CanTherebeUnity (continued)
May the Holy Spirit apply the subject to the hearts of all into whose hands this paper may fall! May all who read it know the way of salvation experimentally, obey the command of the Lord practically, and be found safe in the great day of His second coming! 1. Here is a "description" of the way of salvation—Jesus calls it "the narrow door." There is a door which leads to forgiveness, peace with God, and heaven. Whosoever goes in through that door will be saved. Never, surely, was a door more needed. Sin is a vast mountain between man and God. How will a man climb over it? Sin is a high wall between man and God. How will man get through it? Sin is a deep gulf between man and God. How will man cross over it? God is in heaven, holy, pure, spiritual, undefiled, light without any darkness at all, a Being who cannot bear that which is evil, or look upon sin. Man is a poor fallen worm, crawling on earth for a few years—sinful, corrupt, erring, defective—a being whose imagination is only evil, and whose heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. How will man and God be brought together? How will man ever draw near to his Maker without fear and shame? Blessed be God, there is a way! There is a road. There is a path. There is a door. It is the door spoken of in the words of Christ— "the narrow door." This door was "made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ." From all eternity He covenanted and promised that He would make it. In the fullness of time He came into the world and made it, by His own atoning death on the cross. By that death He made satisfaction for man's sin, paid man's debt to God, and bore man's punishment. He built a great door at the cost of His own body and blood. He raised a ladder on earth whose top reached to heaven. He made a door by which the chief of sinners may enter into the holy presence of God, and not be afraid. He opened a road by which the vilest of men, believing in Him, may draw near to God and have peace. He cries to us, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved" (John 10:9)."I am the way: No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). "In Him," says Paul, "we may approach God with freedom and confidence" (Ephesians 3:12). Thus was the door of salvation formed. This door is called "the narrow door," and it is not called so without cause. It is always narrow, constricted, and difficult to pass through to some persons, and it will be so as long as the world stands. It is narrow to all who love sin, and are determine not to part with it. It is narrow to all who set their affection on this world, and seek first its pleasures and rewards. It is narrow to all who dislike trouble, and are unwilling to take pains and make sacrifices for their souls. It is narrow to all who like company, and want to keep in with the crowd. It is narrow to all who are self-righteous, and think they are good people, and deserve to be saved. To all, the great door, which Christ made, is narrow and constricted. In vain they seek to pass through. The door will not admit them. God is not unwilling to receive them; their sins are not too many to be forgiven: but they are not willing to be saved God's way. Thousands, in the last nineteen centuries, have tried to make the doorway wider: thousands have worked and toiled to get to heaven on their terms. But the door never alters. It is not elastic: it will not stretch to accommodate one man more than another. It is still the narrow door. Narrow as this door is, it is "the only one by which men can get to heaven." There is no side door; there is no side road; there is no gap or low-place in the wall. All that are ever saved will be saved only by Christ, and only by simple faith in Him—Not one will be saved by simply repenting. Today's sorrow does not wipe off yesterday's score. Not one will be saved by his own works. The best works that any man can do are little better than impressive sins. Not one will be saved by his formal regularity in the use of the outward means of grace [going to church, reading his Bible, praying, taking the Lord's Supper, and honouring the Lord's day]. When we have done it all, we are nothing but poor "unprofitable servants." Oh, no! it is a mere waste of time to seek any other road to eternal life. Men may look to the right and to the left, and weary themselves with their own methods, but they will never find another door. Proud men may dislike the door if they want. Depraved men may scoff at it, and make a jest of those who use it. Lazy men may complain that the way is hard. But men will discover no other salvation than that of faith in the blood and righteousness of a crucified Redeemer. There stands between us and heaven one great door: it may be narrow; but it is the only one. We must either enter heaven by the narrow door, or not at all. Narrow as this door is, it is "a door always ready to open." No sinners of any kind are forbidden to draw near: whosoever will may enter in and be saved. There is but one condition of admission: that condition is that you really feel your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in His own way. Are you really aware of your guilt and vileness? Have you a truly broken and contrite heart? Look at the door of salvation, and come in. He that made it declares, "Whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37). The question to be considered is not whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner—whether you are elect or not—whether you are converted or not. The question is simply this, "Do you feel your sins? Do you feel burdened and heavyladen? Are you willing to put your life into Christ's hand?" Then if that be the case, the door will open to you at once. Come in this very day. Why are you standing out there? Narrow as this door is, it is "one through which thousands have gone in and been saved." No sinner was ever turned back, and told he was too bad to be admitted, if he came really sick of his sins. Thousands of all sorts have been received, cleansed, washed, forgiven, clothed, and made heirs of eternal life. Some of them seemed very unlikely to be admitted: you and I might have thought they were too bad to be saved. But He that built the door did not refuse them. As soon as they knocked, He gave orders that they should be let in. Manasseh, King of Judah, went up to this door. None could have been worse than he up to that time. He had despised his good father Hezekiah's example and advice. He had bowed down to idols. He had filled Jerusalem with bloodshed and cruelty. He had slain his own children. But as soon as his eyes were opened to his sins, and he fled to the door for forgiveness, the door flew wide open and he was saved. Saul the Pharisee went up to this door. He had been a blasphemer of Christ, and a persecutor of Christ's people. He had labored hard to stop the progress of the Gospel. But as soon as his heart was touched, and he found out his own guilt and fled to the door for forgiveness, at once the door flew wide open, and he was saved. Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to this door. They had been grievous sinners indeed. They had refused and rejected their own Messiah. They had delivered Him to Pilate, and pleaded that He might be slain. They had desired Barabbas to be let go, and the Son of God to be crucified. But in the day when they were convicted in their heart by Peter's preaching, they fled to the door for forgiveness, and at once the door flew open, and they were saved. The jailer at Philippi went up to this door. He had been a cruel, hard, godless man. He had done all in his power to ill-treat Paul and his companion. He had thrust them into the inner prison, and locked their feet in the stocks. But when his conscience was aroused by the earthquake, and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching of the Word of God, he fled to the door for forgiveness, and at once the door flew open, and he was saved. But why would I need to stop short in Bible examples? Why should I not say that multitudes have gone to "the narrow door" since the days of the Apostles, and have entered in by it and been saved?
Thousands of all ranks, classes, and ages—educated and uneducated, rich and poor, old and young—have tried the door and found it ready to open—have gone through it and found peace for their souls. Yes: thousands of persons yet living have proven the effectiveness of the door, and found it the way to real happiness. Noblemen and commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and sailors, farmers and tradesmen, laborers and workmen, are still upon earth, who have found the narrow door to be "a way of pleasantness and a path of peace." They have not brought up an evil report of what they found inside the door. They have found Christ's yoke to be easy, and His burden to be light. Their only regret has been that so few enter in, and that they themselves did not enter in before. This is the door which I want everyone to enter, into whose hand this paper may fall. I don't want you merely to go to church, but to go with heart and soul to the door of life. I don't want you merely to believe there is such a door, and to think it a good thing, but to enter by faith and be saved. Think "what a privilege" it is to have a door at all. The angels who did not remain faithful to God, fell, never to rise again. To them there was no door of escape opened. Millions of pagans have never heard of any way to eternal life. What would they have given, if they could only have heard one plain sermon about Christ? The Jews in Old Testament times saw only the door dimly and far away. "The way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing" (Hebrews 9:8). You have the door set plainly before you: you have Christ and full salvation offered to you, without money and without price. You never need to be at a loss which way to turn. Oh, consider what a mercy this is! Beware that you do not despise the door and perish in unbelief. Better a thousand times not to know of the door than to know of it and yet remain outside. How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? Think what a thankful man you ought to be if you have really gone in at the narrow door. To be a pardoned, forgiven, justified soul—to be