In our last examination of the commands of Christ we looked at the command recorded in Matthew seven and verse 12 and called “the Golden Rule,” is probably the most universally praised statement that Jesus ever made. You will remember that Jesus said, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” The imperative command in this verse is the verb (poiete) where it is translated, “you do to them. Therefore we are to not let our conduct be determined by how others treat you, but rather by how God treats you.
The
next imperative command is found in Matthew seven, verse thirteen. "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.
(14) "Because narrow is
the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find
it.”
The
imperative command is found when Jesus very directly and very strikingly says (eiselthete)
“enter.” What is depicted here is life’s greatest
choice. This word in its imperative form stresses immediacy, “do it now!” There will not always be time. The gate will not
always be open.
The
choice is between the way of life and the way of destruction.
I
never read this scripture without thinking of the famous poem by Robert Frost entitled
“The Road Less Traveled.” I don’t know that Frost intended any spiritual
application when he wrote the poem but it sure describes the choice give in Matthew
7:13-14.
Let
me share with you “The Road Less Traveled.”
Two road diverged in a yellow
wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
had worm them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever get back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
[Richard
Le Gallienne. The Le Gallienne Book of English and American Poetry. Garden City,
New York: Garden City Pub, 1935) p. 298]
“Enter
by the narrow gate… because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads
to life, and there are few who find it.”
The
life that is being described here is undoubtedly “eternal” life. So what he is
saying is that the path He is describing is the way to heaven.
Some people
don’t think that it makes any difference what you believe. If you are a Muslim you
can follow the teaching of the Koran, or follow the teachings of Buddha, or Eastern
Mysticism, the New Age Movement or get mixed up with Palm Readers and Psychics – all
roads lead to heaven. However, Jesus never taught that. He is not one of those “all
paths lead to heaven” kind of teachers. He was not into pluralism or inclusivism at
all. As a matter of fact, He said very
plainly, “if
eternal life is what you want, there is only one way to get there.”
The concept of
the two ways is first set out in the Old Testament. In Psalm 1, “the way of the
righteous;” those who delight in God’s law, bear fruit and prosper, and is
contrast with “the way of the wicked;” who are driven like chaff before the wind
and perish.
Moses
presented such a choice to the children
What is the way
that leads to life? That way is Jesus. Jesus
said in John 10:9 “I am the
door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” And later in John 14:6 he
said, “Jesus said to
him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me.” These verses
throw the proper light upon our text.
Jesus says, one
must “enter in at the
narrow gate” Clearly it is not just a matter of listening to the truth
about the gate or admiring the architecture of the gate. It is not enough to praise it. It
is not enough to stand around it. One must enter it.
I think the
picture of a turnstile probably gives us an accurate picture of “the narrow
gate.” People enter into a kingdom of heaven one at a time, because each is saved by
a personal act of faith.
Jesus says that
only one road leads to life and its not the wide, well-traveled road. But we choose it
– not for its comfort and convenience but because of its destination.
There Is A Way of
Destruction.
“… for wide is the gate
and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”
We
are to enter the narrow gate and travel the narrow road.
The broad gate and the wide road may seem the easiest way to travel, but
they lead to destruction. The writer of Proverbs states it well (16:25) “There is a way that seems right
to a man, But its end is the way of death.”
Destruction
spoken of in verse fourteen of our text does not mean annihilation. To be destroyed in
this sense does not mean that God causes on to cease to exist. Rather it refers to loss,
to total ruin. It refers to the utter and complete loss of well being.
The broad way has
more than enough room for all who choose to travel this way. Too travel this road, demands
nothing and that is what is so favored. Any lifestyle and any belief system is acceptable.
After all, those on the broad way think all paths lead to heaven. Some people just will
not accept that there is only one way to heaven. But it is true.
You will not be
able to sneak into heaven, or get in my pretending to be someone else. The story is told
of Ivan the IV who was the first Czar of all Russia. He was such a cruel man that they
down through history he has been called “Ivan the Terrible.” He married seven wives and he abused them all. He
was both an immoral and a violent man. It was said that He use to throw animals off the
Kremlin walls just to watch them die. But when he died in 1584, historian’s record
that they shaved his head and dressed for burial in the robes of a monk, hoping that God
would think Ivan was a monk and thus allow him into heaven. It doesn’t sound very
smart but it not any worse than how some disguise who they really are, hoping that God
will think that they are someone else.
There are a many
misconceptions about the broad way and the destruction that awaits.
First, Some are on the broad way to hell because
they have chosen the road of open rebellion. Some even scoff and say, “the
Devil better move over because when I get their I am taking over! Others boast
that they and their rowdy friends are going to have a high old time in hell. But the truth
is that hell is real and it not fun.
Secondly, some
who are on the broad way to destruction don’t believe they will end up there because
they believe they can always choose later. People on this path to hell don’t see it a
path to hell at all because they fully intend to become a Christian, but just not yet.
Third, some who
are on the broad way say, “I may not be a Christian but I believe in God,
I even pray occasionally.”
Charles Colson in
the testimony of his salvation says, there came a time when “I could no longer
sidestep the central question God had placed squarely before me. Was I to accept without
reservations Jesus Christ as the Lord of my life? It was like a gate before me. There was
not way to walk around it. I could step through it or I could remain outside.”
[As
quoted by Haddon W. Robinson. The Solid Rock Construction Company. (Grand Rapids:
Discovery House, 1989) p. 128]
Truth of a
necessity imposes limitations on what Christians may believe and how Christian’s may
behave.
Conclusion
According to Jesus there are only two ways; the hard and the easy (there is no middle road); entered by two gates; the broad and the narrow, (there are no other gates). They are traveled by two groups; the large and the small, (there is no neutral group), and it ends with only two possible destinations; destruction or life.
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