WEBVTT 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:12.320 Scripture says this: Enter by the narrow gates. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:19.920 For the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:25.039 For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.920 Those who find it are few. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:39.280 I was on a flight a few years ago from Detroit to Ontario, California. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:52.799 We were somewhere over the state of Kansas when a person on the plane rang their flight attendant call button, summoned the flight attendant, and informed them that they were on the wrong flight. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.640 Ontario, Canada, the abbreviation being the same, Ontario, comma, CA. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:14.879 And apparently the flight to Ontario, California, and Ontario, Canada was even leaving from the gates right next to each other. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:18.319 And signs look the same. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:20.319 I don't know how the boarding passes worked. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.560 I don't know if they bought the ticket to the wrong flight accidentally. 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:25.120 I have no idea they answered any of your questions. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:30.799 But I do know that they said they were on the wrong flight. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:38.239 The two gates right next to each other. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:45.680 One goes to beautiful, sunny, gorgeous California, which represents heaven in this analogy. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:52.079 And the other goes to Canada. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:57.519 You can make your own conclusions. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:10.479 They're next to each other. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:15.199 But they both lead to very, very different places. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:18.319 This is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:22.159 Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.400 We're going through it a verse at a time. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.159 And as we get to this section, we've been studying this for the last several months. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.240 As we get to this section, we're nearing the end. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:33.360 This is the start of the conclusion of the sermon. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:35.360 The sermon has a structure to it. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:37.439 Jesus had his introduction with the Beatitudes. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:39.280 He had certain points, and we've gone through it. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:40.879 I've drawn your attention to those points. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:48.000 But now in verse 13, this really launches into his conclusion where he sums up what he's been saying. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.479 This is the most famous sermon Jesus ever preached. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:53.680 It's the first sermon that's recorded in Matthew that he preached. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:55.520 He preached it early in his ministry. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:58.639 There are other sermons he preached that are also recorded in Matthew. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:00.719 We'll find those later on in the book. 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:05.439 But this one stands as the kind of the quintessential Jesus sermon. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:19.120 It calls out what is different between Jesus and the scribes and the Pharisees, what is different between what Jesus is preaching and what all the rest of the world teaches, specifically the religious Jews. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:23.120 They taught and they believed things that were antithetical to what Jesus was teaching. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:27.759 There's very much a divide between the message of Christ and the message of the world. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.919 And the Sermon on the Mount is where Jesus has his crowds there, he's done miracles, he's been baptized at the Jordan. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:35.360 There's a massive following. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:43.599 And this is a sermon where Jesus puts his flag in the ground and says, This is what I'm saying that's different than everything else you've ever heard. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:53.599 And of course, those that were there understood that because after the sermon, their jaws were open, and they said, We've never heard anybody preach with that kind of authority. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:04:01.199 This is the conclusion of that sermon where he takes the different threads of the sermon, ties them up to land the plane. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:06.159 And let me give you, these numbers might mean more to me than to you, but let me help you. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:09.360 This Sermon on the Mount was a 45-minute long sermon. 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:13.280 Verse 13 is about the 32 or 33-minute mark. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:15.280 I think in those terms. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:22.879 This is the place where Jesus brings it all together and tells you this is the point. 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:30.560 And the point that Jesus brings you to is that there are basically two ways to live. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:33.040 There are two religions in the world. 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:39.759 There are two gates, two paths, two destinations, that's it. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:40.879 Only two. 00:04:42.319 --> 00:04:46.079 One is a system of divine accomplishment. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:49.360 One is the religion of what God does for you. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:54.639 And the other is the religion of human achievement, of human merit. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:03.120 One is a religion of grace, where God saves people who do not deserve it. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:16.879 The other is the religion of men's works, where people believe that they can earn salvation based upon how good they are or how they live their life or what they deserve. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:30.399 One is the religion of faith, where you place your faith in something outside of yourself to receive salvation. 00:05:31.120 --> 00:05:33.600 The other is the religion of the flesh. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:45.279 Where you do something, you perform some act, you lead your life in some kind of way in order to earn salvation. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:55.279 One is the religion of depravity, where you say, I am a sinner and I do not have the capacity to do good in a way that's pleasing to God. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:01.519 And the other is the religion of self-made righteousness, where a person says, you know what? 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:05.279 I am actually capable of functioning in a righteous way. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:14.879 I do have the ability inside of me to do something that's pleasing to God, and God will see my good works, and he will receive me based upon those works that I did. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:16.000 You can see the difference. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:20.399 One religion, the narrow path, says, I cannot earn God's favor. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:21.360 I just can't. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:23.680 I need to be saved despite that. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:29.839 And the other way says, you know what, when it all shakes out, I actually have lived my life pretty well. 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:42.319 Now these religions are very clearly defined, but the broad path, the broad way, comes in so many different flavors. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:44.000 It has so many different labels. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:50.959 There's so many different every false religion in the world falls into that category. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:57.120 Works righteousness, American good old-fashioned agnosticism falls into that second category. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:04.480 All the world religions, meditation, self-help, they all fall in that second category. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:16.720 And you think, oh yeah, but I mean Hinduism and meditation and works righteousness and Islam and all these other religions, they're so different. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:24.879 No, if you boil them down, put them in a pot, boil them, the water evaporates, the syrup that you're left with is the same in all of them. 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:31.759 Doesn't matter if it's seven sacraments or five pillars, when it boils away, it's the same thing. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:43.199 That you have a desire in your heart to do good, you have the capacity to perform that good, and God rewards that good by giving you righteousness. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:56.079 How different that is than the narrow path where you say, I don't have the capacity to do good, I am a sinner, lost without God, and I need his grace, or I am doomed. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:01.199 That's the contrast that Jesus is hinting at. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:04.160 That's what this sermon's about. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.759 The wide path or the narrow path. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.839 I'm gonna give you a contrast this morning, the narrow path and the wide road. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:17.439 I want you to analyze these two, the two gates, the two paths, the two destinations, the two invitations, all of it. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.040 I want you to get your mind around this. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:24.399 And I'm telling you, this is the most important sermon that has ever been preached in Matthew here. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.439 And so this is the most important thing you can think about. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:31.439 You need to wrestle in your mind with which path are you on. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:42.639 Our world is filled with so much noise, entertainment, scrolling, 30-second sound bites that roll by you. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:47.600 I fear sometimes we've lost the mental capacity to engage with serious and sober truth. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:51.600 And so I'm hoping that you can engage this morning with this truth. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:53.519 There's nothing more important for you to think about. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:56.399 We spend so much of our life worrying about other things. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:01.440 We worry about, you know, high school kids worry about where they're gonna go to school when they graduate. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:09.519 They worry about what they're gonna major in, they worry about who they're gonna marry, what job they're gonna take, how many kids they're gonna have, what city they're gonna live in. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.720 Their kids grow up, what sports should we have them play? 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:14.320 What school should they go to? 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.200 What job should my where should my next job be with the government? 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:18.879 You know, this one's running out in two years. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:20.159 Where should I apply next? 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:22.159 And we our minds get wrapped up around this. 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.120 Your kids go up, what college should they go to? 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:26.960 Should I move where they move? 00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:28.000 When should I retire? 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:30.480 These are the things that dominate our thinking. 00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:35.600 And I'm telling you, by comparison to what's happening in Matthew 7, those things are of no consequence. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:37.440 Those things are inconsequential. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:43.279 And yet they define how we worry and labor in our minds and just wrestle with those things. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:48.639 They seem so important at the moment, but if you are on the wrong path, those things don't matter at all. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:10:03.519 To be honest, I I I fear that sometimes people spend more time thinking about where they're gonna go to lunch tomorrow than they do about if they're on the wide road or the narrow path. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:16.159 And so Jesus is using the sermon to try to wrestle your attention to the most basic and fundamental and important question there is. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:20.159 Which path are you on? 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:24.320 Let's compare these paths from the outside. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:29.200 From the outside, these two paths don't look at all the same. 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:35.360 They're both marked by gates, but the gates could not be confused with each other. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:37.919 The gates couldn't be more different. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:40.480 One gate is narrow and the other is wide. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:44.960 The wide gate leads to the wide path, of course, the narrow gate to the narrow path. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:48.720 The narrow gate would be easy to overlook. 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:54.080 It is hard, Jesus says in uh verse 14, it is hard to find. 00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:57.840 The gate is narrow, the way is hard, those who find it are few. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.480 The narrow gate is hard to find. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.840 You're not gonna accidentally stumble across it. 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:09.360 First of all, it's narrow, meaning it's easy to miss. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:12.240 It's narrow, meaning it only fits you. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.200 You go through it one person at a time, this narrow gate. 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:20.159 You cannot bring your friends with you, you cannot bring your parents with you, you cannot bring your kids with you. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:21.840 You go through it by yourself. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:25.360 You can't even bring baggage with you, you can't bring a carry-on with you. 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.200 This turnstile is so narrow, it won't even fit your backpack. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:30.559 Just you. 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:49.759 The entrance, perhaps, one time was marked, but now it is is overcrowded with vines and nobody, it's not worn out. 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:53.519 People don't walk on it all the time, and so it's it's hidden, it's overgrown. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:12:05.120 If you're driving down Braddock towards the Beltway, there's several houses on that off of Braddock there that haven't been lived in for years or abandoned, and they have driveways. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:11.120 The driveways go out to Braddock, but the bushes have grown up and the vines have covered it. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:14.000 You wouldn't see a driveway there, you'd drive right by it. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:25.360 You hint that something might be there is maybe the sidewalk goes down a little bit and comes back up as if there were a driveway there, but you look behind it and there's just bushes and vines. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:27.600 The path is hidden. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:29.600 The path is hidden. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:36.960 Put it in your GPS, and your GPS would stop you, and it would say, You have arrived, your destination is on the right, and you would look and it's just bushes. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:39.039 That's this narrow gate. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:42.879 It is hidden, it is overgrown from lack of use. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:53.279 And if you pulled back the bushes to find it, you cut away the vines, what you would see is a turnstile that you and you alone can go through. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:58.240 There's no room to bring all your desires in life. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:08.559 There's no room to bring your friends or your family, there's no room to bring your hobbies, there's no room to bring your, you know, your goals and your ambitions in life, there's no room to bring your secret sins. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:11.039 None of that fits through with you. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:13.679 It's just you. 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:17.120 To go through it, you have to leave everything else behind. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:23.120 What a contrast with the wide gate. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:27.840 The wide gate, first of all, it's impossible to miss. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.080 It's got big lights on it. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:32.320 I mean, everything, everything funnels there. 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.840 You're driving down the road, and all the roads lead to this wide gate. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:39.679 You don't have to look for the wide gate, you just kind of naturally end up there. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:45.200 It's like the mixing bowl in the springfield. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:47.519 People ask, how do you get to the mixing bowl? 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:50.720 Oh, just drive on any road and you'll end up there. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.720 The hard part's not finding the mixing bowl, the hard part's getting out of it. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:58.639 All roads lead to the narrow gate. 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:00.720 You just go and you're at the narrow gate. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:02.960 Your default position is to the narrow gate. 00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:08.399 The world is on a hill and everything slopes down to the narrow gate, I mean to the wide gate. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:11.279 The world's on a hill and everything slopes down to the wide gate. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:15.519 You just go about your normal life and you end up rolling over to the wide gate. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.879 You're just going through your life, and the wide gate, there it is. 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:20.559 You can't miss it. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.360 Everything funnels to the wide gate. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.799 The whole world is walking through the wide gate. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:27.919 It's so wide. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.120 I mean, one thing that's true about the wide gate is it's wide. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:36.399 You can line up with 10 of your friends, a hundred of your friends, your teammates, your family. 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:42.320 You guys can lock arms and all walk side by side, shoulder to shoulder, through the wide gate together. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.000 It's got more than enough room for y'all. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:48.480 And you can bring whatever you want. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:57.519 Your goals in life, your ambitions in life, your objectives in life, your secret sins in life, your thought life, all that. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:14:58.559 Bring it with you. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:14:59.440 Bring it all. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:01.759 Come as you are is the motto of the wide gate. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:08.240 The wide gate, if it had a sign on it, it would say, Come as you are, bring what you want, walk right through this gate. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.039 And the whole world naturally gravitates there. 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:12.879 Everybody goes there. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:20.799 The narrow gate, you've got to hunt for it. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:28.159 Acts 15 says, God made the world in such a way the Gentiles would have to seek for the kingdom. 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:30.240 They've got to look for it. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:34.000 Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, ask and it will be given to you. 00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:35.679 Seek and you will find. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:45.919 You gotta hunt for it. 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:47.600 You've got to seek it. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.679 And when you saw it, it wouldn't look special. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:56.559 The wide gate has remarkable curb appeal. 00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.840 You see it from the car and you're like, that's the one I want. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:01.279 That wide path right there. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:02.480 Let's do it. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.240 Such a contrast, these two gates. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:12.000 Well, it's not just the contrast on the outside, there's a contrast on the inside as well. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:17.519 Life on the narrow path looks very different than life on the wide path. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:22.000 Life on the wide path, it fuels your sense of self-righteousness. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:30.480 Life on the wide path says, live like you want to live, do what you want to do, dream what you want to dream, be what you want to be. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:36.879 When you're on that wide path, you have the whole world. 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:39.440 It's right there with you. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:43.600 What does the wide path look like? 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:51.840 Well, it's telling you that you're good enough, it's telling you that you have the capacity to do good and be good. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:57.039 And that's why it's so popular, is because it just gives you the self-esteem that you crave. 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:06.559 Luke 18, verse 11, Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:10.000 He becomes the quintessential wide path person. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:13.839 He goes to the synagogue to pray, remember? 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:22.960 And he starts his prayer by saying, God, I thank you that I'm not like the other men, I'm not like the extortioners, the unjust, the adulterers, or even like that tax collector over there. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.319 I fast twice a week. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.319 I give tithes of all that I have. 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:32.559 That's the wide path thinking right there, is I am so thankful I am not like the rest of the world. 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:53.119 You know, I was just thinking this week you watch on TV and those massive protests, 100,000 people or whatever in in London protesting, just huge crowds that are protesting against Israel, and you think, like, what's actually motivating these protests? 00:17:53.200 --> 00:18:00.799 And it appears to be, you know, this slaughter and butcher of innocent people in their homes and killing babies and all of that. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:03.359 People appear to be protesting in favor of that. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:06.079 I mean, it's totally deranged and immoral. 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:14.400 And you see that, and it goes through your mind and you think, that's so many people that are just morally broken. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.480 I am so thankful I'm better than those people. 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:22.400 I'm so thankful I'm not that dumb. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.000 The world's filled with those kind of dumb people. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:27.519 Filled with them. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.640 So thankful I'm not one of them. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.359 That is wide path thinking. 00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:39.039 The wide path looks up and down your street. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:44.079 Because I'm so thankful I'm not like all of these neighbors of mine. 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:45.519 I mean, look at them. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:46.960 Look at their lives. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:54.559 I mean, that person is this, and that person is this, and the people across the street are that, and those guys are this, and people behind me are that way, and I'm so thankful I'm not like that. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:55.440 I'm so thankful. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:58.000 You know, they're all saying that about you, right? 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:03.759 They're all looking at you going, oh man, I'm so thankful I'm not like those crazy Christians. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.319 Wide path thinking, it fuels you. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:11.599 You think I'm so thankful I'm not like them, and that just encourages you. 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:15.599 That's the Pharisee who says, I'm so thankful I'm not like all these horrible adulterers. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.440 They're they're doing all these terrible things. 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:23.200 And when you're describing the wide path, understand Jesus in describing this way isn't saying, Oh, adultery is actually good. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.119 No, adultery is bad. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:29.680 But it's the person who thinks, I'm so thankful, I'm just better than that. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.400 That's the wide path thinking. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:33.680 And notice this thinking goes on. 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:34.480 I give. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:36.559 I give a tithe of all I have. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:44.880 I'm so sacrificial, I'm so obedient to the jots and the tittles and the yodes and all the details of your law, God. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:46.319 I have but I abide by everything. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:49.039 I'm so thankful, I'm so obedient to you. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:51.599 That's the wide path thinking. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:58.400 Luke 18, verse 9, the introduction of that parable, is where Jesus gives you the window into the Pharisee's heart. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:05.839 He Jesus told the parable to illustrate people who trust in themselves that they are righteous. 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:07.039 That's the point of that parable. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:08.960 They trust in themselves that they're righteous. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:21.119 They look at themselves in the mirror and they say, I am so thankful that I have righteousness in me that is getting me into God's favor, getting me to heaven when I die, because I'm not like those people, I'm not like those people. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.039 I can trust myself a little bit because I'm different than they are. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:28.640 And it's very religious. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:33.440 Jesus is preaching the sermon to probably the most religious generation that's ever lived. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:39.200 The scribes and Pharisees, they were fastidious with the Torah, fastidious with the law. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:44.960 And they're trusting in themselves for their righteousness. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:48.799 What would that look like today? 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.440 You don't go to a synagogue and beat your chest. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:55.599 What would this kind of religion look like today? 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:59.279 It would look like somebody who goes to church every Sunday. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.920 Somebody who comes to church, a giant six-story cross on the roof of their church. 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.880 They have the same pew they sit in every week. 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:08.960 They serve in a wana. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:13.119 They help in the parking lot. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:15.680 They sing in the choir. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.160 They're here all the time. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:19.039 This is their home. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:20.160 These are their people. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:21.759 They're always here. 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:25.680 And they trust in themselves for their righteousness. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:27.920 They trust in being a good person. 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.480 They think the Lord knows how hard I tried. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:32.160 The Lord knows I do the best with what I have. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:32.960 That's what the Lord knows. 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:38.880 He's going to look at me and see that I've done the best of what I have, and so that I deserve his favor. 00:21:39.200 --> 00:21:42.000 I have righteousness in me because of what I've done. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:44.799 Doesn't the Lord know that I serve in a wana? 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.839 Doesn't the Lord know that I'm always at church? 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:53.279 That's the religion of churchianity, right there, is what that religion is called. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:56.400 Faithful in the church. 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:58.160 Faithful. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:21:59.440 So 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.799 Much so that they trust themselves for their righteousness. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:09.680 This wide path, it is like putting an air hose in your mouth and pumping it up. 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:12.319 It just makes you bigger. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:17.039 And you feel like, uh, there's ultimately. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:20.319 I don't think the person on the wide path would articulate it this way. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.279 They wouldn't say I'm going to heaven when I die because of how good I am. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:38.319 But what they would say, if in a moment of silence, if they were thinking critically, they would say, I think when it all shakes out, I'm probably just doing better than most people. 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:40.000 And God sees that. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:46.319 Do you understand that this contrast here? 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:51.599 This is arguably the most controversial thing Jesus ever says. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.880 I want you to think of the implications of this. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:23:03.839 Jesus is saying that the majority of people who have ever lived in the world are on the wide path. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:09.920 This is most of the world are on this wide path. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:21.759 In fact, later on in Matthew 7, he says, On that day, many will say, the day being judgment, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, notice the word many again. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:22.640 Many people. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:32.559 The wide path people will be before Jesus at judgment day, and they will address him as Lord, and they will say, I cast out demons in your name, I did signs and wonders in your name. 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:34.799 I did all kinds of stuff in the name of Jesus. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:40.640 So those are people that are associating with Jesus that are on the wide path. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.839 They would identify themselves as Christians. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:49.440 They go to church, they call Jesus Lord, and they are self-deceived. 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:56.720 They're going to be stunned when they stand before God for judgment. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:23:58.400 Stunned. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.519 And as I said, it looks different in all of its forms. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:18.480 In some places, it's five pillars, and some seven sacraments, and some it's inward looking, and some it's forward-looking with what my potential is. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:21.200 There's a thousand varieties of this. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:25.920 But it all boils down to not denying yourself. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:29.759 It all boils down to trusting yourself. 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:33.680 It all boils down to your own system. 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:39.279 It has thousands of forms and thousands of names, but underneath it it's your achievement. 00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:48.000 It is the inspiration of Satan, and it is bought by people because it tells them that there's something inside of them that deserves eternal life. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:52.319 And it stands in such a contrast to the narrow path. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:57.119 The wide path, you live how you want to live. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:58.400 Doesn't matter. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:01.440 There's no boundary lines in the wide path. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:05.920 You can live however you want to live as long as you're on the wide path. 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:09.440 I mean, coaching high school soccer. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:11.599 We'll sometimes do a scrimmage on the soccer field. 00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:19.839 I'll turn the field sideways, we'll go across the field, I'll put the goals in the middle along the halfway line, and I'll tell the players there's no boundary lines, there's no sidelines. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:25.279 You can go as far in any direction as you want to go, the ball will never be out of bounds. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:31.279 It actually gives me a moment to rest as a coach as they're chasing themselves to eternity and back. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.160 You can't play the game that way, though, for reels. 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:38.400 You couldn't play a game with no boundary lines. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:41.119 Imagine playing a football game with no touchline. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:43.759 You'd never get tackled. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:46.400 You could just keep running around the world. 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:48.559 That's the wide road. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.079 You'll never run out of bounds. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:52.720 You'll never cross a line that's too far on the wide road. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:57.599 As long as you think that you're doing the best you can, you can go wherever you want to on the wide road. 00:25:57.759 --> 00:25:59.839 After all, it's your own desires that are motivating you. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:01.039 Go where you want to go. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:05.359 Do what you want to do, be what you want to be, come as you are, and live it out the rest of your life. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:07.039 That's the wide road. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.400 The narrow path is so different. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:16.160 The narrow path costs you. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:18.720 It costs you everything, Jesus says. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.440 The narrow path, you don't walk with a carefree attitude. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:23.759 The narrow path, you walk carrying your cross. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:30.079 Jesus says, you want to go through the narrow gate and walk on the narrow path, you deny yourself, you pick up your cross and you follow Jesus. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:36.400 Anyone who's unwilling to carry their cross is unwilling to follow me, not worthy of me, Jesus says, and I will deny them. 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:38.880 The wide path is half commitment. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:40.559 The narrow path is all in. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:42.960 The wide path is self-fulfillment. 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:44.720 The narrow path is self-denial. 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:46.799 The wide path is live how you want to live. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:50.319 The narrow path is confession and repentance all the time. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:54.079 The wide path, you can't really follow on the wide path. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.960 The narrow path, people fall all the time. 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:04.720 You stumble, you fall, you get up and you stumble and you fall, and you spend your life on a roller coaster trying to follow Christ. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:06.079 That's the narrow path. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:10.079 The wide path is whatever you want it to be. 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:15.279 The wide path is religion without repentance. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:20.880 The narrow path is a life of continual confession and repentance. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:27.519 That's the contrast. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:32.799 The wide path is free, and everyone's there. 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:35.519 No wrong answers. 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:41.759 The narrow path costs you everything, and it's hard, Jesus says in verse 14. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:44.799 The narrow path is hard. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:50.079 This leads to the third contrast from the end. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:57.519 These two paths, the gates are different, the paths are different, and their destination is different. 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:02.160 The narrow path leads to heaven, the wide path leads to hell. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.599 Life versus death. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:05.440 You can't be more different than this. 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:09.440 John 14, verse 6, Jesus says, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:11.759 No one comes to the Father except through me. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:13.519 Jesus says that he is the door. 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:16.000 He is the only way to have access to the Father. 00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:28.720 And the only people that have access to the Father are those that come through Christ with faith in Christ, self-denial, confessing their sins, recognizing that they are not good enough for eternal life, that they do not have righteousness of their own. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:31.759 They confess that and they embrace Christ by faith. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:35.279 And now they live their life, walking, trying to follow Christ. 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:37.680 Yes, they fall, and Jesus helps them up. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:40.160 Yes, they fall, and Jesus encourages them. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:46.559 They're up and down and they're growing more and more in their knowledge of Christ throughout their life, more and more in their love of Christ throughout their life. 00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:52.240 Their whole life is spent seeking after Christ as they're walking a difficult, narrow path, carrying their cross. 00:28:52.319 --> 00:29:00.480 And when they die, they open their eyes in heaven and they see the one whom they've loved their life, the one who they've been following on the path, and he receives them. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:03.680 That's eternal life, is being united with Christ. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:22.000 The wide path, you spend your life without repentance, trusting yourself, thinking you're gonna be in heaven when you die, because after all, when it all shakes out, the Lord knows you did the best you could with what you had available. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:22.720 He knows that. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:24.079 And he's gonna let you into heaven. 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:28.079 You close your eyes in death, you open them up, Jesus sends you to hell. 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:30.559 And you say, Lord, I shouldn't be going there. 00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.200 And Jesus says, I don't even know who you are. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:37.680 This is not the first time Jesus has talked about hell in this sermon, by the way. 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:46.240 Earlier in Matthew 5, he says, when you call your brother a fool, you make yourself liable to hellfire, is his word. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:57.119 He says, if you don't deal with sin in your life, it's better to go into heaven with one hand or with one eye than to be cast into hell with both your hands and eyes. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:02.640 Later on in Matthew, he's gonna say, hell will destroy your body and your soul. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.119 That's Matthew 10, verse 28. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:12.480 James 3, verse 6 talks about the fire of hell destroying your life. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:16.079 That doesn't mean annihilation, like you'll suffer in hell and then you'll cease to exist. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:16.720 Oh no. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:23.519 When you die, your soul will be sent to hell for suffering, your body to the grave where it decomposes. 00:30:23.599 --> 00:30:32.559 Then at a future point, the Lord will resurrect your body, reconstruct your body, unite your soul with your body, so that he can send body and soul together into hell. 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:35.599 And they will suffer in pain and torment forever and ever and ever. 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:37.839 And that is what you deserve for your sin. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:40.559 Now, in your life, when you're on the wide path, you don't know that. 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:42.880 I mean, the per people on the wide path are deceived. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:47.200 The sign on the wide path, on the wide gate, does not say this way goes to hell. 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:50.880 No, it says, come as you are and live like you want to live and go for it. 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:53.759 And so you do it and you think you're a good person. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:31:01.920