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Part 5 of 44
Kingdom Gems Series
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I want to start with a very bold statement: for the most part, every single person in this room—everyone watching across this camera right now—you are the sum total of your personal decisions. Where you are right now and where you will end up five years from now, ten years from now, when you take your last breath, will hinge totally on all of your personal decisions.
Decisions are very powerful. Decisions are very consequential. Decisions are like seeds that go into your future. Every day, every week, every month, every year, you and I make tens of thousands of decisions. But probably the apex of all our decision-making is how you and I respond to the progressive revelation of God in our lives.
Your most important decisions you will ever make in this life are connected to how every single one of us keeps responding to the Lord Jesus Christ in this life. Whether to listen or to reject Him—that is the apex of your decision.
There is no decision you will ever make greater than your continual response to the revelation of God in your life.
We are in the last four messages of a series called Kingdom Gems, walking through the greatest sermon the world has ever known—the Sermon on the Mount. This is the blueprint for the best life possible. This is the blueprint for human flourishing and personal thriving.
I find it a tragedy that the most important things Jesus said is also the least thing that is obeyed amongst the Christian church, especially in the United States of America. With all of your complaints, with all your gripes, with all the things you're frustrated about, you will enter into the best life possible to the degree you lean into the teachings that are preserved for us in the Sermon on the Mount.
In this message, we're unpacking Matthew 7:13-14. Jesus finishes his teaching on the kingdom, and now he pivots. Now he demands of them—and of you and me—a decision. His words were too powerful, too salient, too serious for just an amen. His words were too consequential for just nodding and saying, "I heard you, Rabbi."
Jesus demands a decision. And because this decision is so important, he lands the plane on the Sermon on the Mount with powerful illustrations: two gates, then two trees, then two relationship statuses, then two houses, and finally two realities that end in two different places. In this message, we're unpacking the first illustration: two gates.
Matthew 7:13-14 says:
"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."
Let me read that one more time. Jesus says: "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. But the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few."
So Jesus is saying to them what I'm saying to you right now: it doesn't matter what you believe. In the eyes of God, there are only two gates. That lead to two ways that have two different endings. It doesn't matter what you've been taught or what you've read on the internet. According to Jesus, in the eyes of God Almighty, there are only two gates, two ways that lead to two different endings.
If you study the words of Jesus carefully, if you follow his logic, every single human being is in one of these two gates. Every human being alive right now is behind either one of these two gates, traveling down one of these two ways, and will end up in one of these two places. There is no other option. There is no neutral gate. There is no third way. Two gates, two ways, two permanent endings.
The first gate has a name. The name of the first gate is called Christ. The only way to enter that gate requires a payment. It requires a payment of surrender, a payment of faith, a payment of belief, a payment of turning away from our former life. To enter into that gate, you cannot enter for free. That gate comes at a cost.
The cost to enter that gate is salvation. It is repentance. It is turning my life over to Jesus Christ. It is being regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That gate is narrow. That gate doesn't have enough room for my will and God's will. That gate is so narrow that I can only come in alone—on my own personal confession, on my own personal decision, on my own personal being drawn to God. I can't come through that gate on my grandmother's faith, on my father's faith, on my auntie's faith, or my brother's faith. I got to walk through that gate alone. I got to walk through that gate naked. I got to strip off the old man to begin my journey behind that gate.
That gate is narrow because I can't come in with my wife next to me, because I got to give my own account before the Lord. So I got to walk through that gate by myself.
The other gate is broad. It has a name: the world. There's no requirement to enter that gate. We are born behind that gate. People are just running down that gate. That gate is easy. There's no requirements on the front side for that gate. But there is a heavy price that will exact on the other side of that gate.
Both gates advertise the same thing: "This way to real life." They both have the same promotion, the same ads, the same promise. Come through these gates. Both of them lead to life. But one of them is factual, and the other one is deceptive. One gate delivers on that promise, and the other does not.
Look what Jesus said. He didn't even leave it to you to figure out which gate you should go down. He loved you so much. He cared about your soul so much. He didn't even leave it up to you to figure out what gate to pass through. He says: "Enter the narrow gate."
This word enter in the original language is an imperative. It is a command. It is forceful. It is a warning. It means: come in here. Get in here. Come through this gate. Come to me. Surrender to me. Follow me. Come after me. You don't want no parts of the ending of the other gate.
What's behind these two gates? Let's talk about the two ways. The first way is easy and broad. That way is paved with all the pleasures of this life. It is paved with everything you want to do in this life. That road is easy. It has no real sacrifices on that way. No sacrifices to God on that way. No turning away from sin on that way. That way is easy.
Notice it says that there are many who travel that way. That means there's much company on that gate. The crowds are walking down this way. The Broadway is full of the crowds of the world. The Broadway is full of company. The Broadway is full of people who want to go in that direction. That's the Broadway. It has space for the whole world.
Who are some of the travelers on the Broadway? The self-righteous are traveling down the Broadway. People who are trying to earn something from God with good behavior and with morality. The people who think that because I'm a good person, I'm going to heaven. Or because I'm moral, I'm going to heaven. Or because I was baptized as a baby, I'm going to heaven. When you just got wet that day. The Broadway is all of the self-righteous, all of the people that think that because of their performance and their good behavior and their morality, they're guaranteed a ticket into heaven.
The self-deceived are the travelers of the Broadway. The atheist is on the Broadway. The agnostic is traveling down the Broadway. The pagans are traveling down the Broadway. Every spin-off of Christianity is traveling down the Broadway. People attending the Kingdom Hall are on the Broadway. The Mormons are on the Broadway. Every false Christian religion is on the Broadway. People who don't believe in God are traveling down the Broadway. Scientists who got eighteen degrees, who the scripture calls a fool—the fool says in his heart, "There is no God"—are on the Broadway.
The Broadway is full of everybody we admire in society. Influencers are on the Broadway. Athletes are on the Broadway. Rappers are on the Broadway. Family members are on the Broadway. Friends are on the Broadway. People we love are on the Broadway. People sitting in this room are on the Broadway. Someone watching me right now are traveling down the Broadway.
For most of us, we just go down this path because it's easy to follow. We see the crowds of people in front of us. We think the Broadway is really all that life has to offer. The Broadway is sparkly. It's beautiful. It's nice. It's easy.
People who hop in and out of church and don't really have no commitment to God are going down the Broadway. People who are vacillating are going down the Broadway. Millions and millions and millions of people are traveling the Broadway. Whole nations are going down the Broadway. Islamic nations are going down the Broadway. Whole countries and nations are traveling down the Broadway. You got people in churches all across America right now. Right now, as I'm talking to you, they are traveling down the Broadway. They're in church every Sunday. They warm a chair, but they're far away from God. Thinking that they're safe, thinking that they're comfortable, not knowing they're a car accident away from trouble. One breath away from trouble. A stroke away from trouble. Traveling down the Broadway.
Satan is the architect of the Broadway. He is the foreman of the Broadway. He is the builder of the Broadway. He has put at the front of the gate of the Broadway everything that is sparkly and tickles the flesh and tickles the ears. Everything we love and our human desires, he's put at the front of the Broadway. He's dangling carrots for all manner of unsuspecting people keep coming down the Broadway.
He's blinding people from the knowledge of God as they're walking down the Broadway. Stay away from church. Stay away from preaching. Stay away from real teaching. Stay away from biblical ministry. Keep doing you. Do you. Live your truth on the Broadway. Everybody got their own truth on the Broadway.
They're trusting in crystals on the Broadway. They're trusting in horoscopes on the Broadway. They're trusting in fortune tellers on the Broadway. They're trusting in the little juju bees and the idols you have in your pockets and in your house on the Broadway. You're trusting in your own morality on the Broadway. You're trusting your connections to other people on the Broadway.
While all y'all staring at me with your eyeballs, I'm telling you right now, I'm looking at hundreds of eyes. And I'm telling you, not everybody in this room is on that narrow path. There are people sitting here listening to my voice right now that don't even realize you're on the Broadway. How can you? The scripture says it is Satan who blinds the mind of the unbeliever so they cannot see the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They're wearing the sunglasses of darkness on the Broadway.
The Broadway is spiritually dark. It is dangerous. It is fun for a season. And you can enjoy your life and do everything you want to do on the Broadway. The Broadway affords you every pleasure the world has to offer.
I shed tears this morning for family members and friends who are on the Broadway. And probably the most tragic thing is that people who call themselves Christians are on the Broadway. How do we know? Because Jesus would say later, "Not everyone who comes to me and says, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven."
There are people who really think they're Christians. They really think they're following God. They really think they're saved, but they're actually on the Broadway.
There's no price for the Broadway. You ain't fasting and grinding for Jesus on the Broadway. You ain't sacrificing and making no sacrifices of the flesh on the Broadway. The Broadway is a life of ease and comfort. If you feel no pressure from God, there are Christians all over America right now that are going down the Broadway, listening to demons and false prophets traveling down the Broadway, listening to lies on Sunday morning, keeping false teachers because you got itching ears traveling down the Broadway. They're going to keep you comfortable until you end up on the backside of the wrong end of the Broadway.
You never hear about sin on the Broadway. You're never confronted on the Broadway. Your toes are never stepped on on the Broadway. You never feel convicted on the Broadway. You're never challenged on the Broadway. You don't hear anything that makes you feel uncomfortable on the Broadway. You sit in churches where they never talk about sin. They never challenge you about your life. Auditoriums are packed with Christians on the Broadway.
Jesus said this: "Many will come to me on that day and say, 'Lord, Lord.'" There are people who've been in church your whole life and you think because you were born in church, you're in heaven, but you're on the Broadway.
Religious people are on the Broadway. The self-sufficient are on the Broadway. People who think "I don't need God" are on the Broadway. The self-religious, the self-reliant, the self-deceived. All of these groups are on the Broadway.
I was on the Broadway. Y'all sitting here staring at me. And some of you as I'm talking to you right now, you got family members and friends. You so churchy they're on the Broadway. You ain't praying for them because your prayers are full of yourself. And you never hear teaching like this on the Broadway. I got people I love who are on the Broadway who have no idea what's coming at the end of that path. You got people in this room right now. You playing church and you don't even realize you're standing here during worship and you're coming in here twice a month. You're traveling down the Broadway.
But Jesus said there is another way. It will come at a cost. It will cost you a confession. That will cost you your will. He said that way is hard.
I got to pray on that way. Every now and then I gotta fast on that way. I gotta die on that way. I look at my old self and I say, "Dang, I can't keep carrying you down this way." It gets too narrow to keep carrying that fleshly old man down this way. The path gets so narrow, it gets to the point that either the godly me could go forward or the fleshly me could go forward, but both of me can't make it down the narrow way. One of me will have to die to get to the other end of the narrow way.
It's like when Paul keeps teaching people in Colossians—you got to keep dying to that old man because he's trying to lead Christians down the narrow way. There's not enough space for all of my past and all of my future on the narrow way. There's not enough space for all of my attitude and all of my nastiness and all of my righteousness down the narrow way. There's not enough space for me to be tearing down my brothers and sisters and then saying, "Bless the Lord" on Sunday morning down the narrow way. There's not enough space for me to be a hypocrite my whole life and then come in church and say, "Bless the Lord." Down the narrow way. There's not enough space for all of my will and all of His will down the narrow way.
The narrow way will cost me something. It may cost me my will. It may cost you your pre-salvation dreams. I wanted to be an attorney. The narrow way did not afford me that. I wanted to do something else with my life. The narrow way did not afford me that. I was headed to law school and was called into the ministry. The narrow way did not afford me that.
It may cost you your personal will. It may cost you your nasty attitude, your bad ways. It may cost you your bad mouth. It may cost you your bitterness, your unforgiveness, your rivalry. It may cost you your false will to hold on to grudges. It may cost you unforgiveness. It may cause you keeping people in your heart like it's an apartment instead of letting them go.
It may cost you what you want to do for what God has for you. And for millions of Christians throughout the ages, it may even cost you your life.
Two gates, two ways, only two permanent endings. The Broadway, Jesus said, leads to the word called destruction. You could travel it for twenty years, thirty years, forty years. You can build a massive fortune. You could be wealthy and famous, but when your last breath is drawn, if you was traveling on that Broadway and your breath leaves your body, Jesus says the end of the Broadway is this word called destruction.
That's a tone downward for eternal damnation—permanent separation from God in consciousness of a fiery hell that Satan designed to bring people in this life captive all the way down to this place of destruction. A place God created for the devil and demons that He did not intend for people to be there. But the god of this world is blinding all these people on the Broadway and is trapping them with carrots to lead them all the way to destruction that you can't see the end on the Broadway until you have taken your last breath. You wake up on the other side of eternity. You cry for mercy but it's too late.
But the narrow way, man, it ends where? In eternal life. Some of you, not just heaven. You got the wrong concept of heaven. You think heaven is just harps and floating around on clouds. That's boring to me. I'm a person who likes activity. I can't be playing a harp and floating on a cloud forever.
See, some of you even been taught wrong. Heaven is temporary. How could that be? The scripture says: in the end, God Himself will return to the new earth. You need to read Revelation. The scripture says that when the believer dies, they go straight to the presence of the Lord. But the scripture says, where is the Lord? He is in heaven at the right hand of the Father. Will He stay there forever? No.
The scripture says that when all is said and done, the Lord will return to the new earth, with new trees, new water, new nations, new rulers. A whole new world with no sin, no darkness. The Lord will return with his saints to the new earth. And there they will be in the new earth, new trees, new nations, new worlds, new life, new government ruled by Jesus forever.
We'll be living and breathing and eating and picking fruit from the tree of life and drinking water so clear we've never seen before. No aging, no sickness, no disease, no tears, no doctor's reports, no trouble, no worries, no drama, no issues, no strokes, no bad relationships, no unforgiveness, no wounds, no trials, no troubles, no tribulations. None of that. But a price got to be paid now.
That word narrow in the Greek means difficult, painful. For those of us who are in Christ, it is difficult now. It is painful now. It is sacrifice now, faithfulness now, generosity now, grind now, surrender now, bow now. "Lord, not my will but Your will now."
It's the payment we got to make now for the reward of the end of the narrow way.
Two gates, two ways, two permanent endings. There is no other option. Jesus said there is no other way. There is no purgatory. There is no getting out of hell. There is no do-over. There is no second chance when you draw your last breath.
You get one shot to get this right. The writer of Hebrews says it is appointed to a man to live once and then he must face the judgment. You get one shot and your shot ends when you draw your last breath.
You might say, "Well, I'm young. I'm in my twenties. I'm a millennial. I'm a Gen Z. I'm balling." You don't even know when your last breath is coming. I graduated from North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. One of their athletes died this week in their twenties. One of my friends was forty-something years old, forty years old, died this week.
When your last breath is drawn, whatever gate you was behind, whatever way you was on, man, it seals your fate. This is why Jesus yells at the people on that hillside: "Enter into the narrow gate. Get in here. This is safety. This is real life. This will lead you to the end. Come to me. Run to me. Surrender to me. Get in here. Come through that gate. Yes, it's narrow. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, it's going to cost you. But what you get at the end..."
I already know somebody in this room is saying: "I don't believe all that, though." I hear you. All right. Cool. Don't believe me. But who's talking? It's Jesus. Who's talking? The Son of God. The one who came from eternity. The one who performed miracles. The one who was raised from the dead.
The only person that knows what's on the other side of death. The one who came from eternity into time to tell us: go through the narrow way. How could you not believe Him?
You roll your dice on your own intellect. I'm gonna roll my dice on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You don't got to believe me, but watch. You got to make a decision, though. Either Jesus is telling the truth or He's a liar. You could gamble with your life in your last breath to see if He's credible or not. I ain't rolling the dice on the fact that He's not credible. If someone can die and be resurrected, then everything else He said is credible.
