The Narrow Way of the Kingdom
Kingdom Living June 29, 2025 Matthew 7:13-14 Notes
As we’ve studied His sermon, we’ve seen how Jesus has laid out what it looks like to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. Now, as He closes, He calls us to a decision, to a choice. Whose kingdom will you choose? And it’s this choice that we’re discussing today. It’s a simple choice. For Jesus only offers two options: the wide gate or the narrow gate.
That confronts our desire for spiritual autonomy. It challenges the mindset that we can take a little bit of Christianity, a little bit of self-help, and maybe sprinkle in some Eastern philosophy and end up just fine. But Jesus doesn’t leave room for a middle path! And that’s why we need this message today. Because the narrow way isn’t just hard to find—it’s easy to reject. Not because it’s unclear, but because it’s unpopular. And yet, it’s the only way that leads to real and lasting life.
In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus began to conclude His sermon by warning His first-century Jewish audience that there were only two spiritual paths, the broad way that leads to destruction and the narrow way that leads to life, and He instructed them to enter through the narrow gate.
Audio
Good morning, church. It’s good to see you. We're continuing our series through the Sermon on the Mount. It's found in Matthew 5-7.
We've entitled this series, “Kingdom Living.” It's been said that this sermon is the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived. We've been going verse by verse and we're getting close to the end. We're in chapter seven; He's starting to conclude His sermon.
He's given us the principles, the character and what life in the Kingdom is to look like for Kingdom citizens. Now, He's
starting to close. If it were Billy Graham preaching this sermon, he would say, “The buses will wait.” That's where He's at right now.
The buses will wait. Come forward because Jesus is about to offer a fourfold set of pairs, four sets of pairs that are like an “either” or “choice.” This morning, we're going to be looking at the “narrow gate” versus the “wide gate.”
Then, in the next couple of weeks as He closes, He'll be talking about two different kinds of fruit that people bear. What kind of fruit? This kind or that kind. Then, two different types of confessions of faith. Then finally, He'll talk to us about two types of builders that build on two different types of foundations.
Today, we're just going to focus on those two gates, the narrow gate and the wide gate. They all emphasize something slightly different about entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Now, as we've studied this sermon, we've seen how Jesus has described what it looks like for citizens of the kingdom to live. He calls us to a decision. He goes, ‘Okay, so this is what it looks like to live in the Kingdom.’
How about you? Will you enter into the narrow gate? Because entering into the narrow gate means you're saying, ‘Yes, I want to call Jesus King. I want to live in the Kingdom.’ So, a choice is before us.
It's a simple choice because it only offers two options. It's simple, but it's not easy because the fact that there are only two choices causes us a problem. As you consider our culture, our culture celebrates options. I mean, we're Americans. We love a “buffet.”
We love a lot of choices. We love a menu that's got a lot of items. We want to make sure, ‘Is that fat free?
Is that gluten free?’ We must have a lot of choices.
We need options. And if we take a survey, it better not just be “yes” or “no” choices. There should be some “undecideds.” There should be, “I'm not sure” choices. If it's multiple choice, we want options.
When we think about religion, you'll often hear people say, ‘Well, that's what you believe. I believe there are many paths to heaven, that heaven's like on the top of a mountain and you can just start anywhere as long as you climb the mountain.’ So we believe there are many paths, many choices. But when we come to the words of Jesus, He doesn't give a “menu;” He doesn't give a “buffet” of answers.
He doesn't offer a “customized” journey. He gives two gates, two ways and two destinations and He says only one of them leads to life. This is simple but challenging. It challenges the mindset that we have.
Couldn't I just go through the religious buffet line and get a little Christianity? There's some parts I like. Oh, wait a minute; over there are some “self help” books. Can I put that in my buggy? Maybe, a little Eastern mysticism and some new age. That's what I believe.
I'm going to choose what I believe. That's what the culture says. But Jesus says that there's really only two gates. And by the fact that you're thinking that way, you've chosen one of them.
That's challenging to our culture today. That's why we need this message, because the narrow way isn't just hard to find, it's easy to reject.
It's not because it's unclear. It's because it's unpopular. The narrow way is not popular,
yet, it's the only way, Jesus says, that leads to life.
So, what's at stake is not just making a decision. We live in a culture today that people are slow to commit. I don't want to commit; I have the fear of missing out.
I'm afraid to commit now because I don't know if I…But Jesus calls us to commit. He calls us to make a choice and what's at stake is eternal life. In Matthew, chapter 7, Jesus began to conclude His sermon by warning His Jewish audience that was listening there on the mount.
He's beginning to wind it down now. He says that there's a wide road that many of you are on that leads to destruction, but I say to you, enter into the narrow gate, because that leads to life. I believe today we can choose to follow Jesus and enter the narrow gate that leads to life. As we look at the sermon today, I think that Jesus gives three reasons why this gate is the narrow gate and why it's the only way to life.
So, let's look. There are two verses today. You're thinking, ‘Really? Just two verses?’ Well, you'll see; it's power packed.
Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV) 13 “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.”
This is God's word. Amen. We're looking for three reasons that Jesus said the narrow way is the only way to life. Here's the first reason:
1. Because it requires an individual choice.
It requires an individual choice. Your mom can't make it for you. Your dad can't make this choice for you. Your spouse can't make it for you. You can't go up as a group and say, ‘I want the group rate.’
It's an individual choice that has the peculiarity of it being narrow, the gate is narrow, one at a time kind of choice. It's for you to engage. Now I say “choice;” it's really a mystery because it's Jesus, in His spirit, who woos us, Who knocks on the door of our hearts. He's the one who actually seeks us before we ever seek Him.
But, as the scripture says, “For by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves is a gift of God.” So, even our faith is a gift. So, it's a mystery. We are responsible to answer,
but, He's helping us if we would. Jesus says in the text here, He says, “Enter by the narrow gate.” That's how He starts.
The Greek verb that we translate, “enter,” is in the imperative; that means it's a command. He's really getting our attention. I've preached this whole sermon to you about what it means to live in the Kingdom, enter the narrow gate, get off the wide path and enter the narrow gate. It's an imperative, but it's almost like He's inviting us.
As we read in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” You've probably seen the classic artwork of Jesus knocking at a door. You've seen that, haven't you? The artist who made it had
someone come to him and he says to him, ‘Man, you messed up. You forgot something.’ The artist says to him, ‘What did I forget?’ and the person says, ‘You forgot the doorknob.’
The artist says, ‘No, I didn't, because the doorknob to the heart is only on the inside.’
So, there's a mystery of this idea of Him choosing us and us choosing Him. You may sense the Spirit drawing you, knocking at your heart and you have a sense of wanting to obey Christ's invitation, His command to enter. If you say “no” today or you say, “wait” because we always say that and we don't want to commit. Let me think about it. I really believe.
Every time we say “no,” every time we say “wait,” it's as if another layer of callous forms across the heart so that we become harder and harder of spiritual hearing. Be careful. Jesus says, “enter;” it's an individual choice because it's a narrow gate. He contrasts all these words.
They're all like opposites. We have narrow and wide gates. We have narrow and wide ways. We have easy and hard ways. We have many who go through the wide gate and few who go through the narrow gate.
Do you see all of these antonyms, all of these opposites? Jesus is putting the “cookies on the bottom shelf” so even the little kids can get this. There's two paths: One is easy; everybody's doing it.
It's a wide gate. The crowd, many are going that way. But there's this narrow gate that only one person at a time can go and they have to be answering My call. They have to hear Me saying, ‘Enter, come on in’ and we say, ‘yes.’
And it's that my of He's asking me, and I'm saying, ‘yes.’ Only a few will find it.
Yeah, but I wish there were more choices. This is what Jesus says here. That's the rhythm of the whole scripture. There are two paths, not three, not five, but two
and few will find it. I think it's because you're not looking. We're not really looking. We're looking for a lot of things. We're not really looking for this.
We're busy with life. So, you can't find something if you're not looking for it. If you find this, I'll tell you when we'll look for it. When we're in trouble, when we're hurting, when we've lost someone we love, when we're having trouble in Our marriage, when one of our teenagers is rebelling, when the doctor gave us bad news, when we lose our job, when your girlfriend breaks up with you. I mean, I get to go on, right?
These are all days when you might hit bottom and you might say, God help me, you might look. I'm not saying you'll find it because you might look in the wrong place. But if you look and you hear his voice, a few of you will find it.
You'll find Jesus. And he's the one inviting you into the kingdom. And what does it mean to come into the kingdom? It means to recognize Jesus as king, that he's the king, he's the boss, he's the master of your life. And he died for your sins.
This is why Joshua, as they were entering into the promised land, he turned to the Israelites and he said, there's a choice before you. And he says, choose this day whom you will serve. Choose who you will worship. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. What have you chosen?
How have you responded? Have you entered the narrow gate? It's narrow because it only allows one at a time.
As a father and as a grandfather, one of the most terrifying things about being a parent or a grandparent is that you can't choose for them. You can teach them. You can try your best to lead them. Oh, the desperate prayers my wife and I have prayed. “Lord, change their hearts.
Draw them to You.” Do you understand me, parents? They have to decide. Each of them on their own.
What is this gate? What's its name? I'm looking for it. Jesus makes that simple. Here's what He says in John 10:9-10 (NIV)
9 “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” To have it more abundantly full and overflowing. Jesus says, “I am the gate.” “Gate” has a name. It's narrow.
Only one at a time. Jesus is the one inviting us in. A couple years ago, my wife and I visited our missionaries in Istanbul, Turkey. We have two families there that our church supports, and they're still there today. We stay in constant contact with them and we got to go see them.
We spent about ten days over there. We often traveled the metro in Istanbul. It's a subway system. In fact, you can ride the Metro to almost anywhere in Istanbul.
But, if you're going to ride the metro, you have to get a ticket and there'll be a machine. You walk down these steep flights of stairs. You get down, way down under the city and there's a machine there. You pay and you get a ticket. Then, you go over to these things called “turnstiles.” Do you know what a turnstile is?
You hope and pray that the ticket works, because there's soldiers standing around most of these. You do that and the gate opens and it closes right behind you, because it only permits one at a time. You have to have a ticket. You have to have a ticket. You've probably been to sporting events like this.
You've been to different places that have a turnstile that only allows one at a time. Have you ever stood outside of it and said, ‘I just don't believe in one at a time. Why don't they offer a group rate?’ No, you don't do that. You accept the fact that it makes sense, that it's one at a time and everyone has to have a ticket.
You understand that. The same is true of what Jesus says. It's a narrow gate. Every individual must come, as an act of the will and say “I do” to Jesus.
That's what we saw earlier at our first service, and then we showed the video of it just a moment ago. Every one of these six baptism candidates, I asked them, “Do you repent of your sin? Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” Each of them had to respond. There's only one person at a time in front of me in the baptismal font. There's only one at a time in the baptistry
and each of them is engaging a central question
that they are to answer. The baptism doesn't save them. It's the confession of the faith in Jesus that saves them. Baptism just lets everybody else know Who they're following. The way I say it in the service is it's like putting the wedding ring on. It lets everybody know you're married.
It lets everybody know you've said “yes” to Jesus. The narrow gate is like a turnstile. Have you bought your ticket? Have you received Jesus? Only one at a time.
What's the cost of the ticket? Well, Jesus has already paid for it. The cost is saying, “I do. I surrender my life to You. I recognize that You're the Son of God, that You're the Christ, that You're the gate.’
The only way to be right with the Father is through the Son. It's a decision of saying, “yes.” Jesus is the gate. He invites you to enter the narrow gate. Going to church, being born or brought up in a Christian family, there's no group rate. As the old preacher said, “You can go stand in the garage, but it doesn't make you an automobile. You can come to church, but that doesn’t make you a Christian.”
It's a decision back to the will, a surrender of life to Jesus. This is the first reason that the gate is narrow. It's one at a time. It's an individual commitment. Here's the second:
2. Because it demands personal heart change.
Because it demands personal heart change. It demands personal heart change. So this narrow gate leads to a narrow way and this way is described. If you go through the wide gate, there's a broad way, a wide way, that's easy.
But the narrow gate leads to a narrow way that's hard; it's difficult. Let's think about this for a second. What is Jesus saying? When we use the word, “way,” in the Bible, it almost always implies a way of life, a mindset, a way of thinking about life or a way of life.
He says,in verse 13, “...For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” The wide gate leads to a broad way, an easy way. I think it's kind of like this: A couple of weeks ago, in fact, the Friday before last, one of my best friends, we went to college together, called me up. We've been trying to work this out for several months. He tells me, “I want to come down on my Harley.
I want us to spend a day riding bikes together.” It’s been a while since I've ridden my bike. In fact, I was sore for three days after this. We rode all day.
We went to the coast and ate at a restaurant and so forth. I wanted to make sure on the journey that we didn't take highways because we're on bikes and I didn't want to have to go really fast. We were doing it for the journey, right? So, I wanted back roads; I was trying to get Google.
Someone told me after the first service, “You know, you can hit a button there that tells you not to use highways.” I didn't know that. So, you know, I'm an old guy, you know, that's why some of you around here call me the “OG,” okay? I can't help it, but I'm learning, you know. I still can learn, but anyway, I didn't know that.
So it kept trying to take me to four-lane highways, because if you just leave it on its default setting, which is apparently what I had been doing, it defaults to highways. So it not only tries to give you the shortest way, but the
easiest way. We have an algorithm in our hearts. It's called “sin nature,” that wants the easy way out.
We want to take the shortcut, the easy way. What I told my friend Tim was, “Okay, I'm going to try to follow it because I have my phone.” I've got a little holder that holds my phone. I tried to just take old country roads all the way to the coast.
We might have gotten lost a couple of times, but we did it. The narrow way is hard; there's a lot of curves.
You can scare yourself. Oh, boy, that's a steep curve. I probably should have slowed way down. I could have gone off the road. But the easy way, man, you can set your cruise and just lean back on the interstate going 75, maybe 70.
The speed limit. I'm a preacher. I should probably just go 69, right? I should do 70, right? What do you think, Tyler?
Yes, that's a good, public way of talking about it; it's easy.
But, the narrow way, He's already described. What is the narrow way? Well, we just go back to chapter five and read forward and catch up.
The narrow way is not only you must love your neighbor, you're supposed to love your enemies. The narrow way is to stop calling your brother “empty head” because that's the same as committing murder. Stop lusting after a woman with your eyes, because that's the same as committing adultery in your heart. He just keeps on, and it gets more narrow, whereas the world says, ‘Whatever,
anything goes, you do you.’ We like that. In fact, our sin nature defaults to that. I get to choose. I can have a menu of things.
I can be what I want to be. We're all born that way. I remember my oldest son, Stephen. His first sentence. I think it was his first sentence.
You know, every little kid learns to say, “Dada” and “Mama.” For most of my kids, the next word they learned was “no,” because they heard that a lot. They tend to repeat the words they've heard a lot. But Stephen’s first sentence that I remember was he said, “I do it myself.”
I don't know if we were trying to put his shoes on. I don't know what we were doing, but already he had that heart that we're all born with, “I do it myself.” We're all born with that. My way, myself. But, getting on this narrow pathway means leaving behind who I used to be.
It means dropping our baggage, what we used to carry. It means letting go of things we thought we loved that turned out to be idols. It's a narrow road.
What's the name of this road? We know we went through the Jesus gate to get on it. Well, here's what Jesus says in John 14:6. He says, John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It's a Jesus gate and it's a Jesus way, and we're to follow Jesus, empowered by Jesus.
Nobody could walk the narrow way but Jesus; He walked it for us. But then we can walk it now, empowered by Him.
It's not easy because the people on the wide road are constantly saying, ‘Come over here.
Come enjoy the party over here. We're having a big time over here.’ Maybe, they even make fun of us and pick on us. No, no. I want to follow the narrow way. I want to follow Jesus.
There's a certain lifestyle He's called us to. In fact, here's what He said to His disciples. He said that there's a cost to this narrow way. In Luke 9:23 (ESV), he says, And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
He says that the narrow way means saying “no” to my way and “yes” to the way of Jesus. That's what makes it narrow. Paul describes it like this. He says in Galatians 2:20 (NLT) “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” So now, as I walk the narrow way, I'm following Him. But He also, by His Spirit, lives in me so that I'm able to walk the narrow path. The narrow way. Have you traveled by air lately?
It used to be so much fun back in the late 70’s, 80’s, even in the 90’s, prior to 911, it was kind of a fun thing to do. Your family and friends could come and see you off. They didn't have to go through tickets and all that stuff and checkpoints. They could just sit and wave at you from the window as you boarded the plane. It was so much easier then.
You never had strip searches. You never had to hold your hands up and go through X rays. A lot of people used to dress up. I remember wearing a suit and tie in the 80’s, especially when I would be traveling with the corporation I worked for, they would actually give you silverware with food in those days. It's changed now. They've got so many rules. Stuff you can carry on and stuff you can't carry on. Extra charges for your first checked bag and then extra for your second checked bag.
They have to weigh it. By the way, if you fly internationally, not everybody has the same rules. So, you'll leave home and you'll have your baggage. You walk through the TSA checkpoint and you're holding your pants up because they took your belt.
You're walking barefoot because they took your shoes, right? Then, when they spit your stuff out on the other end on all these stainless steel tables, you're trying to get all that stuff back and there's crowds all around you. It's an anxious moment.
But now, you got your stuff, you've cleared, and then you get to a foreign country and there's a different rule. You're gonna have to leave some of your stuff behind. I remember leaving Rwanda a few years ago. We were on a mission trip and we were getting ready to leave. It's time to go home.
This stuff I was carrying, I had carried all over the world. I had carried it from RDU to JFK over there to London, flown from London to Kenya, from Kenya to Kigali, Rwanda and caught a bus to Uganda. Now, I'm going to go do it all in reverse. Same stuff. I’ve been carrying it the whole way, checking it, going through customs, holding my pants up the whole way.
They stopped me in Rwanda. A lady pulls out a pair of fingernail clippers in my little carry on bag. She asks, “What's this?” I said, “Fingernail clippers.” She then asks, “What's this?”
I said, “I think that's a fingernail file.” She says, “It’s sharp on the end. You can't carry that on.” It's that big (picturing a very small file);
it has been around the world. I got that like 30 years ago. It was gold in a little leather pouch. I think I got it from one of the first weddings I did like 30 years ago as a pastor. This face is just looking at me saying, “You can't take that guy on the way.
If you break that off, maybe you can.” I said to her, “You can have it. Just take it. Here, you want the leather pouch, too? They go together.”
I was irritated. Sometimes when you have a sentimental attachment to something you love, something you almost wish you could just say, ‘I'm not even going to get on your plane without my fingernail clippers.’
I was tired. Then I remembered I got all these other believers from the church on the mission trip and I figured, well, I am the pastor. I probably shouldn't say anything else. Just let them have my fingernail clippers. It's a narrow path because it's strewn on either side.
If you could open your eyes spiritually and see the people that have gone before you, that as they grow in Christ, they've been casting off every sin, every burden and every idol that keeps them from following Jesus.
It's narrow because you can't take all that stuff with you. You gotta let that stuff go, that bitterness, that unforgiveness, that lack of reconciliation, that racism, that judgment, that tying your identity up in things of this world rather than in Jesus, Who is your savior, little by little. It's narrow because they won't let you check your bag with that stuff. It's a narrow way.
Jesus said that it's the only way to life. The “narrow” means we have to be ready to let go of some baggage. Some of the stuff you're carrying right now won't fly.
You need to let it go in order to walk on the narrow path. Christ will stretch you, refine you and grow you; you'll never be the same. The narrow way is going to demand a changed heart that lets go of all this stuff that's been preventing you from following wholeheartedly. Well, that's the second reason. It's narrow.
It's a narrow gate. It's a narrow way.
3. Because it leads to an eternal consequence.
Because it leads to an eternal consequence. It's a narrow gate, a narrow way, because you can only go one at a time. It's an individual choice because it's going to require repentance and heart change. Then, finally, because there are only two destinations at the end of these two roads.
One of the destinations is destruction, He says, and the other is life.
The broad row is popular. It's got all the best lighting. The narrow road, you have to get through some vines. It's kind of overgrown, and you kind of look for it, you have to be suffering a little bit before you'll even notice it.
Then you get on it and you go, ‘Wow, I didn't know I'd still have to go through some of this stuff.’
But at the end, one leads to destruction and one to life. The word, “destruction,” is a word that's almost always translated “destruction.” In the New Testament, it doesn't imply annihilation or ceasing to exist. It more has to do with ruin or loss or utter perishing in a way that is both ongoing and tragic. Dr.
Carson, in his commentary, says “The ‘destruction’ in view is not merely physical death, but eschatological ruin—final rejection by God and exclusion from His presence.” C.S. Lewis said that he thought one of the worst things about hell is not the punishment of hell, but the absence of God, the absence of all goodness, the absence of all blessing.” Whether you're on the broad road, the wide road, or the narrow road, today all of us in this world are still experiencing the goodness of God, the blessing of God. But, there's a destination where we have chosen to be spending eternity apart from God.
It's confusing because the wide road seems to make sense to our human vanity. This is why Solomon writes in Proverbs, Proverbs 14:12 (ESV) “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
A song popped in my head. I think this might have been a country song. If you're old enough, you might remember the lyrics. “If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right.” Do you remember that song?
We delude ourselves into thinking, I can have it my way. Jesus says that the wide road often seems right, but it leads to death. Indeed, Paul talks about this in Romans. He says, Romans 6:23 (ESV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You see the two destinations:
death/destruction or life. Indeed, Jesus was talking to a Pharisee, a teacher, a rabbi named Nicodemus. Nicodemus says, ‘I know that you're a great teacher,’ and Jesus said to him, ‘I'll tell you the truth,
you need to be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Nicodemus says to Him, ‘I'm an old man. How am I supposed to enter back into my mother's womb to be born again?’ Jesus says, ‘you claim to be a teacher in Israel, and you don't understand these spiritual things. I'm talking about spiritual rebirth. You must be born of the Spirit. You must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven.’
Then, Jesus gives him this wonderful verse that we, many of us, have memorized, this wonderful truth. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternal life.”
We have just two destinations.
Here's a sign on a road in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
It easily could have been a sign on one of our roads in Western North Carolina with that hurricane recently, right? Or, it could have been anywhere around Eastern North Carolina after one of the hurricanes. The sign says, “Flooding ahead. Turn around, don't drown.”
Just that sign is going to cause some of us to say. ‘I need to check this out.
I need proof.’
”Turn around. Don't drown.” That's pretty good instruction. “Turn around, don't drown.” I told this at the first service and I now see my daughter here. Her and her mama were in our car,
right after a flash flood, some years ago. Robin, my wife, was driving our Taurus, our little Ford Taurus. They turned down a street; Erin knew a shortcut. They turned down a neighborhood and there was standing water from this sudden thunderstorm. Erin says, “Mama, you can make it.
You can make it, Mama.” So, Robin gunned it and water went over the windshield, went over the hood and the car stalled. Those Tauruses had an aluminum block motor. It cracked.
Robin came to me saying, “Gary.” I said to her, “What, honey?” “Something's wrong with our car.”
Turn around. Don't blow up your motor. That could have been another one. They put a new motor in that car. My wife's playing music next door.
She's over there right now and everybody in the gathering place is looking at her.
Hey, babe, I love you. She didn't know; my daughter didn't know. It didn't look that deep.
I can make it if I jump from here. I think I could land over there. That's just how we're wired. Jesus has put up a sign and I'm holding it up as high as I can.
Today, there's two gates. One's wide and one's narrow. It's two destinations of eternal destiny. You're either on one or the other right now.
I think you know now so that you're without excuse. Which way do you choose? Jesus says, “Enter the narrow gate.”
”Enter the narrow gate,” because that's where life is.
In Deuteronomy, Moses speaking, he says, Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV) “I have set before you life and death… therefore choose life.” I'm going to pray for us right now. Some of you are seated here, some next door and some are watching online.
Let's do business with God right now. Let's make a decision with the spirit of Christ. He's knocking.
What will you do? Will you open the door? Let's pray. “Lord, I pray for that one right now, that your Holy Spirit is stirring them. That they sense the spirit of Christ bidding them to enter into the kingdom.
Would you repent of your sin right now to the Lord?” Pray, “Lord, forgive me of my sin. I know I'm a sinner.
I believe You died on the cross for me, Lord Jesus, and that You were raised from the grave and that You live today. Come and live in me.
Adopt me into your family. Make me a child of God. I will follow You as my Lord, my King and my Savior all the days of my life.
Thank you for saving me.” If you're praying that prayer of faith, believing, the Bible says, “If you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Welcome to the family. Others are here and you're a believer, but you've been trying to hang on to some stuff and it's hard to walk the narrow road and keep carrying that heavy load you've been carrying. Would you surrender that part right now? That part that Jesus is asking you to let go of? He's saying, “Come unto me, you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” So set aside every sin and encumbrance that's slowing you down from following Jesus today. Say it to Him. Give it to Him right now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Audio
So good to see all of you this morning. I'm very thankful for you. We are continuing our sermon series. We've been in the Sermon on the Mount for many weeks now. Believe it or not, we're in week 14.
Some of you have been on that whole journey with us. If you missed any of those, you can go back and check them out at Eastgate Church. But the good news is Christ is building every week on this sermon. These kind of, in a way, stand alone. And so this is a really good message this morning.
I hope we've entitled it the Narrow Way of the Kingdom. And so I'm very thankful to be in this section of Scripture with you. Matthew, chapter five through seven. And we're kind of coming towards the end now. And what's great about this is that Jesus is speaking of this path that he's been talking about, this kingdom, citizenship.
I'm hearing, like a ringing thing. I don't know if y' all are noticing that. Y' all hearing that? Is that just me? It's kind of killing me a little bit.
It's just me. Who said that? Praise God. It could be just me. I don't know.
You catching that, Michael? They got it. Do you see? Now I can relax now. I was starting to feel tense.
I don't want to feel tense. He's ending this sermon series that we've been in for many weeks. And this conclusion is. There's no easy way to put it. He's coming down and saying, all right, it's time to make a decision.
Now, I've told you a lot. There's been these six antitheses that Christ has gone through. You've heard it said. But I say he's talked about some very difficult topics here in the Sermon on the Mount. He begins it with the idea of, like, flipping the world upside down.
The meek shall inherit the kingdom, the poor in spirit. He's done all of this work now here where we're going to be this morning, starting several in a row over the next few weeks. He's presenting us now with. With a choice. And this is.
Honestly, this is just good preaching that every time you preach. And certainly the Savior gets this better than I ever could every time. There should be some sort of opportunity to respond. And Christ is now saying, there is a way in the kingdom that is right and there's another way that isn't. He's going to begin this section, just two verses today, talking about two different gates and two different paths.
And as we've studied this sermon, we've just seen Jesus laying out this imagery about what it looks like to live as kingdom citizens, Kingdom of God. And now as he closes, he says, alright, you have a choice to make. And it presents us, we have to admit, with kind of a problem. The problem really has a lot to do with what we're accustomed to. We are accustomed to the kind of culture that celebrates options.
In fact, we have so many options that anytime I take my kids anywhere to eat, it takes a long time to order. There's just way too many options, you know? And I'm the kind of dad you might have really disliked growing up if you had grown up under my leadership. And I'm the kind of dad that we don't make changes. Alright, you don't want pickles, take them off.
Alright, I'm not ordering no pickles because guess what will happen? I'll get no pickles and I'll be unhappy about that. I like pickles. I order what I see on the menu. The way it's written, I trust the person who's made it, made it correct.
You don't want pickles, take them off. I know that y' all are like, man, that guy's a mess. But that's how I roll. That's how I roll. And we live in a culture that's just options, options.
We all need to be honest at this point. We have so many streaming services that all of us should just go back to cable at this point, right? It's getting crazy. There's a hundred options as what to watch. Your coffee can get so fancy now.
I don't even understand what some people are ordering in front of me now. The spiritual paths even are customizable. We even look at religion this way. We have to admit we live in a culture where the most popular belief is that all roads lead to heaven. They all lead there, as if God is on some mountaintop.
And there's a lot of trails that get there. I have a problem with that. And here is what it is. Jesus. Jesus is my problem.
The fact is, maybe you could believe all these other things, but you can't believe Christianity fits into that because it simply does not. The guy that's at the center of Christianity says it's not how it works. And that's the challenge today. When we come to the words of Jesus, he does not give us a menu. I don't know how that hits you.
I. I don't know if you want buffet religion. I'm very sorry. It's not the Christ of the New Testament. It's just not.
He says there are two ways, and one of them is really common, really easy, and one of them is a little hard to find and a little narrow. And that's all he presents. Two roads, two destinies, two kinds of people, and only one way to life. This idea of a buffet religion isn't polite. Possible.
The mindset that you could have a little bit of Christianity, a little bit of self help, a little sprinkle of philosophy, unless it lines up under the Lord. I'm really thankful for that last song we just sang, because the idea here is, I'm bringing it all to you. I'm bringing it surrendered. That true Christianity is saying, not my way, but yours be done. Not my will, but yours be done.
This is the thing Christ modeled first and now he's calling us to. And so here we're going to be in Matthew, chapter seven. This is really a warning and an instruction all in one. Jesus here warned his listeners of two spiritual paths. A broad way to destruction and a narrow way that leads to life.
And guess what? He has called us. The only imperative here is enter. Enter in the narrow gate. He's not saying, hey, I want you to go down the easy, broad path that leads to destruction.
No, I. I want you to take the skinny, narrow gate. But not everybody will. This is the great news this morning. We can hear God, we can hear Christ speaking and make a decision.
We can continue, even believers in the room to continue to make a decision on this. And I believe Jesus is going to give us three reasons why the narrow way is the only way to life. So let's read these few verses together now. Matthew, chapter 7, 13 and 14. Jesus says, Command, 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. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard. That leads to life.
And those who find it are few. This is God's word. Amen. Let's take it at face value and listen to the words of Jesus today. Jesus said the narrow way of life is the only way to life.
Why? First, because it requires an individual choice. If you're taking notes this morning, this is the first block. It requires an individual choice. The command here, enter is both singular and imperative.
It's a responsibility on each individual person. This isn't. This is what's really scary about being a parent, for one. I'll just put this out here. I can't make this call for my son and my daughters.
I can't that's terrifying, actually. I'm sure it was terrifying for my parents that I can't make this decision. For my parents, my in laws, my friends, my co workers, it is on them to say, I will enter the narrow gate. It's not a cultural default. There's a common phrase that you'll hear down here in the Bible Belt and I just want to.
This might hurt somebody today. I hope it doesn't. But if I come up to you and say, hey, are you a Christian? And you say, yes, I've been a Christian my whole life. I have to tell you that's impossible.
That's not possible. Because becoming a Christian takes a step of faith that you cannot come into the world having made. I can promise you this. Every little kid that I've ever met comes in the world with complete knowledge of how to be sinful and difficult and smacks his sisters and brothers and says no to mommy and daddy. You don't have to teach them how to be disobedient.
They know it. They come in that way. You have to teach them to share. You have to teach them to be obedient. You have to teach them there's this wrongdoing that you are to avoid.
They don't come in knowing how to walk rightly with God. And neither did I. None of us did. Well, maybe that means something to someone. I'd have to continue to question it.
Like if you're saying the reason you're a Christian is because I just am that way. I came in that way. We're missing some steps. There's some other things people say, hey, you know, I'm a Christian because I go to church. I don't like the word because there you.
You could say, I'm a Christian, therefore I go to church because Christ has called us to be in fellowship with each other. It's good to go to church. But that isn't the reason you're a Christian. You see the difference? You following me here for a second?
I'm a Christian because I was raised a Christian. My parents are Christians. I'm sorry, my friend, this is an individual choice that Christ says here. You yourself have to walk through the gate. What is the gate?
Jesus himself, he says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. It comes with faith in him and lordship in Christ Jesus. So it's not a group decision. You can't make this for others.
Christ has called you, every one of you, including me, to enter the narrow gate. Come into. And the idea of narrow here in the King James, it actually says straight. It's where we get the phrase, hey, I'm back on the straight and narrow. That actually comes from the old King James Bible.
But perhaps it's even more accurately put here that it's narrow versus wide, that the narrow gate. It's like the idea Jesus tells one other person who comes speaking to him in Luke chapter 18. He said, it's like a camel going through the eye of a needle. That's how difficult this is for you to find and follow the narrow gate. Whereas the wide gate is broad.
It's wide. Guess what, church, if you're not in Christ, you're on the wide gate because that's the default. You don't have to choose that one. You've chosen it by not choosing the narrow one. And it says, many will go down this broad gate, this wide path, because few will go down the one that's narrow and few will find it.
Now, Joshua, this isn't like news. In fact, I heard recently someone say of the Sermon on the Mount, this is almost like Jesus having a Moses kind of moment. In fact, in so many ways this is like how Moses delivers the law again in Deuteronomy. But here Jesus is expounding on that. This is why Jesus says, many times you have heard it said, but now I say, and now Jesus is presenting the option afresh to a majority of people who aren't.
It's not like our culture. I want you to understand this. This is a majority of people who are Jewish who have a belief in God. But perhaps they don't understand what it means to really follow him and go through the narrow gate. So this is a religious people, but it's not necessarily a saved or life giving kind of people.
So we may come into this and we're actually saying, well, I don't believe in God, I'm agnostic. There's a lot of ways that our culture might come into this. And Jesus saying, there's only one way. And he's repeating something that's been said from Genesis on. It's not like a new thought, he's just expounding on it.
Look what it says in Joshua 24. This is one of my favorite passages. Joshua says to the people of Israel, he says, choose this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Christ's claim is an exclusive one.
He claims to be the gate. In fact, this is what it says in John 10, verse 9 and 10. It says I am the gate. Or another version says, I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved.
They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. But I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. So Jesus is expounding on a common thought of the day and saying, you want to know where the gate is? It's me.
I'm the gate. I'm the sacrifice. I'm the path. Now, if you're here this morning and perhaps you've not heard this clearly, I want to tell you something this morning that is the most important thing you could ever hear in this life. The way in which Jesus is the gate.
The answer to the question of, hey, are you a Christian? And you say, yes, because the answer is because Jesus is my Lord and Savior. That's the answer. What does that mean? He died on the cross for my sake, my sin.
He took on himself, my guilt, my shame. And he rose from the dead. I. I believe in what we call the good news or the gospel. That's what makes me a Christian.
Now I may go to church now as a result of that belief. In fact, I think you should.
So why am I on this narrow gate? Because of everything Christ has done. You can pop up this image for me. I wonder something. I bet almost everybody in the room have been through some sort of ticketed kind of turnstile.
I, I like the old ones that used to really mess people up. That bar one that you gotta push. And somehow people still would get confused in that thing and beat themselves to death trying to get through that little push bar that spins. The modern ones are more like this. You put your ticket in and it goes, does this cool mess, right?
And there's somebody watching you to make sure you don't jump over the thing because you gotta have a ticket. And guess what? You can't bring someone else in there with you on that ticket. You gotta put your ticket in. You walk through the thing.
If you've got little kids, this can be really like crazy. I remember going to for many years we used to take our youth group. This was back when I was in youth ministry. We would take our kids to King's Dominion every year. And I just want you to know that if you want heartburn, that's a way to get it right.
There is just take a whole bunch of youth kids to a theme park and try to keep that on track. That's a wild mess. But just trying to get in the front door is Scary because you're sitting there going, alright, I hope every kid's got what they're supposed to have and they're getting through the turnstiles and I can't, like, walk them through this. I've got to wait and make sure they're all getting through. And then I've got to track them in this mile and mile, miles upon miles of craziness.
And we got to try to keep up with how they're getting in. And every single roller coaster you get on is like this. You're in a line, you get on one at a time. And it can give you some real heartache to take your family to something like this. This is why my wife may not fully understand this about me.
Part of the reason I don't really ever want to do anything is because everything out there is hard to do. With us, our four kids, it's hard to order food because there's a lot of them. And every restaurant seems to get six people wrong. They just can't do it. Doesn't matter.
Chick Fil A will get us wrong. Six is a breaking point for most restaurants. If I take them to a movie, if I take them to a water park, everywhere we go. I think, I don't know this for sure. You can ask my wife later about this.
I think perhaps she's able to enjoy herself. The whole time I'm thinking about security risks. Everything is a security risk. Like, who's gonna take my daughter today? You know, I'm just.
This is why I'm not having the greatest time. Maybe when my kids are adults one day, perhaps, I don't know, then they'll start having kids and maybe I'll still be messed up as a granddad. I don't know, maybe I'll never get to enjoy myself. But this is why I like sitting in my couch upstairs. And I know where everybody is.
And my wife goes, why do you care if we go to the pool or something? Today I'm like, yeah, but see, now I'm thinking, where is she and where are they? And I'm not there to be a security guard. This is a problem. Y' all are like, I'm glad I'm not married to that guy.
I don't blame you. I don't blame you at all for that.
The narrow gate is kind of like this, like a turnstile. Have you brought your ticket? Only one person can get through. And nobody can hold your hand through this. Only the Lord Jesus himself and the spirit of God calling you into his presence.
That is Your only guide and certainly me this morning beckoning and calling you, hey, come through the narrow gate that is Christ. But only you can put the ticket in and say, say, I believe I'm walking through. Being raised in a Christian home, attending church.
These are good things. I'm not belittling that at all today. In fact, there's Christian parents in this room right now that are trying to raise up their children and they're speaking of him at home and they're taking their kids to church. But I want you to know something. A decision has to be made for that little one that all you can do is guide them towards and never let them say to you, hey, you know you're a believer, you take me to church.
I'm a Christian. No, no, no, no. Do you understand what that really means? It means I've put my faith and my trust and Christ is Lord. This destroys all of the idea of having some sort of two system worldview as a Christian Christian.
I've said this many times around here and I don't know how this hits you, but I pray you can hear it clearly today that the Christ of the New Testament, the Christ that is calling you into an abundant life, hear me say this. He's not trying to make your life miserable or hard. He says, I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. I believe that those in Christ who devote themselves wholeheartedly to him will experience a better life in every single way. And I'm not saying that as some kind of health and prosperity kind of gospel.
God may take you through mountaintops and through valleys. There may be hard times in your finances, there may be good times, there may be suffering, there may be wonder. God's going to take you through all of that. But I'm convinced that following Jesus, you will have an abundant life, that he will, he will help you be a better husband, a better wife, a better parent. He will help you to look at your finances different.
He will encourage you in the way that you work. When you follow Jesus Christ, I'm convinced it's an abundant life and nothing could shake me from this. So that when we decide, when we make the determination as Christians, that I'm going to see the Bible through the lens of the world, I. I'm actually robbing the Lord of his power in my life. When I decide, hey, but you know, the way that my parents did this, or the way that my spouse wants to do this, or the way that this expert says, I'm going to take that first and look at the Bible and go, oh, well, the Bible must be wrong about this because of the experts.
Now you're robbing this of the power that it has in your life. I've made the determination and some people will call me archaic and say, I can't believe you're doing that. I see everything through the lens of the Bible and I'll look at it and go, that's not what God's word says. Guess what's happened so far. God's been working in a powerful way in my life and he's not done yet.
And there's been some of this, hey, if you want a life that's just constantly mountaintop, welcome to Earth, y' all, that don't exist.
All of us, wealthy, poor, no matter what, we're all going to experience the same kind of stuff together. We just are. We're all going to experience death, frustration, all of us. I'm just thankful in Christ Jesus there's meaning and purpose in it. And I can go, okay, God, what are you up to?
I've chosen the narrow gate, my friend. Have you chosen the narrow gate? Have you determined? I live based on one world view, the Bible, and I look at everything through that lens, test God in this. I promise you it won't come back empty.
You will see a powerful God in your life. Here's the second reason that Christ calls us to a narrow gate and why that's the only way to life is because it demands a personal heart change. It's first, an individual decision, an individual choice, and it demands a personal heart change. Here's how I started picturing this second part of what Jesus is speaking of. He says it's a narrow gate and then he says it's also a skinny and narrow way.
And the way of the world, the way that you're just defaulted into is wide. It's not hard to fit through. I grew up, y' all just, I want you to let you know this, and you can't mess me up like this anymore because I did four years of wrestling to try to break myself of this. But when I was a kid, terribly claustrophobic, alright, My brother, who is a pretty sweet guy now was, was absolutely evil when we were kids and used to hold me down and smush his chest and belly on my face to make me feel like I was dying in a cave. I mean, I would be like, ah.
And he just thought that was the greatest thing that I'm going.
And my mom would never let that go. My dad, however, would kind of Let that go for a minute. And the reason being. And I understand the man now, he didn't want me to have this illogical, irrational fear. Some of you men are that way.
That's how I was raised. I'm kind of broken now because of that. I think in a good way, like, irrational fear bothers me when you can't tell me why. Some of you are like, well, I'm not coming to counseling with that guy, man. That guy's a problem.
I'm working on it, all right? I'm working on it. But I was terribly claustrophobic growing up. I've worked on that much in my adolescence, in my teenage days. So I couldn't help.
When I look at this narrow gate, this narrow way, I picture, like, the idea of we're going splunking together, right? And there's some areas that we got to get through that are extremely narrow that you gotta suck in to get through them. You know, the kind of areas where you can't take everything.
This is, I think what Jesus is on about here, that the narrow path requires. Some things have got to start coming off. I can't come through there with all of my baggage. I've got to start saying, okay, God, does this fit the path? This thing I'm carrying, Does it fit the path?
No. All right. I guess that's got to come off because I don't see how else I'm fitting through here. This is why I think the writer Paul says, throw off sin that so easily entangles or weighs you down. There's stuff that.
Look, church, if it's your first time today, you heard me say this already. It's on the walls in there. And it might be like a hoorah kind of saying, come as you are and be forever changed by the love of Jesus. I love the come as you are and I love the love of Jesus thing. What about that little middle part?
That's purposeful. We didn't do this by accident. Hey, we want you to come just like you are. But, hey, be forever changed. When you walk with Christ, when you walk in his love, he's going to start saying, hey, that thing you're carrying, that ain't going to fit.
That don't fit through here. There's some personal heart change that has to happen. This is why Jesus said, guess what? The way, the narrow way that leads to life. There's no way I can slice this and make this more gentle for you.
Verse 14. He says the way is hard. He says it's hard. Oh, I'd rather go be with some people and be at a church where they just tell me the way is easy. I can't do that because it's a lie.
Jesus says the way is hard. This Greek word here means constricted, difficult. It is very slim. It is hard to find. It is hard to follow.
And perhaps we come to this passage and go, but I thought Christianity was supposed to be about love and about goodness. Yes, it is. Since when did we say that goodness can't be hard? These are not antonyms. When did we make the decision?
Hey, if it's hard, then it can't be good. If it's hard, then it can't be gracious. If it's hard, it can't be loving. That's not true. Think about this for just a second.
Sometimes the people you love the most and you want the best for are the people you're hardest on. He gets it.
Because I love my son, because I love my daughters, I don't let sin slide.
Because I love my wife, I have hard conversations with with her. Love doesn't make me just do what is easy. Love makes me do what is hard. Otherwise, guess what? I am.
I'm not loving. It is unloving to tell you you're okay when you're jumping in a pit of fire. That is not loving. The most loving thing I can do to the people that I love most is to tell them the truth. Seasoned with sorrow, salt.
I'm pretty hard on my kids. It's because I love them. I want them to avoid things that will destroy them, and so do you. A path can be hard and also be full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. The fruit of the spirit is heavy on the path of life.
Just because it's skinny and is hard does not mean it's not good. Oh, it's. It's the best. It is true life. And most of you are willing, if you would just consider for a minute that some of the hardest things you've done in this life are some of the best things you've done in this life.
You know this already. This is why soldiers get in. At least for the right reasons. They say, I want to do something that's important. I want to do something that matters.
And guess what? It is hard.
When I look back at my sports and I miss those days of being in football and things like that. Why do I miss that? Because we would spend all summer in this heat doing 2 a days. I can't imagine doing that now. I think I'd Literally die.
I don't know how I did that as a young person. Think back on that fondly and think, man, I miss those days because I was doing something hard that mattered to me. Does this make sense? Let's not look at this path and say, I wish Jesus would have said it was easy. I'm thankful he didn't lie to me.
Me, I'm thankful that Jesus said, hey, the way is hard because the way. Why is it hard?
It's hard because it's easy to reject.
It's hard because it means I have to say, guess who's not on the throne? Jonathan's not on the throne. It's hard because I have to step out of the way and say, not my will, but yours be done. Is this making sense to you? I pray it is.
I don't get to choose the way. I don't get to choose the way the gate looks. Christ has designed all of that. It's his system. He is Lord.
It's his creation. He's in charge. He is King. That's why when we come to Christ Jesus, we are doing more than just confessing him as Savior. We are confessing him as Lord and King.
Then everything else, every other principality, every other thing that matters to me is subservient to Him. This is the heart change that comes about here. Jesus says, I Look. John 14:6, a famous passage. Jesus says, I am the way.
I am the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Most people, if they heard this verse clearly, would be so offended by it. Because Jesus is saying, all roads do not lead to the Father. They do not.
If Jesus is a good Lord and Savior, if he's telling the truth, then every other path is incomplete. I found that culturally, everybody seems to like this Jesus. I don't really ever run into anybody that says, I don't like Jesus. Most people say he seems like a good dude. He said some good stuff.
Seems like he healed some people. He stood up. He stood against the man. You know, Some people say crazy stuff. What about when Jesus says something like this?
Is he good? What if he's a liar? He's certainly not good if he's a liar or perhaps he's telling the truth. And then that's a hard and narrow way. I would say he's Savior and Lord.
Following Jesus then means denying self, living a new life in him. This is what Christ said, in fact, in Luke chapter nine, he says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and Follow me. This means I've made the decision as a believer that I walk according to the purposes of God and not my own. This is what it means to take the narrow gate and the narrow way. Galatians, chapter two.
It says, my old sife, my old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body. By trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, I have made the decision, Paul says, and now I am saying that it is no longer I who live, but Christ in me. That everything and every decision I make, that I'm looking to Jesus in every single moment, in every single decision, I'm being guided by him, trusting that not only has he sacrificed for me, but that he loves me and that he has a purpose for me.
When Jesus says I've come, that they would have abundant life, he's not just talking about later, he's talking about now. That the best thing for your marriage, the best thing for your parenting, the best thing for your budget, the best thing is knowing and walking with Jesus.
It's the best. Step one.
I've noticed over the last few years, and I'm sure most of you have noticed this, that traveling, especially traveling via air, has gotten more and more complex. Certainly since 2001, things have gotten way more complex in our world, especially when it comes to air travel. I took a trip a few years ago on a mission trip to Uganda, which was fantastic, and God showed up in such a powerful way. But like so many of you, when you go on trips, you want to bring back some stuff, right? You're thinking, hey, I don't know when I'll be back in wherever.
I didn't know when I was going to be back in Kosora, Uganda. So I'm buying some cool stuff. Like, I bought this really cool stick for my son that looked like a good thing to just, you know, beat trees with or something every once in a while as a boy, you just got to go outside and swing a stick and just hit stuff. I told my wife when we first moved in the house, I said, can I buy one thing? I want a chainsaw.
This has nothing to do with my story. I just wanted you to know that because I just wanted to go outside and go, oh, you know, I don't know. Now back to my story. I wanted to buy my son. I bought him this big stick that kind of broke apart and had this.
It had a gorilla on it. It was cool, man. Cool stick. So I'm thinking, all right, I gotta hide this thing in here. Cause, like, on the way back they'd already told us, man, you gotta pass through all these checkpoints and you gotta be careful, like, no foods, no stuff like that.
So I've got like some pictures and various things that I bought that I wanna bring home. And I'll say ahead of time, I got all my stuff back, right? But one of our good friends that was on the journey with us, his name's Woody, me and him are infatuated with a drink in Uganda called Novita. If you ever get the chance to have this drink and you like pineapple, you're about to have your socks rocked completely off. This drink is killer.
But they've got this drink there and he was convinced. I'm getting novita home, alright? That wasn't supposed to be happening. As we're leaving Uganda, we get stopped by armed guards because there was apparently an Ebola breakout and they're breaking open our bags and we're taking Woody's bag and just kind of trying to, okay, first of all, we're a bunch of Christians there on a mission trip and we're like sneaking this bag. Y' all don't think less of us, all right?
But the novita had to come home, alright? And we got it through the checkpoint. And then we get. We were flying out of Rwanda. If you know anything about Rwanda, it's a wild place, very wild.
We get there, there's like 18 year olds everywhere with AK47s with these like German Shepherds checking bags. They're stomping all over our stuff, sniffing. I don't know what it is about novita, man. They didn't smell it. They didn't smell that they got through there.
It got through that. Believe it or not, Woody got the novita home, y' all. You'd be so happy to find that out if you could just taste that, you know what the miracle of life that thing is. But normally that's not how it goes. Normally the personal heart change, the narrow way is that we've got to let go of some baggage.
What we should have done is right off the top said, all right, none of this stuff can come with us and make the decision that we've got to go through some checkpoints. This is, I think, so similar to what it's like in the Christian walk that there are checkpoints along the narrow way. And I have to be honest about this, there are times where Christ looks into my life and says, that ain't gonna make muster. That doesn't fit through the checkpoint. And I have a decision.
And you have a decision in those moments to say, yeah, I like this, though. God, I like this aspect. I feel like it's at those moments, even in your Christian faith, where you hit a checkpoint and you kind of have to stand there for a while. Some of you are here right now. You have reached a checkpoint on the narrow way where Christ peered in and said, that's gotta go.
That ain't gonna fit through the path. And some of us have said, okay, I'm gonna hang here for a bit.
That's not the abundant life.
There are moments in my life where Christ peers in and says, that anger that you keep showing, that's not me. That's not who I am in you. That temptation that you keep giving into, oh, God, I need that for my. It's part of my comfort. You don't know how hard work is, man.
I've got to be. If I don't bring anger into work, I'm going to get barreled over. If I come in being kind to these people that are just so tough to deal with, if I'm kind, if I'm gentle, How do you know how far is anger getting you? I mean, you're taking it home. This isn't me saying this to you.
Perhaps the Lord Jesus is looking in and saying that part of you is. Is not going to fit through the checkpoint, and I've got a better plan. Do you believe him? Do you trust the process?
The narrow way means we have to be ready to let go of some baggage, throwing off everything that entangles that weighs us down. Otherwise we don't get to fly in the kingdom. Here's the third and final way. It's because it leads to an eternal consequence.
Might as well end as unpopular as I started. Y' all are loving this message, right? This one. Whoo. Two gates.
I don't get to choose a third gate. Sorry, there isn't a third gate. There's just two gates. The second gate's extremely wide and fits all other gates. Choose your gate.
It fits in the wide path. And then Jesus says plainly that one leads to life and one leads to destruction. All right, what am I going to do? Well, I've got to preach it as it is. The broad road is popular.
It's easy, it's comfortable. Unfortunately, its end, apparently, according to Christ Jesus, is tragic. It's not difficult necessarily on this side of heaven, but it's difficult later. This word destruction, what is meant by it. In the Greek, it's the word apuleia, which is most often translated annihilation or destruction, or to destroy, to ruin, to perish.
It's not confused or anything, what we have here. In the English, it means destruction. Da Carson, when preaching on this, he says, in view, this is not merely physical death. It is eschatological ruin. That means beyond a metaphysical kind of death.
It is a final rejection, he says, by God and an exclusion from his presence. This means this destruction that the gate leads to is final and eternal and permanent. So it's good here. It's easy, it's broad. I don't have to really change anything.
I can just go as I please. But it leads to a place of ruin. That's what the scripture says. And then the other path, which is narrow, which Christ says is hard, leads to life. The wide and easy way seems right to so many, and it's the easiest.
I mean, you jump on this path, but unfortunately, it leads to death. The writer of Proverbs, in fact, says, there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
Apart from Jesus Christ, apart from the one who says, I'm the way, the truth and the life, all of us are on that road. You don't have to stay in this place. You don't have to feel guilty today. That's not the point of Christ's message. It's not to make you feel ashamed or guilty.
No, it's in fact to see it as. It's plainly being put that apart from Christ Jesus, we are all on the road to destruction. So was I. So were so many of you. So were all of the saints of old.
All of us initially on the path, the broad way to destruction in Christ Jesus, though, eternal life, this is said many, many times. I could have used 100 scriptures here. Here's a few famous ones. Romans 6, it says in verse 23, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, Our Lord. John 3:16, probably the most famous passage in the Bible says plainly, God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
That means apart from him. And the verse does go on to say this, if you read on in verse 17, that apart from Jesus, we cannot have this life. I spotted this image. You can pop this picture up to me. For me, this image sounded just funny to me.
I don't know if all signs are this, like, I guess Humanity has gotten really quite dumb. Let's just. I mean. And maybe that's partly my problem. Maybe I would drive by this sign and just need to read the bottom part that says, hey, don't drown.
Maybe a guy like me needs to read that. Because I might look at, and I've certainly done this before, if there's water washing over a road that I normally take every day to go to work or whatever, I might look at it and go, I wonder if the SUV can get through that, because I don't want to go around it, right? Some of you have done that. The warning signs are there. Hey, don't go through here.
We don't want you to drown.
The words of Jesus here, I have to admit they sound exclusive. They sound kind of difficult. But there's a way to look at it, I think that is intended by Christ here. He doesn't say, hey, everybody listening, hey, church. Hope you don't go down that wide road.
That's not what he says. He says first the first word. He says, enter the narrow gate.
His hope. In fact, Peter writes in another passage, his desire is that all men would be saved. His desire is that you would hear this news and say, I choose life. I choose life, not destruction. I choose what is hard.
Because, believe it or not, what is hard is what is best. I choose what is hard because that is where Christ leads me.
As we finish up this time together right now in the word of God, I would just ask you, where is your road leading? Are you seeing some warning signs right now? Signs that say in big letters, don't drown. You don't have to live this way. Jesus is inviting you.
This isn't Jesus saying, hey, most of you aren't going to make it. No. He does say, hey, not many will. A few will be on the path. But to you, my friend, and to me, he says, enter the narrow gate.
It's an invitation. It comes first. Saying, I believe not only what Christ has done for me, but that the narrow path is his best for me. Where's your road leading? Are you on this broad path?
Perhaps even some of you in the room today, you're walking in Christ Jesus, but you've hit a checkpoint and the Holy Spirit of God is saying, in your life, hey, that won't fit. It's time to throw that off. That sin that so easily entangles and doesn't allow you to continue to see the abundant life of Jesus in your life. That rough patch.
Jesus here is inviting you to join him. And I didn't get into all this because I could have had a fourth point that's not really here in the text. And I don't tend to preach that way. But I just want to give you an aside that the narrow path, although it's hard and it's difficult to find and there are few on it, there's something great about that path that Jesus promises. Many times he says, I will send you a helper, a comforter.
You do not walk this Christian. You do not walk this path alone. You walk this path in the spirit of Christ. He is with you. The Scriptures say he is with you.
He is beside you. He is walking by a famous saint. Saint Patrick, I think, is the one that said this. He said. He says, the Spirit, the Lord before me, the Lord behind me, the Lord beside me, the Lord with me.
This was the idea he had in his mind of walking the narrow path. And he's right. Friend, you're not alone. Spirit of God, Christ Jesus is with you. But the path requires.
I believe in Christ and him alone. And all other things are subservient to him. The Word warns and invites you. Christ says it here, and God has been saying it throughout his scripture. I want to quote as I end, where it all began.
Perhaps in Deuteronomy 30, Moses said, I have set before you life and death. Therefore choose life. Jesus isn't vague. He's clear. He's bringing this to further light.
Enter the narrow gate, my friends. Don't drown. Choose life. Let's pray now together.