In the Fulness of Time/Part 37

By: Dr. Thomas O. Figart; ©2007

Previously in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had been speaking to His true disciples, but now he turns to the people who had gathered to hear His teachings. He gives three warnings that are, at the same time, invitations to follow Him as Messiah.

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Jesus Gives Three Warnings to those who are not True Disciples. 7:13-27

Jesus had been speaking to His true disciples, but now he turns to the “people” (see verse 28) who have gathered and were hearing His teaching. While these final admonitions are warnings, they are, at the same time, invitations to follow Him as Messiah.

The Broad and Narrow Ways. 7:13-14

The Broad Way through the Wide Gate. 7:13

Matthew 7:13 “Enter in at the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in that way.”

The use of “gate” (pule) and “way” (hodos) signify entrance into, as well as travel on, a certain lifestyle. Christ’s command is to enter in at the narrow gate, since the alternative is sure destruction. Those who enter the wide gate are many, because it is easy to do so without giving up self-righteousness and tradition. Jesus has been preaching against this throughout the sermon. This is the way of the Pharisees who have made their own rules and requirements, all of which depend upon themselves. If man establishes the prerequi­sites for entrance, then man can fulfill them, apart from God. Sadly, their righteous works are “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) in God’s sight and they lead to “destruction” (apoleian) which is not mere physical loss but eternal perdition (Romans 9:22; II Peter 3:7; Revelation 17:8).

The Narrow Way through the Narrow Gate. 7:14

Matthew 7:14 “Because narrow is the gate and hard is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

This gate is “narrow” from stenes, which has the meaning of “compressed, cramped, or narrow,” and in this text, it is found only by the few. The “way” is also narrow or confined. I prefer the NASB translation here: “For the gate is small and the way is narrow,” because tethlimmene (narrow) is the perfect participle of thlibo, and does not have the same empha­sis as thlipsis (tribulation) which comes from the same verb. Thus, the contrast is not nec­essarily between the easy and hard ways, but between broad and narrow ways.

John MacArthur attempts to compare this with Luke 13:24, “Strive to enter in at thenarrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” He comments:

The term agonizomai (strive) indicates that entering the door to God’s kingdom takes conscious, purposeful, and intense effort. That is the term from which we get agonize, and is the same word Paul uses to describe an athlete who agonizes (competes) in a race (I Corinthians 9:25) and the Christian who “fights the good fight of faith” (literally, “struggles the good struggle,” (I Timothy 6:12) (The Gospel of Matthew, I, p. 455).

This reflects MacArthur’s insistence on “lordship salvation” in which the “requirements for kingdom citizenship are great, demanding, clearly defined, and allow for no deviation or departure” (455). Even in this quotation he confuses Paul’s use of “strive” within the Chris­tian life with the use of “strive” in Luke 13:24. However, there are a number of things in Luke 13:23-24 which differ from Matthew 7:13-14.

First, there are several possible usages of agonizomai, depending on the context. In commenting on the usage in Luke 13:24 Thayer’s Lexicon states that agonizomai means “to endeavor with strenuous zeal, strive, to attain something” (p. 10). Strenuous zeal is not necessarily agony as we think of it, but it does necessitate real faith, as Jesus explained in John 6:27-29: “Labor not for the food which perisheth, but for that food which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered, and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

In Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s sermon, “The Warrant of Faith” preached in 1863, he said,

If you tell a poor sinner that there is a certain amount of humblings and tremblings, and convictions, and heart-searchings to be felt, in order that he may be warranted to come to Christ, I demand of all legal-gospellers distinct information as to the manner and exact degree of preparation required. One will say the sinner must have months of law-work; another that he only need good desires; and some will demand that he possess the graces of the Spirit, such as humility, godly sorrow, and love to holiness. If the sinner’s warrant to come is found in the gospel itself, the matter is clear and plain; but what a roundabout plan is that compound of law and gospel against which I contend!

Second, Luke’s context is primarily concerned with the time of Christ’s second coming, and the picture is of the door being shut and many thrust out.

Third, there are neither broad nor narrow, nor broad nor narrow ways mentioned in Luke.

Fourth, the emphasis, therefore, is not so much on how to enter the door as it is on how soon the door will be shut! It is certainly not some kind of pre-salvation preparationism, but rather a message of urgency to enter in!

With regard to Matthew 7:14, A. C. Gaebelein (Matthew, p. 156) aptly states, “And why then is the gate narrow? Not because certain conditions and hard terms are to be fulfilled, but because man does not want to give up his own righteousness, and clinging still to his miserable filthy rags, he refuses God’s way and God’s door of salvation which is Christ and Christ alone.”

If there was urgency then, how much closer, in the fulness of time, are we today, to the return of Christ. Tell the poor sinner, “Come, while there is yet time, seek no delay!”

Read Part 38