Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Hosts Pastors' Lee and Jim.
It's Time to Inspire, Uplift, and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now!
Beyond Sunday
The Narrow Way
Jesus presents humanity with a profound choice that most of us would rather avoid confronting: enter by the narrow gate that leads to life, or follow the crowd through the wide gate toward destruction. This teaching from Matthew 7:13-14 cuts straight to the heart of authentic faith.
The narrow path Jesus describes isn't popular - it's challenging, demanding, and often lonely. Yet this path alone leads to the abundant life we desperately seek. When Jesus commands us to "enter by the narrow gate," He's not giving a casual suggestion but issuing a life-altering directive that requires deliberate choice. This gate represents Jesus Himself - the only true path to relationship with God.
What makes the narrow path particularly difficult is its requirement for surrender. Following Jesus means laying down our preferences, dying to self-centered desires, and sometimes walking against the cultural current. The wide road beckons with its ease and immediate gratification, promising freedom without boundaries. It's the path of least resistance where "you do you" is the anthem, and everyone's truth is equally valid. Yet this road, for all its initial appeal, ultimately leads to emptiness and destruction.
Throughout Scripture, we see this pattern repeated. Noah found salvation by following God's seemingly absurd instructions. Daniel chose potential death over compromise and discovered God's deliverance. Moses led Israel through a narrow path between walls of water - a vivid picture of God making a way through impossible circumstances. The narrow gate isn't about restriction; it's about direction. It's not there to fence us in but to lead us home.
Have you been hanging around the gate without actually entering? Or perhaps you've wandered off the path altogether? Today is the day to make your choice. The narrow way may be harder, but Jesus walks it with us, having already carried the cross before us. Which path will you choose?
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week With your hosts, pastors Lee and Jim. It's time to inspire, uplift and dig deeper. Beyond Sunday starts now. Welcome back, everybody, to Beyond Sunday Podcast. I'm Pastor Jim, here, as always, with Pastor Lee, and we are the pastors of Christ Family Outreach Church, excited to be back for another week of Beyond Sunday. Today we're going to be getting into Matthew, chapter 7, verses 13 and 14. Jesus is going to be wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount here and these two verses they hit, really, hit, really, really hard, and I'm going to turn it over to Pastor Lee to go ahead and read them, talk a little bit about them, and then we're going to go verse by verse, like we always do.
Speaker 2:Amen. If you got your Bibles, go ahead and turn into Matthew, chapter 7. As Pastor Jim mentioned, we're going to be studying the 13th and 14th verse and Jesus says 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. In this text we're given direction by the Lord. What are our directions here? It is plain and simple Enter by the narrow gate. That's it. This is what he's talking about right here. If we want life, if we want blessing, if we desire a life walking with Jesus, if we want to spend eternity with God, it is the narrow gate, my friends, that gets us there.
Speaker 2:In John 10, 7 through 10, jesus says truly, truly, I say to you I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Jesus said I am the door passage, jim, or depending on the translation, he'll say I am the gate. So what is Jesus teaching here? All right, he is teaching that he is the only way to have relationship with God that we must come through Jesus Christ, by accepting him as Lord and Savior of our lives. He is the narrow gate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one thing that I found very interesting right off the bat is the language that's being used in verse 13, where Jesus says enter by the narrow gate, and it's not really a suggestion. You know he's saying enter, which is an international language. Everybody understands that that is a command given and really what it does is, if someone says enter, it gives you a choice and it requires a choice. It's active language. We're not just coasting into the kingdom. What he's saying is you got to decide to step into something different. Yeah, you got to step into something narrower. And right away he's going to contrast that.
Speaker 1:Speak with a wide gate. He says for the gate is wide and the way is easy. That leads to destruction. Wide gate, easy road, but it leads somewhere that you don't want to go, and that's the scary part to me. You can be cruising and just thinking that everything's smooth, but it's a path of ease and it's a path of comfort and there's no real discipleship, there's no repentance, there's, truthfully, just no Jesus, and that's not the road to life, that's the road to destruction. And look at what Jesus says next those who enter by it are many.
Speaker 1:Now, that, to me, is a really, really powerful thing to consider, because he's saying the majority of people choose that wide path. It's popular, because it feels good, but the truth is it comes back empty. Now here's the thing. We see it all around us. The world is constantly inviting the wide gate. They say what Live, your truth, do what feels right, you should do you, and that's the anthem of the wide gate. And, as a result, it's this kind of spiritual autopilot that never actually leads to a real peace or a real purpose. So the challenge is are we willing to go against?
Speaker 2:the grain. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. One of the things I want to point out here today is that works won't get you into heaven. That's right. Religion is not going to get you into heaven by itself. Your money is not going to get you into heaven. Your family name is not going to get you into heaven. Your church attendance and good deeds all by themselves are not going to get you into heaven. Jesus, lets everyone know it is through Jesus Christ alone, amen, that God grants us eternity with himself. Forever. The narrow gate.
Speaker 2:It reminds me of a path on a mountain, if I can just kind of paint this picture for a moment. It reminds me of a path on a mountain. I've hiked mountain paths before, many of them where it was within my best interest, my absolute best interest to stay on the path. Listen to this. I want you to consider this. Pay close attention. The path guaranteed both my safety and my arrival to where I was wanting to go. You got me. Yeah, the path is solid, right. The path offers direction. The path offers clarity. As long as I'm on the path, I'm good to go. You'll even see at times, on some of these trails you'll see signs that say stay on the path. Right Warning to stay on the path. Right Warning to stay on the path. It's when we get enticed to wander off from the path that we can place ourselves into dangerous situations.
Speaker 2:Not too long ago I watched a documentary true story on television about a hiker who had gotten lost on the trail and this particular hiker had spent days into weeks hiking a particular part of the Appalachian Trail but never made it to their destination. When it was time to be picked up, the local authorities spent days, goes into weeks, eventually months, until they finally found the remains of the female hiker. The reason it was so hard, pastor Jim, to find the hiker was because she had gone off the path. You see, her family, her loved ones, knew the path she was taking. So when she didn't show up in the time for her to be picked up, they started backtracking the path. But because she had gone off the path, they didn't know where to go. They didn't know where to look for her. So essentially, it was like trying to find in this particular part of the forest. It was like trying to find in this particular part of the forest. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Speaker 2:So I'm reminded that Jesus reminds us to stay on the narrow path. You know, and it's when we start to get off of the safety and the clarity and the vision of the narrow path that we get into trouble. And so maybe you're listening right now and you're that person that has walked off path. You've walked off course, you've strayed away from the path. Can I encourage you in the Lord right now that it is not too late.
Speaker 2:Amen, pastor Jim, it is not too late to surrender to God. It is not too late to begin walking with Jesus Christ again as personal Lord and Savior. It is not too late to have him as king of all of your life and Lord of all of your life. It's not too late to begin praying and asking God for help right now, in this very moment. So I want to encourage you get back on the path, get back into church, open the Bible, start to walk with God, begin praying to the Father, begin trusting him again, because I want to tell you he wants you to. God wants you back on the narrow path.
Speaker 1:That's right, and that narrow path, like you said, is safe. But here's a big thing, right here in verse 14. He says Jesus says this, for the gate is narrow, but here's the thing it's going to be hard. That leads to life and those who find it are few. So now we have this gate that you're talking about, pastor Lee. That's narrow and it's safe, right, but it never says it's not going to be hard. But here's the truth it leads to life and that's the truth that we need to stand on. That's the kind of life Jesus is always talking about, this abundant life, the eternal kind that lasts forever, the kind that starts now and stretches into the future. If you stay on that path. But notice, the path of life isn't going to be easy. So it's not a shortcut, it's not the freeway, and I love that Jesus doesn't sugarcoat it, he's honest about it. Hey, this is the right way. But it's also hard. Following Jesus means laying down a couple things. It means saying no to things that might not feel natural or normal. It means surrendering our will for his will, and that can be tough. But he says it's worth it because that's where we find life. And I want to make this connection here because I think it's really beautiful.
Speaker 1:When Jesus talks about a narrow gate, my mind goes back all the way to the Exodus story God's people and the Israelites, and when they were slaves in Egypt. And when he delivered them, he brought them to the edge of the Red Sea. And then what did God do? He parted the waters and he created a path through what seemed to be an impossible dead end. So think about it Walls of water on both sides and the narrow way was right there in the middle. That was their gate and, just like Jesus is saying here in Matthew, it was a gate that not many people would choose. But what did it take? It took faith, it took trust and it was the only way and the only path to freedom. And it was the only way and the only path to freedom.
Speaker 1:You know that moment in Exodus. It's foreshadowing this picture of a narrow gate that Jesus is talking about. God made a way through the sea when there was no way, and now Jesus is saying I am that way, he is the true gate. And, just like the Exodus, walking through the gate means leaving behind your old life. It means leaving behind the slavery or the comfort from Egypt, and trusting God to lead you and lead us into something better. So the big question for you today is which gate are you going to be walking through? Are we taking the wide road just because it's easier, or are we choosing the narrow path that leads to life, even if it's?
Speaker 2:hard. Yeah, being sold out for Christ is not always the easiest path to take, but it is always the right path to be on. You know, jesus tells us the wide road, the easy road, it's going to every time lead to destruction if you stay on it long enough. But the narrow road, the hard road, as Pastor Jim mentions, leads to life. When you go through something in life and you're being persecuted because of your obedience to God, people may be against you. Because you've chosen to do the right thing and I want to encourage you keep the faith. You got to know that God is working something out in you that is far greater than what you're going through. The gate you chose, the narrow gate of obedience, is taking you towards an eternity to God and again, although it may not be the easiest path in life to take, it is the only path in life to take in order to spend eternity with God and that is Jesus, and it is the right path to be on. So if you're taking notes, you could write this down the narrow gate takes me home and I just think that that's so rich. This down the narrow gate takes me home and I just think that that's so rich, that's so fulfilling. It should really just kind of complete us today when we just understand that and maybe just say that out loud, right where you're at today, and just kind of soak that up, marinate in that it is the narrow gate that takes me home. You know, here's the thing about being a follower of Christ. If your profession of faith in Christ did not cost you anything, then I'm going to say it probably was not a true confession.
Speaker 2:Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3, 3, that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. In Luke, chapter 9, verse 23, jesus says if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Galatians 5.24 says and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. In 2 Corinthians 5.17, paul writes the following to the church Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Galatians 2.20 says I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So I just want to point this out to the listeners. Being a Christian, it costs. It costs a whole lot, matter of fact, being a true Christian, an ambassador of Christ, it costs your life, and Jesus Christ laid down his life for us on the cross. We ought lay down our life in return, in obedience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what's that look like for you today? Maybe you're in a place where the narrow road feels especially narrow. Maybe following Jesus is costing you something, and you see it. Well, I want to encourage you. You're not alone and you're not off track. Jesus said it's going to be hard. That's what he said, but he said it also leads to life. So you need to stay the course. You know, when Jesus says enter by the narrow gate, he's not just giving us a moral lesson, he's giving us a roadmap. He's given us the way, he's given us the truth. So this isn't about choosing between good and bad, it's about choosing life over comfort. It's about choosing truth over trend. It's about choosing Christ over the crowd.
Speaker 1:And if we can zoom out just a little bit, you see this narrow path, this theme runs all throughout Scripture. If you think about Noah, god gave him instructions to build an ark. That's not something that anybody had ever done before. People mocked him. It was uncomfortable, I'm sure. I'm sure it was lonely, but that was his narrow path, the obedience to listening to God. It led to what Salvation for the rest of the world that followed through the wide path to destruction. It's the same pattern.
Speaker 1:Or, if you take Daniel, everybody else is bowing down to the king's statue, and that's the wide gate. But Daniel says I'm not going to do that, I'm not going to bow down. The narrow path landed him where? In the lion's den. And when he was in the lion's den, guess what? God gave him life because he was also going through that narrow path of God's presence and God's power in that moment. And then you have Jesus himself. He is the narrow gate, like you said, pastor Lee, in John 10, 9,. He says I'm the door, and if anybody enters it by me, he will be saved. And that's not exclusion, that's an invitation. The gate is narrow not because God is trying to keep people out. It's because there's only one way to get to him that actually leads to life, and that's through him, which is why he's encouraging us Come through the narrow gate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's good, brother. I'd like to lead up to a thought right here. Let me just kind of build up to it. Just simply knowing God's word is not enough. Mentioned that already Having a religion isn't just good enough either, if that's all it's going to be is a religion, not a relationship. So here's the thought that I want to build up to Hanging out around the narrow gate isn't good enough either.
Speaker 2:You know, the relationship with Jesus grows as you enter through the narrow gate and continue to walk down the road every day, trusting in Christ. You know, I know people that just like want to hang around church, not get involved or be part of it, just be there. They feel safety and security, just being there, right, just being around other believers, other people. You know, I know people that enjoy hanging out with good, godly people, but they don't want to take themselves to that level that those people are on, that they want to hang out with. They don't want to sacrifice, you know, they don't want to die to self and do what it takes to get there.
Speaker 2:Those are the types of people that just want to hang around the entrance to the gate, you know, and that's so dangerous. So just hanging out around a narrow gate isn't good enough. We got to walk through it, we got to keep going down that narrow path and every day, as I said, we're trusting in Jesus. A lot of people simply want to hang out there because they don't want to fully commit to the lifestyle that comes with going into and entering into the narrow gate. All right. So hanging around the gate, just coming to church, just checking the box, isn't enough.
Speaker 1:You know, as you were saying that, I just had a thought. You know, the narrow gate isn't about restriction, it's about direction. That's right. It's not there to fence you in, it's there to lead you home.
Speaker 1:Amen, and sometimes I think people they think that the narrow way is joyless, just a bunch of rules or following God's commands in every way, shape and form. But what Jesus is saying is the wide road is easier, but easy isn't the same as good. The wide road is easier, but easy isn't the same as good. The narrow road is harder because it's where you actually find God at the end of it. The wide road, it will entertain you for a little while. The narrow road, it will transform you while you walk.
Speaker 1:And that's the connection that we made earlier to the Red Sea that keeps stirring in me, because think about this the Israelites were leaving behind bondage. They had been crying out to God for freedom, and when he finally makes a way, it's this narrow path between two walls of chaos in the water. That's how God works. He doesn't always pluck us up out of the situation. Sometimes he parts the chaos and he makes us walk through it. Deliverance isn't always going to look like escape. Sometimes it looks like a path carved through some impossible places.
Speaker 1:Luke 13, jesus said something like this. That he said strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. The word strive in the Greek is agonizame be able. The word strive in the Greek is agonizame, and it's where we get this word agonize. And that's showing effort. It takes effort to stay on the course. No, you're not earning your salvation, but by striving to stay faithful in a world pulling you in every other seemingly direction, you're not alone. That's what the narrow path offers you. Jesus is going to walk with us. He's already walked it before us. He's already carried the cross down the road. So when we walk it, we're walking in his steps. He never asks us to go where he hasn't gone himself. Pastor Lee.
Speaker 2:Amen, Amen. You are so right about that man. Let's talk about that wide. Let's talk about that wide, broad gate for a moment. That leads to destruction.
Speaker 2:I think one of the things that's so dangerous about that wide gate just like I mentioned earlier, how you can veer off the narrow path, the one that leads to safety and the one that's showing you direction and guidance what's so dangerous, in my opinion, about that wide, broad gate is that there's so many options. You know, like if I were to get off the trail, hiking some serious mountains, if I was to get off of the trail, then you know, yeah, I mean, some pretty cool things could be seen and I could explore some pretty cool areas, but ultimately it could set me up for my demise. You know, and that is what Jesus is saying here when it comes to the wide gate, here he's letting us know this, this gate, if you choose it, this path, should you choose it and you stay on this road, it will destroy you. There's, there's no maybes. Or can I, can I, can I outsmart it out with it? You know, no, no, no. It will straight up, flat out, destroy you, no questions asked, because that's what's at the end of this path. You can't change that once you get there, when you get to the end.
Speaker 2:That's what's there, and I think that's what's so dangerous about it, that's what's so alluring about it, that's what pulls people in is there's so much to do on it? You know, there's so much flash, there's glitz, there's glamour. Everything tastes good, feels good, seems good, hears good, smells good. You know, it's like everything just seems so great. But then when you talk to people that are just like at the end of it all, it's not fulfilling to them. Man, they got to keep this vicious circle going. It's like this never-ending circle of pleasure that just runs out and they got to refill it. And then it runs out and they got to refill it. And I think that's the dangerous piece about this wide path knowing that when we get off the narrow path, this wide path does lead to destruction every single time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it robs you of life. It robs you of the very thing you're chasing, because there's only one way to get it the narrow gate. So I think maybe the question here for the listeners today is this am I walking with Jesus the narrow path or am I just following along, walking in the crowd, because those are the only two paths that we can go in. They're very different directions. One may feel easier, but only one leads to life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm reminded in John, chapter 14, one through six, and this should bring our listeners comfort, I know it does me. Jesus Christ says this let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also, and you know the way to where I am going. And in the fifth verse, thomas said to him Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? And Jesus responds and says to him in the sixth verse I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me and my friends. That is the narrow path.
Speaker 1:Father, I'm so grateful that you give us your word and it encourages us to stay on your path, the narrow path. Father, I pray right now, over all of the listeners. I pray for myself and Pastor Lee. Lord, that the enemy would be far from us and that any distractions that would cause us to desire deviating, lord, that we would just die to those temptations of our flesh. And, father, may we keep our eyes on you. Lord, may we be the light that leads the path, or lights the path for others.
Speaker 1:Lord, god, we just want to be examples of you in all that we do and say. And so, father, as we close here today, I just want to say I'm thankful. I'm thankful for your son on the cross and the grace that's offered to us every single day. And, lord, even though we do step off the path, lord, father, you have grace and that you will forgive us. We love you and we praise you, and we are so excited to have an opportunity to just read your word and study and give back to your kingdom, Lord, because that's what we want. We want to advance your kingdom In Jesus' name, amen, amen.
