Our reading of Scripture tonight is from the Gospels from Matthew chapter 7 verses 13-23.
! This is the text upon which the sermon will be based.
!
And these are the words of Jesus.
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.
Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will recognize them by their fruits.
Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thorn bushes?
So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name.
And then will I declare to them, I never knew you.
Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.
This is God's word.
It's great to be with you guys tonight.
All right, so I grew up in Alabama in the U.S.,
and I actually went through a bluegrass phase, bluegrass music,
which is actually not very typical even in Alabama to go through a bluegrass phase.
But I encountered a very unknown at that time young artist named Allison Krauss
and her band Union Station.
And there was a specific song that she did that to this day I still love.
And this started me on a bluegrass kick, and it was called Two Highways.
And the lyric goes,
Two highways lay before us.
Which one will I choose?
Down one lane I find happiness.
Down the other I would lose.
There is no one that I can trust.
I must decide alone.
The decision is an awful one.
Which one will lead me home?
Down the other I think.
That's actually a metaphor of something that we find very often in our culture,
whether it's a poem by Robert Frost called The Road Not Taken,
or The Matrix, where it's like take either the red pill or the blue pill.
This idea that we're coming to a crossroads or maybe a fork in the road,
and you've got to make a decision.
And this decision has lasting implications,
but you must make a decision.
Which one will you choose?
Even that song I mentioned by Alison Krauss,
like this is an awful decision.
Because if I make the wrong decision,
like what are the implications going to be?
But there are times in our lives where we must actually make a decision like that.
It becomes a crossroad or fork in the road.
And that is actually the metaphor that Jesus gives us in the first invitation here for the Sermon on the Mount.
So we've come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7.
We're going to focus tonight specifically on verses 13 and 14,
those first two verses that Corey read.
And Jesus is actually going to give us three different metaphors that both kind of,
they all have the same idea.
And that is, you have two choices to make.
You have to make a choice of which one.
And he tells us in this passage in verse 13,
which one is the right choice.
He tells us, choose this one in his kind graciousness.
And it's one of those things that we're at a point,
it's like you've heard this sermon,
what is your response going to be?
Which road will you choose?
For those that like to talk about Jesus as a good teacher or a prophet or whatever,
and they're like, we like his teachings.
Jesus says, you can't just hear my teaching.
You have to make a choice.
Which road will you choose?
In our culture today, you might actually hear something that says,
you know, well, all roads lead to God.
And Jesus says, no, there are two roads.
One leads to God.
One leads to destruction.
And he tells us which one to choose.
Enter by the narrow gate, he says.
Enter by the narrow gate.
Jesus is pretty straightforward about this.
He tells us, enter by the narrow gate.
Life in the kingdom that he's been telling us about,
he's been laying out for what it looks like for human flourishing,
because this is the way life is meant to be lived according to God's way.
He says, this is how it is.
Now here's the invitation.
Enter the narrow gate.
To enter this life in the kingdom,
you must enter his way into the narrow gate.
He goes on to say,
for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction.
So we're going to talk about two gates in two ways.
Two gates, two ways.
The first gate is what he calls the wide gate here.
There is one gate that is wide that has many people going through it.
Now, when I think about or hear about a wide gate,
we just went on a train trip to a lot of different places.
We were on a lot of trains and went through a lot of gates.
And we kind of were dragging our bags and we encountered that one gate.
Maybe this was user error and not the gate's fault.
But I get to it and it's like,
this thing does not want me and my bag to go through.
So I'm kind of stuck in this place where I have to kind of lift up the gate,
lift up the bag over the gate and put it in front of me.
And there were probably better ways to do that.
But I was like, I've got to get through this and this is what I have to do.
And I look over and there's this wide gate over there that it's like,
sometimes when they see it's a group or a family,
they will open it for you and let you go through it.
And it's so nice when you're carrying baggage to go through a wide gate.
And when we talk about here that the gate is wide,
there are many who want to go through it because they want to bring their bags with them.
What are we talking about when we're talking about bags?
What are some of the things that people have a hard time letting go of
because they want to take it through the gate that they want to choose?
And it's things like my demands of,
I will follow Jesus if.
I will follow him if he allows me to also do this.
If he gives me the life that I think I deserve,
I'm all on board with that.
Or, I could never believe in a God who fill in the blank.
I'll believe in him if he fits into what I want him to be like.
How could a loving God allow this to happen?
On my terms, I like this God.
People think that they can go in that way
because the wide gate lets in all kinds of things.
All kinds of beliefs.
Not many demands, if any demands.
But Jesus says,
to follow him you must deny yourself.
Take up his cross.
Take up your cross and follow him.
I've got to let go of my very self.
I've got to let go of my agenda,
my thoughts and dreams and plans for my life,
in order to adopt his will for my life.
We must let go of even the idea
that I can walk through this gate
on my own initiative and my own performance
and by my good works,
I will be accepted before God.
That's the wide gate
that allows anything to pass through.
But that is not what Jesus tells us.
So we have to be asking the question,
what are we holding on to
that Jesus would tell us
we must let go of in order to follow him?
The gate is wide
and most people are going through it.
So for us to choose the narrow gate,
we're going to have to do what's unpopular.
We're going to have to make
the uncomfortable decisions.
As Martin Luther,
Martin Luther,
Martin Lloyd-Jones says
that we can't go in the way
that the crowd is going.
That immediately Jesus is telling us
that there must be a break
with us and the world.
Entering the narrow gate
implies that
we're going to stand out as different.
The world and the flesh,
they don't like this, right?
So enter in the narrow gate
because the wide gate
lets a lot of stuff through.
And many are those who find it.
Some might think
that God would be more loving
if he would just widen the gate.
But he truly knows
what is for our good
and calls us to trust him in that.
To believe that he knows
what is for our good.
So that's one gate.
We've got the wide gate.
But then Jesus says
there's another gate.
The narrow gate.
The gate,
this entrance itself is narrow.
And this is kind of important
the way we think about evangelism.
Telling others the good news.
There have been trends
throughout history.
Even still happens in the U.S.
where it's like a just believe,
check this box,
say this prayer,
of whatever,
and you will be in the kingdom,
in the family of God.
We must be honest
about how we present
following the Lord Jesus.
It says it's a narrow gate
and few are those who find it
because it's got to be his way
and no other way.
It's not narrow
because it's some mystery
or hard to understand.
It's narrow
because it's hard.
The way is hard
that we'll talk about
in just a minute.
It's narrow
because we have to count
the cost in following Jesus.
And the crowds,
they're going through
the broad gate.
We must follow Jesus
on the narrow way.
So let's look at the two ways.
So we have two gates,
the wide gate
and the narrow gate.
We have two ways.
This idea of talking about
a way or a path,
that's pretty common
in the Bible
to talk about following God
in paths of obedience
and righteousness.
It's not a coincidence
that the early church,
you see this in the book of Acts,
that it was called,
Christianity was called
the way
because there was a way
to follow Jesus.
This idea of having two paths.
We see all throughout
the Old Testament,
even the first Psalm,
Psalm 1, verse 6,
you see this contrast
between the way of righteousness
and the way of the wicked.
In Proverbs 4, verses 18 and 19
is a good illustration.
It says,
but the path of the righteous
is like the light of dawn
which shines brighter
and brighter until full day.
The way of the wicked, however,
is like deep darkness.
They do not know
over what they stumble.
So becoming a Christian
can be described
as entering into the kingdom of God
evidenced by a life
of following in His righteous ways.
You don't live a righteous life
in hope of getting through
the narrow gate.
It is we enter the narrow gate
through the life, death,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He even says in John chapter 10
that He's the door for the sheep.
We enter through Him
and after we follow Him
on the path of obedience
and the path of righteousness.
But the broad gate,
the wide gate,
also has a way that is easy.
It says here in the ESV.
This is the path of least resistance.
As I mentioned,
you can kind of believe
whatever you want
and do whatever you want to do
through this gate
and on this path.
Scripture even tells us
that it's a lot easier
to just live according to the flesh.
In Galatians chapter 5
and Romans chapter 7
we see this picture
that the flesh is very strong
against us wanting to follow the Spirit
and there's an opposition going on.
The natural flesh,
He says in 1 Corinthians,
the natural man
even sees the things of Christ
and sees them as folly.
It seems foolishness
to our natural flesh
to follow the ways of Christ.
I mean,
just the natural man
wants to do things
on our own initiative.
Surely it's not a gift.
It's got to be earned, right?
It's not just as easy
as believing and following Jesus.
I've got to work my way
so that my good outweighs my bad.
That's the way the natural man thinks.
But the way of the wide gate,
the way is easy.
Now that word easy
literally means
to be broad or spacious.
It's only used one time
here in the New Testament
but used a lot in the Old Testament
where you might have
like Psalm 31
that says you have set my feet
in a broad place.
Wide and spacious.
Job 36.16 says
He also allured you
out of distress
into a broad place
where there's no cramping
and what was set on your table
was full of fatness.
So it's this idea
in the Old Testament
of broad and spacious
gives this idea of freedom.
It's this idea
of plenty
and abundance
and thriving.
And so the way
of the wide gate,
the broad way
promises freedom.
It looks like,
oh, this is what freedom looks like
where I can pursue
whatever I want to pursue
but it leads to destruction.
I mean,
we think about
the original temptation
back in the garden
where it says
that she saw
that the tree
was good for food
and that it was
a delight to the eyes.
It was desired
to make one wise
yet God said
it leads to death.
You see
in Proverbs 14.12
that there's a way
that seems right to man
but its end
leads to death.
Paul talks about this
in Philippians chapter 3
where he talks about
those whose end
is destruction.
It says
their God
is their belly
or their appetites
and they glory
in their shame.
They're proud about
things they should
be ashamed for.
Their minds
are set
on earthly things.
That is a great description
of the broad
and easy way.
Just follow your heart.
You do you.
Right?
It's the false promises
that if I can just
live up
to who I really
am inside
that's what true
freedom
and even life is
is learning
who I really am.
It's all about
finding that
inner journey.
There's a way
that seems right to man
but the end of it
leads to death.
It seems like
it would be great
to just pursue
and achieve success
fame
money
whatever it might be.
There's a great quote
from Jim Carrey
the American actor
for those of you
who are younger than me
you might know him
from like Sonic the Hedgehog
or something.
But Jim Carrey
said this
he said
I think everybody
should get rich
and famous
and do everything
they ever dreamed of
so that they can see
that it's not the answer.
It's emptiness.
There was a
a professional athlete
in
I coach
the American football team
at the University of Edinburgh
so I'm into
American football a lot
and
athlete after athlete
talk about getting
these big contracts
and
they're winning
Super Bowls
which is the highest honor
ultimate success
and they're asking
questions like
surely there's more
to life than this.
We think
that by pursuing
our dreams
and all these
having ultimate freedom
that I can do
whatever I want to
success
fame
money
fortune
all those things
that's going to lead
to happiness.
The end of it
leads to death.
We
choose this
wide path
by default
because it's a lot
easier that way
the way is easy
it promises
great things
but the end
is destruction.
But then Jesus
says in verse 14
the gate is narrow
and the way is hard
that leads
to life.
This is by the way
Jesus' way of giving
an invitation.
Hey the way is hard
the gate is narrow
few are those
who find it.
He says in Luke 14
like
look if you want
to follow me
like
you don't build
a tower
without counting
the cost.
A king doesn't
go to war
without first
making sure
he's going to have
all the troops
and logistics
that he needs.
You got to count
the cost
and make sure
that you understand
that I'm worth it.
you must count
the cost
to follow me.
This way
is the path
of resistance.
There's a lot
going against you
on the hard
way.
So we have to
ask the question
what makes
that way hard?
What makes it
hard to follow
Jesus and to
choose this path
to go through
the narrow
gate?
So this word
hard
it means
to compress
or to press
like a grape?
It's a word
that's often
used for
suffering
and affliction.
The way
of following
Christ
is often
found
with suffering
and tribulation
and when you're
squeezed
like that
your true
self
really comes
out.
When someone
is really
squeezed
and pressed
what's on
the inside
starts coming
on the outside.
We see a good
example of
what it means
to live
on this path
in the two
different ways.
We see this
in the parable
of the sower
actually
in Matthew
13
and Mark
chapter 4
where Jesus
talks about
that there
are four
kinds of soils
when someone
is sowing
the word
of God
the gospel
that the
seed lands
on four
different soils.
This is the
first one
lands on
the hard
path
and in
this parable
he said
birds come
and take
it away.
The second
seed falls
on rocky
ground
which is
basically
a thin
layer of
topsoil
with rock
underneath it
and it
says that
it immediately
springs up
but then
because it
can't grow
with its
roots
it can't
go deep
that it
immediately
dies.
he said
the third
soil
is the
seed that
falls among
thorns
where it
starts growing
but it's
choked out
by the
thorns
and then
the fourth
falls on
good soil
and when
it falls
on good
soil
it produces
fruit
thirty
sixty
hundred
fold
and then
Jesus
goes on
to explain
that parable
and he
says the
seed that
fell on
the hard
ground
on the
path
and said
the birds
came and
plucked it
up
that is
Satan
when he
comes
and he
snatches
the word
off the
hard ground
before it
has a
chance
to do
anything
so one
reason
why
the way
is hard
is there's
an enemy
who does
not want
you to
hear
the good
news
that wants
to snatch
the word
out of your
life before
it can take
any root
wants you
to be
distracted
and to
not hear
the voice
of the
Lord
the second
one
that falls
on rocky
soil
the one
that
couldn't
get
depth
Jesus
says
this is
when
tribulation
or persecution
comes
and people
fall away
so they
start out
well
and then
when things
get hard
they fall
away
one of the
reasons that
the way
is hard
is because
there's a
lot of
persecution
and things
that come
our way
that come
against us
this would
kind of be
like when
you're at
work
or at
school
and someone
says
something
and you
want to
say
something
according
to
Jesus
way
but you
kind of
like
oh
I
will
be
ridiculed
maybe
even
ostracized
if I
say that
so we
kind of
shrink back
you know
what I'm
talking about
that's what
we're talking
about
where there's
persecution
or tribulation
when things
get hard
falls away
the third
soil
was one
that came
among
thorns
Jesus
goes on
to say
that this
is the
cares
of this
world
the
deceitfulness
of riches
and the
desire
for other
things
that come
and choke
out the
word
and man
in the
west
don't we
feel that
one
that the
way is
hard
because the
cares of
this world
we're just
thinking about
other things
we're thinking
about what
am I going to
do this
weekend
what am I
going to spend
my money
on am I
going to have
enough money
to pay
for the
bills
we get
thinking
about all
the cares
of this
world
that distracts
us from
other things
or it could
be the
deceitfulness
of riches
if I just
had more
I would be
happy
more stuff
stuff
equals happiness
now again
I don't have
to be rich
as much
as comfortable
I want to
be comfortable
a desire
for the
riches
that are
deceitful
and then he
says the
desire for
other things
that's a
pretty broad
category here
but other
things
there are
just things
that are
vying for
our attention
and it
is really
coming after
us and
really what
Jesus is
getting at
is this
is the
things of
the world
we have
an enemy
who wants
to take
away the
word so
that you
do not
hear the
news of
Jesus
Christ
we're at
war with
Satan and
the forces
of darkness
that is a
reality
now
some of
us
are so
distracted
by the
other
things
that
maybe
you know
the enemy
doesn't feel
like he has
to spend a lot
of time on
us because
the other
things are
working better
but we have
an enemy
that's actively
working against
us
there's also
just going to be
tribulation
Jesus promises
it
Paul says
that all
who desire
to live a
godly life
in Christ
Jesus
will be
persecuted
but in the
sermon on the
mount
Jesus said
blessed are
you when
you're
persecuted
for the
sake of
righteousness
blessed are
you when
others revile
you on
my account
that's a
blessed life
that's a
life of
thriving
when we're
persecuted
for Jesus
sake
the world
is against
us
our own
flesh
is against
us
our own
flesh wants
to do the
easy thing
wants to
go the
way of
the world
and that's
hard
we will
sometimes call
this the
evil trinity
satan
the world
and our
own flesh
and when
those things
are against
us
it makes
it really
hard
it just
does
so the
way is
hard
that leads
to life
but Jesus
says
it's worth
it
to follow
Jesus
is to
follow
him
down
the
path
of
resistance
and
if
you
find
it
hard
at
times
to
follow
Jesus
that's
a good
thing
it means
you're probably
going in the
right way
but if
you find
following
Jesus
pretty easy
and
comfortable
there's a
chance
you're not
following
him
because
he says
following
me
is the
hard
way
the
way
the
world
is
going
the
way
our
flesh
wants
to
go
that's
the
easy
way
but he
says
the gate
is
narrow
and the
way
is
hard
that
leads
to
life
and
few
are
those
who
find
it
so
how
will
we
respond
to
the
sermon
on
the
mount
when
Jesus
says
enter
into
the
narrow
gate
there
are
some
of
us
here
maybe
you
are
exploring
Jesus
maybe
you're
not
sure
where
you
stand
with
him
there
can
be
many
misconceptions
of how
to
properly
respond
to
Jesus
it's
not
just
a
mental
ascent
it
is
a
giving
your
life
to
follow
him
it
is
a
!
repent
and
believe
the
gospel
then
follow
me
down
this
hard
and
narrow
way
Jesus
is
saying
the
king
is
here
and
a
decision
must
be
made
in
the
passage
that
Corey
read
a few
verses
down
Jesus
also
says
there
are
many
who
will
say
to
me
that
day
Lord
who
will
not
enter
the
kingdom
of
heaven
he
says
there
are
many
who
will
say
to
me
on
that
day
Lord
did
we
not
prophesy
in
your
name
and
cast
out
demons
and
perform
mighty
works
in
your
name
and
he
said
and
I
will
say
to
them
on
that
day
depart
from
me
you
workers
of
lawlessness
for
I
never
knew
you
mean
there
are
some
who
are
going
to
say
I
live
my
life
for
you
Jesus
who
are
not
in
the
kingdom
of
heaven
Jesus
says
yeah
there
will
be
many
who
do
things
saying
it's
in
my
name
but
you're
not
following
me
maybe
it's
because
you're
doing
it
for
reputation
to
be
seen
by
others
which
Jesus
talked
about
in
Matthew
chapter
6
maybe
it's
that
you
are
doing
things
on
the
outside
but
the
inside
is
not
there
like
he
talked
about
in
chapter
5
but
he
says
you
must
follow
me
on
this
narrow
!
path
it
is
those
who
do
the
will
of
my
father
who
is
in
heaven
it's
not
just
outward
obedience
it's
inward
heart
as
well
and
it's
about
being
on
this
path
we
realize
I'm
blew
it
I
can't
live
this
way
yes
only
Jesus
can
and
so
we
by
faith
give
our
lives
to
him
to
follow
him
we
follow
him
in
faith
and
we
repent
of
our
sin
repent
of
our
good
works
that
we
are
trying
to
do
to
earn
his
favor
but
there
are
many
of
us
in
here
who
are
also
followers
of
Christ
that
we
would
say
stay
the
path
he
is
with
us
it
can
be
hard
when
you
see
the
things
that
are
happening
in
our
culture
that
celebrate
death
instead
of
life
there
are
so
many
ways
that
the
world
is
trying
to
lure
you
into
its
thinking
to
get
you
to
follow
the
ways
of
the
world
the
enemy
is
attacking
in
ways
that
we
don't
even
see
to
try
to
discourage
and accuse
the
brethren
to deceive
us
don't
give
in to
the
flesh
believe
the
gospel
that
Jesus
lived
the
life
that
you
couldn't
live
and
he
died
the
death
that
you
deserve
to
die
so
that
through
faith
in
him
we
can
have
life
the
end
of
the
hard
way
entering
through
the
narrow
gate
leads
to
life
so
live
that
life
of
repentance
whenever
I
hear
about
kind
of a
fork
in
the
road
or
cross
roads
or
you
got
to
pick
the
path
to
choose
Jim
Elliott
if you
ever
heard
that
name
was
a
missionary
from
America
went to
the
Akka
Indians
in
South
America
and
one
of
my
favorite
quotes
he
had
a
book
kind
of
his
biography
written
by
his
wife
called
The
Shadow
of
the
Almighty
this
quote
stuck
with
me
where
he
says
father
make
of
me
a
crisis
man
bring
those
I
contact
to
a
decision
let
me
not
be
a
mile
post
on
a
single
road
but
make
me
a
fork
that
men
must
turn
one
way
or
another
on
facing
Christ
in
me
in
other
words
for those
of you
who are
following
Jesus
let us
live a
life
that
is
so
bearing
the
image
the
image
of
Jesus
that
is
so
we're
the
hands
and
feet
of
Jesus
that
we
are
following
him
in
such
a
way
that
people
when
they
come
in
contact
with
us
they've
got
to
make
a
decision
am
I
going
to
follow
that
way
of
Jesus
or
turn
the
other
way
let
our
lives
be
such
that
people
even
face
a
little
bit
of
conviction
followers
let's
pray
father
we
thank
you
so
much
that
Jesus
gave
us
these
words
that
he
gave
us
really
a
hard
saying
after
such
an
incredible
sermon
showing
what
life
in the
kingdom
is
like
life
of
thriving
in a
way
that
lives
for
your
glory
and
honors
you
both
from
the
outside
and
the
inside
how
to
live
from
the
heart
how
to
pray
there
are
so
many
incredible
things
that
Jesus
gave
us
thank
you
that
he
gave
us
this
invitation
to
enter
the
narrow
gate
Lord
Jesus
thank
you
for
giving
us
this
way
to
follow
you
and
Lord
what
you
call
us
to
you
give
us
the
strength
to
obey
you
gave
us
your
spirit
so
that
we
could
follow
you
on
this
path
may
we
never
think
for
a
moment
that
we
can
earn
our
way
that
we
can
be
good
enough
help
us
to
fall
into
your
arms
and
trust
you
again
thank
you
for
the
spirit
that
empowers
us
to
live
this
life
that
you've
called
us
to
may
we
live
in
full
obedience
day
by
day
we
pray
this
in
the
precious
name
of
Jesus
amen