This is generally called the Sermon on the Mount, part of the early public ministry of Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God. Israel knew the ways of God in the Old Testament. Jesus came to show them how it is. He didn’t teach what he thought but the way it is. It is the sobering truth of God. It has been denied and mocked, but in 2,000 years critics have not been able to prove Jesus wrong. His teachings remain forever unrefuted.
Matthew 7:13 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Here are two entrance gates, two ways of living and two destinations. It begins with an imperative and ends with a warning. We are somewhere between the beginning of verse 13 and the ending of verse 14.
When we come to an intersection on the road, we turn one way or another. This is like going through a gate. Interstate 81 has one way on by the entrance ramp and one way off by the exit ramp. It is built to travel one way. You can’t back up. Life is this way. It’s cut and dry. Satan says we don’t have to worry. Some say we excel in our minds and fulfill our own destiny. There is a relaxed attitude. The belief is that there are many entrances to heaven and we can make our own road. The truth is we don’t have a choice about how to get to heaven. We can’t trust in any other way. Trusting in anything or anyone else won’t get us there. There is worry on every hand about the world’s current situation; the concern needs to be about which road we travel. The problem is our need of a Savior.
The solution begins with the righteousness of God. Are you saved and trusting the Lord? Which way are you headed? There is one way to heaven and one way to hell. The wide entrance ramp is made of those who make their own version of Jesus and how to get to heaven. Many go through this gate. They don’t see the condition they are in and recognize there is one solution for it. It’s wide because it’s the easy way to go. Everybody else is doing it. It must be the right way. There is confidence in it. There is no longer sin. There is no right from wrong. Why? People embrace anything. Only death and victory over sin breaks the chain.
When we look around we see another gate. It’s straight and narrow. It doesn’t fit around us. We fit into it. It won’t enlarge itself to accommodate our version of Jesus, church or religion. Coming to Jesus for salvation is the entrance into this gate. Jesus cut away the barbs of sin to fit us for entrance and put us on the way to heaven. We look over the heads of those pressing down the wrong way and see the pressing of the cross, straight up and down. Jesus taught a straight message. With out-stretched arms he makes us fit. We are born again and put in the right way.
We don’t choose salvation as a dish on a buffet. This is a straight and narrow road. We can’t drive just any vehicle on it. There are no 18-wheelers on it. On any given day there are wrecks on the interstate. It’s wide enough to cruise along and not think about what lies ahead. We’re more careful driving on back, narrow roads. We know we have to watch. Yet it is not a miserable road. A drive on a back road offers much more to see than on the interstate of bill boards and construction.
Jesus gave a lot to get us on the way. Don’t listen to the world. What it advertises is a lie. Don’t think you’re a Christian while on this broad road. The narrow road is the way to a beautiful life in Christ. It’s the road to heavenly joy. Few find it because few want it. Few are willing to do what it takes to be on it. The fact still is that only the straight, narrow gate leads to heaven. Whether saved or lost, what a time to pray about the direction our life is taking us.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 