Matthew 7, we'll be reading verses 12 through 14. These are the words of Jesus. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the law in the prophets. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." The Word of God. Now, you know that I'm not cherry picking verses. I'm just going through the teachings of Jesus and the Bible. And here we are. It's been like five or six weeks. The Bible, as you know, is the word of God, and it records the teachings of Jesus. And when the Bible is read and preached, the teachings of Jesus are repeated for this moment. Most times when Jesus says, it is written, the proper translation in the Greek is this, it stands written. He's the same today, yesterday, and forever, and his teaching does not change. Now, the teaching of Jesus includes great words of comfort, right? But it also includes great words of challenge. And I don't think you would vote that I only preach the great words of comfort and take out the great words of challenge. I don't think that would be safe for our own souls. we would be, I would be committing malpractice before you. And you may think everything is wonderful and, you know, we might have to build a new church or something because everybody's coming because I never talk about sin. I never talk about the words of challenge. Everything's great. You're okay. You're wonderful. Jesus loves you, you know, the way you are and with all your sin and all that, you know, you never have to change. We could do that, but I would fear for your souls, and I would fear for mine. Right? I'm going to be judged more strictly than you. I have a duty to you to oversee your soul. That's a big deal. It's really a big deal. Now, think about this. We live in a world a church world where there's no persecution. There's nobody coming in this morning with AK-47s, you know, machine guns and taking us all to jail and bringing us down to the Westboro lockup or the Worcester County House and saying, you're not getting out until everybody has tried. No one's coming in to break up our service. We can meet, say whatever we want, and leave, and nobody's persecuting us. You can't do that everywhere, but we can. And if you think about us, okay, let's think about us. Some of you say, well, you know, Pastor David, I have, you know, some times it's hard to make ends meet. And I would say to you, you need to go to a poor country and see how they live. And let me tell you, you and I, no matter what your level is, we are rich. We are rich. I just take my word for it. We are rich. If you compare what other people have. I like to refer to this as affluence, that means richness, but I like to refer to it as a thing, like a disease, called affluenza. We have affluenza. Now the church grows by leaps and bounds when the people are persecuted. It doesn't make any sense, right? If we were out at the brook meeting, there'd be people joining us. We'd have people baptizing in the dirty brook over there, you know, looking for, seeing if people are going to shoot us. The church would grow in persecution and it's been proven over and over again. But we live in America and affluenza makes us dead. It blows on the warm hearts we have and makes our hearts cold because we are looking for utopia now. You know, we just came back from Disney World this week and I'm like, I said to myself, what was Walt Disney, what was he doing? Quite clear, he was trying to create utopia. who is trying to create a humanistic utopia. And you go into Spaceship Earth, you know, the round ball, it tells the story of the world. You go in it, and it tells the history of the world from fighting off a woolly mammoth to today's technology, and there isn't one, I mean one, mention of God in any of it. Not a lick. So, you know, it's like, we got this, like people, we got this. Everything's going to be great. We're going to have utopia. Everything's going to be fun and wonderful. We don't need God. Really. And people today, churches are dying in droves because of influenza. People don't need God. It's amazing. How many have been to Portland, Maine? I love Portland, don't you? The Casco Bridge, four lanes, 12 feet each. And it's huge. So it's 50 feet wide, essentially. And it's a drawbridge. And those four lanes go up like spikes. Can you imagine if you were on the edge of that drawbridge? And then, you know, the separation between one side and the other is not bridged over by the bridge. And the four river is right there. And if you were that person, you would certainly fall to your death over that bridge. And this morning, I'd like to have you think about something, is we know that the bridge, spiritually speaking, is the way of salvation. Jesus is the gateway, but he's also the bridge. He bridges over our sinfulness, and he makes a way for us to get over that barrier so that we can have a right relationship with God. Would you prefer a wide bridge that doesn't go all the way over, or would you prefer a narrow bridge that goes all the way over? I don't know about you, but if I'm trying to get to the other side, I'll take the narrow one. He would too. Salvation is narrow. Jesus was not trying to save everybody. He still isn't. But if you have the gift of faith, the bridge goes all the way over to the other side. Amen? If you have the gift of faith, meaning Jesus gave you the faith, Some think that Jesus doesn't give faith and that you need to come up with a faith that saves you. If that's the case, then the bridge is wide, but it doesn't go completely over because it needs your work, your work to get over, to finish it. Uh-uh, uh-uh. Now, I submit to you, we got a problem, don't we? If we're saved, right, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this, meaning the grace and the faith, is not of yourselves, it comes from the Lord, right? If we've been saved by grace through faith, and the only thing we bring to salvation is our sin, the sin that made it necessary, why does Jesus say in this passage enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and there are those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life." The way is hard. Wait a minute. The non-Christian life is easy. There are more people on the non-Christian life than are on the Christian life. The Christian life is narrow and it's hard and there's only a few who find it. Have you ever heard that before? It's right there, isn't it? And so what he's saying is, salvation is not like any way you think it is. Was it Journey that was, any way you want it, that's the way it is. It's not that. There's only one way of salvation, and that is Jesus Christ. No other religion, no other thing. You could, you know, sacrifice your body, whatever, nothing else. Nothing else will get you there. He is the narrow gate. You can't be good enough. You can't be sinless. You can't give lots of money to the church. It's enter by the narrow gate. That's it. If you are not in Christ, you are not saved. If you are not in Christ, you will not be in heaven. But if you are in Christ, despite all your foibles, you will be in heaven and you will walk with him. Amen? Amen. So first, the first thing we learn is we must enter by and through Christ. There's no other philosophical system. And there are many religions in the world, but none of them will bring a right relationship with God. None of them. Secondly, The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. There will be more people that will be doomed than people that will be saved. That's hard to say, isn't it? It really is. And it's kind of, it's very sad. And it kind of makes me just want to like do this seven days a week, something. But you know, we could all do this seven days a week if someone would pay our bills. But even still, there's only so many people that will actually come. A lot of people that you would invite to come to Christ will say no. They'll reject Jesus. Even though they're invited, they will say So now we learn that there are more people that are not going to be saved. The saved will be few. And that shouldn't make you say, well, I don't like God anymore. No, that should have just the opposite effect on you, that he saved you. Otherwise, why would you be sitting here on a Sunday morning when you could be out, you know, collecting leaves or playing golf or... laying in bed, you know, comatose. I don't know. You're here for a reason, right? You came here not because the pies are great, even though they are. But I mean, you came for the truth. You came for the word. Hallelujah! Are you there? Are you going to make this hard for me? So when in Luke, the parallel passage, it's even more pronounced. It says this, strive to enter through the narrow gate. Strive. Wait a minute. Strive? Wow. You know what we're like? All of us are like salmon. What's the plural of salmon? Salmons? Are we salmons? We're like salmons, the fish. Some people like filet of salmon with a little balsamic over it. Maybe some, what are those little green things called? Capers, some capers. But we're like salmon. Salmon are funny. Everybody's going this way in the fish world, and the salmon are going the other way. The salmon are swimming upstream. And it ain't easy, folks. But they swim upstream, and they get upstream, and once they get upstream, I think they have children and they die. They have a family, they broke. But we're salmon, we're going, everybody's going this way, and we're going this way. We're going against the world. The world wants to bring you with them. Oh, come with me. No, no thanks. Do you ever sometimes get the, you know, look at things and like, everybody's going that way, we must go that way. Sometimes that's like a, no, that's not the way. So we're salmon. We're salmons. I think it's salmon. Are you a salmon? Say, Pastor David, I'm a salmon. Walk up to me and say, I'm a salmon, Pastor David. So the saved will be few, but the question is, will the saved be you? Will you enter the narrow gate? Now what does he mean by this? If we're saved by faith, we're not saved by works. But James does say that faith without works is dead. So if we have true saving faith, it will follow in works, right? And what's the basic work here? Here it is. And it's easy for a pastor, okay? It's harder for you. Sorry, this is one advantage I have over you. Our whole gig must be seeking the kingdom of God as the main mission in our lives. Now you'd say, well, you don't understand. I'm going to be a PA. You don't understand. I'm going to be an NP. You don't understand. I'm going to be a brain surgeon. You don't understand. I'm going to drive big trucks. You don't understand. I do this. I do that. I'm an engineer. I say, somehow do that with the main purpose of your life, the kingdom of God. Right on, it's the operating system right underneath. And every move you make, you are seeking the kingdom of God. It has to be a thoughtful life. We can't be thoughtless, right? Nobody finds the narrow gate by accident. No one travels on the narrow gate by accident. It's purposeful. It's thoughtful. And many times we have to make corrections because sometimes we go on tangents. But you know what? The Lord is there and watching you and will help you enter the narrow gate and stay in on it, on the narrow way. He saved you, so ultimately you will be with Him in paradise at the end. And He will give you everything you need to get there. So there's nothing you have to worry about! Other than, be mindful. He's telling you, hey, don't forget, remember, enter by the narrow gate. Just don't be thoughtless about this. If you need something, if you're going on the wrong pathway, pray about it. Ask the Lord for strength to overcome a certain sin or whatever. All of us, if we took our lives, right? If our lives were a bushel of fruit, we'd always have an apple in there that's got worms in it. It doesn't mean you throw out the whole basket. It just means you take the one that's got the worm in it. Right? So the Lord does this pruning and we just have to ask him. Remember last week we talked about keep asking God. Why? He's infinitely good. Good beyond your understanding. And he will give you whatever you need to get there. And so when somebody says, enter the narrow gate, you don't say, you know what? I'm not going to that church anymore. That pastor's crazy. Enter the narrow gate? Is he crazy? I can't do that. Yeah, I can't either. Not a one of us can. Right? Can we, in our own strength, do what he's suggesting? No. No. But I want to be that guy, right? That's not just like going along with the crowd and just being, you know, not mindful, not thoughtful, just following the person in front of me who's going into the abyss. I'd rather have Jesus. Wouldn't you? Yeah. And so it takes deliberate thought and effort and he will give you it. So Your salvation shouldn't be a thing that's of just mild passing interest in your life. It should be the main thing of your life. There ain't nothing more important than your salvation. Ain't nothing more important than Jesus in your life. Amen? Love the Lord God with all your heart. all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. Love Jesus more than anything. That's our gig. And it's pretty simple. Love God, love others, and make disciples. If you can remember those three, you'll be doing great. Right? And so we're not striving to faith, but from faith. And Jesus is telling us, why else would 2 Peter 1, 5 through 11 make any sense? And that Peter writes, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness. and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." I used to look at that and go, wait a minute, make every effort to supplement your faith? But real faith ends in real works. Now, I believe that anybody that wants Jesus will have him. But, hell is truth recognized too late, right? Do you ever hear the song by Keith Green, Alter Call? Incredible song, very sad. Some people don't find out until it's too late. When the unbeliever dies and then the lights come on in their mind and heart, they'll know that Christ was the answer, is the answer, but it will be too late to say yes. And it will be very, very sad. Very sad. But everybody will come to that point. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess, not just in the church, in the world. So salvation requires our urgent attention. We don't know when the door's gonna be shut. You could say, well, Pastor David, I'm young, you're old. Okay. I like being old. Thank you. But anyway, what I'm saying is, if the curtain comes down on the world, and it could any time, right? Then how do we know? We don't. We're not going to get an email. Oh, by the way, the world's going to end next week. If you get that, make sure you delete it as spam. But think about our world today, beloved. Think about it for a second, OK? Everybody is casual. I bet, I'm not saying this church, but I bet if you go to the, in the church world, you look around for like all the big ones and the small ones. There's a lot of casual people like there is in the world. I don't know about you, but I never seen people till very recently walking around in their pajamas, in the day, in public. Have you? If you do this, I'm sorry. Forgive me. I saw a bunch of ladies at Disney World walking around in their pajamas and slippers in the afternoon. I'm like, what? You just got right out of bed and you didn't want to skip the shower and get right out there into the theme parks? People are casual today. And people bring their dogs everywhere. Everywhere. you know, to restaurants, to churches, you know, and, you know, the dog sits down in a restaurant, in a seat in a restaurant. They're dogs. They're not the cleanest thing in the world. I'll have to draw a picture for you, I hope. And I love dogs, sort of. Anyway, what about people who just wear their underwear in public? Would you like it if I came into church today in my underwear and my shoes? I just walked in and I was in my underwears. Hey, how you doing? Praise the Lord. But if you go to a beach, people are in their underwear. maybe even less than their underwear, right? Would you do that in another context? Would you walk into church with a thong? You know what I mean? It's just, what I'm trying to say is, I like being casual in my home. I like being casual. I could simply, you know, wear my pajamas all day long. But what I'm trying to say is, we shouldn't be casual with our relationship with Jesus. Right? A casual in our commitment to Jesus. We need to take it seriously. And we need to not just be acquainted with Jesus, but to know him. and to have a personal relationship with Him, a genuine one. And here's the big one. You got to fight for your right. You got to fight. What are you going to fight? You're going to fight your sin. Your sin is always going to be there until you die. And you've got to fight it. It's tough because it's an even match. Actually worse. And you have to fight your sin, right? You're your worst enemy. Think about it. You really are. And if you don't believe that, I can't help you. So our salvation requires our personal earnest effort and our urgent attention. Why? Because these horrible consequences for making a mistake. And contrary to popular views, hell will not be a party with ACDC playing. It's just not, that's not what it's gonna be like, right? And there's only two categories. It's either this or that, and that's it. There's no gradations in between. So we want to be those who just know Jesus, not simply know about Jesus. And you got to believe that time is running out. A thousand years ago, there was more time than there is today, right? Every day is one step, one day closer. It has to be. And salvation in Christ is a limited time offer. And the crazy thing is most will reject the offer of salvation. They were charmed by the world. You know what Jesus says? He says, I would take you under my wings if you only would. Would you like some proof? Okay, I will give you proof. Deuteronomy 32, in a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him. He guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings. How priceless is your unfailing love, both high and low among men, find refuge in the shadow of your wings. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster is past. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings, you will find refuge. His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Those are all Psalms. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. And he is for you, not against you. But he uses warnings to help you along. Right? He doesn't use the warnings to scare the daylights out of you. He uses the warnings for you to reach out to him and he said, come here, I'm gonna put you into my wings. Because he loves you. Beloved, there's no neutrality in life. You're either with them or you're against them. You're either on the broad road leading to destruction or on the narrow road leading to life. And you'll never go through the narrow gate by accident or unawares. You must enter it thoroughly, thoughtfully, purposely, doing this big thing, practicing what you preach. Practicing what you believe. Amen? So, are you scared? No. I love Robert Frost, but I don't think he was a Christian. But he was born in Lawrence. He made his way to Franconia, New Hampshire. And he's just New England's poet. Right? In 1961, when John F. Kennedy was sworn in, he read a poem on that August occasion, and a guy from Clinton, Massachusetts held up a piece of paper so the 80-something-year-old Robert Frost could read the poem for that occasion. But he said this. He said, it's very simple, there's more to it, but I just cherry picked the best. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Amen? As a Christian today, you're on the road less traveled by. Stay on that road. Jesus is there with you. The church is there with you. We're all going together. And if we need help, there's plenty of places to get it. But we enter through the narrow gate, even though everybody is going in the opposite direction. And our heart bleeds for those people. It bleeds. Doesn't it? Did I tell you the old story, in closing, about Charles Peace? Charles Peace was a convicted criminal and he was killed, executed in the 1800s. And Charles Peace had the benefit of clergy, meaning that clergy was called and the guy came to give him a little sermon that maybe offer salvation to him because he was about to meet his maker. And the minister came and the minister spoke the words of the gospel like... And Charles Peace, And the minister tried it again with a little bit more clarity. And he said, do you believe those words? And the minister said, with all my heart. He said, if I believe those words, I would walk over broken glass to tell anybody and anybody I could those words. Amen? Let us pray. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for the words of challenge as well as the words of comfort. And we realize, even in the same text, that if we take the whole counsel of your word, there is both. There is challenge, there is comfort. And we can see, Lord, in our mind's eye that magnificent bird with the babies under that mother's wings. And Lord, we are yours, and you will bring us to yourself. We thank you, Lord, for that. Help us, Lord, to be mindful and to keep the most important thing, the most important thing. In Christ's name, amen.