Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to look at some scripture from Matthew chapter 7. Beginning at verse 13 it says…
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: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Did you know that a strait is a narrow passage of water connecting two seas or two other large areas of water.
For example if you take a look on a map sometime, the Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and it separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco.
If you find spain you’ll be getting pretty close! It’s a fairly narrow passageway, only about eight miles wide.
One of the narrowest straits in the world is the strait of Istanbul. This one is located in Turkey. At its narrowest it is only 2,300 feet wide. That’s a pretty narrow path isn’t it.
The Lord Jesus teaches us today that the path to Heaven is very narrow. It is so narrow that they’re going to be few that actually find it.
I think about going out in the woods on the four-wheelers to find a good Blackberry patch. It eventually turns into a walking path and during the summer starts to grow over and it’s very very difficult to find that path. It’s easy to get lost and turned around.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
There are numerous religions that are out there in the world today who profess to believe in God.
One of the estimations I’ve read is that there are around 4,200 active religions in the world today.
That’s a lot of people isn’t it, who are actively trying to find their way to heaven. But as the Lord teaches us today in this lesson, He is the only way unto eternal life.
There’s only one access point that is available to God the father and that is through His Son Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 15:1
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.
God sent his only begotten son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. He was lifted up onto a cross in Jerusalem where he died and was buried but then was risen from the grave. Death had no power over him because he is God and He is eternal life. That is the Gospel of Truth my friends.
John 3:16-17
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Jesus was sent to this world to die as a sacrifice for our sins. It’s only through faith in God’s only begotten Son that we can have forgiveness with God. Our sins, which are many, can be blotted out through the blood of Jesus Christ that he shed at the cross for each of us.
God doesn’t want anybody to perish but he wants everyone to repent and believe the truth that is found in his Son Jesus.
Eph 2:1
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Remember the Apostle Paul taught that he was the chief of Sinners. We’ve all come short of the glory of God. What God wants us to do is repent and get forgiven and reconcile.
Eph 2:4
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
God wants to save us by his grace and forgiveness that is available through only one person, Jesus Christ.
And of all the numerous religions out there in the world today, it’s a big wide road of religion and the only way to get to God is through the Son, through Christ.
God loves us and cares for us very very much but we have to come to Jesus to get forgiven.
It’s a narrow road It’s a very narrow pathway to get home to Heaven.
I have always had an interest in space and in the sun and the moon and astronomy.
One time many years ago I had the opportunity to go to the Kennedy Space Center down at Cape Canaveral Florida. This is where they would launch their satellites and was a chief spot for launching the space shuttle. The one thing I always remember and could never get over were the size of the doors of the building where they worked on the rockets and the space shuttles. They were so wide that I immediately think of this verse.
If you have ever read anything about the the Apollo missions,…when they attempted to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere they had to come in at the perfect angle, it was a very, very, very narrow Corridor. If they came in to steep they would burn up in the atmosphere. If they came in too shallow they would bounce off the Earth’s atmosphere right back into space.
What’s the lesson here, each of us start on the wide Road in this life attempting to get to the heavens, but in order to get home, the road becomes very very narrow.
Many people want to try to enter into eternal life but there’s only one way, only one corridor to get there safely. As the Apostle Peter told the Lord Jesus, you have the words of eternal life to whom should we go?
One time I went to a professional baseball game and it was a playoff game. By the time we got there the line was extremely long and went halfway around the dome. Finally as we worked our way up to the front entrance everybody was filing into the Dome through a single door. I guarantee you nobody else was getting into that playoff game without going through that narrow passageway!
Matt 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:
Jesus speaks about a wide gate . A wide gate is a gate that allows for a lot of people to enter simultaneously. When something is wide that means that it measures a large distance from one side or edge to the other.
The first thing that enters my mind when I think about a really wide gate is a farmer’s field. They have two big metal swinging Gates that they open up to the field and all the cattle come through and just a few moments of time.
That’s a lot different than the narrowness of a cattle chute. A cattle Chute, if you don’t know already, is a narrow corridor that’s built for cattle and sheep and pigs and other animals to travel through when they’re being herded from one location to another.
Just like cattle moving to an eternal destination, we need to go through that narrow chute.
Wide is the gate that leadeth to destruction.
At the Judgment there will be many many people trying to get into the kingdom of heaven, but there is only one access point to God and eternal life it’s Jesus.
Imagine when God closed the Ark on Noah and the flood came how many people must have been screaming to be able to get in the ark. It was too late the door had been shut. Nobody really thinks about that do they. That’s what’s going to happen at judgement day.
Come out and be separate saith the Lord.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Our Lord is teaching us that unless you come to Him, you’re not going to be able to get to God.
Jesus is God manifested in flesh. He’s fully God who came to this sinful Earth. He was born in sinful flesh and the reason why He did this is so that He could die like a man. He died on the cross innocent and blameless. He was buried in a tomb but because death was powerless over Him (because He’s God) He rose from the grave.
Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that was slain for the sins of the world. In Judaism they would offer a sacrificial lamb at the Passover. When Moses was delivering the Israelites out of Egypt they put blood of a lamb on their doors to save them from death. This is the meaning of Passover,… death passed over them.
Christians have the true Passover Lamb through Holy Communion. As the Jews partook of an Earthly Passover Lamb, we partake of God’s lamb Jesus Christ whereby we are saved from Death so that we can enter into eternal life someday.
John 10:9 says I am the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture
Once again the Lord Jesus teaches us that broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.
Something that is broad has ample distance from side to side. It’s very very wide. Jesus teaches that broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.
The word broad actually means that it has ample distance from side to side or it is very very wide. A “way” means a method style or a manner of doing something!
Somebody can have a real broad interpretation of the scriptures rather than the narrow way of Christ.
The Bible says what it means and means what it says, but in the end it all comes down to love for God. It comes down to walking in perfect charity towards the one who sent his Son to die for us. The Commandments he’s given us are not Grievous.
If we truly love the Lord Jesus Christ from our hearts we’re going to have a desire to keep his Commandments. That is proof and evidence that shows us how much we love him for what he did for us at the cross.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
So again he teaches us that broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.
When I look at this word destruction, it’s defined as the action or the process of causing so much damage to something that no longer exist or cannot even be repaired.
That is what’s going to eventually happen to people when they try to enter into eternal life without Christ as their savior.
2 Thess 1:8-9 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
If people are not going to love God and their neighbor what’s left? I’ve always told my family that hell is a place that’s reserved for people who choose not to love God and His Son.
So the Christian faith is about coming to Jesus Christ and believing on God’s only begotten Son.
It’s about receiving grace and mercy and forgiveness through the blood of Christ and then living a life in obedience and faithfulness to the one who died on the cross for our sins.
As we talked about the other day, we’re submitting to Him and the things that he taught. That shows that we love him. Remember, love God first and then take that same love and show that love to your neighbor.
We are supposed to love one another in truth . That’s why it’s teaches in the scriptures that every man speak truth with his neighbor. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life.
When I think about people on the wide road to destruction I think of a huge six-lane interstate highway somewhere in a big city that’s being diverted. As you drive by you can see that it’s being torn up with wrecking balls and cranes. It’s utterly being destroyed.
God truly does not want that to happen to us. God desires everybody to repent. He wants everybody to believe In His only begotten son who gave his life for the redemption of sinners.
In order to get to heaven we need to take the narrow road and narrow path of following Jesus Christ. Before I close today I just wanted to tell you a personal story that reminds me of this verse.
Many years ago I took my pickup with my beloved wife and son out to South Dakota. We wanted to camp for a couple of weeks. What happened is a river filled up near our campsite south of deadwood that we couldn’t cross over. We couldn’t get out onto the main Highway, so we had to take an alternate route out towards a town named Galena. The road that we took was very narrow. When we got close to that small little town the road became so narrow it was almost impassible.
I crawled down the edge of the side of that mountain on a road that was so narrow that I don’t think there was six inches clearance left on the road. I crawled along for what seemed to be an hour. There was no other way to Galena but through this narrow road. Eventually we went over a little culvert and back out on the main highway.
Jesus is the one road back home. It’s a very narrow road, but it’s the only path back home to heaven.
Are you ready to take that path back home? Are you ready to take the narrow road to Galena?
That’s where I’m going to stop for today, but Lord willing we’ll talk to some more tomorrow. Till then bye-bye everybody.
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 