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MATTHEW - Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand!
A Bible Study Course on the Gospel of Christ according to Matthew
PART 2 - Christ teaches and Ministers in Galilee (Matthew 5:1 - 18:35)
A - The Sermon on the Mount: About the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:1 - 7:27) -- The First Collection of the Words of Jesus
4. The Summary of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:7-27)

c) The Two Ways (Matthew 7:13-14)


MATTHEW 7:13-14
13 Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. 14 How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.
(Matthew 19:29; Luke 13:24; Acts 14:22)

God invites you to come to Him. But where is the door of heaven? Christ said, “I am the door” and nobody can enter into heaven unless he accepts the love of God incarnate in Jesus. He has taken away your sins. In Him, you can come to God, cleansed from your sin. Without getting rid of your sins, you cannot pass through the narrow gate. We have to confess our sins that He can purify us. The cross is the only gate leading to heaven.

In the wide broad way, you will have abundance of liberty. This gate stands wide open to tempt many to go right on their deceiving way. You may go in at this gate with all your lusts. It gives no check to your appetites, to your passions. You may “walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes” (Ecclesiastes 11:9), that gives room enough. It is a broad way, for there is nothing to hedge in those that walk in it, but they are lost and wander endlessly. A broad way, for there are many paths in it, there is choice of sinful ways, contrary to each other, but all paths end in this broad way.

There are many who go in by this gate and walk in this Way. If we follow the multitude, we will do evil. If we go with the crowd, it will be the wrong way. It would be natural for us to go with the stream and do as the majority do. Those who follow the broad way will surely enter hell. We should not accompany them, since we are on our way to heaven.

The way to follow Jesus is not easy. It always requires great attention to closely follow the leader in the mountains if the valleys from right and left open their mouths to swallow the travelers. Do not be afraid of the dangers as you walk through heights and valleys of your life. Follow your leader Jesus. Be tied to Him with the rope of faith that you may not fall in the pit, but reach the top, the Most High, the aim of your life.

The followers of Christ are relatively few. People do not recognize that the way of His love is beautiful. They boastfully rush into the ways of false lusts and hopes, disobeying God and wandering in the broad way down to the bottom of the pit, thinking that they are good, righteous, following the right path, and not in need of a merciful Savior. Those who live without God have no real joy and no enduring happiness. They revel, get drunk and commit adultery, and then their way leads them directly to eternal damnation.

Where are you going? Which way do you follow? The way leading to God or the other way leading to the evil one? Do not answer quickly, for the godly Pharisees, at the time of Christ, believed that the ticket to heaven was in their pocket. They abstained from smoking and drinking, put on modest dresses, prayed without interruption, fasted for numerous days and nights, offered gifts and sacrifices and gave evidences aloud. But in spite of all these, such external acts of worship did not suffice. They were the closest men to the flames of hell, because they walked in obvious pride. Satan could drive them through their self-righteousness, directly down into the fire of hell.

Spiritual recreation is the gate by which we follow the narrow way, in which we begin a life of faith and godliness. By the new birth we pass out of a state of sin into a state of grace. This means the “narrow gate,” hard to find, and hard to get through, like a passage between two rocks. The Lord will give you a new heart and a new spirit, but the old things must pass away. The inclination of the soul will be changed, corrupt habits and customs broken off, what we have been doing all our days must be stopped. We must swim against the stream. Opposition must be struggled with and broken through, from without and from within. It is sometimes easier to set a man against the entire world than against himself, and yet this must be so in conversion. It is a “narrow gate,” for we must stoop, or we cannot go in at it. We should become as little children. High thoughts must be brought down. We must strip and deny ourselves, put off the world, put off the old man. We must be willing to forsake all for our interest in Christ. The gate is narrow to all, but to some it seems narrower than to others, such as to the rich, or those that have been long prejudiced against religion. The gate is narrow. Blessed be God, it is not kept with a flaming sword, nor shut up, nor locked against us, as it will be shortly (Matthew 25:10).

The matter is fairly stated. Life and death, good and evil are set before us, both the ways and both the ends. Let the matter be taken in its entirety and considered impartially, and then choose this day which you will walk in. The matter determines itself and will not admit of a debate. No man, in his senses, would choose to go to the gallows, because it has a smooth, pleasant way to it, nor refuse the offer of a palace and a throne, because it has a rough, dirty way to it. Yet such absurdities as these are men guilty of, in the concerns of their souls. Do not delay, therefore; do not deliberate any longer, but enter into the narrow gate; knock at it by sincere and constant prayers and endeavors, and it will be opened. It is true, we can neither go in, nor go on, without the assistance of divine grace. But it is also true, that grace is freely offered and will not be delayed to those that seek it. Rebirth is not logical, but spiritual. It will be given freely by our Father in heaven.

PRAYER: O great Father, You are holy love. Please forgive me my earthly concerns and my neglect of others. Help me to resort to Your crucified Christ so that He may free me from the heaviness of my burden, so that I can walk together with all Your children in the path of holiness following the Prince of Peace. Draw me to You in spite of fears and temptation, for Your Son has bound Himself to me in His new covenant.

QUESTION:

  1. Why is the gate and the way leading to our Father in heaven narrow?

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