But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.How narrow is the gate and the way is restricted that leads to life! There are few who find it.Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.
3 sermons cite this verse
… He said the population of heaven will be relatively small compared to the population of hell. Matthew 7 verses 13 and 14. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. And many are those who enter by it. But the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few. Few are those who find it. Finally, consider what Jesus taught about the necessity of personal faith. The necessity of personal faith. Jesus rejected the claim that everybody's going to heaven because of what his death accomplished for them. That's the inclusivist view. The inclusivist says, it's true that Jesus Christ's death made it possible for people to go to heaven, but his death applies to everyone. It forgave everyone's sin regardless of what they believe. No, Jesus repeatedly said, personal faith is a requirement for an eternal heaven. For example, in John 5, 24, truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life. …
… 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. This is God's word. We're going to do a brief series by Jesus, sayings by Jesus on finding. And you see, though it's actually acceptable nowadays to say I'm spiritually searching, it's not acceptable to say I found. It's okay to say I'm searching for God, but to say I found God is not. Why not? because it's narrow. We see we want to search, but we're afraid to say we found it because it's narrow. Now, in this text, Jesus frontally confronts the issue of spiritual finding and the implication of narrowness. And what he does is he says all spiritual approaches basically break into two categories, two ways, two paths, two roads that can be translated any one of those ways. Two ways are paths or roads. And what he does here, what we're going to do is very briefly look at what he says. …
… AND, UH, I'M GOING TO BE LOOKING WITH YOU IN A FEW MOMENTS AT VERSES 13 AND 14, MATTHEW CHAPTER 7, VERSES 13 AND 14. THESE ARE VERSES THAT TALK ABOUT THE HOLY HIGHWAY. NOW WHEN YOU CAME TO CHURCH THIS MORNING, YOU CAME ON SOME KIND OF A ROAD. THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE THINKING ABOUT TODAY. THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF ROADS IN THE WORLD. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THERE ARE OVER MILLION MILES OF ROADWAY IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE. SOME GOOD ROAD AND SOME, HA, HA, VERY, VERY BAD ROAD. SOME DANGEROUS ROAD, BECAUSE WE HAVE PEOPLE ON OUR HIGHWAYS THAT HAVE MORE HORSE POWER THAN HORSE SENSE. AND I KNOW THAT YOU WILL AGREE WITH THAT. I WAS THINKING OF SOME ROADS THAT I'VE TRAVELED. I'VE HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING IN ROME AND TRAVELING ON THE Appian Way. The apostle Paul traveled on that road. Built by the Romans, it's still in better condition than some roadways in the world today. And one of those reasons is that the Romans laid a deep foundation, and that ought to be a lesson for us. I was thinking of some roads in this area, the Natchez Trace. Begins down in Natchez, Mississippi, ends up in central Tennessee. Uh, going back to the 18th century was an old Indian trail. I was THINKING OF THE OVERLAND TRAIL BEGINNING IN ST. LOUIS AND GOING OUT TO THE FAR WEST WHERE THE STAGE COACHES WOULD TRAVEL. MANY, MANY ROADS IN THE WORLD TODAY. AFTER OUR …