Again, good to see you all. I
want us to turn for the message this morning to the New Testament
Gospel of Matthew and chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. This, you know, is part of the
portion of God's Word known as the Sermon on the Mount, beginning
in chapter 5 with the Beatitudes and going all the way through
chapter 7, three chapters. And here in chapter 7, we're
going to be looking for a few minutes at verses 13 and 14. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13. 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
there at. Because straight is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that
find it. Enter ye in at the straight gate. The word straight here, it means
restricted or constricted, narrow tight, confined, strict, rigid,
difficult, distressing, straight. And of course, the gate, entering
in at the straight gate, is Christ Himself. Elsewhere, you know,
in the Gospel of John, He called Himself the door. Here he is
the gate to enter into the kingdom of God, to ever enter the presence
of God, to enter heaven or to enter really and be a part of
the church, his family, his people. So with these two verses in mind,
we turn our thoughts this way this morning. There is a place
down in South Carolina over in Pickens County or maybe you're
on in Oconee County. I don't remember since I was
a kid. But anyhow, it's after you get off the mountains and
on to the flat country where there's a huge field. Of course,
there's lots of these down there, but this particular place is
a huge field, maybe 40, 50 acres, that they farm every summer. And the unique thing about this
specific field, there's a river coming off of these mountains
over Transylvania, Jackson, somewhere over there, counties. River,
when it gets down there, it goes almost in a circle all the way
around this field that they farm. And there's one place with just
a little dirt road, probably as wide as the length of this
building, the opening is. And right in the middle of that's
a little dirt road where you drive into the field. That's
where they take their tractors and trucks and all the equipment
in to farm that field. But driving into the field, there's
a little trail on either side of the road. People pull off
there in their cars and trucks. And you can see on one side out
the trail, you can see the river right there going ahead of you
and starting around the field. Well, on your left side, just
a few feet in the bushes, the river's coming back this way. So in just a few steps in either
direction, you can be to the river. But people park there
on these hot days in the summertime. There'll be a bunch of cars. And they take their inner tubes
and flotation devices, and they go over here and get in the river. And they do that number. And
I remember them saying it takes about an hour to go around it. And then they get out, walk right
back up to their vehicle, and if they want to go again, they
just go over here and start all over. And I hadn't thought of
that. in years. But, uh, I thought
about this, that this week, uh, what it amounts to is maximum
pleasure and enjoyment with a minimum of effort. Have to walk very
little, work very little, and just enjoy it a lot. And there's a whole lot of people
who want their lives to be that way. A maximum of pleasure and enjoyment
and do as I please with a minimum of effort. If it's free and fun, count me
in. But if it costs anything, and
requires any effort, especially any commitment, then count me
out. That's sad that it's that way,
but that's how it is. And few people understand, and
of course in our day and time, few people even care, that the
true Christian life is not a playground. It's a battleground. And it's not a matter of you
trying to impress and convince people that you are something
more than you are. It's about you being what you
are before God and in your heart. And Christ says here, broad is
the way that leadeth to destruction. He's not talking about honky
tonks. and Hollywood and getting drunk
and all that, no. He's talking about, as he does
all through the gospels, he's talking about the monstrosity
of religion that people call Christianity and call church,
involving everything under the sun except the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to say, straight
or narrow is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth to life,
and few there be that find it. I trust in my heart that everyone
in this small assembly this morning is sincerely interested in finding
and walking this narrow way that leads to life. And the gate is Christ Himself.
It comes by trusting in, relying on, believing in, not just with
a mental consent, but by submitting to, with a firm commitment to,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It comes with a commitment of
following Him at any cost, to find salvation in Him alone when
all else fails. And all else will fail, by the
way. Christ said in another place,
through much tribulation you must enter into the kingdom of
God. Not so much tribulation without People don't really care what
you do in our part of the world. That's changing fast. But all
the trouble is right in here. Much tribulation. It's not so
easy to enter in at this straight gate, this tight, constricted,
narrow gate. It's not an easy thing. And I'm
not talking this morning about salvation by works and faith. I'm talking about a faith that
works. That's the difference. Not faith
and works, but faith that works. God-given faith works. Somebody said, well, so-and-so
don't really have a heart for the Lord, but they're a Christian.
Is that so? I don't think so. Well, I know
so-and-so does this, does that. They don't care anything about
the church. They don't care anything about God's people or God's Word. But
I believe they're a Christian. Well, where on earth did you
get that idea? Faith, God-given faith works. And it works right in here. You
say, well, what's so difficult about this entering into this
straight gate? Well, there's more to it than
And I quote, accepting Jesus. A lot more to it than that, as
men talk about. The four things Christ said.
And I was just scanning through this sermon on the mount. He
said, love your enemies. How much fun is that? How easy is that? And he tells us that God rejects
hypocrisy. of any form or in any measure. How difficult is it for you to
be totally genuine all the time? And he said, seek ye first the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Put that ahead of anything else
in life. Is that so easy? And then we add this, enter in
at the straight gate, the narrow way, not the broad way. Enter in the hard way, not the
easy way. The supernatural way, not the
natural way. Christ said that it's easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man. You think about Rockefeller or
Vanderbilt. No. Than for a rich man. That is rich in ideas. Rich in self-righteousness. Rich in man-made religion. It's easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for 99% of this religious world to enter
into the kingdom of God. That's what he's saying. All right. Most people I know
go to church. I mean, I don't have a lot to
do with people that don't. I talk to some sometimes, but
most people I know go to church, but they don't worship God. Talk
to them just a minute and you'll find that out. Listen to them. Most people I know have a Bible.
But they don't believe it. Listen to them just a minute
and you'll find that out. Most people I know that go to church
and have a Bible profess to know the Lord. But he's for sale. For the right
price. They'll part with him. That's
where we're at. Now the Bible has many examples
of people when the crisis hour came, men and women who put their
lives on the line rather than deny the Lord. And in God's providence,
many of them left this world in that way, but they weren't
the losers in that. They were winners in that. All
of us are leaving this world somehow. And then there are many
others like Peter, who failed initially and denied the Lord,
but later were given grace to repent and strength to start
over. So this is the things we're talking
about this morning. So I just want to hurriedly ask
three questions and try to answer them for a few minutes. Number
one, what is success? in this life. We look at someone
whose life seems perfect in every way. And we say, boy, they're blessed,
and they are. Or you might say, boy, they're
lucky. They don't seem to have any problems. A life of ease. Is that the answer? Is that success? Well, look at the Lord Jesus
as he walked this earth. He started out and quickly gained
a great following. But in the end, he died alone. And the sun even refused to shine
when he was on the cross. Was he successful? Was he a winner
or a loser? In the eyes of this world, he
was not successful. But his success was in doing
the will of his Father. He said over and over, I came
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. Whose will consumes your life
and mine? This business of I'll do as I
please is not really as nice as it sounds. Again, he said, John 8, 29, I
do always those things that please my Father. John 4, 34, I believe it is,
my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me. And even in Gethsemane's garden,
Knowing what the approaching hours meant, he said to the father,
not my will, but thine be done. So his success was in the power
to say no to Satan and yes to God. Not once did Satan succeed
in getting Christ to disobey the father. He tempted him. We talked about this in the lesson
this morning. Tempted him with bread when he was hungry. Tempted
him with power over the nations, all the kingdoms of the world.
He did not succeed. This was success in its perfection
to say yes to God all the time. and say no to Satan every time. But what did this world think
of him? Nothing. So don't be deceived
this morning in thinking that success depends on what this
world thinks of you. Not at all. Not at all. But in
the privacy of your own soul, which is where you live by the
way, all this outward stuff Plain religion is polluted with hypocrisy
and pretense. But in the privacy and secrecy
of your own soul, right where you live, every time God gives
you grace to say yes to him, that's success. And every time
he gives you grace to say no to the devil, that's success. Second question, what is the
evidence that I personally might be striving, at least in
a measure, to honor God and to find this narrow way? Remember, we're talking about
a battlefield, a battleground, not a playground. Well, if there's
no fight, You're probably on the playground. You're having a good time. The
world, the flesh and the devil are all swinging together, laughing,
running, jumping rope, having a good time on the playground. I really hope your life is not
trouble free. I really hope there is a tug
of war going on in your soul all the time between heaven and
hell. This is the evidence. That's
the evidence of life. Spurgeon used to say, Satan never
kicks a dead horse. What does that mean? Well, I
think it means that Satan concentrates on those with life, those struggling
to pull a load, those struggling to honor God. I know people, I guess you do too,
who will tell you in no uncertain terms that they have no need
for God and no interest in God. They have perfect health. They
have a perfect job. They have perfect children. They
have a perfect life. Their entire life seems like
a playground. I know religious people like
this. They switch churches every couple of years, wherever the
excitement is. They switch preachers every year
to keep from getting too bored. Everything's got to be fun. Feed
my flesh or count me out. That's the playground. But most
people I know with a heart to truly honor God have more problems
than we care to talk about. Life is no picnic. It's not a
playground. It's a battleground. Now that
don't mean that everybody with problems is following the Lord. But it does mean everybody following
the Lord has problems. Satan never kicks a dead horse. But he'd tell you, he'd tell
you, because your family is so messed up, you're a bunch of
reprobates and all of you are going to hell. He'd tell you! Because you're
sick sometimes, God is sick of you and He's giving you what
you deserve. The devil would tell you, because
you struggle financially, you're not right with God. If you were,
everything you touch would turn to gold. People who listen to that, So many people miss kindergarten
where the very first lesson is that Satan is a liar. That's
the very first lesson. And many have grown up in churches and religiously,
in a sense, and even some of God's children
have skipped kindergarten. and still have trouble believing
that Satan is a liar. He is the father of lies. He has mastered the art of lying
and deceiving. He never kicks a dead horse. The broad way is downstream. It's the easy way. It's the playground.
But the narrow way is upstream. It's not easy. It's a battleground. A dead fish can float downstream.
It takes a live one to go against the current. So that's the evidence. And the
third thing, what hope do I really have? In the midst of all this
turmoil and trouble and trial and heartache and sorrow in this
world, what hope do I really have of everlasting life? Well, Satan would have us hope
in our accomplishments and then turn around and make us despair
because of the lack of our accomplishments. He laid the burden on us as most
religion does today. If you qualify, if you perform
well, you can go to heaven. Well, you don't qualify. and
you don't perform all that well. You see, this business of salvation,
everlasting life, you've got to look outside of yourself for
your hope. You won't find nothing in here.
You've got to look outside of yourself. You remember what the
first commandment was back over in Exodus 20? Thou shalt have
no other gods before me. And Satan will help you make
a God out of anything. Anything you are, anything you
do. But the Lord said no other gods. Spoke with a fellow a while back.
He's a big tree farmer, a man I've known for years, very wealthy.
And also very religious. He does a lot of things because
he's got the money to do it. A lot of good things for people. He was telling me about this
field where he has maples and oaks and then this other field
over here a few miles where he's got dogwoods and the other and
the other and a field with hollies. And I've been to several of them
and bought trees from him. But I sensed boastfulness when
he said this. He said, I've got fields you
haven't seen. I've got fields you don't even know about. And I said, no you don't. I said,
I know exactly how many you've got. Exactly how many acres you've
got. Total. Very surprised, he said
to me, he said, tell me. And I did this. Zero. All those fields were here when
we got here. They'll all be here when we're
gone. And he'd already said to me that
he wants to leave his children as much as he can. And I told
him, I said, even if those fields were worth millions, and they
are, the greatest thing you could leave your children is the memory
of a dad that had a heart for God. That's the greatest thing
you could do for those children. And if you gave it all to God
and didn't give it to them, they'd remember that, I promise you. Hoping in self. Hoping in what
I am. Hoping in what I've done. No.
No. What hope do we have? It's not
in us. It's not what we are. It's not
what we have. It's not what we do. Look at
the word way here in this text. Repeat it. Broad is the way that
leadeth to destruction. It's an easy way. It's broad.
Man, it's a four lane and you're only in a Volkswagen. There's
plenty of room. Broad is the way. that leadeth
to destruction. But narrow is the way which leadeth
unto life. What is that way? Well, it's
not a what, it's a who. Christ said in John 14, 6, I
am the way. Come unto me. He that hath the
Son hath life. The book of Proverbs 14 and 12
said, There is a way that seemeth right unto man. And oh, don't
we know that today. But the end thereof are the ways
of death. But Christ said, I am the way
to the Father. No man cometh to the Father but
by Me. It's not, I know the way. And
it's not, I'll help you find the way. That's where we miss
it. What He said was, I am the way. The way is not about Him. The
way is Him. The way is not to know about
Him. The way is to know Him. Whether you have a million dollars
this morning or whether you don't have a dime, Christ is the way. Whether you leave here this morning
to go back to your million dollar home, or if there's anybody here
homeless, whether you leave here to go back and crawl into a cardboard
box in a dark alley, Christ is the way. Either way, Christ is
the way. He can't be bought, but he must
be sought. May God help us all this morning
to seek Him who is the way and to seek Him every hour of every
day. Enter ye into the straight gate,
for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. That's where the multitude will
be. Many there be. which go in there at. Many, many,
many. Straight is the gate, narrow
is the way which leadeth unto life, and few, don't miss that
few, many, few, few there be that find it. You say, well,
I don't want to be different. I pity your soul. You better
want to be different than this sin-cursed world. You better
want God. You need him. I need him. Bless
his holy name. Let's stand together.