WRONG WAY

On July 18, 1938, the world was shocked when Douglas Corrigan, an Irish Texan, took off from New York for California. He claimed that he was heading west and then, in the clouds, made a 180-degree turn to head east. Twenty-eight hours later he landed in Dublin, Ireland.

When he returned to New York he was given a ticker-tape parade and honored as a hero. The turnout for his parade was larger than for Charles Lindbergh after his solo flight to Paris in 1927. He was also dubbed “Wrong Way” Corrigan, a nickname that stuck with him for the rest of his life.

There were, of course, many questions about Corrigan’s flight to Ireland. He insisted he misread his compass which threw him off course. From the beginning, many people doubted his explanation as his plane was equipped with extra things including fuel tanks allowing him to cross the ocean with maximum safety.

Officials cornered him once and demanded he confess his flight to Ireland was planned. However, Corrigan never admitted in public that his flight was destined for Ireland from the outset.

After many activities in New York, Corrigan made a tour of the nation. He appeared in my hometown at Memorial Stadium. He rode in a convertible around the stadium track. When that was completed, he stood in the car and made a speech about the flight.

He was very convincing that his flight to Ireland was not intended.

My brother, George (fourteen), and I (twelve) were there and stood near the car. I remember Corrigan was slender, of average height, and red-headed. On the way home we discussed how it could be possible for him to make such a blunder. “Wrong Way” Corrigan stuck and became a debated theme in our home.

Corrigan’s wrong-way flight had no adverse effect on him; everything turned out all right. However, anyone taking a “wrong way” to Heaven will miss out on life with Christ (John 17:3) and a home in Heaven (14:1–9).

“There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12). 

The plural “ways” in the verse would suggest that there are many false ways people are taking, hoping for Heaven. While multitudes are on the wrong way and will in time run into a dead end, religion heads the list of the wrong ways. The major religions of the world are wrong ways, offering man false hopes for Heaven.

Trust Christ, the Son of God, and His saving blood. There are crowds today traveling on the wide road of the wrong way of religion having no hope because they are without God and His redeeming grace.

“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 there. 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.

Does religion run in your family? Religion would include anything which man may latch on to that he thinks might get him to Heaven. It could be morality, trying to keep the law, being a good neighbor, or any action of such nature.

The Bible, God’s Word—inerrant, trustworthy—tells man of the only way to the Father and Heaven: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

One may easily see that being religious is not enough to get one to the Land fairer than day. Being religious is not being Christian; the two are vastly different things. To be saved and ready for Heaven when this life is over is the right way.

You must be born again and become a “new creature.” “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17). The words “a new creature” mean “a new creation.”

To become a citizen of Glory, you must be saved by simply trusting the Lord Jesus who died for you and paid your sin debt upon the cross of Calvary. “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30). “It is finished” is saying He paid in full.

Jesus told Nicodemus, who was very religious, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”—John 3:3,16.

The new birth is from God by the Holy Spirit who takes His place in the heart of a sinner when Christ is received as Savior.

Just being a member of some religious group, no matter how old or how good, is not the new birth. Joining a church is not the new birth. Giving money to support a church is not the new birth. Being baptized, sprinkled, confirmed, or dedicated is not the new birth. Regular attendance at Sunday school and church is not the new birth. Having an abundance of good works is not the new birth.

The new birth, your passport to Heaven, is not outward but inward. It is of the heart by faith in the shed blood of Christ who takes “away the sin of the world” (1:29). It is better to face facts now and be prepared for Heaven than to try to get to Heaven by a wrong way. Do not let the Devil deceive you; your soul’s welfare is at stake.

Let us look in God’s Word at some facts about man’s condition without Christ.

• “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness-es are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isa. 64:6).

• “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).

• “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10).

• “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23.

• “But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

Here is God’s invitation for you to take the right way to Heaven: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:30-31).

The Sword of the Lord