The Strait and Narrow Gate
There will come a time when each one of us will be accountable for out sins we have committed in our fleshly bodies. All of us have personal lives that will be opened up when we die before a righteous and just God on Judgement day to be publicly read out load were each one of us will each be held accountable for each thing we have done in our earthly lives. The concern within my heart is that many people follow their daily routines not taking into consideration that when our time is up it is too late then to turn from sin and except the truth. In other words when we die we die in eternal torment, suffering and ongoing non stop pain except for those who belong to the Lord and who have denied themselves taking up the cross.
Have you denied yourselves I pray you do and do it today right now this moment as you read this article because no one knows the day and hour when the Lord cometh again.
Jesus never promised it would be easy to walk in faith as a born again believer but I would rather walk in faith rather than walk at all. The worldly and sinful nature that exists in all mankind seems to make things appear very difficult when trying to walk a strait line down the road of righteousness. The father of all lies and our enemy Satan wants us to think carnally so we can give up on God. I plead with you to remember that God will never give up on us and I pray you do not throw the towel in because God has not and never will because He loves us that much. Even though we do not deserve Gods gift of grace He still wants us with Him by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ our redeemer. So be joyful and glad that God our Father sent His only begotten son into the world to pay the ultimate price for us with His Life!
In the Holy Bible the word of God in the book of Luke Chapter 13 verses 22-24 says
22 And he went through the cities "villages, teaching, and journeying toward "Jerusalem.
23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. (KJV)
So what must be done you might ask if we are not sure that we are going to enter into Gods kingdom. We must recognize that we have sinned and that the penalty of sin is death. Then we need to call upon the name of the Lord and ask for His forgiveness through the act of repentance. We then have to take up the cross and carry the full weight of it on our backs and shoulders and believe in Him whom has redeemed us. Just like a parachutist believes in their parachute before jumping from great heights out of an airplane and carrying them safely to the ground we also must believe with all our hearts, mind, soul and strength in the Life Death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus spoke to the crowd in the book of Luke in Chapter 9 verses 23-27 beginning with the 23rd verse saying the following:
9:23 He said to all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
9:24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.
9:25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?
9:26 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.
9:27 But I tell you the truth: There are some of those who stand here, who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Kingdom of God." (KJV)
God is trying to tell us that we must decrease and He (Jesus) must increase and live for Christ in faith obeying all His teachings while exalting His holy name. We need to put God first in our lives entrusting all things to allow Him total control over our lives and let Jesus drive and take the wheel. This brings me to an important in this message and that is who will enter Gods kingdom. I do not want to give my personal opinion or perspective on this very important matter but would rather let us hear what the word of God has to say about eternal salvation. In the book of Mark Chapter 10 verses 13-27 Jesus was speaking to the children before a crowd and He spoke to many about a key element we must possess when approaching our Heavenly Father above about our eternal hope. In verse the following verses He says:
13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.
16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.
17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him,
and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is,
God.
19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camels to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
27And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. (KJV)
Obviously after reading the many scriptures and requirements put forth in the Holy word of God it seems nearly impossible to walk the path of righteousness as laid out in the Bible. I am here as a simple messenger telling you that relying upon yourself or someone else to save you from the fiery wrath to come in not possible but giving over control of your life over to Jesus is the key solution to the problem at hand. Our heavenly Father knew before the foundation of the world was created that mankind would suffer a great fall and that He would have to pick up the pieces and have a contingency plan. The precious shed blood at Calvarys cross of the sacrificial lamb the Lord Jesus Christ would be the ultimate and final atonement for all mankinds sinful ways for past, present and future sins committed. God sealed us permanently with His son who came into this world in flesh as God and paved way for His ministry then suffered the penalty of our sins upon His shoulders because He loved us that much. For all have sinned and fallen short of His glory Romans 3:23 is a reminder that no one no not one is considered a good person and none are righteous in their own right.
You must understand that God wishes to send no one to Hell but since the fall in the Garden of Eden were Adam and Eve disobeyed God when He told them not to eat the fruit of a specific tree they failed to listen. The consequence at that moment as Satan deceived them into believing they would know what God knows if they ate the fruit of that tree instantly made mankind destined for eternal Hell. You see in the Garden Adam and Eve where pure in mind and sinless but when they did not obey Gods command not to eat the fruit of that tree they instantly realized that they were naked before eachother and at that moment realized right from wrong. This is when the human conscience was developed which means with knowledge. Con means with and science means knowledge. God in advance knew this would happen and had prepared and established a back up or contingency plan to send His only begotten son into the world not to destroy the world but to redeem it back to Him. We are created in the image of God and He wishes to have a personal relationship with us and will do all He can to attract our attention and make us right with Him even if that means allowing chaos to encompass our world with natural and manmade disasters. If you have hardened your hearts and closed your mind to the truth it only gets more difficult to turn over to Gods control because Satan will try to convince as many as he can that it is too difficult to enter the kingdom of God. Do not at whatever cost believe those lies and turn to the truth because the truth shall make you free indeed. The bottom line is none of us can do enough to earn our ticket to the pearly white gates but need to give the key over to God and entrust in His son to save us and set us free. I pray that you do right now at this very moment before it is too late.
Alex
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