1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,840 Open your Bible to Matthew Chapter 7. 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:08,200 We are nearing the end of the the Sermon on the Mount, so I'll 3 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,040 give a a quick recap here. We've been going through Matthew 4 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:13,960 verse five verse. We found out that Matthew was a 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,960 Jewish tax collector. That meant he was hated by his 6 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,640 own people because he had essentially betrayed them. 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 Remember, we got the Romans who are ruling over the Jews and 8 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,520 they're like, you can kind of still do your Jewish thing and 9 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,280 have your rituals and stuff. We're really in charge, but 10 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:28,880 we'll let you have your little subculture. 11 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,439 But we want to make sure you're paying taxes appropriately. 12 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:36,680 So we're going to bribe and pay some of you really well to 13 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:40,040 basically turn on your kinsmen and work for us. 14 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,480 We'll make sure you're well taken care of, but you're going 15 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:44,520 to know the insurance and outs of everyone's business and their 16 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:46,080 life and their personal dealings. 17 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,240 So who wants to do that? Matthew said, I would like to do 18 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,120 that. I would like to be very wealthy 19 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:53,200 and it's worth it to betray my kinsmen. 20 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:55,920 So tax collectors were hated by their own people because it's 21 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,880 like you, you sold us out to the Jews or you sold us out to the 22 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:02,400 Romans. So that that's Matthew's life, 23 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,160 that's Matthew's role. And then Jesus comes and Jesus 24 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,200 calls Matthew to come and to follow me. 25 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,160 And that wasn't just a hey, come, you know, come listen to 26 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:13,120 me. I'm another rabbi who you might 27 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,000 just want to learn a couple life lessons from. 28 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:16,600 That's not what the invitation was. 29 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,080 And Matthew understood. It was that Come, Follow Me 30 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:21,880 meant you're abandoning your entire life and your role as a 31 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,680 tax collector, your entire identity, all the lavish luxury 32 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,720 that he enjoyed, all of the rich life, all of the good life that 33 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,400 the world had afforded him. Matthew is a perfect example of 34 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,760 what we're going to see today in the scripture where Jesus said 35 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:40,040 wide is the path to destruction, narrow is the path to life, 36 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,160 Matthew said. I will give up the wide path and 37 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,640 I will choose the narrow path. Christ is worth it. 38 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,560 You want to follow this rabbi through the wilderness who's 39 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:48,840 eventually going to get himself killed? 40 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,080 By the way, Matthew, you're also going to die for following 41 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,040 Christ someday. You want to sign up for that? 42 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:55,640 Yes, please. Why? 43 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:59,040 Because if I don't give up my life, then I won't ever actually 44 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,760 have life anyway. But if I give up my life now, I 45 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:03,520 will have the life that actually matters. 46 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,840 He believed that and he obeyed that. 47 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,000 So Matthew walked that out. Now Matthew has kept great 48 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,080 records for us, and he's been showing us who Jesus was and 49 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,680 what Jesus was like. And then he gets us to this, 50 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,240 this famous sermon on the Mount. This was where Jesus had been 51 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,840 teaching thousands, doing miracles already. 52 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,600 Ministry is happening. The reputation is running wild 53 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,760 already. But now Jesus is called 54 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,560 disciples. This is not come one, come. 55 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,200 All this is if you're one of my disciples come up on the 56 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,200 mountain. So they go up onto the mountain. 57 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:35,840 Jesus sits down to teach, as was the tradition. 58 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,800 The disciples are standing and Jesus begins to preach the 59 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,520 Sermon on the Mount, to say this is what the Kingdom of God looks 60 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,120 like. You want to know what my Kingdom 61 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:44,160 is about? I've already been doing 62 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,040 miracles. I've been showing you the nature 63 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,040 and the character of God through the miracles and the goodness. 64 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,040 I've been showing you that. But now I'm going to teach you 65 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,280 explicitly what the Kingdom of heaven is like and how it is so 66 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,600 opposite from this upside down, backwards, sick world, this 67 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,160 world that's broken, he said I'm restoring it and I'll show you 68 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:04,600 what it's like. So we've been walking through 69 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,080 the Sermon on the Mount. Now to know what is Jesus really 70 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,640 saying his Kingdom is like? What does it look like to walk 71 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:11,440 with him? He's he's talked to us already 72 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,560 in the sermon amount on the Mount about how we should not 73 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,760 worry because we have a Heavenly Father. 74 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:18,160 He's taught us about the goodness of God. 75 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,720 He has taught us how to pray. He taught us to ask and to seek 76 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:23,920 and to knock. Jesus taught that we are to love 77 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,000 our enemies. That's so backwards from what we 78 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:28,440 thought we were supposed to have happen. 79 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:30,920 He taught us that there is treasure in heaven. 80 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,200 Matthew believe that Matthew had all this treasure. 81 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,520 He had all the nice things, He was all the popular guy, all the 82 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:39,920 big parties. He was wealthy and he enjoyed 83 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,440 much luxury. He enjoyed much, much privilege. 84 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,920 And he said I'm not going to store up treasure on earth. 85 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,080 I'm going to store up treasure in heaven by following Jesus. 86 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,360 So Jesus continues here. Now we're in Matthew 7 and we're 87 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:54,320 going to go verses 12 through 14. 88 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,440 Today. Jesus gets to what is called the 89 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,520 Golden Rule. Often we've named that, named it 90 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,440 the Golden Rule here on the back end, verse 12. 91 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,680 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to 92 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,240 them. For this is the law and the 93 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:14,960 prophets enter by the narrow gate. 94 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,519 For the gate is wide and the way is easy. 95 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,840 That leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 96 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,160 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard. 97 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,720 That leads to life and those who find it are few. 98 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:34,920 Heavenly Father, would you please bring such a clarity and 99 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,040 help us to see the beauty of your gospel? 100 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:39,960 Help us to see the worth of Jesus, just like Matthew saw. 101 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,480 Jesus was worth so much more than what Matthew gave up. 102 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:47,240 Matthew gave up nothing, essentially compared to Christ. 103 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,360 Anything that we would lose, like Paul said, would be 104 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:53,480 something that we would flush down the toilet anyway. 105 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:59,000 Compared to Christ, he is the Pearl of great price. 106 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,400 God help us to be the people who would sell everything we have 107 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,280 and then purchase the one Pearl that matters more than 108 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:10,160 everything and anyone else. Make much of your name Jesus 109 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,720 today. Walk among us, move to us and 110 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:14,880 speak. Move through us and speak to us 111 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:16,920 in Jesus name. Amen. 112 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,840 Amen. So whatever you wish that others 113 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:24,320 would do to you, do also to them. 114 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,160 For this is the law and the prophets. 115 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,640 So it's interesting to know that others who had come before 116 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,880 Christ had a similar teaching, Similar. 117 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:35,440 But there's an important difference. 118 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,880 We're going to point out there were other philosophies and 119 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:42,640 other false religions that taught some version of don't do 120 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,040 to others what you don't want done to you. 121 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,920 Did you hear the difference? That was what worldly philosophy 122 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,400 and worldly religion taught. Hey, if you don't want them to 123 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,960 do it to you, don't do it to them. 124 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:55,960 But that is not what Christ taught. 125 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,640 So Buddha taught that actually before Christ, about 500 years 126 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,720 before Christ. Don't do to somebody what you 127 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:03,080 don't want somebody doing to you. 128 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,760 Confucius taught that before Christ, don't do what you don't 129 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,840 want done. Then there was Socrates. 130 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,080 Hinduism has this teaching. Islam has this teaching. 131 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,840 Taoism has this teaching. Zoroastrianism has this 132 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:19,520 teaching. They all had a command that 133 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:23,040 meant essentially if you did nothing, then you did well. 134 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:26,520 All I have to do to you to do right is to do nothing. 135 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,600 If I don't harm you. According to these religions and 136 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,800 these philosophies, I have done appropriately. 137 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:33,760 I have done well. I've done enough. 138 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,880 This is the standard that most people in the world actually 139 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:40,600 would say that they attempt to live by. 140 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,720 I try not to do anyone any harm. But then the king shows up, as 141 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,360 he is often done in the Sermon on the Mount over and over, 142 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:48,840 Jesus says you've heard it said this way. 143 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:50,880 And they go, yeah, I've heard that said, he says, I say it 144 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,000 this way like, oh, that's different. 145 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,440 That's a different standard. You've heard it said love your 146 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:57,840 love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 147 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:00,480 They're like, yeah, fair enough, he goes, yeah, well, I say love 148 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,360 your enemy and bless those who curse you. 149 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,720 And what? What? 150 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,120 That's different, He says. You've heard it said that you 151 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:08,920 shouldn't commit adultery. Yeah, yeah, we shouldn't do 152 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,480 that, he said. I say if you've even lost it, 153 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:13,120 you've already committed adultery in your heart. 154 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,280 What are you are you serious? That's a different standard. 155 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,720 If you if you hate anybody, Yeah. 156 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,640 Jesus, Then you've committed murder. 157 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,640 What? What then? 158 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:27,960 I'm then I'm an adulterer and I'm a murderer. 159 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,040 Am I the only one in the room? Maybe so. 160 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:31,960 Maybe it's just me. I'm an adulterer. 161 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:33,880 I'm a murderer. I'm a you name it. 162 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,640 That's bad news. That's that's pretty 163 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:37,800 intimidating. That's pretty heavy. 164 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:39,840 What hope is there? I'm so glad you asked. 165 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,160 His name is Jesus. So the King raises the bar. 166 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:47,280 He sets the gold standard. He does not just say don't do 167 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,720 bad stuff to others. He says proactively do good 168 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,680 things to others in the Kingdom of God. 169 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,880 If you do nothing then you betray your savior and you 170 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,520 betray your own nature as a new creation. 171 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,880 Because Jesus is the king who acts in love and requires the 172 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,040 same with his disciples. Jesus is the king with scars. 173 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:09,080 What? God has scars. 174 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:12,440 All the man made. Gods don't, because they think 175 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:14,680 that they've they've got to present, present this image. 176 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,560 It's only the true living God who actually humbled himself to 177 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,480 say I love the people that I created and all those they've 178 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,440 sinned against me. They deserve my wrath, no doubt. 179 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,880 But I'm going to rescue them because of who I am, because of 180 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:28,920 who I am now. John Michael. 181 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,520 God, this is God speaking. I'm going to love them and bless 182 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,440 them and rescue them because that's who I am. 183 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,400 I am good, so I will provide a way. 184 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,240 I will give them an opportunity to leave that broken path. 185 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,080 So God being so loving, when someone comes into the Kingdom 186 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,160 of God, that becomes our standard operation. 187 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,080 He takes out the old operating system. 188 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,680 He doesn't just add a new app to your operating system. 189 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:55,440 You got Android or you've got iOS and you just put a new app 190 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,440 on. Jesus is not a new app that you 191 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,360 add to your operating system. Jesus comes in and says, let me 192 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,520 see your phone. And then he stomps it into the 193 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,520 ground and he says you need a new phone and it's a new 194 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:07,960 operating system. Everything is new. 195 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,360 It's not a paint job. It's not a Have you got the 196 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:12,880 newest update? It's none of that. 197 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,680 Jesus says all of the old is so bad it has to die. 198 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:17,840 It has to be destroyed. This is what our baptism 199 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:20,080 represents. I died with Christ. 200 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,320 As far as God the Father is concerned, for those who are in 201 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:25,600 Christ, our sin was crucified on the cross. 202 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,560 Praise God. So we did die by faith on the 203 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:32,400 cross with Christ. So that is how our sin is 204 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,000 punished, you say? Well that's not quite fair. 205 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,280 It seems like Jesus took got the raw end of that deal. 206 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,560 Yes he did. And yet God offers his grace to 207 00:09:40,560 --> 00:09:44,720 us through the love of Christ. So This is why in the Kingdom of 208 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,960 God for God's children, it is only right for us to love the 209 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:52,280 way that Christ loves. Do unto others as you wish they 210 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,560 would do to you. Every other religion and 211 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:56,480 philosophy says don't do anything wrong. 212 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:00,240 Jesus creates a standard that you cannot fulfill unless you 213 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,600 have God's power inside of you. How could I possibly do this? 214 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:05,760 You can't. Welcome to the point. 215 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,360 This is to put you in a position again. 216 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:10,640 Like he said at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. 217 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,760 Blessed are the poor in spirit. I'm just poor in spirit. 218 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:19,040 Lord, who am I? What could I do apart from you? 219 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,640 That's the right response. You're not somebody great. 220 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,000 You're not incredible. You don't have this hashtag 221 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,080 blessed life. You just want to sprinkle a 222 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:28,480 little Jesus. I'm just sprinkle a little 223 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,760 religion on there. It's not enough. 224 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,360 We need all of Christ for all of life. 225 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:39,360 Jesus says through this all of the law and the prophets will be 226 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,000 obeyed. All of the law and the prophets 227 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,120 will be obeyed. The 10 commandments, all of the 228 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,120 other 400 and some laws that were given to the Jews. 229 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:50,480 All of these things that had to be done. 230 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:54,040 Jesus said All that can be summed up by love God and love 231 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,560 your neighbor. If you actually do unto them as 232 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:59,120 you wish they would do to you, all the commandments are 233 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:00,000 fulfilled. How so? 234 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,840 Well, let's just look at a couple of the 10 commandments 235 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:03,080 here. Do not covet. 236 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,000 Do not murder, Do not commit adultery. 237 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,960 Well, loving your neighbor will cause you not to covet, but to 238 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,680 rejoice in what he has and not want to deprive him of it. 239 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,080 That's the proactive love. Loving your neighbor will kill. 240 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,320 It will cause you actually to never murder him, but instead 241 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:20,160 you would actually lay down your life for him. 242 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,880 It's higher and it's better. Loving your neighbor would cause 243 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,520 you to actively protect his marriage instead of just not 244 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,320 harming it. I'm not going to mess with his 245 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:31,960 marriage, but I'll go farther enough to protect and look out 246 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,120 for it. I am my brother and my sister's 247 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:35,560 keeper. I want to bless. 248 00:11:35,560 --> 00:11:38,360 That's what love looks like. I can't do that on my own. 249 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,040 I don't even have those desires on my own. 250 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,720 I've got to have a new operating system that would even create 251 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,320 the prompt. Where's that desire come from? 252 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:48,680 From just being a good guy. Yeah, well, the problem is, I'm 253 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:52,880 not outside of Christ, and you're not outside of Christ. 254 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:56,400 No one is good outside of Christ. 255 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,440 Why? Because we're on the wide path 256 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,200 instead of the narrow one. If we're outside of Christ, what 257 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:03,640 do you wish someone would do for you? 258 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,000 Love is going to proactively bless. 259 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,320 Do you want others to assume that you have good motives when 260 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,920 you say and do certain things? Yeah, of course you do. 261 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,560 Do you want others assuming and suspecting that you're hiding 262 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:19,640 something under the surface? No, of course not. 263 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:21,680 So love how you want to be loved. 264 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:24,760 Do you want others tolerating gossip about you and negative 265 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,120 talk about you? Or do you want them to defend 266 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:29,400 you and insist on honesty and reconciliation? 267 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,280 So love like that. Come on. 268 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,880 Who has experienced the refreshing love of God through a 269 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:36,720 disciple of Jesus? You have. 270 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,800 You've been blessed by somebody in the work of Christ. 271 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:42,960 Was it loving encouragement? Was it a loving gift? 272 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:45,760 Was it a loving sacrifice? Was it their time? 273 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,120 Was it their prayers? Was it their resources? 274 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:50,680 Was it just a sincere compassion from them? 275 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,120 That's the way the the body of Christ moves in sports. 276 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:55,600 You got offense and defense, right? 277 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:57,400 As Christians, we're just on offense. 278 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,680 We don't play defense. We're full time offense all the 279 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:02,560 time. We're just moving forward with 280 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:04,640 the love of God in the Kingdom of light. 281 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,640 We're not defending against the devil and his demons. 282 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,680 We're advancing into hell to rescue souls in our personal 283 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:12,800 lives. We're not just keeping to 284 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,120 ourselves, We are. We are our brother's keeper. 285 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:18,640 Well, it's not my business. Yes, it is. 286 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:20,400 I want to bless. I want to protect. 287 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:21,440 I want to love. I want to help. 288 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,080 It's absolutely my business to care for. 289 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:28,640 Well, whenever Jesus was talking and giving the teaching on 290 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,240 loving your neighbor, there was a man who wanted to justify 291 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,320 himself and free himself of responsibilities. 292 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:39,680 And he says, who is my neighbor? Jesus begins to tell the story. 293 00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:42,840 He says there was a man who was walking down the road and he 294 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,520 gets robbed. So even as they're listening to 295 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,400 this story, they understand this to be a man like them, right? 296 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,920 That's what all of us do. As soon as I start to say so 297 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,440 there was this person, we immediately start to go, well, 298 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:54,280 it could be like they could be just like me. 299 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,320 So they're assuming there's this Jew walking down the road. 300 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,160 He gets attacked, he gets robbed. 301 00:13:58,200 --> 00:13:59,760 It's the story Jesus is telling them. 302 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:02,280 He said he's left for dead and bloodied on the side of the 303 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,200 road. And then a priest comes walking 304 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,720 down the road and the Jews like, oh man, we'll see what happens. 305 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,120 The Pre sees him and goes away on the other side. 306 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,640 And then another man comes down the road and he sees him, he 307 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,440 goes, I don't want anything to do with that situation and walks 308 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:19,000 by on the other side. So far the Jews like, OK, I can, 309 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:21,440 I can relate to these two guys. He didn't want to involve 310 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,280 themselves. Jesus then really throws a plot 311 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:28,640 twist in it, he says. And then a Samaritan comes 312 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,680 walking down the road. So for Samaritan, for them, you 313 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:35,200 need to thank tax collector, except this person isn't even 314 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:36,760 Jewish. So there's a lot of racism at 315 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:38,560 that time. Racism is not a new thing 316 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:40,960 country to popular belief. So there's a there's a lot of 317 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,880 racism going on at that time. And so they're going, oh, a 318 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,680 Samaritan, oh, what's this guy going to do? 319 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,920 And Jesus said in the Samaritan goes and helps the man. 320 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:53,960 He he blesses him. He binds up his wounds, he 321 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,880 cleans him up. He takes him to be cared for by 322 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,680 others and pays for it. So it really made the Jews 323 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:01,920 cringe to hear that story because their two heroes did 324 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,080 wrong. And Jesus takes the supposed 325 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:06,440 villain of the story and lets him do the right thing, which is 326 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,080 just funny. Jesus just messing with people 327 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:09,920 and the way that they think about things. 328 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:11,960 And he says, but this is what love looks like. 329 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:13,800 It is. It takes an offensive measure. 330 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,560 I'm going to proactively, It's my business. 331 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,480 It's my responsibility. And that's what the body of 332 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,640 Christ does. We're the salt of the earth. 333 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:22,920 That means we're here to preserve. 334 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,640 We're the light of the world. That means we're here to shine 335 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:26,840 the brightness of the Kingdom of God. 336 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,120 So wherever I see the darkness, I go. 337 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,480 Well, that's my responsibility. If I have the means, if I have 338 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,960 the opportunity and the means, I don't have to question. 339 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,680 Am I called to it? The answer is yes. 340 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,520 Lord, do you want me to let me pray about that for the next 4 341 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,240 decades and see if the Lord would have me do anything for 342 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:45,600 the Kingdom? Well, spoiler alert, the answer 343 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:47,560 is yes. He most definitely would want 344 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:50,240 you to act in in the in the good of others. 345 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:52,960 What would you wish they would do for you if the roles were 346 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:54,960 reversed? Well, there's your answer. 347 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,040 You've already been called to love. 348 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:00,680 It's a high standard. So Christians live differently. 349 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:02,360 We think differently. We act differently. 350 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,600 If somebody hurts you, you will forgive them. 351 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,480 If they curse you, you will bless them. 352 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,880 If they strike you, you will embrace them. 353 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:14,400 If they're helpless, you will defend them. 354 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,320 If they kill you, you're immediately with God, your 355 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,400 father, and you win. The victory is always going to 356 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:29,320 belong to the people of God. Love like Jesus, and this 357 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,120 connects to the point he's making next. 358 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,360 When we love like Jesus, that is a narrow way to live. 359 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:39,280 Let's keep going in verse 13. Enter by the narrow gate, for 360 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,880 the gate is wide and the way is easy. 361 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,520 That leads to destruction and those who enter by it are many. 362 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,120 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard. 363 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:54,960 That leads to life, and those who find it are few already. 364 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:57,840 This flies in the face of what modern philosophy tells us, 365 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:00,040 right? Especially where we live in the 366 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,000 United States. We've got, we've got, we've got 367 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,839 some remnants of Christendom which praise God for that. 368 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,880 And at the same time, we have such a a post Christian culture. 369 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:11,720 It's becoming more and more post Christian. 370 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:14,319 And it's the idea that everybody's truth is the truth. 371 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,599 Well, that's your truth and that's your truth. 372 00:17:16,599 --> 00:17:19,240 Well, this is my truth. Hey, that's not how truth works. 373 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:20,560 You keep using that word. I don't think. 374 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,560 You don't think that word means what you think it means. 375 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,280 Truth is capital T. There's one standard for it. 376 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,640 And I can't reinvent my own. Now, it's popular, but that's 377 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:32,400 Jesus just calls that the wide path. 378 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,520 We think that there are many paths. 379 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,640 There are many ways to live. There are many, many different 380 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:38,760 ways to live. There's not. 381 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:40,880 There's two ways to live. That's it. 382 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:43,560 There's the way of Christ and the other way. 383 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:46,000 Oh, but there's so many unique perspectives. 384 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,920 There's the way of Christ and there's all of the trash can. 385 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:51,840 There's the way of Christ. And there's the wide path. 386 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:55,640 It's a wide Interstate. It's 200 lanes wide, So you can 387 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:57,520 pick your lane. I'm not arguing with you there. 388 00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:58,640 You can definitely pick your lane. 389 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,560 I'm a new ager. I'm a this, I'm a that. 390 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,200 I'm an atheist. I'm an agnostic. 391 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:06,040 I'm a hodgepodge. I'd like to take from everything 392 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:07,120 and build. That's fine. 393 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:08,960 You can pick whatever lane you want to. 394 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:11,720 But guess what? This Interstate arrives at the 395 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:14,920 same destination. It's the same thing. 396 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,560 So Jesus says there's two paths. There's there's this one over 397 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:19,640 here. It's very narrow. 398 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:21,280 There's not a lot of people on it. 399 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:23,040 And then there's the one over here. 400 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:25,560 It's very wide and everybody's on it, and everybody on it 401 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,120 thinks they're super unique, by the way, and like totally 402 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:30,680 different in their perspective and their philosophy and the way 403 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,560 they see things enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is 404 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,920 wide and the way is easy. That leads to destruction. 405 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:39,640 And those who enter by it are many. 406 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,840 This is devastating. This is awful news, because this 407 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:49,400 means that most people are going on the path of destruction, and 408 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,040 God loves all of those people, and Jesus died for every single 409 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,640 one of them. Some of us, that is who we were, 410 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,760 some of us that might be who we are right now. 411 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:00,640 But there are only two paths. Both paths, though, make the 412 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,680 same promises. The wide path is called the 413 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:05,520 world. The narrow path is called 414 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,520 Christ. They make the same promises. 415 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,560 They both promise that they're going to fill us with joy. 416 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:16,040 Christ promises that and the world promises that. 417 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,600 You're going to be filled with joy if you just get on my path 418 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:22,400 and you're like, OK, that sounds good. 419 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,440 You're going to have an abundant life if you just come on this 420 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:26,720 path. Doesn't the world tell you that? 421 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,560 Tells me that you will be filled with peace. 422 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,280 You'll be filled with hope. You'll be so free. 423 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:38,400 Don't go to the narrow path. It's so limiting over there. 424 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:42,000 That path is so closed minded. Over here. 425 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,720 You can be whoever and whatever. You have. 426 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:49,600 So much freedom, there's so much reward, there's so much deep 427 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,880 soul satisfaction. Both paths make the same 428 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:54,560 promise. Only one of them keeps its 429 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,480 promise. The other one is the exact 430 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:59,840 opposite of everything promised. The other one will lie about 431 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:01,120 everything. The other one gives just the 432 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:03,160 opposite. The wide path promises 433 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,760 everything that Christ promises, whereas Christ keeps His word on 434 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:08,680 all of those things. The wide path. 435 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:11,840 Gives despair. If this doesn't take you to a 436 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,080 neutral, it takes you to despair. 437 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,080 The wide path takes you to hopelessness. 438 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:17,960 The wide path takes you to shame. 439 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:19,800 The wide path takes us to bondage. 440 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,960 The wide path takes us to fear. And ultimately the wide path 441 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:24,640 takes us to torment and destruction. 442 00:20:25,360 --> 00:20:27,960 That I deserve because of my sin. 443 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,440 But Jesus says come out of that. So we're all born again, or 444 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,960 we're all born. Let me say this accurately. 445 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,160 We are all born and we begin on the path of the world by default 446 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:41,360 from day one. When I was born, that's the path 447 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:42,880 I was on and that's the path you were on to. 448 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:48,400 We have to opt out through faith in the name of Jesus, in the 449 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,680 Lord Jesus Christ, but otherwise that is our default setting. 450 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,520 We must then enter in, he says, through the narrow gate. 451 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,240 By putting our faith and giving our life to King Jesus, the one 452 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:03,520 who gave his life for us, he says many are on the path that 453 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,640 leads to destruction. If you're already on the narrow 454 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:10,120 path, this motivates you to pray with fervency. 455 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,800 This motivates you to ask and to seek and to knock for that good 456 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:17,000 bread, the salvation of many that you love and that the Lord 457 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,640 loves to open their eyes. We have family members that are 458 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,440 on the wide path. We have politicians that are on 459 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,840 the wide path. We have pro athletes that are on 460 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,600 the wide path. We have friends that are on the 461 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,720 wide path. We have Co workers that are on 462 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,680 the wide path with the self-righteous are on the wide 463 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,120 path. The atheist is on the wide path. 464 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,080 The agnostic is on the wide path. 465 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:39,280 The Muslim is on the wide path. The Jehovah's Witnesses on the 466 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,560 wide path. The Mormon is on the wide path 467 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,840 and all this breaks our heart. Well I don't see it like that, 468 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:49,920 but Jesus does. So Oprah's opinion doesn't get a 469 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,560 vote here. The worldly philosophies don't 470 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,920 add up to King Jesus. So always remember, well, I see 471 00:21:57,920 --> 00:21:58,160 it. What? 472 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,120 Be careful because you're not arguing with me. 473 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,840 It's Jesus. So if you want to say somebody's 474 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:07,240 a liar, go all the way and say it's him. 475 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,360 I don't want to say that, but that's. 476 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:10,800 But you don't have any other option. 477 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,600 You either call him Lord or you say bless his heart, he was a 478 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,000 crazy guy. He thought he was Lord. 479 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,560 Fair enough. Or he's a liar. 480 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,680 What else is there? I'm being logical. 481 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,320 I'm being reasonable. He's either the king because he 482 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,680 said he was or he's a crazy person. 483 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,480 Bless his heart. He can't help it, poor guy. 484 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,080 Or he's he knows it's not true and he's a liar. 485 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,600 But when you say I am the bread that comes down from heaven, and 486 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,000 when you say I, I have the the abundant life. 487 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,040 When you say there is no other way to the Father except through 488 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,120 me, you you make some distinct claims. 489 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,320 And now, especially when you give your life for the sins of 490 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,240 the world, and then you bring your life up again, which you 491 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,760 say you have the authority from your father to do, and then you 492 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,160 ascend into heaven. You appear at over 500 people 493 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,000 after your resurrection, and then you send the Holy Spirit to 494 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,840 fill the earth. You have some credibility in Joe 495 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:11,720 Michael's eyes anyway. And then he keeps. 496 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:15,200 He makes good on his word. He actually has brought me joy. 497 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,520 Actually, he has actually set me free. 498 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:20,800 He has actually brought me peace. 499 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,360 He has actually freed me from shame. 500 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,360 He has actually released me from the bondage of my sin. 501 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:31,240 He has actually already secured me for eternal life. 502 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,400 And he has given me the down payment of the Holy Spirit 503 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,760 inside of me to know that I'm secure and loved. 504 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:37,640 Why? Because I'm somebody? 505 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,400 No, because he is everything. And I just simply said you're 506 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:43,960 worthy, you're worthy. I bend the knee. 507 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,440 I worship the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust I put faith in him 508 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,280 through his cross. No other name can save me, and I 509 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,000 don't honor any other name. I don't treat them as equal. 510 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,640 Jesus is my truth. But anyone can. 511 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:00,040 No, no, no, no, no. He's everybody's king. 512 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:05,200 We don't see it that way. Well, well, listen to me then, 513 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,800 please, because you're wrong and I love you so much. 514 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:09,720 And you need to know that there's no other way except 515 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,000 through King Jesus. If his sacrifice wasn't needed 516 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,320 for everybody on the earth, then his sacrifice was pointless. 517 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,440 Why? Why did he have to go through 518 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:21,200 what he went through? Oh, that saved like half the 519 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:22,640 people, but the other people could get in through that. 520 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,840 No, no, no, There's only one gate, he says. 521 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,640 I am the gate. I am the only way in. 522 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:35,240 This is good news. This isn't bad news for anybody. 523 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,680 A lot of people just go. That's going to hurt me. 524 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:39,160 It hurts. You know what it hurts? 525 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,360 It hurts your ego. It hurts your will. 526 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:46,160 It hurts your own flesh because you were actually on the throne 527 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,040 of your life. And that is what it's going to 528 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,440 cost you. That's why the narrow path is 529 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:52,360 hard. It's not hard to become a 530 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:55,640 Christian, except that your flesh has to die. 531 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,360 And that's why it's hard. You don't earn the narrow path. 532 00:24:58,360 --> 00:25:01,160 Don't misunderstand, Don't misunderstand and think that 533 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,960 you've got to do something to accomplish and to deserve it. 534 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:07,960 But yes, it will cost you something. 535 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,720 Even the Sermon on the Mount. As we already pointed out, that 536 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,960 alone shows that Jesus is that. Jesus's way is narrow. 537 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,240 Jesus's teaching is far more narrow and exclusive than any 538 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,720 man would ever come up with. Like we said, if you lost, 539 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,480 that's adultery. If you hate, that's murder. 540 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,640 Who can save me from my guilt? Only the narrow gate. 541 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,640 But we're attempted to stay on the wide path because it's easy. 542 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:37,200 It's paved, it's an Interstate. That other one is man. 543 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,920 It's got twists and turns and there's all kinds of stuff going 544 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,040 on in that other path. All of our all my friends are on 545 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,560 the wide path. The wide path makes me believe 546 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:49,320 I'm unique. I get into the lane of my choice 547 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,840 and I feel special and I feel set apart, not realizing that 548 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:54,840 every other lane on the Interstate, like we said, is 549 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:56,840 leading to the same place. Well, I've got a different 550 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,480 perspective on God and life and on eternity. 551 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:01,800 Yeah, you and everybody else on the wide path. 552 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:06,120 Spoken like a wide path. Well, I I see it like this. 553 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,600 Yeah, that's just one lane on the wide path instead of the 554 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,400 humility of the narrow path. Because I didn't. 555 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:14,320 I didn't cast my vote. I didn't. 556 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:16,480 I didn't orchestrate. Hey, Jesus, I think you ought to 557 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,240 rule like this. That's not how the Kingdom 558 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,960 works. Jesus is king and I am not. 559 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,280 That sounds like submissive. Yeah. 560 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,720 Welcome to it. Yeah, exactly. 561 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,240 Which is why many will stay on the wide path. 562 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:32,840 Because I won't submit. I won't submit. 563 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,840 I won't. You want me to submit to 564 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:38,280 somebody? That's not happening. 565 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,360 Exactly. We've arrived at the root. 566 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:46,840 I won't submit. I won't bend my knee. 567 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,200 I'm not going to worship. Like if he wants to just bless 568 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:51,920 me. I'll take it. 569 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,480 I'll take a blessing. Thank you. 570 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,720 I'll take your little blessings. But like you want submission and 571 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:01,680 worship. No. 572 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,640 Well, you can do that. You have that ability and G and 573 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,080 it breaks his heart. And he died even for that very 574 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,480 sin, that very sin or that pride he also died for and pay the 575 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:13,840 price for for you to be free from. 576 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:17,440 But it will cost the death of that will. 577 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,000 It will cost the death of that ego. 578 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:23,480 What does Jesus say about the narrow path? 579 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,400 That it's a hard way, and it leads to life, but those who 580 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,960 find it are few. So does he mean that we have to 581 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:32,440 earn our place on the narrow path? 582 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,680 No, not at all. Jesus paid the price for us to 583 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,120 come onto the narrow path. But he is telling us that 584 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:41,040 walking on the narrow path will have different difficulties than 585 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,320 the wide path. The wide path is full of 586 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,640 difficulties by the way it's paved. 587 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,320 That's about it. It is full of all the miseries 588 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,840 that we listed earlier, all the guilt, all the shame, all the 589 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,880 chaos, all the torment. But a Christianity that doesn't 590 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,000 cost you is a Christianity that cannot save you. 591 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,480 It doesn't mean you earn it or you deserve it. 592 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:06,400 But if your Christianity costs nothing, it costs nothing, then 593 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,680 it's a Christianity that's worthless and ultimately isn't 594 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:14,360 saving anyone or anything. Christ and the abundant life 595 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:17,720 will cost you your will. Christ and the abundant life 596 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,560 will cost you your ego. Christ and the abundant life 597 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,800 will cost you your pre Christian dreams. 598 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,880 Christ and the abundant life will simply cost you your 599 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:27,960 throne. It's the throne. 600 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:29,680 Yeah. It's the throne. 601 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:31,680 I'm going to be on. The throne of my life. 602 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:33,760 Well, you can. You can. 603 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,720 But it's awful. It's really, really awful. 604 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,320 And you're a terrible ruler. And Jesus will love you so much 605 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,840 more than you love yourself. And he'll be way better to you 606 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,360 than you've been to yourself. Come into the Father's house 607 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,760 where you'll be loved. Set aside your foolishness and 608 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:51,600 your pride. Don't talk to me that way. 609 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,240 There's no other way to talk to you. 610 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,000 I'd be a liar if I did it differently. 611 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,000 You're really great. You're a bowl of ice cream. 612 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,920 You just need a cherry on top. But that's not what Jesus has 613 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,200 taught us. That's not what he says. 614 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:05,200 All of your righteousness, John Michael. 615 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,640 It's filthy rags. Throw it away. 616 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,040 But he's not going to leave you naked. 617 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,480 He's going to clothe you with white robes and keep you washed 618 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,600 clean, but it will cost you your throne. 619 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,320 But there are pastors, there are churches that, let me put these 620 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:22,440 in in scare quotes. There are pastors. 621 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,640 There are churches. There are entire denominations 622 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,440 who are on the wide path telling people what they want to hear 623 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,080 instead of what Jesus says. I am the way, I am the truth. 624 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,360 I am the life. No one comes to the Father 625 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,960 except through me. They tell people the opposite of 626 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,320 what the king said. You can keep the world and gain 627 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:45,000 your soul. You can have it all you want. 628 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:46,480 The whole world. Yeah, I sure do. 629 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,320 More than anything, you can have it. 630 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:52,640 Just repeat after me. Just repeat after me. 631 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:55,200 You don't need a new life marked by repentance. 632 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:59,000 Just repeat after me. That's all you got to Just just 633 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,360 repeat it. Can't a parrot be taught to 634 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:02,920 that? Yeah, yeah, but just repeat 635 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,560 after me. You can keep the whole world and 636 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,600 keep your whole soul. The king didn't teach that way. 637 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,680 Look at the Beatitudes again in chapter 5. 638 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,920 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying Blessed are 639 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:21,000 the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 640 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:28,560 Humble, desperate, needing the Lord needing his grace, his 641 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:33,040 provision and his comfort, Jesus told a story about two men who 642 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:36,080 go into the temple to pray. One man was a Pharisee. 643 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:39,480 The other man was just a regular guy, but he was a Sinner. 644 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,680 He was a Sinner. And the and the Pharisee goes in 645 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,960 and he begins to pray and says, God, I thank you, that I'm not 646 00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:49,480 like this man. That's how he prayed, thank you 647 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:55,120 that I'm so awesome, thank you that I am so great, Thank you 648 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,440 God that I'm awesome. He went in to worship himself, 649 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,800 And the other man, it says, who was too ashamed to even draw 650 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:06,240 near, stood at a great distance and beat his breast, and said, 651 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:09,200 God help me, forgive me a Sinner. 652 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:14,320 And Jesus said, one of those men went home justified and the 653 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:19,240 other did not. And it was implied who was who, 654 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,120 the one who was humble, the one who said, I have to die, I have 655 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:28,240 to be less so God, that you would be more blessed are the 656 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,200 poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 657 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:34,960 Blessed are those who mourn what over their sin, Over who they 658 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:37,760 were over the wide path. Blessed are you. 659 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,280 If you're mourning over the wide path this morning you're going, 660 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:43,640 oh, I've been on the wide path. Then you are blessed if you 661 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:46,360 mourn it, if you rejoice in it and delight in and go. 662 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:47,880 No, you're not getting this out of my hands. 663 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,200 I won't pry. I will plead but I won't pry. 664 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:55,560 I will plead and I will pray. But if you're mourning the wide 665 00:31:55,560 --> 00:32:01,160 path, you shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they 666 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:04,320 shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and 667 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:08,200 thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 668 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,440 In John chapter 10 Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, I am 669 00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,920 the door of the sheep. All who came before me are 670 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,000 thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 671 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,880 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will 672 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:30,080 be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 673 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,760 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 674 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:38,040 That's wide path I came, narrow path that they may have life and 675 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,600 have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd. 676 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,800 The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. 677 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,440 Satan has lied to us. Satan says I won't hurt you. 678 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:53,760 And then he does over and over and over and over and over 679 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:55,440 again. And then he he looks, he has 680 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,840 the, the, the boldness to stare us in the face after it all and 681 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:02,440 says I won't hurt you anymore. And we say, OK, And then he 682 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,640 does, and he does and he does. And he says, I won't hurt you. 683 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,520 And we say OK, He says, And then he continues to harm. 684 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:13,800 And Jesus, on the other hand, says, I will love you and I will 685 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:15,840 bless you. And then he does. 686 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,160 And then he keeps his word. He is faithful. 687 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,560 He is true. If you know the Lord, if you're 688 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,120 walking with him, all this should motivate you. 689 00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:28,440 This love, this narrow path should motivate you to love even 690 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,280 more deeply. To see how deeply people are 691 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,200 hurt, to remember what it was like to be on the wide path, how 692 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,360 painful it was. I don't know how people live 693 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,080 without Jesus. I walk with him and the narrow 694 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:41,760 path is pretty difficult sometimes. 695 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,320 But to walk without him, I don't know how to make it a weak. 696 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:47,680 You're that you're that weak. Yeah, I am. 697 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:49,800 I'm weak. Weak. 698 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,520 Oh, Christianity is just a crutch for, you know, it's like 699 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:54,640 a whole, like, support life support system. 700 00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,880 It's the oxygen, it's the wheelchair, it's everything. 701 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,080 But thankfully, we're not gimping around in Christ. 702 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,360 We've been made strong through His power. 703 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,080 But if you don't know him, if you don't walk with him. 704 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:12,320 I I, I encourage you and I plead with you by the love and the 705 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:16,080 mercy of God. Change fathers, change teams, 706 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:20,639 change sides, change paths and come through the narrow gate. 707 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:23,080 You're welcomed. You were loved. 708 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,639 Heavenly Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over these 709 00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:28,760 precious people. God, I ask that you would make 710 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,080 your light shine so brightly in their hearts. 711 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,440 God, I pray that for all those who were already on the narrow 712 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:37,679 path, that they would walk faithfully and that they would, 713 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:40,560 that they would advance the Kingdom, and that they would 714 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,000 love so deeply everyone on the wide path. 715 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,360 That we would be those who are on offence. 716 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:49,400 Rescuing, bringing the healing power of your salt, the healing 717 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:52,440 power of your light, the healing power of your gospel. 718 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,679 Rescuing people from the awful, from the awful leader, their 719 00:34:56,679 --> 00:35:02,400 their ruler, Satan who destroys our lives, who's cruel to us and 720 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:04,880 God for those who have not yet walked on the narrow path. 721 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:08,600 Or maybe they did it one time. I walked away from it. 722 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,160 I I pray that you would draw them near right now. 723 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,960 That they would have such a heart of humility, such a heart 724 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:19,360 of of reassurance. Remembering how sweet it is to 725 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:22,520 be loved by you. Remembering how good it is to 726 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:29,640 walk closely with you, Reassure Holy Spirit, give them such a 727 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,400 confidence that they are loved and draw them in. 728 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:38,240 Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. 729 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:43,080 He loves you. He has provided the way through 730 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:47,360 his Son Jesus for you to actually walk in the abundant 731 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:52,080 life. God, we thank you for your word 732 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:55,560 today. I pray that it would stay lodged 733 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,040 deep in our heart and don't let the enemy come stealing. 734 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:03,440 The word comes, but then the cares of life choke it out. 735 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:05,440 The enemy comes to steal the seed away. 736 00:36:05,720 --> 00:36:08,160 I pray that this seed would take root right now in every single 737 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:10,080 one of us. Holy Spirit, would you please 738 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:12,320 secure it? Would you please make our hearts 739 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,760 good soil and secure this word down inside of us? 740 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:20,120 Sprout the roots right now. Don't ever let it be pulled up 741 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:27,720 and make it bear fruit for your name and for your glory in Jesus 742 00:36:27,720 --> 00:36:30,560 name. And now the Lord bless you and 743 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,080 keep you. The Lord make his face shine 744 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:34,920 down upon you and be gracious to you. 745 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,440 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you great 746 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,800 peace in Jesus name. Amen. 747 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:43,600 You're dismissed.