Strive to Enter

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”  And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ (Luke 13:23-27)

Notice that in response to the question, “Are there few who are saved?” the Lord answers that many will seek to enter salvation but will not be able. He claims that people will call Him “Lord, Lord” in that day, and remind Him that they spent time in His presence and under His teaching, but He will tell them to depart from Him. Why does He not know them?–because they are “workers of iniquity.” The Lord’s exhortation is not “Just rest in my promises and relax and enjoy the ride,” as some suppose, but “Strive (the Greek word for “agonize”) to enter.” Make stringent effort to enter, otherwise you will be like others who sought to enter but were not able. Are we taking the Savior’s words seriously?

What does striving to enter look like?

Recently I met a Catholic man, who told me with tears that he was trying to raise money to support certain Catholic charities so that he wouldn’t have to go to purgatory after he died. He was certainly striving to be saved, but is this what the Lord meant by striving to enter?–No. Not only is purgatory an unbiblical and false idea, but no one can do enough good deeds to cancel out their bad deeds and make themselves justified before God. Wrongdoing must be forgiven by the One who was wronged (God), and His forgiveness (salvation) is granted freely to those who repent of sin and believe on/follow Jesus with saving faith.  However, entering into and abiding in salvation (Jesus) will take an agonizing effort, because to truly make Jesus Lord & Master of your life is not easy. Your flesh wants to rule, but it must be cast down, dethroned, and crucified. There can only be one King in the Kingdom, and usurpers of the throne of God are antichrist. Only those who are in submission to the King will be allowed in the Kingdom.

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. 13:41-42)

Today we have multitudes of people who go to church and know lots of religious lingo about the salvation they do not understand and do not in reality possess. They have never really agonized to enter the kingdom of God. They never truly repented of their sins. They don’t really believe in Jesus; if they did, they would follow Him and do what He says.  They haven’t experienced the sorrow that leads to repentance, and they remain waffling between the world and God, imagining they are the friends of God while they are really His enemies ( James 4:4).  Listen to what Paul described as the sorrow that precedes repentance leading to salvation:

Now I rejoice…that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!  (2 Cor. 7:9-11)

These people had responded to Paul’s rebuke with sorrow that led to a change in their behavior. They were diligent to clear themselves of wrongdoing, they were indignant against sin (siding with God against their own wrong), and they acquired a zeal for practical righteousness. This is a necessary step toward salvation, but it can’t be taken without some striving. Anyone who has been under the conviction of the Holy Spirit knows that a great wrestling occurs as the Lord convicts of sin, and the sinner is compelled to wave the white flag of surrender. Only those who allow Jesus to reign over them will escape being the “slain of the Lord” (Luke 19:11-27; Isa. 66:16). After being rebuked for his adultery and murder, David described his agonizing time of sorrowing to repentance as follows:

When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.  (Psa. 32:3-5)

Many people feel the hand of the Lord heavy on them, and their vitality is turned to the drought of summer, but they respond by lashing out at others and growing angry and bitter, rather than confessing to the Lord that they have wronged Him grievously and need His merciful forgiveness. It is easier to pretend the fault is all someone else’s than it is to acknowledge our own sin and turn from it. But this is what we must do if we want to be right with God. He does not allow pretension of godliness while hiding unconfessed sin. He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Prov. 28:13)  Jesus went so far as to say cut off a hand or foot, or pluck out an eye, rather than continue in sin and wind up in hell fire! (Matt. 18:8-9) What is He saying, but that overcoming the flesh and entering eternal life will require some painful effort! Satan has a snare for everyone; we must watch and pray lest we fall into temptation and forfeit the great salvation prepared for us by choosing temporal pleasure over the things that have eternal value.

Often people will enter Salvation, but when they realize that it is a life of daily consecration, of presenting our bodies as living sacrifices, they want out. They are like the children of Israel who cheered and rejoiced when they saw Pharaoh’s army drowned in the sea, but turned back to Egypt in their hearts when things got uncomfortable.  They have a “been there, tried that” mentality toward God, who they suppose should be more indulgent of their sensual cravings; rather than a loving thankfulness for His redemption and necessary providence.  They want to circumvent the valley of the shadow of death, rather than go through it. They want anything but to deny themselves, carry a cross, and to be as selfless and misunderstood as Jesus was;  but this is the only way. Jesus is the only way, so we have no choice but to obey His instructions no matter where they take us or how much it hurts.  Overcomers have three things:  the blood of the Lamb (forgiveness through Jesus), the word of their testimony (a changed life), and they love not their own lives to the death (Rev. 12:11).

Dare we imagine that loving not our own lives to the death is possible without striving?  We have this exhortation from the writer of Hebrews–You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin (Heb. 12:4).  Listen to Paul’s words on the necessity of striving for the imperishable crown of eternal life:

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (I Cor. 9:24-27)

Dear Reader, strive to enter through the narrow gate. Do whatever it takes to make sure your life is 100% submitted to God. Many will be unable to enter because they will not part with their iniquity. Do not think to call Jesus “Lord, Lord” while disobeying His commands. He is not hoodwinked by empty words as men sometimes are. Do not think you will win the prize without self-discipline and effort. To produce the fruit God expects will require not just hearing, but keeping the Word of God, and patience under trial (Luke 8:15; 21:19).  The good news is that Jesus wants you to make it in! He offers instruction, strength, comfort, and everything else that is needed to bring you to heaven. All things are made possible through Him.  Will you strive to enter the narrow gate, and continue to live by your faith, or will you be like those who draw back to perdition?

God bless you!

Patient Endurance

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.   Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.  Isa. 35:3-4

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. There is a time to warn the wicked, a time to preach and preserve truth, and there is a time to encourage the weak.  Today I’d like to encourage the weak saint who is on the way of holiness, but feels he is burdened almost beyond belief due to the trials he is experiencing.

The saints are called not only to believe on the name of Jesus, but also to suffer for His sake (Phil. 1:29).  We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God; therefore you must continue in the faith no matter what comes (Acts 14:22).  You must not, in the time of temptation, fall away (Luke 8:13).

The day you feel like giving up is a day of temptation. The day you feel bitterness beginning to grow in your heart is a time of temptation.  The day you wonder if the promises of God are true, and you envy the wicked who seem to get by without so much heartache–this is a day of temptation for you.  Satan is seeking to devour you, but the Lord Jesus stands as your advocate with the Father, praying for you.  You must believe the word which is spoken to you, that your God will come with a vengeance and a recompence; He will come and save you. You must be patient in your day of affliction–

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.  (Jam. 5:10-11)

Endurance through suffering is needed, that after you have done the will of God while under the squeezing pressure of affliction, you may receive the promise of God (Heb. 10:36).  Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all (Psa. 34:19).  Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning (Psa. 30:5).  The heavier the burden feels, the more we need to consider Jesus, who endured such contradiction from sinners against Himself, lest we be wearied and faint in our minds. (Heb. 12:3-4).

Beloved saint, the night may be longer than you expect.  Sometimes the night can last months or even years. Sometimes circumstances so break your heart, you feel you cannot recover. Sometimes the actions of others have such terrible consequences, many of your personal hopes are dashed, and you can barely breathe, let alone “act joyful” or be a strength to others.  It seems like the wind has been kicked out of you.  In these times, you must believe that your God will come and save you. Do not turn your back on Him, heeding the lie of satan that He has forsaken you to be overcome by your circumstances, for He has promised never to leave nor forsake you.  He has been touched with the feeling of our infirmities and was in all points tempted as we are (Heb. 4:15).  He knows what it feels like to be hated and persecuted by even those who claim to love God, to have family look upon Him with scorn, to be misunderstood even by His closest companions, to be back-stabbed by someone close to Him, to be lonely, to be in intense pain physically and emotionally, to feel forsaken by God, and to wish there was another way than the one God laid upon Him. In short, He knows how we feel, and through Him, we can and must overcome all these things.

God is not the self-absorbed King Arthur shut up in His tower untouched by the sorrows of the peasants, but a selfless King who came to suffer with us, to carry our sorrows.  He has walked in our shoes, and He calls us to follow Him through the cross to the joy that awaits on the other side.  So, let us run with patience this race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Heb. 12:1-3).  Let us follow Him wherever He goes, trusting in His power, knowing that as we carry about in our bodies the dying (to sin, self-love, etc.) of the Lord Jesus, the life of Jesus is manifested in us to the world (2 Cor. 4:10-11).  We overcome by enduring the dying, trusting the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will raise us also at the right time.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.   As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.   They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. (Psa. 84:5-7; NKJV)

Are you a stranger in a strange land (Exo. 2:22)?–Pray this, “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” (Psa. 39:12)  Remember, you are not a stranger alone, but a stranger with Him. You have gone forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach (Heb. 13:13). Together you must pass through the Valley of Baca–the Way of Weeping–and make it a spring. Those who must come this way after you will be refreshed by your tears;  they are not in vain. Though you feel weak, you will go from strength to strength, yoked to Jesus.  Only believe with Job that after you have been tried in the fire, you will come forth as pure gold to the Father’s glory (Job 23:10).

The power of the Gospel alive in you is this: that even if you are hungry, thirsty, naked, buffeted–even if you have no certain dwelling place and are reviled, persecuted, defamed, and considered the filth of the world–you can bless those who hate you, suffer patiently the abuse heaped on you, and continue to intreat your enemies to come to Jesus (I Cor. 4:11-14).  You can lay even your good dreams on the altar, as Abraham laid Isaac there, trusting that God is able to raise them up again if needed.  You have the treasure of God in an earthen (weak) vessel, so that His power becomes famous–you are troubled on every side but not distressed beyond what you can bear, you are perplexed but not despairing and without hope, you are persecuted but not forsaken, you are cast down but not destroyed. You are being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that His overcoming life might manifest (2 Cor. 4:8-11).

So again, to the fearful heart, I say, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.  When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, He will trouble those who are troubling you, and give you rest with the people of God (2 Thess. 1:6-8). You who are poor in spirit, the Kingdom of heaven is yours. You who are mourning, you will be comforted. You meek who turn the other cheek out of love for your Lord, the earth will be yours. You merciful, you will obtain mercy. You lover of peace, you are a child of your Father, the King of Peace.  You who are persecuted for righteousness sake, who are hated for your stand for Jesus and His truth, He knows your name and is even now preparing your reward. Do not turn back in fear or discouragement, but continue in the faith, being patient as the farmer is patient when he waits for fruit to grow.  Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.  (Isa. 35:10)