"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.  Matthew 7:13-14

     We want to be among the few who find the gate that leads to life.  but that gate is narrow, and the way is hard.  Most will follow the path to destruction because it is wide and easy.  Not only is the path to destruction easy, attracting the many who just follow the path of least resistance, but it is also lined with attractive deceptions.  In the very next verse of Matthew, Jesus warns "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves". Matthew 7:15 

I would like to share with you where to find the narrow gate and how to stay on the right path.
     Your first thought should be to question whether this statement from me comes from a false prophet and whether the gate i show you is truly the narrow gate.  As we proceed, that is the question that you should keep in mind.  some advice i would give my students would be to read the questions or the assignment at the end of the chapter, so that while reading the text, you know for what information that you are looking.  
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The path to life is found by studying Matthew.  The Way is Jesus.  You find the narrow gate by following Jesus.
     So far I'm doing alright with not being a false prophet, because I said that Jesus is the Way and that we will learn by studying God's Word.  Your test of truth vs. false testimony should be: "Does it come from God's Word".  
     In our study of Matthew let's first take a look at the assignment at the end of the book.  Starting at verse 16 of chapter 28 and going to the end of the book of Matthew is a section titled "The Great Commission".  In verses 18-20 Jesus gives us our assignment.
 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
     Most businesses, schools, and churches have a mission statement.  Some people have a personal mission statement.  The core of any good mission statement for any entity should be just two words or short phrases, a verb and a noun.  The rest of the statement should answer how that verb noun is going to be accomplished.  For example: the TED company's mission statement is "Spread Ideas".  This gets right to the point of what their business is all about.  However, it doesn't tell us how they are going to accomplish this.  We know it is by promoting TED talks and speeches, but it's not stated in the mission statement.  In another example:  the mission statement for Starbucks is, "To inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time."  They chose to use two verbs instead of one which may water down the importance of each, but alright, they did give us an idea how they would accomplish their mission.  They will give individual attention to each customer and each cup of coffee they serve.  One neighborhood at a time though?  Don't they pretty much have all the neighborhoods at this point.  At any rate, it's difficult to find the perfect mission statement for any business or school, because they are written by humans.  But for our personal lives and the churches we attend, Jesus has provided us the perfect mission statement.  In its simplest two word verb noun form it is "Make disciples".  And He tells us how to accomplish it:  Go to all nations, baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them everything that you have been taught.  The last part entails a lot, Jesus had been with the disciples for about three and a half years and had been teaching them constantly.  But this is a co-mission statement.  Jesus informs us that He will be with us always.

When Jesus said, "make disciples" he was speaking to disciples.  Disciples that He had just made.  They were to follow the example that Jesus had set for them.  Because all authority on heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus, He can authorize the disciples He has made to make disciples of others.  By telling them to go to all nations, He is answering the question as to whether gentiles would also become disciples.  Most of the apostles went to make disciples among the nations that constituted the lost tribes of Israel, but at the least, Paul/Saul was recruited to take the message to the gentiles.  Most went to the nations that had at least known God at some point.  Jewish people that had once known God would have an expectation of the coming Messiah.  They would not need to be converted, but rather be informed.  The Messiah had come, had fulfilled the prophecies, had conquered death, and had sent out disciples who carried the presence of Jesus with them.  Jesus had not found His followers among the gentiles either.  The Jews of Galilee would have known the scriptures (Old Testament), known the prophecies, and would be expecting a Messiah to come along at some point (although it had been a long time and some doubted).  Paul's mission was unique in that the gentiles would have to be brought up to speed on 4,000 years of Jewish history as well as the events of the 1st century.  To this day, I think that most Christians are missing significant meaning from their study of the Bible because of translation and a lack of understanding of Jewish history, customs, and language.  Therefore, the first disciple that we must make is ourselves.  Even in the making of ourselves into a disciple, we have Jesus with us always, and we have his teachings.  If we acknowledge God first in our lives, study His Word, and share our thoughts...we are then disciples making disciples.  If God is first, then we are following Him.  If we study the Bible daily, then we are making ourselves a disciple.  When we share with others what we have learned, we are making disciples.  When we let others share with us, we are allowing them to be the disciple that they were made to be.  When we discuss and debate our thoughts we are making disciples of each other.

     Now that we know what our assignment will be, let's go back to the beginning of Matthew.  Chapter 1 takes place before Jesus was born and chapter 2 takes place after He was born.  More about his birth takes place in Luke.  Chapter 2 is about wise men, an evil king, a trip to Egypt, and a return to Nazareth.  Chapter 3 skips ahead 29 and a half  years.  John prepares the way for Jesus and baptizes Him.  In Chapter 4, Jesus makes a "retreat" in the wilderness and then begins His ministry.  We don't know what happened between the time that Jesus was born and the time John begins his mission.  And why at age 30?  It was Jewish custom to begin ministry at the age of 30.  John was 6 months older than Jesus.  So if John began his ministry on his 30th birthday, and Jesus began His ministry on His 30th birthday, then I believe John was born and began his ministry on the first of Tishri (the Jewish New Year of Repentance) and Jesus was born and began His ministry on the first of Nisan (the Jewish New Year of Renewal).  John's ministry began with a call to repentance 6 months before he baptized Jesus in the Jordan.  Jesus' ministry began with a gathering of fishermen followers at the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus must have been known somewhat by having grown up in Galilee for nearly 30 years, although he grew up in Nazareth and began His ministry in Capernaum a day's walk away.  John's mission was to pave the way for Jesus.  John had a large following, and at least some of the apostles and disciples of Jesus got their start there.  What would Jesus say to people to get them to follow Him?
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.  And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.  Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.  Matthew 4:18-22

     It didn't take much convincing to get the fishermen to drop everything and follow Jesus.  I believe that if you approach a non-believer or an agnostic, nothing you say will convince them of anything unless the Holy Spirit is present.  Jesus had just been filled with the Holy Spirit in Matthew 3:16
 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him

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Mission Statement

Mission is to (verb) (noun) by (how) 
​Matthew 28:16-20
     The last words of Jesus to the apostles and disciples before he ascended into heaven.  A mission for the rest of our time in this world:  Make disciples..  Make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them all that Jesus has taught us.  Jesus spoke these final words to those who were already disciples, those whom he had been teaching for the last 3 and a half years.  So our first  necessity is to: be a disciple.

 For how long do we stay on the path?  Your life is a continuous path, not a bucket.

Jesus' first public words

"Come with me and I will make you fishers of men"
​Come and be a disciple maker trainee

Mission is a co-mission.  Jesus will be with us even unto the end of the age.
​We walk in the light because we walk with Jesus, and He is the Light of the world.

The path of a disciple... All that He has taught us

Go to church, be part of a group, study the Bible,  Know your core belief, which is non-negotiable. Discuss topics that are discussable (site vs. sight).  Have fun with that which is trivial (accept the back-story).  Entertain the notion of fiction.  Be interdenominational.
Stay the course of being a disciple and making disciples. 

Whatever you do... is it training to be a disciple or is is it making disciples.  Even work secular school, raising children etc.