Matthew 7:14, “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” This is another picture of the more excellent way; the way of God is a strait gate and a narrow way. The more excellent way is the way of love expressed in I Corinthians 13, and we have heard so much in the convention of the importance of the love of God. The love of God can do something that nothing else can do as far as our lives are concerned. Someone asked the question once of Jesus when He was here, “What is the greatest commandment?” He answered by saying, “To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength and the second is likened unto it, to love thy neighbour as thyself.” The Bible tells us, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” All that is mentioned in the law of Old Testament times can be contained in this one thing, to love God with everything we have and are and to love our neighbour as ourselves. All the wonderful preaching of the prophets, all their prophesying, all their vision of heavenly things, all their encouragement could be summarised with this one thought, was all to produce a love that is giving God everything, all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength, just our everything.
This is the first commandment, then also the second commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. If every person in Australia loved their neighbour as their selves, we could tear up the law book, what is required to keep the law, be it the criminal law or the law concerning the roads, they could be torn up if everyone loved their neighbour as their selves. We could turn all the prisons into holiday homes if everyone loved their neighbour as their selves. Love is the answer to all the problems in this country, this is the most wonderful country, Australia, a country of freedom, a country of democracy, a country of prosperity, a country of possibilities naturally speaking but also there are problems because humans are there, human nature is there, we are all conscious of that.
All the laws in the Bible can be expressed in one word, just love God with everything and your neighbour as yourself, Jesus said, “This is the first commandment, it was to love God. The second commandment was to love our neighbour.” It is very clear to me that we cannot love our neighbour unless we love God first of all. No point in trying to love our neighbour, do good to our neighbour, be kind to our neighbour, doing good works in this world, no point to it if we do not love God, that is the first commandment. It starts there and then we have the right love towards our neighbour. Also, a husband does not really love his wife the way he should love her unless he loves God first of all, and no wife really loves her husband until she first learns to love God first of all. She then has the right kind of love for her husband and the husband has the right kind of love for his wife, when they both love God first and God is first in their hearts and in their lives. You may feel that you love your children, care for your children, almost adore your children but you do not love them in the right way until you love God first of all, till you fulfil this first commandment, to love God with everything. Then and then only can you love your wife, love your husband, love your children in the right way. Love is so important.
I believe there are some wonderful orphanages in the world, children are orphans, have no parents, they are taken in and cared for, some are very wonderful homes, every care there, sufficient food on the table, there is a good education, a right upbringing, sufficient clothes, every care is taken for the children. In the very best orphanages, there is always something missing, it is the love of a father, it is the love of a mother, maybe good care, maybe the best food, the finest clothes, the very best education the children could experience, one thing is always missing, the love of a father, the love of a mother that is always missing. We are so glad for the love of our Father.
We were hearing about the church at Ephesus, who had lost their first love. In that church, they were doing all the right things, they were not doing wrong things, doing the right things but doing them without love. Think back to this orphanage, there was every care, they were doing all the right things, looking after the children, but one thing was missing, that was the love of a father, the love of a mother. This church was doing all the right things but without love, was it a sense of duty, was it a sense of justice, a sense of righteousness, was it a sense of keeping up the standard, which is a word that we use often but is not found in the Bible, a standard, for we think of Jesus and his righteousness, and that is what it is really all about. We can go through the motions but if love is missing everything is missing, the love of a father and our love towards him.
We think of Abraham, when he took those animals and slaughtered them, laid the pieces of those animals on the altar, then the birds of prey came and we can well picture the scene, here was the altar and there was Abraham and the birds were coming from the left and from the right, in front and behind, swooping down and wanting to grab a piece of the sacrifice laid there on the altar. It was quite a task for Abraham to chase them away. Seems he was there all the day to chase away the birds of prey, here was a sacrifice, a great sacrifice and I am sure of one thing, Abraham took the best animals that he had in his flock, without blemish, without spot, perfect animals, but the birds of prey came. The sacrifice was in great danger, he could easily have lost a part of the sacrifice during that day, think of the midday sun coming, the heat of the day, think of the drowsiness, think of sleep overcoming him, fighting against all this in the middle of the day, for the birds were still coming trying to snatch away a piece of his sacrifice, he had to watch very carefully and chase them away. Until when, until God sent down the fire, and the fire came down and consumed the sacrifice, and then the sacrifice was safe, only safe when the fire came down and consumed them. Fire speaks to me of the love of God and our sacrifice is in danger, sometimes in great danger, maybe doing our very best in sacrificing and giving our best to God, but it is only safe when it is motivated by the love of God. If it is just a sense of duty, just a sense of being right, fulfilling some righteousness, upholding a certain standard, if it is only that then our sacrifice is in great danger, for it is only the fire, the love of God which makes our sacrifice safe. I see for myself the necessity to always be motivated by the love of God in all that I say and do, otherwise my sacrifice, my life is in great danger.
Think of Abraham, think of the sacrifices in Old Testament times, we know that they had to choose the very best lamb in the flock, the very best animal in the flock or herd, and you can picture the owner going out among the sheep, looking at this one, at that one, “No, here is a blemish; no, here is a mark,” till finally he finds the one animal which is the very best, “Take this animal to slaughter it.” He chose the one that cost him most of all, it was expensive, the most valuable animal, he chose for the sacrifice. He would slaughter it and lay it upon the altar and leave it there, and even thought it was the best that he had, the most valuable he had would ne nothing without the fire. If there was no fire what would happen to the sacrifice, in a very short time, there would be a smell for it is only the fire that gave that sacrifice the sweet-smelling savour. How often do we read in the old testament times when they sacrificed, the sweet smelling savour rose up to God, only made possible because the fire was there. The best sacrifice, the best animal was of no value until the fire consumed it, unless the love of God was consuming it. This is the very same thing that concerns me as far as doing God’s work is concerned, as far as my place in the harvest field is concerned, my sacrifice, my effort is of no value, the sweet savour is not there unless moved and motivated by the love of God for this is the more excellent way, this is the way of God, this is love.
It is amazing what we can do without love, mentioned in I Corinthians 13, “Even if I give my body to be burned,” Paul wrote, “I could give my life, to be consumed in this matter, to be a sacrifice, but if I do not have the love of God it is all in vain, for then there is no sweet smelling savour.” This is the narrow way and I have a question for you, how narrow is the way of God? If I was to ask 10 or 20 of you, how narrow is the way of God, what is allowed and what is not allowed, what can I do and what can’t I do, what are the restrictions, what are the no, no’s as far as the way of God is concerned? It could be that I would receive 10 or 20 different answers, we all have a different conception on what we can and can’t do, what is allowed and what is not allowed, what is restrictive and what is not restrictive for we all have our own conception as to what that could be.
I will try to tell you how it appeals to me about this narrowness of the way of God. Let us not forget that this is a narrow way, it is not a broad way. I once saw a picture depicting what the broad way and the narrow way is, found in a home in Switzerland. The people were very religious; on one side, there was a picture of the broad way, there was the pub, there was the dance hall, there was the disco, then the people of low morals and so on. Then there was the picture of the narrow way, the people all dressed in black, ladies had skirts down to their ankles, all very sober, no laughing, no smiling. A church was there with a steeple, a picture of the narrow way. I do not agree with either picture, so how narrow is the way of God, and what determines the narrowness of the way of God. Can we find a verse, can we find verses that tell us to go so far and no further? Can we find scripture for this, restricted to this and restricted to that? We can find verses that tell us about the narrow way but this is how I like to see it. Let us think of a group of young people, good young Christian people, people serving God, this group of Christian people, boys and girls do things together which is good, they might have certain outings together, certain activities together, might have picnics together, go tramping together, go trekking together.
In Holland once a year, the young people there take their bicycles and go cycling, for Holland is a country of bicycles and all day long, they just bike together, for there are lots of cycle tracks in Holland. They stop here for lunch and stop there for afternoon tea and have a time together. Let us think of that group of young people again and you know what happens sometimes, there is a boy and a girl and somehow something clicks, you cannot explain it, it is a mystery, a riddle for there are feelings there for each other, drawn to each other. They still do all things together with the rest, but you always find these two in the group together, they are in the group but have separated themselves from the group. In one way, their friendship has become narrower, then in process of time, it becomes serious and they come to the point where they feel they should become engaged, so now they spend less time with the rest of the group, as they spend more time alone, just the two of them and enjoy each other’s company, doing things together. Then it goes further and they decide to get married, they want to spend life together till death do us part. Their relationship is getting narrower and narrower all the time for those two-particular people, and in the end, they decide they want to be together for life. It is love that does that, it is love in the heart of that young man for the young woman, it is the love in the heart of the young woman for the young man, this separates them from the group and draws them together and makes the whole thing narrower for them, it is love that does that.
If we have the love of God in our hearts, this determines how narrow the way of God is for us, it is this love that determines it. We have to live in this world, we have to work in this world, we have to fulfill our obligations in this world, we have our businesses, we have our professions, have our duties in the neighbourhood and so on, but if we can just allow the love of God set limits, that we go so far and no further as far as our obligations are concerned. The love of God determining how narrow the way of God is for us. You think of this young couple and something happening between them, their friendship becoming more and more narrow, and yes it also became deeper with time. This is what we experience in the way of God, as we go on and the way becomes narrower, we have restrictions in the way, it confines us, but we find it also gets deeper, there is a depth to the way of God. I am very grateful for this fact that the more excellent way is the narrow way and it is narrow but governed by the love of God, and for those who have a great love for God in their hearts, they will find the way of God is narrower than those who have less of the love of God in their hearts. Those who have a broader concept of Godly things is a proof that there is a lack of the love of God working in their hearts for love determines our narrowness of the way.
There are two people that I know who are professing, two people that were very noble years ago, both professional people, they enjoyed life, they were serving God, they were very conscientious about the meetings and the friends, doing their part, but also they enjoyed life, both earning good money, enjoyed a weekend away, go on holidays, free in the evening to go out to dinner, just enjoying life, everything right and everything good, right in serving God. They lived like this for five years, and then the first child was born, and you know what happened? Their whole lifestyle changed, you parents understand that, and after some time I asked that young Mother, “When your first child was born, did it change your lifestyle?” She said just one word, “And how.” You understand that, they could not go out to restaurants for a meal anymore, they had to stay home because of the new life in the home, they could no longer go off for weekends because of the new life in the home. Now they were restricted, that new life governed, that determined how narrow their lives became. There were no set of rules or regulations, no rules to say you must feed the baby etc, but that new life determined and regulated their lives from then on. Oh, that we would have this new life within, that we would have this sufficient life, this love of God in our hearts, in our beings determining and governing how narrow the way of God is, and how deep it is for us, for this gives great satisfaction, great joy and great peace. This is the more excellent way.
There are many pictures in the Bible of the way of God, and there is one that I like very much, that is the story of Jericho, of Rahab, how those two men, two messengers, two spies escaped from her house. There was this rope that was tied inside the house and went down the wall, to escape, to save their lives, there is only one way to do it, go down that wall on this rope, this was a way that led down, did not lead up, it led down. They clambered down that wall clinging on to that rope till they reached the bottom, till they reached safety. Where was the safest place on that rope, we do not know how high that wall was, when the twelve spies went in first, they returned saying that the walls were up to heaven, that was an exaggeration, the walls were very high. We are inclined sometimes to exaggerate, for we as human being find it hard to see things as they really are, we need reality. Here was this wall, here was the rope, it was a narrow way, the way of escape and the safest place was as far down as possible, and the safest place for all of us on this narrow way, the more excellent way is as far down as possible. This having the mind of Christ, this true humility, true lowliness of mind.
Think of another picture, the ladder that Jacob saw, he saw the possibility of climbing this ladder, so what did Jacob see, he saw the ladder, but he also saw the angels ascending and descending on this ladder, he did not just see the narrowness of this ladder, the steepness of the ladder, he did not see that it is going to take all my effort, all my strength, all my possibility to climb this ladder, he saw more than that, he saw there is help here, the angels are there, they are there to help me. Sometimes I see the task in front of me, and I feel it is too much for me, feel the weight of the burden, sometimes I lay awake at night and feel that I can’t do it, it is just beyond me, almost panic sometimes and I do not see the help that God provides. I do not see the angels ascending and descending on the ladder, on the narrow way, there is every help on the way for us to reach the top for God is at the top in this particular picture. This ladder is a narrow way and is built for one person at a time, not two abreast and every step taken between the two uprights on the ladder is a safe step and any step taken outside the two uprights is a dangerous step. Here we have the will of God, and every step we take within the will of God is a safe step and every step taken outside the will of God is a dangerous step. Just picture a person half way up the ladder and all of a sudden takes a step outside the two uprights, it could be very dangerous, and could lead to death both naturally and spiritually speaking. I like to think that every step taken within the will of God brings me closer to God and is a safe step. On a ladder, there are rungs and they are evenly spaced on the ladder and so I find that each time you take a step you have to take a full step, a half step is dangerous, you could slip. Each morning, I have had a walk which is good for my body and soul, and one morning, I was conscious of something, I have to settle something, this just concerns me personally and I said this has to be settled and here I realised that I have to take a full step.
Just as an illustration, say someone wants to give up smoking, and this persons says, “I smoke 20 cigarettes a day, so I am going to cut down and only smoke 5 a day. I am going to give up smoking but I will just take half a step,” so I do not admire his prospects of overcoming his smoking. Every step we have to take in the will of God, let it be a full step. Just one more little picture of this more excellent way. John’s first epistle tells us of those who walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Only if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we want good fellowship one with another which means walking together, walking in the light, we want the blood of Christ to cleanse us from all sin, this means walking in the light.
To give an illustration of how this is, we could be walking in the fields and it has been raining, the ground is muddy, and we are barefooted, so our feet get muddy and dirty. We then come to a stream and so we step into the stream and we walk along the stream, and what happens, our feet are washed automatically, just the walking, just the movement, just walking in the stream cleanses our feet. As long as we remain in the stream and walk in the stream, our feet remain clean, then perhaps a little further along we step out of the stream, back on the ground again, back into the mud, what happens, our feet get dirty again.
John says if we walk in the light then the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. As long as we walk in the light, our feet, our whole being will remain pure and clean in the eyes of God. If we step out of that stream, out of the light and walk in darkness, what happens, we are no longer pure in God’s eyes, we have become defiled by the influences around about us, defiled by what is wrong in this world, by human reasoning, by human thoughts and so forth. If we are walking on the beach, we leave a footprint behind and after walking some distance you look back and there are your footprints in the sand. Sometimes people play a game and they see a set of footprints and they do their best to put their feet in those footprints, and they find out very quickly they have to alter their stride, they need to take a longer or a shorter stride, even have to alter the angle of their feet a bit to put their feet exactly in the other footprints which are there. It is so easy to follow the footprints that are there but make our own footprints at the same time and looking back, you see two sets of footprints. We are to follow Jesus, walk in the light as He is in the light, to walk as He walked, put our feet in His footprints exactly.
I am sure in looking back over my life many a time, His footprints are there and see that I have smudged His footprints with my own feet, my feet in His footprints but half in or half out and smudge His footprints. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have the very best of fellowship, the best meetings, the most helpful meetings. They are encouraging, they are uplifting and mean so much to us, also have good fellowship out of the meetings, there is no backbiting, no criticism, no judging. There is no, “Did you hear this? Did you hear that?” about the other person because we are walking in the light and in the love of God, for if we are moved by the love of God, this is the more excellent way. If we do this, the crowning feature is that His blood cleanses us from all sin. As we said in the beginning, love accomplishes what nothing else can, love is a very powerful thing, it is a mighty thing, love changes life even human love can accomplish what nothing else can do, and the love of God is the same. Just one more thing, after all the years in the harvest field, after ups and downs, after defeats, many and after some victories, after many experiences in the harvest field, in the work of God, there is just one thing that has kept me till this present day, I can say this, “I love my Master, I love the way of God, I love God Himself and as Jesus told Peter, ‘Lovest thou Me, yes, feed My lambs and feed My sheep.’”
Truth Archive 