please open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13 at page 812 in the pew Bibles. Matthew chapter 7 verse 13 page 812 in the pew Bible. God surely is good. Amen. Yes, the last time we were in Matthew's gospel, we were in Matthew 7 and verse 12, where we found Jesus connecting the father's kindness to what should be our same level of kindness by giving us what is known as the golden rule, a.k.a. the royal law. He said, so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. I taught that in its true form, the royal law is unique to Christianity because all those similar sayings can be found throughout history that teach some form of the royal law. They don't quite reach this level. Most, if not all of them, teach the royal law from a negative standpoint. Jesus, however, elevated the righteousness of the royal law by pointing to its positive obligation, that we should be kind first rather than waiting to see how someone's going to treat us and then respond accordingly. Jesus says, no. Whatever you would wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. From that positive obligation and admonition, Jesus now transitions into the closing section of his Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7, verses 13 to 29, we see what some call the hard sayings of Jesus, the hard sayings of Jesus. And in those hard sayings, Jesus presents four situations, and they all bring forth two truths of the gospel. There's a right way and there's a wrong way. And he illustrates this by using groups of two. In verses 13 and 14, there are two gates, two destinations, and two groups of people. In verses 17 to 20, there are two kinds of trees and two kinds of fruit. Then in verses 21 to 23, there are two kinds of people at the judgment. And finally, Jesus closes his sermon with two kinds of builders who build on two kinds of foundations in verses 24 to 28. Jesus is making a clear distinction between the way that leads to destruction and the way that leads to life. In verses 13 and 14, Jesus presents two ways to the people, but only the narrow gate provides the entrance into God's kingdom. The narrow gate is entered by faith and only through Christ. In the same way that he is the gate, he is also the door. In John chapter 10, verse 9, Jesus proclaimed, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. He also made it known that he is the way. In John 14, verse 6, he declared, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. This is how Paul can gather all of this information and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5, he declares, for there is one God. and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. This sounds so narrow-minded to so many people, but that is exactly what Jesus and the rest of scripture teaches. However, some quote unquote Christians who spend about four Sundays a year in church will proclaim with an attitude, that's not what my Jesus teaches. And they're 100% correct because their Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible, of scripture. Their Jesus is a Jesus who offers a wide gate. The wide gate includes all religions of works and self-righteousness with no single way. However, the apostle Peter, who some falsely claim is the first Pope or was the first Pope, stood before the Jewish leaders and said, there is no salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts chapter four and verse 12. Was he off? Was this one who spent so much time with Jesus as a part of his inner circle mistaken? No. He was merely teaching what he learned firsthand from the Lord. It would eventually cost him his life. But persecution is the risk you take when you choose to walk along the narrow path. Now, before I get too far into the text, I need to make a distinction. Although Jesus is called the gate, the door, and the way, and no one comes to the Father except through him, in those texts, I believe he's speaking of the object of our belief, Jesus alone. It is only through faith in him that we have access into the kingdom. That's what's required to be born again. However, in these two verses, Jesus not only speaks of our initial act of entering into the kingdom or being born again, but also the route we take on our journey towards the kingdom after we've entered in. The path we, who believe, are now on. As born-again believers, we're already in the kingdom spiritually, but physically we have not yet taken up residence. Jesus is stressing the difficulties we face in this life as we live in obedience to him. Many tests will come our way as we wait for our Redeemer to bring us home. Or either wait for him to return, bringing judgment, restoration, and glorification. That's what we're waiting on. In case you have not found out yet, Being salt and light in this dark world is hard. And if we don't take heed to the numerous warnings that are given to us in scripture, we'll continue to be disappointed and even surprised when trouble comes to test our faith. If you are not prepared for it, you may decide to take the easy way and begin making compromises. There's no doubt that compromising on our Christian values makes it easier to exist in this world where temptations abound. But we must be vigilant, always taking into consideration the damage we do to our claims of being a Christian every time we compromise. People are watching. With every compromise, we lose credibility. There's a price to pay. That's why Jesus said, don't do it. Literally in Matthew chapter seven, verses 13 and 14, he said, enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and those who find it are few. The command from Jesus is that we can only enter God's kingdom through the hard-to-find narrow gate. So I have split this command into two charges in order to help us grasp the heart, the heart of what he's directing us to do. Would you pray with me? Fathers, we come before you at this time. We need help. I need help. Lord, we try to do this to the best of our abilities, but it's impossible. We need your spirit to keep us grounded in the center of the narrow path. We don't want to be on the edge where the world looks so tempting, and we want to follow the crowd. The wide road, Lord, we need you to help us to keep us centered. We need you to help us to stay in your Word. We need you to make your Word comprehensible to us, Lord God, so we would know what you're saying. We want to comprehend the truth from Scripture, and we want the strength to apply what we read. Please help us in all these ways. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Charge one, don't follow the crowd. Don't follow the crowd. According to Christianity Today, an article that was dated May 2018, senior pastor Michael A. Waldron, Jr. of Harlem's 10,000-member First Corinthian Baptist Church told his congregation that the belief that anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus is going to hell is insanity. The key is you believe in God. And whatever your path is to God, I celebrate that. Heresy. This man was voted as Newsweek's Pastor of the Year. He was called one of the Lord's foot soldiers by Newsweek. But where did he get his belief from? Unfortunately, many seminaries and religious institutions are training future pastors to adopt this new way of thinking and teaching. People like Ken Stone, who's the academic dean at Chicago Theological Seminary, where Pastor Walron serves as a trustee and faculty member, told the Christian Post that Walron's celebration of multiple paths to God is in line with the school's approach to faith. And he said, and I quote, it is the future of theological education. Let me say, he is not the voice for all seminaries and institutions of higher learning, but it is no wonder that the belief that the road to heaven is wide continues to grow. And it's not just the non-denominational charismatic churches that are influencing the masses, but it is spreading among the mainline denominations as well. The pastor of the 5,500-member Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago said in an interview last fall that Jesus is not the only way to God because God's not a Christian. She repeats it. God's not a Christian. Then she goes on to say, I mean, we are. For me, the Christian tradition is the way to understand God and my relationship with the world and other humans. And it's the way for me to move into that relationship. But I'm not about to say what God can and cannot do in other ways and with other spiritual experiences. That's what it comes down to. your experiences and the search for meaning. Your experiences and the search for meaning. In this postmodern culture, the search for meaning in this life has challenged so many to abandon deeply held beliefs about God and the future, what's coming in the next life. In the past, those who took the Bible seriously made certain to hold tight to the Word of God being the absolute truth. Your circumstances didn't change the meaning of Scripture. But now, if I'm not liking my situation, or if I'm hearing enough people say, the Bible doesn't really say that, then I don't have to believe it. As Jesus said, the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many. Today, in this age, the authority of scripture and absolutes has become far less important than it used to be. We're living in a time when meeting the needs of our people have become much more important than the absolute truths of the Bible. That means I need a meaningful Bible narrative to make sense of my life. And it doesn't really matter if it's true, as long as it fits my truth. That's what's really important, my truth. So that's where we get the basis for the belief. There are many paths, one destination. We're even hearing this from people who should know better. About a month ago, while I was working on my laptop at a table in Alipan Park, I noticed a young Jewish man who appeared to want to have a conversation with me because he walked by, and then he walked by again, And the third time, he slowed down, he stopped and he looked at me, and he said, what are you working on? After a conversation that touched on several aspects of the first five books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible, I tried to direct him to the promised Messiah, who Moses referred to several times. Unfortunately, he said what many who have been around religion but don't practice it say, I believe we're all on different paths, but end up at the same destination. Of course, he wasn't practicing any form of Orthodox Judaism, because that's not what they believe. He should know better. But he was following the course of the postmodern culture of this age. Jesus said, plainly, enter by the narrow gate. That gate leads to a path that is not populated with people who believe everything, yet end up at the same destination. It's a narrow path that begins by trusting in Jesus alone. What does that narrow road look like? Some of us know what it's like to be persecuted just for doing the right thing. All we want to do is follow Christ, eat, and sleep. That's it. Let me enjoy my God in peace. It's not happening. And Jeremiah chapter 79 tells us why. Jeremiah said, the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick or wicked. Who can understand it? So the result is that somebody, somewhere, somehow is going to come around and ruin your day. Just because that's what they get off on. That's what keeps them going. Somebody's going to disagree vehemently with you over something that doesn't even matter tomorrow. That's just the heart of man. Our job is to not be pulled into that. to not let them knock us off course. And that is so hard. That is so hard. Because that's where we fail miserably. That's when we are overcome by evil. Even though the scripture tells us, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12, 21. That's all a part of the package that comes with being born again. When someone is born again by the Spirit of God, there's this new desire within, a desire for peace. You may have used to be this argumentative person who just couldn't wait to argue, couldn't wait to fight with the Spirit of God. the peace of God cause you to say that doesn't even matter. Is this person on their way to hell or not? Am I going to represent my God or not? The spirit of God does this thing within that at the at the point of salvation, there's this new desire above all to strive to enter the narrow gate. The world may come and tell you different things, but the spirit within says, that's not right. If you're caught up and you start doing something you shouldn't be doing, the spirit of God says, no, no, you've heard better. The scripture you heard on Sunday, the scripture you've been meditating on, the devotional that you listen to that comes on your podcast, on your phone, you know better. That's outside of the narrow road. So what do we do? We repent. Because we remember at the beginning, the Spirit caused this thing in us, as regeneration precedes faith, to strive to enter the narrow gate. That's the way Luke 13, 24 puts it, as Jesus is speaking from another context, right? And as we read scripture, the Bible offers so many incentives for striving striving to stay on the narrow path, for striving to enter the narrow gate. So there are many incentives, but I'll give you three. I'll give you three. Incentive number one as to why we should strive to enter the narrow gate is because Jesus said so. That's enough for me. Jesus said so. And don't take it for granted. It sounds so simple. But being obedient to what Jesus said when you don't feel like being obedient to what Jesus said is great evidence of your salvation. When we no longer wilt or give in to the desires of the flesh, but rather stand strong in righteousness, that's a great indication, a big indication that God is working in you. Paul said, work out your own salvation. with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Philippians 2, 12 and 13. In other words, if Jesus is working on the inside, there should be some evidence of that on the outside. And here's a promise. It's a beautiful promise. Jesus said, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my father will love him. And we will come to him and make our home with him. It doesn't get better, any better than that. It doesn't get any better than that. That's what it's all about. The father and the son will come and dwell, make their home with you. But he also gives us a warning. He said, whoever does not love me does not keep my words. He couldn't be any plainer. If you consistently fail to keep his words, then you should start second-guessing your salvation. If you consistently just ignore everything that you have read, you should be worried. You should be concerned. The Spirit of God comes to make a transformation out of love. He comes to turn you from the path that leads to destruction. Some of us who have been disobedient, we have touched that just a little bit. And God pulls you back and says, come on. Here's the path. Walk on this. I am trying to keep you from the trouble that's brought by distractions, that's brought by things outside of scripture. I'm trying to keep you here, centered. That's where you will find life. Incentive number two, we should strive to enter the narrow gate because Jesus is worthy of our sacrifice. He is worthy of our sacrifice. True believers will strive to enter the narrow gate because in finding the kingdom, we have found a worthy king. A king worthy of our blood, sweat, and tears. So we strive to enter and be with him. We know what it's like to spend years in the world, serving the world, serving our flesh, serving the devil. But now we found someone who's more valuable than everything else. Baptist pastor and biblical scholar John Gill once said that those who are seeking after knowledge in every branch of it, natural, moral, and spiritual, may be compared to a merchant man seeking goodly pearls, and who find the gospel and prefer it to everything else. The question is, do you prefer Christ and the gospel over everything else? How much would you give up for Christ and his gospel that saves sinners? If it's not everything, then it's worth nothing. And finally, incentive number three, we should strive to enter the narrow gate because it puts us on the narrow road, and at the end of the narrow road is a beautiful city. That city is filled with beautiful people who stand in the presence of a beautiful and faithful king. It's a place that Jesus, the king, has prepared just for us. Just for us. Jesus told the disciples in John chapter 14, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself. That where I am, you may be also. That's what Jesus is calling us to enter into. that wondrous heavenly city that he personally prepared just for you. And I pray for all who have not realized that the Lord is good. I pray for all who are totally outside. They have no idea what the narrow road looks like. They stay on the wide road. And somehow they believe that they're going to see God at the end. And even people who should know better will say things like, they're in a better place. Jesus is speaking out of this compassion. He's not being like a mean, but he's letting everybody who reads this know This narrow road is the only road that will bring you to the kingdom. It's the only road that's out of love. When we tell people otherwise, that's not love. When we talk to them as if they're okay, that's not love. If you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, alone, not Jesus plus, Not Jesus plus fill in the blanks. Jesus alone, the road is narrow. We must enter the narrow gate. In the King James, you'll see the word straight. He says, enter ye in at the straight gate, S-T-R-A-I-T. It refers to a narrow channel. It's like a narrow river that joins two large bodies of water. Now, I want you to picture this world as one large body of water over here. And then picture the kingdom of heaven as one large body of water over here. This word straight, S-T-R-A-I-T, speaks of a narrow channel with the narrow door. So this kingdom over here is the world, and there's this little narrow opening right here, and straight is this channel that leads to this kingdom over here. This is what Jesus is telling the people, everybody who listens to this day, that's the only way. This narrow door, this is worldly kingdom, dark kingdom over here, the world, this narrow door. He's saying and implying that not only is that door hard to find, but when he says, and we're going to get there in a minute, that it's hard, he's implying that people don't want it. So not only is it hard to find because they're blind, but if they somehow can feel it and they know what it's about, they think they know what it's about, they'll keep going. Because this right here is too appealing. This world is too appealing. And so not only can they not find it, but it's hard for them. And it's hard for anybody who does not have the spirit of God who can say, OK, I know this narrow road leads to my king. And so even though he told me it's hard, I am still going to take this narrow road. Jesus said the way is hard that leads to life. And those who find it are few. And this word hard in the original means a way or position of difficulty, perplexity, distress, or need. And this is what he alluded to in John's gospel. In John chapter 15, verses 18 to 19, he said, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. Some of us hate to be hated. That's natural. But that hating to be hated cannot cause me to follow them so they can like me. And now I'm an enemy of God all of a sudden. Now God has to, if I'm in his family, if he has adopted me, God has to bring some chastening to say, no. Do not follow them. Follow me. I am your father. I adopted you. I came to you in your mess, in your mud pit, in your sin. I picked you up. I washed you off. And I placed you in my kingdom. Why do you want to go get dirty again? That's not what my children do. So this is going to hurt a little bit. Your choices are going to come back. And they're going to hurt. But it's because there's life over here. And I need you over here. So I'm going to bring you over here. Because I said you are mine, and you are mine. But the way of the wicked one dominates this culture. Therefore, anyone who speaks the things of God that go against the culture, you will be hated. You will be hated. If there is anyone who spoke the things of God and purposely chose the straight or hard and narrow road, it was the Apostle Paul. In Acts chapter 14, after being stoned and dragged out of the city on one of his missionary journeys, Paul still continued to preach. Not only did he continue to preach, but he strengthened and encouraged the brethren by telling them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. If we only preach that more, If we only stress that more, I believe the sheep, the congregation would not be so crippled when pain and hurt, disappointment comes. When life isn't going your way, you wouldn't be so quick to be so, you know, just down. If we understood that this world is evil, The fall causes sin to come knocking at your front door. You cannot be shocked, thrown off, and say things like, well, I can't serve anymore. I'm going through something. I understand. But that cannot be your position where you don't say, for now, just for now, I'm hurting right now, but I'm praying that the Lord would bring me out. I'm speaking to someone, and they're praying with me. I don't want to stay here. Unfortunately, many of us get used to that. We even like staying here. And God says, no. There's work to be done in the kingdom. But Paul warns, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. In our day, we brag if we make it to church four Sundays in a row. We think that's something that should be applauded. No, we come because we need the word. We need fellowship. We need to sing about what's true and not react to how we feel. Those who have been through it, you know it's been good for you. Even when you were hurting so bad, but you still made it to church. You still came. And you know by the time that you left, it's like, I needed that. I needed that. And I pray we can deposit that and pull it out every time we're in that position. Because you know what? It's going to come again. It's going to come again. You need to go and pull that out. Remember where you were. And remember that through sickness, sudden death of a loved one, God was there and he brought you out and he brought you back. You need to keep that. You need to remember that. You need the word of God deposited here so that the spirit can bring it to your mind and say, you know, what am I doing? Let me get back in the field. People are hurting. Other people can use what I got. They need to hear my testimony. There's a small African church in Staten Island that asked me to preach for them a couple of times. Now, this is going back several years. But they would say, back home, persecution was severe. But all we had was the gospel. The belief that Jesus saves was our only hope. They would tell of how they used to travel miles on foot on a Sunday morning in order to hear the message of the gospel. Through many tribulations, Paul said, you must enter the kingdom of God. Quick question. Are you walking on the narrow road? Are you walking on the narrow road or Are you taking the wide path? The question you may be asking yourself is, what does that look like? Great question. The wide path is the way of the undisciplined, the worldly, the ungodly, the materialistic, and the carnal. It is often inclusive because it includes the various views, religions, and lifestyles of this world, and it's not always that explicit. Many times it's just a subtle acceptance of the culture. And it is the applauding of self-achievement and good works. It's buying into the lie that the only problem with this world is the education system, poverty, and or inept and crooked politicians. Christians who divide the church through unrighteous anger over these things prove they have bought into the wide road solutions. None of those things will ever be fixed according to their liking, but they'll keep you obsessed and distracted way too long on those things that don't benefit anyone as far as staying on the narrow road. However, If we stay on that road, there is a group of people who exist as spirits right now called demonic spirits. They love it. They're persons, I should say. But they love it. They love that you are distracted by the things of the world, arguing with loved ones, associates. Just spending so much time in heated debates over things that have nothing to do with the kingdom of God and eternity. And I want you to think about it from that demonic realm's point of view. If you spend 50% of your life arguing with someone you love or associate with about the terrible school system, the horrible neighborhoods, and the immoral politicians, and then that person suddenly dies. They suddenly die one day and go to hell because there was no discussion about Christ, no prayer for their salvation. Who profited? Who profited in the end? In your heart, you will know that you should have spent much more time praying for them and sharing the word of God and his goodness with them. I know God is sovereign, but I also know man is responsible. How that plays itself out, I'm not sure, but those are two truths that we find in scripture. We were commissioned to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded us to do. You can stay on that socially acceptable wide path, but I don't advise it. Because Jesus warned, the wide and easy way is the path that leads to destruction. And destruction here means ruin or loss, perdition or wasted. It could refer to the temporal and physical or to the spiritual and eternal. Jesus commanded men to get on the narrow path. But someone may ask now, well, what does the narrow path look like? And that's another great question. If you are on the narrow path, you know it. You know it. Nobody walks the straight and narrow path by accident. But for those who aren't there yet, let me give you four characteristics of the narrow path. Four characteristics of the narrow path. Characteristic number one, the narrow path is hard to find. The narrow path is hard to find. In Matthew chapter 7 and verse 14, Jesus said, those who find it are few. The reason the narrow path is hard to find is due to the fact that it is completely, a completely new way of thinking for the natural man. We have to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in order for us to entirely reverse all our purposes and all of our plans we previously held on to. Most of our earthly pursuits must change. This narrow road calls for a full surrender, and that is not a one-time act. Every day we are called to fully surrender to Christ. Characteristic number two, the narrow road is unpopular. The narrow road is unpopular. From the moment we are born, Our hearts are programmed to seek out the broad path where popularity is king. However, to find and follow the narrow path, we must turn away from the crowd. And if we make a commitment to stay on that narrow path, the crowd will turn away from us. If you recall, in John chapter 6, after Jesus fed thousands, they loved him. They even sought him out the next day. But after he told them that unless they eat his flesh and drink his blood, all but 12 of them turned away. And one of them was a Dean, Judas Iscariot. But Jesus was only pointing to the sacrificial giving of his body and blood on the cross. But that was an unpopular road that they were unwilling to travel. If thousands turned away from Jesus, they will turn away from those who follow Jesus, even some from within your own family. Thankfully, Jesus warned us about that. As Pastor Matt read this morning, earlier, In Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 to 39, Jesus said, do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. It is a sad reality, but following Christ often separates us from family and friends. Thank the Lord for the promise that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Characteristic number three, the narrow road is followed by deliberate and disciplined choices. by deliberate and disciplined choices. As I stated earlier, nobody walks the straight and narrow path by accident. It takes discipline, commitment, and a love for Christ that cannot be shaken. Once we enter the narrow gate, we begin putting off our old self, which belonged to our former manner of life and was corrupted through deceitful desires, and we become renewed in our thinking, Ephesians 4. We have begun putting on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. It takes commitment. It takes discipline. It takes a love for Christ. A love for Christ. The Apostle Paul spoke of his commitment to Christ and his ministry by declaring, I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself am disqualified. First Corinthians 9, 27. He would not become a slave to the ungodly desires of his flesh. He knew that if he did, he would be unfit to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul's also acknowledging that the gospel of Jesus Christ not only saves sinners from hell, but it sets Christians free throughout their lives from being in bondage to the flesh. The gospel is not just for sinners, but it's also for Christians, for believers, to remember what God has done, to look back on that death, burial, and resurrection, Say, thank you, Lord. It is because of that I have life. It is because of that death that my sins have been removed. And because you rose, I know you obeyed the commands perfectly, and your sacrifice was accepted by God. Characteristic number four. The narrow road requires believers to leave some things behind. To leave some things behind. Since the path is narrow, there are two principal things we must leave behind. First, we must leave our dominating sins behind. We must leave those dominating sins behind. This means we no longer live with lust, anger, pride, and other fleshly vices dominating our behavior. So many Christians have bought into the lie, oh, that's just what men do. That's just what men do. No. That's what fleshly creatures who are controlled by Satan do. We've been deemed new creations in Christ. We have been given a mandate to die, to be crucified. And so we must. That's the shout from scripture. Galatians 220, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Think about that. He loved me. So I have to be crucified. This world, who can you think of that would die for you, knowing how rotten you have been and how rotten you will be? Who else can you think of? Who else is worth giving up everything and living for? Galatians 5.24. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 6.14, but far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. We must die. That's the proclamation of the gospel. Secondly, we must leave our selfish ambitions behind. We must leave our selfish ambitions behind. We must give up selfish ambitions for kingdom ambitions. If you have been gifted for ministry, which every believer has been, it is not God's will that you sit and soak Sunday after Sunday after Sunday while being served by others that's selfish. Why is it selfish, you ask? Because you will sacrifice to accomplish your personal ambitions and goals in life, yet you won't sacrifice to serve your brothers and sisters in the kingdom. You will not give yourself for people you will spend an eternity with. with. You will not give yourself for those who have been adopted just like you out of their sin, made your brothers and sisters, have the same father, but you will not give yourself for them. And you know God's will is that we serve one another. We'll spend time, effort, money, we'll freely spend in order to achieve that thing, whatever it is. Because once I get this thing, I'll be happy. If you're over 10, you know that's not true. Once I get this thing, then I'll be popular. People will look and say, hey, Mike, you got that thing. Congratulations. What did I have to sacrifice to get that thing? Where was God in my pursuit to get that thing? As we're going through the book of Ecclesiastes in Sunday school, Solomon stresses how meaningless life is apart from God throughout the book, chapter 1 to chapter 12. But here's the tricky part. We can be attending church Sunday after Sunday, yet if the things of the world are still reigning over our choices and activities, it's still a life that's meaningless. The good news is if you're still breathing It's not too late to get on the narrow road. If you're still breathing and you haven't even come by the narrow gate yet, meaning you're unsaved, it's not too late. It's not too late. Lord, forgive me. I am a sinner. You are holy. There's a day of reckoning coming. Help me to love you over all. Help me to see you as my savior is to cry for those who have been convicted. Anybody. and everybody who cries out to the Lord, save me Lord, I am a sinner, I am a wretch, you are holy. How in the world can I expect to spend an eternity in your presence and I don't want you now. Forgive me Lord, forgive me Lord. If you are a visitor and you feel this pull, this draw, please speak to Pastor Matt or myself because it just may be that the Lord reached into your heart, wrote his laws on there, and you want to seek him. It just may be now, finally, it doesn't matter what church you go to. It doesn't matter what you do Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. But if now you say, Lord God, I have been playing the hypocrite. I have been going to church for decades, but I don't know you. If you're still breathing, That narrow gate is still there. He says, enter by the narrow gate. And he'll put you on the narrow road. And at the end of that narrow road is glory, is glory. It is all worth it. If you remember, and you're having a hard time staying in the center of the narrow road, opening your Bible only on Sunday mornings will not keep you in the center of the narrow road. You will drift. The culture is hitting you every second of every day. If you're only following a scripture here, and a scripture there, and a 45 minute to one hour sermon, that's it. What about the other 166 hours of the week? Two hours on Sunday morning is not going to keep you centered. The waves are coming constantly. The Word of God is the anchor. Keeps us right there. It keeps us. Everybody's going to feel the wind, and everybody's going to feel the waves. But those who are centered in Christ, they've dropped that anger. And they said, I'm not going to blow to the left or the right anymore. I'm not going outside there because Christ is my anchor. Christ is my anchor. When Jesus said, for the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, the word he used for life, zoe, literally means to be animate, alive. Some of us, we make this profession of faith. Wow, time is getting late. We make this profession of faith. And we forget we are called to give our lives for Christ, to give our lives, not just words. We go through the Romans road and we take those four scriptures. Yes, I did that. As Paul Washer says, I done did that. No, we give our lives, dying to self daily. And that life, that animate life in Christ, that joy, that serving, you have been given life. So live it. Live it. It's so easy to complain about what's wrong. That's the world. The narrow road, I'm grateful. I didn't deserve none of it. but I'm grateful, and I'm gonna shout. I'm gonna give my testimony. I'm gonna share the word of God, and it's going to end with Jesus alone saves. Jesus alone saved. That's how the Apostle Paul could suffer constant affliction and still say, for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal way to glory. Wow. 2 Corinthians 4.17. What is this eternal weight of glory that enabled Paul to look past his present affliction, even calling them light and momentary, his future entrance into the kingdom? The entrance of the saints into heaven is one of the most glorious and joyous scenes in the Bible. We can find that in several places, about four places in Revelation alone, but I want to look at Revelation 21, 1 to 4 just for a second, just for a second, because there John gives us a preview, a preview of what's going to happen when the saints enter there as a group. He wrote, in Revelation 21, 1-4, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, The dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Yes, this world can be cruel. It can be difficult. It can be lonely. But things won't always be that way. As Paul looked to this day that John is describing, he knew he was going to be comforted. He was going to be in the presence of God. And as he was able to rise against his present feelings, we also can rise against our present feelings brought on by hard situations, by looking forward, looking past our afflictions, our fears, our anxiety, all of these things have so much basis in the now. But going back to our text, the meaning of Jesus' words in Matthew 7, 13, and 14 are clear, that in the midst of this cruel, hard, and lonely world, traveling down the hard road called for obedience and holiness. Now you're saying, how does obedience and holiness have anything to do with my fears and my anxieties? I want you to understand that as you're obedient to the Word of God, As you're walking in righteousness, in spite of how you feel, the Spirit of God has this way of increasing confidence in Christ, no longer in yourself. If you keep your confidence in yourself, when you fail, you'll be miserable. But if my confidence is in Christ, I'm able to overcome. Because Christ told me this was going to happen, but in the end, he said we win. He said we win. Our two applications, are our two charges. Number one, don't follow the crowd. If you're following the crowd, stop, turn around, and follow Christ. It's just that simple. It's just that simple. Stop, turn, follow Christ. Application number two, find the narrow road. Find the narrow road. If you don't know where it is, open up a Bible and follow the instructions found in the New Testament letters. You can start in John as in one of the Gospels, but you can read John and Romans, Ephesians, and Galatians. Right? Please keep that in the rotation. So that as you're reading some of these whoever will statements, Ephesians, Romans, and Galatians will straighten you out and let you know who that whoever will is. If you need help, Pastor Matt or myself are always available. Let us pray. Father, we thank you that not only do you tell us what to do, you give us the power by your spirit to do it. For all of us who fail miserably often, please reach out, Lord God. Please help us. Please lift us up. Please work inside and through your word to bring us encouragement, to bring us to a place where we trust you no matter how we feel. And I pray for those who don't know you, Lord God. I pray for those who are doing well and don't know you. Lord, work in their lives to bring them to a point where they have to come to you. Where they see there is no way of true joy and eternal life except through your Son, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the one who said, I came for this reason, to save sinners. Thank you, Lord, for your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.