Two Gates - Two Paths - Two Destinations
Two Gates – Two Paths
Two Destinations
The scriptures are clear, in this world and age of man there are Two Gates and Two Paths and we must carefully choose which one we will follow because they are also Two Different destinations. Some teach and many believe that all paths lead to God, scripture says that is not true. It is a lie. Though there are some paths that lead to the same places, these two, that are of God do not.
Whether you are a follower of Christ or not makes no difference, the two gates and the two paths are still before you and you will follow one or the other and arrive at the destination at the end of the path you follow. Since this article is for those that are or desire to be true followers of Jesus Christ the Son of God and Lord of this final age of man, we will see what scripture has to say about these paths and which one followers of Christ are required to follow to arrive at their correct destination.
I personally believe that after being born again according to scripture, this is one of the most important things that a true follower of Christ must understand. Yet is is seldom talked about or taught in this day by those professing to be of Christ. To those that do not believe that it is important to follow ALL the instructions given to the followers of Christ or that you do not have to endure to the end, you must read and understand these scriptures as they will prove that you must endure to the end to receive salvation and entry into Eternity as you inherit the earth at the end of this final age of mankind – at the judgment seat. Ignore these scriptural truths at your own peril.
Here is the place to say as I always do; Do not believe what any man, including me, tries to teach you until and unless you have confirmed it with the scriptures and the Holy Spirit and both agree it is truth.
To proceed we must first look to scripture to see if this is an important issue that deserves further study and understanding so we do not waste our valuable time on non important issues.
Matt 7:13-14 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Enter by the narrow gate. That is a command by Jesus Christ to ALL that desire to be His disciples and follow Him. This sets the stage for us, from this statement we understand that the narrow gate is the entry to His chosen path and ALL that will follow Him must walk through this gate and along this path to the end.. Now first He tells us about another gate, NOT of His choosing. As we look at it we find that it is wide- anything can enter it. Its is easy to find and walk through this gate. Then it leads to a wide and comfortable path, with many walking on it. There is much casual fellowship and no restrictions along the way. No one is going to dislike you on it, it is wide, anything goes. Believe what you want. Do your own thing just enjoy this nice easy path. You can believe anything that makes you happy, there are folks from every denomination under the sun there walking along this nice comfortable path. Now you have come to the end of this beautiful wide path. Remember it is not the chosen Path of Jesus the Lord of this the final age of man, the gate keeper of eternity. So what did you expect? Not this I am sure because your jesus has no rules, no requirements, you do not have to worry, everyone loves you, you have offended no one, you have gone with the crowd and now you have reached the end of the path, you are about to receive your reward. There in front of you sitting on the big white throne is God, with a terribly sad look on is face and on His right you see Jesus, equally sad, a few tears leaking down His cheek. In front of them is a large book with names hand written in it. Jesus says to His father, I am sorry his name is not in here. I have double checked, it is not here. And then you hear and understand as these words are spoken to you. Who are you, where are you from? I never knew you, into the lake of fire, you do not belong to us.
You are being sent to destruction, there is no second chance here because your name is not in the book. The one kept by the keeper of the gate to eternity the Son of God has been searched and you are not in it. Oh God why am I here, I talked about you, I helped some poor, I gave money to the “church:, I did many things you said to do. “You are here because you LOVED YOURSELF MORE THAN YOU LOVED Me and you sought your comfort and pleasure instead of following My instructions to follow after Me, sorry you made your choice and you have received your proper reward”.
And now we look at the NARROW GATE, the gate chosen by the Lord for those that would belong to Him, those that have counted the cost and agreed to the terms Those that do not expect that they are owed anything. Those that understand “a greater love has no man”. Those that truly believe the scriptures are the Word of God, those that have been filled with the Holy Spirit so they have become of One Spirit with God and His Son. Those that have equipped themselves according to scripture (that now possess the power) to hear from and faithfully follow the Lord Jesus Christ on the journey to eternity.
First you see the gate we are looking for is narrow, it is restricted, many things can not enter through it. There will be only one Spirit allowed passage. No false doctrines of men that are of another spirit will go through this gate. None of those possessing allegiance to their denomination, their “pastor”, their church, their family, anything other than The Lord Jesus Christ will be able to pass through this gate. And since we also see that FEW WILL FIND IT, you must search it out, the entry is not apparent to all, it is hidden by the fine print, the things in scripture that so many neglect as unimportant, not necessary, in spite of the fact that Jesus told us they are required for those that would be His. But those that are truly His do not see anything blocking the narrow gate from sight because those things are precious to them, they are part of their lives and do not hinder THEM. The narrow gate appears to you as you walk along on your way to eternity. You happily walk across it and onto the narrow path bordered with thorns and thistles, low hanging branches and other things that would hinder you as you walk along on this path. You see no one around you, may even wonder, where are the others? But you are not lonely because He is with you, He said, and you believe Him, that He would not leave you, even until the end of this age He will accompany you. Oh yes and now You sadly remember, He also said few will find this, His gate and His path. And as you struggle along His path we have to occasionally climb over a tree that has fallen and blocked the path, and then wade through a creek going through the path, then we have to avoid a bear along the way, then a skunk threatens you and then you realize you are hungry and stop to find something to eat and as you pick the berries the thorns tear your flesh, but you eat and continue on. In spite of the difficulty of the path the Holy Spirit in you continues to tell you keep going you are on the correct path, remember I told you it would be difficult. Now finally, after all the obstructions and difficult areas of the the path you have arrived at the end of the path. Sitting there on the great white throne before you is God with a huge smile on His face and beside Him on His right is Jesus with even a bigger smile and there in front of them is a large book with many names in it written by hand, the hand of the savior, the keeper of the book, the gate to eternity, and you see it is open to a page that has YOUR NAME written.. Then YOU hear the words-”Welcome faithful servant we have been waiting for you, come join us as we walk on into eternity together” . You have received your reward, you will live forever in the kingdom of God with all the other true disciples of Christ, our brethren. The journey was hard but the reward is priceless.
You have lost nothing, you have gained the crown of Life, the most precious gift ever found on the earth.
Luke 13:23-30 And He said to them, 24 "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,' 26 then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.' 27 But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last."
These two sets of scripture concern me greatly because they should be burned into the memory of all those desiring to be true followers of Christ, yet they are given little attention by many of those professing to be of Christ. The parts of the above that are in bold letters tell me that understanding these scriptures is a life and death issue not to be taken lightly. We are in the final age of mankind and the end (judgment) is fast approaching. Do you see what these scriptures say? They are telling us to wake up and check ourselves to see which gate we have passed through and which path we are walking on because too many would be saints are allowing themselves to be led down the wrong one. It is still not too late to turn around and find the other Gate. This is not a game, it is about eternal life or total destruction, which do you desire? The easy path is not of Christ, His path is full of obstacles, trials and woes but the end is eternity with Christ and His Father and all their brethren.
Let us look at what Jesus tells us about following His path, the one that leads to eternity, eternal life in the new heaven and earth which only the true followers of Christ will inherit.
Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
I have highlighted some things that most people ignore, they are not taught how important these things are but NOW is the time to understand and take them to heart. Note first the phrase that is in larger type. “For the Son of Man's sake”, Because of your devotion to Christ and His principles, Not because of your attitude or unGodly judgment or any other personal failings, but BECAUSE OF YOUR DEVOTION TO CHRIST and His way of thinking and living. Most people professing Christ have been taught not to offend anyone, the seeker friendly “churches” do not teach these scriptures they teach man made doctrines of the other path, the wide one where anything goes, following the details that Christ sets forth is considered legalism not truth, but it is the word from the mouth of the Lord of this age Jesus Christ the Son of God and part of the measure that is used to determine whether or not YOUR name will appear in the Lamb's book of life at the judgment seat. If everyone loves and accepts you, you are not following Christ in His way.
Luke 6:24-26 "But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am NOT saying to make people dislike you, I am saying , as these scripture do, that if your life is correctly in tune with Christ, these things will happen and there is nothing you can do about that nor are you expected to try.
Now look at verse 24 above. What this verse is saying IS NOT that a Christ follower can not be rich as some believe, It is talking about another scripture, the one that says “the love of money is the root of all evil”. What it actually is saying is You whose goal in life above anything else is to accumulate lots of money, are to expect nothing From Christ because your desire has already been fulfilled at the loss of eternity. If you have a love of money you cannot be a disciple of Christ .
Look at verse 25 above. This verse is actually saying, you that think you know all that is necessary about following Christ yet neglect these important instructions will hunger for the knowledge that you rejected, when you arrive at your destination on the wide path you have followed.
And the 2nd half is saying; You that laugh at us that you consider to be fanatics, legalistic etc. because we believe in and follow the fine print, will mourn and weep because of your error, when you reach your destination at the the end of the wide path you have followed.
Verse 26 is saying if no one speaks ill of you, incorrectly, because of your devotion to Christ, then woe is you. You have run the race in vain, you have taken the wide path and will find yourself at the wrong destination but it will be too late, you go to destruction.
Luke 14:25-30 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it — 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.
Verses 25 and 26 of Luke are not to be neglected, but must be correctly understood. He is NOT saying to hate anyone, He is saying that if your love for Him is not so much greater than your love for any of these that it appears that you hate them in comparison, you are not qualified to be a disciple of His.
Verse 27 says whoever cannot accept and receive whatever comes against the because they are His disciples CAN NOT be His disciple.
And verses 28 thru 30 explain that you must consider the cost, all the negative things, discomfort, hate and all other things that He warns will come against (attack) you if you are truly a disciple of His before you commit to and claim to be a disciple of Christ. Because you will be seen as a real fool when you fail because you can not stand the heat.
So as you see you may not be taught these things, but is is your responsibility to study and learn ALL that Jesus warns us about. If you are going to say you are a disciple of Christ then you are obligating yourself to follow ALL that He commands us to do, not just what you like , not what feels good, not what you have been or are being taught, but ALL that Jesus spoke on the subject, because He is Lord of this age and the only way to enter eternity is through Him.
1 Tim 2:3-6 God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,
As you can see from this scripture, God desires ALL men (male and female) to be saved. The scriptures clearly give the instructions of Christ on how to do this, as you see above He is the ONLY mediator between man and God, no man can do this for you.
God has given each of us the ability to determine our final destiny, the choices we make as individuals about God, the scriptures and their place in our lives have ETERNAL consequences. You are free to make which ever choice you like, you can choose to take the wide Gate and path or you can follow Christ Through the difficult to find, narrow gate and then on along the difficult narrow path with many obstacles and uncomfortable places. The gate you enter and the path you take will determine your eternal destiny when you reach the end. You still have a choice though if you have walked through the wide gate and are moseying along on the wide path. You can. If you do not wait too long, still TURN AROUND and GO BACK and find the narrow gate and walk to the end of the narrow difficult way. BUT, you will only find the entrance to the narrow gate if you repent and learn and accept and follow ALL of the instructions of THE SAVIOR ,these are necessary to enter the narrow way, the difficult way, the way of Christ.
I entreat you my friends heed the scriptures, follow Christ fully and find the narrow gate, walk through it onto the narrow way and work your way through the difficulties to find the end of it. There is no other way to enter eternity. Please join us in eternity.
If you need help understanding what to do, feel free to contact me on this website. I will be happy to help you understand the necessary truths needed to inherit the earth and eternity.
TrueChristianity.org Charles LaFoe
copyright 8/15/2017
