Title: Through the Narrow Gate
Contents
through the narrow door
Matthew 7:13-14
If you look at the text, Jesus Himself saying, “Enter through the narrow gate” is a parable.
There were eight gates in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, and it was large and wide, so it was easy to get in and out, but if there is one problem, it is only open during the day.
So, for those who need to get in and out at night for urgent or unavoidable matters, we have prepared an emergency door, the so-called “needle door”.
This gate was called the Needle Gate because it was as small as the eye of a needle compared to the other gates, and in fact, it cannot be passed through with horses or luggage. The gate is so narrow that only one person can enter and exit only by bowing his head, so it is difficult and difficult to get in and out.
When Jesus said to enter through the narrow gate, he was speaking with this gate in mind.
Do not enter through the large and wide door, but through this small and narrow door of the needle.
That is, instead of taking the easy and easy way, go the difficult and difficult way.
So what does this mean? What was Jesus trying to teach through these words?
1. Practice the Word
First of all, the command to enter through the narrow gate means to put into practice what Jesus said.
Jesus spoke about how God's people should live.
He said that keeping what he said is difficult and painful, like entering through a narrow gate, and let's look at some of the things he told us to put into practice even if it is difficult and difficult.
5:21 tells us not to be angry with your brother, which is the same as murder.
In verse 39, Jesus said, “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other side as well.” In 5:44, He says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
All of them are good words, but they are difficult to put into practice, but they are saying that they must be put into practice.
So, go through the narrow gate.
Realizing the Word and putting it into practice are two different things. This is because understanding the Word and agreeing to it does not mean that you can put it into practice by yourself. This is because understanding the Word is the same as entering through the wide gate, while putting the Word into practice is entering through the narrow gate.
That's right. God's promises are not fulfilled by saying "Amen" with our mouths, but we must believe and put them into practice. You must live a life of obedience. Only then will the word be fulfilled.
Ruskin, a famous British social thinker, was on his way to lecture at Oxford University. It was raining and the road was not good, so muddy water splashed on my clothes. Arriving in the classroom, Ruskin shook off his clothes and said to the students. “I had a hard time getting to the classroom, what do you think I should do?”
The students replied, “Of course we need to fix the road.”
Then Ruskin said. “Then let’s go out and fix the road right now. Knowing only with your head is of no use.” At Professor Ruskin's words, all the students went out and fixed a path, and after that, the path was named 'Ruskin's Path' to commemorate Ruskin's teachings that valued practice.
Although it is difficult for us, if we put into practice the Word, the way will be opened. It is our way, and God's way is opened.
Dear all! Once you understand the word of the Lord, you must put it into practice.
We must practice with the heart of entering through the narrow gate.
2. Choose right
The next word to enter through the narrow gate is to choose the right one. If you look carefully at the contents of today's text, Jesus tells us to choose one of two doors. One is a large and wide door, and the other is a small and narrow door. Jesus is telling us to choose one of these two doors.
After Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, he told us to choose now, and to follow these words is to enter through the narrow gate, but to not follow this is to enter through the wide gate.
After today's text, Jesus emphasizes selection with another parable. In verses 15-20, he tells us to choose whether the tree will be a good tree or a bad tree. You are saying that if you keep the Sermon on the Mount carefully, you will become a good tree, but if you don't, you will become a bad tree.
And in verses 24-27, it tells us to choose whether to build our house on the rock or on the sand. He is saying that if you keep the Sermon on the Mount carefully, you will build your house on rock, but if you don't, you will build your house on sand.
That's right. Faith is a choice. God does not force us. We respect our choices. However, He shows us the way to make the right choice through His Word. Obviously the choice is ours.
And we are responsible for the consequences of those choices.
In Deuteronomy 30:15 and below, it says: “Behold, I have set before you today life and blessing, death and disaster, which I command you today to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments and ordinances and decrees. Then you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are going to take possession of. It will surely perish, and your days will not be long in the land that you will cross over to possess.”
God has shown us two ways. One is the path of life and happiness, and the other is the path of life and death. Now the choice is ours. We make choices and we are responsible for the consequences. So you have to choose well. Because those choices determine our future.
But making the right choice is never easy.
This is because the present situation in which you make a choice is different from the situation in the future when the result of your choice appears.
Consider the story of the ant and the grasshopper. Will you have fun in the summer or will you work hard and sweat? You must choose. I want to play right now.
But the problem is that winter is coming. You can't survive the winter after having fun now.
Conversely, after sweating and working now, you can spend the winter happily.
Psychologists call “impulsive choice” when you focus on and make choices on your immediate happiness, like grasshoppers.
Conversely, focusing and making choices on future happiness, like ants, is called “controlled choice.”
Making modest choices is hard and painful right now.
That's why Jesus said to enter through the narrow gate.
So, what can we do to make good choices? In short, at the moment of choice, you have to step back, catch your breath, and calmly think about:
First, I think about what the Lord would have done. Second, I think of us rather than myself.
Third, choose what you need over what you want. Fourth, think about tomorrow rather than today.
Dear all! You have to choose well. You should choose a narrow door over a wide one.
3. Don't give up.
Another word to enter through the narrow gate is to not give up until the very end. Verse 14 of today's text says: “Narrow is the gate and stray is the way that leads to life, and few find it.” I made a hard decision and entered through the narrow gate. But the road continues to be narrow. In other words, when I entered through the narrow gate, I saw that the road was a narrow road, and that the narrow road continued to connect.
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a reward commensurate with it right away if you made a difficult and difficult choice? Or how nice it would be to be rewarded for a hard choice even after a year or two? However, there are many people who have made a difficult choice and still give up after making the choice because it is still strong.
The book of Exodus is a detailed account of the story of the people of Israel after the Exodus. The Israelites rejected Pharaoh's threats and relentless pursuit and chose to follow Moses. I decided to leave the land where I had been living for 430 years. Without any certainty as to what kind of life would unfold in the future, he believed only Moses' words and followed them.
In a way, this is a choice for one narrow door.
The place where they left Egypt was the wilderness of Sinai. The pain was indescribable in words.
First of all, there is no water to drink. resent and complain. There is no food to eat. They also complain and complain. For 40 years, the suffering continued. So they kept shouting that they should rather go back to Egypt. It means giving up on the exodus journey. It is about giving up the march to the promised land of Canaan.
That's right. We made a difficult decision and decided to believe in Jesus. I decided to live according to the word of God.
I had a really hard time choosing a narrow door. But that's not the end. Even after the selection, the road is still narrow and difficult to walk. There are many times when you want to give up along the way. But don't give up.
What we must remember clearly is that if you go through a narrow door, there is a narrow way. It is never easy to walk that narrow road. So it's not just one or two urges to give up.
Be patient and endure to the end.
A long time ago there was a wristwatch that was a hit in America. Timex watch(TM). A decisive factor in the popularity of this watch was a TV commercial. Drop the watch from the plane. They are also crushed by trucks. And sometimes throw rocks at the clock. Eventually, the watch broke and broke. Still, the clock was running.
This is the last sentence of the ad. “Timex TM, I’m still going.”
That's right. Our life of faith should be like this. Once a decision is made, once the choice is made, it must be maintained even if the sky falls. It doesn't have to be three days. You shouldn't be shaken by the slightest difficulty.
You should not give up because your business is difficult, you have health problems, or difficulties in your family have arisen.
You must not drop off midway. You must enter through the narrow door. You have to go in and walk all the way down the narrow road.
Dear all! Don't forget that behind the narrow gate there is a narrow road going on and on.
And no matter what happens, don't give up and keep going.
Today, Jesus speaks to us.
“Enter through the narrow gate” Because life can only be obtained by entering through the narrow gate.
For if we do not enter through the narrow gate, but through the wide gate, we will eventually perish.
To enter through the narrow gate means to live by putting the words of Jesus into practice. It is difficult, but it means living obediently. Next, it means choosing the right one. It means choosing the narrow door in the situation of always approaching choices. And it means walking the narrow path without giving up.