Daily Bread 3-7-19

Luke 13:24-28

24. Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

25. 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 not whence ye are:

26. Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

27. But he shall say, I tell you, I know not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

28. 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.

ref. - v.25 - Lk 6:46 - And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Mt 7:23 - And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

v.26 - Tit 1:16 - They profess that they know Good; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

v.27 - Mt 7:23 - And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity

v.28 - Mt 8:11,12 - And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and from the west, snd shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Scripture given to us to make us look in the mirror. We look around and "serve" God so that we can be seen and acknowledged. We look for the approval of men, even though this scripture says that we will be hated. We try to show others how "holy" we are and try to put ourselves out there as "examples", which also goes against this gospel, and we wonder why we come up short or even deny that we are without. Although there are many great examples of holy men, in the Bible and still today, we must rather focus ourselves in Jesus Christ. Trying to become those men that are endeared by the world will not bring us to enter into those gates. We deny him in that we think that we hold some power or knowledge that will help. But, in reality, we do not help but rather hinder his power. It brings to memory the many failures of Peter. He had great intentions, he loved the Lord so much, but he kept stepping out of the bounds of Christ's Lordship. He kept getting corrected and he kept getting back in line. If we remember correctly, this obedience to correction and willingness to get back in line is much of the reason why Jesus said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."Mt 16:18. Peter was no more a perfect man than any of us, but he loved the Lord. He remained under the gospel that Christ was teaching, and that meant also the gospel that included repentance. Today, the men who walk amongst us that claim that they are great examples, and claim that they are the ones to follow, are in great jeopardy. They not only are looking to themselves rather than Christ, but they are misleading others to look at them and other men instead of Christ. They are busy proclaiming their accomplishments and not the accomplishments of Christ. These are the men that Christ was addressing in this scripture. And this also pertains to us. No matter what we do on this earth, if we want to see Jesus and join him in heaven, we must not get out from under the never ending grace and mercy that is in Jesus Christ. If we fail, we must do according to the gospel and ask him to lift us back up. If we stumble or become lost, we must call out to him and be found. If we are strong, we must glorify him in everything. No matter what condition that we are in, we must stay obedient to this gospel. This includes repentance and remission of sins, sanctification of our souls, baptism of the Holy Ghost, and the willingness to be obedient whether found in strength or weakness, sickness or health, better or worse, richer or poorer. We are joined to God in Jesus Christ and to him shall go our allegiance and our love. He is our Lord, he is our Savior, and through him and only him shall we see God some day. So , read this scripture and strive to come in at the straight gate, that gate is Jesus Christ!! Have a great day!!