Tonight marks the end of our journey through the greatest sermon ever preached—The Sermon on the Mount. Sunday morning we went on a Quest for Blessedness as we looked at the Beatitudes. Sunday night we went on a Quest for Purpose as we looked at how Jesus calls believers to be salt and light in the world. Monday and Tuesday night, we clearly saw the need for God’s grace as we went on a Quest for Perfection and fell way short. Tonight, we’ll finish up with the real starting place. Tonight we’re going on a Quest for Christ.
MATTHEW 7:28-29
I joked last night about graduating from chapter 5. Tonight we actually graduate from the Sermon on the Mount. But, just like anytime we have a graduation in life, this graduation leaves us with choices to make. Just like we can’t hole ourselves up in high school or college forever, we can’t stay in revival meetings forever. We have to graduate. We have to graduate and make the choices that God requires us to make. I want each of us here tonight to see the clear choices that God has laid before us. And when we do, I want us to leave this place determined to choose the right way—the way of Christ, the way everlasting. In order to choose the right way, we have to see the choices that are laid before us. In this passage, Jesus lays out the four choices He gives people today. The first choice Jesus lays before us is two paths. Look with me in verses 13-14:
MATTHEW 7:13-14
The first choice Jesus gives us is the choice between two paths. A story is told of an older US Senator who, many years ago, was standing in a train station frantically searching for his ticket. A porter helped him look for a while, and finally told him, “Don’t worry senator, just mail us the ticket when you find it.” The senator looked at the porter and said, “Thank you. Now if I could just remember where I was going.” That’s one thing about the sermon that Jesus preached. He left no doubt as to where we were going. Then He left us with our first choice. Which path do we want to travel? The first path is an easy path. It’s an easy path, because it’s the path that we naturally want to travel. We don’t have to give up anything. We don’t have to be different. We can go with the crowd. Remember how He described it. He said it is a broad way. When we first came back to WV, I asked someone about the exit to nowhere. You know which one I’m talking about. As you’re driving down 460 from Princeton to Bluefield, there is an exit to nowhere. Well, when I asked the question, I certainly got an earful about the Coalfield Expressway. See, a lot of people want that road to open up because it will open up those counties to more traffic. It will be a broad road that will be a lot easier to travel than highway 52. If you want to go to McDowell County, you have to really want to go there. The road is narrow, and windy, and difficult—especially if you’re used to flat, straight roads. If I had the choice, I’d take the expressway. So would most people. It’s easier. But Jesus compares following Him to going down the narrow path. It’s not an easy way. It’s certainly not a popular way. But it’s the way that leads to life. Are you following the broad way tonight? Are you following the crowd? Taking the easy way out, even though you know it’s not right? Jesus said that path only leads one way—to destruction. No bypass, no detour. But the wonderful thing is—He gives you the choice. You can choose to exit the broad road and enter the narrow road. The road that leads to life. The thing about the broad road, is that it’s a mountain road. It goes downhill at a steep grade. The farther you go down it, the faster you go. It’s easy to use your brakes at the top. But the farther and faster you go, the hotter they get. Until they finally give out and won’t stop you at all. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will not strive with man forever. If you feel His tug on your heart, you still have some brakes left. You can still make that exit to the narrow road. But He won’t tug forever. There might not be a runaway truck ramp farther down the road. We don’t know. What we do know is what waits at the end—destruction. Instead, Jesus wants you to choose the narrow road before it’s everlasting too late. He wants you to choose Him—the narrow path that leads to life. Not only does Jesus give us two paths to choose from, He gives us two products. Look with me in verses 15-20:
MATTHEW 7:15-20
The second choice Jesus gives us is the choice between two products. Have you ever seen a crabapple tree? When I was little, one of the houses we lived at had a crabapple tree. It was a beautiful tree that produced really pretty, cherry-sized crabapples. The way I remember it, the thing was covered in them. They were bright red and shiny. I also remember the first time I tried to eat one. I thought my face was going to fall off. That thing was so sour, I think my mouth was puckered up for a week. After that, I found out that about the only thing those crabapples were good for was throwing. I won’t tell you what we threw them at. But no matter how pretty that tree was, no matter how good its flowers looked in the spring, no matter how red and juicy those crabapples looked, there was no hiding that fact that its fruit wasn’t fit to eat. It was bad. See, we can’t always tell good fruit and bad fruit by the way it looks on the outside. Remember, we talked about having the right motives and mindset last night. Most of the time, we can’t tell another person’s motives or mindset behind the things they do. That’s why we don’t need to worry about them. If they look like they’re producing fruit, so be it. Leave them alone. Time will tell if it is good or bad fruit. But the choice is ours. What we’re choosing is whether we’re going to bear good or bad fruit. And by the way, the things that cause us to bear good fruit—things like church, prayer, Bible study—will also eventually cause us to recognize good fruit in others. See, a crabapple tree might grow in an apple orchard, but if you know what good apples look like you won’t ever confuse the two. You’ll immediately be able to recognize the imposter. So there are two paths and two products to choose from. Jesus also gives us the choice between two practices. Look at verses 21-23:
MATTHEW 7:21-23
The third choice Jesus gives us is the choice between two practices. There are those in the world today who will tell you that there are many ways to reach God. As long as you practice your faith sincerely, you’ll be OK. People will say that a good Muslim, a good Hindu, a good Buddhist, and a good old boy all have as good of a shot to get into heaven as a good Christian. We can all agree that that’s crazy. But most of us here think that kind of stuff is a long way from here.
You’re right. It’s all the way down to Mercer Street. It’s all the way down to Princeton High School. It’s all the way down to Concord. Now, they might not be as vocal about it as some people. They might not have degrees and PhD’s to back them up, but they believe the same thing. But do we believe the same thing? “I practice my religion.” “I go to church.” “I pay my tithe.” “I’m a pretty good person.” “I’m certainly better than that fella that calls himself a preacher.” The “big man upstairs” will take that into consideration and let me in. Well, the “big man upstairs” might, but God won’t. God says that He doesn’t care how many wonderful things you’ve done in your life. Even if you’ve done good “churchy” things. If you’re not washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you’re not saved by His grace, through your faith believing, all the “churchy” things you do don’t matter. If you’ve taught Sunday school for 100 years, you’re going to Hell if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Now, notice that I said Lord and Savior. The two go hand in hand. My Bible doesn’t say anything about a plan to sign up for free fire insurance. A plan where you can say a little prayer that’ll keep you out of Hell and then live like you want to anyway. If there’s no change in your lifestyle, there’s no change in your Lord. You are still the lord of your life, not Jesus. If there’s no change in your Lord, there’s no change in your eternal destiny. Jesus called that practicing lawlessness. He said that He will say, “I never knew you—depart from me ye that work iniquity.” It’s your choice. You choose whether or not to do the will of God. You choose who will be your Lord and Savior. Jesus calls, you choose, He saves. You choose your path. You choose your product. You choose your practice. Jesus also gives us the choice between two platforms. Look at verses 24-27:
MATTHEW 7:24-27
The final choice Jesus gives us is the choice between two platforms. Jesus has just spoken for what we now break down into over 100 verses. In King James English, what Jesus has said translates to over 2,300 words. And now He gives us a choice as to what to do with those words. Either we can use them as a platform to build our life on. Or we can ignore them. But if we ignore them, that doesn’t mean that we won’t build. We’ll still build our life on something. I really don’t like it when people say that I’m religious. When somebody asks me if I’m religious, I like to answer them with a question—Are you? Usually, if someone was asking the question, they’re lost and looking for an argument anyway. They want an argument—I’m looking for an opportunity. So, I’ll ask them, “Are you?” Of course they’ll say they’re too smart for religion or something like that. But then, it’s really fun to ask them questions about what they believe. You can bet that if they were bold enough to ask the question to begin with, they will have some opinions. Ask them what’s wrong with the world—they’ll tell you. Then ask them what they think ought to be done to fix it. Guess what—they just told you their concept of sin and their plan of salvation. Sounds like religion to me. The most fun is to tell them how I always thought of myself as being religious, but I can see that I’m not as religious as them. The point is that everybody is religious. Everybody builds the house of his life on a platform. Even the most dyed in the wool atheist builds his life on the platform that there is no God. But Jesus tells us that whatever platform you build on, will determine how sturdy your life is. If you build your life on the philosophies of the world, how do you explain when bad things happen to you? If you don’t see sin, and rebellion, and the curse as why everything is so messed up in the world, how do you explain the killing of innocent little Amish schoolgirls? Karma? The next step up the evolutionary ladder? Maybe I just wasn’t good enough to keep it from happening? Maybe we need more education. Maybe we need more social programs. The government should make more laws. Those religions are sinking sand. When the storms of life come, they’re all washed away. Jesus gives us a choice which platform to build on. If we build on the sinking sand of other religions, our house will fall. But if we build on His Word and His righteousness, our house will withstand the storms. Now notice He didn’t say the storms won’t come. They will—it’s part of living in this old cursed world. Christians get cancer. Christian parents lose their babies. Christians suffer storms just like everybody else. The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. It’s just that our house will stand in the storm. It will stand in the storm as long as we build it on the Rock of Jesus Christ. It’s our choice. Build on sand or build on Him. So, what choices are you making tonight? What path have you chosen? Have you spent a lifetime hurtling down that broad road? If you have, it’s time to use your brakes and exit for the narrow road before it’s too late. And that doesn’t mean that you need to work hard to live a better life. That means to enter the narrow road through it’s only point of entry—the grace of God which was poured out through the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Are you producing the right fruit tonight? Is your fruit the real thing? Or is it just real pretty, but not fit for anything but throwing out? What about your practices? Are you hoping to get to heaven because you’re a good old boy or a nice girl? Who is Lord of your life? Is it Jesus, or is it you? And what about your platform? Are you doing something with the words of Jesus you hear? Are you building your life on them? Or are you just hearing them and ignoring them—building on sinking sand? The wonderful thing is that Jesus presents us with a choice. We can choose His way. If you can see and hear His words, it’s not too late. If the Spirit is moving you it’s not too late to choose Him. But God says that His Spirit will not strive with man forever. If you reject Him, He will go away. He’ll go away and leave you to your judgment. But just the fact that you’re here tonight means that it’s not too late for you to make the right choice.
Turn with me in your Bibles to the last chapter of Joshua. Right before he died, Joshua gathered the people of Israel together. You could say it was their graduation—just like we’re graduating from the Sermon on the Mount tonight. He gathered them together and this is what he said:
JOSHUA 24:14-15
My prayer for this church tonight is that you will answer Joshua just like the children of Israel did in verse 16 and 21:
JOSHUA 24:16, 21
