Matthew | The Principle of the Path: Where Are You Headed? | Week 22

Wrapping up his series on the Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Joel brings the congregation to Matthew 7:13-14, where Jesus issues his final appeal: "Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are many." Joel traces how Jesus has been contrasting the narrow path and the wide path all the way through the sermon — from anger versus murder in Matthew 5, to secret giving and prayer in Matthew 6, to storing up treasures in heaven rather than on earth. Using a memorable illustration about getting lost in the dark on a Fort Hood hunting trip, Joel drives home the point borrowed from Andy Stanley's The Principle of the Path: every path has a destination, and good intentions don't change where you end up.

Pastor Joel then lays out three choices every person must face. First, will you choose your path or God's path? The wide path is popular, goes with the flow of culture, and requires little sacrifice — but it leads to destruction. The narrow path, as Jesus declares in John 14:6, runs straight through him: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Second, will you follow teachers of life or teachers of destruction? False teachers are sneaky, Joel warns, and must be tested against the whole counsel of God's Word. Third, will you be wise or foolish? As Matthew 7:24 makes clear, the wise person is the one who hears the words of Jesus and does them — building on the solid rock rather than the shifting sand. Joel closes with an urgent invitation: don't drift in the misty flats any longer. Call on the name of the Lord today.

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