Few There Be That Find It — E.A. Johnston

The Few Who Find the Way to Heaven

I want to give us a word of exhortation before we go to our prayer time. Did you know, friends, that those who are going to heaven are few compared to those that are going to hell? Few are saved from the prison of hell and its fires.

Jesus declared this himself, for he said, A few there be that find it. And that's the title of my message today. A few there be that find it. And my text is in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter seven. We will be in verses 13 through 14.

You can turn in your Bibles there now. Listen to the words of Christ as he relates how hard the gate to heaven is to find and even more how difficult it is to pass through. Here now is the word of God.

May God's spirit attend the reading of his holy word. Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in there at, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life.

And few there be that find it. Now there are two main points. I would like to draw out from our passage today, friends. And these two points are the two main doctrines of the gospel message, which are repentance and regeneration.

Repentance and Regeneration as Essential Gospel Doctrines

Jesus spoke of both of these. Regarding repentance, Jesus declared, Except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish. And that means to perish in a burning hell of misery. And regarding regeneration, Jesus told Nicodemus, and he tells every man the same today, Marvel not at this, ye must be born again.

Listen friends, no one gets into heaven without being born again through the supernatural act of regeneration upon the heart. George Whitefield tried to gain heaven by other means. He denied himself decent food and warm clothing to punish his body.

He did many good works like reading his Bible on his knees every day and visiting the sick and widows and prisoners. He gave alms. He fasted, but he was still yet unconverted. Then one day a book was given to him by his friend Charles Wesley.

The book was written by a Scotsman named Henry Schugle, and the title of the book was The Life of God in the Soul of Man. And as young George Whitefield read that book, he realized with a flash of lightning that one did not gain heaven through acts which they performed for God, but rather one gained heaven by having God perform acts through them through the new birth.

It was the life of God in the soul of man that evidenced the new birth. Hence from that day forward, Whitefield's great cry was, ye must be born again. In fact, he was preaching in Boston during the great awakening, and a minister approached him and said, Mr. Whitefield, since you've been among us, all you have preached is ye must be born again.

When will you preach a different sermon, sir? To this, the great Whitefield replied, when ye are born again. And it was during the great awakening that Whitefield thundered that message, which was central to that spiritual awakening, and that message was the doctrine of regeneration.

That was the most preached doctrine during that time. And during the second great awakening, under the mighty preaching of Asahel Nettleton, the main doctrine was man's duty of repentance. Just study the sermons of Asahel Nettleton, and you will find the central theme running through his sermons was man is required to repent immediately before God in order to gain heaven.

Revival Preaching and the Neglect of Repentance

I have spent several decades studying and writing on the topic of revival, and I have discovered that during times of revival, there are usually two main doctrines which seem to be preached more than any others, and these two doctrines are repentance and regeneration.

But you won't hear them preached from the vast majority of our pulpits today, friends, for they are neglected doctrines. The gospel has been so diluted of its saving power that many preachers have tried to broaden the way to heaven, which Jesus never broadened.

He said the gate was difficult, straight, the way narrow, hard to find, and it's hard to find much preaching today on either of these two important doctrines. We have people join a church today with an only believed gospel, but they've never repented of their sins, yet they believe themselves to be on their way to heaven.

Some famous Bible scholars have damned their thousands by teaching this heresy that all you have to do is believe, and repentance is not a requirement for salvation, but that's hogwash, friends, and it's a lie from the pit of hell.

Jesus declared, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish, and if your sins aren't washed in the blood, you will surely go to hell. And that means you, brother preacher, even if you have never repented and you stand behind a pulpit Sunday upon Sunday.

And many gain access to church membership today without ever being truly born again through the new birth. They've never experienced a supernatural act of regeneration upon the heart. My Bible declares that only God can take away the heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh.

It's a supernatural work, as supernatural and as powerful as Jesus rising from the dead, because when God gives you saving faith, he regenerates your heart. You're raised from death to life, friends. Before you were saved, you were dead in trespasses and sins, blinded by the God of this world who is Satan.

You were bound in your sins and tied to your lust. You were a prisoner of the devil and you did his bidding to fulfill the lust thereof. But when God came and performed a work of grace upon your heart, you were brought from death to life.

False Professions and the Necessity of New Birth

I want us to carefully examine these two doctrines today, repentance and regeneration, because without them you will surely go to hell. I fear many today have joined our churches through a textual decision.

They became a Christian based on a Bible verse or believe in a fact. Many believe Christ died for them, but few believe on the Christ who died. Many have taken Jesus as their savior and walked an aisle and repeated a prayer and joined the church, but they never took him as their Lord.

They've never been awakened to their lost condition. They've never been convicted of sin and they've never had their hearts regenerated by God. Every man and woman alive is born with a ruined nature and is bent towards sin and God will have no rebels in his kingdom.

My Bible declares man drinks iniquity like it's water. Man wants some kind of religion to make him feel a little better about himself, but few want to part with their sins through repentance. Why did Jesus say there were a few saved?

It's because there are few who will comply with the demands of the gospel. In this sad day of spiritual declension in the church, there are a few pastors willing to preach up man's duty of repentance and the utter necessity of a work of grace upon the heart through the act of regeneration.

Church Growth and the Dilution of the Gospel

No, many have brought in the way to heaven in the mad rush to expand their church campus. I was sitting in a meeting recently with some ministers and they were talking about how so-and-so at this Baptist church just spent $20 million buying a school campus to convert it into his church complex and this other pastor just bought 40 acres to build bigger buildings on his church campus and these men were talking like this was a good thing and how God was blessing their ministries by expanding their campuses.

And I'm afraid that mindset is prevalent today with many in ministry that unless you're growing your campus and adding on, you're not successful as a pastor. But when you go visit these big church campuses with their complex of big buildings and sit and listen to what these men preach, I can promise you this, you will not hear about sin.

You will not hear about your duty to repent of it. You will not hear about your necessity of being regenerated to gain heaven through the new birth. Rather, you'll hear God loves you, friend. God loves you so much he sent his only son to die for you.

Just believe that. Just believe Jesus. Accept him into your heart right now and you will go to heaven. That's pretty much what you'll hear today in these big mega churches where people are crawling over each other's backs to get in there.

The Straight Gate of Repentance and the Narrow Way of Regeneration

But Jesus said, few there be that find it. In our passage today, our Lord Jesus speaks of a gate and a way, a gate that is straight and a way that is narrow. I want you to picture in your mind the following images so you will never forget what I'm going to teach you.

Number one, repentance is the gate that opens the way to heaven. That straight gate swings on the hinges of the doctrine of repentance. Friend, always picture that gate of repentance to be saved. If you do not pass through that gate, friend, you will never be allowed into heaven because God is holy and he will not allow wicked sinners who hug their sins to enter his holiness of his heaven.

His word is clear. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. And that means you, friend, even if you are the chairman of the deacons. Let me ask you, are your sins washed in the blood that Jesus declared in Luke 13, three, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.

So repentance is the gate. The second image I want you to remember is this. Number two, the way, the narrow way, the way is regeneration. The narrow way is the new birth and few there be that find it.

You don't make it to heaven with an intellectual decision to become a Christian. You don't make yourself a Christian, friend. Only God can perform a work of grace upon the heart. Let me ask you, are you born from above?

Jesus declared in John's gospel in chapter three, barely, barely, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Now, notice friends that in both passages in Luke's gospel and in John's gospel, in the passage on repentance and in the passage on regeneration.

Jesus uses the same word in both verses. What is the word that he repeats? It is the word except, except you repent, except a man be born again. Listen, friends, you cannot fuck God and force your way to heaven.

I was reading the lesbian's comments on the Internet, and she said she's going to force God to let her into his heaven. No one will force the way to that holy place. Rather, Jesus will declare to those wicked individuals, depart from me, ye who work iniquity.

I never knew you. And they will be bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. Wailing speaks of great loss and grief. And gnashing of teeth signifies great anger and regret.

Jesus said, except you do these things, you will never, ever enter his heaven. And what are those things? Repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance and regeneration for saving faith is a gift from God.

Only he can perform a work of grace upon the heart, which is the new birth. Now, let me leave you with one more image that makes the gospel crystal clear in our minds. First, we have the gate of repentance.

Then we have the way of regeneration. Now, picture this last image in your mind of a door. We have a straight gate, a narrow way and a door. Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 10 and verses 7 through 9.

Jesus Christ as the Only Door to Eternal Life

And as you're turning there, friends, I will read it to you and picture that door in your mind. Then Jesus said unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.

I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Jesus is the door. You must pass through him to gain heaven, friend. And you must comply with all the rights and claims the gospel has on your life.

Jesus is Lord. He is a sovereign. He sits at the right hand of the father and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross. If you want him, you must come to him there and bow to him. Throw down your shotgun of rebellion and repent of your sins.

You must bow to his lordships. You must surrender to the king of kings. The gate is straight, the way narrow, and few there be that find it. That gate swings on the hinges of repentance. That narrow way is found only through the new birth and the only door which will open and allow you into God's kingdom is the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the door. Do you want to come into the fold? Then the only way in is through Jesus Christ, who is the door. By faith in him, we have communion with God. And Jesus is the door shut to keep out thieves and robbers from God's heaven.

The door was shut to the foolish virgins. No matter how hard they pounded on that door, it would not open to them. That door was shut in the ark in Noah's day. And as the flood came and the waters rose, no matter how hard those reprobates pounded on that door, it would not open to them and give them safety in that storm.

Jesus is the only way to heaven, friend. He is the door and his requirements are crystal clear. Except you repent, except you be born again. Now let us pray.