The Path of

Truth

is Hard and Narrow

Published by Elder Sean

Distributed by

Yahweh’s Truth in New Jerusalem

Copyright © 2015 Elder Sean for

Yahweh’s Truth in New Jerusalem Christian Church

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In this Bible Study we will look at the Bible’s interpretation of whether the majority with its man-made philosophy is the correct way of the Truth or if it is more likely that the minority is correct and has been for some time.  This study will also explain that studying the word of Yahweh God is the best chance of following the “Hard and Narrow Path” to salvation that the Bible tells us about is as easy as people and mainstream churches seem to think.

One of the many problems with mainstream Christianity is the idea that the “majority” is right and the minority is wrong in their supposed understanding and interpretation of the word of God from the Bible. So many of the Christian Churches all espouse to pretty much the same thing. Many follow the understanding of their mother, that being the Roman Catholic Church, yet claim they are different when really the only thing that is different is the setup, yet the basic understandings of biblical interpretation are incorrect, especially with regard to one fundamental concept of the Roman Catholic Church, the doctrine of the Trinity which was unofficially forced upon the bishops by the Pagan Emperor Constantine in the year 325 at the Council of Nicea. This enforcement occurred because a “majority” of bishops of the day accepted the Nicean Creed regarding the nature of Christ, while Arius and several others did not, Constantine pushed the bishops to come to a “consensus” on the issue which is what eventually occurred, even though several others, including Arius himself refused[1].

The Nicean Creed states:

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance [ek tes ousias] of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of the same substance with the Father [homoousion to patri], through whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth; who for us men and our salvation descended, was incarnate, and was made man, suffered and rose again the third day, ascended into heaven and cometh to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Ghost. Those who say: There was a time when He was not, and He was not before He was begotten; and that He was made out of nothing [ex ouk onton]; or who maintain that He is of another hypostasis or another substance [than the Father], or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or subject to change, [them] the Catholic Church anathematizes.

Notice the bolded information in this Creed? How can something be begotten but not made? The term begotten means:

Begotten

past participle of be·get (Verb)

1.      (typically of a man, sometimes of a man and a woman) Bring (a child) into existence by the process of reproduction.

2.      Give rise to; bring about.

Effectively the term begotten or beget means “made” or “created”. Changing the words doesn’t change the meaning of the substance or what you are trying to associate it to be. Effectively it was a slight of hand, the fact that the majority accepted this Creed does not surprise me, the “majority consensus” does not make it accurate or correct, and where the Bible and word of God is concerned, it generally makes it INCORRECT more than anything.

The reason for this introduction is not to harass or upset any specific church, this was simply a natural progression of incorrect interpretation and the involvement of Satan within the Church to twist the Truth and change it so that many did not accept or understand and more specifically to ensure the Truth about God, Christ Jesus and the word is kept hidden from mankind. Just because there is a “majority consensus” in relation to the understanding does not mean it is correct or even accurate. There were problems with twisting of the word of God even when the apostles were still alive, that it would spread further after they had left should not be surprising.

It can be seen from the following bible verses that dissent, confusion and lies had started to spread from Church to Church while the apostles were here, it was easy enough once they heard to send notice of correction, but with them gone who then was to provide correction? The Bible provides correction and what is not show in the Bible is not of God but of man. It is very clear in the passages from the Bible that if it is not contained in scripture then it is not of God.

NJB 1 Corinthians 1:9-31

Dissensions among the faithful

10.      Brothers, I urge you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, not to have factions among yourselves but all to be in agreement in what you profess; so that you are perfectly united in your beliefs and judgments.

11.      From what Chloe's people have been telling me about you, brothers, it is clear that there are serious differences among you.

12.      What I mean is this: every one of you is declaring, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."

13.      Has Christ been split up? Was it Paul that was crucified for you, or was it in Paul's name that you were baptised?

14.      I am thankful I did not baptise any of you, except Crispus and Gaius,

15.      so that no one can say that you were baptised in my name.

16.      Yes, I did baptise the family of Stephanas, too; but besides these I do not think I baptised anyone.

The true wisdom and the false

17.      After all, Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel; and not by means of wisdom of language, wise words which would make the cross of Christ pointless.

18.      The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the road to salvation it is the power of God.

19.      As scripture says: I am going to destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of any who understand.

20.      Where are the philosophers? Where are the experts? And where are the debaters of this age? Do you not see how God has shown up human wisdom as folly?

21.      Since in the wisdom of God the world was unable to recognise God through wisdom, it was God's own pleasure to save believers through the folly of the gospel.

22.      While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom,

23.      we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness,

24.      but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God.

25.      God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

26.      Consider, brothers, how you were called; not many of you are wise by human standards, not many influential, not many from noble families.

27.      No, God chose those who by human standards are fools to shame the wise; he chose those who by human standards are weak to shame the strong,

28.      those who by human standards are common and contemptible, indeed those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing all those that do count for something,

29.      so that no human being might feel boastful before God.

30.      It is by him that you exist in Christ Jesus, who for us was made wisdom from God, and saving justice and holiness and redemption.

31.      As scripture says: If anyone wants to boast, let him boast of the Lord.

Even in these verses you can see Peter warning against those that would be false teachers both in his time and in the future:

NJB 2 Peter 2:1-3

False teachers

1.      As there were false prophets in the past history of our people, so you too will have your false teachers, who will insinuate their own disruptive views and, by disowning the Lord who bought them freedom, will bring upon themselves speedy destruction.

2.      Many will copy their debauched behaviour, and the Way of Truth will be brought into disrepute on their account.

3.      In their greed they will try to make a profit out of you with untrue tales. But the judgment made upon them long ago is not idle, and the destruction awaiting them is forever on the watch.

Paul goes one step even further and seriously indicates exactly what is classified as false teachings based on “philosophy”:

NJB Colossians 2:5-10

Live according to the true faith in Christ, not according to false teaching

6.      So then, as you received Jesus as Lord and Christ, now live your lives in him,

7.      be rooted in him and built up on him, held firm by the faith you have been taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving.

8.      Make sure that no one captivates you with the empty lure of a "philosophy" of the kind that human beings hand on, based on the principles of this world and not on Christ.

Christ alone is the true head of all humanity and the angels

9.      In him, in bodily form, lives divinity in all its fullness,

10.      and in him you too find your own fulfilment, in the one who is the head of every sovereignty and ruling force.

So can be seen the “philosophy” of man instituted as God’s Truth when it is nothing more than the philosophy of man trying to justify their existence. The Bible tells us very specifically that there are two paths. One, the Path to Truth which is a narrow gate along a narrow path and the other which is wide and the road to destruction that many will follow:

NJB Matthew 7:12-14

The two ways

13.      `Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it;

14.      but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Jesus tells us very specifically what happens to those that follow the wide road. Many will think they follow the narrow road but they rely on others to give them Truth instead of searching and seeking out the knowledge and information themselves. All information should be tested with the Spirit of God while reading scripture, anything that is not there is not Truth but lie and should be ignored. In the following verses Jesus tells us what happens to those that walk that wide path, worse shall it be for those that have heard and done nothing:

NJB Matthew 7:20-27

The true disciple

21.      `It is not anyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.

22.      When the day comes many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?'

23.      Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evil doers!

24.      `Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

25.      Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.

26.      But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.

27.      Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!"

Again you see the narrow door mentioned:

NJB Luke 13:22-30

22.      Through towns and villages he went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem.

23.      Someone said to him, "Sir, will there be only a few saved?" He said to them,

24.      `Try your hardest to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.

25.      `Once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself standing outside knocking on the door, saying, `Lord, open to us,' but he will answer, `I do not know where you come from.'

26.      Then you will start saying, `We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets,'

27.      but he will reply, `I do not know where you come from; away from me, all evil doers!'

28.      `Then there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrown out.

29.      And people from east and west, from north and south, will come and sit down at the feast in the kingdom of God.

30.      `Look, there are those now last who will be first, and those now first who will be last."

Many will hear the Truth and some will accept it fully, some will accept it and do nothing and some will ignore it choosing to disbelieve or refuse to accept Scriptural Truth over their Church’s teachings, doctrines and philosophy, some even through fear of what acceptance may bring. Jesus explains it thus:

NJB Luke 8:3-15

Parable of the sower

4.      With a large crowd gathering and people from every town finding their way to him, he told this parable:

5.      `A sower went out to sow his seed. Now as he sowed, some fell on the edge of the path and was trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up.

6.      Some seed fell on rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture.

7.      Some seed fell in the middle of thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it.

8.      And some seed fell into good soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold." Saying this he cried, "Anyone who has ears for listening should listen!"

Why Jesus speaks in parables

9.      His disciples asked him what this parable might mean,

10.      and he said, "To you is granted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God; for the rest it remains in parables, so that they may look but not perceive, listen but not understand.

The parable of the sower explained

11.      `This, then, is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God.

12.      Those on the edge of the path are people who have heard it, and then the devil comes and carries away the word from their hearts in case they should believe and be saved.

13.      Those on the rock are people who, when they first hear it, welcome the word with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of trial they give up.

14.      As for the part that fell into thorns, this is people who have heard, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life and never produce any crops.

15.      As for the part in the rich soil, this is people with a noble and generous heart who have heard the word and take it to themselves and yield a harvest through their perseverance.

The path through the narrow gate and door and along the narrow path is not an easy walk. It is walked before those of us in the Truth choose Yahweh God and Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour’s will over our own, knowing as was told to us by Christ that we would be abused and hated for the Knowledge of the Truth. The Truth of the Gospel must be told and shared for all must hear and have the choice of free will to choose to accept or reject it. The Bible tells us that the path is hard in several verses, these include:

NJB Matthew 5:11-12

11.      `Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account.

12.      Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

NJB Matthew 10:17-22

17.      `Be prepared for people to hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues.

18.      You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles.

19.      But when you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes,

20.      because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

21.      `Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against their parents and have them put to death.

22.      You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.

NJB Matthew 10:33-36

Jesus, the cause of dissension

34.      `Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword.

35.      For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law;

36.      a person's enemies will be the members of his own household.

This fear is what holds people back from accepting the Truth for themselves. The decision is with oneself as we each have free will, but remember we either accept God’s will and follow it or we follow our own. Fear of what may come; irrespective of what that is will be no excuse.

PLEASE, now that you have read this article, do not just take our word for it.  Get your Bible, look at it and read the Scriptures for yourself, and feel free to get our Book of Bible Articles or look at our articles website for further Bible Studies and Articles:

Website: http://www.ytnj.org

Bible Study Site: http://www.ytnj.org/articles.html

Notes

[←1]

Leclercq, H. (1911). The First Council of Nicaea. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from The Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11044a.htm

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