Because the majority of humanity is carnally minded and travels the broad way to destruction, while God has always preserved only a small remnant of true believers who find the narrow way to eternal life.
God has never enjoyed the majority — true believers have always been only a small remnant. The natural man is in spiritual darkness, blinded by the god of this world, and minds the things of the flesh, so he cannot believe. Jesus said few find the narrow way, and history confirms it: eight souls through the flood, 7,000 in Elijah's day, and 120 in the upper room.
Matthew 7:13-14 — Jesus explicitly says many are on the broad way to destruction while few find the narrow way to life — the Bible's clearest answer to why believers are few.
1 Kings 19:18 — God reveals to Elijah that He has reserved 7,000 faithful men — the definitive Old Testament example of a preserved remnant.
Romans 11:4 — Paul cites the Elijah revelation to show that God's remnant has never disappeared.
Jesus answers the question directly in His own words: "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" (Matthew 7:13-14). The broad way to destruction is crowded, but only a few find the narrow way to eternal life. Paul explains the condition of the lost majority: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:6-7). The fleshly mind is at enmity with God and cannot submit to His law — which is why so few ever believe. Scripture's history confirms the same pattern. At the flood, "few, that is, eight souls were saved by water" (1 Peter 3:20). When Elijah thought he was the only one left, God said, "I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal" (Romans 11:4; see 1 Kings 19:18). Paul then draws the conclusion: "Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace" (Romans 11:5).
Les Feldick teaches that "all through Scripture, God has never enjoyed the majority. It's always been that small remnant." He grounds the reason in the natural condition of fallen man: the unsaved person is in spiritual darkness, "blinded by the God of this world so that he can't believe," with no concept of the Spirit — so he minds "the things of the flesh or the old Adamic nature." When someone is genuinely saved, by contrast, he begins to mind the things of the Spirit and cannot get enough of Scripture. Les then traces the remnant pattern through the whole of Scripture: only eight souls at the flood; 7,000 in Elijah's day compared to a few million in Israel; the faithful few at Christ's first advent — "Zacharias and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary" — while the rest had nothing but a dead religion; and just 120 believers gathered in the upper room after three years of Christ's own ministry. Even after the cross, Les says the church age has been "the main harvest" of believers, yet they remain a small percentage of humanity and are "getting fewer."
Les explains that the unsaved person lives in spiritual darkness and is "blinded by the God of this world so that he can't believe." He has "nothing but fleshly vision," fleshly appetites, and "no concept of the Spirit," so he naturally minds "the things of the flesh or the old Adamic nature." By contrast, someone who genuinely believes the gospel and is saved begins to "mind the things of the Spirit" and cannot get enough of Scripture. This spiritual blindness of the natural man is the underlying cause of the majority rejecting the gospel.
Jesus' analogy in Matthew 7 directly explains why believers are few, according to Les. The wide gate and broad way that lead to destruction are crowded — "many there be which go in thereat" — while the strait gate and narrow way that lead to life are found by only a few. Les warns, "Never lose sight of that. The majority is usually not right." He even used this verse in a personal discussion with a friend named Jimmy, insisting, "This is a fact of Scripture. It's a fact of the whole human race. God has always had only a remnant, even in Israel, the covenant people."
Les offers a chain of scriptural examples: at the flood, out of all the people on the earth, only eight remained true to God. In Elijah's day, he thought he was down to a minority of one, but God said He had reserved 7,000 men who had not bowed the knee to Baal — still only a "small, small minority" compared to five or six million. When Christ came, only a few in Israel were true believers, like Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary; the rest had only a dead religion. And after three years of Christ's earthly ministry, only 120 believers were gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem.
Les acknowledges that since the cross, the church age has been "the main harvest" of believers — far more than the precious few of the Old Testament and the 120 in the upper room. Even so, believers are still only a small percentage of humanity, and Les says of finding true believers, "they're getting fewer I know, but nevertheless they're there." The pattern of a small remnant that God has always preserved continues into the end times.
Carnal Mind Rejects the Things of the Spirit
Les shows that the unsaved mass of humanity is spiritually blind, blinded by the god of this world, and minds the things of the flesh — which is why the majority never believes the gospel.
God Always Keeps His Remnant
Using Paul's quote of God's answer to Elijah, Les shows that God has always reserved a remnant — 7,000 in Elijah's day — and that true believers, though fewer today, are still present everywhere.
God Never Has the Majority
Les traces the remnant from the flood's eight souls to the few in Israel who responded and believed, concluding that God has always worked through a small remnant.
Precious Few Before the Cross
Les notes that before the cross very few — whether in the Gentile world or within Israel — were true believers, while the church age has brought the main harvest.
The Broad and Narrow Ways
Les applies Jesus' analogy of the two ways to show that the majority chooses the crowded road to destruction and only a few find life — 'the majority is usually not right.'
A Little Remnant at Christ's First Advent
At the first advent only a handful like Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Mary were true believers; the rest of Israel had nothing but a dead religion.
Eight Souls to One Hundred Twenty
Les connects the eight souls at the flood and the 120 believers in the upper room — both shocking numbers proving that true believers have always been few.
A Fact of the Whole Human Race
Les insists the broad and narrow ways are 'a fact of Scripture' and 'a fact of the whole human race' — God has always had only a remnant, even among covenant Israel.
Matthew 7:13: 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:
Jesus states that many travel the broad way to destruction — the crowd is on the wrong road.
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 that only a few find the narrow way to life — the core reason believers are a remnant.
Romans 8:6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Being carnally minded is death — the lost majority is headed toward spiritual death.
Romans 8:7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
The carnal mind is hostile to God and cannot obey His law — the reason the majority does not believe.
1 Kings 19:18: Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
God's word to Elijah that 7,000 faithful men had not bowed to Baal — a preserved remnant.
Romans 11:4: But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
Paul quotes God's answer to Elijah to prove that God has always kept a remnant.
Romans 11:5: Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Paul concludes that even in his own day God preserved a remnant by grace.
1 Peter 3:20: Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Only eight souls were saved through the flood — the earliest example of a tiny remnant.
Acts 1:15: And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
After three years of Christ's earthly ministry, only about 120 believers were gathered in Jerusalem.
Les teaches that God has never enjoyed the majority — it has always been a small remnant. The lost are spiritually blind and mind the things of the flesh, and Jesus said only few find the narrow way to life. From the flood's eight souls to Elijah's 7,000 to the 120 in the upper room, Scripture records the same pattern.
God told Elijah, "I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal" (Romans 11:4). Les notes this likely represented 14,000 to 20,000 Jews when believing wives and children were included — yet still a tiny fraction compared with the nation's millions.
Les says the church age has been the main harvest — far more true believers than the precious few of the Old Testament and the 120 in the upper room. Even so, believers remain only a small percentage of humanity, and Les says they are getting fewer.
Jesus said, "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat... strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). Les uses this to warn, "Never lose sight of that. The majority is usually not right."
Watch the Teaching: Carnally Minded Is Death — What Romans 8:5-8 Really Means