THE GATE AND THE WAY

CALVARY IS REAL BIBLE CHURCH

13 UKWANSI STREET, ABAKALIKI

EXPOSITORY BIBLE STUDY

FOCUS:         NECESSARY INSTRUCTIONS FOR KINGDOM LIVING

TOPIC:          ‘THE GATE’ ……AND ‘THE WAY’       (Part 1)

TEXT:            Matt. 7:13-14

1 (a)     DISCUSS WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND BY ‘THE GATE ‘ IN THESE SCRIPTURES

Matt. 713-14; Psa.118;19; Gen.28;17; Isa.45;1

What is the implication of this ‘gate’ in the life of a Christian?

A gate is a barrier that can be opened or shut, which forms an entry point into somewhere and an outlet out of it. It is like a check-point

To control movement in and out of a place. There is the gate of righteousness , the gate of heaven, the gate of Zion, the gate into the call of God on your life, and the gate of death.

            From Matt.7;13-14, there are two gates that can be identified; the gate that forms an entry point into destruction and the gate which leads into life. No one can enter into any of these unless he passes through a gate, in which case entry into any of the gates is by choice and not by chance.

            Each gate leads to a completely different destination. Each person must therefore be careful to note the description of each of the two gates so as to make the right choice. Even if hearts and ignorance, a Christian should not.

(b)       DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE TWO ‘GATES’ MENTIONED IN Matt.7:13-14

(Read from different bible versions.)

What did you discover to be God’s expectation for us if we will enter into any aspect of Christian experience?

NKJV “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and             there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matt.7:13-14)    

GNB:  “Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road That leads to it is     easy,    and there are many who travel it. But the gate to life is narrow and the way that leads to it is     hard,    and there are few people who it.”

LB:      “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is             wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. But the gateway to life is small and the             road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.”

The gate that leads to life is described as narrow and small only a few find it. It is so small to the eyes and human desire that it is difficult to find. If you do not look for it deliberately you will not easily find it.

However, the gate that leads to destruction is described as wide or broad. It is so broad that it is said to be wide enough for all the multitudes that choose its easy way. And many there are who go in by that way. it is not difficult at all to enter in there . It is the commonest and easiest choice of majority of people.

God expects each one of his children to choose the narrow gate if we desire to enter into life. It is the entry point into anything pertaining to life and godliness. It is the right gate to  a life that pleases God; it is the gate to the proper fulfillment of God’s call on our lives if we would not be counted to have run in vain at the end.

The narrow gate is the one that leads to a lasting breakthrough in life, and it is the one that leads to eternal life. Each time we are confronted with a decision to make whether big or small, it is as if the two gates stand before us and we must make a choice. If you decide to go ‘the way people do it’  or the way that appeals to the senses, the ‘easy to find’ way, that is the wide gate you are entering and it will surely lead you to destruction sooner or later.

But if you decide not to be hasty but you consult the Lord and his word, making your decision according to the will of God, you are entering through the narrow gate. Though it looks difficult to find and seems to make you sluggish in making decisions, it will surely lead you to life and lasting peace. Because of its nature and the difficulty in finding it, only very few choose to pass through it.

How do you make your decisions? Are you hasty in your thought processes, thereby rushing to make decisions? Do you follow popular opinion and the easy way out of your situation? Do you find yourself often following the natural inclination of your heart? That way is dangerous. You may be disappointed either now or in eternity. God decided to clearly describe these two gates in the scriptures so that we will not make the wrong choice. Be careful!

CALVARY IS REAL BIBLE CHURCH

13 UKWANSI STREET, ABAKALIKI

EXPOSITORY BIBLE STUDY

FOCUS:         NECESSARY INSTRUCTIONS FOR KINGDOM LIVING

TOPIC:          ‘THE GATE’ ……AND ‘THE WAY’       (Part 2)

TEXT:            Matt. 7:13-14

(1C)     WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR BEING ABLE TO ENTER THROUGH THE             NARROW GATE?

            Jn.3;5; Rev.21;27; Matt.19:21,23-24; Lk. 9:23; Matt. 7:14; Mk. 9:43-48; Lk. 13:24; Gal.            5:17; 1 Cor.     1:26-29; Heb. 12:1

Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. These gates are not physical but spiritual. The natural cannot discern the right choice. The new birth is therefore the first condition to meet, if someone would enter through the narrow gate. Not only does that experience make you to enter the kingdom of God, it sets your heart right and makes you able to make the right choice in decision making. Life in the flesh is the enemy of godliness. You must maintain a lifestyle of constantly saying ‘no’ to sin and the flesh and repeatedly saying ‘yes’ to the Lord.

Sometimes riches deceive. The deceitfulness of riches may cause a person to make decisions based on his riches, (any kind of riches, e.g. financial, intellectual, etc). It makes him to relations, riches of power, popularity, etc). it makes him to think that his riches will always see him through life’s challenges.

For example, instead of choosing to depend on the Lord and pray in order for his needs to be met, a rich man sees no need to pass through that  narrow gate. The easier thing to do is to simply spend from his rich store of money to meet his needs with little or not reference to God.

The man who has human contract and ‘big’ people in government sees no need to pray and wait on the Lord to get a job or a contract. All these can block one’s ability to discern and pass through the narrow gate. I order to be able to find the narrow gate, you must refuse to put your trust in riches. From Matt.7;14, you will discover that the narrow gate must be found. And there are few who find it?

It means if we must find that gate, we must look for it. The entry point into right decisions and into the will of God does not come easy. You must desire it, hunger for it and seek it before you can find it.

Again, to enter through the narrow gate, you must strive for it. There is always the human nature (self) that will always struggle in your mind against the spirit. You must violently disagree with your self  inclinations in order to find the narrow gate. It takes grace and endurance to find it.

But once you make it your lifestyle and your choice in life to always o through the narrow gate into any situation, it will not always be as difficult as the initial attempts.

2(a)      DISCUSS WHAT YOU UNDERSTAND BY ‘THE WAY’ IN……………             Matt7;1314;Ps18;30;Ps139;24;Jer21;8;Isa55;8;Prov22;6;Jn14;6. 

‘The way’ means the road, the route taken by somebody in order to reach a destination. It could also means a lifestyle; a procedure taken to achieve something. From the above scripture, there is the way of God, the wicked way, the everlasting way, the way of life, the way of death, the way of man etc.

There is also the way of life that is personified in Christ Jesus. Once you make your choice about the gate you want to pass through, a way is definitely opened to you, whether the way to life or the way to destruction depending on your choice of gate. Does that not touch your heart?

CALVARY IS REAL BIBLE CHURCH

13 UKWANSI STREET, ABAKALIKI

EXPOSITORY BIBLE STUDY

FOCUS:         NECESSARY INSTRUCTIONS FOR KINGDOM LIVING

TOPIC:          ‘THE GATE’ ……AND ‘THE WAY’       (Part 3)

TEXT:            Matt. 7:13-14

(2b)     DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE TWO WAYS MENTIONED IN THAT SCRIPTURE

            Read Matt. 7:13-14 from different bible versions.

Apply it to our daily Christian experience. What did you discover?

Prov. 14:12; Prov. 4:19; Prov. 2:12-15 Prov. 4:11-12, 18; Isa. 35:8(LB); Jn. 14:6   

The way, the road, the lifestyle that leads to destruction is broad and easy. It is the common choice of many, including believers. People go in there naturally. It is an easy road to go through. It does not require any effort to go that way. Some go through that way as their normal lifestyle; some go through that easy road in business, in pursuing their educational career or even in pursuing God’s service. That may explain the reason why many who have cast out devils and worked wonders in the name of Jesus will be disappointed and condemned on that day (Matt7:21). As we do the work of God, it must be done in God’s own way, not in the broad, easy, natural way.

The way that leads to life is described as narrow, difficult, hard. There are only very few going through that way. It takes patient searching, it takes God’s grace, it takes real endurance to find it and go through it. But if you succeed in choosing to go that way, it leads to life both now and in eternity.

When a way seems right in your sight, know that way is wrong. It is the broad way, the way of darkness, the way that will cause you to stumble. You must refuse it and seek God’s face to show you his own way of doing what you want to door getting to where you are going. Whatever the word of God says about anything you want to do is the right way, the narrow way.

For example as a spinster or a bachelor, suppose there is a man or a lady whom you desire to marry. You so much love him/her that you are willing to pay any price to marry him/her. But he/she is a unbeliever. The way of God into marriage (the narrow way) says…

“Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers 2cor6;14

If you want to follow the narrow way that leads to life, you will stop that relationship and wait patiently for God’s choice for your life. Going on with such a relationship or trying to explain things away to suit your choice will only lead you to destruction sooner or later. Many have traveled on that road and are crying and regretting today. Jesus Christ himself is the embodiment of the narrow way. His lifestyle is the narrow way. Following in his footsteps, doing things the way he did, mean going through the narrow way. There is a way he saw people, related with people, handled money, went about God’s work etc. his life is the pattern that God commanded us to follow. He is the way.

Have you ever taken time to study his way of life/ if not, how then will you be able to identify the narrow way and walk in it? The way (broad) way leads to destruction. Yet the narrow way and the broad way are parallel lies (i.e. lying so very close and seemingly going in the same direction). A little step aside from the narrow path will surely land you on the broad way. There is only a step between life and death (1 Sam20:3). Be watchful, be prayerful!

(C)          DISCUSS HOW WE CAN FIND THE NARROW WAY AND WALK IN IT ALWAYS.

              Ezra 8:21; Ps. 86:11; Ps. 25:9; Psa. 32:8-9; Prov. 23:19; Jer. 6:16; Acts 18:26; Lk. 9:62

There is need to humbly seek God’s face by prayer and sometimes with fasting. God’s way is not easily accessible. It is not naturally desired. It is God that teaches us his way. It takes a man whose heart pants after God and his way, to find the narrow way.

We must be meek, we must be submissive, on clinging to anything; we must be ready to adapt to God’s will. Whatever you do not see Jesus do, do not do it. It is not the way. Jesus is our model. He is the way approved of God for us to follow at all times in living our lives.

Whenever you are confused about any matter, do not make a move. Stand at that junction and ask for the old path. Check the life of Jesus and that of the men of pray again and again for direction in their own time path to shine light on your way.

CONCLUSION

God’s word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto out path. God expects that each one of us should make his word both the first and the upholding principle in our lives (Col1:17). He upholds all things in this life and that to come, by the word of his power.

Unless we live and walk by his word, we shall be building our lives and destinies on shaky, sinking ground. Take heed. A man who remains stiff-necked later many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed without remedy.

Take heed to these instructions for a vibrant kingdom living and you will prove from your own experience how sweet it is to take God by his word. May the lord bless you?