They are not to be viewed, as they very generally have been, as unconnected advices or statements, but they naturally rise out of the previous part of the discourse. One leading design of that discourse is to show the spiritual nature, and the wide extent, of that obedience which is characteristic of the true subjects of the Messiah, and which is absolutely necessary in order to the enjoyment of that state of ultimate blessedness which is provided for them-to show that the righteousness of the kingdom far exceeds "the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees."

To Jews, who expected that they all were to be subjects of the Messiah, that all the descendants of Israel would, as a matter of course, be heirs of the kingdom, and who considered "the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees" -that system of religious and moral duty taught by the Scribes, and exemplified by the Pharisees-as fully embracing and answering all the requisitions of the Divine law, the statements of our Lord must have appeared hard sayings. It was natural for men, with these views, to say within themselves, Who then can be saved? This is indeed "a strait gate." This is indeed " a narrow way."

Our Lord, who often speaks to the thoughts of his audience, meets this state of mind by saying, in effect, 'The gate is strait, the way is narrow, yet it is your wisdom, your interest, as well as your duty, to enter by that strait gate, to walk in that narrow way. There is, indeed, a wide gate, soliciting your entrance, there is a broad path, inviting your steps to walk in it; and multitudes are passing through that gate, and walking along that way; but that gate is the gate of perdition, that road is the road to hell. The strait gate is the only gate of life, the narrow way is the only way to heaven. Few indeed, comparatively, enter by that gate, and walk in that way. But that is just an additional reason why ye should see that ye be among that little flock, for to them alone "is it the Father's good pleasure to give the kingdom."

§ 1. This is the only way of escaping perdition, and securing salvation.

"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." These words consist of an exhortation, "Enter in at the strait gate,"-enforced by two considerations. "Enter in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction." "Enter in at the strait gate, for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life;" that is, "Enter in at the strait gate, for the wide gate, through which so many enter, leads to destruction. Enter in at the strait gate, through which so few pass, for it alone leads to life.' 2

To "enter in at the strait gate," is to embrace those views of truth, and duty, and happiness, which our Lord unfolds, and of which we have an admirable specimen in this discourse; and to walk in the narrow way, is habitually to regulate our temper and conduct by these views. To embrace these views, is represented as entering through a strait gate, through which the person with difficulty presses, finding it impossible to take anything along with him, because these views are naturally, in the very highest degree, unpalatable to the human mind and heart, and cannot be embraced without a relinquishment of sinful pleasures, connections, pursuits, and interests-without that sacrifice of former habits of thought and feeling, which our Lord elsewhere represents as a man's "denying," renouncing, “him

1 Matth. vii. 13, 14.-The figure has been thought that of a narrow way, leading through a strait gate to a fortress or palace-eternal life. The similarity of this figure to that in the famous rival of Cebes is striking:-ouzouv ὁρᾶς θύραν τινὰ μικρὰν, καὶ ὁδόν τινα πρὸ τῆς θύρας, ἥτις οὐ πολὺ ὀχλευίται, ἀλλὰ πάνυ ὀλίγοι πορεύονται· αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ὁδὸς, ἡ ἄγουσα πρὸς τὴν ἀληθινὴν παιδείαν. Bengel, however, seems right in his remark—“ Пúa ponitur ante idés." The gate is the entrance; the way, the prosecution, of a religious course.

2 The Hebrew repeated his when we would use and, especially in impassioned diction. See Gesenius, in which are cited as examples:-Isaiah vi. 5; i. 29, 30; iii. 1-6; ix. 3-5. Job iii. 24, 25; viii. 9; xi. 15, 16.-THOLUCK. 2 A

VOL. I.

self;" and the regulating our temper and conduct habitually by these views, is represented as walking in a narrow encumbered path, because this implies our steadily prosecuting a course of implicit faith in and obedience to our Lord and Master, whatever opposition, and whatever temptations, we may meet with.

Our Lord's exhortation is, 'Embrace these views, however opposite to preconceived opinion-follow this course, however inconsistent with your worldly interest. It is no doubt much easier, much more agreeable, to hold fast fondly cherished prejudices—to indulge natural propensities—to follow a course which promises to secure for you worldly honour, wealth, and pleasure. This is a wide gate, this is a broad unencumbered way. It is easy to enter on this way, and few obstructions are to be expected in prosecuting it. The transition from sin to sin, from occasional transgressions to habitual indulgences, is easy, and in this way you will be in no want of company. The old and the young, the rich and the poor, the learned and the unlearned, walk there. It is "the course of the world," in which all men naturally walk, "fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, and of the mind." But this path, inviting as it may seem, frequented as it is, is indeed ruinous. It "leads to destruction," it terminates in hell. "The end of these things is death." If you are wise, then, "Enter not in at this gate, walk not in this way."

The other course, however repulsive to natural inclination, is incomparably the more eligible one. "Enter in at the strait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life." This way of implicit faith and obedience certainly conducts to life, to true, satisfactory, permanent happiness. This is the onward way of well-doing, which leads to "glory, honour, and immortality." The glories and felicities in which it terminates, will far more than compensate for the sacrifices made in entering on it, and for the difficulties met with in prosecuting it.

To heighten the force of the motive, our Lord adds, "Few there be that find it." Comparatively few men are religious. Many neglect religion altogether-others rest in external forms and empty notions-others are deluded into some of those more soothing, flattering, fashionable species of religion, which satan, transformed into an angel of light, and his servants transformed into ministers of righteousness, propose to them when they are roused to a state of alarm in reference to the interests of their souls. They are deterred by the difficulties of entering through the strait gate, and walking along the narrow way; they are terrified at the idea of being counted precise and singular. They hope to get to heaven at an easier rate, and they do not know that this narrow way has its peculiar supports, and consolations, and joys, that far more than counterbalance its toils, and difficulties, and discouragements.1

Stripped of its figurative dress, and expressed in plain language, our Lord's exhortation is,-'Be religious, by embracing my doctrine and obeying my law, for irreligion, in all its forms, necessarily ends in everlasting ruin, and vast multitudes in this way perish. Be religious, for religion is at once the only, and the certain, way to everlasting happiness; but ah, how few are there, comparatively, who in this way obtain this happiness.'

These awfully solemn words of our Lord are as applicable to us as they were to those to whom they were originally addressed. The two gates, the two ways, still stand before us, the one leading to destruction, the other to life. The broad road, with all its endlessly diversified tracks of irreligion and false religion, apparently quite distinct, yet in reality all leading in the same direction, down to the chambers of eternal death, continues to be crowded by travellers. The narrow path, often beset with snares, often rugged with difficulties, but always onward and upward, continues to be

1 Scott.

trodden by only a small and despised group of pilgrims. These are the only two paths, and one of them we must choose.

There has been always a very earnest wish a very eager endeavour-to avoid the necessity of making this choice, by joining the two roads into one, or by forming a third road which should have the recommendations of both, -or, at any rate, by so combining them, as that the traveller may have the comforts of the broad path during his journey, and the safety of the narrow one at its close. Men would fain escape the pains of self-denial here, and of hell hereafter. They would fain have the enjoyments of self-indulgence in time, and of heaven in eternity. They often seem to succeed in deluding themselves, so far as to persuade themselves that they have accomplished this impossibility. But it is a delusion; and, if persisted in, it will prove a fatal delusion. A religion which requires no self-denial is not the religion of Christ. If the gate be not strait, if the road be not narrow, it is not the gate of life, it is not the road to heaven. In all ages of the world, the way that leadeth to life is narrow. It is not, it cannot be, easy or agreeable to our corrupted nature. It requires attention to find it, self-denial to enter upon it, and labour and resolution to persevere in it.

And in all ages, too, the broad way is the way that leadeth to destruction. A period may come, we trust a period shall come, when the majority of mankind shall be truly religious, but that period has not yet come; and in every past age, to think, and feel, and act in religion, along with the multitude, has been the same thing as to think, and feel, and act wrong. The truly religious are, and ever have been, a minority-comparatively a very small minority. That man has great reason to fear he is fatally wrong, who finds nothing in his religious principles and feelings to separate him from the great body of mankind, and who can approve of the pursuits, and partake of the pleasures, of