Narrowness

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; But happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God].”

 

The Bible says where there is no vision the people wander aimlessly. The purpose of a leader is to remind us who we are, where we’ve been, where we are, where we’re going, and how we’re going to get there. A spiritual leader focuses our purpose in this life to align with God’s perspective according to His holy Word.

Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount in the book of Matthew with three parables. Jesus showed His followers who they were and how to live out the purpose for which they were called. According to Romans 12:2, we’re not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Jesus came into this world to call His people out of the darkness of this worldly kingdom into His kingdom of heaven; His kingdom of light. He empowered His born-again followers to live this Christian life according to His purpose. His kingdom is entirely different from the kingdoms of this world. 

 

Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is distinct from the kingdoms of this world. Continuing in Matthew 5:11-12, Jesus said, the God-rejecting world “will revile you, persecute you and despitefully use you. They will hate you for standing against their kingdom and for God’s kingdom. However Jesus said, rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.”

The last parable Jesus shared in Matthew 7:24-27, in the Sermon on the Mount, was the parable of two houses: one built on the sand and the other on the rock. Men who build their house on the rock, which is Jesus Christ himself, will be able to stand against the winds and waves of the storms of this world of darkness. As followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, He’s empowered us to overcome the world’s darkness. for greater is he that is in you than he that is in this world. But, our house’s foundation must be the rock of Christ. 1 John 4:4assures us: “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

 

Early-twentieth-century Scottish Baptist evangelist and teacher Oswald Chambers said, “The kingdom of self is heavily defended territory.” In order to approach God’s throne of grace, we need to conduct our own “white funeral (the burial of our old lives).” According to Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 5:24-25 confirms that, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

 

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and 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.”

Jesus’ parable in the Sermon on the Mount about the narrow gate that leads to the narrow way signifies that Jesus Christ is the only way, the only truth and the only source of eternal life. The outstanding characteristic of following Christ is narrowness. Critics of Christianity say that Christianity is too exclusive ... that it’s too narrow-minded. They argue that if God is a God of love, then why would He allow anyone to perish? Answer: Because He is Holy and Just, so must punish sin. However, without Jesus’ sacrificial death for sin on our behalf, everyone would perish. Jesus is the Savior of the world. 

 

John 3:16-18 plainly states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The exclusive gate to the narrow way separates followers of Christ from the broad way of the world that leads to destruction. The critics are asking the wrong question. It’s not “Why is Jesus the only way to Heaven?” The real question is “Why did our Just God provided any way for a Sinner to be forgiven and go to Heaven?” Think about that. 

Let's see what Micheal writes about that in the next post. In Christ, Brian