Diffusers 18: Freed From Destruction

Intro

Matthew 7:13-14

The path ahead...

Today we begin the closing section of the sermon on the mount which is made up of four sets of warnings. The first we will deal with today, and that is that there are two ways. Next week Richard will show us that there are two types of trees. The last two weeks we will see that there are two types of followers and two ways to build. With each, Jesus exposes the differences between the mindset of a kingdom person and the mindset of a worldly person.

It has been said that the path of God’s kingdom is like road less travelled.

I recently watched a multi-part documentary of a father and son driving from Santa Monica, CA all the way to Chicago on historic Route 66. It took them a couple of weeks to make the trip. On the Interstate, they could have made it in a couple of days and it would have been an easier, cheaper journey for them in many ways. But, had they taken that easy road they would have missed out on adventure, beautiful scenery, and quality time together.

Our world is obsessed with finding rapid paced paths to get what we want or need. God’s way though, is often slow. God’s primary concern is not our ultimate destination, but the quality of our journey and the character he builds in us along the way.

Satan offered Jesus the world in an instant, but only through longsuffering and the pain of the cross could Jesus have the world restored.

Our first parents Adam and Eve wanted to be like God. You know, God wanted that for them too. God had them on the long path of growing as he discipled them through cultivating the garden together. The serpent offered them a much quicker and easier path which they took, but it backfired.

God wanted them to have the knowledge they desired all along, but he wanted to form their character so they could handle it. All too often, we want to be further along than the development of our character and that ruins us. It’s like trying to fly a fighter jet before we have learned to fly a bush plane.

The wide path seems like the way to go on first glance, but it is the narrow road which builds us into the people God designed us to be.

Tension

There is an ever-present temptation to make life as easy as possible. It seems much easier to go with the broader culture rather than to live a life that is often resistant to it.

Jesus’ life shows us that oftentimes, the right choice is the most difficult choice possible and might make you wildly unpopular with others.

What are we basing success in life upon? Is it being liked by others? Is it trying to get through life without ruffling too many feathers, even if that means compromising on important things? Is it about making money no matter the cost? Is it about being famous or popular? Is it about love and relationships?

Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 7:12–14; Luke 6:31

As nothing is more opposed to the flesh than the doctrine of Christ, no man will ever make great proficiency in it who has not learned to confine his senses and feelings, so as to keep them within those boundaries, which our heavenly Teacher prescribes for curbing our wantonness. As men willingly flatter themselves, and live in gaiety and dissipation, Christ here reminds his disciples, that they must prepare to walk, as it were, along a narrow and thorny road. But as it is difficult to restrain our desires from wicked licentiousness and disorder, he soothes this bitterness by a joyful remuneration, when he tells us, that the narrow gate, and the narrow road, lead to life. Lest we should be captivated, on the other hand, by the allurements of a licentious and dissolute life, and wander as the lust of the flesh draws us, he declares that they rush headlong to death, who choose to walk along the broad road, and through the wide gate, instead of keeping by the strait gate, and narrow way, which lead to life.

Jesus had one singular focus for his life; the glory of God the Father. Everything he did was centered on this and he was committed to honoring the Father even if it meant being hated and eventually crucified.

Truth

The way of death

The way of death is wide.

Jesus describes the destructive road as wide which should cause alarm for us.

Wide roads have a lot more room for travellers and by calling the way of death wide, Jesus makes a clear point that it is the most popular choice of roads.

In a crowd full of people, it is safe to assume that most are on this road rather than the other based upon Jesus’ warning here.

The way of death is easy.

The wide road doesn’t have too many bumps or bends along the way.

This isn’t to say that there is no pain or suffering for people on the wide road. I believe that Jesus is more likely referring to suffering induced at the hands of other people.

Think less persecution, greater acceptance, freedom to pursue lusts and passions at will, and etc.

Life will often seem smoother for people on this road so it should not surprise us when worldly people seem to thrive in this world while righteous people struggle. We are not at home here, they are.

The way of death never ends well.

While the road seems smooth for the moment, it’s landing place is ultimate destruction.

The way of life

The gate to life is narrow

Isn’t it interesting that there is no mention by Jesus, or a gate to the wide road?

It is because there isn’t one. Everyone naturally chooses the wide road as it is the natural road for sons of Adam and daughters of Eve.

Christ himself is the gate by which we enter the narrow path.

John 10:7-10

Matthew 19:24-27

Any attempt of people to save themselves will always fail. They cannot make their own way into the narrow gate.

It is only possible to enter the narrow gate by the power of God.

The way to life is hard

Have you ever driven down a narrow road?

On a narrow road, you must be extra careful and pay attention to where you are.

There is no cruise control or automated driving.

There must be discipline.

The way of life is hard.

It is a life of discipline and battling your own human nature.

It is a life of forgoing lust and pleasures while looking forward to something better and more fulfilling.

It is a life of refusing to get for yourself now what can only be forged over what Eugene Peterson referred to as a long obedience in the same direction.

The way of life can do nothing but end well.

Psalm 1:1-2

Blessing from the world may come by walking the wide road, but blessing from God only comes by walking the narrow road.

The world’s blessing may last a lifetime at most but God’s blessing is eternal. Which investment seems the most reasonable in the end?

Application

The wide path is the one everybody is doing.

The narrow path is the road less traveled.

It is travelled less precisely because it is hard.

People on this road dedicate themselves above all else to the practice of becoming like Jesus.

Too many people, even in the church, and more dedicated to becoming like the world than they are becoming like Jesus.

Today, I am advocating a lifestyle of repentance in which we choose to live narrowly in each moment.

You see, many view the narrow road as something you enter once you receive Christ and you just sort of magically stay there. Yet it takes work to remain on a narrow, rough road. That’s why Jesus used this metaphor.

Of course receiving Christ as savior and Lord is taking the right exit, but to remain on the path we must be intentional.

I know we say this all the time, but only because scripture does. We must be a praying people. We must be a bible studying, reflecting, and applying people. We must be a gathering people. If we don’t have these basic spiritual disciples in our lives we are prone to driving right off the road.

A person who travels down a mountain pass without a map, mirrors, a full tank of gas, and an alert mind is foolish. We don’t want to be foolish about our Christianity.

Each moment we have the opportunity to make the narrow path choice, or the wide path one. When I am tempted to sin, do I resist (narrow path) or give in (wide path)? This stuff matters and we only get good at walking the narrow path through practice, having a strong foundation in God’s word and a reliance upon the Holy Spirit.

Landing

Jeremiah 21:8

God has pretty clearly set in front of us two paths today. We each must choose which path we want to walk. The truth is that none of us has the power to walk the narrow road in and of ourselves, but in Christ we can.

Christ has blazed a trail for us through the narrow path by his bloody cross and empty tomb. Through walking by the Spirit in the power of Christ we can absolutely choose to walk the narrow road. We are free from having to fall in with the destructive ways of our world. We are free to walk with Jesus.

I won’t lie to you by telling you the Christian walk will be a cake walk. No, it is more like climbing Mt Everest. But with Christ going before us, and watching out behind us, and the Spirit empowering us… we will get to the top of the mountain.

So let’s walk the narrow road together and whenever we hit a bump, or almost fall off the road, or have a rock thrown at us by someone on the wide road, we can remember that God has promised that if we walk down his road we do so by his power and his sovereign might. He will always follow through just as he has promised. We will get there together with one another and with Christ’s help.

Philippians 1:6