“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matt 7:13-14).

Are you called to be in the Multitude?  Before you answer “no”, you have to realise that for MANY people, that is as close to Jesus as they will ever get!  Though many are called out, few are chosen and given grace to heed this call (Matt 22:14). Someone has to be in the Multitude.  And even though you may have been in the Multitude for a time in the past…or maybe you are still in the Multitude, your progression to sincere faith is both a gift of God and an act of genuine love for God (John 14:15, 23).

I was in the Multitude many years ago, when I was in Church seeking to know God.  I was called from the Multitude to walk with Jesus, to know Him more intimately and to serve Him.  I believed that this calling would require that I relinquish the benefits of being among the Multitude, the safety of numbers, and stand in a minority that will suffer shame for calling Jesus Christ my Lord.  I walked out of the Multitude, not simply in obedience to God, but for a hunger and thirst for more than the fanfare that thrived among the Multitude.

You see, the Multitude move in tides and droves.  They move with passion, and they move with ignorance.  At the slightest disturbance, there is chaos in the Multitude.  One minute they hang on His every word, and the next they declare Him a deceiver!  In the Multitude, there is endless confusion, which abounds because of the insincerity of those who abide within and who pose as leaders of the Multitude.  They are they who are always learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim 3:7).

Even though He knew many among them would perish, Jesus loved the Multitude.  He once looked upon them and grieved, for they were as sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:36).  He spent long hours teaching them, healing their sick and even feeding thousands of them, who had stayed with Him all day to listen to His wisdom.  He knew many of them came only for their temporal healing.  Many of them were not able to see Him for who He really was, the One who gives the gift of life (Matt 13:13).  He knew that when they returned home, their lives would go back to normal…and only a few would return to Him in search of true riches!

Lately, I’ve come to realise just how painful this rejection must have been for Jesus.  He had the answers their souls ached for, but they only longed to feed their flesh.  They didn’t really love Him at all, they just wanted to take from Him what He could give to make their lives more bearable and pleasant.  And those who were able to see Him for who He was, who believed He was the Redeemer, but did not desire to be redeemed nor delivered from their love and bondage to the world, those were the most pitiful.  They are they who honour Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him (Matt 15:8).

So, the real question I would like you to think about, answer to yourself and God, and DO SOMETHING ABOUT, is “are you in the Multitude?”  If you are in the Multitude, the longer you stay there, knowing the truth, the harder it will be for you to step out and follow Jesus.  Like a toad in lukewarm water, you will stay for the roasting, and suffer the fate of the unbelievers!  Sure, you will enjoy His wisdom, and receiving physical healing by faith…you may do great things in His name and prosper in the world…but at the end of time, Christ will tell you to your face that He never knew you (Matt 7:22-23)!  Don’t be a fan, be a follower!

You cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24).  Don’t you know that your friendship with the world is enmity towards God (Jam 4:4)?  God calls everyone who is truly His to come out from among the Multitude today, and be cleansed (2 Cor 6:17-18).  Don’t relish His grace on Earth, only to suffer His judgment in Hell.  Every follower of Jesus must deny himself, and daily take up his cross, and walk in obedience after Him (Matt 16:24-25).  I pray that God may grant you the grace to heed His call and to be counted among His chosen.

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