Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
When you drive through the Northern Minnesota woods, the roads can get really tough during certain times of the year. A lot of men are working hard logging large tracts of land, and as they drive their heavy equipment through the woods, the back roads, can slowly turn to mud. It can get so bad that these huge machines will begin to sink into the ground, having to be pulled out with a bulldozer or a skidder. In order to give the roads an opportunity to dry, or freeze up, the foresters will put up road restrictions, preventing certain vehicles over a certain weight from using the roadways.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Like a forester might impose restrictions on loggers, God’s Word imposes certain restrictions upon Christians. After all, conservative Christianity is a strict regimen of following the commands and teachings of Jesus, which will ultimately cause us to become better people. God knows what is best for us, and we must humbly submit to His regulations. Many times, conservative Christians are called narrow-minded, but this is because our options are restricted to the path that we must follow.
Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
If you want to obtain eternal life, the path is very narrow. A lot of people are not going to have what it takes to make it there, simply because they feel that the Christian Life is too restrictive. Instead of being limited to a narrow set of choices, they want to be able to pick and choose the things that they want to do. They want the road to heaven to be much wider than what it actually is.
Imagine eight lanes of traffic going through a tunnel system on a highway. Now imagine the same amount of traffic going through a one lane tunnel. The pathway has become so restrictive that many of the drivers will decide to go a different way to try to get to the same place.
The same thing happens to those who attempt to live the Christian Life, but it becomes far too conservative for them. They want to live their lives on the wide road, and follow the fast lane through the tunnel, without any kind of hindrance from the way that they want to live. This is why many people are not going to make it to heaven. They don’t want their lives controlled. They quickly cry out that they have liberty, but cannot comprehend that the true liberty that is spoken of throughout the scriptures is freedom from sinful living. Biblical Liberty is not the freedom to sin, but the freedom from sin. Biblical Liberty is to go and sin no more. The only way that this is going to happen, is by crucifying the flesh, and submitting to the will of God. It is to abide in the teachings of scripture. Those who claim otherwise are complete liars.
John 8:31-36 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Jesus is the truth and His Word is truth, but in order to enter into eternal life, we must lovingly submit to His truth. This is where you divide the sheep from the wolves. This is where you divide the liberals from the conservatives. Obedience to biblical restrictions is not optional, it is mandatory, but many people will continually try to walk with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. They want to believe that they will be in heaven, but they don’t want to follow the path that leads to heaven. The reason why is because it’s too constricting and narrow. You might sincerely believe something with all of your heart, yet at the same time, be sincerely wrong.
Luke 13:23-24 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
As we grow up in this world, we are rebellious by nature. We don’t want to listen to instruction. We don’t want to obey our parents. We don’t want to follow the rules. We don’t want to submit to authority. This is because of the sinful nature deep within each of us. We are filled with this spirit of disobedience from our birth.
Ephesians 2:2-3 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
But many people don’t understand that God loves us dearly, and provides us an opportunity to become new creatures when we believe in His Son Jesus Christ. He wants to forgive us so that we can be transformed into His obedient children. In order for this transformation to be accomplished, we must learn to obey his restrictions. We must learn to obey his commands. We must learn to do it God’s way, rather than our own way. We must learn to submit to the will of God. Not everybody who professes to be Christian will enter into eternal life, because it is reserved for those who have done the will of God from their hearts.
Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Each day, many people are on the wide road that leads to destruction. It is the wide road of liberalism and nonconformity. I will love you this much to tell you the truth when nobody else will. All of us have got to change, and humbly submit to God’s will. We need to turn from our sins to the truth. We need to begin walking the narrow road of Christ. And just like a small dirt road up here in the woods, each of us will need to adhere to God’s…
……..Road Restrictions
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
tlkjbc.com♥️
Note: Any copies may be printed and freely distributed among those who have no internet service. There is no AI creative involvement in my writings, and must be left intact because they are very personal to me. These are not to be sold, and are made public only for the free benefit of Spiritual knowledge to those who are genuinely seeking the will of God.
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 