Introduction
Let me begin with a discipleship question: how will you follow Jesus in trusting God through suffering this week?
Main Points
In this lesson shaped by Calvary Boise's teaching on HERE ON PURPOSE: The Authentic Christian Life, Christ invites us to receive truth with humility, practice repentance, and walk in faithful obedience.
Grace and Justification
for the past two weeks we've been looking at this concept the purpose of God the purpose of God in your life why are you here why were you created how will you ever find satisfaction and we looked at that beginning Matthew chapter 5 the purpose of your life is to know and to love God with everything that you have to come to him at being poor in spirit and let him add to your life that's the purpose and unless you find your purpose in knowing and loving God you'll never be satisfied unless you rest in God you will remain Restless then last week we looked at this concept in Matthew chapter 6 which is seek that and give him all of your worries rest in him and give him all of your anxiety and your burdens your worries because he is a good God and he will take care of you seek first his kingdom he'll add everything else to you now as we close this sermon on the mound study this flyover we're gonna look at the final aspect of this which is your purpose has to be absolutely radically authentic if you do anything else other than worship and love God and trust him with your whole life if it's not authentic it won't matter if you're if you're someone who pays attention to these things it's important that we get this question right how do you have authentic relationship with God how do you have an authentic purpose in God if you were to ask someone who isn't at a gathering like this we've never gone or they have come to church but no longer find it interesting or helpful you'll be surprised at one of the reasons one of the main reasons that people in our day and age will tell you as to why church left them wanting one of the main reasons that people give is that it wasn't authentic so they came to church looking for God they didn't find him there they wanted to grow in the relationship with God but they didn't the authenticity question is something that will never go away whatever you do there's something deep inside your soul that wants it to be real you want your marriage to be authentic you want your job to have meaning and purpose and you want your pursuit of God to be real and Jesus is gonna say now the authentic life the authentic Kingdom is what you were made for it can't just be something you believe in and think about and sometimes consider it has to now be the authentic depth of your heart in pursuit of God so today's message will be called the authentic Christian life what does it look like to be authentic before God we're gonna look at this in a couple of different ways and we'll start in Matthew chapter 7 verse 13 Jesus says enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it powerful statement of Christ that requires us to do a little bit of meditation on this first authentic Christian life authentic followers of Christ are on a narrow way there is a right way to follow Jesus to belong in his kingdom now oftentimes you will hear this preached as a way to remind all of us as we go into this world of world religions and worldviews and varying beliefs and a world that tries to live in the midst of the tension of all these different colliding worldviews this is one way to say there's actually one that's right there is a way and a truth and a life and his name is Jesus and he says unless you come through me you'll never get to the Father but as we try to understand this in our authentic ways it's our theme of the morning we have to realize that's not necessarily the context that Jesus is sharing this under it's good to know this it's good to know that Jesus is the only way to the Father to your purpose of knowing and loving God and it's good to know that although you may hear this that there are a lot of roads that lead to God there's not in some of you may have heard this concept that most religions are fundamentally the same and they're superficially different so the main idea with all religion is that there is a God that you were created somehow to know and to a please and fundamentally they're all the same then superficially they're different meaning we do at our certain style and we have our certain name for God and other religions have a different name for God and they have their own style that's wrong it's good for us to remember that and look at these teachings as a reminder that when Jesus says I'm the way the truth and the life and nobody comes to the Father except through me he's saying that religion is superficially the same and fundamentally drastically different the world religions in the world views are superficially the same drastically and fundamentally different namely that in the worldview that we believe in is the way to God there's only one image of God that actually comes to us all other world religions you have to work your way to the top Jesus says I'm the visible image of the invisible God come to you now that's one way we could preach this entire message to say Jesus is the way everything else will lead to destruction but that's not necessarily the context of the authentic Christian life that Jesus is giving to his audience in the Sermon on the Mount because he's not speaking to a lot of non-believer pagan people who have adopted the Roman occupation and the religions of the Romans what he's speaking to the audience he's speaking to our religious Jewish people they believe in God they've honed in their belief and they're surrounded in a Jewish culture that has a lot of religion so he's talking about something else as a way to be narrow what is the narrow gate that Jesus is specifically and contextually talking about here it isn't necessarily a sermon against the worldviews apart from the one true God he's saying there is a narrow gate within the midst of all of the apparatus of religion you think about what Jesus is actually doing here Jesus comes on to the scene and most of the things that he has to do to correct people were people who had gone too deep into religion and what this is a reminder of is religion and law and ritual and church always has a way to kind of grow into its own thing could start out so pure and then it can grow into something else in fact if you think about how Jesus comes onto the scene when he comes onto the scene there are 613 commandments and the reading of the Torah 613 now that is filling the void for a very simple commandment that God gave people in the beginning of the book in Genesis it says you have one commandment don't eat the tree don't eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil trust me don't eat that tree everything else you can do you can eat any other tree just trust me and don't eat that tree and what happens the very beginning of sin is that man wants to go down a more broad way what happens if I try that tree - and as sin runs amok in the world and the fallen creation turns into a place that God needs to redeem what does he have to do it was one commandment now there's ten okay not only don't eat the tree now don't do these 10 things and honor me what happens well by the time Jesus comes on the scene 10 commandments have turned into six hundred plus Commandments with an addition to all of the oral tradition that were put on the commandments of the Torah I mean he as an example of this Jesus came on the scene and he was not only correcting all of the ways that religion had grown past its usefulness to point people to God he was also breaking up tradition one time he was entering into a place and as the Pharisees the religious elite come to him and they say why do your disciples not wash their hands before they eat breaking our tradition in their mind they're thinking never ever defile yourself in one way you'll do that is not as by eating with unwashed hands it's not a law it's a tradition and it had grown you already know this by the way for any of you who have ever tried to set boundaries you know there's a way to always skirt the boundary if you ever you have a perfect example of this have you ever flown and listened to the announcement of the flight attendant no I really listen either here's what she's saying she says this smoking or she or he smoking is prohibited on this airplane can't smoke on airplanes and then they have to add to the law to tamper with disable or destroy the smoke detector is a criminal offence so what does that mean it's not enough just to say don't smoke we also have to put a smoke detector in there and it's not enough just to put the detector in there because somebody's gonna go back there and try to mess with it they're gonna tamper with it or disable it or actually just break it so they can start smoking and wherever there's a boundary there is this human tendency to go beyond it as a way to try to skirt the law and now they also say and please don't vape back there too because that will trip the alarm don't do it but we add and we add and we add Jesus comes on the scene and in the apparatus of all of the burdensome religion and the traditions and all of these things that were put up not to point people to God but to try to make the law save them he says let me narrow this down let's get back to the core of what all of this is for someone says what's the greatest commandment out of all 600-plus he says it's really just to let me make you a very narrow gate here's the narrow gate of Christ love God with your whole being Matthew chapter 22 verse 37 and love your neighbor as yourself that is the narrow gate of following the way Jesus did it perfectly he loved the father and gave himself to the will of the Father perfectly and he laid down his life for people that's the narrow way now seems easy doesn't it doesn't it seem like we've just lifted the burden of the law and said just do these two things and you do well this is the hardest thing you'll ever try to do with your life because this is love there's no more difficult challenge in your life to actually radically love people we have read first Corinthians chapter 13 so many times at weddings that sometimes we forget how challenging this passage of Scripture is but this is what the word says about love listen to this as the narrow gate this is what you're called to do with your entire life live as someone who loves God and loves people and this is the definition of love suffers long first definition it suffers doesn't give up on people love is kind does not envy does not parade itself it's not puffed up it doesn't behave rudely it thinks no evil does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things the narrow gate is hard to truly love like this is hard and for those of you who have that unconditional relationship test in your life you know this the way that I'm learning this is the intense love that I have for this newborn child that's in our household and yet it's one of the hardest things we've done is to add a newborn to the mix have you ever heard the saying that God makes babies adorable so that we don't hate them they're so cute and they're way they make these cooing sounds and they smile at you it makes you love them because they're so challenging the saying also says that God makes babies small so they don't kill you because if you want another wrath of God try to try to please a crying hungry baby if they were are sighs they'd murder us it's an example of love is the most challenging thing you'll ever do you think about those of you who are married you know that on the day you got married you entered into the most challenging relationship of your life because if you are true to the covenant that you agreed to before God and the witnesses of your wedding you said to the other person I will love you no matter how sick you get I will love you no matter poor you get I will love you no matter how beautiful you are or you aren't and the only thing that will make me stop loving you is if you die that is hard that is challenge and Jesus says that is the purpose of your life that the marriage covenant that you make is actually a small reflection of what God wants you to live for everything and that's why it says in Ephesians chapter 5 husbands love your wife like Jesus loved the church and gave himself for her every opportunity that you have to love your wife or your children or your neighbors or your co-workers or your enemies comes with a cross every opportunity for love in your life comes with a cross that you must bear and that is the narrow way because Jesus says that you were made for love and there's no greater love than to lay down your life for the ones that you've called to love do you have you have any idea how hard this is and this is why it is easier to take the broad way it is easier to find your satisfaction or your purpose or your identity in the apparatus and not the essence of what you were made for and this is the broad way and the broad way leads to destruction and now we'll get to the second aspect of this Jesus says the true authentic Christian life is on the way it's in the narrow gate of love and it's so hard that the only way you can do it is if you're following me radically and then he's going to give an illustration now he we're gonna read about this illustration where Jesus is going to give a couple examples of the destruction that awaits the broad way and again one preaching of this sermon could be that the broad way leads to destruction and so the one way I could point out that destruction is this morning if there are any of you who have not given your life to Christ you are living for something and most of all of you who are living for something other than God that's sin and sin will destroy you if you are giving your life to money and to greed you're walking down a path of destruction if you give your life to pleasure and to sack an addiction on the computer you're walking down a path of destruction if you give your life to anything but the love of God on the love of people is the broad way that leads back to a path of destruction but that's not the context of the Sermon on the Mount remember Jesus is not speaking to a room of non-believers who are in love with sin and our rebellion to God he's speaking to people in religion and that's why this is so surprising and challenging that he gives an illustration of the broad way and the destruction how verse 15 beware of false prophets the illustration of the broad way and the destructive path is a prophet we expect this to be a harlot not a prophet and yet he says if you want to see someone who's on the wrong path the broad and easy way that is going to destroy them let me point you to the false prophet one thing we should read from this is if there's a false prophet if you can fake being a prophet if you can get really close to the kingdom and you're not actually and you can fake being a prophet you can fake being anything you can fake the higher offices you can fake any office of the kingdom and so what is this going to teach us about the warning of the broad way here's what the Prophet represents the prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves do you see what the Prophet is representing to us the Prophet looks like a disciple looks like a sheep he looks like he's in the flock of God but his look doesn't match his heart inside he's a ravenous wolf this is a warning for anyone who is walking down a broad way of what the Bible calls hypocrisy the Bible calls this looking the part but having a deceptive heart this is the broad way and it's also the easy way you know how much easier it is to be a hypocrite than to be someone who bears their cross to lay down their life for people much easier it is to look like you're a man of God and you have the position in the church or the kingdom or you're doing really well as appearance because you look like a sheep but inwardly you don't actually mess with your stuff and your hearts still ravaged like a wolf it's a lot easier than picking up your cross and here's the road to destruction you will know them by their fruits through men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles even so every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree Bears bad fruit a good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit in other words if the hearts not right you're a diseased tree and you're gonna know it by the fruit you're gonna know that you're a diseased tree because in the end of your life your purpose isn't loving God your purpose is some other thing and what happens every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire that's destruction and that's why we connect the false prophet with the warning of the Broadway and the destruction you're thrown into the fire if you look like a person of God but you don't love him you're wasting your time that's a broad and easy way that will be thrown into the fire now option number two what does it say now there verse 21 not everyone who says to me Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven many will say to me in that day Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name okay so here's illustration number two first we have a false prophet and now we have someone who absolutely looks like they belong by the way they act false prophet is the hypocrite this person is the self-righteous look at what this person is paying attention to all the stuff they've done and here's the really dangerous part because as some commentators were point out there are some things about this resume that he presents before the Lord that can really seem like good things to give your life to they can really seem like maybe even some purpose for your life here's some couple things we'll draw from this one it says many will say to me in that day Lord this is a strong intellectual doctrine calling Jesus Lord means that you're intellectually sound in your doctrine because Jesus is Lord of Lord and King of Kings and sometimes being intellectually sound can seem like the right pursuit look what else it says he says Lord twice the commentators say if you read the Bible and you look for those passes of Scripture where someone's crying out to God and saying that the name twice David / son absalom Mary Jesus it's an emotional appeal to them and when that happens it's indicating emotional investment so you've got intellectual doctrine you've got an investment of your emotions and then it says I've prophesied and I've cast out demons this is someone who's involved in ministry these are the three eyes of the self-righteous the three eyes of the sauce righteous can look like your purpose but yet they can miss the entire point listen to him again intellectually sound I just want to know the word I want to know doctrine or no theology and that's my pursuit invest in emotion I just want to come to church and have the worship music blow me away I want to be inspired by a sermon I just want my emotions to be stirred involved in ministry I will do anything you just tell me where to sign up and I'm gonna find my identity and what I know and what I do and then all the things that I can feel about God that's broad and it's actually easier it's easier to do the stuff to take the stuff and not on any of the relationship because look what happens verse 23 then Jesus speaking I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness so concerned with the law and yet if you're not actually loving God with your whole being and allowing him to use your life to pick up your cross and to lay it down for others he's like I don't know you've broken the whole law it seems to me it's almost more dangerous to fake the relationship than to break the law and to go through life so worried about which laws we aren't breaking and pretend we're fine with God but we're not says depart from me if I don't know you then none of those things that you did in your resume building in religion even matter and remember your purpose in life is to know and love God and for any of us to hear the words depart from me is total and absolute devastation to the soul we weren't made to perfect the law in ourselves we weren't made to get really good at going to church we were made to love God radically and if we do the law and do church and do all the other stuff but don't love God we're missing our purpose and it's not authentic and we're gonna be so desperate for something more real in our life and to end this Jesus is going to give a parable of two separate people and this is now our invitation to see that the gospel is the answer look what he says therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain descended the floods came and the winds blew and beat on the house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock why didn't your life fall apart when the rain and the wind and the storms come how did you survive the trial the sickness the heartbreak how did you try how did you survive all of the ways that life can press on you one simple answer I stand on the rock of Jesus Christ apart from him I can do nothing but in him I can do all things because he strengthens me and you stand on that rock and any storm they will come your way and it says in first Peter that we glory in the trials because it shows us the genuineness of our faith it teaches us how to trust God again it teaches us to see what we're actually standing on and if we stand on anything but the perfect life of Christ seeking His righteousness then we stand on something that's gonna fall away because you cannot survive your purpose is not to do better in yourself your purpose is to love God so radically and to love people so selflessly that the only hope you ever have of doing that is if somehow he empowers you to do it that's why it says he who knew no sin Jesus Christ knew no sin the narrow way his whole life lived for the will of the Father and He gave His life till the end for the salvation of the world picked up his cross and died for you knew no sin but he became sin he took all the broad way he took all the ways that religion piles up and all the ways that our identity isn't something else he took all the ways that we didn't go through the narrow gate but we looked for something that was just on the other side of God and he bore it and he paid the price of destruction he went into the grave as it says so that we could become his righteousness so that we could go through the narrow gate by the power of his Spirit we go through that's our only hope and this is the warning now but everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them I'm listening but I do whatever I want really I listen to your word I've heard that I'm called to love you and love people but there's got to be some other ways for me to do well by you can I just kind of build a family or build a career or can I just get involved in church and keep it really safe and really simple you're listening but you're not doing this is what happens you're a foolish person who has built his house on the sand and the rain descended the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was the fall this is the warning if you are someone who stands on your position in church or in ministry and you think I'm good because I'm in church on Sundays you're standing on sand and when the trials of life come it's gonna fall away you got nothing to actually keep you grounded in the rock of who God has called you to be in Christ if you stand on your performance you did all these things in the name of the Lord you did all this engagement to try to
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.
Conclusion
We return to the opening teaching: discipleship is not just information, it is transformation through faith and obedience to Jesus. If we receive His Word and walk it out, He will shape us into people who endure and bear fruit.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me hear Your Word, obey it with faith, and grow as Your disciple. Amen.