Jesus, The Only Path
Paths: Many Paths but Only One Way • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 53:40
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The question we have been exploring this past three weeks has been this.Is there more than one way which can lead to eternal life? Many believe so, including 57% within the evangelical church!
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Jesus describes the two ways: the broad way which leads to destruction, and the narrow way that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14).
The broad way is easy, it is spacious. Tolerance is its password; its watchwords are diversity, permissiveness and synchronism; its mottoes are “come as you are and remain as you are”, “do what you want, follow your own inclinations.” It is ‘the way of the ungodly’ (cf. Psalm 1:6) and leads to death.
6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The narrow way is that which is taken by those who have had the righteousness of Christ imputed to them (2 Corinthians 5:21).
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
They are called ‘the righteous’ in Psalm 1:6. We cannot take this way unless we are born again (John 3:3), our eyes set upon Jesus (Hebrews 12:2),
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
People pass through the wide gate with ease: in fact they crowd through without much difficulty. The narrow gate is more of an obstacle: We pass through as individuals, each with our own testimony.
There are two different paths, one is broad the other in narrow. One leads to life the other to death.
The one that leads to death many find that path and the said truth about it is that that many are found in churches across our own country to this day.
Look what Jesus says right after Matthew 7:13-14
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Jesus warns against false teachers (Matthew 7:15-20).
They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are clergy, leaders within the church who are leading the masses to their own spiritual destruction.
Jesus warns us that there will be false prophets in the last days (Matthew 24:11; Matthew 24:24).
1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
These are the days in which we live. These false teachers lurk around our doors, and the doors of our churches (cf. 2 John 1:10).
10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him;
The false teachers are not always obvious: they may wear clerical collars - or not. They may seem to subscribe to the right creeds, carry their Bibles, be civil and polite and all.
Then Jesus, changing the analogy from wolves to trees, twice tells us that we will “know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16; Matthew 7:20).
But what are these fruits?
Well, Jesus equates fruitfulness with Christ-likeness (cf. John 15:5).
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
The branch is attached to Jesus, the true Vine, and brings forth much fruit in the exercise of His grace and the performance of good works. A true minister must surely possess and demonstrate “the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-23).
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
A true minister of the gospel, too, must be judged by his teaching. Jesus repeats the analogy in Matthew 12:33-34
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
and adds ‘by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned’ (Matthew 12:37).
37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
In the end false teachers, unless they repent, will be with those who are finally rejected in Matthew 7:21-23.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
There are many roads or paths that lead down a road to destruction but in my opinion the most frightening path of all is the one many are traveling today because they are following the words of a false teacher when it comes to their version of the gospel.
What did Jesus and His apostles say about the path to salvation, the way to eternal life?
THERE IS ONLY ONE PATH TO SALVATION
1. According to Jesus
1. According to Jesus
24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
2. According to the apostles
2. According to the apostles
12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
IF THERE ARE SEVERAL PATHS THEN...
1. Jesus lied.
2. His apostles lied.
3. Jesus would have died in vain.
If we profess to be Christians, then we must believe that there is only one path to salvation, and that is through Jesus!
Let's review the true gospel plan of salvation, the path to salvation.
THE WAY...
THE WAY...
1. Hear the good news (Romans 10:17, Acts 10:42)
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
42 And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead.
2. Believe in Jesus (John 3:16, 1 John 4:9, Ephesians 1:7)
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
3. Repent of sins (Acts 17:30, Luke 13:3)
30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
4. Confess Christ as Lord (Matthew 10:32, Romans 10:9)
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
A doctrine that teaches any other way others than the gospel I just shared with you is a false teaching. Don’t be fooled trust Christ place your faith in Him and the work He did for you on the cross and you will experience eternal life.