WIDE IS THE GATE

Why is it, that Christians think the bigger the Church congregation, the larger the viewership of a TV or online ministry, or the ‘thousands’ that flock to the tent meetings in California, or Africa.. etc, translates to ‘a significant service to God’? Do numbers matter? If so, how?

I want to visit this subject with you for a moment, because numbers do matter..

THE LARGEST US CHURCHES

In 2020, the largest churches in the United States, having the largest congregations - amounting to as many as 50k people in a weekend in attendence - all closed their church doors on the command of the devils promulgating the lie of a ‘pandemic’- and all posted Psalm 91 - (the copout excuse for closing - as suggested by FEMA agencies thanks to the ‘safe in your dwelling’ misapplication of Scripture), on their web sites. All of them. Not ONE single large church in America stayed open.

In October 2023, I visited a ‘healing room’ in Syracuse NY for prayer. They were pretty busy there, so I wound up sitting in the waiting room for almost 45 minutes, and spent the wait time speaking in tongues for myself. By the time they called me, I’d completely recovered and no longer needed prayer. On my way through the small lobby to exit - I saw their books for sale on a shelf, and noticed a book by ‘John Hagee’. I mentioned to the staff in the lobby, that I was suprised to see a John Hagee book, seeing as he’s ‘not a Christian’. (Hagee is a zionist. They are mutually exclusive). They were taken aback, and said to me - ‘But he has a huge church in Texas’. Instantly the Lord spoke to my heart saying - ‘WIDE is the Gate that leads to destruction’. I quoted that to their ever widening eyes, and took my leave.

Let’s look at Jesus’ ministry on earth - and see how he behaved towards different groups.

The larger group in his day - as in ours - is called the ‘multitudes’. Also called in Scripture - ‘The People’. Who are they?

THE MULTITUDES

The multitudes are those who:

• Follow Jesus when it’s convenient, (Matthew 4:25 & 5:1) I mean.. they do come to church on sunday..

• Seek him out just to be fed, or healed, usually sticking around for the teaching too. (John 6:26)

• Call Jesus - ‘Teacher (rabbi) or ‘Master’, but rarely ‘Lord’. (And many that do call him Lord don't mean it.. for as the Scripture says …the only way to really call him ‘Lord’ is to be born again and baptized in the holy ghost and speaking in tongues.> I Corinthians 12:3; Still others call him Lord, but don’t ‘know him’,.. which he will point out to them in that painful day. Matthew 7:21-23)

• They did not really believe that he was the ‘son of God’ - (Mark 3:32, Matthew 13:54, 55)

• Want to make Jesus -king (or anyone for that matter) because they get fed. It’s not unlike ‘voting’ for the guy with the welfare or social programs. (John 6:15)

• They do NOT climb the mountains to follow him; (Matthew 5:1)

• They do NOT pursue answers from him, (preferring to debate amongst themselves - giving us our 1000 Christian denominations today) (Matthew 13:15)

• AND here it is..→ TO THEM is NOT GIVEN to know the ‘mysteries of the Kingdom of God’. (Matthew 13:11)

• What little (knowledge of God) they have, is TAKEN AWAY from them: (Matthew 13:12)

• SICKNESS and DISEASE It is only from the ‘multitudes’ that the Lord ever found sick people. It is only from the multitudes that the Lord ever found people that were demon possessed and needed deliverance. If you read the Gospels carefully, you'll see that there's no record of disciples ever being sick. After sharing the sermon on the mount to his disciples in Matthew chapter 8:1, Jesus came back down from the mountain and was surrounded by the multitudes and set at once to start healing people that were sick or demon possessed and needed deliverance. Such is the LARGE category called ‘the multitudes’.

The much smaller subset of the ‘People’ during Jesus’ ministry on earth, AS WELL AS TODAY - are the ‘Disciples’.

DISCIPLES

The disciples are those who - THEN AND NOW:

• Follow Jesus at all times, no matter the effort or incovenience of doing so: (Matthew 5:1)

• Stay behind when the crowds leave, to ask at his face - not satisfied to guess at the parables, and lessons - but pursue the true interpretation of things he says - by ASKING HIM. (Matthew 13:36) (Matthew 24:1) In other words we TALK to him, and hear his replies. (Remember - He is RISEN; And he is the same yesterday today and forever. If his disciples could speak with him 2,000 years ago, they can, and still do - today).

• Call Jesus “Lord’ - (John 21:7) (Luke 24:34)

• Are given to know the MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD - Matthew 13:11

• OUR ears and eyes are BLESSED! - Matthew 13:16

• More and more knowledge of God and mysteries are added to us: (Matthew 13:12)

How did Jesus behave with the multitudes? Did he translate his huge following as a ‘credit to his ministry’?

No. In fact, quite the opposite was the case. VIZ:

When thronged by crowds, Jesus would often ‘depart’ from them. In one case climbing a mountain, (Matthew 5:1) in another, going out into a ship. (Mark 4:36)

On the other hand, after sending the multitudes away, Christ would sit and teach his disciples, answering their questions, and explaining to them the meaning of the parables, opening their hearts to the mysteries of God.

And here it is,

When Jesus spoke to crowds, to thousands of people at a time - he spoke only in parables (dark sayings), knowing that they would not only ‘not understand’, they did not really care - and as such, they would ‘not bother to ask him to explain’ (True to this day). Thus NOR did he pursue the multitudes with the ‘interpretations’, but gave them to those men who pursued them!

And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.

But without a parable SPAKE HE NOT unto them:

and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.’ Mark 4:33,34

That he never shared the deep secrets of the Kingdom to the massive crowds, illustrates that Jesus had no illusions about ‘large gatherings’ or ‘large churches’.

But when Jesus taught his most famous sermon - with the magnificent insights into the Kingdom that we know as- ‘The Beatitudes’, he taught less than 120 men. By today’s standard, a very small church.

Jesus gave his very best and most intimate sermon to a very small group of people - who we know were →‘disciples’

Matthew 5:1 -

‘And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him’ (!)

further proven in Matthew 8:1.

When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him..

And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean…’

Thus we see that the Sermon on the Mount was taught to a group of ‘about 120’ people, disciples~!

Later from this group he took 10% and appointed them ‘Apostles’. !

How do we know the number present for the Sermon on the Mount was no more than 120?

Because by the time the Lord ascended, it may be assumed that the number of his disciples would have grown from his early ministry. Yet 10 days after his ascension, on the day of Pentecost, the count of DISCIPLES was only ‘about 120 people’. (Acts 1:15)

JESUS - NOT A PURSUER OF CROWDS

Jesus was just as likely to be found teaching 1 individual (The Samaritan woman), or spending time with just 2 men (On the road to Emmaus - Luke 24:13 - 15) or spending quality time with his 12 apostles, as he was with crowds;

In fact, Jesus did not offer his very best to the multitudes - as he knew that - like Reuben - they were ‘unstable as water’.

He knew that just as willing as they had been to receive sustenance from him, they’d soon be ‘willing’ to see him crucified. Their ‘allegiance’ was to the ‘popular thing at the time’ - that they might ‘flip’ their allegiance depending on the prevailing wind of public opinion. These were the ‘seeds’ fallen on ‘stony ground’.

Why any minister is impressed, or Christian is impressed with the size of a ‘huge church’ that they have, or belong to, merely testifies to which group they belong to.