Bible Talk with sister Deb: Narrow Gate, True Faith

We open Matthew 7:21–23 with a sober warning: saying “Lord” is not the same as living under His lordship. We press into the narrow gate, the danger of nominal faith, and the hope of a real relationship that Jesus recognizes.

• broadcast details and ways to listen
• the meaning of Matthew 7:21–23
• words versus obedience and heart surrender
• many on the broad way, few on the narrow way
• the trap of nominal Christianity and self-righteousness
• how false gospels create comfort without conversion
• practical marks of being known by Jesus
• urgent call to repentance, prayer, and community support
• closing prayer and blessing

If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at OsbrinDeborahK@gmail.com
If you need prayer, call me. My phone number is 606-909-0256

Chapters

• 0:32 Show Intro And Broadcast Details
• 1:26 Opening Scripture: Matthew 7 Explained
• 3:15 Words Versus A Life Of Obedience
• 6:20 Many Versus Few And The Narrow Way
• 9:50 “Nominal Christian” And Self-Deception
• 13:05 False Gospels And Ear-Tickling Messages
• 16:10 Does Jesus Know You
• 19:10 The White House Analogy Of Recognition
• 21:20 Self-Examination And The Will Of The Father

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:32

Hey, you're listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deba Osborne. Bible Talk will be airing on WTUK 105.1 FM every Sunday at 4 p.m. If you missed the show, you can listen to it on the 421 Podcast. Stream it on Apple or Spotify. You go to the website at H O R 421 Show.buzzsprout.com. I'd like to give thanks to all the listeners and supporters. And always keep us in prayers as we spread the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at Osbrin Deborah K at gmail.com. That's O S B O R N E D E B R A K at Gmail.com. And if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash H O R 421. Or you go through the website at H O R 421 Show.buzzprout.com. Now I give you your host, Sister D.

SPEAKER_01: 1:26

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Seems like it's been the longest time since I've did this. And I thank the Lord for being back here in the studio today to uh spread the gospel. And so uh I I hope I hope everybody understands exactly what I'm gonna go over here. And it's it's it's it's easy to understand. It it's in Matthew 7, uh, verses 21, 22, and 23. And I'm gonna read these and then I'll talk about it. Um Matthew seven, twenty-one, twenty two, and twenty-three, and the Bible says, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter to 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 have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. And I will and then I will perfect them I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Wow. Y'all that's some of the scariest verses in the Bible. He said the only ones that's gonna get into the kingdom of heaven is the ones that do the will of his father in heaven. And it's it's a sad fact that a whole lot of people, people that call Jesus Lord, is not gonna get into heaven. And when Jesus spoke these words, uh, you know, people could actually see him and walk over to him and address him as Lord. Now we today, we cannot see him, yet we call him Lord through prayer and in prayer. And so see, that lets me know that there is gonna be praying people not get into heaven. You see, friends, the kingdom of heaven is not for those people who just identify and address Jesus as Lord with their words, but those who acknowledge him as Lord with their lives, those who worship him, you know, with all of their heart and with all of their soul. And of course, you know, you see, Jesus said in he said, and many will say in that day, have we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not cast out demons in thy name? Have we done wonderful works? So see it, people, it won't matter what kind of supernatural ministry you got going on that you've done in his name. It's not gonna be a basis for you entering his kingdom. You know, many people who've claimed to do these things are gonna be denied. Matthew 72. Um, how many how many people that will stand before Jesus and be turned away for much less? You know what I'm saying? They're gonna ask, you know, Lord, didn't I go to church? Didn't I teach Sunday school? Lord, didn't I lead worship? Didn't I pray for the sick? Didn't I feed the poor? Didn't I talk to the lost? You see, friends, the thing about it is is no amount of religious activity will gain you entry into the kingdom of heaven. You know, and usually we hear that we need to know Jesus to get into heaven, right? Now everybody knows, should know Jesus. There there might be some maybe third world countries in the farthest reaches of the earth that's never heard of him. Uh, but everybody should have at one point in time or another have heard of Jesus Christ. But see the thing about it is, does he know you? Matthew 7 23 3 says, And in that and then I will profess it, profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. See, after people after people claim to have done all these mighty works in his name, he's gonna say, I never knew you. You know, we know God's invitation is universal. It's universal for everybody to come in and and and you know and live the life. But see, salvation's not guaranteed. And if we look closer, we find that those who didn't enter the kingdom is gonna be far more than those invited in. If you look in verse 22, it says, Many, many will say to me. Now if you go on back up a little bit in in that chapter, verses thirteen and fourteen, verses thirteen and fourteen, thirteen says, Enter ye in at the straight gate, enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and he said, Many there be which go therein. And in fourteen he says, Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, he said, Few there be that find it. See, there's a big difference between many and few. You know what I'm saying? And people, that's a scary thought. Because this other this path, this this path that only few is gonna find is gonna require faith, commitment, obedience, self-sacrifice. It's gonna require a lot to find this this gate. And that's a scary thought. Because my friends, Jesus will say to people that day, I never knew you. And see, we know God's merciful and he's gracious, and he doesn't want anyone to perish. Hell wasn't made for any of us, it was made for the devil and his angels. But on that day, his mercy is gonna be no more. He's not gonna say, Okay, well, I'm gonna give y'all another chance to honor me as Lord. I'm gonna give you another chance to talk to me and let's straighten this out. I'm gonna give you a chance to do this over. He is not gonna say that, people. He is going to say, Depart from me. And you know, this scripture alone is a frightening warning that tells us on that day, that day of judgment, you know, who many people are gonna call who consider themselves Christians, they're gonna end up and be shocked and terrified that day when Jesus doesn't claim them as his own. You know why? Because they've not found that narrow way. They've not found that narrow way that leads to eternal life. Instead, they've they've stayed on that broad way. And friends, today there's only one way. Somebody needs to realize this, that there is only one way to enter through that narrow gate. There's only one way we have to believe and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to admit that we're sinners, acknowledge that Christ paid for our sins, turn away from our sins, and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. And friends, when we humble ourselves and come to God, he'll wash away our sins. He forgives us and he saves us. He gives us eternal life. Because you know, you see, friends, that day, Christ is going to be the great judge. And he knows the condition of your heart. He no one else knows your heart. We can all go to church and sit beside of each other and and you know, you can we can fool our brothers and our sisters. But Christ knows our true heart. And he will be the one to judge that day. Because simply saying, Jesus is Lord, does not make you a Christian. It doesn't. You know, there are loads of loads of people in this world today that claim to be a Christian and don't even give a second thought to Christ or His ways. And I I was reading around some stuff the other day, and this is what I come across, and I hope you understand this. I heard of a word called, or a phrase, it was called a nominal Christian. I don't know if you've heard of that or not. Look it up. So the word nominal means in name only. Is what I found. And if something is said to be nominal, it's said to exist in name only. So a nominal person, a nominal Christian would be a person who's really not a real Christian, but is only one in name only. They go to church on Sundays and they go to church on Wednesdays, and they sit and they do the hooping and the hollering and the speaking in tongues and the praying and blah, blah, blah. And then they get out during the week and they live their life the way. So they're only a Christian in name only. They're nominal. But I'm telling you what, friends, believe me, Christ will not be deceived on that day because He's gonna He knows. You may have done a whole lot of good things for Christ, uh, but you've lived like a wretch when people wasn't looking. You may have done a lot of good things in his name, but that day he's gonna say, I never knew you. We can't be nominal Christians, people. There's no such thing as in name only in Christ. And if we look at closer at those who's gonna stand before Jesus Christ in Matthew 7.22, these people didn't didn't live up to his will. He says that they have to enter, you know, uh, the people that's just gonna be there is the ones that does the will of the Father. And these people that stand before him judgment is gonna expect entry. Their argument's gonna be, well, you know, I deserve to go to heaven because I've done these good things in Jesus' name. And the scary thing is, is we all have these friends, or we may even know people who claim to be Christians, who claim to know Jesus, yet they live like the world most of the time. They claim to read their Bible, they claim to pray, and they claim to go to church, and we even see them in church. But in reality, these people stay in Christ's name every time by saying that they're one of his. Then they go out and they behave poorly. I know some people like that. And it's a sad thing. So people ask, you can walk down the street today, and if you ask people, does Jesus know you? And I just wonder what people would say. Oh, I'm sure they're gonna holler, yeah. But friends, can you begin to even contemplate the horror that people are gonna feel in that day when they hear them words, depart from me, I never knew you. There will be people who have lived their whole lives thinking that they were serving the Lord and doing things in his name, only to find out in the end that they he never knew 'em. And one of the worst thoughts to me right now is that there could be people listening to this right now that these words will apply to. And people I'm telling you, I take this warning serious. And I want to examine myself to make sure Jesus isn't talking about me when he's talking about this. And the thing about it is what you need to do is really strongly suggest is that you study yourself too. Because you see, sin is deceitful itself. But self-righteousness is the most deceptive sin there is. Because it gives you the illusion that you're doing things, uh, that you're doing what's right, that the things you're doing is right and and true before God, and you really aren't. You see? There's no more uh there's there's more than just entering the kingdom of heaven with just what's professed on your lips. Matthew 15 and 8 says, These people draw it nigh unto me with their mouth and honor me honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. People, you have to do the will of the Father. Jesus Christ must know you. It's not all about just knowing him. And you know, I I I I can I can if I can under maybe get you to understand a little more, okay, let's say, and and it's as I'm just using Trump just for this. If I go to the Washington, D.C. and I stand in front of the White House and I knock on the gate and I holler, hey, I need to come in, I need to see the president, I know him. I know Donald Trump and I want to talk to him. Well, they're probably gonna look at me like I'm nuts. Or I probably will stand there long enough and I'll end up, if I stand there long enough, I'll probably end up in jail. But now if he walks out on the courthouse slam and says, sees me standing, oh yeah, well, bring Deb on up here. Yeah, I know her, bring her on up here, and I'll be allowed in. That is exactly how it is. Do you get what I'm trying to say? If Jesus Christ don't know you, you can say you know him all you want to, but if he don't know you, you're not getting in. And it's not the issue is not whether you know Jesus. It's where does he know you? And there's many people in the day, today, right now and in the past, that's professed to be Christians and they used to, they use that name of Jesus in their works, and uh, but Christ has no idea who they even are. And how is that possible? How can so many people be deceived into believing that that they're saved, but they're really not. They're not they're not doing the will of the Father. Most of that I'm gonna say is because of taught of being taught a false gospel. You know, most people today preachers aren't even preaching seeing hell or judgment because those aren't the popular things to preach on. You know what I'm saying? They aren't preaching that you have to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and that Jesus must know you. They're not telling people that. Because society today has gotten so used to motivational speakers that they just make us feel good and they tickle our ears, they'd say what we want to hear, and they should they sugarcoat all these messages and not thinking about you know what these messages are keeping us on that broad road to hell, people. My friends, I'm telling you today, right now, I'm telling you, without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, religious words, good works, attending church, acts of service, all the prayers, even all the prayers that you could come up with will not have any eternal value without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And the question is, today, does Jesus know you? Are you living for Jesus? Uh if not, uh it it's not those people who call Jesus Lord or that do the good things or the works that matters. What matters is those people who do the will of the Father. And do is are you doing things in Jesus' name and and really not even knowing him? Are you are you saying I'm I'm in doing this stuff in Jesus' name and you're really your heart is far from it? You know what will Jesus say to you when you meet him at that throne of judgment on that day? Is he gonna say, Come on in, well done, faithful servant, or is he gonna say, Depart from me, I never knew you. Friends in Matthew 7, 13 and 14, he instructs us to enter through that narrow gate. He tells us there's two paths in life. One has the wide gate and the broad way and leads to destruction, and it's taken by the majority of people. Don't be one of those majority of people. The other path is a small, narrow gate and a narrow way, and this path leads to eternal life, and only a few are going to find it. I know I say this before, but you need to let this sink in, people. These are the words from Jesus on his Sermon on the Mount, his most famous speech ever, I believe. I'm telling you today, people, it would be a terrible situation to be in the shoes of someone who got rejected by the Lord. You know, if you say you know Jesus, it doesn't automatically mean that Jesus knows you. It doesn't mean that. You know, you can say I know him all you want to. I can say I know the president, or I know uh the king and queen of England. I can say that all I want to. But you need if Jesus Christ doesn't know you, then there's an issue. Brothers and sisters, today I'm telling you that if you call Jesus Christ Lord and you don't do what he says, then you need to examine your relationship with them. And if you think Jesus doesn't know you, like these scriptures describe right here, then my friend, you need to go to God in prayer right now and ask him to save you. Ask him to be your Lord and Savior and get on the right track and make sure he knows you. I'm telling you, friends, today, today, it's not about whether you know Jesus or not, it's about whether he knows you. Because he has already said it in his word, and that day I will say, Depart from me. Depart from me. And friends, I'm telling you, today, uh, if you need to pray, if you need to pray and you want someone to pray with you, you know what? Go to your pastor or a brother or a sister in Christ and ask for prayer. Ask these people to get down and pray with you and and sit there and pray with you until you get to know Jesus Christ and He knows you. Don't don't be lost. Don't get to that throne of judgment and don't hear him say, Depart from me. And I and I I'm gonna tell you this if you don't have anyone that that will pray with you, you know what? Call me. Call me. My phone number is 606-909-0256. Call me. I'll pray with you, and I'll pray for you. But you need to get yourself straightened out. If this describes you of what he said right here in in in Matthew 7, then you need to get yourself straightened out with the Lord to where you don't hear him say, Depart from me. Friends today, you need to get yourself straightened out with him because he is coming back again someday. And if he don't know you, then that's gonna be a a a sick, possible, sick day for you. It's not gonna end up a very good day, I'm telling you. And somebody needs to hear today that you need to stop playing. Don't be a nominal Christian. Get down on your knees somewhere and make sure you know Jesus Christ. And make sure, doubly sure, he knows you. And friends, I'm gonna close with this prayer. And I hope and pray that somebody heard this today, and I hope and pray this went to the people that needed to hear it. And I hope and pray that this has blessed someone as much as it's blessed me to bring it. Uh, I know this is probably not uh the one of the longest ones that I've done, but somebody needs to hear this today. Jesus needs to know you. It's not all about you knowing him, he needs to know you. So I'm gonna end this in prayer. Our Father God in heaven today, we ask you, Lord, to bless these people that is hearing these words. These are your words. This is your stern warning to let these people know that you have to know them. And the only way to get for them to know, for you to know them is for them to give their life to you and get on the straight and narrow and get get get everything straightened out with you, Lord. And I ask you to bless these people that they will understand and open up their hearts and minds and hear what's being said here. It needs to get into their hearts and their minds and let it sink in and stop playing. Stop being a nominal Christian. Let these people understand what they need to do before it's too late. Lord, I ask you to bless each and every one of them. Everybody that's going to be hearing this, everybody on Facebook is going to be seeing it, everybody wherever this is going to be downloaded. Whoever gets this and sees it, let them understand it and let it touch the hearts of the people that need to hear it and understand it. Lord, we thank you again for this time right now to be able to get your word out there because those are your words. And we thank you. We praise you and we honor you, and we ask these and all things in Jesus' holy sweet name today. Amen and amen. Thank you and God bless everybody.

SPEAKER_00: 21:52

I'm singing and praising with my mind.

SPEAKER_02: 21:58

Hey, you've been listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb. And if you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at OsbernDebricker K at gmail.com. Recorded at 421 Studio. For contact information, you can email at H O R 421 Ministries at gmail.com. Phone number is 239-849-1502.