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JEREMIAH 21:8

"THE TWO PATHS"

Intro: "Which way shall I take?" - cries a voice in the night, removing the scripture from
       its local setting.

I. THE WAY OF LIFE.
        A. This is not just physical life.
                1. "Age abiding life".
                        a. "Good Master, what must I do to inherit...?"
                        b. Recognized in Jesus something more.
        B. This is a quality of life as well as quantity.
                1. "I have come that ye might have life, and..."
                2. Life of Joy.
                3. Life of Peace.
                        a. Satan seeks to rob me of the benefits.
                                1. Brings divers trials and testings.
                                2. "Lets see you have joy in this."
                                3. Secret lies in keeping our eyes on Jesus - "Thou wilt keep
                                   him in perfect..."
                                4. Looking at circumstances - sink every time.
                4. Life of fellowship.
                        a. Twofold - with God and body of believers - "That which we have seen 
                           and heard..."
                5. Life of love.
        C. It is a quantity of life. 
                1. Life everlasting.
                        a. Long after we have watched the sun flicker and die like an expended
                           candle.
                2. Simple illustrations have been created to convey to the finite mind the 
                   infinite.
                        a. Bird flying to the moon with particle of dust from the earth.

  1. My reaction as a little boy in S.S., to this illus. - "What would he do if he 
     accidentally swallowed it on the way?"

II. "THE WAY OF DEATH."
        A. Again this is not just physical death.
                1. Some say, "death is not the worst thing that can happen to a
                        person." 
                        a. To a non Christian it is. 
                        b. The end of hope and opportunity.
        B. The truth of the case is this: we are already on the path of death. 
                1. Just continue as you are - without Jesus Christ - and you will die in your
                   sins.
                2. We were by our human nature children of wrath.
                3. It's interesting that we usually think of death in colors of pale - gray
                   - or black.
                        a. By comparison the non-Christian life is like looking at the world
                           in black and white - like listening on monaural.
        C. The Bible says:  "God is not willing that any should perish..."  "Behold, I have 
           no pleasure in the death..."  So...

III. GOD HAS SET BEFORE US THE PATH OF LIFE.
        A. We must now exercise our God-given capacity of free choice.
                1. There is a lot working against you.
                        a. Satan, the god of this world, seeks to blind.
                                1. Brings strong delusion.
                                2. Fosters countless lies.
                                3. Uses pressure tactics - "don't be a fool."
                        b. Pride.
                                1. Acknowledgment of need for help - hard on pride.
                2. There is a lot working for you. 
                        a. God's love freely offered.
                        b. The death of Jesus Christ making the way.
                        c. The Holy Spirit drawing you.
        B. God said: "I have set before you the way of life."
                Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life..." - "He that hath the Son
                hath life."
                That is the most glorious truth or the most blasphemous lie.

I, with countless thousands, testify to you today that it is the truth. I have believed in Him
and have received from Him life.