The Narrow Gate Series

Opener:

Good morning Church! We are so glad that you are here fellowshipping with us this morning! We are in the middle of a series on Nuggets from the sermon on the mountain. We are discovering a few life changing moments from Jesus sermon found in the book of Matthew chapter seven.

Last week, as you may recall, we talked about the real dangers of judging others. We learned how important it is not to look at others especially when we ourselves have our own issues. We talked about how there will be a day that we will be judged and that will be done by God.

Before we begin on our text this morning, I would like to share the story of Ken Jones that was written by Eli Nixon from Listverse.com.

Even if the avalanche doesn’t kill you, the mountain will. Those words never felt truer for Ken Jones than in January 2003. Jones was ex–Special Forces and a burgeoning mountaineer, so he was stoked when he won a contest to take a climbing holiday in Romania. Romania’s Fagaras Mountains contain some of the highest peaks of the Southern Carpathians, which offered Jones the perfect opportunity to brush up on his mountaineering and see some breathtaking views in the process.

Early on a cold January Monday, Jones left his hotel to climb Mount Moldoveanu, Romania’s highest mountain. He went alone, didn’t tell anyone where he was going, and didn’t bring a phone. It was a mistake that nearly cost him his life. Midway through the climb, Jones was standing on an exposed rock when an avalanche came out of nowhere. The cascade of snow and ice swept him 25 meters (75 ft) off the rock and left him with a fractured skull, a shattered pelvis, and a broken leg. In the deafening stillness that followed the avalanche, Jones looked out over the barren, snow-covered landscape and realized that he was utterly alone.

What happened next was a force of sheer willpower. Bruised, bloody, and unable to walk, wearing only a T-shirt and jeans, Jones began to crawl. Using his hands and elbows, barely able to push with his legs, Jones crawled inch by excruciating inch down one of the most desolate mountains in the world. With every push, he could feel the shattered bones in his pelvis grinding against each other. At night, the temperature dropped to -15 degrees Celsius (5° F). He didn’t even have shoes—they’d fallen off in the avalanche.

It took Jones four days and three nights to crawl 16 kilometers (10 mi) to the nearest town. At one point, he spent three hours in icy water crossing a stream. After he was finally rescued, the doctors didn’t think he’d live through the night. When he did, they told him he’d never walk again. Today, he not only walks, he’s a competitive cyclist.

Ken Jones experienced something that very few will ever do and he was able to defy what seemed to be insurmountable odds. This morning, as believers, we too are up against something that seems insurmountable and that is to stay on the narrow road.

If you have your bibles turn with to Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV 13 “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. 14Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

I. Two ways one decision

A. Part of life

a. There is a common thread to all of humanity that every person on the planet will experience from the moment that they are born to the moment that they pass on.

b. Making decisions is a part of everyday life and life is full of them.

c. The decisions that we make start with what clothes we are going to wear for the day, if we are going to take a shower in the morning or brush our teeth, are we going to work or just lounge around and watch television, etc.

d. This morning you made a decision to get up and come to church. Some are watching online. Let me tell you, I am really glad you made that decision to watch us.

e. In our text this morning, we see Jesus confronting His hearers with a decision. He informs them that there are two gates to possibly open. One is a large gate, while the other is a narrow gate.

B. The wide gate

a. Before we begin to talk about the two different options, I want to pause to just point your attention to the fact that we have the option to choose.

b. That to me is amazing, there have been situations in my life that I did not have the ability to choose and it was frustrating to me.