Narrow Gate Series

Part One

This week we end our overview of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. We’ve reached the part where Christ’s eternal wisdom is placed at the narrow gate. Then He discusses false prophets, people who proclaim Him, but He rejects for their deceitful interpretation of His Deity and finishes with true saving trust.

I split our final week correspondence into two parts. The first part brings us to the section in Jesus’s sermon where He unveils the narrow gate. It’s the reason I titled the series. In these two scriptures, Christ places us at the door of heaven or hell. His earlier teachings in this homily separate the characteristics of God’s chosen people from those He hands over to Satan.

Part two identifies false prophets and their eternal damnation. Christ ends this sermon with people who hear His words and put them into action to discover an unshakable spiritual foundation.

Characteristics of Heaven

When Christ introduced the narrow and wide gates, He uncovered the truth between heaven and hell. He shows us the path to heaven isn’t easy. Jesus tells us following God means living in His kingdom is tough because it has no room for lawlessness, disobedience, or prideful behavior. But the wide gate is full of people who love living in their self-absorbed lifestyle.

Let’s embrace Christ’s words:

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

In the first sentence of these scriptures, Christ points to the gate of heaven. He tells us God’s kingdom has a small opening. It’s a place few people find because it requires denying oneself and glorifying God.

Jesus showed people inside the wide gate hate God and live destructive life fueled by their lustful desires. They do evil deeds and teach others to follow Satan’s wicked plan. Their self-centered ambitions keep them on the road to eternal condemnation. People who love materialism, sexual immorality, and self-glorification can’t grasp humility.

It’s in these two Biblical doctrines Christ brings us to a crucial decision. In this sermon, His earlier lessons clarified the behaviors worthy of God’s kingdom and the ones that lead to eternal damnation.

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) show a genuine believer’s transformation from spiritual darkness into God’s miraculous light. They contain incredible holy virtues found only in Christ. These are the spiritual characteristics worthy of unlocking the narrow gate. Jesus tells us these are people found inside heaven. Which Beatitude fits your walk with Christ?

Jesus mentioned shining the Gospel’s light to those around us (Matthew 5:13-16), understanding His fulfillment of God’s Law (Matthew 5:17-21), and selfless service (Matthew 5:40-42) are holy behaviors God deems worthy to live in His house. Besides those examples He went on and said, loving our adversaries (Matthew 5:44-15), giving without recognition (Matthew 6:3-4), praying from the heart (Matthew 6:5-15), and an earnest inspiration to seek God’s will (Matthew 7:7-12) are Christian actions found in heaven.

Those attributes leave an impression on others because they are from the Holy Spirit. Indeed, they show the inner-changes Christ makes in the hearts of true believers and testify to God’s undeniable presence.

Condemned to Hell

I know talking about hell isn’t comfortable. But Christ insists we understand the behaviors associated with hell. Unsaved people fill the world with proof of hell’s existence. Their hearts are full of evilness and filled with wicked intentions. It’s these people God turned over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:18-32).

In this sermon, Christ identified murder, anger, malicious slander, sexual lust, and divorce (Matthew 5:21-26, 27-30, 31-32) as hell-bound practices. Besides that devilish workmanship, swearing, hate (Matthew 5:33-37, 5:43,), materialism (Matthew 6:19-22), love for money, worrying and judging others (Matthew 6:24, 25-34 7:1-6), prevent people from exiting the wide gate.

Once God gives up people, Satan takes them, and enslaves their lives into eternal darkness. We don’t have to travel to see this truth. Technology is allowing the world to live this reality in minutes. The media uses this powerful tool to glorify godlessness.

As noted above, we can see why Christ brought us to a crucial spiritual decision. He wants us to choose the narrow gate and warns us of the eternal penalty of making the wrong choice—hell. I can hear you saying: God chooses us and salvation has nothing to do with our determination (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yes, that’s true. But Jesus’s message concerns itself with deciding to repent or live outside God’s kingdom (Matthew 4:17).

Click here for part two:  https://achristianmindset.org/?p=11100