in any way? No, the Bible teaches that this is something solely and completely won for all people by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. John 3:16 involves an understanding of the doctrine of redemption.
Then this verse speaks about believing in Christ. What does that mean? Is faith my decision or my commitment to Christ? Is it something I add to the work of Christ to complete my salvation? No, according to the Scriptures faith is a gift worked by the Holy Spirit whereby we receive the free and full salvation of Christ. And how is that gift given? Well, God’s Word teaches that it is given in and with the waters of Holy Baptism, sustained through the preached Word of Christ, and nourished in the sacred meal of Christ’s true body and blood. John 3:16 involves the right doctrine of faith and of the Sacraments.
I could continue, but the point is clear: doctrine and the Gospel cannot be separated. You mess with one, you mess with the other. You can’t disagree on doctrine and agree on the Gospel; it all hangs together. Now, I’m not trying to make the Gospel out to be something complicated that only a theologian can grasp, for even a child can receive it. The Gospel is indeed wonderfully simple and clear. But it is not simplistic or shallow or trivial. It is the teaching of the eternal Word, which is the doctrine of the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord.
And that is why we must absolutely and at all times be on guard against anything that infringes upon or attacks that Word, because such an attack is an attack on Christ and our salvation in Him. So it is that Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” Be on the alert; be watchful, for the devil and the world are doing their best to undermine the Gospel and rob you of your comfort in Christ alone. And you can be certain that it will happen in a way that appears to be good and holy.
Scripture declares that the devil masquerades as an angel of light. He comes dressed up as religion to lead you away from Christ. False prophets say, “For the sake of Christian love, let us agree to disagree on this doctrine; let us compromise on this teaching so that there can be unity among us.” But true Christian unity does not come from agreements on man’s feelings but from agreement on the teachings of the Word. Real Christian fellowship is created where God has brought forth a common confession of the Christian truth among His people. Our oneness does not come from our common backgrounds or interests but from the fact that we have and confess and practice the same faith.
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At the risk of sending some of you back into your childhood, some of you may remember the classic 1960’s Warner Brothers cartoons where Sam the Sheepdog and Ralph the wolf work all day in the sheep pasture. Ralph the wolf tries all kinds of tricks – including dressing as a sheep – in order to make off with some tasty mutton for dinner, while Sam the sheepdog faithfully and forcefully protects the sheep entrusted to his care.
I can’t help but believe that these cartoons may have been inspired by Jesus saying that false prophets come in sheep’s clothing. That is, they come to you looking the part. They appear to be preachers and teachers in the church. They’re nice people. They may even wear a collar and a robe and a stole. But they don’t teach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; they are wolves, even if they don’t know it.
A clear case in point is the practice of ordaining women to be pastors. This is something the Bible clearly rejects. And yet, many people have gotten so much smarter than God and have decided to follow the ways and the thinking of the world and accept and promote this practice. But just because they wear a collar and a robe doesn’t mean they’re sent from the Lord. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are, by definition, false prophets.
A pastor is there to stand in the stead of Christ, to speak the Groom’s words of forgiveness and life to His beloved bride, the Church. A woman cannot stand in Christ’s place in that way. By attempting to do so she denies the nature of God and perverts the male/female, groom/bride relationship into a female/female relationship. It is no coincidence that in all the church bodies that ordain women, there is also a condoning and a sanctioning of homosexual relationships. Of course, that rejection of God’s Word is also done in the name of love.
Let me ask this: What is the truly loving thing to do? Is it loving to let people take the broad way of the world that leads to destruction, or does love mean patiently and compassionately and consistently calling people back to the narrow, difficult way that leads to life in Christ? Which is the more caring outcome: temporary happiness and unity in this world, or eternal joy and reconciliation with God in the world to come? The way of Christ is the way of real love.
Jesus says that you will know false prophets by their fruit. So, what is “their fruit?” Well, it is not the sort of life that they live or whether or not they’re good and holy people; Jesus just said that they come in sheep’s clothing. They will appear to be godly. Likewise, their “fruit” cannot refer to how successful they are either, since this world often crowns false teachers with great success and prosperity.
No, dear friends, false prophets are not recognized only by their works but especially by their doctrine and teaching. The way you know if a prophet is from the Lord is whether or not he speaks the words of the Lord according to the truth. I John 4 says, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” We are to test the spirits; and the way that you do that is by assessing what they teach. John says, “Whoever does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God” (II John 9). Whoever teaches contrary to the truth of Christ’s Word is a wolf. “By their fruits you will know them.”
So, if you want to know whether a teacher is true or false, just ask yourself: Does he direct me to the shifting sands of my own decisions, my own commitments and my own promise keeping, or does he direct me to the solid rock of Christ’s commitment to me and His sure baptismal promise which I have received? Does he direct me to my own good works as a way of gaining eternal life or saving me from purgatory, or does he direct me to the all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ on the cross?
Does he only speak of things in spiritual terms, or does he emphasize the concrete realities of the faith, that Christ took on our flesh and blood, that He was raised from the dead in the body, that He comes to us now in His true body and blood for our forgiveness in the Sacrament, that we will be raised in the body on the Last Day? Does he treat the Bible merely as a list of principles for living, or does he treat it as the holy words of God that lead us to Christ who is our very life?
Or you could go at it in this way: Is the teaching of this man in keeping with the faith of the Scriptures confessed in the creeds? Is it consistent with what I have learned of sin and of Christ and of faith in the Small Catechism? Does it square with the preaching of the Word of God that I hear in my church? If not, then beware of it and flee from it, or you will be killed by it.
Flee instead to Christ; take refuge in Him; give attention to His Word. Follow that narrow way which is Jesus Himself, who said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” Go to that narrow gate which is the cross. For though the cross involves death to sin and self, it is also the entrance to light and life. It is the only gate that leads to the resurrection.
There on the cross Jesus conquered the lies of the devil and the death which sin brings. There on the cross your Jesus died for all your sins. His “It is finished!” makes it certain that everything that needed to be done for your forgiveness has been done by Him, for you, in your place. Believing and trusting in Him by God-given faith, you are completely forgiven. In and through Christ you are raised to new life in Him.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, truly the cross is that good tree in the Gospel that bears good fruit. That cross, that tree bore the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus for your salvation. Here today you are given to partake of those fruits in the holy Supper. Jesus is your true Prophet and the fulfillment of all prophecy. By His fruits you know Him.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
