We're going to observe the Lord's
table tonight together. I've entitled this message, Broad
and Wide or Straight and Narrow? Now, this is actually the conclusion
of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, probably the Lord's
most well-known or famous sermon and his address, enter in the straight gate. That's how he concludes this
message, enter in at the straight gate. He doesn't say, well, here's
two gates, make your choice, make your decision. No, there's
only one thing we're called upon to do. And this is a command. It's not an invitation. It's
a command. Enter in at the straight gate. We read of two gates, two ways,
two crowds, and two destinations. Look at Matthew chapter 5, verse
1, and seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain. I
guess that's why it's called the Sermon on the Mount. And
when he was set, his disciples came unto him, and he opened
his mouth and taught them. I want to be one of them, don't
you? I want the Lord to be my teacher. He taught them. Now look at the way this sermon
ends up. This is Matthew's comment, verse
28. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his
doctrine. When they heard what was said,
they were utterly amazed. by what was said, they'd never
heard anything like this. And I love verse 29. For he taught
them as one having authority. And I love the slam on the scribes.
Not like the scribes. Not like the religious. No authority
to what they were saying, but he spake as one having authority. What he said recommended itself
as the very Word of God. Now in this sermon, when he spake
as one having authority, the first thing he said was who the
blessed are. The blesser declares who the
blessed are. I hear quite often people speaking
of themselves, they say, well, I'm blessed. Well, you are, if
you're one of these people, he declares as blessed. If you're
poor in spirit, if you mourn, if you're meek before God, if
you hunger and thirst after righteousness, yes, you are blessed. But here
the blesser declares who the blessed are. And here the lawgiver
gives the meaning of the law. No one else really knows the
meaning but the lawgiver himself. And he gives the meaning of the
law. Look what he says in verse 21
of Matthew chapter five. And he says this on six different
occasions with regard to the law. He says, you've heard that
it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill. He's quoting
a scripture. You've heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, I'm the only one who knows. I
say unto you. What I say is what counts. I say unto you, the Lord never
said one time, thus saith the Lord. I say unto you. Here's what it means. The lawgiver
tells us what the law means. As a matter of fact, there are
14 times in this passage of scripture where the Lord says, I say unto
you. Whatever else you've heard really
doesn't count. I say unto you. He spake as one having authority,
not as the scribes. And then in Matthew chapter 6,
he speaks of the works of true religion. And there is such a
thing as true religion and pure religion. James said pure religion
and undefiled before the Father. He speaks of the works of true
religion. He speaks of works of charity,
almsgiving, giving. He speaks of works of devotion,
prayer. He speaks of works of self-denial,
fasting. And this is all a part of true
religion, but he makes this statement that is so necessary He said,
when you do your works, don't be like the hypocrites. For all
their works they do to be seen of men. Now that is a sweeping condemnation
of all works that are done to impress men. Don't do your works
to be seen of men. If you do, you've got your reward. And a miserable reward that is.
So and so did this. So what? And then in Matthew chapter six,
at the end of the chapter, he says, seek ye first the kingdom
of God and His righteousness. Now, what do you and I know about
that? Seeking His righteousness. I don't want to have anything
to do with my own righteousness. Have you been taught that? Have
you been taught that your righteousness Your personal righteousness is
nothing more than filthy rags and you seek the kingdom of God
and his righteousness. Have you and I learned that?
I love in Matthew chapter 7 where he begins with this statement
this glorious sermon on the mount. He said judge not. Judge not. That you be not judged. You and I are completely unqualified
to be a judge of anybody. For me and you to judge is an
act of hypocrisy. That's all it can be called.
Well, they're wrong. Yeah. And for you to be a judge
is an act of hypocrisy. For me to be a judge is an act
of hypocrisy. And then in this glorious sermon,
he gives us this assurance. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek,
and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
to you. What an encouragement to seek. to knock, to ask. And then he gives what is known
as the golden rule right before this And this is good for everything,
the brilliance. I hate using the word brilliance
of the Lord Jesus Christ because he's omniscient, he knows everything.
To say brilliant is really probably bringing it down to where he's
more than that. But still, this one rule covers
everything. You treat everybody the way you
want to be treated. That's good in every case. Look
what he says in verse 12 of Matthew chapter 7, therefore all things
whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even
so to them for this is the law and the prophets. This is good for everything.
How do you want to be treated? That's how you are to treat everybody
no matter who they are. This is true all the time. And this is the conclusion to
this glorious sermon and really everything afterwards has something
to do with these two verses because he goes on to talk about two
fruits, two foundations, two different men, one doing God's
will and the other not. These are all amplifications
of what he says in verse 13. Listen carefully. He says, enter
ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and broad
is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go in
there at. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way
which leads to life and few there be. that find it. Two gates, the straight gate and the wide
gate. Two ways, the narrow road, the
narrow way and the wide way. Two crowds, the few and the many. The minority and the majority. And two destinations. Destruction. Now what destruction is, is eternal
punishment. Hell. You know, the Lord had
a lot more to say about hell than he did about heaven in his
descriptions of the afterlife. Hell and life, eternal life,
life before God. Now, me and you are going to
spend eternity in one of those two places. Doesn't that make
everything in this life seem pretty much inconsequential in
comparison to that? eternal punishment or eternal
life. Now notice in verse 13, he says,
Enter ye in at the straight gate. The Lord doesn't present this
as a choice or a decision to be made. He gives us one thing
to do. You don't need to be confused
about this. Enter in. This is a commandment. Hold your
finger there and turn to Luke chapter 13. Verse 22, Luke chapter 13, verse
22. And he went through the cities
and villages teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem, the place where
he would be crucified. Then said one unto him, Lord,
are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, you strive. whether few or many. You strive to enter in at the
straight gate, for many I say unto you will seek to enter in
and shall not be able. You strive. This is your one
business. You strive. to enter in at the
straight gate. Whether there's a lot that enter
in, whether there's a few that enter in, they only enter in
by the one. You strive to enter in at the
straight gate. And I love the way the Lord says
enter in. This is a command. He doesn't
say go and do something first. Straighten out your life. Make
sure you quit committing this particular sin or that particular
sin. Make sure you're straightened up. He doesn't say anything like
that. There's nothing you must first do before you can enter
in. Now, do you hear that? If you're
thinking, well, I need to, quit thinking that way. Enter in. That is a command by
the Lord. I love the way Revelation 22,
17 says the spirit and the bride say, come. Not go and do, not
become better, not get this straightened at first. The spirit and the
bride say, come. And the Lord promised him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Now is somebody wondering,
what does it mean to come? I'm glad you're wondering that
because the very first event after the Sermon on the Mount
tells us exactly what it means to come to Christ. Turn to Matthew
chapter 8. This is the first thing recorded
after this sermon was over. Verse 1. And when he was come
down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him, and
behold, there came A leper. Mark's account says, behold,
there came a leper to him. And Luke's account tells us this
man, this particular leper that came to him, was full of leprosy. There was not one square inch
of his body that was not covered with this hideous disease. Full
of leprosy, which typifies sin. Verse two, and behold, there
came a leper and worshiped him. Now this has got to be taken
care of first, the issue of worship. He is to be worshiped without
reference to what he does or does not do for me or you. He's to be worshiped. He's God.
He's worthy of worship. If he sends me to hell, he's
worthy of worship. That's who he is. And before
this is straightened out, you're not gonna get any further. He's
to be worshiped because of who he is. If there's not some understanding
of who he is, you've never come to him. He's the one who's worthy
of worship as God. This leper worshipped him before
he was healed, didn't he? Now look at his way of coming. This leper came and worshipped
him, saying, Lord! He knew who he was, didn't he?
He's the Lord. He's the dictator. He's the one
who exercises sovereign control over all things. He's the Lord.
He's the Lord of creation. He spaked the world into existence.
He's the Lord of providence. He controls every event. Every
event! He's the Lord of salvation. Salvation's
up to Him. It's not up to you. It's up to
Him. As to whether or not you and
I will spend eternity in heaven or hell, it's all according to
His will. He said, Lord, if you will. He didn't say, Lord, I will that
you do this. No, you don't come to the Lord like that. That's
not coming to the Lord. Lord, if you will, you can. You have the power, the ability
to make me clean. Now that's what it is to come
to Christ. You come as a leper, worshiping him, acknowledging
who he is, acknowledging his will is the will that counts.
His will, if you will, you can make me clean. That's what I
need, is to be made clean. I'm filthy, I need to be made
clean. That's what it means to enter
in at the straight gate. That's what it means to come
to Christ. Now, if you, one of the scriptures
was read earlier, in the scriptures, There are four things said that
are necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven. Look at Matthew chapter
five, verse 20. This is the Lord speaking, and
this is one of those I say unto you, I love these. For I say
unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
I love the way that word is in italics. You see, the Pharisees
and scribes don't really have any righteousness. They think
they do, but the Lord doesn't even call it the righteousness
of the scribes and Pharisees, but the translators put it there.
But except you exceed whatever it is the scribes and Pharisees
think they have, you shall in no case enter the kingdom of
heaven. To enter the kingdom of heaven, you're going to have
to have perfect righteousness. perfect. Then, as David read in John chapter
3, except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the kingdom of heaven. The only way you can enter is
to have righteousness. And the only way you can enter
the kingdom of heaven is to be born from above, birthed by God,
given a new birth. And then look in Matthew chapter
seven, one of the, these are mentioned by the Lord in Matthew
chapter seven, verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." In order
to enter the kingdom of heaven, you're going to have to do God's
will. And I know what that will is.
It's to believe the gospel. Now you go on reading that passage
of scripture, these fellows say, well, we've already done that.
We've preached in your name. We've cast out devils in your
name. In your name have we done many
wonderful works. We've done your will. No, they
hadn't. They'd never believed the gospel. In order to enter
the kingdom of heaven, you're going to have to have perfect
righteousness. You're going to have to be born again. You're going to
have to do his will. And the Lord said in Matthew chapter
18, listen to this. You're going to have to humble
yourself as a little child and be as a little child to enter
the kingdom of heaven. In order to enter the kingdom
of heaven, you're going to have to humble yourself. You're going
to have to take the lowest seat. When you get to the bottom, get
a little bit lower. That's what's necessary to enter
the kingdom of heaven. And I'm so thankful that this
is a command. You are commanded by the Lord
Jesus Christ right now, not to wait for anything to happen.
You don't have a decision to make. There's nothing to get
confused about. Enter in to the straight, the narrow, constricted
gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction. And many there are that go in
there at a wide gate." Now it's wide because there are so many
that go through this wide gate. Now listen to this, this wide
gate he speaks of. The atheist and the theist walk
through this gate. The moral and the immoral. the Calvinist and the Arminian,
the Buddhist and the Baptist, the Protestant and the Catholic,
the religious and the irreligious, the left-wing liberal Democrat
and the right-wing conservative Republican go side by side into
this wide gate. The partiers and the teetotalers. All religions go through this
wide gate and the way after entering through this wide gate is wide,
comfortable, easy. And the crowd on this road The
Lord calls many the majority. Can so many people be wrong? Yes. There is a way that seemeth right
to a man. The end thereof are the ways
of death. And all who enter that wide gate
and broad way, this is their final destination, destruction,
eternal punishment. Now, question. What is it that prevented these
people from entering in the straight gate? The answer may surprise you. Their personal righteousness. The only thing that will prevent
you from entering the straight gate is your personal righteousness. Your sin won't prevent you. Your
righteousness. will prevent you from entering
into this gate. I think of the parable the Lord
gave in Luke chapter 18 of certain who trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and despised others. He speaks of two men. One on the broad way, the other
on the narrow way. Two men. went into the temple
to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a publican. The Pharisee,
the man on the Broadway, stood and prayed thus with himself,
Lord, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are. And he started
talking about what he was and what he wasn't, the good things
he did and the bad things he didn't do. He was on the Broadway
that leads to an eternal hell. And that publican, who beat on
his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, thee, sinner. That man had entered in the straight
gate and was on the narrow way. Now, before I go on, did you know the fear of going
to hell never brought anybody into heaven? I mean we read of this destruction
and from a little boy I was always afraid to go into hell. I worried
about it. I laid my bed at night and think
about it. But do you know the fear of hell, the fear of destruction
never led anyone into the straight gate. Now let's leave this wide
gate and broad way and look upon this straight gate. The word
straight in most other translations is narrow and small. The gate is so narrow. Listen
to me. The gate is so narrow that if
you have anything more than Christ alone, you can't get through. I want you to think about that.
If you personally have anything more than Jesus Christ alone,
you cannot get through this gate. Now, what is meant by that? Well,
Colossians chapter three, verse 11 says, Christ is all in all. Christ is all that God is. Christ is all that God will accept.
Christ is all that the scriptures say. Christ is all in my salvation. Now, if he's all, let me tell
you one time, he's not all when it's Christ and. Christ and my
experience. Christ and my ability to ward
off sin. Christ and my ability to improve
myself. Christ and what I see. No, that's
not Christ is all. You see, Christ is all to you
when he is all you have. You have no other reason of entrance. If you have some other reason
than that, you can't get through. This gate is so narrow that the
only way you can get through is if all you have is Christ. If all I have is Christ, is that
enough? It is if He's all you have. Christ is all in my salvation. He's all God requires of me.
He's all God. He's all! Now that person can
enter in at this narrow gate. But if you have anything above
that, you cannot get through. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing. but the blood of Jesus. This
is all my righteousness, nothing but the blood of Jesus. My entrance into the straight
gate is Christ alone, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. It is only by his righteousness
we enter, and I know this, only those who have been born from
above do this, and this is the doing of his will, looking to
Christ alone. This is humbling yourself as
the little child to enter into the kingdom of heaven. I repeat,
if you have anything other than Christ alone, you can't enter
in this straight gate. You're too big to fit through
it. You are part of the many and
not the few. If you have anything other than
Christ alone, ask yourself that question. Do you have anything
to add to Him? Do you have any other plea as
to why you should be accepted, as to why you should be brought
into heaven? Do you have anything else? Well, you're in the majority, not a few. Narrow is the way that leads
to life. We've talked about the gate.
Let's talk about this way. that leads to life. Now, when
most people think of the narrow way, they think of walking carefully
and making sure you don't fall off the precipice and making
sure all your I's are dotted and your T's are crossed and
living a very exact, exemplary moral life and watching yourself.
Am I saying anything against that? No. That doesn't have anything
to do with walking the narrow path. Not a thing to do with
it. It doesn't have anything to do
with being in the way. Well, what does? Jesus Christ
said, I am the way. There it is. You're only in Him. I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me." Now it's being in Christ you're in the way and the only
way you come to the Father is by being in the Son and you know
that. You know the only way you can
come into God's presence and be accepted is if you are in
Jesus Christ so that when He comes, you come. That's the way. The Lord didn't leave us anything
to be confused about. He said, I am the way. He's the way to the Father. There
is no other way. Simply being in Him so that all
God sees when He sees me is His Son, Jesus Christ. And I stay
right there. I don't want to go outside of
that. You know, I've often thought of the house with the blood over
the door when the Lord was coming through to destroy wherever there
was not blood. If I was in that house, I tell
you what, I wouldn't stick my hand out the window that night.
I wouldn't poke my head out and look around. I'd stay right there
under the roof. I'd want to be found nowhere
else. That is the way. He is the way. that leads to life. Now while the very nature of
the gospel is inclusive, don't forget that there's room for
the chief of sinners. I don't care how bad, I don't
care how evil, I don't care how defiled you are, there's plenty
of room for you. The gospel in its very nature
is inclusive. Come on in. Come. but it's also very exclusive. It excludes all other ways. The Lord said, I am the way. No man comes to the Father, but
by me. He is called in Acts chapter
two, the way of life. Any other way is a way of death.
He's called the way of God. Any other way is just the way
of man. He's called the right way. All other ways are wrong
ways. He's called the way of righteousness.
Any other way is a way of unrighteousness. He's called the way of peace.
And that's speaking of the peace of justification. Being justified
by faith, we have peace. If I'm justified before God,
that means I have no sin. That means I stand perfect before
the law of God without guilt. That gives me peace. Any other
way is a way of false peace. The way of truth. All other ways
are the ways of lies and error. The new and living way. Now,
I've quoted this many times, but new means freshly soldered. Living as opposed to dead. All
the time in my experience, the only way I have into the Father's
presence is the death, the slaughter of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
always new. It's not something that happened a long time ago.
It's always new, fresh, poignant to the Father. The living way,
not the dead way of religion by works, salvation by works. Paul called it the way which
they call heresy. You're going to have religious
people say, well, that's heresy. OK. After the way that they call
heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers. Now, this is the
way that leads to life. And only a few go in this route,
I realize that, but you look at the Bible. When the Lord destroyed
the world with a flood, how many people were saved? Scripture
says eight. A lot more people in this room
than eight. But it's always a small amount. When God destroyed Sodom,
remember Abraham said, if there's 10 righteous men here, will you
spare it? He said, yeah, I'll spare it for 10. There wasn't
that, was there? When the children of Israel finally
entered the promised land, only two that were over the age of
20, when they first left of the millions, entered in, Caleb and
Joshua. So don't get stuck on this thing
a few. You strive to enter in right
now at the straight gate. This is the way that leads to
life. Life. A life that had no beginning
and has no end. Eternal life. Life in heaven.
Beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Being
perfectly conformed to His image. Life. Two gates. Two ways. Two crowds. Two destinations. Enter in. Somebody says, give me some help
there. What do you mean enter in? Here's exactly what it is. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. You believe on Christ. You believe
on the Lord. Not the Jesus that's preached
who's not Lord. Who can't be Lord unless you
let him be Lord. That's a figment of man's depraved
imagination. You believe on the Lord, Jesus. The Savior. He's the Savior. He said, I didn't come to condemn
the world. I came to save the world, that
the world through me might be saved. He's the Savior. He's
God's Christ. He's God's prophet. He is the
Word of God. He's God's priest. If he brings
you the Father, you must be accepted. He's God's King. He can cause
you to enter in. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved. And you have entered in that
straight gate. You are on the narrow path. And if you're on that narrow
path, you're already in God's presence, accepted because He
is. Enter in. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's blessed
and holy and glorious name that you would have mercy and
grace toward each man, woman, boy and girl in this room and
give us the grace to enter in at the straight gate and walk
the narrow way, Christ Himself. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.