Matthew 7:1-14

“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.” (Matthew 7:13–14, NKJV)

Someone asked me a question yesterday that I have been pondering: “What do you think is the greatest danger to our country?” It is a good question because there are so many threats to the wellbeing of our nation. But if I had to choose one, then I would say the greatest danger is people who claim to be Christians but who deny the sanctifying power of God in their lives. They think they are on the narrow way that leads to life when in fact they are on the broad way that leads to destruction. A little later in the Sermon, Jesus says that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father. Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” The reason these people are so dangerous is that they deceive themselves, but they also lead others astray by their hypocrisy. They misrepresent Christianity by their attitudes, words, and deeds, and they drive many others away from Christ. They are like the Pharisees to whom Jesus said:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” (Matthew 23:13, NKJV)

Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). It is not what we profess, but who we are, that determines if we are genuine followers of Christ.

When we are on an airplane, the flight attendant instructs us that in the unlikely event of depressurization, we must first breathe through our own oxygen mask before we can help someone else to breathe through theirs. Likewise, we must first save ourselves before we can help others to be saved. If we have entered the narrow gate by believing in Jesus Christ and submitting to His Lordship, then His sanctifying power is at work in us to do the will of our Father in heaven. We have assurance that we are on the way that leads to life. But if we claim to be a Christian and do not repent of our sins, and do not submit to the sanctifying power of God, then we are on the way that leads to destruction, and it is likely that we are self-deceived.

May God help us to make our call and election sure and prove it by our attitudes, words, and deeds. If the greatest danger to our nation is religious hypocrisy, then the greatest hope for our nation is authentic Christianity.