“TWO ROADS – TWO DESTINIES”

Matthew 7:13-14

November 25, 2007 Pastor Harpold

"Enter by the narrow gate." This is both a command and an invitation. It is both appealing and repelling. Jesus divides men into two classes, and we do not like that. There is a vast multitude before Him. And looking over the centuries he sees vastly greater multitudes. Multitudes made up of all sorts and conditions of men belonging to all cultures and tongues. He sees the wise and the foolish, the cultured and unlearned, the hopeful and the despondent, young and old, rich and poor. But as he looks upon this vast and mixed throng he sees them in two great processions, traveling by just two roads. One is a broad road; the other is narrow. There is no third road. Every man is a pilgrim, traveling either by the broad way or by the narrow.

This may be repelling also because it commends the narrow way, and "narrow" is an offensive word. "Narrow" reminds us of the dwarfed mind; the stunted soul; we think of blurred vision. It is not a complement to call someone "narrow-minded." We do not admire narrow folks and we do not wish to be narrow-minded. Yet we hear Jesus saying: "Enter by the narrow gate."

Why the narrow gate? Not because it is easier to travel the narrow way. Jesus never once appealed to our love of ease to win our loyalty. He wants us to realize His followers face great difficulties. He asks us to count the cost, for it will cost us greatly to enter through the narrow gate and follow the narrow way. This is true because we cannot enter it as easily as we can the wide gate. We can enter the wide gate and carry with us all our sins, all our selfishness, all our prejudices and hates and lusts. But to enter the narrow gate, much must be left behind. We must leave our sins, renounce every wrong attitude, be ready to give up even every practice that is questionable. We must renounce our selves. "For if any man will come after me, let him deny himself." We must take on some very definite obligations. We become a bearer of burdens. We become our brother's keeper. Our right to do as we please must be renounced. We must take our place among those whose lives have certain limitations.

To enter by the narrow gate and walk the narrow road, we must give up walking with the majority. That is not easy. We love the crowd. We love to feel the multitude is on our side. But Jesus very openly declares that those who travel the narrow way walk with few, not with many. This was true when Jesus was here. It is true today although millions have chosen to walk the narrow road. Still, to choose the narrow road one must be willing to travel with the few. We must be willing, if the need arises, to walk alone.

Why are we urged to choose a road that is narrow and difficult? It is a worthwhile goal. The first concern of every traveler is his destination. It is not enough to make good time. A speedy trip is worthless when going in the wrong direction.

"Enter by the narrow gate." Why? "Because small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life." The destination is what is all important. By life Jesus does not mean mere existence, but right existence in fellowship with himself. By destruction, the destination of the broad road, he does not mean extinction. He means eternal ruin that overtakes every soul that is separated from God. The narrow road leads to life, and it is the only road that does. The broad road leads to unthinkable horror.

I thought about that one day from an experience Doris had. She did not realize her curling iron had been left on when she grabbed the wrong end. She didn't bum her hand enough to need treatment but it hurt bad enough that she tried to imagine the experience of the person who is badly burned over some major portion of the body. Then think of an eternity with a fire that does not consume but is never quenched.

Why is the road to life narrow? We would expect the opposite. We feel the way to death should be narrow and difficult, and the road to life should be broad and easy. Why, at least, is the way of life not as broad as the way of death? The way of life is not narrow because God arbitrarily decreed it should be so. True, Jesus declares the way is narrow. But his saying so does not make it narrow. He knew it to be narrow and in his mercy he tells the truth about it. You may have an arithmetic book that declares three times three is nine. The fact the book makes such a declaration does not make it true. Three times three is nine whether any book says so or not. And the way to life is narrow whether the fact is ever put into words or not. It is narrow in the nature of things. In fact, the road to every goal is a narrow road.

We likely have some football fans. A football game is played in narrow confines. And you won't score a touchdown for your team if you run in the wrong direction.

When a skyscraper is being built do you suppose the architect who planned the building went about the task in a careless and slipshod manner? Did he draw lots of pictures and make numerous blue prints as the mood of the moment led him, with no regard to accuracy? No, he found the way exceedingly narrow. His drawings and calculations could not be made at random. They could not be approximately correct, they had to be exactly correct. The contractor undertaking to make the architect’s dream a reality must also travel a narrow road. He cannot follow any set of blue prints that fall into his hands. He uses only one set. He cannot presume to change those drawn by the architect as the whim strikes him. He must build exactly as planned.

Don’t be surprised that Jesus tells us the way that leads to life is narrow. He himself found it so. He speaks from experience. His earthly existence was confined to one small country. He gave himself to one little handful of men, not one of whom counted for much until He found him. He is confined by tremendous convictions. He had work to accomplish from which he could not turn aside. His way was so narrow that when it ran up against a cross there was no room for him to pass around that cross. He had to hang upon it. His was a narrow road, and invites you and me to follow.

But while the way to life is narrow and the way to death is broad, we are not to overestimate either the narrowness of the one or the breadth of the other. The way of life is narrow, yet it is broad enough to meet all our needs.

It is wide enough to accommodate all who are willing to travel it. In spite of the narrowness of the gate, everybody willing to pay the price may pass through. When Jesus was dying, a highwayman hung at his side. There was blood on this man's hands. He had an evil and ugly past. But in his hour of death he turned to the dying Christ at his side and said: "Lord, remember me when you come into thy kingdom." And the narrow gate proved to be wide enough to accommodate him.

This road is wide enough to walk arm in arm with Christ. The road may be narrow, but not too narrow. The broad road, with all its breadth, is not wide enough for that. It is said of the prodigal that he gathered all together and took his journey into a far country. But there were some treasures he did not take with him. There were many priceless things that he was compelled to leave behind. He could not take his old home with him. He could not take his father. He could not take his faith. He could not take God. The road to death is broad, but it is not broad enough to walk it in fellowship with Jesus.

The narrow road is wide enough to permit all of us to come to our best and to realize our highest possibilities. The fact that the way is narrow does not mean that those who walk it must be narrow. The opposite is true. It is as we travel the narrow way that we ourselves become broad. Real Christians are never narrow. They cannot be because they share the nature of Christ. And the breadth of Jesus is the breadth of the Infinite.

As we walk the narrow way we become broad in our purposes. Here is Jesus at prayer. And what a narrow prayer he is offering! "I pray not for the world, but for them whom thou hast given me." Then he broadens out a bit: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word." That is better. It was then that he called your name and mine, if we are believers.

Those who walk the narrow way are broad in their hopes. All who journey by the broad road have hopes that are of necessity very small and very limited. They can stretch but a little way into the future. They bring but little joy while they last and are soon blighted by the biting frosts of death. All of them are bounded by the grave. But our hopes stretch away into the infinite eternities. They are so big and broad that they enable us to face all life's tragedies with steady eyes and quiet hearts. They enable us to laugh at death and the grave in the full assurance that these can do us no harm since we are the sons of God and are on our way to be like him when we shall see him as he is.

Now, because the narrow road leads to life abundant in this present world, and because it leads to an even fuller life in the eternal tomorrow, I have great boldness in inviting you to enter by the narrow gate. Remember, you are going to travel one way or the other. You cannot in the nature of the case walk both roads. As you came to church, you came either by the broad road or by the narrow. As you go home, I do not know what street you will travel, but I do know that you will go either by the broad road or by the narrow. I know also that the road you travel determines your goal.

As there are only two roads, so there are only two goals, only two destinations; One is Life, the other is Death. Therefore, on the authority of my Lord, I am placing before you at this moment Life and Death. May we ail have the wisdom and the courage to make the choice of Life!