Speaker: I-Ching Thomas
Topic:
The Narrow Way (Matthew 7:13-20)
Date:
2 May 2021
Matthew 7:13-14
·
“Enter by
the narrow gate,” Jesus recommends. Now the time for decision has come. Pick a
side. Will it be the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of God? The prevailing
culture or the Christian counter-culture?
·
Jesus
cuts across our convenient syncretism. He will not allow us the comfortable
solutions we prefer. Instead, He insists that ultimately, there is only choice
because there are only two possibilities to choose from.
·
For
example, in Psalm 1, those who delight in God’s law prosper but the way of the
wicked leads to destruction.
The Wide Gate
·
Is the
road of tolerance and permissiveness.
·
Has no
boundaries of thought, conduct, morals and ethics.
·
Travellers
follow their own inclination and desires.
·
Don’t
have to leave anything behind eg. sins, self-righteousness, pride, hatred
·
Many have
chosen it because it is easy, convenient and simple.
·
Jesus taught that the easy way entered by the wide gate leads to destruction.
“Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-the gentle
slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without
signposts.” – C.S. Lewis
The Narrow Gate
·
One has
to look for it and find it.
·
Must make
the necessary changes and adjustments to go through.
·
Have to
leave everything behind eg. our sins, selfish ambitions, greed, hatred.
·
First
deny oneself.
·
Very few
have chosen it or found it because it is not as easy as the broad road.
·
By
contrast, the hard way entered by the narrow gate leads to life
·
Jesus
wants us to live out what He taught. Jesus is laying
out the best possible way to live for all of us, all of the time—not
easier, not more comfortable, not necessarily with an immediate benefit or pay
off, but overall a better way to live because it is
what God had intended life for us to be. But we have to choose to walk through
the narrow gate towards the narrow path.
Matthew 7:15-20
·
One of
the main challenges after a person chooses to follow Jesus is that they are at
risk of being lured away by false beliefs, false teachings and false prophets.
·
It is
mistakenly believed that conversion alone is sufficient.
·
Jesus’ words are not only warning us of enemies of the faith from
the outside.
·
Jesus’ words are also warnings to us who claim to be Jesus’
followers.
·
A false
teacher will claim to be a teacher of the truth. The wolf would dress up in
sheep’s clothing to impress gullible Christians. They may conceal their true
identity beneath the cloak of Christian piety or impressive rhetoric.
·
But Jesus warns us to be on our guard. Pray for discernment and
do not be dazzled by a person’s outward clothing, charisma, charm,
qualifications and so on.
·
We must
look beneath the appearance to the reality.
·
Jesus says to evaluate prophets by their fruits.
Three kinds of fruits to look out for by which false prophets
reveal their true identity:
The person’s character and conduct –
·
The fruit
of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control) versus the acts or works of the flesh.
The soundness of the person’s actual teaching –
·
The tree
is known by its fruit. The good man out of his own treasure brings forth good;
the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. If a person’s heart is
revealed in his words as the tree is known by its fruit, we have a
responsibility to test a teacher by his teaching. In addition to the moral test
is the doctrinal test.
The person’s influence –
·
What
effect does their teaching have on their followers? Sometimes the falsity of
false teachings is not immediately obvious when we look at the person’s
behaviour and teachings. Unfortunately, it becomes apparent only in disastrous
results. Does the person’s teaching promote ungodliness and cause bitterness or
divisions? Or does it by contrast, produce faith, love, godliness and unity?
Fruits take time to grow and ripen. We
have to be patient to examine it closely. It is not always possible to
recognise a tree and its fruits from a distance. Sometimes, even up close, we
may at first miss the symptoms of disease in a tree or the internal rottenness
of a fruit. This is where we pray and ask God for discernment. Ask the Holy
Spirit to show us. As a community, we discern together.
Conclusion
Pick your side today.
·
The
easier way that leads to destruction or the harder, narrower way but will lead to
life.
·
Choose the way of Jesus because His way will lead to life.
Take Jesus’ warnings seriously.
·
Cults and
false teachings would not take root and flourish as rampantly if we pay
attention to proper discipleship.
·
We need
to take heed and take action.
·
Beware of
being misled by false prophets and beware that you don’t end up as a false
teacher or false prophet yourself.
·
We do
that by being intentional in our growth as followers of
Jesus.
·
The
Apostle Paul says the goal of our new life as followers of Christ is a slow
change until Christ is formed in us. (Galatians
4:19)
·
But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against
such things there is no law. (Galatians
5:22-23)
·
Following
Jesus and growing as a disciple takes time, sacrifice and discipline.
·
We must
want to be a true follower of Jesus, and we must be determined about it.
·
We have
to work with the Holy Spirit towards growing in
knowledge and intimacy with Christ.
The desire to follow Jesus without action is insufficient.
·
Decide to devote ourselves to becoming like Christ in real practical
ways in our lives.
·
Look at His life and be willing to work with Him in His words as He
transforms us to be more like Him.
·
From Scripture, we observe Jesus’ interaction with His disciples.
Principles that can help us practically today to live out a life
of discipleship:
Interaction with God’s Word –
·
We study,
reflect and meditate on our own as well as in small groups.
·
Resources
such as Study Bible, references, well-written Christian books are available
today to help us develop a biblical worldview.
·
Interacting with God’s Word regularly is equivalent to sitting at
Jesus’ feet to learn from Him.
·
A growing
knowledge of the Word of God will protect us from
deceptions or false teaching, and also guard ourselves from teaching false
beliefs as well.
Examine the world critically –
·
In Acts
17, Luke writes about the Bereans who listened to Paul and Silas preach and
then they would go home and check with Scripture to see if what they taught is
true.
·
Likewise,
all of us must be like the Bereans.
·
Make it a habit to examine and question the values and ideas of the
world in relative to what the Scripture teaches.
·
God’s truth builds up God’s church.
·
Each one
of us is to take Christ’s warning seriously.
