Am I on the Right Road

well Glory I'm going to let you move to your seats but continue to keep that Spirit of praise and worship in this house so good to be back in the house of the Lord with each and every one of you I join with the voice of uh Pastor Whitley that came before me and welcoming all of our guests if this is your first time to be at First Apostolic church we want you to feel at home and feel welcome and Free To Worship the Lord with us if uh you have tuned in on the multimedia platforms I ask you to uh come and be in service with us the first time you get the opportunity thank you for worshiping with us and joining us online we're so glad to see you I want to thank Pastor Whitley for a marvelous message this morning uh concerning grace and grace doesn't look like Grace hallelujah thank you thank you Pastor Whitley and again we uh send our love to Bishop and sister mul they are uh conducting the 88th anniversary celebration of my mom's home Church in Rock Creek North Carolina and we're praying for them that the Lord will bless them give them safe Journeys uh and uh will bring them back home very soon I want to get right into the word of the Lord tonight I do not have a a lengthy message that's a dangerous thing for an Apostolic preacher to say uh but suffice to say uh I uh don't plan on being up here any longer than the Holy Ghost would have me be but I also don't plan on sitting down till the Holy Ghost is finished with us so if you'll agree to that uh I think we'll we'll move just fine here and just before I get into the word of the Lord I want to take just a moment to give a personal testimony I've had so many here in the church praying for me and praying with me and uh uh there are others that are connected to our church that have much more serious health problems than I do but suffice to say I know that many of you uh have heard and have been praying for me that I have been undergoing some uh radiation treatment and uh I'm happy to announce I was uh scheduled to have 44 radiation treatments and as of Friday I have completed 44 radiation treatments hallelujah now I want you to understand sometimes when Grace doesn't appear like Grace let me explain something to you had God chosen to I wouldn't have had to had that treatment at all but that was not God's choice sometimes he says yes what brother Whitley say sometimes he says no sometimes he says wait so uh I proceeded with the treatment and I had all the instructions from the doctors I had all of the uh ominous articles that I had read that uh there would be this side effect and that side effect and you'd suffer from this and you very likely you'd have this issue I'm thankful to report that I have had not one bit of pain I have had no side effects whatsoever from the treatment and I'm believing the Lord for a great report from the doctor that everything's all right Hallelujah why because I serve the great physician he's in charge sometimes he keeps you from the storm but other times he keeps you in the storm and I'm just strong enough and believing enough that he's going to stay with with me in every situation so Lord bless you thank you for your prayers for me and my situation all is well I promise you I want to take you to the word of the Lord tonight I want us to read uh in two places one in the uh Old Testament one in the new and I want to uh set a little foundation with scripture scripture says in the Book of Matthew the 7th chapter verse number 13 Matthew 7:3 13 enter ye in at the Straight Gate for wide is the gate and notice and Broad is the way that leadth to destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate narrow is the way which leadth unto life and few there be the find it then I call your attention to Jeremiah the 21st chapter Jeremiah the 21st chapter we'll read at verse number eight and unto this people Thou shalt say thus saith the Lord behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death for a few moments I would use this title and this question for everyone to ask yourself am I on the right road am I on the right Road let's pray savior I love you I'm grateful and thankful for your Mighty word for the wonderful presence that you have L us experience as praise and worship has gone up to you now God I pray that your word once again would give me direction give me strength give me courage and Lord reaffirm once again your Mighty hand on all of our Lives Lord we thank you we praise you we love you in the name of Jesus we pray amen am I on the right road several years ago pre GPS time uh I had something a whole lot better than GPS in my vehicle it was called Jamie Jamie was the best Navigator still is she can read a map like no who wouldn't have it I want you to know she was and still is the very best but we all used to before the days of GPS and our telephones and all that good stuff uh Jamie uh uh would have our great big Atlas we had an atlas that we kept in the back pocket and it got you know it just opened up it was it was the coolest thing you could look at all these roads and Road uh maps and Direction and we made a Jun one year to New York City and I just would clue everybody you haven't really had drivers training until you drive in New York City and all that's there around it in fact we got the bright idea on the way to New York City that we want wanted to drive through Washington DC and you really haven't lived until you drive through Washington DC on your way to New York City but I had the greatest Navigator and she was giving me direction and and uh we got to uh came through Virginia and we started hitting heavier traffic and the the four lane turned to eight lane and then uh more lanes that I could count they said we were on the Beltway and I felt like somebody needed a belt for all that we were driving through we got on the Beltway going around Washington DC and I was trying my best to read all the signs on how to go and I I was arguing with my navigator don't argue with your Navigator just take my word for she could read the map and I was trying to read the signs and before it was over she said don't get off don't get off but Jamie it said don't get off don't and it said exit only no re-entry and I didn't listen to my navigator and I exited only and suddenly I found myself totally dis oriented I didn't know where north south east or west I could see the interstate and it kind of looked like that it looked like that or spaghetti one of the other and I could see the road that i' had been on but I couldn't get back to it you know around here if you miss a road you can go around the block and you can find it again it just wasn't that way we suddenly found ourselves somewhere in a no man's land between Washington DC and Baltimore Maryland and we were off the interstate trying our best to find our way back to the interstate well suffice to say I'm here tonight and so she and we made it but it was with great difficulty I found myself and it's indelibly etched in my mind that I got off of the road I was supposed to be on and I could not get back on the road for the longest I had to go into another state before I got on the proper Road it's a bad thing to find out you're lost and you're not on the right road but you see our scripture tonight our text said that there's a way to enter into the gate but it said for wide is the gate and Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction oh yeah by the way when we finally got to New York there's a road that goes right down through the middle of New York City it's called Broadway I'd heard of Broadway all of my life and I think there's some kind of law in New York if you see somebody that has Tennessee plates you're supposed to Blow Your Horn at them cuz everybody was blowing their horn at me trying to drive through and I'm talking about before the light would changed I was like Hey the light had b b b the lights was you know it was like just in case you don't move you I just want you to know I'm back here but we drove down Broadway and frankly it was the most amazing sight to see for the lights were bright there were lights flashing there were signs everywhere there were advertisements there were hustle and bustle of people and folks waiting at the crosswalks and and folks not waiting at the crosswalk if there was a break in the traffic they'd run right across the street in front of you and then folks would blow their horn behind you and there were taxis going every which way that's what Broadway was like but my scripture said broad is the Way Broadway is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in they're at in the most spiritual of sense there is a wide Avenue there is a wide H there's a wide Interstate that I would call the interstate of Broadway that direction to destruction that it seems that so many seem anxious to travel that road it appears that so many want to get on that Broadway and travel with all the masses because of the bright lights because of all that's going on it just appears to be the direction that everybody wants to go but the scripture told me that broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go there at let me tell you in the most spiritual of sense there are many headed on the wrong road I don't know how they got there but they haven't been able to find an exit rant they haven't been listening and suddenly their life is headed toward destruction you may even be in the house tonight and you're on that road you may be listening online and watching let me tell you there is a wide road that has many lanes in it but it's leading to destruction but scripture went on to say but because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadth unto life and few there be that find it and the Lord said say unto the people in Jeremiah before you there's a way of life and a way of death you see in serving God there's a common statement that we use we talk about our walk with God we talk about making that decision to walk with the Lord the noted American poet Robert Frost pinned these words in a poem called a Road Not Taken he said two roads diverge in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth then took the other just as fair and having perhaps the better claim because it was grassy and wanted wear though as for that the passing there had warned them really about the same and both that morning equally lay in leaving no steps had Trot in Black oh I kept the first for another day yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence two roads diverge in a wood and I took the One Less Traveled by and that has made all the difference there's decisions that we're going to make in our lives young folks that are under the sound of my voice you are making decisions for a lifetime as to what road you're going to travel I'm here to tell you don't just look for the widest way in the easiest path and the path that everyone else is traveling you better know the way to heaven you better know the way to Salvation don't find yourself just following the crowd do you know what road you're on do you know how what road you're traveling you see scripture in 2 Thessalonians 23 States let no man deceive you by any means in other words be careful who you ask directions from there's a lot of folks will give you directions this is the way you need to go this is the direction you need to travel he said let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first that the man of sin be revealed the son of predition who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worship so that he as God sth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God let me tell you there is a move on today to travel down a road of letting man be God letting the things we do be God that there is not really a god but our humanity is what is God let me tell you it's a road to destruction there's a road that will tell you do what the rest of the world is doing forgive this religious stuff forget this serving God you're in charge of your own life let me tell you you're on the wrong road you're on the wrong path it leads to destruction it leads to catastrophe Hall oh but too many are listening to the man of sin the man of predition that word predition defined in Latin is from the Latin to destroy the Destroyer wants to give you direction to head down the wrong path oh party with this crew don't live that life party with this Bunch you're young you have so much ahead of you you can change lanes and make a uturn if you need to but right now travel down this path I see so many whose lives were never intended or they never intended to get on the road they that they're on but they have not been able to get back on the right Road they found themselves traveling with no exits no turnarounds and they're headed to destruction Proverbs 16:25 says there is a way that seeth right unto men but the end thereof are the ways of death it's a bad thing to think you're on the right Road when you're on the wrong road you know just traveling the road s from my house to the church there's some stuff that I've observed along the road I'm I'm sure y'all have observed some of this stuff too uh I can hardly stop at a stoplight and look along the the gutter of the road without seen cigarette butts y'all know what I'm talking about and you know I got to thinking about that just a little bit what that is is burned out burned up and discarded and sadly that's what happens on the highway called Broadway you find a lot of burned up burned out discarded lives nothing but ashes the remnants of what had been but now no value lives that have been discarded you'll find on that road called Broadway on that same Jun just from the church to my house and back most times I can find if not a complete a mostly complete empty crushed sixpack or 12pack of of beer cans this is what sin does to you sin empties you you're on the Wayside you're crushed you're torn you're empty you're useless garbage you're refu you can't find an exit to get off that road that you're on you left full you were on the right road but somehow you turned and made a mistake and you know the other thing I find quite frequently just between my house and the church I find roadkill there'll be a once Nimble industrious creature who's now a repugnant mass of decaying Flesh and Bones in the middle of the road so it is when lives flirt with that dangerous road to predition that dangerous road called Broadway sin crushes the lives out of marriages relationships and families when you get on that road once spiritually Nimble agile vibrant individuals Now find their lives crushed in a mess beyond recognition and sadly you know there are some that think you can survive in the middle of the road I'm just going to live in the middle of the road middle of the road is for yellow lines and dead aradillas is all I can tell you you don't want to try to live in the middle of the road for you see you didn't know you'd get so much secular information tonight I remember there was a uh a song writer he described what Broadway was like I there was a fell some of y'all will re remember this guy you'll act like you don't know who he was but that's okay there was a fell by the name of George Benson played the guitar he was a noted Jazz guitarist and George Benson's big hit was a song called on Broadway now this is his own words describing what Broadway is like he said they say the neon lights are bright on Broadway they say there's magic in the air and when you're walking down the street and you ain't had enough to eat the glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere that's what Broadway is really like they say the women treat your right on Broadway but looking at them just gives me the blues he said cuz how you going to make some time when you ain't got one Thin dime and one Thin dime won't even Shine Your Shoes they say I won't last too long on Broadway I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home they all say but they're dead wrong I know they are cuz I can play this here guitar and I'm not going to quit till I'm a star on Broadway let me tell you the life on the Broadway that we're speaking of it makes a lot of promises but it's taking you down it's taking you to destruction don't think that the talents or ability that God gave you can be turned and used in this world and will do anything but lead you to to destruction there may be some bright lights for a while there may be some perceived successes but let me tell you the road you've been traveling if you're headed down that Broadway of sin it will destroy your life in every facet of your [Applause] life but I've got some good news for you today you don't need a navigator as good as sister Jamie is you don't even need a navigator today because we got GPS we've got God's positioning system God knows how to put you on the right road if if you'll turn your life over to Jesus tonight God has new direction for you in this house now look if you were expecting something deep tonight take off your spiritual gashes and put on your Holy Ghost flipflops this is as deep as it's going to get you need to make a U-turn in your life and get on the right Road you need to find New Direction you need to find the path that Christ has for us as Isaiah prophesied it Isaiah prophesied it this way in Isaiah 35:7 and the parched ground shall become a pool and the Thirsty land Springs of water in the habitation of dragons where each lay there shall be grassp with reads and rushes and a highway shall be there there's a highway you need to get on and a way and it shall be called the way of Holiness I'm here to tell you I don't need Broadway I'm going to get on the road to Holiness I want to travel the right Road I want to travel that path that leads me to Heaven I want on the Highway of Holiness tonight you see there's a toll bridge there the unclean shall not pass over it you can't be unclean and travel the road of Holiness but it shall be for those the wayfaring men or The Travelers though fools shall not air that in you don't have to be bright you don't have to be smart you don't have to be intellectual but you have to be willing to say I love Holiness I want to be holy like you God I want to be like you God I want to travel the right Road for you see we're not worried about Road till and cigarette butts and empty beer Tans on this highway it said no lion shall be there nor any ravenous beat shall go thereupon it shall not be found there but the redeemed shall walk therein you see when Christ died for me he purchased me and he put me on a right Road he gave me the proper direction it's not the man of sin directing me anymore God gives me direction and gives me the right path Hallelujah and the ransom to the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs you know what this praise team's been singing about you know what the choir's been singing about you know what all this congregational worship and praise you see that's folks saying I'm on the right Road I'm traveling the right direction now I'm traveling on the right path The Ransom of the Lord shall return come to Z with songs and everlasting Joy upon their heads they shall obtain joy gladness and sorrow and sign shall flee away you see I got to reading that a little bit and you just have to excuse my East Tennessee knowledge for uh you can have Broadway over outside of marille you can travel over to uh North Carolina on anybody ever heard of the Dragon I drove the Dragon one time like to Got Run Over By motorcycles on that but I was more comfortable there than I was on Broadway it was a narrow curvy road but let me tell you it the scripture said there be there'll be no dragons there now I've preached this little pet message before but let me explain a little something the psalmist in Psalms 9111 said for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways the highway I'm traveling the way I'm going he's going to keep me they shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou Dash thy foot against a stone I've got some some protection on this Highway of Holiness Thou shalt tread upon the line and the adder and the young line and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet because he had set his love upon me therefore I will deliver him I will set him on high because Heath known me let me touch it just one more time those that don't remember this little analogy you see we know Satan as the lion for First Peter 57 and 8 said cast in all your cares on him for he careth for us and he said be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour we know him as the lion we we've developed those defenses for him as a lion he said thou shal Tread On The Lion and the adder we know him as the snake we've read uh the Book of Genesis and We Know The Enemy as as The Serpent and we know how to deal with him but then it mentioned the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet and again I give you this analogy the reason this is given think about it just a moment what does a dragon look like if I ask for folks to tell me what a dragon looks like man you could hear some wild stuff I'm telling you he's breathing fire he's got red eyes he's got a long tail he's got wings and he's flying around he's do but think about it how many of us have been over to the Knoxville Zoo and seen one of those bad boys how many of us have really seen a dragon we really haven't because a dragon is a mythical mythological creature created in the mind and I've got news for you the enemy wants to attack your mind hear me in this house he wants to put you on the wrong road and make you think you're on the right road but this word tells me that I've got power over the dragon whatever the dragon looks like whatever would come up in my mind he's given me power and authority to put my foot on that thing some of you folks that your mind's been bothered for a while the enemy's been messing with your mind you got power over that thing in Jesus name you need to rebuke some things some fears some anxieties that's been coming on you in ordinally saying saying I'm in charge of this the Lord's with me I'm on the right Road you're not going to Temp me to turn around oh Hallelujah we know him as the line Matthew 7 talks about ravenous wolves those those are false prophets we're smart enough when you get on the Highway of Holiness you know what truth is you'll know the difference between false Doctrine and Truth in fact you get on the high musicians come on get ready you get on the Highway of Holiness it's it's a sightseen trip you know we're we're just about to get inundated it's uh it's h almost midt but about two more weeks you try to go to Pigeon fordge Gatlinburg area there'll be license plates from all over this country want to see the leaves change and I'm my Lord do y'all not have leaves where you live but they want to want to come to the mountains and and do a sightseeing trip well I I want to go on a little sightseeing trip here on this road this Highway of Holiness cuz it's beautiful 1 Chronicles 16:29 says give Glory unto the Lord the glory do in his name bring an offering and come and him Worship the Lord in the beauty of Holiness let me tell you living a holy life is not an ugly life it's the most beautiful life you can live it has the most beautiful people now folks again I I don't want to itemize and be insulting but all you've got to do go to Westtown mall and find a good seat and watch for about a half hour what the road that some folks are TR traveling in the name of what they would call Beauty I mean they had to work to get that kind of ugly I'm going to tell you they were beautiful and sometimes if we aren't careful the devil will get in our mind and say oh because you want to look nice you want to look respectable you want to live a holy life listen to them talk they can't communicate without four-letter expletives they've never developed a vocabulary listen to me young folks develop your vocabulary that you can talk with class and character communicate as a Christian would communicate you don't need four-letter expletives to express yourself you need the power of the Holy Ghost guiding every word you say every step you take every move you make everything you look like in the mirror let the Holy Ghost give you Holiness it'll make you beautiful in every facet of your lifej traveling the highway of hold is a good road Brother Louis har pinned the words I'm not only going to make it but I'm going to enjoy the trip while I travel this road this Highway of Holiness I'm going to be on a highway that I'm enjoying what's going on I love being in the house of the Lord I love being here with you folks worship and praise I love going to camp meetings and conferences and revivals that that's what we do but we're not just traveling aimlessly Robert Frost said there were two roads that diverged said I looked down each they looked similar at the beginning but he said there was a road I chose and took and he said that's made all the difference I decided a long time ago that there was a road I was going to travel and I know there's many and most of you who have taken that same Journey for here's where the road lead John the Revelator gave us the Final Destination he said and he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain showed me that great City the holy Jerusalem descending Out of Heaven from God having the glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious even like a jasper stone clear and Crystal and had great or walls great and high and had 12 gates and at the gates 12 angels and the names written there on which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel on the East three gates on the north three gates on the south three gates and on the west three gates and the wall of that City had 12 foundations and in them the names of the 12 Apostles of the Lamb the Highway of Holiness is taking you somewhere verse 21 one and the 12 gates were 12 pearls every several gate was of one Pearl and the street of the city was pure gold and it was transparent as it were transparent glass you want to see this city you can't go down the road of sin you can't go down the road of predition but you've got to be on the Highway of Holiness where it will lead to a city with the streets are pure gold you talking about a wealthy City when they're they don't have asphalt trucks they got to have gold trucks to PVE the street now excuse my human lack of intellect but you got to think about how amazing how marvelous where I'm planning on going is and I saw no Temple there for the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are the Temple of it and the city had no need of sun no street lights needed neither the moon to shine it for the glory of God did lighten it and the lamb is the light thereof stand with me let me ask you are you on the right Road tonight am I traveling the right Road there's a reason at some of our Memorial Services you'll still hear a saint request I want him to sing that song I'm going up yonder we are not driving aimlessly we have Direction I'm going up yonder if you want to know where I'm going where I'm going soon anybody ask you where I'm going tell them for me I'm going up yonder to be with my lord it's just not a Sunday Drive I've made my destination sure and I'm planning on making it to heaven and finally we used to sing this old song we used to sing It's A Highway to Heaven none can walk up there but the pure in heart it's a highway to to Heaven some of you grads are shaking your head you know that song Walking Up The King's Highway yes it's a Highway to Heaven none can walk up there but the pure in heart it's a Highway to Heaven I'm walking up the King's Highway let me tell you if you're in this house tonight and you realize you've been going the wrong direction there's a real simple remedy it's called repentance that's a spiritual U-turn that's that voice inside you that says make a U-turn now turn around now that's God tugging at your heart saying you've been headed the wrong way it's time to turn around how do you make that urn you come to an altar of repentance and you say God I'm sorry for my sinning God please forgive me for what I've done Lord I want to live like you I want to be like you I want New Direction you take his name on and baptism you're filled with his Spirit The Gift of the Holy Ghost is given unto you freely and then you start traveling the King's Highway I wonder if we could lift our hand just a moment and ask the Lord to speak to every person in this house Jesus I love you Lord you know the condition of every heart in this house God if there's somebody in this house tonight they've been traveling the wrong road Lord you brought them here this night Lord you ordained it to be so that they would be in this house Lord the enemy has tried to tell them that the direction that they're traveling is okay it's the Broadway the enemy has tried to tell them that you can be like everyone else it doesn't matter but God you have been touching their heart right now God I pray that you would reach down and give fresh Direction Lord you would turn them around in this house Lord that they could turn their life to you I wonder if anybody would step out from their seat right now and start making your way down to the front and say I want to be traveling on the King's Highway I want to be traveling the right Road I want to make sure of my direction tonight would you come loving him would you come praising him would you I'm believing in Jesus name sing it now Hallelujah hallel for or gold I wouldn't trade you Lord I wouldn't tra you it you you are my yeah sing it under the Lord [Music] hallelujah you are the love of my life yes you are the love of my life you are the hope that I you you you more than this world to me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh my everything you are my everything [Music] everything you are you are the love of my life you are you are the more this world to me I wouldn't tra you for silver I wouldn't TR you I wouldn't tra you your riches un oh Lord you are my everything would you give Jesus praise right now would you thank him for the road you're traveling would you love him Lord I Thank you for your direction I thank you for the path you've led me on Lord I know that you are leading me in the paths of righteousness Lord Lord and we do it for your name God we praise you God we worship you Lord we honor your presence Lord we honor your presence hallelujah thank you Jesus thank you Jesus First Apostolic church I love you I would remind all of the church family Wednesday night will'll be worshiping the word right here Thursday night Friday Friday night women's a spre conference all the ladies are invited encouraged to attend a great time in the Lord Lord bless you would you greet your brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus you are dismissed in Jesus name for