"Christian!" Are you saved?
Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Luke 13:24
Strive. Strive? Isn't that work? If it be a work of God does that mean I have to do something? Yes, strive. Well, are you? By the grace of God? Are you a profitable servant? No. But a servant knows his Master and he serves Him. Be sure it is the Rock which you are trusting in, and not anything built on sand, which will collapse when the floods come. Anything less than entering into a Relationship with Jesus is not The Way, The Truth, and The Life. There is No Way to the Father but through Him. He and the Father are One.
Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.... Isaiah 29:13
For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:14
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. II Corinthians 4:6
Many seek. Perhaps while leaning foreward to enhance their glance. How do you strive to ENTER into a narrow door? By ENTERING into a Relationship. With a desire to leave behind your present place and without seeing exactly what lies ahead, you by faith earnestly endeavor to squeeze your way through it. If Jesus said it's narrow, it's Narrow. He is the Only Way. If but you could just touch His garment, then you would be made whole. If you could just get close enough, then you could be clean. Why if you spent the rest of your life forsaking this world and earnestly seeking Him and following Him why then He would have made you a seeker and a follower of Him to the praise of His Glorious Grace. You would thank God forever.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. John 12:25
Who is the Door?
So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." John 10:7
What happens when you ENTER through the Door?
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:9
Saved, from what?
Their sins...
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
and, because of their sins against the Almighty; ...the wrath of God.
But because of God's Mercy and Grace which He freely bestowed on the Beloved...
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, I Corinthians 15:3
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace." Ephesians 1:7
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be *the propitiation* for our sins. I John 4:10
*The Perfect atoning sacrifice [Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ/Messiah of God, Son of God, Fully God and Fully Man, 'The Word that became Flesh, The Word of God, God in the Flesh] that fully satisfies God's Justice and quenches His Wrath on behalf of the Beloved in Christ, on the Basis of His Righteous Substitutionary Sacrifice for Sins because of His great Love in which He loved us in the Beloved
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Romans 5:9
My sheep listen to My Voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:27-30
Rahab's faith lead her OUT of the city that was burned with fire (Joshua 6), Noah, moved with godly fear, ENTERED the Ark by saving faith, and condemned the world in judgment...
"By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Hebrews 11:7
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:37-39
Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open up to us!' then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know where you are from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets'; and He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.' In that place 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, but yourselves being thrown out. Luke 13:25-28
"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:6-11
Then you will go into the pasture.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13
...and find rest...both now and in and for Eternity with Him
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
Many are standing outside the Door idly by. And they suppose that because they are near it, that the Door keeper will open it up for them befoe He gets up and shuts the Door. They should rather be Trembling with the unregenerate believing demons, but they are still blinded by the god of this world and the Word is choked out by the deceitfulness of sin and riches, and are weighed down with the worries of this temporal, finite, life. They haven't actually believed yet, for if they relly did, and they knew the fear of the Lord, they would be running away from their sin, and clinging to the Cross of their Dear and Faithful Savior Jesus Christ, and His Grace would be sufficient for them, and He would never turn them away from Him, for
A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. Matthew 12:20
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. John 6:37
so don't turn away from Him...
while it is said, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME." Hebrews 3:15
See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away
from Him who warns from heaven. Hebrews 12:25
"how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard," Hebrews 2:3
Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Mark 16:20b
if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. Romans 11:14
So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. II Peter 1:19
Who is the morning star?
Revelation 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
arising in your hearts?
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. II Corinthians 4:6
Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD. II Chronicles 34:27
For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:2
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. John 6:47
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' John 3:6-7
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3:36
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I John 2:15
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:36-37
But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead." Matthew 8:22
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:1-10
All Glory to God
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24
Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Luke 13:24
Strive. Strive? Isn't that work? If it be a work of God does that mean I have to do something? Yes, strive. Well, are you? By the grace of God? Are you a profitable servant? No. But a servant knows his Master and he serves Him. Be sure it is the Rock which you are trusting in, and not anything built on sand, which will collapse when the floods come. Anything less than entering into a Relationship with Jesus is not The Way, The Truth, and The Life. There is No Way to the Father but through Him. He and the Father are One.
Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.... Isaiah 29:13
For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:14
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. II Corinthians 4:6
Many seek. Perhaps while leaning foreward to enhance their glance. How do you strive to ENTER into a narrow door? By ENTERING into a Relationship. With a desire to leave behind your present place and without seeing exactly what lies ahead, you by faith earnestly endeavor to squeeze your way through it. If Jesus said it's narrow, it's Narrow. He is the Only Way. If but you could just touch His garment, then you would be made whole. If you could just get close enough, then you could be clean. Why if you spent the rest of your life forsaking this world and earnestly seeking Him and following Him why then He would have made you a seeker and a follower of Him to the praise of His Glorious Grace. You would thank God forever.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. John 12:25
Who is the Door?
So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep." John 10:7
What happens when you ENTER through the Door?
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:9
Saved, from what?
Their sins...
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
and, because of their sins against the Almighty; ...the wrath of God.
But because of God's Mercy and Grace which He freely bestowed on the Beloved...
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, I Corinthians 15:3
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace." Ephesians 1:7
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be *the propitiation* for our sins. I John 4:10
*The Perfect atoning sacrifice [Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ/Messiah of God, Son of God, Fully God and Fully Man, 'The Word that became Flesh, The Word of God, God in the Flesh] that fully satisfies God's Justice and quenches His Wrath on behalf of the Beloved in Christ, on the Basis of His Righteous Substitutionary Sacrifice for Sins because of His great Love in which He loved us in the Beloved
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Romans 5:9
My sheep listen to My Voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:27-30
Rahab's faith lead her OUT of the city that was burned with fire (Joshua 6), Noah, moved with godly fear, ENTERED the Ark by saving faith, and condemned the world in judgment...
"By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Hebrews 11:7
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:37-39
Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, 'Lord, open up to us!' then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know where you are from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets'; and He will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.' In that place 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, but yourselves being thrown out. Luke 13:25-28
"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:6-11
Then you will go into the pasture.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12-13
...and find rest...both now and in and for Eternity with Him
Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
Many are standing outside the Door idly by. And they suppose that because they are near it, that the Door keeper will open it up for them befoe He gets up and shuts the Door. They should rather be Trembling with the unregenerate believing demons, but they are still blinded by the god of this world and the Word is choked out by the deceitfulness of sin and riches, and are weighed down with the worries of this temporal, finite, life. They haven't actually believed yet, for if they relly did, and they knew the fear of the Lord, they would be running away from their sin, and clinging to the Cross of their Dear and Faithful Savior Jesus Christ, and His Grace would be sufficient for them, and He would never turn them away from Him, for
A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. Matthew 12:20
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. John 6:37
so don't turn away from Him...
while it is said, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME." Hebrews 3:15
See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away
from Him who warns from heaven. Hebrews 12:25
"how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard," Hebrews 2:3
Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Mark 16:20b
if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. Romans 11:14
So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. II Peter 1:19
Who is the morning star?
Revelation 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
arising in your hearts?
For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. II Corinthians 4:6
Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, tore your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you," declares the LORD. II Chronicles 34:27
For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:2
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. John 6:47
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' John 3:6-7
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3:36
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I John 2:15
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Mark 8:36-37
But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead." Matthew 8:22
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Ephesians 2:1-10
All Glory to God
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24