30 October 2013 - limited time offer

30 October 2013 - limited time offer

“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”

This is an important question.  We know that God desires all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4).  Knowing that, the answer of Jesus should surprise us.

“Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.

Is the narrowness of the gate the problem, ultimately?  We know that the whole way to salvation is narrow and the way to destruction is wide.  But if God wants all to be saved then the capacity of the infrastructure can't be the ultimate deal-breaker for us.

After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
‘Lord, open the door for us.’
He will say to you in reply,
‘I do not know where you are from.’

So we see that the only liability, truly, is to fail to enter while the door is opened to us.  Jesus stands at the door and knocks (cf. Rev 3:20).  He will open the door for us.  But we ignore this offer at our peril.  We don't want to hear him say, "I do not know where you are from."

He longs to bring people "from the east and the west and from the north and the south" into his kingdom.  He longs to gather us all with Abarham, Isaac, and Jacob.  God himself "comes to the aid of our weakness" when we stand before doors to heavy for us.  The "Spirit himself intervenes with inexpressible groanings."  We find ourselves speaking "not to men but to God" for no one understands the mysteries we utter in the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 14:2).  We build ourselves up by the Spirit's prayers within us (cf. 1 Cor. 14:4).

We can't be content with a superficial knowledge of who Jesus is.  Such knowledge lacks the demonstration of the Spirit and power (cf. 1 Cor 2:4) that we need to open the doors that are too heavy for us.  Even if we say, "We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets", it is insufficient.  We can't just exist at a distance from him with tangential knowledge of him that comes by hearsay. He opens the doors of life only to those whom he recognizes, those who have been walking with him on the way.

We need not fear the narrowness of this path and the smallness of this gate because:

We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.

All things don't necessary for work good for those who have some knowledge of God but don't have a relationship of love with him.  But those who love God can be confident since they hear him calling.  By his Spirit at work in them he brings them from one degree of glory to another (cf. 2 Cor 3:18).

Let my heart rejoice in your salvation;
let me sing of the LORD, “He has been good to me.”