Title: The Road Less Traveled
Text: Matthew 7:14-15
Date: September 6, 2009
Location: Sulphur Spring Baptist Church
Children’s Sermon: Good morning boys and girls. Show a Tom Tom GPS and ask them if they know what it is? That’s right it’s a GPS and if you aren’t sure how to get somewhere you can put the address in here and not only will it give you the directions but it will guide you through every turn you have to make. It’s really quite amazing. If you miss a turn it will even tell you how to get back on the right road. It’s really quite amazing what in the world did we do without these things? Most of the time if someone was traveling and didn’t know how to get where they were going they would pull into a gas station and ask for directions. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn’t. Speaking of asking for directions.
How many of you have seen the movie “Alice In Wonderland.” That’s good, Well this morning I want to show you just a short clip from the movie and then I want us to talk about it for just a couple of minutes.
In this film clip Alice came to a fork in the road. She didn’t know which way to go, she was talking to herself and debating which path to take when she heard someone singing. She looked up towards the Heavens, but it wasn’t angels that were singing, who was it?
Who did she see?
That’s right she saw the Cheshire cat staring down at her from his perch in the tree above.
When she saw Him Alice said, "Which way should I go?"
The Chesire cat replied “Well, That depends on where you want to get to.”
Now, how did Alice answer the Chesire cat’s question? What did she say?
That’s right she said, “It really doesn’t matter,”
Then the Chesire cat said, “Then it really doesn’t matter which way you go.”
But in reality it does matter which way we go. The Bible teaches us that there is a right way to go and a wrong way to go.
Read Proverbs 4:18-27 (NLT)
So we need to be careful to walk in the Way of Righteousness and if we will simply put our faith and Trust in the Lord, he has promised us to lead us in the paths of righteousness and make our paths straight.
Prayer:
If you have you have your Bibles turn with me to Matthew 7:13-14, which will be our text today.
Yesterday, my family and I drove to Calvert City to visit with my mom and dad, my brother and sister and their families. Now if you want to go to Calvert City, there are several different ways you can go. You can get on 31 W or I-65 and go to Bowling Green and hit Natcher Parkway and go to Beaver Dam. At Beaver Dam you can hit the Western Kentucky Parkway and take it to Princeton. At Princeton you can get on I-24 West and go to Calvert City.
But you can also get there by going through Russellville and taking Highway 68-80 to Cadiz and hitting I-24, which is the way I prefer going since there isn’t as much traffic.
Mary Anne on the other hand prefers going to Nashville and picking up I-24 there. Now that may sound crazy but depending on traffic it can be just as quick and of course the roads are much better and you can drive faster.
Now the reason I mention that is that some people would like for you to believe that it doesn’t matter which road you take to get to Heaven. Have you ever heard someone make a comment similar to this: We are all going to Heaven, we are just taking different roads or paths to get there.”
BUT IT REALY DOES MATTER, follow along as I read Matthew 7:13-14.
So, despite what some religious groups would like you to believe all roads don’t lead to Heaven and not everybody is going to get there. Both Heaven and Hell are real, and your eternal destiny depends on one very important choice. Which is the choice that everyone has to make, the choice to either to accept or reject Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their life.
Jesus himself taught that there is only one way to Heaven, and our text this morning makes that perfectly clear. In this passage, Jesus spoke about two gates, two ways, two groups of people and two eternal destinies.
The first thing I want to do this morning is to take a few minutes to
I. EXAMINE THE WAY OF LIFE.
“Enter by the narrow gate…for the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” Matthew 7:34-35?
Ancient cities were surrounded by walls and the only way in or out of the city was to pass through one of the city gates. Some of the gates were very broad, wide enough for multitudes of people, animals and equipment to pass through at the same time. While other gates were quite narrow, permitting only one person at a time to pass through. As you might imagine very few people chose to use the small, narrow gates.
One of the gates Jesus describes leads to the way of life. He refers to it as the “narrow gate.” He says that this gate is small, and the way is narrow. He also indicates that there will be few people who will find it. But the important thing for us to remember this morning is that this gate leads to life. Of course the life that Jesus is referring to is eternal life.
(1) One of the characteristics of this gate is that it is small.
Some of the gates in the walls of ancient cities were so small that a person had to get down on their hands and knees and crawl through, so naturally only one person at a time could go through. But even thought this gate is small it is still a gate and while it may be small, we can thank God that it isn’t shut. Because you see, when we go through the gate we find ourselves on the way that leads to life.
Of course, Jesus Christ paved the way for us by dying on the cross of Calvary. His payment there for our sins made it possible for God to open the way of Salvation for all of us. So we see that the way, while it may be small, is still open for all who are willing to make the effort to go through it.
(2) A second Characteristic of this way is that it is narrow.
Jesus said that the way is ‘narrow that leads to life.”
Implied in the word narrow is the idea of exclusion. A broad way by definition is more inclusive than a narrow way. In fact, Jesus not only teaches that the way is narrow,, He also teaches that there is in fact one, and only one way to get to Heaven.
In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”
I want to be perfectly clear on this point this morning. Jesus is not simply one of many ways to get to Heaven, He is the only way.
This Biblical truth is also recorded in Acts 4:12 which says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
The fact that the way is narrow could also indicate that we must come alone and bring nothing with us. There have been commentators who have suggested that a turnstile should represent the idea of the narrow gate. When you come through a turnstile, you come alone and cannot carry baggage with you. This is the way we must enter the Kingdome of God. We must enter on our own not in a group and we cannot carry any baggage with us.
This gate is small and the way is narrow because it focuses on God’s Truth.
Truth must be narrow because that’s its nature. Either something is true or it isn’t. Throughout Scripture the Bible teaches that Truth is Truth, regardless of whether you agree with it or not. Your opinion of the Truth doesn’t really matter. Whether you believe in the law of gravity or not doesn’t change the fact that if you jump off a 40 story building you are going to fall like a rock. It doesn’t matter whether you like the God’s truth or not, it’s still the Truth.
A final characteristic of the Way of Life is that
(3) ONLY A FEW PEOPLE TRAVEL ON IT.
There are probably several reasons for this but I want to just mention a couple this morning.
(1) One of the reasons for this may be because there are some people who simply don’t want to. No matter what we say or do there will always be people who don’t want anything to do with Jesus. It’s not that they haven’t heard the gospel it’s that they either don’t believe it or don’t want to give up their sinful lifestyle.
(2) A second reason why so few people choose to travel on the way of life is that they may be looking in the wrong places. Unfortunately there are a lot of false religions out there today that are leading a lot of people down the wrong path.
(3) A third reason why so few people utilize this particular way is because too many of us have kept it a secret.
As Christians it is our responsibility to be telling people about Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. It is our responsibility to tell them He is the way the truth and the life and that no-one comes to the Father except through him. Unfortunately too many of us are not following through with this particular responsibility. This reminds me of a parable that Christian Author Max Lucado wrote about in his book, “A Gentle Thunder.” Lacado writes:
The faces of the three men were solemn as the mayor informed them of the catastrophe. “The rains have washed away the bridge. During the night many cars drove over the edge and into the river.” “What can we do?” asked one. “You must stand on the side of the road and warn the drivers not to make the left turn. Tell them to take the one-lane road that follows the side of the river.” “But they drive so fast How can we warn them?” “By wearing these sandwich signs,” the mayor explained, producing three wooden double-signs, hinged together to hang from one’s shoulders. “Stand at the crossroads so drivers can see these signs until I can get someone out there to fix the bridge.” And so the men hurried out to the dangerous curve and put the signs over their shoulders. “The drivers should see me first,” spoke one. The others agreed. His sign warned, “Bridge Out” He walked several hundred yards before the turn and took his post. “Perhaps I should be second, so the drivers will slow down,” spoke the one whose sign declared, “Reduce Speed.” “Good idea,” agreed the third. “I’ll stand here at the curve so people will get off the wide road and onto the narrow.” His sign read simply “Take Right Road” and had a finger pointing toward the safe route. And so the three men stood with their three signs ready to warn the travelers of the washed-out bridge. As the cars approached, the first man would stand up straight so the drivers could read, “Bridge Out.” Then the next would gesture to his sign, telling the cars to “Reduce Speed.” And as the motorists complied, they would then see the third sign, “Right Road Only.” Though the road was narrow, the cars complied and were safe. Hundreds of lives were saved by the three sign holders. Because they did their job, many people were kept from peril. But after a few hours they grew lax in their task. The first man got sleepy. “I’ll sit where people can read my sign as I sleep,” he decided. So he took his sign off his shoulders and propped it up against a boulder. He leaned against it and fell asleep. As he slept his arm slid over the sign, blocking one of the two words. So rather than read “Bridge Out”, his sign simply stated “Bridge.” The second didn’t grow tired, but he did grow conceited. The longer he stood warning the people the more important he felt. A few even pulled off the side of the road to thank him for the job well done. “We might have died had you not told us to slow down,” they applauded. “You’re so right,” he thought to himself. “How many people would be lost were it not for me?” Presently he came to think that he was just as important as his sign. So he took it off, set it up on the ground, and stood beside it. As he did, he was unaware the he, too, was blocking one word of this warning. He was standing in front of the word “Speed.” All the drivers could read was the word “Reduce.” Most thought he was advertising a diet plan. The third man was not tired like the first, nor self-consumed like the second. But he was concerned about the message of his sign. “Right Road Only,” it read. It troubled him that his message was so narrow, so dogmatic. “People should be given a choice in the matter. Who am I to tell them which is the right road and which is the wrong road?” So he decided to alter the wording of the sign. He marked out the word “Only” and changed it to “Preferred.” “Hmm,” he thought, “that’s still too strident. One is best not to moralize.” So he marked out the word “Preferred” and wrote “Suggested.” That still didn’t seem right, “Might offend people if they think I’m suggesting I know something they don’t.” So he thought and thought and finally marked through the word “Suggested” and replaced it with a more neutral phrase. “Ahh, just right,” he said to himself as he backed off and read the words: “Right Road – One of Two Equally Valid Alternatives.” And so as the first man slept and the second stood and the third altered the message, one car after another plunged into the river.
Like these men we cannot escape the fact that we bear some of the responsibility for the fact that thousands of people every day die and go to Hell because we failed to warn them.
Now let’s turn our attention to the 2nd way,
II. THE WAY OF DESTRUCTION:
Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.”
The word translated destruction does not mean total annihilation. The person who enters eternity through this gate does not cease to exist. Instead, the word destruction is a reference to the utter and complete loss of well being. The way of Destruction ends in Hell. Let’s take a few minutes to look at some of the characteristics of this way.
The First characteristic of the way of destruction is that…
(1) IT IS BROAD.
It’s like a superhighway, like I-75 that goes through Atlanta or I-95 that goes through Washington D.C.
This is the kind of way that many people in our society prefer. Most people today would define a broad minded person as someone who is open, affirming, loving and accepting of everyone, regardless of age, race, gender, or sexual orientation.
On the other hand our society would define a ‘narrow minded” person as someone who is judgmental, condemning, and intolerant.
In our day and time people who are broad-minded are considered to be ‘enlightened’ while those of us who are more ‘narrow-minded” are considered to be just plain ignorant.
A Seocnd characteristic of the broad way is that…
(2) There’s plenty of room for everyone.
You don’t have to believe a certain way to travel on this particular road. In fact you don’t have to believe in anything at all. Any and all beliefs are acceptable.
After all, those who take the broad way mistakenly believe that all roads lead to Heaven.
A third Characteristic of The way of Destruction is that:
(3) It is the most popular way.
In other words, it’s like being on I-65 on a holiday weekend, there are people everywhere. The Broad way is the most popular, it is the way of the majority, and that’s what makes it so appealing, yet so dangerous.
The way of the majority has the appearance of being the right way. Because so many people have chosen this way, logic or conventional wisdom would say that this must be the right way. After all, how could so many people be wrong?
Illustration: Once upon a time a spider built a beautiful web in an old run down house. He made sure to keep it clean and shiny so that the flies would patronize it. The minute he got a ‘customer’ he would eat him so the other flies wouldn’t get suspicious. Then one day a fairly intelligent fly came buzzing by. The big spider called out to him and said, “why don’t you come on in and sit for a while. But the fly wouldn’t fall for that trick. He said, “No sir, I don’t see any other flies in your house and I’m not about to come in there by myself!”
A little later the fly spotted a large group of flies who appeared to be dancing on a sheet of brown paper. He was excited because he loved to dance. Just as he was making his final approach and was about to land on the paper a bee buzzed by and said, “don’t land there stupid, that’s ‘flypaper.”
But the fairly intelligent fly shouted back, “don’t’ be silly, those flies are dancing. There’s a big party going on down there and besides that many flies couldn’t be wrong! Well you know what happened, as soon as his feet hit that sticky brown flypaper he was trapped, and he eventually died on that very spot.
Many people today are like this fly. They take comfort in the fact that the majority of people believe the way they do, but in reality they are deceiving themselves because God has always been the God of the minority.
During the flood only Noah and his family were saved from Destruction. When Sodom and Gomorah were destroyed, only Lot and his two daughters were saved. Don’t be deceived by the majority. The broad way may be the crowded way, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the right way.
(4) And finally, we see that this way is the way of Destruction.
Despite the fact that it is the most popular way, and the most inviting way, it still leads to death.
One weekend a city slicker came to visit his old friend who lived in the country on a farm. One morning he got up and decided to go for a walk since it was such a beautiful day. He also decided to take his friends little boy along with him. They were walking around the farm when all a sudden they came upon a well beaten and inviting path through the pasture. All along the path, flowers were in full bloom. But the man noticed that the little boy was reluctant to follow him down the beautiful path. So he stopped and asked, him why he didn’t want to continue on down the path.
The little boy responded by saying “that path was made by the pigs and before long you are going to find yourself in the awfullest patch of mud, mire and weeds that you have ever seen.’
The bible teaches in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death.”
Unfortunately this means that those who continue to travel on the broad way, will eventually find themselves separated form God for eternity. Many people find the Broad way intriguing and believe that it will eventually lead them to Heaven, but the harsh reality is that it is the “Highway to Hell.”
An unknown author composed the following poem about the Apostle Paul:
“I encountered a man on the Road of Life
So sure of himself-so convinced he was right.
He had (his) religion but he didn’t know my God,
And though he had eyes, I thought this rather odd;
He only could see what he wanted to see,
So, blind to the truth that could set his soul free
The man charged ahead-unaware he was lost,
Until he encountered a man on a cross
At a fork in the road where the path became two
And the man who’d always been sure of himself had to choose.
Between broad and narrow, between left and right,
Between things he could see, and things still out of sight. And I’m sure that the man would have gone the wrong way, had he not encountered the savior that day.
But love rescued him! Truth has set Him Free!
Grace opened his eyes- he could finally see…
That the man on the cross makes the difference.
Now listen, as this once-proud skeptic proclaims:
“for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Robert Frost concluded his famous poem “The road not taken” like this:
Two road diverged in a wood, and I…
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
It’s an important decision a decision only you can make. I encourage you to take the road less traveled, it will make al the difference in the world. A Pastor by the name of Paul Ciniraj in India would agree with that. Listen to what He said about being a Christian.
Conclusion: He said, I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talk, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a disciple of Jesus. I must work until he comes for me…And when He does He will have no problem recognizing me…because I will be the one carrying His banner." — by unknown (African Preacher)
So you’ve got a choice to make this morning. Are you going to choose the narrow way that leads to life, or the broad way that leads to death?
