16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in
the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk
therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk
therein. (Jer
6:16)
The “Home of
the Brave and Land of the Free” has come under dire spiritual and wanton
depravity. Our men suddenly desire to be women (against the law of Nature and
of Nature’s God) and our women want to be men. Men desire to marry men, and
women, women! Our government is ruled by both idiots (a generous term) and/or
traitors lacking all moral compass. Our children are victims of drug abuse,
sexual promiscuity, and indoctrination in our public schools instead of liberal
educations. Those things that God has labelled as abominable sin (bad) has been
labelled ‘good;’ and those things which God commends (good) is now termed to be
‘evil.’ Woe unto them that call evil
good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that
put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20) Liberty and freedom lie
mortally wounded at the door while totalitarian and alien ideologies have
gained the prominence. How did America get into this rut of depravity, and how
shall we reverse our ill-winded fortune?
In summary, we have taken the wrong path. We have refused to heed the counsel
of the prophet Isaiah: Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old
paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your
souls. Not only have we refused to walk in the righteous path of our
Founding Fathers, but have departed with evil intent from that path. We have
proudly proclaimed, “We will not walk therein.”
There are many good roads upon which we may travel that lead us closer to God.
No matter at what point we find ourselves spiritually or geographically, there
is a straight Road that leads to God from that point. But there is also a
corresponding number of worldly roads that lead away from the God of our
Fathers and the place of safety and security. Those are bounded by every
imaginable sin and evil – murder of innocent babies, homosexuality,
promiscuity, drunkenness, drug abuse, sexual depravity of unimaginable
magnitude, and that kind of total immorality and ungodliness that guides the
minds and hearts of the butchers of ISIS.
There is no need to point out the wrong roads to those who seek after God, for
they do not desire them. So let us examine some of those Roads of Righteousness
(there are many) that lead the disciple ever closer to God and His
righteousness. The hunger in the heart of the sinner compels him, at the prior
behest of the Holy Ghost, to seek out the salvation and righteousness made
available through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will say from the first there are not many WAYS to God; there is only One Way
– that is Jesus Christ; but there are many roads that lead to that Way
depending on the present state of the seeking sinner. Here are SOME of the
Roads that lead the pilgrim of Christ ever closer to His loving Bosom.
The Road to Damascus – The Road
of Revelation
We all have traveled that same road of malicious do “ubts and denial of the
apostle Paul (Saul): 1 And Saul, yet breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the
high priest, 2 And desired of him letters to
Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were
men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. 3 And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: 4 And he fell to the earth, and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me?
(Acts 9:1-4) We are quick to judge without
evidence, and act without authority. The blinding Light of Christ
prevailed over Paul for three days. Christ must often blind us to the
attractions of the world, for a time, so that the Holy Ghost may teach us not
only the right way, but the fact that we have traveled the wrong way. Paul
became one of the greatest of the Apostles.
The Road to Emmaus – the Road of
Doubt and Sorrow
You came with unabashed faith and confidence to Christ at a moment of the
dawning of your soul. There was no question of His offer of Salvation. But, by
and by, moments of grave doubt were engendered by the challenges and
difficulties of life. Your faith wavered as your doubts ruled over faith. You
may have complained to the powers of Heaven for your predicament. You may have
felt that same abandonment and alienation of our Lord at Calvary: My God, My
God, why hast thou forsaken me? But Christ never gave in to those
feelings of abandonment. Though His flesh yearned for the fellowship of His
Father, His soul knew that God was working out the crucial matter of all time
and eternity. And He is doing that for us as well.
The Jericho Road –the Road of
Christian Service in Mercy and Compassion
There are those, such as the priest and Levite in the account of the Good
Samaritan who practice religion very much – but not enough. Their religion is
superficial and affected. Both the priest and the Levite refused mercy to the
Jew who was beaten and robbed on the road to Jericho. They may have done so
even out of religious concerns involving the maintenance of their washing at
the Temple. But the Samaritan who was hated by the Jews, suffered the man his
compassion, his time, his interest, his wealth, and his own ride to an inn. He
showed compassion. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when
he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him,
and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast,
and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow
when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said
unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come
again, I will repay thee.
(Luke 10:33-35) True religion compels us to the same.
The Road to Bethlehem – walked
by lowly Shepherds and Royal Wise Men
We all know the magical and thrilling account of the first Christmas from the
Gospels of St. Luke (2:1-20) and St. Matthew 2. We learn
that the night was one of pristine beauty and peace. It was the kind of moment
that we took our first step of faith, just as the shepherds and Wise Men, in
going to see this thing which has come to past! Whether near to home as
a child raised by Godly parents, or from a great distance over desert sands and
wilderness areas such as men who never before knew God, the Road to Bethlehem
is that which brings us to see the Face of Jesus – even for the first time – a
meeting that will change us forever!
The Road to Gethsemane – the
Road of Trust and Prayerful of Intercessions
Our most heartfelt prayers are private and personal prayers. On the most
sorrowful and climactic moment of His earthly ministry, our Lord went into
Gethsemane to pray alone. 39 And he came out, and went,
as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40 And when he was at the place, he
said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into
temptation. 41 And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but
thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed
more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down
to the ground. (Luke
22:39-44) Though
His virtue and modesty at being falsely accused, beaten, publicly stripped
naked, and displayed for all to see on a crude wooden cross repulsed His
righteous spirit, His prayer invoked, not His own will, but that of His Father.
In our own most desperate times, our misery and want calls out only for our own
wills to be done often with grave neglect of petition of the Father’s Will.
It is a thing of miraculous and glorious divine strength that our Lord’s prayer
included only a single phrase on His own behalf Father,
if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but
thine, be done. (Luke 22:42) But the greater amazement is
the loving and heartfelt prayer that He offered on the behalf of His disciples
– and you and me. Ten words He used to express His own desires, but in His
prayer (St. John 17:1-26), our Lord offered an
all-encompassing prayer of more than 600 power-filled words for His elect. Even
at a moment of passion and suffering, His mind was fixed, in love, upon you and
me.
The Narrow Road – the daily Road
of Righteousness of the Saints (the Road Less Traveled)
13 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: 14 Because strait is the gate, and
narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt 7:13-14) This is the Road which we
travel day by day in faith and hope of our coming LORD. Though this Way may be
punctuated by mountain-top experiences of exhilaration, it traverses great
valleys and shadows which may test our faith. But we know the destination, and
we know the Way: And whither I go ye know, and
the way ye know. (John 14:4) Unless we remain doubting
Thomases, we will be certain of the Destination and the Way which is our Lord
Jesus Christ. Which Road do you travel? As our Lord says: I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to
the Father but by Me.
There are many additional Roads of Righteousness that you will discover by a
persevering study of God’s Word. May you discover many more than we have
discussed herein!
