13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
MacArthur gives an interpretation here that I hadn't heard before, yet makes perfect sense. He maintains that the choice is not between heaven and hell, the choice is between salvation by Christ's righteousness and salvation by self-righteousness. The whole sermon has been a contrast between the Pharisees self-righteous faith and true saving faith, so it does make sense. Obviously you can also directly choose hell, but his point is that many people think they're on the path to heaven, when in fact, they're on the path to hell.
In his sermon, Which Way to Heaven, MacArthur explains....
Now as we come to verses 13 and 14 the choice is crystallized. And, by the way, as I said, this is the pinnacle and the remainder of the chapter just stretches this thought out and illustrates it. We'll be seeing that in the weeks to come. But from here on the choice is clear. There are two gates; the wide and the straight. There are two ways; the broad and the narrow. There are two destinations; life and destruction. There are two kinds of travelers; the few and the many. There are two kindsof trees; the good and the corrupt. There are two kinds of fruit; the good and the bad. There are two builders; the wise and the foolish. There are two foundations; the rock and the sand. And there are two houses and there are two elements to the storm that He discusses. In other words, the clear-cut decision is the whole issue at the climax of the sermon....
Both roads, as I said, point to salvation. Both roads point to God. Both roads point to the kingdom. Both roads point to glory. Both roads point to blessing. Both roads point to heaven. Both roads don't go there. One is self-righteousness and one is divine righteousness. Before you get on the road you have to go through the gate. So the gate comes first.
First of all, we must enter it. It is a command, not a suggestion.
Jesus says, you must enter this narrowway. If you're going to be in My kingdom, you've got to come on these terms. He demanded immediate action. It is an absolute command without an alternative. It is not enough to listen to preaching about the gate, it is not enough to admire the ethics, you've got to enter it. You cannot enter the kingdom, He says, unless you come on these terms. Abandoning your self-righteousness, seeing yourself as a beggar in spirit, as mourning over sin, as meet before a holy God, not proud and boastful, as hungering and thirsting for righteousness, not believing you have it, you have to enter on His terms. Hell will be full of people who admired the Sermon on the Mount. You must enter.
Secondly, you must enter the narrow gate. There is only one way to be saved and that is through the atoning work of Jesus at the cross. Christ and Christ alone is the gate to heaven.
Third, you must enter this gate alone. Every single person has to make this choice on their own. You can't take anyone with you. You can't make someone become a Christian, the choice is theirs. And no one else can make that decision for you, the choice is yours.
Fourthly, you enter this gate with difficulty.
Now I know that shocks some people. Because we hear all the time that getting saved is easy. All you have to do is just believe, sign on the dotted line, walk the aisle, raise your hand, go to the prayer room, whatever. And we've made it easy. The only thing is, when we get done the people aren't on the right road because they didn't come through the narrow gate. Now without shocking you too much I believe it's very, very difficult to be saved. Did you hear that? Let me show you why.
It says at the end of verse 14, regarding the narrow gate and regarding the narrow way, "Few there be that," what? "Find it." The first implication is that you're not even going to know it's there unless you're what? Looking. The Old Testament prophet said, "You'll find Me," says God, "when you search for me with all your heart." I don't believe anybody ever slipped and fell into the Kingdom of God. I don't believe it's easy. That's cheap grace, easy believism. That's the revivalist's approach, raise your hand, walk the aisle, sign the card and you're in...Few there be that find it implies that you've got to look for it and that you have to search for it.
Consider this scripture...
Luke 13:22-24 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.
Why so few people?
"Because you must strive to enter in at the narrow gate." And the word strive is agonizomaifrom which we get to agonize which is used in I Corinthians 9:25 of an athlete agonizing to win a victory. Which is used in Colossians 4:12 of laboring fervently. Which is used in Paul's letter to Timothy in the idea of chapter 6 verse 12 of fighting. In other words, the Lord says it is an agonizing, it is a warfare, it is a fervency that is demanded, a striving to enter in at the narrow gate and there are many as opposed to the few who will seek to enter in but won't be able.
Now watch this, it's difficult to get saved, Jesus says. Number one because you've got to be seeking. And there are maybe many who are seeking but when they find out what it costs to strive to enter they're not willing to do that....
In Matthew 11 and verse 12 the Bible says the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. There's almost a violence in the entrance into the Kingdom. In Luke 16:16the Lord said, "Every man who comes into the Kingdom presses his way into the Kingdom."...
The Kingdom is to those who seek it with all their hearts. The Kingdom is to those who strive, who agonize to enter it, whose hearts are shattered over their sinfulness. Who mourn in meekness, who hunger and thirst and unquenchably satisfied. Long for God to change their life. It's not for the people who come along in a cheap way and want Jesus without any alteration of their living. When Jesus emphasized that one cannot sleep his way into the kingdom Jesus was saying in order to be in My Kingdom you must have earnest endeavor, untiring energy, utmost exertion. In fact, in John 16:33 he said, you mark it right now in this world you will have tribulation. It's never easy. It's never easy to become a Christian because you've got all hell against you. All Satan and his demons....And in the power of God we must overcome Satan and the flesh to enter the Kingdom....
I believe that one of Satan's pervasive lies in the world today is it's easy to become a Christian, it's easy. It's not easy. It's not easy at all. It's a very narrow gate. You go through all alone and you go through agonizing all the way over your sinfulness. You have to be broken in your spirit. Somebody might say, "Well, that sounds like the religion of human achievement you were talking about." No, it's when you come to the brokenness and the recognition that you of yourself cannot do it then Christ pours into you grace upon grace to strengthen you for that necessary agonizing to enter it. In your brokenness His power becomes your resource.
Fifthly you must enter naked - with no luggage, no self-righteouness, recognizing that you have nothing of worth to offer and that you completely unable to save yourself.
And, quite obviously, you must enter repentantly.
In utter surrender to Christ. I do not believe that a person can be regenerate as Christ indicates it here by simply adding Jesus Christ to their carnal activities. I don't believe that salvation is addition, I think salvation is transformation. The whole message of I John is that if you are truly redeemed it will manifest itself in a transformed life where sin is confessed, where obedience is characteristic, where love is made manifest. Salvation is marked by a changed life. Jesus even said -I can tell My true disciples for they obey My word. They obey My word. Somebody says, "Well, I'm a Christian" and there's no sign of obedience in their life they may think they are a Christian but they got on the wrong road. Sure it was marked heaven and sure it may have been marked Jesus but it isn't the right road. A narrow, narrow gate.
The narrow way is a hard way. It's so narrow it's like you're struggling through a small crevice in a mountain.
The road is hard. And Christianity has never been presented by our Lord as a soft option for the weak kneed and the weak hearted. You declare war on hell when you start. And hell fights pretty tough. And you live the rest of your life with a beatitude attitude. You're constantly trying to deal with your own pride, your own desires, your own selfish will. Jesus said to Peter follow Me, and, by the way, Peter, it will cost you your life. Are you coming on those terms?..
One wonderful thing about it is that all the hardness and all the narrowness and all the restrictions are born by Christ Himself so that His yoke is easy for us and His burden is what? Is light...
It's hard, it's pressed, it's confined and when you wander off the path you're going to be chastened. You say, well, it sounds awful. No, no, because all the hardness is picked up by Christ and the way becomes a way of beauty.
The narrow way is hard. But it ends in life more abundant than we could ever imagine.
The wide way is easy, but it ends in destruction more final and more awful than we could ever imagine.
And both are eternal.
There are only two choices. And you have to choose. No choice is also a choice.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Matthew 7:15-20
1 comment:
Wow, some excellent points here that I hadn't thought through this way before.
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