He Tells Them who Will be Known by the Father
Here we have a question put to Jesus, by whom we are not told, for what purpose, we
are not told. But it must have been asked with good intentions, for Jesus gives a
good account of the answer. Notice the question. "Is it true that there will only
be a few that will be saved?" "I have heard you say this, is it true?" The Jewish
leaders had said that all of Israel would have a place in the world to come, would
Jesus dare to contradict this?
Notice the answer Jesus gave. It was not a direct answer to the question, it was a
lesson on how one would acquire entrance to the Kingdom. It was left to all who
heard it to decide for themselves if they qualified. It would be and still is, a
personal matter between you and the Lord. Note:
- All that will be saved will enter the same way, through the gate
called strait. To straiten up, to repent, requires a change in
the whole man. It amounts to no less than being born again.
- To enter the gate will require a great deal of care and diligence.
We must strive by prayer, wrestle as Jacob did against sin and
Satan.
If there are only a few who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, why is this so?
- Because many do not strive to do so. They have had their conscience
touched by the Holy Spirit, were almost persuaded, but ceased to
do those things that are necessary to salvation. They take some
steps but fail to seek after that relationship with Jesus that
leads to salvation.
- Why would they even think they were saved? They had eaten and drank
in His presence, at His table. They had attended church, partaken
of the Lord's Supper, listened to the Gospel preached but not
taken it to their hearts. Paul called this having a form of
religion but denying the power of it.
- Because of this, Christ would deny that He ever knew them. Despite
their arguments to the contrary, they had never knew Him and He had
never knew them. Yet they were very confident, they stood at the
door, confidently knocking, with authority they shouted, "Lord, open
up to us." and Jesus will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you."
It is sad but it appears that many will be lost on the day of
Judgment who sincerely believed that they were saved. Why? Because
They were workers of iniquity. Under the pretence of piety, they
Did the work of the Devil.
- Notice how terrible their punishment will be. "There shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth." They will see the saved in the Kingdom of
God but they themselves will be shut out. Notice that the Old
Testament saints are in the Kingdom of God, those who benefited by
the Messiah even though they died before His coming, for they saw
His day at a distance and accepted and believed it. Notice also
that the New Testament sinners (hypocrites) will be trust out of
the Kingdom of God.
- Notice those who will be saved. They will come from the east and the
west and they will surprise you who they are. They will come from
all parts of the Gentile world, by many ways and through troubled
waters and those who you most think will be saved may not be. It
appears that those who enter will be those who have made the most
effort to get there and have come the hardest way.
This is a most difficult portion of scripture. It seems to be at odds with all
other scripture dealing with salvation. Paul says that salvation is a gift of God,
not of works, less we should boast. If salvation is a gift of God, why them must
we strive for it? How can we resolve this apparent difference?
Perhaps we should first go back to the original question. "Is it true that there
will only be a few that will be saved." Though Jesus does not come right out and
answer this question, He certainly leaves no doubt in what He replies that there
will be far fewer saved than what we think. The reason being, hypocrisy.
Many things cause hypocrisy, but ultimately it leads to pretending to be
something that we are not. Like the Jews, many Christians today believe that they
are members of the family of God by being born into a Christian family. They live
their lives, in one degree or another, doing what they believe Christians ought to
do. Most never had a personal experience with Jesus, and most will never have it
because they do not strive for it because they do not believe they need it. Only
Christ could have made the statement in these verses. Only He knows what is in a
man's heart. These verses bring fear into the hearts of many, they begin to
question their conversion, maybe, for this reason alone, they are good.
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