"All Roads Lead To Heaven?" Nope. S31e91 Mt7:13

You may have heard it said, "All roads lead to heaven." If so, run run run. Run from the person, and run from the notion.

Watch 6 minutes to hear the warning about what the road is really like. Hear about where the majority of the roads end up. Today is about a call to clarity and a call to hopefulness.  Just be on the right road...

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Brothers and sisters, here's my non-title for today: All Roads Lead to Heaven. If you ever hear those words, run, run, run, why? Because it isn't true. So one of the first steps on the road to destruction is the lie that all roads lead to heaven. So the fact is, most roads lead to destruction. We're going to hear that in our passage today. And if there's this great horde around you as you live, take heed for a second. If there's a path of ease, be careful. So we have placed ourselves before a rule with the reputation of goldenness yesterday. So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. Now, curiously, there's more in the same paragraph. Verse 13, this is from Matthew chapter seven. Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction. And those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. So let's review just a little bit what that just said. There's two gates, one that's wide, or one that's wide, and another one that's narrow. There's two ways. There's this easy one, and then there's a hard one. There's two destinations. One is a road to destruction, the other is to life, and then there's two groups, one that has many in it, and the other with just a few. So this is a passage of scripture about a passage to somewhere, and it talks about choices and effort. So the entrance is narrow, the gate narrow, the way hard. There's some effort in finding us, and the faithful are few. It reminds me of the truth in John 16, 33. In the world, you will have tribulation. But then the other part, take heart. I've overcome the world. So it's in him that we're going to have peace. So all of the destinations will find us in a state of war. He is the one that has overcome the world. So any declaration of peace without him in the equation, without finding yourself in him, is a false peace. You're on this broad, easy road to destruction. So it's not our bravery that saves us, though bravery is going to be required. It's not our fighting spirit, though such spunk is also going to be required. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11, a little further down the road, four more chapters, verse 28 Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I, Jesus, am gentle and lowly, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So in Jesus is the rest that we seek. When he carries the yoke, it is indeed easy. However, it has been and is now in my experience that to get there, to stay on his road of rest, requires the hard work of abiding, the hard work of forgiving, the hard work of thought, the hard work of action. So remember where we started this paragraph. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's a very shrewd deceiver that lures us with the assurance that this broad, pop, well-populated, easy path does not lead to destruction. It's the I'm okay, you're okay, believe in yourself, just breathe philosophy that must by competent Christians be battled against every day. Expect a narrow, hard path to life. So the difficulty hints at its worth. And I hope this little seven-minute thing here today to be an encouragement to you. If you're squishing yourself into some of the inconveniences of Christianity, yes, he asks us to change almost everything: the way we live, our time, our money, our zipper, our mouth, our associations, and even the way we think. And then he says, find that path and find the few that are doing it. All right, so let me draw a couple conclusions. First of all, what does this say about our church? How do I do unto others well? Well, the the one of the big points is this is difficult, and therefore lock arms with fellow members that are committed to each other, helping, challenging, teaching, serving, rebuking, and walking with them. When? Well, when that way is narrow and life is hard and and there are things at risk. So maybe one of the reasons that there are few at the end of the journey is most people have not done a good job of locking arms on the people that I need to help me get there. You need me, I need you, and there's no other alternative path in the 1500 pages of the Bible other than the church and all it means. Secondly, don't be surprised when moments are disappointing. Ultimately, he results in the few in the destination of life. He tells us there's going to be difficulty in the way of life. It's going to be narrow, hard, and the results will have few arrivers. So this is not because of any weakness on his part. The limitation is on our part. The road is demanding. We're going to need the help of the church and we're going to need the help of him. So I would say, as we conclude, three things to hold on to. So first of all, is the scariness of this passage. I think we can almost embrace it. There's deception to avoid. The deception is that all roads lead to heaven. Nope. There's an easy way that leads to destruction. So keep our eyes open. Secondly, I think there's a structure to reinforce, which is throw yourself into the church so that you're not alone on this narrow and difficult way. And then most importantly, is throw yourself on the Savior. There is a savior to embrace. Without the help of heaven itself, would there be even a few remaining on the narrow way? I say no. So on the day of our salvation, we all need help. And then on the many days of our sanctification, we also need help. It's a narrow, hard way. That's what we found out today. Now, few may make it, but it is a worthy walk. All roads lead to heaven? Nope. There's one road, but he is ready to help. Thanks for being here.