“Difficult is the Way that Leads to Life and There are Few who Find It ”
Introduction. When we read Jesus’ words for the first time, they are hard to believe. It is not the response we would expect from men after God sent His Son into the world and opened the way of righteousness to a lost and dying world. Wouldn’t everyone come and do whatever God asked? In the beginning, I believe that is the intent of all who come to Christ. They want to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, but like the rich young ruler, they find Jesus asking far more than they thought He would. When faced with the choice of rejecting Jesus completely, or seeking a path that is easier to walk than the one He commanded, multitudes have chosen that easier path.
Are these words still true today? They are absolute truth because Jesus as our Lord and King said them. Not only must we accept these words as true, He must also see us making our own personal applications of them. If we ignore them, the terrible consequences He revealed at the end of the sermon will surely come upon us. If we hear these words and either through unbelief or lack of interest act upon them, we will end up with a spiritual house built on the sand and it will fall.
The state of religious convictions in America today reveal exactly what Jesus warned about. There are many churches and many conflicting doctrines and opinions. Truly the path is difficult to find and stay on in the midst of all this. Everyone is pointing at others, seeing only those who disagree with them as being the guilty ones. In so doing, they fail to take to heart the true meaning of His words.
Think of the noble Bereans who “received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11). They were wise enough to recognize that only the Scriptures can reveal the true path. They heard Paul’s words, then searched the Scriptures to see if they were the true way of God. This is exactly what Jesus wanted all disciples to do. Regardless of the church we are a part of, these words are designed to get us to look at what is being taught and examine them in light of Scripture. We must be searching the Scriptures daily to assess whether our teachers are teaching us the truth or the broad way.
The problem we face is simple. It started at the very beginning and has never changed. Jesus was simply revealing that it never will change until the end of this age. He left it to Jude to reveal that it began with Cain. The story of Cain and Abel is a sad story of Cain rejecting God’s wisdom to worship in His own way. When he did this, he became the trailblazer of a way and a path that even the false teachers in Jude’s day were still walking upon. “Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain,” (Jude 11).
When Cain saw that his sacrifice to God was not acceptable, he remained stubborn and refused to repent or change. He refused to walk in God’s way and when he saw that God would not accept this, he killed Abel and “he went out from the presence of the Lord.” There are multitudes today who are following Cain in the way they worship and not Jesus (Gen. 4:3-8, 16; 1Jn. 3:12). The way of Cain is entered whenever anyone seeks to worship God in a way that is different from what God asked for.
Jesus revealed that worship is a spiritual service to God and must be done “in spirit and truth.” Since “God’s word is truth,” like those noble Bereans, we must search the Scriptures daily to be certain we are worshiping in spirit and truth. On His last night on earth, Jesus commanded us to remember Him with unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. In the early church, those walking the narrow path came together every first day of the week to break the bread and drink the fruit of the vine in remembrance of Him as He commanded. (Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 11:17-34). Yet today, the vast majority of worshipers are like Cain. They have added things that God never asked for and refuse to do what Jesus actually commanded. Thus, the way of Cain is still part of the broad way. Anyone who worships God without the faith that comes from hearing God’s word is walking the way of Cain. (Heb 11:4; Rom. 10:17)
Yet worship is only one of a multitude of ways people today walk the broad path and ignore the difficult one. Although we know that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” and that Peter confirmed Paul’s writings were also Scripture (2Pet. 3:15-16), yet multitudes today do not respect Paul’s words. One clear example is the role of women in the church. Here is the difficult way of God Paul revealed in Scripture: “As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.” Because the Spirit who inspired Paul knew the future and saw these days coming, also said: “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. (1Cor. 14:33-34, 37; see also 1Tim. 2:8-15). The truth is no one can set aside Paul’s writings as they are the commands of the Lord. If we set them aside, we simply make a new path and do our ways instead of God’s ways.
This is one of the greatest acts of faith we are called upon to display today. Every culture is fluid and changing and we have certainly witnessed this in America. Vast changes have occurred in the moral and spiritual attitudes of the people. What was once accepted as truth is now scoffed at by those who are walking the broad path. If we choose to walk with Jesus and His apostles on the unchanging narrow and difficult path to life, we must reject the culture and suffer the persecution it will bring. We are now seeing churches dividing on such clear topics as divorce and homosexuality. The Scriptures are clear, but when they clash with the culture the path grows wider as multitudes refuse to walk with Jesus and His apostles.
This is exactly what Jesus was warning us to watch for. The narrow and difficult path He revealed through His apostles is still in the Scriptures. We can walk that way just like the Bereans, but it truly is a difficult way as there are now so many who will persecute us for walking with Him. As John said: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” (1Jn. 2:19)
We must never forget what God revealed about Himself: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isa. 55:8-9). This is the reason why Jeremiah said: “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jer. 10:23). If we don’t use the Scriptures, how could we ever find and remain on the right path? Once we get used to walking our own path, God’s paths begin to seem strange: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” (Jer. 6:16)
One would wish that this was a very uncommon thing, but it is not. In Paul’s day the vast majority of Israel rejected Jesus because He did not fit what they wanted in a Messiah: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:2-3)
Conclusion. Jesus’ words are very controversial among many disciples who call Him Lord today. Multitudes would argue with the conclusions that have been drawn above. Yet we must all stand before Him in judgment and the judge is His word: “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (Jn. 12:48) Ultimately, we can’t win if we stand against him or reject anything He has said. In the end it will prove we were only walking the broad path leading to our own destruction.
- Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Mt. 7:13-14)
Are these words still true today? They are absolute truth because Jesus as our Lord and King said them. Not only must we accept these words as true, He must also see us making our own personal applications of them. If we ignore them, the terrible consequences He revealed at the end of the sermon will surely come upon us. If we hear these words and either through unbelief or lack of interest act upon them, we will end up with a spiritual house built on the sand and it will fall.
The state of religious convictions in America today reveal exactly what Jesus warned about. There are many churches and many conflicting doctrines and opinions. Truly the path is difficult to find and stay on in the midst of all this. Everyone is pointing at others, seeing only those who disagree with them as being the guilty ones. In so doing, they fail to take to heart the true meaning of His words.
Think of the noble Bereans who “received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11). They were wise enough to recognize that only the Scriptures can reveal the true path. They heard Paul’s words, then searched the Scriptures to see if they were the true way of God. This is exactly what Jesus wanted all disciples to do. Regardless of the church we are a part of, these words are designed to get us to look at what is being taught and examine them in light of Scripture. We must be searching the Scriptures daily to assess whether our teachers are teaching us the truth or the broad way.
The problem we face is simple. It started at the very beginning and has never changed. Jesus was simply revealing that it never will change until the end of this age. He left it to Jude to reveal that it began with Cain. The story of Cain and Abel is a sad story of Cain rejecting God’s wisdom to worship in His own way. When he did this, he became the trailblazer of a way and a path that even the false teachers in Jude’s day were still walking upon. “Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain,” (Jude 11).
When Cain saw that his sacrifice to God was not acceptable, he remained stubborn and refused to repent or change. He refused to walk in God’s way and when he saw that God would not accept this, he killed Abel and “he went out from the presence of the Lord.” There are multitudes today who are following Cain in the way they worship and not Jesus (Gen. 4:3-8, 16; 1Jn. 3:12). The way of Cain is entered whenever anyone seeks to worship God in a way that is different from what God asked for.
Jesus revealed that worship is a spiritual service to God and must be done “in spirit and truth.” Since “God’s word is truth,” like those noble Bereans, we must search the Scriptures daily to be certain we are worshiping in spirit and truth. On His last night on earth, Jesus commanded us to remember Him with unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. In the early church, those walking the narrow path came together every first day of the week to break the bread and drink the fruit of the vine in remembrance of Him as He commanded. (Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 11:17-34). Yet today, the vast majority of worshipers are like Cain. They have added things that God never asked for and refuse to do what Jesus actually commanded. Thus, the way of Cain is still part of the broad way. Anyone who worships God without the faith that comes from hearing God’s word is walking the way of Cain. (Heb 11:4; Rom. 10:17)
Yet worship is only one of a multitude of ways people today walk the broad path and ignore the difficult one. Although we know that “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” and that Peter confirmed Paul’s writings were also Scripture (2Pet. 3:15-16), yet multitudes today do not respect Paul’s words. One clear example is the role of women in the church. Here is the difficult way of God Paul revealed in Scripture: “As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.” Because the Spirit who inspired Paul knew the future and saw these days coming, also said: “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. (1Cor. 14:33-34, 37; see also 1Tim. 2:8-15). The truth is no one can set aside Paul’s writings as they are the commands of the Lord. If we set them aside, we simply make a new path and do our ways instead of God’s ways.
This is one of the greatest acts of faith we are called upon to display today. Every culture is fluid and changing and we have certainly witnessed this in America. Vast changes have occurred in the moral and spiritual attitudes of the people. What was once accepted as truth is now scoffed at by those who are walking the broad path. If we choose to walk with Jesus and His apostles on the unchanging narrow and difficult path to life, we must reject the culture and suffer the persecution it will bring. We are now seeing churches dividing on such clear topics as divorce and homosexuality. The Scriptures are clear, but when they clash with the culture the path grows wider as multitudes refuse to walk with Jesus and His apostles.
This is exactly what Jesus was warning us to watch for. The narrow and difficult path He revealed through His apostles is still in the Scriptures. We can walk that way just like the Bereans, but it truly is a difficult way as there are now so many who will persecute us for walking with Him. As John said: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” (1Jn. 2:19)
We must never forget what God revealed about Himself: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isa. 55:8-9). This is the reason why Jeremiah said: “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jer. 10:23). If we don’t use the Scriptures, how could we ever find and remain on the right path? Once we get used to walking our own path, God’s paths begin to seem strange: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” (Jer. 6:16)
One would wish that this was a very uncommon thing, but it is not. In Paul’s day the vast majority of Israel rejected Jesus because He did not fit what they wanted in a Messiah: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Rom. 10:2-3)
Conclusion. Jesus’ words are very controversial among many disciples who call Him Lord today. Multitudes would argue with the conclusions that have been drawn above. Yet we must all stand before Him in judgment and the judge is His word: “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” (Jn. 12:48) Ultimately, we can’t win if we stand against him or reject anything He has said. In the end it will prove we were only walking the broad path leading to our own destruction.