The Wrong Road to Eternity — E.A. Johnston

In Matthew chapter 7, beginning in verse 13, we hear our Lord Jesus say, And ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.

The Narrow Gate and the Two Roads

Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. But there's an old saying, friends, that all roads lead to Rome. That may have once been true, but Jesus says, All roads don't lead to heaven.

You may be traveling on the wrong road, and if you are, it's a death sentence. Listen to me, friend, let me ask you, Are you sure you are on the right road? Here, Jesus makes a sensational statement about a dividing line between heaven and hell.

He says that most folks are on the wrong road to eternity. And he makes an even more startling statement. He says there are very few on the right road to eternity. It's a less traveled road. And there are reasons people travel on a certain road.

It's not by accident, but by choice. You're on the road you're on by choice, because you want to be on that road. Many travel on the broad road of religion. They may be sincere Muslims, good Buddhists, Orthodox Jews, practicing Catholics, devout Methodists, and faithful Baptists.

Religion, Repentance, and the Only Road to Heaven

But no matter what their chosen religion is, unless they are born from above and washed in the blood, they are on a religious road to hell. To get on the right road, they must exercise repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Most of the world's inhabitants are traveling elbow to elbow on the wide main road to hell. There is only one road to heaven. It's the road that Jesus is on. Are you on that road, friend? It's a narrow way.

The gate to entry is straight. You must press to get in. It's only one that leads to life. Eternal life. And few there be that find it. The narrow way leads to a cross with a bloodstained Savior from sin who is a risen Lord.

The Gospel Must Not Be Softened

But today we've taken the old gospel and gotten out our mop buckets and cleaned up all the blood and gore around Calvary and made it so pristine you can sit and have your lunch there. We've made the gospel call an invitation to a picnic instead of submission to God.

We've taken the gospel and soft-soaked it, whitewashed it of all its blood and gore. We've pulled all the teeth out of it and diluted it to make it more palatable to sinful man. On top of all that, we've broadened the way of salvation in ways Jesus never did.

We've omitted man's duty of repentance and his utter necessity of regeneration to get into God's holy heaven. The wrong road will kill you for sure. Many are on the road to good works. They believe they're good enough for heaven because they're not bad enough for hell.

Good Works Cannot Save the Sinner

In their mind, they're good people because they're not as bad as others. I was witnessing one time to a dying woman in a hospital who informed me she was a member in good standing of the Methodist church.

And I asked her why she thought she was on the road to heaven. And she informed me it was because she'd never robbed a liquor store or killed anybody. That's what the old girl said. In her mind, she was good enough for heaven because she wasn't bad enough for hell.

But I had to shock that lady with some news. I told her, good people don't go to heaven. Only forgiven people get to go there. Listen to me, friend. Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Or are you on the narrow road following a crucified Christ?

Or are you just going about your life hoping for the best, hoping you're on the right road to eternity? Some folks think they're on the road to heaven because their good works will outweigh their bad works.

They imagine that at the pearly gates, God keeps a big scale there that you'll step up on and stand there when you die. And instead of that scale telling you how much you weigh, it'll tell you how good you are based on your track record.

And that's what many people hang on to, a good opinion of themselves, and a long track record of service. They'll stand before God and say, Lord, Lord, I was in the choir. I served on this church committee and participated in that church activity.

Look, Lord, at all the things I did for you. And Jesus will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. They thought they were on the right road because they mistook church membership for salvation.

False Professions and Emotional Decisions

Some folks are on the wrong road to eternity because of an empty religious profession. They can look back and point to some time in their life where they responded to an evangelist's emotional appeal and they decided for Jesus.

They assume that by doing a physical act like a walk in an aisle or raising their hand to accept Jesus, that that saved them. Some think they got salvation by repeating a prayer. But none of these modern methods of evangelism are found in the Bible.

You may be on the wrong road right now, friend, and you're just now realizing it. Charles Finney used to use the following illustration in his sermons. He said that the lost sinner is like a man standing on the banks of Niagara Falls.

As he stands on the edge of the cliff, he is lost in deep thought, walking towards the edge, unaware of his danger. He plods closer and closer until he actually lifts his foot to take the final step that will plunge him over the premises.

All he can hear is the roar of the waterfall and he's oblivious to his danger. But before he plunges over the cliff, you scream above the roar of the water, Stop! The voice pierces his ear and breaks his daydreaming.

He turns instantly from his brush with death. Well, I saw that man's danger and I warned him. I'd be a criminal if I saw his danger and failed to act. I had to warn him or he would have plunged to his death and to his destruction.

The Urgent Warning to Turn and Repent

Listen to me, dear friend. If you are on the wrong road to eternity, it breaks me up to even talk to you about it. Listen to me. This is the most important thing, the most important matter in the universe, in your life.

If you're on the wrong road to eternity, it's my responsibility to scream, Stop! and warn you to turn off that perilous way. If you stay on the wrong road to eternity, surely you'll end up in the devil's hell.

Turn, turn, turn now and repent before it's too late. Look to a bloodstained Christ who's the only remedy for sin. A Christ who was falsely tried, wrongly convicted, cruelly punished and finally crucified at Calvary as a common criminal.

Christ Crucified, Risen, and Exalted

He was buried in another man's tomb and on the third day he rose again and appeared to many. He then ascended up to heaven where he now sits on a throne at the right hand of the Father and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross.

Jesus is the only way to heaven. Jesus is the only one who can give eternal life. Jesus is the only savior from sin. You must get to him. You have to be on the right road to eternity. By being born again you must be born again.

Listen to me, friend. The cross is the place where men sought to get rid of him. But by his death it becomes the place where his saving power flows out to all who come in repentance confessing they are sinners and own them as their savior and lord.

If you've not trusted this blessed savior receive him now before it's too late. Soon he will come in judgment on the world when his anger shall burn as an oven. And then you shall meet him as your judge.

It'd be too late then, friend to get off that wrong road to eternity. Stop! Turn! Why, you still can!