enter by the narrow gate Archives

Considering the total global population, few people practice living a spiritual life:

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Mt. 7:13, 14. ESV

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.” Mt. 11:28 – 30. AMP

Jesus spoke both of these. They almost seem contradictory, but they are decidedly not. The ‘narrow gate’ is the only path to living a spiritual life and gaining salvation. It’s not hard to find. It’s been broadcast for over 2000 years. The gate is Christ. The way is ‘hard’ because so many people do not want to give up the ways of the world and / or are unwilling to get over themselves.

As we see, Jesus says that the exchange is easy, that the weight on our souls will be lightened immeasurably when we dump the consequences of our old ways at His feet. The spiritual life is easy, requiring only a slight burden (your compliance) be placed upon you:

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. 1 Jn. 5:3, 4. NKJV

We can do this! We do it by doing our best to walk in God’s word and staying in faith that our salvation has come now. The only obstacles in our way are those of our own making. For example, take our concerns over our ‘level’ of spirituality at any given time. We may not feel we are making progress; but if we are staying committed to making our best efforts to be obedient, our Father shows His faithfulness. His Spirit stays with us, working to keep His promises:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation, from bondage, true freedom]. And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit. 2 Co. 3:17, 18. AMP

So, the ‘somewhere’ you think you should be spiritually, is where you already are. It’s a matter of faith, not sight. Don’t sweat it. Just stay in contact and be dependent upon your Maker.

Most of the time you have problems on your spiritual path is when you give into the subconscious patterns of your old self. You know this is happening when you see your old injurious fruits begin to manifest again. That’s just your loving God trying to wake you up so that you can remember your gift(s):

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? …just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life…present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Rm. 6:3, 4 & 13. NJKV

Perhaps you think that you don’t know enough of God’s word as you think you should, or as much as some other brother or sister in Christ. You’re a work in progress!! As soon as you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you were united with His Spirit; and that’s the tightest connection we can have.

The only thing you need concern yourself with, is to always be in a questioning mode about your motives, i.e. ‘Is this my will, or is it Jesus’?’ Just stick to walking in the gospel and don’t give heed to anything that man has added to it.

Yield your present self to Christ and His mercy and keep your ears open.

The Godhead is beyond our complete understanding, but we can take everything it reveals to us to the bank; and that includes what it shows us about ourselves. God is not parading any of your old shortcomings in front of you to degrade you. What He’s doing is showing you how far He’s brought you.

Enjoy the ride…

We left Jesus talking about His return from Heaven and how to prepare for it, to various crowds. (See What Happens When Christ Returns?)

Now He looks to His rejectors and other misinformed people, to winnow out those who have a chance to enter the ‘narrow gate’ for their heavenly destiny.

It is another day of the Sabbath, and Jesus is once again invited to dine at an Elder Pharisee’s domicile. As He enters the house, He sees that one of the other dinner guests is suffering from ‘dropsy’ (edema). Jesus turns to other dinner guests (Pharisees and Scribes), and says:

Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in religious law, “Is it permitted in the law to heal people on the Sabbath day, or not?” Lk. 14:3 NLT

Every eye was upon Him, hoping He would blaspheme Himself. But no one uttered a sound. So, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him. He turned to the guests again and said:

“Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” Lk. 14:5 CSB

They didn’t have answer for that either. Jesus is showing then that ‘compassion trumps tradition’ every time.

Ever observant, Christ notices that the dinner guests are jockeying for the seats of the highest honor.

Jesus takes this as an opportunity to teach them the value of being humble:

“When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.

“For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Lk. 14:8 – 11. NLT

That last line of the Scripture also represents the principle for how those who enter heaven will be received. (It is amazing that Jesus is still trying to save the Pharisees and Scribes, even though He knows they want to kill Him.)

Then Jesus singles out His dinner host, telling him that he should stop inviting well-to-do family and friends to dinner (when He knows that the host’s motivation is to be able to cull favor from them in some future situation:

Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” Lk. 14:13, 14. NLT

At that point, a dinner guest cries out:

“What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!” Lk. 14:15 NLT

The guest was obviously (but incorrectly) including himself in that group. As the common belief amongst these dinner guests and host, was that only pious Jews would enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus responds with a parable[1].

It spoke of a man who was throwing a grandiose dinner party. However, all the well-to-dos excused themselves to see to their worldly affairs. When the host’s servant reports this, he gets angry and tells his servant to gather the poor, crippled, and blind off the streets to feed them.

How Jesus ends the parable, was an object lesson for the Pharisee and his dinner guests:

“For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’” Lk. 14:24 NLT

Christ is letting them know that none of them will have access to the Kingdom of God because they refused His invitation.

(Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still remains and is freely offered today, let us fear, in case any one of you may seem to come short of reaching it or think he has come too late. For indeed we have had the good news [of salvation] preached to us, just as the Israelites also [when the good news of the promised land came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not united with faith [in God] by those who heard. Heb. 4:1, 2.)

Jesus left the dinner, but He was quickly surrounded by another large crowd. Again, he preaches His salvation promise, along with some of the required preparation:

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow after Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] cannot be My disciple.” Lk. 14:26, 27. AMP

Christ does not mean for you to hate your family. He is preparing His potential followers (and His apostles as well), by revealing what the cost is, for following Him to achieve discipleship. What is required, is a 100% commitment to Him and His Gospel, making Him preeminent over all things.

Jesus drives it home by illuminating another discipline as well:

“…none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake] give up all his own possessions.” Lk. 14:33 AMP

Jesus is reigning in His apostles and would-be followers along the same thoughts, to be an influence for His Kingdom, while not being coerced by the ways of the world / Satan:

“…salt is good; but if salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.” Lk. 14:34, 35. AMP

You know those dastardly Pharisees are always following Jesus, looking for ways to have Him executed. They also observe His behaviors when He addresses these crowds, fearful that Christ will undermine their twisted teachings. During this delivery to the crowd, the Pharisees got all worked up over Him associating with ‘sinners.’

Jesus exposes the Pharisee’s failures to exercise compassion, in parables. The first is the ‘parable of the lost sheep’:

“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open fieldand go after the lost one until he finds it? When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.” Lk. 15:4 – 7. CSB

He continues with a second parable, probably His most famous, the ‘parable of the prodigal son’:

In it, there is a father with two sons. They youngest asked for an early disbursement of his inheritance, which the father grants. The son left for another country and squandered all his assets. He ended up as field hand to feed pigs, but he was not rationed any food.

He decided to return to his father and repent. But his father saw him approaching from afar, ran to his son, and threw his arms around him. The son protests, wailing:

‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Lk. 15:21 CSB

Instead of rebuking his son, the father was ebullient! He throws a big party for his return, and declares:

‘…let us [invite everyone and] feast and celebrate; for this son of mine was [as good as] dead and is alive again; he was lost and has been found.’ Lk. 15:23, 24. AMP

Yet, the elder son was upset, telling his father that he had worked hard for him, been obedient, but has never had a feast made for him. The father in turn, told the elder son that he would receive everything that he had, but that now was the time for celebration.

Jesus is presenting this parable to the Pharisees and Scribes, to hold up their self-righteous pouting in their face for examination. (They were feeling ‘snubbed’ by Jesus because He was keeping His focus on the souls of the social outcasts).

Moreover, He upbraids them for their love of money.[2] They ridicule Him. But He’s not having it. He retorts:

“You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts [your thoughts, your desires, your secrets]; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.” Lk. 16:15 AMP

(You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. Jas. 4:4 CSB)

Next, Jesus gives them a clarification of the old (Mosaic Law) and new covenants (Gospel) and how they meld together, and how Christ is the only way to Kingdom of God:

“The Law and the [writings of the] Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God has been and continues to be preached, and everyone tries forcefully to go into it. Yet it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a letter of the Law to fail and become void.” Lk. 16:16, 17. AMP

Lastly, Jesus returns to the Pharisees’ love for money and its destructive ways, in another parable – the Rich Man and Lazarus:

It tells of a rich man living a very opulent life. One day, a beggar came out to his gate, but the rich man refused to come to his aid. After they both die, the rich man finds himself in hell. Far off in the distance, he could see the beggar, living with Abraham in heaven.

The rich man pleads with Abraham to send the beggar to him with a drink of water to soothe him from the fires of hell. Abraham replies:

‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things [all the comforts and delights], and Lazarus likewise bad things [all the discomforts and distresses]; but now he is comforted here [in paradise], while you are in severe agony. And besides all this, between us and you [people] a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.’ Lk. 16:25, 26. AMP

Christ is revealing to the Pharisees that thoughts and actions determine your final destination – written in stone for all eternity.

Goodnight and God Bless.

[1] Lk. 14:16 – 24.

[2] Lk. 16:14

Fundamentals of Christianity 8

Considering the total global population, few people practice living a spiritual life:

Winnowing the Path to the Narrow Gate

Now He looks to His rejectors and other misinformed people, to winnow out those who have a chance to enter the ‘narrow gate’ for their heavenly destiny.

Every eye was upon Him, hoping He would blaspheme Himself. But no one uttered a sound. So, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him. He turned to the guests again and said:

Ever observant, Christ notices that the dinner guests are jockeying for the seats of the highest honor.

Then Jesus singles out His dinner host, telling him that he should stop inviting well-to-do family and friends to dinner (when He knows that the host’s motivation is to be able to cull favor from them in some future situation:

At that point, a dinner guest cries out:

The guest was obviously (but incorrectly) including himself in that group. As the common belief amongst these dinner guests and host, was that only pious Jews would enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus responds with a parable[1].

Christ is letting them know that none of them will have access to the Kingdom of God because they refused His invitation.

Jesus left the dinner, but He was quickly surrounded by another large crowd. Again, he preaches His salvation promise, along with some of the required preparation:

Christ does not mean for you to hate your family. He is preparing His potential followers (and His apostles as well), by revealing what the cost is, for following Him to achieve discipleship. What is required, is a 100% commitment to Him and His Gospel, making Him preeminent over all things.

He continues with a second parable, probably His most famous, the ‘parable of the prodigal son’:

Instead of rebuking his son, the father was ebullient! He throws a big party for his return, and declares:

Jesus is presenting this parable to the Pharisees and Scribes, to hold up their self-righteous pouting in their face for examination. (They were feeling ‘snubbed’ by Jesus because He was keeping His focus on the souls of the social outcasts).

Next, Jesus gives them a clarification of the old (Mosaic Law) and new covenants (Gospel) and how they meld together, and how Christ is the only way to Kingdom of God:

Lastly, Jesus returns to the Pharisees’ love for money and its destructive ways, in another parable – the Rich Man and Lazarus:

Christ is revealing to the Pharisees that thoughts and actions determine your final destination – written in stone for all eternity.

enter by the narrow gate

Considering the total global population, few people practice living a spiritual life:

Now He looks to His rejectors and other misinformed people, to winnow out those who have a chance to enter the ‘narrow gate’ for their heavenly destiny.

Every eye was upon Him, hoping He would blaspheme Himself. But no one uttered a sound. So, Jesus touched the sick man and healed him. He turned to the guests again and said:

Ever observant, Christ notices that the dinner guests are jockeying for the seats of the highest honor.

Then Jesus singles out His dinner host, telling him that he should stop inviting well-to-do family and friends to dinner (when He knows that the host’s motivation is to be able to cull favor from them in some future situation:

At that point, a dinner guest cries out:

The guest was obviously (but incorrectly) including himself in that group. As the common belief amongst these dinner guests and host, was that only pious Jews would enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus responds with a parable[1].

Christ is letting them know that none of them will have access to the Kingdom of God because they refused His invitation.

Jesus left the dinner, but He was quickly surrounded by another large crowd. Again, he preaches His salvation promise, along with some of the required preparation:

Christ does not mean for you to hate your family. He is preparing His potential followers (and His apostles as well), by revealing what the cost is, for following Him to achieve discipleship. What is required, is a 100% commitment to Him and His Gospel, making Him preeminent over all things.

He continues with a second parable, probably His most famous, the ‘parable of the prodigal son’:

Instead of rebuking his son, the father was ebullient! He throws a big party for his return, and declares:

Jesus is presenting this parable to the Pharisees and Scribes, to hold up their self-righteous pouting in their face for examination. (They were feeling ‘snubbed’ by Jesus because He was keeping His focus on the souls of the social outcasts).

Next, Jesus gives them a clarification of the old (Mosaic Law) and new covenants (Gospel) and how they meld together, and how Christ is the only way to Kingdom of God:

Lastly, Jesus returns to the Pharisees’ love for money and its destructive ways, in another parable – the Rich Man and Lazarus:

Christ is revealing to the Pharisees that thoughts and actions determine your final destination – written in stone for all eternity.

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