Entering by the Narrow Gate |
by David A. DePra |
| Then said one unto him, "Lord, are there few that be saved?" And |
| He said unto them, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I |
| say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When |
| once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, |
| and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, |
| Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know |
| you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten |
| and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But |
| he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from |
| me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and |
| gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and |
| Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you |
| yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from |
| the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down |
| in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be |
| first, and there are first which shall be last." (Luke 13:23-30) |
| Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the |
| way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in |
| there at. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which |
| leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt. 7:13-14) |
| The disciples wanted to know whether there would be FEW |
| saved or MANY saved. In the Luke 13 passage, Jesus gave them |
| an answer. But as is the case so many times when Jesus gives |
| answers, He does so in the form of a picture lesson. This one |
| could be called "the parable of the strait and narrow gate." But |
| what is really significant about these passages are some of the |
| terms Jesus used in describing those who enter. For instance, in |
| Luke 13 He said, "STRIVE to enter in at the strait gate. For many, I |
| say unto you, will SEEK to enter in, and SHALL NOT BE ABLE." |
| Here Jesus describes individuals who SEEK to enter into the |
| kingdom, but ARE NOT ABLE. They WANT into the kingdom. In |
| fact, they want in so bad that later they actually knock on the door. |
| They plead with the master of the house to let them in. They |
| remind him of who they are. They assure him that they know him. |
| But He won't let them in. He says he doesn't know them. They |
| end up on the outside, weeping and gnashing their teeth, because |
| they were not able to enter into the kingdom. |
| What is curious about this answer is that Jesus talks about "not |
| being ABLE" to enter the gate which leads to life. Since when is |
| entering into life a matter of "being able?" Aren't we saved by |
| grace through faith? What does OUR ability have to do with it? |
| If we understand the gospel of grace, we know that it is not by |
| OUR works that we enter into life. It is solely by faith in HIS finished |
| work that we enter. But this answer Jesus gives -- that some will |
| not "be able" to enter -- seems to be saying something different. It |
| seems to be saying that it is by our works and effort that we enter |
| into life. How can we possibly reconcile Jesus' words with the |
| gospel of grace? |
| Actually, the answer Jesus gives is in absolute harmony with |
| the gospel of grace. In fact, it IS the gospel of grace. But in |
| order to see this, we must turn to another incident in the ministry of |
| Jesus. |
| The Rich Young Ruler |
| Elsewhere in the gospel of Matthew there is an example of |
| someone who wanted to enter into eternal life, but was not able: |
| Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal |
| life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is |
| none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep |
| the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou |
| shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not |
| steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy |
| mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young |
| man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up. |
| What lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and |
| sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have |
| treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young |
| man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great |
| possessions. (Matt. 19:16-22) |
| This rich man asked Jesus, "What shall I do to enter into eternal |
| life?" That is a clear-cut question. And Jesus answered, "You |
| cannot enter into life by your works. You must enter by faith in Me. |
| By grace you are saved through faith!" |
| Or did He? No. That's not what Jesus said. Rather, He said, "If |
| you would enter into life, keep the commandments." (19:17) |
| Now, if there was ever a verse in the Bible which legalists love, |
| this one is it. We have a simple question, "What do we need to do |
| to enter into life?," and a simple answer, "You must keep the |
| commandments." And Jesus leaves no doubt as to WHAT |
| commandments He is talking about: The ten commandments. He |
| even lists some of them. |
| This passage has been used for centuries by people who insist |
| that Christians are required to keep the law. There are those who |
| admit that, yes, we are "saved by grace." (They can't ignore the |
| Bible verses which say so.) But then they use Matthew 19:17 to |
| tell us HOW to be saved by grace: Keep the commandments. |
| They falsely believe that we maintain our salvation -- by keeping |
| the law. And they never see the obvious contradiction. |
| Some of us are actually governed by this error in our Christian |
| walk, even though we have never really put it down on paper. We |
| believe we are saved solely by the grace of God, but we walk, not |
| under grace, but under the law. We still think that God's attitude |
| towards us is determined by how well we keep the law. And we |
| still think that our eternal destiny hinges on how well we perform. |
| Fear, condemnation, and false guilt govern us -- for all of these |
| things MUST govern us if we are living "under the law." |
| Paul says, "For ye are not under the law, but under grace." |
| (Rom. 6:14) Our works cannot save us. This is fundamental |
| gospel. But then what are we going to do with Jesus' answer to |
| the rich young ruler? Jesus did not merely suggest to this young |
| man that he should live a good life. He actually set down a |
| requirement for eternal life -- for that requirement is precisely |
| what the rich man wanted to know. Jesus said, "IF you will enter |
| into life, keep the commandments." We can't make His answer go |
| away. We dare not ignore it. |
| The answer to this puzzle is really quite simple. Jesus meant |
| every word He said to the young ruler. And what He said to him |
| He likewise says to us today. If we ask Jesus, "What can we do to |
| enter into eternal life," Jesus could rightly answer us, "If you want |
| eternal life, keep the commandments." That answer would be the |
| Truth. |
| But the question is: Where does that answer leave us? Do you |
| keep the commandments? Remember, even if you keep every |
| commandment perfectly, yet slip up on the smallest point, you are |
| guilty of all. (see James 2:10) I don't know about you, but if my |
| eternal life depended on whether I kept the commandments, I'd |
| be lost. I know I'd have no hope of entering into life. I would have |
| to throw myself on the mercy of God. |
| Actually, that is exactly where God WANTS Jesus' answer to |
| leave us. He WANTS us to be left naked, spiritually bankrupt, and |
| without hope. Then we will be ready for a Saviour. Then we will |
| be ready to receive eternal life as a free gift -- because we will |
| know we can earn nothing from God through our own works. |
| Indeed, that's why Jesus gave that answer to the rich young |
| man. He wanted that young man, and us, to realize that if we must |
| qualify for eternal life through our works, we have no hope. God |
| wants us to realize we are needy sinners desparately in need His |
| grace. |
| Paul tells us this in his epistle to the Romans: |
| Now we know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to |
| them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, |
| and all the world may become guilty before God. (Rom. 3:19) |
| God never gave His law because He actually thought that |
| anyone could keep it. Rather, He gave it to expose us as sinners. |
| Thus, the purpose of the law is exactly as it says here: The minute |
| I try to keep the law -- I must shut up about my own righteousness. |
| The law shows me I am hopeless if left to my own works. I can |
| have no eternal life. |
| This is what Jesus wanted to show the rich young man. So He |
| told him the Truth. He said, "If you can keep the commandments, |
| and do that perfectly, then you can enter into life." That's the Truth, |
| for if we can keep God's holy law perfectly, then it means we are |
| perfect. We are without a sin nature. We can possess eternal life. |
| But Jesus did not tell this Truth to the rich young ruler to encourage |
| him to go out and "try harder" to keep God's law. Rather, he said |
| this to him in the hope that he would be convicted of his own |
| spiritual bankrupcy, and see his need for a Saviour. |
| Incredibly, the rich young man missed the entire point. He |
| actually assured Jesus that he HAD kept the commandments. At |
| that point, Jesus cut through the young man's self-deception and |
| got to the heart of the matter. He told him that even THAT wasn't |
| enough. He said, "Ok. So you think you've kept all of these |
| commandments all of your life? Fine. But that is only the start. If |
| you really want to enter into life, you must now add to that by giving |
| away all of your possessions." |
| Of course once Jesus went past what the young man said he |
| had DONE, and got to what he had BECOME, he wasn't as eager |
| to follow Jesus. Indeed, he went away sad. |
| This young man was rich in possessions. But he had also |
| become rich in his own self-righteousness. And once Jesus cut |
| to the core and exposed him for what he was, he was unwilling to |
| yield. He was as unwilling to give up his self-righteousness as |
| he was to give up his material wealth. He was therefore unable to |
| enter into the kingdom of heaven. |
| So here we have a clue as to why some are UNABLE to enter |
| the kingdom. They are trying to enter on their own terms -- by |
| their own works. They are unwilling to let go of their self-created |
| spiritual wealth, and become spiritually poor. |
| Jesus said as much as the young man left Him. He said, |
| Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the |
| kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a |
| camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to |
| enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they |
| were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But |
| Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is |
| impossible; but with God all things are possible. (Matt. 19:23-26) |
| Here we see an INABILITY to enter into the kingdom of God |
| -- regardless of how much a person might "desire" to enter. The |
| inablity is there because they seek to enter on their own terms. |
| The "terms" under which they want to enter always boils down to |
| the same thing: Self-righteousness. Spiritual pride. Being "rich" in |
| my own sight. Those "assets" can't get you into the kingdom. In |
| fact, they will keep you out. |
| Remember what Jesus said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for |
| theirs is the kingdom of heaven." You can desire to enter the |
| kingdom of God all you want, but unless you become spiritually |
| poor, you will NOT enter. Jesus also said, "Unless you become |
| as a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of God." |
| Here we see the "cost" of grace. It is a "cost," however, only |
| from the perspective of the old creation. Only from the perspective |
| of the self-life. Entering the kingdom will cost me everything of |
| myself, but it will gain me everything of God. |
| The Narrow Way |
| Jesus told the rich young ruler the Truth: Keep the |
| commandments perfectly, and you can enter into life. But He told |
| him that so that he would see that he had NO chance for life. |
| Everytime Jesus Christ put an impossible demand upon the |
| people around Him, He put those demands upon them in order to |
| fulfill the law. How? By using the law to show them they were totally |
| helpless; totally unrighteousness. In need of a Saviour. |
| God is not unreasonable. He knows what we are. Thus, when |
| we read of Jesus putting an impossible demand upon us, it is so |
| that the law will utterly BURY us and show us our only hope is a |
| Saviour. He wants us to see that we cannot be saved unless it is |
| by grace alone -- APART from the works of the law. THAT is a |
| great purpose of the law, and one way Jesus fulfilled it. |
| Now can we possibly see how silly it is for us to read these |
| impossible demands of Jesus, and take them to mean we must |
| go out and DO them? We CAN'T do them. THAT is what God |
| wants us to see. That's why He gave us the law. |
| Don't misunderstand. That doesn't mean we toss out the |
| righteousness of God revealed by His law and think that it does |
| not matter. But what it does mean is that we must get on the right |
| basis: That of grace. We must enter through the narrow way, |
| instead of trying to make our own way. |
| Actually, Jesus wanted the rich young man to say, "Lord, I'm lost. |
| I cannot enter into life by MY works. But -- let me ask -- is there |
| ANOTHER way into life? -- a way which does not depend on MY |
| works? Has God provided a way for a sinner like me? |
| Had the rich young ruler asked this question, it would have |
| pleased Jesus. Jesus could have answered, "Yes, there IS |
| another way. I AM the Way." |
| Jesus IS the Way. The only way. In fact, He is the Way He was |
| talking about when He talked about the "narrow gate." Jesus is |
| the doorway of life. There is entry through none other. |
| We can now see what Jesus meant when He spoke of people |
| not "being able" to enter into life; not being able to enter into the |
| kingdom -- despite the fact they are SEEKING to enter. When |
| Jesus said, "Many will seek to enter in, but shall not be able," He |
| was talking about people just like the rich young ruler. They WANT |
| to enter into life. But they are "not able." Why? Because of bad |
| works? No! Often because of GOOD works! They cannot enter |
| because of all of the good things they insist will buy their way in. |
| They are trying to enter into the things of God through a way other |
| than faith alone in Jesus Christ. |
| Not Recognized |
| It is probably safe to say that almost no one who reads a |
| parable like "the parable of the strait and narrow gate," ever thinks |
| that THEY are one of the ones who are going to miss out. In fact, if |
| you read the parable, it says the opposite. The ones who miss |
| out are the ones who think they MOST deserve to be in the |
| the kingdom. Indeed, THAT is their problem. They are so |
| deceived by their own righteousness and spiritual pride that they |
| think they DESERVE to be in the house. They actually give God |
| their credentials -- actually tell Him WHY they should be let in. But |
| He says to them, "You can't come in. I don't know you." |
| Christians are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus |
| Christ. We are to KNOW God. But it is interesting how many |
| times when Jesus tells parables about entering the kingdom that |
| whether a person gets into the kingdom depends, not on whether |
| they know HIM, but on whether He knows THEM. In the parable of |
| the strait and narrow gate we see this again. The master of the |
| house says, "I don't know you." |
| What does Jesus mean by this? Surely God knows us -- EVEN |
| if we reject Him. What is the lesson being taught here? |
| Telling someone "I don't know you," was, in that culture, a way of |
| of disowning them. "I don't know you" means "I have no |
| relationship with you." It means "You are a stranger to me, and |
| therefore, are not entitled to any kind of place in my house." |
| Obviously, this was a total rejection of that person. |
| What does it mean for GOD to say, "I don't know you."? Well, it |
| means that there is nothing in us which He recognizes as belonging |
| to Him. We have no affinity with him. We are as strangers to Him -- |
| from a moral and spiritual perspective. Despite the fact that we |
| may have eaten and drank in His presence," and despite the fact |
| that "He has taught in our streets," we never formed any real |
| intimacy with Him. |
| Why? Why will some people not form any intimacy with God? |
| For the same reason they can't enter the house. We form intimacy |
| with God by becoming spiritually poor. As long as we use our |
| work or spiritual status as credentials God cannot recognize us. |
| Now, of course, this would apply to the unsaved. But it cannot |
| be limited to them. Why? Because these individuals were seeking |
| to enter the kingdom. They were knocking on the door, pleading |
| their case. They KNOW. They know who the Master is, and they |
| WANT to enter. And they KNEW where the Door was. But the |
| Master nevertheless had to tell them that they had no place in His |
| house. |
| It is not a thought many Christians want to accept, but most of the |
| time when Jesus pictures people "losing out" on some aspect of |
| His kingdom, He is talking about God's people. He is either talking |
| about Israel, or about Christians, or both. He rarely talks about the |
| unsaved in those terms. |
| Such is the case in this parable. Jesus is talking about those |
| who know about His house, about His door, and about the great |
| banquet. He is talking about those who KNOW enough about all |
| those things to desire to enter. They desire to enter to the point |
| where they weep and gnash teeth when they can't go in. They are |
| able to realize what they lost only because they are God's people. |
| Baggage |
| Have you ever wondered why God would cast out anyone who |
| wanted Him that bad? Afterall, I'm not going to weep and gnash my |
| teeth over something I don't want really bad. Why isn't the desire |
| these people have enough? Doesn't that show they have a heart |
| for God? |
| Actually, it shows they want what God offers. But they don't want |
| God Himself -- at least not enough to pay the price of going through |
| the narrow gate. They want something else MORE. Thus, they |
| seek to have things both ways. They want to possess themselves, |
| but want those things which come from being possessed by God. |
| There are many Christians, right now, who DESIRE the things of |
| God. At first, they may even desire God Himself. They have this |
| urge in them to take possession of all that God has for them, and to |
| enter into fellowship with Him. If you talk to them, you will probably |
| even get that sense. They are able to rehearse to you the fact that |
| they "eat in God's presence." He "teaches in their streets," so to |
| speak. They seem to have quite a relationship with Him. |
| But there is a problem. Over there is an open door. A very |
| NARROW open door. And despite the fact that they have a great |
| desire to possess what is IN the house, everytime they walk up to |
| this narrow gate leading into it, they stop short. Why? |
| Because their "baggage" won't fit through the gate. In order to |
| fit through this gate, they have to "squeeze" through. It's so narrow |
| that it practically takes off their skin! This means they have to LET |
| GO of the baggage they are carrying. They can't bring it with them. |
| To some, this is unacceptable. They want a wider gate. The |
| baggage just has to fit through. Their baggage contains all they |
| possess -- really -- everything they ARE. They just can't leave it |
| behind. |
| Esau |
| We see an example of this given in the Old Testament, and |
| elaborated upon in the New. It is the example of Esau. Esau sold |
| his birthright -- his inheritance from God -- to Jacob, for a temporary |
| meal. Then, in Hebrews, we are told that "afterward, when he |
| would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found |
| no place of repentance, though he sought it (the inheritance) |
| carefully with tears." (Heb. 12:16-17) |
| Notice: Esau did NOT seek repentance with tears. No. We |
| must understand that. This is not what Hebrews is saying. Esau |
| sought the INHERITANCE with tears -- an inheritance he had |
| willingly sold. In other words, Esau so lightly esteemed his |
| inheritance that he sold the entire thing for a temporary meal. Yet |
| later, he still wanted the inheritance. But it was too late. |
| This was NOT unfair of God. Esau was NOT a victim. Indeed, |
| in Hebrews we read that he was a "profane" person. That was his |
| character, indeed, that was WHY he sold his inheritance. A |
| profane person is one who takes the holy things of God and uses |
| them for unholy purposes -- mainly for his OWN purposes. And |
| then later, he still wants what God has to give. But Jesus says that |
| there is only one answer God can give to such a person" "I don't |
| know you." |
| This possibility is there for anyone of us. There are people in |
| the Body of Christ right now who are doing this. They WANT the |
| inheritance. But they are also hungry -- hungry for certain things of |
| this life. So they give away their inheritance for the temporary meal. |
| This "temporary meal" is really their LIFE. They want to possess |
| it for their own purposes. And they don't do this by accident or |
| through ignorance. They do it knowing what they are doing -- just |
| as Esau knew. |
| What will happen to such people? God will be perfectly just with |
| them. He will give them exactly what they chose. Unfortunately, |
| however, when they see what they forfeited, they will weep and |
| gnash teeth. |
| Don't misunderstand this. "Weeping and gnashing teeth" is NOT |
| repentance. No. It is NEVER repentance. In Biblical terms, if I |
| weep and gnash my teeth over something, it is because I have |
| suffered loss. That much is true. But it doesn't mean that I am any |
| more repentant about my choices than before. I am sorry only |
| because of the consequences which have come upon me. |
| "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be |
| repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (II Cor. 7: |
| 10) Wordly sorrow occurs because I suffer consequences. In |
| other words, I am sorry I got caught; sorry I paid a penalty. That |
| causes me to weep and gnash teeth. But I am not sorry for sin. |
| I continue to be a "profane" person -- one who remains totally |
| in tact within his self-will. Godly sorrow, however, is because I see |
| I have sinned against God. It works repentance because it brings |
| me face to face with my helplessness, and the solution in Christ. |
| Esau became profane through a series of deliberate moral |
| choices. He finally sold his inheritance. Some of us are doing the |
| same. We are continually and willfully choose to sell what God |
| has for us in return for a temporary meal. And Jesus WARNS us |
| about it. He says that if we continue to do this we will become hard |
| and profane of heart. In the end, we will weep and gnash teeth |
| because of the loss we suffer. But we will nevertheless be those |
| whom the Master cannot recognize as belonging to Him. |
| We can be sure that no one is going to miss out on what God |
| has for them by accident. There are no oversights with God, or |
| legal technicalities. Rather, those who God refuses entry into |
| His kingdom will prove Him right by insisting, right to the end, that |
| they are right and God is unfair. They will be as Esau. They will |
| willfully sell their inheritance, and then blame God for the |
| consequences. |
| Entering |
| God, of course, has better things in mind for us. He points us |
| towards an open gate. It is a narrow gate to be sure. But it is the |
| doorway to life. And there is absolutely nothing we need to do but |
| walk through it, leaving behind all that died in Jesus Christ. |
| Now, don't push all of this off into the future, or into the afterlife. |
| No, we must enter through the narrow gate NOW. NOW is the day |
| of salvation. Right NOW we are either entering through the narrow |
| gate, or we are "not able" to enter -- because we insist on bringing |
| our baggage, or entering on our own terms. These issues must |
| be decided in this age. |
| There are, of course, many different kinds of people milling |
| around outside of the Master's house, making these eternal |
| choices. Let's look at a few of them. |
| Over there is a large group of people. They started out walking |
| towards the narrow gate. But then they saw a sign someone had |
| put up along side of the road. The sign says, "This way to God." |
| A big arrow on the sign points away from the narrow gate, right |
| towards a church building. And many of these people are following |
| the arrow into the church. Not many of them come back out. |
| Over yonder there is another church building. And there is |
| another sign there too. But this time the sign is ON the church |
| building. It says, "This way to the narrow gate." It points right to the |
| narrow gate which leads into the Master's house. There are a few |
| people who are coming out of that church and heading towards |
| the narrow gate. But there are some others who seem hesitant to |
| do so. |
| There is a woman over yonder, standing and worshipping the |
| the Lord with raised hands. There are great tears running down |
| her cheeks. She really SEEMS to love the Lord. But there is |
| something strange about her. Every so often she stops |
| worshipping and walks up to the narrow gate. She pauses, |
| considers, and then, with a bit of frustration, returns back to her |
| place of worship. She never actually walks through the gate. |
| Near her is a fellow who is telling everyone to enter through the |
| narrow gate. But he is asking those he encourages for money. He |
| He is promising them that if they give him this money that the |
| Master of the house will give them a better seat at the banquet. |
| And some of them believe him. Funny thing though, this man |
| doesn't seem the least bit concerned about whether he, himself, |
| enters into the house of the Master. |
| One young woman is trying to make her way to the narrow gate |
| so she can go into the house. But there are a bunch of older |
| people blocking her way. They are telling her that she cannot go |
| through the gate unless she is dressed like they are dressed. Oh, |
| good. She finally made her way through them and is entering |
| through the gate. For some reason though, the older people are |
| sad. In fact, they are praying for God to forgive this young woman |
| for entering the house without their approval. |
| One lady in particular keeps trying to squeeze through the |
| narrow entrance with her baggage in hand. But the sides of the |
| doorway are rubbing the skin on her hands raw because she won't |
| let go of the baggage. The strange thing about it is that every so |
| often, she stops to ask God why He is requiring so much suffering |
| from her. I heard her say, "Why must I suffer so much to enter the |
| kingdom?" For some reason, God doesn't answer her. |
| One man initially refused to go into the Master's house without |
| his wife. So they both stayed out. But then the wife went in, leaving |
| him behind. |
| Over there is a older woman. She looks like she is absolutely |
| exhausted. But this seems to be a good thing. She is so tired of |
| carrying around her baggage that she has no problem throwing it |
| on the garbage heap. Without hesitation she then enters through |
| the narrow gate. |
| One man actually refused to enter into the Master's house unless |
| he was guaranteed one of the better seats. When he was told that |
| the Master determined the seating arrangements, he began to |
| question whether it was the right house. He said, "My Master |
| never expect me to take a lower seat. This cannot be His house." |
| Then I turned and saw a whole bunch of people, waiting to be |
| transported to another location. They were all just sitting there, |
| quite casually. I asked some woman who these people were. She |
| said, "They did enter the house. But they didn't get what they |
| wanted in there. So the Master is allowing them to leave." |
| One man started to enter through the narrow doorway and then |
| stopped. I heard him say, "This is too hard. I need to make some |
| adjustments to this doorway so that it will better accomodate me." |
| Another man actually got to see inside the house. He had |
| squeezed through the doorway just enough to spot his sister. But |
| then he backed out. He said he didn't want to go in there if she was |
| invited. |
| An older man kept going into one house after another, hoping |
| to find the Master's house. But the odd thing was, each time he |
| went into a house and came back out, he looked younger. |
| Finally, he was a little child -- and because of it, he fit through the |
| narrow gate and went into the banquet. |
| One lady nearby has been standing in front of the narrow gate |
| crying her eyes out. What she is doing doesn't make any sense. |
| She keeps saying to herself, "How am I ever going to be worthy to |
| enter into this house?" For some reason, she doesn't seem to see |
| that the doorway is wide open to her, or that the Master of the house |
| is standing there with His arms wide open to her. |
| There is another lady right beside her who is angry. But the |
| funny thing is, she's angry over the same thing the first lady is crying |
| about. She is saying, "God is unfair. I can never be good enough |
| to get through this gate!" She likewise doesn't seem to see the |
| open door. |
| I overheard a conversation that was taking place between two |
| men. One was a young man. He kept talking about all that he has |
| done for the Master. The other was a very old man. He kept |
| talking about all that the Master has done for him. |
| Probably the strangest thing of all is what I see one man doing. |
| He has this big sword and is slashing it to and fro around himself, |
| as if he is being attacked by some enemy. He is acting as if there |
| is this enemy who is trying to keep him from going through the |
| doorway. But there is no enemy. None to be seen. And this man |
| is so focused on this unseen enemy that all of his frantic activity is |
| actually carrying him in the wrong direction, away from the door. |
| Then there were a group of people who were entering through |
| the narrow gate. There was all this baggage laying around which |
| they had left behind. Some bystanders were laughing at them. But |
| I never heard anyone who left baggage behind complain about it |
| later. |
| There is something about everyone who enters through the |
| narrow gate. Because it is such a tight squeeze, there are wounds |
| they incur. Funny thing about it, the wounds are in their hands and |
| feet. And in their side. Just like the wounds of Jesus. Just as if |
| they were crucified with Him. Maybe that's why God is able to |
| recognize them. He sees Jesus in them. And maybe that 's why |
| he doesn't know those people who would not enter through the |
| narrow gate: Their flesh is in tact. They don't bear the marks of |
| Jesus. |
| Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate." He was talking |
| about NOW. NOW is the day of salvation. And it is free to all. We |
| need only leave behind those things which will be of no use to us |
| in the Master's house anyway. In His house, all that we could ever |
| want or ever need is provided. * |