Matthew 7:14- the unnerving text.

14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Few texts in scripture will make you as uncomfortable as this one, especially if you have spent your life believing that all that is required for salvation is a verbal and intellectual assent to faith. It is very sobering to wrestle with the idea that most people won't be saved and that those who will are going to really have to work for it.

The text says what it says.

Few is translated from the Greek Word oligos {ol-ee'-gos} (Strong's 3641) and certainly indicates a small number. Hard is translated from 2346 thlibo {thlee'-bo}. This is a very interesting word that means afflicted, distressed...literally pressed upon hard like grapes in a wine press. The person who would find heaven is going to be squashed like a grape on his way there and not many are going to be strong enough to endure this process.

What an amazingly depressing image, right? It's no wonder we are tempted to convince ourselves that we didn't read it right. Afterall, God loves us, right? We love Him, right?

That God loves us cannot be questioned. God is love. Love comes natural for Him. For us, it's a lot harder. No one can enter heaven who doesn't truly want to be there and that love must pass through the crucible.

Of course, I am not telling you anything that the Bible doesn't tell you. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. The Gospels are full of these hard sayings of Jesus.

Matthew 10

16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes.

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant[c] above his master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant[d] like his master. If they have called the master of the house Be-el′zebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Matthew 5

5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Luke 9

21 But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

23 And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

It should be clear enough that Jesus follows the predictions of His own sufferings, rejection and death by decreeing a similar requirement of any would-be disciple. Our flesh recoils at these words. How can it be a blessing to mourn, to be poor in spirit, to be persecuted, to be reviled and betrayed, even by members of our own families? Certainly no one would want to endure these things.

"Take up your cross and follow me" means just what it implies- that we are to follow Him in suffering. This message is repeated 5 times in the Gospels. Matthew 10:38, 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, 14:27.

On the surface, God can almost seem cruel here especially when we examine the reality that was the apostolic church. Virtually every follower of Jesus was hunted down, persecuted, imprisoned or brutally murdered. In fact, many are still being subjected to this today. Nigeria is one example of widespread martyrdom in our present age.

The truth of this is displayed in two classic texts.

The first shows that there is no price too high to gain heaven.

Matthew 13

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The second shows that there is no reward worth losing heaven.

Mark 8

³6 For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

In Matthew 4, that is the bargain Satan offers Jesus in stark, clear terms.

The whole world, for your soul.

Satan tempts us with the same offer, but it is hidden under layers of pretense and soft language. What we call ambition is often greed. What we call competition is often envy. What we call strictness is often mercilessness, what we call love is often lust. What we often call self-assertion can really be vindictiveness and arrogance.

Our world tells us that there is no room for moral judgements, no room for rules, no room for self-denial. Most of all, the world tells us that there is no room for suffering. It should be no shock that Jesus proclaimed that we would be hated by the world because it hated Him first. (John 15:18-19)

There are no heroes in storybooks celebrated for an easy life and you will be hard pressed to find a story of a saint who didn't suffer want, fear, oppression, doubt, loneliness, sickness, imprisonment or even torture and murder. You cannot have fables about valiant knights slaying dragons without having dragons to be slain.

Too often, in this life, it seems like the dragon wins. He doesn't.

Here is why. The dragon will always be a dragon. He cannot rise above who he is or out of the vile, nauseating abode he dwells in. You, on the other hand, can be borne on the wings of Angels and carried to heaven despite the woes of this place or even, because of them.

For he who perseveres to the end, will be saved. Matthew 24:12-13