Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm going to read a very familiar
passage of scripture from Matthew chapter 7, and this is the conclusion
to what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. In verse 13 of
Matthew chapter 7, after giving this great message, he says,
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 that go in
thereat. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life. and few there be that
find it. Now, this is the Lord's conclusion
to the Sermon on the Mount. He said some things after that,
but they were amplifications of what he is saying. He talked
about two foundations and two types of people, but it all comes
from this, enter ye in at the straight gate. Now, in these two verses, we
read of two gates. We read of two ways, we read
of two crowds, and we read of two destinations. Now, two gates, the wide gate,
the narrow gate. Two roads, the wide road and
the narrow road. Two crowds, the many and the
few, the majority and the minority, and two destinations, destruction
or life, eternal life. And what he's talking about is
heaven and hell. two very real places. Now, I love the way the Lord
begins by saying, enter in at the straight gate. He doesn't
say, make a decision. You have these two ways you could
go, make a decision. This is not about making a decision.
There's only one thing given to do. Enter ye in at the straight
gate. That is the Lord's message. Not
choose between the two. It's a command to me. It's a
command to you. Enter in at the straight gate. Enter in. What all does that
imply? It means do not wait. It means
do not try to make yourself better first. It means don't try to
make yourself worthy. It means don't wait till you
become better. It means don't wait until you
can stop committing some certain sin, enter in right now. That's the command. This is Christ's
command. Enter in the straight gate. I love Revelation 22, verse 17. The Spirit and the bride say,
come. That's the message of the Spirit.
That's the message of the church to all they preach to. Come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Come right now. Don't wait. Don't
delay. Don't wait until you get better. Don't wait for some kind of experience. Don't wait for some kind of feeling.
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Enter ye in at the
straight gate. Now, I think this is very interesting.
There are four instructions with regard to entering the straight
gate in the kingdom of heaven that we find in the Bible. Number
one, the Lord said, except your righteousness exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven. And then we read where the Lord
said in John chapter three, except a man be born of water and spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. He cannot enter this
straight gate. And the Lord said in Matthew
chapter seven in this same passage, not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that
doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven. And the Lord
said in Matthew chapter 18 verse 3, except you be converted and
become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Now those who enter in this gate
have righteousness. a righteousness that exceeds
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, they have the
righteousness of Jesus Christ, the perfect obedience of Jesus
Christ. And that is why they are enabled
to enter in. These people are people who have
been born of water and the Spirit. Now that water doesn't mean water
baptism. the washing of water by the Word.
They've heard the Word of God and been converted, been birthed
by God, and they enter in. They're the only ones who enter
in. To enter in, you will have been born again, or you'll never
enter in. And then these are the people
who've actually done the will of God. Now, somebody says, well,
what's it mean to do the will of God? Well, that crowd the
Lord had described, that not everyone that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, believe they've done
the will of God. They said, Lord, have we not
preached in your name? In your name, have we not cast
out demons? And in your name, have we not
done many wonderful works? We've done your will. Then shall
I say unto them, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I
never knew you. You see, to do the will of God
is to believe the gospel. These people had never believed
the gospel. And to enter the kingdom of God,
you're going to have to become like a little child, humble yourself. Humble yourself. Take the lowest
place. Believe what God has said. Now, I am so thankful that this
comes in the form of a command. Enter ye in at the straight gate. This is not an invitation. This
is not good advice. This is a command. When the Lord
said, come unto me, All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. That's known as the great invitation,
and I suppose it sounds like that in a way, but it is a command. Come to me. All ye that labor,
and are heavy laden, laboring under the burden of sin, heavy
laden by the burden of sin, and I will give you rest. That is his command. Enter in at the straight, constricted,
narrow gate. Then he says, for wide is the
gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction. And many
there be that go in thereat. This is the majority's way. This is the popular way, this
wide gate. It's wide because so many go
through this wide gate. The atheist and the theist walk
through hand in hand. The moral and the immoral walk
through this gate together. It's a wide gate. The Calvinist
and the Arminian walk through this gate. The reformed and the
charismatic walk through this wide gate that leads to destruction. The Buddhist and the Baptist
walk through this gate. The Protestant and the Catholic
walk through this gate. The left-wing liberal Democrat
and the right-wing conservative Republican walk hand-in-hand
through this wide gate. The religious and the irreligious
walk through this gate. The partiers and the teetotalers
walk through this gate. All religions walk through this
gate because this is the wide gate. Plenty of room. You can
walk through this gate from so many different beliefs. This
is the majority. Wide is the gate. that leads
to destruction. This is the majority. Many there
be that go in there. Can so many people be wrong? Yes. These are the Lord's words. Wide is the gate and broad is
the way that leads to destruction. And all who enter this wide gate
and Broadway, this wide road, they have this destination, destruction,
hell. What a horrible thing to think
about. And let me say this, the fear of hell never brought anybody
into heaven. You know, when I was a little
boy, I trembled at the thought of going to hell. I'd lay in
bed at night and think about it and tremble about it and be
scared of it. But fear of hell never brings
anybody to repentance. It never brings anybody to Christ. But that doesn't take away from
the reality of this place. The Lord says, many there be
that go in there at. Now, question. What is it that
prevented this majority from entering in at the straight gate
and walking along the narrow way? What is it that prevented
them from doing this? The answer may surprise you.
Their personal righteousness. That made them too big to enter
in. They couldn't fit through. That road was too narrow because
they were trying to hold on to their righteousness and they
couldn't stay on that road. It is their personal righteousness
that kept them from entering into that straight gate and walking
that narrow way. Now, I've loved the parable of
the Pharisee and the publican that the Lord gives us. He said,
he gave a parable to certain which trusted themselves, that
they were righteous and despised others. Two men went into the
temple to pray. This is the wide way and this
is the narrow way. Now the Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, Lord, I thank thee. He started thanking the
Lord for how good he was, how his life was changed, and how
he did this and did not do that. He gave God the credit, I thank
thee that I'm not as other men are. He was on the Broadway that
leads to destruction. And then the publican stood afar
off and prayed, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Now that man was so sinful that
he didn't have anything but Christ. That's all he had. He had nothing
else to recommend him. And the Lord said concerning
that man, I say unto you, That man went down to his house justified. Now notice he didn't say forgiven,
he didn't say shown mercy, but he went down to his house justified. with a perfect standing before
God, having never sinned. But he said, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. Yes, he did. And that's what
he believed himself to be. But you see Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. And that's exactly what he did.
When he said it is finished, every sinner he died for was
saved and justified before God. And that poor publican, going
through the narrow way, went down to his house justified rather
than the other. Now it's not your sin that will
keep you from Christ. It's your righteousness. No one
was ever refused entrance because they were too sinful. The door
is open wide for every sinner. The only thing that will keep
you from looking to Christ only is your righteousness. And the destination of the many
is destruction. May God deliver me from entering
into this broad, this wide gate and walking this broad road that's
so comfortable and it's with the majority. but it ends in
destruction. Now, let's leave the wide gate
and look upon the straight gate. The word straight in most other
translations is narrow and small. This gate that our Lord tells
us to enter in, this is a command. He doesn't say, make your choice.
He says, enter in at the straight, the narrow gate. This narrow
gate is so narrow that if you have anything other than Christ
alone, you cannot get through. Now, what do I mean by having
Christ alone? Or what does the Bible mean by
Christ alone? It means all you have is Christ
and you don't have anything else. You can't plead your works. You
can't plead your experience. You can't plead your changed
life. You can't talk about what you started doing or what you
stopped doing. All you have is Jesus Christ. You see Colossians
3.11 says Christ is all. If you have anything else, He's
not all to you. Christ Jesus is all. He's all
in salvation. And the only ones who can get
through this narrow gate are the people who only have Christ. They can't plead anything else. If all you have is Christ, is
that enough? Listen to that question. If all
you have is Christ, is that enough? It is if He is all you have. If He's all you have, you have
all. If you have anything else, in
reality, you have nothing and no way to get through this straight
gate. My hope is built on nothing less. than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock
I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. What can wash away
my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing. but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious
is that flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. The only way you can enter into
this straight gate is if He is all you have. Christ alone. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing
else. Christ alone, you can enter in
this straight gate. Only those who have nothing but
Him These are the ones who have a righteousness that exceeds
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees because it's Christ's
righteousness. These are the ones who have been born of water
and the Spirit. They've been born from above. These are the
ones who received the kingdom of God as a little child. These
are the ones who really do His will. Those ones who enter in
by Christ only, if you have anything other than Christ alone, you
cannot enter in to the straight gate. You're too big to fit in.
You're a part, not of the few, but of the many that go in that
broad gate. Now he says, straight is the
gate and narrow is the way. that leadeth to life, in few
there be that findeth." Now, not only is the gate small, the
way is narrow. Now, what does that mean? You
know, somebody says, I'm walking the straight and narrow. I'm
very exact in my life. I'm very careful about my life.
I dot every I and cross every T. I'm very conscientious to
do the right thing, to not do the wrong thing. I walk the straight
and narrow. Now, I'm all for walking the
straight and narrow. That's good. The lives of every
one of us are exemplary in every sense, but that has nothing to
do with what the Lord is saying when he talks about this narrow
way that the believer is to walk. Now, somebody says, why do you
say that? Because the Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way. This narrow way is Christ himself. I am the way, the truth and the
life. No man cometh to the father,
but by me. Now, the only way I come to the
father is by him. Now, what does that mean? If
I'm a believer, that means I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. That's what
Paul was talking about when he said, oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. When God comes looking for me,
there's only one way I want Him to see me, is in Christ, so that
when He sees me, all He sees is His Son. Every believer is
in Christ. The Lord said, I am the way. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me. So when Christ comes to the Father,
I come to the Father and every other believer comes to the Father. This is the narrow way. Christ said, I am the way. And somebody says, Could it be that so many, so
few are right? Because he said, few there be
that find it. I am as straight as the gate,
narrow as the way that leads to life, and few there be that
find it. Now, if you look in the scriptures,
I know that when it's all said and done, there'll be a multitude
that no man can number. But at any given time, God's
people are always a remnant, a small number. What about the
ark? All the world was flooded and
only eight souls were saved. What about Sodom and Gomorrah
when Abraham said, if there's 10 righteous people in that city,
that great city, will you spare it? And God said, I'll spare
it if there's 10, but there were not that many. When the children
of Israel were in the wilderness of the ones that were 20 years
of age and older when they left, only two of those people came
into the promised land. God's people have always been
described as few. Few there be that find it. Now, generally, when we think
of this narrow way, and we think, well, is that so narrow that
it's excluding people? No, it's not excluding anybody
but those who refuse to come through the straight way. This
is not excluding people. I tell you, the way is open for
anybody. This is not saying, stay away.
It's saying, come in. Enter ye in at the straight gate.
But you think of this way, this is the way of righteousness. This is the way of peace. This
is the way of grace. This is God's way, not man's
way. This is the way of truth. Oh,
enter ye in the narrow gate and walk the straight way. I love what Peter called it,
the right way. All other ways are wrong ways. The way of righteousness. Any
other way is a way of unrighteousness. The way of peace, and that's
talking about the peace of justification. Let me tell you why I have peace
before God. Because Jesus Christ is my peace. That's why I have
peace before God. I don't have peace before God
because I feel like I've done a good job, or I'm a preacher,
or anything like that. I have peace before God because
I know that God is perfectly satisfied with what Christ did.
I'm in Him. Everything God requires of me,
He looks to His Son for. Peace. Peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. The way of truth, all else is
a lie. It's called the way they call
heresy, and the Lord tells us that this is the way that leads
to life. Now, spiritual life, eternal
life is what this is talking about. It's not talking about
the longevity of your life. It's talking about life before
God. It's talking about having Christ
as your life before God. It's talking about having that
life that comes from God, that God is pleased with. It's being
found in Christ. It's having a new nature. It's
the life of Christ in you. That's the way that leads to
life, this narrow way. Miss what the Lord is saying.
Now, broad is the gate, wide is the way that leads to destruction. Many there be that go in there,
but straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads
to life, and few there be that find it. Now, here we read of
two gates, the wide and the narrow, two
ways, the wide, the broad, and the narrow, Two crowds, the few
and the many, two ends, life and destruction. And here's the
command, enter in. Now somebody's saying, how do
I enter in? I hear this, I want to enter
in. How do I enter in this straight gate and walk this narrow way? There's one answer. Philippian
jailer said to Paul and Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And this is what it is to enter
in this gate and walk this narrow way. What must I do to be saved? I realize I cannot save myself.
What must I do to be saved? And I love their answer. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He's the Lord, the Lord of all. He's God's Christ, God's prophet,
priest, and king. He's Jesus the Savior. You believe on him, you trust
him only as all you need to make you accepted before a thrice
holy God, and you've entered in the straight gate. You continue
looking to Him as all, your only hope being found in Him. You
continue looking to Him as all, and you will be walking that
narrow road, and your final destination will be life. Life before God,
a bliss that can't even be described. May the Lord enable us all to
enter in at the straight gate. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to todd.neibert at gmail.com,
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.