Matthew 7 09-16-09

No Compromise Radio. Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse, with No Compromise.

The Two Ways: Narrow Gate and Wide Gate

Matthew chapter 7, verse 13 and 14, about three quarters of the way into your Bible. Now what he does here is very interesting. What the Jews would do is they would put two options out before people and say, here's a good way to try to motivate people to say there's two options, one or two, lots of twos.

Even in our passage, two gates, two ways, two groups, two destinations. In verse 15 and following, there are two trees and two fruits. In verses 21 through 23, two professions of Christ, two destinies.

Verses 24 and following, two builders, two houses, two foundations. So he says before the audience, with Jews and some Hellenistic Greeks, there are the two ways. Here, pick one. One says eternal life, one says eternal death.

This is very common. Listen to Deuteronomy 30. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and the curse. So choose life. How about Joshua?

And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you'll serve. Whether it's the gods of your fathers who have served, which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites, Jeremiah 21, you shall also say to this people, thus says the Lord.

Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death, or one you probably all recognize from 1 Kings 18 and Elijah on the mountains of Carmel. How long will you hesitate between two opinions?

If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal, follow him. Here's the choice. Here's the choice of choices, the eternal choice. Jesus just uses this language. Here's these gates. Do you see the text? 713, enter through the narrow gate, or there's a wide gate.

That wide gate, by the way, leads to destruction. So you say, well, good, at least it's destruction. If I have to go to hell, I'll just get destroyed. I'll get annihilated. I'll just get kind of creamed and I won't be around.

That word destruction does not mean annihilation. It means what you are made for is no longer valuable. You are intended for the purpose of worshiping God. You won't worship God, so we don't need you there anymore, and so we'll put you here.

You're no longer... It's like a tire that's square, no longer usable for its maker's purpose. Hopelessness, lostness, destruction, that's why Jesus said in Matthew 10, just a few short chapters later, do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy, same root word, both body and soul in hell.

You can't weep and have gnashing of teeth if you're obliterated in hell. So Jesus says, enter the narrow gate, two roads. How important is it? If you were out in the middle of the ocean, there have been some cases like that.

Remember the football players in Florida? They go out on the boat and all of a sudden it capsizes. I wonder how loudly and for how long they screamed, help, over here. That's the earnestness that should be in the heart of an unbeliever.

When Luke and I went over with the family to Germany and over to Belgium and other places, when we went to the Ardennes Forest where some of the World War II battles were, we're sitting in some of the foxholes that still exist, kind of crouched down in the foxholes.

We're thinking, can you imagine getting hit by some shrapnel and then calling out for medic, medic, over here, medic? That's the earnestness. I need help. I need a surgeon because otherwise it's destruction.

Enter in Spite of the Majority

Number four, enter in spite of the majority. Number one, enter even though it's difficult. Number two, enter today. Number three, enter because there's no other options. Number four, enter in spite of the majority.

It is so easy to go with the flow, isn't it? All the world believes this. All the polls believe that. All my other friends do such and such. And you see the text, verse 13, many and few in verse 14. The way to heaven, few, the way to hell, many.

The narrow way market is not popular. People don't go around and go, yeah. You know, it would be popular sermon if I just said, you know, God loves you right where you are. God loves you conditionally.

If you didn't exist, God would just didn't know. He wouldn't know what to do with himself. And you're lovable and you have your best life now, right? People buy sports arenas to go hear that kind of stuff.

And Jesus says, few and many. You say, but I'm spiritual. Yeah, most do. They're on the broad road, the many. Yeah, I'm very religious. Well, you don't understand me because I'm spiritual my own way. I go golf and kind of worship God that way.

And, you know, Oprah can't be wrong, can she, when she talks about all those spiritual things? She's so spiritual. All those ladies on there and the men. God helps those who help himself, doesn't he? Did Jesus say that?

Gandhi said that, by the way. Tragically, the crowd, the many, say this. We do what is right in our own eyes. That's the book of Judges. Show me the crowd and I'll go, B, better be careful. Unless you're at the Shepherd's Conference or together for the gospel, you think, well, OK, I guess that crowd might be easy to follow.

But other than that, be careful. We came out of the Celtics game a while ago, Luke and I. And I thought, I don't know where the T is. I don't really get all this. We park at Alewife, take the T over. I just walk out of the TD Bank, North Garden, whatever it's called, and I walk out and I go, I need to find the T.

I don't know where the T is. What do I do? I just went with the flow. It was perfect, I was just going. Red line, orange line, I don't know, just find me some kind of line. We just kind of pushed along.

It was awesome. I saw some people coming up the stairs as we were all going out and I thought, you fools. The flow goes this way. Come on, brother, you're going. Luke and I are just, Luke's going, where are you going, dad?

I know where I'm going, son. I know these things. It is fine when you're trying to get to the T. It's not fine when you go, what's everybody believe out there in the world? That must be right. I'll follow what they're teaching.

I'll turn on the TV. Maybe they'll tell me the right way. The latest Barna data in 2009 polled Christians. You want to follow them, this is who you're going to follow. More than one-fifth strongly agreed that Jesus Christ sinned when he lived on earth.

17 agreed with that statement somewhat. 40 of the people. 38 strongly agreed that the Holy Spirit is a symbol of God's power, not a living entity. 20 agreed somewhat. The majority doesn't believe that the Spirit of God is a person.

The majority doesn't know anything. I'll tell you an illustration of that. Wicca, how many people know what Wicca is? It's the good witchcraft, it's a good kind. It's the white witchcraft. Here's what they said.

Do you have a positive or negative view of Wicca, the organized form of witchcraft? They didn't even say, well, I don't know what Wicca is. Positive or negative view of Wicca, that organized witchcraft?

What do you think they said? 40 did not know enough to make a judgment call. You got a bunch of post-moderns walking around that won't even say right is right and left is left, and we're gonna follow them?

Jesus says, don't follow. If we were meant to follow the crowd, then why would Jesus ever even come to say, stop following the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the scribes and the hypocrites? That's the broad road.

55 of the polled Christians agreed that the Bible is accurate in all its principles. That means 45 said they didn't. Sadly, the list goes on. Friends, we live in such a culture, if you talk about some of these things that the majority would believe, you will get blasted.

If I said to you, do you wanna follow most people who follow this person, would you do it? Let me give you a few quotes. This is all from the same person. The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted, the unloved, they are Jesus in disguise.

I love all religions. If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there's something else growing there. All is God, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, all have access to the same God.

Mary is our patroness and our mother, and she's always leading us to Jesus. We tell people on their deathbed to pray to Bhagwan, to their gods. This person was asked, do you believe the Hindus that die believing in Shiva or in Ram go to heaven?

This person said, yes, that is their faith. My own faith will lead me to God. So if they believe their God very strongly, if they have faith, surely they'll be saved. Interviewer, today it does not seem that the Catholic Church is trying to convert anyone.

I know that John Paul II is saying now that those other religion, people of other religions are saved. You do not believe they're lost anyway, right? This person said, no, they're not lost. They are saved according to their faith.

You know, if they believe whatever they believe, that is their salvation. You believe that? Do you believe what that person said? Most people do, and if I got up and said, let me tell you something about the patron saint of the world practically, believe this person, everybody'd go, yeah, but when you hear the words, you have to say the many and the few.

Friends of Mother Teresa, who said those things, believed what she said. She was on the broad road that led to destruction. 51 of Americans believe if you're good, you go to heaven. It's like when I was on the radio show the other day, someone called in.

You know, what about that verse that says, Jesus, heaven's in you, heaven's in everyone. I just looked, in the radio studio, there's a screen there like a glass. I've got my headphones on, the microphone and all that, and I'm looking over at the radio producer going, who is this lady?

She's like, yeah, everybody's going to heaven. Everybody's good. Everybody's got heaven in them. Why doesn't anybody talk about that? And I should have said, because it's the broad road that leads to destruction.

Nonsense like that is damning. If everybody's going, why would the father punish his son? If everybody's going, why would the son say, yes, father, I agree with the punishment, and I'll take that, and I'll drink down the dregs of your punishment to show what?

To love? No. The crowd doesn't want holiness. The crowd wants happiness. The crowds follow liars like Joel Osteen and heretics like Joyce Myers. They love it. The Arbitron ratings of those heretics are sky high.

That should make you think, I better be careful because there's the broad road and there's the narrow road. And basically, Jesus says this, watch religion in your day and run from it. If it calls itself Christian, run.

Because it's not feeling in that's important, it's your latter in that's important. Now, as the disciples were hearing Jesus, I don't think they're all just kind of high-fiving everybody and har-haring.

Ha, ha, ha, isn't that interesting? No, they had the look on that you have on right now. And it's like a tsunami that comes in through Jesus's words, and that is the intention. It is a caution. It is not the sergeant in the army that gives a direct order to someone because they have to have battle stations, and he's concerned about the self-esteem of that young private.

Consider your latter end. What road am I traveling on? JC Ryle said, surely it is better to enter into life eternal with a few than to go to destruction with the great company. True or false? Just a few people are being saved.

You know, somebody asked that to Jesus. If someone came up to you, are just a few people? You mean to tell me based on this, only a few are going? When I go to a football game, I look and I think there's 80 ,000 people in this stadium.

And you know what I say to myself? Few. Turn to Luke 13, and if you thought Matthew 7 was hard, wait till you get a load of Jesus's other words that are very similar. Luke 13, verse 22. Again, talking about majority, talking about few.

My job is not to be popular, but faithful. I don't expect everybody would like me after a sermon like this. After all, they crucified Jesus. They killed Stephen. But our job is never to get people to like us.

Our job is to tell the truth. And here Jesus gets asked this question. Just a few being saved? Friends, there's no verses like this in all the Bible, in my opinion. This is shock and awe. Verse 22 of chapter 13.

Matthew, Mark, Luke 13, 22. And Jesus was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, proceeding on his way to Jerusalem. And someone said to him, Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?

Based on what you're preaching, this is such a narrow road. This is, you know, you can't come into heaven with your sin and Satan and self and everything else, by yourself, self-denial. You mean to tell me just a few?

And back in those days, there was a big argument theologically. And sometimes we'd say, well, I wonder who the elect are. Others would say, all Israel would make it. Others would say, well, maybe not too many, because when you think of the promised land, you know, not many made it, you know?

And here's Joshua and Caleb, but not too many others. And so it was just kind of, you know, how many angels dance on the head of a needle, of a pin? It's just kind of fun to talk about, because you know what it does?

It deflects the finger of God, like Nathan, pointing at you going, are you one of the few? So when people start evangelizing, I remember when I was an unbeliever driving down Santa Monica Boulevard, people start doing this, you know, are you a Christian?

Basically, the guy said this to me, how can you call yourself a Christian? They knew how I lived. And so then what do you do? Oh, yeah, you know, I know words like inerrancy and hypostatic union, and boy, that was an interesting way the pastor did the indicative imperative today.

You know, I didn't say that, but you just kind of, it's just all this, you know, we're going to move over, because I hate to be at the target. It's like, you know, all of a sudden, you know, you're talking to someone and you look down, you go, there's a red dot right here.

I want to get out of that laser beam because that thing has got my name on it. And so it's always kind of, you know, people run up to him, you know, the rich young ruler, I got a question for you, Jesus, and Jesus always turns it right back around to the person because he loves the father, he loves them, so he tells them the truth.

So he's going to do something different. He doesn't answer the question directly. He answers the question by putting his long finger out and says this, agonize, verse 24, strive, make every effort. Sweat should come off your brow.

Enter through the narrow gate is what he's basically saying, but here he calls it a door, like Matthew 7, a metaphor for entering the kingdom, entering salvation, following Christ, being a Christian, strive to enter through the narrow door.

For many, I tell you, will seek and will not be able. Some say they want to go, but they can't go. So I want you, young man, to exert every fiber of your muscles, strain every nerve to go. Forget the crowd, forget the fews and the many.

What about you? If you're a kid here and your parents belong to this church and they're faithful and they serve, I'm after you. Jesus says, strive. You know, look at the text. Some seek to enter and will not be able.

They don't try by the grace of God. They try to save themselves. They try to be good. They try to be baptized. They try to get some kind of keeping some of the ceremonial law. Who knows what they do, but they can't save themselves.

And they seek who wants hell. They want heaven, but they're not able to get it because they won't come to God on his terms. They love their sin. Jesus says, they love the darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

It's a narrow road. It's a troubled road. Why don't many get on this road? Back to Matthew chapter seven, verse 13 and 14 in English, both contain the word narrow, but they're two different Greek words.

One's narrow, compressed, and the other is narrow because there's persecution. There's trouble, there's trials, there's affliction. You want to follow Christ? It's narrow to get in and there's afflictions on the way.

Jesus says, you got to enter it anyway. There's no other options. And thankfully, Jesus doesn't say, yeah, enter. It's kind of hard. And then the rest of your life is just a cakewalk. Come to Jesus. Your marriage will be awesome.

Kids will be great, have good manners. You get a great job. Now, you know what? Your kids might have good manners. You might get a good wife. All those things might happen, but you don't come to Christ to get those things.

Jesus says, you want to follow me? Enter through this gate. It's going to be hard and you'll probably be afflicted. Where else do we go though? That's the only option for heaven. Well, everybody else over here, they don't believe that stuff, Pastor Mike.

I want you to look at your own Bible and say, it's not Mike's words. Jesus said it himself. Let God be true and let every man be found a what? A liar. I don't want majority. Here's what a majority would say to us though now.

Oh, how fearful would be the cry if God would take off the covering from the mouth of hell and let the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among the children of man. And of their moans and miseries, this is piercing, killing emphasis and burden.

Forever and ever they will cry. That's the crowd I want to go against, not with. And lastly, I need to make it quickly, number five. Enter because no decision is a decision. Enter because no decision is a decision.

You're not born neutral, you're born sinful. You're born running down the broad road. And Jesus says, stop running. You go, I'll wait till later. That is a decision that says, no, Jesus. We used to play football.

Somebody would come up and tackle you. You have the football. What do you do to that person who's gonna come and tackle you? You give them a stiff arm. Right up in the chin would be a good place. And you knock the person's head up a little bit and they can't see where they're going and off you go.

Not that I know how to do it because I was a recipient of it more often than not. Jesus says, you're either for me or you're against me. You either love me or you hate me. You can't say, I'll decide later.

That is a decision that says, no, Jesus, forget you. Here's a stiff arm to your face. You're the son of God. You died for sinners. You were raised from the dead, but I don't care because I like my own sin and I like to do things my way and I will not have Jesus reign over me.

And so I just want you to know if that's the way you say things. You have made a decision already. This is not have your mom believe, your dad believe for you, your pastor believe for you. Jesus says, you are accountable.

You are responsible. There's enough out in the world by creation, by children being born, hydrological cycles that you stand in accountability before God. And now how much more can you be held accountable for as you've heard the words of eternal life?

If you're not a Christian, you cannot keep going the same way you're going now. You can't say, well, I'll just do a little reformation. I'll just be a little bit better. I'll just start to go to church a little bit more.

Today is the day to say, God, grant me saving faith. God, help me to believe. Jesus calls for a verdict and he says, I'm not the savior. I better be your savior or you're not going to heaven. And here, what does Jesus do?

Full frontal assault. He goes for the jugular. He's not vague. He's not kind of hazy. It's right to the beachhead of the heart. For Jesus, there is no demilitarization. Demilitarized zone, no DMZ. John 9, Jesus heard that they had put him out.

Finding him, he said, do you believe in the son of man? I ask you the same question. Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who believes in me will never die.

Do you, Jesus said, believe this? And Jesus goes right to the man's mind. So the question today is, enter. Have you entered? Will you enter? Why won't you enter? Jesus is the only savior. There's salvation in no other God.

Jesus said, I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Jesus said in John 8, 24, I say to you, therefore, that you shall die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.

You shall die in your sins. Robert Frost, no Christian, he knew it. Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference. But Frost thought it was a way of life.

This is life or eternal death. For Christians, can you believe you've entered? It's only by the grace of God. Who could enter? I've entered. God has cloaked himself with human flesh and lived a perfect life.

And in a sense, broke open the gates of all eternal bliss for me by living in my place, by dying in my place. BBC saints, won't you evangelize like Jesus did? Unbelievers, today is a day for your salvation.

Enter through the narrow gate, let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we pray. Heaven, I pray that you would use your words to do something so supernatural in the hearts of these visitors today, in the hearts of these members today, in the hearts of all who have attended to change their world forever.

To increase the gratitude of the saints and increase the conviction unto salvation of those who have come today, not having bowed the knee to Jesus as Lord. Father, by your grace, would you have many from our church enter through the narrow gate.

It'll take your grace to do it and your grace is certainly great. In Jesus' name, amen.

You've been listening to pastor and author, Dr. Mike Avendroff of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts. Thanks for tuning in. Please visit us on the web at www .nocompromiseradio .com.

Please join us next time when we'll look into God's word, verse by verse with no compromise.