The Road Map of Jesus

Matthew 7, beginning in verse 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, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons, and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.

Away from me, you evildoers. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine, and puts them into practice, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Well, our text this morning is Matthew 7, verses 13 and 14. And you need to realize that this is the word of Jesus, and it's at the end of a sermon that he preached, 2,000 years ago.

He was on a mountainside, and the people gathered around him, and he taught them these words. And we have that wonderful Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5 through 7, in Matthew's Gospel. And so we're dipping in right at the end, and we're hearing what Jesus says then to the crowd as he comes to a conclusion of his sermon.

But if you simply think of it in terms of 2,000 years ago, you'll miss the most important thing this morning, and that's that Jesus Christ is present by his Spirit whenever his word is preached.

And he speaks that word afresh. And whatever he said then, he says again now. And whatever he promised then, he promises to us now. Don't miss the Lord Jesus.

He's speaking to us this morning, and he's speaking in picture language. Enter through the narrow gate. Can you see it? That narrow gate?

For wide is the gate, and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate, and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Now in these two verses, the Lord Jesus is teaching us to think of life as a journey into the eternal world.

If ever you don't want to get mixed up and get lost, it's on this journey. Because we're not just going on a two-week vacation. We're going to a destination where we will be forever.

You'll be there 100 years from now. You'll be there 1,000 years from now. You'll be there 1,000,000 years from now. You'll always be there. And so it's very important that you have a reliable map to make your way from here to your destination, your desired destination.

And how kind of the Lord Jesus to have given us just such a map. These two verses that we are reading are a summary of his map where they boil it down and they give us this very simple map.

It's really quite simple. There are just two roads. That's simple enough, isn't it? There's a broad road and there's a narrow road. And there's just two gates to get onto those roads. There's a wide gate for the broad road and there's a narrow gate, a small gate, for the narrow road.

And there's two destinations. At the end of the broad road is destruction. And then at the end of the narrow road is life. And there's just two groups of travelers.

There's the many on the broad road and there's the few on the narrow road. So whether you realize it or not, you're traveling this morning. You are on a journey right now as you sit there.

You're traveling. Every minute is a mile. For to live is to travel. And so right now, you are speeding, every one of you are speeding down the road of life to one of these two destinations.

And as you care for your own soul, you will want to know which road am I on? Which group of travelers am I traveling with? Where am I going? Where will I arrive when I die?

Because to die is to end the journey and is to arrive immediately at your destination. So let's look closer at what Jesus is saying to us here and trust that he'll make these answers clear to us all regarding ourselves and where we stand.

So two roads. And as Jesus takes them up, he paints the picture first of the broad road. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it.

So the road itself is broad, we're told. I like to think of a 12-lane superhighway and you see all this traffic just packed along that broad road.

It's wide. It's wide enough to accommodate the many who are on it. It's wide enough to accommodate all their lifestyles as well. How they live. There's plenty of room to roam on this wide road.

There's room for every man to do what's right in his own eyes. Here, men can gratify the cravings of their sinful hearts. It's the easy road.

It's the road where you don't need to deny yourself of anything. If you want it, go for it. Here on the broad road. There are no restrictions. There's no rules on this road.

Anything goes. And so there's something here for anyone and everyone on the broad road. Isaiah described this road long before Jesus walked the earth and was sitting on that mountain.

Isaiah said in Isaiah 53 and verse 6, We all like sheep have gone astray. We have turned each one to his own way. Here's God's road.

And we, every one of us, has turned away from it and we've sought out our own way. Now, that's a very individualistic statement. We each have sought our own way.

You've sought yours. I've sought mine. Yours is different than mine. But what it has in common is that you and I both have turned from God's way and we've gone our own way.

And our way is on the broad way. Your way is different than mine, but there's room for both of our ways on this broad road. There's room for every single human being that has turned their back on God's way and is going their own way.

So, the greedy, as well as the spendthrift, both find ample room on this road. The religious, as well as the agnostic, find room here.

The conservative and the liberal. The serious and the thrill-seekers. The workaholic and the alcoholic. The sexually immoral and the moralist.

Good citizens. Bad citizens. They're all found on this broad road that Jesus speaks of. Now, don't get the wrong idea, then, that the broad road is just for some con men, some criminals.

There's some very religious people on this broad road. Jesus referred to them in his sermon that day. He spoke of the Pharisees. They were a very religious group.

They went to church all the time. They were tithers. They were always praying. These were religious folk. In fact, there was a saying that if anybody gets into heaven, surely one of them will be a Pharisee.

So holy and right were they in the eyes of the people. But Jesus says, no, no. I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds the Pharisee, you'll never enter into the kingdom of God.

You see, there were Pharisees, religious people on this broad road as Jesus spoke of it that day. People who trust that their own good deeds will get them into heaven in the end.

That I've done more good than bad so I think that God will accept me when I arrive in my desired destination. They're on this broad road.

There's people with selective obedience to God's laws who pick and choose. Which commands do I want to obey? Well, they only obey when it agrees with their own desires.

When going to church suits them, they go. But otherwise, God takes a back seat. They don't seek first God and His kingdom and His righteousness.

No, they seek themselves first. They're on this broad road. Jesus describes them in this sermon. There's people on this broad road who would tell you to your face they're a Christian.

They profess Jesus as Lord. But they don't do the things that the Father in heaven tells them to do. They don't forgive those who sin against them.

They're bitter. They hold grudges. They don't turn the other cheek. They don't love their enemies. No, they just obey the commands that are suiting them along this broad road.

There's people here who are materialists and run after the things of this world. And that's what they seek. What can we wear? What can we eat? What can we drink?

What pleasures are to be found for me? And they're on this broad road. Yes, all of these are journeying together on this broad road of life.

It's the life lived man's way versus God's way. And there's something else we need to know about the broad road. According to the wise man in Proverbs 14, 12, it seems right to a man.

There is a way that seems right to a man. But the end thereof is destruction. Now that would be the broad road, isn't it? That leads to destruction.

And the wise man says, you know the thing about this road that is so tricky is that hordes of people think it's the right road. This is the road that's right for me.

This is what brings me fulfillment. This is what I was made to be and to do. It seems right. It feels right. It can't be wrong. If it feels so right, that's the broad road.

And they're on it. It fits their natural desires. It fits all that they want out of life. So that's the broad road. Next, Jesus tells us about the gate that is like an entrance ramp onto this broad road.

What's the gate like that will get you into this broad road? Well, we read that wide is the gate. It's as wide as the road onto which it opens. It has to be wide if it's to accommodate all the travelers on it.

Now, where is this gate and how do you get onto this broad road? Well, the gate is birth and you were born on this broad road. You know, you can't escape the reality as you read the word of God.

As you start in Genesis and read right through the end of the Bible, that all who write as spokesmen for God treat you, treat me, as if we were on the broad road.

And they call on us to repent and get off the broad road and get onto the narrow road. It's the unanimous testimony of the word of God that we're born onto the broad road.

We're born sinners. We're born going our own way. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. We turn each one to his own way. We're born on that road and every day we live, we vote to stay on that road.

It's the road that seems right and fits me. So we stay there. No, you're not born on the narrow road. You need to be born again to get on the narrow road.

You're born physically onto this broad road. And that's why it's so wide. You see, it's got to accommodate the whole human race. It's where we start out, every one of us in this life.

Sad thing is that the whole fallen human race chooses to stay on this road. And most of them die on this road. The broad road.

A broad gate. We get in by birth. Well, who's traveling? Who are the travelers on this road? Let's come up alongside them as Jesus does throughout his sermon and let's see who's here.

Who's traveling on this broad road? Jesus says, speaking of this wide gate coming onto the broad road, many enter through it. This is the busy road.

This is the thoroughfare. This is where everyone's traveling. All 12 lanes packed with people. Maybe you've been at a concert or you've seen these parades at Washington Park where people are out demonstrating just masses of people.

Just wall-to-wall people for city blocks. That's the highway you see. It's just packed with people. Many enter through it. It's the popular road where the crowd is to be found.

It suits their sinful desires so most are content to travel on it all their lives and so they encourage others.

Come along with us and we'll do you good. Come and share in the bounties of all that we have to enjoy along here. You notice that how people don't like to party alone. They like to have others join them in their sins.

So it is on this broad road. They're encouraging others. Come on. Everyone's doing it. Join with us. We'll show you a good time. And it plays upon a natural desire in man to go that way.

To follow the crowd. Peer pressure is great on this road, you know. It's hard to go on the narrow road when everybody's on the broad road. Everybody that's anybody today.

They're on the broad road. Nobody wants to be the odd man out. We all want to belong to the group. The in-group. Found doing what everyone else is doing.

So there's many travelers on the broad road. Pontius Pilate was on the broad road. He knew Jesus was innocent. But because of the peer pressure of the crowd, he had him crucified. The rich young ruler, he was on that broad road, wasn't he?

He loved his money more than Christ. Demas, who loved the present world, took this road. We could go on and on. The road is full of travelers. Are some of you still on this broad road?

Then Jesus comes to the destination. What's the end? What's at the end of this road? A lot of people traveling it. Where are they going? The important question is not how many are on the road, but where the road is leading them.

As you start to think, which road should I lead? Which road should I take in life? Don't count numbers. Ask where the road's going. It's the destination that is so important.

And Jesus said this broad road leads to destruction, whereas the narrow one leads to life. First thing we need to see is that these two roads don't just wind on forever going nowhere.

There's a specific destination at the end of each road. That means that there's a specific place you go to when you die. Life doesn't just fizzle out into nothingness.

We don't die like the dog and that's it. There's an eternal destination awaiting every one of us at the end of our journey. And there we will be forever and ever and ever.

And the teaching of the whole Bible is clear on this point as well. There's only two destinations, aren't there? There's destruction and there's life. There's heaven or hell and heaven.

That's all. There's no middle place. There's no middle place where you go if you're kind of good and kind of bad. No, there's just two places, two destinations found at the end of these two roads.

There's the way of life and the way of death. The fact is we're going somewhere. And the moment we take our last breath we arrive there.

Journey over. Destination received. So what's important is where will you be when your journey is done? When you take the last step, when you take the last breath, where will you be?

Sometimes when people die you hear their relatives just speaking over and over about how they went. How peacefully they went.

But more important than how they went is where they went. Where did they go when they took their last breath? Some people take their last breath with a very peaceful face and they wake up in hell.

Other people take their last breath with great pain and end up in heaven. It's not how you die. It's where you go after you die. You know, John the Baptist or Paul.

How they went was not very pleasant. They had their heads taken off but where they went well that's a different matter. For as Paul's head was rolling off of his body his spirit was entering into the presence of God forever to be reunited with his body at the resurrection.

Yes, there's a destination. destination. We're going somewhere. But this broad road leads to destruction. The way of the ungodly shall perish.

The broad road then. Here it is. It's going along and then all of a sudden it dumps all its travelers into hell. That's the picture. Jesus is painting pictures.

Do you see it? That broad road dumping people off the abyss into hell. And all the while many people on this road think it's the right road.

It's the way to life. It's really the road leading to destruction. The destruction spoken of is not annihilation. It's rather being shut out from the presence of the Lord.

It's going through unending torments where the worm does not die and the fire never goes out. Even within this sermon that Jesus was giving he speaks over and over the fire of hell chapter 5 verse 22 being thrown into hell verses 29 and 30 saying to people I never knew you away from me you workers of iniquity.

That's the destruction. It's the total destruction of what that man or boy or girl could have been had Christ been theirs destroyed forever in hell.

A horrific description then that Jesus is painting for us of all the people who are going down this broad world and we'd love to shout to them hey do you know where this road's going?

You know that's what Jesus is doing here. He's getting in their faces and he's getting into our face and he's saying do you know where you're headed? we've seen a lot of bridges that have gone bad or collapsed into the sea from waves or earthquakes or mudslides that just take roads out well there's the picture you're traveling at night in your car and you're coming along and just up around the bend a mudslide is just completely washed out the road and it's a plunge into a deep abyss and there's a man standing alongside the road and he's waving his arms and it's Jesus Christ and he's saying friend stop get off this broad road it's going to hell consider where you are where you're going Jesus is coming and warning in this passage sad thing is many have no clue where the road they are on is going and in a split second they'll find out but it will be too late even atheists who think there's no destination at all you just die like the dog we'll find out in a moment no there is a place where you go when you die death is not the end of existence it's just the change of state and place but there is a destination a real place where we will exist forever sadder still many seem to not even care where the road they are leading where they're on is leading they don't seem to care about the destination they live for the present all that interests them is pleasures now and so they've not even thought that far that's outside the box we're we're right here there's fun to be had here on the broad road today end of thought mine never goes beyond that pleasures today pleasures today

I wonder if you've thought about how absurd that really is that kind of thinking what would you think of someone who chose the road to travel on based on its size and its smoothness rather than its destination here I am in Bremen I want to go to South Bend and I don't like 331 have you noticed all the potholes on 331 it's kind of narrow and bumpy so I'm gonna I'm gonna drive on US 30 I like that that's a broad road they salt it well and it's kept up and two lanes separated by a median safe smooth you say you're a fool John you can't get to South Bend on 30 it will take you further from South Bend do you realize people are choosing the road of life based on not its destination and where it's going but on the ride how comfortable is it does it suit my taste does it does it feel good

I like that road and all they think about is the present pleasures of the ride never thinking where it's going and here's Jesus this morning man woman boy girl stop and think this road is going somewhere do you know where it's going it's going to hell it's going to destruction eternity is in the balance wake up so Jesus road map marks the road well but sadly some have been fiddling with the signs and changing the road signs over this 12 lane highway the broad road Jesus Christ has posted this sign hell straight ahead he's spoken words throughout the bible road signs warning hell ahead and men have come along behind and they've changed that first word and have painted heaven straight ahead and so many think that they're going to heaven while they're on the broad road and it's only when they die and arrive at their destination they realize it's not heaven but it is hell depart from me

I never knew you and that's why Jesus speaks like that because some people are deceived they think they're going to heaven when in reality their destination is hell and so he warns them be sure you're on the right road and realize that there's people out there changing the signs so what does Jesus do right after this section he warns about false prophets false prophets who speak lies in the name of truth who preach from bibles open and pulpits in churches and say things that cause people to think they're going to heaven when in reality they're not so Jesus warns against false prophets he warns against being deceived by other teachers and deceiving ourselves don't ever think that you can have the broad road now and somehow end up in heaven you see that's one teaching that's very prevalent now you can live your life on the broad road and just pray this prayer and you'll really end up over here when you die never mind how you live you can go on in your sin but when you die you end up in heaven that's a lie it is not true and Jesus says don't be deceived not everybody that says to me

Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only those who do the will of their father in heaven that shows that their hearts have been changed it shows that Jesus has saved them they don't go to heaven because they have obeyed they rather obey because there are those who have been saved by the grace of Jesus so beware of the false teachers those changing the signs beware of being deceived Jesus is warning us this morning it's important wide is the gate broad is the road that leads to destruction and many are entering through it but and now comes the good news but in contrast to the broad road leading to destruction with many on it there's another road a narrow road that actually leads to life and he directs our attention to that he's painting the picture now do you see it over here's the broad road now he's painting the narrow road small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it now that there is another road at all is mercy we'll talk later of what it cost our God to even construct another road besides the broad road but he hasn't just let us all go on our own way to hell is a mercy that there is such a thing as a broad a narrow road and a narrow gate that leads to life it's totally undeserved it's a wonder there's another destination besides hell and destruction what a God of mercy consider this road then the road itself in contrast to the width of the other is very narrow just a turnstile just a very tight path if you will elsewhere it's called the highway of holiness because there's rules on this road there's speed limits posted and do not pass and all the there's rules and regulations on this narrow road it's the way of trusting in the Lord

Jesus rather than leaning on your own understanding there are things over here that you must do simply because Jesus says to do them doesn't seem right to you sometimes this will seem right to you but on the narrow road you trust in the Lord and not lean on your own understanding it's the way the road of no other master but Jesus Christ what he says goes he's the boss he's the Lord that's the narrow road it's the way of obedience to God's commands all of them without picking and choosing it's the way of not only hearing God's commands but doing it as we hear Jesus saying at the end of his sermon the wise man heard and did put into practice what Jesus said it's the it's the way of the hard right it's difficult road there are difficult duties on this road he'll ask you to do things that in your own strength you can't do it's narrow road it's difficult it's the way of denying your sinful self taking up your cross and following

Jesus that means dying to life as we want it and submitting to life as God wants it as is found in his word and in his control of the circumstances of our lives he's got us here and in the narrow road we bow to his will it's the way of persecution and suffering for the sake of following Jesus who took this road before us so as such the narrow road has little to attract the crowd traveling in the fast lane the broad road those living for self for this present evil world there's really not a whole lot to attract them over here on this narrow road that's why they're over here and rather than here the unsaved heart sees the narrow road is confining cramps their style I could never live like that that cut the heart out of all my joy well it does when your joy is sin when you have a new heart you cry out lead me in the path of your commands for there

I find delight you will find that that is the delightful path the narrow road Jesus doesn't try to sell the narrow road as if it's a broad road road for all of your sin some people are widening out the narrow road you can come and travel come on bring your sin with you and just travel along sinning all the way to heaven Jesus doesn't sell it that way the broad road's the place if you want to want your sin the narrow road's the place if you're wanting to repent of your sin and to follow the savior well that's the narrow road what's its destination he says it leads to life eternal life heaven all the blessings of salvation this is life eternal to know Jesus Christ to know the living God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent and so throughout this sermon on the mount Jesus is speaking about heaven and that's the place he's now speaking of the destination of the narrow road is life in heaven forever it reminds us that at the end of this narrow road is heaven that is meant to outweigh all the difficulties and all the challenges and persecution that you might suffer along that way

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with what with the destination the glory that will be revealed in us for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all and so Jesus is again reminding us to think about where we're going a man going to be crowned king must not be all bent out of shape if he goes through some storms to get there he's got his eye on his coronation day that's where we're going to be crowned with Jesus and so we keep before us the destination after the narrow road comes to an end it leads to life so travel on brother with all your difficulties sister with all your heartaches that you meet up with along the narrow road it leads to life Matthew Henry says one hour in heaven will make up for all it will be worth it all when we seek Jesus life's trials will seem so small when we see

Christ one glimpse of his dear face all sorrows will erase so bravely run the race till we see Christ keep on brother and sister when we see where this narrow road is leading and we read more in scriptures about heaven and what it will be like we really wonder why why are there only a few here you'd think that the whole world would be pressing onto this narrow road it's leading to eternal life when this road is going to hell why would you not be on this road why would we not find a!

number of travelers over here but to the contrary Jesus says concerning this narrow road and this narrow gate that only a few find it we come to its travelers we're zooming in now on the travelers we've zoomed in on the travelers on the broad road now Jesus zooms in on the travelers who's over here on this narrow road only a few only a few he says according to Jesus true religion a minority religion remember the days of Noah how many were on the narrow road in the days of Noah there were eight eight kids you can count to eight real fast and the rest of the whole human population were on the broad road and they got to their destination when God opened the flood gates of heaven and broke up the foundations of the earth beneath it's a minority religion only a few eight wonder if we realize

Jesus words only a few find it throughout history the people of God have been a remnant that's what you read in the Bible a remnant some of you go into a material store and you say I want to buy five yards of material to make something and so they take the big roll out and they measure out five yards of material cut it and sell it to you but if you're just wanting to make a little pillow or something small you're going and say do you have a remnant box what is it it's it's just the end of the rolls after they get done measuring out and selling all there's maybe a half a yard left so they throw it in the remnant box it's a small piece of the whole roll and the bible says that the people of god are a remnant only a few find it though revelation chapter seven and verse nine tells us that when all the believers of all time are gathered together they will be a number that no one can count from every nation tribe and language yet in any one generation they are a remnant they are few because the many are on the broad road that leads to destruction this road is simply not popular repenting of sin humbling yourself trusting in

Jesus alone keeping God's commands holy living these things have never ever been fashionable with the world in fact they never will be until the heart is changed by the power of God's spirit so don't expect the many on the broad road to join with you and to congratulate you if you travel on the narrow road unless you're willing to swim upstream and live a counter cultural life contrary to the crowd you're probably still on the broad road and not even on the narrow road believers does the world call you narrow minded don't let that get you all bent out of shape we're on!

a road after all it is narrow it just doesn't make room for everybody's lifestyle it's a narrow road they call you judgmental and narrow minded we're on we're narrow road with a whole different value system with whole different priorities a different master different laws so the laws of Jesus are too narrow and they pinch a man's flesh Jesus warns woe to you when all men speak well of you so it's better to go to heaven with a few than to go to hell with the many and in the day of judgment you won't be saying boy I wish I was with the crowd you'll be saying I wish I were with those in Christ Satan in the world will tell you that to live on the narrow road is sure misery Jesus says you're wrong friend the broad road leads to misery the narrow road leads to life and there's joys to be had along the way don't believe the lies the broad road travelers the destination what about its gate what about the gate on this narrow road well the gate we find is a person the gate that leads on to this narrow road that ends in life is a person

John 10 and verse 9 Jesus says I am the gate the gate whoever enters through me will be saved now that's the narrow gate you only get on to the narrow road that leads to life by coming through a person through the Lord Jesus Christ himself the son of God who became man you enter through Christ the way into the narrow road is through a person it's not by anything you do any performance of your own it's through Christ what he's done so that's the first thing we learn about this gate it's a person the second thing we see is that it's small it's narrow it's as small as the road it opens onto is narrow and so here here comes a traveler with all this baggage of sin and he wants on with his sin he wants to get on this narrow road he wants to sin on that narrow road he wants heaven at the end he can't get on it it's a narrow gate it's just a little turnstile he tries to get through the gate and he can't!

through he's got his sins he's clutching onto them he won't drop them you can't get through the gate clinging to your sins that's the broadway what's over here you want your sins enlightened you come over on the broadway there's plenty room here no if you want to travel on the narrow way you've got to repudiate your sins!

and so Isaiah long ago who knew of that way the broad way and the narrow way he said let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts and let him turn to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God and he will abundantly!

pardon! You must repent! You must turn from your sin to the! Lord! If you get onto this gate onto the narrow way bring your sins to Christ to have him save you from them you can't get through the narrow gate with the baggage of your sin but neither can you get through the gate with your proud views of yourself and all your self righteousness you're too puffed up if you think I've done enough good to make my way to heaven you're puffed up and you'll never make it through the gate you can only get through Christ you must come and repudiate your good deeds and anything good you've ever done say I don't deserve anything but wrath have mercy on me for Jesus sake it's a small narrow gate there's no room for your own imagined self righteousness you must repudiate your own goodness and have nothing to say that's good for yourself as to why

God should let you in to his heaven only that for the sake of Jesus and what he's done for sinners we get in through the merits of Christ not through our own so there you have it this text word of Christ two gates two roads two destinations two travelers which road are you on this morning my friend which crowd are you traveling with what destination are you hurrying to and before we conclude I want you to see the heart of Jesus behind these words I I've painted him as the man beside the road where the road is washed out ahead that leads you right to hell and he's warning you does that tell you something about his heart the very reason that these words were ever spoken that they're still in our Bibles that Jesus is still speaking them afresh to us today does that show you something about his heart toward you he's not indifferent to you and which road you're on it's not like he says well let me tell you how it is friend there's two roads there's the broad road and there's the narrow road and that road goes to hell and this road goes to heaven and then turn and say you just make your own decision and

I'll see you he's not apathetic about which road you're on the very first words in this text are enter through the narrow gate before even tells us about the two roads first thing he says is get through the narrow gate do you see his heart he's not indifferent to which road you're on he wants to see you on the narrow road so enter through the narrow gate he says he's as willing to save you as he is able to save you he's urging you he's inviting you he's commanding you get through the narrow gate now he could have hidden these things from us he could have not told us about anything about the destination of these roads he just let us live out our 60 years some of you won't make it to 60 some of you don't you don't know what tomorrow will bring but you come to the end of your life and you would suddenly be surprised at the destination but how kind of

Jesus he doesn't just leave us to be surprised he tells us ahead of time you want to know where this broad road leads you my friend leads you to hell that's why you need to enter the narrow gate to get on the narrow road that leads to life gracious Savior doesn't want you to come to destruction wants you to come to know him and the life that is in him so do you know what it costs to erect a gate off of the broad road onto the narrow road that leads to life do you know what it costs God it costs not dollars gold silver it costs the blood of Jesus Christ for Christ died for sin once for all the just for the unjust to bring us to God how is it that sinners on the broad road deserving to go to hell can ever be brought to God well you've got to erect a gate that will get them off the broad road and onto a narrow road leading to life and what is that gate it is

Christ and him crucified he dies for the sinner he pays the destruction they deserve and any sinner who believes! in him! reaps that reward of his suffering not perish isn't that what Jesus said whoever believes on him shall not perish not be destroyed but have everlasting life he wants you to come don't wait till you clean yourself up first that would disqualify you you can't get through the door if you clean yourself up first because you're too big swelled with pride and self righteousness you got to come just as you are a great decision no they'll consider you a little weak in the head needing a crutch through life but

I'm reminded of that pilgrim long ago who went on a journey he lived in the city of destruction because you see he was born on the broad road that leads to destruction so here he is living his life in the city of destruction and he starts to hear the words of God and a heavy burden presses on him he's guilty of his sin he knows he's headed to destruction he knows he deserves hell and he's headed to hell and he's so burdened down and he hears the gospel he hears about a gate and a narrow road that leads to life and what does he do he starts running running toward that gate and his neighbors and his family come after him and they say stop wait don't leave us but this man has come to see that if he stays in his sin if he stays where he is he'll end in destruction so he puts his fingers in his ears and he runs runs crying life life eternal life and that's what you've got to do come with us they'll say you've got to put your fingers!

in your ears and heading toward life as it's the Calvary road you know it's a lonely road Jesus walked that road alone but you'll find him on that road and his fellowship with you will be more than you need he knows what you need he's walked that road before and he'll give you all you need and you know what else you'll find there are others on that road as that pilgrim found faithful and hopeful and other friends in a church who will become your closest family to encourage you on in the way to life come to Christ and live let's pray together as we've received an invitation from the Savior you answer it even there where you are sitting come to this Christ in prayer and ask him to save you a sinner on the broad road if that's where you're at know that wherever you're at on this broad road there is an immediate entrance onto the narrow road he is

Jesus Christ and he's here to be called on let's all pray silently thank you Lord Jesus for your words thank you that they are true thank you that they're the words we need to hear for reminding us again that we're traveling we're heading to a destination come and draw needy people off of the broad road to yourself we ask in Jesus name amen