Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Oct 3, 2023

3 Oct 2023

Text: Matt 7:13-29

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

“Enter by the narrow gate,” says our Lord.  “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

These are sobering words from our Lord, dear friends.  They are a reminder of the world’s greatest tragedy.  For although “God so loved the world,” (John 3:16) and our Lord is the “Lamb of God that takest away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), most of the world misses, or rejects, the gift.  For either they don’t find the narrow gate, or they have contempt for it because it is little.  For we all, like sheep, look to numbers to flock with.  And “we all, like sheep, have gone astray” (Isa 53:6).  The narrow gate is the single Good Shepherd.

For there are many wolves in sheep’s clothing, leading billions to the wide gate of destruction.  We Christians know our Shepherd’s voice.  And we must recognize the “false prophets… by their fruits.”  There are also those who thought they found the narrow gate, even calling Jesus “Lord.”  They will point to their own good works, even works that seem wonderful and miraculous.  But Jesus does not know them and will cast them away.  We do not enter the narrow gate by an appeal to ourselves and our own works.  Rather, as our Good Shepherd says, it is “the one who does the will of My Father” who enters by the narrow gate.  Beware of those who point to good works – their own or that of others – for they are not recognized by our Lord.

Instead, dear friends, if you want to find the narrow gate, it is important to “build [your] house on the rock.”  For the rock is Christ (1 Cor 10:4).  Fix your eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:2) and not on the crowds, not on celebrities, not on influencers, not on flashy preachers, not on good works, and not even on apparent miracles.  For when the rains and floods and winds come, as they inevitably do in this fallen world, your faith will stand, for it is “founded on the rock.”  And Jesus says that we must be the man who “hears these words of [His]” rather than the “foolish man” who builds a house on sand.

We find the narrow gate by the Word, dear friends, by the Word, and only the Word: the Word Made Flesh, and the Word that is the testimony of Him given to us by the Holy Spirit: the Scriptures.  For the Word of God is “teaching [us]” with “authority,” not like the scribes, not like the celebrities, the so-called experts, the razzle-dazzle preachers, the self-help gurus, the leaders of exotic religions, or the sellers of fads.  All of these false prophets lead sheep astray by the wide gate. 

So us enter by the narrow gate, dear friends.  Let us remain in the flock.  And let us pray in the words of the hymn: 

Guide me that I never may
From Your fold or pastures stray,
But Your zeal and joy exceeding
Follow where Your steps are leading.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.