April 20, 2025 • 23 mins
Jesus presents humanity with a profound choice that most of us would rather avoid confronting: enter by the narrow gate that leads to life, or follow the crowd through the wide gate toward destruction. This teaching from Matthew 7:13-14 cuts straight to the heart of authentic faith.
The narrow path Jesus describes isn't popular - it's challenging, demanding, and often lonely. Yet this path alone leads to the abundant life we desperately seek. When Jesus commands us to "enter by the narrow gate," He's not giving a casual suggestion but issuing a life-altering directive that requires deliberate choice. This gate represents Jesus Himself - the only true path to relationship with God.
What makes the narrow path particularly difficult is its requirement for surrender. Following Jesus means laying down our preferences, dying to self-centered desires, and sometimes walking against the cultural current. The wide road beckons with its ease and immediate gratification, promising freedom without boundaries. It's the path of least resistance where "you do you" is the anthem, and everyone's truth is equally valid. Yet this road, for all its initial appeal, ultimately leads to emptiness and destruction.
Throughout Scripture, we see this pattern repeated. Noah found salvation by following God's seemingly absurd instructions. Daniel chose potential death over compromise and discovered God's deliverance. Moses led Israel through a narrow path between walls of water - a vivid picture of God making a way through impossible circumstances. The narrow gate isn't about restriction; it's about direction. It's not there to fence us in but to lead us home.
Have you been hanging around the gate without actually entering? Or perhaps you've wandered off the path altogether? Today is the day to make your choice. The narrow way may be harder, but Jesus walks it with us, having already carried the cross before us. Which path will you choose?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week With your
hosts, pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Welcome back, everybody, toBeyond Sunday Podcast.
(00:26):
I'm Pastor Jim, here, as always, with Pastor Lee, and we are
the pastors of Christ FamilyOutreach Church, excited to be
back for another week of BeyondSunday.
Today we're going to be gettinginto Matthew, chapter 7, verses
13 and 14.
Jesus is going to be wrappingup the Sermon on the Mount here
and these two verses they hit,really, hit, really, really hard
, and I'm going to turn it overto Pastor Lee to go ahead and
(00:47):
read them, talk a little bitabout them, and then we're going
to go verse by verse, like wealways do.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Amen.
If you got your Bibles, goahead and turn into Matthew,
chapter 7.
As Pastor Jim mentioned, we'regoing to be studying the 13th
and 14th verse and Jesus saysenter by the narrow gate, for
the gate is wide and the way iseasy.
That leads to destruction, andthose who enter by it are many,
for the gate is narrow and theway is hard.
That leads to life, and thosewho find it are few.
(01:15):
In this text we're givendirection by the Lord.
What are our directions here?
It is plain and simple Enter bythe narrow gate.
That's it.
This is what he's talking aboutright here.
If we want life, if we wantblessing, if we desire a life
walking with Jesus, if we wantto spend eternity with God, it
(01:36):
is the narrow gate, my friends,that gets us there.
In John 10, 7 through 10, jesussays truly, truly, I say to you
I am the door of the sheep.
All who came before me arethieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not listen to them.
I am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he willbe saved and will go in and out
(01:57):
and find pasture.
The thief comes only to stealand kill and destroy.
I came that they may have lifeand have it abundantly.
Jesus said I am the doorpassage, jim, or depending on
the translation, he'll say I amthe gate.
So what is Jesus teaching here?
All right, he is teaching thathe is the only way to have
(02:19):
relationship with God that wemust come through Jesus Christ,
by accepting him as Lord andSavior of our lives.
He is the narrow gate.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, one thing that I found very interesting right
off the bat is the languagethat's being used in verse 13,
where Jesus says enter by thenarrow gate, and it's not really
a suggestion.
You know he's saying enter,which is an international
language.
Everybody understands that thatis a command given and really
(02:49):
what it does is, if someone saysenter, it gives you a choice
and it requires a choice.
It's active language.
We're not just coasting intothe kingdom.
What he's saying is you got todecide to step into something
different.
Yeah, you got to step intosomething narrower.
And right away he's going tocontrast that.
Speak with a wide gate.
(03:09):
He says for the gate is wideand the way is easy.
That leads to destruction.
Wide gate, easy road, but itleads somewhere that you don't
want to go, and that's the scarypart to me.
You can be cruising and justthinking that everything's
smooth, but it's a path of easeand it's a path of comfort and
there's no real discipleship,there's no repentance, there's,
(03:32):
truthfully, just no Jesus, andthat's not the road to life,
that's the road to destruction.
And look at what Jesus saysnext those who enter by it are
many.
Now, that, to me, is a really,really powerful thing to
consider, because he's sayingthe majority of people choose
that wide path.
It's popular, because it feelsgood, but the truth is it comes
(03:52):
back empty.
Now here's the thing.
We see it all around us.
The world is constantlyinviting the wide gate.
They say what Live, your truth,do what feels right, you should
do you, and that's the anthemof the wide gate.
And, as a result, it's thiskind of spiritual autopilot that
never actually leads to a realpeace or a real purpose.
(04:15):
So the challenge is are wewilling to go against?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
the grain.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.
One of the things I want topoint out here today is that
works won't get you into heaven.
That's right.
Religion is not going to getyou into heaven by itself.
Your money is not going to getyou into heaven.
Your family name is not goingto get you into heaven.
Your church attendance and gooddeeds all by themselves are not
going to get you into heaven.
Jesus, lets everyone know it isthrough Jesus Christ alone,
(04:43):
amen, that God grants useternity with himself.
Forever.
The narrow gate.
It reminds me of a path on amountain, if I can just kind of
paint this picture for a moment.
It reminds me of a path on amountain.
I've hiked mountain pathsbefore, many of them where it
was within my best interest, myabsolute best interest to stay
on the path.
Listen to this.
(05:04):
I want you to consider this.
Pay close attention.
The path guaranteed both mysafety and my arrival to where I
was wanting to go.
You got me.
Yeah, the path is solid, right.
The path offers direction.
The path offers clarity.
As long as I'm on the path, I'mgood to go.
You'll even see at times, onsome of these trails you'll see
(05:27):
signs that say stay on the path.
Right Warning to stay on thepath.
Right Warning to stay on thepath.
It's when we get enticed towander off from the path that we
can place ourselves intodangerous situations.
Not too long ago I watched adocumentary true story on
television about a hiker who hadgotten lost on the trail and
(05:49):
this particular hiker had spentdays into weeks hiking a
particular part of theAppalachian Trail but never made
it to their destination.
When it was time to be pickedup, the local authorities spent
days, goes into weeks,eventually months, until they
finally found the remains of thefemale hiker.
The reason it was so hard,pastor Jim, to find the hiker
(06:12):
was because she had gone off thepath.
You see, her family, her lovedones, knew the path she was
taking.
So when she didn't show up inthe time for her to be picked up
, they started backtracking thepath.
But because she had gone offthe path, they didn't know where
to go.
They didn't know where to lookfor her.
So essentially, it was liketrying to find in this
particular part of the forest.
(06:33):
It was like trying to find inthis particular part of the
forest.
It was like trying to find aneedle in a haystack.
So I'm reminded that Jesusreminds us to stay on the narrow
path.
You know, and it's when westart to get off of the safety
and the clarity and the visionof the narrow path that we get
into trouble.
And so maybe you're listeningright now and you're that person
(06:54):
that has walked off path.
You've walked off course,you've strayed away from the
path.
Can I encourage you in the Lordright now that it is not too
late.
Amen, pastor Jim, it is not toolate to surrender to God.
It is not too late to beginwalking with Jesus Christ again
as personal Lord and Savior.
It is not too late to have himas king of all of your life and
(07:15):
Lord of all of your life.
It's not too late to beginpraying and asking God for help
right now, in this very moment.
So I want to encourage you getback on the path, get back into
church, open the Bible, start towalk with God, begin praying to
the Father, begin trusting himagain, because I want to tell
you he wants you to.
God wants you back on thenarrow path.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
That's right, and that narrow path, like you said,
is safe.
But here's a big thing, righthere in verse 14.
He says Jesus says this, forthe gate is narrow, but here's
the thing it's going to be hard.
That leads to life and thosewho find it are few.
So now we have this gate thatyou're talking about, pastor Lee
.
That's narrow and it's safe,right, but it never says it's
(08:00):
not going to be hard.
But here's the truth it leadsto life and that's the truth
that we need to stand on.
That's the kind of life Jesusis always talking about, this
abundant life, the eternal kindthat lasts forever, the kind
that starts now and stretchesinto the future.
If you stay on that path.
But notice, the path of lifeisn't going to be easy.
So it's not a shortcut, it'snot the freeway, and I love that
(08:25):
Jesus doesn't sugarcoat it,he's honest about it.
Hey, this is the right way.
But it's also hard.
Following Jesus means layingdown a couple things.
It means saying no to thingsthat might not feel natural or
normal.
It means surrendering our willfor his will, and that can be
tough.
But he says it's worth itbecause that's where we find
(08:45):
life.
And I want to make thisconnection here because I think
it's really beautiful.
When Jesus talks about a narrowgate, my mind goes back all the
way to the Exodus story God'speople and the Israelites, and
when they were slaves in Egypt.
And when he delivered them, hebrought them to the edge of the
Red Sea.
And then what did God do?
He parted the waters and hecreated a path through what
(09:10):
seemed to be an impossible deadend.
So think about it Walls ofwater on both sides and the
narrow way was right there inthe middle.
That was their gate and, justlike Jesus is saying here in
Matthew, it was a gate that notmany people would choose.
But what did it take?
It took faith, it took trustand it was the only way and the
only path to freedom.
And it was the only way and theonly path to freedom.
(09:34):
You know that moment in Exodus.
It's foreshadowing this pictureof a narrow gate that Jesus is
talking about.
God made a way through the seawhen there was no way, and now
Jesus is saying I am that way,he is the true gate.
And, just like the Exodus,walking through the gate means
leaving behind your old life.
It means leaving behind theslavery or the comfort from
(09:55):
Egypt, and trusting God to leadyou and lead us into something
better.
So the big question for youtoday is which gate are you
going to be walking through?
Are we taking the wide roadjust because it's easier, or are
we choosing the narrow paththat leads to life, even if it's
?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
hard.
Yeah, being sold out for Christis not always the easiest path
to take, but it is always theright path to be on.
You know, jesus tells us thewide road, the easy road, it's
going to every time lead todestruction if you stay on it
long enough.
But the narrow road, the hardroad, as Pastor Jim mentions,
leads to life.
(10:31):
When you go through somethingin life and you're being
persecuted because of yourobedience to God, people may be
against you.
Because you've chosen to do theright thing and I want to
encourage you keep the faith.
You got to know that God isworking something out in you
that is far greater than whatyou're going through.
The gate you chose, the narrowgate of obedience, is taking you
(10:52):
towards an eternity to God andagain, although it may not be
the easiest path in life to take, it is the only path in life to
take in order to spend eternitywith God and that is Jesus, and
it is the right path to be on.
So if you're taking notes, youcould write this down the narrow
gate takes me home and I justthink that that's so rich.
(11:14):
This down the narrow gate takesme home and I just think that
that's so rich, that's sofulfilling.
It should really just kind ofcomplete us today when we just
understand that and maybe justsay that out loud, right where
you're at today, and just kindof soak that up, marinate in
that it is the narrow gate thattakes me home.
You know, here's the thingabout being a follower of Christ
.
If your profession of faith inChrist did not cost you anything
(11:35):
, then I'm going to say itprobably was not a true
confession.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3,3, that unless one is born again
, he cannot see the kingdom ofGod.
In Luke, chapter 9, verse 23,jesus says if anyone would come
after me, let him deny himselfand take up his cross daily and
follow me.
Galatians 5.24 says and thosewho belong to Christ Jesus have
(11:59):
crucified the flesh with itspassions and desires.
In 2 Corinthians 5.17, paulwrites the following to the
church Therefore, if anyone isin Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
Galatians 2.20 says I have beencrucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, butChrist who lives in me.
(12:22):
So I just want to point thisout to the listeners.
Being a Christian, it costs.
It costs a whole lot, matter offact, being a true Christian,
an ambassador of Christ, itcosts your life, and Jesus
Christ laid down his life for uson the cross.
We ought lay down our life inreturn, in obedience.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, and what's that look like for you today?
Maybe you're in a place wherethe narrow road feels especially
narrow.
Maybe following Jesus iscosting you something, and you
see it.
Well, I want to encourage you.
You're not alone and you're notoff track.
Jesus said it's going to behard.
That's what he said, but hesaid it also leads to life.
So you need to stay the course.
(13:04):
You know, when Jesus says enterby the narrow gate, he's not
just giving us a moral lesson,he's giving us a roadmap.
He's given us the way, he'sgiven us the truth.
So this isn't about choosingbetween good and bad, it's about
choosing life over comfort.
It's about choosing truth overtrend.
It's about choosing Christ overthe crowd.
(13:26):
And if we can zoom out just alittle bit, you see this narrow
path, this theme runs allthroughout Scripture.
If you think about Noah, godgave him instructions to build
an ark.
That's not something thatanybody had ever done before.
People mocked him.
It was uncomfortable, I'm sure.
I'm sure it was lonely, butthat was his narrow path, the
(13:48):
obedience to listening to God.
It led to what Salvation forthe rest of the world that
followed through the wide pathto destruction.
It's the same pattern.
Or, if you take Daniel,everybody else is bowing down to
the king's statue, and that'sthe wide gate.
But Daniel says I'm not goingto do that, I'm not going to bow
down.
The narrow path landed himwhere?
In the lion's den.
(14:08):
And when he was in the lion'sden, guess what?
God gave him life because hewas also going through that
narrow path of God's presenceand God's power in that moment.
And then you have Jesus himself.
He is the narrow gate, like yousaid, pastor Lee, in John 10,
9,.
He says I'm the door, and ifanybody enters it by me, he will
be saved.
And that's not exclusion,that's an invitation.
(14:31):
The gate is narrow not becauseGod is trying to keep people out
.
It's because there's only oneway to get to him that actually
leads to life, and that'sthrough him, which is why he's
encouraging us Come through thenarrow gate.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, that's good, brother.
I'd like to lead up to athought right here.
Let me just kind of build up toit.
Just simply knowing God's wordis not enough.
Mentioned that already Having areligion isn't just good enough
either, if that's all it'sgoing to be is a religion, not a
relationship.
So here's the thought that Iwant to build up to Hanging out
(15:09):
around the narrow gate isn'tgood enough either.
You know, the relationship withJesus grows as you enter through
the narrow gate and continue towalk down the road every day,
trusting in Christ.
You know, I know people thatjust like want to hang around
church, not get involved or bepart of it, just be there.
(15:29):
They feel safety and security,just being there, right, just
being around other believers,other people.
You know, I know people thatenjoy hanging out with good,
godly people, but they don'twant to take themselves to that
level that those people are on,that they want to hang out with.
They don't want to sacrifice,you know, they don't want to die
(15:49):
to self and do what it takes toget there.
Those are the types of peoplethat just want to hang around
the entrance to the gate, youknow, and that's so dangerous.
So just hanging out around anarrow gate isn't good enough.
We got to walk through it, wegot to keep going down that
narrow path and every day, as Isaid, we're trusting in Jesus.
A lot of people simply want tohang out there because they
(16:10):
don't want to fully commit tothe lifestyle that comes with
going into and entering into thenarrow gate.
All right.
So hanging around the gate,just coming to church, just
checking the box, isn't enough.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
You know, as you were saying that, I just had a
thought.
You know, the narrow gate isn'tabout restriction, it's about
direction.
That's right.
It's not there to fence you in,it's there to lead you home.
Amen, and sometimes I thinkpeople they think that the
narrow way is joyless, just abunch of rules or following
(16:44):
God's commands in every way,shape and form.
But what Jesus is saying is thewide road is easier, but easy
isn't the same as good.
The wide road is easier, buteasy isn't the same as good.
The narrow road is harderbecause it's where you actually
find God at the end of it.
The wide road, it willentertain you for a little while
.
The narrow road, it willtransform you while you walk.
And that's the connection thatwe made earlier to the Red Sea
(17:07):
that keeps stirring in me,because think about this the
Israelites were leaving behindbondage.
They had been crying out to Godfor freedom, and when he
finally makes a way, it's thisnarrow path between two walls of
chaos in the water.
That's how God works.
He doesn't always pluck us upout of the situation.
Sometimes he parts the chaosand he makes us walk through it.
(17:28):
Deliverance isn't always goingto look like escape.
Sometimes it looks like a pathcarved through some impossible
places.
Luke 13, jesus said somethinglike this.
That he said strive to enterthrough the narrow door.
For many, I tell you, will seekto enter and will not be able.
The word strive in the Greek isagonizame be able.
(17:49):
The word strive in the Greek isagonizame, and it's where we
get this word agonize.
And that's showing effort.
It takes effort to stay on thecourse.
No, you're not earning yoursalvation, but by striving to
stay faithful in a world pullingyou in every other seemingly
direction, you're not alone.
That's what the narrow pathoffers you.
(18:10):
Jesus is going to walk with us.
He's already walked it beforeus.
He's already carried the crossdown the road.
So when we walk it, we'rewalking in his steps.
He never asks us to go where hehasn't gone himself.
Pastor Lee.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Amen, Amen.
You are so right about that man.
Let's talk about that wide.
Let's talk about that wide,broad gate for a moment.
That leads to destruction.
(18:47):
I think one of the things that'sso dangerous about that wide
gate just like I mentionedearlier, how you can veer off
the narrow path, the one thatleads to safety and the one
that's showing you direction andguidance what's so dangerous,
in my opinion, about that wide,broad gate is that there's so
many options.
You know, like if I were to getoff the trail, hiking some
serious mountains, if I was toget off of the trail, then you
know, yeah, I mean, some prettycool things could be seen and I
could explore some pretty coolareas, but ultimately it could
(19:10):
set me up for my demise.
You know, and that is whatJesus is saying here when it
comes to the wide gate, herehe's letting us know this, this
gate, if you choose it, thispath, should you choose it and
you stay on this road, it willdestroy you.
There's, there's no maybes.
Or can I, can I, can I outsmartit out with it?
You know, no, no, no.
It will straight up, flat out,destroy you, no questions asked,
(19:34):
because that's what's at theend of this path.
You can't change that once youget there, when you get to the
end.
That's what's there, and I thinkthat's what's so dangerous
about it, that's what's soalluring about it, that's what
pulls people in is there's somuch to do on it?
You know, there's so much flash, there's glitz, there's glamour
.
Everything tastes good, feelsgood, seems good, hears good,
(19:57):
smells good.
You know, it's like everythingjust seems so great.
But then when you talk topeople that are just like at the
end of it all, it's notfulfilling to them.
Man, they got to keep thisvicious circle going.
It's like this never-endingcircle of pleasure that just
runs out and they got to refillit.
And then it runs out and theygot to refill it.
And I think that's thedangerous piece about this wide
(20:20):
path knowing that when we getoff the narrow path, this wide
path does lead to destructionevery single time.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Yeah, it robs you of life.
It robs you of the very thingyou're chasing, because there's
only one way to get it thenarrow gate.
So I think maybe the questionhere for the listeners today is
this am I walking with Jesus thenarrow path or am I just
following along, walking in thecrowd, because those are the
only two paths that we can go in.
They're very differentdirections.
One may feel easier, but onlyone leads to life.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, I'm reminded in John, chapter 14, one through
six, and this should bring ourlisteners comfort, I know it
does me.
Jesus Christ says this let notyour hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also inme.
In my Father's house are manyrooms.
If it were not so, would I havetold you that I go to prepare a
place for you.
And if I go and prepare a placefor you, and if I go and
(21:11):
prepare a place for you, I willcome again and will take you to
myself, that where I am, you maybe also, and you know the way
to where I am going.
And in the fifth verse, thomassaid to him Lord, we do not know
where you are going.
How can we know the way?
And Jesus responds and says tohim in the sixth verse I am the
way and the truth and the life.
(21:34):
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me and my friends
.
That is the narrow path.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Father, I'm so grateful that you give us your
word and it encourages us tostay on your path, the narrow
path.
Father, I pray right now, overall of the listeners.
I pray for myself and PastorLee.
Lord, that the enemy would befar from us and that any
distractions that would cause usto desire deviating, lord, that
(22:05):
we would just die to thosetemptations of our flesh.
And, father, may we keep oureyes on you.
Lord, may we be the light thatleads the path, or lights the
path for others.
Lord, god, we just want to beexamples of you in all that we
do and say.
And so, father, as we closehere today, I just want to say
I'm thankful.
I'm thankful for your son onthe cross and the grace that's
(22:27):
offered to us every single day.
And, lord, even though we dostep off the path, lord, father,
you have grace and that youwill forgive us.
We love you and we praise you,and we are so excited to have an
opportunity to just read yourword and study and give back to
your kingdom, Lord, becausethat's what we want.
We want to advance your kingdomIn Jesus' name, amen, amen.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week With your
hosts, pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Welcome back, everybody, toBeyond Sunday Podcast.
(00:26):
I'm Pastor Jim, here, as always, with Pastor Lee, and we are
the pastors of Christ FamilyOutreach Church, excited to be
back for another week of BeyondSunday.
Today we're going to be gettinginto Matthew, chapter 7, verses
13 and 14.
Jesus is going to be wrappingup the Sermon on the Mount here
and these two verses they hit,really, hit, really, really hard
, and I'm going to turn it overto Pastor Lee to go ahead and
(00:47):
read them, talk a little bitabout them, and then we're going
to go verse by verse, like wealways do.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Amen.
If you got your Bibles, goahead and turn into Matthew,
chapter 7.
As Pastor Jim mentioned, we'regoing to be studying the 13th
and 14th verse and Jesus saysenter by the narrow gate, for
the gate is wide and the way iseasy.
That leads to destruction, andthose who enter by it are many,
for the gate is narrow and theway is hard.
That leads to life, and thosewho find it are few.
(01:15):
In this text we're givendirection by the Lord.
What are our directions here?
It is plain and simple Enter bythe narrow gate.
That's it.
This is what he's talking aboutright here.
If we want life, if we wantblessing, if we desire a life
walking with Jesus, if we wantto spend eternity with God, it
(01:36):
is the narrow gate, my friends,that gets us there.
In John 10, 7 through 10, jesussays truly, truly, I say to you
I am the door of the sheep.
All who came before me arethieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not listen to them.
I am the door.
If anyone enters by me, he willbe saved and will go in and out
(01:57):
and find pasture.
The thief comes only to stealand kill and destroy.
I came that they may have lifeand have it abundantly.
Jesus said I am the doorpassage, jim, or depending on
the translation, he'll say I amthe gate.
So what is Jesus teaching here?
All right, he is teaching thathe is the only way to have
(02:19):
relationship with God that wemust come through Jesus Christ,
by accepting him as Lord andSavior of our lives.
He is the narrow gate.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, one thing that I found very interesting right
off the bat is the languagethat's being used in verse 13,
where Jesus says enter by thenarrow gate, and it's not really
a suggestion.
You know he's saying enter,which is an international
language.
Everybody understands that thatis a command given and really
(02:49):
what it does is, if someone saysenter, it gives you a choice
and it requires a choice.
It's active language.
We're not just coasting intothe kingdom.
What he's saying is you got todecide to step into something
different.
Yeah, you got to step intosomething narrower.
And right away he's going tocontrast that.
Speak with a wide gate.
(03:09):
He says for the gate is wideand the way is easy.
That leads to destruction.
Wide gate, easy road, but itleads somewhere that you don't
want to go, and that's the scarypart to me.
You can be cruising and justthinking that everything's
smooth, but it's a path of easeand it's a path of comfort and
there's no real discipleship,there's no repentance, there's,
(03:32):
truthfully, just no Jesus, andthat's not the road to life,
that's the road to destruction.
And look at what Jesus saysnext those who enter by it are
many.
Now, that, to me, is a really,really powerful thing to
consider, because he's sayingthe majority of people choose
that wide path.
It's popular, because it feelsgood, but the truth is it comes
(03:52):
back empty.
Now here's the thing.
We see it all around us.
The world is constantlyinviting the wide gate.
They say what Live, your truth,do what feels right, you should
do you, and that's the anthemof the wide gate.
And, as a result, it's thiskind of spiritual autopilot that
never actually leads to a realpeace or a real purpose.
(04:15):
So the challenge is are wewilling to go against?
Speaker 2 (04:19):
the grain.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.
One of the things I want topoint out here today is that
works won't get you into heaven.
That's right.
Religion is not going to getyou into heaven by itself.
Your money is not going to getyou into heaven.
Your family name is not goingto get you into heaven.
Your church attendance and gooddeeds all by themselves are not
going to get you into heaven.
Jesus, lets everyone know it isthrough Jesus Christ alone,
(04:43):
amen, that God grants useternity with himself.
Forever.
The narrow gate.
It reminds me of a path on amountain, if I can just kind of
paint this picture for a moment.
It reminds me of a path on amountain.
I've hiked mountain pathsbefore, many of them where it
was within my best interest, myabsolute best interest to stay
on the path.
Listen to this.
(05:04):
I want you to consider this.
Pay close attention.
The path guaranteed both mysafety and my arrival to where I
was wanting to go.
You got me.
Yeah, the path is solid, right.
The path offers direction.
The path offers clarity.
As long as I'm on the path, I'mgood to go.
You'll even see at times, onsome of these trails you'll see
(05:27):
signs that say stay on the path.
Right Warning to stay on thepath.
Right Warning to stay on thepath.
It's when we get enticed towander off from the path that we
can place ourselves intodangerous situations.
Not too long ago I watched adocumentary true story on
television about a hiker who hadgotten lost on the trail and
(05:49):
this particular hiker had spentdays into weeks hiking a
particular part of theAppalachian Trail but never made
it to their destination.
When it was time to be pickedup, the local authorities spent
days, goes into weeks,eventually months, until they
finally found the remains of thefemale hiker.
The reason it was so hard,pastor Jim, to find the hiker
(06:12):
was because she had gone off thepath.
You see, her family, her lovedones, knew the path she was
taking.
So when she didn't show up inthe time for her to be picked up
, they started backtracking thepath.
But because she had gone offthe path, they didn't know where
to go.
They didn't know where to lookfor her.
So essentially, it was liketrying to find in this
particular part of the forest.
(06:33):
It was like trying to find inthis particular part of the
forest.
It was like trying to find aneedle in a haystack.
So I'm reminded that Jesusreminds us to stay on the narrow
path.
You know, and it's when westart to get off of the safety
and the clarity and the visionof the narrow path that we get
into trouble.
And so maybe you're listeningright now and you're that person
(06:54):
that has walked off path.
You've walked off course,you've strayed away from the
path.
Can I encourage you in the Lordright now that it is not too
late.
Amen, pastor Jim, it is not toolate to surrender to God.
It is not too late to beginwalking with Jesus Christ again
as personal Lord and Savior.
It is not too late to have himas king of all of your life and
(07:15):
Lord of all of your life.
It's not too late to beginpraying and asking God for help
right now, in this very moment.
So I want to encourage you getback on the path, get back into
church, open the Bible, start towalk with God, begin praying to
the Father, begin trusting himagain, because I want to tell
you he wants you to.
God wants you back on thenarrow path.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
That's right, and that narrow path, like you said,
is safe.
But here's a big thing, righthere in verse 14.
He says Jesus says this, forthe gate is narrow, but here's
the thing it's going to be hard.
That leads to life and thosewho find it are few.
So now we have this gate thatyou're talking about, pastor Lee
.
That's narrow and it's safe,right, but it never says it's
(08:00):
not going to be hard.
But here's the truth it leadsto life and that's the truth
that we need to stand on.
That's the kind of life Jesusis always talking about, this
abundant life, the eternal kindthat lasts forever, the kind
that starts now and stretchesinto the future.
If you stay on that path.
But notice, the path of lifeisn't going to be easy.
So it's not a shortcut, it'snot the freeway, and I love that
(08:25):
Jesus doesn't sugarcoat it,he's honest about it.
Hey, this is the right way.
But it's also hard.
Following Jesus means layingdown a couple things.
It means saying no to thingsthat might not feel natural or
normal.
It means surrendering our willfor his will, and that can be
tough.
But he says it's worth itbecause that's where we find
(08:45):
life.
And I want to make thisconnection here because I think
it's really beautiful.
When Jesus talks about a narrowgate, my mind goes back all the
way to the Exodus story God'speople and the Israelites, and
when they were slaves in Egypt.
And when he delivered them, hebrought them to the edge of the
Red Sea.
And then what did God do?
He parted the waters and hecreated a path through what
(09:10):
seemed to be an impossible deadend.
So think about it Walls ofwater on both sides and the
narrow way was right there inthe middle.
That was their gate and, justlike Jesus is saying here in
Matthew, it was a gate that notmany people would choose.
But what did it take?
It took faith, it took trustand it was the only way and the
only path to freedom.
And it was the only way and theonly path to freedom.
(09:34):
You know that moment in Exodus.
It's foreshadowing this pictureof a narrow gate that Jesus is
talking about.
God made a way through the seawhen there was no way, and now
Jesus is saying I am that way,he is the true gate.
And, just like the Exodus,walking through the gate means
leaving behind your old life.
It means leaving behind theslavery or the comfort from
(09:55):
Egypt, and trusting God to leadyou and lead us into something
better.
So the big question for youtoday is which gate are you
going to be walking through?
Are we taking the wide roadjust because it's easier, or are
we choosing the narrow paththat leads to life, even if it's
?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
hard.
Yeah, being sold out for Christis not always the easiest path
to take, but it is always theright path to be on.
You know, jesus tells us thewide road, the easy road, it's
going to every time lead todestruction if you stay on it
long enough.
But the narrow road, the hardroad, as Pastor Jim mentions,
leads to life.
(10:31):
When you go through somethingin life and you're being
persecuted because of yourobedience to God, people may be
against you.
Because you've chosen to do theright thing and I want to
encourage you keep the faith.
You got to know that God isworking something out in you
that is far greater than whatyou're going through.
The gate you chose, the narrowgate of obedience, is taking you
(10:52):
towards an eternity to God andagain, although it may not be
the easiest path in life to take, it is the only path in life to
take in order to spend eternitywith God and that is Jesus, and
it is the right path to be on.
So if you're taking notes, youcould write this down the narrow
gate takes me home and I justthink that that's so rich.
(11:14):
This down the narrow gate takesme home and I just think that
that's so rich, that's sofulfilling.
It should really just kind ofcomplete us today when we just
understand that and maybe justsay that out loud, right where
you're at today, and just kindof soak that up, marinate in
that it is the narrow gate thattakes me home.
You know, here's the thingabout being a follower of Christ
.
If your profession of faith inChrist did not cost you anything
(11:35):
, then I'm going to say itprobably was not a true
confession.
Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3,3, that unless one is born again
, he cannot see the kingdom ofGod.
In Luke, chapter 9, verse 23,jesus says if anyone would come
after me, let him deny himselfand take up his cross daily and
follow me.
Galatians 5.24 says and thosewho belong to Christ Jesus have
(11:59):
crucified the flesh with itspassions and desires.
In 2 Corinthians 5.17, paulwrites the following to the
church Therefore, if anyone isin Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away.
Behold, the new has come.
Galatians 2.20 says I have beencrucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, butChrist who lives in me.
(12:22):
So I just want to point thisout to the listeners.
Being a Christian, it costs.
It costs a whole lot, matter offact, being a true Christian,
an ambassador of Christ, itcosts your life, and Jesus
Christ laid down his life for uson the cross.
We ought lay down our life inreturn, in obedience.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Yeah, and what's that look like for you today?
Maybe you're in a place wherethe narrow road feels especially
narrow.
Maybe following Jesus iscosting you something, and you
see it.
Well, I want to encourage you.
You're not alone and you're notoff track.
Jesus said it's going to behard.
That's what he said, but hesaid it also leads to life.
So you need to stay the course.
(13:04):
You know, when Jesus says enterby the narrow gate, he's not
just giving us a moral lesson,he's giving us a roadmap.
He's given us the way, he'sgiven us the truth.
So this isn't about choosingbetween good and bad, it's about
choosing life over comfort.
It's about choosing truth overtrend.
It's about choosing Christ overthe crowd.
(13:26):
And if we can zoom out just alittle bit, you see this narrow
path, this theme runs allthroughout Scripture.
If you think about Noah, godgave him instructions to build
an ark.
That's not something thatanybody had ever done before.
People mocked him.
It was uncomfortable, I'm sure.
I'm sure it was lonely, butthat was his narrow path, the
(13:48):
obedience to listening to God.
It led to what Salvation forthe rest of the world that
followed through the wide pathto destruction.
It's the same pattern.
Or, if you take Daniel,everybody else is bowing down to
the king's statue, and that'sthe wide gate.
But Daniel says I'm not goingto do that, I'm not going to bow
down.
The narrow path landed himwhere?
In the lion's den.
(14:08):
And when he was in the lion'sden, guess what?
God gave him life because hewas also going through that
narrow path of God's presenceand God's power in that moment.
And then you have Jesus himself.
He is the narrow gate, like yousaid, pastor Lee, in John 10,
9,.
He says I'm the door, and ifanybody enters it by me, he will
be saved.
And that's not exclusion,that's an invitation.
(14:31):
The gate is narrow not becauseGod is trying to keep people out
.
It's because there's only oneway to get to him that actually
leads to life, and that'sthrough him, which is why he's
encouraging us Come through thenarrow gate.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
Yeah, that's good, brother.
I'd like to lead up to athought right here.
Let me just kind of build up toit.
Just simply knowing God's wordis not enough.
Mentioned that already Having areligion isn't just good enough
either, if that's all it'sgoing to be is a religion, not a
relationship.
So here's the thought that Iwant to build up to Hanging out
(15:09):
around the narrow gate isn'tgood enough either.
You know, the relationship withJesus grows as you enter through
the narrow gate and continue towalk down the road every day,
trusting in Christ.
You know, I know people thatjust like want to hang around
church, not get involved or bepart of it, just be there.
(15:29):
They feel safety and security,just being there, right, just
being around other believers,other people.
You know, I know people thatenjoy hanging out with good,
godly people, but they don'twant to take themselves to that
level that those people are on,that they want to hang out with.
They don't want to sacrifice,you know, they don't want to die
(15:49):
to self and do what it takes toget there.
Those are the types of peoplethat just want to hang around
the entrance to the gate, youknow, and that's so dangerous.
So just hanging out around anarrow gate isn't good enough.
We got to walk through it, wegot to keep going down that
narrow path and every day, as Isaid, we're trusting in Jesus.
A lot of people simply want tohang out there because they
(16:10):
don't want to fully commit tothe lifestyle that comes with
going into and entering into thenarrow gate.
All right.
So hanging around the gate,just coming to church, just
checking the box, isn't enough.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
You know, as you were saying that, I just had a
thought.
You know, the narrow gate isn'tabout restriction, it's about
direction.
That's right.
It's not there to fence you in,it's there to lead you home.
Amen, and sometimes I thinkpeople they think that the
narrow way is joyless, just abunch of rules or following
(16:44):
God's commands in every way,shape and form.
But what Jesus is saying is thewide road is easier, but easy
isn't the same as good.
The wide road is easier, buteasy isn't the same as good.
The narrow road is harderbecause it's where you actually
find God at the end of it.
The wide road, it willentertain you for a little while
.
The narrow road, it willtransform you while you walk.
And that's the connection thatwe made earlier to the Red Sea
(17:07):
that keeps stirring in me,because think about this the
Israelites were leaving behindbondage.
They had been crying out to Godfor freedom, and when he
finally makes a way, it's thisnarrow path between two walls of
chaos in the water.
That's how God works.
He doesn't always pluck us upout of the situation.
Sometimes he parts the chaosand he makes us walk through it.
(17:28):
Deliverance isn't always goingto look like escape.
Sometimes it looks like a pathcarved through some impossible
places.
Luke 13, jesus said somethinglike this.
That he said strive to enterthrough the narrow door.
For many, I tell you, will seekto enter and will not be able.
The word strive in the Greek isagonizame be able.
(17:49):
The word strive in the Greek isagonizame, and it's where we
get this word agonize.
And that's showing effort.
It takes effort to stay on thecourse.
No, you're not earning yoursalvation, but by striving to
stay faithful in a world pullingyou in every other seemingly
direction, you're not alone.
That's what the narrow pathoffers you.
(18:10):
Jesus is going to walk with us.
He's already walked it beforeus.
He's already carried the crossdown the road.
So when we walk it, we'rewalking in his steps.
He never asks us to go where hehasn't gone himself.
Pastor Lee.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Amen, Amen.
You are so right about that man.
Let's talk about that wide.
Let's talk about that wide,broad gate for a moment.
That leads to destruction.
(18:47):
I think one of the things that'sso dangerous about that wide
gate just like I mentionedearlier, how you can veer off
the narrow path, the one thatleads to safety and the one
that's showing you direction andguidance what's so dangerous,
in my opinion, about that wide,broad gate is that there's so
many options.
You know, like if I were to getoff the trail, hiking some
serious mountains, if I was toget off of the trail, then you
know, yeah, I mean, some prettycool things could be seen and I
could explore some pretty coolareas, but ultimately it could
(19:10):
set me up for my demise.
You know, and that is whatJesus is saying here when it
comes to the wide gate, herehe's letting us know this, this
gate, if you choose it, thispath, should you choose it and
you stay on this road, it willdestroy you.
There's, there's no maybes.
Or can I, can I, can I outsmartit out with it?
You know, no, no, no.
It will straight up, flat out,destroy you, no questions asked,
(19:34):
because that's what's at theend of this path.
You can't change that once youget there, when you get to the
end.
That's what's there, and I thinkthat's what's so dangerous
about it, that's what's soalluring about it, that's what
pulls people in is there's somuch to do on it?
You know, there's so much flash, there's glitz, there's glamour
.
Everything tastes good, feelsgood, seems good, hears good,
(19:57):
smells good.
You know, it's like everythingjust seems so great.
But then when you talk topeople that are just like at the
end of it all, it's notfulfilling to them.
Man, they got to keep thisvicious circle going.
It's like this never-endingcircle of pleasure that just
runs out and they got to refillit.
And then it runs out and theygot to refill it.
And I think that's thedangerous piece about this wide
(20:20):
path knowing that when we getoff the narrow path, this wide
path does lead to destructionevery single time.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Yeah, it robs you of life.
It robs you of the very thingyou're chasing, because there's
only one way to get it thenarrow gate.
So I think maybe the questionhere for the listeners today is
this am I walking with Jesus thenarrow path or am I just
following along, walking in thecrowd, because those are the
only two paths that we can go in.
They're very differentdirections.
One may feel easier, but onlyone leads to life.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah, I'm reminded in John, chapter 14, one through
six, and this should bring ourlisteners comfort, I know it
does me.
Jesus Christ says this let notyour hearts be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also inme.
In my Father's house are manyrooms.
If it were not so, would I havetold you that I go to prepare a
place for you.
And if I go and prepare a placefor you, and if I go and
(21:11):
prepare a place for you, I willcome again and will take you to
myself, that where I am, you maybe also, and you know the way
to where I am going.
And in the fifth verse, thomassaid to him Lord, we do not know
where you are going.
How can we know the way?
And Jesus responds and says tohim in the sixth verse I am the
way and the truth and the life.
(21:34):
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me and my friends
.
That is the narrow path.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Father, I'm so grateful that you give us your
word and it encourages us tostay on your path, the narrow
path.
Father, I pray right now, overall of the listeners.
I pray for myself and PastorLee.
Lord, that the enemy would befar from us and that any
distractions that would cause usto desire deviating, lord, that
(22:05):
we would just die to thosetemptations of our flesh.
And, father, may we keep oureyes on you.
Lord, may we be the light thatleads the path, or lights the
path for others.
Lord, god, we just want to beexamples of you in all that we
do and say.
And so, father, as we closehere today, I just want to say
I'm thankful.
I'm thankful for your son onthe cross and the grace that's
(22:27):
offered to us every single day.
And, lord, even though we dostep off the path, lord, father,
you have grace and that youwill forgive us.
We love you and we praise you,and we are so excited to have an
opportunity to just read yourword and study and give back to
your kingdom, Lord, becausethat's what we want.
We want to advance your kingdomIn Jesus' name, amen, amen.
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