Two Gates, Two Roads, Two Destinations
Matthew 7v13-14
9th May 2025
In verses 7-11 Jesus has exhorted us to ask God, seek God, knock on God's door, for grace to find and enter the kingdom of heaven. That is, to become a Christian, to be born again, to pass from spiritual death to real life, to be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and inherit eternal life. He promised us that if we will keep asking, seeking and knocking, God will answer. Then, in verse 12, He taught us to obey the golden rule: "in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" because the keynote of the kingdom of heaven is love. Now Jesus says:
Matthew 7v13-14
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find
it."
There are two gates, and everybody chooses one of them. We all make a choice about how to live: with God or without Him; in submission or in disobedience; crying out for mercy or living in self-righteousness.
The wide gate has many markings: "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die", "Churches just want your money", "Look after number one", "Live your life the way you want to", "All religions lead to God". The choice to live independently of God, ignoring the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, refusing to ask for the forgiveness of our sins and help to change, is the gate to destruction. Many enter through the wide gate. If a person chooses to just keep on living his old sinful, godless, independent life, he'll find it easily enough.
The small gate is marked "repent and believe". It requires us to look to Christ alone, to plead to God for mercy, to die to self and live for God in submission, seeking His kingdom above our own, and looking for His glory not our own. The choice to accept God's rule, to live God's way, to acknowledge our sinfulness and our need of forgiveness, to trust in the redeeming blood of Christ, knowing that we are deservedly lost without Him, is the gate to eternal life. Only a few find the small gate. Be one of them. I's not easy to find. That's why we have to ask, seek and knock (verses 7-8) until God shows it to us.
We who have chosen the small gate are few compared to the many destined for destruction but we are, nevertheless many, many millions of people, and people are being saved and added to our number all the time.
There are two roads. Which road a person travels depends on which gate he has chosen.
The road to destruction is broad, and paved with worldly wisdom, self-justification, intellectual pride and seeking after pleasure. You can wander more-or-less wherever you want on this road. Many people stay on it all their lives, until it's too late. They will leave this earth and pass into eternity without God.
The road to life is narrow. We who have accepted Christ's rule over us are constrained. We know that we are morally obliged to keep His commandments, to put Him and his kingdom first (Matthew 6v33) to love all our neighbours all the time (verse 12) and to seek to be salt and light in the world for His sake (Matthew 5v13-16). We will, to a greater or lesser extent, be persecuted for our faith (Matthew 5v10-12, 2 Timothy 3v12). We who have chosen the narrow path are commanded to stay on it all our lives. (We may deviate from it, but we will know we're doing wrong, and God will call us back. And there will be a cost involved.)
There are two destinations. The saved, those destined for heaven, follow Christ and, by the power of His Holy Spirit, are being transformed into His likeness. The lost, those who refuse to come humbly to Christ, obey the Gospel and surrender to God, are slowly perishing, and will ultimately perish in hell unless they make the choice to turn to God, turn away from selfishness and sin, and ask God to cleanse them.
Jeremiah 6v16a
This is what the Lord says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls."
Those who enter by the wide gate, who travel the broad road, will find too late that it leads to destruction. Those who enter by the small gate and follow the narrow road will enter glory and live with God for eternity. Make the right choice.