Following the crowd is not a good idea. Luke 13-22-30
Gladstone Baptist Church - 6/8/06 pm
S1 - Heaven seems like such a wonderful place and everyone wants to get to heaven don’t they. But many people will miss out.
Hi Boys & Girls, Mums & Dads, today I want to talk to you about heaven. Heaven is a wonderful place. Can anyone tell me what heaven will be like ...
Let me tell you some of the things we know about heaven...
Heaven is where God is ... Matt 6:9
Heaven is so big, it can’t be measured - Jer 31:37
Heaven is a special place - the Bible calls it holy - Ps 20:6
Heaven is a happy place - there will be no tears in heaven - Rev 7:17
Heaven is an eternal place - there won’t be any death, pain or sickness - Rev 21:4
Heaven is a place without night or darkness - Rev 22:3
Heaven is a place where we will never be thirsty or hungry - Rev 7:16
It sounds like a wonderful place doesn’t it and it will be. Imagine getting to share a home with God and Jesus.
You know, most boys and girls and mums and dads in our world want to go to heaven. They may not understand everything about it, but they definitely want to go to heaven and not the alternative which is a place we call hell.
But unfortunately the Bible tells us that most people in this world, in Australia and Gladstone, will miss out on heaven. Though they desperately want to get there, they won’t make it and they will end up in hell which will be a horrible, horrible place.
That is pretty shocking isn’t it to think that you won’t be able to play with many of your friends and neighbours because they won’t get to heaven.
S2 - To get to heaven, we need to find the narrow road.
You see, Jesus says that though most people want to go to live in heaven when they die, most won’t get there.
Jesus was once asked this question ... “How many people are going to be saved?” Essentially the person was asking - how many people are going to make it to heaven?
Jesus doesn’t give an answer but this is what he says ... If you have your bibles open, you can open them upto Luke 13: 22
22As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he taught the people in the towns and villages. 23Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
Jesus answered: 24Do all you can to go in by the narrow door! A lot of people will try to get in, but will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and locks the door, you will be left standing outside. You will knock on the door and say, "Sir, open the door for us!"
But the owner will answer, "I don’t know a thing about you!"
26Then you will start saying, "We dined with you, and you taught in our streets."
27But he will say, "I really don’t know who you are! Get away from me, you evil people!"
28Then when you have been thrown outside, you will weep and grit your teeth because you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s kingdom. 29People will come from all directions and sit down to feast in God’s kingdom. 30There the ones who are now least important will be the most important, and those who are now most important will be least important.
In Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7, Jesus uses an illustration of a road in a similar way ... He says
13Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. 14But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.
What do you think that Jesus is meaning when he talks about the way to heaven being like narrow gates, doors and roads?
I think you are right ...
Jesus said that getting to heaven is like choosing to go through a really narrow gate or a door. Imagine that we have 2 doors - a really, really big one and a small, narrow one. As the crowd approaches the little door - they just keep walking. Most people choose to walk through the really big door. Most don’t even see the narrow door and miss it all together. But if we want to get to heaven, we need to find the narrow door and walk through it. If we don’t we will end up being thrown into hell.
Or imagine if you were driving along in a car and there were 2 roads to choose from. One was a multilane highway - big, straight, fast and smooth. The other was a narrow, windy, bumpy road. Most people are flying down the highway at 120km per hour and don’t even see the narrow road off to the side. They miss it all together. Jesus said in Matthew that we’d better slow down and look for the narrow road because the wide highway is leading people to destruction - to hell. The narrow road is the only road that leads to heaven.
That is what it is like for people who are living on this earth - most would like to get to heaven, but most don’t stop to understand how to get there. They just walk on through the wide gate or drive down the big road. Because everyone else is doing it, they think they must be on the right track, but they risk missing the turn off to the narrow road all together because the crowd is not always right.
Boys and Girls, I want you to draw a picture for me - I want you to draw a picture of 2 roads. One is a narrow road and only a few cars are on it. The other road is the broad road and you can draw lots and lots of cars on that one.
Mum’s & Dads, many people in this world believe that the broad way must be the right way because the rest of the crowd can’t be wrong. But let me tell you that the crowd is often wrong ...
ć Adam Thompson of Cincinnati, Ohio, filled the first bathtub in American in 1842. Doctors predicted rheumatism! inflammation of the lungs! by using it! A ban on using bathtubs was published by Philadelphia, from November 1st to March 1st! These facts are on record. The Crowd was wrong!
ć In 1896 England still had a law prohibiting any power-drive vehicle from travelling over 4 miles an hour on public highways! The law said, all such vehicles should be preceded by a man bearing a red flag! Once more -- the crowd was wrong!
ć Alexander Bell was called a fool when he unveiled his telephone at the Centennial Exposition. Today? We talk around the world over his invention. Once again -- the crowd was wrong!
ć When Westinghouse proposed to stop a railroad train with wind (air brakes) he also was called a fool. The crowd was wrong! Westinghouse was right!
ć Goodyear was "booed" by everyone, but his wife. he worked for eleven years on vulcanizing rubber. Today? America runs on rubber! Once again -- the crowd was wrong!
ć Jenner discovered vaccination. He was jeered! Some serious men predicated all animal diseases would be transferred to the human race! Yet Jenner erased the smallpox scourge be using his vaccine. The crowd was wrong! -- Again!
Down through history, the majority has proved to be an unreliable crowd to follow. Jesus warns us that many are still doing this though & they are gambling their eternal destiny on the fact that the crowd know what they are doing.
Jesus says that with respect to salvation, the crowd is wrong, so look for the narrow door and narrow road.
S3 - Jesus says that though many people think they have done enough to impress God, there is only one way to be acceptable to God - by accepting his Son - Jesus.
Boys & Girls- Have you finished your drawing yet?
Do you know boys and girls that there is only one way to get to heaven ... Only one doorway. Do you know what it is?
Jesus. Jesus says that He is the only way. He says in John 14:6 that "I am the way, the truth, and the life! ... Without me, no one can go to the Father.
You see boys and girls many people want to get to heaven, but they are following the wrong path. People do all sorts of things to try to please God.
- Some people try to do good things - like not steal, like telling the truth, like giving money to the poor, like cleaning your room when your Mum tells you to. But God says that even the good things we do don’t impress him. You can’t do enough good things to earn your way into heaven. You have to be perfect to get into heaven and no matter how hard we try, doing good things doesn’t erase or give us forgiveness for the wrong things we’ve done. People who are just trying to be good people are on the wrong path.
- Some people try to be really religious - they pray lots to other gods., in fact, some people aren’t sure what God looks like, so they worship lots of Gods - Buddha, the hindu Gods, Allah. But you know, going to church, praying, worshipping lots of pretend gods doesn’t impress the real God. Infact, he says that there is only one God - and if you worship any others, you are a fool and are actually doing something wrong. People who are trying to be good hindus, or Buddhists, or Bahhais or Moslems are on the wrong path.
- Some people think that all they have to do is act like they are a Christian. Go to church and keep the 10 commandments. Some even know a lot about the Bible and go to KOGS and Children’s Church. Their Mums & Dads go to all the prayer meetings. In the passage we read today, people said to Jesus. "We dined with you, and you taught in our streets." That’s like us saying Jesus, we were in church and heard your gospel preached. But Jesus said to them, "I really don’t know who you are! Get away from me, you evil people!" You see you don’t become a real Christian by acting or living like a Christian. People who are acting like Christians are on the wrong path.
The only way we can get to heaven is by being forgiven. When you ask Jesus to be your special friend God forgives you - that is then you become a real Christian. That is what Jesus meant by walking through the narrow door or driving on the narrow road.
We have all done things wrong and in God’s eyes we really stink. We are so rotten, God can’t have anything to do with us because He is perfect. Every single person on this earth has the same problem - We all have done bad things and we have to be punished. If you did something wrong and Mum & Dad didn’t punish you, it wouldn’t be fair. God is always fair and that means that when we do something wrong, we need to be punished.
We can’t pay money to God to pay for the wrong things we’ve done. We can’t sit in a naughty corner for 10 minutes and earn forgiveness. We can’t earn forgiveness by doing good things like tidying our room or doing the dishes. We can’t do anything to clean ourselves up. The only thing God will accept as payment for the wrong things is our life. God says - if you sin, the punishment is that you will not get to enjoy eternal life with me. You will suffer death for all eternity and are blocked from getting into heaven.
That’s pretty serious isn’t it and there is no way out unless someone who doesn’t deserve death themselves wants to volunteer to die for us. But all of us deserve death so I can’t take your punishment and you can’t take mine. But Jesus didn’t deserve any punishment, because he didn’t do anything wrong. So he could volunteer to take the punishment for you and me. So the good news is that we can be forgiven and go to heaven to be with God, but the only way we can get to heaven is to accept the things Jesus has done for us.
Jesus died on the cross so that we could be forgiven. Many people don’t understand that because no one has told them. Some people have heard it but they don’t like the idea of Jesus and so they keep looking for another route to heaven. Only a few people actually ask Jesus to come and be their special friend and forgive them and that is why Jesus said it was like a narrow gate that few people walk through and some even reject Jesus when they find out about Him.
I want you to add to your drawing of the 2 roads now. On the big road, I want you to draw a person doing something good or pretending to be a Christian. Next to the narrow road, I want you to draw a picture of Jesus on the Cross. Can you do that while I talk to your Mums & Dads.
Mums & Dads
Those that miss out on heaven will be devastated.
Hell is not a palatable subject is it. But Jesus spoke more about hell than any other bible writer. He spoke more about hell than about heaven, yet some people like to debate whether hell exists or not. It is funny they don’t debate the reality of heaven in the same way. Jesus was not talking about some figurative thing - hell is real ...
Matt 5:29-30 says ...
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matt 10:28
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
For Jesus it was a literal place & parable after parable talks about the judgement that awaits people when they die. Hell will be a horrible place. It is described as ...
a. Everlasting punishment. Mt 25:46.
b. Everlasting fire. Mt 25:41.
c. Everlasting burnings. Isa 33:14.
d. Everlasting destruction. 2Thess 1:9
e. A furnace of fire. Mt 13:42,50.
f. A lake of fire. Re 19:20, 20:15.
g. Fire and brimstone. Re 14:10.
h. Unquenchable fire. Mt 3:12.
i. Devouring fire. Isa 33:14.
j. Outer Darkness. Matt 8:12
It is not a pleasant place or a holiday with your mates. Those who miss out on heaven will be devastated. In our passage we read,
28Then when you have been thrown outside, you will weep and grit your teeth because you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s kingdom.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in agony because those that are judged by God and sent to hell will finally realise in its horrible truth what they are missing out on. They chose the broad road hoping to find heaven, but ended up in hell. What an awful realisation that will be. Don’t be caught out like that - make sure you have found Jesus and are on the narrow road to heaven.
Boys & Girls.
We need to all try to find the narrow way
Okay boys & Girls, have you finished drawing those pictures yet? I want to finish this morning by encouraging you all to make sure that you are on Jesus’ narrow Road. Jesus says that there are 2 ways we can live. We can follow his narrow road, or we can follow the broad road. Few people travel on the narrow road, because it means that we have to ask Jesus to be our special friend and seek to obey him. It means doing what Jesus would like us to do. It means sometimes we have to be different from the crowd. A lot of people don’t like the sound of that and would be preferring to do what they want and what the rest of the crowd does. They like to be in control of their lives and they don’t like to be different. But this is one of those times when following the crowd is not a good idea.
When we follow the broad road and the crowd, Jesus says that it ends in destruction. It ends up in hell and there is no escaping that. But for those who are following Jesus’ way - the narrow way, that ends up in forgiveness and a place in God’s home - heaven.
Boys and Girls, you will get to choose in your life which road you want to follow. You can follow Jesus and live for him or you can follow others in this world and live only for yourself. The choice is yours, but remember the choice will determine whether you end up in heaven or in hell.
I want to pray for you now and if you want to ask Jesus to be your special friend, I want to give you the chance to do that here this morning and to walk through the narrow door. So I am going to pray a prayer and you can whisper it in your mind after me.
Dear Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for dying for me. I know that I have done things wrong in my life. I am sorry for them and ask that you forgive me. I want you to be my special friend for the rest of my life. I will try to obey and please you in all I do. Thank you for accepting me and loving me. Amen.
While you have your eyes closed, if you prayed that prayer for the very first time, I want you to just raise your hand and put it down again. Mums & Dads - if you have prayed that also, I want you to raise your hands also because I want to pray for you.
Pray
If you have just prayed that prayer, I want to encourage you to go and tell someone. Tell your Mum or your Dad. Come and tell me. Tell your friend because that way other people can encourage you and pray for you as you begin the wonderful journey on the narrow road.
