When a man pulls a gun on another man, he’d better have a reason, a mighty good one that he’s mighty sure of.  A gun isn’t a toy.  It’s nothing to be worn for show or to be flashed around, showing off.  When you put a hand on a gun you can die.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (The Man From the Broken Hills)

    “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
              –Galatians 6:14 (NKJV)
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There is much clamor today that all ways lead to God and heaven.  That is contrary to the Bible; the Bible does not teach universalism, for there is only one way to God–through Jesus Christ.  It is not an easy way to find for entry is the result and reward of struggle; the struggle to find Jesus.

         “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
                   –Luke 13:24 (NKJV)

    The word “strive” is where get our word “agony.”  Barclay says that, “the struggle to enter must be so intense that it can be described as an agony of soul and spirit.”  Now that is not something we hear or see much in our churches today.  Tiny Tim and his “Tip-Toe Through the Tulips” would not be a theme of the person in agony trying to enter the narrow gate.  It is not “la-di-da” all the day long.
    When is the day of salvation?  It is now, therefore, a person must seize the opportunity now to enter the gate.  The gate that is Jesus Christ for salvation is only through Him.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer preached about “cheap grace.”  Gary Collins wrote a superb book, “Beyond Easy Believism.”  Many will seek, but there are few who strive.  “There is no ease, no finality in the Christian life.  A man must ever be going forward or necessarily he goes backward.” (William Barclay)
    Jesus said that “many…will seek to enter.”  But then those words, “and will not be able.”  Too harsh for our sensitive, enlightened ears?  Do you think you can actually just slide into heaven?  “It is a hard matter to get to heaven, and a point that will not be gained without a great deal of care and pains, of difficulty and diligence.”  (Matthew Henry)
    Look around you, are people “striving”.  Men are lazy-seeking; they do not wish a laborious striving.  Work is hard, whining is easier.  Listen, heaven is not a right.  It came at a price.  An early church hermit said this about the gate, “When Christ mentioned the narrow door, he meant controlling your thoughts and eliminating your own will, for the sake of God.” (Ammonas)  
    Legalism?!  Not hardly.  Strive, I tell you again, strive.  “We must strive with God in prayer, wrestle as Jacob, strive against sin and Satan; we must strive in every duty of religion, strive with our own hearts.  Be in agony, strive as those that run for the prize, excite and exert ourselves to the utmost.”  (Matthew Henry)
   I see little agony.  How many stay around the altar (remember the tarrying services?)?  We say our lunch prayers and our evening prayer but seldom wrestle with God over something.  Look again at your walk–what path are you on?  Too many don’t seek the gate, much less strive when they find it.  “Their desires are cold, and their endeavors feeble, and there is no strength or steadiness in their resolutions; and thus they come short, and lose the prize, because they do not press forward.” (Matthew Henry)

No man cuts himself free of old ties without regret; even scenes of hardship and sadness possess the warmth of familiarity, and within each of us there is a love for the known.”
             –Louis L’Amour  (Lando)

       “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
              –1 John 3:2  (NASB)
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Do we really want to be nearer the Lord?  That will mean carrying a cross, do we really want to be that near?  Do we want to be like Moses and want to see the face of God?  Do we really want to have faith, oh but we must, for without faith it is impossible to please God.  This hymn has been on my mind the past couple of weeks by Fanny J. Crosby.

         “I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
          And it told Thy love to me;
          But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
          And be closer drawn to Thee.”

We have was are now known as “worship leaders.”  Those who say they lead unto into the throne room of God.  No, it is the Holy Spirit that brings us to Him.  And true worship means to be consecrated to His service.  True worship is when we have lost our will in His.

         “Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
          By the pow’r of grace divine;
          Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
          And my will be lost in Thine.”

Abraham was a friend of God.  God came to visit Abraham one time to give him two messages.  One was a promise of the covenant, the other a promise of wrath.  One would result in the birth of Isaac, the other in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  However, the point is that God said, He was Abraham’s friend.  They spent time together.  Have you ever been with the Lord for a long period of time then wonder, my…where has the time gone?

         “O the pure delight of a single hour
          That before Thy throne I spend,
          When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
          I commune as friend with friend!”

Life can be full of troubles and trials, and toils and woes.  Right now we know what the Scriptures tell us about God.  For those who spend time with Him, they get a better feeling of who He is, but even then there is much we cannot know about Him.  One day, we shall see Him as He is–in all His splendor, majesty and glory.

         “There are depths of love that I cannot know
          Till I cross the narrow sea;
          There are heights of joy that I may not reach
          Till I rest in peace with Thee.

                       Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
                       To the cross where Thou hast died;
                       Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
                       To Thy precious, bleeding side.”

In the eternal strife to keep alive on the desert a man who conquered must have assimilated something of the terrible nature of the stinging cholla cactus, and the hard, grasping tenacity of the mesquite roots, and the ferocity of the wildcat, and the cruelty of the hawk—something of the nature of all that survived.  It was a law.  It forced man to mete out violence in advance of that meant for him.”
              –Zane Grey  (Wanderer of the Wasteland)

    “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
              –1 Timothy 6:12 (NKJV)
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I have not seen Bill Wilson in years now, but we used to correspond, and he came several times to minister at our church.  Once in conversation, I told him, “Bill, I couldn’t do what you do with the children in Brooklyn.”  He replied, “You could, if you were called to do it.”  There is one thing that all Christians have in common and that is a cross.  Besides the cross of Jesus Christ, we must also pick up our own cross.  All Christians will bear a cross, but it will be peculiar to the person.  It could be mental, physical, emotion, or spiritual or a mixture of those.

         “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'”
                   –Luke 9:23 (NKJV)

    First, Jesus says to “deny himself.”  This is a radical decision for once we decide to follow Jesus things will never be the same.  Denying ourselves means that we no longer know ourselves.  The self does not exist.  We are to deny what we want, our pleasures and desires, and follow the Lord doing what He wishes for us to do.  Someone has said that we are not to “indulge ease and appetite, for then it will be hard to bear toil, weariness, and want.”
    Second, we must take up our cross.  You must be willing; you must pick it up for it will not be thrust upon you.  One you have it across your shoulders don’t be murmuring, complaining, and whining that you are carrying a cross.  Remember, you willingly picked it up.  Don’t covet or be jealous of the cross that someone else has to bear, the Lord knows what you need and what you can handle.  So as you walk with that cross on your shoulders, do it as unto the Lord, keep the proper attitude.
    What kind of cross will it be?  That is not known until you pick it up.  Barclay said, “To take up our cross means to be prepared to face things like that [crucifixion] for loyalty to Jesus; it means to be ready to endure the worst that a man can do to us for the sake of being true to him.”  
    “As Christians we will not set our desires and our will against the right Christ has to our lives.  It does not mean cultivating a weak, nonassertive personality or merely denying ourselves certain pleasures…we are to recognize that we now live for the sake of Christ, not for our own sake.”  (Walter L. Liefeld)  This is not a one time activity–it must be done daily.  “Cross-bearing is continuous.  It is heroism of the dull common hour.” (George H. Morrison)  The crosses are many, the day may be long, and there may be days that seem all too dull and common.  What do you think the words at the end of life mean?  Well done, good and faithful–you have carried your cross well.
    One more thing to consider as you stoop to pick up your cross.  When the person who was to be crucified reached down to pick up the beam he must carry he knew where he was going.  This is a one-way journey.