Does it matter what Christians practice in their attempts to follow Christ and go to heaven?

1

• Does it matter what Christians practice in their
  attempts to follow Christ and go to heaven?

2

• Jesus said,
• Enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate
  and broad is the way that leads to destruction,
  and there are many who go in by it. Because
  narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way
  which leads to life, and there are few who find
  it. (Matt. 713-14)
• Of the two ways mentioned by Jesus, which one
  leads to life?
• What does Jesus say of the number of those who
  find it?
• What does find it imply?

Again, Jesus said, Enter by the narrow gate for
wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads
to destruction, and there are many who go in by
it. Because narrow is the gate, and difficult is
the way which leads to life, and there are few
who find it. (Matt. 713-14) To what does the
broad way lead? Does it matter, then, which
gate we enter or which way we travel? The
question is not Are we too narrow? The
question is Are we narrow enough?
3
Jesus further said, Beware of false prophets,
who come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves. (Matt. 715) Why
should we beware of false prophets? How does
Jesus depict false prophets? What is implied,
concerning the safety of the sheep, by this
depiction of false prophets? Should we be any
less wary of those who do not claim to be
prophets, but nevertheless mistakenly claim to be
teaching the truth of God? Jesus said, My sheep
hear My voice...and they follow Me. (John 1028)
4
You cannot identify false prophets by the way
that they look because they can and do disguise
themselves as sheep. And no wonder! For Satan
himself transforms himself into an angel of
light. Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also transform themselves into
ministers of righteousness, whose end will be
according to their works. (2 Cor. 1114-15) How,
then, can we identify false prophets? Jesus
gave us a key by replacing the figure of wolves
with the figure of good trees and bad trees.
He does this because no distinction can be made
between good and bad wolves.
5
He said, You will know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from
thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good
fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good
tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree
bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
(Matt. 716-20) But what is the fruit of a false
prophet? The fruit of a tree is that which you
get from the tree. Therefore, the fruit of a
prophet is that which you get from the prophet.
6
From a true prophet you get the truth of
God. From a false prophet you get that which
claims to be but is not the truth of God. The
fruit of a prophet whether true or false is the
teaching of that prophet. Would you go to a
thornbush to pick grapes, or to a thistle to pick
figs? Should you go to a false prophet get the
truth of God? What will happen to every tree
that does not bring forth good fruit? Every
such treeis cut down and thrown into the fire.
7
Jesus also said, Not everyone who says to Me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
(Matt. 721) We must conclude, therefore, that
some who say to Him, Lord, Lord, are not doing
the will of His Father. Some say they are doing
His will but their practice belies their
claim. If they are not doing His will they must
be on the broad way rather than the narrow
way.
8
JUDGMENT DAY
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out
demons in Your name, and done many wonders in
Your name? And then I will declare to them, I
never knew you depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness! (Matt. 722-23) Its not just a
matter of calling Him Lord. It is a matter of
practicing what is lawful! Perhaps these thought
they were practicing what is lawful but in
actuality they were not!
9
But why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not
do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me,
and hears My sayings and does them, I will show
you whom he is like He is like a man building a
house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on
the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream
beat vehemently against that house, and could not
shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he
who heard and did nothing is like a man who built
a house on the earth without a foundation,
against which the stream beat vehemently and
immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house
was great. (Luke 646-49 Matt. 724-27)
10
What did the two men in Jesus illustration have
in common? Each was building a religious house,
just as each one was either on the narrow way
or the broad way. One was building on the rock
of Gods word the other was building on the sand
of human error. The former was on the narrow
way while the latter was on the broad
way. Remember, the narrow way leads to life
and the broad way leads to destruction.
11
DOES IT MATTER?
Did Jesus speak as though it does not matter what
Christians believe and/or practice in religion?
Did Jesus speak as though it does not matter
which gate one enters or which way one
travels? Dont let false prophets lead you, via
the wide gate and the broad way, to
destruction.