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 7:13
Photo: John MacArthur, https://www.gracechurch.org/Teaching
John MacArthur’s sermon today was taken from Matthew 7:13-27; how to enter through the narrow gate.
He said that the narrow gate is narrow because only one person can go through it at a time. We must go alone as individual persons. We cannot go as a group being dragged along with others.
It is a sole journey; we cannot have someone go through it for us, we must go alone.
That is a scary thought to some who ask how do they approach God, alone? We have to do the following, MacArthur says. Basically, we have to: mourn over our sin, be meek versus proud, we must hunger for righteousness that we do not possess, we must know we have nothing to offer to Him, we are nothing to him, our works are like filthy rags, we must take seriously our faith in Him, his dying on the cross in place of our dying for our sins, be broken, “begging” Him for His forgiveness, to repent for our sin, knowing we can do nothing to save ourselves from the eternal death of sin.
These are the points MacArthur made during his message today: you have to come alone, meeting Christ for yourself in order to pass through the narrow gate.
Leaving all else behind; your parents and siblings, your belongings, your pride of life, your human achievements, your superficial beliefs, your self-proclaimed good deeds; realizing you are naked, unable to hide the iniquities of your heart, asking for forgiveness of your unholy morality, and want to come to the Lord, accepting him as your Savior; the only Savior who can save you from eternal hell and punishment.
This is serious business. You must seek Him with all your heart and in true repentance that you were living in sin. You must seek his Truth by reading the bible and seeking who He is, seeking to believe, in sincerity – and not trusting and abiding by the worldly ways of man. Giving up your aspirations, seeking His direction, making him the most valuable person of your life.
“Every man presses into His life”, John MacArthur says, you go against everything that you are with all your heart. You seek His truth.
This is the way into the narrow gate of heaven.
John MacArthur is a powerful speaker, a true man of God. I watch his sermons live every Sunday at Grace To You. They are worth watching.
May the Lord bless you today and every day! May you be reminded of His life that flows within you and gives you LIFE!
Amen.
