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I felt a little variety as the spice of life.

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I don't like things too spicy, but I do like variety.

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Words expose thoughts.

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The content of our invisible stored thoughts is revealed by the words spoken by our tongues,

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be that content treasure or garbage.

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Words expose thoughts.

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The Word of God exposes the thoughts of God.

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Second Timothy 3.16 says that the Scripture is God-breathed.

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What that's saying is that the Scriptures expose to us in their words the very thoughts

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of the invisible, infinite, and personal being whom we call God.

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The Scriptures are God-breathed and expose the thoughts of God.

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Jesus Christ, likewise, is named the Word of God because His life, His deeds, and His

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teachings reveal God to us, the invisible God.

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In Jesus we see what God is like, what He thinks, and what His purposes are.

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Therefore, words are important.

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Now we do communicate in ways other than words, for example, by our deeds, by body language,

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by touch, facial expressions, etc.

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But we use words to most accurately express our feelings, intentions, and understanding.

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And our words have impact on others.

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Browning said, words may not break bones, but they do break hearts.

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Browning was right, and because of that another poet by the name of Anne Nonimus writes these

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words.

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I am careful of the words I say to keep them soft and sweet.

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I never know from day to day which ones I'll have to eat.

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Good advice for all of us.

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When used to teach truth, words are especially important.

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They need to be clear, simple, and correct in their usage.

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Too often professional communicators fall into the trap of verbiage.

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We see this in many different realms, but one example that I read recently in John W.

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Stott comes out of the 19th century when the British statesman Disraeli was speaking about

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and describing his great rival William Gladstone.

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He described him in these terms, a sophisticated rhetorician inebriated with the exuberance

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of his own verbosity.

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What a great example of verbiage.

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And I think Gladstone could say to Disraeli, it takes one to know one.

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And words that paint pictures in the minds of hearers are especially effective in communication.

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The use of illustrations or mental images is a key to effective teaching.

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J.C.

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Ryle quoted an Oriental proverb that went like this, he is the eloquent man who turns

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his hearer's ears into eyes and makes them see what he speaks of.

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I believe in this regard the Lord Jesus Christ was a master communicator.

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His choice of simple words, painting mental pictures to teach the truth of God made him

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the greatest teacher of all time.

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An example of his simple words, painting mental pictures, can be found in the statement of

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his mission in coming into the world, why he came.

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And to see this I'd like you to turn to the Gospel of Luke, the fifth chapter with me.

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Jesus states here why he came, not in an elaborate manner, but a simple manner.

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You will notice that he's in conflict with the scribes and Pharisees.

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In Luke 5.30 it says, and the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at his disciples

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saying, why do you eat and drink with the tax gatherers and sinners?

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And Jesus answered and said to them, it is not those who are well who need a physician,

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but those who are sick.

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Notice the picture that he draws there, the mental image of a physician.

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He goes on to say, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

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What a very simple statement of mission.

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Jesus drawing upon a word picture says, I am like a physician who has come to heal those

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who are sick.

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He does this again in Luke chapter 19, if you would turn there.

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On this occasion, nearer the end of his ministry on the earth, we have Jesus coming out of

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the house of Zacchaeus.

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And beginning in verse 9, he speaks and says to Zacchaeus, today salvation has come to

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this house because he too is a son of Abraham.

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And then he says, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.

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Notice again the mental picture that he draws, there is something that is lost that needs

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to be found.

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And he says, I have come to seek and to recover, to rescue, to save that which is lost.

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Jesus came into the world to bring salvation to sinners, those who are lost.

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He came to appeal to sinners to be saved.

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And then of course he went on to provide by his cross the singular means by which sinners

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may be saved.

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In his ministry, Jesus uses simple word pictures to communicate not only his mission, but what

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salvation is.

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And that's what I'd like to focus on this morning in the rest of the message.

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It's time for us to look at some of these simple mental images that Jesus drew upon

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the minds of his hearers so that we might consider what salvation is as we think about

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his appeal to the lost.

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We're going to limit our thinking to the Gospel of Matthew and I'd like you to turn

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back there with me to chapter 7, verses 13 and 14.

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Verses 13 through 29 actually are the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount.

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In this conclusion, Jesus appeals to sinners, to the multitude listening to him.

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Yes, his disciples were there, but in addition, numerous other people.

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In the sermon, he had explained to them the facts about his kingdom, the hard attitudes

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of those who are its citizens, the contrast between those who like the Pharisees are self-righteous,

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self-reliant, self-sufficient, and those who accept and order their lives by his principles.

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Now having explained all of this, Jesus concludes with an appeal to the hearers to make a choice

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to enter the narrow gate that leads to life or to salvation.

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Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction,

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and many are those who enter by it.

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For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who

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find it.

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In these two verses, Jesus gives us one picture of salvation.

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He says to us that salvation is a gate to enter.

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That's the simple mental image that he's using.

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The picture contrasts two gates, two ways, two destinies, and two groups.

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He talks about the narrow gate that leads to the narrow way, which destiny is life,

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and he says there are few that find it.

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In contrast to that, there's the wide gate that opens to the broad way that leads to

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destruction, and he says there are many who enter by it.

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Notice that Jesus' appeal here is that those his hearers might enter the narrow gate.

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He does not appeal to them to enter one gate or the other.

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The reason for that is that his hearers, like all of us who are sinners, have already entered

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the wide gate, and we are on by our natural birth the broad way that leads to destruction

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or to hell.

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The appeal of Jesus is for those who are already on the broad way to turn to the narrow gate

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and to enter in.

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The narrow gate that Jesus talks about is God's way of salvation, which he provided

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through Christ.

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But why does Jesus call this a narrow gate with a narrow way?

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Well there are several reasons I'd like to suggest.

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One is that one can enter this gate one at a time.

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Jesus does not take groups or families, but he takes one sinner at a time.

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Thus it is a narrow gate.

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Several may enter, but they must enter one at a time.

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Then it's narrow because our Lord allows no excess baggage to come through the narrow

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gate, the baggage like that of the Pharisees, their own self-righteousness, their works.

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And it is narrow also because there is no place for other loves in coming through this

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gate.

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There must be singular devotion to Jesus Christ.

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An example of this is found in Matthew 19.

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You may want to just look at this quickly where the rich young ruler comes to Jesus.

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And he says, teacher, what good things shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?

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Jesus wants to make sure he understands who he's talking to, so he responds by saying,

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why are you asking me what is good?

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There's only one who is good, but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.

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Now Jesus is answering the question the man asked, what good things shall I do?

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So Jesus said, keep the commandments.

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And the man responded by quoting some of them.

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And he says frankly in verse 20, all these things I have kept.

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What am I still lacking?

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So here's a man who has kept the commandments, but he seems to be saying he is still lacking

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something.

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How many people can identify with him?

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Being religious, being good, being moral, but still having that inner emptiness.

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What am I lacking?

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So Jesus said to him, if you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the

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poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.

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When the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved, for he was one who owned

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much property.

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And Jesus said to his disciples, truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter

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the kingdom of heaven.

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Is Jesus teaching that one can be saved by selling all that he has and giving it to the

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poor?

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No.

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Jesus is simply exposing to the man himself the excess baggage, the other love that he

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wanted to bring with him through the narrow gate.

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And Jesus said no.

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If you come to me, it must be with repentance.

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And now with some kind of self-dependence that you have built into your lifestyle, all

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of that goes aside, it's a narrow gate.

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We can pay nothing for salvation, but it costs us everything that we have to enter the narrow

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gate.

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Now we can give up nothing to enter, but the fact is that if we long to hold on to what

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God forbids, we cannot enter.

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It appears to be a paradox, doesn't it?

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The wide gate that Jesus talks about allows for anything, self-righteousness, sins, religion,

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self-interest, pride.

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One can take anything he wants through the wide gate and the broad way.

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That was the way of the Pharisees.

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Jesus says, enter the narrow gate for that is the one that leads to life.

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The picture here teaches the exclusiveness of salvation, that it is only one way that

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we may obtain life, and that is through the narrow gate that God provides in his Son.

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There are not many ways that lead to God.

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There are not many roads that many people travel and eventually we'll all get to the

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same place.

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That is not true.

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Jesus says that that broad way that embraces many roads and many things, and onto which

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a person can bring lots of extra baggage about himself, leads to destruction and ruin forever.

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And if one wants to be saved and to have life, he must come to the narrow gate and enter

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in.

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And so as Jesus pictures salvation, his appeal to the lost is very simple.

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It is, enter the narrow gate.

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There's another picture I'd like us to look at right here in the same context of Matthew

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7.

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Jesus goes on to warn his hearers of false prophets who would come preaching something

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else like the Pharisees.

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He says, you can tell them by their fruit, and he talks about a good tree and a bad tree.

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He says in verse 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom

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of heaven.

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Isn't that something?

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Jesus says that there will be those who will address him as Lord, and the repetition of

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that word means they say it intensely.

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Did not we prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons, they say, and in your

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name perform many miracles?

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So you see, these are people who not only call him Lord, but they have served him in

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some religious sense.

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Even cast out demons and prophesied.

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He says, I will declare to them I never knew you.

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Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

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These are the people who've come by the broad gate and the broad way, who want to bring

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their sins with them, who practice lawlessness.

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Jesus says, I don't care what you say in calling me even Lord.

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I don't care what religious things you may do, even to the casting out of demons.

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He says the true proof that you belong to me and have entered my kingdom, have come

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through the narrow gate, is your life.

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Those who practice as a lifestyle, who habitually are involved in sin, are lost.

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However, they may claim the Lord, however religious they may be in their duties in his

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name, it's the lifestyle that tells the proof, that exposes the fruit.

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And then he goes on to say in verse 24, and we come now to another picture of salvation,

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everyone who hears these words of mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man

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who built his house upon the rock.

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The rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that house,

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and yet it did not fall for it had been founded upon the rock.

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And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a

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foolish man who built his house upon the sand.

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And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and burst against that

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house and it fell and great was its fall.

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You have to be impressed by the similarities of the two builders of houses in this picture.

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By the way, the picture of salvation here is that of a foundation on which to build.

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First it was a gate to enter.

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Now Jesus says salvation is a foundation upon which to build.

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Both of the builders heard the words of Christ.

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They knew what he taught.

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Both of the builders built houses which in the context of this picture represent their

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lives.

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Both of the builders experienced the same storm apparently as described exactly the

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same.

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It's a terrible storm of rain and wind and a flood.

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And the storm became the test, the ultimate test of the construction.

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And we see finally that the houses, both of them, appeared to be the same from the exterior.

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Jesus doesn't say that one man builds his of rock and another of wood or hay or stubble.

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But both houses seem to be the same.

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But there's a basic dissimilarity and that's the point of the story.

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The dissimilarity is in what the builder built upon.

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Jesus says the one builder built upon bedrock, that's the word there for rock, the bedrock.

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That's where his foundation was.

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He's the wise builder.

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The foolish builder built his house upon the sand.

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The point that Jesus is making here is that the foundation is what makes the difference.

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He says the one who hears my words and acts upon them has a foundation upon which to build.

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But he warns that there are those who hear his words also and who do not act upon them.

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And though they may build a house very similar to the other one, in the end it will fall.

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And he says great was its fall.

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There are those who go along with salvation who from outward appearances are Christ's

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who build their lives like true believers.

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But in the end when the ultimate test of God's judgment comes, great, tragic, devastating

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will be their fall because they've not built upon salvation.

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By acting upon Jesus' words he means entering into the narrow gate, receiving him, trusting

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him for who he is.

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That's the foundation.

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So Jesus gives a second picture of what salvation is.

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It's a foundation upon which to build.

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The story is not teaching that one is saved by doing good things, by doing works.

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The point of the story is the foundation upon which one does build.

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And so Jesus says here, build on the right foundation.

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That's his appeal to the lost.

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I want to come to one more picture in the Gospel of Matthew before we close, and so

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I hurry on to Matthew chapter 11 where again Jesus is speaking not just to his disciples

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but to a large multitude, to the lost.

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And he says at the end of chapter 11, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden,

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and I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall

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find rest for your souls.

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For my yoke is easy and my load is light.

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The next picture of salvation that we'll look at this morning in the final one is that salvation

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is a yoke to take.

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Jesus says, take my yoke upon you.

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The picture here is very familiar to his hearers.

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The yoke was a hand-hewn wooden frame or collar that was placed upon a beast of burden such

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as an ox.

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The yoke came to symbolize even in that day servitude or bondage.

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Jesus appeals to the lost among his hearers using this symbol of the yoke, and he calls

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them to exchange their present yoke for his.

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You say, what is their present yoke?

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Well, in the fuller context as you come down into chapter 12, it's very clear that the

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present yoke that they are wearing is the one given to them by their religious leaders,

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primarily the Pharisees and the scribes.

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It was a yoke of law, a yoke of traditions.

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You see this in the language of the Pharisees as they begin to question the disciples in

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chapter 12.

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Notice, when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, behold, your disciples do what is

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not lawful on the Sabbath.

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You see, that's their yoke.

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Down in verse 10, you see the same thought again.

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They question him saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?

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So that's the whole context of their religion.

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Is it lawful?

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Does it meet up with the standards of the law and with our traditions?

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That's the yoke that the Jewish people were wearing in Jesus' day, and the result of that

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yoke was oppression.

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Notice Jesus described them as weary and heavy-laden.

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The Pharisees had a list of over 600 minute detailed commandments and restrictions which

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they placed upon the Jewish people.

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Trying to maintain that list brought exhaustion and burden upon them.

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And so Jesus appeals to them, take my yoke upon you.

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Put aside your present yoke of law keeping, of trying to keep the traditions of the Pharisees

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and take my yoke upon you.

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His yoke is a yoke of grace, forgiveness.

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His yoke will bring rest, he says, to their souls.

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That is refreshment that one might have, for example, after a long trip or after a hard

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day of work.

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He says, my burden is light.

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It is easy.

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It is not wearisome, in other words.

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It is not burdensome to you.

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His point is that it brings joyful liberation to you so that you can become all that God

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created you to be.

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To the lost, Jesus said, take my yoke upon you.

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Now the yoke pictures submission to him.

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To be saved or to have rest of soul meant to submit to a new yoke, or we might say to

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a new servitude.

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When we say that, there is a natural question that has to be asked.

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To what extent must there be submission to Christ when coming to him for salvation?

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When coming to him for salvation, does one have to give every area of his life over to

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Christ?

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Well the fact is that no sinner has any idea how many areas of his life need to be given

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over to Christ.

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However, he does have some idea of where he is convicted of his sinfulness.

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The light of conviction has hit his soul, and it may only be like a small spotlight

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in a large vast area, but it hits something in his life where he is convicted.

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And in order for him to come to the Savior, that area of his life must be dealt with,

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must be submitted to the yoke of Christ.

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Now in principle, I suppose you might say that's everything else.

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But a sinner cannot come to Jesus Christ with the light of conviction on that area, whatever

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it may be, and say, I accept you, but I will not submit this to you.

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There is no repentance and faith in that.

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He's trying to bring excess baggage through the narrow gate.

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The submission must be as broad as the light of conviction at that moment of salvation.

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But it is submission.

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When Jesus himself was appealing to the lost to come to him, what did he say?

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Come, take my yoke upon you.

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Now there are many other pictures of salvation that Jesus used in his teaching.

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He spoke of salvation as a birth to experience.

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He spoke of it as water to drink, as bread to eat, as sight to gain, as healing to receive.

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Whatever the word picture Jesus may have used, the bottom line is the same.

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This appeal to the lost was to come to him that they might be saved.

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Salvation is provided by God only through the person of his son.

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If there is another way to be saved, it makes mockery of the cross of Jesus Christ.

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The lost sinner must respond with personal faith to appropriate for himself the work

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of Jesus Christ on the cross.

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Jesus had not yet done that work.

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Those examples that we've read today and the many other pictures of salvation that he used.

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From this side of the cross we understand that for the lost to be saved, he must come

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to the cross and receive the Christ of the cross who has risen from the dead.

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That appeal to the lost is the same appeal that we make today in Grace Church.

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If there is one in the sound of my voice who is lost, the appeal of the Savior to you today

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is enter the narrow gate.

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Stand upon the foundation of Christ and the salvation he gives.

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Come take his yoke upon you and you will find that yoke will liberate you and allow you

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to become fully the person that God created you to be.

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Let's pray.

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Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed, and the Spirit of God brings to the heart

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of those who are lost the appeal of the Savior this morning.

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Will you respond, my friend?

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Will you respond?

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Will you come to the Savior who invites you?

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In two of the pictures that we looked at this morning, Jesus warned of the ruin, the destruction,

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the hell to come for those who do not come to him.

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And yet in grace he invites you to come now, today, to seek him to be saved.

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Where we are seated in the quietness of this moment, will you respond to him?

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Lord I pray for that one who is struggling this morning, who senses very deeply within

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the spotlight of the Holy Spirit bringing conviction of sinfulness.

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And I pray that that one, by the grace of God, will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

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will enter the narrow gate, build upon the foundation of Christ, and take the yoke of

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Christ upon himself and know liberation.

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With our heads still bowed, I wonder if there is one here with an uplifted hand who would

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say, Pastor, call God spoke to my heart today in this message.

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And I have today done business with God.

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I have recognized my lostness, and I have responded in faith to the appeal of the Savior.

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And I am trusting him and him alone.

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I have come through the narrow gate this morning.

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I now have a foundation.

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I have exchanged my former yoke for Christ's.

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Will you lift your hand and indicate that?

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God bless you.

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Is there another?

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You can put it down once you have lifted it.

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Yes, I see that.

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God bless.

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Is there someone else?

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Thank you.

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Yes, they are in the back.

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And I want to say that those of you who have lifted the hand, I would like for you to get

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a note to me this morning or to call this week so that we can get some important material

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into your hand to help you grow as a believer.

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Father, thank you for what you have done this morning for all of us.

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Most of all, thank you for what you did 2,000 years ago in sending the Savior for us.

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We rejoice in him and we worship him as we worship you, whom he revealed.

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Amen.