Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to
destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is
narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. -(Matthew 7:13-14)
Do you have trouble making decisions? Some people do. In fact, many people do. A
particularly indecisive man was asked, "Ted, you seem to find it difficult to make a
decision, don't you?" He answered, "Well, yes and no."
But our lives are filled with many decisions - what to eat for lunch, where to go on
vacation, what to wear, what to say, what to do, what to buy, whom to marry, what career
to choose, even what church to attend. Now, some of these decisions are insignificant.
Whether you buy a white or red car is probably one of these. Whether you choose chocolate
or vanilla ice cream would probably not change your life. But there are other, more
essential, life-changing, life-altering decisions. Choosing a career, for instance, is a
life-altering decision. Choosing a mate will certainly change your life.
Chuck Swindoll, in his book, Strike The Original Match, tells of a fellow
who fell in love with an opera singer.
He hardly knew her, since his only view of the singer was through binoculars - from the third balcony. But he was convinced he could live 'happily ever after' married to a voice like that. He scarcely noticed she was considerably older than he. Nor did he care that she walked with a limp. Her mezzo-soprano voice would take them through whatever might come. After a whirlwind romance and a hurry-up ceremony, they were off for their honeymoon together. She began to prepare for their first night together. As he watched, his chin dropped to his chest. She plucked out her glass eye and plopped it into a container on the nightstand. She pulled off her wig, ripped off her false eyelashes, yanked out her dentures, unstrapped her artificial leg, and smiled at him as she slipped off her glasses that hid her hearing aid. Stunned and horrified, he gasped, "For goodness sake, women, sing, sing, SING!
Some choices are certainly more important than others. Some choices change your life
forever. And every day in our society people make choices that not only change their
earthly lives, but also change their eternal destinies.
Our world is faced with the question of eternal life. If there is a Heaven and a Hell,
what are we to do about it? After concluding that there is a Heaven and a Hell, the next
question is - "How does one get there?" What is the road to Heaven? What is the
road to Hell?
Jesus Christ taught that there is only one way to Heaven. And in the text before us, He
gives a clear testimony of this truth in the teaching of the two ways. In other words,
there are only really two choices. There is a right choice, and a wrong. In this passage,
He speaks of two gates, two ways, two groups of people, and two destinies.
Enter by the narrow gate . . . . For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that
leads to life, and few are those who find it.
One of the gates Jesus describes leads to the way of life. He calls it the narrow
gate. He says that this gate is small, and the way is narrow. He also indicates
that there will be few people who will find it. But it is the gate that
leads to life.
The life of which He speaks is undoubtedly eternal life. So, what He is saying
is that the path He describes is the way to Heaven. And this being true, we should
understand the characteristics of this way.
One of the characteristics of this gate is that it is small. But it is a gate
and while it may be small, we can thank God that it is not shut. You see, this gate leads
to a way. When we find the gate we may enter the way.
Of course, Jesus Christ has opened up this way by His death on the cross of Calvary.
His payment there for our sins made it possible for God to open the way of salvation for
all of us. So we see that the way, while it is small, is nonetheless open to us.
Another characteristic of this way is that it is narrow. Jesus said that the
way is narrow that leads to life.
Implied in the word narrow is the idea of exclusion. A broad way by
definition includes more than a narrow way. In fact, Jesus not only teaches that
the way is narrow, He also teaches that there is, in fact, only one way. In John
14:6 we read, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father, but through Me." It should be clear that Jesus is not simply a
way to God, He is the only way to God. This is the truth we find reiterated
in Acts 4:12, where it says that, "there is salvation in no one else; for there
is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be
saved." Someone has said that this gate is as narrow as the new birth.
Indeed, that is true, for only the new birth brings you through this gate.
The fact that the way is narrow could also indicate that we must come alone and
bring nothing with us. There have been commentators who have suggested that a turnstile
should represent the idea of the narrow gate. When you come through a turnstile,
you come alone and cannot carry baggage with you. This is the way we must enter the
Kingdom. We enter, not in groups, but as individuals.
This gate and way is narrow because it focuses on God's truth.
Truth must be narrow. That is the nature of truth. Either a thing is true, or it is not.
And a thing is true regardless of how one feels about it. Your opinion of truth does not
determine truth. Whether you believe in the law of gravity doesn't change the fact that
when you jump off a building you will no doubt fall to your death. And it makes no
difference whether you like the truth of God, it is still the truth.
A final characteristic of this way is that it is the way of the few. Jesus said
that few are those who find it.
Perhaps there are few who find this gate because there are few who seek this gate.
After all, Jesus told us that if we would seek, we would find. Perhaps it is because there
are so many people seeking so many other things that more do not find this way. But the
fact that this way is only found by the minority does not lessen the truth that only those
who find this way will be given entrance into Heaven. Make no mistake about it. The reason
why there are few who enter by this gate is that there are few who are willing to
acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven. And this, of course, is why Jesus
exhorts us to enter by the narrow gate.
Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to
destruction, and many are those who enter by it.
The word translated destruction does not mean annihilation. To be destroyed in
this sense does not mean that God causes one to cease to exist. Rather, this word refers
to loss. It refers to total ruin. It refers to the utter and complete loss of well being.
It refers to the destiny of Hell for all those who follow this path. What are the
characteristics of this way?
One characteristic is that it is a broad way. This is the kind of way that well
suits our contemporary generation. We like things that are broad. We have made
being broad a virtue. To say we are broad-minded is generally considered very good by most
people. To be broad-minded is to be open, affirming, loving, accepting. To be
narrow-minded, on the other hand, is to be bigoted, judgmental, condemning, harsh. To be
broad-minded is to be enlightened. To be narrow-minded is to be ignorant.
This, however, is the way of the carnal mind. This is the way of the wisdom of mankind,
not the wisdom of God. In fact, we only hold this ideology when it suits us. After all,
how broad-minded would you be if your spouse decided to cheat on you. Even if it was just
a little bit of cheating, would it make any difference? How broad-minded would you be with
the burglar who broke into your home and stole your possessions? Not very. You see, we are
only broad-minded whenever it suits our purposes. Whenever we want to enjoy the pleasures
of sin for ourselves, then we become very broad-minded indeed. And this accurately
describes the broad way.
This is the way that has room enough for all. To travel on this road requires nothing.
You can believe anything or nothing. Any lifestyle is acceptable. Any belief system is
valid. After all, those on the broad way think all paths lead to Heaven.
Another characteristic of this way is that it is found by many. In other words,
this way is a crowded way. It is the way of the majority. And herein lies one of its
dangers.
The way of the majority has the appearance of being the right way. Because so many
people have chosen this way, we reason that they cannot be wrong. After all, how could so
many people be wrong? Therefore, we throw in our lot with them. We take comfort in
numbers. In so doing, however, we become deceived ourselves.
God has always been the God of the minority. Noah preached to the old world for a
hundred years but only eight people were saved from destruction. Lot preached to the
cities of the plain but only three people were chosen to be saved. Over six hundred
thousand men, besides women and children, passed through the Red Sea but only two of that
entire generation entered the Promised Land. We should not be deceived by the decision of
the majority. The broad way may be the crowded way, but that does not make it the
true and right way.
And finally we see that this way is the way of destruction. It is a fatal way.
It is the way of eternal death.
The Bible teaches in Romans 6:23 that, "The wages of sin is death."
When we embark upon the broad way, we begin down a path that will ultimately lead
to our eternal damnation. While we may think that this way will ultimately lead us to
Heaven, in fact, it will eventually lead us to Hell. You see, this way has been
mislabeled. This strategy of Satan is to convince us that the eventual destiny of those
who enter by the broad way is Heaven. But he has lied. If we choose this way, we will
certainly choose destruction.
So we come back to the choice. Each of us has a choice to make. We may choose the
narrow or the broad way. Many, unfortunately, will choose the broad way. To them, the
narrow way is just too narrow. Such an opinion was no doubt held by the person who wrote
to a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia.
After hearing Dr. Billy Graham on the air, viewing him on television and reading reports and letters concerning him and his mission, I am heartily sick of the type of religion that insists my soul (and everyone else's) needs saving - whatever that means. I have never felt that I was lost. Nor do I feel that I daily wallow in the mire of sin, although repetitive preaching insists that I do.
Give me a practical religion that teaches gentleness and kindness that acknowledges no barriers of color or creed, that remembers aged and teaches children of goodness and not sin.
If in order to save my soul I must accept such a philosophy as I have recently heard preached, I prefer to remain forever damned.
Some cannot accept that there is only one way to Heaven. But it is true. Which way have
you chosen? And if we have chosen well, we must make these ways clear to those with whom
we share. As it says in Jeremiah 21:8: "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'".
Our challenge is to choose life.
In his poem The Ways, John Oxenham, the English poet , wrote:
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