Freedom through the Narrow Gate [Part 1]

Pastor author and Bible teacher Alan Wright is a mystery that seems to be narrowing constricting Jesus as opens up the way to freedom, spaciousness, and abundant pastor. Another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new life. I'm excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series called unbleached is presented at an old church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. You can find out more about it and even receive a copy of your very own for your donation this month to Alan Wright ministry. So as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today's special offer@pastor.org find out more about it and make your request or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 beginner website pastor Alan.org. More on this later in the program but now let's get started with today's teaching here is now a days there is a mystery that which seems to be narrowing thing Jesus as opens up the way to freedom, spaciousness, and abundant life where learning about what real freedom is according to the gospel and runs quite contrary to many popular notions of freedom in this series recall unleashed. Today, we turn to Matthew chapter 7 for what he is part of Jesus's concluding words of the famous sermon on the Mount, which runs from Matthew five Matthew seven. What were going to see today is as we come right down to the center of the mystery is how it's possible that something that Jesus described as narrow could actually be good news, quite contrary to any other notion in today's culture Matthew chapter 7 verse 13.

I start with the English standard version on but I'm also going to share with you the NIV afterwards but ESB reads like this answer 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 on those who find it are few and only like yesterday that I think that I like the rendering in the NIV.

Barry better is subtle but it's different. NIV says in Matthew 713 enter through the narrow gate. For why is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter.

But small is the gate and narrow uses the word narrow rather than hard here narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find one here about the woman who died – he went to have instead of the pearly gates Peter greeted their and she said what must I do to enter any said I have to spell a word she so what word is that he said love, she said hello VE, he said right, and then enjoy eternity. So, she stepped in the pearly gates and haven't, and they chatted for a little while and then Peter said say listen I got to run a few errands. Would you mind just sort of standing post here at the pearly gates for the next few minutes – so why do you know the druggist is asking the spell a word and that is okay with you there in a few minutes later to her great surprise, her ex-husband, a scoundrel, cheating, lying dog of a guy showed up at the pearly gates and he said what must I do to get it and she said well you do spell a word. She's a civil once the words she said Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia.

Is it hard to get into heaven. Well, most religious systems essentially say yes I the risk of vast oversimplification and apologies. Anyone who part of such a faith that might hear me in the sea have oversimplified and by in Buddhism and Nirvana is achieved through following an eightfold path.

In Hinduism, the goal is to escape out of the cycle of reincarnation which you do by getting rid of bad karma. Things like Mormonism, you have to be baptized in the Mormon church go through Temple rituals in order to be made Temple worthy in order to do that you have to agree to abide by the word of wisdom, which includes restrictions like do not drink hot during and then you have to live out and allegiance that if you're going to get to the highest heaven has all of these continued requirements. The list could go on of religious system and then comes Christianity which stands an utter contrast.

All of these religious system. Not many people don't know that Christianity stands in contrast to these religious systems, but it absolutely does. Because of the Christian gospel says is no there's not a system or things for you to do, but in fact what the gospel says is that you could never do enough anyway if you want to know what that standard was a standard be too high and you would never build a recheck.

And so the gospel is good news in that it says you have one way and through this person, Jesus, you can't merit heaven. But Jesus did. You can be perfectly righteous.

But Jesus is and therefore when you trust in him just believe with childlike faith in your heart and confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and then your site so people here that and they say were that sounds to see and to simple so is it harder is it easy and what Jesus says here. Maybe it first. A little confusing when he uses this word narrow to describe the pathway to life. I don't think he's just talking about heaven, though, that he is think he's talking about life in the kingdom of God. Abundant life and someone to talk to you today about something that I just don't know of any scripture we can pinpoint to be more important to talk about so that we as Christians could understand the good news of the narrowness of this gospel of Jesus Christ and that we could be responsible and responsive in the midst of a culture that really has a religion of pluralism. We have a system of belief around us that essentially says that it's wrong to have a system of belief and I want us to really understand this. So I think it would be freaking for you personally. Engaging to us as a people and also helpful to us in understanding how to relate to this culture. Phyllis start with this essay.

Part of what confusing is that at first it seems so strange that Jesus would use the word narrow because narrow has negative connotations to most everything you ever talk about narrow skills constricting be like it's nighttime is raining and you're on a busy highway. What do you want a narrow lane with a concrete barrier on the left and no shoulder on the right. You'd rather have a broad lane with some wiggle room and they feel safer.

Interestingly enough, Jesus uses the words steno's in the Greek and if you ever have a doctor tell you that you have stenosis of something you don't want to hear that not stenosis of the spine or of the arteries or anything because it means in narrowing and is not normally a word that you associate positive things with the second word that he uses at the ESB translated hard, but the NIV translates narrow is to live both limbo and it means also pressed upon. Sometimes it could have the connotation of persecutions that come when you're pressed upon both these words narrow and compressed and restricted. They are so surprising that Jesus would use these were you don't want to get yourself wiggling and where it gets more and more narrow. I remember years ago and the house we used to live and we had an odor that began creeping into the house. It was first settle and then all full and was very thinking own no smells like something that's brought up under the crawlspace and die means this awful soap my wife.

Of course it didn't have to crawl under there and find out what it is and I put it off forever until so bad as I this is awful and so I put on my spider say and I crawled up under the crawlspace. This house was a narrow crawlspace. At first you could crawl, but then you have to go back through a whole and the foundation again advised way more narrow and I'm not really claustrophobic but y'all I got where I couldn't do anything. It the place where the smells and become an gets more more narrow, until it comes to one part of the house was on a slab is narrower and narrower if I got finally. All I can do is I'm just slithering like a snake. I can you lift my head up one in which you know and much less could you turn or move or any and all the sudden it dawned on me, as horrible as it would be to find a dead creature back here, he would be worse to find a live that's will have more teaching moment from today's important series I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's times and have compassion on his dwellings built on her powers. In its proper place. Timeless words from Jeremiah 30 for the heart of God to restore way to time cities would often be read out on top of the ruins of the former city city withstand higher with social walls and a greater perspective pastor right out of the ruins document. Build your life gloriously, yesterday's disappointments to get to Alan Wright Ministries to listen to Pastor Alan's messages, and attractive. See through digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership, six 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor and dialect. Today's teaching now continues here once again is that if there is a possible raccoon or something back in here just come and eat my whole face I would email me I couldn't I couldn't move. I think what people think of narrow that's what I think is why wouldn't want anything narrow in my life.

Because narrow seems to be the opposite of freedom doesn't it is the evangel it means gospel means good news. That's what it means and and yet has come to be associated with narrowmindedness exclusivity, even bigotry or prejudice or racism pause here for just a moment to say that the heart of this culture that is absolutely insistent on rejecting all forms of bigotry.

This is something to be celebrated and where does it come from this idea of smug superiority to other people. Well, it comes from the beginning saying is that prejudice and the idea that I'm in your account. All of this finds its root if you go all the way back to the dawn of sin, for soon as Adam and Eve send what happened was they felt ashamed. They immediately began hiding from each other and hiding from God. Never forget this, that the result of sin is shame and what shame does. It makes us want to hide to cover up to pretend.

In other words, it becomes very hard to be honest and not only did they hide, but they begin shifting and blaming shifting their shame towards the other. The woman that you gave me.

She gave me the fruit because here's the here's what happens. The sense of not measuring up. That's what shame is is so painful that if you don't know how to be honest with God and others don't know how to receive the grace of God you don't know how to take your shame to God. What you do is you find yourself bearing your own shame.

It is, it is awful. It might be just subtle like an angst in the soul might be something last, but in any event, it feels terrible what people do try to get rid of that varies all away from living very driven and perfectionistic lines to becoming addicted addicted to substances but also what people tend to do is a shift that shame toward somebody you scapegoat somebody blame somebody else and if you find yourself being too critical of others, even people you love. You must bring this to God and so finds this the case because usually it is rooted in your own shame. So what happens is that in order to mask insecurity has always been within humanity. People that want to develop systems that say who's in and who's out so you can put yourself in some of them are just silly I was. I joined a civic club and high school because it would look good on my college application. I didn't care to be part of it, but in order to be in the civic club which we didn't really do anything of any real civic service but you had to go through some initiation rites, and these were just simple and childless things, but one of them was I had to go and where a like graduation down and stand in front of the public store and sell coat hangers and I couldn't join the club until I made a certain amount of money selling the code. I'm a pretty good money actually is prize have a bit of a new coat hangers but anyway how silly that is.

But of course we have much deeper and more serious things that people do in establishing these systems of who's in and who's out and nobody regardless of age or race.

Nobody who is trying to bear their own shame is immune from that you can be in that higher socioeconomic class. The end an elitist club that has it's things that you have to do to be a member, you could be in the lowest difficult urban environment. Get into a game that has awful initiations in order to be part of how I am saying take in belaboring this for a moment, is that I wanted to address this confusion very directly because if you think that what Jesus is talking about when he says narrow is the gate is that it's an invitation to some version of Christianity that is about narrowmindedness and bigotry is completely messed the gospel and it's exactly the opposite.

What Jesus is actually addressing. We are not people. Christians were not people that are our coming across as smug superiority that just irritating people with the very aroma of Christ, and love and joy and peace and patience goodness and faithfulness and gentleness, and self-control railroad chuckle.

My brother lives in Charlotte was then went salable business. Any he was interacting with a man who I know he's a good guy but different. You know different kind of guy and I and in a lot of ways where this is theological perspective is when they got to talking and then tied it talked about me and my brother said that yeah he said that guy said to me, I listen to your brother on the radio a few times and you know he's the least irritating evangelical I've ever heard that I take whatever I can get whatever I can get Jesus here is not talking about a restrictive type of thinking that leads to all of those kinds of expressions of insecurity that I was just describing he's talking about something that leads into a spaciousness and expansiveness of life and you must understand, therefore, that God is not a narrow guy. He is expansive and he is he is brought in an and why didn't even his love. When we we need the world to know is the expansiveness of the love of God. Some years ago I wrote one of the daily devotionals are right reading Paul's words and realizing how Paul just wishes that he could tell us how great the love of God is and I wrote it like this I wish I could tell you how wide is the love of God, you can't go around that you can't find someone that God doesn't want to read God loves people lost in religion and people lost in rebellion. He loves old people and young people he loves black people and white people and brown people in 10 people he loves people in North Carolina and South Carolina. North Korea and South Korea and the Far East amenities and down under the loves the rich and poor people educated and illiterate loves those who love him and he loves those who hate him all the love of God is putting a bookmark here. I'm glad we ended there because you hear the title is freedom through the narrow gate may be that question to Allen's back in the studio sharing the parting good news thought for the day in just a moment in our series on at least. And of course the conclusion to this teaching in our next broadcast coming right up. I will restore the fortunes of Jacob's times have compassion on his dwellings.

The city will be rebuilt on her parents will stand in its proper place as timeless weights from general authority for the heart of God to restore way time cities would often be read out on top of the ruins of the former city city would stand higher with social walls and a greater perspective pastor out on right out of the ruins how God can build your life gloriously, yesterday's disappointments to get to Alan Wright Ministries to listen to Pastor Alan's messages, and attractive. See through digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor and work blessing your life is governed God's grace filled vision for your rights, free grace and encouragement for every blessing.

It's free. Just a click away.

Pastor I got away Alan Becker in the studio and everything to the narrow gate.

Some people will say hi Koch, I got you right freedom, narrow gate, how those things exist is that this might be one of the greatest examples of the paradox of what real freedom is typically speaking right right in the culture. Everybody thinks freedom is wide open gate all the choices. Don't tell me what I should do it outright. Note no version of the truth is better than another version. All of that. But when Jesus speaks of it.

He is speaking because he is so for us and loves us so much the love of God is so incredible he wants us to have an expansive life. But what Jesus says is you come through what looks like a very narrow narrow gate and on the other side of it is expansive life. The opposite is to look at all of life is if I have this expansive gate, but in fact the matter. If you just follow whatever you wanted every whim of your life in every feeling you ever had.

I think we all know delete a lot of poor decisions and that suddenly becomes very constricting.

So, unlimited choices and your freedom actually gets constricted and in but a narrow gate Christ in all the truth of God love you so much and on the other side incredible freedom. Today's good news message supported production Alan Wright Ministries