Which Road Should I Take – Pt 1 The Wide Road

(Matthew 7:13-14)

 
Introduction – Which Path to Take.

You have no doubt had the experience, I’ve had it, somebody gives you directions and you start following them then you come to a point where you can’t remember whether you were supposed to turn right or left. You sit there asking yourself the question which way should I go and the more you think about it the more you get confused. You think maybe I was meant to go straight. Have ever had that experience, I’ve had it more times than I care to remember on foot and in the car.

On the road of life that kind of thing happens every day, we have to make decisions, some are minor and are of little consequence and some are of deep, deeply significance. When we face those big decisions we stand at the crossroads, and ask ourselves which way should I go? How do you know which way to go, how do you make those kinds of decisions,  and the more significant the decision the harder it is to answer that question. What I’d like to do today is continue our series on the Sermon on the Mount and look at a passage that I think gives us some help in this very area. As a matter of fact, I think this passage contains something that we can use every day of our lives and help us in the decision-making process. I trust that will become clear as we go through this passage.

So, with that in mind turn with me to Matthew Chapter 7 and we’re going to begin with Matthew Chapter 7 verse 13 

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7: 13-14)

Now let me try to explain the context. For several chapters now for 2 ½ chapters Jesus has been preaching mainly about the subject of righteousness. When we get down to Chapter 7 verse 13, he has come to what all preachers call the conclusion of the sermon and in the conclusion he gives 3 appeals to us.

The first one is the one in which he says we are to enter by the narrow gate, and then he begins to explain that there are two ways that you can go. It’s very obvious that he’s talking about a broad way and he's talking about a narrow way. However, it’s not quite that simple, for each one of these ways as you will see in a moment has a gate at the beginning of the path. So, there is a narrow gate and then that’s followed by a narrow way and there is a broad gate, a wide gate, and that is followed by a broad road. What I want us to do is look at these two possibilities, we’re going to look at them in reverse order, firstly we are going to look at the wide gate and walking on the broad road, and then tomorrow we’re going to look at going to the narrow gate and walking down the narrow path.

There are ramifications to each of these possibilities, so let’s begin with the broad way. Now I need to explain that he very clearly says in this passage, “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it”. Who is he talking to at this point is if you’ll recall way back in chapter 5, how I pointed out that this teaching is addressed primarily to the His disciples. However, Chapter 5: 1 says he sat down to teach them (meaning his disciples) but it also says there was a great multitude present when he preached this message.  Meaning almost everything in the sermon is first applied to those who’ve already trusted in Him, there were present, on this occasion. Listening in where many other who had not yet down that so because of that most of what he says teaches functions on two levels. Most Bible experts have come to the conclusion that this broad way and broad gate is talking primarily to those in the multitude who’ve not yet come to faith in Him. Whereas the narrow gate and the narrow path applies to those who have already done so. So, the narrow way we will get to  later.

The Wide gate and the Broad Road

But for now, let us consider what is this wide gate and what is the broad road. Most agree that the broad gate is probably a reference to the way people try to get to heaven. It’s the way some think they can enter into heaven  Back in chapter 5 verse 20 he says, “that except your righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of God”. Remember that, so that’s this broad gate is the way also being disclosed as the way of the religious leaders at that time. The scribes and the Pharisees, who taught if you lived a religious life you would get to heaven but living a righteous, religious life isn’t that what most people thought it was. If you just live a righteous life you will get to heaven, they taught. That’s a pretty broad road as it probably included a lot of people in the crowd who think they are going to heaven if the obey the religious rules. A wide gate that says if you just do religious stuff, holy stuff, and live a ‘good’ life you will be OK. But they never bother to examine all the details of what that means, because if they did, they would conclude they might have a problem with that type of righteousness. That’s the broad gate, just live a good life, however Jesus is saying that’s a broad gate and it leads to destruction.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

I think that’s one of the finest illustrations I could give of this is something else Jesus said that is recorded in the gospel of Luke, so I’m just going to read the passage to you, it’s almost self-explanatory. Luke records for us in chapter 18 of his gospel that Jesus spoke a parable to a group of people some who would definitely have trusted in themselves and considered themselves righteous. Here’s the parable.

“Two men went up to the temple pray one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, the pharisee stood and prayed with himself, God, I thank you that I’m not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers (I’m going to add a little phrase) looking down his nose at him. Back to the text. This tax collector said,  I fast twice a week I give tythesof all that I possess, and the tax collector standing afar off would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a Sinner Jesus says I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

(Luke 18: 9-14)

That is the broad gate, it’s standing there and thinking your holy and standing up and saying, ‘look at how righteous I am, look at all the righteous things I’ve done’. And that kind of righteousness produces self-righteousness, and you start looking down your nose at other people, despising them.  Jesus says that’s a broad way and lots of people go through that wide gate, lots of people think they can trust in themselves, and their own righteousness to get to heaven. 

Alright that’s the broad gate, but what about the broad road after you enter that gate, there’s a road, what’s the broad road like? Well it seems to me that Jesus has already touched on this throughout the Sermon on the Mount already.  Remember chapter six where we talked about giving to charity, he talked about praying, and he talked about fasting and he contrasts the two ways you can approach those issues. That is the broad road people who gave their tythes, they prayed, they fasted but they did all these things in order to be seen by other people. 

That’s the wide road, the person who is in the broad road is only thinking of how things appear, I want to be seen, I want to be applauded, I want to be appreciated, I am the centre of my universe, God will be pleased with what I have done. That’s the broad road. That is doing things in order to be seen by other on earth but Jesus’ says we should instead be doing things that he says lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven. My point is simply this, the wide gate is trusting yourself and the broad road is living for yourself, that’s what Jesus has been addressing  across this whole ‘Sermon on the Mount’…. Where does this get you?

Consider the Destination.

Look at the text, if you go through that wide gate and travel down the broad road, it only leads to destruction. Destruction sound pretty grim but what exactly does that word mean. The Greek word translated destruction is a very interesting word, as matter of fact it means wasted, lost, perishing. Here’s the kicker it’s sometimes used of temporal loss, and it’s sometimes used of eternal loss, and sometimes it’s used of both. As a matter of fact, one commentator I read said, out of the 90 times this word ‘destruction’ is used 11 are clearly references to hell, it is used 33 times to refer to the death of the body. In this case in the sermon on the mount, I think the primary reference is one of those times it refers to both, it is about being eternally lost, but I also, I think about temporal loss as well. Meaning that if you go through the wide gate and get on the broad road and you’re trusting yourself and living for yourself then you are headed for destruction in the every day, and the eternal. 

Let me take a simple illustration, and it’s rather an obvious one, but the principal is seen to play out in some very obvious practical day to day ways. It will also apply in the same but probably at a less obviously dramatic pace in other areas of our lives as well. But the example I’m going to consider the example illustrates it quite obvious. If you think I’m going to do what I want to do, and I’m going to drink what I want to drink and I’m going to get drunk when I want to get drunk Now, if I get drunk that’s my choice, but that going to lead long term to the destruction of your body. Too much alcohol affects the body in the long term, the liver gets damaged, that’s the concept. Yes, you can go and live for yourself, you can be selfish, you can do whatever it is you want to do. Just know that at the end of that road is destruction. That’s what I think he’s teaching, but trying to show how that principle applies to all the areas of our lives.

A very experienced Christian marriage counsellor I spoke to said marital problems usually just fall down to one thing. He says fix her and things will be fine, and she says fix him, and we’ll be happy. The simple truth is they both want their own way, and they refuse to give way. Now hear me and hear me well, if you go down the road of, I’m going to do what I want in this marriage or in any other area of your live then you are headed for the destruction. The same thing could be said of careers, and every other area of life. Jesus is teaching you go down that broad road of living for yourself and you are ultimately headed for destruction and when you get to the end of destroying yourself and your marriage and your career you will one day stand before God.

The wide gate and broad road is a road that leads to destruction. Somebody once said a road should not be chosen because it is wide, convenient, or free. It doesn’t matter how well travelled the road is by others or how beautiful scenery appears to be or how comfortable the accommodation along the road is. The road we choose in live should be chosen because of where it goes to, to the destination it is heading too. If you want to know which road to take, always consider the final destination. The road is a metaphor for the decisions we make. If you want to know what decision to make daily in life, just remember every decision has consequences so maybe we should start by asking what the consequences are, and work backwards to the decision. Wouldn’t that be a nice way to decide things, solidly on the principle that some decisions lead to destruction and others will keep you on the right spiritual path. More people will make the wrong choice and try to go by the broad road. Based on statistics the majority choice is not always right, the majority is usually wrong. The fact is everybody does it is no indication that the way you are going is right, following the crowd can just leads to destruction and not the best life.

Have you ever heard of a little animal called a lemming, it’s about the size of a field mouse, yellowish in colour feeds and on vegetation . It seems to be no different than other rodents, however it has wild population fluctuations and around once every 5 years or so, and due to over populations, it develops a strong migratory urge to spread out. A strange herd phenomenon takes place among the increasing colony manifesting in a irresistible urge to move on masse. Over a millions of them begin to go down toward the sea, relentlessly they marched to their doom those that do not perish on the way finally plunge get pushed into the sea by the lemmings behind them and 100,000’s are drowned. How strange, how weird, how nonsensical, how much like a lot of people in the UK today. We just follow the crowd right down to the precipice of our own destruction. 

When you live life trusting yourself and doing what everyone else does you are headed for destruction, and that’s not my opinion that comes straight out of the words of Jesus. Alright that’s what not to do, how about what to do. Well, there’s a wide gate and a broad roadway that leads to destruct, but in contrast to that there’s a narrow gate and a narrow way that leads to life. Let’s explore that for a minute, and let me introduce you to the narrow gate which is the entrance to the narrow path that leads to heaven. 

Remember Jesus said earlier, “except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees you shall in no way enter into the Kingdom of God”.  That’s back in chapter 5, verse 20, at the beginning of this passage called, The Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is saying you get in by righteousness, it’s just that you got to have a different type of righteousness than the scribes and the Pharisees. You got to do better than they did, how in this world am I going to do that how do I get more righteousness than the religious leaders and Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  This is the whole point, this is a narrow gate, and most people don’t have any more righteousness than these religious leaders of Jesus’ day.

Do you remember the story at I gave you a minute ago, the one that Jesus told in Luke chapter 18. Let me read that passage of scripture again, last time we focused on the pharisee, this time let’s focus on the tax collector, listen carefully to what Jesus, again.

“Two men went up to the temple pray one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector, the pharisee stood and prayed with himself, God I thank you that I’m not like other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers This tax collector said,  I fast twice a week I give tythes of all that I possess, (But you got to have more righteousness than that you’re already in the hole) and the tax collector standing afar off would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a Sinner”. (Like 18: 9-13)

This is a narrow way folks,

Jesus says I tell you this man went down to his house justified declared righteous. (Luke 18: 14)

This pharisee said look at me, I’m righteous, but he got it all wrong. The tax collector, the despised tax collector, some still don’t particularly like tax collectors today. That despised of all people the despicable tax collector wouldn’t even so much as lift his eyes to heaven said, ‘Forgive me God I’m a Sinner’. Jesus is saying, he got it, he realised he didn’t have enough righteousness to make it on his own. It had to be given to him because he didn’t have any of his own. You see if you’re going to go through the narrow gate, you’ve got to have so much righteousness, you don’t have a chance making it on your own. It’s too narrow, so let me tell you how to get it, this is great news, you have got to let God give it to you. God will give you the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that’s the greater righteousness than any supposed holiness of a religious leader. How would you like for God to just give you the righteousness of Jesus Christ so you can pass through the narrow gate and one day stand before God without fear of condemnation. Not because were righteous because we’re just sinners and by admitting that God can give us the righteousness of Christ.

Listen that’s what Paul says, let me read you a passage from Philippians chapter 3,  Paul says.

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Philippians 3: 7-9)

The righteousness which is from God by faith is an Olympian step beyond anything the Pharisee’s thought they could earn. They said, look what I’ve done, I’m righteous, the other says, I’m a Sinner. But then God says, I’ll tell you what ,you trust me, and I’ll give you the righteousness of my son Jesus Christ who died for all your sin. If you get that, if you understand that he was resurrected from the dead and if you but trust in him, God will give you his righteousness 

Second Corinthians says, “he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”. That’s the narrow gate leading to the narrow path,  and we shall look at how to walk that narrow path in the next episode.