THE WIDE GATE AND THE WIDE WAY -
A NEW TEACHING FROM DR. LIN

Please turn to Matthew 7:13-14 (p. 1004 Scofield). Please stand as I read it.

“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 thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

You may be seated.

Dr. Timothy Lin said, “Years ago in Shanghai a poster titled ‘Broad and Narrow Ways’ was widely used in China. It showed a narrow way leading up to a beautiful, golden city, and a broad way leading down to a horrible lake of fire. But this poster was based on careless Bible interpretation. Every ‘ye’ requires a careful reading of Matthew 5, 6 and 7.” Again Dr. Lin said, “Why should God allow Christians to rule over His eternal kingdom? He will not. Disobedient Christians will be excluded from the eternal kingdom with the words, ‘Depart from me, I never authorized or recognized your works.’”

Trusting Jesus requires that people repent and trust Him! But by preaching for years in the inner city, I discovered that many people are not believers. They come to Christ on tricks. Thus they copied someone else’s testimony and do not have a real testimony. A careful reading of John Cagan’s testimony and Emi Zabalaga’s testimony shows that she copied John’s testimony. She was our church pianist, but she left our church a few days before Christmas, leaving us with no pianist. She also left our church soon after she was baptized. Such people may fool the pastors, but they cannot fool God.

“Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14; p. 1004).

There are many “leading” preachers who have wasted their lives by not walking in the narrow way – men like Jimmy Swaggart, Jack Hyles. Ravi Zacharias, and many more. Jerry Falwell, Jr. left with a 10 million dollar inheritance from his father, Jerry Senior, but this man (Jerry Jr.) lived in the “broad” way that leads to a wasted life. This is the broad way that Kreighton and Waldrip walk in today.

Jonathan Cahn wrote a book called The Harbinger. I read the whole book last week. It is trash! These are the Generations is a much better book. Read Dr. Branson’s book, Church Split.

Make sure that you read the first seven chapters of Matthew several times. Make sure you have entered the narrow gate. Make sure you are living in the narrow way.

Make sure that you are living your life for God. Then Jesus will be able to say to you,

“WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT… ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD” (Matthew 25:21; p. 1035).

Memorize it – and do it.

Stand and sing our hymn again.

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
     What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
     And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
     To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, Not a cloud in the skies,
     But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, Not a sigh or a tear,
     Can abide while we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
     To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet We will sit at His feet.
     Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, Where He sends we will go;
     Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
     To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
(“Trust and Obey” by John H. Sammis, 1846-1919; stanzas 1, 2 and 4)

Believing Requires Obedience

by Dr. A. W. Tozer

It is easy to be orthodox in matters that are remote from us, that have no immediate bearing upon our lives. It is quite another thing to be orthodox in matters which intimately concern us, which “come home to our business and our bosoms.”

A man may, for instance, believe the Mosaic account of creation, the stories of the flood and of Joshua’s commanding the sun to stand still and experience no difficulty whatever. For, after all, he is neither better nor worse for believing those things. They make no moral demands upon him. He can believe them implicitly without altering his life.

He may go on to accept the whole record of the life and work of Christ as given in the New Testament. He may receive without question every doctrine taught by his church and yet be exactly the same man as he was before, the only slight difference being a small increase in the amount of his mental furniture.

Receiving the truth is not enough. The man who would know the power of the Christian faith must submit and obey. When our faith becomes obedient [to God], the mighty energies of grace begin to operate.

We are always in danger of substituting teaching for living. Indoctrination is not regeneration and should never be mistaken for it. Thousands are turned out of confirmation classes each year who have never known the transforming power of the gospel. These go out to be lifelong [hypocrites], orthodox in creed, but untouched pagans in fact. They have absorbed the notion that to receive the creed concerning Christ is identical with receiving Christ. This is a costly and tragic error.

There is one sure way to escape the delusions of religion: Receive Christ as Lord of our lives and begin to obey Him in everything. Submit to the truth and let it search us. Submit and obey are hard and exacting words but necessary if we would be true Christians.

But actually there is nothing frightening about the demands of Christ. “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30), He said to His disciples, and a great multitude could rise up today and say, “We have found it so.”

(Dr. A. W. Tozer, “Believing Requires Obedience,” in The Early Tozer: A Word in Season, pp. 75-76).