gate, and
where is the way? I answer:
"The Gate is before you, and so is the Way;
The Gate is wide open, and no toll to pay."
and this gate is our Lord Jesus Christ as set forth in his Word.
"Where'er we seek Him, He is found;
And every place is holy ground!"
But, my dear hearers, do not for a moment imagine that it is a small
thing to make the change here implied. First, it means a change of the
heart or will. Of course no one ever leaves a road that leads in one
direction, to turn right around and enter upon another that leads in
the very opposite direction, without a great change of mind. Second,
it implies that there has been new light imparted, new truth received
into the mind. This new truth teaches the understanding that it is
neither wise nor _safe_ to keep the broad road, because it leads to
destruction. Fear of destruction, then, on the one hand, and the love
of life on the other are involved in this change.
I am just now reminded of what we are told in history that a great
man, many years ago, left his home in Europe and came across the
Atlantic ocean in his own ship to hunt for the fountain of youth that
was confidently believed to exist somewhere in the wilds of America.
This fountain, it was said, possessed the virtue of imparting youth to
the aged, and life and health to the sick and dying. To the dying it
was, _Drink and live_; to the aged it was, _Bathe in its waters_ and
return to the _vigor_ and _beauty_ of _youth_. As this great man was
far advanced in age he thought it would be WISE to make an effort to
find this fountain, which never has existed but in the imaginations of
silly men; and never will exist in any other way in this world. Of
course he failed to find it; and, worst of all, he died in the vain
effort.
But not so with any that have ever entered into the narrow way through
the narrow gate. It surely leads to life, as thousands now living in
this world can testify. It does appear to me that this change is quite
as rational, quite as harmonious with man's common sense, as anything
that he does in the daily course of his life's experiences and
operations. The intelligent, rational man acts from reason in all the
affairs of life. What he loves he calls good, and what he fears or
hates he calls evil. This he shuns and that he covets, and puts forth
every effort of mind and body to gain it.
In this fact we find the truth of our Lord's words verified: "The
children of th
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