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TWO WAYS
Matthew 7:13-29
There's only 2 ways the Super Bowl can go next
week. You know my desire.
But it won't end in a tie.
Someone will win, there's only 2 choices.
It will be good news for my team or bad news.
Good
news/bad news for a preacher:
Good News: You baptized seven people today in the river.
Bad News: You lost two of them in the swift current.
Good News: The
Ladies Bible Class voted to send you a get-well card.
Bad News: The vote
passed by a margin of 5 to 4.
Good News: The deacons accepted your
job description the way you wrote it.
Bad News: They were so inspired by
it that they also formed a search committee to find somebody capable of
fulfilling the position.
Good News: Mrs. Smith is wild about your
sermons.
Bad News: Mrs. Smith is also wild about "The Gong Show," "Jerry
Springer" and "
Good News: The building committee finally voted
to add more church parking.
Bad News: They are going to blacktop your
front lawn.
Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically the last
two weeks.
Bad News: You were on vacation.
Good News: Your deacons
want to send you to the "
Bad
News: They are stalling until the war w/ Hezbollah flares up again.
Good News: A group from your church came to your house for a surprise 40th
birthday housewarming.
Bad News: They are the young couples, it's in the
middle of the night and they are armed with toilet paper and shaving cream.
All our lives we face choices, usually between
2 options. It's a fork in the
road and you can either go this way or that way.
"There's only 2 choices on the shelf-pleasing God or pleasing self!"
The number two has a great significance in the
Bible: [let's take a close look at the number 2...and I trust you have used
the restroom before the service!]
Two tables of stone
Two sons of Aaron
Abraham had two sons
Isaac had two sons
Two goats
Two witnesses
Two turtledoves
Two pigeons
Two oxen used together
Samson two pillars
Tribulation - 2 periods
Two by two on ark
Two sets of brothers in the 12 disciples
Widow’s two mites
Two thieves on cross
Two shall be grinding
Two in the field
Two resurrections
Two births
Two deaths
Two foundations in our text
Two kinds of churches
And there’s 2 ways you can go at the end of
this life, which depend upon which of the 2 choices you make now!
Satan always has a counterfeit to God’s plan.
Jesus told the disciples,
v. 15
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
That is Satan’s counterfeit. That “wide gate” and “broad way” is
Satan’s attempt to lure millions into the fiery pits of hell.
The devil has his churches filled with his hypocrites, standing ready
to lead many astray. But God
still has the real thing waiting for those who sincerely seek it!
Satan has that wide gate.
He makes the “wide gate” look very similar to
the narrow one.
He paints the “broad way” religious colors.
He is very successful in his approach. Jesus
Himself said, “....many there be which go in thereat.”
Therefore, my purpose is to warn each of you of
what Prov 16:25 says, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death."
I want to remind you that there are two ways to
heaven mentioned. Most of the
world believes in one of these 2 ways...but which is right?
Most are confused by all the mixed signals they receive from churches
today!
I.
A. Man’s Way
- Works Salvation.
Religion is founded on works.
“What must I do....” Matt. 7:22, "Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? (Works) and
in thy name have cast out devils?(Works) and in thy name done many
wonderful works?"
Man has always sought his own salvation. Adam
and Eve did in the Garden of Eden, when they sewed fig leaves together and
made themselves aprons of covering. God did not accept their efforts,
and neither will He accept yours. Imagine
seeing this sign when you die!
There are two ways of salvation: Man’s way - “works”,
and God’s way - “be born again”.
But man’s way is the way to hell. God’s way is
the way to heaven.
Man attempts to make himself equal with God.
That’s why he tries to make his own way to heaven. That’s humanism.
If man acknowledges that God is superior, then man must submit to
God.
Man says, “I’ll make my own way.”
Maybe your way is that you teach a s.s.
Perhaps you are counting your baptism as
sufficient.
Your name on the roll of this church may the
ticket that you hold in your hand-hoping to go to heaven.
Maybe you sincerely try to keep the commandments and be a good
person. Maybe you are a helping
person. You help do things around the church. You are always working,
working, doing things and your hope is that those things you do will be
enough to take you to heaven.
All of these are man’s way, and all lead to
hell.
Several places in the N.T. we see this phrase,
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Man’s way is through his own works.
But it doesn’t say “to earn” eternal life, but “to inherit!”
That brings us to God’s way.
B. God’s Way
- Be Born Again.
John 3:1-7
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the
Jews: [2] The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know
that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that
thou doest, except God be with him. [3] Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the
That’s why we can say:
Born once - Die twice.
Born twice - Die once.
If you do not submit to the new birth you will
bring about your own doom to the lake of fire.
You cannot enter heaven w/ your sins.
This is the strait and narrow gate!
1. You have
been born with the sin nature. Psa 51:5
"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother
conceive me."
2. You have
to be born again with God’s nature. 2 Cor.
1 Cor
Strait is the gate - narrow is the way.
Jesus is the only way!
II.
The world gives us a lot of mixed signals…signs
which lead us in the wrong direction! [slides]
A. Man’s Way.
“Give me the
world”
The rich man was confused about happiness.
Luke 12:16-21
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain
rich man brought forth plentifully: [17] And he thought within himself,
saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
[18] And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build
greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. [19] And I will
say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. [20] But God said unto him, Thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things
be, which thou hast provided? [21] So is he that layeth up treasure for
himself, and is not rich toward God.
Listen to me young people, Satan will cause you
to believe that happiness can come only with “THINGS AND THRILLS”.
He will tell you that if you don’t have CREDIT CARDS, NEW CARS, a DVD
player in every room, and the latest fashion in clothes that you cannot be
happy.
Let’s look to the Bible for God’s way to
happiness. As we do this, remember Satan’s way.
B. God’s Way.
“Give Me your
life”
Deny self and follow Christ.
Luke
You want to be happy?
Follow the Lord.
Title:
Where is Happiness?
Not in unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of
the most pronounced type.(He tried religion to its
fullest.) He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
Not in pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of
pleasure, if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and the grief are
mine alone."
Not in money -- Jay Gould, the American
millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying he said: "I suppose I am the
most miserable man on earth."
Not in position and fame -- Lord Beaconsfield
enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood,
a struggle; old age, a regret."
Not in military glory -- Alexander the Great
conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept, because, he
said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."
Where, then, is happiness found? The answer is
simple: In Christ alone.
Jesus said in
John 16:22
I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man
taketh from you."
Eccl
Eccl
The wisest man that ever lived said, “Happiness
doesn’t come from things.”
III.
v. 24-29
[read]
1 Cor. 3:11-15
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. [12] Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; [13] Every man's work shall be made
manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by
fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. [14] If
any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a
reward. [15] If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he
himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
A. Man’s Way
– Sand
/ Wood, hay, and stubble.
This is talking about your Christian life. It
is speaking about what you do after you get saved. Everyone will build one
of two buildings. If you live for “THINGS AND THRILLS” then you are building
wood, hay, and stubble, and it will burn, and there will be nothing left.
You will have nothing to show for your
Christian life. There will be no crowns to place at the feet of Jesus during
the Judgment Seat of Christ. You will stand before Him, as a Christian,
naked and ashamed.
Don’t build with wood, hay, and stubble.
B. God’s Way
– Rock
/ Gold, silver and precious stones.
This is talking about Service; Sacrifice;
Soul-winning; Submission. It is talking about making your life a holy life.
A life patterned after the Word of God, and the holiness of God. A life
surrendered to God.
Vance Havner said:
Christianity is not a happiness cult; it is not
a success cult. At heart it is the process by which God makes saints out of
sinners. We are predestinated to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. We
are not on a glorified picnic, a sanctified hayride.
We are afflicted nowadays with a cheap
Christianity, a kind of religious popcorn diet - no cross, no discipline! We
receive the Word with joy, but we have no root nor depth and are soon
offended. There are too many religious hobos trying to go to heaven as
cheaply as possible, with just enough prayer, Bible reading, and service to
get by. Such lives will go up in smoke at the judgment. Paul tells us that
the only sure foundation is Jesus Christ and that we should build on that
foundation with gold, silver, and precious stones if our lives are to stand
the fire test. Alas, we mix wood, hay, and stubble, and there is something
wrong with that mixture!
So, there’s 2 ways to live your
life…
IV.
A. Rich Man. In Hell -
Without Christ.
It is a matter of fact that you will die.
[Luke 16]
You will die one of two ways: with Christ or
without Christ. If you ignore the teaching of the Bible about God’s
sacrifice made for the atonement of man’s sins, then you will die without
Christ and go to hell. An unsaved person dies twice. The first is physical,
and the second is spiritual. Rev. 20:14-15.
B. Lazarus. In heaven. With Christ and
Without Fear.
He died and was carried to Abraham’s bosom. He didn’t die the second time.
V. TWO CHOICES TO
CONSIDER
You have reached a certain point…a fork in the
road!
A. Choose The
The broad way is religion - tradition -
ceremonies - personalities - hope - lifestyle - good works - all these are
the broad way. All lead to hell. Continue on this way and you will miss
heaven and land right in the middle of hell.
Man says, “God will not send man to hell.”
That’s right, God doesn’t, but you choose to go there when you choose not to
get saved!
God has done everything possible to keep you out of hell.
B. Choose The
Jesus’ own words about the “narrow way”
John
John
Every unsaved person in this room has already
done all that is necessary to go to hell. You need do nothing else.
C. Only Those Who Have Done The Right Thing Will Go To Heaven.
What is the right thing?
Not living right, but BEING right!
1. Place your faith in the shed blood of Christ upon the cross.
2. Accept that as full payment for your sins.
3. Repent toward God. That means that you are turning everything
about you over to God. He’s in charge. You are no longer in charge.
4. Rom
D. There Are Some Here Today Who Stand At A Crossroads. The
Crossroads is marked with two arrows:
One arrow points to
“The Broad Way.” That’s the way to doom and destruction.
The other arrow points to “The Narrow Way.”
That’s the way to heaven.
You must choose one. Which road?
There are huge warning signs standing before
that “Wide Gate”. They are crying out to you, “Take the
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