MATTHEW 7:13-14 “DESTRUCTION OR LIFE; THE CHOICE IS YOURS”
A) The Bible speaks here of two ways ... We refer to them as “roads, roads of life!”
* One road is called “neglect,” which leads to destruction! * Heb. 2:3 “How shall we escape ...”
* The other is called “the highway of holiness,” which leads to eternal life.
* Every person in this world is traveling on one of these roads!
* Neglect is a sure route to hell; the highway of holiness is a sure route to life eternal, heaven!
* Heb. 12:14 “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.”
B) You can’t travel these two roads at the same time! * I-85 and I-26 .......
* You’re either on your way to heaven or on your way to hell.
* Before I get into the two destinies, I want us to look at something in the Word of God.
* Mark 8:36-37 “For what ...” * The value of one soul is worth much more than all the world!
* However, maybe you can get some idea of the value of your soul by considering three certain
Bible facts .......
(1) THE SOUL IS ETERNAL! * Ecc. 12:5 “... because man goeth to his long home ...”
* When the body dies, the man goes to another world to be there a long, long time!
* Today, you may place a pistol to your temple and blow your brains out ... That will kill the body!
* But the one living inside you will go right on existing somewhere!
A) You may string yourself up by the neck, the body will die, but you will move to another world!
* You can’t get rid of yourself ... You couldn’t go out of existence if you wanted to!
* You are here whether you like it or not ... You will be on being whether you like it or not!
* You didn’t create yourself ... You can’t cease to be!
* You may not like it, but you are gonna be around forever!
B) Someone says, “Where were you 2000 years ago? * I wasn’t anywhere ... There was no “I.”
* This person, Bo Dunford, didn’t exist ... There was a time when I was not!
* When Jesus was born over 2000 years ago, I wasn’t! * When Columbus sailed the ocean blue, I
wasn’t! * When the revolutionary war was fought, I wasn’t!
* When they fought the civil war, I wasn’t ... When they fought WWI and WWII, I wasn’t
* But Feb. 4, 1958, I discovered America, and they will never do anything else when I’ll no be!
C) From now on, I’ll be hanging around whatever happens! * Forever ... Eternity is a long time!
* And if I must live forever, I want to live in a good world ... That world is heaven!
* When the moon has turned to blood ... Stars fallen from the skies ... And this earth has burned
to ashes, you’ll be somewhere!
* This makes your soul your only, most valuable possession ... Don’t lose it!
(2) HEAVEN IS REAL! * John 14:2-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God .......”
* Jesus gave this certain promise that heaven is a real place, and you may go there to be with Him!
* If Christ has prepared a place for you, he must consider you of great value!
A) This wonderful world may be yours 100 years from now ... 1000 years ... 10,000 years ...
* You do believe there is a heaven, don’t you? * I mean a real heaven, not an imaginary dream!
* It’s not a fantasy world with ghosts floating around in space, going nowhere and doing nothing!
* Some of these smart liberals say, “Heaven is not so much going somewhere, it is being
something. * Sometimes their logic overwhelms me!
B) How can a man be something without having somewhere to be!
* You can’t be something nowhere ... Where’s nowhere anyhow? * There’s no such place as
nowhere! * If you go to nowhere, you’d be somewhere!
* And if you’re anywhere, you’re somewhere ... Everywhere is somewhere, there is no nowhere!
* If I’m gonna be anything in eternity, I must go somewhere to be something .......
* And that somewhere is heaven ... It is a real place!
C) “How do you know there’s a heaven?” someone asks, “You’ve never been there!”
* There are many places I’ve never been! * I’ve never been to London, England ... Paris, France ...
* Rome, Italy ... Germany ... But I believe these places exist!
* “Yea, but somebody came back from there and told you.”
* I believe there’s a planet named Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
* Now, nobody came back from there and told me that they exist! * (Green men from mars)
* Somewhere in the midst of those whirling worlds is one called heaven!
* It’s real ... It’s built by God’s own hand ... It’s prepared for the saved!
D) Next: not only is heaven real, it is wonderful!
* The beauty and brilliance would blind our eyes! * There’s a city in it that has jasper walls .......
* Gates of pearl ... Ivory palaces ... Streets of pure gold ...
* It has a river clear as crystal running through the midst!
E) The Son of God lights the entire city with glory and splendor!
* There’s no night there ... No clouds in the sky ... No sorrow, no tears, no pain, no death .......
* There’s laughter and singing echoing up and down its streets forever!
* And here’s the good part ... You may go there if you wish to!
* There’s a third thing that makes your soul valuable .......
(3) HELL IS A CERTAINTY! * Somewhere in outer darkness, there’s another world named hell!
* It is so far from God that His voice is never heard ... So far from the sun that no light ever shines!
* Its oceans and rivers are running liquid fires ... Its torments are indescribable!
A) It is the only alternative for the soul who misses heaven! * You do believe in hell, don’t you?
* I mean a real, literal hell, not just a nightmare or a bad dream!
* Not just a sermon preached by a preacher to scare somebody!
* I’m talking about the kind of hell that Jesus preached!
B) Some people come to the preacher and say, “Why don’t you preach like Jesus?”
* That’s a good suggestion ... And I’ll agree that few preachers preach like Jesus!
* But what they mean is that they want a soft sounding, easy going, back scratching, ear tickling,
conscience soothing sermon with no sting of conviction!
* They want to live in their lusts and sins with no rebuke!
* If that’s what you mean, don’t ask the preacher to preach like Jesus!
C) Read His sermons before you bring up the subject! * Read Matt. 23 sometime ... v.33 ...
* How many preachers do you know who’ll look down into the faces of their congregation .......
* And point a bold finger of accusation and say, “You lowdown, dirty, filthy bunch of snakes?”
* How many? * Now I don’t intend to exaggerate the subject of hell!
* I don’t ask you to take my opinions, illustrations, nor conclusions.
D) I simply turn your attention to what Jesus said about hell! * Matt. 5:22 ...
* This makes it clear that there is a hell ... It has fire in it, and people are in danger of going there!
* Matt. 5:29-30 ... There is a hell ... It has fire in it ... Those in hell are cast with their whole body!
* Matt. 13:40-42; 49-50 ... * Then in Mark 9:43-46 is a terrible description of physical misery!
* Jesus said, “Better were it for you to lay your hand on a block, and with the other hand, lift a
clever, and crushing and smashing the bones, sever the flesh .......”
* “And chop off the hand at the wrist, and leave a bloody, dripping nub, than to go to hell when
you die.” * Same thing about the foot .......
E) He said, “It would be better for you to pluck the eyeball from its socket in the skull .......”
* “And dangle it dripping with blood on your cheekbone, than to go to hell when you die.”
* My friend, you do not want to go to hell and be lost forever!
CLOSE:
A) Upon considering these facts ... One: You must exist forever .......
* Two: Heaven is a real place and may be your home ...
* Three: Hell is the certain alternative for you who are lost ... How much is your soul worth to you?
* Lose everything in your life, but don’t lose your soul ... It is all you have!
B) 1000 years from now every one of you will be walking down the golden streets of heaven .......
* Or you will be weeping, wailing and gnashing your teeth in hell fire!
* This is your destiny ... Your eternity ... Your soul to lose!
* Will you trust your soul to Jesus right now that it may be saved?
