There Is A Way

Illus: After a long illness, a woman died and arrived at the Gates of Heaven. When Saint Peter came by, the woman said to him "This is such a wonderful place! How do I get in?" "You have to spell a word,” Saint Peter told her. "Which word?" the woman asked. "Love." The woman correctly spelled "Love" and Saint Peter welcomed her into Heaven.

About six months later, Saint Peter came to the woman and asked her to watch the Gates of Heaven for him that day. While the woman was guarding the Gates of Heaven, her husband arrived. "I'm surprised to see you," the woman said. "How have you been?" "Oh, I've been doing pretty well.”

• "After you died I married the beautiful young nurse who took care of you while you were ill.

• And then I won the ten million dollar lottery.

• I sold the little house you and I lived in and bought a big mansion.

• Then my wife and I traveled all around the world.

• We were on vacation and I went water skiing today. I fell, the ski hit my head, and here I am.

• How do I get in?"

• "You have to spell a word", the woman told him.

• "Which word?" her husband asked.

• "Czechoslovakia"

Anyone that knows anything about the Bible, knows we do not get to heaven by spelling a word.

HOW DO WE GET TO HEAVEN? There is an old saying, “All roads lead to Rome.” But this is not true when it comes to finding your way to heaven.

Still, we have all kinds of people who are reaching this conclusion. In man’s effort to find a way to heaven, they think that one religion is as good as another.

Illus: An ancient Hindu story tells about five blind men who were brought to see an elephant. They all touched the elephant and came to different conclusions as to what the elephant was.

• The first man said, "This is a wall,” as he touched the side of the elephant.

• The second man touched the elephants tusk and said, “This is a spear!”

• The third man, taking the elephant’s squirming trunk in hand, said, "This is a snake."

• The fourth man, stretching his arms about one of the legs, concluded, "This is a tree."

When men are blind, they draw all kinds of bad conclusions.

When men are spiritually blind, they come up with all kinds of bad conclusions about getting to heaven.

The Bible clearly teaches that the only road that leads to heaven is paved with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. When it comes to how we get to heaven from here, let me show you some things from God’s Word.

I need to start by telling you –

I. HOW NOT TO GET TO HEAVEN

Notice, in our text, the Bible says there is, “…a way WHICH SEEMETH RIGHT UNTO A MAN.” But man’s way does not lead to salvation but to spiritual death.

If you ask someone how to get to heaven, you can get some dumb directions. There are a lot of directions today that do not make sense. Have you ever taken the time to read the directions on some of the products we buy?

Illus: Here are some actual label instructions on consumer products:

• On a helmet mounted mirror, used by US cyclists - “REMEMBER, OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE ACTUALLY BEHIND YOU.”

• In some countries, on the bottom of Coke bottles - “OPEN OTHER END.”

• On a Sears hairdryer - “DO NOT USE WHILE SLEEPING.”

• On a bag of Fritos - “YOU COULD BE A WINNER! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. DETAILS INSIDE.”

• On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding - “PRODUCT WILL BE HOT AFTER HEATING.”

• On a Korean kitchen knife - “WARNING KEEP OUT OF CHILDREN.”

• On a string of Chinese-made Christmas lights - “FOR INDOOR OR OUTDOOR USE ONLY.”

• On an American Airlines packet of nuts - “INSTRUCTIONS - OPEN PACKET, EAT NUTS.”

• On a Swedish chainsaw - “DO NOT ATTEMPT TO STOP CHAIN WITH YOUR HANDS.”

• On a child's superman costume - “WEARING OF THIS GARMENT DOES NOT ENABLE YOU TO FLY.”

• On packaging for a Rowenta iron - “DO NOT IRON CLOTHES ON BODY.”

• On Nytol sleep aid - “WARNING MAY CAUSE DROWSINESS.”

Sometimes directions can be confusing even for smart people.

Illus: Suppose you come to a four way intersection and there are four roads you can take. Suppose each road has a traffic policeman telling us to go in their direction. Would that not be confusing? Of course it would!

There are literally hundreds of religions today claiming they are the way to heaven. THIS CAN BE CONFUSING!