The Narrow Road

As you read this I hope you are in good spirits and enjoying your day. As the title states I'll be talking to the narrow road. I'll try not to talk ad nauseam but I feel it needs to hammered home so forgive me in advance. The primary passage is Matthew 7:13-23. I'm sure many have heard or know it but not the seriousness in which it was stated. Don't take what I give you as the exact truth but examine for yourself also and gather a complete understanding. In v. 13-14 Jesus tells us which gate to enter for the wide gate leads to destruction and the narrow leads to life. Daily we should examine ourselves as Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 13:5. A proven tactic for me is such: I know God is watching me at all times, so the movies, television, music and activities throughout my day I bring into question is God going to approve of it or not. 

Reading this passage I wondered why Jesus prefaced v. 21-23  with a warning of false prophets. It makes all the sense, we all attend church and depending on denomination we have a priest, pastor etc. Leonard Ravenhill stated: "If Jesus had preached the same message that ministers preach today, He would never have been crucified." We look to them for guidance and deliverance of the Word and not all are who they say they are. Some are inwardly ravening wolves v. 15 and we shall know them by their fruits v. 16; v. 17-20 describes the fruits of a good and bad tree. The fruits I believe Jesus is warning us to is the gospel that they preach. In Acts 26: 15-18 Jesus informed Paul what he was to minister. Furthermore in 2 Corinthians Paul describes his ministry in full detail; but specifically 

2 Corinthians 4:16 and more closely v. 3 but if our gospel be hid , it is hid to them that are lost. Lastly 1 John 2:2-4 tells us that Jesus is the PROPITIATION for the sins of the world, and we know Him if we keep his commandments and those who don't are liars. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I implore with all my strength to grab your Bible after a sermon to see that was preached if it was truth or not Acts 17:11. You alone are responsible for your relationship with God the Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ. 

May I detour shortly I pray you read Hebrews 12 in it's entirety but looking at v. 14 follow peace with all men, and holiness, without such no man shall see the Lord. Many profess to be a follower of Christ but their has no such peace or holiness; I can assure you the religion they follow, as scripture says, will not see the Lord. 

Moving onto v. 21 We can excluded all those of other religions, Buddhist etc., those who don't believe in Christ, all those of the world and those who have no regard for the Word of God. Jesus is very specific and says those who say Lord, Lord. That statement encompasses all Christians and he finishes the verse with only those who do the will of the Father. Not our will, but the Father alone. In v. 22 it gets more specific, those who prophesied in his name and performed wonderful works. Many of Christians outwardly live a strict Christian life, but God says he will judge the secrets of men. As stated earlier, God watches us consistently. Don't be deceived you cannot mock God; omnipotent and omnipresent He is! What rejection it will be to many when Lord Jesus Christ says: depart from me ye that work iniquity! That's why Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. When you take that cross there is no detours or shortcuts. When you are on the highway can you make changes to the highwasy as you drive to accommodate yourself? 

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this judgement: v. 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation

In conclusion many profess to be saved but are you saved from; lust, fear, doubt, anger, pride, covetousness, love of money, love of self, sensuality, boasting, unholy, false accusers, incontinent, fierce and despisers of good. Also Revelation 21:8. It's all in the Bible. If you have any of these I'm begging and pleading with you to humble yourself before God and ask Him to rid your spirit and life of any of these afflictions, so satan has nothing on you. Apply Galatians 5:22 to your life for there is no law against such. One last point on the terror of being away from God for eternity. In Mark 5 when Jesus went to cast the demons from the unclean man. The demon named Legion and stated "we are many" and they besought Jesus, asking urgently and fervently, not to send them out of the country back to hell but rather into the swine; where two thousand drowned. Not even demons want to go back to hell. That shows how terrible it is.

Hebrews 10:26 for if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of truth, there remainth no more sacrifice of sins.

I pray earnestly that you examine your walk with Christ, carry your cross and die to this world. My your way be narrow and your gate be straight. Leonard Ravenhill stated and I believe: The greatest miracle God can perform is to take an unholy person out of this unholy world. Make him holy then put him back into this unholy world and keep him holy in the midst of this crooked and perverted world. God's Love and Blessings to you. 

Seeking Judgement

I pray as you read this you are in good spirits. What a wonderful God we serve! There is this big misconception about being judged. I was listening to Paul Washer and he made a statement, "People tell me "judge not lest ye be judged. I always tell them, twist not scripture lest ye be like satan." At first thought I was like, clever come back! Then as I searched the Bible I came across some scriptures and as Christians we have an obligation to judge and be judged. Not in the context to send someone to hell. We are to judge the actions and not the person. Jesus said himself in John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement. What that scripture indicates is that we are to first correct our actions and make right our walk with Christ, being blameless as possible in our ways. Then judging according to what the scripture says and not hypocritically.

You can't expect anyone to take you serious when they know you're not living the Word. When we are born anew and filled with the Holy Spirit we must not stand by and let someone go astray. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about this. Contrary to belief you can be stern and gentle at the same time. Pulling that person aside and politely and directly correcting their wrong and having an explanation on why you have done so. I use 2 Timothy 4:2 as a reference. God has no joy in seeing the wicked perish, and neither should you. No matter how we feel about the person. I encourage you to examine yourself and your spirit if you feel being concerned about someone lost is problem for you. 

1 Corinthians 6 :1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? ² Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ³ Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? ⁴ If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

⁵ I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

Main cause for this post is I read Ezekiel 3:17-21, which is powerful passage. I'm begging you to read it and adhere to it. In case you don't, for the sake of brevity it states that you must warn a man wicked or righteous of his iniquity, because if he  dies in that sin the blood is on your hands! So spread the Word of God and pray as Paul did for boldness. A question if I may, why wouldn't you warn someone lost? Where you not lost and in need of rebuke from your ways? Judgement rendered by someone who loves you with the intervention of God set you on the narrow road. 

It would be utterly selfish to let a soul perish if you can help. Does a fish know that he is wet? Well how can a sinner know if he is sinning if we ( Christians) refuse to tells him. I see too many people who sit and talk about others who are sinning and backsliding a let them be. Even if you know they don't want to hear it, tell them anyway. What bother is it to you other than rejection? If you ever get weary in  remember Jesus warned us that we would be rejected; and blessed we are when man hates us for sake of Jesus Christ, because greater is the reward in Heaven. I plead with you to pray for God's wisdom and knowledge so you are able to be of service to all whom you come in contact with. Also be ready to tell them how awesome our God is. Petition with them to repent and to find a church home. I don't know about you but I want everyone to experience what a relationship with God is. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ we all have at least one person we are thinking about as we read this. I pray you go and share God's word with them, that they won't perish. Don't let fear or a timid spirit, which you have not, dishearten you. When you are convicted by the Spirit to preach or spread the Word to someone, do so. In future occurrences when convicted, it will become easier to ignore the Spirit and God's will won't be done. Don't assume someone knows right from wrong, you may very well be the first person to help them out or they may be too proud or shameful to ask for help. Sometimes people want to know that those closer to them care about them opposed to hearing it from a stranger or passerby.  Martin Luther King stated: Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Be that light that gets someone out the darkness and the love that leads them to God.

I hope you didn't think I was going to end this without informing you of the importance of seeking guidance and counsel of those deeper in faith. Do you? You don't want to be lost like a ball in tall grass. Christians have to seek judgement personally, it is easy to be deceived when we have found God. When we rely solely on our heart we can fall susceptible to deception. Its a daily walk, not a one time thing. Do you think the devils just leave you alone; when you're on that narrow path is when you're important to the devils. Jeremiah 17:9 states: the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it. Don't act on a feeling alone. That is why we are to constantly pray and consult with God. No Christian is bigger than their prayer. Rid yourself of autonomy, shame and pride. Isaiah 1:17 tells us learn to do well, seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless and plead for the widow . We have no chance at being perfect Christians and there is always room for improvement. When others take time to correct you for straying it's because God loves you. He knows you aren't listening and sends someone to give you a warning. Exercise your discernment and keep what is good. Hebrews 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Now how are you going to explain to God being rude to one of His angels, whom he sent to bless and protect you. In closing, if we consider others before ourselves and love our neighbors as we love ourselves its hard to deviate from what God ask of us. God's blessings and love.

Discern the Word

I hate seeing the Word of God distorted for financial gain. It is with the preaching that is taking place in "churches" a term I use loosely. I spoke on it previously but I decided to be meticulous in my search and I'll share with you. Any scripture is KJV and I exhort you review for reference and study. Religious self help books are popping up everywhere. 1 Corinthians 2:14-15 tells us speak not in man's wisdom but instead the Holy Ghost. Which sounds like foolishness to a natural man who isn't spiritually discerned. The gospel is extremely contradictory to the way we want to live life. Humbling yourself, living a simple life and conceding autonomy fully to God. 

Within the church many are praying so God may be the provision to their banking account and desires of life. Who wouldn't pray to God if they thought their wishes could be granted. Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Why would Jesus sow a seed of anything else? Did Jesus not flee when they tried to make him king which comes with riches John 6:15? Whats on this earth that's not in the heavens? The church has never been this popular but been less powerful. Critical and cynical my comments may be, but there is truth. For starters, the church's popularity in America is booming but our family in Christ abroad are dealing with persecution and destroying of the church. Luke 6:22 blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the Son of man's sake. Luke 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. We love our pastors and shower them with gifts and the like. Now I'll leave you to decide which category you fall into. 

I was looking at some sermons of popular pastors online. I'll refrain from names. For any pastor to declare that disciples of Jesus were talking about abundance and riches in monetary terms and not spiritual and eternal life, I consider apostasy. For the sake of brevity, this is a blog and not a book I have to remind myself; we'll  look the influential prophet Paul. Looking at 2 Corinthians 11: 23:33 (please read) to point at a few, stoned, 39 lashes five times, beaten with rods and stoned; and called a babbler by philosophers. God willing we won't encounter this but to this day there are Christians who are. Our prayers for them. Imagine the state of his health, with little healthcare. Consider Paul's physical state. He had no wealth, do you really think abundance and riches where anywhere on his mind? In Acts 20 as he preached to the disciples v. 33 I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Then in 

1 Corinthians 2:1-2 that he wasn't wise or excellent in speech but that he knew Christ and Christ crucified. So if ANYONE gives you a scripture from any epistle from Paul about abundance and riches in this life, go and pray that the Lord mat spare his life Galatians 1:8-9. Lest we not forget all he had was his faith in Jesus Christ and those praying for him. Neither did he have a bible he was living the bible. If health and wealth was a measuring stick of how much God favored him, he'd be in bad shape.

The glory of God is colossal and that is an understatement. God doesn't need to shower us with blessings to show as a demonstration. As we see with Job, God allowed Satan to bring ruin to his estate, death to his children and his wife pleaded with him to curse God. Wherever you are in your faith could you envision such happening to you? Reverting back to Paul, 1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. There it is that word foolishness again. 2 Timothy 4:3 Christians acquiring their own teachers to preach what they want to hear. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. If the eye is evil then the body is full of darkness. Paul speaking of the Bereans, Acts 17:11 who received the word but searched themselves to make sure it was truth. Bad preaching corrupts character. Matthew 24 warns of false Christ and prophets. Also v. 28 tells us wherever there is a carcass the eagles will gather. That carcass being the false prophet, a dead man; the eagles, those who swoop in to eat what he is teaching.  Hosea 4:6 (please read!) There is a reason we are warned against mammon. One scripture I see used to deceive is Matthew 13:8 but if you read to Matthew 13:11 it is given for us to now the kingdom of heaven; what is sown in this life is to be compensated in eternal life.  It leaves me quizzical that Christians are eager  to prosper in this life, read 1 Corinthians 2:9. If granted a peek into the heavens one would faint upon first glance. 

As we concluded, be informed, looking to prosper is all about self-preservation. Don't think God doesn't want you to enjoy life, but do so seeking his kingdom only and if its thy will you'll have it. If we are going to follow any tradition in America I implore with you suffer for Christ and put others before yourself. As Christians we are to find glory in suffering not a burden. Matthew 24:13 he who endures is saved. Philippians 1:29 not only believe but suffer. Christians must sitting under preaching that convicts their spirit which is the first work of the Spirit John 16:8. Consider yourself because many will perish for disregarding the Holy Spirit Confession of faith in Christ has no merit. He finishes what he starts and the fruits of the Spirit are the true proof. The Bible is absolute or obsolete. Sow the seed and spread the Word. God's Blessings and love to all.