Two Ways to Live - Part 2: The Narrow Gate

Well this morning we continue with Matthew 7 in verse 14 as we considered the broadway last week with verse 13 now we come full circle to verse 14 and the second part of this two -part focus of The narrow way and the broadways we look at the broadway the broad gate

The easy path last week and now this morning. We're looking at the narrow gate the difficult way

The way upon which few travel the way that very few find Now as a reminder the

Sermon on the Mount as we said last week has been calling for kingdom righteousness The values of the kingdom a type of righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the

Pharisees So in other words a righteousness that is not external But it's inherent.

It's internal. It's it's from the heart. It's borne out in the life It's it's not just at the ends of the branches held by duct tape, but it's in the very root

It has the vital core. It's a kingdom righteousness a righteousness wrought by the very Spirit of God It only belongs to those who have entered the kingdom by repentance and faith and this type of kingdom righteous that Righteousness that Christ has been holding out beginning at the

Sermon on the Mount demands a response And so we're in chapter 7 now We're toward the conclusion of this sermon and as every sermon ought to do there's a call for a response

What how then shall you live? What will you do in light of this? How will you respond? And that's what

Jesus preaching this kingdom righteousness is doing in chapter 7. We have it here

We also have it all the way through as we see again two ways Two prophets two foundations

He's pressing the issue a right way or wrong way a right message or a wrong message a right foundation or a wrong one

What will actually endure as far as the judgment of God that must come to all?

What will actually endure in terms of the the way that leads to life this narrow way that few find?

Now the metaphor of two ways we looked at the broad way the narrow way We said last week the broad way essentially is just the way of the world

We said what do you have to do to get on the broad way that leads to destruction nothing nothing just carry on You're born on Broadway.

Just keep going the way you're going and so it's not something that you opt in No one's at the fork on the road.

You're simply born and carry on in that broad way. How do you get on the narrow way? You must turn around in repentance

You must trust and believe the one who has called you on this narrow way He opens the way that few find he sheds light on the path that others cannot see or even seeing refused to go

So we have the broad way in the narrow way the way of the world in the way of faith The way of the

Spirit the way of the kingdom Jesus says that many will choose the wide way Many he says will enter the broad gate many travel on the way to destruction as we said last week most of the people

You know just consider our prayer time. Those are just a few examples

If we think of all the people that we know all the people that we interact with all the people that we relate to most of them

Refuse to enter the narrow gate. Most of them are quite comfortable on this wide and broad way that leads to destruction

This is not the angry Baptist preachers words. This is the clear warning and clarion call of the

Lord Jesus Christ He says few enter by the narrow gate. It's difficult There's not many who see it not many who can endure

And so this morning we want to look at verse 14 and we want to answer the question What does it mean to be on the narrow path?

And there's so much to say in the rest of chapter 7 that I'm I'm narrowing down just a few points because I don't want to roll out all that could be said as we look to Those who say

Lord Lord, we look at the the strong foundation that will endure judgment I simply want to boil this down into three points and those three points.

I'll just tell you up front are Work gain and perseverance. I hope you'll see how those all relate that there's something to be worked out and working out

Involves a gain and in those gains you must persevere And that's what it means to be on the narrow path.

And frankly, that's what makes a narrow path difficult Matthew 7 13 and 14 enter by the narrow gate

For wide is the gate 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

So the first thing we notice about those on the narrow path is this those on the narrow path work

When it's hard to find something you have to work When it's hard to go forward in something you have to work you have to work at it

You have to spend some energy Invest some trouble you have to toil you have to labor and those on the narrow path work to put it in the way that Paul says to the

Philippians those on the narrow path work out their own salvation Very I don't want to put any footnotes or qualifications with that Those on the narrow path are working out their salvation

They're working it out We are exhorted to work out our salvation even when we're reminded that it is

God who works salvation in us the problem is we sometimes allow the truth and the glory of that statement of God's sovereign salvation to short -circuit or even excuse our total inactivity and Jesus wouldn't let that happen

You'll know them by their fruits. You'll know it by how they work it out You'll know you'll be able to see

Whether or not the salvation is in them and it's being worked out those on the narrow path work out their salvation so on the one hand scripture is full of Statements that man must strive to enter the narrow gate or in other words

He must pick up his cross to follow after Jesus. He must not harden his heart in the day of salvation

He must desire to repent and to believe he must deny the world in the flesh and the evil one

He must deny himself if he would have the salvation of God scripture has these exhortations and commands everywhere on the other hand

Scripture also said God is the one who calls his sheep He is the one alone who can bring about a new birth

If the the spirit is not breathed out upon his people those bones will not live

God's the one who carries out salvation according to his sovereign power and his perfect plan

Is it man's responsibility or is it God's sovereignty? And the answer is yes now, of course

In a deeper sense one is contingent upon the others God's sovereignty is ultimate in a way that man's responsibility is contingent, but you understand the point

I'm trying to make do not use God's sovereignty in grace as an excuse to not work

Work out your salvation those on the narrow path Those on the way that few find and many lose heart in are those who are working things out

As Alexander McLaren says and he says it well a Christian has his whole salvation accomplished for him.

Praise God It's accomplished for us and applied to us by the Spirit, but we're still commanded to work it out it's like if you've gone to a

Store and they have gift cards, right? The kids are all excited. Maybe they see that gift card and it says 500 with it with the cash sign there

This is amazing just because you have that gift card doesn't mean there's anything in it

It might look like the real deal. But if you go to the register and try to check out it's there's no funds

Nothing's been added to it in that way. It's like Christianity going through the motions.

It can seem like you have the gift card like I got it Look what it says on it. Doesn't that look right?

But there's there's nothing to work out. There's nothing contained within that Salvation is something that is given to you and because it's given to you because it's loaded into you as it were

Only then can you spend it only then can you work it out? But many have the form without the reality

And one of the things they use to excuse their inactivity Their lack of resolve their lack of desire their refusal to work out the most painful and difficult aspects of the

Christian walk They say well, you know God will do it when he's gonna do it God is sovereign.

What can I do? I Hope you're hearing my point. You can do a lot

You can do a lot Let it be said you can do nothing apart from him

But in terms of the means of grace that he provides You must work.

You must work out your salvation. That's the point Notice what the idea is not it's not work for your salvation.

That's that's blasphemous to the gospel It's not working for your salvation. It's not something you earn

Salvation is a gift of God's grace. It's given freely. You don't work for your salvation. You don't work toward your salvation

God gave me a down posit and I need to somehow keep earning enough until I can purchase salvation

No, you don't work at your salvation. No salvation is accomplished and applied.

It is all of God's grace It is all contained and perfected in Christ Jesus But you still must work out you don't work for you don't work at you don't work toward But you do work out and those on the narrow path work out their salvation

You only have something to work out if God has worked in you only have fruit to bear if God has allowed seed to be sown and water to be poured and Growth to be given and the buds and the fruit are all the effects of God's Sovereign grace at work in the life of the believer and when

God is at work in the life of the believer that believer is Working out that grace working out that salvation.

That's why Jesus can say you'll know by the fruit. You'll know We've been saved

Once and for all that that is what some theologians call punctiliar salvation that once for all

Paul in this in this way of thinking is talking about linear salvation not the

Was I saved but am I being saved and will I be saved? That's linear salvation and Understanding how these things cohere is very important talking about the am

I being saved is a way of talking about am I being sanctified is Christ's presence by his spirit really renewing me

Is there a cleansing power in my life fueled by the grace of the gospel the grace of Justification and is that working itself out in my life in terms of progressive sanctification?

What is this narrow and difficult path if it's not the path of sanctification on the way to glorification?

That's what it is That's why it's difficult We know that it's

God who's doing the work and yet we are exhorted. We are commanded

We're held to work out the salvation that he freely gives and so those on the narrow path are doers of the word

They're doing the work. That's what it means to work out It means we're not hearing only as James one wars against what happens when we're hearing merely hearing or deceiving ourselves

You think because you hear something that you've done it Hearing is just the beginning

Hearing doesn't help anybody Hearing doesn't change anything. It's the doing that counts. It's the doing that matters

Sometimes we we feel assured because we've heard something or because we've thought something that we've done the work big mistake

Like think, you know, I'd like to you know, share Christ to my neighbor It's good that I thought that I feel good about myself

It's nice that you feel good about that, but you haven't done it what good is that to your neighbor? What good is it to hear messages that we know to be true

But we're not responding in the way that we then carry out our lives carry out our walk

That's to be a hearer. That is deceiving him or herself so we're not called to be hearers were called to be doers of the

Word of God and Doing the Word of God looks like working out the salvation that he's giving the salvation that he describes

He gives exhortations and commands. He gives blessings and promises. These are the things we work out in our lives

He ordains in his sovereignty the particular circumstances of every season of our life the relationships

We find ourselves in the straits of difficulty the trials and troubles as well as the blessings unexpected blessings unexpected rain was it windfall, but nevertheless, we're exhorted as we who look into the perfect law of Liberty and Continue in it as James one says

Not as forgetful hearers, but as doers of the word these are the ones that are actually blessed in what they do

It's no blessing to hear The blessing comes in working it out

And so this is another way of saying those who are on the narrow path are active in their obedience to the commands of Christ Obedience is not a dirty word

It's really important we understand that of course We need to let the full weight of the law with all of its majesty and power

Affect the way that we look at the the mercy of the gospel You need to preach the law fully and wholly and comprehensively in such a way that that law gospel contrast never gets blurred

The law is not the gospel. The gospel is not the law. It's very important that we always understand these things

We don't blur them or or do Glossable as some have said and make make them somewhat akin and parallel to each other

That is a sharp contrast read 2nd Corinthians 3 read the whole letter of Galatians and many other passages we could go to But the point is in in so doing we must understand the law is wholly just and good and the path that is narrow and Difficult is difficult because it requires obedience from the heart

Obedience is not a negative concept or a dirty word for the Christian life. It's the Christians way of life not in terms of justification

That is by faith alone apart from works But frankly what is sanctification without obedience?

What is it? So the narrow way shows

How difficult it is because it requires obeying commands that cut against our flesh

Cut against the ways of the world cut into the most difficult pursuits and relationships in our lives

And it's there at that very point that if we would press forward in the path alone that leads to life

We must submit we must obey we must hearken hear and respond. We must be doers of the word that's received

We must obey Many that say

Lord Lord Will be cast away into outer darkness forever for this very reason as Jesus says

What did they work out not obedience lawlessness They weren't working it out

They weren't progressing along this difficult path and obedience. Listen to what Spurgeon says brothers

We do not give secondary place to obedience as some would think We look upon the obedience of the heart to the will of God as salvation itself.

I When when God promises a new covenant which in in redemptive history comes about in the blood of Christ Part of that new covenant promises.

I'm gonna take out that heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh now They'll be able to do my law now.

They'll be able to keep my commandments You see that's how he's saying this obedience from the heart this obedience of faith

This is what salvation corresponds to in many ways this is why we've been saved this is how we'll be sanctified

This is what it means to become Christ like you want to be like Christ Be obedient to the law of God How are you gonna do that repentance faith the grace of justification empowered by the

Spirit which equips you and enables you to mortify the deeds of the flesh and Take every step that he trod on this difficult and narrow path of sanctification that leads to glorification

Notice also notice this narrow path this narrow gate it shows us how intimate the nature of faith is isn't it?

we don't get the sense that this narrow gate is you know a door that swings open from time to time and you know six or seven people rushing at a time and No, it's it's it's so intimate an individual you if you are hearing the voice you

It's about your faith your relationship your soul your standing before God So it's concerned about individuals

That means you can't ride in on someone else's coattails Surely, I'm on the narrow path.

Look at what family I belong to Surely I'm on the narrow path. Look at what church I go to Look at the people

I hang around if that's not narrow path. I don't know what narrow path is You see how intimate this is

It's narrow its way is narrow It demands a particular individual response it demands a particular way of life not externally

Seeming to fit the part that others are fitting but internally inwardly before God the

God who sees one's heart sees one's faith This is what it all comes down to this is why many say many say

Lord Lord That's haunting Jesus doesn't say a few will say

Lord Lord. He doesn't say some will say Lord Lord many and How many are on the narrow path?

few the narrow way demands a particular response to God an individual intimate response to God a narrow particular way of life of Working out the salvation you've received

These are Jesus words, this is Jesus warning listen to Martin Lloyd -Jones Is there anything that so thoroughly tests our whole?

Profession of the Christian faith as our reaction to it when it calls upon us to live a certain kind of life

And masterful you see what he's saying Is there anything you could point to upon which the whole profession of your

Christianity rests other than this when your life when your? Circumstances when your situation is going against a very clear command and desire of God When you're at that watershed, are you on the

Broadway? Are you gonna lop along the way toward destruction or you're gonna go in that difficult way few will go that way

But your profession your Christianity your soul rests upon the way that you go you see

Listen to Lloyd -Jones again. We may like to hear the gospel with its grand good news and all that it has to offer Be a hearer who doesn't want to be a here

We do not always feel quite so pleased when it goes on to call us to live a particular way I Like hearing

I don't want to change anything I Like hearing but I don't want to have to turn around and go in a different direction

That's too difficult. That's too painful. It's too narrow. It's too costly. I won't do it

There is then no better test of my whole Position than my reaction when I'm confronted with this amazing call of the

New Testament of the Lord himself To deny myself take up the cross and follow Christ Which always means putting my flesh to death the deeds of my body my members which are on the earth and all the ways the

New Testament speaks And so the salvation of believers depends on working out the salvation that believers have received

Who is on the narrow path in this first point those who are working out their salvation?

those who work now second point secondly Who's on the narrow path? those who are gaining

If you're walking on a path and you're not gaining ground you're not walking on a path Working out just think of it in terms of going to the gym right

Why do people go to the gym they want games? games If you went to the gym and you got weaker and weaker

You say something's going wrong here I'm working out if I'm working out there should be gains it it should be evidence in a way that fruit becomes evident

You'll know them by their fruits Spiritually speaking you want others to look at you and go he must work out

Look at those gains in his life Look at the progress he's making This is what it means to walk on a difficult way

You're actually getting further in those difficulties because you're seeking that game. What is the

Lord you think of the parable of talents? What does the Lord look for in the parable of the talents gain? It's not up to you to decide how many talents you've been given

What's been entrusted to you that that's not up to you What's up to you is the game that you'll bring in light of it

He rewards the 50 talents as much as the hundred fifty talents The only thing that doesn't receive a reward

The only thing that is not responded to with a well -done faithful servant is the one who buries who squanders who refuses to gain

With the very things that have been given To that one. It's you wicked servant Didn't you know

I'd be coming? So the Lord's looking for gain

If we're working things out Because of what's been worked into us by the

Spirit of God if we're working things out there will be gain If we're on a narrow path trudging along there will be progression.

That's the point So we're not called just to maintain We're not called to simply become passive and slip away and try to hold on to what we have

We're not to have the master come to our lives and go. Look I give back to you that which you gave me that no

I Worked something into you and I'm expecting fruit. I'm expecting gain. I'm expecting increase.

I want to see progress That's all comes about by his grace But it's one of the ways we understand who was on the narrow path and who is not those on the narrow path have gain

It is not possible in the economy of God it is not possible in the vineyard of the kingdom

To take up the soil and all the nutrients of the means of grace and never grow

It's just not possible to not gain to not bud And it tends to be these things rarely to think you can retain or maintain.

It's it's only ever loss If you're not growing you're losing If you're not gaining you're faltering, but there's just there's just no place to stand still in these spiritual dynamics

If you're not pressing forward you're falling back The ones that I and this has been my own experience

Maybe it was someone else's but but my experience part of my life was when I thought I was standing still and maintaining

I was on a I was on a slip -and -slide away from God It's the deception of sin the illusion that somehow

I can stand still and it'll be okay. I can just know If you're not gaining you're losing

If you're not gaining there's a good chance. You're not on the narrow path Because the gains come as you trudge along it.

Have you seen these these hikers that? They plan their whole life around a trip to Everest and they video every moment they can it's just like this great moment of triumph

They have conquered the height of Everest one of the tallest Places you can go on this earth and and they've conquered and they're at the top and who's with them this team of Sherpas And where's the confetti for them this is like, oh, yeah,

I've been up 120 times it's like it's nothing for them What have those

Sherpas learned along the way? They hadn't they didn't have to train for three years. This is life to them

Their their ability their their lung capacity Their understanding of the topography that their wisdom in terms of dealing with logistics and it's like it's it's just second nature to them at that point

You see This is what it means to gain You gain that experience you gain that wisdom you gain that discernment you gain the fruit that accords with growing in the things of God Growing in the grace and knowledge of our

Lord Jesus Christ. That's gain gain is growth growth is gain Now gain for us as Christians in this narrow and difficult path means

It has to be my gain just like it has to be my faith Just like it has to be my entrance to the narrow gate

I can't say well, it's time for me to sit back because You know, I have a lot of gain and others probably don't have as much gain as me

So I can just sort of I can sort of put it in cruise control now. That's not how this works What does

Paul say? I worked harder than them all Nevertheless it was not

I but it was the grace of God in me See it wasn't selfish ambition It wasn't a desire to purchase salvation that caused

Paul to work harder than others It was his recognition of who he was working for What he was laboring toward he wanted to gain show forth his gratitude

He wanted to be faithful to the Lord in the way that the Lord had been faithful to him This is gain it means that we pursue

Not just half inch ahead of others, but we pursue all that we can with what we've been given

That's game. I To be one step farther than others, so I don't raise any eyebrows

I don't want to simply blend into the Peloton of my peers It's not enough of what other believers might or might not be doing where I've been taught where the

Lord's made something clear to me Where my conscience has been awakened there. I obey there. I will seek to gain the reality is

If it's not costing you something, what is it worth? David at the threshing floor of a run of the

Jebusite when Said oh if you're if you're making something unto the Lord, you can have the land and David says no

No, I'm not gonna offer to the Lord that which doesn't cost me anything If your gains are to the

Lord, they're gonna be costly gains. They're gonna be costly gains These gains don't come naturally if I want to have an

Adonis like figure I can't just sit on the couch and eat Cheetos and will it Or watch old

VHS tapes of workout routines as I'm munching what's that gonna do? Gains are costly gains require sacrifice gains become difficult.

You're fighting your flesh You're denying yourself. There's all sorts of things you're doing relationally and circumstantially in order to protect and further those gains

You're not willing to risk anything against them. You don't want them to be undermined. You don't want them to be lost So you're more vigilant.

You're more on guard. You're more self -aware You see this is all coming with walking on a narrow way God forbid.

This will be a testimony in our church that children that are growing up in our midst have heard so much about the faith understand so much about not only the scriptures but of history and have been given this beautiful gift of a

God God centered worldview Just to squander it because they never thought they had to work it out never looked to gain

God forbid that from happening But it can happen very easily

When you think God will only come after me I've been given 50 talents, but God's only gonna come after me for five just like some other people that I know

Do you see again how individual this is how individual the narrow gate in the narrow way is what has he given to you?

That's what he's gonna call to account What have you heard? That's what he's coming for. What have you been given?

That's what he's after. Are you gaining? He's not gonna judge you by what he's given to someone else

He's not gonna hold you to a standard of someone else. He's coming for you Are you gonna be one that says

Lord Lord? Or will you joyfully say master? It's pitiful. It's not what

I wanted. It's not what I hoped I'm almost embarrassed, but here's a little bit more and it's like it wasn't even about that Well done so there's no refuge to Have self -confidence by comparing ourselves to others because our narrow way our difficult way is not the way of others

This way is so narrow so difficult It's almost as if you can only put one foot in front of the other as you make your way forward.

It's difficult So you never become comfortable or jaded if you think you're maintaining you're losing if you're not gaining you're faltering a

Hardened heart will get you very comfortable with this idea of backsliding. Listen, you can talk to people here I was one of these people you talked to me about what it's like to be a backslidden

Do you want to know what it's like to be backslidden? At least initially quite nice Quite nice quite comfortable

Until the goads of your conscience by God's mercy kick against you And you begin to know the way of sinners is hard And you have no peace within yourself and even that's a mercy because if you're past that and you're past all feeling

You have a conscience that's seared and there's no opportunity to renew repentance Do you understand what

I'm saying? If you're not gaining you're losing It's never safe in the

Christian life According to Jesus words of a narrow gate that few find and the way is so difficult that not many endure

So it's never safe to feel comfortable if you're not seeing any gains or any fruitfulness in your life

You never want to look of course to the fruits in this morbidly introspective way

But in noticing that there ought to be fruit where there's none You then abide in the vine you look to the one who has all grace and all

Sufficiency and you rehearse again the truths of the gospel and pour again into the very

Word of God Which is able to give refuge and comfort to a weary soul. And so this is the idea here.

It's not that we're Examining under some great magnifying glass whether we have enough gain

But the issue is that we're not becoming complacent and passive where we're not even interested in growth We're not even trying to press forward in things

The degree that's happening. Woe to us. Woe to us. We're not hearing the clear warnings of our

Lord So there is assurance of grace there is praise

God, but there's also a place for sweat and tears and prayers When we lose sight and we get our priorities long we begin to lose the force of Christian living.

We're losing sight of the goal this goal this desire

Everlasting life is meant to Invigorate us on the difficult way

We're press forwarding in that and we're saying these difficulties are worth that end To the degree that you're not facing difficulty.

I question have you lost sight of the end? Again what we said last week was those who are on the broad path would not be on the broad path if they knew where the broad path ended

People are on the broad path because they have absolutely no idea. They just have no idea As one brother years ago commented a memory from R .C.

Sproul, I think it was in an answer to a question about hell and how we're to understand hell and Sproul said very somberly

It's at least fire It's at least fire

No one would be on the broad path if they knew where the broad path ended But Jesus says there's very few on the narrow path very few

There's few that are trying to work out that which has been entrusted to them There's very few that are seeking to gain rather than become complacent and compare themselves with the rest

It's very few that are actually following in the footsteps that I've laid out So there's assurance of grace, of course there is but there's sweat and there's prayer and there's tears and there's dragging across There's no place for snores or yawns or indifference or next month next year.

We'll get there eventually Not if we're hearing the Lord clearly Do you not know that those who run in a race all run?

But only one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain it Who goes to a race and thinks

I'm aiming for bronze? I'm here and I just want to get across the line.

No, everyone there is trying to win the prize and want first place And Paul's saying you need to think of the

Christian life in this way everyone might be running but don't just try to keep up with them because then you might be on the broad path if you want

To run and obtain you need to run as if it's the only way to obtain Not that you're jockeying for position in some fleshly way

But you're running as to win doesn't matter what others do or don't do. It's what I must do. I'm seeking everlasting life

There's a reason that Christian when he's fleeing the city of destruction. He's plugging up his ears. He said life life life

It's like don't dissuade me. Don't slow me down. I need to press on I want to run in such a way as to obtain it

He says they're just running for some perishable crown. They're ordering their whole lives around that But we're running for an imperishable crown if you're not running to obtain.

Why are you running? Well, here's the thing about running and this is our third third point

We're not running. Thank God. We're not running a 50 -yard dash. I Hated the 50 -yard dash when

I was in school. I Dreaded it. I mean I do not like our sort of relativistic

Society, but I would take the participation trophy Gladly because I absolutely hated being at the rock bottom of my grade

As I almost always was For the 50 -yard dash I could probably count on one hand how many times

I've genuinely run in my life Unlike Eric Liddell, I do not feel God's pleasure when

I run I feel the effects of the fall and Adams guilt But the beauty of the 50 -yard dash is it's it's fast and it's furious

That is the wrong conception of the Christian life My fear is many think they're on the narrow path because they had a 50 -yard dash 13 years ago at a summer camp

Been there done that Not only did I run the race has to win I won it 13 years ago

I got my get out of hell free card. I've been great ever since Do you read the

Bible? Do you pray do you gather with believers now? No, but I'm good. I'm good with God Wrong conception of the

Christian life. It's not a 50 -yard dash. It's a marathon And this third point is those on the narrow path persevere

So there's the working out of salvation There's the gains that come as you work things out and then there's the persevering in those gains

You you gain things not to go backward but to press on forward that requires perseverance Now, of course, it's the

Lord who's put us on the right path. It's the Lord who brings us to the narrow gate He opens our ears that we can even hear that call and in that right direction of repentance and faith

It's the Lord who begins that work and because he's the one who begins it. He guarantees to see it through It's all of the

Lord. It's the Lord who causes us to stand. It's the Lord who renews our strength when we're weak It's the

Lord who delivers us out of temptation and evil. It's the Lord who conforms us to the image of his Son in glory

It's all of the Lord and when we behold these wonderful truths again, this presses us to endure to persevere

It's not up to me mustering in my flesh But it's up to as it were yielding throwing myself independence upon the

Son of God who has given for me That's how you persevere in the Christian life But of course everywhere in the

New Testament, the exhortation is simply bald persevere Don't get thrown off Persevere We're prone to forget that we're engaged in spiritual battle

And so against Peter's advice it always overtakes us like a fiery trial.

We're surprised. We're shocked. We're devastated. What does scripture say? persevere To use other language endure hardship like a good soldier

Timothy Endure it It's not it wasn't supposed to be easy. You're wrong for thinking.

It was supposed to be easy endure it persevere And when you fall asleep at the watch you're giving in to wrong ways

The New Testament command comes no persevere Keep your eyes spiritually open when you're exhausted and things that are spiritual and you're becoming easily thrown about by winds and waves

You're easily deceived the call comes out persevere and sound doctrine Persevere and in seeking after the truth and ordering your life accordingly persevere don't lose heart those on the narrow path persevere

X22 Paul and Barnabas are preaching and they're making many disciples and they come back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch and we read in the

Summary strengthening the souls of the disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith

Have faith but continue in the faith continue in it And they are saying this through many tribulations.

We must enter the kingdom of God So what are they doing when they say you need to continue in the faith and it's going to be a continuance through many tribulations

What are they saying persevere? Don't lose heart. Don't get thrown off Yes, he says to Timothy all who desire to live godly in Christ.

Jesus will suffer persecution so it's a related word for narrow here that the word of trouble or Pressure or persecution affliction even flibo and so often we're called by God to persevere

But we're to persevere in him were to persevere looking to him The writer of Hebrews talks about running the race with endurance this race that set before us and how do we do that?

We look to him who's the author and finisher of our faith It's never something we're mustering up, but it is something we're doing.

It's never something we create but it is something we work out Do you see? Perseverance involves single -mindedness

Single -mindedness It's an insult to be considered narrow -minded.

Well, it's a compliment in this way Those who are on the narrow path need to be narrow -minded.

I Just don't have time. I just don't have interest I just can't afford to turn my mind to all these lesser things.

I have a singular mind. I have a singular goal It overrides and directs everything

They're single -minded one thing is their heart cry one thing Like Paul one thing

I do Forget what's behind I reach forward to the things which are ahead. I'm pressing toward the goal

That's working out that's gaining that's persevering and it requires a singular mind

I press on because I'm only looking in one direction. My eyes are fixed at a certain point

That's why I press on that's why I persevere Again, we know God ordains all of our circumstances all of our steps.

He gives many things that call for our attention They pull on our heartstrings that they're the trials and troubles and dark days of our lives

But we know that there's no area no place. No season. No time No relationship where the

Christian can't have one thing that they're pursuing One thing that cuts through it all

One aim one desire one vision one goal The difficulty of the narrow path is maintaining that singularity of mind in the midst of so much turmoil and difficulty

Trouble within trouble without how can we keep our minds on the Lord? How can I have the heart of the psalmist one thing

I desire and that alone I'm going to seek But I might dwell in the house of the

Lord all the days of my life and behold the beauty of the Lord It's easy to say we want that it's another thing to live and order our lives as if it were true

One of the say one thing I'm seeking But then you look at my life and there's actually about 20 things.

I'm seeking One thing I desire but there's actually about 30 things

I'm desiring all Lesser pursuits all lesser desires must yield to this.

You must be singular minded if You would persevere on the narrow and difficult path

And of course the duties and responsibilities of our everyday lives are not at odds with this they're part of this they're part and parcel of this

Jesus came and showed us for this to be true Every physical act is also a spiritual act.

We are bodies and souls were embodied souls We don't compartmentalize anything in our life.

We run the race with all that we have in front of us We pursue with a single mind and persevere with everything that's going on in our lives

We don't compartmentalize this pursuit. We don't say well, this is all going on over here But in this little area

I am seeking God and trying to persevere. No, you're doing it all together all at once We acknowledge that this world belongs to him by faith

We acknowledge this destiny of history this ushering forth of redemption toward the very end of time and space

We see ourselves as chosen vessels cogs in the great wheel of his kingdom purpose. We look around us

We see lilies clothing the field covering over our toes We see sparrows being fed faithfully day by day every mundane thing

We know corresponds to this realization this singular aim that God would be glorified as his kingdom is consummated

That has everything to do with Serving lasagna shoveling snow changing diapers saying hi to your neighbor.

Like there's nothing nothing Outside the scope of that singular aim whether you eat or you drink you glorify

God So this means that this this desire this narrow path this difficult way requires a perseverance that I am conscious of a

Single -mindedness that I am self -aware Where is my mind?

Where are my thoughts? Where are my cares affections and desires? Pulling and straying in my life

All of life is lived before the face of God whether we would have it that way or not All of life is lived before the face of God all of life every careless word

Must be reckoned with him at the end all of life everyone's life is

Lived before the face of God for the Christian. We seek to have our life lived consciously before the face of God And there's a big difference between the two you're living your life before the face of God whether you like it whether you want it

Or not. He made you He's your creator Doesn't really matter what the clay wants or thinks or would like it matters what the

Potter wants what he desires what he likes You're living your life as a as a clay vessel before him whether you want that to be true or not

That's not something you opt into that's just reality But for the

Christian the only way we can endure and persevere in this difficult path is by having a single -mindedness

That I am conscious of that fact and I'm seeking to live in light of it Remember years ago.

We were talking about the police departments, you know having debates about whether or not to get body cameras

And just reflecting on how many of us would like to have body cameras on us all day subject to a board review

That would be very humbling But the reality is a body camera can only capture so much the audio is always a little off you have a very limited perspective

God, it's everything's open before God and At deeper levels and transparencies and you could ever even imagine and there's no response

Atheists might be able to stump the occasional Christian at the campus quad But they all become mysteriously dumb and silent when they stand before their creator

To live as a Christian is to live with this conscious self -awareness that all of life is before the face of God And before the face of God, he's opened to me this narrow path and it's so difficult and I need to persevere

I need to work out and I need to gain and I can't lose those gains and I'm only gonna be able to do that If I'm fixated upon him,

I see his sight. I desire to live for him. I'm pursuing him I will not rest until I'm with him.

I will not stop going forward until I see him and become like him It's a long distance

The Savior calls me by name from the right hand of the Father. That's a long way away

It's gonna be a walk and a difficult journey for the rest of my life But I'll never stop going not till I see the one who calls me

That's Christianity. It means we persevere brothers and sisters.

We persevere the world full of its glittering vanities

It doesn't bog us down It doesn't mean more than it should we appreciate the good things the good gifts of a good father

But the glittering vanity we allow to roll past us It doesn't occupy a place in our minds our hearts that it shouldn't we know the difference unlike children between real gold and fools gold

We know how to valuable the things that are actually valuable We recognize that this warfare this singularity this endurance is against the world

But also the flesh because our flesh is never content. It's never satiated. It's always pulling and pushing and warring within us

That's why we're crucifying it on this difficult path and the evil one who gives us no rest

He prowls about to along this difficult way seeking to discourage seeking to distract seeking to threaten.

He's a lion seeking whom he can devour It's not just him It's the whole host constantly tripping and threatening and seeking to ensnare the

Christian if not worldliness than legalism if not laziness than pride and What what is the call through all of this persevere?

Persevere it means you must withstand trials and discouragements if you would make it to the gates if you would receive eternal life in the presence of God forever

You must withstand trials and discouragements He calls us to this he calls us to persevere.

He does that by giving us great comforts along the way Thank God. It's not all dark all thorny all difficult.

We would lose heart, but God is so gracious He gives us blessings he gives us turnouts. He gives us refuge along the way

These we call the promises of his word. That's when the way is getting tough and the

Christian is losing heart. What do you do? If it's gone so bad so far so difficult that you're in the dungeon of despair.

What do you do? You break out with the promise of God's Word You preach the truth the reality of the promise that you've received and trusted in by faith

If you ever heard the ancient hymn today, um

Which is a compilation of a number of passages and Psalms and the ending line I remember the first time

I heard it. It's stuck with me ever since And the last line of the today, um is

Oh Lord Oh Lord in you I have trusted Let me never be confounded

In other words, I'm banking it all on the truth of your word All I have is what you've promised.

Don't let me be taken away Don't let it all fall through Don't let me be lost forever.

You see that's sometimes where the Christian life is reduced to it's not the blessings and the helps and the

Means of grace along the way but clinging by the edges of your fingernails to the promise Saying don't let me be confounded.

This is all I have It's your promise That's that's Abrahamic faith, and he's the father of all those who have faith.

I And as we'll see Toward the end of chapter 7 that alone is the foundation you can actually build something that will endure judgment and the storms of life

It's by building on the word on the promise of God That and that alone will endure

Whatever else however high and towering and sure it may seem comes crashing down and great is its fall

So Christians persevere we persevere by the exceedingly great and precious promises that he gives us to preserve us and deliver us

He promises us. Nothing will ever separate us from his love for us So we're not led into despair even as we're working things out and seeking those gains

We're not doing so as if we're whittling away down to the bones of our knuckles We're reminded he who loved us also called us and he's faithful.

He will do this in our lives. We turn to him That's how we persevere and if there's no other reason to persevere than this

Let it be said we persevere because Jesus told us The only way that leads to life is narrow and there's very few who find it

Very few Is that not a reason for you to persevere this morning? You know, the parallel in Luke 13 is so striking

Luke had some details that are different from Matthew And it's in verse 22 in Luke 13 and we read

Jesus went through the cities in the villages Teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Think about this this whole prelude is he's going around through the major cities

He's coming into the villages. He's preaching by the synagogues He's gathering all these hosts hundreds if not thousands upon thousands of people and he's teaching them and he's preaching in these ways

He's revealing the righteousness of the kingdom He's showing the narrow gate Which is ultimately him the way the truth and the life everlasting and someone interrupts him and says

Lord Are there few who are saved? I've been listening to your message.

I've been listening to this sermon Are there only a few that are saved and I just before you even get to the next verse

I Just imagine what that was like because it's Jesus who's being asked this question

Lord Are there are there few who are saved? Just pause there.

How is Jesus gonna respond? I mean We're not told his manner

At least explicitly in this passage, but we can think of his manner. How does the scriptures describe him a man of sorrows?

When when he overlooked the city of Jerusalem in Matthew 23, what was his demeanor?

He looked and he said I would have gathered you. I Would have gathered you like a hen gathers a brood under her wings.

You weren't willing This is I think of Matthew 9 and Jesus having

Sort of twist twisting compassion in his in his guts in this splag not some

I this this compulsion within his guts They're like sheep without a shepherd and they're hungry and they're weary.

They've been traveling with me for these days So that's the

Jesus that is receiving that question Lord. Are there few who are saved and what does he say his answer? And I think it's an answer full of pity full of compassion full of sorrow is this

Strive to enter the narrow gate strive to enter the narrow gate.

That's his response Lord are there only a few who make it listen to me

You must enter that narrow gate You must enter that narrow gate and listen to what he says

Many I say to you will seek to enter and they won't be able Jesus does not hear say there are few who find it.

He says many want to enter it and they won't be able Lord Lord But the door remains closed the way to life remains shut

Jesus is able to say this. It was a beautiful hymn that our brother chose for us this morning Especially in light of this call to persevere

Christian you are weary. I was weary too You see the one who says you must enter the narrow gate is the one who who not only created the narrow gate

Opened up this way to life after this pitch black collapse of sin happened as a result of the fall of humanity

And he opened up this narrow way, but that's not enough. How can fallen sinners get through that narrow way and be with a holy

God? So it wasn't enough for him to create to to open a narrow way out of this pitch black guilt and condemnation

That would lead to everlasting life. He actually had to become like us Become a human being and go through that narrow way himself and how narrow was that way?

It was so narrow that the Lord of glory in heaven took on flesh to be mocked and spit upon and gossiped about It was so narrow that he became a byword and a mockery and an insult a jeering line among the religious elites of the day

It was so narrow that his own disciples that he poured his life into for three years Couldn't even get their acts together

They were so confused about his mission and rather than enabling him and comforting him in his mission They almost made it harder.

They hindered him in it get behind me Satan. He had to say them his way was so isolated and narrow So narrow that at Gethsemane they all abandoned him to fulfill strike the shepherd the sheep will scatter and alone with blood -soaked

Garments he's crying out to the father take this cup from me, but he keeps pressing forward in the narrow way

How much more narrow does it get narrow when they're putting chains around him and dragging him between courts? Narrow when they're whipping his back narrow when he doesn't even have the freedom to move his limbs because they're stretched out and nailed to the cross

Narrow when he breathes his last and then is placed in the confines of a tomb the Lord and creator of universes that are constantly

Expanding being confined to a tomb in Jerusalem. Do we really understand the weight of those words

Christian? You are weary I was weary to Persevere Persevere he does not call us to walk in a way that he himself has not walked

He went the narrow way that was so narrow he and he alone could actually do it in light of that he he spreads a narrow path compared to the broad way, but a

Much broader path for his people and he says come follow me Come pursue me and don't lose heart

Work out what I've worked into you work it out and get those gains and don't lose them keep pressing forward

Don't look behind you. Don't look around you look to me live before my face Don't stop moving forward in this narrow and difficult way until you see him who calls you

Many Jesus says will seek to enter that narrow way. They won't be able These people as all people are grass our glory fades like the flowers of the field it it withers

But the Word of the Lord endures forever as John puts it the world and its desires pass away

But whoever does the will of God abides? forever Many will seek eternal life.

The gate is narrow. The way is difficult If you understand the grace of God in Christ and you have ears to hear his call

You know that that's not your hearing. That's a supernatural gift. It's not your heeding because it's not you're working.

It's not you're pressing It's not your wisdom your strength your endurance your perseverance. It's his grace. It's his call.

It's his gift of life and so if you're hearing that this morning as one who has ears to hear hear the comfort and assurance contained within it as You press along and persevere in the narrow thorny a difficult way one day

You'll make it at last and although you worked it out Although you sweat and you labored and you toiled although you prayed and you fasted and you watched although you dragged that cross and ran

The race as to win although you persevered through it all at the last in glory When you're sitting at the wedding supper of the

Lamb in glorious attire and others are saying how is it that you came in here? How did you come to this place?

The the answers won't be any of those things. In fact, the answer behind all answers would simply be truly

I Don't know why I'm here Truly, I shouldn't be here.

I mean I answered the call. I Repented and believed I trusted in Christ alone.

I Persevered in faith. I overcame trials and temptations. I fought as a faithful soldier

I ran as a marathon athlete. I waited for his appearance. I worked out my salvation

But you're asking why I'm hearing I'm telling you. I don't know why I'm here. I don't know why I was made to hear his voice and enter while there was room in this little narrow gates that he opened and Thousands made a wretched choice.

They wanted to starve rather than come Enter by the narrow gate

For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction. There are so many Who go in by it?

But narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are

Few who find it. Let's pray father.

We thank you for Sending your son Lord To go in that narrow and difficult way even to death even the death of the cross

But only that he could truly open the way of life as he burst forth through the grave

In glory of his resurrected power No wonder he is the author and finisher of our faith

For he has taken every step along the way to its utmost before you and for us

We thank you that you've given to him him to us as a faithful high priest Who knows our weariness because he was weary to knows our sorrows because he's a man of sorrows

But knows the things we cannot know he knows your presence in its fullness He knows the glory that awaits

He knows the morning on the other side of life's night He knows the truth and wisdom and power of your word at work in this world in our lives

He knows the the faithfulness of your covenant the goodness of your desire the wisdom of your power in our circumstances

Thank you for the faithfulness of our thank you for the spirit. He sends to inhabit and indwell us Thank you that we don't have to muster up these things from us

But Lord simply attain them by faith and work them out as you supply Lord truly We can do nothing apart from you help us to abide in the vine

Is there a stranger to this grace who's hearing your call to enter by the narrow gate Lord bring them through it?

Let the nearness of that gate take away all their pride all their self -righteousness all their half half works of repentance

Let those all simply fall off of them and they lay hold of you by faith

Turn now from this broad path to destruction to begin walking toward the one who's calling them in a narrow and difficult way

Might they find some company and some help even from brothers and sisters here And if there's a brother and sister here who's struggling

Lord Weary and discouraged may this be a call for them to persevere

Lord help us not to be so distracted by the ends of the branches that we neglect the vine

But having abided in the vine may we see the fruit the gain of walking in this way

Forgive us where we falter forgive us where we slink down Strengthen and enable your people to endure this race as to win.