chiplitfam
Member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2007
- Messages
- 834
Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:14)
HOW NARROW IS THE WAY?
If ever there was a time when a disciple of Christ should stand out in contrast to his contemporaries, it is in this generation when all the world agrees that man has reached a low point in morality. Perhaps that is exactly why people who take their faith seriously are in danger of being accused of belonging to a cult and marked as a threat to society and the establishment.
The world considers success as power, wealth and fame. All of this was brushed aside by Jesus, who taught us to put away the sword and to turn the other cheek. Treasures are to be laid up in heaven, not upon the earth which is passing away. Worldly fame, that which is exalted among men, "is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15).
The mainstream churches of today honor the wealthy and stick their names on their buildings, windows and effects. They glory in power and the popularity of their leaders. They copy the glamour of the world's entertainers, aping their music and style.
One who denies self and worldly values not only faces the world's rejection, but too often he cannot fit into the mainstream church, which considers him a fanatic. However, the purpose here is not to criticize the modern church, but to challenge believers to a self-examination in answering the question: Am I in the way that Jesus called narrow, or am I walking the broad way?
Jesus said, "He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:25). This indicates that the way of life approved by God is in opposition to the way of the world. To walk His way is to go against the flow, which draws the world's scorn. Such a way of life is foreign to the barbarian culture of our day. In Peter's words, we are "strangers and pilgrims" (1 Peter 2:11). A pilgrim in a foreign land has no power, is seen as curiously different, and often is unwelcome. This was the condition of the church in Peter's day. Contrast this with modern churches which fear nothing so much as to be considered different from the community and without worldly recognition.
The narrow way is opposed to the world because of the direction it is leading—away from society's norm to the holiness of God, away from the world's values to spiritual values, away from the world's temporal pleasures, which will have no value in the end—to the eternal. It is other-worldly. The very expression prompts sneers from the sophisticated.
Christ's purpose is a life that transcends all earth-bound dreams. It is distasteful to the world because modern man is grounded in humanism, with the idea that with enough co-operation and ardor we can bring about the perfect world where everyone is supplied with all the desires his sinful nature demands.
Such a way is broad and popular all over the world. Revolutionaries and patriots alike have been willing to die for such Utopian dreams. Even a great number of Christians are more zealous for national reformation than spiritual regeneration and more concerned for the Constitution than for the commands of Christ.
The way of humanism is to have all men conform to the world that there may be no conflict. The way of Christ is to have all men conform to the image of God, in conflict with the world. It requires a certain detachment from the world and takes issue with the world.
The narrow way is opposed to the world. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own," Jesus said, "but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). He explained that this was because "they know not him that sent me." Nothing evokes the world's anger like the claim Jesus made: "No man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6). Those who know not Jehovah God reject this claim to exclusiveness. They think that all religions are to be recognized as equal. When the president of the Southern Baptist Convention publicly stated that there was no salvation outside of Christ, the media over the whole nation arose in protest. Such exclusive claims by Jesus brand as false all the other gods and religions of the world. They either have to admit it is true or oppose it. Of course, they oppose it.
The builders of the New World Order realize that true disciples of Jesus will never give up their loyalty and obedience to Christ, nor willingly subject their families to the pagan powers. Therefore, there is a great propaganda campaign to denigrate all Christians who refuse to abandon their convictions in order to fit into life on the broad way. The narrow way is bitterly opposed.
The broad way is the collective way, socially acceptable and for the "good of society." It is the way of the majority vote, denominational approval and the popular format of public worship where people go to witness and applaud the performance of church leaders. In many circumstances one may attend "worship" and never lose step with the world by giving a solemn thought to his personal condition before God. He is one with the crowd.
Christ deals with individuals. His commands must be obeyed by individuals. He Himself prayed alone, obeyed alone, and stood alone against the enemy. No one could do His work for Him.
Faith cannot be delegated, divided up and assigned to a committee. We have Abraham for an example of faith. When he bound Isaac to the altar on the mountain in Moriah, he stood alone, with no one watching—only God. This was the narrow way.
The idea prevails that bigger is better, making things easier by increasing the size of the crowd, making the road broader. Things seem easier and more successful when done by a multitude. So we have made the narrow way a broad way by eliminating one’s individual experience. Man dares not be alone, to make an inward examination, to ponder his own heart before God, and to make the commitment for which there is no earthly reward in the form of approval, applause or acceptance. He makes his "decision" for Christ in the crowded auditorium, cheered on to the strains of an invitational hymn.
What will he do alone on the narrow way, where, like Abraham, he must work out his salvation with fear and trembling with only God to see? Or, when, like Jesus, he will do the will of God in private and be put to shame in public? Narrow is the way!
Men seek honor from the crowd, the multitude, from organizations and institutions. Jesus asked, "How can you believe, who receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?" (John 5:44) "If any man will serve me, him will my Father honor" (John 12:26).
This is the narrow way, to set out on the course that will be unsung by men, where your sacrifice will be unseen and your name forgotten, where you will receive nothing from man. And if he takes note of you at all it will be to persecute or scorn you. Blessed are you! Such was the way of Christ.
Curtis Dickinson, (1920 - 2004), Editor, The WITNESS Newsletter, Lewisville, Texas 75029
HOW NARROW IS THE WAY?
If ever there was a time when a disciple of Christ should stand out in contrast to his contemporaries, it is in this generation when all the world agrees that man has reached a low point in morality. Perhaps that is exactly why people who take their faith seriously are in danger of being accused of belonging to a cult and marked as a threat to society and the establishment.
The world considers success as power, wealth and fame. All of this was brushed aside by Jesus, who taught us to put away the sword and to turn the other cheek. Treasures are to be laid up in heaven, not upon the earth which is passing away. Worldly fame, that which is exalted among men, "is an abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15).
The mainstream churches of today honor the wealthy and stick their names on their buildings, windows and effects. They glory in power and the popularity of their leaders. They copy the glamour of the world's entertainers, aping their music and style.
One who denies self and worldly values not only faces the world's rejection, but too often he cannot fit into the mainstream church, which considers him a fanatic. However, the purpose here is not to criticize the modern church, but to challenge believers to a self-examination in answering the question: Am I in the way that Jesus called narrow, or am I walking the broad way?
Jesus said, "He that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:25). This indicates that the way of life approved by God is in opposition to the way of the world. To walk His way is to go against the flow, which draws the world's scorn. Such a way of life is foreign to the barbarian culture of our day. In Peter's words, we are "strangers and pilgrims" (1 Peter 2:11). A pilgrim in a foreign land has no power, is seen as curiously different, and often is unwelcome. This was the condition of the church in Peter's day. Contrast this with modern churches which fear nothing so much as to be considered different from the community and without worldly recognition.
The narrow way is opposed to the world because of the direction it is leading—away from society's norm to the holiness of God, away from the world's values to spiritual values, away from the world's temporal pleasures, which will have no value in the end—to the eternal. It is other-worldly. The very expression prompts sneers from the sophisticated.
Christ's purpose is a life that transcends all earth-bound dreams. It is distasteful to the world because modern man is grounded in humanism, with the idea that with enough co-operation and ardor we can bring about the perfect world where everyone is supplied with all the desires his sinful nature demands.
Such a way is broad and popular all over the world. Revolutionaries and patriots alike have been willing to die for such Utopian dreams. Even a great number of Christians are more zealous for national reformation than spiritual regeneration and more concerned for the Constitution than for the commands of Christ.
The way of humanism is to have all men conform to the world that there may be no conflict. The way of Christ is to have all men conform to the image of God, in conflict with the world. It requires a certain detachment from the world and takes issue with the world.
The narrow way is opposed to the world. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own," Jesus said, "but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). He explained that this was because "they know not him that sent me." Nothing evokes the world's anger like the claim Jesus made: "No man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6). Those who know not Jehovah God reject this claim to exclusiveness. They think that all religions are to be recognized as equal. When the president of the Southern Baptist Convention publicly stated that there was no salvation outside of Christ, the media over the whole nation arose in protest. Such exclusive claims by Jesus brand as false all the other gods and religions of the world. They either have to admit it is true or oppose it. Of course, they oppose it.
The builders of the New World Order realize that true disciples of Jesus will never give up their loyalty and obedience to Christ, nor willingly subject their families to the pagan powers. Therefore, there is a great propaganda campaign to denigrate all Christians who refuse to abandon their convictions in order to fit into life on the broad way. The narrow way is bitterly opposed.
The broad way is the collective way, socially acceptable and for the "good of society." It is the way of the majority vote, denominational approval and the popular format of public worship where people go to witness and applaud the performance of church leaders. In many circumstances one may attend "worship" and never lose step with the world by giving a solemn thought to his personal condition before God. He is one with the crowd.
Christ deals with individuals. His commands must be obeyed by individuals. He Himself prayed alone, obeyed alone, and stood alone against the enemy. No one could do His work for Him.
Faith cannot be delegated, divided up and assigned to a committee. We have Abraham for an example of faith. When he bound Isaac to the altar on the mountain in Moriah, he stood alone, with no one watching—only God. This was the narrow way.
The idea prevails that bigger is better, making things easier by increasing the size of the crowd, making the road broader. Things seem easier and more successful when done by a multitude. So we have made the narrow way a broad way by eliminating one’s individual experience. Man dares not be alone, to make an inward examination, to ponder his own heart before God, and to make the commitment for which there is no earthly reward in the form of approval, applause or acceptance. He makes his "decision" for Christ in the crowded auditorium, cheered on to the strains of an invitational hymn.
What will he do alone on the narrow way, where, like Abraham, he must work out his salvation with fear and trembling with only God to see? Or, when, like Jesus, he will do the will of God in private and be put to shame in public? Narrow is the way!
Men seek honor from the crowd, the multitude, from organizations and institutions. Jesus asked, "How can you believe, who receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?" (John 5:44) "If any man will serve me, him will my Father honor" (John 12:26).
This is the narrow way, to set out on the course that will be unsung by men, where your sacrifice will be unseen and your name forgotten, where you will receive nothing from man. And if he takes note of you at all it will be to persecute or scorn you. Blessed are you! Such was the way of Christ.
Curtis Dickinson, (1920 - 2004), Editor, The WITNESS Newsletter, Lewisville, Texas 75029
