Sermon Tone Analysis
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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED
*TEXT: Matthew 7:13‑14*
*INTRODUCTION:* Are most people going to heaven?
Well, most people think they are.
According to researcher, George Barna, 98% of Americans believe they are going to heaven.
When read the statement, "When you die you will not go to heaven," only two out of a hundred agreed.
The Lord Jesus disagreed.
He said, "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.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
(Mt.
7:13‑14)
There are two road you can travel in this world.
One road leads to destruction, the other road leads to life.
There are two groups who can travel one road or the other.
There are the many and there are the few; there is the majority and there is the minority.
Jesus said the majority take the road to destruction, while the minority takes the road to life.
Most people take the low road to hell, while few people take the high road to heaven.
The reason why heaven is the road less traveled, is because only the "few" make the decision to take that road.
Jesus explains why the Highway to Heaven is the road less traveled.
! I. THERE IS A DECEPTION THAT APPEALS TO MOST PEOPLE
!! A. There is a road that is both big and broad.
!!! 1.
It is easy to travel and it has plenty of room.
!!! 2. Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it."
(v.13)
!!! 3. The vast majority of people in this world stay on the road and they love it.
!! B. It is an easy road to travel.
!!! 1.
It has few rules, few requirements, few restrictions.
!!!! a) It is an inclusive road.
!!!! b) The homosexual travels this road.
The adulterer travels this road.
The pornographer travels this road.
The drunkard travels this road.
The fornicator travels this road.
!! C. It is an indulgent road.
!!! 1. Anything goes and anyone is welcome.
!!! 2. Sin is tolerated, truth is moderated, acceptance is elevated.
!! D. This is the road for people who believe in anything, or believe in nothing.
!!! 1.
They believe one way of life is just as good as another.
!!! 2. They believe that one religion is just as equally valuable as another.
!!! 3. They believe that all roads lead to God if there is a God.
!! E. It would surprise you who is included in the crowd called "many."
!!! 1. Atheists, agnostics, humanists, communists, Jews, Gentiles, blacks, whites now the list may get very surprising not only bad people, but also good people:
!!! 2. Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics, Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and anyone else who has never been born again and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.
!!! 3. Remember Jesus is talking about the majority.
!!!! a) The majority doesn't rule, the majority ruins.
!!!! b) If you go the way of the crowd, you won't go to heaven.
!!!! c) Because most people are not going to heaven.
!!!! d) The strange thing is that most people think they are on the High Road to Heaven when really they are on the Low Road to Hell.
One of the most fascinating creatures in the animal kingdom is the Lemming.
A Lemming is a rodent, a little animal, and they have a habit that is very strange.
Lemmings begin to go on a journey.
They start traveling in a certain direction headed toward the sea.
They go over mountains, they swim across rivers, they go through marshes, they go through woods and valleys and dales, until finally they get to the ocean.
Do you know what they do when they get to the sea?
They jump into that water, swim as far as they can, and drown.
!!!! e) The vast majority of people in this world are just like the Lemmings.
!!!! f) They are doing everything they can to get to the good life; building, battling, and buying, trying to get ahead, and all the while they are headed for a sea of death.
*/Proverbs 14:12/*/ There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
/
!! F. Jesus was telling the truth.
He was giving a warning, just as I'm giving a warning right now.
If you are not on the road marked Grace, and you are not driving in the vehicle called Faith in Jesus Christ, you are on the wrong road headed away from God.
An agnostic made an appointment one time to see a pastor.
He walked into the pastor's office and said, "I have a deep philosophical question."
The pastor said, "What is it?"
He said, "Where is hell?"
Expecting a long theological dissertation, the pastor simply said, "At the end of a Christless life."
If you don't believe that, you are following the same deception that appeals to most people.
!
II.
THERE IS A DIRECTION THAT ATTRACTS SOME PEOPLE /"Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
*(v.14)*/
!! A. Jesus said that the gate that leads to life is "narrow."
!!! 1.
The Greek word is stenos which literally means, "to groan" because of being under tremendous pressure.
!!! 2. It was a word that was used to represent a constriction.
!! B. Because the gate is so narrow, you can only get through it empty‑handed.
!!! 1.
You can't bring anything with you.
!!! 2. If you're going to enter into this gate, you've got to leave your pride, your prestige, and your position behind.
!!! 3. In effect, you've got to go through this gate stark naked.
Why?
Because the gate is Jesus.
!! C. The question is not "What is the way to heaven?"
The question is "Who is the way to heaven?"
*/John 10:9,/*/ I am the door.
If anyone enters by me he will be saved/
!!! 1. Jesus doesn't need anything that you can bring, whether it is money or morals, in order to put you on the Highway to Heaven.
!!! 2. On the other hand, He wants everything you've got.
!!! 3. That is why Jesus goes on to say that not only is the gate "narrow" but "the way is difficult."
!!!! a) Christianity is simple, but it is not easy.
!!!! b) You don't have to pay anything for salvation, but on the other hand, salvation will cost you everything that you have.
!! D. In salvation we give Jesus all that we are, and He then gives us all that He is.
!!! 1.
He gives us far more and far better than we give Him.
!!!! a) We give Him our sin, He gives us salvation;
!!!! b) We give Him our rags, He gives us a robe;
!!!! c) We give Him our problems, He gives us peace;
!!!! d) We give Him failure, He gives us forgiveness;
!!!! e) We give Him losses, He gives us love.
!! E. The reason few people enter this gate is not because the gate is too small, but people are too big.
!!! 1. Jesus one time said that in order to enter into the kingdom of God, you must "come as a little child." .
!!! 2. When you come to God as a sinner, He receives you as a saint.
But if you come to God as a saint, He will reject you as a sinner.
!! F. The gate to eternal life is Jesus, and He is the only gate that leads to heaven.
When a pilot is approaching an airfield, there are ground lights that tell that pilot where the runway is.
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