WHICH ROAD ARE YOU TRAVELING?
How many of you can remember that little song that goes like this:
You take the high road and I’ll take the low road, and I’ll get to town before you.
For such a little song that has such a simple meaning on the surface, it certainly carries a tremendous weight of significance when we look at the destiny that awaits those who choose to take these separate paths.
The “high road” leads to “heavenly places in Christ” and a life that is rich in joy, satisfaction and true meaning. It is a life that comes to an end as we enter Heaven’s gates, ushered in by the Holy angels of God and we come face to face with Jesus, our Lord and Savior. What a wonderful destiny for those who love God and walk in His way!
On the other hand, those who choose the low road also have a final destiny that will be reached in due time. That highway is called the “Highway to Hell”.
In 1979 a heavy metal rock band called AC/DC wrote a song by this same title. AC/DC was a popular group that identified with the lesbian and homosexual crowd that was just beginning to flaunt its sin before the nation. The words of that song show exactly what the mental and spiritual condition of those are who walk that way. It’s a song that has had a resurgence in the American Rock scene through a “Shock Rocker” by the name of Marilyn Manson who is a young man who cross dresses, puts on death masks and whose songs have mostly to do with death and blood, along with a lot of other themes to terrible to mention.
Livin’ easy, lovin’ free;
Season ticket on a one way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be;
Taking everything in my stride (??)
Don’t need reason, don’t need rime;
Ain’t nothing I would rather do
Going down, for a time;
My friends are gonna be there too
I’m on the highway to hell
No more stop signs, speed limit;
Nobody’s gonna slow me down
Like a wheel gonna spin it;
Nobody’s gonna mess me around
Hey Satan, paid my dues;
I’m playing in a rockin’ band
Hey Mamma, look at me;
I’m on the way to the promised land
I’m on the highway to hell
Don’t stop me
I’m on the highway to hell;
And I’m going down all the way
I’m on the highway to hell
In Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 we read these words, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
God also gives us a warning to those, like AC/DC and Marilyn Manson, who would shake their fists in His face and dare God to interfere in their riotous living.
Ecclesiastes 11:9, "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment."
Go ahead, all who desire to live according to the desires of the flesh. Take the low road, live for the devil, rejoice in your strength and youth, be your own cheer leader, live the way you want to, enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season, revel in your party life, enjoy sipping your suds, let your mind and body be possessed by the wild side of life, the power of your music and the influence of your wild friends, but don’t be surprised when you can’t turn back and your life is possessed by demonic spirits that you can’t drive away.
Travel far and travel fast on that “Highway to Hell” and rush headlong into judgment and the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone – but understand this – God sees it all and there is coming a reckoning day.
Those who travel this highway are often heard to repeat the words that we read in the song lyrics, “Going down, for a time; My friends are gonna be there too”.
Let me warn you, on God’s Holy Word, that you won’t be going there for a party time, you will be going there for an eternal punishment, not a party. And it won’t be for a time, it will be for an eternity. And as far as friends are concerned, there will be no “friends” in hell, only other tormented souls filled with hate for everyone and everything that led them to that terrible place. You will have no friends in the fire, ever!
God has not seen fit to bring Marilyn Manson to judgment yet. He still has life and the outside chance that , somehow, the gospel will come to him and he will turn from the ways of darkness to walk the path to glory. We can only pray that this will happen for his soul’s sake.
Bon Scott, the founder of AC/CD drank himself to death just a few years after the band had begun to gain worldwide recognition. I wonder if he would sing “Highway to Hell” with such enthusiasm today? I wonder if he would change his ways if he were given another chance? But you see, that is the real crux of the matter. There is no second chance for him or for anyone who travel the low road to Hell. There is no coming back! There is no place for repentance! There is no escape, ever!
Something that we need to realize is that it is not just those who flaunt their sin before God, worship the devil, booze it up, or exist on drugs who are taking the low road. Those are only obvious travelers on the Highway to Hell.
There are a lot of people who are traveling that highway and they don’t even realize where they are going because everything seems to be just fine for them. They are fine, upstanding citizens. They attend church every week. They love their families and support them. They volunteer in commendable charity work. They give of their time, finances and energy to try to help better mankind. They go to work every day and come home every night faithfully. They have high moral standards. They don’t drink alcoholic beverages. They abstain from most of the worldly pleasures. They are praised as being good people by everyone who knows them.
All of these things are wonderful and commendable, but the fact is that many of these same people are traveling the same Highway to Hell that AC/DC and Marilyn Manson are traveling and singing about.
Proverbs 5:21-23, "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray."
Proverbs 16:2, "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits."
Lest we forget, it is not the goodness of man that will be his ticket into the realms of Heaven. The only way in is through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and through his precious blood.
God sees all that we do but he looks much deeper than WHAT we are doing. God also knows WHY we do what we do. He looks upon the heart and into the very soul of man. Our good deeds are not impressive to God unless they are done with a heart of love toward God and man and in obedience to his Word.
One thing that this scripture says is that it is not God who condemns us, but it our own sin that binds us and condemns us. Sin that is bound in our hearts acts as a strong rope or a cable to keep us in guilt. If we refuse to hear the voice of the Lord as He calls us to repentance; if we fail to heed to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and if we deny the Word of the Lord and don’t allow it to teach us and turn us from our sinful ways, we are being a fool and we will die without God.
Why do so many continue to play the fool and take the low road when God has promised us such a wonderful life and a joyous eternal reward if we will just take the High Road, the Highway to Heaven?
Proverbs 16:3, "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."
Notice that we are told to commit our WORKS unto the Lord. The good things that we do should be done as though we were doing them unto the Lord.
Sometimes, in fact many times, pastors must also work on a job just like everyone else. I have read estimates that say that as many as 70% of all the churches in the U. S. are pastured by bi-vocational pastors.
I don’t regret having to do so because it keeps me in tune with what’s going on outside the walls of the church. My job entails going into the schools of one of our state’s largest school systems and, believe me, you can get an education without ever being enrolled as a student and sitting in front of a teacher. What I learn by watching and listening to our youth as they walk down the hallways or out on the campus grounds is a lot more important than what they are learning in the classroom. In many ways, that education that I am continually receiving makes me a better pastor even though there are many opportunities for ministry that I cannot do due to the time limitations. I have discovered that most people really don’t care if you visit them or call them every week, or bother them if they are absent for any reason. They just want a pastor who will be there when they really need him and a pastor who will teach and preach the truth to them.
But I am a public servant at this job and we all know what kind of attitudes we find with most public servants. Most of them don’t act like servants but masters and lords over those they are there to serve. It’s like they want us to serve them instead.
I’ve read the signs in the Post Office that say, “We are your servants. It is our pleasure to serve you.” I’ve read them, but all too often, I don’t see the employees living up to that slogan.
The hardest thing to do, as a public servant, is maintain the right attitude as a servant. I have to constantly be on guard against becoming unreachable and uncaring. I hope that I am being successful and I’ve often heard teachers, principles and librarians say that it is good to actually have someone who will return a call and to care whether the schools get what they need so I think it’s working.
What is the best way to keep the right attitude? Do all that you do as unto the Lord. Commit your work to Him! Jesus said that if we were to help even the least among His children then we have do it unto Him. Never forget that you are placed on this earth to be a servant, not a king! Your time for ruling and reigning with Christ will come in that great day when we all enter Heaven’s gates, but until then we are servants, both of Jesus and of our fellowman.
Right now the powers that God has put in place over us, are trying to privatize our jobs. Many have developed a “don’t care” mentality. Why should they work for someone who doesn’t care whether they are there or not? Why should I care about doing a good job when no one recognizes what I do? That’s the way they think.
But we, as Christians, should never have that kind of attitude. It doesn’t matter whether another man sees what you do or gives you praise. What matters is that God sees what we are doing and our reward is with Him, not with man. We should always do the best we can, under any and every circumstance, because we doing it as unto the Lord.
Psalms 37:23-26, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed."
The Highway to Heaven is not a highway that we chance upon. God gives each of us a special time and a special invitation to walk in the ways of righteousness.
When we accept Christ and give our lives into His hands, we immediately must begin to walk that High Road to Heaven.
There is a little song we sing that says:
It’s a Highway to Heaven, none can walk up there, but the pure in Heart. It’s a Highway to Heaven – We’re walking up the King’s Highway!
Walking the High Road means that every step you make in life is ordered by the Lord. God looks down at the life that you live and it makes Him happy, joyous and delighted to see the life you live.
This kind of reminds me of when the devil went before the Father in Heaven and God began to brag about Job. Job led a life of faith and trust in God and God had watched every move that Job made, just like He watches over you and I. WE are the “apple of his eye” and he is ever present.
God orders your every step! He leads you all along the way! He is ever there to help you and to guide you as you walk the High Road. Surely you will trip from time to time. You might even fall into the ditch every so often. You may even take a wrong turn onto a side road for a little while, but God always sees fit to bring you back to High Road if you want him to.
David had lived a life of failures, taking the wrong road, tripping at every corner. He did things in his life that I have never done and most of you haven’t either. Isn’t it comforting to know that if God can bring David back to the High Road that He can do the same for us tool?
God will never forsake us! We will never be left begging for the necessities of life! He is merciful, loving and ever ready to “lend”, or to give of himself for our sakes and to join us to him in victory.
Right now I just want to admonish you all to continue walking in the High Road, the King’s Highway and that Highway to Heaven. Keep walking and your eternal destiny is set in Glory with Jesus. What a wonderful future you have, just waiting on the other side!
But for those who are still trying to decide whether to take the Low road or the High road, you are in what the Bible calls, “the valley of decision”.
The decision you make today will determine which Highway you will travel and ultimately which destiny will await you at the end of life’s journey.
Why not decide right now to get on that Highway to Heaven! Jesus is beckoning you to come to him and give your life and your heart to him. Let’s walk the Highway to Heaven together. You will really find a lot of true friends there.
Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording, including sermon titles, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these sermons. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and/or quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
