Beyond The Narrow Path

We have seen that, you know, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, that our Lord Jesus Christ was specifically directing these teachings to his disciples. There may have been other people who have been following our Lord Jesus Christ, but these teachings are directed towards his disciples and they are the kingdom citizens and as a king he is giving these kingdom principles to his people and we have seen that Jesus has mentioned a lot of things in chapters 5, 6 and also in 7 and we are called to live by these principles or these truths and we have also seen that we are utterly incapable of living by these standards and we need how desperately we need God's grace and we have seen in our last sermon that how we need

to keep asking, seeking and knocking, you know, and we need to depend on the Lord so that we know these qualities that we have seen in the Sermon on the Mount become part of our lives, and so that only by seeking, only by depending on our Lord we grow in these qualities. And we are, uh, completely incapable of living by these standards. That’s the reason the very first beatitude that we have seen is that, you know, the poverty of the spirit. We will always be needy people, people in need of God’s grace, right? And today, we will look at one aspect here, and then we will also see what are the gates that are mentioned here, the narrow gate and the broad gate.

Firstly, let’s look at verse 12. I think verse 12 is like a key verse in this entire sermon. And Jesus does not mean that we should do whatever others want. And the word here in verse 12, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you. For this is the Law and the Prophets.” And you see here the word “therefore,” it connects this particular instruction to the preceding teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. It connects this teaching and also the following words, and especially to the immediate context that is teaching on the prayer. And this is crucial to proper interpretation or for proper interpretation.

And this is famously called as the golden rule. The golden rule is not given as a stand-alone moral principle for all humanity, but as a fruit that flows from understanding the Father’s character and also our relationship with him. We must understand this verse also not in isolation, revelation, but in the, in the immediate context and also in the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount. And so if you look up, uh, just one verse above, we see part of what Jesus is pointing us to in the immediate or previous verse is verse 11, where Jesus is talking about the goodness of the heavenly Father. He says, “If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who walk” — sorry, “those who ask him” — because we

as God’s people have received goodness upon goodness from our Father. Because we have experienced Father’s gracious giving, we are called to reflect the same gracious spirit toward our fellow brothers and sisters. Because we have received mercy, we should show mercy. Because we are forgiven, we should forgive, give, right? And we have been forgiven, so we forgive. And this is not just, no, work righteousness, uh, but the inevitable fruit of regeneration, no. And, uh, our life should be a reflection to others of the goodness that God showers on us. And “whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them.” And

the, and this principle is about seeking the good of others, not just avoiding harm, right? And although we want to be treated well, our actions often have the opposite effect. Jesus intended for us to treat others well, not just to receive the same in return. We should act as we wish others to act, because the behavior reflects what the entirety of the law and the prophets teach us, which aligns here in the, you know, in the Sermon on the Mount with the kingdom of God or the values of the kingdom of God. Who among us we has perfectly loved others as we desire to be

loved. We don’t want others to, we have seen in Matthew chapter 7 verses 1 onwards about judging others, right? And we want others to, we don’t want others to judge us. We don’t want others to criticize us. However, when dealing with others, we frequently do that. We do. We frequently assume things about people, we frequently form images about people in our own minds. And, and this, and this verse highlights the log in our own eyes, right? And in especially Matthew chapter 7 verse 1 onwards we see that. And the, and this rule here serves us both as guide and a condemnation, driving us to recognize our need for the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ Jesus alone.

And we need to remain keenly aware of the grace we receive repeatedly from our Lord Jesus Christ. And we should be reminded to extend the same grace to others very often, very often. And the preceding verses here, it stresses on our ongoing dependence on our Lord to meet the kingdom’s norms. To be able to live a life that is really pleasing in the sight of the Lord, we need, for that purpose we need to keep on depending on the Lord. We should keep on asking and seeking our Lord. And Jesus teaches the greatest commandment is, elsewhere he teaches that love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is love your

neighbor as yourself. It is clear in Jesus teaching that the second, that is love your neighbor, cannot be fulfilled without the first. We cannot love others as we love ourselves until we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Our relationships with others is solely dependent on our relationship, on our devotion to our Father. The Lord will give his mercy, the forgiveness for our sins as we depend on him, as we look unto the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we need to extend the same to our fellow brothers and sisters. The same Jesus who laid down all these laws also gave his life for those who break them.

And he will give us his grace daily so that we might see our neighbor with more of the eyes of Jesus, the eyes of love, and might serve the neighbor, our neighbors, and serve also our Lord by loving our fellow people. And living in this manner, giving others what they do not deserve, is the narrow way of living.

In this world, we see that people give what they deserve. If people want to avoid them, they think that they deserve to be avoided. They deserve to be neglected. But giving others what they do not deserve, which we ourselves received from the Father, the mercy that we received, do not deserve the relationship with the Father, something we do not deserve, and we give the same to others who may often offend us, grievous hurt us, but we show mercy again and again. And such a life or such a way of life is the narrow way of life which Jesus talks from verse 13 onwards, words in verses 13 to 29. These verses are the concluding statements of our Lord Jesus Christ, is now applying the Sermon on the Mount to his, to the lives of his

disciples. In the light of the entire Sermon on the Mount, we must now make a decision. You, we have heard our Lord Jesus Christ what it looks like to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, what it looks like to be the kingdom citizen, what it looks like to follow Jesus, right? And now, as we have heard what our Lord Jesus Christ said and taught his people, we should make a decision. It’s not like I made it, I made a prayer once, I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, now I am saved. Your profession of faith in Lord Jesus Christ holds true when

you consistently follow our Lord Jesus Christ. When you consistently submit to the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you heed his teachings. When you consistently look into his word and when you see your own incapability to live by the standards of God’s Word, you depend on him. You cry out to him for greater grace and mercy so that your lives, our lives are pleasing in his sight. That alone is the proof whether you are a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ or not. It’s not by mere profession. So brothers and sisters, as we are hearing these words from our

Lord Jesus Christ. We must make a decision. Your decision determines whether you are a child of God or not. Your decision determines whether you are a kingdom citizen or not. It also determines whom you choose to follow. The Lord or the world. Trying to remain neutral is not an option.

will not work. Two paths, two gates stand before us. You cannot put one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of Christ. That cannot happen. You have to make a choice, either God or the world. And the one you choose have massive consequences. Verse 13 and verse 14. “Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. And there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. And there are few who find it.”

Overall, what Jesus teaches in his sermon is less appealing and quite restrictive. It is less appealing to any human being. And it is quite restrictive. In contrast, there is a way of life that greatly appeals to our sinful nature. All the way through the Sermon on the Mount, it has been obvious that there are only two ways to live, the way of the Lord or the way of the world. And we need to make a choice. There is no negotiation. And this passage we read, the Lord presents us with two gates and two ways. One is a narrow gate, though. We see that in the first part of verse 13.

And then he continues to describe that way or the gate in verse 14. While the other is a wide gate, we see that from verse 13, the second part of verse 13. And the narrow gate leads to narrow way, but ultimately leads to life. And in contrast, the wide gate leads to a broad way, which ultimately leads to destruction. In the original setting, many people were following Jesus. And later also you see that crowds followed Jesus. And even in the mountain there must have been different people other than his disciples. And others who were maybe very curious about who this Jesus was.

and Jesus clarifies from the very start what it means to follow him in this world and what it’s like to follow the kingdom way. And it doesn’t try to conceal the principles of the kingdom. This is simply allows people to see what is all this about. He doesn’t try to allure people, attract people into the kingdom, right? A lot of people do that today in the name of the gospel meetings, and with the gospel they try to attract people with various things into the church. Jesus doesn’t do that. Jesus at the very start of his ministry, he makes it very clear. This is how it

looks. This is how it looks. This is what it means to follow Jesus. This is what it means to follow God in this world. This is what it means to be called as children of God in this world. He makes everything plain and clear.

He is not here to allure people. He is here to make his disciples. And the Lord presents to us two ways. But commands us to enter the right gate. And this kind of thought or this kind of choice which the Lord presents before us in this text. And this kind of choices is quite prevalent in the biblical thought.

People can live in covenant with God and be blessed or they can follow the world and be cursed. And we can trace this idea back into the Garden of Eden. Verses 16 and 17, we see there the Lord commanded the man saying, “You shall not eat this fruit, or you shall — you shall surely eat every…” He says that “you shall surely eat every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,” and he says, “for in that day you eat of it you shall surely die.” And very early on Moses reminds the house of Israel of — after God established covenant with the house of Israel, he, you know, he gives them a choice in a — in Deuteronomy chapter 11. Can we turn our the Bibles

to Deuteronomy chapter 11 and read verses 26 till 28. See here the Moses presents to his people, the people of Israel, choices, two choices, and these choices have consequences. And look at Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 15 as well. He says there, “See, I have said before you today life and good, death and evil.” He says when a few Israelites know were attracted, or many Israelites rather were attracted to the pagan lifestyle around them, here what did Joshua said to them towards the end of his ministry or his life? Look, please turn your Bibles to Joshua chapter 24 verse 15, in a way also presenting

them with a choice, right? Either you serve the gods of this world or serve the true and the living God. And Joshua declares that, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” And look at what David says in Psalm 1. Psalm 1 verses 1 and 2. He says again, he says about two ways of life. He says, “Blessed is a man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, not stands in the way of sinners, not sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

And come down to verse 6. He says, “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the wicked shall perish.” You have — you have choices. Either you follow the Lord, follow the world. You follow the Lord, you will be blessed. He says blessed. I like the way and as we puts it, he say the NASB say, NASB 95 says, “How blessed is a man!” Now that’s an exclamation, right? How blessed is a man. And if you follow the counsel of this world, it says it, you will perish. Two ways before you and two consequences before you. And you can

trace this biblical thought from the Garden of Eden till the end. Right, now first we will examine the broad gate and its characteristics. And Jesus doesn’t provide any commandments here regarding the broad gate, but he simply describes it. When it come out — when it comes to the narrow gate, he gives the command, but regarding the broad gate he doesn’t give a command here. He describes what that looks like. Look at verse 13, the second part. Matthew chapter 7 verse 13, the second part: “For the gate is wide.” Here he is describing the another gate, not the narrow gate. So don’t get confused.

“For the gate is wide.” This is another gate. It’s a wide gate. “And the way is broad that leads to destruction. And there are many who enter through it.” See, the entrance and the way are also broad. They’re wide. It means you can live as you like. Love whatever you like. Worship whatever you want. And many people, he says that many people enter through this gate because it’s appealing to them. Many people enter through the wide gate and walk the broad road of various, for various reasons. Some reject Christ’s way and his moral demands, while others drift with the crowd, you know, and the reason that no

they go with the flow, believing that there is safety in numbers. The reason that, after all, if so and so does it, it must be good. It cannot be really harmful. If only these travelers on the broad road would see that it leads to destruction. And the road that leads to the gate called destruction is large. It’s attractive.

And it’s well traveled. Many people walk this road. It’s popular road. A popular road. Ideologically, it’s open-minded. Morally, anything is accepted. You marry, it’s okay. You’re not married, you’re living with some person, it’s still okay. You’re living with a man, it’s still okay.

You’re living with a woman, it’s still okay. Everything is allowed here. Ideologically, it’s open-minded. It has very few restrictions. Anything works, and spiritually, you can worship any God, you can worship no God, you can say there is no God, you can say I love this God or that God, whatever.

Its advocates argue there is a wide highway to heaven. Take the left, take the right, go straight, go back, you will end up at the same place. “You’re all headed to the same place,” they say. You know, why do you think Adam and Eve chose a broad path? Why? They believed an appealing lie. And what’s that lie? That they could become like God.

Enjoy freedom and independence. Right? That's a lie. Why did some Israelites gravitate toward paganism? Are their gods beautiful? What gravitated them to their paganism? They found obedience to God and his laws are restrictive. While the allure of paganism resonated with their sinful hearts.

Although there is no true beauty in those pagan religions, something about them attracted their sinful nature. And this is that. They could live as they pleased. They could live as they pleased. They could engage in drunken debauchery. In the guise of religion, they could participate in sexual promiscuity.

There were these temple prostitutes who were seen as sacred, and sex with them was considered as sacred. That appealed their sinful nature. The postmodern philosophy is appealing to the sinful heart. What is good for you, need not be good for me. What is bad for you, need not be bad for me.

Morality is subjective. It's so convenient because this philosophy rules out any objective morality. Or it rules out any form of accountability. You can do whatever you like. You can live as you like. You can love whomever you want. You can spend your money as you like. You can flirt with anyone. You can divorce whenever you want. Virtually, there are no restrictions in this way of life. That's the reason many find it, many enter through it. It's appealing. It satisfy the sinful urges of a fallen being. The broad way is appealing not because it is good, because our hearts are fundamentally sinful and are easily attracted to evil. The notion that it

is good, it is safe, there's no harm — it's a lie. It is a forbidden path that stemmed from eating a forbidden fruit. And the truth is that it leads to destruction. Listen to what Jesus says in verse 13: “is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.”

The wide gate is the natural path of fallen humanity. The gate is wide because it accommodates every form of depravity, every form of self-righteousness, our self-righteous good works, self-righteous, even self-righteous religious works. It is wide because it does not acknowledge the necessity of God's provision for our sin.

It is appealing because it requires no self-denial and no submission to the Lordship of Christ. The destination is destruction, not annihilation, but eternal separation from God. The just punishment for sin that every person deserves. That's a broad way. That's a broad gate, broad way, which leads to ruin. And secondly, we see about the narrow gate, the difficult path, which leads to life.

Verse 13, for the first part he says, “enter through the narrow gate.” And then in verse that 14 he says, “for the gate is small” or narrow or straight in some versions, “and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are a few who find it.” Here we see that as he's talking to his people, he now commands, enter through the narrow gate. Don't be deceived by what is appealing to your sinful heart, because eventually it's — it leads to life. You may not see that, but here is something Jesus giving these instructions from the vantage point of God. He sees everything clearly

and he says, there is a broad way, there is a broad gate, there is a broad way which leads to ruin. It's appealing to your sinful life. It is appealing to the sinful heart. But you must, if you want life, you should enter through it. And he says clearly that it's going to be difficult. It's going to be narrow.

But you enter through this gate because this leads to life. surprise you. Here enter is a command. As we have seen repeatedly that Jesus doesn't give suggestions. He doesn't give options. He as a king is commanding his people to make a choice. His people who would like to follow King Jesus should make a vital decision of life in the light of the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount.

Here Jesus is using a metaphor of a gate here, which signifies an entrance to help us picture two entrances and two paths. But the gate that Jesus commands us to enter is narrow. And that road is also narrow, but the road leads to life. The narrow gate is Christ himself.

Elsewhere, Jesus said in John chapter 10 verse 7, he said that, “I am the door.” If something is narrow, the entrance is restrictive. Not many can enter it. And if the pathway is also narrow, you cannot bring along too many things with you.

It is not so attractive, it’s not so appealing. Jesus says, only few will follow it. And ideologically, it is exclusive and it is restrictive. There is no universalism here. Not everyone will be saved. Roads lead to God. Look at what Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 6. He said that, “I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through me.”

Jesus is making a very exclusive statement here. I am only the way. I am only the truth. No one else can lead you to life. No one else can lead I am only. He narrows it down to himself. Look at what Peter said in Acts chapter 4 verse 12. He said, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

That is Christ Jesus alone. Jesus and the Bible are very clear. The way of God is exclusive and restrictive. Jesus of the Bible is the only way. The eternal God who at one point of time came into this world, he became a man, lived a sinless life, went to the cross, took our sins upon himself, our sins were rather laid on him. He suffered and died in our place for our sins in our place under the wrath of God and rose again on the third day for our justification so that we can be in right relationship with the Father. The eternal God man who once for all offered himself as a sacrifice is the only

way by which a sinner can be rightfully saved. Who can claim to have found Jesus? You who claim to be, to have found Jesus, do you believe in the same Jesus of the Bible who is fully God and fully man? Next, the gate is narrow in the sense that Jesus is the only way. You cannot believe everything the world believes and still follow Jesus. You must the inspiration of the Bible and accept what it teaches about God.

You must accept what Bible says about God, about the universe, about creation, about sin, about the fall, about salvation, about judgment. You have to accept all these things. We believe in the Trinity. One God in three persons. All three persons of the godhead are co-equal and co-eternal. This is all mysterious and no to our minds, and which only shows that our minds are finite. We are limited in our understanding. We cannot comprehend everything very clearly. But this is what the Bible says and this is what, this is the truth. We believe in the inspiration of the Holy Bible. Everything the Bible says is true. The theory of evolution lie.

God created everything. God created everything. Your science textbooks may say that, that evolution, it may talk about evolution, but Bible says God created everything. You must make a choice to believe the Bible and this is offensive to a depraved scientific mind. We must believe that the second person of the Trinity came into this world and took upon himself humanity, is fully God and fully man. We must believe that all humans fell in the transgression of the first parents, which is called as the original sin, thereby every person born into this world is born sinful. All humans, all humans are totally depraved in the eyes of God.

Unless God saves people through Jesus, no one can be saved. There are many other doctrines of the Bible which we must believe. This age will come to an end. And Jesus will judge every sinner. Jesus will come again. He will fully establish his kingdom. This earth and heaven will pass away.

There’ll be new heavens and new earth. The gate is narrow because the commandments of the Bible are also restrictive. If you look at the Ten Commandments, eight of the ten commandments begin with “you shall not.” You shall not. It restricts. When the Bible forbids certain things or certain in actions, it is narrow. It is restrictive. The point of the commandment is not merely to restrict us, but to show how sinful we are, but to show what we lack, but to show that we need God’s grace, but to show that we need to be conformed into the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we should

grow in the likeness of God, and all the commandments in the Bible reflect the character of God. We should avoid some things and continue doing others because God wants us to live in that way, reflecting his glory in this world. Brothers and sisters, the gate is narrow because life in the kingdom is

Poverty of spirit, humble dependence on the Lord, not being independent, dependent on the Lord, dependent on your fellow brothers and sisters, being meek, being merciful, hungering always for righteousness which you lack, maintaining purity of heart, enduring suffering well, overcoming anger, lust, overcoming lust, refraining from retaliation or vengeance, loving our enemies, avoiding showing off, being a generous giver, not worrying, refraining from judging others, and persistently praying and depending on a heavenly Father. All of these qualities require commitment and effort to adopt and pursue in life, which is not easy.

You are reminding yourself that every time, every hour, you are reminding that you are a needy person. You are a person in need of God's grace. You have to cry to someone. You are not an independent person. You are not all sufficient person.

You need to cry. Offensive to a fallen sinful person. We are always in need of grace and such a life is not easy. We must continually rely on the Lord for His grace and apart from His grace it is impossible to pursue this life and that is a pathway, the way of discipleship. You are always going to be a disciple, a follower of the Lord.

You are always going to be a subject of a king. You will always live at the mercy of a great and merciful king. Do you know why many of us are weak? Why do we easily fall to numerous temptations? Why do we give easily into lust or anger? Why are we overtly sensitive and take offense so easily? Why are we easily hurt and why do we retaliate against others and withdraw from others, avoid others easily? Why do we harbor a sense of entitlement? Why are we critical of others when we see their failures? Why do we want others to be gentler with us when we fail?

Yet we are harsh with them when they fail. We do not want to know the truth most of the times. And we want to sail in the world of half-truths. We want God to forgive us and restore us. But why do we not want to forgive others or accept them even if they have genuinely repented?

We make assumptions about people, ascribe motives to people, pass judgment on others. All of this is part of our lives because we choose not to walk this narrow path. We don't want to submit to King Jesus. We want to have our own way.

You cannot love anything, brothers and sisters, in this narrow path. You cannot live as you like. You need to avoid several things that may seem appealing to you. But we must not do this because they do not align with our Christian values. We must discipline ourselves in various ways.

How about entertainment? You cannot watch everything that’s there on the OTT, right? You need to evaluate very carefully what you watch. You need to be very critical about it. And the things that are there on OTT brethren, it’s a trap. It’s— Look at what Kevin DeYoung said. “It’s hard to imagine Paul would have been cool with believers in Ephesus watching simulated sex for a fee each month.

“So long as they don’t hook up in real life.” And many people reason this way. Many believers reason this way. As long as I’m not doing it, it’s fine. Brothers and sisters, don’t expose yourself to filth out there. Most of the thing on the television or on your mobile phones is all filth, is all filth.

You doom stroll, there's filth in it. There's filth in it. You need to make a choice not to walk the broad way where everything is accommodated into our lives. And also, not only that, part of the kingdom life is you should be willing to be rejected, not accept it. Not everyone will accept you, not everyone will applause you, applaud for you, praise you, right? You will be, you should be willing to be rejected, mocked, ridiculed and persecuted for the sake of Christ and his kingdom. And yet we should be glad, that we should be glad. Our Lord Jesus Christ taught that in Matthew chapter 5, right? There will be difficult times, but we need

to choose to walk this challenging path, difficult path. We need to limit the time that we spend with friends and elsewhere because I'm needed elsewhere. Maybe I'm most needed at home. You cannot spend Saturday night late hanging out with your friends, watching a movie or playing a stupid video game and skip the church because you're tired and sleeping on the bed.

Meeting with the saints is most important and the Bible warns us you cannot neglect the gathering of the saints. It's an important means of God's grace. You cannot waste your time on less important things because meditating on scriptures and praying are essential for your Christian life.

You need to prioritize these things, brothers and sisters. You should regularly dedicate time to scripture meditation. Not mere reading of the scriptures. But looking into the word and internalizing the word. And seeking God's grace to live by His holy standards through earnest prayers.

Without this, we cannot mature as Christians. Brothers and sisters, just honestly examine your own hearts. Examine your time this past month in Scripture, meditation, and prayer. How diligent were you in studying the Word? Eager were you to look into the word, hungering for God, knowing God? When was the last time you opened the Scriptures and cried to God, “Lord, help me see the truth, help me understand, help me see my own lack, help me understand who you are, help me”? When was the last time you did that, brothers?

And how diligent were you in obeying God's word? How diligent were you in taking your struggle to God's throne? “Lord, your word says this, but I'm unable to do it. Lord, will you please give me grace to live by your holy standards?” Brothers, it breaks my heart to see how an average Christian spends their time. Negligent we are with the important discipline of studying the scriptures and internalizing the word into our lives. Brothers and sisters, we will remain as we are, that is immature, if we neglect scripture meditation, prayer, obedience and the church. You may be active, you out here in the public square, your heads might have been swollen up with high theological truths, but that doesn't matter. That doesn't matter. Are you looking into the word? Are you internalizing the word? Are you obeying the word? Are you seeking his grace earnestly? Are you crying out to

him daily for grace. Brothers and sisters, this path is difficult. It's impossible for us to walk. We are easily attracted to sin because we have no fundamental nature. Our fundamental nature is sinful. We are easily attracted to sin. We can easily be deceived, thinking that my life is good. My Christian life is good, God is okay with me, God will forgive me, God will tolerate me, no he cannot really abandon me, no, we can reason out all day long.

But we must make a choice. You need to decide to walk in this narrow path by depending on him. Only he can give us grace. Though it is difficult, you persevere to walk in this path, because this path leads to life. Broad way leads to destruction. And what is the proof that you are on a pathway of life? The proof is that by God's grace you are on the narrow path. It's not easy, it's going to be difficult, there will be struggle, there will be weaknesses, there will be failures, at times confusion, despair. But you look to Christ, who is the author and the finisher of your faith.

You cry to him for the strength to persevere. That's how we live here. You may have formally made a profession of faith, but you are still on the broad way, living as you like, not submitting to the King Jesus and his teachings. If you're in such a way, you will perish. You will perish. If you're accommodating everything of this world into your life and still say that I'm a Christian, you are deceived, brother. You're deceived, my friend. If you're, if you have entered that gate, you are on the narrow path. Though you're struggling, though you're weak, though you're falling, you will rise up. You cry to him, you depend on him, you trust in his grace, and you walk that path. You are on that narrow path. You will not everything of this world into your life. You will not do it. You will shun it, by God's grace.

That's the only proof, whether you are on the narrow path or not. So don't deceive yourself because you made a prayer, because you had a Christian upbringing, you memorize Psalm 119 or whatever. That doesn't matter. Your profession of faith will be evident by the way you live. Your sanctification may be weak, but you will trust in the Lord's grace.

Will you choose to enter the broad or the narrow gate? Will you decide between the narrow path or the broad path? Will you choose Jesus and commit to obeying his teachings or will you reject him or even make a mere profession in faith and live as you please? Will you choose life or death?

If you are a non-believer, do not be deceived by the majority who follow this broad path. They may be successful. They may be living their life. They may be having their time. But remember, Christ is the only way, the truth, and the life.

He alone leads to life. who deserve to perish under God’s wrath. He satisfied God’s justice by suffering under the punishment that we deserve. He died and rose again to make those who believe in him right with God. God alone will lead us to life. If you are a believer, take comfort that you have been brought through the narrow gate by God’s grace. You are saved by Christ for God’s glory.

Yet do not presume upon that grace. The narrow way requires ongoing commitment to holiness, continuous repentance, and dependence upon Spirit’s power. Church, we must walk this narrow path of discipleship as followers of Christ Jesus, obeying all of the Bible, and continue to preach the gospel while also emphasizing the cost of discipleship.

widen the entrance that Christ has made narrow. The narrow gate is open only to those who choose to have faith in the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The gate and the path are narrow because Christ and his teachings are the only way by which we are called to live. All of the scriptures and only the Bible is our guide. The Holy Spirit is our present help. He illuminates our minds to understand the word and to live by the word. He gives us the grace. And this way is difficult because it requires the surrender of our self-will to the lordship of Jesus Christ. It calls you to live by faith in the

power and the grace of God, not in your own ability. So, in closing, let us read Psalm 73. Psalm 73. This is a Psalm of Asaph. The sentiments that he, we see here, of this Psalmist, can echo with our sentiments. It goes with the sentiment of a of Jesus Christ who is walking on this narrow path where the people of this world seem to prosper, enjoy and flourish. You know, there might be times of confusion like that. I think let’s read it together. Psalm 73. Let us read it slowly. Let us try to understand what the psalmist is trying to say.

“Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are put pure in heart. But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling. My steps had almost slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death. Then their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace. The garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness. The imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression. They speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue parades through the earth.

“Therefore his people return to this place, and waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, ‘How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?’ Behold, these are wicked and always at ease. They have increased in wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence. For I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning. But I had said, ‘I will speak thus,’ behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. When I pondered to understand this, I was troublesome in my sight. Until I came into the sanctuary of God. Then I perceived

“their end. Surely you set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment. They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors. Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, you will despise their form. When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant. I was like a beast before you. Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have taken hold of my right hand. With your counsel, you will guide me. And afterward, receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on earth.

“My flesh and my heart may fail. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. But behold, those who are far from you will perish. Destroyed like those who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” Let’s pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. Father, give us grace to look into your word, steadily, consistently.

Give us grace to internalize your word, oh Father. Help us not be mere hearers of your word, but also the doers of your word. Give us your grace, Father Lord. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.