Matthew 7:13-14 - The Road Less Traveled | Pastor J | Christian Sermon

The importance of self-image and self-worth in spiritual growth

The dangers of false teachings that lead to destruction

The role of Jesus as the straight gate to heaven

The need to stand firm on biblical teachings despite popular opinions

Now, there is a book called The Road Less Traveled, okay? And The Road Less Traveled book is a spiritual classic. It combines scientific and religious views to help the reader grow by confronting problems, confronting their problems and solving their problems through discipline, love, and grace, which is a really cool thing. In the book, M. Scott Peck, medical doctor, M. Scott Peck, wrote these words, and I just wanted to share it with you. It says these words, until you value yourself, you will not value your time. And until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. Those are interesting words. Very interesting words. self-image is key sometimes I think for people some people don't have a good self-image they don't the term love themselves they look at themselves as well I'm not worthy of anything I don't have any worth to nobody nobody loves me but you know what somebody does love you Amen. Jesus loved you so much he died for you. God loved you so much that he sent Jesus to die for you. And you know what? Here in this place, if anybody here today has that feeling of, oh, I'm not loved, I want you to know this church loves you. Amen. We do. I'm going to tell you. I've been in some churches. Believe me, I've been in churches in my life. Because my dad was a preacher in my own life. and long before I was born. So I've been in many churches over my time. And I'm going to tell you, I've been in many churches where you did not feel loved. You felt despised, which is horrible. Now, I'm not calling out churches. Lord knows I'm not calling out. I won't tell them. I won't say the name of the church, but there was a church. I don't even say where it was who it was, whatever I'm not going to say anything like that but there was a church that had the name Welcome in it that was their name like we have Doran Western Church their church was called Welcome Church and let me tell you something that was the most unwelcoming church you would ever be in in your entire life. I've seen people walking in the door and would come in and people would like turn their hands so they didn't have to talk to one another. Most unwelcoming church I've ever seen in my life and I've been in a lot of churches. Now the thing is, that's what I'm saying today. I am so thankful that our little church, we really love one another. We really care for one another. Now, some of us may be like me. Some of you may be like me. You're not huggers. And right now, during COVID, you can't hug nobody anyway. But I'm saying it, a lot of people love to hug. You can't hug right now, but some of you may not be huggers, but I think we all love one another. We really do. We care. We care for one another. We pray for one another. And that's what I want to say today. If you don't feel loved by anybody, I want you to feel and know that you're loved by your family here. We love you. We care for you. We do pray for you. We really do. Now, the interesting thing is we all travel roads. We're always traveling on a road. Every single person travels a road. Christians travel a road less traveled and other people travel the road that is more heavily traveled. But I want to share with you something and that is this today. The road that you're traveling on, the road less traveled, is leading to something special. It really is. Sometimes when we're on this road it seems so difficult. there's bumps or potholes if you will along the way. Oh. Have you ever been in a... Oh, down here finally they fixed some potholes. Gee whiz. We have had potholes on this road up and down this street in here, I think for probably, it's been 10 years. I mean, they have not fixed those potholes for like 10 years. and finally we went out one day and we came back through and all potholes were filled and I went wow what happened funds finally came through and they fixed the potholes 10 years later I don't know but the road that we're on the spiritual road that we're on sometimes has potholes I mean we don't like them nobody wants to hit a bottle we hit a bottle and you sit there and you go it's like well there goes another visit to the mechanics you gotta get your car back and lined up again you know because so many bottles are so deep you sit there and you're you feel like the whole car fell apart but I mean it's terrible right and that's how we are in our spiritual life sometimes we're traveling this road and we hit the And we go oh my goodness And we down on the ground and we going oh I don know if I can make it I want to share with you today you can make it How can you make it? Because Jesus said, he would never leave us nor forsake us. And that's the point. Now let's start with the message, let's start with the verses today. It says these words, these are the words of Jesus, and it says this. Enter ye in at the strange gate. I like that. Enter ye in at the straight gate. This is, I love the term, the gate. The gate. What does the gate represent? The gate represents a doorway. Okay? What did Jesus say about the door? Well, John 10, 9, he said, I am the door. By me, if any man enters in, He shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Jesus is the straight gate. Jesus is the door. He's the way to heaven. That's the only way you're going to get there. You ain't going to get there any other way. Sorry to say it. He says, for wide is the gate and broad is the way which leads to destruction. A false teaching that came out many, many years ago is all roads lead to heaven. Wrong. Sorry. Sorry to disappoint you. That ain't going to work. If we sat there and believed that, that means there's no reason to believe there is a hell. and if there's no reason to believe there's a hell then there's no reason to live right and if there's no reason to live right then what do we do then you basically can go out and do whatever you want and if you can basically go out and do whatever you want then this world is going to be one terrible terrible horrible place to live you don't even want to go out your door because there would be no rules whatsoever people can just do whatever they want. I can just do whatever I want. It doesn't matter. But that's not true. All roads don't lead to heaven. Because if all roads lead to heaven, you know what that means? That means Stalin and Hitler are in heaven right now. Think about what I'm saying. Think about what this teaching says. All roads lead to heaven. That means Stalin and Hitler, two of the most wicked men that are along the face of the earth, sat there, and their road that they believed was right leads them to heaven. Think about it. That's what I'm trying to say. That's why this is a false teaching. We have many preachers and teachers right now in 2021, right now in this generation, that are preaching so many different false doctrines, and they're leading people astray because they don't want to lose people from coming from the church. Oh, we can't do that, so we've got to sit there and start telling them, oh, this is okay. Anything you do is okay. It doesn't matter. God loves you. He'll approve of whatever you're doing. That's not true. But they start preaching it that way. Now, let's be honest. You ain't never going to hear it here. And if you don't like it, well, that's too bad. I'm not going to change it. Why? Why am I not going to change it? Because if I'm going to stand before God someday, I'm going to give an account. If I start changing the message, if I start changing what this Bible says, and I start trying to change it to make you feel better, you know what's going to happen? When I stand before God, God's going to sit there and say, You know what? I gave you this book. I told you to preach it, and you started changing it. And He's going to say to me, Hey, I want you to give an account. And I won't have nothing to say. I don't have nothing to say That's why I can't change it That's why I have to do what it says I've got to say what it says I can't change it I love what it says in Ezekiel You may want to write these down These are pretty good references Ezekiel 13 and verse 9 Speaking of false teachers It says this Mine hand This is God speaking through Ezekiel Mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity and the divine lies. They shall not be in the assembly of my people. Neither shall they be written in the writings of the house of Israel. Neither shall they enter into the land of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord God. What was God saying here? God was saying these false teachers, these people that are changing the word of God, they are not my chosen people. They are not true believers and they are not entering into heaven. And thus, if you... Lord, you won't get me in trouble with somebody today. Okay. Okay. If you're going to a church, Maybe somebody's watching a video this morning If you're going to a church That's starting to teach All kinds of lies If you're going to a church That doesn't teach Genesis the Revelation Uncompromised You better run from that church And I mean today You better get out of there Because you cannot When you stand before God You're not going to be able to point a finger at your preacher You're not going to be able to point a finger at the preacher That's not going to work The buck stops there At you Because people will sit there There will be people probably And there may be people in heaven When they stand before God and say Well, but I'm a preacher And he's going to say But you have the word Why didn't you read it for yourself What does the Bible say? Study Study to show thyself approved. Study to make sure what you are hearing is the truth So if you in a church that not teaching the truth get out of there fast Because it's going to lead you astray. It's going to get you away from God. It is. He says that this way, the wide is the gate and the broad is the way, that leads to destruction. And what does he say here? and many there be which go in there out. Why does Satan continue to try to fight against God? If we believe that Satan knows that he's going to lose, why does Satan continue to do this? That's something that's puzzled people for many, many generations because people believe that, oh, well, Satan knows that he's going to lose, so why does he keep fighting God? Why does he keep trying to lead people astray? Why? Because I truly believe what Satan's goal is, is to take as many people away from God as he possibly can. I believe Satan knows he's going to lose. I believe that. I think Satan's not that stupid. I think Satan knows he's going to lose. But I think that Satan's goal is that if I can take as many people from God, that's a victory. Every single one I drag away from God, that's another victory. And the more I have, the less he has, and the better I like it, and the less he's not going to like it. You know? I really believe that's his goal. I really believe that with all my heart. And people are being led astray by Satan. you know the Bible says in John 4 verse 44 it says these words these prophets these false believers these false teachers it says you are of your father the devil and the lust of your father you will do he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him where he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his own. For he is a liar and the father of lies. Isn't that so true? Satan lied at the very beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden. You remember that? Sat there and said to Eve, oh, look at that beautiful piece of fruit. God just doesn't want you to eat it, not because that it's going to hurt you or harm you. He knows that when you eat that fruit, your eyes are going to be open and you're going to be like Him. And He doesn't want that. Was that true? No. It was a lie. He was lying from the very beginning. And I'm going to tell you, He's lying right now in this generation in 2021 when He tells people that, Oh, it doesn't matter the way you live. God loves you and He'll approve of whatever you want to do. He's still lying. to this day and age. Verse 14 says, Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads unto life. It's not going to be an easy path. Of course not. Maybe the road seems tough sometimes and you don't know if you can make it. I'm going to tell you. Just keep plugging along, holding on to God's hand, and He's going to get you through. That's the point. but what does it say in the concluding part of this verse? it says and few there be that find it you know many people my dad said this many many many years ago and I'll never forget it he said and I've said it many times but it's so true he said when we get to heaven we're going to be surprised who we see there and we won't be surprised who we don't see there and that's true and that's why I pray Lord, in all my faults and all my failures and all the times that I fail you, please, please, God, don't let me miss heaven. I know I don't hit the mark all the time. There are times I mess up. I still mess up to this day. I'm not perfect, man. I'm not a perfect Christian. I still mess up. But you know what? If God knows anything, he knows my heart and he knows that I don't want to miss heaven. I don't want to miss heaven. You know, if you listen to my radio show on Saturdays, I always have a final thought of the day. And yesterday's final thought of the day was something so special that I had to share it again. And it's simply this. Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. And that is so true. You get nothing else today. Get that. Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. We're on a difficult road. This road called life, it's difficult sometimes. Sometimes we get through pottles and we don't know if we're going to make it. But it's leading to a beautiful destination. It really is. I want to share with you just a couple things more. and we're going to clue this morning, but it's simply this. People that were on difficult roads were led to beautiful destinations. Paul was on the Damascus road when the light of God shone down upon him, knocked him off his horse. And he said, Who art thou Lord? He said, I am Jesus whom you persecute us. And Paul, on that Damascus road, saw Jesus. And he went from traveling the road of persecution to a road of blessing. One of my favorite characters in the Bible was Joseph. I'm not talking Joseph, the stepfather of Jesus. I'm talking Joseph in the Old Testament. Joseph sold into slavery by his own family sold out by his family Joseph is on the road into slavery and into jail But he never gave up on God in all this. And what happens? The road that he is less traveled, that he's on, brings him to being the second in command in Egypt. Talk about a blessing. And then finally, the children of Israel wandered their road for 40 years. And we think sometimes we have it bad. Because let me tell you, their trials was 40 years long. How many of us can say, I have had a non-stop trial of a road traveled for 40 straight years? probably very few of us could say that they struggled for 40 years non-stop but what was the end result of their travels the promised land see that's the point we go through tough things the grove that we're on sometimes seems so hard and so harsh but I want to share with you today that those very, very difficult roads will lead to beautiful destinations if we just keep going. Don't give up. You see potholes ahead in the road? Don't quit. Keep plugging forward. Keep going forward because even though you hit a couple potholes, that destination is worth it. And that destination is so worth it. We've got to get to that point, that point of blessing. And if we just keep pressing, he's going to get us there. But we've got to keep plugging forward. Keep pressing on. Don't give up. Don't quit. Don't turn back. There's an old statement that says, I've come too far to turn back now. That's true. Come too far to turn back now. It's time to keep pressing forward. Hallelujah. difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. And we're on that road less traveled. Let's keep pressing forward. Let's bow our heads before the Lord this morning. Father God, today, I just want to thank you for this time together. Father God, it's so true. Father, I want to first off, I want to thank you for Caden's question today. Father God, he has a hunger to understand greater what Christianity and what the Bible is all about. Father God, I pray that that will always be the case for him. That he will always have that hunger for holiness. That hunger to understand greater what the Bible is. Father, may it continue to grow in him for all his life. May as he just gets older, it will just get more increasing. That he would just love to learn more about you. I pray that right now for a king today. Father God, I want to pray for every one of us today. Father God, we're all on this road that is less traveled. We're going through things in life. Father God, in our travels, we hit those potholes. Sometimes they knock us for a loop. Sometimes they hit us so hard that we are almost on the ground. But Father God, I pray that when we hit those potholes, we would just hold on, hold on, hold on tighter to Jesus. and knowing that He will not leave us nor forsake us. I pray that right now. Father God, I pray for everyone here today. Everyone today. I pray for everyone today. Father God, I pray for those that are watching our video today. That wherever they're watching it, whatever time they're watching it, Father God, that they're on this road less traveled. That Father God, You will help them. That when a pothole comes and they get knocked down, that Father God, they'll just hold on close to You and tired of eating. And Father God, that we will realize in our heart of heart that difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. That we will not give up, but we will keep pressing on. Knowing that we're going to see you someday. We're going to see the beautiful face of Jesus one day. We will not give up. We will not give in, And no matter how difficult the times come, we will keep holding on to you. I pray, Father God, for strength for your people today. Father God, inundate them from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet today with the power and the presence of God. That all week long, all month long, all year long, they will walk with you in the beauty of holiness. on this straight path that leads to redemption. Father God, I thank you today. Now, Father God, I want to thank you for each and every one that came out today. Father God, I pray that your blessing will go with each and every one of us today and all week long. And Father, until we meet again, Father God, we ask that you will just be with us, keep us safe and bring us back safe into your house so we will be able to worship you once again. and Father for all that you are for all that you do we give you praise and honor and glory for it's in Jesus name we pray Amen and Amen Thank you.

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