Isaiah 35:8 A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. NKJV

Jesus told his disciples in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one come to the Father except through me.” Later, those who followed Jesus were called the Way. Paul persecuted those “who were of the Way” (Acts 9:1-2; 24:4). There were those who “spoke evil of the Way” in Ephesus, which caused Paul to withdraw and begin to teach in the school of Tyrannus (the first preacher training school??) (Acts 19:9, 23).

What are some characteristics of the Way?

IT IS AN OLD WAY. This Way had been set and determined by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 3:10-11). We know that when man sinned in the Garden, God told Satan “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15). This was the beginning of the seed promised, carried throughout the Bible, which culminated in the birth and ministry, death, burial and resurrection of Christ. So, when we follow him who is the way, we can know that it is an old way.

IT IS A PLAIN WAY. Notice the idea in Isaiah 35:8 “Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.” The idea is that the way of holiness will be so clear and so plain from God’s viewpoint that no one will have a problem with it. Why, then, do so many have trouble seeing the Way? It is because of Satan and his wonderful ability to deceive. It is because of man, who does not want to follow the right ways of the Lord, but wants to follow a god of his own making. It is man who has cluttered the plain way with his traditions, dogmas, creeds, confessions of faith and other things that has caused the majority of mankind not to be able to see God’s plain way!

IT IS A NARROW WAY. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” NKJV Because the way is narrow, it admits few. Because the way is narrow, the entrance requirements are set by God, and they are immutable. Because it is narrow, many, if not most, will be left outside. We cannot change that – we just need to make sure that we are studying to know how to get in and walk in that narrow way.

IT IS A BROAD WAY. This is not a contradiction to the above, but this idea brings out that the Way is open to all nations, all ethnicities, all people. God shows no partiality, but “in every nation whoever fears him and shows righteousness is accepted by Him. (Acts 10:34-35).

IT IS THE ONLY SAFE WAY. The Lord promised it, purchased the way with his own blood, adds only those whom he knows are saved to it, and is coming back to claim it.

JESUS IS THE WAY! Are you following Him?