There is only One way (Grace)
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There is only one way
13 “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.
14 “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
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Now lets parallel this with what is being spoken by Jesus in the gospel of
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
26 “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;
27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’
You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Luke 13:2427
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Now lets parallel this with what is being spoken by Jesus in the gospel of Luke Chapter 13
Look at verse 24
24“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’
The invitation is Matthew says enter in
But the Command in Luke is Strive..
The greek word for strive here is
agōnizomai
ag-o-nid'-zom-ahee
Meaning to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary), or generally (to endeavor to accomplish something):—fight, labor fervently, strive
When I hear my friends say they hope their children don't have to experience the hardships they went through--I don't agree. Those hardships made us what we are. You can be disadvantaged in many ways, and one way may be not having had to struggle.
William M. Batten
I like to say it like this. Struggle till you make it.
There are 4 ways this word is used in the bible
1. Enter a contest and contend in a gymnastic game. (Allison come turn some flips)
2. Contend with adversaries, to fight. (1 timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.)
3. Struggle with Difficulties and dangers. (col. 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
4. Endeavor with strenuous ZEAL to otain something (col 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
Notice there is need for Zeal to enter in the gates.
2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
1 cor 9:2
where it says, your Zeal has stirred or provoked many.
where it says your Zeal has stirred or provoked many.
Then he ask is you lack of Zeal send people to HELL..
I always tell preacher. If it doesn’t move you if wont move them.
To enter into the place that God want us to have be have need to struggle, and strive.
To fight. To push.. to contend. To want
You will never enter into the place that God would have for you if you are passive
The passive cant enter. The halfhearted will not inherit.
The lazy will miss out. But those who press towards the mark will not be disappointed.
Jesus say enter by or enter in the narrow or strait gate.
Notice two entry points. The narrow gate or the way of destruction. Which the gate is wide and broad is the way.
Now this is the same basic principle we see that God gives his people in the book of
15 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;
16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,
in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
So now we see that Jesus is now tying what we talk about last week with the golden rule.
If we keep that commands, his statutes and His judgments…
you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
This come with the choose to enter the narrow gate choosing life.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Church I want to be numbered in the few that find the way.
Notice Jesus also points to what he is about to say next.
Jesus connected this with the great problem that will be the most prevalent in the end times.
the first and most prevalent sign of the end time is deception.
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.
"Take heed that no one deceives you.”
Many will come in my name.”
So what does jesus say look at
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
Beware of false prophets and teachers.
Coming in sheep’s clothing.
These false prophets will say things like,
There are many ways. God wont send any one to Hell.
There is no Hell. The bible is not the accurate and perfect word of God.
There will be false teacher that will try to get the church to enter in the wrong door through the wrong gate.
But jesus says im gonna help you. This is how you will know who they are.
16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
-20
You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
John as he speak of this same kind of problem that will be prevalent in the end he says.
18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
26These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.
In your text Jesus is pushing us deeper into sermon on the mount living and the radical way.
So what happens to those who go the other way???
Jesus says…..
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’