Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction!

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Let's return to the gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 7, and the title of this message is The Narrow Gate.

Jesus Concludes the Sermon on the Mount with Two Ways

The Narrow Gate. So we're now getting into what some people call the epilogue of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is starting to conclude his statements, and he does it by drawing a contrast. There are two gates, two ways, two destinations, two groups of people, two kinds of trees, two kinds of fruit, two kinds of builders, and two types of foundations.

The Narrow Gate and the Way That Leads to Life

So what is Jesus doing? He is drawing a line as clearly as possible between that road that leads to life and that road that leads to destruction. It's one or the other. There is no middle ground. Either believe on Christ or reject Christ.

Either go to heaven or go to hell. Choose life or choose destruction. It's very, very clear. And, of course, the encouragement is to all choose life. Let's begin reading Matthew chapter 7, beginning in verse 13.

Jesus says, 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, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life.

And there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves, and you will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, therefore by their fruits you will know them.

And not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.

Christ's Authority over the Scribes

And may the Lord add a blessing to the reading of his word. Just to comment on that last statement, he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Jesus' words, we get it, right, they were powerful.

They said about him, never a man spake like this man. So what was different between Christ's teaching and how the scribes would teach? Well, many things, I'm sure. But consider how pastors preach and teach today.

What do we do when we want to speak authoritatively? What do we appeal to? We appeal to the scripture, right? If I want to make a case for something, I'm not going to build that case on my own opinion.

I mean, that would be a fool's errand. We appeal to the scripture. We quote the Bible, right? So the scribes would not only do that and quote the Old Testament, which is good. They would often quote other rabbis.

And they would quote what men would say and quote traditions, which isn't necessarily bad, but obviously there's a risk there. Here's the thing about Jesus. He spoke as if he had authority in and of himself.

Why?

Because he did. Jesus didn't just quote the scripture, he did often quote Psalms and Deuteronomy. He didn't just quote the word of God. He was the word of God in human flesh. And even his critics realized that he was unlike, and he spoke unlike anyone they had ever encountered.

So that matters. And it's going to matter what we're looking at right now. Jesus is one who speaks with authority. So these are the words of one having authority. He starts out by saying, enter by the narrow gate.

Enter by the narrow gate. For additional context, let's turn to Luke chapter 13. And if you use the Bible app on your cell phone, that's okay. I understand it helps people with their eyesight and all that.

But if not, bring a Bible to church and follow along. Turn to these passages. I want you to read along with me. But again, there are two paths, two gates, two results. Life and destruction. Or as people usually understand it, there's two destinations, heaven and hell.

Most agree the statements of Christ here are very clear. What is he saying? Most people, the overwhelming majority of people in this world are on that broad way that leads to destruction. You know, it's estimated that there's about 8 billion people in the world today.

Only 2 .4 profess to believe in Jesus. So that's only 30 at best. And that doesn't even factor in all the false converts, which is probably, you know, half of that. I don't know, whatever it is. But even if you say every single person who says they're a Christian really is, which we know isn't the case.

That's only 30 of the earth's population. You realize what that means? At least 70 of the people of this earth are on the road to destruction. That's not according to me. That's according to Jesus, the one who spoke with God's authority.

Salvation, the Narrow Gate, and the Finality of Judgment

Now, some will claim the statement about the narrow gate. Some people, because this isn't pleasant, right? This isn't what people would want to hear. So, some will try to wiggle out of this and say, well, no, the context is something.

Jesus isn't talking about heaven and hell here. He's talking about who knows what. Well, look at Luke 13 verse 22. Let's get the context. And He went through the cities and villages teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

And then one said to Him, Lord, are there few who are saved? So, what's the context? Salvation is the context.

We see it.

Lord, are there few who are saved? And He said to them, strive to enter through the narrow gate. I mean, that should just settle it right there. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

When once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open for us. And He will answer and say to you, I do not know where you are from.

Then you will begin to say, we ate and drank in your presence. And you taught in our streets. But He will say, I tell you, I do not know you or where you are from. Depart from me all you workers of iniquity.

And there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all of the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.

And indeed, there are last who will be first. And there are first who will be last. So, number one, we see that the minority of people will be saved. That's clear. And here in Matthew or Luke, you get some context, additional context to the Matthew 7 passage.

He also says that many will seek to enter and they will not be able to enter into the kingdom of God. And maybe you've heard that statement. People, I think there's actually a song too. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.

Right? You've heard this. Well, more important than that, everyone who believes in some concept of heaven, everyone wants to go to heaven. But here's what they really don't want. They don't want to bow the knee to this man, Jesus Christ.

They want heaven. They want the blessings. They want the good things, but they don't want to have to do what Jesus says. They don't want to have to go through that gate. They want to go around and find another way in.

And what's Jesus saying? There's no other way. There's that one gate, and it's very, very narrow. You know, some people will call Bible-believing Christians narrow. I mean, you're just so narrow. You're so narrow-minded.

You know, here's the thing about believing the truth. It's pretty narrow-minded because you don't accept all the nonsense. And by the way, the unbelievers and the skeptics, they're pretty narrow-minded too, I'm finding out.

But I mean, that's another story. But here's the problem with this logic. People who think they can go around and find another way into heaven, another way into the kingdom, follow the logic for a moment.

If Jesus is the Son of God, if Jesus is God in human flesh, by rejecting Jesus, you are rejecting the only God that there is. Because people will ask, how can Jesus be the only way to God? Because there is no other God.

And acceptance into God's kingdom requires one simple thing, submission to the king. You try to enter into any kingdom, any type of group, and reject the one leading it, that just doesn't work. So, it's actually very logical, very fair, if I can use that term.

So, remember how Matthew's Gospel describes Jesus, it highlights his kingship, right? The Gospel of Matthew, Jesus as king. If someone rejects the king, that is the same as rejecting the kingdom. So, it's very, very just.

So, people have a choice. You can either have an existence with God or without God. You can either have an eternal existence with God or without God. It's your choice. Also, in this passage, we see the finality of that choice, don't we?

You know, once the door is shut, don't bother knocking, because I'm not going to let you in. That's what Jesus says here. What does that mean? Well, it means there's no second chances. Once the door is shut, those who knock will be sent away.

So, this is what a lot of people today are coming up with these theories about a second chance. But where is the second chance in the Bible? Jesus is saying the opposite, there is none. You know, there is no purgatory, there are no loopholes.

What we do here and now matters for eternity. So, we see the importance of this statement. So, the Sermon on the Mount now is reaching its critical point where you need to get this part right. So, it's important, another thing, with the context, who is Jesus speaking to?

Who is he speaking to? What group of people? His disciples. But we would say that the 12, with the exception of Judas, are not going to be thrust out of the kingdom, right? Peter and John are not going to be thrust out of the kingdom.

So, he's speaking to at least some Jewish audience that does not believe in him. We don't know exactly who it was. We don't know exactly how many people are listening to the Sermon on the Mount. But Jesus probably went from place to place and taught a variation of this message.

So, many of the Jews would have heard this. So, considering that Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience, he says here that the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they will be in the kingdom, but you will be thrust out.

Now, did the majority of the Jews believe in Jesus or reject Jesus? Right, he came unto his own, but his own did not receive him. John 1 verse 11. So, he's saying Abraham will be there, Isaac will be there, Jacob will be there, but many of you will not be there because they thought they were included in the kingdom simply because they were Jewish.

You know, the only parallel that I can make today is somebody thinking they're going to heaven because my parents are Christians. And they brought me to church, and we have a Bible on the shelf, and we're just sort of generically Christian, and that's enough.

Of course, God will accept me.

Wrong.

It needs to be a personal decision to believe on the Lord. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, MorrisCornickChurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.