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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. Matthew 7:13-14
These are heavy words. It’s sobering when you consider many means many, and few means few.
And what is most tragic to me is that many on the broad road have been deceived into believing they’ve chosen the narrow way.
Someone recently said,
“I believe in God. But I believe in a God of love, not control and hatred.”
The passage I shared above said the way to eternal life is narrow and hard? Surrendering to God is difficult because when we come to Him we must deny ourselves and our way for His. Our flesh rebels against this kind of surrender. These are difficult words for those who want God but do not want to submit to God’s plan for our salvation. Instead, it’s easier to champion a God that works on our terms.
But friend, think of it!
God loves us! Sovereign God!
HE LOVES YOU! This is great news!
He wants a relationship with YOU! And the great news is, He not only longed for it, He made a way!
That’s why He sent Jesus. Knowing that we are spiritually dead and separated from Him and His holiness because of our sin, God sent a rescue.
The truth is we ALL need rescue.
All of us.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
Jesus paid the price for our sin with His blood on the cross. He died. And then He rose again, conquering death and sin for us. It’s the beautiful story of the Gospel.
But one thing God has never done is to fight for us to stay the way we are – dead in our sins. If that be the goal, why would Christ shed His blood?
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6
But Satan, the father of lies, looks to deceive us into thinking we can secure our position with God by any other means than surrendering to Jesus and accepting His sacrifice for our salvation.
Many so quickly claim they walk with God while their lives contradict His own words and teachings – as if they have a special agreement with God. But the words I read this morning in Matthew 7:21-23 struck me deeply.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:21-23
These people were prophesying in His name.
They were casting out demons.
They did “MANY mighty works in His name.”
In the eyes of men, they were looking very holy and “Christian.”
How does Jesus respond to them? “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”
Friend, does this cause you to pause for a moment?
Does this get you thinking?
It does me.
Why does Jesus condemn them?
Let’s look again at verse 21 – Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
We do not come to salvation by our works of righteousness. We do not come to salvation by simply proclaiming our “belief in God.”
We come to salvation by doing the will of the Father.
What is the will of the Father?
His will is repentance – (God is) not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
The repentance (metanoia) called for throughout the Bible is a summons to a personal, absolute and ultimate unconditional surrender to God as Sovereign. Though it includes sorrow and regret, it is more than that. It is a call to conversion from self-love, self-trust, and self-assertion to obedient trust and self-commitment to now live for God and his purposes.[ It is a change of mind that involves a conscious turning away from wrong actions, attitudes and thoughts that conflict with a Godly lifestyle and biblical commands, and an intentional turning toward doing that which the Bible says pleases God. In repenting, one makes a complete change of direction (180° turn) toward God.
Repentance – Wikipedia
Notice repentance begins within and is demonstrated without. The individuals Jesus condemned showed the outward works of Christ without the inward work of Christ in their hearts.
They did not seek to KNOW Him or follow Him.
Don’t many today make the same claims? “Lord, look at all I have done for You! Look at how I spoke about loving You or believing in You!”
Upon what do you base your salvation?
- Your assumption about God’s character?
- Good works?
- A Christian family?
- Church attendance?
Oh, friend, God forbid that you put your trust in anything but the work of Jesus on your behalf. It is His life freely given for you.
18th-century pastor and teacher Matthew Henry said of Christ’s rebuke in Matthew,
“Christ here shows that it will not be enough to own him for our Master, only in word and tongue. It is necessary to our happiness that we believe in Christ, that we repent of sin, that we live a holy life, that we love one another. This is his will, even our sanctification. Let us take heed of resting in outward privileges and doings, lest we deceive ourselves, and perish eternally, as multitudes do, with a lie in our right hand.
– Matthew Henry Exposition of the Old and New Testaments
On what principle or belief do you align yourself with Christ?
How do you know your relationship is secure?
Let us not be foolish to think we can come to Christ by any way other than the means of His cross. His blood. His sacrifice.
Christ often says, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. In fact, in verse 24 of Matthew 7, following his strong condemnation, He says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who builds his house on a rock.
Friend, do you have ears to hear? What a tragedy it would be to put your faith in anything but Jesus. Today, you can surrender your life to Him and walk with Him on the narrow road to life. Take some time to ponder what Christ would say to you if you found yourself before Him in this moment. He wants you to receive His gift of salvation. He wants to restore you to fellowship with God. Call on Him today!
To learn more about knowing Him, click this link – https://harvest.org/know-god/how-to-know-god/
