Welcome to the ministry of First Reformed Church of Aberdeen, South Dakota. Our worship services begin at 9 o'clock every Sunday morning. Now we join Pastor Hank Bowen as he brings God's Word. Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 7. We're going to take up our reading at verse 13. We're going to read through the end of the chapter because verse 13 marks a transition into, you might say, the last point of his sermon. So we will go over those things that we'll be covering over the next month or so. Verse 13, 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, because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life. And there are a few who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at his teachings for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. beloved citizens of the kingdom of heaven. The Sermon on the Mount stands as the greatest of sermons ever delivered by our Lord Jesus during his earthly ministry. We began our study of this great sermon in January of 2019, and today we enter into the final division of this treatise on living in the kingdom of God. Jesus opened by describing the citizens of the kingdom. In Matthew chapter 5, the first 16 verses, he set forth the Beatitudes, the attitudes and characteristics that lead us to true spiritual happiness and joy as those who belong to the kingdom of God, as well as how that impacts our relationship to the world in which we live. In the lengthy middle of Jesus' instruction, from Matthew chapter five, verse 17, through chapter seven, verse 12, he has set forth the principles of the righteousness and true worship by which those who are the subjects of the King are to live. And in so doing, contrasted that with the hollow and hypocritical righteousness the world embraces. As we come to this final section. King Jesus calls upon us to consciously choose to enter his kingdom. He again does this by a series of contrasts that are all designed to heighten your awareness of the radical nature of the riches of God's kingdom from the looming destruction that the temptations of the world seek to lure you into. Jesus begins these final four lessons with a call. a call to enter through the right gate that will set you on the right road along with those few who have chosen the way that leads to life. He does so by simplifying everything down to a choice. A choice between only one of two options, each having its own contrasting characteristics. Two gates, two ways, two kinds of travelers, and two ultimate destinations. You can only choose one. Choose wisely. That is Jesus' lesson here in Matthew 7, verses 13 and 14, as he calls all who will hear him to enter upon a course of life through a narrow gate. We consider first the two gates. One is narrow, a narrow gate, and the other is a wide gate. One of the themes that runs throughout this call is the difficulty of the call to become a citizen of the kingdom of God. It is easy to go along with the world's program, to be part of the mob, but to go against the flow brings great challenges and difficulties. The church would like you to believe that salvation is easy, that coming to the church and receiving Jesus is an easy thing. Jesus says, no, enter by the narrow gate and enter to go upon the difficult way. It's not easy. The world does not make it easy. It requires wise choices, sacrifices, and great effort. It also must be pursued in the face of great opposition, derision, and even exclusion by those who choose the ways of the world. But Jesus reveals here that when one chooses wisely and enters through the narrow gate upon the difficult way and perseveres to the end, the treasure will be life in God. A question that confronts us as we approach this text is what exactly is this gate? Where is this gate in terms of time? Where is it located? Is this a gate by which we enter the kingdom of God at the end of life? The pearly gates of Revelation 21-21 that lead into the celestial city? Some would understand it that way. In this scenario, the gate is arrived at after one has traveled upon the narrow way. In this scenario, the gate and the way are closely tied together, but in reverse from the way that Jesus presents the lesson where one enters through or by the narrow gate and then travels on the difficult way. A second possibility is that both the gate and the way are to be seen as the same thing. That is, they both speak to the obedience that God demands to receive life. But to blur the lines between the two also seems to sweep away the details of the lesson. Otherwise, Jesus would not have made the details. However, I believe a careful exegesis understanding of the text will lead one to recognize that Jesus is speaking specifically of the gate as the choice one faces upon hearing the call to replant and believe in the Savior in order to receive eternal life. It sets you on the way of and to the kingdom of God. There's an interesting aspect regarding the two gates. In a sense, we are all born having gone through the one wide gate and we walk upon the broad way as long as we go along with the world and those who belong to the world. But there is also another way of looking at what Jesus means here. He is speaking about making a conscious choice to pursue the kingdom of God and be a citizen of that kingdom. Many in the church have the blessings of the covenant, but as they sit under the preaching of the word, they find themselves torn between serving God and a love for the things of the world. And it is hard because these two are mutually exclusive. Sometimes we come to forks in the road where we must choose, will I continue on this road or choose the other one? Will I forsake these things of this world and pursue the righteousness of Christ? Or perhaps will I forsake Christ and try the love of the world and experiment with sin for a while, like the prodigal son? Maybe it looks more fun out there. Jesus here makes a gospel call. That's what you must understand. This is a gospel call. Choose which you will follow. Jesus made a similar kind of a call when he said, if you desire to enter the kingdom of God, you must first deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. The point is that you must choose. And an aspect in your consideration is that the narrow gate and the way it puts you on, don't look that appealing at first. A superficial look draws one's fascination to the wide gate, and it puts you on the broad way that's easy, that looks far easier and smooth, sailing in contrast to the narrow gate and the difficult road. But the gate holds the key to the course and the outcome of your life. Both the gate and the key are closely tied together. But the gate represents the beginning of the course of one's travel, like pilgrim upon the road. The narrow gate represents choosing Christ and limiting your options for what you will pursue in life and how you will travel in the course of your life. The narrow gate leads to a narrow and confining situation. Do I slip through here or do I walk easily through there? When you pass through it, you have limited yourself to only pursue those things that are righteous and done unto and for the glory of God. That's the narrow gate. But it puts you upon one of two ways. So we note, secondly, the two ways. While the gate then represents the starting point that must be passed through to enter upon one of the two ways, we must recognize that it sets us on a particular path. Either the way that is broad and easy and is the choice of the majority, or the narrow way that is going to be difficult, and there's only a few that choose it. There is a life lesson here that is very important. I want you to think about this, especially given our current context. The majority rule, or what appears to be the majority rule, is not always a good thing. Following the mob does not mean that the mob is right. The way of destruction is wide like the gate. It is easy to enter. Not too many limitations. Lots of encouragement from others. It is easy to go along with the crowd. After all, bigger is better. And all of those people headed in the same direction can't be wrong. They can't all be wrong. But Jesus is teaching us to look out. Because they are. The way in Jesus' lesson represents the path or course of your life. When you enter through the narrow gate, that is, you embark upon a walk that pursues life in God, you choose to reject the majority position. You don't go along with the mob. And that is not an easy thing to do for a couple of reasons. First, you have to choose to go through the narrow gate from the broad way. You already know what it is to live in the world. Sin comes naturally to us as fallen human beings. Knowing and trusting God is foreign to a fallen nature and a carnal mind. One's life must be transformed and the mind renewed. As Jesus has made clear throughout the Sermon on the Mount, there will be opposition. Some of it will attack you, but more dangerous is that much of it will seek to entice you. The Israelites struggled in the wilderness with the allurement of returning to the pleasures of Egypt. The way represents your sanctification. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. As the way, Jesus becomes the image to which we are conformed upon the way. To go through the narrow gate is to enter upon the difficult way of becoming a new creature in Christ, of rejecting your fallen nature, your old self. But the contrast of the two ways is what one must consider deeply to make a wise choice. Those who enter upon the difficult way have to think seriously. They have to weigh the costs. Jesus at one point said, no man having put his hand to the plow can look back. He has to undertake that seriously with commitment and conviction. He must weigh the costs. along with the crowd does not work for one who claims to be a Christian. The way of life is a hard road, but the outcome is life. The road to destruction takes little effort. You're born into it and unto it. The gate is always wide open. And you have a lot of company. And everyone seems happy all the way up to the end of the road when one realizes was a road to destruction. The saying goes, the road to hell is paved with many good intentions, just not wise ones. This brings us to consider thirdly the two travelers. We will repeat ourselves a little in these last two points because the theme is intricately kind of woven together, but the two travelers are simply described as many and few. This also is a theme that runs through the whole of scripture. Many are called, but few are chosen. The Heidelberg Catechism speaks of out of the whole human race, God has called to himself a chosen communion, a limited number to receive the gift of eternal life. That is also seen in the concept of the remnant church. A remnant is that part that is left over out of the whole. And it is usually only a small amount in relation to the whole. It is the scraps. But even given that picture, the church in heaven will still be made up of a vast number that is described as being like the sand pebbles upon the sea. A great multitude. The contrast shows just how much man has been fruitful and multiplied upon the earth. So when considering the travelers, it might be easy to think that the many are the happy ones, while the few are on the difficult way. And they're not happy. But that would be wrong. It would be to continue the outward superficial fleeting elations of the moment with the deep underlying peace that comes in the soul when one has the love of God in their heart. and the two are so categorically and qualitatively different. The world is satisfied with very little. The church is satisfied with something of infinite value. The world is filled with rage because they have no peace, no love outside of themselves. The world looks at the Christian and says, why deny yourself the pleasures of the world? But the Christian looks into their heart and they understand that the riches of God's grace far outweigh the momentary pleasures of the world. The narrow gate represents the regeneration of the soul. It is new life in Christ. If one has not experienced the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in which one is described as being born again, then they have no way to understand how the Christian thinks. They're still blind. They are wandering upon the broad way headed for destruction, thinking, wow, this is nice. but it doesn't have to remain that way. If you are hearing this call of Jesus this morning and you have never entered the narrow gate that is steeped upon the path of a worthy walk in Christ that Paul describes in Ephesians 4, then hear Jesus' call. Enter through the gate and shut it behind you. Don't go onto the path of destruction. Don't choose the easy way. You know, the greatest satisfaction in life often comes through the things you have to work hard at. But the things that come easy, you tend to take for granted. And you don't appreciate them. So it is with life as a whole. You must hear that call, you must enter through the gate, and you must shut it behind you. You must close out the world and the broad way that leads to destruction. This is the last consideration here, the two destinations. If you are outside of Christ, going along with the world, enjoying the company of the many, buying into what seems like the majority opinion, then understand that is a road that ultimately ends in your destruction. It is the road to hell. It is the philosophy of the world, maybe sports and recreation, perhaps a love for family, or even worse, addiction to drugs or alcohol, pornography that have a hold of you. If you are controlled by the things of this world, then you are in a state of misery. Momentary highs always lead you to complementary lows. The world offers ecstatic experiences in many different forms, but they are all devices to enslave you in your sin. Those who are of this world are on a path that leads to destruction, and there are many on that road. The curious thing about the many, though, is that there are not many, if any, true friends on that road. They encourage you into the way, they encourage you on the way, but they are quick to leave you hanging when trouble arises, when trouble comes. They are not into difficulty. They chose the easy road, they thought. And yet the road is deceiving because it is filled with difficulty that ends in destruction. But those who have chosen the narrow gate may face difficulties in this life. but they have a far greater support group. God's love binds those who are in Christ together. Jesus has promised that he will never leave you nor forsake you. And he seals that promise with the work of the Holy Spirit in his strengthening us. By so doing, as the Good Shepherd, He gathers, defends, and preserves us through His Spirit and Word in true faith unto everlasting life. And that is the nature and blessing of the Church, of the Church that belongs to God. We may be few, but we are blessed as citizens of the kingdom of God, who has a king who has laid down his life for us, who goes out and battles for us, who is the king triumphant, and who leads us into our ultimate deliverance, which is the eternal life. Amen? Blessings upon blessings, grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy, the riches and the abundance of the grace of God flow to us from heaven. and by Your Spirit they are worked into us. And yet, Father, we still look at ourselves. We see our flesh as being weak, though our spirit is willing and strong. And so we call upon You to continue to preserve us, to defend us, to strengthen us. Help us to trust. We can identify with the words of the disciple who said, Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. And so we likewise would pray, Father, those areas where we doubt, those areas where we are victimized by unbelief, we pray that You may purge those from us, that You may strengthen us, that in a true faith we may hold all that You have said to be true, and that we would seek to walk according to all of Your Word. and not pick and choose. As the world creeps more and more into the church, as the culture is sought to be pressed more and more upon the people of God, we must resist because we belong to the culture of the kingdom of God and not to the things of this world. And so, Father, we pray that as we have gone through that narrow gate, as we are upon the difficult way, It is not really so difficult because you are there to guide and strengthen us. You are the good shepherd who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death unto green pastures. That's the promise that we have. And Father, if there are any who have not gone through that gate, if they are upon the broad way, may you bring them to that point where they are faced with that choice and that you would help them to come through that narrow gate. Father, may we as church be a church that proclaims the gospel, that proclaims the only way of true peace. Because Father, our desire is to see you glorified and to see the worship of God to be the world that we live in. Amen.