Make Wise Decisions Series

(adapted from Southeast Christian Church’s series Living a Life of Integrity)

SERIES: “WORDS OF WISDOM FOR KINGDOM LIVING”

TEXT: MATTHEW 7:13-27

TITLE: “MAKE WISE DECISIONS”

INTRODUCTION: A. Several years ago, there was a news story about a man named Don Wyman. He

was muscular and worked for a mining company. One day about 4:00 p.m. he was

alone in a forest cutting down a tree when the tree snapped back in his direction and

knocked him to the ground. The massive oak landed on hi left shin – shattering his

bone and ripping his flesh.

He tried to free himself, using his chainsaw to no avail. He did everything he could

think of, but still he couldn’t get free. He realized that unless he got help soon he was

going to bleed to death. He knew it would be hours before someone might figure

something had gone wrong and come looking for him. So he made a courageous

decision.

Pulling the starter cord from his chain saw he tied a tourniquet to his leg, shutting

off the blood flow to his shin. Then somehow, with his pocket-knife, he proceeded to

amputate his lower leg, just below the knee.

Now, on one leg, he had to find help. He crawled 135 feet uphill to his bulldozer,

climbed in, started it up and drove that extremely slow machine 1/4 mile to his pickup

truck. The truck was a stick shift and he had to use a metal rod to depress the clutch

when he shifted. He drove a mile and a half and came upon a dairy farm where

someone called an ambulance.

1. Don Wyman survived the ordeal.

--But only because he realized that being pinned like that under that oak tree, to

keep his leg might cost him his life.

2. So he had a decision to make.

--And he chose to live.

B. This morning, we’re wrapping up our 12-week study of the Sermon on the Mount with

a message entitled “Make Wise Decisions”

1. Jesus concludes His best-known discourse by encouraging people to make wise

decisions

2. He does so with a well-used method that reverberates through the whole Bible

--the invitation to choose to be wise or to choose to be foolish

a. The book of Proverbs is almost entirely devoted to the comparison between the

wise person and the foolish person

b. Moses – Dt. 30:19-20a – “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against

you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose

life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD

your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.”

c. Joshua – Josh. 24:14-15 – “’Now fear the LORD and serve him with all

faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River

and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable

to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the

gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in

whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the

LORD.’”

d. Jeremiah – “"Furthermore, tell the people, ’This is what the LORD says: See, I

am setting before you the way of life and the way of death.”

--God was saying, “You get to choose which way you will go.”

3. Everyday we’re faced with decisions

--Will we be wise or will we be foolish?

4. Jesus gives us three important questions to ask ourselves to ensure that we are

following the way of the wise and not the way of the fool

I. WHICH PATH ARE YOU TRAVELING ON?

--Mt. 7:13-14 – “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to

destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only

a few find it.”

A. The foolish person says, “There are no boundaries.”

1. The world thinks total freedom with no restrictions is the goal.

2. Prov. 14:12 – “There is a way that seems right to man but in the end it leads to death .”

B. The wise person says, “The Road is narrow.”

1. Prov. 3:5-6 – “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all

your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

2. There’s a reason Jesus says, “Narrow is the path.”

--He knows this route provides the most fulfillment.

C. Comparing the two ways:

1. The broad way

a. The broad way is kind of like an Interstate highway

1). It’s easy to get on