Two Ways, No Middle Ground | Pastor Paul McGee

At this time, if you want to get closer to a neighbor, you can.

I know that the mass exodus of the different classes have taken

place and so if you want to move forward or you know, sit by a

friend, sitting by a enemy, as far as I care, it don't matter.

It would probably be good too. It may probably be good too.

Good to see each one of you today, some of you that have

been here before, years ago. Whenever my wife and I

evangelize in the early 2000s for about 7 years, we would go

to different churches and places all across the United States and

hold revival services, you know, like Wednesday through Sunday,

Sunday through Wednesday, Tuesday through Sunday, you

know, preaching every night. And there was a pastor that told

me one time that had evangelized before, too, He said it's always

a great honor whenever a man has you to stand in his pulpit to

minister, he said. But it's even a greater honor

whenever he asks you back. And so on this other side of

being a pastor now, always considered a great honor when

someone chooses to come to the first Apostolic Church.

But I counted a greater honor whenever you choose to come

back. And so we are awesome,

awesomely, just proud to have you.

Amen, here with us today. I'm going to be turning to the

book. Of Psalms this morning, the book

of Psalms chapter #1 And just to warn you ahead of time, I'm

going to read the entire Psalm. But it's only 6 verses.

Amen. It's only 6 verses.

And I feel like today just gonna get my feet wet just a little

bit with this Psalm. I, I just feel like this is this

whole morning would just be my introduction, All right?

And someone's getting nervous about right now, but

nonetheless, Psalm chapter #1 and verse #1 today we're going

to go to the Lord here and see what the word of the Lord says.

We're so glad to have Jacob with us.

He says he goes by Jake or Jacob, all right, and he's happy

with either one, but we're glad to have him this morning.

Amen. The House of the Lord, first

time being here. And the other ones that are

back. Scott, we're glad to have you

again. Helen.

It's been such a long time, Amen, since we've seen you a man

and Christina, of course, sneaking in.

I'm not trying to go through all the list again, but I don't just

feel compelled to do so, Amen. Each one of you that are here,

we're happy to have you. The Bible says in verse one of

Psalm one blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel

of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor see

sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

So first it tells us what a blessed man what what he is not

or does not, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in

his law doeth he meditate day and night.

And it gives us a little bit of assembly, a metaphor.

Here he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water

that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.

His relief also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth

shall prosper. The ungodly speaking about a

different sort, the ungodly are not so that are like the chaff

which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not

stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of

the righteous. For the Lord.

Knoweth the way or if I say the way.

For the Lord know of. The way of the righteous.

But everybody say the way, the way of the ungodly shall perish.

It's quite a little interesting setting the Scripture speaking

about the blessed righteous man and the ungodly, what the

blessed righteous man doesn't do, what he does do and how he's

compared to a tree planted and how the ungodly, those like

chaff that's driven by the wind. And there are two separate ways

it seems like these two individuals go.

And it really sets the platform for all of Psalms, how we're to

look at Psalms and really the totality of Scripture, Bible and

life. And so this morning, I'm going

to simply talk to you about this two ways, no middle ground.

Two ways. Are presented here with two

different destinies. There's no middle ground.

Alright, let's talk to the Lord right now.

He'd help U.S. Open our hearts and minds today.

Father, I come to you today. I'm so thankful for you.

I pray God, that you're able to touch our hearts and minds anew

and afresh. We're thankful, God, for our

friends who have come today, Lord, to be a part of the

service. We pray, Lord, that they would

be ministered to and touched and encouraged.

And Lord, your word would be a tool of direction and guidance

for our life. God will not fail to thank you,

Lord, for what you accomplished in this place, and we'll give

you the glory for it. In the name of Jesus Christ that

I pray in the church, say Amen, Amen.

Look your neighbor and say two ways.

No middle ground. No middle ground We live.

Of course, many of you that have been alive longer than I have

and experienced more living than I have can probably attest to

this fact even better than I can.

And that is in our modern world. We live in a modern world that

overtime has gradually come to a place more of a world of no

absolutes. There's no absolutes.

It's the way that society has conditioned those that are being

brought up in this generation that there is no hard fast.

Absolutes, no, no lines in the sand.

There is the, the blurring and the melting pot, if you will, of

philosophies and ideas and and religions.

And when I think about living in that type of society and world

today of no absolutes, I reflect upon Jesus Christ in the New

Testament Scripture and I reflect upon his unbending

resolve to draw lines in the sand as it would seem Jesus in

many of his talks and messages that he spoke to people, whether

saved or unsaved were were kind of black and white type of

speeches. If I may, in Matthew chapter #7

he tells a story or he relays some information about just two

gates. Just two gates.

That's all that he explains that there was a straight gate and

that there was a wide gate, that it had a narrow way one did and

the other one had a Broadway that in one there would be few,

there be the Finder and the other there would be many that

would go in there AT and the destinies of these two, one

would lead unto destruction and the other would lead unto life.

And so he's just very, you know, you can put that in a box there.

There, there's no blending, there's no melding, there's no

thinking which is which. It's very defined.

And so not coincidentally though, in Scripture, in Matthew

chapter #7 as Jesus are describing these two gates,

these two ways, who it is that's going to find them or can enter

in them, and what the destinies of them are.

As soon as He's laid this out of these two definitive ways,

definitive dates, He follows it up and He says in chapter in

verse #15 in Matthew 7, he follows all that up and says

beware of false prophets. This just this just kind of

touched me this week as as I saw this.

He's laying out two definite paths.

And then he throws in on the tail end of that, beware of

false prophets. Why in the world, Jesus, would

you give these defined ways and gates and who and destinies and

then tell us to beware of false prophets.

And I believe it's because false prophets of what they do, at

least in Scripture, what we find them doing is that they have the

habit of telling people what they want to hear rather than

what they need to hear. And so in a mindset then of

there being 2 gates and two ways and two destinies, he said

beware of those that's going to tell you anyway leads all to the

same destiny. Watch out for the voices of

falsehood that will try to contradict or contrast what I've

just conveyed to you trying to tell you what you want to hear

rather than what you need to hear.

I'm convinced this morning that we're living in a generation

where had this generation Brother Mason like Peter and

John had passed the lane man at the gate beautiful in chapter 4

of the book of Acts who was sitting there had been lame from

birth asking the Bible says he would go there daily asking for

alms that if this generation had passed by there.

They would have given that man exactly what he was asking for

Amen rather than what he needed. But Peter and John when they

walk by they said this man has a greater need or maybe something

that needs satisfied in his life more than just alms Amen.

He needs a healing. He needs a miracle in his life

and it's in then the Scripture that the Bible says by the Days

Inn that this man who had I've been laying for his entire life.

He is walking, he is leaping and he enters a temple that his lane

feet had never entered in before since birth.

Because Peter and John said we're going to flip the script

and rather than sharing with him what he wants, we're going to

share with him with what he. Needs.

Came in and so that is the greater that is the greater need

today because and and and I'm listen, I I'm very kind today,

but I'm going to be a little forward today as well because in

our Society of 50 Shades of grey, we have the 50 Shades of

grey prophets that are trying to scratch the proverbial itch of a

generation that's just rotting their teeth on just inclusion.

They say things like this and just walk with me here a little

bit today. These, these false prophets, if

you can say they say things like this and they're everywhere.

They're in your social media, they're in your feeds, they're

at your job, Amen. They're in government,

municipalities that things that are in churches.

I'm just be honest with you. They say say things like this.

Well, it doesn't really matter. People get a nice little pink

background with bubbles on and throw that on their facial or on

their social, you know, media. It really doesn't matter what

their meaning is. It doesn't matter what you do or

how you live or where you go or what your attitude is.

It really doesn't matter. It's all inclusive type thing.

Your, your ways, fine, my ways, fine.

How you feel is OK. I don't want to infringe upon

you. Everybody is good.

It really doesn't matter. But ladies and gentlemen,

according to the Word of God, and this is just one verse of

many, but according to the Word 3rd and Ecclesiastes 12 and 14,

the Bible says for God shall bring every work into judgment

with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be

evil. And so folks, if it really

doesn't matter, evidently to God everything does matter because

everything's going to be brought into judgment, whether good,

bad, ugly, right, wrong, it's all going to be brought into

judgment before God. Furthermore, the Bible says in

the New Testament of Galatians 6-7.

Notice the words here, the first 3 words be not deceived.

The the, the the false voices of those of the false prophets that

he said beware of be not deceived.

God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also

reap. So folks to say that it it

doesn't really matter. That's just, that's just a nice,

nice little lie that's wrapped into something that's deceptive.

So it'll go down the back of your throat, you know, maybe

more easily. The Bible never teaches that

nothing matters. It teaches that everything

matters. Every everything matters.

Amen. The voices of, of those type of

prophets use other language like this.

Well, God just wants you to be happy.

Oh, Lord, help me today. Lord God, God just wants you to

be happy. He wants you to have the feel

good. Yeah, he, he just wants to, he

doesn't want to ruffle your feathers.

He doesn't want to make any demands of you or any requests

of you. He just wants to make you happy.

But the Gospel of Matthew says in Matthew 1624, and note these

are Jesus's words. Then said Jesus unto his

disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny him

himself and take up his cross and follow me.

I don't know about you, but the last time that I considered the

symbol of a cross in the view of a crucifix.

It is not something that is comfortable and is not something

fun and games and blowing the whistles of celebration.

It is a symbol of self denial. It is a symbol of self death.

And so ladies and gentlemen, yes, God wants you to have a

fruitful life and a good life, but some sometimes it requires

sacrifice and self introspection on our side in order to get

there. Here's a good Instagram one.

Follow your heart, man. I just feel like cotton candy

when I say that. Just follow your heart.

You know, I'm, I'm really looking forward to you.

I'm doing this. Someone just miss that?

Follow your heart. But you know, I'm in a

relationship right now this and this is going.

Just follow your heart. Well, you know, I got some

things on the table about a new house, a new car.

Just follow your heart. Huh.

It's the answer, man. It's like, it's like the broad

brush answer for everything. Just follow your heart, you

know? I was just in a argument with my

mom there Dame blah blah blah. Just follow your heart.

But Jeremiah 17 and 9 says the heart is deceitful above all

things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

I don't know about, but the Bible kind of directly

contradicts this whole concept of just following your heart

philosophy. Why?

Because your heart can mislead you.

Your heart can betray you. Your heart can.

Deceive you and your heart has ruined many people that's

followed their heart and got to the end of a dead end road.

Honey you don't need to follow your heart you need to follow

your master. You need to follow God.

You need. The Bible says in Proverbs 28

and 26 look what the scripture says.

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.

But whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

Folks, in the Scripture God is not admonishing us or are urging

us to follow our hearts. If anything, He's urged us to

follow Him. Rather than following our heart,

we are called to surrender our heart unto Him.

The Bible says in Proverbs 3 and five, trust in the Lord with all

thine heart. You know what you need to do

with that otherwise deceptive heart, that otherwise misleading

heart, that heart that you can't trust every day of the week you

need to take that heart of yours you can't trust, you can't

depend upon, and you need to lay it on God.

Give it to God. Let.

Just follow your heart. They propagate things like, well

God is love, so he just accepts everyone as they are.

God is love. First, John 48 God is love.

Here's what I know about God even through His word, that He

may accept us as we are, but His love will not affirm our sin and

allow us to continue as we are. God's love delivers us from sin.

Listen, God's love is not some covert operation for our sin.

Meaning that I just do what I do and He'll just put His love over

it and just let it continue under the umbrella of His love.

Romans 615 The apostle Paul said to the church at Rome, he says,

what then? Shall we sin?

Because we are not under the law, but under grace, Because

the law, you know, is all this is Thou shalt not, thou shalt

so. But now we come under the grace

of Calvary, God's love. He says what then You tell me

that since we have that now, no, that means we can live life any

old way. The Apostle Paul's 2 words

response was this. God forbid.

Because if you approach God's love like that, you're using it

as a license to try to endorse your life rather than an

opportunity for your life to be changed.

Oh God, someone say, help me Jesus.

Think of it, if you will, New Testament story in the book of

John. The Bible says if you look at

it, consider the woman that's caught in the act of adultery,

right? Some familiar with the story.

If not, you look at it and John chapter #4 caught, caught in the

act of adultery. But here's what happens through

the eyes of this all inclusive type of society in which we Live

Today. If we're not careful, we will

spend this conversation between the woman caught in the act of

adultery and God, and we'll turn it.

We'll turn it into this type of conversation that God just kind

of turns his head and he overlooks our wrongs.

If it was just God turning his head and overlooking our wrongs,

then there would never been no. Purpose for a Calvary.

There would never needed to be a human being take the sins of the

world upon his flesh and then have that flesh nailed to a

tree. That's right, not necessary.

We could just spend our lives turning our heads, ignoring.

So it's not that he ignored anything for the scripture would

not even told us in Colossians 214.

Speaking of that cross episode, blotting out the handwriting of

ordinances that was against us, things we'd done wrong, which

was contrary to us and took it out of the way how nailing it to

his cross. No.

Christ identified the wrong. Christ acknowledged the wrong,

but he took the wrong with him to the tree, and the wrong got

the proper judgment at the tree. You got grace, but you're wrong.

Got judgment at Calvary. That's not Christ overlooking

that, that's Christ acknowledging that.

And that's the purest love He can have for you of trying to

show you grace and still dealing with your issue and your

problem, not ignoring it, acknowledging it and making the

payment for it. And the woman, John, four, I

haven't forgot about her. She's there.

She's just waiting on me. She's there.

What'd Jesus say to that adulterous woman and John?

8 rather, not 4. John Ford is a Samaritan woman

John 8. She gets up from the ground

where she has been brought and he asked the woman, where are

your your your accusers? She says I don't see any Lord.

Verse 11 says Jesus's words, neither do I condemn thee, go

and send no more. Now here's here's the problem.

Sometimes today's society. Cuts the sentence.

Off after. Neither do I condemn thee.

They truncate it or they share what they want to share because

we like to cherry pick. Is everybody doing all right?

We, we, we, we. Neither do I condemn thee.

Boom. Praise God.

I just did this horrible thing. He's not going to condemn me.

Let me seek out my next place. Come on.

That's not what he says. He says neither do I condemn

thee. Go and sin no more.

So there's two things happening here.

He refuses to condemn her, but he also refuses to condone her.

Let me say it again for the people in the back.

He refuses to condemn her, but he also refuses to condone her.

That's right, because there is a absolute, absolute offense that

is taking place here. It has to be dealt with by

someone. And since she can't handle her

own offense, he says, I'll step in.

But the offense still has to be handled.

Listen to what Paul wrote in First Corinthians 6 and verse #9

look at this now. He says no ye not that the

unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God be here's

these words again, be not deceived, neither fornicators.

Now as we're going through this list understand as he's starting

to hit on these things. He's talking about people that

are presently practicing whatever he is calling neither

fornicators nor adulterers nor adulterers nor effeminate nor

abusers of themselves with mankind verse 10 nor thieves nor

covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor extortioners shall

inherit the Kingdom of God. Folks, that is pretty lines

drawn. If you're presently

participating in these things, ye shall not inherit the Kingdom

of God. Look at verse #11 though and

such someone say, such were some of you, but ye are washed, but

ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God.

You say, well God is love and he accepts everyone as they are.

Yes, He is love and he does accept people, but he also,

according to this verse, he. Transforms fornicators and the

children of God idolaters and the children of God abusers and

the children of God effeminate and the children of God.

That's who they were past is. That's who they once was.

The past is they're no longer that.

They're no longer practicing that.

They're no longer involved in that because God loved them

enough to judge their sin and save their soul.

And they say, I'm going to walk in a new path.

I'm going to walk in a new Ave. Thank God I'm not.

Not what I used to be. Amen.

Amen. So love doesn't come along and

affirm all the wrong that we have done in our life doesn't do

that. It's not going to come along and

affirm all of that wrong that's destroying you.

What type of sense would that make?

God's going to just pacify and affirm everything that he knows.

Is destroying your life and taking you down the wrong Rd.

What type of sense would that make?

I say that as though it's common knowledge.

But. There's a lot of that.

I'm trying to be nice today. There's a lot of that theory and

philosophy taking on in our world.

The. Love The Love mission is not

making you feel good on your way to destruction.

The Love Mission is helping save you from destruction.

You know, you've heard people say before they've been involved

in something and they didn't know they was in danger until

they were in danger. No indices, nothing going on to

tip them off any other way until.

It was too late. Here you have a great gentleman

this morning and your God, because he's not going to treat

you, Amen. That just lets you just be

oblivious, Amen, about where you are.

And then, oh, there we are at the end and it's too late.

No, no, no. He has given indicators all

along the journey. And sometimes we think, oh,

what? What a cruel God.

Or why does that preacher say that?

Or why does that person say that?

Listen, folks, that's not hatred, that's not unkindness.

You know what that is? That is love.

The Bible says he chastises those whom he loves.

He does it from a place and a position of love.

He cares for you. He wants your destiny to be

different than what it was when you started in this life.

He has hopes of an expected end for you.

Just in my introduction they're saying.

Things like do what feels right, yeah.

Just do what feels right. It sounds so good.

Just 4 little words together. Smush together.

It makes. That's great.

I'll write that in the card. Put homework on the back.

Do what feels right. Have it your way, baby.

Could you imagine holding that philosophy raising your kids?

That's OK, honey. Do what feels right.

I mean, don't mind. They're not at a age that their

prefrontal cortex is not even fully developed, where the

reasoning part of their brain is to make decisions well.

Now understand why they need parental guidance.

Because they don't have the biology yet.

They don't have the biology to support sound reasoning yet.

Maybe that's the reason why God put parents in their life.

Just do what feels like. Here's what the proverb says.

This is Bible today. Proverbs 1412.

There is a way which seemeth right in the man, but the end

thereof are the ways of death. This is Pastor Day.

It listen, it can seem and it can feel right and still be

wrong. That's right, absolutely.

It can seem like it. Listen, if that wasn't the case,

you'd never, ever hear of a story of someone being taken

advantage by some of these pyramid schemes because to them,

it seemed right, sounded good. It wasn't right.

And you said, well, Brother McGee, my feelings are real.

Yes. I'm not denying that.

The feelings that come in our life, they are absolutely real,

but they're not always realistic.

I think they hate me. That might be a real feeling,

but it might not be. It may be unfounded.

It may not be true. That's right.

Yeah, come on, The call that Christ called his people to walk

wasn't a call to walk by your feelings or walk by what seems

right, he said. Walk by faith.

Where's that put? Trust.

Again, in our decisions and our choices, not in me.

I'm not leaning on my own understanding.

I'm trusting myself to him. Here's another one, everybody.

I need to. Quit that stuff.

Here's the the the voice of those prophets.

Your truth. Is valid for you.

Your truth, you know, we got your truth and my truth.

Everybody's got truth. Your truth is your truth.

Is valid for you. We we were living in a world

that has grown. Increasingly, listen, I'm

telling you again, increasingly uncomfortable with absolutes.

The air of participation trophies if just speak in

practical terms because we wanted to kind of.

Erase absolutes that there are a winner.

And there's a loser. God help me.

We're in a culture. No, we, we want the options, we

want some alternatives. We want to customize it you.

Know you, you can't even have proper rules in, in, in like a,

a job, a work environment from from human resources or even

department stores, anything nowadays without somebody trying

to come and find a loophole to make negotiations come on all

the time for Fred. They probably come to your

business with insurance. So they don't want can you do

this? And you're like, no, I can't.

But they still go on and talk about can you?

They want to customize it. They don't want to contend with

the hard fast that's already laid out.

They want exceptions #1 because they believe they deserve it.

I didn't. I didn't put gunpowder on the

Wheaties this morning. I'm just telling you today, this

is where we are AT. And so truth is no longer.

Truth is no longer seen as something fixed.

Truth is seen as something that is negotiable.

Truth is seen as something that is flexible.

Truth is seen as something that is flexible.

That it will sell at the right price.

Truth. So now we live in a society.

We, we There is no definition, true definition anymore.

Morality. Morality is subjective to what

everybody wants morality to be for their life, their club,

their community. It's negotiated at whatever

terms that we can all seem to come to somewhat agree on.

And since that's the case, your, your idea of morality is

different than his idea of morality and different her idea

of morality. And when it's all said and done,

we have all these different cards on the table that's

defining morality. And when you have that many

definitions, you don't have a definition.

And so we've been taught that that every belief, every idea,

everything deserves equal validation.

Every path deserves equal dignity, every destination equal

celebration. So many.

Ways to live. So many ways to live.

So many ways to believe. So many ways to believe.

So many ways to reach God. So many, so many, so many.

And here's the fact of the matter.

That's not something that's beyond the church walls.

Can you hear me right now? That's something that's even

crept inside of the church walls quietly into the hearts.

Even the believers, quote UN quote, Saints, it's crept in.

I just recently looked at just this week, there's a survey that

happens every year. It's called the State of

theology survey, happens every year.

This one just took place in the month of October of last year,

2025. And so the state of theology

survey, it's a nationwide survey that reveals how people of today

are viewing key doctrines in the Scriptures.

All right. And according to the 2025

October State of Theology survey, it revealed this, that

nearly half of those who identified themselves as

evangelical Christians believe that God accepts the worship of

multiple religions, multiple venues, multiple ways equally.

It doesn't matter the exact percentage was about 47%.

If you can and you just turn your Bibles there, I'm not

really going well. I am going to read a few verses

from there, but it brought to my mind a story or Advent in

scripture. First Kings chapter 17.

1 Kings 17 · chapter mention

This is during the time when Israel has been displaced from

Samaria and Judah and the region of Israel, and they've been

taken into an Assyrian captivity.

A lot of times. We talk a lot about the

Babylonian captivity. That happens primarily to the

southern part of Israel, which was known as Judah, but there

was also an Assyrian. Captivity that took. 1st for the

northern part of of Israel known as Israel, the 10 tribes.

And so they displaced them from Samaria.

And the Bible says that the king of Assyria, then he began to

populate the land that that the Israelites had been in.

He began to populate it with a lot of foreign peoples from

different nations and countries. He brought some of the Babylon

you read in Scripture. Brought.

Babylon and put them in Samaria. Qatar brought them into Samaria,

ABBA brought them, Hamath brought them, Shevar Shevar

Vaim, Amen, brought them. And he brought all these people

to live in the city of Samaria, Israel's exile.

They're away from there. So he brought all these

different nations and peoples and brought them to Samaria,

where, where Israel, the Israelites lived, and put them

right there. And the Bible says when they

were first there, there are different places, different

countries. They did not honor or know even

how to honor the Lord God of Israel.

And so they come there and the Bible says after there for a

while, since they did not fear the Lord or have any author God,

the Bible says that the Lord sent lions among them, and those

lions consumed some of them. And so then the king of Assyria

got this bright idea. I tell you what we need to do.

We need to take some old Israelite priest and bring just

one of them back from exile and put him in Samaria so he can

teach those Pagan people with a multiplicity of gods, the manner

of God of the God of the land that they're living in right

now. And it teach them about the God

of Samaria. And so he went and got the

priest and they taught them everything concerning the God of

the land of Samaria. And the Bible tells us then now

these people, they're they're worshipping God in the right

place, Samaria of all things, right in the land of Israel, but

they're still doing it in the wrong way because they've kept

on serving all the other gods that they had.

Look at the Bible first Kings chapter 17 and verse 29.

1 Kings 17 · chapter mention

Here's the story. After the priest has come in,

try to teach him about the manner of the God of the land.

It says, how be it? Every nation made gods.

All these people that came in, they didn't just come in, they

brought their gods with him. They they every nation made gods

of their own and put them in the houses of the high places which

the Samaritans had made a man, and every nation and their

cities wherein they dwell. Look at verse 33.

They feared the Lord. So they have some type of

acknowledgement or consciousness about God, but serve their own

gods after the manner of the nations whom they carried away

from thence. And so if you read from verse 29

down to verse 33, the other verses that are in between,

there you're going to find the various gods that they brought

to Samaria, to Israel, the place where the Lord God Amen was

served in worship. And so there as they brought

them, they bought, they brought creator gods.

They brought what was known as storm and wisdom and writing

gods. They brought love and war gods.

Some of them even viewed their God as a universal ruler.

They brought their plague and fire gods.

The names of them are in between those verses, and these are the

what they were considered the gods of.

Even some of them. No, I studied it.

Even some of them were revered. Some of their gods were revered

as the Lord and ruler of the great underworld.

So you had this melting pot, if I could say, of religions have

this melting pot of religions in this one place of Samaria.

Many of these minds you even had in the religious practices were

linked to child sacrifice and burning the children.

They have all this and they bring it together, Samaria.

And they're like, we're going to, we're going to learn the

ways of the Lord, but not for the purpose of forsaking the way

that they did, but just for the purpose of just adding that on

the table. Of being all inclusive, no.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's not that I'm going to lay

down my God of War and love now and submit to this God.

No, he's just another God that we all, that we all can serve,

I'm getting. In trouble today that we can

just all serve. Oh, the grand umbrella that I've

walked with for my years of life on earth, of let's just all come

together under his name. But you don't know when you're

coming together under that name. What other names they?

Brought. Yes, come.

On that's right, let's let's just let's just oh, folks,

listen, I am not willing. Listen to me as pastor.

I am not willing to subject anybody in this church to

worship the Lord Jesus Christ, your true Lord and Savior, and

then to rub shoulders with the acceptance of also having a God

of the underworld. He told us in the book of

Corinthians, light and darkness don't mix.

That's right, That's right. Christ is very, very, it's very

delineated. There is not the meshing

together this, you know, there's some things any, any bakers or

cookers out there? I do a lot of cooking in my

house. You can cook some things, put

all ingredients together and the melting down of them and the

changing of the chemistry that they melt together, that it is

nearly impossible to separate them.

But then there are other things like a, a, a salad that you put

the carrots in there and you put the cucumbers and you put this

in there. You mix that all up, but you can

still take the pieces out and that's still lettuce and that's

still carrots, right? Somebody hear me right now, I am

not willing. I'm not willing to mix in such a

way that we change the composition of who we're

supposed to be and we take on them and they take up on us.

Our fellowship, our speak, I'll have conversation that at the

end of the day, there's still going to be carrots, there's

still going to be lettuce, there's still going to be

cucumbers. There's still because my God is

my God, and he alone. See what they wanted?

They wanted to attempt to worship God plus their idols,

God plus their child sacrifice, God plus all of their impure

rights. They wanted to paint with that

very broad brush. They didn't want to find tip

brush that would narrow the focus.

You know what Isaiah said? The Lord said through the

prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 42 and he said, I am the Lord.

That is my name and my glory. I will not give to another,

neither my praise to graven images.

We could dredge up some more. But even just that one.

'S pretty sufficient for me. He don't share.

His glory with another. You tell me you're going to

praise your word God over here and praise that God.

No, he says. I want.

All of it. I don't have me a little God on

the side. I don't have God I shack up with

for certain needs. Listen when I need deliver.

I go to him whenever I need heal.

I go to him when my finances need help.

I go to him. When I need salvation, I go to

him. I'm not trying to find out which

God I need to go to. He's all sufficient.

He says it over and over, the Old Testament.

I'm the all sufficient God. I don't need a panorama of God.

I got God and heaven is thrown and the earth is.

Didn't look excited here. Look excited.

I ate a bowl of cereal called Life this morning.

I just got it abundantly today, Christina.

I have eaten with a big spoon. I guess modern society, they

recoil when you start talking about things being exclusive,

you start talking about the idea of there might be something

definitively right and definitively wrong.

Blur that a little bit. Don't mark off clear boundaries.

Here's the thing, Doctor Mason, we didn't just arrive here last

year. We've been plotting our way here

for years. This is just a For instance,

back in March of 1998, there was a issue, the March 1998 issue of

Q magazine. There's a woman there.

Her name is Madonna. Some may know, may not know.

I know it's a old, old time, but I'm just telling you about this

been going on for years, Madonna was interviewed as saying.

I do believe that all paths lead to God.

It's a shame that we end up having religious wars because so

many of the messages are the same in the same year, the dear

Oprah Winfrey asked her televised audience.

How can there be only one way to heaven or to God?

Someone in the audience asked her.

Well, what about Jesus? Oprah replied.

What about Jesus? There couldn't possibly be one

way, folks, We didn't just get here yesterday.

We didn't just get here yesterday.

We've been on a journey. But whenever I read that one of

the disciples called Thomas, whenever he was having dialogue

with Jesus and John chapter #14 and he's asking the Lord, the

Lord's talking about there's a way that he's going to take.

And and Thomas is kind of saying, Lord, how can we know

the way? This is what Jesus said of

himself in John 14 and 6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the

way. The truth and the life no man

come unto the Father, but by me that word the.

What's known in English as the definitive article, that word,

the that's before the way, the truth and the life is an

important word because that word's not just here in our

English translations of our Bible.

That word is also in the Greek from which these English

translations of the New Testament came.

From that same definitive article, Article D precedes each

one of those words of way, truth and life, and what that means

for us as readers and listeners and people that's going to

understand means. This is that Jesus is declaring

that he is the unique way, the unique truth, the unique life.

He is the way, not a way. He is the life, not a life.

He is the truth, not. Hate truth.

In other words, he's not one option among many.

He's not a spiritual preference. He's not a cultural

Christianity. He is.

He's making an exclusive claim to a inclusive world that he's

the only one. Yes.

Oh, Jesus. Amen.

And since Jesus is the word that was manifest in the flesh

according to John 114, then that word even is true that Jesus

said in John 1717. And you hear it on the radio.

Sanctify them through thy Word. Thy word is truth.

What's that mean? Truth is not subjective.

Truth is not personal. Truth is absolute.

And it doesn't matter if you agree with it or if you don't

agree with it, it's still true. It doesn't need your vote to be

truth. It'll be truth all by itself and

it'll my God, we're not getting together a committee about

whether or not we want to accept it.

Whether we accept it or not, it stands on its own 2 feet all by

itself. Truth is truth.

Amen. And that same word that was made

flesh as Christ, which is truth, is one of the writer of Hebrews

says Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.

That tells me truth is fixed. Because the God that was

manifested in the flesh has Christ.

Jesus tells me also that he is the immutable.

God. What's that mean?

He changes not so truth does not change from yesterday, today or

for tomorrow. It is what it is.

It is what it was and it will be what it is.

For the more Acts 4 and 12 says neither.

You're not going there, I'm going there.

Neither is there salvation in any other, in any other, for

there is none other. For there is none other name

under heaven where given among men, whereby we must be saved

neither in any other there is none other.

You. Know what that word other, the

second other defined In the Greek, there is not even another

word, other, former person, former thing.

For our context, former name. It's defined as not one of the

same nature, not one of the same form, not one of the same class,

not one of the same kind, not one even of a different name

that can compare. You know what the apostle say

and he's saying, listen, there is a name that's given to you

for salvation and there's not another, not even another one

that has a similar class, a similar form, a similar kind.

There's not even a different name that can supply the

deliverance that you name. There is none.

I don't. Know about you?

But that sounds pretty exclusive to me.

That sounds pretty absolute, brother Reese, to me.

I'm getting there. I'm still my introduction.

I still got some preaching to do here for next for Don joking.

So when we open the book of Psalms, this is where the text

comes in, the very first Psalm. It confronts us, then with the

truth that stands in stark contradiction to the spirit of

our age, because Psalm 1 does not present in many ways.

It presents two ways. It doesn't present several

paths, not a spectrum of gradiation of paths and the

options. No, just two.

And this Psalm is really like an introduction to all of the

psalms that will follow. But it opens with establishing

this, this fundamental principle that should and ought to govern

humanity since the very beginning of time, for that

matter. But there are two ways that you

can live in this life, and those two ways lead to two different

destinies. I know that's just as simple as

elementary coloring in the lines at kindergarten, but we have we

have confused and we have made complex something that God has

had simple from the beginning. There's only two ways and they

both have vast different destinies.

Not always lead to him. We'll get into.

It perhaps in weeks to come somewhere whenever I feel

compelled by the Holy. Ghost.

But Psalm 1 describes that there is a way that leaves us

prospering. We're not talking about

prosperity gospel. We don't preach that around

here. Praise God.

Well, that's for another day, right?

But one leaves you prospering and the other one leaves you

perishing. Oh, Brother McGee, that's I'm

not sure about. It folks, it's in your Bible,

Judas, the Revelation. You start reading the things

that Jesus describes and shares a New Testament scripture.

Think for a moment. There's two men.

One builds his house on the rock, 1 builds his house on the

sand. The storm and the waves in the

wind come to both. Both here only one obeys.

The outcome is different for each.

There's five wise virgins, 5 foolish versions.

What's the difference between these two By the end of the day

and story and the Bible says they all slumbered and slept.

But the end result is there were the five wise who had made

preparation, who had garnered some oil that was ready even for

their moment of failure just to just to Bishop.

We read in Scripture. Jesus is telling his own what

are you doing Jesus? Jesus isn't letting us know that

He did not redefine foolishness. As another valid lifestyle

choice, he showed that wisdom was obedience and that

foolishness carried consequences.

I got to close, don't I? This one says, yeah, I'm glad

Brother Ryan Marshall's going to be here tonight.

Now, years ago, Preacher told me, he said, hey, don't preach

him to the gates of hell if you don't put up an exit sign for

him. So here's my exit sign.

Considering everything I've told you about, all the gates, all

the warnings, all the contrasts, all the exposure of the, the

wording and the phrases of the false prophets that we should be

aware of, the cultural rebuke, whatever you want to call it,

and the presentation of these two ways that we just peer into

in Psalms chapter #1 again, you might be, here's one man.

I'm feeling the weight of all this, pastor.

And I think you're probably thinking, is there hope?

I mean, you told me the bad news, but is there any good

news? And the answer is yes.

Here's your hope. Because when Psalm one begins,

it does not begin with condemnation.

It begins with blessed is the man.

God didn't just write Psalm 1 merely to warn us of the way

that perishes. He rode to show us the way that

prospers. Furthermore, if you go back to

John's or Matthew 7 where I started the narrow way, and

please understand this today, this isn't this is, it's my

heart, yes, but this is the heart of God.

The narrow way is not narrow because God is trying to keep

people out. It's narrow because truth is

precise. Yes, that's good.

Let me go a step further. It is precise, but it is open

because the scripture says. The scripture does not say

Brother Fred McGee. It does not say Jesus said there

is a narrow grate gate. Good luck finding it.

That's not what the scripture says.

The scripture says there in Matthew 713.

This is Jesus's words. Enter in at the straight gate.

You can only give a mandate like that if the gate exists and the

gate is open for entrance. What is that?

That's an invitation. Staying with me.

That's an invitation. Jesus and John 10/10 He said I

and come. What did he say?

Let's look what he said first. The thief cometh not but two,

and, and, but I am come that you might have life.

What do we got here? Two ways. 2 past that you might

have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Listen, Peter tells us in first. Peter says the Lord #1 is not

slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness, and he

is not willing that any should perish.

It's not God's will. It's not God's will for you to

choose the path or the way of a Sinner and then someday embrace

the destiny of perishing. He's not willing because he's

provided a choice. He's.

Provided an invitation and I say this today, he's a minister.

Of the word of the Lord here. Today that if you're not with

him, Matthew, this is what it said in Matthew Jesus, even

though he said, Lord, there's some people over here that's

doing some things and you know, and we think that maybe we

should give him the what for the kind of teaching and doing for.

And he says, listen, if they're not with me.

Then they're against me. All right?

That's pretty black and white, Brother Reese.

It's like they're either for me or they're not, Brother Fred.

I mean, they didn't. Have to spend 2 hours figuring

that and out, he said they're either with me, they're not.

There's a choice. There's two choices.

They have definitive different endings.

Listen, listen to Pastor this morning.

In this instance, for instance, if he's with me, not with me.

In this instance, not choosing and still choosing.

If they're not with. Me.

If they're not choosing that, then they've made a choice.

If they're not with me, they're against me.

So in this instance, not choosing is still choosing.

What do you implore as pastor? I implore this.

Choose the way, choose the life, choose.

I know it's rigid, the truth. I feel a witness of His spirit

here today. We bow our heads all across this

place, sore ma'am, whoever you may be.

And please understand me today. I'm not some angry preacher up

here, but I am a convinced preacher.

I'm a convinced preacher concerning God's word and I'm

convinced today that He is laid before us. 2 paths in this life,

2 paths, not a multiplicity. And please help me, just let me

explain like this folks, I understand.

I understand that we all come from different walks of life and

I'm not saying your walk in life from birth to the Lord has to

look exactly like mine. But what I am saying is this,

that I believe it's in that same John 10 that Jesus said I am the

the door. Someone hear me, I am the door

to the sheepfold. So all of our lives might be

looking like a roots of a tree. Then they're scattered from

every place, but they all got to find their passage to the main

trunk. So you, you, you could start it

over here in the dysfunctional family.

You could have started over. Here as an alcoholic and you

could have started over here, good moral individual.

You just know Lord. But if we're going to get in the

sheepfold, the way we going to have to pass through the door,

and Jesus Christ is that door and in that ye the part of that

tree, part of that sheepfold. Or you're not.

We have a choice today. You have a choice today.

I urge you this morning, if you think, well, I just don't know.

Please, please, please, please do not delay.

Please do not delay. Please do not.

Please do not be standing at the fork in the road, so to speak,

flipping the coin. Folks, I've tried.

I've tried to give you some, some, some, some, some

information. I've tried to give you some

scripture today. Don't listen in this moment.

It's not the time to start to try to trust your feelings or

follow your heart or all that other stuff.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You need to go based upon what

has been delivered unto us as the unadulterated Word of God,

this word that was made flesh, this word that was made, blessed

is Christ, that change is not same, same, same, same.

There's no variance. There's no shadow of turning.

You can put your faith in that. You don't have to be putting

your faith in me as an individual.

I'd rather you not put your faith in Me because I'm prone to

failure. But if you'll put your faith in

the Lord, He's never failed. He's never lost a battle.

He's never quit on anybody. Put your faith in Him today.

Put your trust in Him today and trust your deceitful heart to

Him today. Bring your feelings, your

misunderstandings, your chaos to him today.

Hallelujah. Would someone just go?

There is a straight gate and it is open today.

The plea is enter the straight gate.

That means it exists and it's open.

It's an invitation, it's an opportunity.

Can we come any individual here today?

It doesn't matter. If this is your first.

Time or your 50th time if you're St. of God today it would be

good measure for us Amen to to exude an example right now and

coming and saying you know what I chose many years ago to pass

through this door. I'm just coming today.

I'm rededicating I'm affirming that I made the right choice.

I'm affirming Hallelujah that he has been that.

Unique, solitary way. Hey man, it seems like a trip

and a path of exclusivity. But with that comes an

attention. With that comes clarity.

With that comes definition. With that, come on, Sir.

Come on, ma'am. You don't have to be afraid.

Oh, but Brother McGee. But Brother McGee.

No, no, no, no, no. Please don't let society, please

don't let the societal voices come and and water down and

dilute, if you will, truth. Don't let all that hogwash to

come and somehow undercut. Amen.

Truth. Folks, we've been on a plotting

journey of pushing the envelope of truth for years.

They've diluted it. They've washed it out.

They've expunged it. Amen.

Let's just just give me Jesus. Just give me Jesus.

Just give me Jesus. Talk to him right now.

He's not. Far from every one of us.

He's not far. We'll get in it later sometime.

But the Bible says that the Lord, he knows the path.

He knows the path of the righteous.

He takes knowledge of it. It's exponential to him.

He understands it. He watches over.

He knows the path of the righteous.

Come on, Sir. Come on, ma'am.