God’s Positioning System or GPS. Our current Sermon Series.
First, a few weeks ago, we asked the question: "Do you know where you are?" Do we know your location? Not your position on Earth, but in relationship to God?
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God came walking through the garden asking, “Where are you?” God asked the question for their benefit. God knew exactly where they were, but Adam and Eve didn’t have a clue. It is the same today. People are lost because of sin, and because sin has blinded them, they have no idea where they stand with God. They are lost, and most don’t even know it.
Next, we asked the question, "“Do you know where you are going?” As Christians, we often loose sight of our designation. We forget that were are citizens of Heaven, and that we are only sojourners and pilgrims, are only passing through, because heaven is our home. If heaven is our home, why then are we living like our permanent home is in the world?
Today (the final message in the series), we will consider if we are on the right road. We are asking, “Do you know the way? There are folks who blindly follow their GPS, not knowing if they are going the right way. This morning, we are going to examine whether the road we are on is taking us to Jesus. This is crucial, because many have fooled themselves into thinking they are in tight with Jesus, yet one day, like everyone who has ever lived they will meet up with Jesus and many will say:
Matthew 7:22–23 (NKJV) Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
How do we know if we are on the right road?
Matthew 7:13–14 (NKJV) “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Life is filled with choices. In some areas we have more choices than others. When Ellen and I lived in Indonesia, we had limited choices when we went shopping for breakfast cereals. It was either an off brand frosted flakes or Corn flakes. If it was available, when we found a box of Cheerios, it was over $10 for a very small box. When we got back home to Florida, we went shopping at the local military commissary (I'm retired military) and we were overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do with ourselves when we hit the cereal aisle. Soooo many choices! We in the United States demand we have choices and more choices. I cannot believe the choices we today.
You can chose your religion, (or the lack thereof), or pick and choose the parts and pieces you like from all the different religions.
You can choose you own version of truth.
You can choice your sexuality, and to who or what you are sexually attracted to.
You can choose to who or what you wish to be married to.
You can choose to have a baby or abort it.
You can even choose your sex.
And we were worried about what cereal to buy!
But if we believe the word of God, Jesus says there is only one way to life and all else leads to destruction. Jesus also said:
John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
In today’s world, to preach these things, the world will view us and the true church as bigoted, narrow minded, unloving, and the most spiteful word of all, intolerant.
We here at Rosemont are a Bible believing and preaching church and we turn to God’s holy word for our faith and way of life. Maybe this why Jesus says the way that leads to life is difficult. This morning I want to give you 4 observations of our focal passage and will conclude with 3 tests questions to help us determine if we are on the right road. Let’s start with verse 14:
Matthew 7:14 (NKJV) Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Life here means eternal life. The true life which is Jesus. So from this we conclude with our first observation:
First, God’s way is narrow, difficult, and hard to find.
You cannot find the gate on your own. We have no ability in and of ourselves to find God. So much so that God comes looking for us. Like in the Garden of Eden, Adam hid themselves and God came looking for them. But God will honor those who truly search for Him.
Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV) And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Here is part of the problem, how many will diligently seek Him? We live in a world of instant gratification. No one wants to wait on God. However, the very will to seek God comes from God.
John 6:44 (NKJV) No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
The Bible give no indication that this drawing, this invitation to find Him, is opened ended. We can only seek and find Him only if He is calling us. If we have the urge to seek out God, we must do so now. We cannot put it off. And once He is found, to follow Jesus, to be discipled by Him, to go the way that He calls, is not easy. There is no guarantee of health, wealth, and prosperity. Jesus say in this life we will have trouble. But His call is clear:
Matthew 16:24–25 (NKJV) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
But that narrow and difficult way will bring true joy.
Matthew 19:29 (NKJV) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.
Oh the rewards of heaven! But taking the narrow road does not happen by chance. You do not just stumble upon it. You must look for it and to go down its difficult way must be by deliberate choice. Few finds the road, and fewer still, chooses to go down that road.
2. The majority of people will follow the way to destruction.
Let’s look at verse 13
Matthew 7:13 (NKJV) “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
The broad way, the easy way is not the way to life. Spurgeon, the great British preacher from the late 1800’s had this to say about the broad way:
The road is so wide that there may be many independent tracks in it, and the drunkard may find his way along it without ever ruffling the complacency of the hypocrite. The mere moralist may pick a clean path all the way, while the immoral wretch may wade up to his knees in mire throughout the whole road. Behold how sinners disagree and yet agree in this, that they are opposed to God! It is a broad road.[1]
This road is filled with what the world calls “Good People” and not just out right evil doers. The road is wide and will accommodate a wide assortment of people. This path is easy, does not require any effort to travel it. This path is the way of the world. Included are many who said one day they will commit to Christ, but they never do. My Dad always told me, “The way to Hell is paved with Good intentions.” Note the passage that Jesus preaches right after our focal passage:
Matthew 7:15 (NKJV) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
The New Testament is full of warnings concerning false teachers and false prophets. The world will make great strides to keep you from the narrow way and to pull you into the broad way, the way of the world. Statistics show that the various cults in our culture get many of their members by sucking away many so-called Christians, who neither know Jesus nor know the narrow way nor know His word. And where do the two ways lead?
3. The two paths are not ends in themselves, but have eternal significance beyond themselves. The one ends in destruction, the other in life.
In short, one path leads to heaven which is true life. And the other path leads to Hell, which is eternal destruction, everlasting death and torment. The narrow way is the way of salvation that is only found in Jesus. The evidence of salvation is not just a decision, not just a walk down the aisle, a prayer with the preacher, or a dunk in the baptismal pool. It is a changed heart resulting in a changed life and living out of repentance. The way itself results in eternal life with Jesus. In the broad way, people lose sight of the destination. They have no fear of eternal death and hell because no thought is given to result of their life as evidence of belonging to Jesus. Jesus is that narrow gate, is that door.
John 10:9a (NKJV) I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved
If the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has really entered and taken up residence in your life, the narrow way, the difficult way will be doable. If Jesus has truely changed the heart, then there is no other way than the narrow way. And no one said it would be easy.
A preacher wrote, “Hell, it would seem, has fallen on rather lean times. It used to be that the vast majority of Christians believed that Hell was a real place where the wicked go when they died. It used to be that ministers of the Gospel would preach on the horrors of Hell to persuade sinners to repentance. But not anymore. Most North American mainline and so-called Evangelical churches stopped preaching about Hell years ago. The topic of Hell was bad for the bottom line—attendance and income…” [2]
I’m here to tell you, here at Rosemont, the whole counsel of Scripture will be preached, and if the talk of hell offends, so be it.
And the forth observation that perhaps offends the world the most is this:
4. There are only two ways.
One way leads to Hell and eternal destruction; the broad way, the easy way, the way of the world. The other way, the narrow and difficult way leads to eternal life and home with Jesus. You have heard it said, "All roads lead to Rome," and back in the 1st century there was a lot of truth to that statement. But all roads do not lead to heaven and eternal life. There are not multiple ways God. There are not multiple ways to eternal life. Only one road leads to God., and in the eyes of the world that may make us narrow-minded, bigoted, and unenlightened.
In the Christian Movie that came out ra couple of years ago, “God is not Dead 2” a profound statement was made: “I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world than to stand with the world and be judged by God." The way of life is narrow, difficult, lonely, and costly. Being on the way of destruction, we can keep our baggage, our sins, and our worldliness. And we’ll have plenty of company. So how can we know that we are on the narrow way?
1st Test: Did your public profession of faith cost you anything?
Jesus warns us that if you belong to Him the world will hate you.
John 15:18–19 (NKJV) “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
If the world hates you, many will lose friends, money, jobs. For some it may cost them their families. In some areas of world, it cost some their very lives. What has publicly telling the world that you belong to Jesus, what has it cost you? You see, we cannot keep Jesus a secret. Your faith is not something private just between you and God. There is no such thing as secret agents for God. Your faith is public for the world to see, or its no faith at all. And by being public in your faith, especially in this world we live in, will cost something. The world will hate you for your faith and call you all sorts of vile names.
2nd Test: Has your life changed after you publically professed your faith?
Has your view of the world changed when we start seeing the world through the eyes of God? Have you changed to start loving the things that God loves, and hate the things the God hates? If the changes that are made internal, having a truly changed heart, then the change will be shown externally and consistent. If all you are doing is putting on a show for others to see, at some point your true heart and nature will show through. If your desire is to please man, including yourself, is more than your desire to please God, then you are probable not on the narrow road.
Now the last test:
3rd Test: Is your walk in the world easy or hard?
If the direction your life is done with little thought or intention, then you may be on the wrong road. If it seems like you are doing what everyone else is doing and you are heading the same way as everyone else is going, then you may be on the wrong road. If there is no challenge to change (the church word is to be sanctified) and to be more like Jesus every day, then you’re probably on the wrong road. If your way is easy, without any pit pitfalls, then you’re probably on the wrong road.
Yes, the narrow way is difficult. But if we have Jesus and because of having the very Spirit of Christ within us, we can do this:
Philippians 4:13 (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
And also what is one of the most comforting verse in the Bible, is that very last line in the book of Matthew:
Matthew 28:20b (NKJV) and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
What road are you on?
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, 2,200 Quotations: From the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon : Arranged Topically or Textually and Indexed by Subject, Scripture, and People, ed. Tom Carter (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1995), 264.
[2] https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/getting-ready-for-eternity-chris-jordan-sermon-on-heaven-118590?ref=SermonSerps
