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| SERMON#180 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. MAT 7:13-14. Our text is in context with the golden rule, and it teaches the logical link between principle and practice. Many people have the misconception that these verses which speak about the broad road are speaking of infidels, those who have no religion, who are on a broad road to destruction. This is wrong; Jesus is speaking of the professing church as being on the broad way! They profess to be on the way, but they have never learned what it is to be delivered from the power of sin. They are carnal Christians. Those are the people on the broad road; they can take everything along. They don't have to give up anything. The preceding verses teach the necessity to pray for the grace to practice the law of love under the second table of the law. It is most touching to understand the meaning the Lord Jesus placed in this verse. Our text, taken in context with the golden rule, teaches its practical application. The word strait as used in our text means "difficult, distressful, narrow by reason of obstacles which surround it, i.e., difficult to stand by, or to stand forth, difficult to continue or hold up." This meaning is taken from both the Greek and Webster's dictionaries. Notice that we are now talking about the practice of the principles that the Lord Jesus has taught us in the Sermon on the Mount. Now we must enter into the strait gate or the way that is difficult to stand. It is a distressful way; it is difficult to continue or to hold up under. That is what the word strait means. Now let's apply that with an illustration. The children of Israel came to the Red Sea. We know that within their own strength it would have been totally, literally impossible for them to walk across the Red Sea. Yet the command was to go forward. They had to enter into the way, obey this command, as an act of obedience, as an act of faith. They were not able to do it, but they must move forward; in such cases the Lord opens a way where there is no way. When we step forward, we start acting by faith upon the Lord's commandments. Then the Lord goes before us to open the way and make it possible. We are not able to obey the golden rule in our own strength. Let's consider the following chronological order of the topics covered in this chapter: First, there is the beam in our eye and the mote in our brother's eye; then we are told not to judge; next we are told to pray with importunity for the Spirit of Christ; and Jesus teaches us about prayer; that is followed by the golden rule, we are to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; now Jesus talks about the strait gate. It is a place we are not able to stand. We have come to a place where we are not capable of performing the golden rule. Like the children of Israel, our command is to go forward, because as we obey, the miracle of enabling grace is performed. God with His grace goes before us and gives us the strength, courage, and enables us to go forward. Inability is something that is being preached far too much. It puts the onus on God; it is God's fault we are sinning because we are not able to fulfill the law. Do you know what that is? That kind of thinking is unbelief. When we see our inability, then we see the straitness of the gate and remember how the children of Israel were commanded to go forward into the sea. As they stepped in, the waters parted. That was a trial of their faith. Their command was to go forward. Would they obey? That is what Jesus is telling us to do here. We are to not only enter, but we are to walk in the way. We must enter the strait gate, and we must walk in the narrow way. We do not do it in our own strength, but as we begin to obey God grants enabling grace. As we go forward, the Lord goes before us to open the way and give us the ability to follow Him. Our inability is not an excuse to continue in sin. Our inability is the basis on which we must pray for the Spirit of Christ. Jesus just brought that lesson to us in the preceding verses. We must come with prayer and supplication, making our needs known to God. We must confess our own sins and that we are not able to follow in our own strength. We must ask for the strength to forgive if we can't forgive. The Lord will not only forgive our unforgiving spirit, but He will enable us to forgive. That is entering the strait gate. The way is so narrow; we are not able to stand in our own strength because the trials are so difficult. Our text not only teaches the character required under the golden rule, but the need to enter the kingdom of Christ and that we are to walk under His divine rule and reign as King of kings. There is no excuse for disobedience. Disobedience is unbelief. The children of Israel remained in the wilderness because they said it was impossible for them to enter the land of Canaan; there were giants in the land. Through unbelief, they disobeyed. They were not willing to go forward by faith. It meant stepping through the strait gate of impossibilities in their human strength with their eyes on the Lord. Their refusal to obey through unbelief was their stumbling block. Have I ever experienced inability? Oh yes. Is it an excuse to put the blame on the Lord and continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! The command is, "Enter the strait gate." If we don't enter the strait gate, we remain in the broad way. Often people believe they cannot obey this time because the price is too great. They might lose their friends. Look at what Abraham lost. Abraham's salvation was in Isaac; the Messiah was to come through Isaac, and yet Abraham put him on the altar as a sacrifice. We have to be willing to put everything on the altar, even our own salvation. Abraham still obeyed. That is entering the strait gate. That is being able to put all of self aside and obey; it is entering the kingdom and walking in the way prescribed by the Lord. Our text teaches that we cannot separate salvation from our walk of life. We must not only enter the strait gate, but we must walk in the narrow way! This is as true today as it was in the days when Christ was on earth. Jesus clarified this point with the Pharisees who were indeed the natural seed of Abraham in JOH 8:39-40. "They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham." In many churches today it is counted a privilege to be the seed of Abraham. It is true with those who are the spiritual seed of Abraham as we see in GAL 3:29, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." If we may truly be the spiritual seed of Abraham, the privileges are inexpressible. But, who are those seed of Abraham? Those who are in Christ are the seed of Abraham. We must understand that the scribes and Pharisees had been circumcised in the flesh, but not in heart. That did not make them the spiritual seed of Abraham; "...Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham," JOH 8:39. Do you see where the proving ground is? The proof is in those who walk in the footsteps of Abraham and do his works. You should be able to put your all on the altar and sacrifice everything of self to obey the Lord. Jesus used the illustration of the "broad way" to illustrate the professing church who do not walk in the spirit of the law as Abraham did. As touching the letter of the law, the scribes and Pharisees were perfect. They would never kill a man; they would never commit adultery, but their hearts were like a sepulcher full of dead men's bones. They never understood the spirit of the law; they never understood that they were not to cast an eye on a woman to lust after her because that is already adultery. They kept the letter of the law with perfection without understanding the spirit of the law. One who identifies sin in the church is condemned for being a trouble maker, for being harsh, uncharitable and legalistic. I am not a stranger to this. It makes no difference how graciously you try to apply the Word of God or plead with them. That is stirring the water, making trouble. They are on the broad road and taking all their sins with them. They don't want to conform to the spirit of the law because it reveals pet sins they enjoy. They don't understand that the golden rule is spiritual; it is from the heart. They will accuse you of being uncharitable or legalistic when you identify a given sin with the Word of God. Jesus speaks of the way as being strait, i.e., "difficult to stand by, or to stand forth, difficult to continue or hold up." This is the test the Lord puts before you and me. Are we walking with the multitude, going with the current? Do we see things that are contrary to the Word of God? Remember the word strait means difficult to stand. Are we able to stand even if it means being put out of the church? Are we able to stand by the Word of God and plead with them to obey the Word? That is entering the strait gate. Our text must be taken in context with the golden rule and all the things Jesus taught in the preceding verses. Those verses speak of the areas in which we find it difficult to stand. If we hear someone whose mouth runs like a sewer, saying things about their neighbour, they don't want us to come to them with the Word of God. The church leaders will most often say we shouldn't do that because it causes an uproar in the church; so they switch the head gate, and you become the object of their furor. Why? They don't want to be restrained. It is difficult to stand. Are we able to be a Daniel? Are we able to stand alone? Are we able to have a purpose true? Are we able to make it known? Can you enter the strait gate and stand for the truth when and where it is difficult? The broad-road professing church not only wants to walk in sin, but those who shed the light of God's Word upon their path are cast out of their company. Why? The Lord Jesus tells us in JOH 3:18-19, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." When you become a light, using the Word of God to shed light, you bring condemnation. Therefore, they will put you out of their company. ZEP 3:12 tells us, "I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD." "In the midst of thee" refers to the Jerusalem of the Old Testament as a type of the broad-road church. In the midst of this broad-road church there will be an afflicted and poor people who travel the strait way. It is strait and narrow because there are obstacles surrounding them. Any faithful reprover will find the truth of the Lord's statement in LUK 12:32, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." The little flock means that by comparison, the number is small. Sometimes it is very small. Why don't faithful pastors have more people in their assembly? Could it be that the truth is too sharp a light? In the Greek this word little means "very little." It is not only little by comparison, like ten out of a hundred. No, it means one of a city and two of a family. JER 3:14 says, "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion." Tribulation marks the path of those who walk in the strait and narrow way. They are the ones who are willing to stand for the name of Christ at all costs. ACT 14:21-22 tells us there will be tribulation for it marks the path for those who walk in the strait and narrow way. "And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." This strait gate into which we must enter and narrow way in which we must walk begins with self-denial and continues on our journey in the way of the cross. We enter by denying ourselves, everything of self, and as we continue on that journey in the way of the cross, we experience tribulation. How do we handle the trials which may overcome us? Consider now what we read in MAT 5:29-30, "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." Those who are referred to as the broad-road church are fully persuaded they can serve two masters and succeed in making the best of both worlds. They are professed Christians who will serve the Lord, but they still want to be able to serve the ugly monster, "I." They are not willing to deny self; they have not entered the strait gate for they are still serving their own selfish desires on the broad road. When the Philippian jailer asked, "What must I do to be saved?", all the apostle said in ACT 16:31 was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Believing on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ means to stand in awe and reverence for the authority which the Father placed upon that name for His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, PHI 2:9-11. Even as our text speaks of entering the strait gate and walking in the narrow way, i.e., where it is "difficult to stand or to continue or hold up," so believing on Christ is standing in awe and holy reverence of His law of love; it is to stand up to the opposition of our own deceitful heart—to forgive our enemies even as we would that Christ should forgive us—to love those who despitefully use us—to pray for those who persecute us. That is believing on Christ; that is the strait gate and narrow way. That crucifies everything of self. We may think this can be done by a mere notion of the mind, but God looks upon the heart. This is a spiritual command rather than a literal one. Do we forgive from the heart? Do we beseech God to forgive them? God looks at the intent of our heart. The golden rule is spiritual. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets," MAT 7:12. The golden rule is the standard the Lord will use to judge you and I. Did we judge our fellow man according to that standard? We will stand in judgment on this "for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again," MAT 7:2. How do you measure your fellow man? By that judgment, you will be judged. We cannot do it in perfection; that is what we find with the strait gate. It is so difficult, and we are not able in ourselves to do it. That doesn't mean we can't step forward to embark on this journey. We must plead for grace and wisdom, then for courage and faith to continue in the right way, but we embark on the way. We must not sit in our sins while we wait for enabling grace to be given to us. Enter the strait gate! Get up; move into it knowing you can't do it, but as we obey, the miracle of enabling grace is performed. Go forward as God commanded the children of Israel at the Red Sea. Luke's counterpart to our text says, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate," LUK 13:24. This is so beautiful. See the harmony between the gospels. It is not a matter of a lukewarm decision or a matter of indifference; we are to strive to enter at the strait gate. This admonition clearly implies that the carelessness and loathsome attitude of the mere broad-road professor is not acceptable. How much do they strive to do the will of God? How great is their heart's desire? The word strive also denotes there are real and genuine difficulties to overcome. There is strife; it is not a matter of passively sitting by and saying we are called to peace; therefore we must compromise the truth to avoid being labeled a trouble maker. We must strive to stand for what is right in a loving spirit. This word strive comes from the Greek word agoniz-omai, which is a very expressive word which means "agonize." Strive means it brings agony and spiritual travail; when we come into travail something must give! We are to come into spiritual travail; it is not a matter of choice. If a woman is in travail of labor she will either deliver or die. Luke speaks of that kind of agony with which we must strive to enter that strait gate. The same word is used in 1CO 9:25, "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible." If we stop to analyze this, people who are striving for something will spend whatever thought, time, and money is needed. Consider a political campaign. The candidate will struggle and strive; they do it with all their might while they spend millions of dollars and all or most of their time and energy to obtain their goal. They come out to be heard; they are not passive and silent. That is what worldly people do to obtain a corruptible crown, but we are striving for an incorruptible crown. However, it is an illustration of how we must strive to enter the strait gate, to know and do the will of God. We must do it with every faculty of our physical and spiritual strength. It must be our meat and drink by night and day to do the will of our Father which is in heaven. MAT 7:21 says, "Not every one 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." Striving to enter the strait gate constitutes much more than holding up one's hand at a religious meeting or signing a decision card. That is not entering the strait gate. MAT 11:12 says, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." The word violence does not mean unlawful assaults; it denotes earnest struggles with cries and tears. In other words, we must labor and struggle; we must agonize and travail to take the kingdom of heaven by force; we are forcefully struggling to enter the strait and narrow way which leads to life. Our text says, "Enter ye in at the strait gate," which tells us it is not enough to hear preaching about this "gate," nor to study about it, but we must enter. Having a knowledge of what the Lord tells us about the golden rule alone is not enough. We can have the most intimate knowledge of it through preaching, but that is not a substitute for entering. Sermons on repentance and faith in Christ profit us nothing unless they move our hearts to comply. All the preaching in the world on faith, duties, and what pleases the Lord are of no avail until we comply; we must obey. A gate serves two purposes; it lets in and it shuts out! If we don't enter by that strait gate, there is no other way into God's service. We will be shut out by that very gate. When we come to the gate of heaven, the light of Christ will be such a condemnation to those who have never been purged from their sins that the light will keep them out. LUK 13:24-27 says, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are...But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity," LUK 13:27. The ability to enter is shut off to people who have never entered the strait gate; they have never learned to live by the golden rule because they do not have a forgiving spirit nor have they learned self-denial. They do not walk in the narrow way; they traveled the broad road being professors, not doers of Jesus sayings! These are solemn thoughts. Jesus said in MAT 7:24, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock." Entering this strait gate is the only avenue of admittance to that way which leads unto life. Entering that strait gate includes learning to know Christ as Prophet, Priest and King. Learning to know Christ as Prophet is to learn the truth of His teachings of obedience and righteousness by His heart searching, flesh crucifying instructions. It is learning to know with more than a head knowledge; it is spiritual. We learn to know it by the fact that it becomes what we love. To know means it is something that is intimately bound to us. It is our heart searching for His obedience and righteousness; He was obedient unto death. He died once unto sin, ROM 6:10. We must learn by His example as well as His verbal teachings. They are flesh crucifying instructions, but we must learn to know them and join ourselves to them so they become a part of us. Those teachings include His emphasis upon God's wrath upon sin and our condemnation for sin; thereby we acknowledge our guilt for sin. That is also a part of knowing Christ as a Prophet. We will never become travelers upon the narrow way until our actions and attitudes prove by obedience of faith that what God says is true. He says in ISA 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." We must know that we have nothing to offer but a new desire which is the gift of the new birth. The law is spiritual; the Lord looks upon the heart and our thoughts and desires. He creates the new man within us that hungers after righteousness and true holiness. That new man strives and labors in agony and travail to walk in the strait and narrow way from a motive of love for the One who first loved us. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another," 1JO 4:10-11. Learning to know Christ as Priest is through the exercise of repentance. The gospel begins with the preaching of repentance to enter in at the strait gate. MAT 4:17 says, "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That is where the gospel begins, and if we miss that first step, we have missed the gate. That is awesome. By missing that first door of the gospel, we've missed the strait gate, and we are on the broad road. We must know that the gospel begins with repentance. What does Jesus mean by "the kingdom of heaven is at hand."? He means it is here, not something we look for in the future. We must enter now. As we enter that strait gate, we begin walking under the kingship of Christ. We are then walking under Christ's rule to serve God. "Repent...the kingdom of heaven is at hand." We are commanded to turn from our evil ways and begin walking under the lordship of Christ. Christ's forerunner came to "prepare the way of the Lord." How did John the Baptist prepare the way of the Lord? He prepared the people to appear before "the Lamb of God" who was coming to make the great atonement as the High Priest of His church. He was preparing the way by preaching repentance instead of following the Pharisaical letter of the law. He was teaching the spirit of the law to prepare us. Now see why it is necessary to begin with repentance in the way of preparation. No person will ever come before Christ, the Lamb of God, while he continues in sin. The Lamb of God is the atonement, which opens the way to a pardon. Don't ever claim a part in the pardon through Christ's atonement until you understand repentance. You are hypocritical to continue in sin and claim a pardon; you must come in the way of repentance in preparation to be able to come to the Lamb of God. That title, the Lamb of God, shows the offering Jesus made for sin; it was the appeasing of God's wrath upon sin. Do you think that God would be pleased to look at the blood of Christ as appeasing His wrath on sin so you and I can continue living in sin? That is a most satanic thought. It is so important to understand that John the Baptist came as Christ's forerunner, preaching repentance. How did John the Baptist prepare and make the people ready for Jesus? Notice the steps through which he lead the people and the order they followed; they repented, confessed their sins that they died unto sin, and admitted their just condemnation to death by being buried in baptism in the river Jordan. That is the significance of baptism. It is a profession that we are being buried, acknowledging our just condemnation unto death for our sin. How did John the Baptist do that? By demanding repentance first. The idea that we can baptize people who have never been regenerated by the Holy Spirit is blasphemy because it reverses this concept. It is trying to come under the blood of Christ while saying that someday we will turn from our evil ways. When we are baptized, we are professing that we are dead to sin, we have been raised again unto a newness of life. We see this in ROM 6:2-4, "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." MAT 3:1-3 says, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [This is exactly what Christ commands us.] For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." He prepared the way by preaching repentance and the remission of sins. Repent, walk in the ways of the Lord, and come under the kingship of the Lord. There is no Scriptural authority for baptizing any person who has not repented and turned from sin. MAT 3:5-9 tells us, "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. [Repentance and the confession of sin came ahead of baptism]. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet [fit in character] for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham." Do you think a person has a right or title to baptism because he is the seed of Abraham? The Lord Jesus said the seed of Abraham are the people who do the works of Abraham. John the Baptist was teaching us that repentance precedes baptism. There is no such thing as claiming to be the seed of Abraham outside of repentance. We must do the works of Abraham. GAL 3:29 says, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Becoming the spiritual seed of Abraham comes through the work of regeneration and by entering the strait gate. That makes us children of Abraham. The gospel does not abolish the law, and therefore it requires us to honour the law with a true remorse over our transgressions of that law and a firm resolution to honour that law with a firm and solemn desire to be spared from future sin. Can we come to Christ for a pardon without having repentance? The answer is NO! That is the very thing Jesus is cautioning against in our text; it is the broad-road church where one can take all their heart sins along on the way. Every heart sin must be placed on the altar. You and your sins must part before you and your God will ever come together in reconciliation. God cannot have anything to do with sin or the sinner. God is holy and righteous. Until that new man is created in you, until there has been true remorse and sorrow over having offended God by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, there is no way you can claim a pardon. Sorrow and remorse over the sin itself, not just the consequences of sin, is the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Learning to know Christ as King is through the exercise of a complete surrender to God and His will. The Lord Jesus is first known as the King of Righteousness and then as the King of Peace. The King of Righteousness teaches His just condemnation of the law upon sin; we must understand God's just and righteous wrath upon sin before we will ever know Him as the King of Peace. We can see this in HEB 7:1-2, "For this Melchisedec [The Lord Jesus Christ is a priest after the order of Melchisedec], king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace." First, we must come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of Righteousness and the righteous demands the Father makes upon us under the law. Then when we enter the strait gate, going forward in the narrow way, the Lord then looks upon us with a pardon. After repentance has been worked in the heart we start learning to know Him as the King of Peace. There is another gate beside the strait gate. Our text says "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." This gate stands wide open. It is called "The course of this world." It is open to all self-will and self-gratification. Those who enter therein have no need to walk under the kingdom of Christ. Do you know why? They have their own king. EPH 2:2 says, "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Do you see who their king is? This is the broad road where the gate is open so wide that SELF, i.e., self-righteousness and self-gratification, can enter; the golden rule can be mocked all along the way. However, there is no bottom when you enter the wide gate; you fall off the end of the broad road into the bottomless pit. The very width of that gate is what renders it so attractive to the carnal mind. One does not have to sacrifice anything and there is no struggle. One does not have to stand up for what is right because that would be considered judgmental. It lets each person decide for himself what is acceptable. It is to be as God without sacrificing any pet desires and sins. Men can walk in the ways of their heart, doing whatever is acceptable in their eyes; they can give a loose rein to their lusts and few people traveling along this road with them will reprove or hinder them. That makes it most attractive; it is a true democracy. They also have the majority which makes the reprover a troublemaker. The number of reprovers on the narrow way are few. All men by nature are typified by Lot and his wife. They would never have left the city of destruction until the Lord sent His messengers to pluck them as a brand from the burning. The city was burnt with fire and brimstone, but they were led out by an angel from heaven. Whether you or I realize it or not, those are the ones who enter the strait gate. The Lord comes with His messengers to pluck them from the wide road. He comes with His Holy Spirit to give them a new desire, a new will, and creates in them the new man after righteousness and true holiness. He renews the spirit of their mind and gives them the desire to walk in the narrow way. He plucks them as a brand from the burning. In PRO 14:12 we read, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Even our best righteousness falls so short. The Lord Jesus Christ has gone before us; He has become the Author and Finisher of our faith. As we enter the strait gate, our eyes are lifted to the perfect righteousness of Christ. Our text is synonymous with what the Lord told Israel in JER 21:8, "And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death." In our text the Lord is setting before us the strait and narrow way and the broad road; it is the way of life, and the way of death. The way of life is the difficult way because one must stand up for the Lord's will, and honor Him by our walk in the narrow way that is encompassed with many obstacles. The multitude are the broad-road "church." These two gates open the way to two different destinations, and there is no second chance to repent after this life. It is so important for us to understand this. Which gate we have entered determines the way we walk in this life. We may not spend this life complacently walking the broad road filled with friends and self-gratification, then look for a short cut to heaven after we die. It is awesome when we learn to realize that on the Judgment Day our actions shall be judged by the golden rule. See what Jesus said in MAT 25:33-46, "And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For [because] I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal." We can't worry about being called a goody-goody and try to stay on the good side of everyone, then try to find the way to heaven after we die. There is no recourse after death because there is a gulf between the two ways that makes the passage impossible. Look at LUK 16:26, "And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." The gulf is one of unrepented, unpardoned sin. As the tree falls, so shall it lie. There is no repentance after this life. No one will enter the strait gate after death. That gulf of unrepented, unforgiven sins is an impassable barrier to God. No one can come to the Father unless he comes by the Son, and it must be done in this life. Entering into the strait gate means to unconditionally surrender all your own ideas and receive the truth as a little child. Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," MAT 18:3. We will not walk the narrow way until everything of self has been denounced. Our own pride and righteousness must go; then we can come as little children asking the Lord to show us His will. Remember, that was the first response of the Apostle Paul when he saw the light. "And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" ACT 9:6a. It was at that point Paul entered the strait gate. To the Apostle Paul it indeed was a strait gate, was it not? Look at the difficulties he encountered and all the obstacles he had to walk through. Why? He had entered the strait gate to travel the narrow way to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus so clearly shows us that we are not to follow the multitude. EXO 23:2 says, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment." Neither do you stand up for one who is wrong and condemn the one who is standing up for what is right. Verse 14 of our text begins with the word Because which constitutes an explanation of why the vast multitude choose the broad road! "Because strait is the gate..." it is narrow, surrounded by obstacles where one must stand up for what is right regardless of the cost. "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it," MAT 7:14. The multitude can pat us on the back and tell us what a wonderful Christian we are. Is that a sign of a true Christian? A dead fish can float with the stream, but it takes a live fish to swim against the current. Think about it. Jesus is saying that entering the strait gate is not an end in itself; those who enter must also walk in the narrow way if life is to be obtained! Entering the gate is only the first step; it is walking in the narrow way that leads us to life. It is by walking in that way and overcoming the obstacles that we will have life. See this in context with V:21-23, "Not every one 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. [The Lord is telling us to clean up our act. Stop walking in the ways of sin, and start walking under the banner and teachings of Christ.] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [That is a summary of the broad-road church.] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Jesus concludes His Sermon on the Mount with this exhortation in MAT 7:24-27, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock [That is to enter the strait gate and walk in the way that leads to life. It is to hear His sayings and do them; that is building upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the authority of His Word!]: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." How are the winds blowing upon your house? Persecution is one test. When the winds of persecution blow upon a person's house, if he is living and walking according to the Word of God, he will stand because his house is built upon the Rock. The unregenerate people can't stand the test when "persecution ariseth because of the Word," MAT 13:21. They float down the stream like a dead fish. They float with the crowd unable to stand when the winds blow for they are not doing what the Lord Jesus Christ commanded. They never entered the strait gate; they won't walk in the narrow way. That is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. It is so precious; we must understand how the Lord Jesus Christ shows us from the beginning to the end how repentance and remorse over sin, then turning from sin to stand upon the authority of His Word is building upon the Rock. Amen. |
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