Are you on the Narrow or Wide path? Satan’s Deception
“Teach me your way, o Lord lead me in a straight path.” (Psalm 27:11)
This verse may have many interpretations but it means one thing. We will encounter a journey in our life that can lead us down many paths. But the straight path is so hard to see among the crazy deceptions of our time.
I walk by this verse every morning as it hangs on my wall. I remember the day my dad bought me this painting, the words that were written were hard to refuse- they were powerful.
Many of you may not even think about this, but did you know that there is only one way to Heaven? Did you know that many people in this world will actually pursue God and seek his will yet fall short of his glory?
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13)
This verse is very interesting, when reading it you may notice that it is talking about a few different paths? What does this verse mean? Well the wide road that leads to destruction means the popular way. This is typically society’s way or the wrong way (opposite of God’s way). Destruction is referring to where the road will take you, which is Hell. And by contrast the narrow gate which is the gates of heaven, is referring to the undesired path, the difficult path (also known as the righteous path). This narrow path will lead to everlasting life which is referring to Heaven.
I think the most important part of this verse is not the gate – because when it is referring to the gate – entering that gate may be fairly easy. Many people focus on just entering the gate, but what they miss is the most important part….which is the path. The path is the obstacle here not the gate. Many big churches preach on this topic. They preach about the prayer of repentance, and how important it is to pray the Lord’s prayer and ask for forgiveness – but they do very little to equip the people to actually successfully make it through the narrow road. The narrow road this verse is referring to is our life. Our spiritual life to be exact.
Isn’t the most important part of life going to church, repenting and becoming a Christian? Aren’t you saved the moment you repent? Aren’t we all sinners and we will continue to stumble so there is no point to focus on the sin?……
This is what the message that most mega churches teach these days! We are saved through grace and we no longer have to focus on sin, since we are all sinners and we will still sin even though we are saved? We should never focus on Hell! Right? We should not make people feel guilty or out of place for their sinful life styles! How dare we rebuke people for their sin! How dare we preach a sermon of conviction and lead people to Christ through the conviction of the Holy Spirit? We are taught to be only loving, God does not rebuke, He’s all-loving. He’s all-tolerant! He hates the proud and you are prideful if you call anyone out on their sin! Right? We must never judge! Only God can judge! You must not ever critique anyone! For if you judge you will also be judged!
These are all things that are taught in the current churches….but the real question is, is it Biblical?
We are called to be Christ-like yes. But we are also called to be careful around people that call themselves Christians but are truly not….
10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (Cor 5:10-13)
We must not surround ourselves with unchristian people or people that will cause us to stumble. So why did Christ eat with these types of people you may ask? Well actually Christ didn’t eat with such people, Christ ate with non-believers. And in fact, the most opposition Christ had were with the Pharisees. Which is a completely different situation. This verse is referring to people directly within our church. We may know people like this…especially if they go to our local mega church? They love going to church every Sunday and every Friday they get hammered at the local bar or club, pick up some sort of one night stand and wake up the next morning as if nothing had happen. They follow this routine over and over again. These people may be referred to as luke warm Christians or carnal Christians. But I think that there’s no such thing as a Lukewarm Christian!
Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)
To be a Christian you must be born again. To be born again you must repent for all your sins and turn away from your old lifestyle.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9
When you turn from your old lifestyle and are born again God the Father sends his Spirit (Holy Spirit) to accompany you, giving you the ability to conquer sin in your life, and if you happen to sin in a moment of weakness, the Holy Spirit gives you the ability and the conviction to repent for these sins. Through Scripture, the Spirit shows us God’s standard and what needs to change. Repentance begins with understanding where we have gone astray.
After we have prayed the prayer of forgiveness and have turned away from our sinful lifestyle, God grants us new life – he sends us the Helper (Holy Spirit). He then calls us to be baptized and He calls us to the great commission.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
In this verse, the part that sticks out the most is “teaching them to obey everything”.
Why doesn’t Jesus say, try your best…you might succeed. Why are his commandments so important? Read the end of the verse. “Surely I am with you always” Christ is saying that when you are baptized and you are taught through the power of the Holy Spirit, He will be there with you along the way. Meaning, he will give you the power to overcome sin.
So why are so many churches not focusing on the teaching part? Why are so many churches not focusing on holding the commandments? Isn’t it all about grace? Irresistible grace? A grace that will forgive all no matter what? Why is it important for us to follow His commandments?
Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death (James 1:15)
Because as noted above, some sin can lead to death. Spiritual death that is. We often times think that we can just continue sinning then just repenting and even thinking about repenting even prior to us committing the sin? Is premeditated murder not worse than regular murder?
Why is this all so important? Well because we often times spend a lifetime going to church thinking we know God…..or simply fooling ourselves. Or we think just because we repented some time ago we are forgiven for eternity. That is a false assumption. We are not forgiven for eternity – in fact we will spend our entire life repenting for our daily struggles on our knees (what many seem to miss).
for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes (Proverbs 24:16)
This means that we must always seek to be righteous. We must always seek that face of Christ. I heard a very good point a preacher made a while ago…The question was asked, how do I know that I am saved. The answer was..”do you desire to seek Christ?” ….”are you convicted of sin and feel guilty until you repent?”….”Are you drawn to prayer and to seek God’s wisdom and knowledge?”….If you answered yes to all those, then you are on the right path…. But there are also paths that seem like the right path but are in fact the wrong path….I will talk about this in my next part of this series. I have had the conviction of the Holy Spirit to talk about this, as I notice that the churches continue to grow….but the quantity of the these people do not yield quality. Meaning, these churches are not raising up disciples but they are creating self absorbed Christians that come to church to have their egos boosted. To have their depression taken away. To have their guilt erased. To have their self esteem lifted!
Maybe you are one of those Christians that live in sexual immorality…Maybe you are one that deals with dishonesty, or drunkenness? Or maybe you have never seen or felt Christ in your life?
If you feel Christ tugging at your heart, do not resist….this may be the only moment in your life that Jesus is calling you to the alter. You don’t have to repent in front of an audience to be forgiven. You can do it at home. You can do it anywhere. As long as your desire is honest and you want to leave your old life behind you. God will grant you forgiveness. He will give you strength and power to conquer the sin in your life. He has already died on the cross for your sins. Just remember that Christs knocks…But do you hear him?
‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev 3:20)
