ENTER THROUGH THE GATE

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB77) ¹³ ” 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. ¹⁴ “For the gate is small,

and the way is narrow that leads to life,

and few are those who find it.

I love to visit Magic Kingdom in Florida and take every opportunity my now grandchildren will allow the excuse for me to go. It is fresh in my memory the view through the main arch of the castle when you approach the park. You can see down Main Street with unlimited fun places to stop in at along the way to the rides. I just want to clap my hands and thank the Lord for allowing me to vacation to such a wholesome fun place to enjoy.

An unusual habit of mine, I need to confess, is to walk against the crowd.

It just seems to me that if all those people are coming from somewhere, it must be really worthwhile to go there and find out what it was that drew such a crowd. The narrow, more difficult path through the crowd is the path I always take and doesn’t that sound Biblical?

It appears to me that the crowd is full of carnal Christians that have been lured by the world to turn their back on the more difficult narrow path and take the wider one everyone seems to enjoy the most. The attraction was temporary and plastic so they crowd to the next thrill for more Holy Ghost bumps and a home run sermon.

It all starts with “stepping though the Gate.”

John 10:9 (NIV) ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

He will come in and go out, and find pasture.

It takes the first step through the gate for the Lord to help you with the rest. And in order to do that, you need to know where the gate is. Let me clue you in: it is in Christ! He’s standing at the gate waiting for you to step through.

Thank the Lord that there is a gate! It is the only one and it is wide open. I know that it is strong because it is the only gate that has survived all of man’s efforts to shut it. Jesus Himself promises that the gates of hell cannot prevail against us, that He will never give us more that we can bear, that He will always find a way out for us, that no one can take us out of His hands, that He will never leave or forsake us and where He is, we will be. Whew!

He said from the cross “It is finished” but He hasn’t said “It is done” yet so don’t waste any time. Today is the day of your salvation if only you will hear, listen, learn, apply and then evaluate the truth of this teaching. May the Lord bless the truth to your spirit and may you draw closer to Him because of this study.