The Narrow Way
"He said to them, make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But He will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' Then you will say, 'We at and drank with You, and You taught in our streets.' But He will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from, Away from Me you evildoers!' (Luke 13:24-27)."
This was Jesus's response to the question, 'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?' The owner of the house is God Almighty. When He closes the door, or in other words, after He has called His children home and taken the ones who have made it through the tribulation period, that is it~there are no more opportunities to come to Christ. Those who made the choice not to believe Jesus in their lifetime, and receive His free gift of grace, will go to Hell and be tormented and forever separated from the Lord. "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 20:10)."
The road that leads to life is a narrow one. There aren't many roads that lead to God~there is only one road, and that road is Jesus Christ! Many religions will lead you astray, deceiving you into thinking there are many ways to get to heaven. If I do enough good works, if I pray, if I go to church, if I spend my time helping others, if I give my money to the poor, if I am a moral person....the list goes on and on. While these are good things, none of them will get you into heaven. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through Me (John 14:6)." He did not say there are many ways, or that He is just one way, no He is the only way to the Father!
We are all sinners. There is no one righteous; no one that can stand before a Holy and perfect God. We could never do enough good works to be made righteous in the sight of God. In fact, He tells us that all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). In order for us to be made righteous, we needed a perfect, sinless sacrifice to take our place. Jesus did that for you and for me. He left His throne in glory, He laid aside His crown, to come to earth and willingly die on a cross. He humbled Himself as He suffered a horrible death. Why? Because He loved us so much and desired a relationship with us. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8)."
Christ did all the work for us....He took the place that we deserved, which was death and eternal separation from God. This is grace my friend. It is a free gift to all who will receive it. God doesn't force Himself on you, although He could. He has given us free will, so we have a choice to make. He doesn't send anyone to Hell. Hell was created for satan and his demons. "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)."
God does not want anyone to go there. "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)."
God could have made us all like robots, doing everything He said and never having a choice. However, He has given us free will and with this free will, we ourselves choose to follow Him or not. He does not force His way in. He does allow things to happen in our lives so that we may realize, we are not in control and that we would see that our lives are hopeless without Him and how wretched we really are. God is the One who opens our blind eyes. He is the One that draws us to Himself and in His sovereignty, He knows all that will come to Him.
My friend, God loves you so much! It does not matter what you have done or the person you have become. Jesus Christ has already paid for all your sin-past, present and future-It is a finished work. All you need to do is accept His free gift of grace. He will take all your broken pieces and make you new! He will take all of your sin and shame away. He will give you a new heart and put His Spirit within you. He will begin to change you from the inside out. Your circumstances may not immediately change, however, He will give you His peace and joy unspeakable. He will never no never leave you!
He is a God of mercy and unfailing love! Choose the narrow way....follow Jesus. Your life will be forever changed!
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. for He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:3-8)."
This was Jesus's response to the question, 'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?' The owner of the house is God Almighty. When He closes the door, or in other words, after He has called His children home and taken the ones who have made it through the tribulation period, that is it~there are no more opportunities to come to Christ. Those who made the choice not to believe Jesus in their lifetime, and receive His free gift of grace, will go to Hell and be tormented and forever separated from the Lord. "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever (Revelation 20:10)."
The road that leads to life is a narrow one. There aren't many roads that lead to God~there is only one road, and that road is Jesus Christ! Many religions will lead you astray, deceiving you into thinking there are many ways to get to heaven. If I do enough good works, if I pray, if I go to church, if I spend my time helping others, if I give my money to the poor, if I am a moral person....the list goes on and on. While these are good things, none of them will get you into heaven. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through Me (John 14:6)." He did not say there are many ways, or that He is just one way, no He is the only way to the Father!
We are all sinners. There is no one righteous; no one that can stand before a Holy and perfect God. We could never do enough good works to be made righteous in the sight of God. In fact, He tells us that all of our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). In order for us to be made righteous, we needed a perfect, sinless sacrifice to take our place. Jesus did that for you and for me. He left His throne in glory, He laid aside His crown, to come to earth and willingly die on a cross. He humbled Himself as He suffered a horrible death. Why? Because He loved us so much and desired a relationship with us. "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8)."
Christ did all the work for us....He took the place that we deserved, which was death and eternal separation from God. This is grace my friend. It is a free gift to all who will receive it. God doesn't force Himself on you, although He could. He has given us free will, so we have a choice to make. He doesn't send anyone to Hell. Hell was created for satan and his demons. "Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)."
God does not want anyone to go there. "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)."
God could have made us all like robots, doing everything He said and never having a choice. However, He has given us free will and with this free will, we ourselves choose to follow Him or not. He does not force His way in. He does allow things to happen in our lives so that we may realize, we are not in control and that we would see that our lives are hopeless without Him and how wretched we really are. God is the One who opens our blind eyes. He is the One that draws us to Himself and in His sovereignty, He knows all that will come to Him.
My friend, God loves you so much! It does not matter what you have done or the person you have become. Jesus Christ has already paid for all your sin-past, present and future-It is a finished work. All you need to do is accept His free gift of grace. He will take all your broken pieces and make you new! He will take all of your sin and shame away. He will give you a new heart and put His Spirit within you. He will begin to change you from the inside out. Your circumstances may not immediately change, however, He will give you His peace and joy unspeakable. He will never no never leave you!
He is a God of mercy and unfailing love! Choose the narrow way....follow Jesus. Your life will be forever changed!
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. for He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (Ephesians 1:3-8)."
Comments
Post a Comment