The Way is Narrow

You know, that time of worship is about the Lord, but it's precious that he allows us to experience peace and breakthrough and his gentleness and comfort. He's so good and he has certainly done that tonight. It's a privilege for me to share from my heart with you, Holly. I owe you an email, but I'm going to respond to some of it right now in front of God and everybody answer to precious questions in the faith journey. You know, I've actually been praying about this specific time with all of you for several weeks.

And when I started asking the Lord about this time, I felt directed to a portion of King David's journey that's specifically found in 2nd Samuel, the third chapter, one verse in particular that I'm going to share with you in a moment. But then as I was praying really just two days ago for our time together, the Lord brought me back to a message, a sermon that he gave me just over 15 years ago. And I knew he was having me revisit it for my own life. But then he began to speak to me about this gathering, this group of people, and I knew that I needed to share a version of that message with you as well. I don't really always know what to do with that.

When you feel a clear direction one way and then it seems the direction changes. I usually just rightly assume that the problem was with my hearing at some point. But I felt both compulsions in such a strong way that I'm grateful that the lord brought the two together. And the second Samuel 3 theme or idea is going to kind of serve as a prologue to the message. A very condensed version of what I thought I was going to share in a longer version.

And this is the verse that the Lord gripped my heart with for those of us gathered tonight initially. And this is the prologue to the longer message 2 Samuel 3. 39. David's words. He says, today, though I am anointed king, I am weak.

Today, though I am anointed king, I am weak. So when David was a teenager, God spoke through the prophet Samuel. And God spoke these words, I have anointed you king over Israel. But then for about the next 10 plus years, David was running for his life as Saul was trying to hunt him down out of jealousy and bitterness. And this was David's journey after that word was given to him as a teenager.

The Lord said, I've anointed you king over Israel. And then he spends 10 plus years running from jealous and angry and vengeful Saul. And David actually had multiple opportunities to end Saul's life. And he didn't do it. As a matter of fact, when Saul was killed later, along with his son Jonathan, David deeply grieved Saul's death.

It was actually something that happened later in David's life when his son was hunting him down. And his son then was killed. And then David grieved again his death. So there's kind of this theme in David's life. The very ones that were against him, he then grieved the loss of their destiny.

And that brings clarity to why God would call David a man after his own heart. That heart. To see someone's destiny even when they're acting a fool.

And this was David's experience. And we know he had his share of ups and downs and failures, from Bathsheba to battles later on in his life with the Philistines. But after Saul died in that scenario, that had nothing to do with David. And as David was grieving his death, David was crowned king over the southern part of Israel, the tribe of Judah. And in his reign over Judah for those seven and a half years, the northern kingdom of Israel was very.

Stayed very loyal to King Saul. King Saul was dead, but his house, his sons, ruling the northern part of Israel, they stayed very loyal to Saul. So there was a war that, a civil war between the north and southern parts of Israel. That. That went on for a long time.

And in Second Samuel, we read that the war was long, but the work of holiness was carried on. As David's house grew stronger and stronger, yet Saul's house, which was corrupt, grew weaker. Specifically, in scripture, it says, David and his house grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker. So we're in 2 Samuel 3, and we read that Saul's commander in chief also, he was a relative, too. I think his cousin.

He. Abner is his name. He switches sides, and he's got some personal reasons, some offenses, but he decides, no, I'm going to switch to David's side. It's time that David becomes king of the entire nation of Israel, the north and the south. And in that decision, Abner was really a tool in the hand of God.

Because when David was still a teenager, God said, I have appointed you king over Israel. So Abner switches teams. He sends word to David, I'm advocating for you. I want to be on your side. I want to see you king over the whole nation.

David's like, great idea. Come see me. Bring my wife. Michael, that's no longer my wife. Bring her back to me.

And Abner does it. He goes to Hebron or Hebron, where David is, and they have a meeting. And right as he leaves, Joab, who is David's commander in chief. So we have Saul's commander in chief in Abner that's switching sides. Then we have Joab, David's commander in chief.

He doesn't like this new arrangement of Abner being involved. He doesn't trust him. He doesn't think that David should trust him. And then he has his own thoughts of revenge because his younger brother, Joab's younger brother, was killed under the leadership of Abner. So Joab asks for a private word with Abner, and he murders him.

He stabs him in the belly. So when David hears this, he goes into deep grieving again. In fact, a huge portion of 2 Samuel 3 is David grieving over the death of Abner, who was advocating and a tool in the hand of God to make him king of Israel. And he is grieving throughout chapter three of 2 Samuel. And at the end of that chapter, the second part of verse 38, David says, do you not realize that a commander and great man has fallen, fallen in Israel this day?

And today, though I am anointed king, I am weak. A few things I wrote down about this. The presence of battles does not diminish the call of God. In fact, it affirms it in many cases, also the presence of weakness. Now, this brings me great hope.

In the season of life I find myself in. The presence of weakness does not revoke the call of God. King David said, today I'm weak. Maybe I'm not going to stay here, but I am weak. I know I'm anointed as king.

As a matter of fact, God has just made a way for me to step fully into that destiny. But today, though I was anointed king, I am weak. There will be days that your heart and passion do not match the call. And it's okay to make that declaration. I was anointed as king, yet today I'm weak.

I was going to develop a whole word around that, but I think I was too weak to do so. So the Lord brought me in another direction. I was a little preacher humor that not even the preachers laughed at. So, all right, that's a bad day. All right.

First Timothy, chapter one, verses 18 and 19. Paul says, Timothy, my son, I'm giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about, so that by recalling them you might fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected, and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. Here's some thoughts on that. Sometimes our current circumstances don't match the prophecies once spoken over us. Someone needs to hear this tonight.

And when we find ourself in that space where our circumstances don't match the prophecies once spoken, we want to despise the prophecies when we have been instructed in the word of God that it's by virtue of those prophecies that we battle. I'm in a season now. I don't want to go back and read the things in my journal of people that have called me out like a prophet that's called me out and spoken over me, or things God's spoken to me in the. In the secret place, things that have been confirmed many different ways when my circumstances don't match that, I don't really want to go back to that because it makes me grumpy. You know what I'm saying?

It makes you want to not look at that because that's not the reality right now. Yet it's by looking back at them that we fight.

He says, you've got to hold on to faith and a good conscience, and it's actually not so that the prophecies are fulfilled. The reason why we have to hold onto faith in a good conscience is because if we don't battle according to the prophecies spoken, our faith is actually shipwrecked because we have already been confronted with the reality and dream of God for our lives. And if we don't battle concern concerning it, the outcome that is impossible to avoid is shipwrecked faith. So don't do that. We have to battle regarding keeping with the prophecies once made about us.

And though you were anointed and appointed and called for something, and today you're weak, that doesn't give you a pass on what you were called to. And I don't even feel like saying that, but it's true. So what I'm going to talk to you about tonight. So that's the prologue, and now I want to talk to you on this theme. The way is narrow.

The way is narrow. Matthew 7, verses 13 through 14. The words of Jesus, enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate, narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Jesus is saying, choose the straight gate, choose the narrow way.

And then I believe he's like more clearly saying, you know, you're living for me. When your way is narrow, you don't get to do what everyone else does. Oh, how I want to right now. You can't go where everyone else goes. You can't sing what everyone else sings.

You can't watch what everyone else watches. I think you get the point. The narrow way of God does lead to wide open spaces. It does lead to liberty. It does lead to power.

It leads to blessing. But it is narrow as it relates to our options.

Nine things about the narrow way, and I'm only going to spend about 20 minutes on each. Y' all knew that was coming. All right, Number one. The narrow way is rarely convenient. The narrow way is rarely convenient.

Exodus 13:17. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though it was shorter. For God said, if they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt. So God led the people around the desert, around the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.

Am I driving you guys crazy? I'm doing this. I'm going to do better. God will not always take us from point A to point B in a straight line. In fact, he rarely does because we tend to over or underestimate what's inside of us.

Right? Remember, Peter Jesus, I will go to death in the cross for you. And then, like an hour later, he's denied the Lord three times to a, the third time to a little girl. God knows what's in us. He knew that the Israelites were not ready to face the Philistines that would come.

But he knew they weren't ready. That's the mercy of God. And where we're complaining about the longer road, he says, you don't understand. You wouldn't have made it going that way. He knew that when they faced the Philistines, they were going to need the Red Sea experience to lean on, and they hadn't been there yet.

He knew that they had not learned yet what being led by the cloud in the day and the fire in the night would mean to them. Proverbs 14:12. There's a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. Proverbs 2:12. Let this breathe for a minute.

These are familiar passages, but think about this. Every man's way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord examines the heart. The narrow way is rarely convenient, but the Lord knows what's in us. That's why we are called to trust in the Lord. With all of our heart.

Whatever measure of breakthrough we have received, and of wisdom and knowledge and anointing, we love him with all of that. He says, this is the way. Well, that doesn't make sense. God. That takes longer.

That isn't fair. And he says, but it leads to life. The narrow way is rarely convenient. Number two. The narrow way can be discouraging.

This isn't very happy, but it kind of is. Just depends on your perspective. The narrow way can be discouraging. Numbers 21, verse 4. And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom.

And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And it's the way the Lord chose. So sometimes the narrow way is discouraging. They're journeying from the color of their past lives, and they're journeying towards the color of the promised land. But that in between is full of sand.

There is sand in the wilderness. That is the journey. There's no way around it. We can become discouraged at how long it takes to get where we're going. We can become discouraged at the limitations of our own flesh, discouraged at the discipline that the way of the life of God requires.

Hebrews 11:15. Had you been mindful of the country you came out of, you might have reason to return. But your route through the wilderness leads you to abundant acceptance of God. On that day, you seek a new country. Like when we say yes to God's way.

We may be discouraged on this side of eternity, but we seek a country whose builder and maker is God, and sand is the part of the process. Egypt was green and lush, but it was the land of bondage. It will burn up and pass away. We have to remember this heaven and all of its glory will remain. Stand strong, church.

Stand strong. Terry. The narrow way is rarely convenient. The narrow way can be discouraging. Number three.

The narrow way is often a place of testing. Deuteronomy 8, verse 2. You shall remember the way that the Lord led you for 40 years. The wilderness. He leads us through the wilderness to humble us, to prove us, to show us what's in his heart and what's in ours.

It reveals to you and I the places that we thought, I'll keep the Lord's commandments. But we don't realize the weakness in our own hearts. And then sometimes when we go through the wilderness, we realize, wait a minute. The Lord had done a greater work in me than I realized. Like, I'm devastated, but I'm not dead.

Can anyone relate?

Job said he knows the way I take, and when he tries me, I will come forth like gold.

I used to write lists a lot in messages, and I had a list in this one. I've added several things, but I just want to read this to you. The narrow way has a way of introducing you to yourself and to God. The narrow way lets you see if you will lie about your spiritual life. Like Ananias and Sapphira.

The narrow way will cause you to see if you will refuse the sexual advances. Like Joseph with Potiphar's wife. The narrow way will cause you to see if you will look the other way when your children backslide. Like Eli when he chose rather to be their friend than their parent.

The narrow way will cause you to see if there's a Delilah in your life that you're willing to lose the hair of your consecration over.

The narrow way will cause you to see what you would do at Nebuchadnezzar's fire. The narrow way will reveal your faith in the lion's den. Like Daniel, the narrow way houses your repentance. Like David, the narrow way causes you to build an ark when others mock. Like Noah.

In the narrow way, you must embrace his calling regardless of your stuttering. Like Moses. The narrow way will cause you to see if you will deny Jesus like Peter, sell Jesus like Judas, turn away from Jesus like the rich young ruler. It's the broad way that led David to abandon the ark, leaving it with Obed Edom. It's the narrow way that caused him to return and bring the presence of God back into the church.

In the right way. It's the narrow way where weeping endures for the night. And oh, how sometimes it endures. But it's also in the narrow way when the joy of mourning comes. Come on, church.

Will you stay in the narrow way when it costs you something? I'm preaching to my own soul. The Broadway gives you room to do what you want to do. But come on, how many of you are sick of you? I mean, I told the Lord that this morning.

You know what? I'm sick of God, me. In the narrow way, you can't react. The narrow way is constricting. In this way, Lordship doesn't leave you with options.

It's God's way, but it leads to life in the narrow way, you don't choose, you're led. All right, we're about to go to number four. The narrow way is rarely convenient. It can be discouraging. It's often the place of testing number four.

The narrow way is a place of spiritual warfare.

1st Samuel 15, verse 2. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 2nd Corinthians 10:3,6. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world.

On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience once your obedience is complete. The word punish there literally means avenge. Avenge means to inflict harm in return for an injury.

So we inflict harm on our own disobedience and the disobedience of. Of others for the injury it causes us when we extol God higher and we use the weapons he gives us. It's like the Lord is saying this. Once you started to come out of your old lifestyle, I regenerated you and you had an enemy that waited for you in the way. But I also give weapons in the narrow way that demolish arguments and.

And pretension and that avenge every act of disobedience. And here's the fact. They are not available to you in the broad way. They're only available to you in the narrow way, which is good that they're in the narrow way, because the enemy doesn't really fight us in the broad way. And we know that, right when we're on the broad path, there's not as much fighting of the enemy.

So we tend to go, okay, I need a break. Let me run over to the Broadway. But I've tasted too much of the Lord, so now I'm gonna run back to the narrow way. And we're exhausting ourselves when that was never the Lord's intention for us. We've gotta stop crossing into the Broadway to avoid the attack of the enemy.

Every major battle of your life happens in the narrow way. But it's not just the battle. It's when you are in movement towards your destiny and God's dream for your life, which is the only thing you'll ever be fulfilled doing.

See what I mean, Holly?

The enemy lies in wait at the points of your destiny, and he attacks because if he knows that he can get you to cross into the broad way, he knows you're gonna move from being effective to ineffective from Being an influencer to being a person of no influence. He knows that you're gonna move from glory to regret. See, the Lord can't. The enemy can't destroy your destiny and calling, but he can try to convince you to abandon it. And we have to stay in the narrow way.

Scripture tells us, think it not strange concerning this fiery trial which is to try you. That's why it's there. Don't treat it like it's some strange thing. Your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. And he waits for you in the way.

But God has it designed to be a fire to refine us. The enemy knows that once he can pluck out, our spiritual eyes, like Samson will grind like a donkey in the prison of our own regret.

Isn't it funny that Goliath appeared at the moment that David was about to step into his identity as king? That was a key point. The armor didn't fit yet, but that was a key juncture that he had to cross. Giants of opposition appear in your life not because they're bored or because God has some ax to grind and he allows it. They appear because they see destiny and promise and the kingdom of God being expanded through you.

And they. They know if they can get you out of the narrow way, there will be others that follow you right to the Broadway. And we're seeing it happen all over the church.

I told the Lord. I think it was two mornings ago, the same morning that he was talking to me about this. I said, lord, I feel like I hear the devil more clearly now than ever before. You know what he said? He said, you must be getting close.

That's not what I was expecting. Here's the thing. If the enemy says, must not be true. But we tend to treat what he speaks over us as more of a reality than what God has spoken over us. And we have to stop.

We can't do that in the narrow way. The narrow way is rarely convenient. The narrow way can be discouraging. The narrow way is often a place of testing. The narrow way is the place of spiritual warfare.

Remember, the narrow way leads to life. Number five. The narrow way can be a lonely way.

This is good marketing, isn't it, for the narrow way?

Jesus said, narrow is the way that leads to life and few find it. I've found the closer we walk with the Lord, the more challenging it becomes to find true friends.

But the ones we do find in the narrow way are true, true friends that want what you want, feel how you feel, and love what you love. True friends that long for the next world more than this one. True friends that speak of the cost of serving God with the same excitement as they speak speak of the reward of serving God. True friends who honor the Lord with their lips and their heart is close to him instead of far from Him. True friends that live their lives unto God sanctified, set apart, fit for the Master's use.

True friends that pray with power, speak with boldness, and study God's word with diligence. True friends that will fast with you, mourn with you, and celebrate you. I want you to know, in the most intense season of my life, I have found that in people. And it's beautiful and it makes it worth it. True friends that hold you accountable because their own hearts don't condemn them.

Let me say that again. True friends that hold you accountable because their own hearts don't condemn them. True friends who love God with all their heart, mind and strength. And unfortunately, I believe we've raised a generation that is comfortable with God but don't know God in the ways that I just described. And he can only be truly discovered in the narrow way.

It's not the broad way where we just make our choices. Like Pastor J talks about this heavenly vending machine. It's not who God is, but when we know him and we taste of him, we begin to say in conviction, better is one day in your courts than a thousand anywhere else. The narrow way is rarely convenient. It can be discouraging.

It's often a place of testing. It's the place of spiritual warfare. I feel like five golden rings. All right, sorry. The narrow way can be a lonely way.

And number six. The narrow way is a way that can make you feel free, foolish, temporarily. Anyone been there? Noah in the ark, Peter in the temple. Tax.

I love that one.

Peter's approached. Do you guys pay taxes? Does your rabbi pay taxes? Yeah, we pay taxes. Then he goes to Jesus.

Do we pay taxes? And Jesus kind of has to make right for Peter's claim. So he tells him to go get the fish. And there's a coin in the mouth of the the fish. Hosea married a woman who had harlotry in her heart.

A barren womb. Believing for a baby, a decaying body believing for healing tithing when you can't make the bills. Giving a soft answer to an angry co worker, family member, friend. Hoping against hope. Believing against hope.

Sometimes the narrow way can make you feel foolish. But it's only temporary. The word of God is perfect and tried. He's A buckler to all who trust him. Heaven and earth will pass away before one punctuation mark in the word of God will ever fail you.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but the words of our God will never pass away. The narrow way is rarely convenient. It can be discouraging. It's often a place of testing. It's the place of spiritual warfare.

It can be lonely, and it can make you feel foolish temporarily. And number seven, the narrow way is sometimes a place of pain.

2nd Samuel 13. While they were in the way, the tidings brought the report that came to David. Absalom, your son has killed all of your other sons, and there's none of them left. So there's a guy named Shimea or Shimeye, I don't know. Janet Roberts would say it right, but he's a man that David had rescued and defended.

And as David was fleeing from his son who was trying to kill him after killing his sons, this man, Shimeyah or Shimeah, was cursing David, this man that David had rescued and defended. And one of David's soldiers said, are you gonna kill that dog, that person you gave everything to that's now cursing you? And David said, I'm giving you a summary. No, let him curse. Maybe the Lord will watch how I handle this pain and look favorably at me.

The natural way, the broad way, is to kill the man that curses us. Come on. To take up weapons of this world and fight back. Pastor Jay addressed the chapel about this, the staff chapel, on Tuesday. We're supposed to soar above, not fight back.

The narrow way limits our options, but it leads to life.

If the Lord doesn't defend me, I won't be defended. That's what the narrow way says. If the Lord can't establish me, I won't be established. If the Lord doesn't provide for me, I won't be provided for. But I will not come out of the narrow way.

I'm in it for the long haul. Why? Because I know where it ends up. Narrow is the way that leads to life, but few find it. The narrow way is rarely convenient, can be discouraging, is often the place of testing.

It's the place of spiritual warfare. It can be lonely, it can make you feel foolish temporarily. And it's sometimes the place of pain. Number eight.

The narrow way is where irreplaceable things are asked of you and sometimes precious things are taken.

We see it with Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Rachel on the way to fruitfulness. Rachel died. Hannah and Samuel, she cried out for God to fill her womb. And then once he was weaned and she nursed him a long time. I don't blame him.

Once he's weaned, he goes back to the temple. All right, I'll nurse him till he's about 20. He wasn't that old, but she did nurse him for a long time. But then she had to release him back. Ezekiel sent to prophesy to the very people that denied his prophecies before.

And then there's this valley of dry bones. Everything he gave his life for seemed to end in death and decay. Yet the Lord let him come in and speak life again, because that's what happens in the narrow way. We speak to dead bones and they come to life again there. That's what happens in the narrow way.

We prophesy to the wind and the wind enters those promises again. That's what happens in the narrow way. He's saying, stop fighting the narrowness of the way and rest in me. Stop worrying about where the narrow way is going to twist and turn to. And trust me, stop complaining about the narrow way and embrace me.

I remember when my brother in law and I'm about to close. There's one more after this that will go very quickly. And then Pastor Abe's going to come because he's an anointed prayer.

My brother in law, Tim. Tim and Christy go to, I was going to say college. They go to church here. I don't know what that's about. They go to church here.

My brother in law has had Parkinson's disease for over 20 years. And I remember there was a time that he was really like going after his healing. He was asking the family to partner with him in different ways. It's a very long story. I'm going to make very brief.

He had about a four day visitation where he was completely normal. He called me weeping. He in the middle of the night, he had to go. He was hungry, which will often happen with his medication. And he got up and just walked to the kitchen.

And then when he got to the kitchen, he realized, I walked here without any aid. He started running up and down the halls. He had this tremendous breakthrough. He was still teaching school at the time, so his speech was still okay, but he wasn't mobile. There was a lot of shaking.

And he was able to walk into the school, tell his students what happened. And he was just undone by this visitation. His body was normal for four days. He called me on the fifth day and he said, well, I'm back to how I was before. And I just said, oh, Tim, I'm so sorry.

I was crying talking to him. And he said, no, because now I know what glory will taste like. And I heard, let everything that can be shaken be shaken as his body shakes, so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Sometimes precious things are taken from us. Choose this day.

Life or death, blessing or cursing. Choose this day. Me or choose yourself. Number nine. The narrow way leads to the eternal reward, and the reward prepared for us is enough.

Oh, every wrong will be made right. I'm going to close with this verse. I'm going to pray briefly, and then Pastor Abe's going to lead us in a time of prayer before we close. Revelation 3, 17:22. You say, I'm rich.

I have everything I want. I don't need a thing. Yet you don't realize that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me, gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich.

Buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love.

So be diligent. Turn from your indifference. Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal together as friends. How beautiful is that.

Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my father on his throne. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Lord, would you open our ears to hear? And would you give us a grace to respond to the knocking? I stand at the door and knock.

If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we'll share a meal together as friends. Be diligent. Turn from your indifference.