There are those who are last that will be first
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
Hold it! How does He know they are evil doers? A few verses earlier He said He didn't know them. He knows what they did, He just never approved it. He never authorized their actions. They may have blamed Him for what they did, but that was just evil. Maybe they taught that keeping the Sabbath was equivalent to treating people worse than an animal, reminds me of religious teachers justifying slavery because Noah cursed his son. Where did that come from, the pit of hell? Imagine thinking that the Law of God was given so you could hurl insults at one another.
28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
So much for having the best seat and the big name. There is one very interesting aspect to this. Christians teach that no one is thrown into the Lake of Fire until the Great White Throne judgment. Yet prior to the Great White throne judgement we learn that the false prophet, a man, is already in the Lake of fire. I suspect he was like these ones here, he was so good at deceiving others he had even deceived himself. He demanded to be judged at the judgement seat of Christ, so the Lord accommodated him and sent him to the Lake of fire early. One picture of the rapture is Samson pushing out the two pillars. The two pillars signify the church, the pillar and base of the truth. When the church is taken up the entire temple of Baal comes crashing down. This isn't a coincidence, these are the people who were holding up the economy. What happens when you leave your church and your business? Take this forum for example, if you left does everything come crashing down or is everyone else better off? If you are a blessing then you will be missed, if you are a curse then everyone will be better off. The church is holding up the world's economy. They despise the church, insult the church, but when it is taken out of the way the entire house of cards collapses.
29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
This goes back to the question about “are there only a few that are saved”. There are only a few people that can have the best seat or the best name. There are only a few that can be first. But you don’t need any of that to be saved. You can have the last seat and the last name and wind up with the first name. Jesus is the first name, to be saved is to know Jesus and to call Him Lord. If you do then you will obey Him and if you do that He will know you and where you are from.
This verse indicates there are three opinions, but only one that matters. People may have a very high opinion of themselves, like these guys who are stunned when they are shut out of the feast. Then there is the world's opinion. When the Lord says there are those who are first that will be last, this is a reference to the world's opinion. I can imagine that there will be many very famous, very successful pastors and ministers that the Lord will say He never knew them and we will be like, Come on Lord, he is very famous, surely you know who he is? The third opinion is Jesus' and that is the only one that counts. It isn't going to be majority rules. There will be people that the world despises, mocks, ridicules, insults, and yet the Lord says "there are those who are last who will be first". Those are the ones I'm interested in, the self justifying, pompous, holier than thou crowd is simply chaff that will blow away in the wind at the time of the rapture. This thread is about Liz Cheney, she is chaff. All these self important kings and rulers become dust and blow away in the wind.