Enter the Narrow Gate

Matthew 7:13-14

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been aiming at the heart. He has been teaching His disciples in front of the crowds (Matt. 5:1). It’s a lesson about God’s Kingdom and the righteousness that characterizes those who are citizens of His kingdom. Jesus insists on an inner righteousness of the heart with pure thoughts, motives, and attitudes—not just an external conformity to the law to look good in front of others.

As Jesus taught about His kingdom of righteousness, He contrasted it with the hypocritical self-righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 5:20) and with the manipulative religion of the pagans. And if we were honest with ourselves and with God, we have found that this sermon has convicted and condemned us all. It has systematically proven that I am not righteous by God’s standards.

Then last time in Matthew 7:7-12, Jesus gave the invitation. He told us to “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7). God is good and He gives righteousness to those who ask, seek, and knock. His invitation rings with grace and mercy based on God’s goodness.

Now, in His conclusion, Jesus sets before His disciples the consequences of the choice they must make. His conclusion is made up of four parts and each part reveals a contrast. First, He speaks of two different paths (Matthew 7:13-14), then two different kinds of fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). Third, He addresses two different professions of faith (Matthew 7:21-23) followed by two different kinds of builders who build on two different foundations (Matthew 7:24-27). While each of these contrasts has different emphases, they all tell us something about entrance into the Kingdom of God—who will be welcomed and who will be excluded.[1]

The cord that ties these passages together is the idea of a call to action and application. Jesus is calling for a decision. Now that we know what He demands of us, we must choose to follow Him. Throughout scripture, God has always required people to make that choice. When Israel was ready to enter the promised land, Moses urged them saying,

¹⁹ “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; ²⁰ that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” (Deut. 30:19-20).

After they had settled in the land Joshua also pressed them to decide saying,

¹⁴ “Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Josh. 24:14-15).

The prophet Elijah later called Israel to choose in 1 Kings 18:21, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”

Jesus also requires a choice. When Jesus offers the kingdom of righteousness, it is not an invitation to keep your old life and still go to heaven. It is an invitation to a life that is radically different. We cannot store up treasure on earth and treasure in heaven. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot seek God’s kingdom and the kingdoms of this world. There can be no half-hearted commitment to Jesus. It’s not enough that we hear all the wonderful teaching our Savior gives us in the Sermon on The Mount. He doesn’t just want us to admire His words. He wants us to put them into action. Jesus forces us to choose.

In Matthew 7:13, Jesus issues,

1. The Command to Enter (Matt. 7:13)

Jesus begins with a strong command, “Enter by the narrow gate.” He then states the reason for the urgent imperative: “for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” And He contrasts this wide gate with the narrow gate in Matthew 7:14, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Since there are only two gates, there are only two alternatives. Every human being must come through one of the two gates. Since there are only two ways, every human being is on one of the two ways. There are also only two destinations. All humanity is moving toward one or the other. The call to enter the narrow gate is a call to decision. The gate you enter defines the way you take, and the way you take determines your destination.[2]

Those who take the broad way have entered through the wide gate and their destination is destruction. If you want life instead, you must enter the narrow gate and walk the difficult way. And Jesus is clear about which way He wants us to go: “Enter by the narrow gate.” Jesus not only invites us to life, He commands us to enter the only way that will lead to life. You may have heard people say, “There are many different paths to heaven.” But you’ll notice that, in this passage, Jesus dispels that idea. There really aren’t many paths to heaven – or “life”. There’s only one “gate” to life – not many “gates”; and there’s only one “way” to life – not many “ways”.[3]

John Stott points out that, “We would all prefer to be given many more choices than only one, or better still to fuse them all into a conglomerate religion, thus eliminating the need for any choice.”^[4] Maybe you have seen the bumper sticker that says COEXIST. The letters are made up of symbols from various religions. The implication is that each religion is equally valid and you can choose any or all of them. But Jesus destroys that kind of syncretism. He insists that there is only one way to life and He urges us to enter by that gate.

And the Bible is clear about what that gate represents: It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. We must enter life through Him. In John 10:9, Jesus said: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” In John 14:6, Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” In Acts 4, Peter preached about the name of Jesus Christ, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). As the apostle John says, “. . . This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).

There are not many ways to life—only one, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is another gate, but it does not lead to life. In Matthew 7:13 Jesus teaches about,

2. The Wide Gate (Matt. 7:13)

Jesus says, “for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” Let me point out four things about the wide gate.

A. The Entrance

Right away, we see why so many people choose this gate. It is wide. It is easy to enter through it. There is no initial cost. You don’t have to leave anything behind to enter. You can carry all your baggage with you—all your earthly possessions, all your sin, all your friends, your self-righteousness and pride. This gate is perfect for those who simply want to add a little Jesus to their comfortable lives without having to change how they live.

The reason you don’t have to change to go through the wide gate is because everyone naturally goes that way. In fact, you were born there, and unless you enter through the narrow gate, you will die there. Romans 3 says, “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10-12).

And look also at,

B. The Travel

Jesus says, “broad is the way.” It is easy traveling. It doesn’t promise any difficulties, it doesn’t promise any setbacks. All it requires of you is to put your car on cruise control and next stop: heaven. People love this road because it is very easy. John MacArthur describes it this way,

The way that is broad is the easy, attractive, inclusive, indulgent, permissive, and self-oriented way of the world. There are few rules, few restrictions, and few requirements. All you need to do is profess Jesus, or at least be religious, and you are readily accepted in that large and diverse group. Sin is tolerated, truth is moderated, and humility is ignored. God’s Word is praised but not studied, and His standards are admired but not followed. This way requires no spiritual maturity, no moral character, no commitment, and no sacrifice. It is the easy way of floating downstream, in the “course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). It is the tragic way “which seems right to a man,” but whose “end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12).”[5]

On the broad way, no one tells you what to do. You can believe what you want to believe, or do what you want to do, or live how you want to live. It’s the way that the world considers “free” and “open-minded” and “intelligent” and “respectable”. It’s the way to go if you want to go with the flow – to destruction.

But look at,

C. The Destination

Jesus says this gate and this way “leads to destruction.” This gate doesn’t lead you where you want to go. This way looks good and looks easy, but looks are deceptive. Hanging over the wide gate is a sign. It does not say “The road to Destruction”. If it did, who would travel it? It says, “The Road to Heaven”. That sign was hung by the false prophets we will study next week, wolves in sheep’s clothing. Proverbs 14:12 says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” The wide gate claims to put you on the way to heaven, but it is the “Highway to Hell.”

The Greek word translated “destruction” (apõleia) is one that can mean “waste”. When a woman poured an alabaster flask of very expensive perfume on Jesus, His disciples were upset at her for doing so; and they used this word, saying, “Why this waste?” It gives us a picture of pointless loss. But it is also used to describe “ruin” or “destruction” or “annihilation” in an ultimate sense—”perdition”, as it is sometimes translated. Paul, for example, used this word to warn about the dangers that come from a sinful love of money; “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptations and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1 Timothy 6:9). The apostle Paul wrote of those upon whom God will show His wrath – “vessels of wrath“, he called them, “prepared for destruction” (Rom. 9:22).

Jesus speaks here of an ultimate destiny – “destruction” in a complete sense; a state of complete spiritual loss and eternal ruin. It’s a destiny that Jesus once described in horrifying terms as being “cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched – where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:45-46; see also Isa. 66:24). No one spoke more in the Bible about the horrors of hell than Jesus; and here, He lets us know that there is a “gate” one may choose to pass through, and a “way” one may choose to follow, that will ultimately lead to that end.

But next we see,

D. The Popularity

Jesus said, “and there are many who go in by it.” Many take the wide gate and the broad way because it looks so easy. People love the world and love their sin, so they choose to stay on that road. That road is flooded with people who think they are going to heaven, but they really aren’t. Everyone prefers it. It’s the popular gate to go through. No one makes fun of you when you choose it, or calls you names like “Jesus-freak” or “religious nut” or “fundamentalist wacko”. It’s decorated nicely and appeals to the fleshly passions. You don’t have to stand apart from others, everyone can come at once and travel together. Go with the crowd, it’s so much easier.

You can take the road of ease and comfort, and you will even be popular when you travel it. But it will only take you to hell.

In Matthew 7:14, Jesus contrasts this with,

3. The Narrow Gate (Matt. 7:14)

Let’s look at the same aspects of this gate.

A. The Entrance

Jesus teaches, “narrow is the gate.” You can’t go easily through it. It’s like a tight turnstile, it only admits one at a time. And you can’t carry all your baggage through it. Your sin won’t fit, the world won’t fit. You can’t walk through with anyone else. You have to go it alone, with nothing. You have to repent of the sin you are carrying, lay it all down, and go through the narrow gate without it. we must leave everything behind—sin, selfish ambition, covetousness, and even if necessary, family and friends.[6]

Later in Matthew, Jesus teaches, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Mat 10:37-39).

The entrance is narrow. Next, look at,

B. The Travel

Why is it a narrow road? Because as a Christian you must follow Christ and His teachings. On the broad road you can do as you please, but on the narrow road, you live to please God.

Jesus says, “difficult is the way”. Jesus never promised the way of a Christian would be easy. In fact, He promised just the opposite. He promised the world would hate you. He promised you tribulation and persecution. The road is dangerous, full of troubles, afflictions, and setbacks. It is so narrow that sometimes you can’t see very far in front of you—what’s around the next bend or over the next hill. This road will require you to walk by faith, not by sight. The wide gate promised heaven at no cost. The narrow gate promises a cross that leads to life.

It is the way that our Savior Himself walked. He took the hard road. Humbled Himself. Became obedient to His Father even to the point of death—the terrible death of the cross. Jesus didn’t take the easy road. If you want to follow, you can’t either.

Next, we see,

C. The Destination

Jesus said the narrow gate and the difficult way “leads to life”.

I believe that we should take Him to be referring to “eternal life” – that is, entry into our eternal home in heaven for eternal fellowship with Him in glory.

Throughout His sermon, He gives hints of the ultimate destiny of heaven: saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3); or warning that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, “you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). He speaks of taking care how we do things, “Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:1); and tells us to “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20).

The ultimate destiny of “life”, then, refers to an eternal home in heaven in our Father’s house. And Jesus is telling us that there is a “gate” and a “way” that leads to “destruction”; and another “gate” and “way” that leads to “life”.[7] It isn’t an easy path to travel, but it is worth it. If you are willing to forsake this life to follow Jesus, then although this life may be harsh, your eternity will not be.

Finally, we see,

D. The Popularity

Jesus said, “and there are few who find it”.

Contrast this with the wide gate where “many go in by it.” Literally, He uses a present tense participle – indicating that there are many who are doing so even now! And here in Matthew 7:14, He lets us know that “there are few who find” the gate and the way that leads to eternal life. It’s not that few go through it; it’s that few even find it! And again, literally, He uses the same kind of verb to indicate that there are few even now who are finding it.

Jesus’ teaching about the narrow gate shows that you cannot look to the majority to determine what is right and what is wrong. We hear a lot of talk about being on the right side of history these days. But what if the right side of history is on the wrong side of eternity?

Some people read this verse and wonder if it means only a few will be saved. This certainly seems to imply that. But we also have other Scriptures that speak about many being saved. In the next chapter Jesus says, “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11). In Luke 13 when Jesus’ disciples asked Him if only a few people would be saved, Jesus never gave them a direct answer, but simply told them: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24) In other words, Jesus said don’t worry about how many are going to be saved. Rather, make sure that you are going to be saved!

There are many who claim to have eternal life while still living for themselves in this world. If that is you, don’t be deceived. That is the road to destruction. Don’t stay on that road just because everyone else is doing it.

Jesus says there are only a few who find eternal life. They have counted the cost. They have asked for righteousness and are willing to live in it. They take up their cross and follow Jesus. They are headed to heaven, but first, they are headed to the cross. That is what they chose. Jesus preached this sermon to make you choose. You can have the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness if you ask for it. But before you ask for it, you better know what you are asking for. It is not a life of ease, but it is an eternity with God.

[1] Matthew Breeden, Two Paths: Enter By the Narrow Gate – Matthew 7:13-14. https://www.southernhillslife.org/get-connected/resources/sermons-and-podcasts/sermon/2022-09-04/two-paths-enter-by-the-narrow-gate-matthew-713-14

[2] Gil Rugh, Which Road Are You On? Matthew 7:13, 14. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ihccathena/pdf/GR671transcript.pdf

[3] Greg Allen, Two Destinies – Two Gates. https://www.bethanybible.org/archive/2005/052205.htm, Copyright © 2005 Bethany Bible Church.

^[4] John R. W. Stott and John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7): Christian Counter-Culture, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 193.

[5] MacArthur, John; MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series: Matthew 1-7, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1985; 454-455

[6] Stott. Ibid.

[7] Greg Allen. Ibid.

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