The Narrow Gate

 

Here is another great sermon by Voddie Bauchan.  I will give a Cliff’s Notes rendition.  But I must confess: unlike the past, I have put many of my own theology in too. His sermon starts with Matthew 7:13-14, at the end of the precious, and important, Sermon on the Mount:

                   

 “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. ¹⁴ Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

 

Jesus is saying, in effect, “since you have listened to this whole sermon (Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 5-7) you must make a choice about heaven or hell, life or destruction. There are two gate entrances; which will you take?” 

Many of them believed that as long as they are trying to follow the rituals laid forth by Moses, they’re already leading the “narrow-gate” life, they’re good for heaven.  But Jesus, in the Sermon, was trying to correct that assumption. He did that by focusing on the mind as the real cause of sin (see Matthew 5:21-48).  Many people, He knew, don’t engage in sinful behavior, but they still think sinful thoughts. They thought it was OK, if you don’t murder, to hate somebody.  Jesus said sinful thoughts are sinful too.

 

In case YOU have any false assumptions about gaining eternal life, let’s talk about that eternal life or death choice in Matthew 7:13-14.  You should know, first, we start out our lives on the evil, Broad path (Ephesians 2:3). It’s our Sin nature that put us there on day 1.  Further, we grow up and tend to choose that wrong way too—even with our reasonable minds. But our minds have been corrupted too (Rom. 3:10-12).

 

Secondly, God has given us a free choice between two Gates. As we said, we start out automatically on the broad path, through the Wide Gate. But that’s on the way to hell.  So everyone starts out destined for hell. But, to switch to the difficult path, through the Narrow Gate, you must enter into it intentionally.  People just don’t get on the right path by inheritance or by growing up in it, as the Jews often believed.  If you ask someone, “Are you a Christian?” some will answer “Of course—I go to church every week.” Well, let’s look at this.  I’m hoping they mean, “I’m a Christian AND I go to church,” or “I go to church every week BECAUSE I’m a Christian.” No, sadly, they are saying that that activity makes them a Christian. It doesn’t. Another bad response is, “I’m a Christian; I was raised in a Christian home.” Or, “I was baptized in infancy, so I’ve been a Christian all my life.” Actually, that last one is the worst response of all: It’s a theological impossibility, because it takes a reasoning person to intentionally seek God, which you can’t do as a small child.   If you really believe “I have been all my life,” you are probably not a Christian at all. Because you have not done the intentional move—which has to be entered into by Repentance and by Faith (see other blogs).  What does Jesus say in His first Gospel presentation?  Mark 1:14-15:

 

Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

You were not born repentant or believing.  It’s the opposite:  all of us are born into a sin nature. So we start out on the Broad road.  We are all headed for destruction.  Unfortunately, few people intentionally find their way to the narrow gate. We have a self-deception problem of our not seeing where we stand with God.  We should beg God to show us the narrow gate. The London Baptist Confession puts it this way:

  This saving repentance…whereby a person, being by the Holy Spirit made sensible of the manifold evils of his sin, doth, by faith in Christ, humble himself for it with godly sorrow, detestation of it, and self-abhorrency, praying for pardon and strength of grace, with a purpose and endeavor, by supplies of the Spirit, to walk before God unto all well-pleasing in all things.

The problem with this confession is, it was inked in 1689; few people today feel “self-abhorrent” or feel the necessary repentance, because few people think about how bad their sin is to God (Rom. 3:23). He doesn’t think like we assume.  They think God always forgives (Rom. 11:22).  In some cases, they believe that we don’t even have to ask God for forgiveness—or we can do that on our death-bed.  This kind of self-deception will send many to hell.  There is plenty of self-deception going around.  The fact is, from the time we knew right from wrong, we were in desperate need of a Savior.  We knew He is there, we knew what was right, and we deliberately transgressed. 

What is the “formula” for salvation?  Unfortunately there are many who proclaim the “Gospel,” but they make it sound easy. “It’s easy as ABC:  A, Acknowledge; B, Believe; C, Confess.  Just word your prayer of confession after me.”  They may make it sound easy, but Jesus Did Not. Jesus said that entrance into the Kingdom was not easy—the entrance gate is portrayed as Narrow, and it must be searched for.

Here’s what they preach today: “Believe.  Believe God loves you and has made you for a purpose.  Believe God has chosen you to have a relationship with Jesus, Who died on the Cross for you.  Believe that no matter what you’ve done, God wants to forgive you. Second, Receive.  Receive Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior.  Receive His forgiveness for your sin.  So I invite you to bow your head and quietly whisper the prayer that will change your eternity.  What’s that prayer?  “Jesus, I believe in You and I receive You.”  If you sincerely meant that prayer, Congratulations!  Welcome to the Family of God. (This is the actual Gospel presentation in The Purpose-Driven Life). Notice that you see no repentance, no sin, no wrath of God, no nothing.  Just believe—God loves you. And you’re on your way--so they say.

I can be saved just like that?  No. To God (and He is the Judge, not you), you are a wretched, sinful creature, who, as clearly pointed out in Scripture, deserves to die and go to hell. See Romans 1:32 and 9:22. Unless you repent of your sin. Unless you are aware of the fact that you deserve to be crushed under the weight of the majesty and holiness of God, you don’t “get it,” it’s not deep in your heart. “Believe in Jesus,” they say…well, which Jesus?  Today’s preachers usually don’t define Him—well, you ask, what about the Jesus of the New Age Movement?  Or, what if I know Jesus as “lowly Jesus, meek and mild, who wouldn’t hurt a fly?” Then can I be saved?  Unlikely, since both those ideas have the wrong view of Jesus.  That also means you haven’t truly read your Scripture. He will disappoint the image you made up of Him, and you will leave Jesus and the faith.

“It’s really easy,” the experts say.  Yes, initial salvation is easy: you go through the narrow gate with repentance and belief.  But you then must endure to the end (Matt. 24:13).  So it’s also a journey, a Path; that’s not easy.” The difficulty comes because our sinful lusts, still there after we make our emotional confession of belief, lead us to bend toward our own will.  We must appeal to the Holy Spirit for help (Gal. 5:24-25).  People don’t like to humble themselves and ask for help.  They want to keep God far away when they sin. Also, too many people still believe that “My sins aren’t bad.”  Especially if they’re rich; they’re convinced they deserve heaven.  What does “being saved” mean to you?  That you want to keep following your own path, and you just want God to bless it? You want Jesus to be an appendage on your self-centered life, not an eradication of it?  Wrong. That’s why it’s hard. 

Your “old sinful man” (Rom. 6:6) within you doesn’t want to let Christ put him to death; the old nature is willing to lie to you, to tell you, “Hey, don’t go to the narrow gate. On this broad road, there are lots of people who talk Jesus; they go to church, they don’t have that narrow theology.  That ‘narrow’ stuff….that’s negative; you don’t want to be narrow.”  People often tell me, when I preach, “That’s so narrow.”  Yes, that’s the Gospel.  God’s not a politician; He’s not running for God, so He can afford to be narrow. He sets the rules; our wishes about what we want of His personality have no impact.

The Christian life must be lived purposefully—that is, every day to every day, you desire more to be sanctified to His pleasure and glory. Sanctification, or fruits, are essential to keep salvation.  But modern preachers separate justification and sanctification in such a way that they actually believe that you can be saved, yet not have your life affected at all.  On the contrary, the requirement is, there’s not only a gate, there’s a path involved, a lifestyle. Of growing faith-relationship with God. I remember a church, and the whole sermon that day was on tithing.  They never mentioned Christ--then suddenly, at the end, pastor does a quick, manipulative, altar call to invite anyone to accept Christ and be saved.  I almost got whiplash.  People start walking toward the front—why, I asked?  He had said nothing about Christ’s expectations.  There’s been no layout of the Gospel. Nothing about sin, or why Christ died. They’re then led in the sinner’s prayer—a prayer, I remind you, that you will find nowhere in the Bible.  Then they’re told they are saved, sealed in the Lamb’s book of life.  But the truth is, I’ve met a whole lot of people who were led in somebody else’s prayer, and “meant it,” but their life says They Lied. Somebody put the pressure on them; they were uncomfortable, in many cases, and just wanted to agree to get outside and breathe again. The preacher might’ve said “You can die and go to hell, or you can pray this prayer.”  “Will you pray that and mean it?”  You’re uncertain, intimidated, maybe a little scared. You say “Sure! Absolutely.” That’ll do it, right?

Well, you can “mean it” and not know who Jesus is. You might do well to secure His expectations from Scripture, not the preacher—after all, He is the Judge in the end. Have you been brought to a place of conviction and brokenness over your sin? The Bible says, “Test yourselves, to see if you be in the faith.”  Remember, there’s not just an entrance, there’s a path. With ntention, get off the broad path, and onto the narrow path. 

There are, in Greek, two different meanings that could apply to our word “narrow.”  One meaning that we haven’t covered is “compressed, pressed in.” It has the meaning of “harassed.”  So we can think of it as “persecuted.”  Jesus is saying, “You can enter a way that is narrow, a life with persecution.”  The opposite gospel of our day says “you need Jesus so your life won’t be hard.”  Well, here’s the truth:  Paul says in II Tim. 3:12: …all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”  And consider Matthew 5:10: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  How are you blessed?  By suffering verbal attack, or even physical violence, God will reward you in heaven. You should be striving for that treasure of reward, not treasure on earth.  If we consistently withstand persecution, we feel assurance of salvation. Yours is the kingdom of heaven.  This is important enough that Jesus began and ended His famous sermon on the mount with this theme.  For proof, see the beginning of the Sermon, Matt. 5:44 (And you can add 10:22, too), on the last days:  “…You will be hated by all….the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Not the one who just parrots the “sinner’s prayer” and eventually gets tired of Jesus not making his life what he wants.

The Apostle John says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us.”  Those who left the faith had the wrong expectations.  If they were of us, they would have remained.  Remaining is an evidence of salvation.  Staying on the Path.  Yes, believers can fall into sin—but only for a season.  But if you belong to Him, you will turn your behavior about—the Holy Spirit won’t leave you alone, you can’t stand it.  Think of Revelation 3:19: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten^. Therefore be zealous and repent.  This is spoken to believers, remember.  Look at Matthew 24:9-13 for the last days, which we may be getting close to:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰ And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹ Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹² And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 

Can you hack this kind of trouble? You may not feel it, but the Holy Spirit will embolden you.  The last days may be coming soon.  Read verse 13 again.  It’s how you keep salvation.

On to the last step. In this salvation exercise, we have the entrance, the path, and the crowd. Now let’s talk about that. The narrow entrance and the hard path are necessary for salvation.  The crowd problem (different than the parable) is this:  You entered the narrow gate, but you might note, while  walking the path, that BOTH “narrow” and “broad” people are around you. “Wheat” and “tares” are all there.  God knows who the “narrow” people are—those are the real church, those are in His kingdom. Broad people are living off their fleshly lusts—tempting though it is, we stay away from that world. We tend to find our way to other “narrow” folk, so we provide mutual strength and encouragement to one another. If church on Sunday were made up of all that folk, it would make life easier. But that’s not the way it is either.  One way we know who is who (assuming we’re a light and not hidden), is that those walking on the broad way despise us.  We give them conviction of their sins.  Just by our lives, we don’t have to broadcast it.  They don’t like the light when they live in darkness. They accuse us, “You’re so narrow-minded.” “Why, thank you very much,” we might respond slyly, “I’m really working on that.”  (But don’t forget this: The Gate is Narrow, but we don’t have to make it more narrow than it already is. It’s way too easy to fall into pride with this thinking. We don’t want to become the Pharisees). 

Most of the people on the Broad way believe that they are on the right road.  They believe the lie that says, “All roads lead to God; you just need to find the one that works for you.”  It says there are many roads, when in fact, there are only two:  There’s Christ and His kingdom—and there’s everybody else.  Most are on the Broad way because most people believe that Man is essentially good.  Where did they hear that?  Not from Scripture.  Look at Romans 3:11-18:

There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.¹² They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. ¹³ Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; ¹⁴ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. ¹⁵ Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their ways; ¹⁷ And the way of peace they have not known. ¹⁸ There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Most people record every good deed in their head, and forget the bad.  That’s the way we are.  They will lie and cheat, which is active rebellion against God (“no fear of God before their eyes”), but they still think they are “good enough for God.” We all “once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” (Eph. 2:3). It’s hard to break from a whole life of ignoring God and from sin.  That’s why it’s hard to find the narrow gate. But there are still evangelists who make it harder.  They lie and tell us, all we have to do is just say a few programmed words, as long as you’re sincere—and you’re sealed in the Lamb’s book of Life! But for many who don’t work on sanctification, but think they’re still saved, they end up just sealed in their unbelief! To think about confession would expose them as hypocritical. Remember:  You can just say words, only words, and die and be separated from God. And don’t think of trying to match good deeds with bad deeds.  God’s not on a scale system.

Part of that Broad path crowd is a group of people who go to church on a regular basis, and know how to use very familiar Biblical language.  Crafty folk. The skin of truth surrounding the meat of a lie. Many of the innocents are unaware they’re on the Broad road—because somebody guaranteed them salvation.  If they see a glimpse of that hard, narrow path, they say, “Hey, they’re on a different path than us.”  The crafty one will say, “No, that’s just a different KIND of Christian path. They’re just really committed.”  Or, they’ll say, “they’re over-committed. Could we be wrong, with hundreds of people coming in to our church, getting saved every week? God is blessing our work!” So, it seems….

Finally, the Christian life must be completed faithfully: “Those who endure to the end are saved.”  A warning, though: if you endure, you still don’t get to share credit with Jesus for your salvation.  You never “earn,” or “joint-earn” heaven. Read Phil. 1:6:  I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus.  He is the One who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Phil. 2:13). He is our Lord, so we respond in obedience—if we are truly saved. All our greatest and correct thoughts on doctrine come from God and His Word.  Study it!

May God help us to “test ourselves,” to see if we are truly in the faith.  Do we have the necessary fruits?  John 15:5-6 has a warning: he who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned..

Continue having a faithful relationship with Christ, and His Word, and you’ll abide. The result—heaven!