t allows no diminution. He that addeth to or taketh
from the words of the prophecy of this book (the Bible), God shall
take away his part out of the book of life. This is a fearful warning
to all who would seek to make the gate and the way of eternal life any
broader than it is laid and settled by the Word of Life; and a similar
warning to any who would desire to make the gate and the way appear so
narrow as to discourage and dissuade others from entering. I said the
narrow gate is the truth of God's Word. But what is the narrow way?
The narrow way is the daily life of every one who lives according to
that truth. This leads to life eternal, because it leads to God. But
the gate and the way will do no one any good unless it be entered and
the way followed. And God compels no one to enter in opposition to
one's own will. Entrance is not of compulsion, but of choice. Life and
death are set before the sinner's eyes. The Bread of Life and the
Water of Life are placed within his reach. The Lord calls, saying:
"Why do ye spend your money for that which is not bread; and your
labor for that which satisfieth not? Come ye to the waters: and
whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."

But some may ask: "What is it to enter in at the narrow gate, and how
is the sinner to know when he is entering?" I answer that when the
sinner obeys God's holy truth from the heart he is then entering in by
the narrow gate. His obedience must be to God's Word, not to man's
word. Obedience to man's word takes man through the wide gate into the
broad road that leads to destruction. Repentance towards God and faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ are the two steps that take us in spirit
through the narrow gate. But these two acts and exercises of the mind
and heart mean immensely more than is generally imagined. Many seem to
think that repentance means no more than simply to confess that one is
a sinner in a sort of general way, and that faith is simply a
confessed belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. But God's Word
teaches far otherwise. I will here quote some of our Lord's sayings
which apply to repentance: "Except ye be converted, and become as
little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." This
points to repentance. Again: "If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Self-denial is
repentance; and every true penitent goes through the narrow gate with
the cross on his sh