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31 - Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse XI - Sermons on Several Occasions · Sacred Texts Archive

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Sermon thirty one upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount Discourse eleven, Enter ye
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Inn at the strait gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is
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the way which leadeth to destruction. And many there be which go in thereat,
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because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
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life, and few there be that find it. Matthew Chapter seven, Verses
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thirteen and fourteen. Our Lord, having warned us of the dangers which easily
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beset us at our first entrance upon real religion, the hindrances which naturally arise
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from within from the wickedness of our hearts, now proceeds to apprise us of
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the hindrances from without, particularly ill example and ill advice by one or the
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other of these thousands who once ran well have drawn back unto perdition. YEA
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many of those who were not novices in religion, who had made some progress
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in righteousness. His caution. Therefore against these he presses upon us with all
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possible earnestness, and repeats again and again in variety of expressions, lest by
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any means we should let it slip. Thus effectually to guard us against the
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former, Enter ye in saith He at the straight gate, for wide is
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the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many
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there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate, and narrow
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is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
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To secure us from the latter, beware, saith He, of false
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prophets, We shall at present consider the former. Only Enter ye in,
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saith our blessed Lord, at the straight gate, for wide is the gate,
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and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be
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which go in thereat, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the
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way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. In
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these words, we may observe first the inseparable properties of the way to Hell.
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Why do is the gate? Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction,
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and many there be that go in thereat. Secondly, the inseparable properties
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of the way to heaven. Straight is that gait, and few there be
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that find it. Thirdly, a serious exhortation grounded thereon, Enter ye in
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at the strait gate. We may observe first the inseparable properties of the way
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to Hell. Whyde is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to
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destruction, And many there be that go in thereat. Wide indeed is the
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gate, and broad the way that leadeth to destruction. For sin is the
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gate of hell, and wickedness the way to destruction. And how wide a
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gate is that of sin? How broad is the way of wickedness? The
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commandment of God is exceeding broad, as extending not only to all our actions,
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but to every word which goeth out of our lips. Yea, every
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thought that rises in our heart, and sin is equally broad with the commandment.
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Seeing any breach of the commandment is sin, yea. Rather, it
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is a thousand times broader, since there is only one way of keeping the
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commandment, for we do not properly keep it unless both the thing done,
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the manner of doing it, and all the other circumstances are right. But
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there are a thousand ways of breaking every commandment, so that this gait is
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wide. Indeed, to consider this a little more particularly, how wide do
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those parent sins extend from which all the rest derive their being? That carnal
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mind which is enmity against God, pride of heart, self, will,
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and love of the world. Can we fix any bounds to them? Do
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they not diffuse themselves through all our thoughts and mingle with all our tempers?
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Not the leaven which leavens more or less the whole mass of our affections.
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May we not, on a close and faithful examination of ourselves, perceive these
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roots of bitterness continually springing up, infecting all our words and tainting all our
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actions. And how innumerable an offspring do they bring forth in every age and
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nation, even enough to cover the whole earth with darkness and cruel habitations?
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Oh, who is able to reckon up their accursed fruits? To count all
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the sins, whether against God or our neighbor, not which imagination might paint,
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but which may be matter of daily melancholy experience. Nor need we range
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over all the earth to find them. Survey any one kingdom, any single
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country, or city or town. And how plenteous is this harvest? And
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let it not be one of those which are still overspread with Mahometan or Hagen
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darkness, but one of those which name the name of Christ, which profess
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to see the light of His glorious gospel. Go no farther than the kingdom
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to which we belong. The city wherein we are now we call ourselves Christians,
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yea, and that of the purest sort we are Protestants, reformed Christians.
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But alas who shall carry on the reformation of our opinions into our hearts
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and lives. Is there not a cause? For how innumerable are our sins
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and those of the deepest dye, do not the grossest abominations of every kind
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abound among us? From day to day? Do not sins of every sort
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cover the land as the waters cover the sea? Who can count them?
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Rather go and count the drops of rain or the sands on the seashore.
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So wide is the gate, so broad is the way that leadeth to destruction.
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And many there are who go in at that gate, Many who walk
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in that way, almost as many as go in at the gate of death,
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as sink into the chambers of the grave. For it cannot be denied,
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though neither can we acknowledge it, but with shame and sorrow of heart,
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that even in this which is called a Christian country, the generality of
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every age and sex, of every profession and employment, of every rank and
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degree, high and low, rich and poor, are walking in the way
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of destruction. The far greater part of the inhabitants of this city to this
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day live in sin, in some palpable habitual, known transgression of the law
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they profess to observe, YEA, In some outward transgression, some gross visible
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kind of ungodliness or unrighteousness, some open violation of their duty, either to
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God or man. These, then none can deny, are all in the
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way that leadeth to destruction. Add to these those who have a name,
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indeed that they live, but were never yet alive to God. Those that
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outwardly appear fair to men, but are inwardly full of all uncleanness, full
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of pride or vanity, of anger, or revenge, of ambition, or
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covetousness, lovers of themselves, lovers of the world, lovers of pleasure more
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than lovers of God. These indeed may be highly esteemed of men, but
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they are an abomination to the Lord. And how greatly will these saints of
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the world swell the number of the children of Hell? YEA. Add all,
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whatever they be in other respects, whether they have more or less in
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the form of godliness, who, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to
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establish their own righteousness as the ground of their reconciliation to God and acceptance with
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Him of consequence, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness which is of God
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by faith. Now all these things joined together in one how terribly true is
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our Lord's assertion. Wide is the gate, and broad is the way that
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leadeth to destruction. And many there be who go in thereat. Nor does
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this only concern the vulgar herd, the poor, base, stupid part of
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mankind. Men of eminence in the world, men who have many fields and
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yoke of oxen, do not desire to be excused from this. On the
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contrary, many wise men after the flesh, according to the human methods of
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judging, many mighty in power, in courage, in riches, many noble,
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are called called into the broad way by the world, the flesh and
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the devil, And they are not disobedient to that calling. Yea, the
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higher they are raised in fortune and power, the deeper do they sink into
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wickedness, the more blessings they have received from God. The more sins do
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they commit using their honor or riches, their learning or wisdom, not as
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means of working out their salvation, but rather of excelling in vice. And
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so insuring their own destruction. And the very reason why many of these go
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on so securely in the broad way is because it is broad. Not considering
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that this is the inseparable property of the way to destruction. Many there be
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saith, our Lord, which go in thereat, for the very reason why
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they should flee from it, even because straight is the gait, and narrow
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the way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
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This is an inseparable property of the way to heaven. So narrow is the
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way that leadeth unto life, unto life everlasting, So straight the gait,
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that nothing unclean, nothing unholy, can enter. No sinner can pass through
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that gait until he is saved from all his sins, not only from his
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outward sins, from his evil conversation received by tradition from his fathers. It
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will not suffice that he hath ceased to do evil and learn to do well.
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He must not only be saved from all sinful actions and from all evil
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and useless discourse, but inwardly changed, thoroughly renewed in the spirit of his
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mind. Otherwise he cannot pass through the gate of life. He cannot enter
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into glory for narrow is the way that leadeth unto life, the way of
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universal holiness, narrow, indeed is the way of poverty of spirit, the
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way of holy mourning, the way of meekness, and that of hungering and
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thirsting. After righteousness narrow is the way of mercifulness, of love unfeigned,
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the way of purity of heart, of doing good unto all men, and
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of gladly suffering evil all manner of evil for righteousness sake. And few there
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be the finder alas. How few find even the way of heathen honesty.
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How few are there that do nothing to another which they would not another should
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do unto them? How few that are clean before God from acts either of
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injustice or unkindness. How few that do not offend with their tongue, that
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speak nothing unkind, nothing untrue. What a small proportion of mankind are innocent
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even of outward transgressions. And how much smaller a proportion have their hearts right
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before God, clean and holy in His sight? Where are they whom his
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all searching eye discerns to be truly humble, to abhor themselves in dust and
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ashes in the presence of God their savior, to be deeply and steadily serious,
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feeling their wants, and passing the time of their sojourning with fear,
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truly meek and gentle, never overcome of evil, but overcoming evil with good,
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thoroughly a thirst for God, and continually panting after a renewal in His
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likeness. How thinly are they scattered over the earth, whose souls are enlarged
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in love to all mankind, and who love God with all their strength,
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who have given him their hearts and desire nothing else in earth or heaven.
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How few are those lovers of God and Man that spend their whole strength in
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doing good unto all men, and are ready to suffer all things, yea
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death itself, to save one soul from eternal death. But while so few
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are found in the way of life, and so many in the way of
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destruction, there is great danger lest the torrent of example should bear us away
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with them. Even a single example, if it be always in our sight,
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is apt to make much impression upon us, especially when it has nature
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on its side, when it falls in with our own inclinations. How great
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then, must be the force of so numerous examples continually before our eyes,
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and all conspiring together with our own hearts to carry us down the stream of
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nature. How difficult must it be to stem the tide and to keep ourselves
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unspotted in the world. What heightens the difficulty still more is that they are
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not the rude and senseless part of mankind, at least, not these alone
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who set us the example, who throng the downward way. But the polite,
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the well bred, the genteel, the wise, the men who understand
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the world, the men of knowledge, of deep and various learning, the
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rational, the eloquent. These are all, or nearly all against us.
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And how shall we stand against these? Do not their tongues drop mena And
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have they not learned all the arts of soft persuasion and of reasoning? Too?
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For these are versed in all controversies and strife of words. It is
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therefore a small thing with them to prove that the way is right, because
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it is broad, that he who follows a multitude cannot do evil, but
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only he who will not follow them. That your way must be wrong,
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because it is narrow, and because there are so few that find it.
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These will make it clearer to a demonstration that evil is good and good is
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evil, That the way of holiness is the way of destruction, and the
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way of the world the only way to heaven. Oh, how can unlearned
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and ignorant men maintain their cause against such opponents. And yet these are not
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all with whom they must contend, however, unequal to the task. For
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there are many mighty and noble and powerful men, as well as wise,
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in the road that leadeth to destruction. And these have a shorter way of
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confuting than that of reason and argument. They usually apply not to the understanding,
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but to the fears of any that oppose them, a method that seldom
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fails of success, even where argument profits nothing, as lying level to the
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capacities of all men. For all can fear whether they can reason or know,
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And all who have not affirm trust in God a sure reliance both on
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His power and love, cannot but fear to give any disgust to those who
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have the power of the world in their hands. What wonder, therefore,
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if the example of these is a law to all who know not God,
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many rich are likewise in the broad way. And these apply to the hopes
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of men and to all their foolish desires, as strongly and effectually as the
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mighty and noble to their fears, so that hardly can you hold on in
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the way of the kingdom unless you are dead to all below, unless you
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areified to the world and the world crucified to you, unless you desire nothing
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more but God. For how dark, how uncomfortable, how forbidding is the
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prospect on the opposite side, a straight gait, a narrow way, and
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few finding that gait, few walking in the way. Besides, even those
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few are not wise men, not men of learning or eloquence. They are
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not able to reason, either strongly or clearly. They cannot propose an argument
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to any advantage. They know not how to prove what they profess to believe,
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or to explain even what they say they experience. Surely, such advocates
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as these will never recommend, but rather discredit the cause they have espoused.
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Add to this that they are not noble, not honorable men. If they
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were, you might bear with their folly. They are men of no interest,
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no authority, of no account in the world. They are mean and
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base, low in life, and such as have no power if they had
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the will to hurt you. Therefore, there is nothing at all to be
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feared from them. And there is nothing at all to hope for the greater
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part of them. May say, silver and gold have I none, at
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least a very moderate share. Nay, some of them have scarce food to
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eat or raiment to put on. For this reason, as well as because
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their ways are not like those of other men, they are everywhere spoken against,
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are despised, have their names cast out as evil, are variously persecuted,
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and treated as the filth and off scouring of the world. So that
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both your fears, your hopes, and all your desires, except those which
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you have immediately from God Yea, all your natural passions continually incline you to
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return into the broad Way. Therefore it is that our Lord so earnestly exhorts
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us enter ye in at the strait gate, or as the same exhortation is
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elsewhere, express strive to enter in a godness s thee I sell thee,
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nay, strive as in an agony. For many saith our Lord shall seek
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to enter in indolently strive, and shall not be able. It is true
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he intimates what may seem another reason for this, for their not being able
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to enter in in the words which immediately follow these, For after he had
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said many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall
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not be able. He subjoins. When once the master of the house is
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risen up and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without
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arkses, they exo s tanai, Rather ye stand without for arks s thee
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seems to be only an elegant expletive. And to knock at the door,
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saying, Lord Lord, open unto us, he shall answer and say,
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unto you, I know you not depart from me, all ye workers of
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iniquity, Loop, chapter thirteen, verse twenty four. It may appear,
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upon a transient view of these words, that their delaying to seek at all,
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rather than their manner of seeking, was the reason why they were not
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able to enter in. But it comes in effect to the same thing.
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They were therefore commanded to depart because they had been workers of iniquity, because
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they had walked in the broad road, in other words, because they had
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not agonized to enter in at the straight gate. Probably they did seek before
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the door was shut, but that did not suffice, And they did strive
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after the door was shut, but then it was too late. Therefore,
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strive you now in this your day to enter in at the straight gate,
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and in order there too, settle it in your heart, and let it
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be ever uppermost in your thoughts, that if you are in a broad way,
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you are in the way that lead us to destruction. If many go
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with you, be sure, as God is true, both they and you
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are going to hell. If you are walking as the generality of men walk,
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you are walking to the bottomless pit. Are many wise, many rich,
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many mighty or noble traveling with you in the same way? By this
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token, without going any farther, you know it does not lead to life.
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Here is as short a plain and infallible rule. Before you enter into
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particulars. In whatever profession you are engaged, you must be singular, or
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be damned. The way to hell has nothing singular in it, but the
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way to Heaven is singularity all over. If you move but one step toward
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God, you are not as other men are. But regard not this.
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It is far better to stand alone than to fall into the pit. Run
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then, with patience the race which is set before thee. Though thy companions
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therein are but few, they will not always be so. Yet a little
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while, and thou wilt come to an innumerable company of Angels, to the
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general Assembly and Church of the first Born, and to the spirits of just
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men made perfect. Now, then strive to enter in at the straight gate,
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being penetrated with the deepest sense of the inexpressible danger your soul is in,
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so long as you are in a broad way, so long as you
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are void of poverty of spirit, and all that inward religion which the many,
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the rich, the wise account madness. Strive to enter in, being
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pierced with sorrow and shame for having so long run on with the unthinking crowd,
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utterly neglecting, if not despising, that holiness without which no man can
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see the Lord. Strive as in an agony of holy fear, lest a
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promise being made you of entering into His rest, even that rest which remaineth
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for the people of God, you should nevertheless come short of it. Strive
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in all the fervor of desire, with groanings which cannot be uttered. Strive
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by prayer, without ceasing, at all times, in all places, lifting
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up your heart to God and giving him no rest till you awake up after
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His likeness and are satisfied with it. To conclude, strive to enter in
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at the strait gate. Not only by this agony of soul, of conviction,
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of sorrow, of shame, of desire, of fear, of unceasing
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prayer, but likewise by ordering thy conversation aright, by walking with all thy
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strength in all the ways of God, the way of innocence, of piety,
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and of mercy, Abstain from all appearance of evil, Do all possible
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good to all men. Deny thyself thy own will in all things, and
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take up thy cross daily. Be ready to cut off thy right hand,
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to pluck out thy right eye, and cast it from thee to suffer the
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loss of goods, friends, health, all things on earth, so thou
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mayst enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. End of Section thirty one