TODAY’S DEVOTION (TUESDAY 4TH April 2023)
“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. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:13-20 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 94TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
The LORD God has been mindful of us. Day unto day, we see His mercies, and night unto night, we experience His compassion and helping hands. His light has been our inspiration, and His presence our life and hope.
Practicing to live in the presence of God on this side of eternity, is like a rehearsal for what will happen when we step into the other side.
For the saved and sanctified, to be absent from the body, is to be present with the LORD. That is the redemption state God desires that all who leave this world depart in. That is why He have been speaking to us words that sanctify and purify.
He has been sharing with us sanctified thoughts on sound doctrine.
The word doctrine, among other definitions we saw, has been described as teachings or instructions. Our eternal destinies depend on the teachings and instructions we are exposed to daily. Sadly, very few know that.
Like we shared on Sunday during the international broadcast, there are two eternal destinations that awaits every man – hell, or Heaven.
Many doubt the existence of hell. Some who believe it exist, have this wrong notion that it will be obliterated after a while, and those in there will be transferred into Heaven.
There are a lot of wrong notions about hell. But Jesus spoke about the reality of hell and Heaven, more than He spoke about any earthly blessing.
Sadly, the Church is saying nothing about those two eternal destinations, except for few preachers who seem to be waking up from their slumber. Come to think of it, most of us preachers speak of money, tithes and other wealth seeking things, more than anything else.
But Jesus, the one we claim to represent, spoke about right living, the kingdom of Heaven and hell, so many times – a major characteristic of the doctrine of Christ.
If it is the doctrine of Christ, it will warn you about the two eternal destinations, and prepare you for the one that God wants you to end up in – which is Heaven. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.
His mission was to depopulate hell and populate heaven. That is why if He lives in a preacher, the same becomes the preacher’s mission.
That was what People like Reinhard Bonke lived and died for. Christ Tabernacle in them, and moved them through the nations to sound the alarm of the gospel, and deliver souls from the broad way that leads to death, to the narrow way that leads to life.
IN REVEALING THE TWO ETERNAL DESTINATIONS THAT EXITS OUTSIDE TIME, THE BIBLE SAYS;
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me,
you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:
for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46 NKJV
This scripture, as explained on Sunday, revealed what Christ will do to all who will minister to the Jews during the tribulation period.
The tribulation period is the last week in Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy, which is yet to be fulfilled. It will be called “a time of Jacob’s trouble” because Israel will be persecuted and almost destroyed by the world then, and that will be under the leadership of the political antichrist.
But there will be those who will minister to them during those trying moments. They will visit them in the prisons that the antichrist will throw them into, they will clothe those who will be stripped naked, visit those who will be sick due to the torture and etc.
These people will be rewarded with eternal life with Christ, when He will finally come to establish His kingdom in the millennium reign.
There is more about them that we cannot write here. But one thing we can see clearly in this scripture is the reality of the two eternal destinations.
The reality of hell called “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” and “everlasting punishment,” and the reality of Heaven revealed in the statement “but the righteous into eternal life.”
IF YOUR VISION ON EARTH IS NOT TO GO TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU DIE, YOU ARE AN ETERNAL DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN.
Because of the reality of these two eternal destinations, it is important that a man make spending eternity in Heaven their goal in life. It is important that, Heaven making and escape from hell, be the ultimate purpose for living on this side of eternity for every man.
Those whose mission on earth is to go to Heaven when they die, live differently.
They do not sit under scandalous preachers or peddlers of wrong doctrines. They do not call sin a weakness. They do not call co habitation marriage. They do not tolerate polygamy in any way.
They keep themselves pure by purifying themselves from defilement on daily bases. They spend their earthly days looking for that city, which has foundation, whose maker and builder is GOD. Hallelujah!
However, due to the lack of sound doctrine in so many local churches, people have mistaken that scripture (Matthew 25:41-46) to be a call to prison, hospital, or other forms of care giving ministry.
While there is nothing wrong with care giving ministries, Matthew chapter 25 verse 41 to 46 has nothing to do with that. Sadly, some have even been made to take generosity as the key to escaping hell by those who mis-teach the scripture.
They have been made to believe that even if they live in any sin, so long as they feed the hungry, visit the prisoners, clothed the naked, and etc., it will be fine with them eternally.
But that is a doctrine of men, one of the broad-ways doctrines. Which brings us to our devotional text. The text said;
“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. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:13-20 NKJV
YOU CAN SEE FALSE PROPHETS PRESENTED HERE AS SOURCES OF THE BROADWAY GOSPEL.
But before we get there, I want to reiterate again that if making Heaven is not your goal for living, you have just missed the goal for living.
Satan has patterns, role models, heroes and heroines, churches, systems, cultures, traditions, and influences, placed on the Broadway that leads to eternal death. The aim is to sweep souls into hell.
On the flip side, God has patterns, role models, heroes, heroines, systems, churches, cultures, traditions, Godly influences, placed in the Narrow way that leads to life, to lead men to Heaven.
Our LORD and savior Jesus Christ, taught that we enter by the narrow gate where God has placed patterns, role models, heroes, heroines, systems, churches, cultures, traditions, influences that will help us make Heaven. We should not spend our earthly days away from them.
Now, there is also one major thing that the enemy placed on the Broadway to pull us to it – false prophets and preachers.
Yes, preachers who promise us liberty but they themselves are servants of corruption and moral decay. People in God’s garment who cannot put Christ in us but just give us assurances of a salvation that many do not even have.
The connection between the subject of “the-Broadway-Narrow-way” and the ministry of false prophets in this scripture, should tell us that Satan has false prophets in church, with capacity to get hearts planted in the Broadway that leads to eternal death.
On the flip side, GOD has prophets and ministers of His, who are planted in the Church to bring us to the narrow way that lead to life.
NOW, IF THERE ARE BROAD AND NARROW WAY PROPHETS, THERE ARE ALSO BROAD AND NARROW WAY DOCTRINES!
The doctrine of Christ is a narrow way doctrine, but every other doctrine falls into the category of broad way doctrines. That is why one must be careful about the doctrine of any church they belong to. The Bible says by the fruit of the doctrine on our lives, we can tell if they are doctrines of Christ or not.
Doctrines of Christ will form Christ in us, but other doctrines will form the antichrist in us. That is why the issue of doctrine is key.
I have read a few books on the ministry of many preachers who were here before us. I found out that those who derailed in doctrine where allowed by God to be taken quickly away from the earth, but those who were found in moral issues, lived longer.
There are two who are still alive today, but those who derailed in doctrines in their times are long dead.
This is not in any way suggesting that anyone should be involved in immoral conduct. In the books I read, I found some who departed from the life of righteousness, but did not derail in doctrine, dying after a long life and going to hell, and those who repented, dying and going to heaven.
I discovered that GOD would always send strong warnings to those who spread falsehood before they are taken out. To most of them, He went personally, He did not send anyone to them; and they stated it down in their write ups.
As we bring this to a close, I want you to understand that there are broad way doctrines and there is the narrow way doctrine. Jesus said many will be found in the broad way, and few found in the narrow way.
Yes, many follow broad way doctrines because they accommodate their sinful lives, iniquities, trespasses and spiritual recklessness.
They place no demand on them for right living. A lot of them focus on their earthly needs, promises them death to their enemies, and show them how to satisfy their carnal desires. But if Heaven is your goal, then the narrow way doctrine of Christ must become your focus.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Matthew 7:24-29 NKJV