you Our text this morning as we're continuing
our study of Matthew, the son of Matthew chapter
7, we're at the end of the Sermon on the Mount.
We'll be looking at two verses this morning,
verses 13 and 14. Jesus, speaking there on that
day, said, Enter by the narrow gate, for wide
is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction. And there are many who go in by
it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult
is the way which leads to life. And there are
few who find it. Let's pray. Lord, this is once
again, Lord, a difficult text, a sobering text.
Father, there's a narrow way that leads to life
and there's a broad way that leads to destruction.
God, help us this morning to understand what
our Lord meant. And Lord God, help us to be wise
unto salvation. Lord, this morning we pray this
in Jesus' name. Amen. The road that you are on
will always determine your destination. You know
that. If you're on the wrong road, you will always
end up in the wrong place. For example, if I
wanted to head to New York City and I went out
here and I got in my car, and as soon as I started
traveling, I headed south. I'm never going to
arrive at my intended destination. Because where
you end up will be determined by the road that
you take. That is not only true physically, but
it is also true spiritually. And this is what
our Lord was getting at. Your eternal destination
is determined by which road, which path, which
way that you take in life. So the question I
would like to pose this morning at the very outset
is what road are you on? See, in this brief passage,
just these two verses, we see there are four
groupings of two. There are two gates. There's
a wide one and a narrow one. There are two different
ways. A broad way, wide, and a difficult way.
There are two destinations. One will end in destruction,
and by the way, eternal destruction. And the
other ends in life. And there are two different
groups. There are the many who enter at the broad
way and the few who enter into the narrow way.
So what determines which road you're on. If the
road determines the destination, what determines
the road? It's the decisions you make. And we
know that life is full of decisions, and they
range from the mundane and trivial to life -giving,
life -changing, and profound. All of us make
decisions all day long. For example, we decide
what to wear and what to eat, whether to marry
or not, who to marry, where to work, if we're
going to study, what career. Where will we live?
What will we spend our money on? All kinds of
choices like that lie before us. Now, obviously
saying that, some of these decisions, some of
these choices are more important than others.
But none is as important as the decision that
is put before us today in Matthew chapter 7,
verses 13 and 14. Jesus said there's only one
narrow road to eternal life. And he went further.
He said, and by the way, that road is fraught
with difficulty. It's a narrow gate, and it's
a hard road. His message, though, when we speak
about that there's one narrow road that leads
to life. Now, if we were to say that today and
we were on any news circuit, that message in
itself would be anathema to our pluralistic culture.
Because they believe, for example, they would
say, well, God's like on a mountaintop, and there
are many different roads you can take to get
to the top of the mountain. Yet it was the Son
of God himself. And he said there is one road.
It is extremely narrow and it's the only one
that leads to eternal life. Now we're at the
end of the Sermon on the Mount. This is the climax
that the Lord has been leading up to throughout
this whole entire sermon. So he's been making
a contrast because keep in mind the religious
leaders, the scribes and Pharisees are present
there. So he's been contrasting the false external
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. These
should have been the ones leading people to Christ.
Leading people in true worship of God. He's contrasting
their hypocrisy with the true internal righteousness
that the kingdom of God demands. Now, this sermon
was given at the beginning of his earthly ministry.
That means that his death and resurrection are
still a couple years away. But even now, he's
preaching about a narrow gate leading to a narrow
hard way, and it is the one that ends an eternal
life. Now we don't have to guess what the analogy
is referring to. Christ himself is the narrow
way. He is letting his people, Israel, because
that's who's gathered there. He's letting Israel
know very clearly that the king, the king of
Israel had come, the messianic age had dawned,
and now they were to follow him. He's the narrow
way. But he began in the sermon in chapter 5,
and he describes the character of the people.
Who will be in his kingdom? Who comprises the
kingdom of God? Jesus said, first of all, in
Matthew 5 .3, he said the poor in spirit. They
are the ones who mourn over their sins. Blessed
are they who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed,
happy are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Blessed are the merciful. The pure in heart.
Blessed are they who seek peace. Blessed are
the peacemakers. And finally, he says, blessed
are they who are willing to suffer persecution
for the cause of righteousness. He goes on and
he says, God's people in Matthew 6, second part
of the chapter. He says, God's people are they
who are going to give and they're going to pray
and they're going to fast, but they're going
to do it authentically. They're going to do it
in secret as opposed to the hypocrisy of the
religious leaders who loved the praise of men,
who sought for people to see them as they were
praying and giving and fasting. He goes on in
verse 33 of chapter 6. He said, God's people
are they who seek him and his kingdom first.
They're the ones who ask and seek and knock for
grace and mercy in their lives. And now we're
at the end of the sermon. And just as any good
preacher does, he's asked those who are gathered
there listening to him to make a decision. To
make a decision on what they've just heard. They
had to make a choice. To remain neutral to Christ,
to remain neutral to his message was not an option.
But God has always called his people to make
a decision concerning himself. There's always
been just two choices. And you see that even
as we go back to the Old Testament. Deuteronomy
chapter 30 verse 19. Moses here. I call heaven
and earth as witnesses today against you. God
speaking to his people. I have set before you
life and death. blessing and cursing. Therefore,
choose life that both you and your descendants
may live. 1 Kings chapter 18. You have Elijah
here. He says, how long are you going to falter?
How long are you going to halt between two decisions?
If the Lord is God, we'll follow him. And if
Baal will be God, follow him. But make up your
mind. Choose. The prophet Jeremiah. Here's what
the Lord said. Behold, I set before you the way
of life. And the way of death. Two choices. Life
or death. Blessing or cursing. And now the Lord
Jesus has come. He's the Messiah sent from heaven.
And he's calling for a response. But he issues
a warning. A failure to respond would also be
catastrophic. Those who heard him must make a
decision. Why? The king was present. The king
had come. He's offering to them the kingdom.
Are they going to enter in? But he said, if you're
going to enter, it's only by one narrow way,
and that's it. Now, contrary to what many believe
today, our Lord was not simply speaking about
people following the ethic of his kingdom. Because
there are many today who pay lip service, especially
you see this in political speeches. I don't know
if you've ever noticed, but politicians on both
sides of the aisle will often reference the Sermon
on the Mount. And they like the ethic that Jesus
espoused. They even believe that the world would
be a better place if everyone lived by the Sermon
on the Mount. Of course, that's true. The world
would be better if everyone lived by the Golden
Rule, which is what we looked at last week. If
everyone did to others as they would like for
others to do to them. But friends, they're missing
the point of the sermon. Jesus is not merely
trying to get people to live by a better ethic.
He is actually setting before them life. He is
speaking about eternal salvation. He's speaking
about the narrow way that leads into it. He said
there's only a few of you who are listening who
are going to make that choice and enter into
life, and many of you are listening and you're
going to enter into eternal destruction. Friends,
our ears ought to perk up at that. The Son of
God is saying many that day will go to hell,
is what he's saying. What makes the difference
there? What makes the difference between life
and death, life and destruction? It's the way
you respond to Jesus. The true question is, what
will you do with Jesus? Now, you have to keep
in mind the context. You always should do that.
The context is all those who were listening to
Jesus that day, all of them were Jewish. He was
preaching to Israel. So you have there, some
were already disciples. But you also had in that
group some who were just curious. They were yet
undecided about Jesus. They liked what he said.
They liked some of the things they saw, but they
had not made up their mind. And then there were
also some who were opposed to Jesus. The religious
leaders, the scribes and Pharisees, were also
there eavesdropping on what Jesus was saying.
Now, since they were Jews, the prevailing thought
among Israel that day was that they were already
right with God. They were in covenant with him.
They believed that they were already citizens
in God's kingdom because they were the sons of
Abraham. In fact, they bore the sign of covenant,
which was circumcision. And here you have an
itinerant preacher from some podunk town, Nazareth,
coming along and telling them, despite your ancestry,
despite your lineage, despite being circumcised,
despite being Jews, Only a few of you all will
enter into the kingdom and many of you all will
be shut out. Why would so many not enter? This
is the answer. The king had come. The king was
present. And most of Israel, most of the people
would reject him. John said so in his gospel,
John 1 .11. He, Jesus, came to his own and his
own received him not. His own did not receive
him. Entrance, folks, into the kingdom of God
is determined by how one responds to Christ.
You will either bow before him, confessing him
as Lord, or you ignore him or outright reject
him to your own peril. In our passage this morning,
the first thing to observe are the two gates.
Two gates are right there, Jesus said. There's
a big wide one and there's a very narrow one.
And he's commanding the people. It's a command,
an imperative here. Enter into the narrow gate,
verse 13. Enter by the narrow gate. Don't stop
outside of it and look at it. Don't admire the
gate. He says you've got to walk through it.
But in addition to the narrow gate, there is
a very wide gate, a broad one there. And it's
more than capable of accommodating all the people
at one time. It's extraordinarily broad. Now,
what is that narrow gate? Thankfully, you and
I don't have to wonder. We don't have to guess.
It is very clearly revealed. In John chapter
10, verse 9, Jesus said, I am the door. I am
the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be
saved. John 14, 6, Jesus says, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man comes to the
Father but by me. John 10, John 14, these verses
give clarity. They clarify the narrow gate that
Jesus is referring to in Matthew 7, 13, and 14
was himself. Christ is the gate. The way to heaven
is as narrow as the Lord Jesus. The way to eternal
life is as narrow as Christ himself. Now he's
speaking to Israel. The Jews should have understood
that he was their Messiah sent from God. I mean,
after all, he performed mighty miracles. He did
wonder signs before them. I mean, he's cleansing
lepers. He's giving sight to the blind, hearing
to the deaf. On some occasions, he even raised
the dead. He was the promised king. But most
of them could not see him for who he truly was.
Why? I mean, if he's doing all those things,
why couldn't they see him for who he was? Because
they had a certain expectation and Jesus did
not fit the bill of how they thought the Messiah
would come. He did not look like a king. Isaiah
53, he has no form or comeliness. He's not good
looking. And when we see him, there's no beauty
that we should desire him. There's nothing attractive,
nothing compelling about his person. In fact,
he's despised, rejected by men. Christ did not
come with pomp and circumstance as great kings
often do. Instead, he came in obscurity, clothed
in humility. But it wasn't just his look. It
was also his doctrine, his teaching. What he
was teaching often conflicted with the kingdom
expectations of the people at that time. What
did they think the Messiah was going to do? Well,
he's going to come, and since Rome is ruling
over them in their land, They thought, man, this
great political deliverer is going to come. He's
going to free us from Roman occupation, and he
will establish a prosperous Jewish kingdom in
its place. But what was Jesus preaching? Matthew
5, blessed are the meek. Blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are they who seek peace and pursue it.
What? He's never going to get rid of Rome. And
the Jews stumbled over him. They did not see
him as the Christ. That's the narrow gate. But
on the other hand, there's that wide gate. And
by the way, that wide gate is always open. This
is the gate that ignores Jesus. It doesn't even
have to outright reject him. It just ignores
him. The wide gate requires no repentance. It
requires no faith. To enter into the wide gate,
you don't have to do anything except be born.
And you'll be traveling it. But to enter the
narrow gate, this is key, to enter into that
narrow gate, you have to see your own spiritual
poverty. Matthew 5 .3, this is the key. Blessed,
mercadios, happy. Happy are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom
of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. Now,
if the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor
in spirit, I want to know what it means to be
poor in spirit. This is to understand that you
have nothing to offer to God. They, the Jews,
they had to understand this, that despite being
Jews, they were still sinners. They still needed
to repent. They still needed the mercy of God.
But the word on the street was that the Jews
did not need to repent. Oh, yeah, there's wicked,
pagan, dirty Gentiles did. Of course they need
to repent, but not us. We're the chosen people
of God. And the irony was that the chosen people
of God could not see the Messiah who was sent
from God. So most of them, especially those hearing
him, they decided to stay on that broad way that
led to destruction. Because there's two gates,
one wide, one narrow, and the narrow one's Christ
himself. Now that message does not need to debate
it. We don't debate it. We just need to preach
it, proclaim it, herald it. That's it. We're
not going to debate the claims of Christ. There's
one narrow gate because there's only one mediator
between God and man. Just one. 1 Timothy 2 .5
For there is one God and one mediator, the man
Christ Jesus. That's it. We must proclaim that.
But how do you know that you're on this road
and in the narrow gate? What's going to be the
sign there that's showing us anything? And this
is key as well. The sign that shows us the narrow
gate will always be the sign of repentance. Outside
that narrow gate, I believe, is a big sign saying
repent. Why do I say that? Because remember John
the Baptist, when he comes on the scene, he's
the forerunner of the Messiah. What was his message?
Preaching to Israel. Matthew 3, 2, repent, for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He's the forerunner,
and he's telling Israel, you need to repent.
He introduces Jesus one chapter later. Jesus
begins to preach to Israel. What was he preaching?
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
It's here. The king's here. Peter, also preaching
to Israel. What did he preach? Acts 2 .38. Repent.
Let every one of you be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Paul,
after he was gloriously saved, he began to preach.
What did he preach? Acts 20. testifying to the
Jews and also to the Gentiles, to the Greeks,
repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. The message was undeniable. Israel
needed to repent. Now with all that being true,
today I find it incredible that there are some
preachers who say that we do not need to preach
repentance. They believe that you'll enter into
the kingdom of God without it. And that's a damnable
lie. That's a broad lie. road that leads to destruction.
If you are going to enter into the kingdom of
God, you must repent. You must. You must repent
of your sin. You give up your attempts at self
-justification. You know you can't do it. Self
-indulgence, self -confidence, self -satisfaction,
and particularly self -righteousness. It's got
to go. Remember the poor in spirit? That means
you see yourself as Poverty stricken, spiritually
speaking. You are a bankrupt sinner. And as we
just sang, you've got to run to Christ. Friends,
once your eyes are open, the Holy Spirit shows
you your eyes are open, and you see your true
condition before God, you will want to run to
Christ. Who else are you going to run to? The
narrow gate, though. It's not some easy believism.
Easy believism says, and this is how they evangelize,
you just go out to people and you real quickly,
you share a few verses and you say, hey, you
want to go to heaven? You want to enter in the
kingdom of God? Then pray this prayer. And then,
by the way, if you pray this prayer and you really
meant it, well, you have eternal life regardless
of what you do from this point forward. What
could be easier than a simple prayer without
repentance? That's the way to destruction. Jesus
said, unless you repent, you will all likewise
perish. Repentance leads us to leave our sin
behind and run to the solution for sin, which
is Jesus himself. Martin Lloyd -Jones, the great
doctor, he said, the gospel of Jesus Christ openly
and uncompromisingly announces itself as being
something which starts with a narrow entrance,
a straight, and that's the King James word there,
gate. Two gates. You open them, they lead to
two roads. A very wide, broad road. And then
my text is a difficult road. The narrow gate,
you open it, and what lies before you is a difficult
road. Verse 14. Because narrow is a gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life. That
word difficult, it's the Greek word phlebo, and
it literally means narrow, but it means this.
It's pressed in. It's the idea of persecuted.
It's literally what it means. So the idea of
a road that is philebo is that you are being
squeezed. You're like in a vice grip. Trials
of life are pressing in upon you. Life is hard.
Life is hard on this road. The Lord never ever
hid what being a disciple of his cost. He said,
if you're going to follow me, it's going to be
difficult. Matthew 8. When he had called the
people to himself with disciples, he said to
them, Whoever desires to come after me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me. For whoever desires to save his life, you're
going to lose it. But whoever loses his life
for my sake and the gospels will save it. Again,
we have to remember, what's the context? Jesus
is speaking to the Jewish nation. If the Jews
confess Christ as Messiah, it would cost them
something. Why? Because remember those scribes
and Pharisees, those hypocrites? They had already
determined that Jesus was an imposter. They had
already prejudged him as a charlatan, a fake.
And they said, if any Jew starts to say that
this one, Jesus, is the Messiah, he needs to
be excommunicated from religious life. Kick him
out of the temple. Kick him out of the synagogue.
And we read about that in John 16, by the way.
These things, Jesus said, I have spoken to you
that you should not be made to stumble. Don't
be surprised. They will put you out of the synagogues.
Yes, the time is coming. Now listen to this.
Whoever kills you will think that he offers God
service. Whoever kills you will think that he's
doing God's will. That's the Apostle Paul before
being converted. Verse 3. And these things they
will do to you because they have not known the
Father nor me. The Jews don't know God the Father
or him, he said. John 9 .22. They had already
agreed that if anyone confessed that he, Jesus,
was Christ. Bye -bye. Get him out. He's out of
the synagogue. So that meant to follow Jesus
cost them something. It was certain suffering.
They would be excluded from temple worship. They
would be excluded from any synagogue where they
might live. They would be ostracized from the
community that they had always enjoyed and known.
And by the way, they would face tremendous physical
danger. But remember what the Lord said to them
in this sermon? Go back to Matthew 5 .10. Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It
belongs to you. To identify with Jesus is to
invite ridicule, to invite scorn, and to invite
persecution. The way was difficult, but it was
worth it because it led to life. He says, don't
worry. Yes, you're going to suffer, but the kingdom's
yours. The kingdom of heaven is yours. You go
through the book of Acts and then you start to
see the church develop and you'll see that those
Jews who did follow Christ, those few who chose
him, Matthew 7, 14, they did face intense persecution
from their own countrymen. The original persecutors
of the church was not Rome, it was the Jews.
In Acts chapter 7, you see Stephen, the first
martyr of the church. Here's a Jew preaching
to Jews and they took up rocks and hurled him
till he died. In Acts chapter 8 we read, at that
time a great persecution rose against the church
at Jerusalem. Acts chapter 9, this is the apostle
Paul before he was saved. Chapter 9 verse 1,
Saul still breathing threats and murder against
the disciples of the Lord. Acts 14, now Saul,
now Paul, he's gloriously converted, he's now
preaching. And he goes with Barnabas and he's
preaching to the Jewish churches. And he says,
the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there.
I got ahead of myself. Having persuaded the multitudes,
they stoned Paul. They dragged him out of the
city, supposing to be dead. Paul, who had murdered
Christians, is now apparently the subject of
murder. Of course, he gets up. We don't know,
did he really die? Some say, yes, we don't know.
But we do know this, he was raised again. Perhaps,
maybe he didn't die. But anyways. He and Barnabas
now, they go back on a preaching tour. And then
verse 22 says, here's what they're preaching
to the churches. Strengthening the souls of the
disciples. Why do you need to strengthen them?
They're weak. Why are they weak? They're just
a small group being ruthlessly persecuted. And
they're exhorting them to continue in the faith.
Why exhorting them to continue in the faith?
Life is hard. That's what the book of Hebrews
is all about. Man, life is hard. They want to
go back to Judaism. He said, don't do that. And
here's what he said. We must, through many tribulations,
enter the kingdom of God. Through many tribulations.
You know what the word tribulations is? Flipsis.
The same word you saw in Matthew 7 about difficult.
Through many trials, through many difficulties,
the disciple will enter into the kingdom. The
road of a disciple is not for the faint of heart,
friends. Our Lord has never promised it. He never
said you will have your best life now. He never
promised you an easy journey. Not once. In Luke
chapter 14 verse 26. He says if anyone comes
to me. And does not hate father and mother. Wife
and children. Brothers and sisters in his own
life also. He cannot be my disciple. Verse 27.
Whoever does not bear his cross and come after
me. He cannot be my disciple. Verse 33. So likewise
whoever of you does not forsake all that he has.
Cannot be my disciple. And we pray. Pray with
me. See, this way, friends, it's difficult. It's
not attractive. But for those whose eyes have
been opened by the Holy Spirit to see the glory
of Christ, the way is compelling. I've got to
go that way. It's not attractive. It doesn't
look good. But that's the road I've got to take.
This is what Peter confessed, and I've been reading
a lot of scriptures, which I don't typically
do, but I love what Peter confessed. Do you remember
in John 6, Jesus preached a hard message about
you have to eat his flesh and drink his blood,
and many people walked away from him, beginning
in verse 65. Jesus then says, hey, therefore
I've said to you that no one can come to me unless
it's been granted to him by my Father. From that
time, many of his disciples went back and walked
no more with him. They didn't like what Jesus
was saying. Verse 67. Then he looks at the 12.
Do you also want to go away? Because I'm not
changing the message. Simon Peter answered him,
I love this. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have
the words of eternal life. Also, we have come
to believe and know that you are the Christ,
the son of the living God. Do you see what Peter
was saying? Once you see Christ as Lord, once
you see him as glorious, you know there is nowhere
else to turn. That way may be difficult, that
way may be hard, but it is compelling because
Jesus Christ alone has the words of life. I will
follow that road. Nominal Christians, Christians
in name only, they will walk on the narrow road
for just so long because when it really starts
to squeeze them in, when it really gets hard,
they're going to forsake the narrow way. That's
John 6. They turned around. They want an easier
life. I can't do this anymore. In Hebrews 10,
they lost homes and lost lands, and it said they
accepted it joyfully, knowing that in heaven
they had a better and enduring possession. Warren
Wiersbe said, many people who trust Jesus Christ,
supposedly trust, no, that's in quotes, they
never leave the broad road with its appetites
and associations. They have an easy Christianity
that makes no demands on them. That's not Christianity.
Jesus said the narrow way was hard. You cannot
walk on two roads in two different directions
at the very same time. You don't get Jesus in
the world, folks. John MacArthur says we can
pay nothing for salvation, amen, yet coming to
Jesus Christ costs everything we have, amen.
Two truths at the same time. Two gates, they
lead to two roads and they arrive at two different
destinations. That broad gate with a wide gate,
with a wide road leads to destruction. And by
the way, the destruction is, it's eternal damnation.
We're talking hell. It looks easy. It looks attractive.
There's a way that looks attractive to man, isn't
there? It's not marked. By the way, it's not
marked with a sign that says, road to hell. No
one would enter that. In fact, I believe it probably
has a sign out there saying, highway to heaven.
Because that's what the deceiver does. That's
what Satan does. There is a way that seems right
to a man, Proverbs 14, 12, but the in thereof
are the ways of death. You cannot trust your
eyes. It looks right. It says it's right. And
Jesus said, you go down that road, friend, you
will be separated from God forever. Why? Why?
Because it bypasses the cross of Christ. And
that's the only way to be reconciled with God.
There's a narrow gate, difficult way, leading
to life. Why? Because it takes you to Christ.
1 John 5, 12. He who has the Son has life. And
whoever it be who does not have the Son of God
does not have life. Could anything be clearer?
Do we need to exegete that verse? You know what
it means in Greek? Whoever has the Son has life.
Whoever does not have the Son does not have life.
It is marked with pain, suffering. It's difficult.
But it ends in eternal life. We're not earning
heaven because we suffer. We're not earning heaven
because we suffer tribulation. Rather, it is
the way of the cross. He said, friends, if they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
You're not greater than your Lord. If they hated
me, they will hate you. But it is God's grace
that causes us to want to enter into that narrow
gate and travel the difficult way. Two gates,
two roads, two destinations, and lastly, two
groups of people. You have the many and the few.
Many who heard Jesus preach that day. Can you
imagine the incredible opportunity hearing the
Son of God preach? The greatest preacher, the
greatest sermon, and yet they decided to stay
on that broad road. They're going to be shut
out of the kingdom. Only a few would enter the
kingdom. Now what's interesting, this is what
I had never seen before until this past week.
I always thought, well this is just referring
to all mankind. It has an application there,
but that's not the context. He says many Jews
are going to be shut out. Few are going to be
brought in, right? But if you turn the chapter,
turn page one over, chapter 8, Jesus is speaking
again about the heaven. In chapter 8, notice
what he says. Many Gentiles will enter the kingdom.
Now, friends, let me just say, by the way, if
you're a Jew and you hear that, Jesus, a Jew,
preaching to Jews, says many of you aren't going
to enter the kingdom, and many of them will.
They're shocked. They're scandalized. They're
offended. But look at chapter 8, verse 11. He
says, I say to you, many will come from east
and west, that's Gentiles, and they will sit
down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom, the Jews,
they're going to be cast out into outer darkness.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Look at Matthew 21. I say to you, Jesus said,
have you never read in the scriptures, the stone
which the builders rejected has become the chief
cornerstone? This is what the Lord's doing. It's
marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say to you,
man, these are haunting words. The kingdom of
God will be taken from you, Jews, and given to
a nation bearing the fruits of it. That nation
bearing the fruits are the Gentile people. And
then Paul in Romans 11 said, hey, Gentiles, don't
get haughty, don't brag, don't become presumptuous,
because the only reason you've been brought in
is because Jewish unbelief, and it's the grace
of God at work in your life. Most Jews rejecting
Christ, persecuting those who followed him. That's
what they did. Persecuting him. They were deceived.
Nothing worse. Deceived, thinking the road they're
on will lead to God and the road they're on led
to hell. Narrow is the gate and difficult is
the way which leads to life and there are few
who find it. There were few. There was a remnant.
A remnant of grace. That small percentage of
Jews who confessed Christ as Lord. Many, many
heard Jesus. Few received him. Many are called,
Jesus said. Few are chosen. But there's good
news today. The narrow gate still stands. It's
still just as narrow as ever. But it's open to
anyone who would enter. See, they felt, the Jews
felt they were already on the road to salvation.
It's really no different in our day, though.
Most people, if they live in our nation, particularly
Lawrence County, Ohio, they believe they're saved.
And most people take his teachings lightly. There's
no fruit of repentance. There's no fruit of obedience.
Here in a few weeks after Easter, we'll look
at these verses. You can just look down a few
verses later, verse 26 of Matthew 7. Jesus, not
Ryan. He said, everyone who hears these things
of mine, let's not do them. He will be like a
foolish man. Who built his house on the sand
and the rains descended and the floods came and
we're familiar with that. And the winds blew
and beat on that house and it fell. And great
was its fall. The narrow gate, still very narrow.
It's only through Jesus Christ. The way after
you enter the gate is still difficult. But it's
compelling because it ends in life. Do you believe
that? Do you believe that? Revelation 22, 17,
the word of God ends with an invitation. Come.
Come. Let him who hears say come. If you're thirsty,
come. Whoever desires, let him come and take
the waters of life freely. There's salvation.
It's offered to you. But you've got to get there
through a narrow gate in a difficult way. Two
roads, two gates, two different destinations.
So the question is, which road are you on? Jim
Boy said this, and I thought it was too good
to leave it out, and I close with this. If you
are not on the way to Christ, then you are on
the way from him. No neutrality. Thus, you will
either come finally, To a perfect salvation by
the grace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen? You get to come to that. Or, you'll come
to the lake of fire without him. That is the
heart of Christ's warning in this passage. Friends,
don't delay. Don't be the foolish man. Don't
be the one who is not earnest about your salvation.
Today, Today, if the Holy Spirit has shown you
that you are a sinner and you know that you're
bankrupt spiritually, you don't have anything
to offer God, come and drink. There's the water
of life and it's free. Call upon him now. For
whoever does call upon him will be saved. If
you'd like to know more about what it means to
follow Christ, friends, I'm after the service.
I'm here. I'd love to sit down and talk to you.
Don't delay. Two roads, two different destinations.
The choice is put before you. Let's pray. Heavenly
Father, we thank you this morning, Lord, for
your word. Lord, it speaks to us. It feeds us.
Lord, it gives us sustenance for our soul. And
Lord, God, we don't want to assume, Lord. Let
us be in earnest. Lord, in Luke 14, it says,
strive to enter at the narrow gate. Agonize.
Lord, I pray that your spirit would work in the
heart of those who might be lost. Lord, they
could be religious, but they might be lost, that,
Lord, they would understand there is nothing
in them. They can offer you nothing, but, Lord,
there is a very wonderful salvation, full blessing
that is available to them if they will come to
Christ. Lord, lay down their own righteousness
and accept the gift that is yours, that you offer
to them in Christ. Oh God, have mercy this morning.
And Lord, I pray for your church, your people
who have been redeemed through your son. Lord,
let us today, Lord, as we renew the covenant
in communion, let us rejoice in the promises
you have made in Christ. Lord, it's not by works
which we have done. Lord, nothing in our hands
we bring. Simply to the cross we cling. Lord,
we boast in Jesus. He is our everything, our
redemption, our salvation, our justification,
our sanctification, and ultimately our glorification.
Lord, our hope is in him this morning. Thank
you for being so good and merciful to us, Father.
And Lord, I pray now that, God, that you continue
to bless and build your church. And Lord, let
us be salt and light to those around us. We pray
this in Jesus' name. Amen. This morning, we have
the incredible privilege of celebrating both
ordinances and or sacraments, however you'd like
to call them.