Knowing that we are in the last of the last days, with an imminent Rapture a very real hope, our thoughts often (and indeed should) turn to the signs that Christ said would herald the nearness of His return. The signs that are most widely cited include “wars and rumours of wars...[when] nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...and...famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes...these are the beginning of sorrows” (Mt 24:6-8).

Unquestionably, these specific “sorrows” have been both prominent and accelerating since Israel again became a nation in 1948. Since that time, the intensity and frequency of these signs have increased like the birth pangs of a woman approaching her time of delivery, exactly as Christ foretold. However, the first sign that Christ gave has been largely overlooked and His solemn warning neglected:

* And Jesus answered and said...Take heed that no man deceive you.

* For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many....

* And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many....

* For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Mt 24:4,5,11,24) [Emphasis added.]

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

—John 14:1-6

I believe that the great miracle that the unsaved world wants to see today is not the healing of a leper, not giving sight to the blind or hearing to the deaf. The great miracle that the unsaved want to see today is the miracle of a transformed life—people who've been saved from sin and defilement and corruption. They're new creatures in Christ Jesus, and they're really different persons! “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). And we're going to come to that just a little bit later in the chapter.

As I read these verses of Scripture, I can't help thinking of the vast number of people who will be in heaven singing the praises of the Lord Jesus for all eternity because of verse 6—how the Holy Spirit of God used that verse to bring light to darkened souls. They came to Christ depending on Him and Him alone for their soul’s salvation.

I think of people going through trials, and difficulty, and trouble—pain, sorrow, tears—and I think of the comfort that these verses have brought to them.

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD….” —Isaiah 1:18

Two years ago (February 2022) we published a TBC article titled "The Flight from Reason." At that time, certain things were taking place that made you wonder if the world and the church had indeed taken leave of their senses, or, in the church's case, a huge slipping away from God's truth (Hebrews 2:1), verging on complete irrationality.

Reason, even at the level of just plain common sense, has ceased to be the criterion of everyday living. That was certainly obvious in the realm of politics. Although the mantra of the various left-leaning agendas claimed it was for the good of society, the "good" was either short-lived or quickly destructive. Gaining control over the populous was their main goal, and the objective was to impose a certain ideology on the masses by whatever means. For Bible-believing Christians it became necessary to enter into the political realm as voters when the promoted agendas dealt with moral issues such as abortion and the legalization of mind-altering drugs. We certainly have a responsibility as US citizens to affect the outcome of what our government attempts to adopt, especially regarding the consequences related to our children. However, that's not the primary concern of this article. It's the effect that the seeming abandonment of reason is having on the church.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

—Matthew 7:13-14

Each part of this three-part series began with the above scriptures because we believe they capture the options the church and the world face. What's found through the "strait gate" are numerous instructions that make up the truth of God's Word. Although that gate is open to all, only those who are born again of the Holy Spirit choose to enter therein. Yet still retaining their old nature, believers can be enticed by the sins of the world. Twice in Proverbs (14:12; 16:25) we find, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death," indicating that believers can still slip into the errors of the wide gate/broad way. William MacDonald in his Believer's Bible Commentary calls the wide gate the way of a "life of self-indulgence and pleasure." Simple observation reveals that such an attraction would be the case for a majority of Christians whether they are professing or true believers. Obviously, that's more attractive than the difficulties that accompany the exhortation of "denying self" found in Matthew 16:24. What is overwhelmingly clear and increasing exponentially is that the instructions of the "strait gate" are being abandoned by the church in wholesale fashion.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

—Matthew 7:13-14

As we pointed out in Part One, those who have chosen to enter through the "strait gate" are those who are born again, which can only take place by putting their faith in Jesus Christ, who paid the full penalty for their sin. Furthermore, "strait is the gate, and narrow is the [only] way which leads unto life." That life, of course, is eternal life.

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Abraham is called “the Friend of God” (James 2:23), an expression used of no other person in the Bible. As a result of that relationship, God made an “everlasting covenant” with His special friend (Genesis 17:7,13,19; 1 Chronicles 16:16-18; Psalm 105:8-12; 118:9, etc.) that extended to Abraham's descendants for all time.

This covenant involved (1) the promised land and (2) the promised Messiah. Only in the Messiah could God fulfill His pledge to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: “in thee [and in thy seed] shall all families [or nations] of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14). As for the land, God’s promise was clear: “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever” (Genesis 13:15); “...the LORD made a covenant with Abram,... Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river...Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18); “...all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession…” (Genesis 17:7-8).

Abraham had several sons: Ishmael through his wife Sarah's Egyptian maid, Hagar; Isaac through his wife Sarah; and six others through Keturah, whom he married after Sarah died (Genesis 25:1-2).

Although the Word of God is timeless, I'm continually amazed yet very thankful at how it speaks to what's going on now, meaningwithin our very hour. These two verses from the gospel of Matthew are prime examples, solet's start with an understanding of them.

To enter in at the strait gate—or narrow way—is to enter the Kingdom of God, which can only take place when one is born again. And when that takes place, a believer receives the gift of eternal life, the consummation of placing one's faith in Jesus for paying the full penalty for sin. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit" (1 Peter 3:18).