The religious leaders of the day knew that all of the language that they had learned concerning religion, and all of the various extra things that they had even invented concerning religion, were going to have to be put aside if they would accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah, literally. They were men who knew the language of religion, but they were missing out on the true way of salvation. You see, for anyone who wants to enter into a relationship with God, they're going to find that as they endeavor to find the Lord, as they endeavor to come into a relationship with God, they're going to see a sign along the way that says, road narrows. And they're going to come from a broad road of religion to the narrow road of faith in Jesus Christ. But the scribes and Pharisees were more content with the broad road of religion than they were with a specific trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, these religious leaders had been so lost in their religious journey that Jesus had to give to them at the very conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount three specific lessons that they needed to know if they were ever going to know God, if they were ever going to grow in their relationship with God. And I want to share those three lessons with you this morning as we try to understand the way to know God and the way to grow in our Christian life with God. Notice first of all in verse number 13 today, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. As we look at the way to God, I want you to notice, first of all, the way to destruction is called the broad way. The way to destruction is the broad way. Here in the Word of God, it says, broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. In fact, the Bible says in verse number 13, And many there be which go in thereat. I want you to mark in your mind today that the majority of the people on this planet today are going the broad way to destruction. Now, that's not a good thing to say. But based upon the Word of God, the majority of people are headed for spiritual destruction even as we speak. In fact, the Bible is very clear when it says in Proverbs 14 and verse number 12, there is a way which seemeth right unto a man But the end thereof is the way of destruction. There is a way that seems right to a man. He convinces himself that the broad way is the right way. But the Bible says the end thereof is destruction. One of Satan's greatest tricks in recent years has been to come into people's minds and into their ears and simply say something like this. All roads lead to the same place. All roads lead to the same place. And it doesn't really matter what you believe, as long as you really believe it, one day you'll spend eternity with God in heaven. My friend, that philosophy is, according to the Word of God, a trick of the devil and a lie right out of the pit of hell. Because broad is the road that leadeth to destruction. And men are constantly trying to broaden the road. Constantly making statements that if we believe in God, or if we believe in being a good person, or if we just try to go along and perform some good deeds, somehow we will get to heaven. Constantly trying to broaden the way that a man can get to heaven. When the Bible specifically says, that it is a narrow way that leads unto heaven. But the Word of God declares in Psalm 100 in verse 3, Know that the Lord Himself is God, it is He who made us, and not we ourselves. I want you to mark in your mind, the road to destruction is the broad road. The broad, ecumenical, believe whatever you believe, but really believe the type of a road, will lead you to destruction and separation from God. But notice what the Bible says in verse 14. But straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. Few there be that find it. By the way, are you aware of the fact that God's people have always been in the remnants God's people have always been a remnant or a minority of people. And the Bible says, few there be that find it. And we see straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth on the line. We need to be careful for those today in religious circles who say, basically, God is the father of all of us. God is the father of everyone. We don't need a particular way of salvation. God is the father of everyone. Friend, repentance and faith in Jesus Christ may not be fashionable, it may not be culturally acceptable, but it is the only way of salvation for men and for women today. And so we see the way of eternal life is a narrow way. You need to mark something down in your mind. People who can go and worship Muhammad one day, people who can go to a Baptist church one day, a Catholic church one day, to the Buddhist the next day, and all the while claiming that they're on their way to heaven, are on the broad road to destruction. They are following after the lie of the devil that you can hold hands with the nation of Islam, Christ haters, and then with the AME and the Baptists and the Pentecostal and all the rest of it, the Bible says broad is the way of destruction and narrow is the way of eternal life. And Jesus Christ alone is the way of eternal life. Oh, we've got a lot of people on the broad road today. But the Bible is very clear in verse 14, straight is the gate, narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. My Bible still says in John chapter 14 in verse number 6, I am the way, the truth, and the lie. The Bible says there is no way unto the Father except through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, my friend. Jesus said in John chapter 10 in verse number 1, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. There is no way to enter into the sheepfold except by way of the door or the shepherd Jesus Christ. And when you come and repent of your sin and put faith in Jesus Christ, Then you can begin in a relationship with God. And then through that narrow way, you know that you have salvation according to the Word of God. In Acts chapter 4 and verse number 12, the Bible says, neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. There's no other name today whereby we must be saved except for the name of Jesus Christ. Hear me today. You can't be saved by the name Baptist. You can't be saved today by the name Catholic. You can't be saved today by the name Mohammed. You can't be saved today by the name Malcolm X. You can't be saved today by the name of Joseph Smith. You can't be saved today by the name of anyone other than Jesus Christ. There is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. Say, well, I think you're preaching an awfully narrow message this morning. It's about as narrow as that book right there. About as narrow as that book right there. My friend, you might as well take it to the bank. The Word of God is clear. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation for men and for women today. And while we have many preaching various different Gospels today, there is one Gospel that will save you from sin, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so we see Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount speaking to people who had much religion but had no salvation. And He gives to them the way to God. And the way to God is the narrow way. It is the way up Calvary's Hill. It is the way to Jesus Christ. And oh, today we need to once again in this country point people to Jesus instead of pointing them to this man or that man or this cultural revolution or that political party. We need to point men and women and boys and girls to that narrow road and to that narrow way of salvation which is Jesus Christ. Get off the broad road of destruction and come to the narrow road of salvation through Jesus Christ. So the way to God is a narrow road. Notice, secondly though, Jesus also instructs them concerning the Word of God. The Word of God. You see, in the day of Jesus, as in the day in which we live, there were many people who handled the Word of God in a very precarious and in a very deceitful way. And He says to them in verse 15, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." Just like there are two ways that people can try to get to God, the broad way or the narrow way, there are also two kinds of people today that are handling the Word of God. There are false prophets today, and there are those who are preaching the Word of God, line upon line, precept upon precept, giving it forth in the way that God has given it to us. Now, the false prophets are identified in verse number 15. And I might say to you, if you want to avoid the broad way, you must avoid the false prophets. If you're going to avoid the broad way of deception, then you must avoid the false prophets who are falsely proclaiming a gospel that is in error today. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse number 13 will give to you further insight about the false prophets that abound even today. 2 Corinthians 11, beginning in verse 13, the Bible says this, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. I want you to get this in your mind. There are men today who stand behind pulpits like this, who hold Bibles like this, in church buildings like this, who are deceitful workers according to the Word of God. And the Bible says, in verse 14, and no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. When it comes to the Word of God, there are those who handle the Word of God faithfully and correctly in the old-fashioned way, and there are those who are handling the Word of God deceitfully, the Bible says, as ravening wolves. Now, someone might say, how are we going to know the difference? How do you know the difference? There are two specific ways that I would share with you. First of all, you can test them by their fruit. test them by their fruit. The Bible says in verse number 17, Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. You need to look for the sound doctrine of the Word of God. You need to look for the holy life and the holy living that is lived by the preacher. Here we see in the Word of God that there are false prophets today whose fruit will give them away. And oh, today we need to understand concerning the Word of God, we have a responsibility to rightly divide the Word of God and to be around ministries that are doing the same. The other way that we can know a false prophet Not only do we, first of all, test by the fruit that we see in their lives and in their message, but also we can test it by our own study in the Word of God. As you study the Word of God and as you read the Word of God, God will give to you direction as to which way to go. Psalm 119 and verse 105 very simply says, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And the Word of God will be a light that will show you where to go and what to listen to and how to know what is true. And the Lord says at the Sermon on the Mount with those false teachers there, He says there are many false prophets who will point the people everywhere but to the Lord Jesus Christ. And false prophets today are pointing people to the baptistry, pointing people to the church, pointing people to the sacraments, pointing people to a prophet, pointing people to books other than the Bible. They are pointing them everywhere but to the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, you need to realize today that the theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ, and the Word of God will always bring us closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, the result of following a false teacher is this. You will go out into that broad road, and you will travel along that broad way until you enter into a time of destruction. Notice what it says in verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work in iniquity. Put it please in your mind this morning. There are going to be those on that broad road, that broad ecumenical road, that road that says believe what you want just as long as you believe it. That road that has all of her false prophets. That road with all of the false teachers going along that broad way. Not wanting to follow Jesus only. Wanting to believe all religions are the same and all are going to God. Following the false prophets as they teach. One day, those of you that are on that broad road, mark it down in your mind, not from this preacher, but from the words of Jesus Christ. One day, everyone will stand before the Lord. And one day, those of you on that broad road, you're going to stand before the Lord and you're going to say, but Lord, we were at a service where demons were cast out. And Lord, we've used your name. And Lord, we've been to rallies where we've been excited and we've had all kinds of emotional experiences. And Lord, we've been able to not only see demons cast out, but all kinds of wonderful works. And Lord, we've prophesied in your name. We've told other people about you. Lord, we were on the broad road of religion. We went to church and we knew all about denominations. And the Lord is going to look at those from the broad road and say, I never knew you. That's a sad thought. I'm talking about, look, He is going to look at Baptist people and say, I never knew you. And Baptist people are going to say, but Lord, I sang the old hymns and I had a Sunday school pen from here to there. I never knew you. And there are going to be some tongue talkers saying, but Lord, I spoke in the tongue, an unknown tongue. I never knew you. Lord, I went to the crusade. I never knew you. Why? Because broad is the road of destruction. There's one thing that counts in this life, my friend, and that is that you come to Jesus Christ and you confess that you're a sinner and accept him as your personal Savior. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. You can trust in sacraments and baptisms and churches, but until you call on the name of the Lord and him alone to save you, you have missed the whole point of this thing. The word of God, the word of God, there are false prophets. There is a true way to follow the Word of God, and when you follow the Word of God, it will lead you, my friend, to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone will take you to heaven someday. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, says, now, I want to give you some instruction regarding the way to God. Broad is the road to destruction. Narrow is the way of salvation. I want to give you some instruction regarding, secondly, the Word of God. There are those who will preach a false doctrine. They are ravening wolves. They are preaching a broad road. And he said, ultimately, they will lead you to a day of judgment when you will hear the words, I never knew you. We see the way to God. We see the word of God and that the true word of God will always bear fruit that is righteous. And then notice, thirdly, the will of God. Jesus now is going to show us the will of God for our lives. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them." Now, I want you to notice, first of all, the word, therefore. It is referencing back to verse 23, where the Bible says, Jesus will say, depart from me, I never knew you. So the Bible says, therefore, whoever doeth these, heareth these sayings, and doeth them, I will liken unto a wise man. Now, stay with me. A lot of you have heard a lot of preaching. You've been to a lot of classes. But God says, I don't want you just to hear the Gospel. I want you to respond to it. I want you to be a doer of the Word. Whoever hears the Word of God and then does what the Word of God is telling you to do. If the Bible says to trust in Jesus Christ, if the Bible says whoever calleth will be saved, if the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth and believe in thine heart on the Lord, thou shalt be saved, then God says, I want you to do that. I don't want you to just hear about being saved. I want you to trust in Jesus Christ. And the Bible says in verse 24, Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and underline the words, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. It is God's Word then that we hear His Word and respond to His Word. God's will is that I hear and respond. And we see two kinds of people in this passage now. First of all, we see the obedient builder. The obedient builder. He hears and he builds the Bible way. The Bible says in verse 25, And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. Someone who accepts Christ as Savior is founding his life upon the rock of Jesus Christ. Someone who hears the gospel and believes on the Lord is founding his life upon the immovable rock of Jesus Christ. He becomes the foundation of their life. God's will is not that you get out and prophesy or cast out devils or speak in tongues. God's will is that you would found your life on his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ who shed His blood on Calvary's tree. Jesus Christ who rose again on the third day. He is the rock of our salvation. And here we see the obedient builder will build his life on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that begins in a moment of faith in Jesus Christ. Notice, not only the obedient builder, though, but there's a disobedient builder as well. The Bible tells us about him in verse 26. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not. Now take your pen and underline that phrase. And doeth them not. Here we see a man who hears the gospel. Here we see a man who hears about the narrow way. But he says, I'm not going to go that way. I'm not going to go that narrow way. I'm going to stay on the broad road with my buddies. I'm going to stay here with my softball league buddies. I'm going to stay here with my buddies from work, man. I want to party once in a while. I want to party all the way to the road of destruction until the judgment day. And this is the man who hears, but he doesn't do what the Lord says. He shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." He hears. He might even know about the truth, but he never trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can know all about God and all about religion, But until you decide to put your life on Jesus Christ and accept Him as the foundation of your life, as your Savior, as the forgiver of your sins, you, my friend, have missed the whole point. Every one of us are going to face a judgment time. Every one of us will stand before the Lord. Every one of us will face a time of judgment. And if our life is affixed to Jesus Christ, then we will stand that judgment and we will spend eternity in heaven. But for those who heard the word but did not do it, you are building your life today on the broad road. It is a sandy road. And one day when the destruction comes, you'll find that your life will not stand. Hear me today. If someone tells you to believe on Jesus and do any other thing in order to be saved, then they're mixing it up with works. It is by faith in Christ alone that we are saved. After you're saved, it's wonderful to be baptized, to have a church family, and all these other things. But it is Jesus alone that will save you and save me from our sins.