The Narrow Way # 3

The Narrow Way # 3

And how are we to "strive so as to enter" the Narrow Gate? The general answer is, "lawfully" (2 Tim. 2:5). But to particularize: We are to strive by prayer and supplication, diligently seeking deliverance from those things which would bar our entrance. We are to earnestly cry to Christ for help from those foes which are seeking to overcome us. We are to come constantly to the Throne of Grace, that we may there find grace to help us to repudiate and turn away with loathing from everything which is abhorred by God, even though it involves our cutting off of a right hand and plucking out of a right eye; and grace to help us do those things which He has commanded. We must be "temperate in all things", especially those things which the flesh craves and the world loves.

Why is such striving necessary to "enter" the narrow gate?

First, because satan is striving to destroy your soul. "Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour!" (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore must he be resisted "steadfast in faith."

Second, because natural appetites of the FLESH are striving to destroy you: "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11).

Third, because the whole WORLD is arrayed against you, and if it cannot burn, it will seek to turn you by its alluring promises, Delilah-like deceits, and fatal enticements. Unless you overcome the world, the world will overcome you to the eternal destruction of your soul.

From what has been before us, we may plainly discover why it is that the vast majority of our fellow-men and women, yes, and of professing Christians also, will fail to reach Heaven: it is because they prefer sin to holiness, indulging the lusts of the flesh to walking according to the scriptures, self to Christ, the world to God. It is as the Lord Jesus declared, "Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). Men refuse to deny "self", abandon their idols, and submit to Christ as LORD - and without this, none can take the first step toward Heaven and enter through the "narrow gate."

The Narrow Way

Just as entering the "Narrow Gate" signifies the heart's acceptance of Christ's holy teaching, so to walk along the "Narrow Way" means for the heart and life to be constantly regulated thereby. Walking along the Narrow Way denotes a steady perseverance in faith and obedience to the Lord Jesus; overcoming all opposition, rejecting every temptation to forsake the path of fidelity to Him. It is called the "Narrow Way" because all self-pleasing and self-seeking is shut out!

In Genesis 18:19 it is called "the Way of the Lord;" in Exodus 13:21, 32:8 "the Way;" in 1 Samuel 12:23 "the good and right Way;" in Psalm 25:9 "His Way;" in Proverbs 4:11 "the Way of wisdom;" in Proverbs 8:20 "the Way of righteousness;" in Proverbs 10:17 "the Way of life;" in Isaiah 35:8 "the Way of holiness;" in Jeremiah 6:16 "the good Way;" in 2 Peter 2:2 "the Way of truth;" in 2 Peter 2:15 "the right Way."

The Narrow Way must be followed - no matter how much it may militate against my worldly interests. It is right here that the testing point is reached. Unto the natural man, it is much easier and far more pleasant - to indulge the flesh and follow our worldly propensities. The Broad Road, where the flesh is allowed "liberty" - under the pretense of the Christian not "being under the law" - is easy, smooth, and attractive; but it ends in "destruction!" Though the "Narrow Way" leads to life, only FEW tread it.

Multitudes make a profession and claim to be saved - but their lives give no evidence that they are "strangers and pilgrims" here on earth, or that their "treasure" is in heaven. They are afraid of being thought narrow and peculiar, strict and puritanical. satan has deceived them - they imagine that they can get to heaven by an easier route than by denying "self", taking up their cross daily, and following Christ!

~A. W. Pink~

(continued with # 4)