Luke 13.23-24
Last week I spoke to you about God's blessings, and I referred to the too many Christians who are not experiencing those blessings and know it. I said, ' ...they do not enjoy God's blessing, things like His peace or Gospel fearlessness. They do not enjoy the shining smile of their Father's face. And they sense that lack. They may pray for these things, but they don't seek for them as God has prescribed.' Today, I want to follow-up on that thought and develop it a bit. I want to talk about prayer and how it relates to working at following Jesus and in this way experiencing God's blessings. And I'll tell you right up front what the main point of the sermon is. When it comes to being a faithful Christian, to following Jesus well, to enjoying the blessings of the Father that flow from this, prayer isn't enough. That's what I want to make very clear to you. And I want to make it clear because thinking this way can result in a serious problem.
One emphasis of good Bible preaching and teaching is the emphasis on grace. Our Father gives us all that we need but not because we have earned it. What we've earned is His just punishment. Nevertheless, the Father does give us what we need. And He does that because Jesus has earned it for us. All His gifts are gifts of grace, gifts freely given. Another emphasis of good Bible preaching and teaching is the promises attached to prayer. The Father stands ready to shower His children with blessings. He promises to answer prayer. Some put these two together - grace and prayer - and unfortunately conclude that when it comes to following Jesus well and enjoying His blessings, all we need do is pray. But then they find that it doesn't work. 'I prayed about it. But nothing happened.' That is frustrating, confusing and very discouraging. And that's the problem that I want to address.
Let's consider some examples. How does the average Christian respond if he is faced with some decision, but he isn't sure what to do? One classic response is to quote this verse from James. 'If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.' So, this Christian prays and asks God for wisdom. The plan is then for the Christian to make his decision, assured that the choice made will be right because he asked for wisdom and God promised to give it. However, it doesn't always work out. Sometimes the decision proves to have been rather unwise. The situation turns out all wrong. And it feels as if God hasn't kept His promise. If this happens more than just once in a while our Christian friend begins to wonder about that verse in James. The assumption, 'All that is required to enjoy Jesus' blessings - like wisdom - is a little prayer', begins to be questioned. Something feels very wrong. When faced with this kind of situation, too many conclude that either the verse is broken and that the only way to proceed is to depend on whatever wisdom they can muster on their own, or that they are somehow not praying in the right way, whatever 'the right way' means. Not everyone comes to these sorts of conclusions but too many do. The problem, however, isn't a broken verse nor is it that God only answers the perfect prayers of some elite. The problem is the assumption. 'All that is required to enjoy Jesus' blessings - like wisdom - is a little prayer.' Listen to this from Proverbs. Wisdom is speaking. 'I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. ... And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.' It doesn't sound like prayer alone will get you wisdom from God. It sounds like gaining wisdom takes diligent seeking, listening carefully to instruction, watching daily at wisdom's doors. It sounds like gaining wisdom takes work.
Let's consider another example. John 3.16 is probably the most famous verse in the Bible - and rightly so. The point of the verse is clear. Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved. It sounds simple. It even sounds easy. And that's what lots of people conclude. All you need to do is pray the sinner's prayer, and it's all good. Just believe in Jesus, and you're home free. That is, after all, what so many are told. But then what about these words from Jesus. 'Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.' This sounds hard. It sounds as if it will take some serious effort.
Another example. 'Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.' The promise of Scripture is that we will be made holy. God is faithful and He will do it. Again, many look at verses like this and come to the faulty conclusion that their sanctification, their becoming holy, is on automatic pilot. It's something certain to be achieve all on its own. But then we encounter exhortations like these. 'For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' Paul repeats the same imagery here. 'Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.' Then there's this startling word from Jesus. 'And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.' That sounds more than hard. It sounds violent.
And then there is Jesus' famous call to discipleship. 'And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it."' Jesus utters His call to follow Him, to be His disciple. And He is clear. Those who follow Him will need to be ready to say, 'No!' to their desires: self-denial. They will need to be ready to see all that is precious to them destroyed: bearing the cross. This is Jesus' call to discipleship. It takes more than prayer. It's hard.
And this is what our text is about. 'Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.' Being a Christian, following Jesus in such a way that one can enjoy the blessings of the Father, involves more than being sure to pray. Faithful discipleship requires squeezing through tight doors, walking on a difficult path, seeking daily and diligently by carefully listening to instruction. Faithful discipleship requires striving. This is hard. This is demanding. This is all-consuming. All of this helps us to understand why there are so many confused and even defeated Christians who, overwhelmed by their troubles, can only say, 'But I prayed about it'. After trying to deal with this, some just quit. They tried being a good Christian, and it just didn't work for them. So, they leave the faith. Others aren't quite so radical, but because of their confusion, their expectations of being a Christian are minimal. There are just too many unanswered questions about how following Jesus works. Then there are those who, in the face of all of this, just try harder. They try harder at their prayers. They try harder at doing what Jesus calls them to do. But because they don't have a clear understanding of what's going on, they are frustrated and are fighting discouragement all the time. And any talk of joy in following Jesus just adds to their confusion.
There's the problem. What's the solution?
Let's go back to that James 1 situation. You need wisdom. So, what should you do? You should ask. So far, so good. The problem comes in thinking of this promise primarily in terms of crisis moments. That is, you appeal to this promise when some issue confronts you and demands a decision. But that's not what the Spirit intended by this promise. The promise is to be appealed to by an ongoing, every day kind of prayer. That means you don't say, 'Give me wisdom right now for this decision'. Rather, your prayer goes something like this. 'Help me, Father, to be diligent in seeking the wisdom that I need to live faithfully as Jesus' disciple day by day. And show me what I need to see.' And then, you crack open you Bible to find that wisdom, confident that it will be given to you. Or when it comes to holiness, you pray, 'Father, I want to be holy, and I know that you want to bless me so that become holy. So, help me to deal with this sin. [And here, be specific. Name the sin.] Show me how to put it to death. Make it possible for me to be vicious with it so that it will no longer plague me.' And then, attack that sin. The same attitude applies to Jesus' call to discipleship. 'Lord Jesus, I want to follow you well. So, show me where I need to deny myself. Make me willing to have what I love nailed to a cross for Your sake.' And then, as the Spirit points out some specific area where you are weak in your discipleship, deal with it until it is no longer an obstacle to following Jesus whole-heartedly.
I hope you noticed that along with hard work, the solution does include prayer. But it is a certain kind of prayer. Too often prayer becomes an attempt at a short cut to avoid the hard work of following Jesus. So, we pray to be suddenly wise without having to do the hard work of diligently seeking for this wisdom in Scripture. We pray to be holy, freed from some sin, without having to wrestle with that sin until we pin it to the mat. We pray to follow Jesus well without taking seriously the call to self-denial and self-crucifixion. And then, we're confused when our prayers don't seem to work. I doubt that anyone actually says, 'I think that I'll skip the hard stuff and just pray for what I want.' And yet, isn't that the trap that we sometimes fall into? Fooled again by our ancient foe. And what is the result? Well, that brings us back to where we started. The result is not enjoying the blessings of the Father and knowing it, but not knowing what to do about it because we tell ourselves, 'But I prayed about it'.
Our text is a good reminder, a fitting word for us to ponder. Enjoying the blessings of the Father takes more than prayer. It takes work. It takes an enormous amount of work. The Gospel is simple. But it's not easy. Following Jesus is hard. Jesus' language of 'striving' is so appropriate. But once we see what we are called to do, then prayer makes sense. It makes sense because following Jesus without the power of the Spirit is impossible. So, it is good and right to pray. But it must be wise prayer, not prayer as a short cut. We pray over the details, the means to the goal of following Jesus well. We pray to accomplish specific tasks, like gaining particular bits of wisdom from the study of our Bibles. We pray about specific sins that block our way so that these might be destroyed. We pray about the particulars of walking faithfully in the ways of Jesus. We pray that we will strive to enter. And then we get to work, confident that we will be blessed in our efforts because we know that our Father is full of grace and ready to give more than enough to any who ask.
Last week I spoke to you about God's blessings, and I referred to the too many Christians who are not experiencing those blessings and know it. I said, ' ...they do not enjoy God's blessing, things like His peace or Gospel fearlessness. They do not enjoy the shining smile of their Father's face. And they sense that lack. They may pray for these things, but they don't seek for them as God has prescribed.' Today, I want to follow-up on that thought and develop it a bit. I want to talk about prayer and how it relates to working at following Jesus and in this way experiencing God's blessings. And I'll tell you right up front what the main point of the sermon is. When it comes to being a faithful Christian, to following Jesus well, to enjoying the blessings of the Father that flow from this, prayer isn't enough. That's what I want to make very clear to you. And I want to make it clear because thinking this way can result in a serious problem.
One emphasis of good Bible preaching and teaching is the emphasis on grace. Our Father gives us all that we need but not because we have earned it. What we've earned is His just punishment. Nevertheless, the Father does give us what we need. And He does that because Jesus has earned it for us. All His gifts are gifts of grace, gifts freely given. Another emphasis of good Bible preaching and teaching is the promises attached to prayer. The Father stands ready to shower His children with blessings. He promises to answer prayer. Some put these two together - grace and prayer - and unfortunately conclude that when it comes to following Jesus well and enjoying His blessings, all we need do is pray. But then they find that it doesn't work. 'I prayed about it. But nothing happened.' That is frustrating, confusing and very discouraging. And that's the problem that I want to address.
Let's consider some examples. How does the average Christian respond if he is faced with some decision, but he isn't sure what to do? One classic response is to quote this verse from James. 'If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.' So, this Christian prays and asks God for wisdom. The plan is then for the Christian to make his decision, assured that the choice made will be right because he asked for wisdom and God promised to give it. However, it doesn't always work out. Sometimes the decision proves to have been rather unwise. The situation turns out all wrong. And it feels as if God hasn't kept His promise. If this happens more than just once in a while our Christian friend begins to wonder about that verse in James. The assumption, 'All that is required to enjoy Jesus' blessings - like wisdom - is a little prayer', begins to be questioned. Something feels very wrong. When faced with this kind of situation, too many conclude that either the verse is broken and that the only way to proceed is to depend on whatever wisdom they can muster on their own, or that they are somehow not praying in the right way, whatever 'the right way' means. Not everyone comes to these sorts of conclusions but too many do. The problem, however, isn't a broken verse nor is it that God only answers the perfect prayers of some elite. The problem is the assumption. 'All that is required to enjoy Jesus' blessings - like wisdom - is a little prayer.' Listen to this from Proverbs. Wisdom is speaking. 'I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. ... And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.' It doesn't sound like prayer alone will get you wisdom from God. It sounds like gaining wisdom takes diligent seeking, listening carefully to instruction, watching daily at wisdom's doors. It sounds like gaining wisdom takes work.
Let's consider another example. John 3.16 is probably the most famous verse in the Bible - and rightly so. The point of the verse is clear. Believe in Jesus, and you will be saved. It sounds simple. It even sounds easy. And that's what lots of people conclude. All you need to do is pray the sinner's prayer, and it's all good. Just believe in Jesus, and you're home free. That is, after all, what so many are told. But then what about these words from Jesus. 'Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.' This sounds hard. It sounds as if it will take some serious effort.
Another example. 'Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.' The promise of Scripture is that we will be made holy. God is faithful and He will do it. Again, many look at verses like this and come to the faulty conclusion that their sanctification, their becoming holy, is on automatic pilot. It's something certain to be achieve all on its own. But then we encounter exhortations like these. 'For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.' Paul repeats the same imagery here. 'Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.' Then there's this startling word from Jesus. 'And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.' That sounds more than hard. It sounds violent.
And then there is Jesus' famous call to discipleship. 'And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it."' Jesus utters His call to follow Him, to be His disciple. And He is clear. Those who follow Him will need to be ready to say, 'No!' to their desires: self-denial. They will need to be ready to see all that is precious to them destroyed: bearing the cross. This is Jesus' call to discipleship. It takes more than prayer. It's hard.
And this is what our text is about. 'Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.' Being a Christian, following Jesus in such a way that one can enjoy the blessings of the Father, involves more than being sure to pray. Faithful discipleship requires squeezing through tight doors, walking on a difficult path, seeking daily and diligently by carefully listening to instruction. Faithful discipleship requires striving. This is hard. This is demanding. This is all-consuming. All of this helps us to understand why there are so many confused and even defeated Christians who, overwhelmed by their troubles, can only say, 'But I prayed about it'. After trying to deal with this, some just quit. They tried being a good Christian, and it just didn't work for them. So, they leave the faith. Others aren't quite so radical, but because of their confusion, their expectations of being a Christian are minimal. There are just too many unanswered questions about how following Jesus works. Then there are those who, in the face of all of this, just try harder. They try harder at their prayers. They try harder at doing what Jesus calls them to do. But because they don't have a clear understanding of what's going on, they are frustrated and are fighting discouragement all the time. And any talk of joy in following Jesus just adds to their confusion.
There's the problem. What's the solution?
Let's go back to that James 1 situation. You need wisdom. So, what should you do? You should ask. So far, so good. The problem comes in thinking of this promise primarily in terms of crisis moments. That is, you appeal to this promise when some issue confronts you and demands a decision. But that's not what the Spirit intended by this promise. The promise is to be appealed to by an ongoing, every day kind of prayer. That means you don't say, 'Give me wisdom right now for this decision'. Rather, your prayer goes something like this. 'Help me, Father, to be diligent in seeking the wisdom that I need to live faithfully as Jesus' disciple day by day. And show me what I need to see.' And then, you crack open you Bible to find that wisdom, confident that it will be given to you. Or when it comes to holiness, you pray, 'Father, I want to be holy, and I know that you want to bless me so that become holy. So, help me to deal with this sin. [And here, be specific. Name the sin.] Show me how to put it to death. Make it possible for me to be vicious with it so that it will no longer plague me.' And then, attack that sin. The same attitude applies to Jesus' call to discipleship. 'Lord Jesus, I want to follow you well. So, show me where I need to deny myself. Make me willing to have what I love nailed to a cross for Your sake.' And then, as the Spirit points out some specific area where you are weak in your discipleship, deal with it until it is no longer an obstacle to following Jesus whole-heartedly.
I hope you noticed that along with hard work, the solution does include prayer. But it is a certain kind of prayer. Too often prayer becomes an attempt at a short cut to avoid the hard work of following Jesus. So, we pray to be suddenly wise without having to do the hard work of diligently seeking for this wisdom in Scripture. We pray to be holy, freed from some sin, without having to wrestle with that sin until we pin it to the mat. We pray to follow Jesus well without taking seriously the call to self-denial and self-crucifixion. And then, we're confused when our prayers don't seem to work. I doubt that anyone actually says, 'I think that I'll skip the hard stuff and just pray for what I want.' And yet, isn't that the trap that we sometimes fall into? Fooled again by our ancient foe. And what is the result? Well, that brings us back to where we started. The result is not enjoying the blessings of the Father and knowing it, but not knowing what to do about it because we tell ourselves, 'But I prayed about it'.
Our text is a good reminder, a fitting word for us to ponder. Enjoying the blessings of the Father takes more than prayer. It takes work. It takes an enormous amount of work. The Gospel is simple. But it's not easy. Following Jesus is hard. Jesus' language of 'striving' is so appropriate. But once we see what we are called to do, then prayer makes sense. It makes sense because following Jesus without the power of the Spirit is impossible. So, it is good and right to pray. But it must be wise prayer, not prayer as a short cut. We pray over the details, the means to the goal of following Jesus well. We pray to accomplish specific tasks, like gaining particular bits of wisdom from the study of our Bibles. We pray about specific sins that block our way so that these might be destroyed. We pray about the particulars of walking faithfully in the ways of Jesus. We pray that we will strive to enter. And then we get to work, confident that we will be blessed in our efforts because we know that our Father is full of grace and ready to give more than enough to any who ask.
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