In the last posting I quoted Isaiah who was being used by God to ask a question and then to provide the answer: “To Whom can God teach knowledge and give understanding?” His answer: the mature, earnest, dedicated seeker of knowledge and understanding. God characterizes such people generations later when speaking through His Son in Matthew 7:13:

“Enter ye in at the strait gate.” Note the following: (1) There is always an alternate gate that is the opposite of God’s gate (Gen. 3). (2) The alternative gate (forbidden fruit tree) will always be more desirable than God’s gate (good for food, pleasing to the eye and self-exalting–Gen. 3:6). (3) Satan always promises that the end result of choosing the alternate gate is the same as that which God promises those who choose His gate (“You shall not surely die”–have eternal life). (4) The choice of entering God’s gate is totally man’s (“What is this you have done?”–Gen. 3:13). At all times during his/her life the professing Christian has an option relative to gates (“You man eat of every tree of the garden … but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat …”–Gen. 2:16,17). (5) Action is required on the part of the chooser–he/she must move through the chosen gate on his/her own volition (“… and I did eat.”–Gen. 3:13).

Notice that the word “the” comes before “gate.” “The” indicates singularity, meaning that there is only ONE right gate–THE gate which God characterizes as “strait,” meaning tight, difficult, restrictive. The English expression, “between a rock and a hard place” means the same as the Greek word “strait.” Anyone who has left the Institutional Church and embraced God’s Truth knows the meaning of the word “strait.” Finding him/herself “between a rock and a hard place,” the new saint immediately feels the pressure Satan’s workers places on him/her. The new convert suddenly finds him/herself rejected by family, friends, former churchmates, etc. and accused of being a heretic and having fallen from grace. If this describes you, take heart–Jesus was rejected by His mother, brothers, sisters and friends. They all believed that he was mentally deranged. Should one choose to pay the price for becoming one of the Lord’s brethren he/she will find him/herself in very good company. See Persecution where I point out that hatred, ostracism, rejection by those who mean the most to us is part of the cost of serving God. This is why God-seekers are told to “count the cost” of discipleship before making the decision to follow Him. And when harsh treatment comes, he/she is commanded to “count it all joy” that he/she is counted worthy to suffer for the Lord (Jam. 1:2). Paul stated that all of his suffering for the Lord was nothing compared to what lay in his future (2 Cor. 11:23-33). Old Testament prophets were treated severely, some even put to death by their own people for speaking and living according to God’s standard. The New Testament apostles all died as martyrs with the exception of John who was imprisoned for the same reason. God spared him was so that he could compile the letters the apostles wrote to the churches and combine them with the Old Testament Scriptures in order to create the Holy Bible we have today. To be continued. L.J.