Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, August 22nd.
Sometimes ignoring God may seem liberating, but the consequences are disastrous. Today's podcast helps us carefully consider the choices we make. Can you recall a decision or a choice you made years ago somewhere back on in your life that you really and truly regret?
I heard somebody say, yeah. Well, why do you think you made that choice? What motivated you? That is, what were you thinking when you made that choice? What motivates you today when you make choices in life? You understand that the choices you and I make today are the choices we live with tomorrow, the next week, the next month, the next year. So that so often we make choices without thinking, without considering not only what the facts are today, but what are the consequences of those decisions, those choices we make in life?
Well, that's what I want to talk about in this message. And I want you to turn, if you will, to Matthew and the seventh chapter and two verses in the seventh chapter. Jesus has been talking to his hearers about choices, all kinds of choices that they had to make in their life and in specific areas of their life. Then he comes down to this 13th and 14th verses in the seventh chapter as to say to them, it all ends up being two lifestyles in life.
You either have one lifestyle or the other. And so he pictures that in this way when he says in verse 13, Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. And there are many who enter through it, for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life.
And there are few who find it. Now, he's just not talking about simply two roads, but he's talking about a choice of lifestyle. You have a style of life that you've chosen the way to live your life. And everybody doesn't have the same lifestyle. And we hear people talking about their lifestyle. But the lifestyle of some people who are very wealthy, it's one thing. The people who are very poor, it's something else. The people who are educated, it's one thing. Those who are not so educated, it's something else. We all have our own personal lifestyle. But ultimately, spiritually, they're two primary lifestyles. Now, I know what you may be thinking, so I want to answer that up front. You say, well, now, if there are two ways, what about those people who seem to sometimes look like they're straddling the median?
They're over here and over there. I'm going to come to that. But what I want us to do, first of all, is I want us to look at the characteristics. Look at what he says when he says that there is a narrow gate and there is a wide one. He says there is a way that leads to destruction and a way that leads to life.
On the one hand, there are few who find it. On the other hand, he says there are many. Now, what is he talking about when he talks about these two ways and these two gates?
He's talking about a lifestyle. So, let's take what he calls the broad way, when he says there's a broad way and there's a narrow way. What does the broad way look like?
One of the characteristics is that it's very wide. Now, spiritually speaking, here's what that means. People who walk the broad way into the wide gate, first of all, it's very easy. There are no commitments, no requirements.
You just walk to the gate, you just head down that way. The broad way encompasses everything. For example, all kind of philosophies are welcome there. All kind of belief systems. All the passions that many women have.
All of the license, all of the freedom. All of those desires, all those actions, all the habits. In other words, it's on the broad way you find the alcoholism and the drugs and all the rest.
All kinds of sexual sins. On the broad way, the reason there is because you see everything goes. Everything's acceptable. In other words, we don't want anybody to feel like they're left out. So, everything and every belief system is all available on the broad way. So, many people, that appeals to them. The second thing I want you to notice is He says it's crowded. Many there be that walk upon that way. The reason it's crowded, there are lots of reasons, but crowded simply means what it says. That's where the majority of people are.
Why? Because they like what it has to offer. He says not only that, but there's something else about it. And that is it's the way of the ungodly. That is, evil, the principle of evil is the principle that it rules on the broad way. Now, it may be to some people's ideas, it may be so, well, that's not so bad and this is extremely evil. The truth is evil and wickedness rule on the broad way.
That's what it is. It is the way without God. You see, that's why it's so crowded.
Everybody's invited and somewhere along the way there are more people who want sin, disobedience, and the absence of God than there are who want God. So, it is a very ungodly way. It's the way of pleasure and prosperity.
Isn't this the strongest appeal to the ungodly? Whatever brings us pleasure, whatever will prosper us. And so, prosperity and pleasure and sometimes power and prestige and prominence and all the rest, these are the things that something inside of us desire.
That is, that principle of sin. Those desires and so what happens is on the broad way, the broad way there are enough creative people to make it possible for you to find something in the area of pleasure that will satisfy that longing inside of you. There are all kinds of promises of prosperity. And so, it is a way that promises prosperity, pleasure, all kinds and all means of pleasure.
Lots of promises about prosperity, but how many of them come to pass is something else. This is the broad way. This is the world's way. This is a way that ignores God. But it's also a way of darkness.
Well, here's what Jesus said, for example, in the third chapter of John. He said, this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and men love the darkness rather than light, for their deeds are evil. He said, you know why people like darkness? Because their deeds are evil. Listen to what He said, for everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear of his deeds will be exposed. Now, what He's talking about is not just incandescent light, but He's talking about the light of truth.
And people who live apart from God, they don't want to hear the truth, they're not interested in the truth. But on the broad way, they like it dark. On the broad way, that's where evil triumphs.
That's where the crowds are. That's the popular way. That's the way of promising of prosperity and pleasure and all the rest. They're all forms of pleasure.
Anything goes, everything goes, whatever brings you pleasure. That is, whatever satisfies you, indulges you, you can do it. That's the message of the broad way. But there's another part of that message and that's disappointment.
Because you see, once you choose to walk the broad way, that is to live your life without God, that's your choice of a lifestyle, leave God out of your life. No matter what the world promises, you're going to be disappointed. You're going to suffer disappointment. But the simple reason, the broad way is an illusion.
It is not for real. They offer you promises they cannot satisfy. They cannot give you anything that satisfies the human heart. Maybe the flesh for only a season, but not the human heart.
Because God created us with a place for Himself. And nothing the world can create, nothing the world can manufacture, nothing the world can think of, nothing the world can reason, can satisfy that place in the human heart that God made only for Himself. So there's going to be one disappointment after the other.
And ultimately at the end, an awesome great disappointment. All those plans, all those dreams for happiness and peace and joy and contentment and all the rest, you know what, they never come to fruition. Because you cannot live your life without God and have peace and contentment and joy and happiness and security. There is no peace, no joy, no happiness, no contentment, momentary excitement and pleasure, but no genuine joy on the inside. Because you've got to keep working at it. And there's fear and jealousy and all the rest that goes on. How do you stay on the top when you get to the top? How do you continually remain as fruitful and as prosperous as you are?
And here's what you discover. People who have little are worried about getting more. People who have it all worried about losing it. And people who are famous are worrying about what's going to happen to their fame when they reach their age or whatever it might be.
And so there's always that trap of wondering what the world's going to think and what people are going to think. And if you'll notice how Jesus ended this, He says it is the way of destruction. You see, sometimes we have the idea, well, you know, I've sinned and God hadn't destroyed me. What you have to remember is this. Because you and I cannot feel it and because you and I cannot see, the destructive power of sin in our life at the moment does not mean that it has not taken place. People can drink and drink and drink and drink, for example, for a long period of time.
And it appears that everything's fine. What they don't understand is what's happening on the inside of them. And people can sin all kinds of sin, all kinds of immorality. And they say, well, you know, I don't see anything happening. What they don't realize is that guilt, that sin is taking its toll on the inside in emotional areas of their life. They don't even understand.
The destruction starts the moment you choose to live a lifestyle in which you want God removed out of your life because you don't want any hindrance. You don't want anybody telling you what you can do, what you cannot do. You want absolute freedom to live your life, to indulge yourself any way you choose.
And you don't want anybody telling you that you can't. Well, that's a choice. It's a choice you make. It is the choice that most people will make in life. A choice of indulgence, freedom, prosperity, at least that's what they're looking for, never to achieve it, never to come to the place in life where they finally say, now I have arrived at all of this and I have peace and joy and prosperity and happiness and contentment and security.
You know why you'll never find it? Because it is not to be found on the broad way. Now, why do people choose that?
Well, one simple reason is this. It appeals to their sinful nature. In other words, there's something natural inside of them. They think, well, you know, this is what I want.
This is what I like. And so what happens is it's just sort of natural. And so they say, yes, that's what I want in life.
And so it's the pleasure. It's the pleasure that comes with their sin. But what they don't realize is this.
With that sin comes the grief of that sin, the guilt of that sin, the destructive powers of sin in their life. So they choose it because of the appeal. The second reason is because they're deceived. They listen to see what the world says and what the world offers and they believe the devil's lie, the world's lie. You see, on the broad way, telling the truth is not important. On the broad way, convincing you, persuading you, giving you enough to make you just satisfied enough that you won't want to get off the way.
It's the pleasure of sin, the desires of the flesh. And so what happens, it's the popular way. So somebody says, well, this is the way to go.
Everybody's doing it. You know one of the reasons that some people walk the broad way, they make a choice in life after they've drifted that far? They fear ridicule. They fear the rejection of other people. They fear the rejection of their friends.
You remember this. If you're trapped in your thinking by what other people say about you, you do not have the ability and the capacity to hear from God. That is, if you're so trapped by what they think, you're not going to listen to Him. And what happens is you become trapped in it. What difference does it make what the world thinks when you can listen to Almighty God and hear what He thinks about your life?
And so people say, well, it's the popular way. You know, I don't want to be ridiculed. And the Bible says the fear of men brings a snare and it brings an awesome snare. If you're afraid of what people are going to say about you, you're going to make choices in life. They're going to be to your detriment and ultimately destroy you. And so people choose, say, well, you know, I know that's true and so forth, but what will they say?
What will they think? And there are many people who, listen, they're living a very miserable, unhappy life because in their minds they feel that the rejection of their peers is so powerful and so awesome and has such an effect on them, they're willing to risk disobedience, shunning God, shutting Him out in order to please them. But I'm going to show you in a few moments why that is the most deceptive thing that can happen to you when it comes to relationships with other people as a Christian. So there are many reasons that people choose the broad way. And so when I think, for example, about the influence, one of the reasons is because people are so influenced. You think, for example, today about the music world. And you think about the people who stand on the stages and dress all sorts of ungodly ways, move their bodies in the most ungodly, sensual ways, sing lyrics that absolutely ungodly and anti-Christ and all the rest.
What is the purpose of it? Why do they want to get people so worked up? Well, primarily because it is financially very rewarding. And the deceived people flock to hear them. And then what happens the next thing you know? The young girls decide they want to dress like her. And the young guys want to dress like him.
And what happens? What they don't stop to ask is what way are they walking? They're walking the broad way. Why do you want to dress like somebody on the broad way? Why do you want to act like somebody on the broad way? Why do you want to drink what they drink, go where they go, act like they act, talk the way they talk? Because you've been deceived by what looks popular and powerful and prosperous and prestigious and all the rest. And so people who make choices, they make choices because they are highly influenced.
They are blinded by the devil. And the fact that the issue is, you know, come one, come all, it's free for all, anything goes, everything goes, all kinds of sexual immorality, all kinds of actions. Let's just have a big time. It sounds like eat, drink and be merry. But tomorrow, they never, they don't want to talk about tomorrow. Just eat and drink and be merry.
And what? Just eat, drink and be merry. Or what about tomorrow? You see, one of the deceptions of the devil is you don't think about tomorrow. You just think about today. Listen, it's pleasure today. It's thinking about today. It's prosperity today. Forget tomorrow.
Why? Because the consequences will wake you up. Now, how do you get onto the narrow way? By confessing your sin, by repenting of your sin, that is turning away from it, by accepting Jesus Christ's death at Calvary's payment for your sin, accepting Him as your personal Savior and surrendering your life to Jesus Christ. That's how you get on the narrow way. How do you walk on that way? You learn to walk on that way by what? By listening to the Word of God and learning how to apply it to your heart, by endeavoring to build a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who saved you and who's forgiven you of your sins and who continues to forgive you of your sins. Listen, it is a decision to enter the gate.
Watch this. A decision to enter the gate is a continuous decision to walk on the narrow path because we have these natural tendencies and we've all got them. And what we have to do is to learn how to walk that narrow way, not afraid we're going to sin, afraid we're going to disobey God or all hung up and all tight and all under stress.
No. We just live in the presence of our Lord Jesus daily. And when something comes along and we stumble for some reason, we ask Him to forgive us, show us why we did it, show us how to correct it and move on. And what happens is we grow. We grow as we walk that narrow way. The Word of God is what we feast upon, not what the world has to offer.
You see, the world has all this junky, poisonous stuff to feast on that absolutely destroys and wrecks their life. What do we have? We have to feast on the Word of the living God. And we can feast on the Word of God and what happens? We become enriched. We become strong. Our faith is strengthened. Our commitment is strengthened. Our love and devotion to Jesus becomes stronger. And you know what happens is we walk the way.
People who are looking for the truth, people who are looking for the light, people who are looking for hope, people who need help, people who are desperately wondering if there's a better way in life. You know what happens? You become the light for them.
They see in you what deep down inside they really want. And you know what happens? You become, you become the vessel God uses to bring them from the broad way to the narrow way. Well, let me just say this to you. This sermon may have made you very uncomfortable. Here's how you should respond. You should thank God.
Because if you didn't need it, you wouldn't feel uncomfortable. And I want to encourage you, if you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, listen to what He said. He said, the way that you're living is the way that leads to destruction. Now, you may not see it coming, but it's coming. The way, listen, the narrow way leads to life. You may not see it right now, but it's life at its best now, an eternal life out there in the future. Thank you for listening to The Choices We Make. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
