The King’s Highway
By Pastor Jim May
There’s an old song that we sing from time to time that goes like this:
My road is wider, my load is lighter
Walking up the King’s highway
Jesus to guide me, His angels beside me
Walking up the King’s highway
If you’re not walking, start while I’m talking
Walking up the King’s highway
There’ll be a blessing, that you’ll be possessing
Walking up the King’s highway
It’s a highway to heaven, none can walk up there, but the pure in heart
It’s a highway to heaven, walking up the King’s highway
My question for you today is a simple one. Are you walking the King’s Highway?
We are all traveling through life, but are we walking in the right path? Is the road you are taking going to get you where you want to go?
There are a lot of roads in life that people take. Some begin their journey even while they are still in school developing a “don’t care, know it all attitude” that makes them unreachable. You can’t teach someone who has a closed mind. They don’t understand that the road they are walking will lead to a life of poverty, and often right into a life of crime that ends in a prison somewhere. I doubt if there is one in 100 prisoners who will say that they ever thought that they would spend their days behind bars. They simply chose to walk the wrong road and it led to their destruction.
If you are getting ready to take a road trip how do you know where to go? There are many twists and turns along the way. I’m sure that there are road signs, but are they all pointing in the right direction? Is there a bridge out somewhere? Is the road flooded somewhere along the way? We all know that there are a lot of things that can force us to take a detour.
That’s the way that your life is. Have you ever heard the phrase, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry?” We don’t always know what lies ahead. All of your plans and goals for the future can vanish in a moment when an unexpected detour comes along.
The first thing that is necessary is to make sure you’re on the right path and you can only know that if you have a destination in mind. If you begin a journey with no destination in mind, how will you know when you have arrived?
Secondly, not only do you have to know where you want to go, but you have to make sure you are on the road that will lead where you want to go.
If you want to Leave Baton Rouge and go to Phoenix, you’ll never get there by taking I-55. I-55 is a good highway. It’s smooth riding most of the way, and it has a well laid path, but it isn’t the right path for Phoenix. You wouldn’t think of going that way if you were headed west. Yet most of humanity is traveling down the road of life not knowing where they are headed and they are going in the wrong direction.
All along the way I can see signs that I’m going the wrong way. When I get to Jackson, MS I know that’s not west, but I can say, “Oh that sign is wrong. This can’t be Jackson. It has to be Lafayette or Lake Charles instead. Let’s keep going. It will all work out in the end. My heart tells me I’m on the right road.”
I can go a little further and there is another sign saying I-55 north, but that can’t be right. I’m heading west. I know I am. Then I get to Memphis and say, “No, that can’t be Memphis. It has to be Houston because I believe with all my heart that I’m headed west.
On and on I go, through Tennesse, Arkansas, St. Louis, Missouri and into the State of Illinois until I hit the end of I-55 in Chicago, and still I have convinced myself that I’m headed west. I know I’m headed west, In fact look there – it’s the Pacific Ocean! No it’s not, dummy! That’s Lake Michigan!
You’ve been on the wrong road all along, but too blind to see it, too convinced that you were right to see and hear the truth and set in your way to change direction. Your own hard head has brought you where you don’t want to be. You ignored every sign and barreled along, full speed ahead, going for the gusto in life until you hit a dead end. You convinced yourself that the road was right. You just knew in your heart that you were going in the right direction. You were focused on just moving along as fast as you could and refused to belief the truth. Now you will pay the price of being where you don’t want to be.
People choose to walk the highway of life with no thought for tomorrow. They live only to enjoy the moment. There’s an old Latin saying that goes like this, “Carpe’ Diem”. That means, “Seize the Moment”, don’t let an opportunity pass for it may never come again. It all sounds so good, but don’t forget that this isn’t the only moment you will live. What lies ahead? Are you on the King’s Highway, or are you barreling through life on the Highway to Hell?
Proverbs 16:17, "The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul."
Here’s a road sign for you – “Stop! Stop committing sin! Sin only lies in the Highway to Hell. You can’t get to heaven by continuing in Sin! The Map, God’s Holy Word, throws up another road sign, “U-Turn! Repent of that sin, and get on the Highway of Holiness, Righteousness and Purity. Those are the markers on the Road to Heaven.
If you are traveling through life and every billboard has something on it that tempts you to do evil, then you’re going the wrong direction. Turn around while you can. There are turnarounds everywhere if you will just look for them. The Holy Spirit is trying to get your attention. Jesus’ cross is right in front of you. And the Word of God is lighting the way. Don’t keep traveling in darkness. There’s a huge road sign right in front of you that says, “Dead End” right ahead, eternally dead!
Isaiah 35:8-10 gives us a description of the King’s Highway, "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
Are you walking in holiness? Is everything you see bathed in the righteousness of God and being cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb? That’s the highway you must be on if you are going to make it to Heaven. We won’t get there if we are focused on the world and it’s pleasures. Your focus must be on the things that are of God.
This scripture tells me that you won’t find the highway to Heaven by stumbling onto it. You have to make a conscious choice and a firm decision to stay on the road. The road is straight and narrow. There is no room to get off onto the shoulders and stop for a while. You have to keep on being faithful to the end. There are a lot of detours but anyone you take will only lead to another dead end and you will only have to backtrack and come back to the straight and narrow way. No other road leads to heaven but this one. It’s the Highway to Heaven and it’s a way of holiness and righteousness and commitment to serving the Lord and complete surrender to his will and walking with your eyes set on Jesus and not on the world around you.
You can’t get on this highway unless the Spirit directs you. Not one person will “accidentally” make it to Heaven. First you must be chosen by God, but God chooses everyone who will willingly choose Him. Then you must be called, but the Spirit will call everyone who will answer the call. Then you must repent of your old ways and allow the Blood to cleanse you from all sin, But Jesus died so that all men could be saved.
Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Isaiah 40:3-4 gives us description of the King’s Highway in this manner, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:"
I don’t know about you but there have been times on this highway when I find myself out in a dry and thirsty land. Sometimes the straight and narrow will take us through a dry place. Sometimes the Word that washes us and waters us just doesn’t seem to have its effect. The Spirit that waters my soul seems so far away, but then the dry places fade away and through faithfully continuing on, I reach the water once again and God fills my soul and my spirit with his wonderful presence.
While I’m walking this King’s Highway I will surely go through a few valleys. Life’s road doesn’t always stay on the mountaintops. It’s straight and narrow but it does lead through the dark valleys of sickness, troubles, trials and tests from time to time.
David understood that when he wrote in Psalms 23:3-4, "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
Even in those dark valleys God walks with me and continually leads me on. With his “rod of correction” He keeps my feet in the path of righteousness. With His staff he reaches down and pull me out of the valley of destruction so that I may walk with Him in high places once again.
Micah 7:7-8, "Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me."
Then, on the other side of that coin, when I am flying high in the Spirit and all is well, I tend to get over-confident in myself and then I think that I can make it on my own for a while so I forget to pray, I forget to seek His help. That’s when Jesus has to take me off the mountaintop for a moment and level the ground once again. We tend to get to self-sufficient all the time when we know that we can do nothing without the Lord.
In the 91st Psalms we are given a glimpse of all that God will do for that man who walks the King’s highway faithfully and dwells in that secret place with God. Psalms 91:11-12, "For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone." God will lead us through some rough places but in those rough times he will bear us up and help us to be an overcomer.
Are you walking the King’s Highway? Are you on the Highway to Heaven? Or, are you off on the side of the road in the pits of sin and darkness, lost on the Highway to Hell?
There is a story in the Book of Mark about a man who was sitting on the side of the road. His name was Bartimaeus and he was sitting in darkness. He could only sit because he could not see. Though the highway was in front of him, he could not walk that way. He could not step out because he could not see the way to go.
Mark 10:46-52, "And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."
If you are not on the straight and narrow this morning, Jesus is coming by. Now you can choose to do one of two things. You can either continue to sit in darkness on the Highway to Hell, or you can cry out to Jesus to open your eyes and put you on the Highway to Heaven.
If you choose to sit in blindness, you may stumble across the pathway of holiness from time to time. How many times have you come across that highway before and you couldn’t stay on it? You couldn’t stay there because you were still blind in sin and the way was too straight and narrow for you and you keep falling off on one side or the other.
If I was to take you out in the middle of the street, blindfold you and let you just keep walking, you might be able to stay on the street for a while. But sooner or later you are going to stumble into the ditch. That’s the way most people try to serve the Lord. They try to walk the straight and narrow while hanging on the sin that stops them, weighs them down and blinds them. All of that sin has to be washed away and laid aside if you are going to see the way more plainly.
It’s a straight and narrow way and few can find it, only because few will choose to lay aside the things of this world and follow Jesus with all their heart.
If you are going to walk the straight and narrow, and stay on the King’s Highway, then you are going to have to make a full commitment to obeying the voice of the Lord.
In addition to that, you will need to continually refer back to the Map, God’s Word, to make sure that you are on the right path.
Thirdly, you need a guide to help you along the way. That Guide is the presence of the Holy Ghost in your heart and life. Without the Guide its easy to wander out of the way.
When Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Comforter on the Day of Pentecost, there was a reason for them to wait. Jesus knew that they needed a Guide.
John 16:13-14, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you."
Everyone who is “Born Again” receives the Spirit of God, for it is that Spirit that gives you eternal life. But He doesn’t stop there. The Holy Spirit wants to empower you to stay on the Highway to Heaven. You need Him to guide you, to teach you and to give you the power to stand against all obstacles, against every temptation and to keep your eyes focused on Jesus.
Notice that Jesus said that the Spirit of Truth, which is another title for the Holy Spirit, will not speak of himself, but will glorify Jesus and will give you instructions that Jesus wants you to have. WE ALL NEED THE PRESENCE AND THE POWER OF THE HOLY GHOST IF WE ARE GOING TO STAY ON THE KING’S HIGHWAY!
On March 2, 2007, a bus carrying a college baseball team was headed down the interstate highway in Atlanta, Georgia. The driver was wide awake, but I wonder if he was day-dreaming or just never saw the warning signs. As he drove full speed ahead, he didn’t know that the well-marked highway that he was on was really an exit ramp. When he reached the top of the ramp, it dead ended at a cross road but there was no time to stop and nowhere to go. He crashed through the concrete side rail and plunged over the side landing on the street below in a mangled heap. Six people went into eternity that day because someone failed to heed the warning signs and went blindly to their deaths.
Is that going to be your story when this life is over? Are you going to continue to ignore the warning signs? You have no promise of tomorrow and the end of the road could be only moments away. Where will the highway you are traveling take you, to life or death eternal?
If you are like blind Bartimaeus, and you want to get on the King’s Highway and see the way more clearly, then do like Bartimaeus did and cry out to Jesus. Jesus is passing by right now. He’s walking in front of you. Will you cry out to be delivered, or are you going to continue barreling down the Highway to Hell in the darkness and blindness of sin?
Jesus is passing by right now. Are you ready for deliverance?
