Guojing
Well-Known Member
It is difficult. That is why the Scripture says that the way to eternal life is narrow and few there be who find it.
Look at the mega-churches that draw the big crowds. Listen to and view what they preach. They preach that Jesus can be your friend, who will heal and make you healthy and make you prosperous. They will have exciting services with great performance-based music to cater for the emotions and that nice feeling of well-being. Jesus had great crowds following Him because of the healings, and the miracles where 5000 were fed.
But as soon as Jesus said that people need to identify with His death (ie: eat His flesh and drink His blood) most of the crowd left Him and melted away. Why? They were there for the goodies, but as soon as a real commitment was needed that might threaten the comfort zone and to be identified with a suffering and dying Saviour, they said, "No thanks! We want the good life. We don't want to know about death and tribulation".
You will find that the preaching of the gospel where to be a true disciple one has to be content with persecution, poverty, sickness, going hungry, and even death, because of their commitment to Jesus who died on the cross for their sins, and that the servant is no better than his Master, and that they might have to follow in His footsteps, even to death (as did all the Apostles except John), a church would be lucky to attract more than just a couple of hundred people to it.
We would all like to be like the apostle Paul, but would be put off when he describes what he had to go through in his commitment to Christ. He lists them all, and it is not pleasant reading.
That is why genuine believers are a minority, because most, although they enjoy their exciting religion full of promises of health, prosperity and happiness, they don't want to go down path where they might experience ill health, poverty, persecution, battles against Satan and his demons, and possibly having to give their lives for the faith, as many have done in Muslim and Communist countries.
Even today on CF I saw that a pastor in the Philippines was murdered because of his faith. How would you like to be a pastor in that country? Not many mega-churches having hallelujah hootenannys in Iran or Saudi Arabia. I wonder why? People would be too scared to go to those very public churches. Most true believers in those countries are underground and worship secretly and quietly just to keep themselves from being killed for their faith!
That is why genuine Christianity is a minority, because it takes a high level of courage, perseverance and commitment, even to the giving up of life to be a true believer in Christ.
Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom to the Jews only, so please don't put yourself under that instruction.
But because the Jewish nation rejected that Messiah, Jesus raised Paul to deliver a new Gospel of Grace to us Gentiles. He made it so easy for us Gentiles to be saved, apart from works, because of that purpose, to make the Jews jealous.
Romans 9-11 has the details.
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