If you have ever watched an old cartoon of a cat and a bird in a cage, then you will know that almost always in those cartoons the cat wants to eat the bird sitting in its cage. The cat will just watch intently, trying to figure out a way to get at that bird. It might reach through the bars of the cage in an attempt to somehow snag the bird in its paws, but because that barrier is there that little bird can sit in comfort, safely inside the cage.
That cage acts as a barrier, or a separation, between the two creatures, with one on one side, and the other on the other. Come Judgment Day, this is very similar to what is going to happen when the Lord separates the good from the evil.
Luke 13:23-30 ”Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
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.”
Strive to enter in at the strait gate. What does this mean? Well strive means to try earnestly and persistently to achieve a result. You could say that a basketball player who practices on the court for hours each day is striving to become a better player. A child who repeatedly tries to tie their shoes strives to get it right. And the word strait refers to something that is narrow, just like a strait in the ocean.
There are so many people who want to think that they are going to heaven, but will not be able to enter in because they didn’t go through the correct route. They will try to go around the door, which is Christ, and get in some other way, but like my windows on my house, the only way in is through the door.
John 10:7-9 “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Right now the narrow pathway that leads to the door of salvation is open. Jesus is the door and His Word is the path that we need to walk on. But many people don’t want to be on the narrow path. They want to do their own things, trying to go their own way to try to get to Heaven, but they won’t be able to. This is the narrow path on which we all need to travel. It is the only way.
On Judgement Day make sure that you are on the right side, and are not left trying to get in. There will be many people like this, trying to get in, but by that time it will be too late.
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 