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CONNIE: “Two roads diverged in a yellowed wood”—begins the famous poem. How do you decide which road to go down—especially on a spiritual journey? Join us today as we search for answers in God’s Word!

Giving God’s trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: And I’m Lonnie Melashenko.

Connie, that poem by Robert Frost brings up powerful images in my mind.

CONNIE: It’s an easy poem to relate to, I guess. Because we’ve all “been there, done that” in some sense. Every day we’re making decisions—which way to go—choosing between two or three equally appealing (or sometimes unappealing) options. How do you decide what to do?

LONNIE: Well, of course there’s no simple answer to that question. Each opportunity and challenge needs to be weighed in its own merit, but the passage we’ll be studying from the Gospel of Matthew today gives us some principles that we can use as a basis for good decisions.

CONNIE: We’re looking at the passage about the narrow gate versus the wide gate. Does that mean we should always look for the narrowest, or hardest way to go and choose that?—I mean is that the essence of what Jesus teaches?

LONNIE: Well, He does say “Enter by the narrow gate,” but it’s not always quite so simple. Another thing He points out in this passage is that there are many false religious teachers—or prophets—out there who would like to deceive us, and we have to be wary of them as well.

CONNIE: There’s a lot to consider, then.

LONNIE: Our spiritual life is just like our physical life in a lot of ways—lots of choices to make. And it’s important to make the right ones and to avoid the pitfalls. As we look at this topic, we’ve invited a gentleman by the name of Will Baron to join us. Ken Wade spoke with him recently, about his personal experience of making some wrong turns in his spiritual journey, and what he learned from that, and what principles he can share with us to help us stay on the “strait and narrow.”

CONNIE: And here is that interview:

KEN: Will Baron, I just want to welcome you to our program toady.

WILL: It’s good to be here

KEN: Now, Will, I read your book a number of years ago called, “Deceived by The New Age”, we were preparing this program which deals with Jesus teaching about the safe road, false prophets and that sort of thing. I thought of you because in that book you tell the story of your own spiritual journey and how you took a little detour too. Share a little of that with us.

WILL: I went to visit a New Age psychic because I had problems in my life, and this psychic claimed to be following Jesus Christ. She was a medium, a spiritist communicating with spirits, believing that she was communicating with Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit.

KEN: So she was getting her enlightenment not so much from the words in the Bible, but from some psychic connection or something like that?

WILL: That is correct. Practicing Eastern meditation techniques and believing that through those Middle Eastern techniques one could communicate directly with Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit.

KEN: Briefly, what kind of cued you in finally; how did that go for you? Did it seem to help you at first?

WILL: At first I was very intrigued, because this lady really had mystical power. She could literally channel the names of people that I knew years ago that she was not privy to. These spirits were certainly telling her accurate information, but after about 3 years these spirits totally took over my life and made it an absolute nightmare. This Jesus that I was following would also speak to me and he would force me to, for example, to send donations using credit cards to fund the operations of this New Age Christian center, which is not a Christian center at all. My life was really totally controlled by these demonic spirits that were masquerading as Jesus Christ and it was a nightmare of slavery.

KEN: So this was no fake; this was no put on like you see with some of these charlatan psychics and that sort of thing, just asking questions and drilling the information out of people. This was actually spiritual warfare going on here.

WILL: Oh absolutely! Yes in fact I had many experiences that absolutely proved to me that these spirits are real. But they are demons, Satan’s angels masquerading as angels of light. They are the counterfeit Jesus, you know, Paul in Corinthians 11, he talks about the other Jesus. What people don’t realize is that there are 2 Jesus Christ’s, there is the real and there is the counterfeit.

KEN: That Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

WILL: Yes.

KEN: How did you figure out finally that this was not the right way to go?

WILL: Well Ken, I didn’t figure it out at all. My parents were very dedicated Christians and they were praying for 16 years that somehow the Lord would rescue me from this terrible deception and this counterfeit New Age Christianity which is really spiritualism. Finally the Holy Spirit saw an opportunity to rescue me from that deception. The Holy Spirit led me to Christian book stores and I started reading Christian books, and I came across a certain book that absolutely opened eyes and gave me a whole true enlightment. The spirits that I was following were spirits of Satan, and that this whole New Age Christianity was a counterfeit Christianity designed to deceive even the elect if that were possible.

KEN: If you were to give me, and my listener’s, counsel, how do you avoid this type of deception? It seems so sincere, so honest, so pure, and so good at first, how do you avoid that type of thing?

WILL: We have to follow the counsel in Matthew 7:21, where Jesus warns. Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. The will of the Father is revealed in the word in the Holy Bible, and the way to tell the difference between the counterfeit and the real is we must compare everything to scripture. If it’s not to the law and the testimony and it’s not according to scripture there is no light in its darkness. Now I follow the Jesus of the Bible who has blessed me wonderfully since the time I was rescued from that deception some 12, 13 years ago.

KEN: Will, I really do appreciate you sharing this experience. And so the key is to follow the biblical Jesus and not some counterfeit that comes along.

WILL: Yes.

CONNIE: Amen! That’s the real key, isn’t it—learning to fully trust and follow Jesus.

LONNIE: It’s the safest way to go. I know that if you talk with people who’ve researched this issue of being led astray by cults, false prophets, gurus, they’ll tell you that it’s people who don’t have much background in personal Bible study that are most susceptible to deception.

CONNIE: It’s easy, in our hectic lifestyles these days, to begin to treat the Bible like the “auxiliary reading” part of a classroom assignment—something you do IF you have a little extra time.

LONNIE: And you know I recognize that that’s an easy trap to fall into. I suppose I’m one of the luckiest, most blessed people on earth, because as a pastor, it’s part of my job description to be a Bible student. And I do regularly spend hours at a time, digging into God’s Word, seeking new ideas, new insights from the inspired Scriptures. But I recognize that not everyone can do that, and that’s why we’ve created the Discover Bible lessons with a special emphasis on making them easy to read and study.

CONNIE: Over the past 60 years, Voice of Prophecy has offered a lot of different correspondence Bible courses, and hundreds of thousands of people have taken the lessons. We’ve learned through experience how to create lessons that are easy to study and understand. So we invite you to give the Discover Bible Guides a tryout.

LONNIE: You can do it right on the Internet—at absolutely no cost.

CONNIE: You can also take the lessons by mail, but that’s quite a bit slower, and does require using some postage.

LONNIE: Friend, I’d urge you, if you have access to the Internet, log on right after our program today, at vop.com, and click on the Discover Online logo in the top right-hand corner, and start getting into the Bible in a deeper way today.

CONNIE: If you prefer to take the lessons by mail, we’ll give the address to write to a bit later in the program, but right now, let’s listen to Lonnie’s message for today, “How to Stay Found.”

How to Stay Found

I suppose we’ve all done it at least once in our life—gotten lost that is. Or made a wrong turn and had a lot of backtracking to do to get back on the right path. It happened to me a couple of years ago, when I was involved in evangelistic meetings in Chicago. The meeting place was right beside the freeway—but you had to know just exactly which exit to take. A wrong turn—or a failure to turn at the right time—would lead you onto an expressway with no chance to turn around for many miles.

We’ve all experienced it in our day-to-day lives. But what about in spiritual life? If you heard our interview with Will Baron earlier in the program, you know that he had an experience of making a wrong turn in spiritual matters—and it took him more than a decade to get back on the right path. In fact it took him many years before he even realized he’d made a wrong turn.

Now, as I look at the passage we’re focusing on today, I see that it begins with Jesus’ caution about just such things. Jesus warns us to be careful about the spiritual path we take.

It’s obviously not safe to assume we’re on the right road just because there are a lot of other people on it—or because it seems like the path of least resistance. Here are Jesus’ words, found in Matthew 7:13, 14: “‘Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it’ ” (NKJV).

After saying that, Jesus went on to caution us about who we follow as we make our spiritual journey: “‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves’ ” (verse 15, NKJV).

That’s almost scary, isn’t it? I mean, we don’t dare take the broad, popular way that leads to destruction, but when we take the narrow path, we have to watch the edges—staying on the alert for wolves in wool suits who would like to have us over for dinner—as the main course, that is!

Wouldn’t it be nice if, as a Christian minister, I could promise you that once you give your heart to the Lord and set out to walk the Christian path, everything would be smooth, easy sailing from there on out? You’d never have another challenge or problem. Just hand it all over to God, and He’ll take care of everything. Never a struggle, never a hardship.

But I can’t promise you that. Because Jesus never promised it. In fact the passage we’re looking at today promises something quite the opposite. Jesus made it plain to His disciples, right from the start of their journey that they weren’t to expect that their path to the kingdom of heaven would be trouble-free.

“‘It is a narrow gate, and a hard road that leads to life,’ ” Jesus said. “‘And only a few find it.’ ” That’s Matthew 7:14 from The Jerusalem Bible.

The picture that’s given in the original Greek is of a road strewn with boulders or other obstacles blocking the path. It’s not a place where you can cruise along on autopilot.

And do you know what? When you think about the lives of some of the greatest heroes of the Bible, you seldom find them resting on their lees, or sailing along on a trouble-free course. Think of Abraham—when he set out to follow God, he encountered famine, hostile neighbors, and delays in God’s delivery of the promised heir. David had his Goliath—and his Bathsheba—obstacles of very different types, but both challenges to his faith and his walk with God.

The apostle Paul is an example of one of Christ’s servants who made his way down a boulder-strewn path on his missionary journeys. In our program next week, we’ll be looking at 2 Corinthians—part of Paul’ extensive correspondence with the church at Corinth. In that letter he describes some of the trials he’s gone through since giving his life to the Lord. The list is daunting: Shipwrecked three times (and this letter was written before his famous adventure on the way to Rome), scourged by the Jews five times, beaten with rods three times, stoned, often journeying on bandit-infested roads, often hungry, often imprisoned, naked, and hungry. (The whole list of Paul’s trials is found near the end of 2 Corinthians 11, if you’d like to read it.)

I tell you, it just makes you wonder how the man kept on keeping on through it all! His way was anything but easy.

But Paul was not a man who looked for the path of least resistance. He was a man with a mission—and he was determined to fulfill that mission, by the grace of God.

Toward the end of his life, Paul could look back and say without regret, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7, NKJV).

Life had not been an easy cruise down the Interstate for Paul. It had been a “good fight and a hard-run race all the way. But he knew that it had all been for a good purpose. Because he had been serving a good God through it all. He could even recommend the same course to his young friend Timothy, in these words: “be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5, NKJV).

In other words, whatever obstacles the devil throws in your way—you can take it. You can endure afflictions, side-tracks, and obstacles. Don’t let these things discourage you or turn you away from the ministry that God has called you to.

It’s a lesson we learn over and over again, all through Scripture. A life devoted to following God’s will, may not always be easy. One thing’s for sure. It’s guaranteed not to be obstacle-free. It may even be uphill all the way.

But if you keep your eyes focused on the goal, it puts the problems into perspective. Paul put it this way in Romans 8: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18, NASB).

Jesus made it plain. If you’re looking for an easy life—well, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Because the devil hasn’t gone to sleep. The more strongly you’re devoted to the Lord, the surer you are to encounter roadblocks along the way.

In fact, I know of Christian ministers who get a little suspicious when things start going too smoothly! They wonder if they’ve missed a turn somewhere, because the devil doesn’t seem to be throwing many boulders in their path!

Now, I don’t think I’d join with the group that worries over such things as that—after all, the 23rd Psalm does remind us that God wants to lead us “in paths of righteousness” and “beside still waters.” There ought to be some times of peace in our lives as Christians.

But the fact remains that we’re living on a battlefield, where General Jesus and General Satan are engaged in a cosmic struggle for souls. The advice of James the Lord’s brother is to “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3, NIV).

Jesus Himself faced many trials—even the death sentence—for His faithfulness to God. But He never wavered on His way.

How did He know He was on the right path? And how can we know if we’re on the right path? How can we “stay found?” and not get lost on our journey to heaven?

Jesus answers that question near the end of the passage we’re studying today. Here it is, Matthew 7:21: “‘Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven’ ” (NKJV).

The path to heaven is not guaranteed to be smooth, easy, or downhill all the way. In fact, you’d expect a road to heaven to have some major uphill sections, wouldn’t you?

But Jesus says, don’t be intimidated by the hills, the boulders, the narrowness of the way, or even by the wool-wearing wolves. Those are the things you should be expecting to see. Stay focused on what’s at the end of the road—the gates of the kingdom. And in particular, the King of that kingdom.

Because you’re heading for the kingdom of God, the most important thing is to be preparing to live in that kingdom—by doing the will of the King right now.

I call my message today “How to Stay Found.” The key to not being lost, is to stay on the right path. And the way to stay on the path to the kingdom is to do the will of the King. It’s as simple as that, according to Matthew 7:21. And may I say, friend, that this is the reason we here at Voice of Prophecy put such a strong emphasis on getting into the Bible—God’s Word—and studying it for yourself—seeking to know the will of the Lord for your life.

There will be many who will cry “Lord, Lord,” on that day—proclaiming that Jesus has been the Lord of their life. But if they haven’t been willing to surrender their will to the Lord’s will. If they haven’t been willing to do the will of the Father in heaven. Well, they’ll discover in the long run that they’ve been on the wrong path all along.

How is it with you, friend? Are you lost, or are you found? Are you keeping your eyes focused on the kingdom, and on the will of the King?

That’s the way to stay on the right path, and it’s my prayer for myself, and for you, that we’ll make that first priority in our lives. Digging into God’s Word, seeking His will. And walking side by side with Jesus into the kingdom!