The Two Gates of Life

Introduction

Opening illustration:

Central Truth: Jesus Christ is the exclusive way to inherit salvation and most people will reject his gift of grace.

Matthew 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.

1. The destructive wide gate.

The wide gate’s result is eternal separation from God.

The wide gate’s umbrella is wide!

A. The wide gate is natural.

Why is the wide gate natural?

All people begin their life on this path to the wide gate.

Why are we on this path? Because, we are born sinful.

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV

20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

We don’t have to try and get on this road. It is where we naturally find ourselves.

Everyone who does not repent of their sin and turn to Jesus is actively on this wide road.

It is where the vast majority of the world will travel.

Which leads us the second aspect...

b. The wide gate is full.

Why is the gate full?

As much as the wide-gate is natural to us, the wide gate is populated diversely.

Every religious system is destined for the wide gate. Only Genuine saving faith in Christ Jesus will take us off this path.

Every person who tries to do good apart from God is on the path that leads to the gate of destruction.

2. The life-giving narrow gate.

a. The narrow gate is unnatural.

Why is the narrow gate unnatural to us?

it is a difficult path that requires us to admit we are not good enough.

It requires us to place our faith and trust in Jesus, not ourselves or our own deeds.

It requires us to repent and turn from our natural desires and sinfulness

c. The narrow gate is exclusive.

Why is it exclusive?

Jesus tells us that he is the only gate to life.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the gate keeper.

He must know us.

Matthew 7:23 ESV

23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Does Jesus know you? Do you know him? Is there a personal relationship with him?

Conclusion:

ILLUSTRATION

Deslide offers a list of the most exclusive institutions in the world. Here are a few of those featured: Harvard is one of the most prestigious universities in the world ... The Cambridge, Massachusetts, school accepted just 5.2% of roughly 39,000 applications for its class of 2020. As Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust said in 2014, "We could fill our class twice over with valedictorians." A spot at one of New York City's top elementary schools ... The elementary admissions process in New York City is utterly grueling. Among exemplary schools, one stands out as the gold-standard: Hunter College Elementary School. Each year, Hunter chooses 25 girls and 25 boys from all of Manhattan to be admitted to its incoming kindergarten class. They're hand-selected from a pool of about 2,500 applicants, according to the website Inside Schools. That makes the acceptance rate for Hunter 2%. NASA's class of 2017 ... The NASA class of 2017 received 8,300 applications this year for less than 15 slots. That means if 14 people are selected, the acceptance rate will be .08%, Business Insider's Natalie Walters and Jacquelyn Smith reported. "Applications opened Dec. 14, and closed Thursday, but that is just the beginning of an 18-month process that will end with the selection of 8-14 individuals for the opportunity to become astronaut candidates," the official press release explains. 📷

APPLICATION

So, what’s harder to get into, Harvard, Hunter, NASA or Heaven? The answer to that question depends on how one applies.  If you hope to get into any of these institutions based on personal merit, then the answer is Heaven is the most exclusive.  The Bible makes it clear that no one meets the standard of holiness required for entrance.  It declares, “all have sinned and have fallen short …” (Romans 3:23).  Since sinners aren’t allowed into Heaven, that’s a 0% acceptance rate.

If, however, you hope to get in based on grace, in that case, NASA is the hardest.  And Heaven goes from the hardest to the easiest.  The Bible says that all who humbly “call upon the Lord will be saved.”  That’s a 100% acceptance rate! “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” (Matthew 713). "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God" (Ephesians 2:8).

Final quote:

There have always been but two systems of religion in the world. One is God’s system of divine accomplishment, and the other is man’s system of human achievement. One is the religion of God’s grace, the other the religion of men’s works. One is the religion of faith, the other the religion of the flesh. One is the religion of the sincere heart and the internal, the other the religion of hypocrisy and the external. Within man’s system are thousands of religious forms and names, but they are all built on the achievements of man and the inspiration of Satan. Christianity, on the other hand, is the religion of divine accomplishment, and it stands alone.

MacArthur