The Gate, The Rock And The Way

i believe there has been an invitation this morning to join in with those saints those elders those angels that night and day their entire existence involves worshiping and praising the god who is worthy the god who is holy the god who has made ways in our life when there was no way whenever he healed some things in our body when medicine didn't have answers an invitation has been extended this morning and if we're willing to accept it and to walk into a new realm of worship a new atmosphere of worship i believe just like in that very throne room of god the very real presence and he's already here but the very real presence will not only show up in this building in this room but he'll walk into our lives he'll walk into our situations he'll walk into our needs and all that is required is simply to accept that invitation and say jesus no matter what else is going on in my life no matter the other distractions god you are still holy god you are still worthy god you are still amazing you can still work the miraculous in my life jesus yeah god has a way of showing up when we worship god has a way of showing up when we worship i don't know if you've had this experience i'm sure you have i'm not alone here i know that i was having trouble how we say feeling god right go through a season or a dry spell where you don't feel god and we know he's there we understand that but i was just in need of him i needed to feel him i was just in need of that experience and i had prayed god i just i need to sense you i need to feel you i need i need to experience you in that way jesus i just i need your help and when i ran out of words to pray and thoughts to pray i resorted to worship god i don't know i don't even know what to pray anymore but jesus you are so good jesus i love your presence i love your hand in my life i love that i have your word i love that i have your church jesus you are amazing you sit uniquely enthroned above the heavens you reign by yourself god i worship you i praise you i adore you i glorify you as i began to do that as i began to resort to praise the presence of god showed up in a way that i hadn't felt in a long time i hadn't experienced in a long time but whenever i resorted to praising him he just had a way of showing up he had a way of showing up for us so i don't know what you walked into this room with i don't know what's going on in your life i don't know what your needs are we can pray for them we can mention that we can do all those things but can i just give you a piece of what i would call biblical advice when you need him praise him when you need him worship him it's almost like he can't resist it it's almost like he can't help himself when you begin to pour out praises when you're in need he shows up and he works in your life if you believe that i wonder if we could take just a few more seconds if you're in need and you believe that i want us to enter again into this atmosphere of praise and begin to lift up this god who can work in our needs and work in our lives and simply proclaim who he is god you are the healer i praise you jesus because you're the healer jesus i praise you right now because you're the provider i praise you because you are the wonderful counselor and you give wisdom to those who are lost in confusion you give direction for those that don't have a way to go lord i praise you for being the waymaker for leading and guiding and making paths where there are none thank you jesus for that we worship you today god we worship you today jesus because you are good because you are good we love you jesus if you remain standing with me just for a second i want to introduce a thought i believe the lord has given me and read a passage of scripture then i'll let you be seated but i don't have much to say this morning and those are the famous last words of every preacher my message is a simple one it's not profound it's not deep there isn't some great thing that you're going to learn today that you don't already know i know that and i'm i'm not trying to wow anybody with my rhetorical abilities because they're not exactly up to snuff to do that

what i come to do today is present everyone in this room and those listening watching now or later with a choice a choice that jesus set out while he was on this earth a choice that he taught a choice that he preached and proclaimed and my prayer is that the spirit of christ would be present in this room to also extend that invitation and to welcome those that would accept it jesus says this in matthew chapter 7 he says enter through the narrow gate enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it skipping down to verse 24 jesus goes on in the same passage he says therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice they're like a wise person who built their house on the rock the rain came down the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock verse 26 but everyone who hears these words of mind does not put them into practice is like a foolish person who built their house on sand the rain came down the streams rose and the winds blew beat against that house and it fell with a great crash from this passage of scripture with the help of the lord i i want to speak and preach to you from this title from this idea the gate the rock and the way the gate the rock and the way jesus i pray that you help us this morning you've already showed up your presence is already evident here god and so we find comfort of that knowing that you are leading and guiding us thank you lord that you have showed up that you want to speak to us that you want to instruct us give us wisdom and direction thank you lord we know that you're here to challenge and change but not simply to reprimand not simply to call us out or maybe faulty ideas but to give us the right ones the ideas and the thoughts and the way the path that leads to life we want that life this morning jesus we want to enter the gate and walk the road and build our life on the rock help us to do that this morning in jesus name and everybody said amen you can be seated we live in a culture today that that preaches what some have labeled a hyper expressive individualism everybody say that five times fast a hyper expressive individualism or in other words the thought is that individuals are free to live their truth in a way that makes sense to them with little or no influence from those on the outside of their created understanding of the world we we hear mantras like this over and over again my truth is my truth and your truth is your truth these mantras ring rampant in our society they're all over the place and maybe a less drastic form of this desire for individual freedom um takes a form in every rebellious teenager ever with no one is going to tell me what to do i'm my own person no one's ever said that right i have said that and this sort of attitude it definitely follows us outside of our teenage years or our pre-teen years or when we're two years old the terrible twos whatever it follows us outside of those years but i'm certain it probably starts there when we have this sense of autonomy we have this sense of i'm my own person we desire individual freedom and with that attitude we can easily buy into the cultural ideas of today that my truth is mine it belongs to me i ride it i decide it and you can have no opinion on the matter and and while there's nothing wrong with the desire for autonomy in and of itself it's good to be self-sustaining and responsible and able to take care of yourself there's nothing wrong with it when it's done with respect and responsibility for others a sort of non-selfish individualism if that's a real thing there is an inherent flaw in this thinking when it comes to god in his ways one cannot look to god and say you are not going to tell me what to do and suffer zero consequences this is because and this is real profound right here this is because god is god he writes the rules he decides the boundaries thank you brother michael for reading that job passage that right he he set the boundaries he writes the rules he sets the boundaries he marks off the appropriate parameters for one for how one ought to live and it is this sort of biblical truth this

idea that god makes the rules and it's up to us to either follow him or deny him it's this sort of biblical truth that our culture so viciously hates and desperately tries to remove from public life it's the same sin that was committed in the garden by those original human beings that believed the lie that they could bypass god and become gods themselves without any consequences leveled against them it's the same demented desire of satan to be like the most high as it says in isaiah 14 14 in the end though to the desire to throw off god and establish a new order results in the depravity of a society that dissolves and decays everything that is good eventually you throw off god long enough the society itself ceases to exist in any form worth existing because once you have cut yourself off from the life giver there is nothing left to gain or to arrive at or achieve except death does that make sense once you unplug the lamp from the wall where the electricity is there is nothing left for that lamp to do except exist in darkness so when you cut yourself off from god there is no life left as romans 3 23 has it the wages of sin or that thing that separates us from god is death there is nothing outside of god this is the truth inherent in him paul says this clearly in acts 17 when he says this god gives everyone life and breath and everything else god gives us life and breath and everything else and then verse 28 it says for in him we live and move and have our being meaning the only way that we can exist the only way that we can have this existence that we are enjoying is with and through and in god once we are separate from him life itself ceases we cannot get away from our need of god any more than we can get away from our need of oxygen even those that mock and curse god do so with the very breath that he supplies do you hear how how amazing that is even those that ridicule god and curse god do so with the very breath that he supplies the truth of the matter is we cannot get away from god her culture no matter how hard it may try it cannot get away from god for to do so would kill the ability to exist what jesus provides in matthew 7 is the concept called the two ways everybody say the two ways this is a prominent idea in the ancient world it's a prominent idea even today we often think in terms like this you have right and you have good and right you have the right path and the wrong path in matthew chapter 7 our opening text jesus's own words are set up by himself as the right way to live your life it's the right way to live your life making all other ways the wrong way jesus says in verse 24 he says therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise person who built their house on the rock if you hear my words and you live them out you've got a firm foundation to live your life by but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish person who's built their house on the sand meaning if you don't listen to christ and you don't put his words his teachings into practice then you've built wrong faulty at the very beginning and this doesn't mean that christ's way is the better way or the safer way to build among many it means that it means that christ's way is the only way all other ways are not budget options where you can save a few bucks avoid a few more sacrifices or hold on to a few more of your own desires and plans but still end up with a standing structure other ways are faulty ways of building and they lead to destruction the destruction of the entire house the only houses if you will the only lives left standing according to jesus are those that are built on the life and teaching of christ laid out in scripture i know that i'm in a room full of believers so i'm going to ask for just a little bit more of an amen there the only lives that are left standing at the end of the day are the ones that are built on the life and example and teaching of christ as it is laid out in scripture do we believe that today if we're not careful we can buy into this idea well jesus has got a good a lot of good stuff to say but i don't really want to impose i don't really want to impose my

thoughts about jesus and everybody's got their own path everybody's got their own road everybody's got their own way of doing things can i tell you that it's not a biblical idea that is a secular idea that is a worldly idea jesus says it very plainly there are two paths one is the right one and one is the wrong one and what he's saying is the one that is the right one is following jesus and all the other paths that don't follow jesus are by their very nature the wrong ones do we believe that this morning there is one way that is right there is one way to live my wife and i were looking for a house where we're about to get married and of course when you get married you need somewhere to live right and so we're looking around sister mary brewer helped us uh find a house she did a wonderful job if anybody's uh needing some help with that she did a wonderful job and i remember sister mary we walked into a house one time it was down the hill i don't remember the exact address but we opened up the door we realized it was in a flood zone and we're like well it's kind of on the edge of a flood zone you know it's not really in the flood zone but so we went looked at it so she comes she's equipped she's got the keys and everything the code to get in and so we open the door and as soon as we open the door we open up to this this general space this living room space it's open area and the ceiling is caved in it smelled like mold smelled like mold it stunk you could see water damage the ceiling is gone and me and my wife actually i don't know if you were there for the yeah you weren't there for this house we looked you're lucky so i'm looking there i'm looking inside i'm like perfect who thinks i honestly said that nathan my good friend i would not walk into a house with a ceiling caved in with water damage and mold everywhere and say yeah this seems right one look on the inside of that door i was gonna leave already but sister mary stepped up she's like you don't want this she just helped me out so she just made it easier to walk away but nobody wants faulty construction nobody wants a damaged house to live in nobody walks into a house and learns that it won't be standing for much longer and decides to buy this is where i'm going to build my life you're going to be doing some building that would be nonsense right we can all agree on that that would be nonsense unfortunately christ tells it tells us that this sort of decision the decision to follow him and to build on the rock and have proper construction it's not always so self-evident has a water damaged house with a caved in roof there will be distractions there'll be temptations to choose another path again i'll read it in matthew 7 13 jesus says enter through the narrow gate for white is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it and then the very next passage you know what he goes to talking about he says watch out for false prophets watch out for false prophets they come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they're ferocious wolves but by their fruit you'll recognize them and it gives an example from everyday life he said do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles and the obvious answer is likewise every good tree bears good fruit that makes sense but a bad or a diseased tree it bears bad or diseased fruit a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit every tree that does not bear good fruit in fact it's cut down and thrown into the fire thus by their fruit you will recognize them understand the flow of jesus's teaching here he says enter the narrow gate follow the right path watch out for false prophets those who would try to lead you down a different path that does not line up with christ or his life those who sound good but their roots are rotten and aren't good the gate that is wide and easy leads to destruction and jesus is very forthright he says my way is narrow it's difficult it's hard to follow it's hard to walk and he warns that there will come there will be those that come and present a form of truth understand what i'm saying a form of truth that sounds good but their true intentions are the death of others

as they take advantage of their willingness to follow them instead of christ and i don't have to give examples of our modern society for you already to start thinking of what this looks like out in the world and the sad part is about jesus teaching is that we understand that many will listen to false prophets second timothy 4 3 says as much says for the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine but instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear they'll gather teachers that say what they want to hear first john 4 1 he says dear friends do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from god because many false prophets have gone out into the world do not just believe anything that's out in the world don't just accept any old idea that sounds good that sounds right you have to enter the narrow gate you have to line up what they are saying with the word of god it is true it's true the world is full of ideas it's full of compelling personalities it's full of movements that sound appealing at first hearing they do i've heard some i've heard some speakers i've heard some movements i've heard some speeches i'm like man that really sounds good but once i sat down and thought about it and really looked over what they were saying i'm like man that's really deceiving isn't it man that's really not lining up with christ so it's true that they're out there and and whether they sound close to the truth or they simply appeal to our human desires the temptation is to listen to what they have to say and adopt it as the truth has no way and the irony of this whole thing is that many people who latch on to non-gospel truths or ideas often do so uncritically while in the same breath ridiculing those who accept the life of christ and the teaching of scripture with faith did you hear the irony in that i don't see how you can believe scripture that takes a whole lot of faith but then they go and read their philosophers and they read their ideas and they read their theologians and say look they make sense of the world for me that's ironic to me i remember sitting sitting in a class i'm involved in the academy i've been going to school far too long um and i i enjoy it i'm a little bit of a nerd so i remember sitting and we were reading a book about some different ideas about the world different ideas of of how society works and how cultures work and this person was like well how i'm gonna how i'm going to describe the world is i'm going to use this philosopher and i'm going to take his teaching and i'm going to apply it to the culture and i'm going to make sense of things and this philosopher was his whole concern was the destruction of cultural norms he says cultural norms you know there's they're self-imposed they're invented by humans they're really not anything profitable we really should just scrap them all and start over right they're all man-made they're all human-made we should get rid of them but what i found so interesting about this person that was relying on their philosopher they never thought to do the same thing to the person they're relying on all thought processes and philosophies are man-made and we shouldn't trust them except this guy do you get why that's funny so i'm sitting there in a phd class giggling my tail off because i think this is so funny and the weird thing is many people don't catch it they're just like yeah he sounds good she sounds good and they just walk but why is the gate why is the way christ gives us a way to measure those who are true voices that wish to build his kingdom better their kingdom it's their fruit eventually their fruits will reveal them and the only the the one the only way that one knows what bad fruit is is when it's compared to good fruit and how do we know what good fruit is it lines up with christ and his word ask these questions to their lives their ideas or their impact on the world line up with christ and scripture if not then silence those voices and find again the narrow gate jesus goes on and is teaching to let us know that not only will we face outside voices that try to distract us that try to confuse us that try to lead us astray from the narrow gate but we will also wrestle with wrong views and wrong ideas of what it means to follow christ in our own minds he

goes on in verse 21 in that same passage he says not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven many will say to me on that day meaning judgment day lord lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name didn't didn't we drive out demons and in your name didn't we perform many miracles didn't didn't we do a whole lot of stuff for you didn't we even invoke your name in the process didn't we do these things jesus is isn't that true about our life and jesus never says no he says you're right you probably did cast out some demons you probably did work miracles you probably did participate in that way but in verse 23 it says then i will tell them plainly i'll tell them plainly yeah but i never knew you away from me you evil doers here we're presented with two ideas of discipleship the wrong view of discipleship is a focus on the miraculous only the focus on signs the focus on the miracles the focus on the high points the focus on the mountaintop experiences the focus on the good preachers the focus on the good musicians and singers the focus on even those who are claiming to do their work in the name of jesus even those that say i'm doing this in jesus name that is not just the simple test for true discipleship just because we invoke the name well i'm in powerful services regularly i even go to the front and pray for others at church i have seen miracles i've i've even been a part of miracles but for christ this is not enough one cannot simply partake in the powerful aspect of christ and neglect the commitment to his teaching and his word outside of the church walls matthew 7 24-27 makes it clear it says everyone who hears my words and puts them into practice they're the ones who did it right but those who hear my words and don't put them into practice even if you're doing miracles even if you're participating in the powerful moves of god even if you're at church on sundays and wednesdays if you're not putting his word into practice in your life then you have built your life on the sand and you're not walking through the narrow gate you're not walking on the narrow path you have done it incorrectly sunday and wednesdays are great but what about monday what about outside the church building building our sundays and wednesdays on the rock does not constitute a life built on the rock let me say that again sundays and wednesdays built on the rock do not constitute a life built on the rock that does not add up to the rest of your week or the rest of your months or the rest of your years it's great that we worship inside the church building that's appropriate that's accurate that's wonderful but what about our worship outside of these walls it's great that we hear scripture being read at church but are we filling our lives with scripture in our homes on our jobs or in our friend groups are we choosing to live for god in every aspect of our lives or just the parts where people can see it because if the latter is the case then our lives are built on sand and we are destined to fall when the storm comes and can i tell you the storm is coming and for many of us the storm is already here it's already here our lives are falling apart our families are in turmoil our careers are uncertain our ideas about our life and our purposes are in question our salvation is certainly not settled in the eyes of the lord and this is exactly why we must build our life on the rock right now we must build our lives on christ now not later not at a different time not when things are easier not when there's a better moment in our life we must build our life on the rock now and every other foundation is sand i love that old song on christ the solid rock i stand all other ground is sinking sand building our lives on the rock is difficult jesus said so it takes dedication and time it takes a focus that must be intentional it takes living for god intentionally and making a choice that we must make every single day with no days off we have to decide to live for the lord every single day with no days off it's a commitment that costs everything it's a decision that dictates direction it's uncomfortable at times it takes time away from other things other commitments and other passions away from other things that we would like to spend our time on we must when

we were called by christ lay all of the things aside to choose christ correctly no wonder jesus said in the opening of this teaching wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many will enter through that gate but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it no wonder jesus was so honest with us it is a difficult path to walk for christ it is a difficult road to choose christ rather than our preferences rather than our culture especially how things are right now in our culture there can be a temptation to give in there can be a temptation to settle there can be a temptation to maintain peace at the cost of consecration jesus simply says what is the gate why is the gate enter the narrow gate walk the narrow path and build on the rock but can i tell you to those that find those that find the narrow gate those who choose to walk with christ on the narrow road there is blessing in it i love this in ephesians 1. for those that find that narrow gate paul says you're included in christ when you hear the message of truth the gospel of your salvation you're included in christ when you believed you were marked in him with a seal the promised holy spirit that holy ghost that god wants to fill you with this morning if he hasn't already who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are god's possession to the praise of his glory and to those that christ marks by filling them with his presence paul says in ephesians 2 that you're no longer foreigners or strangers your fellow citizens with god's people members of god's household verse 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with christ jesus himself as the chief cornerstone and it's wonderful being a part of that building as paul says in ephesians 2 6 he says god raises us up with christ and seats us with him in heavenly realms in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace express and his kindness to us in christ jesus the reason that living for god is so great is that once we walk through that narrow gate christ loves to pour out blessings they're not going to look like culture cultural blessings he may not give you a million dollars if he does pay your tithes that's amazing he may not give you the bugatti or the big house he may not do that but you will be showered with the blessings and the gifts of christ himself is it hard is it hard let me just let me ask is it difficult sometimes to live for god you got to make hard choices you got to reject culture you have to be an outsider in our society you have to have people on social media telling you that you're this that or the other right it's hard it's hard but man when you're on that road you're being intentional you're walking that road there's no better place there's no better place to be there's no better place to be yes jesus makes it clear that the gate is narrow on the path of following him it's difficult but it's worth it and gk chesterton once said this he said christianity has not been tried and found wanting it has been found difficult and not tried christianity walking with christ hasn't been tried and found wanting or lacking it's been found difficult at times especially coming out of culture and not tried you get to the gate and you see the narrow gate you see the narrow path that you're going to have to walk you see the sacrifices you're going to have to make to follow christ and that looks really hard this other road's got like six lanes and we can walk that road and walk away but if you would try it today if you'd begin walking with christ today maybe for the first time or maybe you're looking for strength to continue your walk i promise you it's worth it so like i said at the beginning i i'm presenting a choice this morning and it's it's no choice of my own making it's the choice that christ offered many years ago and still offers today even now in this very moment will you enter the narrow gate will you walk the narrow way maybe you've walked down the wide road that leads to destruction and it gave you nothing but devastation confusion and a life path riddled with regret maybe that's been your life choice as of late but all you must do today is follow scriptures leading and do what it says and that is repent or turn around on that road and begin walking toward the narrow road for

those of us that have walked the narrow path already maybe we found what jesus said to be true the road is narrow or difficult it's hard and we need strength to walk it and so to you i present the same choice will you commit again today to continue on the narrow road will you reject the temptation to take a step off the path of christ to find rest in something or someone else or will you accept jesus's offer of rest while on the road whatever group or whatever place you find yourself in this morning jesus's command rings true in both instances in all instances he says enter through the narrow gate enter through the narrow gate everybody mind standing with me the truth of the matter is this there are two ways one way is the right way following christ entering through the narrow gate staying committed to him walking in faithfulness and commitment to him and the second are all the other ways that don't do that you have two choices this morning there are not many options here there are not many caveats here you either accept the invitation of christ to follow him and enter the narrow gate or you don't or you don't i can't persuade you enough i i can't be convincing enough i can't be rambunctious enough to to really convince you how serious of an offer this is all i can say is that there are two ways and one choice to be made and the choice is ultimately yours i know this isn't a shout down i know this isn't a cry down i know that i haven't attempted to motivate you to stain the walls with tears or tear up the carpet as you seek the face of god with your forehead digging into it i understand that but please don't misunderstand that for a lack of seriousness of what is happening this morning there is a choice to be made and we're going to play and we're going to sing but here's what i feel needs to happen christ is calling he's sending forth the invitation will you enter the narrow gate and all that is left to do then is for you to respond for you to make a choice for you to find a place with god and say lord i want to enter that gate for the first time or i want to walk that narrow road continuously in my life would you give me strength the choice is yours these altar spaces are open the walls are open the pews are open but please please please hear the intensity of jesus's words enter the narrow gate this morning for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many will find that road many will find that gate but narrow is this gate narrow is the way narrow is the path that leads to life and only a few will find it don't let that be true of this room this morning that only a few will find the narrow gate as christ beckons as christ stands at the doors of that gate and says come on in come on in find your rest with me commit to me walk this road with me as he stands there calling don't let it be true of this room that many of us will walk by him distracted by other things choosing to walk the wide road instead let it be true of us this morning that we chose the narrow gate we chose the narrow path we chose commitment to christ we chose consecration over comfort yes help us help us today jesus if you're not already i encourage you find a spot to pray find a spot to commit to jesus he's calling this morning what we do with this next little bit of time it's up to us it's up to us help us jesus help us god help us is less than giving you my very best i will give you all giving you my very best i will give you all god giving you my very best i will give you all if is sacrifice is is this my very best i will give you all and be willing to say yes is help me is would you stand with me we're going to sing this one more time this is your desire why don't we lift our hands and close this morning and sing this song is why don't we make that commitment here this morning lord lord we want to give you everything that we are everything that we have to follow you we know that as the world's standards this wide gate may be the easier gate but we want to walk through the narrow gate though it may be hard at times we pray god that you would give us strength to walk through and to walk with you in the name of jesus the name of jesus amen