Sermon for Sunday, June 1st, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Pro 16:17-25 ESV] 17 The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. 20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. 21 The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 22 Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. 23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. 24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. 25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
New Testament Reading:
[Act 14:19-23 ESV] 19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Gospel Reading:
[Jhn 10:7-18 ESV] 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Sermon Text:
[Mat 7:13-14 ESV] 13 “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. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Introduction
“Enter by the narrow gate.”
This is the command of Christ.
And the glorious direction of our Savior.
“Enter by the narrow gate.”
Our passage – just two verses — has that command. And then it has the reasoning; two reasons why you ought to enter by the narrow gate.
1) For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
And
2) For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
So a command, and 2 statements to back it up.
The structure is simple, but like much of what we’ve been looking at in the Sermon on the Mount, there are difficulties; questions we must ask and answer so that we understand Jesus properly.
What is the narrow gate? And how do we enter it?
What is the wide gate?
What is the easy way?
And, what is the hard way?
These are questions I hope you all will be able to answer and understand after we look into this text.
I. Gates in the Bible
Today gates keep critters out of our gardens. [I’ve got one that needs a little work; the post is tilted and the wood is rotting, but it will be fixed in due time]
Gates in ancient times were much bigger operations. They were the entryways for people (and domesticated animals, mostly) into cities. You build a strong wall around your city to protect it from invading armies. But if you build a wall completely around the city, then you can’t get in, and you can’t get out! So you need a gate. Cities like Jerusalem had multiple gates.
The number of gates in Jerusalem varied through the years.
There were 10 gates in Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah. [In chapter 3 of Nehemiah we have listed the Sheep Gate, the Fish Gate, the Gate of Yeshanah, the Valley Gate, the Dung Gate, the Fountain Gate, the Water Gate, the Horse Gate, the East Gate, and the Muster Gate.)
When the crusaders later had control of Jerusalem there were only 4 gates, one in each direction; North, East, South, and West. [Jaffa Gate, Damascus Gate, Golden Gate, and Dung Gate]
Today there are 8 gates to the Old City of Jerusalem
And in the book of Revelation (chapter 21) we are told that there are 12 gates in the New Jerusalem.
Gates were frequently in the mind of the people in Biblical times. Every time they left or entered a city they came to a massive gate; a strong stone fortification with an opening for their passing through.
II. Enter by the Narrow Gate (v. 13a)
This made it an instructive element in the teaching and preaching of Jesus who says “Enter by the narrow gate.”
This begins a series of “twos” that Jesus speaks about.
Here he speaks about two different gates and two different paths.
Next he’ll speak about two types of trees (healthy and diseased) and two types of fruit (good fruit and bad fruit).
Then there will be two claims: those who truly claim to know God, and those who falsely claim to know God.
And finally, there are two builders: the one who builds on sand, and the other who builds upon the rock.
In all of this we have the strong teaching of Christ that there are only two destinies:
There is hell for those who are lovers of self and enemies of God.
And there is eternal life for those who love Jesus Christ and have faith in him.
So, the command is, come to faith!
Enter by the narrow gate!
“Enter by the narrow gate” means “repentance.”
“Enter by the narrow gate” means “faith.”
“Enter by the narrow gate” means “conversion.”
It is that beginning of the Christian life of faith in Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, the gate is Jesus himself.
So he says in John 10:7-9
[Jhn 10:7-9 ESV] 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
III. The Way of Life (v. 14)
Coming through the gate (having faith in Jesus Christ; believing that He is Lord and that God raised him from the dead) then leads to “the way that is hard.”
But though this way is hard, it leads to life. It leads to life ETERNAL.
Jesus speaks first about a gate, and then about a way.
“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard.”
Some conclude that Jesus is repeating himself, as a sort of parallelism; that each of these means the same thing.
But I agree with those that believe there is a distinction between the Gate and the Way, and that the order in which they are presented in important.
First, I should note that there is this strong connection.
Jesus IS the Gate, as we saw in the quote from John chapter 10.
But also in John, chapter 14, Jesus says “I am the WAY, the truth and the life.”
So BOTH the GATE and the WAY are Jesus.
Yet, there is a distinction.
You go through a gate on a particular instance,
but you CONTINUE along a way.
In an instant, by the Holy Spirit, we are converted.
Over a lifetime, again by the Holy Spirit, we are sanctified.
And this is instruction that the Gate proceeds the Way.
It is an error to think that the gate is on the end of our journey; as if we must work hard to live good lives, and appease God, and THEN at the PEARLY GATES St. Peter might let us in.
No, we find something quite different in the teaching of Jesus. We ENTER FIRST, and then WALK ALONG THE WAY.
That is why, and how, he can command us NOW to “Enter by the narrow gate.” And this isn’t instruction for us in the afterlife, as if he’s telling us “take a penny with you to give to the Charon, the boat driver to get over the river Styx.” No, “Enter NOW by the narrow gate.”
Come to Christ NOW!
THEN, you walk in the way that leads to eternal life.
Those who are OF CHRIST, as we’ll see in the next section about healthy trees, produce good fruit.
Those who have walked through the Gate, will walk in the Way of eternal life.
Those who have faith in Jesus Christ, are to live out that faith; walking in His Way.
This is not easy.
It is the HARD way.
Not only is it hard to discard your sin, and trust in the Lord, but there is also persecution that comes about for the Christian.
It is a hard life.
There are difficulties from the inside, as you now battle against the sin that you previously embraced.
And there are difficulties from the outside; tribulations that are hard to go through.
But there is one great advantage – it is a blessed life, for it is the WAY that leads to eternal life.
IV. The Wide Gate and the Easy Way
The alternative must be rejected.
The alternative to the Narrow Gate and the Hard Way is the Wide Gate and the Easy Way.
The Wide Gate is trusting in yourself.
The Easy Way is choosing your own path.
It is wide because you don’t need any direction to get through it. Anyone can stumble through it without trying.
And it is EASY because “anything goes.”
The wide gate has PLENTY of room for all views and all lifestyles.
Like a highways with many lanes, it has
a lane for every false religion, and it has a lane for every sin.
The wide gate is spacious and roomy, you can live comfortably without any trouble …
until it all comes crashing down.
It leads only to destruction.
Don’t enter by the wide gate.
Application 1: How Many will be Saved?
There is great debate on this passage over the question of “How many will be saved?”
The passages tells us “those who enter by the wide gate are many” and “those who find the narrow gate are few.”
Some argue that this means that only a small percentage of mankind will ever be saved. Most will go to hell, but only a few to heaven. And there are other Biblical passages which they argue refer to this same small number for the elect.
Other’s however, contend that the narrowness of the Gate is reference to Christ being THE ONLY WAY of salvation, and that other Biblical passages that indicate MANY will ultimately be saved.
In just the next Chapter in Matthew it says:
[Mat 8:11 ESV] 11 I tell you, MANY will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
And in the Book of Revelation we read about “a GREAT MULTITUDE THAT NO ONE COULD NUMBER … standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
Ultimately, we can’t know the number. And we don’t trust in the largeness or smallness of the number of the saved; we trust in the Savior.
And, fortunately Jesus isn’t telling us to figure out the number; he’s telling us to Enter in; to have faith in Him for eternal life.
Application 2: Heed the Command
So we are to Heed the Command.
“Enter” is a command. Not a suggestion or an offer. It is a command. Enter. Do it.
Don’t rely on yourselves or any thought of your accomplishments.
Don’t be like the hypocrites and Pharisees that say “But Lord didn’t we do this in your name?”
No number of accomplishments — of things done — will ever suffice.
Only Jesus Christ’s death on the cross will suffice for our sins. Trust in him.
Do so now.
Enter in, JUST AS YOUR ARE.
There’s no “do this first.”
No “I need to fix all my problems” before I can come to Christ.
No delay.
No waiting till your death bed.
“Enter by the narrow gate” right now.
That is the command for all to heed.
The identify the narrow gate is often mistaken.
This is not that you need to be perfect.
It is not a gate only for teetotalers and perfectly holy saints.
It is a gate for you and for me.
And it is a way for you and for me.
And, entering into faith in Jesus Christ is entering into Salvation even here and now so we can truly say
Today is the day of salvation!
Today is the day of salvation as we enter by the gate of life who is Jesus Christ and walk according to his commands for our benefit and his glory.
Enter by the narrow gate, and continue EVEN THOUGH THE WAY BE HARD, it is the way of eternal life. For in Christ alone is their eternal life.
Conclusion: Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ that through him and in him we have entered in to the way of eternal life.