Sermon in Minneapolis 17.07.2005

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, let us begin our services with opening prayer and thanksgiving.

Holy and righteous God, our dear Heavenly Father, again this morning we thank you for this opportunity that we have been able to gather together around your holy and unperishing word. We thank you for your many blessings you have bestowed upon us. But above all, we thank you for your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who was sent into the world to be the propitiation for our sins. He lived that perfect life. He died for us, but offered his life on the middle cross of Golgotha as a ransom for all of our sins, and rose as a victor on the third day, winning the victory over sin, death, and the enemy of souls. He rose for our righteousness' sake.

Dear Father, we ask that you would reveal unto us again this morning the mystery of our sins, and that we may be saved through your Son, Jesus Christ. Be with us today. Comfort and console us. Feed us and nourish us. And guide us along this narrow way. And lead us one day to our everlasting home in heaven. Amen.

Today is the eighth Sunday after Trinity, with the theme, Truth and Falsehood. Our Gospel text for today is from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 7, verses 13 and 14:

"Enter in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are lost in the way of God. And there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads unto life, and few there be that find it." Amen.

As all of us were coming to services this morning, in our vehicles, I'm sure you came to many different crossroads along your way. And always at each crossroad, we must make a decision: which direction are we going to go? Are we going to go straight ahead? Are we going to make a left turn? Or will we make a right turn? At many key intersections, we have one of three options that we can take.

But according to this text that we read this morning, which are the words of Jesus, the King of all kings himself, he states that here in this life, in the spiritual sense, there are only two options. There is not a third. He talks about two gates: a wide gate, and a small gate. He talks about two roads: a broad road, or a wide road, and a narrow road. And he talks about two destinations: one destination is eternal destruction, or damnation; the other destination is eternal life in heaven.

And with these two options, there are also naturally two groups of people. There is one group of people that is very small, and the other group is very large in numbers.

So in the time of the Roman Empire, at which time Jesus, in the time of the New Testament, the Bible was written, the Roman Empire was ruling over most of Europe, and much of Asia as well. And because it was so large in size, many people used to say that all roads lead to Rome. No matter what road a person would take, eventually that road would lead to the capital of the Roman Empire, the great city, Rome.

But this is not so in the spiritual sense. This is not so according to the Bible. Even though there are some groups, heretical groups, that would state otherwise.

I remember when interviewing people for my book, Master's Thesis, which was on Lusatianism, I was visiting with some people from an old heresy, known as the Small Firstborn, or the Federation. And they told me that they don't know why there are many groups of Lusatians in the world. Why can't we just all be brothers and sisters to each other, love each other, because we will all be one day in the same heaven anyway? Let's break down the boundaries now, because there in heaven will be no boundaries.

But this is clearly not according to the Bible. Not according to God's holy word. Not according to this scripture portion that we read for our text this morning. We can find many scripture portions which testify to this fact. One that comes to mind is Paul's letter to the Ephesians in the fourth chapter, where he says, "There is one faith, there is one hope, there is one spirit, there is one living God, and one baptism," and so on and so forth.

So here Jesus, first of all, is talking about two gates: that there are two possible gates that a person can enter through. First of all, he says there is one which is very broad, very expansive, very open in nature. And this kind of gate is very pleasing to a human being, very accepting to the flesh and blood of our human nature.

For we as human beings can carry any sort of baggage through this gateway. A person can believe just how they want. They can carry along with them hatred and unforgiving spirit with no concern of having to have matters taken care of. When a person enters through this wide gate, there are no restrictions whatsoever. A person can live an immoral life as they would please.

We could say that this is the path of least resistance. The path of least resistance to our carnal portion, our flesh and blood. So a person can live any sort of behavior that they desire. There is no need of change in lifestyle. And these types of people often think that they are free, inwardly free. But actually they are slaves to sin. They consider themselves open-minded and tolerant of everything and anything.

It is an easy gate to pass through. And it leads to a very wide pathway. And for that reason Jesus says there are very, very many people who travel this way. But with the grace of God, with one thing to take note of, its destination is destruction, damnation, and everlasting hell.

But then Jesus talks about another option, another possibility. And there is no third possibility. There is only the wide gate and then there is that narrow gate, a very small gate.

Many people have tried to come up with ideas, solutions, as to what exactly is this small, tight, or as the King James Version calls it, the straight gate of which Jesus is talking about. Some people have said that it is God himself. Other people have said that the straight gate is the devil. Some people say it is deep feelings of sinfulness and remorse within ourselves. Some even have said it is the confession of sin.

Confession does not bring happiness and salvation. We remember when Luther was there in the monastery. As an unbelieving man with an awakened conscience, he confessed to the abbot, the leader of that monastery, hour after hour after hour, and finally the abbot told him, "Why don't you go find the wounds of Christ? Therein you will find happiness. You will find happiness in salvation."

But Luther, trying to confess his sins in order to find happiness, still had to lament, "My sins, my sins, oh, my great sins."

So this couldn't be the straight gate or that small gate neither. Some say the small gate is life itself. And other people have said it is death. But if it would be life itself, every person would be going through that gate. And if it was death, every person must die. So it cannot be either of these as well.

Because Jesus says, there are very few people in the world who actually find this gate.

One time, disciples came to Jesus with a question. And they asked him, "Jesus, how many are there that will be saved, that will one day enter the everlasting destination, our home in heaven?"

Jesus didn't give a direct response or reply to this question. According to Luke, which is a parallel portion to our scripture reading this morning, Jesus replies with the words of our text.

I will not say, I'm adding these words, whether there will be many or few who will one day enter into heaven. But the only thing I will say is, strive to enter in through the small gate that leads unto the narrow way. For this narrow way leads unto everlasting life there in heaven.

The Bible says in many different places that few are the believers in the world. We remember, for example, during the time of Noah, I'm sure there were millions, perhaps billions of people at that time on the face of this earth. And when the flood came, it was Noah and his family, eight living souls, that entered into the ark and were spared from the flood.

So out of the millions and billions of people in the world, eight people were saved.

Or how about during the time of the wilderness journey? There were hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions at that time, that departed from the country of Egypt, the land of bondage, toward the land of Canaan, the promised land. And after forty years of traveling in the wilderness, only two believers of that generation, of those millions, entered into the promised land: Joshua and Caleb.

How about when God was threatening to destroy the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah? And Abraham was pleading to God to spare that city. Abraham pleaded that if you find fifty souls, would you save the city? God said, yes. Fifty souls were found. He lowered the number again and again, and finally he came down. If God, if there are ten living souls, believing souls in that city, those cities, would you spare those cities? God said, yes.

Ten believers were not even found in those two cities. So God finally told Lot and his family to depart quickly from these cities and do not turn back. Lot and his wife, and I'm sure the children, were along. But the heart of the wife of Lot was attached to these sinful cities. She turned around to look back, I'm sure to look at the treasures that she left behind, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

So out of those large numbers of people in those two cities, Lot and his few children were spared.

How about during the time of Jesus? Few were they who were believing at that time: Mary and Joseph, Zacharias, John the Baptist, and Anna and Simeon, and perhaps a few shepherds. That is all that the Bible mentions who were believing at that time.

So the Bible says that many are called, but few are actually chosen.

Paul writes to the Thessalonians, I think, in this way, that faith is not for every person. Many are called, yes, but few actually accept this invitation and call.

And so Jesus says to his disciples at his time, "Fear not, little flock." He calls it a little flock, for it is my Father's desire to give unto you the kingdom of heaven.

Paul writes to the Romans that during the Old Testament times the number of the Israelites that were existing were as great as the number of kernels of sand on the seashore, very great in number. But actually of these large numbers of kernels of sand on the seashore, very few of them were actually saved.

Even though it always seems at each moment of time, for example at this moment, if we would count the number of believers, if it would be possible, who are existing here on the face of the earth, and compare them to the total number of the population in the world, the numbers of believers would be very small in contrast to the total population.

But just think of what the Apostle John was able to see when he was on the Isle of Patmos, when he was able to look forward in time to that end of time there at the borders of life and eternity. And he said that he was able to see a large throng of witnesses, of people. And the throng was so great in number that no one could ever even begin to count all of them. They were all dressed in white robes, and these white robes were washed and cleansed in the blood of the Lamb.

So even though it seems that the numbers are small, these small numbers add up over time, over the course of the world, and in the end, it will be a large number there in the glory of heaven.

So why does Jesus call this gate a small, straight, tight, or a narrow gate? And why is it that most people here in this world do not really like this gate, or do not wish to enter into this gate? Some say it is too confining. Others say it is only for the narrow-minded people.

And as Jesus says, it requires of ourselves self-denial. Self-denial. And also obedience. Obedience to the voice of the Spirit.

Jesus says, "Who wishes to follow me, let him deny himself daily, take up the cross, and follow me."

So it is the way of the cross. It is a way of self-denial. There is no room for an unforgiving spirit. There is no room for an unforgiving spirit here at this narrow gate. There is also no room for self-righteousness when entering in through this narrow gate.

And it is God Himself who has set its dimensions. Its dimensions cannot be made larger, neither can the dimensions of this gate be made smaller. God Himself has determined the size. Not any human being.

So why is this way difficult? The way is difficult for Jesus says that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees, it is a righteousness which is not acceptable unto the heavens. It is a righteousness which is not acceptable unto the heavenly Father.

And it is a gate when one passes through it, a change of behavior and lifestyle also takes place. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "Behold, all former things have passed away, and now all things are made anew. You are now new creatures in Christ Jesus."

The Spirit of God comes and dwells in the heart and begins to govern, begins to direct and lead us and teach us a new way of life.

We remember that this narrow gate was too much for this rich young man who came to ask Jesus what must he do in order to become saved. Jesus asked him, "What are the commandments of the law?" He spit them out of his mouth immediately. He knew them by heart.

Jesus says, "Do this and you will become saved. Go and sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, come and follow me."

This was too much for this rich young man who was temporarily rich, but this wasn't the main issue. He was spiritually rich. And this was too much baggage for him to unload in order to come through this straight and narrow gate.

So then we ask, what is this gate? We heard earlier that people have come up with many different possible solutions to what this gate is. Some say it is life, some say it is death, some say it is confession of sins, others say it is deep feelings of sinfulness, some say it is the devil himself, some say it is the wrath of God because it is so small, strict, and confining.

What, in the end, is this gate? Jesus himself tells in another parable that "I am the door into the sheepfold."

Jesus Christ himself is this gate. And yet Jesus says in another place, "I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No person may come unto God unless they come through me, Christ Jesus."

So Jesus Christ himself is this straight gate, this small gate, this narrow gate that a person must pass through if they wish to begin traveling on this narrow road. And it is only this narrow road which leads one day to the glory of heaven.

But this gate has a door, and the door is a very unique door. And it is just like at the palace, the President's palace in Helsinki. If one would come to the front door of that palace and try to find a handle with a way in order to open that door to get in, you would find no handle, no lock, no key slot on the outside.

The only way to enter into that palace is to knock on the door and a guard who is inside that door will open the door from the inside to let the asking person come in.

Such is the door that leads into the kingdom of God. Jesus says, "Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened unto you."

So when an asking person comes and knocks at the door of God's kingdom, then God has His servants there who open the door through the keys, the authority of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and then are there ready to preach the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

And in that gospel of the forgiveness of sins, it becomes the door. And when one receives the gospel of the forgiveness of sins, that person receives Christ Jesus Himself and comes in through that door, Christ Jesus, and enters into the kingdom of glory.

This is the only way to enter therein.

Jesus tells in another parable that when He came into the wedding chamber, He found some who were not dressed in the wedding robe. For everyone who enters in through that door receives a wedding garment.

Last night there was a wedding here. The only one who had a white wedding robe was the bride. And the bride was the bride of the king. And she was a picture of every believer, every child of God.

Every child of God, whether preserved in childhood faith, or having received the grace of repentance, entering in through the door, receives a wedding garment.

And when the king came to examine the wedding throng, there in the wedding chamber, the king found some people, several, who did not have a wedding garment. And he said, "Aha! You did not enter in through the front door. You came in over the wall, or through a window, or through some other back door."

And as Lysadius said, they are called robbers and thieves of grace. And they were sent out again. And if they wanted to enter back in, they must come through the front door, which is the door of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

And so, ask and it shall be opened. Seek and you shall find.

And we remember during that first Pentecost, when Peter delivered that Pentecost sermon, at the end of that sermon, people began to say one after another, "What must I do in order to become saved?"

We wish that there would be more such people in this world that would be asking for peace for their undying soul, what they could do to receive Christ into their hearts and the peace of God in their hearts, and the peace of God in their souls.

So when a person is able to hear and believe the Gospel, the Gospel then for that person closes the gates of hell. And for that person it opens up the doors of heaven.

So Jesus says, "I am that way, that pathway, I am the truth, I am the life."

So now a person has entered in through this small gate, but now begins the endeavor, the endeavor, and it is the endeavor on this narrow pathway and its destination is the eternal glory in heaven.

So Jesus says, "Whoever wishes to follow me must deny themselves daily, take up the cross, and follow me."

So why would one want to walk this way, when it is a way of the cross? And for our flesh and blood it is a way of nailing our sinful flesh, crucifying our sinful portion daily to the cross, in order that the new man would remain and be free.

Moses was once confronted with such a question. Wouldn't you rather be here in the house of the Pharaoh, where you have everything in great abundance, you can live as you please, you wouldn't have a sorrow or care or concern or worry here in this world?

What was Moses' response? We could turn to Hebrews chapter 11 and he says that he would wish to give all that up and follow the small flock of God's children. And he would rather choose life, everlasting life, than the life of sin.

And in the end he says, why? He says, because of the reward that is waiting for me.

And so, it is only this narrow road of life which will lead to that destination, which is a happy and glorious ending, which is eternal glory in heaven.

And so, Moses, when he gave his confession of speech before the governor Felix there in Jerusalem, when he was already bound in chains, he says, "The road that I wish to travel is this road which you call the way of heresy. But it is the road of Jesus Christ and his followers."

He says, "There will one day be a resurrection which will be for everyone, the just and the unjust. But I wish to travel this way and I wish to travel keeping faith and an unoffended conscience before God and before man. Even though you may call it a foolish way, a way of heresy, a way of the Christians."

This is when the followers of Christ began to be called Christians.

Paul says, "This is the way I wish to travel, because it will bring me one day to the glory of heaven."

So we ask that since this is a narrow way, is this way just a pathway of sorrows where we are always moping and in gloom and under heavy oppression and in great constriction and restrictions in life? No.

The essence of God's kingdom, as Paul writes to the Romans, is this: It is not food, it is not drink, it is not something tangible, but it is righteousness. It is peace. It is joy. In the Holy Spirit.

So the core or the essence of God's kingdom is righteousness. It is peace. It is joy. In the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus says that the throng of the wedding guests in the wedding chamber do not fast when the bridegroom Christ Jesus is present.

So here in this wedding throng in the kingdom of heaven, Christ Jesus has promised to be with his own. And it is not a time of fasting.

During a time of fasting, it is a time of gloom and sorrow and such self-denial from eating and drinking and so on and so forth. Like the Jews used to do and the Muslims do and many other people do as well.

But when Christ Jesus is present there in the wedding chamber with his own, it is not a time of fasting. It is a time of happiness, bliss and joy in the Holy Spirit.

So as I mentioned earlier, it is God himself who has determined the size of each of the gates: the narrow gates and the narrow way, and the broad gate.

Of course, man determines that size. They can make it as big as they want or as small as they want. And the broad way in which they travel, of course, they can expand it like a spring.

But God has determined the size of that narrow gate and the narrow pathway. We as human beings cannot make this narrow gate any narrower than God has made it. Neither can we make it any wider than God himself has made it.

So what does it mean when a person attempts to make the gate wider? Well, why do people want to travel on the broad way, which of course leads to destruction? That is because they can choose any lifestyle they want. They can carry any sort of baggage they want. They can live an immoral life if they so please, fulfilling all the lusts and the desires that come to a person's mind or heart. No concern or need on the broad way of life to ever put any matters in order.

So this narrow gate, narrow pathway, cannot be made any wider than God has determined. But then also this narrow pathway cannot be made any narrower than the width God has determined it to be.

We in God's kingdom do not live in the midst of a jungle of rules and regulations. We do not live under the law if we try to make it any narrower than God has determined it to be. That is what becomes a jungle of rules and regulations. And a narrow way begins to squeeze and oppress. And it's a very oppressive pathway.

The way is narrow. But it's not so narrow as believers have often said that two believers couldn't walk on that pathway, abreast each other with their arms around each other, blessing each other with the gospel of the forgiveness of sins.

The kingdom of God is made up of sinners. We are wretched. We are poor. We are unsuccessful.

But doesn't the devil often come to preach to us in our ears? If you wouldn't be so poor, if you weren't so successful, then you could remain on this narrow way of life. And you would be acceptable as a believer and as a child of God. You must become better. You must do better. You must not be such an unsuccessful wretched sinner.

So what does the Bible say about every person? What is the report card that we have of ourselves? No one is excluded. There is no one who is righteous. No, not one. All have fallen astray, gone astray from the glory of God. All have sinned. There is no one who does good. No, not one.

So it's impossible for us to become better Christians. To become more successful. Less sinful. Feelings of sinfulness.

This doesn't mean that we begin to live in sin and doing as our sinful lust would prompt us to do. No. But we live guided by the Spirit. But we are not going to change our sin corrupt nature. We are not going to become white angels here during this life. It will not happen.

It's impossible. There is no one who is righteous of themselves. No, not one. There is no one who does good. No, not a single one. Us included.

Our only hope of salvation, our only hope of eternal life, our only hope of reaching the glory of heaven, to be acceptable before the face of God is owning that righteousness which Christ has prepared by offering his life on the middle cross of Golgotha, and by rising from the grave as a victor over sin, death, and the enemy of souls on the third day. He rose for our righteousness' sake.

But we are our brother's keepers. We wish to help one another on this way and on this journey. And we have signposts that lead us and guide us that even the foolish would not go astray. As the prophet Isaiah writes.

The signposts are the instructions that the Holy Spirit gives during our walk of life. And we also have our escorts which wish to help us, support us, and guide us as well.

And when we approach another brother and sister in faith, we don't approach with a harsh and heavy hand. But we come at the same level or even rather from below, from a lower level in order to lift them, carry them, help them, and support them with the gospel of Christ.

So Moses said to his people in his farewell speech that today has been set before you two options: the way of life and the way of death, the way of blessing and the way of curse. And I exhort you, choose the way of life. Choose the way of blessing.

For it is our hope that one day we could reach our destination, that glorious destination there on the shores of heaven.

Nilo Rawala once wrote a poem writing about this text. And he says in this way:

There are only two ways, the broad and the narrow. There are only two kinds of travelers, the blessed and the cursed. There is not a third or separate way which is set aside for those who are good and indifferent.

Not for the rich young man that has everything, who says, "I have not stolen. I have not lied. I have not done evil to anyone. I have sincerely paid all my debts. I have done all my work very well." And thus thinking that because of all this he would be accepted into the glory of heaven on the basis of his or her own works and merits and could be so.

Rawala concludes his poem: There is not a third way which goes over the hills of perfection. When one looks from the hills of perfection it only sings the praises of men.

So brothers and sisters, just as you find yourself feeling unsuccessful, poor, wretched, tempted, and unworthy, just as you are, just as you find yourself, you can uplift your gaze of faith to the author and finisher of our faith, who has done everything on our behalf.

He has opened the doors to heaven. He has paid the ransom of sin. He has prepared the gift of salvation and everlasting life.

In him is our source of strength, our source of happiness. He is our source of everlasting life and cleanliness.

So you can believe, sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious atonement blood. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.