I said quartet, it might be a quartet. You know my wife's expecting. If there's two babies, that's a quartet. Four of them up here. You never know. It's good to be with you tonight. I'll be praying for our pastor as he's negotiating those mountains of Tennessee. Last time we went down there, a bear crawled on our van and bent the antennas. It's an interesting place. Pastors need their rest and even our Lord himself said it's let's go into a desert place and rest a while So rest is a good thing. So let's pray for refreshing On our pastor and his family. I like to Read our text tonight. It's not a text. I would have picked myself for a Sunday night I would have thought the Lord would have given me something about raising families or growing in your Christian life, but God put this scripture on my heart to speak to you about. It's more of a salvation sort of a message, but the Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's all profitable, and we need every bit of it. Every drop of this book has something for us as Christians. It also has something for those who are not Christians. Luke chapter 13, verse 22, It says. And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye began to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are. Then shall ye begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last." And then back in Matthew chapter 7, verses 13 and 14, we have a parallel passage, Matthew's account. where our Lord said, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this scripture, Lord. It's a precious scripture. It's from you, Lord, and we hold it with the utmost regard. Lord, we pray that you'll bless it, help us as we open these scriptures tonight and preach these truths from your word. We pray that you'll work in hearts and lives tonight. And if there would be one here in this place that's outside of the family of God, more than anything else, Lord, we pray that they would get saved before it's too late. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today we're going to be talking about the straight gate and the narrow way. A gate is the entrance into a road, isn't it? A gate is where it all starts. It all starts at the gate. And I want to talk about the straight gate. That's the superior gate according to our Lord in this passage of Scripture. He said, our Lord admonishes us to enter in at the straight gate. Back in Luke chapter number 13, verse 22, Verse 24, the Lord worded it this way, strive to enter in at the straight gate. Our Lord is advising mankind to enter into this straight gate. That's His desire, isn't it? Our Lord wants people to enter into that gate. He doesn't just want a few people to enter in, He wants all men to enter into that gate. Even though it's a narrower gate, The Lord's desire is that all men will come to repentance. The Bible makes it clear throughout the scriptures that He wants all mankind to be saved. It says, Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth? And also in 2 Peter 3, 9, it says that our Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. talking about this straight gate, it says in the text that this straight gate, it's a saving gate, it leads to life everlasting, it leads to life, and this straight gate Proverbs 12, 28 says, In the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death. That's a good path to get on. That's a path you need to get on. If you're not on that path, you need to get on to that path. Mark 10, verse 30 talks about the end result of this path through the straight gate. It talks about, In the world to come, eternal life. And then in John 3, verse 15, the Bible says, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Not only is this a gate, it's a saving gate, it's a singular gate. This is the only gate that leads to life. There's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. This gate that leads to life is none other than Jesus Christ himself. In John chapter number 10, Jesus said in verse 9, I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. That gate is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the door to get on the road to everlasting life. He's the only way. In verse John 14, 6, He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. And also in Acts 4.12 it says, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. So we see that it's a saving gate, it's a singular gate, but also it's called a straight gate. Not straight as in an arrow straight, it's spelled S-T-R-A-I-T. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines this word strait as narrow, close, difficult, and distressful. We know of straits as passages from one big body of water to another body of water, such as the straits of Gibraltar, the straits of Dover. A strait is just a narrow way that connects two bodies of water in that sense of the word. So, by the word straight that our Lord uses in this passage of Scripture, Looking at the definition of straight as being narrow, it doesn't have much room. There's not much room for pride. A person filled with pride can never get through this gate, can he? You have to humble yourself as a little child, Jesus said, to get into this way of salvation. There's no room on that gate to get through the gate if you're lifted up with pride in your heart and you think you don't need anybody telling you how to get saved. A person who is filled with pride can't fit through the gate. Matthew 18.3 Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Not only that, there's no room for someone trusting in their riches to get into this gate. A person who's trusting in the things of this world, they can't fit through the gate leading to life. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 19, 24, Again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. It's a straight gate also in that it's somewhat distressful. There's a little bit of discomfort in the process of someone coming to Christ. It's a little bit distressful to be convicted in your heart. When Saul of Tarsus was striving against the conviction of the Holy Spirit, notice what the Lord said in Acts 9, verse 5. He said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. I think Saul was greatly troubled in his heart. He was made uncomfortable in this process of getting on conviction, and the Lord was drawing him to himself. It's uncomfortable to be under conviction of our sins. It's distressful and it causes anguish of soul. Many of you have read the book John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. You see this man in that story named Christian who read the book, and he began to feel a great load of weight on his back. He felt the conviction of his sins. There's some distress in this process. It's an uncomfortable process. It's disturbing to know about our sin, isn't it? It's disturbing when we first realize where we stand in relation to God's laws. John chapter 3 verse 20 says, For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. So this gate is straight in that it's somewhat distressful, also it's straight in that it must be sought after. Jeremiah 23, 29, 13 says, Ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Isaiah 55.6 says, "...Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." The way into this gate that leads to life It requires some striving to get into, our Lord said, strive to enter in at the straight gate. This gate that leads to life, it's against the flow of the course of this world to get into this straight gate. The flesh resists going into this gate. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Also, there's the devil. He causes resistance against those who would seek to enter into this way. Luke 8.12 says, Those by the wayside are they that hear, then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. Also in 2 Corinthians 4.4 it says, "...in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." There are many other things in this world that oppose someone coming into Christ. False religion. tends to deter folks away from coming to the truth. 2 Peter 2 says, But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. Yet, despite all of these obstacles and hindrances, there are many miraculous stories of folks who have been gloriously saved. Despite the work of Satan in trying to hold back the truth, despite him trying to hold back the church from giving out the gospel, God's word still prevails and goes forth. Jesus said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. There are some people that are still getting saved. There are people coming to Christ, and if there's someone here tonight that's not saved, you need to come to Christ. That's what God wants for you. So we see there's a straight gate. We'll also talk about this wide gate to destruction. This is a gate that the Bible says it is a wide gate in Matthew 7. 13 It says, Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. This is a gate that we don't have to enter into. We've already entered into that gate the moment we were born. We all start out in this world as lost sinners, slated for destruction, unless a great supernatural event a change of heart, unless you're gloriously born again and converted to become a child of God, you're already slated for this wide gate of destruction, you're already on that road. I was on that road and everyone here was on that road at one time until Jesus Christ delivered us and set us free and gave us a new heart and we were gloriously born again. This wide gate, it's an easy road, a person doesn't have to do anything special to get on that road, and it's a heavily traveled road. The Bible says, wide is the gate and broad is the way, and it uses the word many there be which go in there at. What a sad truth, isn't it, that many are going to destruction and that few are headed for life? If they only knew, if their eyes were only open and they could see what lay in store, people would be flocking to Christ, wouldn't they? But, you see, Satan has his way of blinding the eyes. and hiding the light, and he's deceived many. He's called the father of lies for a very good reason. He's deceived many people into missing this way of salvation. Some people are held back from coming to the truth because of what others would think about them, peer pressure. There are some folks who are ashamed of Jesus, and they're ashamed to be ostracized, and they love the praise of men more than the praise of God, and that holds back some people from coming to Christ. Other people are held back by traditions. They don't want to break the family tradition of the family religion, and that holds some people back from coming to Christ. Satan has many devices and many ways that he entraps people into sin, and to where they won't seek after Christ, and they won't get saved. But this wide gate and broad way, the Bible says that it leads to destruction. It's a sad truth, but we need to take a look at this destruction the Bible talks about, not only for those who are here that may be outside of Christ, but also for us who are Christians, so we'll be more motivated to see where our friends and neighbors and co-workers are heading to destruction. Turn with me to Mark 9, verse 44. Mark chapter 9 verse 44 speaks about this awful place called hell where folks who are on the wide gate will go. It says, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. What a terrible place. I don't know about you, but the worst pain that I've ever felt has been fire. I've burned my fingers before, and it's a terrible, terrible thing. When I was a little boy, we had a floor furnace, and my sister fell on that thing one time, and she got burned really bad, and terrible, terrible pain. But imagine, folks, in this world actually going to a place where the fire is not quenched. There's always hope when you see a hope for something to get better, but when there's no hope, when the fire will never be quenched, that is a sad thing indeed. Luke chapter 16 verse 24 also Our Lord gives us a glimpse, a snapshot of someone who's actually in this awful place called hell. Luke 16, verse 24. It says, And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. So we see that this is a literal place. This is not just some parable, this is a true account of a man who actually ended up in destruction. A lot of people are on this road to destruction, sadly thinking that they're on their way to heaven. That's about the worst deceit that Satan has, where he deceives people into thinking they're going to heaven when actually they're going to the other place. That's his number one tactic, I believe. I don't think there's too many young folks who would shake their fist at God and say, I want to go to destruction. I don't think that's the case at all. But Satan is a deceiver. He's a father of lies. He deceives people into putting off the matter of their personal salvation. Also, he deceives people into thinking that that they can be unrighteous and not have to have a change of heart and do whatever they want and somehow still get to heaven by works or some other means. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9, the Bible says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. I love that next verse, it says, "...but such were some of you." See, those are people who are on the road to destruction, but they got off by the grace of God. Matthew 7, verses 21-22, It says, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. There's going to be a lot of people who are church members who will end up in destruction. There's a lot of people who even prophesied in Jesus' name or who did works, wonderful works in Jesus' name, but our Lord says that they will end up in destruction. I would like to look at our Lord's advice and earnest warning for all who are not saved, and that is found in Luke chapter 13. Verse 24, Strive to enter in at the straight gate. Strive. The word strive means to be diligent in the use of means. If a person is not saved, they need to search the scriptures with care. If a person is not saved, they ought to attend the preaching with constancy and not let this matter be settled until they've come to assurance that they have a home in heaven. That's nothing to trifle with, your eternal souls in a balance. And even if you were to live the most successful life possible in this world, if somehow you could gain the whole world but lose your own soul, you would lose everything. Jesus said, for what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? There's nothing more important than to secure the salvation that the Lord wants to give you. It's nothing to trifle with and our Lord has given an earnest warning to all to strive to enter in. A person who is carelessly uninterested in the things of God, taking the preaching and the things of God lightly, is in great danger of ending up in destruction. Jesus put it very solemnly in Mark chapter 9, verse 43 to 47, where He gives some rather hard things that if there's something in your life that's holding you back from getting truly born again, you would be better off putting that away and getting rid of it, even if it's your own foot or your own hand or your own eye. There's nothing in this world that's worth dying and going to hell over. There's some folks who end up in hell because they refuse to give up their pleasure of sin. There's some folks who die and go to hell because they refuse to give up their reputation, maybe their family standing. Some folks have had to be ostracized by their family. There's been folks in other lands, Muslim areas and so forth, where the dad said to the son, if you're going to be a Christian, you're no longer the son of mine. That's a hard choice to have to face, but yet some people have had to face that choice. But there's nothing in this world that's worth going to hell over. Mark chapter 9, verses 43 to 47. It says, And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where there worm dieth not, in the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched, where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire, where there worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Turn with me back to Luke chapter 13. We live in a most amazing day. It's called the Day of Grace. Right now, if a person is outside of the family of God, there's hope. The door is open for you to come in. You can step right in and the Lord will save you to the uttermost. That door of grace is open right now. The Lord is standing with His arms open wide to to receive anyone who will come to Him for salvation. I love the way it's worded in Revelation 22, 17, And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is at thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. It's freely available now. But notice in Luke chapter 13, verse 25, It says, When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are. What a sad thing when the door closes. When the master of the house rises up and shuts to the door, then the hope will be gone. There will be a lot of people who've taken lightly the things of God. In our Lord's and Savior's day, as He went about Judea and all over the land of Israel preaching the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God, many took Him lightly, didn't they? Many people heard Him teaching in their streets, and yet they made light of it, some of them, and they didn't receive the Word. One of these days in the judgment these people are going to rise up and say, Lord, Lord, don't you remember me? I heard you teaching there in Judea. But by that time the door will be shut. You see, the time to take an interest in the things of God is right now. It's not later, it's right now. And if you are like these people who think that you'll be able to get in the door, when the door is closed, you're sadly mistaken, because it says in verse 25, it says in verse, when once the master of the house is risen, and hath shut to the door, there will be people showing a great interest in the things of God at that time, but it will be too late. For those of us who go out on visitation and try to reach people with the gospel, we've heard people who show no interest in the things of God. They make light of it sometimes. Usually people are pretty nice because we take our kids with us, and they're usually kind of hospitable and kind. We haven't had any cursing. since we started taking our kids with us on visitation, but yet we've seen a lot of people who've shown disregard for our Savior. We've seen a lot of people who've shown no interest. They don't get excited when we tell them about everlasting life. They don't get enthused about it. They show no interest, but one of these days, when the door is shut, they will show a great interest. They'll say, Lord, I heard about that. I remember Brother Tim telling me about these things, and now I believe it, Lord. But the Lord will say, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. What a sad thing it will be. I don't know about you, but it's a sad thing to miss out on something, isn't it? Notice with me in verse 28. there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. What a sad day that will be when maybe you'll see mom and dad there, you'll see grandpa, you'll see Abraham, Isaac, there's the prophets, there's David, all the saints, all of God's people will be there, but you'll be on the other side of the door. What a sad day that will be for you if you put off everlasting life and salvation. You see, there is a time to get saved and that's while the door is open. As the old preacher said, you've got to do this before the wood of the cradle meets the marble of the tomb. If you're going to get saved and get into heaven, you've got to do it while the door is open. Don't be like Felix and think that you can put it off to another time that's more convenient. You know the story of Acts 24-25? The Apostle Paul was preaching to Felix, and it says, And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go thy way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. There's no more convenient season than right now, friends. The time to get saved and get in through this door is right now. I don't know why God gave me such a message to preach to a Sunday night crowd, but He did. And it may be that the Lord's getting ready to come, and it may be that there's somebody who's about ready to miss out on the door. The Bible makes it clear that now is the day of salvation. It says in 2 Corinthians 6.2, Behold now is the accepted time, behold now is the day of salvation. For those of us who have found this way of life through this straight gate. There's a straight way that we need to live. There's a way that we need to live that's pleasing to our Father. You see, we talked about the straight gate, now we need to talk about the narrow way. That's the way that we live for our Lord as we're in this world. just like it's essential for a person to strive to enter into the straight gate, it's also essential for those of us who are saved to strive to live for our Lord. We read in Matthew 25, of the three stewards, two were striving for their lord. And when their lord called those two stewards, he said, Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful. Over a few things I will make thee ruler, over many things enter thou into the joy of thy lord. But the servant who wasn't striving for his lord, the lord said, Thou wicked and slothful servant. We need to be diligently serving our Master Jesus Christ. There's a straight way that He has for us to live in this life. There's no room on this narrow way for materialism in our lives. There's no room on this narrow way for our flesh and ourselves to prevail. We are dead to sin. Those of us who've come to Christ, we're alive unto God, and we are to live for our lords. We're servants of our Lord, we're owned by Him. I like that verse that says, What know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? I don't belong to Tim Russell anymore, I belong to Jesus Christ, the property of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's a narrow path that He has for me to live in this world. He doesn't have any room for me to be living. for myself. He wants me to live for Him. That's my purpose. That's my only purpose for being here in this world, is to serve my Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no room for trying to serve two Masters on this narrow path, is there? Some try to do it, but Jesus said, no man can serve two Masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and mammon. On this narrow way there is no room for any sins that hold us back from serving God. There is no room for any habits that hold us back from serving God. Anything that is holding you back from running the race, there is no room for it on this narrow way. What is holding you back from giving Jesus your all? Is there something that you're entertaining yourself with, some sort of a besetting sin, some sort of a weight that's keeping you from running the race that you ought to be running for Jesus? Tonight you ought to make a vow that you're going to put that thing aside and you're going to run the race for Jesus to the best of your ability by the grace of God. The same Satan that tried to keep us from getting saved will try to blow us off course for winning others to the Lord. There's no room in this narrow path for the Christian life, for worldliness, sin, pride, or our own agenda. We need to be busy and diligently serving our Master, trying to reach souls with the gospel. One of these days that door will be closed. It'll be too late for you to win your neighbor for the Lord. It'll be too late for you to win a co-worker, to win a loved one, to win a son or daughter, or a mother or father. It'll be too late. And if you wanna see your loved ones come to Christ and get saved, you need to do it now. Give it all you got. There's an evangelist that I've heard preach many times. He's an Italian fella, and he got saved out of Catholicism, And his mother, he dearly loved his mother and had a great concern to see her get saved. So he would literally stuff tracts in all of her coat pockets, he would stuff tracts in her drawers. He was doing all that he could to try to win his mother to Christ. He gave it all he had, and you know what? That lady got saved by the grace of God. She got saved. And there's some folks around us that need to get saved that if we're not diligent, we need to be diligent. We need to put our hands to the plow, and we need to give this thing all we got because this is our life. This is the only race that we have. This is the only opportunity we have to win someone for Christ. In one of these days it'll be over, won't it? You've heard the old saying, only one life too soon will pass. Only what's done for Christ will last. So as we draw towards the conclusion, I'd like to ask you a couple questions. How about you? Where do you stand with this gate? Have you entered into the straight gate and received everlasting life? I'm not talking about some sort of a ritual. I'm not talking about a prayer. I'm talking about, have you put your faith in the Son of God, the Savior, Jesus Christ? That's my first question. Are you in or out? Are you saved or lost? My question for you as a Christian is how are you walking on this narrow way? So that's the questions I have for you. This time I'd like to have Brother Perkins come, and we'll have a brief time of invitation. And if there's someone here tonight that has a need in your life, maybe there's someone that you love and that you've not seen any results, you've not seen them come to Christ, why don't you come forward and pray at the altar? Make it a matter of prayer. Maybe there's a Christian here that has a besetting sin that's been holding you back from running this race. Maybe you need to come forward and kneel at the altar and make a holy vow to God that you're going to give Jesus this thing, and you are going to live for Him. And it could be that there's one in a group like this that's not saved. I don't know the case, I don't know any hearts here, but I do know this, Jesus said that many are on the road to destruction and only few are on that road that leads to life. If you were to look at that from a mathematical point of view, in a group like this, it's very possible and even likely that there's someone that's outside of the family of God. But the good news is, you don't have to stay there. While the doors open, you can come to Jesus Christ.