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Devotion Archive

True Faith: Judgement #93
8th January 2010

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Good Morning Dear Ones,

The narrow gate on to the hard road to eternal life is surely the one we should choose. That is the message that is conveyed by MT 7: 13-14 and also by LK 13: 22-30. The metaphor that our Lord Jesus uses in the latter passage may be a bit different, but listen to the message in LK 12: 24, "Do your best to go in trough the narrow door; because many people will surely try to in but will not be able." Some mighty unfriendly words will come from this exchange. LK 13: 25b-28, "...'Open the door for us, Sir!' he will answer you, 'I don't know where you come from!' Then you will answer, 'We ate and drank with you; you taught in our town!' But He will say again, 'I don't know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wicked people!' How you will cry and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God while you are thrown out!' The Master of the house is speaking here to those who give in to the temptations of their fleshly bodies, to the prompting of the evil one and then profess to be faithful in the Lord Jesus. The event happening here is the separation of the sheep and goats that Christ referred to in MT 25: 32. Those being turned away are the greedy and the hypocrites. LK 13: 29-30 goes on to say, "People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south and sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God. Then those who are now last will be first, and those who are now first will be last." Only our Lord can sort out people this way, because nothing can be hidden from God. The Master will not be moved by liars and evildoers.

They will weep [show remorse] and gnash their teeth [show violent hatred of God], for the adversary's stronghold in them was never broken. Amazingly, each true believer in Jesus Christ, recognizes he is a sinner and is open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. These believers will face hardships and even pain or martyrdom, but they will not forget that Christ has endowed them with the same strength to battle the adversary in spiritual warfare as the Father used to bring Christ from death to eternal life [EPH 1: 18-20]. They will approach the Father in heaven battle-scarred at first, only to be given an immortal body and relieved of their stress [1 COR 15: 42-50]. The martyred ones will be found under God's throne dressed in white linen [declared pure and righteous] to be given special honor in heaven as soon as all those to be martyred for their belief in Him have come there [REV 6: 9-11]. The terms weeping and gnashing of teeth are reserved for those who don't take seriously the truths to which they were exposed in that process of separating the sheep from the goats. Christ warns us of the need to get our spiritual houses in order, as we don't know the day or time that He will come [MT 24: 36; MT 25: 13; 1 THESS 5: 2]. In the parable of the wedding feast, we are told in MT 22: 11-14, "The king went in to look at the guests and saw a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. 'Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' the king asked him. But the man said nothing. Then the king told the servants, 'Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him outside in the dark. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.' Jesus concluded, 'Many are invited, but few are chosen."

As for the reversal of the first and the last, an example is the story Christ tells of the Gentile woman who was satisfied to "eat scraps" like a dog under Christ's table, but whose faith was stronger than some professed believers [MT 15: 25-28]. The basis for this teaching begins with RO 3: 25-26, "God offered Him, so that by His death He should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in Him. God did this in order to demonstrate that He is righteous. In the past He was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sings, in order to demonstrate His righteousness. In this way God shows that He Himself is righteous and that He puts right everyone who believes in Jesus." Then, repeatedly, we are reminded that our perception is often faulty, and we don't recognize who should be the greatest and who the least. Christ's own physical suffering and death at the hands of rejecting Jews and Romans is an example of mankind's inability to recognize God. It's a reminder that we need to ask God for discernment and His perception, some of which is gained from studying His word, getting to know Him better, and humble, reverent prayer. And MT 7: 21-23, a passage about "I Never Knew You," reveals what happens to those who think they can hide their hypocrisy and cruelty from God. HE 4: 13, "There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before His eyes. And it is to Him that we must all give an account of ourselves."

We find some real light on this subject in JN 4: 1-30, the story of the Samaritan woman. Samaritans were half Jewish and half Gentile. This woman had led a pretty unsavory life before meeting Christ at the well. However, she didn't lie to Him when He asked about her background. She had been married five times and was living with another man to whom she wasn't married. Christ recognized what He already knew about her. So, in uncharacteristic fashion for a Jew, He revealed His true identity to her in verse 25-26. She went on to transmit faith in Christ to her community, i.e. she fulfilled a cosmic purpose she never knew she had (28-30). Often the people we would least think possess strong faith and are fulfilling the cosmic destiny that Christ prepared for them. It's a good reason for not persecuting others or prejudging them.

PRAYER: O Lord, I would like to say that I'm one of those people, but only You can decide that. We are wise if we refrain from judging others and working oppression against those we don't understand. Today, in Israel, there are Jewish citizens who are persecuting their Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters. This situation is only one example of persecution for religious beliefs that is going on in this world. It boggles the imagination that a people in so short a time from the death camps of the Holocaust could ever think of persecuting others. The work of the evil one is contagious and is the wide path that leads to destruction. The Lord Jesus Himself met with rejection in His own village of Nazareth [LK 4: 16-30]. Rejection of a believer by His own family is not uncommon. Christ told us that "He didn't come to bring peace to the world, but a sword" [MT 10: 34-39]. He was, as always, telling the truth. But He gave us some very important information to avoid being sent away weeping and gnashing of teeth. MT 10: 38-39, "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow in My steps is not fit to be My disciple. Whoever tries to gain His own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it." The words on judgment in His Sermon on the Mount [MT 5-7] are words with huge impact on our lives as believers. We are beginning to really see this from the number of messages on the subject of judgment that He is giving me to write. You are to be praised and thanked repeatedly for eternity for the goodness that You bring to the world. You and You alone deserve all the credit and praise for this [PS 115: 1]. We offer up this prayer that we want to be people who You would never cast away at that last Day of Judgment and that we would be welcome guests at the wedding feast of the Lamb [REV 19: 5-10]. These things we utter in the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Next week, the Holy Spirit directs me to continue writing about MT 7: 13-14 and LK 13: 22-30. We'll look at why those rejected from going through the narrow door must be sent away and, if space permits, some Scriptures that let us know just how narrow that door is. While it seems that we must be hovering over this subject, it's at the direction of the One I can't refuse. God wants nothing more than as many of us to enter His eternal Kingdom as possible [EPH 1: 4-5]. What limits the numbers is how resistant people are to the devil's efforts to establish strongholds in them. We have the knowledge that Christ gave us the power to fend the evil one off. But do we remember it when we are amidst the pain and losses of spiritual warfare? Do we remind others in the belly of the beast that they too have this power? I find this situation challenging me to witness to the truth to those who are willing to listen after looking for every opportunity possible for this. It is taking some self-discipline, prayer, and willingness to step out of my comfort zone to do this. How about you? My efforts are far from perfect. One of the hardest challenges for me is to realize that one person plants and another cares for the new seedling [1 COR 3: 7-9]. The truth is that with my own family, I may be too emotionally close to be an effective witness for them. So, I must trust in the power of prayer that someone who is the right person will come into their lives and be an effective witness. To be true believers, we must park our egos outside of our lives and let the Lord lead in them. This may be a hard lesson for us, but it's one of the ways that we can get through the narrow door that leads to eternal life. Each of us has the opportunity and the ability to be a true believer. Praise and thanks to the Lord!

Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn

© Lynn Johnson 2012. All Rights Reserved.

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