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Do you take the Lord's power and grace for granted? Have you diminished His Holiness in your mind? Many people in this day and age have. How do I know? They think the Lord will somehow relent, and allow everyone into heaven after all. Or that His mercy is so great and so wide that they will be forgiven, even if they do not know Jesus. Jesus will not relent. His decision is final, and His decrees are sure. If you do not know Jesus on the day you die, you will be cast into hell. If you do not know Jesus on His day of wrath, if you die you will be cast into hell.
Even saying such a thing in this day and age seems like a revolutionary act. People chide us Christians who flatly declare the truth from the Word, that He will not relent. "Our God is a loving God," they exclaim. "He would never do that!" Well, Remember rebellious Korah who was swallowed by the earth? Remember Uzzah who touched the ark? Remember Ananias and Sapphira, who blasphemed the Spirit by lying to the Apostle? Jesus will not relent, because He is the door.
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:9).
He is the only One who opens the door.
"I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." (Revelation 3:8).
He is the One who shuts the door.
"And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:16).
When the ark was filled He shut the door and the rest of the world was judged. And so it will be again, for the unaware.
"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ (Matthew 25:10-12)
He is the King of the Kingdom and it is He who says who enters and who doesn't. He is the Door. Right now the door is open to all who would repent. It will be shut at the rapture. Not that anyone cannot be saved after the rapture, but with the door shut, you are in the cold, hard world and exposed to believing the lie.
"and with all the deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie," (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11)
Enter now while the door is open. Repent and believe the truth: that Jesus is resurrected Lord and He is the only way to enter the Kingdom. He speaks the truth, and when He says that judgment is coming, believe it. The time will come when the door will be shut. As it says in Isaiah 26:20- "Come, my people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation is past."
While the door was open, they did not listen and believe in Noah's day:
This is what Judgment looks like:
This is what grace looks like:
How so? you ask. How is this grace? The serpents are writhing, the people are dying! Well, don't focus on the serpents and the people. It is one way we diminish His holiness and His mercy. Focus on Him and His protected righteous and the fact that His promises of salvation are sure. The angels ministering, the ark itself was a lengthy warning to the same people who are now crying for the door to be opened. "Come, my people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation is past."
Please answer His call, and repent!
"Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'" (Luke 13:25)
"Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!" (James 5:9)
Even saying such a thing in this day and age seems like a revolutionary act. People chide us Christians who flatly declare the truth from the Word, that He will not relent. "Our God is a loving God," they exclaim. "He would never do that!" Well, Remember rebellious Korah who was swallowed by the earth? Remember Uzzah who touched the ark? Remember Ananias and Sapphira, who blasphemed the Spirit by lying to the Apostle? Jesus will not relent, because He is the door.
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:9).
He is the only One who opens the door.
"I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." (Revelation 3:8).
He is the One who shuts the door.
"And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. (Genesis 7:16).
When the ark was filled He shut the door and the rest of the world was judged. And so it will be again, for the unaware.
"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ (Matthew 25:10-12)
He is the King of the Kingdom and it is He who says who enters and who doesn't. He is the Door. Right now the door is open to all who would repent. It will be shut at the rapture. Not that anyone cannot be saved after the rapture, but with the door shut, you are in the cold, hard world and exposed to believing the lie.
"and with all the deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie," (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11)
Enter now while the door is open. Repent and believe the truth: that Jesus is resurrected Lord and He is the only way to enter the Kingdom. He speaks the truth, and when He says that judgment is coming, believe it. The time will come when the door will be shut. As it says in Isaiah 26:20- "Come, my people, enter you into your chambers, and shut your doors about you: hide yourself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation is past."
While the door was open, they did not listen and believe in Noah's day:
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| Sinners before the Flood, 1594 Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem |
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| After the Flood , Circa 1588 Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem |
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| Deluge, The COMERRE, Léon François Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes |
.jpg) |
| Noah's flood KAULBACH, Wilhelm von (1805-1874) |
Please answer His call, and repent!
"Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'" (Luke 13:25)
"Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!" (James 5:9)
Good post... We are going 2b family heaven.. let's not wait until then to show it
ReplyDeleteOverall this was a good article and a good reminder for both Christians and non-Christians about Who Jesus really is, especially at this time of year when the whole world sees Him as a weak little 'babe in the manger'.
ReplyDeleteI do however, have a question. How do you put these two paragraphs together, one right after another, since they are in direct contradiction with each other? Either Jesus has shut the door and no one else can come in or he hasn't and anyone who will can come in (works salvation implied - "I did it myself since the Holy Spirit isn't there to do it for me". Also, isn't everyone alive today "exposed to believing the lie"?
""But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ (Matthew 25:10-12)
He is the King of the Kingdom and it is He who says who enters and who doesn't. He is the Door. Right now the door is open to all who would repent. It will be shut at the rapture. Not that anyone cannot be saved after the rapture, but with the door shut, you are in the cold, hard world and exposed to believing the lie."
Hi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking your question about the door. Let's go back to the foundational verse for this metaphor: Jesus is talking and he says, "I am the door.." John 10:9. Jesus uses Himself as the example of being the door. So if we accept and believe that, we understand that the two verses do not contradict. In Genesis verse, God shuts them in. In Matthew 25 it says 'the door is shut.' Because the verse in Genesis is a direct retelling from God of what happened, He uses the first person. In Matthew, it is a parable, and we understand that in the parable Jesus is the bridegroom. But since it is a parable He doesn't say "I" shut the door, only that "the door was shut.
BTW, 'the door was shut' is the same phraseology in every translation, passive tense. The verses do not contradict because if He says He is the door and if the door is then shut, it was shut by His power and command. He reigns supreme, always.
As to your second question, 'aren't they all exposed to believing the lie now'? Yes in a sense. Satan is god of this world (2 Cor 4:4) and any unsaved person has already given satan permission to mess with them. But the verse I quoted in 2 Thessalonians says that one of the judgments is that God will send them 'a strong delusion so they will believe the lie'. He is purposely giving them over to the outcome of their heart-cry of rebellion and they will find it impossible to believe, at that point.
We do not know exactly what the lie is. I mean, scholars have lots of ideas, but they all revolve around unbelief of some sort. And no one knows when the lie will come in the Tribulation, but we do know that sometime after the rapture and up until Rev 13 the Mark of the Beast many will be saved. Rev 13 says anyone who takes the mark is making their final decision, even though they are alive. They will be damned when they die. It seems by Rev 16 they know it is God doing he judgments but they refuse to repent, so perhaps the lie comes between Rev 13-16. Who knows. But it comes, and they will be deluded.
In trying to understand all this, don't forget that the Tribulation will be a time unlike any other in the world and that all things go on as they have before. Don't extend your current understanding forward of what things will be like, or how God will act. It will be totally different than the church age. Mt 24:21 "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will."
I think you missed my point. If the door is shut - no matter if Jesus the Son shut it or God the Father shut it, then how is a person supposed to become a "Christian" during the tribulation? ("Christian" meaning follower of Christ who is the ONLY way to heaven no matter what dispensation you happen to live in.) The door is shut - none of the other 'virgins' are allowed to enter. You cannot come to Christ on your own - He chose you from before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4 and others), draws you to Himself (John 6:44 and others), and enables you to believe in Him (Eph 2:4 and others), then seals you with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13 and others). It is not the verses that contradict each other but your two paragraphs. The first one is the Word of God so it must be true. The second one is an interpretation by man. How can a person be saved (regenerated) when the door is shut? The Bridegroom has already come for His own when the door is shut. John 10:1 tells us that anyone who tries to enter the sheep pen by another way is a theif and a robber.
ReplyDeleteIf someone can enter into heaven (become a Christian) some other way than through Jesus Christ, then there are TWO ways of salvation: faith in Jesus Christ and human works of some kind. The word for that is: heresy - no matter what dispensation you live in.
The parable is about the dangers of not being prepared to meet Jesus. At some point it will be too late.
ReplyDeleteThe virgins didn't do what 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, "Let a man examine himself." Too many people don't examine themselves to see whether they are in the faith. They were deceived. There are a lot of people like that today. And when Jesus shuts the door when everything is revealed, they're naked. They have no oil which is a symbol of the holy Spirit. They do not have the necessary internal grace of holiness.
The paragraphs are clear. Jesus is the only way. And the parable says to be ready to meet Him.
here is a specific verse by verse interpretation--
ReplyDeletehttp://bible.org/seriespage/ten-virgins-what-it-means-be-ready-matthew-251-13