Matthew 7:13-23 Warning Signs
So you are on your way to work, you see a sign on the side of the highway that reads, "Beware of falling rocks." What do you do? It seems like a stupid question, right? The obvious answer is that you proceed forward with caution. We recognize that the warning is there to help you get to your destination. This is the popular understanding of warning signs... except when it comes to the bible.In Matthew 7:13-23, Jesus issues 3 warning signs of his own. They are meant for those who are traveling further up and further into the kingdom of the heavens, but for some reason when people read these signs, rather than proceeding with thankful obedience, many become frozen, and turn back.
The first sign reads, "Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."This warning is meant to help us take the proper path, and begin aright. Remember, the destination is a life that is full of kingdom power. In order to get there, says Jesus, we must take the suffocatingly narrow gate, for starters, and we must tread the path that is hard.It is at this warning sign that people begin having second thoughts about whether they want to even embark on the journey. After all, the word Jesus uses to describe the way (compressed) is not a very welcoming word. It is what happens to grapes when they are pressed into wine. This is what one has to look forward to after squeezing through a narrow gate. Constant affliction lies ahead, but fine wine is the end.But the gate must be narrow. The narrowness of it causes though who would enter put forth the effort to push through, to make the decision to leave behind certain things to get what lies ahead. It also causes those who aren't serious about it to not journey. The rich young ruler is such a person. He quickly discovered that he wanted his money more than he wanted the eternal kind of life. Therefore instead of entering into joy he, "went away sad" (Luke 18:18-23).The narrow way is not easy, but that's why there is a warning. It is given to help you get there.The second warning sign reads, "Beware of false prophets." This is a warning meant to keep us from being deceived by others as we journey along the narrow way. In the history of Israel a false prophet is one who would come along saying, "Thus says the Lord." But I'd like to suggest to you that a prophet is more than that. A prophet is anyone who speaks on the good life. It is anyone who influences people to live a certain way. That is true whether they say, "Thus says the Lord" or not.So we can rightly say that preachers are prophets, but we can also say that Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and anyone else that teaches people to live in a certain way is, too, a prophet. For although they may not claim to do it on behalf of God, when anyone makes an authoritative claim on how one should live, they are making a statement about the Way. The warning that Jesus gives, therefore, is meant for those who are traveling along the way to discern who is true, and who is false.The way too make such a discernment is not by carefully analyzing the so-called prophet, but it is by analyzing them in light of Jesus Christ himself. In the same way Secret Service agents are able to identify a counterfeit bill, not by becoming familiar with the counterfeit, but by knowing the genuine article, we are too know Christ so intimately that we will notice that the fruit of a false prophet is not the kind that comes from the tree of life.So the second warning sign is meant to keep us from being deceived by others. The third and final sign reads, "Beware of self deception." Now, although I mentioned above that warning signs aren't meant to make us turn back, it is good to pause and consider how to proceed. This sign creates an instance where we might do just that."Not everyone," says Jesus, "who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my father."
Tim Keller tells a story about a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. He took it to his king and said, "My Lord, this is the greatest carrot I've ever grown or ever will grow. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you."The king was touched and discerned the man's heart, as the gardener turned to go the king said, "Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I own a plot of land right next to yours. I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all." The gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing.But there was a nobleman at the king's court who overheard all this. And he said, "If that’s what you get for a carrot—what if you gave the king something better?" So the next day the nobleman came before the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, "My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I have ever bred or ever will. Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you." But the king discerned his heart and said thank you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed. So the king said to him, "Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse."