The other night I awoke from my sleep and as I lay there my spirit was troubled. I thought upon the issues surrounding the life of the Christian. I thought about separation from error and apostasy, I thought about separation from the world, from worldliness. I thought about spiritual decline and the love of the world in the lives of so many professing believers. I thought about the translation issue and how so few seemed to understand. The contemporary issues of the church and the believer swirled around in my mind. Am I right and so many wrong?
I had a sense of how isolated I was from so many around me, who claim to be believers. I began to cry out to God to give me wisdom and understanding. Lord, teach me your way, help me to discern where I am right and where I might be wrong.
As I lay there, suddenly out of the blue, there came to me the words of Jesus. “Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
I realized afresh that we cannot change the demands of Christ and the Words of Christ in order to open the gate to all those who profess to be believers. That renews our confidence on the narrow road we are walking. It also leaves us trembling for the many that seem to be self-deceived into thinking they are believers when they give so little evidence of it.
The Words of Jesus ring out, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).