A LETTER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND

HE IS COMING SOON

"It is the Lord!"

(John 21:7)

Lately I find myself stirred by unusual sounds. The ones that seem to come out of nowhere. I catch myself gazing up into the clouds that fill the otherwise blue sky. And often times I catch my mind wandering off to a place where there is nothing but silence.

From the time I first understood that Jesus was coming back someday, I began to notice these things more and more as the days and years passed by. Sometimes I’ll hear something that will make me think of a trumpet blast from Heaven. And when I look up at the clouds, I imagine them majestically parting for Jesus’ return. When those moments of silence sneak up on me, I sense being somewhere ten million miles from here, in a place like Heaven, or on the New Earth.

The short piece of Scripture above speaks of the time when the Apostle John and six others went fishing. Suddenly a voice from the shore calls out "Friends, haven't you any fish?" They answered “No.” Then the voice calls back "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." Before they knew it the nets were overflowing with large fish. There were so many that they had trouble hauling them in. John, knowing they had just experienced a miracle, called out to Peter “It is the Lord!” With this, Peter grabbed his garment and jumped into the water and made his way to shore.

This was the third time that Jesus had shown himself to his disciples. I’m sure they were all excited, but Peter couldn’t wait to see Him. So much so, that he left the others behind to bring in the catch of fish. I’m with Peter. I can’t wait to see Jesus.

I don’t know when, but one of these days Jesus is going to surprise us…

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”

“It is the Lord!”

“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

“Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1st Thessalonians 4:16-18)

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

(Matthew 7:14)

If you are a Christian, you know that the small gate that is mentioned above symbolizes Jesus, and that the narrow road that leads to eternal life symbolizes following Him.

Following Jesus means spending time with Him in prayer, and in reading, studying, and meditating on the Holy Bible. It means worshipping Him from your heart, and living to please Him each day by becoming more like Him as you adopt the teachings that are found in the Word of God. But it also means letting go of old practices that are not pleasing to God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)

Have you ever wondered why only a few find this way that Jesus pointed out? His name is known throughout the world, so where are all the people who should be following Him? Many know His name but are following someone, or something else. And there are many more who aren’t following anyone at all.

When you look around the world it is filled with many different religions, with many different teachings, including Christianity. An online search said…

“It may surprise you to know that there are over 4,000 recognized religions in the world. These religions consist of churches, congregations, faith groups, tribes, cultures, and movements. Even though there are so many, three-quarters of the world's population practice one of the five major religions.”

“Religion has played a highly important role in the lives of human beings. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are five of the great religions of the world.”

Do you know what the definition of a religion is? Here are a couple that I found in another search…

“Religion is a set of organized beliefs, practices, and systems that most often relate to the belief and worship of a controlling force, such as a personal god or another supernatural being.”

“The scholars of philosophy of religion see the definitions of religion tend to suffer from one of two problems: they are either too narrow and exclude many belief systems which most agree as religious, or they are too vague, wide, generic and ambiguous, suggesting that just about any and everything is a religion.”

Well, first, Jesus is not a religion! He is the Son of God who came to the world to save it from Hell.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

People that follow Jesus’ teachings are called Christians. Believe it or not it took me over forty years to figure that out. I thought that you just went to church once a week and “poof” you were a Christian. Nope. It’s not quite that easy. Looking at the small gate and narrow road in the verse above will help explain why for some people becoming a Christian isn’t as easy as many pastors like to make it look. Do I mean that there are certain rules and regulations? Nope. Keep on reading.

The small gate: why did Jesus say that it was small? Could only one person fit through it at a time? (So much for the visual.) In the King James Version of the Bible, the word “strait” is used in place of “small”. The Greek word for strait is Stenos. It means “narrow (from obstacles standing close about.)”

I looked up the word “strait” online and this is what it said. “Used in reference to a situation characterized by a specified degree of trouble or difficulty.” The example it gave was "The economy is in dire straits."

That definition fits Jesus’ meaning pretty well. He tells us in John 16:33 that “In this world you will have trouble.” And looking at other Bible translations, I found that a couple of them used wording that describes the small gate and narrow road a little differently, perhaps more literally.

“Because the gate is narrow and the way is hard pressed(a) which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Footnote: (a) Or the way is afflicted.” This is from the (The Scriptures 2009, or TS2009. It says that it is used with permission from Institute for Scripture Research)

“For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (ESV English Standard Version)

So, why is the small gate considered an “obstacle”? It’s like the online comment above stated, that the word “strait” references “a situation characterized by a specified degree of trouble or difficulty.”

You see, many cannot except what the Bible says about two things in particular, one, His birth from a virgin, and two, His resurrection from the dead after being dead for three days. There is another that people have a hard time grasping, and that is the concept of eternal life, living forever, no more death. The Prophet Isaiah foretold of Jesus’ birth...

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

An angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph the man betrothed to the virgin Mary...

"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us").”

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:23, 21)

Concerning Jesus’ resurrection, He said to his disciples...

"We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise." (Mark 10:33-34)

Isaiah prophesied Jesus’ resurrection in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah...

“After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11)

(Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53:12 foretell the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It is said that the 53rd chapter of Isaiah is forbidden for the Jews to read. I believe this is because of the unmistakable details of the crucifixion and resurrection, which mirror exactly what happened according to many eyewitnesses, which you can read about in all four Gospels in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is probably because the Jewish people might put two and two together and understand that Jesus truly was their Messiah that had come, the same one that their nation at that time had crucified.

The most heard verse heard from the Bible is…

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

(A quick note before moving on. Notice the first part of John 3:16 where it says, ”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” I guess you could say that this is what it’s all about. God loves the world, including you and me, so much so, that He allowed his Son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross for us.)

All these things, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus, and the promise of living forever can be hard to understand, and hard to believe, but you must at least try to believe what the Bible tells us, beginning with the creation of our Earth, if you are to enter through the gate at all. If you do not believe that God created the world, then you probably won’t believe the rest. Those who do choose to believe will live forever, God has promised us that. But for those who choose not to believe, they will spend eternity in Hell. It’s the price for not believing the God who gave them life and everything in it.

If a person is in doubt about any of these things, they should get alone with God and try talking to Him. They should ask Him to make himself real to them in some way. They should ask Him to help them understand these difficult things in the Bible.

Speaking of doubting God…After Jesus had risen from the grave, He showed himself to his disciples, except for one who was not there, Thomas. Because he did not see Jesus, he said…

“Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." 

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:24-29)

“Blessed are those who have NOT seen and yet have believed.” That includes you and me. FAITH, TRUST, BELIEVE. And like they say, it is not a blind faith. In the times of the early church there were some miracles that were manifested to help in people’s unbelief, things like the healing of diseases and infirmities.

God still works miracles today, but I believe they are rare in the public eye, and only done when God has seen fit to heal someone to encourage their faith and the faith of others who witnessed the miracle. There are many who have prayed for miracles but have not received them. I am one of those. But we will receive them in God’s timing and in His way. I have faith in that, in my loving God.

It's normal to have doubts about these things at first. But once you can say to yourself “I believe that Jesus did die for me and rose from the grave three days later.” and mean it in your heart, the doubting will begin to disappear, and Jesus will begin to make Himself more and more real to you as you continue learning about Him and listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak within you, helping you to remember all that Jesus said.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

But there are still others, like myself, who had to be broken in their heart and spirit to enable the walls of doubt to start coming down, so that we would finally call on God and ask Him to save us from this dying world, ourselves, and especially from spending eternity in Hell.

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

For me, I had to lose everything that meant anything to me before I would humble myself and tell God that I needed his help. But it doesn’t need to be that way. When you look around at what’s happening in the world right now and realize that it’s on a collision course with destruction, you should be asking yourself “What if this really is the end? What’s going to happen when I die? Will I just cease to exist, or will I really go to a place like Hell, or Heaven?” Sooner or later, we will all have to face our Maker, either to be welcomed to a wonderful eternity, or sentenced to an everlasting Hell for not believing that Jesus died for us.

(I realize that I mention these things in my writings quite a bit, but we must choose before it’s too late. And each of us can never know if too late is ten years from now, or tomorrow. Think about that.)

We only have the two choices…

Heaven or Hell.

There is only one way that you can enter through the gate that leads to Heaven and eternal life. That way is in believing that Jesus is the Son of God, and that everything the Gospels say about Him are true, that He truly did die on the cross to save us from Hell. He said...

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV)

That’s why the “small, or strait gate” can be considered hard, troubling, or difficult. It takes sincere faith in what Jesus did for us. When trying to describe what faith in Jesus is to someone that has not been born again can be difficult. This is the Bible’s definition of faith.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (NIV)

This verse is saying that we are trusting what we know about Jesus, and hoping with all hope that He is truly the Savior of the world foretold in the Bible. We cling to this hope with confidence that God is real, that the Bible is true, and even though we cannot see these things our hearts tell us that they are true. That’s true faith. One other verse about faith says...

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

God loves his children and wants to reward those who earnestly seek Him. I’m not sure if this reward is one of the crowns that we’re promised, or if it’s something else. Whatever it is, it must be amazing. If God can create the stars, the moon, and the sun, He can give us just about anything that He wants. Praise the Lord!

Moving forward, yes, faith can be hard. But there is another word. It is the word trust. If in our hearts, we can find a place to “trust” what Moses wrote about the creation of the world, for example, it’s a great start (Genesis 1:1 NIV) to trusting and understanding everything else that God wants us to know, from the beginning to the end…and then…to the new beginning without end.

The only other option is what so called “scientists” call the big bang “theory”. They call it theory because they can’t prove it. So that leaves us with two choices, either an eternal being, God, created the world and people to live on it, or an explosion happened somewhere in outer space a trillion years ago sending all the pieces to our universe, creating the perfect setting to sustain life, create human bodies with an incredible system of healing itself, and minds to create things from the many resources that our planet just happen to have when they all showed up and turned into a ball we now call earth.

Personally, I’ve seen diagrams of the human body and learned that it is perfectly designed for creating and sustaining life, from birth throughout adulthood. All the organs are placed in perfect succession performing amazing tasks that help our bodies to function perfectly. Well, most of the time.

And when I look into the wonderous eyes of the newborn baby, I truly believe, trust, that that little thing didn’t just happen because a rock exploded in space. If so, I’d like to see that rock. But until then I will put my faith and trust in a God whose book tells us exactly how all of it came to be, the Bible. It tells me how that baby came to be. It tells me the history of the world. And it tells me how it’s going to end. And that’s important to know if you’re interested.

Now that we’ve entered through the small gate, what’s next? The narrow “road” that leads to life. The first thing we need to understand is that the hardest work has already been done by Jesus.

The narrow road comes after you have been saved. This is important because so many people believe that they must be prepared, or “cleaned up” before they can enter God’s Kingdom. That is wrong. Faith in what Jesus did at the cross and His resurrection is the ONLY thing that is required to enter God’s Kingdom. This is contrary to what some religions teach. Some say that you must do this or that to qualify for Heaven. The thief on the cross next to Jesus’, asked Him to remember him when He entered His Kingdom. That man put his faith and trust in Jesus’ claim that He was the Son of God sent to the world to save it, not condemn it. That’s all! His dying plea was all that he could offer Jesus, and it was enough.

When Jesus came to Earth, living a sinless life, he fulfilled the law that Moses had given the Israelites, in the Old Testament. His crucifixion, and the blood that He shed, were the sacrifices that fulfilled God the Fathers conditions to rid the world of death and sin in the lives of those who would put their faith in what Jesus had done.

Jesus’ last words before he died were “It is finished.” His mission to save mankind was complete. The only thing left was to rise from the dead. At that point, Jesus the man, became much more. He became the small gate that led to eternal life. When He rose from the dead it defeated death for everyone that would put their faith in Him.

Because of what Jesus did, we don’t need to do anything but believe. That’s all the thief on the cross did. It’s all I did. It’s all that any born again believer ever did. That’s why you hear many Christians referred to as “Believers”.

The narrow “road” is the one that prepares us for eternity. The Bible tells us that we will rule and reign with Jesus someday. It also tells us that we will judge angels. This is where preparation comes in. This is why we follow Jesus’ teachings, to become more like Him so that we are better prepared to rule with Him.

In Thayer’s Greek Definitions, “narrow” is defined ‘metaphorically to trouble, afflict, distress’. In Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries is says ‘afflict, narrow, throng, suffer tribulation, trouble’.

Jesus walked this narrow road before we did. He suffered physically to the point of death. He suffered mentally and spiritually as well, in His times of great distress. By going through all these things Jesus became our advocate and high priest. Those things qualified Him to help us during our times of trouble and distress. The writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote this speaking of Jesus…

“For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18)

You might ask, “Why do I have to go through these troubles and distress if I’m already saved?” The first thing that we need to understand here is that everything we go through is for God’s glory, and for our good. Each trial that we go through, big, or small, leads to spiritual growth that will help us to become leaders that will rule and reign with Christ in the future. The Apostle Paul wrote…

“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.” (Philippians 1:29-30 NIV)

Paul told the Corinthians…

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 

If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.” (2nd Corinthians 1:3-6 NIV)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

When you become a born again Christian, you begin to change from the inside out. And in the case of suffering, we can look at our troubles with a sense of joy because we have suffered for Jesus like He suffered for us. If a person is not born again, they probably won’t understand how we can feel any joy in times when most people would be feeling fear and worry. The Bible says that Jesus went through all that He did because he knew what would come after He had suffered and died. And now we too can look past our troubles to the day of seeing our Savior face to face, and hearing words like “Well done good and faithful servant.”

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The narrow road is not just about suffering. It’s also about growing to know the Lord Jesus more intimately. It’s about learning how to truly love people, learning how to really forgive, and so much more. When we walk the road of faith, God is pleased and glorified. And in all these things that we experience we can be improved for our own good. That’s a good thing to remember whenever you’re going through something difficult.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

The narrow road can often times be like a “proving ground” for some. There are many who say, “Yes, I have entered through the small gate.” But they have only gone through the motions. You might ask “What does that mean?”

Many people call themselves a Christian. And many of them will say that they know Jesus. There are many people who have sat in a church on a Sunday morning, or on a holiday like Christmas or Easter and then that claim they are a Christian, or know who Jesus is, but not really know Him.

There are even people who have been going to church every Sunday for years that don’t know Jesus. They know that Jesus died on the cross, and that He rose three days later according to something they’ve read or heard from a pastor, but do they really know Him in their heart, or is it just in their mind? Knowing and believing who Jesus is are two very different things. Jesus gave us a vivid warning about claiming to know Him when we really don’t…

“Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' "Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!' 

"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." (Luke 13:22-30)

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