Mission Message (November 2021)
Everyone Must Strive To Enter Heaven
Pr. Robert Turnage - President SOC
What more can Jesus do? Is there anything to be added to the work Jesus has already done? Did He fail? Is there more to be done? If so, who is going to do anything that someone might believe needs to be done? NO! It is finished. The Son of God completed the will of the Father. So successful was He in doing the will of the Father that God Himself said of Jesus in Matthew 3:17, “...This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Revelation 22:18-19 specifies the punishment for those who would add or take away from the perfect work of Jesus Christ. These verses read: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” That is the final and a settled fact.
So, what did Jesus mean in Luke 13:24 when He said, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” If salvation is God’s free gift and Jesus has so fully paid the price, why must I strive? Because you have an enemy, the devil, who has come to rob, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). The eternal all-sufficient price has been paid, and the enemy comes to take away God’s eternal gift. Therefore, we must strive to enter the strait gate. The Bible defines strive as “to use exertions; to endeavor with earnestness; to labor hard; applicable to exertions of body or mind.” The Bible definition for seek is “To inquire for; to ask for; to solicit; to endeavor to find or gain...”
Jesus is alerting His children that we have a deadly enemy in this life. Jesus included this assurance in 1 John 2:14, “…I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” We have the devil to overcome in his deadly efforts against us. God has given us this strength and power through faith in Christ. The battle may continue in this life, but we, through Christ, are more than conquerors, found in Romans 8:37.
Continue to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). Never cease striving, exerting, and laboring hard against Satan. Do not be guilty of just asking and seeking to enter into everlasting life. That is not sufficient to overcome the temptations, lies, and destructive works of hell.