Title: Five Lifestyles of a Narrow Door
Sermon on the Mount (28) 5 Lifestyles at the Narrow Gate
(Matthew 7:13-14)
1. A Life Without Pursuit of Popularity
Fortresses should be popular with the public, more people looking for them and more recognition. No matter how honest you are, if you are not popular, you will not be recognized. No matter how talented you are, if you are not popular, you will be expelled from the university. No matter how spiritual you are, how much you pray, and how much you love God more than anyone else, if you do not gain popularity through sermons and miracles, the church will not grow, and if the church does not grow, your spirituality will not be recognized. In the end, success usually belongs to the talkative, extrovert, and self-disciplined person.
Even if so many people follow only the outward appearance, the saints should have eyes to see the content and truth, have compassion for sinners and tax collectors, and have the heart of the Lord who got along with them. During the wilderness life, when more than 600,000 men all said, “No!”, only Joshua and Caleb said, “It can be done!” The majority is not necessarily right. If elected in a communist country, even if 99.9% of the votes were in favor, heaven could not be created. You must love the many, but you must not follow only the majority.
2. A life of choosing the difficult path
One day, Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!” (John 12:23). Then the disciples thought that the time had come for them to receive glory too. When Jesus rebuilds the kingdom of David, destroys Rome, and creates an empire, they too will receive a small kingdom and act like a tetrarch. Inflated by such a dream, there was even a fight between the disciples, “Who is higher?” Just then, Jesus explained that to be glorified is to take up the cross.
The disciples could not understand what Jesus was saying, but in the end, Jesus died on the cross just as He had said. Because that is the only true way for the soul to be saved and the Lord to be glorified. The easy and convenient path is neither the path of life nor the path of success. There is no happiness or satisfaction along the way. If you like convenience and tricks, you will not succeed. You have to go through a difficult road to get a blessing and that blessing feels like a real blessing.
3. A life that renounces self-lust
The more you empty yourself and lower yourself, the greater your inner ability and influence will increase. Therefore, in order to live a capable life, we must constantly increase our abilities and at the same time constantly humble ourselves. The greater the difference, the greater the ability. Jesus was the Most High, but when he came down as a human, he did not come as a king, but humbly. That was the source of the healing and power of the Word.
St Francis was born a rich son and lived a prodigal life. Then one day, in a vision, I heard an angel's voice. “Blessed one! Enter through the narrow gate!” Hearing that voice, he gave up everything and began to live like a beggar. When he humbled himself like that, his powers appeared in his life, and the beast became meek when he saw him. To the extent that we humble ourselves and let go of ourselves, a powerful life emerges. Real blessings come only when you fight against greed and win. The path of faith is a path without self. Therefore, in order to taste the essence of faith and grace, you must be able to give up your self and give up your will.
4. A life devoted to the process
People often only see the fruits of successful people. But behind the success there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and there were hardships and hardships. It is not easy to achieve your dreams and visions, so you have to put effort into the process. You cannot become a competent person if you are comfortable. To improve your skills, you have to sleep less, play less, and lessen what you want to do. To make money, you have to play and not eat. Success without the process is difficult to achieve, and even if you do succeed, there is little happiness and reward.
The idea of skipping the process and getting something is so prevalent these days. A lot of people buy lottery tickets. But things gained without the process are of no value and much more often harmful to life. Money obtained without process is not used for good and corrupts the soul. So the result is important, but the process is even more important. The true blessing is the process itself is also a blessing. It is a blessing to pray and receive answers, but to pray consistently and humbly is a blessing in itself. Man likes answers, but God prefers to have the faith to give him an answer.
5. A life that only looks to the Lord
Jesus said, “I am the door” (John 10:9). Jesus is the only door to salvation. Man cannot save himself. Only by accepting Jesus and putting God's grace first can there be salvation and true happiness and blessings. Therefore, we must always humble ourselves in the Lord. A narrow door is usually also a low door. You have to bend down to get in there. Exaggeration and overconfidence are the path of shameful death.
The saints who received the Lord and became the people of heaven cannot go to hell. Then, as a child of the Lord, we should reduce our pride and live proudly only in the Lord. The more you brag about yourself, the greater your shame later on. Later, when you go to heaven and stand before the Lord, you will not know where to put yourself because of the lives you boasted on this earth. The greater the pride on this earth, the less the reward in heaven. So, don't brag, just love.