Evening Service for 10/4/2009
Two Roads
Introduction:
Poem by Robert Frost:
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
WBTU:
A. Read Matthew 7:13-14
B. Jesus is starting to give his conclusion and his invitation here.
C. From “Am I Ready to Be Baptized?” by Kyle Butt and John Farber
Imagine that you have been hiking all morning. You are getting tired and ready for a break. As the sun climbs higher in the sky, you come to an opening in the trail. In front of you the trail forks in two different directions- the right and the left. As you look down the trail on the right, you see that it starts to go uphill not far in the distance. It looks very hard to travel. There are logs and rocks in the path, and even some thorns that hang over the trail. Grass has grown up over the trail, because not many people have traveled it.
The trail on the left is much wider. It is so wide you could drive a steam roller on it. As you look at it, you see that it goes down hill not far in the distance. Walking down hill seems much easier than walking up hill. Also, there are soda machines and snack shops on the sides of the left trail. As you stand there trying to decide which trail to take, you see other hikers coming your way. In fact, you start to see many other hikers. Most all of them take the path to the left. They stop at the snack shops and the soda machines, but they never seem to get enough to eat or drink. They just keep going from one shop to the next, always wanting more. Once in a while, you watch a hiker step up to a sign in the fork. The hiker read the sign, and then takes the path to the right.
You wonder what the sign says, so you walk up and begin to read. The sign is a large wooden sign divided into two large sections. The section on the left talks about the path on the left. The part of the sign on the right tells about the path on the right.
Thesis: Let’s talk about this sign.
For instances:
I. The path on the left
A. It is easy and most people take it. Have you noticed the tremendous emphasis today upon broadness? There are people who would like to make the way so broad that, ultimately, everybody is walking in that way; ultimately every path will lead to God, ultimately everybody will be all right. If we follow the crowd we can be sure it is the wrong way.
B. The sign talks about the snack shops and soda machines all along the way, which you saw. But the sign tells you something interesting about those places. It tells you the snacks taste good at first, but later they hurt your stomach. And the snacks are addictive; the more you eat, the more you want to eat.
C. You also learn that the soda feels good in your mouth at first, but later it burns your throat. The soda is also addictive; the more you drink, the more you want to drink, even thought it burns your throat.
D. (Prov 23:31 NIV) Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! (Prov 23:32 NIV) In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
D. (2 Pet 2:19 NIV) They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
F. The sign says that this path leads to a huge lake of fire. The hill in front of this huge lake slopes steeply down. Everyone who does not get off this path before they come to the hill slides down the path into the lake of fire.
G. (Mark 9:43 NIV) where the fire never goes out.
H. (Mat 13:50 NIV) and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I. I can do what I want and still get to heaven. Not so! (1 Cor 6:9 NIV) Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders (1 Cor 6:10 NIV) nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:11 NIV) And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
I. Most hikers are not even reading the sign. They just glance at the two paths and take the easiest one without much consideration.
K. (Prov 14:12) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
II. The path on the right
A. The sign says that the path on the right is very difficult. It is rocky and it goes uphill most of the way.
B. From the sign you learn that there is a fountain of water a short way up the path where you can fill your water jug for the entire trip. (John 4:14 NIV) but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
C. Few people take this path. Why is it today that we seem to think that heaven is such an easy place to attain?
D. This path is long and there are not many rest areas. (Heb 4:9 NIV) There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;(Heb 4:10 NIV) for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.(Heb 4:11 NIV) Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
E. The sign also warns you about a mean lion who tries to drag hikers off the right path and sling them onto the other path. (1 Pet 5:8 NIV) Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
F. You read that there is a city on top of a hill at the end of this path. The climb is steep up the hill, but the city is beautiful. Inside the city, the King and His Son feed all hikers who make it there. The street of the city is paved with gold and the gates are always open. No one ever cries in the city. You also discover that no one ever has to leave this wonderful city. The weather is never too cold or too hot. Everyone is always nice to everyone else. No one in the city ever makes another person feel ugly or not smart. The best part about the city is that no one ever dies there. The city sounds wonderful.
G. You stop reading and watch the path. Only a few people take it. When people say, “You’re very narrow-minded,” I will often say, “You have no idea how narrow minded I really am. And whatever you think I am, I’m a lot narrower than you think I am.” I’m only narrow because it’s the truth. I didn’t invent this. Men didn’t invent this. This is the Word of the living God. You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you enter. You do not, and you will not enter. There is no other way in. Any deviation from the person of Jesus Christ, the work of Jesus Christ, or the gospel of Jesus Christ will lead you to hell. You must enter. You must make a commitment to come to Christ and this is the only way. God has the right to do it the way He wants and this is the way He chose to do it. It’s amazing to me today how popular it is to assume that there are all kinds of different ways to heaven.
H. They look like they are having a difficult time, but they are smiling and singing. (Phil 4:13 NIV) I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
I. Where is Happiness? Not in unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. 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. (John 16:22 NIV) Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
H. There are only two ways to go and you know you must choose one of them. The decision is the most important decision in your life. Which way will you go?
Conclusion and invitation:
Robert Frost
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
