The Way
Many times when we are out here witnessing at St. Louis and Jefferson and we see someone driving the wrong way down Jefferson. It happened last Friday. Even though there is the way that is right, the right way to go on the one-way street, some people inevitably go the wrong way. They end up going against the traffic.
Pastor Joshua and I were witnessing downtown a couple of weeks ago and a driver pulled out of a parking lot and drove the wrong way down the one-way street. Thankfully, the other drivers saw what was going on and they stopped and let the driver going the wrong way, turn toward the square and get off the street.
Most of us understand that there is a right and a wrong way to drive. Just like there is a right and wrong way to conduct business. There is a right and a wrong way to treat people. We make choices all the time where we have to choose right from wrong. Even though in today’s culture people like to think there are many truths, this just isn’t true. Truth is truth and a lie is a lie. Right is right and wrong is wrong.
Only One Way To Heaven
Tonight, I want to talk about the way. There is only one way to Heaven and it is the Way. Before the apostle Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, he actually persecuted Christians. He was against the Christian way. The Bible even calls the way of Christianity – the Way.
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem (Acts 9:1-2). Before Paul’s conversion, his name was Saul and he was heading all the way from Jerusalem to Damascus to bring Christians back to Jerusalem to put them in prison. He was persecuting the Way.
Isaiah 40:3-5 gives us the prediction of John the Baptist: A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
The Way We Should Go
The Apostle Paul persecuted Christianity, before he became a Christian. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry. John the Baptist called people to repent and believe in the coming Messiah.
Isaiah 48:17 states: Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. This verse is talking about Jesus Christ – the Redeemer, the Holy One. He is the one who leads us in the way we should go.
The apostle Paul persecuted the Way until he repented and submitted to King Jesus. John the Baptist pointed to the only way of salvation, to Jesus Christ the Lord, the Messiah, the Savior. Isaiah, through the power of the Holy Spirit predicted Jesus, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
I’m pointing these verses out tonight because Jesus is the only way of salvation. He is the Way, the only way to be saved from eternal damnation. Christ Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The Lord Jesus came to save His people from their sins. Oh tonight, I ask you: are you one of His people? Have you repented from your sins and surrendered your life to Jesus?
Are You Sure That You Are Saved?
Yes, you say? Are you sure? We are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Are you living for yourself or are you living for Christ Jesus? Why are you downtown tonight? Are you looking to glorify Jesus or are out here to satisfy the pleasures of the flesh? Jesus said that we would know His disciples by their fruit or by their works. Professing Christian, what is the fruit of your salvation?
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. Salvation is the free gift from God. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). You can’t work your way to Heaven. You can’t earn God’s favor by trying to do more good than bad.
No, salvation is of the Lord and again it is a free gift from God. But when God saves you, He changes you. He doesn’t leave you in the gutter, in the filth of your sins. God cleans you up if you are truly saved. He convicts you through the power of the Holy Spirit when you are living a life contrary to God. Make no mistake, God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. What God called sin thousands of years ago, He still calls sin today.
The Unrighteous Shall Not Inherit The Kingdom Of God
Do not be deceived, the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Oh folks, do not be deceived tonight, the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. No sexually immoral person means no sexually immoral person. No thief means no thief. No drunkard means no drunkard. If you are walking by tonight and you are counting on a one-time prayer or a one-time religious experience to get you to Heaven, you are counting on the wrong thing. Do not be deceived. A saved life is a changed life.
Professing Christian, has God changed your life? Are you a new creature in Christ? Has God taken away your selfish desires and given you His godly desires? His ways are not our ways. Oh, but when you are truly saved, when you have been justified or made right with God through the Way, the only way of salvation – Jesus Christ our Lord, God then starts sanctifying you.
Does God Convict You Over Your Sins?
Again, this is where God convicts you over your sins. If you are still the same old dirty, rotten sinner that you were before you came to Jesus, then you are still the same old dirty, rotten sinner that you have always been. This doesn’t mean that you are perfect after you are truly born-again. It doesn’t mean that you will become sinless in this life. We are not out here preaching sinless perfectionism.
No, you don’t become sinless when you surrender your life to Jesus, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, you should sin less than you did before. Unsaved people aren’t concerned over their sins. God chastises those He loves. When a Christian goes astray, God punishes or corrects them, just like a loving parent corrects their child when they disobey. The Holy Spirit convicts us when we sin against our Holy, righteous God.
Are you truly saved? Do you know the only Way of salvation? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6). Do you know the Lord? Have you repented and put your faith in Jesus Christ? Are you trusting in Christ alone for your salvation?
Enter In At The Narrow Way
Jesus said enter in at the narrow way. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14). Oh, are you going the right way spiritually tonight? Jesus is the Way, is He your Savior? Is Jesus your Lord? Have you truly submitted to King Jesus? Are you living for the Lord or living for yourself?
Again, a saved life is a changed life. The apostle Paul put Christians in prison. He was there cheering the Jews on when they stoned Christians to death. But please listen to the rest of Paul’s conversion in Acts 9:1-5: But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Who Are You Lord?
Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
In the presence of the risen Lord, Paul fell to the ground. He also called Jesus Lord. Paul thought that he was doing God’s work; he thought he was being a good Jew by persecuting the Way, holding on to tradition. He thought he was doing good works. But you can’t work your way to Heaven. You must do like Paul, and recognize your shortcomings. For all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23).
The Only Way Of Salvation
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). Oh tonight, recognize that you are a sinner, that you have rebelled against God. Cry out for God to have mercy upon you. Repent from your sins and surrender your life fully and completely to the Lord Jesus Christ. Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
There is only one way of salvation; Jesus is the Way. The way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, the only way for your sins to be forgiven in through Christ alone. The narrow way is of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only Savior of mankind.
Come to Jesus tonight and be saved. Stop running from God. Confess your sins to God and put your trust in Jesus Christ. Do this tonight and be saved. Truly repent from your sins and surrender your life, fully and completely to King Jesus. Bow your knee, confess with your tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Then go out and tell others that Jesus is the Way, the only way of salvation. Plead with lost souls to repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Point others to the only Savior – Jesus. Obey the Lord Jesus. He commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). That’s what my brothers in Christ and I are doing tonight. We are pleading with you to repent and trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior because He is the Way, the only way of salvation.
(A rough draft of this message was proclaimed in downtown Springfield, MO on March 22, 2019)