THE CHOSEN FEW!

Text: Matthew 7:13-14

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Chosen - selected or preferred above all; pick of the crop; favorite; jewel; apple of one’s eye; choicest. 
Few - small in number; not many; a selected or limited group.

Religion teaches that the “broad way” is the way of the world or the way of the unsaved!  Yes it is “broad”, but this “broad way” that Jesus is speaking of is in the church!  It’s the path on which the “kings of the earth”, that Revelation 19:19 speaks of, are leading God’s people to get them to where God is (in heaven), and it is by way of the grave!  That’s why Jesus said that this way, the “broad way”, which is the way of religious order, leads to destruction:  apo’leia and apol’lum, meaning perdition or ruin, waste, damned, to die, perish, loss of well-being, to be lost, or destroy fully.  These are those that follow after Colossians 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.  They are waiting for death to take them where God is so that they can have “eternal life”!  

THE GOD WE WORSHIP!

Text:  Psalm 18:1-3    (Psalm shows Christ as our all sufficiency)!

How many of you know that God is everything and has everything we need?  So whatever you want to put after “God is”, you’ll find that He is!

The Hebrew title for the Psalms is tehillah, meaning “praises”.  David was constantly giving God “praises” for victory.  When he was running from Saul, he was in constant danger of death.  Here in Psalm 18 the Lord has delivered him from all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul.  David said in Psalm 18:1  I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.  

(Vs 2) The LORD is my rock (safety and security in God’s immovable strength), and my fortress (a place of refuge and safety where the enemy cannot penetrate), and my deliverer (a living protector); my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler (a type of shield symbolizing that God comes between us and harm), and the horn of my salvation (strength and victorious power to deliver and save us), and my high tower (a high place among the rocks, safe from plunder and destruction).

(Vs 3) I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised:  so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

We, like David, have ample reason to worship and praise God.  Did He not save us and deliver us from the jaws of hell, death and the grave?  He has given us victory, and we will worship and praise Him and give Him thanks for that!  For God is our salvation!  God is our strength!  God is our protector!  God is our battle axe!  God is our everything!  As we focus on God and who He is, we will know why God is the God we worship!