TWO WAYS

Tim Vanderhoek

John 14: 5 (“and how can we know the way?”), 6 (to: “and the life”); Matthew 7: 13,14; Genesis 13: 1-13, 18; 18: 1; 19: 24, 25; Luke 5: 4-11; John 6: 67,68

I had on my heart to speak of these two different ways, this broad way that is spoken of and the narrow way. In John 14, just to begin with, the Lord Himself says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. The Lord Jesus Christ presents Himself as that one way. He is the One who has gone into death, conquered death and settled the sin question that we might know Him as being “the way, and the truth, and the life”. We have come to know Him as our Saviour. I have confidence that each one of responsible age in the room has come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. We have a choice and we would make the choice to come to know the Lord as Saviour. And so we know Him now as the One who is “the way, and the truth, and the life”.

He presents in Matthew 7 two ways. What I had before me was to see those who would have chosen different ways. In Matthew 7 He says, “Enter in through the narrow gate, for wide the gate and broad the way that leads to destruction …” We see destruction all around us of various kinds and yet the destruction spoken of here would be the sentence of death is the result of sin: “For the wages of sin is death; but the act of favour of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”, Rom 6: 23. And here in Matthew 7 He says, “Enter in through the narrow gate …” This came before me as we had the word in the ministry meeting about the restricted path, the restricted way, yet it is a way of joy, a way of peace, a way in which we can prosper in our souls. But the Lord refers to it as the narrow gate, something which we could come through initially and then arrive in the good of that narrow path, a path of obedience, a path of joy and peace, knowing our sins forgiven, knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour.

So here this narrow gate is introduced first. But then “wide the gate and broad the way that leads to destruction” and, sad to say, the Lord has to say, “and many are they who enter in through it”. That is, not all will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. We have a responsibility to make a choice. We have to choose to come to the end of ourselves. We see as Peter says in Luke, “I am a sinful man”. We have to have come to that point of saying, “I am a sinful man”. We have to come to full repentance, to see what we were in our natural state, unfit to be in the presence of God. And so, “broad the way that leads to destruction”. But there is a narrow way: “For narrow the gate and straitened the way that leads to life, and they are few who find it”. How thankful we are for the few who do find it! How thankful we are for God’s sovereign work in our souls that would bring us into this way of life, the way that leads to life! The Lord said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”. Think of the greatness of that place, the greatness of what we have been brought into as knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, the greatness of the work that He has accomplished to provide the basis for forgiveness of sins!

That is what I had before me in this portion of Genesis, bringing before us Abram and Lot. Think of the type that we have as we would apply it in the preaching! In the actual event Abram had a relationship with God and Lot though, you might say, he had exposure to Jehovah - he knew who He was - yet he chose a broad way. He chose this way to the plains. It is very instructive to see that they both started out, you might say, on an equal basis. They both came up out of Egypt. They knew who God was; they knew who Jehovah was. They were both provided with some knowledge and some means and yet each made a difference choice. We think of the sovereign love of God that would work in our souls so that we might make the choice to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour.

We see that both were very rich. Abram is described as “very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” and yet Lot who went with Abram “had flocks, and herds, and tents”. They both had means. They both needed this land to continue on and yet they could not dwell together. You might say that those who have made that choice of the narrow way, who have known the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, cannot walk with one who has not.

We might take this as a type in the preaching, as Lot making this choice. In verse 10 of the chapter, he “lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan that it was thoroughly watered”. It had an appeal to him. We know that the world has an appeal to us. It is a narrow way with the Lord Jesus Christ. As we come to know Him, we have a place of joy and peace in our souls, but as to the world, the world’s goods are shut out. If that is what we have in mind, this plain that is “thoroughly watered” is very attractive to the flesh. It is what the flesh and the natural man would like to go on with but it is inconsistent with going on for the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we see even in Lot’s eyes, it is “as the garden of Jehovah”. That is very positive. As we look at things around us, if it has that appearance, we would say that is very positive. But then he says, “like the land of Egypt”. So here Lot, a type of the sinner making a choice, would view perhaps, we might say, religious things and natural things in the same light, but they are not equal and Lot makes this incorrect judgment that both are equal. In this portion of Genesis 13 verse 10, “as the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt”. What a thing to put the things of God in the same light as the things of the world. This would be the key to his failure, not differentiating the things that God would supply.

As the good news of salvation goes out, we would be responsible to hear it and make the choice and to discern that we are hearing the word of God preached. We are hearing the Lord Jesus Christ presented as our Saviour. We would need to have repentance. As Peter could say, “I am a sinful man”. We would have to come to the end of ourselves so that we would be able to see our need and know that this appearance of the “thoroughly watered” plain was not that which would bring us eternal blessing.

We need to be brought truly into the garden of Jehovah. Everything that we might think of when we think of this plain of Jordan that was “thoroughly watered” brings before us a very open, spacious area; and that is very attractive to us naturally. It is not what God wants, as we know from this account with Abram. It is what would be attractive to the flesh. And that is what Lot chose. He would choose to go away from God: he “chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan” and he went to this dwelling place “in the cities of the plain, and pitched tents as far as Sodom”. We see that God’s judgment of what he was in association with was that is was very wicked.

That is also a type of a person in their sins, that they would make this decision: “Lot chose for himself”. Think of that verse in Proverbs that would bring very much before us our responsibility and, if the Lord has not touched our heart, what we do. Proverbs 14 verse 12: “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is the ways of death”: again the choice being made. Lot makes this choice; a sinner makes the choice of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, because they want their own choice. The way they choose for themselves would seem right and they would go on in their sins, but we know that “the end thereof is the ways of death”. So Lot here is a type of one who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ as a Saviour, who chooses this area, this well watered plain, a beautiful area, but one away from God, and he would dwell in a place that is judged as being away from God. God had judged the place of Sodom as a wicked place and they were great sinners.

Abram, typical perhaps of one who comes into relationships with God, typical of one who comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Saviour he is privileged to have communication from God. In chapter 18 that we read: “And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre”. He takes up his place there in chapter 13: “Then Abram moved his tents, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron. And he built there an altar to Jehovah”. Typical of one who comes to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, they make a choice to come into what would perhaps be more restricted from a natural man’s viewpoint, but it is a place of privilege because in chapter 18 it says, “And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day”.

We know from the account that Lot sat in the gate of the city. That was not a restricted place: he had a place of prominence, a place that would be very attractive to the heart of man. But we see with Abraham that “he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day”. It does not sound like a very glamorous place compared to what Lot had, and yet we know that Lot’s choice, typical of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, ended up in a place of destruction. We know that Abram had that communication and relationship with God, typical of one coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. But Lot ends up in this place that is destroyed - chapter 19 verses 24 and 25: “And Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven, and overthrew those cities, and all the plain …” It is very instructive that “all the plain” is again mentioned. It was not just a simple thing of fields, but it is indicative of the judgment on a place that would be attractive to man - “wide the gate and broad the way”. Man would desire this spacious, easy life and reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour.

We know from the account that sovereignly Lot is saved and how thankful we would be that God in a sovereign way comes in and touches our hearts no matter where we are. The apostle Paul could say that he was the chief of sinners: so we know it is not a matter of how good we are. There is actually nothing we can do because the apostle Paul could also refer to himself as being the best, “Hebrew of Hebrews”, Phil 3: 5. He was really the best that man could offer in a natural sense. He went on in a way that was probably looked at by many as an example of the best within the religion, yet he could refer to himself as chief of sinners. God sovereignly will come in and touch our hearts - how thankful we are for that!

I was thinking of Luke 5. You see how things had to be totally given up. You see Peter there, out seeking to go on in this world. They had been fishing. We know from other accounts that they had fished all night. He says, “Master, having laboured through the whole night we have taken nothing, but at thy word …” Coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour begins with obedience to the word, coming to the end of oneself. Peter is typical of what is needed - full repentance, because he says, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord”. The word “Lord” is used and we know from what we have had before us many times in the preaching how the apostle Paul as Saul of Tarsus comes to know that beloved One, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the road to Damascus, by addressing Him as Lord. He had to come to the end of himself as well and addressed Him as Lord. It is very striking that Peter, still referred to as Simon in verse 5, uses that very same word, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord”. It is His lordship; it is coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour as it says in Romans, “confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord”, chap 10: 9. It is something that we have to do, to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, to own His lordship, which brings us into full subjection to Himself.

This narrow way is not that we are narrow in our souls in any way, but we are brought into life, we are brought into the truth of the Lord Himself as being “the way, and the truth, and the life”. It is striking here that of Simon Peter, it says, “having run the ships on shore, leaving all they followed him”. I was just thinking of that: “leaving all”. It is quite a statement. It is quite a contrast to Lot: he did not leave all. He took his herds and his tents, all that he had, into that well-watered plain and attached himself to the cities that were to be judged. But Peter does the opposite. He leaves all: “leaving all they followed him”. That is what we do as we come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. All we have would be secondary. Practically we must still go on in this world. We do not move off to a mountain top or something like that as we know some have done before, but the things themselves become very secondary. They are simply a means which we use while we are left here. We would be like Peter and leave all to follow Him.

It is very encouraging to see that this is the result of Peter coming to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. He was a sinful man; he recognised his need of a Saviour; and he followed Jesus. We know from other verses, other portions, that there were those who followed Jesus in the way. But the fulness of what Peter came into was very evident. The apostle Paul’s writings contain the truth of the assembly, but we would be very encouraged with what Peter left with us.

I think this was the beginning of his pathway of knowing the Lord Jesus as One who could say, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”, because in John 6, as we read, in answer to Jesus’ question, “Will ye also go away?”, it was Peter who said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast words of life eternal”. Just think of that! Peter came to know the Lord, who He was and what He was able to offer - “life eternal”. In the preaching of the glad tidings I love to quote that verse: “For the wages of sin is death; but the act of favour of God, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. How happy we are to present the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and how it is God’s sovereign mercy and His sovereign purpose that brings those into blessing and how it is our responsibility to make that choice!

Do you want to make that choice? We would present it to individuals. Do you want to make that choice of going on that wide way that is spoken of in Matthew 7: “for wide the gate and broad the way that leads to destruction”? It is a responsible question that needs to be answered and we would present the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of sinners, the One who would say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. It is the narrow gate that would lead to life and that is a great thought of life, that narrow way that would bring us into the blessing of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and having that eternal life in Christ Jesus referred to in Romans 6. And so we would be glad to present the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour in such a way. May God bless His word!

DENTON

25 April 1999