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Don't follow the blind crowd going nowhere, Jesus advised. Find the secret path. Like much that Jesus taught, the path is secret because it is hidden in plain sight!
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To Jerusalem
https://secretpath191.blogspot.com/2020/11/to-jerusalem.html
Go through the tight gate. A lot of people use the big gate and take the broad road that goes to Destruction.
Only a few people find the little gate to the narrow path that goes to Life.
Look back into the various instructions as to what constitutes right
conduct in the eyes of God. Perhaps you say that that way is such a
tight squeeze that no one can wiggle through. But consider, do you
suppose Jesus violated even one iota of his teachings? So then, he is
pointing the way as to what the next right thing is. Aiming for that
goal, that ideal of conduct is the narrow way that few truly pursue.
Let us reflect upon Jacob's wrestling match with God, in which Jacob prevails. This story shows that Jacob had become conformed to God's image, thus the new name Israel, which, according to Genesis, means something like God prevails, which I take as similar to the idea of the Christian becoming more conformed to the image of God as he wrestles with him during his walk with God.
But to be truly like God, humility is necessary. Thus, the gift of the limp: to keep Jacob right-sized, and to assure that Jacob/Israel would have to rely on God -- as he couldn't order a motorized wheelchair from Amazon. So it is for the Christian, who has a spark of the divine fire, but who must not presume himself more than a "junior" bit of that big fire.
What I am driving at here is that "taking the little gate and the narrow way" means becoming meek and lowly enough to:
Yes, it is understood that the narrow path is considered to be a metaphor for the entrance into the kingdom of heaven, which only occurs to those who are born again. Many are called, but few are chosen. Once Jesus has got you, you are in. But even so, consider Paul's admonition to Christians at Corinth whom he called babies. They were still on spiritual baby food, and not consuming adult spiritual fare. These Christians were not making much progress spiritually. Get a move on! Paul was saying.
The "old man" (another Paulism) within the true Christian was hanging back, avoiding the narrow path. It seems quite probable that some of the early congregants were not believers, but people who had joined for social reasons. Those congregants would have had a tendency to hold back the others, cajoling them to just hang about and "play church."
Consider the married couple Ananias and Sapphira who had the misfortune of lying to the Holy Spirit. No doubt they knew no better because they did not know Jesus.
Surely an example of someone who took the narrow path was Paul. Paul gave up all comforts and went all out to serve God and bring in an enormous harvest of souls for Jesus.
You might think of such Christians as the elite special forces for the Lord. But they are people who in fact, not only in word, have surrendered all. Those Christians who have yet to find this very narrow path will, I suspect, still be walking a path off the big highway, where all the world walks. That is to say, even a reluctant Christian must show himself different from ordinary worldlings. The Spirit within him will at least nudge him "go this way, duck that." The Spirit within him will lead him, by degrees perhaps, to take a narrower way. The Christ within him will master the darkness of the old man, though the old man, abetted by Satan, puts up a ferocious struggle. If necessary, God can even drag the troubled believer into the wondrous New World.
As you examine yourself, you may wonder how one can possibly really take the narrow way. Have faith that "with God, all things are possible" and you can be with God via Jesus, his son and your savior.
One commentator notes that the second narrow is related to a Greek word that connotes persecution. Doubtless another inspired pun was intended, which doesn't show up in English. Yet elsewhere Jesus warns that that is what his servants are to endure. If everybody speaks well of you, something is wrong.
In other words, the true disciple is willing to endure privation (nothing but Jesus is necessary) and harsh harassment (the world will hate him with a passion, no matter how "objective" the masks). But remember, great is his or her reward!
Let us reflect upon Jacob's wrestling match with God, in which Jacob prevails. This story shows that Jacob had become conformed to God's image, thus the new name Israel, which, according to Genesis, means something like God prevails, which I take as similar to the idea of the Christian becoming more conformed to the image of God as he wrestles with him during his walk with God.
But to be truly like God, humility is necessary. Thus, the gift of the limp: to keep Jacob right-sized, and to assure that Jacob/Israel would have to rely on God -- as he couldn't order a motorized wheelchair from Amazon. So it is for the Christian, who has a spark of the divine fire, but who must not presume himself more than a "junior" bit of that big fire.
What I am driving at here is that "taking the little gate and the narrow way" means becoming meek and lowly enough to:
¶ Heed Christ's call to come to him.Paul took that path as he reached toward "the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
¶ Continue heeding God's guidance, which very likely will bring trouble in its wake.
Yes, it is understood that the narrow path is considered to be a metaphor for the entrance into the kingdom of heaven, which only occurs to those who are born again. Many are called, but few are chosen. Once Jesus has got you, you are in. But even so, consider Paul's admonition to Christians at Corinth whom he called babies. They were still on spiritual baby food, and not consuming adult spiritual fare. These Christians were not making much progress spiritually. Get a move on! Paul was saying.
And I, brothers, was unable to speak to you as I would to spiritual people, but spoke to you as flesh-driven people -- babies in Christ.Here we should observe that Paul need not have worried overmuch, as Jesus himself said that persecution would afflict (and discipline) his real followers.
I have fed you baby food, not food for adults, because you couldn't handle it. And you still can't handle it, because you are still flesh-driven. That is, doesn't the envying, strife and divisiveness among you show that you are flesh-driven, no different from non-spiritual people?
The "old man" (another Paulism) within the true Christian was hanging back, avoiding the narrow path. It seems quite probable that some of the early congregants were not believers, but people who had joined for social reasons. Those congregants would have had a tendency to hold back the others, cajoling them to just hang about and "play church."
Consider the married couple Ananias and Sapphira who had the misfortune of lying to the Holy Spirit. No doubt they knew no better because they did not know Jesus.
Surely an example of someone who took the narrow path was Paul. Paul gave up all comforts and went all out to serve God and bring in an enormous harvest of souls for Jesus.
Under Jewish rulers, I have received the maximum of 39 stripes [more than that required Roman approval].Yet, with all that, Paul is hardly the only fiercely determined Christian in the annals of faith. Many are the unsung heroes who have endured all manner of troubles as they labored in the fields of the Lord. They have forgone everything and have done and are doing amazing things under Jesus' authority -- even though many such works are hidden for now.
On three occasions I was beaten with rods, another time I was stoned and three times I was shipwrecked, spending a night and a day in the ocean.
In my many travels, I have been in peril of waters, in peril of robbers, in peril from my own countrymen, in peril by the pagans, in peril in the city, in peril in the wilderness, in peril at sea, in peril from false Christians.
Tired and hurting, often on the lookout, hungry and thirsty, often fasting, cold and badly clothed.
Aside from all those sort of things that befall me every day, I also have concern for all the church groups.
You might think of such Christians as the elite special forces for the Lord. But they are people who in fact, not only in word, have surrendered all. Those Christians who have yet to find this very narrow path will, I suspect, still be walking a path off the big highway, where all the world walks. That is to say, even a reluctant Christian must show himself different from ordinary worldlings. The Spirit within him will at least nudge him "go this way, duck that." The Spirit within him will lead him, by degrees perhaps, to take a narrower way. The Christ within him will master the darkness of the old man, though the old man, abetted by Satan, puts up a ferocious struggle. If necessary, God can even drag the troubled believer into the wondrous New World.
As you examine yourself, you may wonder how one can possibly really take the narrow way. Have faith that "with God, all things are possible" and you can be with God via Jesus, his son and your savior.
One commentator notes that the second narrow is related to a Greek word that connotes persecution. Doubtless another inspired pun was intended, which doesn't show up in English. Yet elsewhere Jesus warns that that is what his servants are to endure. If everybody speaks well of you, something is wrong.
In other words, the true disciple is willing to endure privation (nothing but Jesus is necessary) and harsh harassment (the world will hate him with a passion, no matter how "objective" the masks). But remember, great is his or her reward!
NEXT PAGE:
To Jerusalem
https://secretpath191.blogspot.com/2020/11/to-jerusalem.html
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