The Narrow And The Wide Gates

Passage: Matthew 7:13-14

Intro: It has become fashionable to view Jesus as a laughing, jolly figure joking his way thru his life and ministry on earth.

1. and certainly he was filled with a deep joy and contentment.

2. and yet this statement in Isaiah 53:3 has always bothered me in light of the current popular picture.

PP Isaiah 53:3

3. frankly, to picture Jesus merrily whistling his way thru life, surrounded by people enslaved by the lie, seems almost blasphemous.

4. and here, near the end of this great sermon on the mount, Jesus is giving very specific application to t hose listening, and to those who would read his words 1977 years later.

5. Jesus gets very specific, very practical, very serious here at the end.

6. he has been talking all along about roads, paths: the image of a way of life.

7. so He raises His voice to be heard by everyone, and His eyes to gaze at everyone, even us

8. and as the Lord of the Universe, He gives a command.

I. Jesus Commands People to Get Off the Broad Road

1. would often look at the gospel as an invitation.

2. but it has teeth. The statement here is a command to make a one-time decision.

3. “enter” through the narrow gate

4. same word is used later to describe entering the wide gate to the broad road.

5. in both cases, a choice is being made.

6. it is clear in the word picture Jesus is painting that one road is much more popular, more appealing to our flesh.

7. there are clues to help us know if we are on the broad road.

8. first, the gate is wide. There are no entrance requirements, no restrictions to getting on.

9. we cannot even see the sides of this gate; it requires nothing from us

10. and when we get on it, we find there are no real restrictions to our activity.

11. it is a broad road, full of toleration for almost anything.

PP) 94 year old woman mugged in Phoenix, we don’t like that. Don’t like Michael Vick promoting dog fighting, but don’t mind killing unborn children by the millions.

12. and because the limits on this road have no basis in absolutes, they change and broaden, because there is room for everyone on the broad road.

13. and, of course, there are tons of people on this road, so they can’t all be wrong.

PP long line of people waiting to get in.

14. but there are exits from this road, and Jesus commands us to take them.

PP “Success” exit sign

15. frankly, these exit points don’t appeal to human nature, which prefers pleasure and self-gratification

16. the broad road is very noisy, and promote the following response to the command to leave.

PP Man with fingers in his ears, eyes closed.

17. so if the broad road is popular and pleasant and without restrictions, why should I leave it?

II. Jesus Warns Us of the Disaster to Come

1. “For” or “Because” is such a powerful word in the Bible.

2. typically, and certainly here, it is giving us the reason that an action should be taken.

Il) we parents use this all the time, “Because I said, so, that’s why!!”

3. but Jesus is so kind here, telling us exactly why this broad road is to be avoided.

4. it leads to destruction=ruin, loss of well-being.

5. the picture is terrible!

6. and the sad thing is, those on the broad road don’t know when that ruin will take place!

PP multi-car pile up

7. the amazing thing is that, by God’s incredible grace, there are wrecks all along that demonstrate the deceptive and destructive nature of the road.

8. the road promotes drunkenness, but is littered with lives ruined by it.

9. the road promotes promiscuity, but has life after life destroyed by it.

10. the road promotes violence, and is littered with dead bodies.

11. wreck after wreck, corpse after corpse, ruined life after ruined life, and still the mob keeps moving past the exits

Il) Meeting at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago….

PP Isaiah 53:3 Are we surprised that Jesus was saddened by it?

12. there is no answer on the broad road

13. answers are offered, but they fail.

14. get off the road! It is taking you to disaster!

PP 35W bridge collapse in Minnesota

15. Jesus loves us too much to stand by and watch is die! How about us?

16. do those on the narrow road have a task to perform?

III. Jesus Models the Task of Those on the Narrow Road

1. clearly Jesus is not on the broad road

2. because He is standing at all of these exits and calling people to leave the path of destruction.