"Strive to enter in at the narrow gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter and will not be able." Luke 13:24 KJV
What do you think about this verse? We might want to use the Bill Clinton hermeneutic...."It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." The evangelical today can easily pull up any number of interpretations on this topic....and then simply choose the one that they prefer. In fact that is the common method of interpretation on anything today. If we want to believe that 'few' means 'many'....then there are more than enough well-known preachers available to support that view. To at least feign an honest examination they might want to hear what J. C. Ryle thought about it.....for he felt it important enough to write strongly on the subject. You can easily access this by Googling.....'J. C. Ryle....few will be saved.'
My mother fought belief in Jesus Christ until she was eighty-nine years old. She probably had the least capable person evangelizing her for the last thirty-four years.....me. We had more in-depth conversations that I could ever recall. I could not give up....even though she kept clinging to pride. She spent the last few years in a nursing home....about two miles from my home....and I saw her almost every day. In the last year of her life.....with all of the trivialities of life having faded away....her heart softened....and her pride melted. And yet I can still only hope...that as she saw death as imminent....that the total absence of defiance....and the now gentle spirit....and her brightened eyes when the gospel was mentioned....might be indicative of what was going on in her heart.
Cling to pride if you want dear reader....but in order to do that....you will have to work very hard to avoid what God's Word to you says about all of this. You will have to ignore at times....skip at other times....pick your favorite interpreter at times....and you may even downright lash out at someone if you feel cornered...for we no longer have to be...born again....not in this politicized evangelical culture. When even a king or a queen dies....they will....as any of us commoners.....stand before the Lord of Glory....to see if their name had been written down in the Lamb's Book of Life....and if they are of the blood-washed redeemed....who had been born anew....and who even as toiling pilgrims as we are while on this earth....trusted solely on the works of Christ....shouting His praise....pleading His mercies for others.
The iconic 60s pop song once warned of...."people talking without speaking....hearing without listening"...who...."bowed and prayed to the neon god they made." Our pulpits today are the same...."talking without speaking"....but it wouldn't matter anyway for we are in the habit of...."hearing without listening." May God....for His precious and glorious name alone....to His glory alone....if it should be within His perfect will....show us the two gates....and lead us to the narrow gate....where there only is redemption!
