Intro: we live in a world with too many choices: if you want chips, there are 50 different kinds of chips, soda’s 50 choices, if you want to paint something—500 shades to choose from—it all gets pretty confusing at times. But with Jesus Christ, He makes it simple, there are two roads, one leads to eternal life, the other leads to destruction, simple as that—
One Way or the Other
Matthew 7:13-14
Background: Jesus now is ending the greatest sermon ever preached. Matthew 5-7—in these two verses He gives us a picture of two different routes people are on today, we will look at these two ways.
Observation Number 1# Ye---
Even though Jesus is talking to the multitudes, the decision is individual and personal. Many in the crowd felt because they were of Jewish heritage they got a free ticket to heaven. But Jesus says, this decision is personal, choose you this day whom you will serve.
You choose for yourself—no one can make that decision for you. When we stand before God, we stand alone. We give account for our lives.
Observation Number 2# few
It seems that Jesus is saying, it is much easier to live for yourself than live for God. It is easier to go with the flow, than to swim upstream. It is easier to enter into hell, than to go to heaven. So if the way you are going is easy, you might be on the wrong road, if the road you are on is hard, you are on the right road. That is why any preacher telling you that serving God is all blessing, easy street, a walk through the park, is lying. Because Jesus is the Truth, and He says, the hardest way is the best way.
Observation 3# many
Many are choosing the wrong way. This is sad, this means more people reject Christ and His teaching than those who will accept Christ and His teaching.
Many—billions of people live in this world, and Jesus says, many of them will choose the wrong way. Because it’s easier, because there is acceptance, because if everyone is doing something, it must be right.
Observation 4# find
The way is straight, the way is narrow, and you must go looking for it—only when you seek after God with all your heart will you find him. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
You won’t ever find what you’re not looking for!
Observation 5# life or destruction
This is serious stuff—Jesus gives the consequences of choices—we live in a world that says, we don’t want any consequences for our choices—but with Jesus Christ, He tells it like it is: one way or the other—
Life—this is heaven, or eternal life or everlasting life with Christ—what a wonderful thought, what a wonderful opportunity, you make the right choice, you get the right results.
Destruction: here it is, we live with this choice for all time.
Ill) this is worse than getting a zonk on let’s make a deal
This is worse than hitting a bankrupt on wheel of fortune
If we take the worst thing that ever happened to us, times it by a million or two, it doesn’t compare with the word, destruction.
Close: we live in a world with millions of choices: that is why many say, there’s hundreds of roads to God. Here is a list of those roads:
Be a good person and you get in
Don’t hurt anybody
It doesn’t matter what you believe, only that you believe
Make a lot of charitable contributions
Have people pray for you after you die
Get in touch with nature
Get in touch with your inner self
Repeat prayers over and over
Repeat church liturgies over and over
And we could list a million more:
But Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.
One Way or The Other—choose…..
