Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #36 of Genesis, chapter 24, and we are reading Genesis 24:48:

And I bowed down my head, and worshipped JEHOVAH, and blessed JEHOVAH God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.

We have been using this verse as a starting point, as this servant to Abraham was recounting his words, and he thanked God for leading him in the right way to find the bride.  And all God’s people with one voice can thank God for that wonderful truth, as God led His people to find the bride of Christ, and the salvation of all God’s elect has been completed.

There are those that are now giving every appearance of being enemies of God and His kingdom as they deny that anything happened on May 21, 2011 and they deny that it was Judgment Day.  They like to emphasize in their criticism, “Oh, these people that agree with and listen to EBible Fellowship are no-more-salvation people.”  They like to hit that point home because they know it sounds awful.  It sounds terrible.  “Who would be for no more salvation?”  They make it sound that it is our desire that there be no more salvation, which could not be further from the truth. 

And, you know, they are really acting like politicians that like to frame things in a certain way so that people listening to them will be against their opponent.  And these people cannot go to the Bible to prove the things they say regarding May 21, 2011 not being Judgment Day and nothing happening on that date.  They cannot argue against the Biblical teaching, so they resort to tactics to convince people that are natural-minded individuals like themselves.

But, really, they are framing the position of God’s elect in an entirely wrong way.  It is really not “no more salvation,” but it is really the “completion of salvation.”  All whose names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life have been saved, so it was really the utmost possible salvation that the people of God are recognizing and acknowledging that God has accomplished.  God has saved everyone that could possible be saved because salvation is not of man.  It is not of man’s choice, and that is why people that “choose Christ” today cannot be saved because it was never man’s choice.  God is sovereign God regarding whom He saved.  Salvation is not a result of being in a church, partaking of the Lord’s Table or becoming (water) baptized.  None of that ever attributed to anyone’s salvation.  Salvation is of the Lord.  It is His choice.  Jesus said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.”  To highlight the fact that God is sovereign God in all matters related to His magnificent salvation program, the Lord in His infinite wisdom determined to complete His salvation at a point where time would continue throughout a prolonged Day of Judgment, and it would highlight and focus attention on this wonderful truth that He had always been the one in complete control of who He saved, when He saved, and everything else having to do with salvation.  This period of time gives God all the glory for accomplishing and completing the salvation of the souls (of all His elect).  And we can be sure that since God has done what He promised to do in saving a people for Himself, He will complete our salvation on the last day by giving all His saved people their new resurrected bodies.

Well, this is all part of “the right way.”  We have been talking about this because God’s people know the right way because we can hear His voice.  I remember listening to Mr. Camping when I first started listening, by God’s grace, back in the 1980s.  I was a man of the world, and I had grown up under the way of the world.  I never really knew anything about the Bible, and I cannot remember ever going to church on into my twenties.  And, yet, by God’s grace, He moved in my life and He caused me to bypass all these ways of the world and He brought me under the hearing of this mysterious “way” that I heard over the radio.  Of course, at that time, from my perspective, it was “just by chance” that I turned the radio dial and came across Family Radio, but it was not by chance.  It was the providential will of God.  He led me there and I started to listen, and I started to hear things I had never heard before.  It was a presentation of “the right way” to go.  It was “the right way” of God, and the only way to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

And what is that way?  We were just talking about the broad way that leads to destruction.  It is like a “big tent” of all  kinds of methodologies, ideologies, philosophies and religions.  They all come together, and they are all welcomed by the world, but they all lead to the same place.  I think we have a good understanding of that, but what is “the right way,” specifically?   I am going to read, again, in Matthew 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: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Just as the wrong way is broad and its gate wide, the right way has a strait gate and a narrow way.  Many are able to go the broad way that leads to destruction.  Few find this narrow way, so we are very curious.  What is the narrow way or the right way?

Remember we looked at a verse in Psalm 119 when we were discussing the broad way.  I want to go back there.  It says in Psalm 119:29-30:

Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.

Two ways are spoken of in these two verses, the way of lying and the way of truth.  The way of lying is an apt description of all the various ways of the world.  Here, God breaks down the possibilities.  We talked about this before, but He does not say there are thousands of ways; He does not present a multitude of ways, but He just tells us of two ways in Matthew 7:13-14, a broad way and a narrow way, because when you look at the core beliefs of all the varied ways of the world, it will always eventually come down to the way of lying.  And when we look at the narrow way that leads to life, the way to describe it best is that it is the way of truth.  It is not “a way,” but “the way,” because “a way” would imply there are other ways.  But it is a very exclusive way and, of course, the world does not like that idea, but it does not change the truth that the way into (eternal) life is just one way.  It is as Jesus said in John 14:4:

And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

He is speaking to the disciples, and He said they knew the way.  Then it says in John 14:5:

Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

They had Psalm 119, did they not, and many other verses in the Old Testament?  It is “the way of truth.”  So Jesus went on to answer in John 14:6:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

These three things, the way, the truth and the life, all identify with one another.  Is that not what Matthew 7:14 told us?  “Narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life.”  The “way” and “life” are put together.  And Psalm 119 joins together the “way” and “truth.”  It is the way of life.  It is “the right way” that we are reading about in Genesis 24:48, and it is the way of truth.  It is the way of the Word of God, the Bible, which says, “Thy word is truth.”  It is the way of Christ, as He is the essence of truth.  He is truth and faith and love.  He is all these wonderful characteristics and attributes.  Christ is truth.  He is the Word that was made flesh, so as God’s Word is truth, Christ is truth.  So if we were to define the narrow way, it is the way of truth as defined by the Bible.  The Bible is the Word of truth and what it says is truth.  That must be understood.  It is what the Bible says.  It is not what churches may say about the Bible or what some theologian likes about the Bible, and not what anyone else may speculate about it, but what the Bible says is truth.  Then we come to the Bible with that mindset: “This book is the book of truth.  This book is the book of God, and God is truth.”

As we approach unto the Bible, we hit upon a treasure mind.  We have “hit the jackpot,” and we have “struck it rich,” because by God’s grace and tremendous mercy toward you and me, we have not been abandoned to the thousands, upon thousands, upon thousands of false ways.  But we have been led to that entrance point or “door way,” but, of course, now we have to acknowledge that the door is shut because God has ended His salvation program by completing it and saving all those that were to become saved.  Nonetheless, the Bible was the entrance into the kingdom of heaven; that is, when the door was open (and the door is Christ and the door is the Word) to admit the sinners saved by the grace of God and by the faith of Christ, we entered in at the door. 

We did not go physically into heaven.  Yes – it is true that we were lifted up, so to speak, to be seated in Christ in heavenly places and we have our citizenship in heaven.  But, in reality, we are still here, unless we died, and our souls went to be with Him in heaven.  But if we are still alive physically, we are still here on the earth in both body and soul, and we are on that pathway or road that will come out on the other end into heaven itself, the kingdom of God, where we will enjoy eternal life.  We will enjoy the pleasures, riches, and glorious reality of all the things the Bible, the true book of God, has told us about.  And, yet, we are not there yet.  We have entered into the “door,” and we have been traveling that path, and we can see the broad way all around us.  We should certainly be able to see that it leads to destruction.  We are convinced because God has given us eyes to see and ears to hear the voice of Christ, that we are on the right path, and all is well.  And that is true – all is well.  All is beautiful and wonderful and glorious. 

However, there is no doubt that we have begun to experience difficulties and troubles in our lives that we have never had before.  They are too numerous to list.  We could have problems physically.  We could have problems mentally.  We could have problems with our families.  We could have problems with our work.  We could have problems with finances.  We could have problems between the flesh and the spirit.  We could have problems as we are chastened by God, even when it seems we are doing the right thing, but God knows what is going on deep-down, so He may chasten us because of our sin.  Actually, this whole period of time during Judgment Day is like one big chastisement that will not end until time ends. 

On top of all that, we are hated by the world.  We are hated by those in the churches.  As it says in Matthew 24 regarding the time of the end, it says in Matthew 24:9-10:

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

So we struggle day, after day, after day, and we can feel very isolated and lonely.  It is easy to become cast down and to wonder, “Is this the right way?  Have I gone the right way?  Should I have left the churches?  Should I have listened to the teaching of Mr. Camping?  When  I listened, it was like music to my ears, but look where I am at now.  Look at how things have come about.  I feel so lonely and despised by just about everyone around me, especially those in ‘Christian’ circles.”   It would be easy to wonder.  Remember, even John the Baptist when he was in prison sent some of his disciples to ask the Lord: “Are you the one?”  Then Jesus responded, “Tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised.”   He just needed a little encouragement.  John knew He was the one, but he needed a little encouragement due to his circumstances that were very grievous.  So, too, today we could use a little encouragement from the Word of God, and that is one of the reasons I thought it would be good to talk about this.  We do not focus on this as much as we should: the narrow way that leads to life is to be expected to be exactly what we are experiencing.  That is, our trials, tribulations and afflictions are all perfectly in keeping with the language of the Bible.  That does not necessarily mean that our understanding is all perfect, but it does mean that our experience is in accord with it.  It is not unusual or out of the ordinary, but it is in accord with the language of the Bible, the book of truth, that tells us about this “way.”

The Greek word “narrow” that is found in Matthew 7:14 is Strong’s #2346, and it is a related word to the word translated as “tribulation,” which is the next Strong’s number, #2347.  They are very closely related in spelling, and you can check that out in your concordance.  It is a word that is also translated as “afflicted.”  We are going to read a few verses where this word “narrow” is used, as God says that the way that leads to life is narrow, and understanding that word will help us understand what we should expect to experience, would it not?  So we are going to look at this word pretty closely.

In 2Corinthians 1, it is translated as “afflicted.”  It says in 2Corinthians 1:6:

And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.

The word “afflicted” is this word translated as “narrow.”

It is translated as “troubled” in 2Corinthians 4:8:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Or, it says in 2Corinthians 7:4-5:

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.

This is actually a good way to describe the “narrow way” because all around us is the broad way, and the broad way sort of presses and compresses and comes against the narrow way so that there is trouble all about on every side.  Every side you can look to there is trouble and affliction.  It is describing the way that leads to life and unto the kingdom of God.

It says in 1Thessalonians 3:2-4:

And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and to comfort you concerning your faith: That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.

Both English words here, afflictions and tribulation, are a translation of the Greek word “narrow.”  Did you catch what it said in verse 3?  It said, “.these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.”  We are appointed to suffer tribulation.

Let us go to Philippians 1, and this verse should receive much more attention than it does, but it hardly gets attention, and you will see why.  It says in Philippians 1:29:

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

We hear a lot about how it is given to us to believe: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”  It is given to us.  Yes – we love to hear that God has given us the gift of faith and the gift of belief.  Wonderful!  But God says that not only has He given you the gift of faith, but part of this gift from God to His elect is to also “to suffer for his sake.”  It is part of the journey.  You cannot have one without the other.  You cannot have the gift of faith without the gift of suffering accompanying it.  In other words, you cannot get to heaven unless you endure the road, and the road that God has laid out before us is the road that will follow the example and pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is a road that is narrow.  The narrow way is of the way of suffering tribulation.  It is the way of affliction.  It is the way of trouble.  It is the way that God designed for His people to enter into this glorious future that awaits us.