THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN
Challenging
The second to last section in our study of the Sermon on the Mount brings much of the message of Jesus to a point of conclusion. In the section of this teaching that follows, we encounter a message from Jesus Christ that is certainly a challenge for us to hear.
In this message, Jesus makes it plain that there are two paths that all human beings must choose between. One of these roads leads us away from faith, away from loving the Lord, away from the joy set before us as we discover the truth about our Creator and his love for us. The other path leads us toward the love of God, and therefore leads us to eternal life in Christ.
It is challenging for this stark reality to put in such simple and easy to understand language. We are all on one of these two paths. We are all heading toward or away from the love of God. Listen to the power of this message.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide 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.”
Not Hide
Jesus Christ did not hide the fact that there were only two real options available for any and all within humanity. We either submit to the Lordship and salvation offered through the work of the Christ (narrow), or we reject the authority and love of God as we choose to follow our own authority and direction in life.
These two options are not hidden away; not withheld from us; they are repeated over and over within the message of the Christian Bible. From Adam and Eve to the New Heaven and Earth, the Bible makes it clear that we will align ourselves on one road or the other.
Jesus makes this point again in the passage that follows:
“Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.””
Allegiance
In this invitation to come to Jesus and receive real life, there is a description of more than just two paths or roads we can follow. In this choice being presented to us, we hear Jesus Christ make it clear that these paths are really two different forms of allegiance.
If we choose the narrow path that leads to abundant life, we are choosing to be allegiant to Christ. If we choose to walk the wide way that leads to destruction, we are choosing to be allegiant to the enemy, the thief, the accuser whom we call Satan (which is a derivation of the Hebrew name for the accuser).
Paul
The Apostle Paul takes this call of allegiance and reminds us that one option for our eternal allegiance is very personal to all of us:
“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Enemies
Paul tearfully reminds the church that there are too many people all around us that are living in a state of false worship. Those on this wide and easy path are worshiping their own flesh, their own lives, their kingdoms and their plans. Their gods have become their stomachs and their pride.
Choose Today
If you can identify with those who have been worshiping self, walking on a path that leads you away from God’s will and ways, and that you have been listening to the call of the thieves and liars, then today is your day to make a change.
Call on the name of Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Pray to Jesus Christ and confess your need for his love, mercy, and grace. Ask Jesus to help you turn away from the wide and destructive path, and to join with him in his gift of new and eternal life.
If you want help in this journey, contact a Bible teaching Christian church near you and ask them to help you in your journey of faith. Share your decision to follow Jesus, and find a Christian friend that will walk with you as you journey with Jesus.
In Christ,
Ryan Laden
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