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2 Gates, 2 Trees, 2 Foundations Series
Contributed by Jason Pettibone on Nov 29, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: The entry points of faith, the results of the faith choice, and the solid and enduring life that is built on faith.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Have you entered the narrow gate of submission to God’s will and experienced the renewal of the Holy Spirit? It will show! Your life will be fruitful with love, joy, peace, patience, etc.
If your life is characterized by discord, jealousy, selfish ambition, drunkenness, etc. then you need to go back to the beginning point. You need to ask yourself if you have in fact, truly accepted the Lordship of Christ and given the Holy Spirit freedom to begin to transform your life.
Dr. Haddon Robinson writes-
"Some people are attracted to Christianity because they have a leaky faucet that they want God to fix. Perhaps they struggle with a destructive habit and they would like to tap into God’s power to help them break it. Or maybe they have broken relationships that they want God to mend. But they learn from this Sermon on the Mount that God is not a plumber. Leaky faucets are minor league stuff to Him. God wants to tear the plumbing out entirely and deal with the well from which the water flows. He wants to change what comes out of the faucet, not merely stop its leak." – The Solid Rock Construction Company, pg.122
Have you given Him the kind of permission that allows Him to invade every secret corner of your mind bringing your most basic ideas into line with His plan and purpose for you? I hope you are starting to grasp that this is no simple, easy weekend project. Being shaped into person that brings honor to the living God is an ongoing work with potential for tremendous results.
Make the choice to open your inner life to the work of the Holy Spirit. In prayer, meditation, worship, and study of the Scripture give Him the opportunity to change your heart. That change will be evident to the world in the fruit of your life.
The paradox is that spiritual fruit is not produced by our striving, but by presenting ourselves to Him, by practicing the disciplines of the Spirit that open up channels for the Spirit to flow into our hearts.
Ill. - The living trees in an orchard produce fruit simply by being alive.
Take a look again at the text. [ read vv.21 ]
This is an exceedingly important part of this passage. What really matters to God is want we do, not just what we say! It is possible to look good, talk well, and even do great work in the name of God without having a changed heart that is submitted to Him and accepting of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!
In this same passage, Jesus says that there will be men and women who will have been miracle-workers who have never entered the narrow gate of salvation. But how can that be? How can someone function in the power of God without knowing Him?
Friend, in the Bible we learn that God even spoke through a donkey to a foolish prophet named Balaam! If you are aware of glaring sins of selfishness and rebellion in your life, but think that because God blesses others through you He is somehow over-looking your sin problem, you’re in for a big surprise. Some will find themselves judged by God as having done all the right things for all the wrong reasons.