Harrell Davidson
There are five central truths. The Bible is a profound book, but very understandable so that everybody whose heart is right can understand it. The simple mind can make its own conclusion that leads to obedience. There is no middle ground with the truth.
What is your life? What is it all about? Did Jesus tell us? Look at Matt. 7:13-14 “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: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” It is my conviction that these passages—two verses—makes clear the will of God. Other verses enlarge these verses. These verses lay out the basics of every human life to be what they ought to be.
There are two inviters. We receive many invitations in life. However, this is an invitation to life. You can live a happy life. No matter how many bad things happen to you you can be happy in this life. You will be involved in things that you do not like, but this does not mean that you cannot be involved with Christ. You can be with Christ and know what He wants you to do. He is the great inviter. He invites us to salvation. Come unto me all ye that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest. This invitation that we are involved in, we ought to wish that everyone was involved in it. It will be wonderful beyond the pale of death to have a beautiful home in heaven. With this thought in mind, I will never compromise the truth. Jesus wants us to learn the truth, obey the truth and stand by the truth all the days of our lives
Satan is an inviter (cf. I Pet. 5:8). He uses all kinds of people as his servants. He invites us to be his servant while on this earth and to eternal hell when this life is over. Let none of us equivocate for a moment that he will not be as bad as he really is. Do you believe that God would tell us a lie? Do you believe that the Holy Spirit would tell us a lie? Absolutely not! God wants us to listen to the inviter who is the Son of God—not Satan. I used to rejoice at all the schools that were sound in the faith in our country. Now they are gone. I no longer have one to recommend. Our colleges and preacher schools have gone the way of Cain.
There are two messages. John 8:32 indicates to us that we can know the truth and it will make us free. Some say the truth is too complicated. Way back years ago we had such strong preaching in our small country congregations. We were privileged to hear some of the greatest preachers of that era. People revered the truth and they never got tired of hearing it. Some were uneducated as far as formal education, but they understood and could quote the Scriptures. Some were in their cleaned, ironed and starched overalls. Some came in wagons and horse and buggy. Only a few had cars. No one thought that they were better than any other. They were interested in one thing—the message of the Lord.
The other message is false doctrine. It seems that many in the church today do not believe that there is such a thing as false doctrine. Unity in diversity means that if Joe believes that baptism is not essential to salvation and John believes that it is, they can hand in hand together believing that both are right. All they have to do is be loving one toward the other. We cannot have such love for the other when the doctrine is absolutely antagonistic. The soul is loved, but they cannot walk together except they be agreed (Amos 3:3). Unity in diversity ought not be the case. If such were true then a woman could be walking down the street among some awful men and be ravaged and it would be alright. This shows unity in diversity is wrong in any and every situation. If not, why not? We have the obligation to study the Bible correctly, interpreting it, espousing it, obeying it and teaching it. Every doctrine that is contradictory must be denounced in the strongest terms. When the Bible—the truth is taught and rejected people are holding on to error and they are lost in that condition.
The narrow gate is not studied enough. “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). He cannot enter without meeting certain conditions. Who said it? Jesus did! The man who is sincere will have no excuse. God will not let him out of it. We are baptized into Christ to put on Christ (Rom 6:3, 4; Gal 3:27). There is no way you can make it sound good to say that sprinkling or pouring is scriptural. I learned in the card class taught by my grandmother that one is baptized and it was a burial.
There is another gate—the wide gate. This includes all the gates except the narrow gate. It includes every gate that does not include hearing, believing and obeying the Gospel. This is not the Lord’s gate. I don’t care what kind of gate the other gate is or what denominational gate it may be, any gate that is not of the Lord is doomed eternally. The narrow gate is a straitened way and narrow. Those who care not for the Gospel or the spreading of it are in the wide gate. We must not be afraid to challenge the devil’s doctrines. We need to challenge them all whether they are philosophers or talented false teachers. We have nothing to hide when it comes to the truth. We need to get back to debating errors that are both within and without the church. We need not be afraid to press 2 John 9-11 or Eph. 5:11. Those who are compromisers are lost and have chosen to forsake their Lord over their false notions of fellowship. The strait way is the Scriptures. The broad way represents all the creeds and manuals in the world.
What is the truth? It is something that tells us of two destinies before us. Regardless of where I have been, I have never thought that the Lord did not know where the faithful stood neither did I doubt that He knew where I was. He knew that there will be departures. He knows more about heaven and who will be there. It will be wonderful to be with our mates and children. We will not miss the erring saints. They made their choice here on earth and now the home they have prepared is because they rejected the Christ and the narrow way. The Lord shows that they will be lost eternally. May God help the erring saints to come back as the prodigal before it is everlasting too late? For some there appears to be no turning back. How sad that pride has caused their eyes to be closed, and their ears of dull of hearing. They do not understand with their hearts. God in all His mercy cannot overlook those who have chosen the wide gate that leads to destruction. We weep over the lost especially those who were once faithful brothers and knew better. Hell, some way or another is going to be worse for them than the glorified infidel (cf. 2 Pet. 2:20ff).
