Jesus said in Matthew 7:14, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Jesus states here that only a "few" people will be saved. However, we have church buildings on every corner in this country, and over 70% of Americans claim to be Christians. Well, both can't be right, but nevertheless, Jesus said "few" will be saved. But, did this only apply to when He was here on earth, or is this statement true for all history? Well, let's look in the Bible to see if this statement applies to other time periods.
Abraham's Percentage (1900 BC) .00333
According to "accuracyingenesis.com" during Abraham's time, the population of Sodom and Gomorrah was between 600-1200 based on archaeology. The cities were so evil that God said He was going to destroy them. Because Lot lived there, Abraham prayed to God to spare the city for 10 righteous people, and God said He would. But, God couldn't find that many righteous, so He destroyed the 2 cities, but spared Lot. If we use the estimated average for the population of 900, then the ratio would be 3 (Lot and his two daughters) spared out of 900 or 1 out of 300 or .003 or 3/10th of a one percent. In all reality, there was really only one righteous person, Lot (2Peter 2:7) or 1 righteous person out of 900+ that lived in the 2 cities.
City Population: 900
Ratio: .00333 or 1 out of every 300
Total Saved: 3
Question: Is 3 out of 900 a "few saved?" And, really we could say 1 saved.
Elijah's Percentage (900 BC) .001
According to 1Chronicles 21:5 when David requested a census of Israel, there were 1,100,000 men that could draw a sword in Israel and 470,000 in Judah for a total of 1,570,000 men as potential warriors. However, Joab did not include the tribes of Benjamin and the Levites. So, if you figure an average for these 2 tribes, you get an additional 314,000 which totals around 1,884,000 or almost 2 million men of fighting age. Include women, children, and teens, this number would swell to around 7 million. David lived around 1000 BC and then 100 years later during Elijah's time in 900 BC, God spoke to him in 1Kings 19:18, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal....".
God is saying here that He only has a ratio of 7,000 out of around 7,000,000 in Israel people which are still following Him. This is .001 or .1 percent or 1/10th of one percent. This is 1 person out of every 1000 people that hasn't fallen to Baal. For example, if a village in Israel had 1000 people in it, only 1 person had not bowed the knee to Baal.
Israels' Population: 7,000,000
Ratio: .001 or 1 out of every 1000
Total Saved: 7,000
Question: Is 7000 out of 7 million a "few saved?" And, this was supposed to be God's nation Israel.
Pentecost's Percentage (33 AD) .00001
According to the US Census Bureau Historical Estimates of World Population, the world population would have been around 300 million during the time period when Christ was on earth. In Acts 2, we see that during Pentecost, 120 believers gathered in the upper room to pray when the Holy Spirit came down to baptize all believers into Christ. Soon after this, 3000 souls were saved by God, so if we go by the number of 3,000, and assuming that not much more than 120 were originally followers, then we get a percentage .00001 of 300 million on earth, or 1 out of every 100,000. This would be like saying 6 people out of 600,000 which is the population of Louisville.
World Population: 300,000,000
Ratio: .00001 or 1 out of every 100,000
Total Saved: 3,000
Question: Is 3,000 out of 300 million a "few saved?"
Noah's Percentage (2500 BC) .0000004
According to the US Census Bureau Historical Estimates of World Population, there were around 20 million people on earth at 2500 B.C. According to most Bible scholars, this was also the approximate time of Noah's flood, which the Bible says only 8 people remained after the flood. Percent would be .0000004 or .00004% or 4 thousands of 1 percent. That is a ratio of 1 out of every 2.5 million people survived, which would be similar to one person out of the whole population of the state of Kansas.
World Population: 20,000,000
Ratio: .0000004 or 1 out of every 2.5 million
Total Saved: 8
Question: Is 8 out of 20 million a "few saved?"
If we go by Noah's percentage when God destroyed the earth the first time, we can see what things might be just before the end times when Christ comes back. Jesus said in Matthew 24:37, "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Now, did you get that? Jesus is saying that when He comes back, it will be just like it was in Noah's time. So, if that's the case, then let's use the same ratio that was used for Noah: .0000004.
Today, we have a world population that is a little over 7 billion. So, if we use Noah's percentage and consider what Jesus said, that the end times will be similar to Noah's time, and that Jesus said in Matthew 24:22, "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved...". In other words, there would be no one left to be saved. So, we have 7 Billion (7,000,000,000) times .0000004 which equals only 2,800.
World Population: 7,000,000,000
Ratio: .0000004 or 1 out of every 2.5 million (same as Noah's ratio)
Total Saved: 2,800
Question: Is 2,800 out of 7 billion a "few saved?"
Now, this is scary. Jesus said there would only be a few left before the end times, and if that time had not been shortened, then no flesh, no one would be saved. So, we can see using the time of Noah which Jesus said would parallel the time of the end, and His coming, then there would only be just a few thousand saved people walking on this planet.
What Would Be a "Few Saved" in the US?
The US has a population of around 325 million and here is what the US would look like using the different percentages.
Noah's percentage .00000044 = 130 saved
Pentecost percentage .00001= 3,250 saved
Elijah's percentage .001=325,000 saved
IN CLOSING
So, are we in 2019 living close to the end times? Well, if you look at the Scripture, and what it says about the last days of Noah, and what Jesus predicted before He comes back to earth, it sure seems like we are getting close to the last days. So, all this tells us that there aren't that many people truly saved on this planet. It is only a "few saved," like Jesus said. It can be very misleading to see a church building on every corner and assume there are many Christians walking around, and to agree with polls that there are over 70% of Americans that are Christian. Most true Christians believe that is way too high, what we call "Christendom." But, I think we fail to see how low the number really is.
If all that I have written here is correct, then MOST people in these churches on every corner in this country are not saved. The Biblical examples and the statements of Christ back me up here. This means that most people we meet and talk to, who say they are Christian, the odds are against that assumption. Insurance companies don't abide by guess work. They go by facts, data, and statistics. Their companies exist by the odds and how well they can calculate them. So, anytime people tell us they are Christians, the odds are against them. All we can do is test the spirits, and use the Scripture to determine if they are truly saved based on their testimony of salvation.
This knowledge helps us in that we won't be so easily fooled by those who claim to be churches and the people in them that claim to be Christians. If we assume they are then we can be discouraged. If we assume they are not real churches and real Christians, then their actions might offend us, but it won't discourage us. It also gives us the opportunity to pray for them and seek the opportunity to give them the truth of the Gospel and the true way to gather as a church.
Understanding how dark things are today should not discourage us, but should compel us to be closer to the Light, the Lord Jesus and His Word. The Bible encourages us in Hebrews 10:25 ".... exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." The "day" here is speaking of the end times, that we are to encourage one another that much more as we see that day approaching. How? We are to encourage one another in the Lord Jesus. How wonderful He is. How happy He makes us. "Wherefore comfort (exhort) one another with these words" (1Thes :18).
In Jesus Name,
James B. Sparks
jb5sparks@aol.com
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