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Few Will Be Ready

Jesus warned in Matthew 24:36-44 -

36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 43But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

Before the world was flooded, hardly no one was thinking about God because they were too busy (Matthew 24:38,39). Eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage aren't neccessarily sinful things, but the people were spending their time and thoughts on things that God wasn't invited to be a part of. This is the lust of the flesh (1 John 2:16).

They were very sinful in other ways too - Genesis 6:1-7 says, "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them."

Genesis 6:11,12 adds, "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."

The only people who were living for God was Noah and his family (Genesis 7:7). This was a very small percentage of the people who went to heaven when they left this world. Jesus mentioned this event to expalin that a small percentage of people will be taken out of the world when He returns in the clouds.

So, why will there be a small percentage of people taken to heaven when Jesus returns? In Mark 8:35-37 Jesus said, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

This means that before someone gets saved, they need to consciously or unconsciously “lose” or “give up” every area of their life and be willing to let Jesus take over every area of their life (their thoughts, conversations with people who will listen (Deuteronomy 6:7), what they watch and listen to (explained in http://chriswaug5.wix.com/tvandmusic), where they go, what they spend their time doing each day, future goals, physical safety (Matthew 10:28), and the way they handle their money (see http://chriswaug5.wix.com/giving)). The purpose of life is for people to literally give up their lives and follow Jesus. (For instructions on how to begin to follow Jesus, see http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap39). Just think how much better our world would be if more people lived that way. Life would become so less stressful if people would focus on doing that until they die because this is why people are on earth right now. This is definitely something to think about before someone makes his or her decision to become a Christian. God gives people all these years on the earth to test them to see if they will spend more of their time doing what they want to do or doing what Jesus wants them to do. Hebrews 11:24-26 have the same idea as Matthew 16:25-26 - Just like Moses could have done, we can spend our lives living like kings, or we can spend our lives following Jesus (explained in http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap39).

In our day and time, it's obvious that few people live this way. Similarily, Luke 13:22-24 says, "And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 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."

In Dr. John MacArthur’s book The Gospel According to Jesus, he said, “The Greek word for “strive” is agonizomai, implying an agonizing, intense, purposeful struggle. It is the same word used 1 Corinthians 9:25 of an athlete battling to win a victory.It is also used in Colossians 4:12 of Epaphras laboring fervently, and in 1 Timothy 6:12 of the Christian who “fights the good fight of faith.” It is a struggle, a battle, an extreme effort.”

In other words, the word ‘strive’ means to make every effort. A lot of people who have read Luke 13:22-24 may be trying to figure out why Jesus said that, because it seems that He meant that someone has to labor and work in order to be saved. However, that isn’t what He meant. Multitudes of unsaved people are taught that they can be saved if they believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins so they can go to heaven. As a result, the unsaved person has two choices. If they believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, they will go to heaven. If they don’t believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, they won’t go to heaven. There are people who really get saved when they choose to believe because their hearts were prepared to receive Jesus before they believed (The Parable of the Sower - Matthew 13:1-23). Although, the tragedy is that few people get saved when they are simply left with the decision to either believe or not to believe. The reason this happens is because they don’t strive to enter in at the straight gate (Luke 13:22-24). This means that people need to make every effort (try very hard) to follow Jesus (explained in http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap39) from that moment on, no matter who or what circumstances try to stop them. If they are willing to live that way “from that moment on and for the rest of their life”, then they are ready to get saved (They need to trust Jesus’ death on the cross and His shed blood to erase their sins and let them into heaven when they leave this world). So, the question is, “Why do few people get saved?” The answer is, “They don’t strive to enter in at the straight gate (Luke 13:22-24).” This is basically the same question the person asked Jesus in Luke 13:23. The person asked Jesus, “Lord, are there few that be saved?” In Luke 13:24, Jesus answered this question. Jesus said, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

In conclusion, the evidence that was given in this sermon proves that Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:37 will happen. Jesus definitely will not force Himself on people; if they aren't willing to strive to enter in at the straight gate (Luke 13:24), they will be like those who drowned in Noah's day.

If you have prayed or made a decision to believe that Jesus died for your sins on the cross, asked Him to come into your heart, or trusted Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood to erase your sins and let you into Heaven, etc., but you haven't been living the way this sermon has described, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure

If you have never prayed or made a decision to trust Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood to erase your sins and let you into Heaven, you must be willing to follow Jesus from this moment on and for the rest of your life before you trust Jesus to save you. This website will tell you how - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven

If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure that you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), you need to be sure - please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven