Dr. Bradford Reaves
CrossWay Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
We come now to what I consider to be the conclusion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, beginning in verse 13 to verse 27. Here, Jesus will sum up his sermon by poignantly and clearly stating that the way to heaven is not easy, nor based on self-righteousness. His conclusion has four points to it, and we will cover 1 each week.
The first part of Jesus’ conclusion has to do with the road or gate that leads to heaven (vv. 13-14). The second are the dangers along that path and how to recognize false teachers (vv. 15-19). The third deals with the rejection of the hypocritical and counterfeit believers (vv. 21-23). Finally, Jesus concludes with the necessity of believers to build their lives on the rock of God’s Word (vv. 24-27).
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13–14)
Philosopher Peter Kreeft says, "If all roads lead to the same place, it makes no ultimate difference which road we take.” Looking at the passage I just read, it is quite obvious that that is not what Jesus is teaching. In fact, I hope in some way you are finding Jesus’ words frightening and alarming as he brings about the climax of his sermon. Because that’s exactly what he wants to do - wake you up and shutter.
Jesus is clear throughout his ministry that there is only one way to heaven - faith in him.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (1 Timothy 2:5)
In fact, this entire passage we are studying this morning is setting us up to read the most shocking words found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” In many ways, that is contrary to what we are sometimes taught. What Jesus is saying in this morning’s passage is that a decision has to be made between two gates, two paths, two crowds, and two destinations. There is no middle road; there is no alternate path. He is crystal clear - you chose the gate you want to enter and the path you want to go, but only the narrow and narrow paths will take you to where you are heading. The other leads to destruction.
Now, we constantly make decisions in our lives. Just this year, Andrea and I had to make some very important decisions. After someone ran into our car, we had to decide what kind of car we were going to buy. We needed to decide where we were going to send Noah to school. We needed to decide where we were going on vacation. We needed to decide if we were eating Mexican or Italian. Every day we make decisions and have to find the best solution.
Sometimes we make a bad choice. The line in the grocery store we chose was slow. The chicken wasn’t as good as the steak. The response to my boss was wrong. The words I said to my spouse was in poor taste. I should’ve taken the other job. I should not have had that drink or taken those drugs. But there is no greater choice we make in life than if we will put our faith in God or the world. The narrow gate or the wide gate. This is nothing new that Jesus is saying because God makes it very clear in Deuteronomy and Joshua that the choice is ours.
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. (Deuteronomy 30:15–18)
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
Here, when Jesus is talking about the Narrow Gate and the Wide Gate, he is saying the same things. There are no fence sitters. Choose which one you will enter through and then go through it. This isn’t about doing good works; it is about trusting God and choosing to follow Him. The natural result of following Him will be good works, not the other way around. If you are truly following Jesus, the inherent result will cause us to live differently and have a heart to love and please God.
In other words, Jesus is the crux of every man’s destiny. In fact, all the way through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts true religion – His standards – and false religion – the religion of the day, the religion of man. Now, at the close of his sermon, he is leaving us with an imperative and urgent choice - which gate are you going through? Which road are you going to travel? What will the fruit of your life be like? Where are you going to build your house?
All roads are marked as roads to heaven, but one and only one will get you there. You see, there are the false religious systems of this world and the Cross of Christ, two religious systems. You say, “How can you say that?” Because every religious system in the world, except one, boils life down to what you are going to do to please God. Except for Christianity, which says, God has done it all in Christ. That’s the narrow way.
The wide gate is the religion of human achievement, and it comes under myriads of different titles, but it’s all the same satanic system. Tragically, most of humanity is on the road of human achievement. Jesus is saying, “Look, there are two roads marked ‘to heaven.’ One is the narrow, compressed road of divine righteousness. The other is the broad road of human righteousness.”
Both ways are marked with the way to heaven, but only one is marked by divine intervention. Both ways say they point to God. Both ways say they point to salvation. Both ways say the point to blessings. Both ways say they point to heaven. Both ways will not get you there because one road is built on self-righteousness and the other road is built on the divine.
Jesus said before you even get on the road, you must first enter through the gate. And when he said you must enter in through the gate, he said it with an aorist of urgency. “You must enter in through this way. You can only enter in through these terms.” Meaning you must abandon your self-righteousness and you must forsake every other way. The wide gate leads to destruction; the broad gate leads to salvation. The only way to get through that gate is by me. Furthermore, you must go through the gate. It is not enough to admire it or cheer at it. You must go through it. There is no other way. If there were 50 ways to get to heaven, then I would preach on the 50 ways to heaven. There is only one. Jesus.
“I am the bread of life; (John 6:35)
“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
"I am the door" (John 10:7)
"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11)
"I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25)
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life." (John 14:6)
“I am the true vine (John 15:1)
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (1 Timothy 2:5)
Secondly, you must enter alone. When Jesus said the gate is narrow, he meant it is very narrow - think of a turnstile. Only one person can get through. In other words, there is no group admission to heaven. You don’t get to heaven just because you are Jewish. You will not get to heaven because you belong to any nationality. You will not get to heaven because you belong to a denomination or even a church. All of our lives, we follow a crowd. Not so with heaven. The road to salvation is through Jesus and Jesus alone.
For to this end, we toil and strive because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:10)
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
Thirdly, you must enter through the gate with great difficulty. The reason is because it requires you to let go of all the worldly possessions. All the idols. All of the things of this world. Think of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus.
?And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:17–18)
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:21–23)
There is no mass salvation. No, raise your hand, and you are in the club. You must work out your salvation and wrestle with the things of this world in order to let go of them and enter through the gate.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession...Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." (Luke 13:24)
Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (1 Corinthians 9:25)
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. (John 6:66)
“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3)
In other words, the only way through the narrow gate is to become utterly dependent upon God. As long as you are trusting in the things of this world, its idols, its wealth, its possessions, it is impossible to enter in through the gate.
Lastly, you must enter in through the gate repentantly.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:10–12)
Salvation is marked by a change in life. That is the external evidence of a spiritual rebirth - a death to self. That’s repentance. It is not merely regretting your sin or feeling sorry for your sin. It is the transformation of your mind to turn away from sin. The short biblical definition of repentance is “a change of mind that results in a change of action.” (GotQuestions)
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10)
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
“Repentance grows as faith grows. Do not make any mistake about it; repentance is not a thing of days and weeks, a temporary penance to be got over as fast as possible! No; it is the grace of a lifetime, like faith itself. God's little children repent, and so do the young men and the fathers. Repentance is the inseparable companion of faith.” (Spurgeon)
The wide gate is a promise of “your best life now.” It is Jesus with a topping of cream and sprinkles, and everyone flocks to it, but it is a path of destruction. Satan doesn’t stand up and say follow me… he creates 10,000 deceptive, false ways, but there is only one true way: through the narrow gate entered in by Jesus alone with great difficulty and cost, forsaking all others, including yourself. That’s the only way you will fit through that gate.
For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)
The gate is not easy. Jesus said in Luke 13:24, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” The word translated strive is aganizomai, which is where we get our English word, agonize. Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me… and by the way, it will cost you everything, including your life.
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 21:18–19)
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)
Jesus never said the road to heaven was easy. When Jesus told us to enter through the narrow gate, he was letting us know that the way is only through him; it’s not easy to get through; you can only get through it alone and with a repentant heart, letting go of everything else, and it would be difficult. We are not to just stand and look at it, think about it, and complain that it’s too small, too difficult, or unjustly narrow. We are not to make excuses or delay. We are to press through with urgency and then beckon others to do the same. The cost is great, but the rewards are eternal.
