I want to turn in our Bibles
for a few minutes to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 7. Matthew
chapter 7. Most of you have some knowledge
of the New Testament. The first four books You understand,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record the birth, life, death,
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Four accounts, we call
it. Four gospel accounts, it's called.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They record many of the same
things, but there'll be some happenings, incidents recorded
in one that's not in the other. But altogether, the Holy Spirit
is pleased to give us these four accounts, the record. And here in Matthew 7, for three
chapters now, Matthew 5 through 7, the Lord Jesus speaks uninterrupted
in one continuous discourse. It is commonly known as the Sermon
on the Mount. So if you hear anybody ask you,
where is the Sermon on the Mount? It's Matthew 5 through 7, these
chapters in their entirety. And a reading of these three chapters
with an open and honest heart will reveal and make clear to
all Adam's race the words of Paul, there is none good, no
not one. That we have all sinned and come
short of the glory of God. This sermon defines sin Not as just what we've done,
but as what we are. Sin is in the nature. We do what
we do because of what we are. You do something foolish and
say, well, that's not like me. It must be. We did it. You see? We do what we do because
of what we are. And the truth is we cannot make
ourselves anything else. So our hope is not in ourselves,
and you won't find that here. Our message is not that we ought
to try to accomplish and live up to, you were born too late,
you were born too late. Our hope is in what God has done
for us in Jesus Christ. In this sermon, the Lord Jesus
tells us what we all are and cannot change. And then he tells
us what we must do and cannot do. I'm reading just two verses,
verses 13 and 14 here in Matthew seven. 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, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. There are many statements in
Scripture which appear to be Arminian in their meaning. And
what I mean by that is that salvation is based on something you do,
a decision you make, rather than what God in Jesus Christ has
done. I realize what you can do, do,
do, do. That's the only kind of preaching
many have ever heard. And it produces a bondage, a
fear that you haven't done enough. And the truth is you haven't
and can't. But the truth in Christ sets
us free. That false picture says that
unless you do something, all that God the Father has done
is in vain. All that Christ has done is in
vain. And all that the Holy Spirit
has done is in vain. God has loved us in vain. Christ
has died for us and shed His blood in vain. And the Holy Spirit has wooed
and pleaded in vain unless you, in your so-called free will,
cooperate with Him. Now that's really blasphemy.
That's really blasphemy. The Scripture teaches us that
salvation is of the Lord. If you ever have a heart for
the Lord, it'll be because He gave it to you. Salvation is of the Lord. Not
this from the Lord. Everybody believes that. But
it's of the Lord. He purposed it in eternity. He
purchased his people on the cross. And he will perform it by the
work of the Holy Spirit in the individual heart. So now in these
two verses, Christ speaks of two gates, the straight gate,
meaning narrow, and the wide gate, meaning broad, two gates. He speaks of two ways. The straight
gate leads to a narrow way, a narrow path. The wide gate
leads to a broad way, a broad path. He speaks of two destinies. The narrow way leads into life
everlasting. And the broad way leadeth to
destruction. And then he speaks of two companies
or caravans, we could call it. Those on the broad way, he numbers
to be many, many. And those on the narrow way,
he numbers to be few, few. So there's much to consider in
these two seemingly simple verses. First, a gate gives entrance. It leads precisely to a path
or a way beyond the gate. But the gate gives entrance to
the way and then a destiny at the end of that. Secondly, the
gates here are only two, not three or four or five, just two. There's no middle gate. And the paths never run together,
they run separately. There's no walking one path and
arriving at another destiny. There's two gates, two paths,
two destinies. Thirdly, I'd point out there
is no invitation here. This is a command, enter ye in. It's a personal command, enter
ye in. The Lord here is not commanding
something you can do. I've heard people say, well,
the Lord wouldn't command us to do something we can't do.
Just about everything in this book he commands you can't do. He's not commanding something
you can do. He's commanding something which the Spirit of God creates
in our hearts to desire to do. Yet the Spirit of God himself
must do it. He is not saying, enter ye in,
you can do this. That's what religious politics
says. He is saying you must enter in, but you can't do it. You can't save yourself. You cannot, quote, get saved. or get yourself saved. God alone
saves. If He saves you, you'll praise
Him for it. Unlike the boasting religious
world today. I heard three men talking yesterday.
They never knew I was listening. One of them was going to a training
class to be a counselor had a large crusade that's coming up. And
one of the others asked him, said, what is it exactly that
you do? And the fellow answered and said,
well, you know, when they come down to the front, we talk to
them and tell them what to do. I wonder where the Spirit of God
fits into all of that. We talk to them and tell them
what to do. Jesus said you've got to enter
in, but you can't on your own. No man can come unto me except
the Father which sent me draw him. Now these two gates are
very different. The wide gate is easy. It comes natural. It involves no struggle. Anything
can pass through a wide enough gate. But there's some restriction
to the straight gate, the narrow gate. There's no room for bundlesome
and unnecessary and unprofitable baggage. It's
the straight gate. It's the narrow gate. Now, next,
notice with me, as is the gate, so is the way. The path or the
road, after you're through the gate, the narrow gate leads to
a narrow path. The wide gate leads to a wide
path, broad path, broad way. Those who pass through the straight
gate walk the narrow way. God's children live upright because
they are God's children. I didn't say we live sinless,
but upright. And the same Spirit, the Holy
Ghost, the Spirit of God, the same One who brought us through
the gate, carries us on the path. the narrow way. He'll see to
that. He'll see to that. The Holy Spirit
does not bring anyone through the narrow gate and then put
them on the broad way. Some people come to church every
Sunday, claiming to have passed through the narrow gate, but
are living on the broad way. Unashamed. and unmovable. If that's you, you're mistaken
about which gate you've passed through. There's a whole lot of people,
there's a whole lot of preachers, disguising the wide gate as the
narrow. And all they can talk about is
issues, things. Is this wrong? Is that wrong?
Is this wrong? Is that wrong? That's between you and the Lord.
It's not my business to tell you where to go and not go. What to do and not do. If you're God's child, the one
that lives in you is a lot bigger than I am. And when He talks to you, it
won't go in one ear and out the other. Like it does when I talk
to you. He gets it done. I heard one of the biggest named
preachers in America, interviewed by a secular newscaster, news
reporter. And he asked this preacher, what
do you say about this idea of hell? What do you say about this
and about that? And all that preacher could say
was, well, we just try to tell people about God's love. And
we try to encourage people. That's how and why he preaches
to thousands every week. Because he never disturbs anything
in here. The Spirit of God will. There'll be many go in that gate. It comes natural to go in the
wide gate. We were born at the wide gate. It's so easy and comfortable.
It's non-offensive. A preacher that's too worried
about being non-offensive is never going to say anything that's
going to do you much good. I don't deliberately offend anyone,
but honey, if this book offends you, that's a different matter.
That's not me. This is not my Bible. It's God's
Bible. And if it says it, it'll still
say it tomorrow. It won't change. It won't change. This straight gate, the narrow
gate, Luke's account says of this, Luke 13, he said, strive
to enter in. Struggle. And that word strive, other places
in the New Testament includes the meaning of fight. Fight the
good fight of faith, Paul told Timothy. It's that same word
translated strive. Same word is it. Strive. Struggle. And yet apart from the conviction
of God's Spirit, no one does strive or struggle. You'll just say, oh well, I'll
just hope for the best. Our real hope is not in hoping. Christ is our hope. Our hope is not in hoping we
make the grade we want. Our hope is in the blessed assurance
that Christ has made the grade. And apart from God-given faith,
You'll never see or believe that. Only a fool prays, God, I want
you to see my good side. But the spirit of God brings
sinners like you and I into the dust to confess, oh Lord, I don't
have a good side. I need to be represented in your
son." This narrow way Jesus speaks of, one writer said, can be likened
to a narrow path on the steep mountainside where the shepherd
walks leading his sheep. On one side a dense thicket,
on the other side a deep canyon. And to step off the path either
way, to step into the thicket, the briars, the sheep's wool
is caught, and he's easy prey for the wolves and the wild beasts.
To step off the path the other way and fall into the deep canyon
is certain death. It's certain destruction either
way. The path is narrow, but the gate is narrow. The path
is appropriate for all who pass through the gate. If you've passed through the
narrow gate, the narrow path will do. The shepherd will stay on the
path. And all who pass through this straight gate are given
a heart to follow the shepherd. who stays on the path. Now the
broad way does not require any discipline. It's wide enough to walk along,
sway, daydream, look away, stumble, stagger back and forth, have
plenty of room to let yourself go. It's the broad way, the narrow
way, requires straight walking, following closely the footprints
of the shepherd. Now one more word here I want
to look at in verse 14, the word find. Concerning the narrow gate,
the straight gate, few there be that find it. The broad road finds you. You don't have to look for it. Sin and wrong is not something
we have to work at finding. It just comes. You don't have to teach children
to do wrong. You don't have to teach them to lie. You don't have to find the broad
gate, but the straight gate has to be found. It's hard to find, and few there
be that find it. Why? Why? Why is it few? Why is it hard to find? It's
because salvation is so unlike this world we live in. Everything
you set out to obtain, you pay a price, a house, a car, a suit
of clothes. If you have the money and you're
able to buy it and you're willing to pay for it, boom, you pay
the price and get it. But in seeking salvation, it comes so natural to seek it
that same way. Set aside and ignore the price
that's already been paid and try to pay it yourself. Well, I'm hoping I've done enough
good to get in. Well, I'm hoping my good will
outweigh my bad. I'm going to try hard. I'm going
to quit enough bad things. I'm going to start enough good
things to win God's smile. You'll never
do it. He'll smile on you in His Son
or you'll perish in your sins. It's that simple. What do you have to offer God
that His Son didn't have? What could you do that He didn't
do for you? To enter the straight gate is
to have the Spirit of God open your eyes, open your heart, quicken you to life, spiritual
life, and bringing you to trust what Christ did and nothing else. It's a supernatural work. It's
a miracle when someone enters the straight gate. Here's how impossible it is for
us to do. In Matthew 19, Jesus spake of the deceitfulness and
the bondage of riches. And that's not a terrible thing
in itself. There are some very godly people,
very gracious people that are very wealthy. That's not the
issue. But he's talking about things that sidetrack, things
that hinder. He had talked about a rich young
ruler that went away sorrowful. Jesus said, for he had great
riches. And he went on to say there in
Matthew 19, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom to be saved. Why is it harder? Why is it easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? Because that
man thinks whatever the price is, I can pay it. I can afford it if I want to. But he's wrong. The price is
too high. He can't afford it. All the millions,
all the silver and all the gold cannot buy salvation for one
person. He can't buy his way in. He can't
work his way in. The camel cannot pass through
the eye of a needle. No matter how rich, and this
is not just money, this is religion. No matter how rich in self-righteousness. Oh, so-and-so hadn't missed a
Sunday in eight years. So what? I have. Some are rich in self-righteousness.
Some are so rich in religious works. Some are so rich in reputation. Oh, so-and-so, they're so faithful. I'm telling you right now, if
anybody makes it to heaven, surely they will. Well, nobody's going
to make it to heaven by our making. See? That camel's not going through
the eye of the needle. The straight gate, few there
be that find it. Who does find it? Who are the
few? It's those whom the Spirit of God quickens to life and gives
a heart that's willing to part with any reputation, any position,
any possessions, any pursuits in life just to know Him. You say, but that's works. No,
it's not works. You didn't create that desire.
It's God's work in you, in you. He says the same thing in the
Beatitudes back in chapter 5, verse 6. Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Not self-righteousness, but Christ's righteousness. It's
a thirst that no one can create for themselves. He has to do
it. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness. They're not blessed because they
hunger and thirst. They hunger and thirst because
they're blessed. It's the blessing of God for
you to have the heart to be here this morning. So the straight
gate leads to the narrow way which leads to life everlasting.
The wide gate leads to the broad way and leads to destruction.
You are on one or the other. There is no third gate. There
is no third way. There is no third destination. Somebody says, well, I'm going
to try to do better. Forget it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. If he changes your heart, he'll
change your life. Well, I'm better than so-and-so.
Forget it. They're not so great. People say, but the narrow way
is so hard. I conclude with this. Three blessings of the narrow
way. One, Jesus has walked the road many times. There are no surprises to him. And he walks with us. He walks
with me and he talks with me. And he promised to never leave
me day or night. And people say, oh, but it's
so hard to live right. Not if you are right. It's hard
to live wrong. Second, Everyone on the road
has the same heart you have. That's what the church is about.
That's what the fellowship of the saints is about. Everybody
on this path has the same sorrows, the same struggles, but we're all going in the same
direction, following the footprints of the shepherd. And when you
fall in front of me, it's not my business to walk on you so
I can get ahead. No, no, no. It's my business
to help you up and say, hey brother, hey sister, let's go on. Let's
go on. And then thirdly, the destiny
is sure. This narrow way does not end
with a dead end, but a living end. Forever, life everlasting
in our Lord's presence, where there's no suffering, no sorrow,
no sickness, and no death. We'll all be at home with Him
that loved us and gave Himself for us. We'll be at home with loved ones
who have preceded us and gone on before. We're on a journey.
We're on a journey. We've passed through the straight
gate. He's quickened us to life. He's changed our heart. He's
given us a new life, a new road to walk, following in His footsteps. And the destiny is sure, it's
at home with Him. It's a journey that the shepherd
leads the sheep. And He said, I've never lost
one. I won't lose a one. Bless his holy name.