THE NARROW GATE

The Narrow Gate

Luke 13:23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 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,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

The Master of the house is coming.  Be watchful for Him.  He is inviting you to eat bread with Him in the Kingdom of God.  

55 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;

When He knocks, open to Him immediately. 

Luke 12:35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 

Again, there is a narrow gate to gain entrance.  Jesus says that few will find it.  

Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

What is this NARROW GATE?

TO ENTER THIS KINGDOM OF GOD YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN.  What does this mean?

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

There is no gate more narrow than the birth canal.  You must come through the birth canal, a birth of the flesh and a birth of the Spirit.  You must be born twice.

Now I do not think the first birth, the birth of the flesh, is speaking of your own natural birth. For you can not be natural born and then simply washed by water and Spirit to enter the Kingdom.  You must come through blood.  The blood of your natural birth is not enough to make you righteous.  In fact you are not a child of God as a natural born child.  You are born with the sin of Adam, born of corrupted seed.  You are a child of the devil until you receive the free gift of redemption.   I last wrote about the Door.  You can not get into the Kingdom, the Sheepfold, the Wedding Feast, or the Rapture Basket without gaining entrance through the Door that is opened by the Key of David.  You can only enter through the one door, Jesus.  You enter through the Door of Jesus by faith with the Holy Spirit key, into the Father's kingdom.

Jesus, God made flesh, was born of flesh, born of the Virgin Mary.  In the first birth of the flesh, the baby is washed in blood as it passes through the birth canal.  Jesus was born in the flesh, covered in the blood of a first birth, and then He was washed in the water and Spirit made manifest in His baptism that all things were fulfilled.  He was fully the God-Man.  So must we be birthed in blood, covered in His blood, and then washed in the second birth by water and Spirit.

How do I know if I have been born again?  What does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?  It is a work of repentance.  It is not your work.  It is a work that God does in you.  Repentance is your response to the extraordinary loving work of God.  You may need to get some eye salve if you have lived a carefree, blessed, and rich life.  For those of us who have had heaven on earth, we take God's grace and everlasting gift for granted. We are rich, so how can we see our poverty?  We clothe ourselves in the most comfortable and stylish name brands, so how can we see our nakedness?  We cover our secret evil thoughts with good works, looking good even to ourselves on the outside, so how can we see our hidden depravity?  We esteem ourselves with education, knowledge and wisdom, so how can we see that we are blind, deaf, and foolish?  We are so focused on self-help, promoting our love of self and establishing our self-esteem, how can know that we are wretched in our pride?  You must be forgiven much to love much.  So until you see yourself as God sees you in your poor, naked, blind, miserable, wretched state outside of Christ Jesus, you will not understand the blood of Christ Jesus.  When you see yourself as you really are and are overwhelmed with His love for you in your poverty, you will understand the free gift of His blood.  He chose you first.  You will be overwhelmed by His grace.  You stand before God, a son, a daughter, righteous before Him in Jesus' righteousness alone.  You receive this inexplicable gift, that He became poor, naked, miserable, and wretched for you, cursed, hanging on a tree that you might be set free and live with Him forever.  If you have received that gift, there is no more to offer Him but a sacrifice of praise.  You do not make yourself more worthy with your good works.  You will be so in love with Him that your desire will be to please Him with works befitting your righteousness in Him by faith. You know His extravagant love by the Spirit of God working it out in you.  You know that you have been born again by faith.  You have received the gift of His love sacrifice for you.  You will always be changed.  You will follow this Shepherd and listen to His voice for the rest of your days, this one who laid down His life for you.  

When you are born again, you become a member of a spiritual household of faith.  You are built up together in Him into one body.  This is what is referred to as the Church of God or the Body of Christ.  This spiritual body is also a Bride.  The Bridegroom is coming for His Bride.  It is a 2000 year old love story with the Church.  The love story actually started 6000 years ago with the creation of Adam and Eve, woman, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh.  God then chose Abraham, Israel, to work out His salvation plan through a chosen people and ultimately bring His Bride to Himself through this one nation, made up of all nations of the earth.  Jesus, the Bridegroom, is now bringing this Bride to His Side.  Sons and Daughters of Adam, together a Bride, a Woman, Rib of Jesus' own Side, are betrothed to Him.  Jesus is waiting for the Father to send Him out to bring home His Bride.  He is coming for the next fulfillment of His Jewish wedding with the Gentile, adopted sons and daughters of Israel. He is coming to gather His bride under the wedding canopy to share the cup of blessing, proclaim the vows and promises, and then take His bride to His Father's House.  He has not forgotten Israel.  Israel is still the apple of His eye, His treasured possession, His beautiful one.  He is coming back for her before the 7 day wedding celebration has ended.  Israel will be with Him for the marriage supper of the Lamb.  Those who have believed on the Son, Jew or Gentile, are overshadowed by extravagant grace and are invited now to the Father's House, the throne room of God, the high hills of heaven.  What love, glory, and grace!

The Bridegroom is coming!  Those Virgins of the Bridegroom must be ready!  They must be watching with their lamps and oil.  They must have the light and oil of His Spirit, not living in darkness.  They can't be sleeping!  The Bridegroom is not going to catch them up sleeping or come like a thief to rob them out of their houses.  The Virgins must be ready and go out to meet Him!

Matthew 25 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour[b] in which the Son of Man is coming.

Be a ready bride, watching for the Bridegroom in anticipation.  He desires you to run out to meet Him!