So, I just want to hop into the
Word of God this morning and just quickly go to it. So, if
you've got your Bibles, I trust you do, turn with me to the Gospel
of Matthew. Matthew chapter 7. And I want
to share something with you this morning that is of utmost importance
to every one of you here. I pray that God will give you
ears to hear what we're going to talk about today, because
this morning, many of you definitely need for God to open your ears
and open your eyes to see, one, this passage and what God has
to say in it, and two, for you to see yourself as God sees you,
not for you to see yourself as you see yourself. but for you
to see yourself as God sees you, that would be a kind mercy of
the Lord today. And the reason why this passage
in Matthew 7, I'm going to begin in verse 13, is so important
is because some of you here today are very wonderful church-going
kids. and are very religious. You come
to the Bible studies. You are a part of what's going
on here at Grace. Others of you visiting today,
it says a lot about you that you would come to a study like
this and be a part of a group like this. But why this is so
important is that there are those among you here today who are
yet outside the kingdom of God. You're in the church, you're
in Bible study, maybe you're even in a Christian home, have
a Christian dad, have a Christian mom, but you're not yet in the
kingdom of heaven. And for some of you here today,
your toes are right up to the gate that leads into the kingdom
of heaven. And so for that reason, what
we're going to look at today is of extreme importance because
today could be the day for God to really open your eyes and
open your ears and for you to respond to the Lord and to take
that decisive step to cross the line, to enter through the narrow
gate that leads into the kingdom of heaven. And I can tell you
this without any fear of contradiction that this is the most important
decision that anyone will ever make in their life. Far more
important than where you're going to go to school, who you're going
to date, what you're going to major in one day when you go
to college, what you're going to wear. where you're going to
hang out, who your friends are, the single most important decision
that you will ever make in your life is what we're going to talk
about today. And if you make this decision
right, everything else in your life will fall in place. But
if you miss making this right decision, Nothing in your life
is really going to come together. Everything is going to be chaotic,
and in fact, you will live your life in opposition to God. And so, what a glorious thing,
what a great thing it is. The most important decision that
you will ever make in your life is to make that decision to commit
your life to Christ. And we have it represented here
for us in a picture, in a metaphor, in a way that we can so clearly
understand what it is to be a Christian. What it is to be a disciple of
the Lord Jesus Christ. What it is to be a follower of
Jesus Christ. So I want to begin just by reading
these verses. I want to begin in verse 13. And this is the word of the living
God. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the
way is broad that leads to destruction and many are those who enter
by it. For the gate is small and the
way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it. Beware the false prophets who
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.
Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles,
are they? Even so, every good tree, every
good tree bears good fruit, but The bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad
fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does
not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So
then you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says
to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. but he
who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say
to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name
and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many
miracles? And then I will declare to them,
I never knew you." Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, everyone who hears
these words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to
a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst against
that house. And yet it did not fall, for
it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears
these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like
a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and burst against that house,
and it fell, and great was its fall." I call this the most shocking
thing that Jesus ever said. In the ministry of our Lord,
He said many shocking things. Jesus had a way of stating the
truth in a way that had impact. And Jesus said things like, if
anyone shall come after me, he must deny himself and take up
a cross and follow after me. And Jesus said things like, he
who would come to me must hate his own father and mother and
brother and sister. Yes, even his own life or he
cannot come after me. Jesus said things like, if you're
to be my disciple, you must give up all your possessions and come
follow me. But I think of everything that
Jesus said that was shocking and stunning. This without question
is at the top of the list, what we're going to look at today.
And what Jesus said in these verses is very simply this. There are more people going to
hell than there are going to heaven. There are more people
who are going to hell than there are people who are going to heaven. But he said something even more
shocking than that. There are more religious people
who say, Lord, Lord, and who have the Word of God and who
are actively involved in serving the Lord. There are more religious
church-going people who are going to hell than there are that are
going to heaven. Just boil it down, bottom line,
that is exactly what Jesus is saying as He comes to the end
of the greatest sermon that He ever preached. It's known to
us as the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said there are more people
going to hell than there are going to heaven, and he calls
people to enter into his kingdom, people who are living in self-deception,
people who are thinking that they are going to heaven, when
in reality, they are on the broad path headed to destruction. This entire sermon is shocking,
quite frankly. It began in a shocking way. In
Matthew 5, verse 3, this sermon never has a sermon begun with
more of a jolt and more of an impact than this sermon. He turned
everything upside down. In Matthew 5, verse 3, Jesus
talked about those who enter into His kingdom, and He said,
blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. That was the total opposite of
what people thought in that day. They thought, blessed are those
who are rich in the things of this world. The favor of God
must be upon their lives. And Jesus said, no, it's the
total opposite. Blessed are they who are poor
in spirit. And then he said, blessed are
they who mourn. And that day they thought the
blessed people are the happy, are those who laugh and are marked
by frivolity. And Jesus said, oh, no, the blessed
one is the one who has wept over his or her sin. And blessed are
the meek or the gentle. And then verse six, blessed are
the they who hunger and thirst for righteousness. for they shall
be satisfied." And the whole rest of the sermon, Jesus just
turns everything on its ear. He said, unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not
enter into the kingdom of heaven unless you are more committed
to an outward form of religiosity than even the scribes and the
Pharisees from the inside out. In other words, to be perfect,
You will not enter the kingdom of heaven." And then he went
on to say in this message, you must be as perfect as God is
perfect if you're to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus set
the bar so high that no one can enter into the kingdom of heaven
in their own efforts. And he comes to the end of the
sermon and he says these words of hope, that there is a gate
that's been opened. There is a way into the kingdom
of heaven. There is a way in which those
who are on the outside may come into the inside and may enter
in, and Jesus talks about it here in these verses. And I want
you to know that these verses are extended to you here today,
that Jesus is calling out to everyone here today through these
verses, and Jesus is inviting everyone here who is on the outside
of His kingdom to enter into His kingdom today, to become
His follower, to become His disciple, to become a believer in Himself. I want to look at these verses
with you today in the time that we have. And if you're jotting
down an outline, the title of this message is, The Most Shocking
Thing That Jesus Ever Said. And I want to give you some hooks
to hang our thoughts on as we walk through this passage. And beginning in verse 13, I
want you to see the command, because as we come to the conclusion
of this message, he begins with a command. This is not a suggestion. This is not an option. This is
an imperative command that is addressed to everyone who hears
his voice. In verse 13, he says, enter by
the narrow gate. Jesus gives one single command
to become his disciple, to enter into his kingdom. There are not
three things that you have to do. There's not five things that
you have to do. There's only one thing that you
must do in order to enter the kingdom of God, and it is to
enter through the narrow gate. I'll never forget a couple years
ago, a man came to me who is like the richest man in lower
Alabama. And he wanted to marry the richest
woman in lower Alabama. The airport was named after her
husband. And so the two of them came to
me wanting me to marry them. And I said, well, I can only
marry two Christians. Sir, would you give me your testimony
how you have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?" And
the man said, I'd be glad to. There are five things that you
must do to be a Christian. Well, I knew we were in trouble.
at that point. Worse than that, I knew he was
in trouble with God. And he began to tell me how you
have to be baptized in order to be saved. And you have to
be baptized by one of their ministers in order to be saved. And began
to go through this laundry list and said, Sir, I cannot marry
you to this woman because before God, I can only marry two Christians. And you, sir, are not a Christian
and have not yet come through the narrow gate that leads to
life." You see, there is only one thing that you can do to
be a Christian, and that is to take this decisive step to enter
through the narrow gate. Now, this presupposes that every
one of us were born outside the kingdom. that every one of us,
when we entered into this world, we were born separated from God,
God being a holy God, and all of us being sinful human beings,
and an infinite chasm separates a holy God from sinful man, and
that we have all been born in sin and outside the kingdom of
heaven. You see, that's why we need to
be born again. That's why Jesus said, except you be born again,
you will not see the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus recognizes
that and He says, you must enter, enter what? Enter into His kingdom. Enter into the realm of salvation. Enter into the sphere of His
grace. You must enter by the narrow
gate. This gate is none other than
Jesus Christ himself. Jesus said in John 10, verse
7, I am the door of the sheep. And in John 10, verse 9, Jesus
said, I am the door. If anyone enters through me,
he will be saved. What you notice, he says, enter
through the narrow gate, not a narrow gate. There is only
one gate that enters into the kingdom of heaven. And it is
the Lord Jesus Christ himself who said, I am the way, the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father, but
through me. There is only one access that
leads into the kingdom of salvation. And it is to come through the
narrow gate of Jesus Christ himself. Peter said, there is salvation
in no other name. For there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Paul said,
there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. Jesus Christ
is the only gate that leads into the sphere of salvation. and
into the kingdom of God. And so he says, enter through
the narrow gate. To enter means that we must make
a decisive choice in our life. This is a gate, not a hallway. It's not a long process. It is a one step of faith where
you go from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. There
is a line that has been drawn and Christ is this narrow gate.
And it is when you step over from the kingdom of Satan and
into the kingdom of God with a decisive step of faith. where you repent of your sins
and you believe with all of your heart upon the Lord Jesus Christ. You surrender your life to Christ. You commit all that you are to
all that He is. It's not enough to admire the
gate. It's not enough to study the
gate. It's not enough to clap for others
who go through this gate. You yourself must respond to
this invitation, and you must commit your life to Christ and
enter through the narrow gate. Notice it's a narrow gate. The
fact that it's narrow means that you must enter repentantly, that
you must leave your baggage behind, that you must leave a lifestyle
of sin behind. You must part with a sinful lifestyle. You must leave your baggage behind
and enter through the narrow gate. There is only room for
you to strip down. and to come naked before God,
and to leave your sin behind. It means you must come individually.
You cannot come as a class. You may not pass through the
narrow gate with others. This is one-on-one, you and Jesus
Christ. You can't come as a confirmation
class, and you turn 12, or you turn age 13, and the church declares
that your whole 7th grade class is now in the kingdom of God. Oh, no. It is so narrow that
there is room for only you yourself to come to Christ. And you must
come intentionally. You see, it is narrow. He goes
on to say in verse 14, few that be that shall find it. You'll
have to search for this gate. You won't just stumble upon this
gate nor stumble through it. And you must come with humility,
for no one struts through this narrow gate." This is Jesus'
command, and it goes out to every one of us in this room this morning.
And for all who are on the outside of this gate, even if your toes
are right up to this gate, I want you to know that this gate is
open. This gate, you may pass through
it today, and Jesus Christ calls out to you, and this text commands
you to take this step of faith to enter into His kingdom. This is the only way to be saved.
This is the only way to enter into the kingdom of heaven. You were born on the outside.
You need to be born again in order to enter through this gate. Now, I want you to notice something
second. Not only the command, but I want you to notice second,
the caution. Because Jesus mercifully issues
a caution, and He tells us how easy it would be to fail to enter
through the narrow gate. And you could mistakenly enter
through the wrong gate if you were not careful." Notice he
goes on to say in verse 13, "...enter by the narrow gate. For the gate
is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and
many are those who enter by it." Jesus says that there are many
religious people Many church-going people, many who will say, Lord,
Lord. We see the many of verse 13 mentioned
later in verse 21 and in verse 22. Look at verse 22. Many will
say to me on that day, Lord, Lord. The same many in verse
13 is the same many in verse 22. In verse 13 is when they
get onto the broad path. In verse 22 is when they come
to the end of the broad path. So, many are on this broad path,
and Jesus issues this caution. And no doubt here today, we could
not have this many people together in a religious spiritual context,
and there not be yet some of you who are on this very broad
path. And notice how he begins in verse
13, he says, for the gate is wide. The fact that it's wide
means, first of all, that it's easily seen. It is easy to find
this gate. And once you find this gate,
it is so easy to access this gate. It is so easy to enter
in through this gate. You can go to virtually any church
and hear about this broad gate. You can go to any Christian bookstore
and read about and pick up a book that will tell you how to enter
this broad gate. You can turn on Christian television
and turn on Christian radio, and you can hear preachers mentioned
in verse 15 who will tell you how to enter through this broad
gate. You can go to college campuses
and hear about this broad gate. You can go to schools, even to
a Christian school, and hear about this broad gate. And this
broad gate, it is so wide, that it is easily entered into. You can pass through it with
a half commitment. You can enter it with empty words. You can enter it with an easy
prayer and say, Lord, Lord. You can enter it with shallow
faith. It is the broad gate of easy-believism. It is the broad gate of cheap
grace. It is the broad gate of religion
without repentance. It is the broad gate that is
so deceiving because over the broad gate, it does not say destruction. Over the broad gate, it actually
says heaven. The only problem is, it won't
take you there. Proverbs 14, 12 says, there is
a way which seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the end
of death. It is so appealing. It is so
inviting. It is so easy to go through this
broad gate. And it is a broad gate, notice,
that leads to a broad path. of the way here, broad way. It speaks of a lifestyle. It
speaks of the priorities and the pursuits and the passions
of a person's life. It speaks of the course of their
life. And it is so broad that what
it is telling us in the name of religion You can live however
you want to live. It's broad enough to accommodate
anyone's life who just flippantly says, I am a Christian. It is
so broad that you can read your Bible, but not have to follow
it. It is so broad that you can admire God's Word, but not have
to keep it. It is so broad, it is marked
by no spiritual maturity, no personal humility, no deep commitment,
no good fruit. It is so broad that you can profess
to be a Christian and profess Christ and live like the devil,
and live like the world, and it is so broad, it will accommodate,
you can be one person at church on Sunday, and someone else at
school on Monday morning. It's broad enough that you can
live two kinds of a life. That's how broad it is. And you
can say one thing with the religious crowd, but live another way on
Friday night or on Saturday night, and it is broad enough that it
will accommodate any kind of priorities that you want to have. And so he says the broad gate.
It leads to a broad road. And then third, it leads to destruction. This destruction is referred
to later in verse 19 as fire. It refers to hellfire. It refers
to eternal fire. It refers to that place of the
weeping and the gnashing of teeth. It refers to eternal destruction. And this is where all religious
people who say, Lord, Lord, but who have never been born again,
this is where the broad path will take them. And here is what
is so shocking at the end of verse 13. And many are those
who enter through it. Many, as opposed to few, in verse
14. The many here refer to, in reality,
most. Most religious people are lost
and are unconverted according to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
before I go any further, I wonder if it is possible that this could
be true of you. I wonder if it is possible that
instead of entering through the narrow gate that leads to life,
you have entered through a different gate that says heaven over it,
that says eternal life over it, Yet it was the wrong gate. It is the broad gate of easy
believism and cheap grace and a half-hearted commitment to
Christ that allows you to live however you want to live throughout
the week. Jesus says the broad gate leads
to destruction. Well, notice verse 14. Notice
verse 14, Jesus contrasts this with the narrow gate and the
narrow path. And he comes back to what he
began in verse 13 when he said, enter by the narrow gate. In
verse 14, he now elaborates on this. And this gate is the total
opposite. This path is the total opposite
of the broad. In verse 14, he says, for the
gate is small. Now, it is so small that the
crowd is going to miss it. It is so small that many peers
will mistake it. It is so small that if you're
to find it, you must seek for it with all of your heart. It
is so small that only a few will find it. This small gate is true
conversion in Jesus Christ. This small gate is Christ Himself,
and it is the new birth in Christ. And because it is so small, Jesus
said in Luke 13, 23, that you must strive to enter by the narrow
gate. No one will shuffle through the
narrow gate. No one will cruise through the
narrow gate. Jesus said you must strive to
enter by the narrow gate. Agonizimai, to agonize, to enter
in. It calls for soul searching.
It calls for deep repentance. It calls for forsaking a previous
lifestyle and priorities. It calls for the total commitment
of all that you are to Jesus Christ. For the gate is small,
and the way is narrow." You see, the small gate does not lead
to a broad path. In other words, you can't go
through the narrow gate and say, Lord, Lord, and then go down
the broad path and live however you want to. The narrow gate
only leads down a narrow path. And if you've been truly saved,
if you have come to the place of total surrender of your life
to the Lordship of Christ, it will lead down the narrow way. It's narrow in that it's carefully
defined. It is narrow in that it is restrictive
and confining. It is narrow in that God has
established the boundaries. And God has said in His Word,
Thou shalt live this way. Thou shalt not live that way. And God has put a new heart inside
the one who goes through the narrow gate that now desires
the things of God. And this leads down the narrow
way. This narrow way is the way of
self-denial. It is the way of cross-bearing.
It is the way of discipleship and spiritual warfare. It is
the way of obedience. It is the way of loving your
enemies. It is the way of hating sin. It is the way of persecution
and being the object of the opposition of this world. This is the narrow
way. and it leads alone to life. It matters not how others will
laugh at me for going down this narrow way. It matters not what
sin I have forsaken and what passing pleasures of the world
I have renounced. This way and this way alone leads
to life. This way alone brings satisfaction
and contentment to my heart. This way alone yields forgiveness
of sin. This way alone leads to heaven
and to eternal life." And he says, there are few who find
it. Do you see that at the end of
verse 14? There are few who find it. Jesus in Luke 12, 32 identified
His followers as the little In Matthew 22, 14, Jesus said, many
are called, but few are chosen. These few are those who have
peeled off of the world's flow, who have turned their backs to
the world and all its vain pleasures that it offers. These are those
who have said, I will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness
and trust that all these other things will be added unto me. This is the way of those who
will say, Christ is first, Christ is Lord, Christ is master, and
I must have Christ and follow Christ more than life itself. Jesus said, be cautious as you
would seek to enter through the narrow gate, because there is
another gate right beside it that is so deceptive It is a
broad gate of church without Christ, of religion without repentance. It is a way of easy following
of Jesus Christ. I must hasten. I want you to
notice third, the charlatans. In verse 15, the charlatans Because
there are many who will seek to draw you through the broad
gate that leads to destruction. They are standing there at the
broad gate trying to flag you on. There in verse 15, beware
of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing. They look like ministers. Many
of them are ministers. They're just not the true shepherds.
They are the false shepherds. They are the false teachers. They are the false prophets. They are in churches. They are
in pulpits. They are on the radio. They are
in books. They are on television. And they
are so prolific, that's why Jesus says, beware of them. Because
they preach a message of easy-believism. They bring a message that tickles
the ears of men. They bring a message that massages
egos. They bring a message that talks
about how you can fulfill your dreams. They bring a message
that talks about how you can be rich and wealthy and healthy
in this world if you'll just put faith in God. They bring
a false message. And they tell you all you have
to do is walk forward, raise a hand, sign a card, be baptized,
and you're in. They are the false prophets who
would point you down the broad path and make and make the Christian
life seem to be totally the opposite of what it is. It is a Christianity
without conflict. It is a Christianity without
opposition. It is a Christianity that seeks
to make friendship with the world. But God says, friendship with
the world is hostility towards God. He says, beware of the false
prophets who are flagging men and women onto the broad path. They come to you in sheep's clothing. They sound so pious. They sound
so religious. They talk about God. And they
preach. They read a passage of Scripture. And then they just launch off
and talk about the world's agenda. But inwardly, oh, it's not that
they are just sincerely wrong. Inwardly, they have the devil's
initials carved into their hearts. Inwardly, they are all about
building their own kingdom and expanding their own borders.
They are inwardly ravenous wolves who are looking for prey to devour
as they pontificate their message. You will know them by their fruits,"
Jesus said. Not by their cheap talk. You will know them by their fruits. Listen, they are such slick talkers,
they could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. They could charm the
Rattlers off a rattlesnake. They are simply looking for a
better product to pontificate, and they will tell you anything
that they think you want to hear. You will know them by their fruits.
This fruit speaks of their character and their converts. Their character
is one of wickedness and licentiousness, and their converts are the same. For a disciple, after he's been
fully trained, will be exactly like their teacher. Their message
brings no power to change lives. Their message brings no power
for there to be a break from sin. Their message carries not
the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so, those who attach
themselves to these false prophets continue to be entangled in their
sin and continue to be unregenerate, unconverted, unrepentant, under
the dominion of their own sin. He says in verse 17, so every
good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad
fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. I think we have the
point here. Whatever your root is, it will
be revealed in your fruit. You can look at the fruit and
determine what the root is. Every tree that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. That is the fire
of the final judgment. That is the fire of the last
day when God will sort it all out. So then you will know them
by their fruits. Look at verse 21. I want you
to see the counterfeits. Notice the counterfeits in verse
21. Jesus now talks about how easy
it is to be self-deceived regarding one's own salvation. How easy
it is to think that you are saved, to think that you are in the
kingdom of heaven, when in reality you are not saved. And so, beginning in verse 21,
he talks about the counterfeits. Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. And that means not
everyone who's talking about heaven is going there. How easy
it is to simply say the words, Lord, Lord, yet not know the
Lord, and yet not have made this decisive decision. These are
people with a false assurance of their salvation. You know
what's worse than a Christian struggling with the assurance
of his salvation? It is for an unbeliever to have
a false assurance, thinking that they are saved, when in reality
they are not. Not everyone who says to me,
Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. This person is self-deceived,
is self-duped into thinking that he or her is saved. But Jesus
puts the matter correct at the end of verse 21. but he who does
the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter in." The
true identifying mark of the believer is not simply saying,
Lord, Lord. It is a changed and transformed
life by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not merely
saying, Lord, Lord. but by entering through a narrow
gate that leads to a new life direction, where one now is in
submission to the Lordship of Christ, and this person's life
is now come under the dominion of the sovereign grace of Almighty
God. Now, Jesus is not teaching that
we must obey in order to be saved. What Jesus is teaching, though,
is if you have been saved, when you go through that narrow gate,
God takes out your heart of stone, God gives you a heart of flesh,
God puts His Holy Spirit within you. All of that happens the
moment that you pass through the narrow gate. And you now
have a new desire to obey the Word of God. Not because you
have to, but because you want to. And these are those who are
spoken of at the end of verse 21, who do the will of my Father
who is in heaven. Look at verse 21. Many will say
to me, this many is the same many of verse 13. The many who are on the broad
road, who are headed to destruction. The many who come to church week
after week after week. The many who give their money
to their church. The many who sit under a false
gospel. Or the many who hear the gospel,
but never act upon it in repentance and faith. Many will say to me
on that day, that day is the final day. that final day of
the great white throne judgment. Many will say to me on that day,
Lord, Lord. As if, Lord, you know me. Lord,
you remember me. Lord, you remember I served you. Lord, you remember I talked to
you in prayer. Lord, you remember me, don't
you? Lord, Lord. Did I not prophesy
in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your
name perform many miracles?" Listen, this person is so self-deceived
about their salvation, they are self-deceived also about all
the activities of their life. They only thought they were prophesying
in the Lord's name. They only thought they were casting
out demons in the Lord's name. They only thought that they were
performing miracles in the Lord's name. They thought they were
hearing voices from heaven. They thought they were passing
on prophecies to the church. They thought they were actually
laying on hands and demons were coming out. They thought they
were performing miracles and the whole thing was a charade. They lived a lie. They had so
convinced themselves they were saved, they were now convincing
themselves that their service and their ministry was having
some kind of effect upon the lives of others, but the whole
thing was nothing more than a sham. They were living a lie the entirety
of the time, and they never knew it. They were living a spiritual
shell game. Their own hearts had deceived
them. Jeremiah 17, verse 9, the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can
understand it? Who can understand it? How easy it is for your own heart
to lie to you about your relationship to God, when in reality you do
not know the Savior. Look at verse 23, the condemnation. But in the end, this entire charade
will be exposed by the Lord. Mass will be ripped off of church
hypocrites. They will be removed and their
nakedness revealed before God. Look at verse 23. Jesus now interrupts
this speech that they are giving to him. Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name? Lord, did we not do all this?
And then the Lord interrupts in verse 23. And then I will
declare to them, then in that last day, then from the great
white throne, then the great judge of heaven and earth will
speak. Then, when there is no higher
court of appeal, then when his verdict is final for all eternity,
then I will declare to them, I never knew you. It's not that I once knew you
when you were a teenager and you gave this appearance of following
me. No, I never knew you even from
the beginning, the entirety of your life in which you were involved
in these Bible studies and in this religiosity. I never knew
you from the beginning. You claimed to have a relationship
to me. You were using my name as if
prophesying in my name and casting out demons in my name. But no,
I never knew you. Oh, I knew about you. The very
hairs of your head are numbered. I know about you. Every day has
been partial doubt by me. Oh, I knew all about you. I have been keeping inscrutable
records and books of your life. But I never knew you. I never had a personal relationship
with you. You just had churchianity. You just had religion. You just
had a form of godliness. But I never knew you. And then what has to be the saddest
words in the entire Bible, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Lord, we were prophesying in
Your name. It's lawlessness. But we were casting out demons
in Your name. It's lawlessness. The worst form
of human badness is human goodness when it becomes a substitute
for the new birth. Isaiah 64, verse 6, all of your
righteous deeds are as filthy rags in my sight. You have tried
to cover up your life with all of these religious activities,
and Jesus says, is lawlessness. Depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness. And in that day, the Lord will
separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, The
wise virgins from the foolish virgins, the good fish caught
from the bad fish in the same net depart from me, ye who work
iniquity." I wonder if it's possible here today for you to be one
who has entered through the broad gate and are now traveling down
the broad path. headed for destruction. When
Jesus is calling to you today to enter through the narrow gate,
that you are still yet outside the kingdom of heaven, this gate
that is open wide to you today, as this moment you find yourself
closer to this open, narrow gate at any time in your life, As
the Lord, by His Spirit and by His Word, is making it abundantly
clear to you of your need to enter in through this gate. In
order to enter through the gate, you must turn away from the world. You must turn away from a life
of sin. You must see yourself as God
sees you. You must see yourself for who
you truly are. You must come to God and declare
personal bankruptcy to God. You must recognize that you are
poor in spirit. And you must weep and mourn with
tears of repentance, whether they are shed or whether they
are merely felt within one's soul, of how I have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God. You must humble yourself
in meekness and gentleness, and yield your life to God, and submit
yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And you must hunger and
thirst for a righteousness that is not your own. A righteousness
that you can never achieve through your own good works. A righteousness
that no matter how much you may attempt to do for God, will never
make an atonement for your sin. You must hunger and thirst for
a righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, through His death
upon the cross, Him who knew no sin, God made to be sin for
us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And to enter through this narrow
gate, one must come to the place of saying, I am poor in spirit.
I weep and mourn over my sin. I humble myself and come with
childlike faith, and I hunger and I thirst for a righteousness
that Jesus Christ can alone give to me. And to enter through the
broad gate is to be in denial that you are poor in spirit.
To enter through the broad gate is to not weep and mourn over
your sinfulness. To enter through the broad gate
is to not submit your life to the Lordship of Christ and be
willing to follow wherever He leads to pay whatever price that
He would require. To enter through the broad gate
is to not hunger and thirst for a righteousness that only Christ
can give. It is to follow Christ on your
own terms. It is to come to church one day
of the week, but to go with the flow of the world and its unrighteousness
the rest of the week. There is only one way into the
kingdom of heaven, and it is through the narrow gate who is
Jesus Christ alone. And today, this Christ, through
these verses, through these words, is calling you and is summoning
you to enter through the narrow gate that leads to life. He says, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the Father but
through Me. If you've entered in through
this narrow gate, there is a sense in which God brings assurance
to your own heart. For you see yourself walking
down a new path with new desires, with new fruit being produced
in your life. You are headed down the narrow
path, and it alone leads to life. Maybe today your toes are right
up to that narrow gate, and all you need to do is to take that
all-decisive step of faith. and to turn from the world, and
to turn to Christ, and to commit your entire life to Him, for
Him to be your Master, to be your Lord. If you will commit
your life to Him and come to Him on His terms, Him who comes
unto me, I will in no wise cast out. Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved." Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank
You that You have loved us so much, that You have provided
a way of entrance into Your kingdom. Lord, which one of us would not
want to be in Your kingdom? Why would we want to continue
to live in darkness and in sin and in depravity when we could
enter into a kingdom of light, a kingdom of holiness, a kingdom
of truth, a kingdom of forgiveness, a kingdom of peace, a kingdom
of eternal life? Father, thank You that You have
made one passage, one means of access into your kingdom, and
it is the narrow gate. Father, I pray for these young
students, especially for those who have not yet entered through
the narrow gate. Lord, I pray for them that they
would come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and that they
would see themselves for who they truly are And, Lord, today
that You would draw them by the power of Your Spirit through
this narrow gate that leads alone into life. Lord Jesus, how we
praise You this morning for the sufficiency of Your death, the
perfection, the finality of Your death for sinners. And I pray,
God, that today You would draw young people through this narrow
gate into Your kingdom that alone leads to life. Lord, for those
here today who are trying to play all ends into the middle,
to be at church and run with the world at the same time, Lord,
may you give them eyes to see and ears to hear this message
that the narrow gate alone leads down a narrow path. And if one
is on the broad path, it is the sure sign they have come through
the broad gate. O God, may many find the narrow
gate today. May they seek it and search for
it with all of their hearts, and may they find it. In Jesus'
name, amen.