The Narrow Door

Luke 13:22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

We read above that someone asked Jesus directly whether or not only a few will be saved. He answered in a slightly indirect way but said many will try to enter and will not be able to. Below we see a very direct answer to the question "will only a few be saved?"

Matt 7:13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Why is it important to remember these words spoken by the Lord? Is it to put fear into you? I won't answer that question you ask Jesus to explain it to you. Ask the Lord why he told us that only a FEW will make it through the narrow door that leads to life. I believe he tells us these things for the same reason everything else is told to us: to shape how we live.

Speaking of doors...notice it says above "Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Its the whole open door closed door thing we talked about weeks/months ago relating to the escape from all/rapture. Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

It appears the Lord has really turned a corner in what He wants me to write here. Although I am sure the escape from all/pre-tribulation/pre-jacob's trouble/pre-flood/pre-fire and brimstone escape from all will happen at some time in the future, the Lord doesn't want to discuss it any more with me. I believe its a settled matter. When I asked him about it again this morning what came through to my mind was something like this:

"the rapture question is settled with you, by faith you have laid hold of it. Now that it is settled stop putting the cart before the horse. To focus on the escape day and night without thought on the here and now is backwards thinking. If we center ourselves in the Lord's will today, when the escape shows up we will be ready for it. If we sit around debating the escape timing for the days left before it happens while leaving all the other things the Lord would have us do undone, that would be bad." <--thats the muddled explanation that my mind spit out to me as an answer. I'm sure the Lord was more eloquent but I have'nt learned a better way to get out of his way yet what he says comes through more clearly.

Anyhow the moral of the story is, the Lord wants us CENTERED in his will today. Not to the left of it, not to the right of it...centered in his will. I am certain that the top shelf items in his will for us are 1. getting his word inside of us 2. spending time alone with him. I'm sure there are many other things that can be added to the list but 1 and 2 must happen. If you are centered in the Lord's will today, the escape from all will not take you by surprise. If you have settled the escape/rapture question for yourself then move on to what the Lord would have you do today. Prayer and reading the word are BIG "do" items even though many in the apostate church would count them as "doing nothing."

We must engage the Lord BEFORE we engage our carbon based wetsuits (human bodies). Seek his face today, stay in his word. meditate on the words of God day and night. pray without ceasing. This is what I'm hearing from the Lord today. grace and peace