CHAPTER X

FINAL WARNINGS

OUR Lord concludes the Sermon on the Mount with three emphatic and striking warnings. We may paraphrase them thus:-There are two ways in life, the easy way of self-pleasing and the hard way of self-denial. Many are found to seek the first, few to tread the second. But they lead directly away from one another: and the first is the way to death, the second is the way to life.

There are many voices of teachers in the world, speaking fair-sounding words. But not by their words, nor by the results they seem to win, shall men be judged by the Son of Man, but by their characters.

There are many spiritual fabrics which men are raising. They seem the one very much as good as the other; but the test lies in their capacity to last. And no spiritual fabric that is built on anything else than the teaching of the

Son of Man can endure the strain and stress. which will come upon it before the end.

Let us direct our attention to each of these three warnings in turn.

The Two Ways.

'Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.'

This is the 'doctrine of the two ways.' Human instinct has seized on the metaphor in many parts of the world; the easy way of selfpleasing, the difficult way of duty. It speaks home to every heart, to every intelligence, and nothing needs to be said about it. But I would ask your attention to one question which in our time arises instantly as we read these words-Are we to suppose that our Lord is here saying that at the last issue many will be 'lost' and few 'saved'? Is this the meaning of 'Few be they that find it'?

To this question we may reply thus: On one occasion the disciples categorically asked our Lord, 'Are there few that are being saved?' and our Lord replied, 'Strive to enter in by the narrow door.' And on another occasion Peter

asked the question about John, 'What shall this man do?' and was answered, 'What is that to thee? Follow thou Me1. Beyond all question, our Lord does not intend us to know the answer to the questions which our curiosity raises as to the ultimate destinies of men. He fixes our attention, we may say, on three great principles: the character of God our Father, and His impartial, individual, disciplinary love: the final and universal victory of His kingdom over all resisting forces within and without: the critical character of our present life with its capacities for good or for evil, and the limitless consequences for good or evil which flow from the present attitude of each individual towards his personal responsibilities.

It is not unfair to translate our Lord's words here, 'Many there be that are entering the broad way; few there be that are finding the narrow way.' Thus they embody what is always found to be true in the experience of men. Always, to one who wants to do his duty, it will become plain in the long run that he has to be prepared to stand alone, or at any rate to go against the majority. He cannot tell the opportunities and responsibilities that others may

1 St. Luke xiii. 23-49; St. John xxi. 21-22.

have. He knows that God is infinitely considerate, and will do the best possible for every soul that He has created; but he can, he does, know his own responsibility and his own duty, and in following that he will have to bear the burden of going with the few and watching the spectacle, so depressing or staggering to the imagination, of the multitude running to do evil.

Character the one thing needful.

'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out devils, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'

There is nothing against which our Lord warns us so terribly as against hypocrisy. The discernment of Frenchmen and Germans has

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detected, or fancies it has detected, that Englishmen are specially liable to be hypocrites, to profess what they do not practise, to care for the outward appearance of morality and religion while they neglect their inward essence. Whether this be specially true of us or no, it behoves us to look to ourselves. In literature, in journalism, in the pulpits, in political life, there are so many 'prophets,' so many professors, so many remedymongers. They speak fair words, and brilliant. success often seems to attend them. 'Have we not prophesied in thy name,' they cry, 'and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?' But not all the fairseeming words, not all the brilliant, even miraculous successes, can compensate for the absence of personal character. That is the one thing to which our Lord looks. He warns us that not the most brilliant results can avail anything if we lack that inner character which is like Christ's.

This is a tremendous warning for days of wide and somewhat vague philanthropy, of restless activity, of nervous anxiety for successes and results, for days such as our own day. It is a tremendous warning for days of journalism, when every one is tempted to advertize himself or allow himself to be advertized, when everything