More than 2.1 billion people today identify themselves as Christian. That is nearly one-third of those living today on the earth! But there is a scripture that presents a different picture of the Church that Jesus Christ founded. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).
So, are there “few who find it,” or are there more than 2.1 billion who have found it?
Hard as it may be for some to accept, only a small portion of the vast human population is being called into God’s Church today. The majority of those who have lived in this present age will be called later, at the Great White Throne Judgment, when they will have their opportunity for salvation.
It was easier for the first century Church to understand this, since Christians then were a persecuted, “little flock,” gathered together in small, scattered congregations. Today, by contrast, we see billions of people claiming to follow Christ, even while denying the beliefs and practices He observed and taught.
Most of those who identify themselves as Christians today believe that the world is a spiritual battleground in a titanic struggle between God and Satan. They assume that people who are not saved now are eternally lost to Satan’s clutches. They think that if you die without being “saved,” the devil will have gotten you, and an eternity of horrible suffering will be your future. It is commonly believed that all those who lived before the time of Jesus, even those who died as young children, are right now burning in eternal agony.
To many observers, such a horrifying belief makes God appear unjust. Thankfully, the Bible does not teach what so many believe. True Christians, who follow the original, first-century faith and practice of the Church, have always been a different few with a different view. Jesus called His Church a “little flock,” because He knew that it would always be such in this age. He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father” (John 6:65). The time will come when the world will “be full of the knowledge of the Lord” and all can be drawn to the Father, but for as long as “Satan, who deceives the whole world” is “the god of this age” this cannot happen (Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4).
One of the great meanings of Pentecost is that the whole world is not being called now, but God’s Church is called out of it as the firstfruits of God. Pentecost is the Feast of Firstfruits, teaching us some great truths.
Some preach that if you will simply call Jesus your Lord, you can reject God’s divine law and say that it has been “done away.” However, Jesus disagreed with this idea. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21–24).
So, who rejects God’s divine law today? Not the “little flock” of the true Church—not in the first century, and not now. The wide, broad way of rejecting God’s law is the way of most professing Christians today, not the way of the biblical few in the little flock.
True Christians understand that God is not in a battle with Satan for the souls of mankind, and that Jesus Christ is not trying to save the whole world now. What are the implications of this? A good understanding of the Holy Day of Pentecost lets us recognize what God is doing in this age.
A Deceived World
What the world imagines about Satan and what the Bible teaches are not the same thing. What the Bible reveals about the role of Satan is very different from the mythology that has grown up around the subject of the devil. Note that the name “Satan” means “adversary,” and the word “devil” means “accuser.”
Satan, as our adversary, wants everyone to think that he is the equal and opposite of God. He certainly is not, although he aspires to be so. God has no opposite and certainly no equal. It was Satan, our adversary, who said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13–14). An ambitious spirit, that Satan! But the Bible reveals he is just a corrupted archangel and a loser (and a sore loser at that). He lost it all while trying to tempt Christ in the wilderness, and now he is just playing out his endgame as bitterly and destructively as possible. God is sovereign, and Jesus has been given all power in heaven and earth. Satan’s only real power is to deceive and tempt—and such other power that God may allow him from time to time. But God is not struggling with Satan. The world’s deceived mythology presents Satan and God in a cosmic struggle. In movies, we see the “dark side of the force” struggling against its “light side.” Various philosophies suggest that good and evil need to be “in balance” so there can be order in the world. This is an easy mistake to make, because we, as mortal human beings, struggle with evil in our own lives, and we often seek to justify it. In the Bible, Satan is not “Yin” to God’s “Yang.” However, Satan would love for us to think so.
Save the World?
God is not trying to save the whole world now. Rather, all whom He does not call in this present age will have their opportunity for salvation in the future. That is the wonderful meaning of the Last Great Day, one of God’s seven annual Holy Days. But the true Church of God has always been a small group, often persecuted. Over the centuries, powerful church-state alliances have severely persecuted the little flock that kept God’s Sabbath holy. Christ warned of this. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…” (John 15:20). This little flock—these firstfruits—are being judged now. “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17). The rest of the world is not being judged now. “Because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man [Jesus Christ] whom He has ordained” (Acts 17:31).
Who Are These Firstfruits?
They are those who have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in them now. “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9).
The Kingdom of God starts small, beginning with the first of the firstfruits—Jesus Christ, the “Chief Cornerstone”—and then it grows. “You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces… And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:34–35).
Christ, as first of the firstfruits, is preeminent in all things. The Church comes afterward. “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20–23).
The New Testament Church, the firstfruits of God, began on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given. “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:18). Both Christ and His Church are called “firstfruits”—but Christ was and will always be the first of the firstfruits.
Pentecost is one of the seven annual Holy Days, and is sometimes called the Feast of Firstfruits or the Feast of Weeks. “Also on the day of the firstfruits, when you bring a new grain offering to the Lord at your Feast of Weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work” (Numbers 28:26).
There is always one weekly Sabbath as part of the Days of Unleavened Bread. The day of Pentecost is counted from that Sabbath. “And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:15–17). The Day of Pentecost pictures the firstfruits harvest that comes in the spring before the larger fall harvest—pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles (sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering). Pentecost pictures the smaller harvest of the Church in this age—those whom God calls as firstfruits.
This scripture also mentions “the sheaf of the wave offering” in which the High Priest also made an offering of firstfruits before the Lord in the Holy Place. Christ is the first of the firstfruits, and His resurrection and acceptance by the Father is pictured by that Wave Sheaf offering.
“Spiritually Special?”
Upon learning all this, some have succumbed to the temptation to become exclusivist. They think, “If I’m to be among the firstfruits, then I must be a spiritually special person.” Herbert W. Armstrong used to deflate that notion. He said, “You weren’t called to ‘get in first.’ You were called to do the Work.” God called the poor and meek in this age—so that “no flesh should glory.” It is God the Father who does the calling—and our calling is certainly not a result of our own merit.
The following scripture can be humbling: “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:26–31).
Why were we called in this age? One reason is to do the Work of God. Another is to “put to shame the wise” that “no flesh should glory in His presence.” We are called because we are “the foolish things,” “the weak things,” “the base things,” “the things which are despised” and “the things which are not.” God chose those who would seem to the world to be the least likely candidates to be kings and priests in tomorrow’s world. That revelation should be humbling to us all. But in our weakness His strength is perfected (2 Corinthians 12:9).
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (2 Timothy 1:8–9).
It is God who both calls and chooses in this age, and the Feast of Firstfruits reminds us that the number for which He does this is not large. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:11–14).
Those who are called and chosen are also faithful to the end, battling those who “will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14).
What About the Others?
So, how do you know who is “in the Church”? Who would you exclude or include? That can be a touchy question! Some might easily exclude the great villains of history such as Hitler, Attila the Hun or Judas Iscariot. But making such judgments can be difficult, although the Bible says that we may need to do so at times. And it is easy to be wrong about the conversion of individuals—both whether they are or whether they are not converted.
For instance, there have been, and will continue to be, “savage wolves” in “sheep’s clothing”—and we need to know who they are. Such individuals appear to be converted, but in fact, they are far from it. “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29–30). Sincere Christians do not become followers of a “savage wolf” unless they think he is a converted follower of Christ. God also warned His Church about false ministers who seem to be ministers of righteousness. “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13–15). Clearly, it is possible to be deceived about someone’s conversion. But Christ assured us, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–16).
We can look for “fruits of the Spirit” in someone’s life, but there are loving, kind people who later prove to be unconverted. What about all the “nice people” of the world? On the other hand, there have been some individuals who, for a time, seemed to be “lost sheep,” but whom the Good Shepherd retrieved. Having seemingly gone out from among us, they later repented and returned to serve God faithfully. People can repent! Only God knows a person’s true spiritual state.
The Apostle Paul told the brethren in Corinth, “But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person” (1 Corinthians 5:11). Although the Holy Spirit is invisible, Scripture gives us a visible, objective standard for Christian conduct, based on specific actions that we can observe.
After the Apostle Peter preached a stirring sermon about the Gospel, the people believed and asked an important question. “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:37–39).
A true Christian has been baptized for the remission of sins, and has received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, believing in the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God—not the variety of false gospels. True Christians “contend for the faith once delivered.” One with the Spirit of Christ has truly repented of sins, is overcoming sins and growing spiritually. A true Christian is not deceived about what sin is (1 John 3:4)—we cannot repent of sin and break God’s commandments at the same time! God’s people keep the Ten Commandments, not the Nine Suggestions!
The Apostle Paul added something of great importance when he wrote to the Hebrews: “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” (Hebrews 3:14). For instance, we must not sin willfully. “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26).
It is not for us to condemn anyone in whom we do not discern the fruits of the Spirit—it is God who judges those in His Church. But if we do not see in people the attributes mentioned above, it does not matter how “spiritual” they present themselves to be—we cannot assume they have God’s Spirit, and we may be required to adjust our fellowship with them accordingly.
The “Medfly Principle”
Why do so many churches teach other gospels, reject God’s commandments, advocate lawlessness, deny the Kingdom of God, present a non-biblical Christ, disdain prophecy, reject the authority of the Bible—and still say that they are Christian? We can expect this because our world today is Satan’s world. For now, Satan is the god of this world.
To understand Satan’s deceptive strategy, a helpful analogy can be found in agriculture. In the orange groves of Florida and California, the growers are always worried about the possibility of an outbreak of medflies, whose larvae can devastate a crop. When farmers begin to see a few medflies, they often release thousands of male medflies that have been sterilized and cannot produce offspring. Thus, when a female medfly encounters a male, it is most likely to be one of the sterile males, so their union is without effect. By deceiving female medflies with an abundance of sterile males, the medfly population is thereby kept to a manageable minimum.
We can see how Satan follows a similar strategy. Consider someone who wants to find the true Church of God today. By providing such an abundance of “sterile” messages—the myriad false doctrines, preachers with contradictory ideas, and the multitudes of religious teachings in the media—Satan makes finding the Truth humanly difficult. Without God’s call and guidance, how difficult would it be to find the Truth today? Of course, since you are reading this article, you are blessed indeed! “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:14).
The Work Matters!
What Work is Christ doing? Why should we labor in that Work, if it is God who does the calling? Some teach that the Work has been finished. As “proof,” they often point out that not as many are being called today as were in the past. However, this perspective neglects one of the great themes of Pentecost. The Church of God in this age is necessarily a little flock, and God is not trying to convert the whole world now. Indeed, we cannot. While every new member is extremely important and cherished, the measure of the success of the Work is not how many converts God calls at any given time. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). This is what God’s Church is doing today.
We greatly desire for more people to repent and be baptized, and we pray that God will call many in these last days. And, when we are sincerely asked, we are happy to give reason for the hope that is within us. But God calls whom He will, and we then serve the ones He calls. Certainly, we do everything we can to facilitate those conversions, and we are grateful for the many baptisms God is adding to His Church each year. But, even if there were no new conversions, God would still expect us to do the Work of announcing the Kingdom of God as a witness to the world.
The Bible teaches us that God is not trying to save the whole would now. After a thousand years of Jesus Christ’s millennial rule in the Kingdom of God, here on the earth, there will be a resurrection in which all those not previously called will be given a full opportunity for salvation. God has in this age called out a Church and is preparing its members to serve under Jesus Christ in that Kingdom when He returns. We have never been many. Yet, for these few, Christ has a message for us on this day of Pentecost: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).