Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nivert. 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 Nivert. I'm going to read from Matthew
7, verses 13 and 14, and this has been called one of the hard
sayings of Christ. Would you listen carefully? Beginning
in verse 13, the Lord says, enter ye in at the straight gate. the narrow gate, the constricted
gate. For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction. And that's talking about hell,
damnation, condemnation. 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. Now you'll notice that our Lord
said many, are on the broad road that leads to destruction. Many
go through the wide gate, but only a few go through the straight
gate, and there are only a few on the narrow road. Now, according
to the Lord, there are many more people on the broad way than
there are on the narrow road. There are many more people who
are not saved than there is that are saved. Now, I want to be
saved. I know I can't save myself, I
can't do anything to save myself, but I want to be saved. And I want you to be saved. Paul said, brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. I want you to be saved. I want
us to be saved by what the Bible means by salvation too. God's
salvation, God's way of saving. And not only that, I want, I
know that the Bible teaches that Christ came to save. He didn't
come to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be
saved. That's why He came. The Bible was written that we
might be saved. He said to a group of people
who were not saved, these things say I unto you that you might
be saved. Now, I'm not indifferent about
this thing of salvation. And anybody who wants to be saved
can be saved. If you're not saved, it's because
you didn't want to be saved. on His terms. Now, don't fail
to notice in this passage of Scripture, this is so important,
the Lord tells us many are on the broad road that leads to
destruction, and there are just a few on the narrow road that
leads to life. But if you read the Bible, for
instance, in Noah's day, Perhaps there were hundreds of millions
of people living on the earth, and only eight people were saved. Only eight people in the ark. What about when the Lord said
to Abraham that he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?
And Abraham said, what if there are 50 righteous people there?
Will you spare it? He said, I'll spare it for 50.
And he kept taking it down. What about 40? I'll spare it
for 40, 30, 20. He got it down to 10. And the Lord said, if
there are 10 righteous people in this city, I'll spare it.
And there were not 10 righteous people in that huge city. David said, has the godly man
ceased from the earth? Isaiah said, Lord, who had believed
our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? It seems like no one believes. You know, Paul said to the church
at Philippi, I have no man like minded who will naturally care
for your state for all seek their own and not the things that are
Christ Jesus. Now, if you look at the Bible, God's people, God's
elect, the number of the saved on the earth at any given time
is always a remnant. It's always a very small number. And the Lord says this. One time
somebody said to the Lord in Luke 13, verse 23, Lord, are
there few that be saved? And he said, you strive to enter
the straight gate, for many will seek to enter and not be able. And this is the facts from the
scripture. There's a whole lot more unsaved people than there
are saved people. Now, while I want to be saved
and I want you to be saved, it always troubles me When I see
men and women who claim to be saved try to make the gate wider
than Christ makes it, and they try to make the road less narrow
than Christ makes it. As a matter of fact, I've seen
quite often when people leave the church which I pastor, they'll
say things like, well, it's too narrow. It's too narrow. They
want people to be saved who perhaps don't believe the gospel or haven't
even heard the gospel. And they say, that's too narrow.
Now, when men try to make the gate wider and the way broader,
I suppose they believe themselves to be more merciful than God.
And under the guise of charity and not being judgmental, what
they're doing is taking away the truth. Whenever you try to
make the gate wider and the road wider and put more people on
it than the Bible would, you're actually doing man a great disservice
because you've quit preaching the gospel the moment you do
that. Now the Lord says in no uncertain
terms, straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leads
to life and few there be that find it, just a few. Broad is
the gate and wide is the way that leads to destruction and
many there be that go in there at. Now let's consider this hard
statement of our Lord. And the first thing I would notice
is he doesn't say, keep out. He says, enter ye in at the straight
gate. Not go and make yourself better,
not give up this sin and start doing this good thing, not start
reading your Bible more and praying more. No, the message of the
scripture is come to Christ right now. Enter ye in. Come and welcome. Revelation
22, 17 says, the Spirit and the bride say, come. That's the message
of the gospel. Not get your life straightened
out, but come to Christ right now just as you are in your heart. Enter ye in at the straight gate. And I think this is interesting.
We're not presented a choice. He doesn't say, here's the wide
gate, here's the narrow gate, you take your choice. No, he
says, enter ye in at the straight gate. And then he warns us about
that wide gate and that broad way. Verse 13, enter ye in at
the straight gate, for wide is the gate. It's real wide, plenty
of room. And broad is the way that leads
to destruction. And he's talking about damnation. He's talking about hell. There
is a place called hell where God judges the wicked, and it's
a place of eternal torment. Don't kid yourself. There is
a place called hell. I don't even like talking about
it, but I know it's so. I can't stand to hear a hellfire
brimstone preacher almost like he's glad people are going there.
I don't—that's distasteful. But I do want to warn you, there
is a place called hell, and that's where most people are going according
to the Scriptures. Few on the narrow road, many
on the wide road that goes to destruction. Now, the gate to
destruction And the wide road of destruction is so large because
there are so many ways to hell. You know, you can go to hell
being strictly moral, and you can go to hell being deeply immoral. You can go to hell as an atheist.
You can go to hell as an agnostic. You can go to hell as a theist,
believing in the existence of God. You can go to hell as a
drunkard. You can go to hell as a teetotaler.
You can go to hell as a legalist. You can go to hell as an antinomian,
somebody who is lawless. You can go to hell as a Calvinist.
You can go to hell as an Arminian. You can go to hell in apathy
and indifference, not caring about the things of God. Or you
can go to hell in the hotbed of religious fervor and zeal. You can go to hell as a left-wing
liberal Democrat, and you can go to hell as a right-wing conservative
Republican. You can go to hell as a Baptist
or a Buddhist. You can go to hell as a Catholic
or a Protestant. You can go to hell as an intellectual
or an infidel. You can go to hell speaking in
tongues. You can go to hell performing miracles. You can go to hell
reading the Bible and praying. There's so many ways to hell. You can be religious or irreligious.
You can be educated or uneducated, rich or poor, or middle class,
happy, sad, optimistic, pessimistic, manic or depressed, many. Not
a few, but many are on this broad road. They've walked through
this wide gate, easy to get through, and they're on this broad road
that leads to destruction. Those that go through this wide
gate and those that are walking along this broad road will not
be saved. Now, somebody says, that's harsh. It's scriptural. And the Bible's
the Word of God. And we don't go to the Bible
to prove our beliefs. We go to the Bible to find out
what to believe. And the Lord speaks of many,
and He speaks of few. Now, look in verse 14, because
straight, very narrow, is the gate. Straight is the gate, and narrow
is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it." Now, that's the words of the Lord. Few there be that find
it. Now, the reason this gate is
so straight and this road is so narrow is there is only one
way to heaven. There are many roads that lead
to hell, different religions, different, many roads that lead
to hell. But there is only one way that
leads to eternal life, this narrow way. There are few who enter
this gate and walk this narrow and sometimes lonely road. The
narrow way is, is fraught with difficulties and troubles. It's not easy. It's not convenient. It can bring much sorrow into
your life because of the division that's caused. The Lord said,
I didn't come to make peace, but I came to bring a sword. I'm coming to set a man at division
against his father and so on. You're familiar with that passage
of scripture. This road we're called upon to
deny ourselves. Take up our cross, the confession
of Christ, and follow the Lord Jesus. But those on this road
are headed to a place called life, a place where there's no
sin, there's no sorrow, there's no pain, there's no night, there's
no tears, there's no separation, there's no conflict, a place
of indescribable bliss. and joy, having the presence
of Christ, seeing His face, and being perfectly conformed to
His image. Now, that is life. Now, the Lord
warns us about many who will seek to enter and not be able. Let me quote that scripture again,
where the Lord said, Well, after someone said, Lord, are there
few to be saved? He said, you strive to enter
into the straight gate. For many shall seek to enter
and not be able. Now, why is it that they're not
able? They're seeking to enter and
they're not able. Why? Is it because they're too sinful?
Is it because they've committed too many sins and they're just
too bad and they're going to be denied existence because of
their sinfulness? Beloved, let me tell you something.
You cannot be too bad. You cannot be too sinful to enter
in this gate. The only thing that will keep
you from entering in this gate is your personal righteousness. That makes you too big to get
through this straight gate. You see, the only folks who can
get through this gate are people who have nothing but Christ. Let me repeat that. The people
who enter this gate are people who all they have is Christ. Now, if you have works that prove
you're saved, and if you have works that make you think, well,
I'm able to enter this gate, all you prove by that is you're
on the broad way that leads to destruction. Because the only
people who can get through this gate are people who all they
have is Christ. They have no other plea. Christ
only. He's all I have. He's the only.
I don't plea anything. I don't say, well, I'm a preacher
or I've got good works or I've changed. My life has changed.
I've gone from a life of immorality to morality and I love people
and I do my best. Can't get in. Can't get in. You
got too much. The only way you can get in.
is if you have nothing but Christ. Nothing more, nothing less, and
nothing else. Now, this way is called the exclusive
way in this sense. Christ said, I am the way. I am the way. Now, the gospel is inclusive. I'm thankful for that. It includes
people who would have otherwise been damned. I'm thankful for
the inclusiveness of the gospel. The doors open wide for anybody
who will come. The Lord said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise, for no reason cast out. The gospel is very inclusive
in that sense. But the gospel is utterly exclusive. It excludes all other ways. The Lord said, no man cometh
to the Father but by me. You can't come in other religions. You can't come in false Christianity. The only way you can get into
the Father's presence is if you are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when He comes into the Father's presence, He brings you with
Him. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me there is no other way. This is called the way of God,
not the way of men. No man will agree with this,
but this is the way of God, the only way of God. All other ways
are Wrong. There's a way that seemeth right
to men. The end thereof are the ways
of death. This is called, in 1 Peter, the
right way. The right way. All other ways
are wrong. They will not get you there. This is the right way, and this
way is called the way of righteousness. You see, there's only one righteousness,
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The only way me or you will enter
that straight gate is if we're perfectly righteous. And that's
exactly what a believer is. He's somebody who has Christ's
righteousness as his personal righteousness before God. You
see, my sin became his sin. Let me repeat that, and I want
you to think about it. This is why he died. This is why God
forsook him. My personal sin became his sin. He became guilty of this. Now, he never sinned in his person.
Never did. Even when he was made sin, he
didn't sin as person, but he still was made sin. And he became
guilty and liable for punishment for when my sin became his sin. You see, he wasn't strictly speaking,
he wasn't, yes, he was punished for Todd's sin, but Todd's sin
became his sin so that he became guilty of it. So he was punished,
he was forsaken by God, he was killed. But just as truly as
my sin became his sin, his righteousness. becomes my righteousness. And that is my personal righteousness
before God. That's why I don't have to fear
Judgment Day. I have His righteousness as my own personal righteousness
before God. Paul put it this way in Philippians
3 and I know that I will win Christ and be found in Him not
having my own righteousness. which is of the law. I don't
want to have anything to do with my personal righteousness, but that
which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. This is called the way of peace,
the way of peace. Paul said in Romans chapter 5
verse 1, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is the peace of justification. What does justification mean?
If you're justified, that means you have no sin. That means you've
never committed sin. That means you're not guilty.
That's what justification means. And this goes along with righteousness.
I'm justified by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
God is at complete peace with me. He's not angry with me. He's pleased with me. And I have
peace knowing that everything God requires, I have in Christ. Everything God requires, He provides. Everything God requires of me,
He looks to Christ for. And you know what? That gives
me peace. Oh, the joy and the peace of believing. This is called
the way of life, this straight and narrow way. Now, what is
meant by that, the way of life? Well, it leads to life, eternal
glory. We've already touched on that,
but let me tell you something about my life. My life is not
from my birth date to the time of my death. My life is the life
that our Lord Jesus Christ lived when He walked upon this earth.
If you want to read about me, read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, the life of Christ. Christ, our life, when Christ
who is our life shall appear, then shall you appear with Him
in glory. This is called in Hebrews 9, 8, the way into the
holiest. Now, in the Old Testament, only
one person was permitted to go into the Holy of Holies in the
very presence of God behind the veil, the great high priest,
once a year. And it's no different. The only
people who are permitted into the holy place, God's very presence,
the way into holiness, is Jesus Christ, God's Son, and those
who are in Him. Not those who are beside Him
or behind Him or in front of Him, but those who are in Him. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't. But all of God's blessing is in Christ. It's not
in your works. It's not in what you do. It's
not in what you think. It's all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. according as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world." Peter calls it
the way of truth. Any other way is a lie. Any other
way is deceitful. And any other way is false. This
is the way of truth. And Paul said in Acts chapter
24, verse 14, but after the way, which they call heresy, so worship
I, the God of my fathers. believing all things which are
written in the law and the prophets." Now the way they call heresy,
somebody's listening to this message and they think, you telling
me that my works don't count for anything? You telling me
that the only way that I can be brought into the presence
of God is if I'm in Christ and he brings me into the presence
of God? Are you telling me that There's nothing I can do to get
through this? That all I can have is Christ?
Well, you're telling me that my changed life doesn't count.
You're telling me that my works of obedience do not count. You're
taking away the things that prove to me I'm saved. Why, that's
heresy. I don't believe that for a second.
Well, after the way they call heresy, so worship I, the God
of my Father. Now, the only way you worship
God, listen to this real carefully. The only way you worship God
is if you're in Christ, and you know you're utterly in His hands,
and you worship Him for who He is. Now, that person that comes
through this straight gate and walks along this narrow road,
they have a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees. except your righteousness exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven." They've been born of
God. Except a man be born again, he
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. They've been born of God. They're
people who do God's will. Not every one 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 that's
not talking about a bunch of religious works, because he went
on to say, For many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not preached in your name? And in your name have we
not cast out devils? And in your name have we not
done many wonderful works? Then shall I say unto them, Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. This doing
his will is believing the gospel. What must we do to work the works
of God? This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom He has sent. These are those people
who have humbled themselves before God. You see, you can be too
big to get in the gate, but you can't be too little. The Lord
said, after the disciples were arguing over who's going to be
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, He said, except you be
converted and become as little children, you won't even enter
there. except a man humble himself,
just like this little child. He can't enter the kingdom of
heaven. Now, you have to be the chief of sinners to get through
this gate. You can't have anything other
than that about yourself, and all you have is the Lord Jesus
Christ, his righteousness, his shed blood, his person. You can't
get in any other way but the way. Now, somebody says, that's
too narrow. It's big enough for the biggest
sinner to ever live. You can't say it's too narrow. It's big
enough for the biggest sinner to ever live, to come by Christ
only. Enter ye in at the straight gate. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
an email and we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying God
will be pleased to make Himself known to you. To request a copy
of the sermon you have just heard, send your request to messages
at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.