The only answer to the great question why the Lord did all this for man’s salvation is found in his own words:  “God so loved the world.”  And he loves it no less to-day than when the Son was born and the angels of glory were chanting their love song of “good will toward men” in the ears of the shepherds and above the manger in Bethlehem.  But with all of God’s good will to seek and save that which was lost he is able to save only such, and no others, as desire to be saved by him.  If it were possible for him to save man and elevate him to heaven independently of any cooeperation on man’s part, then all would alike be saved, for God is no respecter of persons.  But it would be quite as possible to compel or force any one to understand and love what he naturally hates, or to follow with enjoyment and delight a way of life he does not love, as it would be to save a human being without the consent and cooeperation of his mind and heart.

The scribes and Pharisees gave evident proof of the truth of the old maxim:  “Convince a man against his will, he is of the same opinion still.”  The Lord proved before their eyes his heavenly mission and divine character; their minds must have been convinced.  But their wills did not favor the convictions of their minds; that is, they did not love the truth that was forced upon their minds, and so they rejected him.  It is from this element in the constitution of man’s soul or spirit that he must become as a little child, or he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  Becoming as a little child is what is meant by being born again, without which no man shall see the kingdom of heaven.  We all know a little child is innocent, teachable; because it is not lifted up in the pride of its own intelligence, nor confirmed in a belief of what is not true from a love of what is not good.  Every one who enters through the narrow gate, and pursues the narrow way that leads to life, is willing to be led by the Lord.  It may not be clear to the mind of every one what is symbolized by the narrow gate and the narrow way.  I will try to tell you.

The divine truth of God’s Word is the narrow gate.  It admits of no increase, and it allows no diminution.  He that addeth to or taketh from the words of the prophecy of this book (the Bible), God shall take away his part out of the book of life.  This is a fearful warning to all who would seek to make the gate and the way of eternal life any broader than it is laid and settled by the Word of Life; and a similar warning to any who would desire to make the gate and the way appear so narrow as to discourage and dissuade others from entering.  I said the narrow gate is the truth of God’s Word.  But what is the narrow way?  The narrow way is the daily life of every one who lives according to that truth.  This leads to life eternal, because it leads to God.  But the gate and the way will do no one any good unless it be entered and the way followed.  And God compels no one to enter in opposition