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Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
Intro:
The other night, I was up late looking at YouTube. On occassion, I watch other churches that we have fellowshipped with, I watch documentaries, how to do videos, that sort of nature.
There was a video that I came across of a man that spoke of a near-death experience. Usually, I don’t watch those videos because they can be very deceiving and present a misconception to people that when they die or if they are close to dying that God will give you another chance if you don’t have it right.
There have been people who have died and God did give them another chance, but the percentage of that is very low and I believe that most of these videos are posted to deceive the church into thinking that they can live out their life anyway they want to and that if you should die, God will give you another chance to get it right. WRONG!!!
I know of only one person that has died, maybe two, and they were brought back to life by the mercy of God and by the help of medical professionals.
But this video was different. This man was a preacher, a sheriff, a father, he adopted 32 foster children, he was considered to be a good man. He had natural children, all during his marriage, none out of wedlock.
But yet, when he dead, the Lord told him that his works was an abomination to him because he served him in a pharisaical fashion of dead works.
He died and saw darkness. A beautiful voice spoke to him out of darkness and told him “rest, stop breathing, peace, rest, and security.” Because many of the baptist believe that once saved always saved.
We must understand as Pentecostals that God gives us his Spirit as a guarantee as a down payment on what he has prepared for us. But you have to understand that just in real life, certain actions can nullify or breach your contract. Yeah you receive the Holy Ghost, but you have to allow the Holy Ghost to have its way, you need to yield to it, and obey it, and Paul said “grieve not the Holy Spirit in which you were sealed until the day of redemption.
The beautiful voice that he heard, he thought initially that it was God, but come to find out, it was Satan and Satan used the word of God to try to deceive Him. Because you have to remember what the Bible says, Satan knows God’s word too. That’s why all of this stuff is happening and people are being outed because God is starting to expose some things. Just because a person shouts and speak in tongues doesn’t mean that they are alright. Yeah, you speak in tongues more than other men, but you have jealousy or envy in your heart, you have unforgiveness and it will shut you out the kingdom of God!
This man, was then immediately carried to the gates of heaven. He said he saw 50 people go in. Within a 15 minute time, about 1900 people died and only 50 people were allowed to go in, the rest was shut out and judged and sent into outer darkness.
The Lord told this man, who was a preacher by the way, that his works was an abomination to Him. He served him in a Phar
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
The Lord has called everyone, but everyone will not be chosen, the church needs to warn people that to make it into the kingdom, isn’t a given, Jesus himself said you need to “strive” there is that word again. It’s going to be a struggle it is not going to be easy, but you have to work hard to make it into the kingdom and not assume that you’re just going to waltz in.
Upon hearing this message some may be like those who asked Jesus after he told the rich man to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven then come and follow him.
But he went away sad, because he didn’t want to give up the treasure. And someone today, Jesus has told you, he has asked you to give up somethings, give up the world, give up anything that is not like Him, you may need to give up the alcohol, you may need to give up the drugs, you may need to give up the relationship. You may need to give up the job. But now you are sad because you live that thing more than God and you can’t give it up.
Jesus then replied “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God.” Notice he said how hardly…he never said that the rich man couldn’t enter the kingdom of Heaven. He said it is hard, because they depend on their riches and they love their money more than God, matter of fact their money is God.
Me and my wife was talking and we got on the subject of material things, and I told her that all this stuff, the things and possessions in the world can’t compare to what God has in store for us. It’s cool to have nice things, but I’m not really that concerned over it, because God has things for us in his kingdom that so above any possession on this earth, that the things of this earth don’t really matter because you can’t take it with you anyway.
You’re working hard to get this in this life and get that, you better make sure your working hard to build your treasures in heaven!
When Jesus told them it was hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom, those who heard those words asked Jesus “Who then can be saved.
And Jesus said “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
We can go so many ways with this. Let’s go textual first.
There may be things that you are struggling with, you may be struggling with an attitude problem, you may be struggling with gossipping, you may be struggling with sex addiction, you may be struggling with drug addiction, you’ve tried to stop smoking but you can’t.
It seems impossible with you, it seems impossible to live a Holy life unto the LORD, BUT JESUS SAID “THE THINGS WHICH ARE IMPOSSIBLE WITH MEN ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!
GOD CAN DO ANYTHING, GOD CAN HELP YOU IN YOUR STRUGGLE, GOD CAN HELP YOU WITH YOUR ATTITUDE, GOD CAN DELIVER YOU FROM YOUR ADDICTION….GOD IS GOD AND MY GOD CAN DO ANYTHING!
Let’s stretch out a little further.
It seems impossible to feel better in your body, you live with difficult people, husband/wife/children…you vocalize, you plead but you can’t reach them.
You’re in debt, don’t know how you’re going to get out of it.
The situation you’re face seems like an uphill battle and the odds are stacked against you…But the word of the LORD says “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
Let’s jump back to the text:
It seems hard to live right, it seems hard to live holy, it may even seem to you that you won’t be saved. If you trying to save your self, you won’t be saved. But if you cry out to the LORD to save you the scripture declares:
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
You need to cry out to Jesus to save you, you need to plead with Him, you need to cry out to Him, you need to surrender to Him, you need to turn to Him…and the LORD WILL SAVE YOU…He’ll save you because he lives up to his name and his name is Jesus and the name Jesus means “The Lord is my salvation” it means we can trust in him to save us, we can trust in Him to deliver us, we can trust in him to help us, we can trust in him to make a way for us.
Let’s close and make a declaration for every believer and testify to your neighbor and tell your neighbor “I CAN TRUST JESUS!” TELL TWO MORE PEOPLE THESE WORDS “I TRUST HIM, I TRUST HIM, I TRUST HIM, I TRUST HIM” I BELIEVE, I BELIEVE HE HAS THE POWER TO HELP ME, I BELIEVE HE HAS THE POWER TO SAVE ME, I BELIEVE!!!!
And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved?
Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
Paul records:
Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
It can be said the same for the church.
There are many that go to church on Sundays but only a remnant shall be saved.
Why do you say that?
Because again, Jesus said many will say in that day Lord Lord, haven’t I done so many wonderful works in your name. I have prophesied in your name, I have cast out devils in your name, and in your name I have done many wonderful works, but the LORD will say “depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Jesus is talking to people who have done admirable works and to us when we see works like this, we say “Oh the Lord has to be with him, when they die, we think…oh we know they made it.
But you cannot base your salvation on works, because there are a whole lot of people that are doing some marvelous works, yes they can actually prophesy, yes they can cast out devils, but they secretly live in sin!
And now we are starting to see a whole lot of stuff come to light and that is just the tip of the iceberg!
It doesn’t matter if you speak in tongues and shout all over the place, it doesn’t matter if you preach and cause people to be saved, it doesn’t matter if you prophesy and it comes to pass, it doesn’t matter if you lay hands and people are healed.
What matters is do you know Jesus and does Jesus know you! What matters is if change is being perfected in your life. Because salvation is a continuing work and when God saves you, He begins to make a change in your life!
Jesus told the Pharisees:
Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
And here it is he is talking to religious elite.
He is talking to those who knew God’s word and attempted to obey God’s word.
They were religious, but they didn’t believe in Jesus, they did not place their faith in JESUS. And the Lorde said, I go my way, and you will seek me, and it will be too late…you will die in your sins.
And get this part, if you die in your sins Jesus said “You cannot come where I’m going.”
And He is saying the same today, if you die in your sins, it doesn’t matter if you go to church, it doesn’t matter if you prophesy, it doesn’t matter if you healed many, doesn’t matter how much you give in offering, doesn’t matter how much you sing, how much you play, how much you serve in the church, how much you witness. IF YOU DIE IN YOUR SINS….YOU CANNOT GO WHERE JESUS IS…HE WILL SAY DEPART FROM ME YE WORKER OF INIQUITY.
Yeah I’m talking to some of you loud ones that act that want to like at how everyone else is living, but your missing the dirt in your own life because you’re so busy scrutinizing others and judging others just like the Pharisees.
You’re saying Amen thinking about other people but you better consider your ways. Because Jesus said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.