Title: Enter the Narrow Way (Matthew 7:13)
Contents
Everyone wants to go on the path of life. However, he says that the gate of life is narrow and the road is strait. So very few people are looking for it. Jesus is telling us to enter through the narrow gate.
The path of faith is like entering through a narrow gate. In other words, it is a path that the whole world hates to go. Faith is not of a popular character. Faith is not out of fashion. Faith is not going the way everyone wants to go.
Why did this word come out? Because a lot of people don't want to go. The gate that leads to destruction is great, but the gate that leads to life is narrow and strait. At the end of the Beatitudes Proclamation, it is said that blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
Why must the righteous suffer persecution? Because the world is evil.
If there is a church that is being persecuted, if there are believers who are being persecuted, it is clearly different from the world. Therefore, rejoice and rejoice in persecution, for great is your reward in heaven. It's as if you're going in the opposite direction to the world.
Because the world is evil, it is inevitably difficult for those who walk the opposite path to that of the wicked. They are bound to suffer persecution.
How is our church? Is it really different from the world? What does the true Church of Christ look like?
The life of the early church as seen through the book of Acts is really different from the world. What would happen if we lived like that of the early church?
Until the 6th century, all church services were offered by gatherings at home. The prototype of the church is called the Community Church. It is a community church. However, some theologians say that the church these days has become the Club Church. A place like a club where people with the same hobbies gather is not the prototype of the church. If there are those who want to live like the early church now.
They are persecuted because they are very different from the world. Therefore, if you live a life of faith without persecution, it may not be true. It's not like you're on the same path as the rest of the world. We obviously go the other way.
swath. What is a wide road? the way the world walks. It is said to be the road that leads to destruction. Don't get carried away here. Even Jesus was opposed by the whole world, and even his disciples did not understand him. He went alone, but because the path was true, many people eventually followed him.
what is my life like What should our church look like? Let's think deeply about this. If you look at the history of the church, it is the history of growing up under persecution. History has come with indescribable persecution, like a person hanging from the end of a pole or hanging from a pole.
One of the most precious words of Jesus is that when you say yes, say yes and when you say no, say no. That's right. yes and no If we do this right, our faith can be right. Today, when many people say yes, when they say no and no, they say yes. When you say yes, you say yes and when you say no, you say no. Those who really want to follow the true path, even if the world goes so far, must know how to say no if the path is a false path. The great new spirit is this great rejection, great repulsion.
In a famous world magazine, I read an article about where is the greatest heresy in human history, and it is called Christianity. Protestants are called Protestants. To say that this is not what it is. Not compromising with the world is the spirit of Christianity.
The Lord has made the world that way. He was not swept away by the world, but conquered the sea and lived.
Just as a roe deer has a path for a roe deer, and a tiger has a path for a tiger, so a disciple has a path of discipleship. The road is narrow and narrow, so few people find it, but it is the path we must take.
In The Lion King, if a lion eats insects and sings “Hakuna Matata” while living, the grasslands become the hyenas. Even if it's hard, when the lion finds his place when he goes down the lion's path, peace will come back to the meadow.
If we want to live comfortably, we can live comfortably. However, we are not the ones who have to live by singing sangga (何如歌). “How are these things and what are they like? How can we be entangled in Mt. Mansusan? We will be entangled in the same way and we will enjoy it for up to a hundred years.” Are we to live like this? “Is this body going to die and die and heal a hundred times and die, and the bones of the bones are exhausted, and there is no one-sided heart toward you?” The servants of the king of the world lived like this. We also have you. The Lord is here. This way of life is the way we should go.
You may feel lonely and lonely. Even so, if it is the path that leads to life, you must go that way. Following the path of discipleship is challenging. It is by no means an easy road, and it is also a strait road. But our comfort is that God is always with us.
It is the path that God walks on and it is the path to life. He tells us not to follow the path of glamor and authority. He tells you not to go through the great gate, the gate of success. He tells us to keep going, remembering that even if it is dangerous and difficult, it is the road that leads to life.
No matter what anyone says, if it is true, then we must be the ones who can go on that path.
We must become a church of the Holy Spirit, a living church, and a church that lives by following the footsteps of Christ's life. Let's look again at today's text.
Enter through the narrow door. For the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many go in by it, for the gate is narrow and the way is cramped that leads to life, and few find it.
Do not try to follow the easy way, the way people of the world like, but to endure persecution. Even if the world vomits us up, even if the world persecutes us, the gate of life is narrow and strait, and few find it. I hope that you will become all the Antioch saints who will remember deeply and silently go our way.
I will pray.
Thank you, Lord, for your abundance of love and grace.
Thank you for allowing us to come to your altar like this and to look at our lives through the Word.
He said that the gate that leads to life is narrow and strait, and few find it.
Many people find the wide door and try to go through it, but we do not want to be swept away by such currents, but only want to be disciples who follow the path of Jesus.
Give me courage and honesty to say no if it is not true,
Help me to become those who can choose the true path, even on the narrow and strait road that no one seeks. Therefore, let the Lord walk with you and lead us to life, and let us become a church that lives in the footsteps of Christ. Grant me the courage to walk our path silently, even in the face of persecution and difficulties.
Thank you for your precious time
I prayed all these words in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.