Striving Necessary

Striving is Necessary

Steadfastness in View of Suffering (Luke 9:51–53)

Jesus “steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51, 53). He had a definite destination, and He knew what it held for Him. It meant Jerusalem with its sorrow, Gethsemane with its travail, the judgment hall with its injustice and shame, the cross with its anguish, and even the hiding of the Father’s face. For Jesus there was no royal road to the throne of Israel. For Him the only path lay by Jerusalem and Calvary. It was a long and weary road, but Jesus took every step. He was tempted to turn aside from His goal, to be sure, and He was tempted in His sufferings. His friends wished to draw Him aside from His sufferings. Peter rebuked Him when He spoke of them. Satan tried to perplex Him, and His own soul trembled when the time for His crucifixion came. Yet, He knew that He had reached “the point of no return,” and He proceeded in the midst of the storms of sin and doubt about Him to go toward the cross where He would be victor once and for all. Those who have crossed the ocean have been impressed with the way the huge oceanliner keeps its bow to the sea, and, in spite of wind and wave, holds to its course. No sound is more reassuring than the steady throb of the huge engine. In looking at Christ’s life, one thing that impresses us is His steadiness. He was never shifting, or even driven about. The throb of His life was constant and perfect.^[1]

Luke 9:51&53 (ESV)

⁵¹When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

⁵³But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

But Why is Such “Striving” Necessary?

First, because Satan is striving to destroy thy soul. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8); therefore must he be resisted “steadfast in the faith.”

Second, because natural appetites are striving to destroy thee: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11).

Third, because the whole world is arrayed against thee, and if it cannot burn, it will seek to turn thee by alluring promises, Delilah-like guiles, fatal enticements. Unless you overcome the world, the world will overcome you to the eternal destruction of thy soul.

From what has been before us, we may plainly discover why it is that the vast majority of our fellow-men and women, yea, and of professing Christians also, will fail to reach Heaven: it is because they prefer sin to holiness, indulging the lusts of the flesh to walking according to the scriptures, self to Christ, the world to God. It is as the Lord Jesus declared—“Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19): men refuse to deny self, abandon their idols, and submit to Christ as Lord; and without this, none can take the first step toward Heaven!

The Narrow Way

Just as entering the “Narrow Gate” signifies the heart’s acceptance of Christ’s holy teaching, so to walk along the “Narrow Way” means for the heart and life to be constantly regulated thereby. Walking along the Narrow Way denotes a steady perseverance in faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus; overcoming all opposition, rejecting every temptation to forsake the path of fidelity to Him. It is called the “Narrow Way” because all self-pleasing and self-seeking is shut out. In Genesis 18:19 it is called “the Way of the Lord;” in Exodus 13:21, 32:8 “the Way;” in 1 Samuel 12:23 “the good and right Way;” in Psalm 25:9 “His Way;” in Proverbs 4:11 “the Way of wisdom;” in Proverbs 8:20 “the Way of righteousness;” in Proverbs 10:17 “the Way of life;” in Isaiah 35:8 “the Way of holiness;” in Jeremiah 6:16 “the good Way;” in 2 Peter 2:2 “the Way of truth;” in 2 Peter 2:15 “the right Way,”

The Narrow Way must be followed, no matter how much it may militate against my worldly interests. It is right here that the testing point is reached: it is much easier (unto the natural man) and far pleasanter to indulge the flesh and follow our worldly propensities. The Broad Road, where the flesh is allowed “liberty”—under the pretense of the Christian’s not “being under the law”—is easy, smooth, and attractive; but it ends in “destruction!” Though the “Narrow Way” leads to life, only few tread it. Multitudes make a profession and claim to be saved, but their lives give no evidence that they are “strangers and pilgrims” here, with their “treasure” elsewhere. They are afraid of being thought narrow and peculiar, strict and puritanical. Satan has deceived them: they imagine that they can get to heaven by an easier route than by denying self, taking up their cross daily, and following Christ!

There are multitudes of religionists who are attempting to combine the two “ways,” making the best of both worlds and serving two masters. They wish to gratify self in time and enjoy the happiness of Heaven in eternity. Crowds of nominal Christians are deluding themselves into believing that they can do so; but they are terribly deceived. A profession which is not verified by mortifying the deeds of the body in the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:13), is vain. A faith which is not evidenced by complete submission to Christ, is only the faith of demons. A love which does not keep Christ’s commandments, is an imposition (John 14:23). A claim to being a Christian, where there is no real yieldedness to the will of God, is daring presumption. The reason why so few will enter Life is because the multitudes are not seeking it in the way of God’s appointing: none seek it aright save those who pass through the Narrow Gate, and who, despite many discouragements and falls, continue to press forward along the Narrow Way.

Now notice, carefully, the very next thing which immediately followed our Lord’s reference to the two ways in Matthew 7: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Why does this come in next? Who are the “false prophets” against which a serious soul needs to be on his guard? They are those who teach that Heaven may be reached without treading the Narrow Way! They are those who loudly insist that eternal life may be obtained on much easier terms. They come in “sheep’s clothing:” they appear (to undiscerning souls) to exalt Christ, to emphasize His precious blood, to magnify God’s grace. But they do not insist upon repentance; they fail to tell their hearers that nothing but a broken heart which hates sin can truly believe in Christ; they declare not that a saving faith is a living one which purifies the heart (Acts 15:9) and overcomes the world (1 John 5:4).

These “false prophets” are known by their “fruits,” the primary reference being to their “converts” —the fruits of their fleshly labours. Their “converts” are on the Broad Road, which is not the path of open wickedness and vice, but of a religion which pleases the flesh: it is that “way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12). Those who are on this Broad Road (this way which “seemeth right” to so many), have a head-knowledge of the Truth, but they walk not in it. The “Narrow Way” is bounded by the commandments and precepts of Scripture; the Broad Road is that path which has broken out beyond the bounds of Scripture. Titus 2:11–12 supplies the test as to which “way” we are in: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.”

Ere closing, let us anticipate and seek to remove an objection. Probably many of you are saying, “I thought Christ was the Way to the Father” (John 14:6). So He is, but how?

First, in that He has removed every legal obstacle, and thereby opened a way to heaven for His people.

Second, in that He has “left us an example that we should follow HIS steps.” The mere opening of a door does not give me entrance into a house: I must tread the path leading to it, and mount the steps. Christ has, by His life of unreserved obedience to God, shown us the Way which leads to Heaven: “When He putteth forth His own sheep, HE goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him” (John 10:4).

Third, in that He is willing and ready to bestow grace and strength to walk therein. Christ did not come here and die in order to make it unnecessary for me to please and obey God. No indeed: “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them” (2 Cor. 5:15). “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4). “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14). Christ came here to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21); and if you are not now delivered from the power of sin, from the deceptions of Satan, from the love of the world, and from the pleasing of self, then you are NOT saved. May it please the God of all grace to add His blessing.^[2]