Which Path?

If you have a copy of God’s word open it up to Matthew 7. I have titled the message this morning Which Path? Pray with me…

We are at an important part of the sermon on the mount a part that I really wrestled with in terms of how to present it to the church, because if you wanted to you could preach a huge piece of the chapter or you could do what I decided to do today and go a little more deeper like we have been doing this whole time studying this book..

The principles when taken to heart from this very passage are indeed life changing…

Really as we arrive in this text we are asked by Jesus this question which Path? Which Path will you choose?

Let me read you the text then we will talk about.

Matthew 7:13–14 ESV

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

For those who take notes or follow along with me I have this for our main idea today.

Every single person has to decide if they are going to enter the gate that leads to life or death.

I believe Jesus in this text is making a call to action, we as believers in Christ not only need to know what God’s word says, but we need to do something with it. He want’s us to apply the information he gives us in the scriptures. And what he gives us in the scriptures is life, and if we reject it then we reject Christ himself.

The rest of chapter 7 is all about making decision’s which we will see in the upcoming weeks. And many of the things I say may be repeated but its important for us to take action with what we believe.

And what I want you to really take to heart from this text is Jesus does not care for indifference he wants you to make a choice to follow down a path not to play both side s… In fact I believe the scriptures teach us that as much as we may try to be indifferent, there is only a right way and a wrong way when it comes to things in the kingdom of God. When comes to serving God we cannot play both sides we have to choose a path.

The scriptures call for an action.

Let me give you a few examples.

Joshua 24:15 ESV

15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

There is a decision for all of us that calls us to either follow God or the god’s of this world. So much of our troubles is that we choose to follow the things of this world, and not serve the Lord, we cannot serve two masters.

Psalm 1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Again another comparison you either pick the right way God’s way or the way of the wicked, I will come back to this Psalm again in the following weeks. But plant yourself in the ways of the Lord.

Another one.

Proverbs 15:19 ESV

19 The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway.

Are you going to choose the way of the worthless one or the one who is upright. The Christian life is not a lazy life its a call to action, an action to serve to do the right things.

last one for now..

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 ESV

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

All of this leads back to our mainIdea. Every single person has to decide if they are going to enter the gate that leads to life or death.

Which path will you choose? And don’t take lightly the choice to be made here. One leads to life the other leads to death.

I have said this before with you all, I am a real fork in the road guy for people I meet and talk to about Christ you can’t be indifferent to him, and his word because your life is on the line. I am a great sinner I acknowledge that, but I am going to choose the one who gives me life, and you need to do the same thing.

And I really enjoyed something I read this week. poem titled "Forks in the Road" by Sara Stowell and one of the commentators said it nicely sets the stage for these verses.

There will always be forks in the road, Decisions that have to be made. You will always have to bear the load, Of each debt that has to be paid.

Every fork has a destination, With consequences to each choice.

Be wary of Earthly temptation, For it may have the loudest voice.

Other paths will intersect your own, Other lives will feel its effect.

The aftermath may remain unknown, With results you may not expect.

Be careful not to be led astray, From the righteous course you once strode.

Which path will you take?

Only through Faith can you find your way, When you reach the forks in the road.

The commentator who used that poem said We have reached the climax of the Sermon on the Mount. Our Lord's teachings demand a response. Sitting idly by and trying to remain neutral is not an option. Sitting on the fence will not work. Two paths, two gates, stand before us. The one you choose has massive consequences.

And I will add to that saying it has eternal consequences.

So with that in mind let me give you the first point. Which is this…

Entering the narrow gate leads to life.

I wanted to bring you this point first because if you look at the text Jesus tells you to Enter by the narrow gate. There is a command here in the text to Enter by the narrow Gate, and he contrasts that with another gate that leads to destruction. One I will speak of later..

But the Key to understanding this text is the entering through the narrow Gate part. That its a command with a great promise.

He is telling you there is not another gate that leads to eternal life. If you want to be a Christian you have to go down the path that Christ tells you to. Did you know that? Hopefully you just answered yes. You know there is only one path.

Jesus through Chapters 5-7 up until this point is showing you what it looks like to follow him, and now he is really calling you to you could say walk a fine line or take a path to enter into this gate.

I really like what John MacArthur said..Jesus spoke, “as one having authority.”  He didn’t drag up all the stuff of the rabbis; He just nailed down the specifics.  And so they got the picture.  Compared to their system it was very narrow, very prescribed. 

Remember they had come up with so many laws to follow for their own righteous, to inherit eternal life.

MacArthur would go on to say.. And Jesus says, “You must enter this narrow way.  If you’re going to be in My kingdom, you’ve got to come on these terms.”  He demanded immediate action.  It is an absolute command without an alternative. 

It is not enough to listen to preaching about the gate, it is not enough to admire the ethics, you’ve got to enter it.  “You cannot enter the kingdom,” He says, “unless you come on these terms, abandoning your self-righteousness, seeing yourself as a beggar in spirit, as mourning over sin; as meek before a holy God, not proud and boastful; as hungering and thirsting for righteousness, not believing you have it.”

Friends that is why I said Entering into the narrow gate leads to life.

What does it take to know Christ though it is an action that takes faith not works and it takes you entering through the narrow gate leaving all the self righteousness behind like that has been said.. This means offering yourself up to God with beggars hands placing all your trust in him and his ability to get you though that gate.

What I love about Jesus and I love about the scriptures is that neither Christ nor the scriptures which all point to him by the way try and trick you. Try you to lead you down the road of destruction or try to lead you to think the Christian life is easy.

Now as much as we should know this by now, its always worth repeating that faith in Christ is what get’s you into the gate. Only faith in Christ and repenting of your sin actually gets you through the gate.

Couple verses we should know.

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

You tie that into this text you see Jesus saying the only way to the Father is through the narrow the gate by knowing me.. bank on the fact that Jesus is the only way we trust that he is telling the truth, and we know that in him that life is found in him.

Listen to these verses.

Acts 4:8–12 ESV

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Jesus Christ crucified risen from the dead is the cornerstone he is the foundation and according to this text tying into what we know and what I am trying to prove is no other name under heaven can get you through that gate, Friends only saved people get through that gate. And only people who call upon the name of Jesus get through that gate…

Even though there is another gate that looks more appealing in the flesh he says enter here…

And I love the honesty of Jesus Christ in this text He is telling you the narrow gate is hard..

The Christian life is not easy. It has high standards. But even though it may be hard and narrow it leads to life.

Why is hard you might ask? Well you can go back a see what he says just in this sermon…

Its hard because it calls you to do everything that is opposite of the flesh, and the world.

See it causes you to come to a place where you know you cannot do it on your own, it causes you to mourn over sin, it causes you to be meek and find power through Christ and not yourself.. It causes you to change your appetite for the things of God, and not the things of the world

see its hard because you have to give mercy to others when you have no desire to, its hard because it cleanses you from your unrighteous, and makes you pure, its hard because instead of fighting battles you become a peacemaker, its hard because people will hate you for loving Christ. Its hard because you share in sufferings of others. Its hard because you have become salt and light. Its hard because you have to have righteousness that exceeds even the Pharisees.

It continues Its hard because you will have to fight anger, and lust, and marriage problems, and tell the truth, without being vengeful. Its hard because you will have to love those whom you hate the most, and give to those who need it.

Its hard because instead of doing things in your own strength you rely on God in prayer to answer all of your needs, even to the point of fasting.

Its hard because you will lay up your treasures in heaven, and not here on earth, and its hard because all along the way you will be anxious that you are doing the right things , including are you judging properly, and asking God for what is right all while treating people the way you would want to be treated. The Christian life is hard, but it leads to life.

Second point..

The wide path leads to death and destruction.

This is a path the world sees as the only answer a very wide path. We have already seen that Jesus says enter through the narrow gate that leads to life.

Now the wide path says anything goes and all can come to this great entrance. Satan would tempt you to say enter here to really find life. To find joy and purpose. Come as you are stay as your are and enjoy life partaking in all your sinful desires.

This is a path that says bring your ideas, bring your passions, bring your gods and we will let you come on in, this is the world we live in right. This is the path that our first parents Adam and Eve went down when they were tempted by Satan just eat of the tree and then you can experience life. You can be like God. Boy did that temptation not go as planned. Neither does this path.

The world wants you to buy into the same lies the Pharisees even believed that they were right in their own eyes and they held the scriptures in their very hands yet they altered its truths to fit there own agenda. The pharisees argued with Jesus time and time again and he lays it out so simply I am the way.

There are lot’s of religions that say they are the way about 10000 known ones but the reality that Jesus is teaching us in the text the reality that we must know is God and not follow those other paths.

In my mind what Jesus is teaching us is there is only but two religions one that leads through the narrow gate and one that leads through the wide gate. In the eyes of Christ there is not many ways but only two one that is right and one that is wrong.

Something I will touch more on next week is false teachers and you know how one is a false teacher they say there are other ways then what the bible clearly teaches us…

And Jesus makes this powerful illustration to prove a point to you and all those who hear this the path that is broad may seem really easy and comfortable. Because when you are your own God, and you make all the calls on your life in the moment its very attractive..

But at the end of the day and the end of this life there is only but two paths… Jesus uses these two verses as a climax of what we will see the next few weeks, there is only but two options.. Following God or not.. No indifference only two… Keep that in the back of your mind… When you seek to follow God.

Now I want to finish with something Jesus says.. Those who find it are few.. Why does he say that?

Well because more people will choose their own path then the path that has been set before them that Christ commands to be chosen.

To be a Christian you must give your life to Christ and not all will do that very thing. Its a sad truth that many will choose their own path than trust Christ.

In fact I heard John MacArthur in a sermon quote this… A letter was written to the Melbourne Daily paper after the Billy Graham Crusade of some years back.  This is what the man who wrote the letter said: “After hearing Dr.  Billy Graham on the air, viewing him on TV, and reading reports and letters concerning him and his mission, I am heartedly sick of the type of religion thatinsists my soul and everyone else’s needs saving, whatever that means.  I have never felt that I was lost, nor do I feel that I daily wallow in the mire of sin, although repetitive preaching insists that I do.  Give me a practical religion that teaches gentleness and tolerance, that acknowledges no barriers of color or creed; that remembers the aged, and teaches children of goodness and not sin.

“If in order to save my soul I must accept such a philosophy as I have recently heard preached, I prefer to remain forever damned.”  And he signed his name.  And that’s the choice everyone makes.  You either invent a nice little religion that fits you, or you take the truth of God and accept it.  That’s the choice you make.  One gives life, the other death.

Friends as you being to leave here today I want ask you which path have you chosen? The path that leads to life or the path that leads to death.

Again what makes the narrow gate so valuable is the one whom opens it up…. Which is Christ whom walked the narrow path by following the law perfectly to the point of Death even death on a Cross taking the wrath of God the Father though he was without sin and he rose from the death on the third day so that you and I could walk through that narrow gate that leads to life.

So because he did that friends church don’t pick another path, and friends do not be indifferent to our Lord… Follow him go down the narrow path, even though it may be the hardest way to live you will as you follow Christ come to realize that every bit of it was worth it because you found life in Christ.

Which Path will you take? Let us pray…