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This is a sermon that is part of a series of messages concerning the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5-7. This message covers Matthew 7:13-14 regarding the choice between the narrow way and the broad way.
Written Excerpts:
Introduction:
For our study in God’s Word today we are going back to a couple of verses that we skipped last week.
We are looking at this passage and asking the questions, “How does this relate to the important task of building a solid foundation for living my life?” “What important principle is Jesus teaching here that I need to know in order to save myself from disaster in the future?”
The single word that best describes the principle found in this text that is so valuable for life is: “choices.” Choices, made multiple times every day, all have consequences. We have been granted the freedom by Bible to make choices for ourselves. The choices we make determine the path we will walk in life and ultimately lead to a destiny.
Many times throughout our lives we come to major crossroads where we must choose one path over the other, and that path chosen will inevitably lead to other crossroads and still more crossroads – each with their own direction and destiny. Take a look at your life today and understand that you are where you are today because of all the choices and decisions you’ve made in the past. Jesus speaks in our text today about two paths with distinct qualities, distinct travelers and distinct destinations.
The poet, Robert Frost, wrote a poem about two roads. I have no idea whether this biblical text was on his mind when he penned the words or not, but I think there is a fitting comparison between his poem and the words of Christ. Listen to the lines of his poem.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I saved this message on this Scripture text for today as we have given recognition to those graduating from high school this week. I don’t think there are many subjects taught in Scripture that are more relevant for those who are entering adulthood than this topic of choosing the path in life that will ultimately lead to the destination of eternal life and blessedness and joy. So for the next several moments I would like to speak to you about the choice that Jesus puts before every man, woman and child – which path will you take?
As we examine Jesus’ message, I want you to consider three things that He emphasizes about these two roads.
I. The destination of each road
II. The descriptions of each road
III. The travelers on each road
I. The Destination of Each Road
I want to start our discussion first by talking about the destination of each road Jesus describes. I am beginning with this point, because of its importance. Destination is a very important part of any road, any trip and any life. Before anyone can ever give us advice on what road to take or what choices to make they need to know where we want to go; they need to know where we hope to end up.
We must decide where we are going before we decide which road to take. If you want to go to Pittsburgh Pittsburgh
In talking about making the choice between two possible paths to travel, Jesus clearly spells out the distinctly and drastic difference between the destinies of these two paths. One path ends up with life; the other ends with destruction. You and I only need to read through the Gospels to understand what Jesus had in mind when He spoke of life vs. destruction. Jesus frequently talked about heaven and hell; life and death; blessing and torment; etc. I believe that He is making reference to the same concept here – every human being will some day end up in one of two destinations; either heaven or hell.
And so, dear friend, whether you are young or old, every one of us must make a decision; a choice – where do I want to be 100 years from now, or a 1,000 years from now?
I don’t know about you, but I believe that this decision truly requires that we stop and take the time to give very serious thought and consideration to the full implications of these destinations. There must be a time of weighing my options, or counting the cost. There must be a moment when one truly compares the end result to the “cost of the trip.”
I am 56 years old, but I distinctly remember a time and the place in my life when God brought me to that crossroad of decision. Yes, I had already responded many times to the messages of preachers and evangelists that brought conviction on my heart and I went forward to pray. But that is not what I’m talking about. I can’t tell you the date, but I know approximately what age I was and I know the location where it occurred, when I pondered and meditated for possibly an hour and “counted the cost” of going with Christ and making it to eternity in heaven or rejecting His path and finding myself in eternal hell.
Believe you me, that was pretty heavy for a young teenager, but I’ll never forget the feeling that gripped my soul as I settled the issue in my bedroom that night – it will be worth everything I may have to suffer or everything it may cost to live my life for Christ and make it through to heaven.
Can I say something here as kindly as I know how, but as soberly and seriously as I know how? I believe that there are far too many people in our world who have never been to that crossroad I’ve just described. They’ve either never had anyone tell them that there is a heaven and a hell, or they’ve never allowed themselves to get serious enough for a long enough period to really and truly consider the enormous consequences of their choice.
Dear friends, if you want to heed the words of Jesus, you must first of all decide what destiny you really want.
II. The Descriptions of Each Road
Jesus provides us with few, but adequate details of the two roads available. For the one road, there is a “wide gate” and a “broad way.” For the other, He says it has a “strait gate” and a “narrow way.”
One writer suggested that the Lord “seems to allude here to the distinction between the public and private ways mentioned by the Jewish lawyers. The public roads were allowed to be sixteen cubits broad, the private ways only four.” (Clarke, A Commentary and Critical Notes.)
He apparently uses this distinction that would have been common knowledge to the people to illustrate a spiritual truth regarding their eternal destiny.
A. The wide gate and broad way.
Wide and broad appear to be synonyms having pretty much the same meaning as we use the words today. It means to be spacious. It implies ease of entry and easy to stay on or follow. There’s plenty of “leeway” or “latitude” or “breathing space.” The way can be entered and it can be followed without much effort or thought.
There’s not a lot that can be said here to make it any clearer.
B. The strait gate and narrow way.
“Strait” – The word stenós means “narrow,” “thin,” “poor,” the noun stenochōría denotes a “narrow place,” and the verb stenochōréō means “to confine,” “to compress.” The ideas of a narrow door and a little trodden way occur in philosophy, e.g., in the difficult ascent to true culture. (Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume.)
“Narrow” – English Words used in KJV: trouble 4, afflict 3, narrow, throng, and suffer tribulation (Strong's Dictionary.)
This word seems to carry the idea that this road involves anything but a life of comfort and ease.
The gate is narrow because Jesus is the only door. (Jn. 10:7, 9) The way is narrow because Jesus is the only way. (Jn. 14:6) It is a way that is restricted, because there is only One who claimed to be the embodiment of truth.
It is a way that includes adversity, persecution, rejection, etc. because that is the way of true discipleship. Jesus never offered His disciples and His followers an easy life or an easy way. He talked a lot about self-denial; about opposition from the world and even from family; and about persecution, and adversity. Jesus never tried to entice the crowds and gain followers by making them think it was going to be easy.
Now, let me be very clear. When you read all of the Bible, you learn that the “way of the transgressor is hard.” There are horrible consequences from living a sinful, selfish, indulgent life. I remember clients at New Destiny often saying their “worst day with the Lord was better than their best day with the Devil.”
I often struggle and have to remind myself that it does no good to try to get people to come to the Lord by trying to make it seem easy or enticing or pleasant. I’ve learned that those who come to the Lord or come into the church expecting an easy time and a pleasant way, are always the first ones to vanish when the going gets tough and there are problems, reverses, disappointments, etc. If you’re going to follow Jesus, you’re going to have to do it because you want to know Him and make it to heaven, not just because it seems to be the relief you’re looking for today.
III. The Travelers on Each Road
Many vs. Few – This is a comparative. Compared to the travelers on the narrow road, the broad road has many travelers. Compared to the travelers on the broad road, the narrow road has few travelers.
Granted, the Bible declares that the number of people in heaven giving praise to the Lamb is a vast number, but in comparison to the number of people who have been lost it is few. There are millions of believers in world today who have made a life-time commitment to follow Christ in spite of great adversity, but they are few in comparison to the number of those on the broad road.
Young people, and older ones as well, don’t allow yourselves to be deceived by the number of people who accept or reject anything. I remember our Bible College
Conclusion:
There is a verse in Proverbs that reads like this, (Proverbs 14:12, KJV) "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
I’m convinced that the reason why the way seems right, is mainly because there are so many others going that way and because it looks so pleasant and seems so reasonable. But remember, our minds and ability to reason has been affected by the curse of sin. The only way we can know the right way and follow the right path is if we seek God’s divine revelation of truth and embrace it and follow it.
There are only two roads, and there only two destinies. Which one will you take?
In addition to this big choice between eternal life and eternal destruction, there are hundreds of lesser choices that are very important as well. You and I desperately need the guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to avoid the pitfalls and wrong turns on the path of life.
Let us close or service today by prayerfully singing the chorus, “Gentle Shepherd.”
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