PARABLES OF JESUS: Parable of the Narrow Door

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Well, we are continuing on in our uh our series on the parables of Jesus.

And as we do so today, we are going to be talking about the narrow door, the parable of the narrow door.

It is in is only found in Luke chapter 13, verses 22 to 30.

Luke 13:22–30

And so if you've got your Bible with you, uh I would ask you to turn there.

And if you don't have a Bible with you, if you can't turn to Luke 13, we are on page 873 of the Bible at the end of your row.

We would love for you to join us and follow along in this little journey that we're going to call a sermon here for the next 25 or 30 minutes.

So while you're turning there, let me just say this from the jump.

So this is a pretty basic gospel message.

And so what that means is that we may be tempted to think that this has nothing to do with my life, because I've got it nailed, I'm on the narrow road, we're good to go.

But let me just say this: if if this is not for you, uh we're all gonna be okay, right?

That the church did not just formulate a message just for you to hear.

Uh instead, this this message was told by Jesus thousands of years ago so that we could take it, we could learn from it.

Let's say we get on the narrow road, and maybe, just maybe, some of us in this room need to hear this message as a reminder and as an equipping to go have the conversation that we need to go have this week.

Because this is going to lead us down into a place that will be a little bit uncomfortable, as I found in the 830.

Uh, but it is it is going to be poignant and really, really worthwhile as we get there.

Again, as you turn there, let me also just say this.

I had a good time studying this week, and I was just really curious about our trends as a culture, uh, our trends as a nation, especially.

I mean, are we are we really falling apart as it seems that we're falling apart?

And the answer, statistically speaking, is yes.

Oh my goodness.

And I'm not even talking about economy.

I'm more talking about the faith, the faith of Christianity.

See, more and more people in our nation are claiming to be what they call as post-Christian.

Anybody know what post-Christian is?

Yes, I have nobody.

All right, post-Christian basically means this.

It basically means this.

It's people that have grown up, gone to the church for however long they've gone to the church, and then they're choosing and leaving.

That's post-Christian.

They know the message of the gospel, but they're leaving the church because we're too mean and too judgmental and too gossipy and too whatever else you want to put out there that humans are.

Yes, Christians are humans too.

Hypocrites we are.

Absolutely.

So if you're here today, maybe you're post-Christian, maybe you're coming, you're here today, and you're just, I'm just here because somebody else told me to be here.

I'm here at the 10 o'clock because of whatever.

I'm glad you're here.

I am ultimately excited that you are here because this is what statistics say.

One one really interesting statistic that I found this week was this.

Uh, Barna, George Barna and the Barna group, if you don't know who George Barna is, he's basically the gallop of Christianity.

Uh, very, very reasonable and very reliable stats does he come up with, he and his staff.

He said this that half of Americans, no matter if you're Christian, Muslim, whatever, half of Americans, 50%.

So, so let's just cut the room in half and let's go over here.

All of you believe this statistically, and all of you don't.

So, 50% of us in this room, and 50% of Americans believe that all people are eventually saved or accepted by God, no matter what they do.

No matter what you do, God is going to look on you with pity and compassion and say, you're in.

50% of all of us.

Now, I tell you all that because our world is going to, well, it has, and it will continue to just lure us and tell us that we cannot have an open mind, uh, that we have that we cannot have a closed mind or an opinion about things that's contrary to theirs, to theirs.

We can't have an opinion that is in the minority.

We can't have an opinion that's rooted in a book that was written 2,000 years ago because there's no way that's relevant to today.

Well, I would just say this, and I'll get to this, but I although our world is imploring us for that, uh, I would say this, and this is gonna be our first point when we get there, that Jesus was really focused on narrow things.

Uh, and I was reminded of this when I went to jury duty a couple weeks ago.

I was in jury duty and I didn't get to get to, ha, like it was a reward.

I didn't have to uh serve on the jury uh, so to speak, but I was in the pool of about 70 people, and they were kind of the defense attorney comes in, the prosecutor comes in, and it that's just a fascinating experiment.

Somebody needs to do a PhD study on why it is that the defense attorneys are well put together and really care about what you look they look like, and I mean every hair is in its place, and their beards are trimmed quite nicely, and then you go to the prosecutors and they could care less about what you think about them.

They just are there to work and make sure it gets done right.

I just I don't get that.

Somebody needs to do a PhD study, ready, go.

But when I was there, I was thinking, and they start asking questions, right?

They're trying to weed us out to get to the panel they want to get.

And so they're asking us questions.

The first question they asked is they they presented these charges against the defendant, and I'm sitting there and I'm listening and I'm going, oh my goodness, this is sad, this is terrible, but this is an amazing experiment.

They asked me, they asked everyone this.

They laid all the case out, no evidence whatsoever, just charges and who the defendant was.

They laid it out for us, no evidence again, and they said, All right, now, if we would like for you to know if anybody could just raise their hand or if you could speak uh to this.

Uh, do you have an open mind or have you formed an opinion?

Now, they don't know me, but I have an opinion.

Guaranteed.

But here was the tension.

As they went around from person one all the way to 70, I was number 24.

They they ended up not calling me in.

Imagine that.

Matter of fact, at the end, the defense attorney said, We've heard from you already.

Thank you.

I was like, all right, well, I guess I'm getting out of here at some point today.

Uh, but but nonetheless, they start asking these questions, and the first thing that they say is, Do you have you formed an opinion or do you have an open mind?

The flaw, the the question is absolutely flawed from the get-go, because as we sat there and I was I was full of this tension as we go around one by one.

And you, and you an open mind, or do you have an opinion?

And do you have an open mind or do you have or do you have an opinion?

What are they really saying?

If you have an opinion, you're closed-minded.

You're judgmental.

If you have an opinion, you can't be part you can't be unbiased here.

Now, I don't know if you know this.

Everybody has an opinion.

My opinion might be I need more evidence.

My opinion might be he's guilty, he's innocent, whatever it is, but I I of course I raise my hand.

Yeah, I got an opinion.

I wish I could tell you that I'm unbiased here, but I definitely have an opinion.

Could it be swayed?

I mean, you'd have to really do a good job.

I there's just the way it is.

Uh so he's guilty and not innocent.

Yeah, sorry.

That's where I'm at.

Just being honest.

But as we went through, I felt that tension of just going, okay, one by one, I'd say about 50, maybe, I'm sorry, about 55 or 60 people said, I have an open mind, I have an open mind, I have an open mind, I have an open mind.

And it almost just became this mantra of the day.

Do you have an open mind or do you have an opinion?

Our world does not value opinions anymore, especially if they're disagree if they disagree with it.

Well, let me just read this passage and let's just all understand that Jesus has a definite opinion about salvation.

He's the most narrow-minded person to ever walk the planet.

Now, let me read why I say that.

Luke 13, 22.

He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.

And someone said to him, Lord, will those who are saved be few?

And he said to them, Strive to enter through the narrow door.

For many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able.

And when once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us.

And he will answer you, I do not know where you come from.

And then you begin to say, But we ate and drink in your presence.

I mean, I mean, you taught in our streets.

But he will say to you, I tell you, I don't know where you come from.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil.

And in that place where there will be there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves cast out.

And people will come from east and west and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.

And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.

There's probably several different points we can make out of here.

I think Jesus is calling us to focus on three.

The first one is this.

I've already alluded to it and certainly said it.

Jesus is narrow-minded.

Jesus is, not was, he is narrow-minded.

One of my favorite things to do whenever I'm evangelizing or whenever I'm witnessing to people or just telling people the truth about Jesus is to tell people the truth about what he said, how he said it, who he said it to.

And it's usually their reaction to something like, hey, Jesus said that you, you know, broad is the road that leads to destruction, but narrow is the road that leads to life.

Matter of fact, that narrow road, he says, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

And they're like, well, I don't really agree with that.

I don't, blah, blah, blah.

Well, tough.

I don't care.

Because here's the deal, you're not disagreeing with me.

You're disagreeing with Jesus.

You're not mad at me, you're mad at Jesus.

And that's the whole point.

Because he was absolutely narrow-minded.

He was narrow-minded in the object of which we were supposed to strive after, and he was narrow-minded about what we were supposed to do.

Let me read verse 24 for you again.

So we realize that striving and seeking, if he wants us to strive through the narrow door, then he's going to give us some instruction that we've got to have some really clear distinction about.

Verse 24, strive to enter through the narrow door.

For many I tell you, will seek to enter it and will not be able.

There is a distinct difference between striving and seeking.

Between striving and seeking, there is an unbelievable difference that you and I need to understand when he tells us to strive for the narrow door.

There's two words that he uses here, and without getting real technical here, let me just make mention of them real briefly.

The first one is this agonizomai.

That is the word for strive.

Agonizomai.

It is the word that we would use for agonize.

To agonize.

Jesus is calling you to be in agony.

Did you know that?

Welcome to American Christianity.

You haven't heard that on TV.

I haven't.

And I watch it a lot.

To agonize.

It means this.

Agonizomai, to fight, to struggle, to put forth an intense effort, to be engaged in an intense battle.

That's what he's calling you to do.

That's what he's calling me to do, to find the narrow door.

There is a distinct difference between striving and seeking.

Seeking, on the other hand, where he says, many will seek to enter and will not be able.

Seeking, that word literally means to look for something, to seek for information, to examine the facts.

So you have two people here that Jesus is representing, one or two, or many or few, however many there are, they are striving, they are agonizing until they find their goal, which is Jesus.

We'll find out here in a little bit.

And then there are those that are just kind of browsing.

Let me just examine the facts here.

I like what that person has to say.

I like what you have to say.

I like that church over there.

You're a sinner.

I'm not really sure if I can hang out with you.

And all of a sudden you start examining the facts about things by numbers, by statistics, and you go, ah, I mean, it just doesn't all match up.

I mean, what do you want me to do over here?

Nothing really is all the same.

It's all different.

You examine the facts.

If you don't, uh let me just illustrate it like this: if you don't really see the difference between agonizing to fighting and just kind of browsing or looking for something.

Uh anyone in here ever want a new TV?

Y'all are liars.

Y'all all have TVs in your house.

Uh okay, so there's a point in my life whenever uh whenever I really, really wanted a new TV.

Uh I had one of those tube TVs.

It was terrible.

I went in and out.

I probably think I actually we maybe just gave that away like two weeks ago or something.

Poor souls, I tell you.

All right.

Uh but anyways, I wanted this TV.

It was many years ago, and it was when like flat screens first came out.

I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing.

But back then they were like thousands of dollars, right?

I remember thinking, I really want a new TV.

I have no means to get one.

But I would go to Best Buy and I would look.

I remember, I mean, I would look and I'd just be like, oh man, could you imagine watching the AM game on this bad boy or when the Astros were good?

That was cool to watch.

This was fun.

I would go there and I would just fantasize about it.

And then all of a sudden, this is years ago, and uh a new radio station had just come on the air, and they were uh they were giving away a TV.

And I thought to myself, well, I could go and I could seek, I could browse, I could kind of try and figure this out, but there's no way I can pay for this TV.

Instead, an opportunity is there.

I mean, there's an opportunity there that they're gonna give me something that I can't get on my own.

And so all of a sudden, I was like, okay, whatever I need to do, let's do this thing.

And so all of a sudden, the the the offer was there.

You gotta go to this place during this hour, you gotta fill this piece of paper out, and you gotta make sure that you're there or whatever else.

I mean, they're they're they're doing all kinds of things, they got them, all these different rules, you can't have be, all these different things you can't do, and these are the things that you have to do.

And so all of a sudden I grabbed my buddy and we go over to this place and we start putting our name in the hat, and uh, I won this thing, right?

And uh it's it okay, so back in the day, 65 inches was a was a big TV.

Now it's normal.

What is wrong with us?

And so it was 65 inches.

It was so big, it had wheels.

Ask Wade Collier.

I think he moved it around the state about four or five times.

I mean, this thing was beastly, okay?

And we had like a thousand-foot square apartment, so we're sitting there like it was awesome.

I loved it.

Now, here's my point in saying all that.

It's fun, we want a TV, blah, blah, blah, all that great stuff.

I don't have it anymore, by the way.

When I had a kid, it got kicked out, and then we needed a place.

But nonetheless, see, there was a point there where I was just seeking, just kind of wanting something, browsing, uh, maybe examining the facts, doing research, because that's what I do.

And then all of a sudden, an opportunity was placed before me where I could get something for free.

I could get something I couldn't get on my own.

Oh man, I'm gonna rearrange my day to make sure that happens.

Now, I didn't agonize, but I set aside whatever I needed to set aside to make sure that I was there.

I put my name in the hat.

When I got the phone call, I'm really glad that no one was in my car.

Because I was, I mean, I was screaming, going crazy.

Striving is completely different than seeking.

Jesus wants us to strive, to be in agony, to put aside whatever it is that's hindering us, because there were appointments, I'm sure, that day.

There were things to do that I needed to do that day, but I didn't matter.

I mean, the opportunity was there, I was going.

And the reason for that is because the object for which I desired was worth it.

It was worth it.

And it's the same thing that Jesus is telling all of us because when he says to strive, to engage in this intense battle so that we are entering in through the narrow door, what he's really calling all of us to do is to make sure that the door that we're entering into really does lead to life.

And to make sure that his name is Jesus.

If you have your Bible, turn to the right and go to John 10.

Jesus is gonna reveal himself and just say, Hey, I am the object, I am the thing you I want you to strive after.

To be engaged in a battle over.

John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

I'm just gonna read verses 7 to 10.

It says this, it'll come up on the screen.

It says, So Jesus again said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

All who come before me are thieves and robbers.

But the sheep did not listen to them.

I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Do you see the language to a sheep?

Not that they can read, but they're going in and they're going out all through this door named Jesus, and they're finding provision and pasture and freedom.

And then he says, But the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Jesus is so narrow-minded that he's saying there's only one way into pasture, and it's through me.

Agonize, strive, engage.

It's time.

Not only that, but then he goes on to say in Luke 13, not just that he's narrow-minded, not that he's definitely the most narrow-minded person to ever walk the planet when it comes to salvation.

But there's a difference between knowing and knowing of.

Knowing of someone is different than knowing someone.

Let me show you what I mean in the text.

I'll read it and then I will explain it together.

When once the master, verse 25, when once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us, and then he will answer you.

I don't know, I don't know where you come from.

And then you will begin to say, We ate and drink.

I mean, come on, we we we hung out together.

I mean, you you taught in our streets.

I was there, I was listening.

And but he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from.

Depart from me, all you workers of evil.

You see, back then the Jews were basically saying, Hey, this whole, this guy named Jesus, he's whatever, he's a rabbi, he's kind of, I don't really agree with what he's doing.

They're examining him, they're maybe even seeking him, they're in the same vicinity as him.

But the Jews would basically be saying that, hey, we are we are Abraham's offspring, which is why there's a reference to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

We are Abraham's offspring, we're David's offspring.

We come from holy lineage, we've kept the law, you have to accept us.

And Jesus flips it on him, and he'll say, No, I don't.

Because I don't know you.

And that's what it was for them.

But for us today, I mean, we could really approach Jesus on the means of basically, well, I go to church.

I mean, I serve back in the children's ministry.

I mean, I hold babies.

Are you kidding me right now?

I changed diapers back there.

I went to Costa Rica.

I mean, I went to Romania.

I mean, there, I'm setting my life aside for all this.

Look at all the things that I'm doing.

I'm in a Bible study for crying out loud.

And Jesus is saying to us, as he said to them, the door is closing.

Do not tarry in your coming.

Because if you do, you just might miss it.

And I'll get to that here in a minute.

But there's a definite difference between knowing Jesus and knowing of Jesus.

Um, and let me illustrate it like this, because the people that are cast out know of Jesus.

And the people that are included that we'll find out are the ones that he knows personally.

Let me illustrate it like this.

Uh, everybody in here, I would venture to say, has uh like a favorite celebrity.

And whether you admit it or not, you'll watch their TV shows.

You may even uh uh watch their movies.

Like mine, I don't know what it is, but I like a great question my wife asked me recently is who makes you laugh like a celebrity?

Mine is Steve Carell.

I love that guy.

I think he's hilarious.

He's got some crazy new movie out now.

I'll go spend 20 bucks on it.

I have no idea what it's about.

But just because he's in it, I'll go do it.

I would venture to say that all of us have some sort of a celebrity that we would maybe even follow on Twitter or Facebook or kind of uh keep an attention to from afar.

Uh mine, like in high school, mine was, you know, mine would be sports, obviously.

Uh mine was Lance Berkman.

Lance Berkman, man.

I mean, that dude's still playing, right?

He's he's so full of integrity that he won't sign a deal longer than one year because he doesn't know if his body's gonna hold up.

That's a good man, right there.

I mean, that is so countercultural today that that's a good man.

But back in high school, I was playing first base, he was playing first base.

He was hitting home runs, I was hitting the ball.

He was he was playing for rice, and I was playing for the lead generals.

But man, his name was Lance, and I was like, I mean, this guy, I knew stats about him.

This is before the internet, the world existed before the internet.

Did you know that, boys and girls?

And so I would read the paper and follow up with his stat lines.

I knew a lot of stuff about him, right?

Well, this was all cool, but years later, one of my buddies gets married, and uh, little did I know that we had a little wedding shower for him, and uh Lance Berkman was there.

And I was like, I was geeked out.

I was it was bad, and I was kind of nervous, and I was twitching.

I mean, it was so bad that as soon as I figured all this out, like I walked in and I had my shirt untucked and saw what was going on, I walked back out and tucked my shirt in real quick.

And I was like, oh hey guys, that's like I've never, hey, good to see you.

I mean, it was I was it was weird, it just threw me completely for a loop.

And so I'm the nerd that doesn't shy away from people like that.

I like to get next to them like, hey, hey, my name's Lance, too.

Good to see you.

And he's like, Okay, you're weird.

And I told a really awkward joke, like told a really awkward joke, but I'm not telling you because you will judge me for it.

Okay, I remember it.

Uh and so I told this joke, and I'm like, And all of a sudden, I'm out.

I'm out.

I'm out of material.

And I I just pull the ripcord.

Hey, my wife wants to meet you.

Hey, hey, my wife wants to and she's like engaged in some conversation.

She's like, What are you doing?

Are you kidding me?

So she walks over there.

Good sport.

Hey, good to meet you.

All right.

And walks away.

I'm like, Well, you're leaving me hanging here.

You're supposed to be my lifeline.

So I get done with all that.

We get on the way home.

She's like, Did you have to bring me into your awkwardness?

Because that's you, that's not okay.

That's not okay.

You can't do that again.

I've never done it again.

Okay?

I've never met Lance Bertman again, but I've never done it again.

So let's just say, all right, so let's just say that I was to run into Lance Bertman today.

Okay, now he plays, who do you play for these days?

The Rangers or the Redbirds?

I don't, I can't remember.

I think it's the Rangers.

So let's just say that I met him and I walked up to him and I said, Hey man, when are we doing lunch?

Let's do this thing.

And he looked, what would he do?

Who are you?

Who the heck are you?

And why are you?

I mean, he's gracious and he's a believer, so he's he's a good guy.

But there's no way that he's gonna be like, I don't know, what do you got doing on Tuesday?

I mean, I got a day off.

Instead, he's gonna go, who are you?

I don't know you.

I do not know you.

And I would approach him and go, but we met like nine years ago.

You don't know?

You don't remember?

I mean, you were there holding the trash bag.

I remember all you were holding the trash bag for the gifts, and you were that guy, and I made a lame joke, and I said, Hey, my name's Lance Due, and then I pulled my wife over.

You don't remember?

Because I remember it all.

I mean, we met is nine years ago.

I uh my fear, many of us in this room, this is a true fear, is that we relate to Jesus like I relate, I would relate to Lance Bertman.

And that I would we we approach Jesus at the end of our lives or maybe even today, and we go, but I but I met you 15 years ago.

I mean, I met you a month ago, I met you 20 years ago.

I mean, don't you remember me?

I I I mean, that's what it's gonna be like for those that he says, you're you're out.

But I'm I remember.

I remember everything about it.

I mean, I remember what you were wearing, I remember what you said in the street.

I remember we we dined together, we had a little olive oil, we had a little hummus, we had, I mean, well, I remember, and Jesus said, but I don't know you.

I don't know you, who you are, and there's nothing in your life for the past 20 years that has demonstrated that you know me.

Why?

Why would I let you in?

You're gonna knock, and it's just not available anymore.

That's the truth through which Jesus is saying right here.

And so a natural question for me, especially as I've now been here for a couple years now and just kind of looked around, and there are people in this room right now that are asking the question, uh oh, do I know him or do I know of him?

Which one is it, really?

And so I just want to give you four things that you could just go, okay, how do you become recognizable to Jesus?

I mean, at the end of our lives, this is going to happen.

He said it was going to happen.

So no matter if it's today, no matter if it's in 50 years, whenever that day comes, this is gonna happen.

And so it might be good to know, well, okay, how do I become recognizable to him?

He knows me, he formed me, but does he know me in relationship?

So, a couple different things.

The first one is this have a relationship with him.

Ha! It's not complicated.

Believe.

Believe that Jesus truly came to earth to rescue you.

John 3 says that all you have to do is believe and you will not be condemned.

Believe in the Son of God.

Believe.

Every relationship that you and I have, you can define it.

Every relationship that you and I have on this earth, you can define it.

You know when you got married, and if you don't, men, brush up on the skills, okay?

You know when you got married, you know when your kids came into this earth, you know when you started work somewhere and started relationships with people, you know when you started coming here.

You know every relationship that you have on this earth, you know when it happened.

You know that you either have it or you don't.

And the ones that you're not really sure of, oh yeah, I recognize you.

Uh what you're really saying is, hey, can you fake it just to make me kind of feel better?

And Jesus is not going to fake it.

We've got to be sure of our relationship with Jesus.

These are just easy ways to know that you uh, well, as 1 Peter says, to make your calling and election sure.

Second thing is obedience to Jesus.

John 10, that same passage we read from earlier says this.

I am the good shepherd, verse 14, I am the good shepherd, I know my own, and my own know me.

Now listen, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.

He's saying, hey, just as intimate as the Son of God is to the Father, that's how you can be with me.

That's how intimate we can be.

That's how you can know this relationship exists because I want it to be so closely knit together that it's like the father to the son.

And I would venture to say that that's probably one of the most intimate, close, known relationships ever, not created, because they weren't created, but ever known to man.

That there is this obedience that comes from this knowledge and this relationship.

And he says, I lay down my life for my sheep, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

I must bring them also.

That's Gentiles, that's you and me.

If we're not Jewish, he's saying, I got other sheep, and I'm gonna bring them in.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

We will listen.

We will listen to his voice.

We will be obedient to him.

I was reminded of just how simple this can be when I was kind of researching for today, and I came across a little quote by an author and a pastor by the name of Francis Chan.

He says this, he says, We make things so complicated in the church these days.

He says, when my kids play follow the leader, when the leader does something, everyone follows.

When my kids play Simon says, when they say Simon says, put your hands to your nose, everybody puts their hands to their nose.

But when we say Jesus says, we don't like to do it.

And then he goes on to say, and this is the part that tickled me, he said, it'd be kind of like this.

This is how we we approach obedience in the church today, as believers.

We we we approach obedience like this, like if he was to tell, or if I was to tell my kids to go clean their room, like for Reese and Ellie, if I was to go tell them to go clean their room, and they look at me and they disappear for a little bit, and then they come back and they go, I memorized your command to clean my room.

And they're standing before me going, I've memorized it.

You said go clean your room.

It's good.

And then maybe a little bit later, and they go, and on top of that, not only have I memorized your command to go clean my room, I'm gonna have a small group of my friends over later, and we're gonna talk about what it would look like to go clean my room.

That's funny.

I stole that from Francis Chan, okay?

That is funny.

I don't want to take credit for it.

I might get stricken down.

But there's obedience, right?

We will do whatever he says, no matter how silly, no matter how foolish we become.

We will love one another.

Thirdly.

1 John 4 says, beloved, beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God.

And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

How do you know if you're a believer?

Because you love people.

Mainly believers first, that you love other believers and you look at them and you say, Yeah, you've let me down.

Yeah, you've hurt me.

I'm gonna love you anyway.

What would happen if someone did that for you, much less for someone else?

And finally, the Spirit is present.

1 Corinthians 12.

Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, Jesus is accursed.

And no one can say, Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is present in our life and tells us and enables us to confess with our life, with our tongue, with our heart, Jesus is Lord and we live like it.

Just those four things, just easy, very simple.

To help us understand that there's a difference between knowing, and there's a difference between knowing of.

The difference, although they feel really similar, are on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to Jesus.

And for us, we've got to discern where we land on that spectrum.

Do we know him?

Do we know of him?

Thirdly and finally, Jesus would say this in this passage.

He says, everyone.

Everyone has a chance.

Everyone has a chance at what he's gonna call recline at table.

How cool is that?

I mean, it's not the table, it's just table.

We're gonna recline at table.

It's gonna be, there's gonna be so many tables.

I mean, think of all the things that you do at table.

You eat, you fellowship, you get to know your kids and your family, you may do a little work, whatever it is.

I mean, you're you're around a table.

Now Jesus says, in the kingdom, you're reclining, you're resting.

You, whatever you have found, you've agonized about, you're at rest.

You're reclining.

Everyone has a chance at that.

So for them, the Jewish people would have said, Yeah, you want a chance at that?

If you're not, if you're a Gentile, well, I don't really know if you're in or out, but if you want to become like one of us, uh go ahead and get circumcised.

And uh I want you to adhere to all 613 laws.

And so you would do that.

If that's what you wanted to do, you would, you would, you would uh you would conform to them.

Now, all that Christianity is saying is all you have to do is believe.

That's all you gotta do.

It's faith alone, by grace, through faith, and live like you believe it because it should change our lives.

Everyone has a chance.

Um this week was uh atheists in this world are becoming more and more hostile to the gospel.

Do you know this?

If you don't know this, you should know this because um, whereas before atheists would just kind of go, y'all are a bunch of loons.

Now they're looking at us, and they would just kind of, you know, yeah, all right, you're Jesus.

He's good for morality, golden rule, got it.

Uh we yeah, he's good for all that, whatever, he's a good prophet, he's a good teacher, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Did a lot of good things while he was on the earth, blah, blah, blah.

But that's for you.

I'm over here.

So the thing, the tide has turned quite a bit.

What they're calling the new atheism for now several years is that the atheists are reading our Bible.

Did you know that?

And you're not?

And I'm not, not like they are.

They're reading our Bible, and they're basically telling us, hey, yeah, this is why I don't believe right here.

What a bunch of hogwash.

I'll tell you why.

Because that Jesus who you love, he came into this world and there wasn't even a good picture of hell until he came onto the planet.

I mean, the Old Testament, there's no real big picture of hell.

In fact, it's it's this weird underworld type Sheol that's just mysterious, and we know that they don't want to go there.

We know David didn't want to go there.

We know that the Old Testament saints definitely don't want to go there.

And then Jesus comes on the scene, and there's no one else that talks about hell more than him.

I mean, how cool is he?

Yeah, great guy.

And I would argue with that person, literally, and tell that person maybe Jesus is so gracious and so generous that he knew of a place called hell and he wants you to know about it.

How cruel would there be of a Savior that knew of this place where sinners go forever and ever, and then he never told us about it to warn us, to wake us up and to bring us out of our slumber.

I mean, the Bible says, wake up, O sleeper.

Maybe this is one of the things that he was using to wake us up.

Because as he spoke about hell, he said things like this.

Matthew 8, he says, it's an outer darkness.

It's a separation, and it's scary, and you can't see what's coming.

There's torment.

Luke 16.

There's an unquenchable fire.

Unquenchable.

No, not an amount of water or chemical can put out this fire.

It is an eternal punishment in Matthew 25.

And then what he says here in Luke 13, he says, There's weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Literally, there's going to be so much weeping and so much grinding of our teeth, and it's going to be eternal.

It will never end.

I don't know if you've broken anything recently, but I think I did.

And uh I was I was doing slipping slide.

Okay.

And my wife warned me.

My wife warned me, she said, no, don't do that slipping slide.

All that is is pain and hurt.

I'm telling you right now.

First one, man.

First one.

Just ran it right into the ground.

I don't know what's going on.

But I'll tell you this, when it happened, I didn't weep, although I probably should have.

But instead, my reaction was, mmm.

Okay, if you've ever hurt yourself in such a way that that's what you do, weeping, weeping, gnashing of teeth.

You see the picture, the broad picture that Jesus is painting of this place that no one wants to go to.

But Jesus is saying some of us will.

You see that?

You see how important this is for us today?

And you may be thinking, well, I'm already on the narrow way.

We all think we are.

I thought I was for years and years and years.

This is why Jesus says at the end of this chapter, as he's looking over Jerusalem, he says in verse 34, he says, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, to the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it, aka all those that they disagree with, they killed.

How often would I have gathered you, your children, together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not.

He's just weeping and understanding that this is a reality.

He wouldn't tell us if it wasn't so.

He says, Everyone has a chance.

I mean, the east and the west and the north and the south, they all have the chance to come in and recline at table.

This is the great picture, and I don't want to go into it too much because we're going to talk about it next week with the parable of the wedding feast.

He says, There's a chance that you can make it.

Don't tarry, don't wait.

Now's the time.

Bible continues to say, now's the day.

The day is the day of salvation.

There are no second chances.

Certainly, Luke 16 would talk about that with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and Lazarus is being tormented, and he says, just dip your finger in some water and give it to me.

No.

Okay, well, well, just send somebody to my house and tell all my brothers.

No.

You see, they didn't believe when the prophets came.

Why would they believe anybody else?

There's no second chances, and our world is screaming out that there are second chances all the time.

We love second chances.

Because it means we don't have to deal with our guilt right here, right now.

And Jesus has dealt with it for us.

All we have to do is believe.

But our world is saying to all of us that there are second chances everywhere, Protestant and Catholic.

A few years ago, a guy by the name of Rob Bell wrote a book called Love Wins.

Love Wins, main premise of the book is this: no matter what you do in this life, whether you are alive when God reveals himself, or whether you are dead when God reveals himself, eventually God is going to win you over with his love.

Alive or dead, it really doesn't matter.

That's the Protestant way of saying it.

And then this week, something a little bit less Protestant, a little bit more Catholic.

Now I grew up Catholic, so I ain't bashing Catholics, okay?

But this week, the Pope put out, what did anybody see this?

Yeah?

So if you follow the Pope on Twitter, then you will receive indulgences from purgatory.

You think I'm kidding?

So we laugh at that and we're like, wow, how silly.

Until you find out he's got 2.53 million followers just in English, seven plus million followers around the world.

That's an easy thing to do, is click a follow.

And I'll follow him, and maybe there'll be a little bit of help from me come in the afterlife.

And I tell you all that because that is the broad road.

Protestant and Catholic.

So I'm I'm bashing my my my own people, Protestant and my own people Catholic and all of that.

Okay?

But I'm just I want us to all realize, open up our minds here to the narrowness that Jesus is calling us to, that if we rely on anything, even a click, anything besides his sacrifice on the cross for this narrow road, for this relationship with Jesus, we're in big trouble.

We're gonna be standing and wondering why he will not answer.

And he will just say, I don't know you.

Hebrews 12, the writer of Hebrews knew this.

I'll say this and then we're done.

Hebrews 12, verse 14 says this.

Hebrews 12:14

Now listen, this is very pointed.

Strive for peace with everyone.

You see that word again?

Agonizomai, strive, engage in a battle for peace with everyone.

This is the part that you need to hear, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Strive for that holiness.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God.

In other words, there are going to be people that fail to obtain the grace of God.

See to it that no one does as much as you can, that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.

That see that to it, strive to it, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy, like who?

Esau.

Oh, what did Esau do?

This is the story that'll break your heart if you read it.

Who sold his birthright?

He didn't, he didn't he didn't see the things of God as worthwhile.

He sold his birthright for a single meal, lentil stew.

For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected.

For he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

There's gonna come a point where it'll be too late.

It will be too late.

Statistically speaking, for half of us, if not more.

So I implore you to come to the narrow road.

And if you think, well, that's too narrow-minded, and this is just another sermon about fire and brimstone.

I haven't saying anything about fire or brimstone.

I'm just simply relaying the message once again.

What Jesus said, come now.

Don't wait.

Now's the time.

Don't just sit there and start knocking and going, but I met you 20 years ago.

I mean, why is this such a big deal?

And he's saying, But I don't know you because you don't know me.

You haven't relied on anything, you've relied on everything else except me for this thing called a relationship.

The promise is absolutely one that is rest for our souls.

And so let me just say this as we end.

It's a question that I've came across in one of the commentators this week.

The question begins, this passage begins with, Lord, will those who are saved be few?

Lord, will those who are saved be few?

And because Jesus has crafty, he never answers it without with with with with you know black and white.

Instead, he tells this great parable, this great story, will those who are saved be few?

And I would say to you, and relay the question that I read, and that is this will those who are saved be you?

Now, I'm gonna pull a kneel and say, there's some heaviness in this room.

And I would say, rightfully so.

Rightfully so is there heaviness in the room in this room.

This is eternal.

This is right, and this is good.

And this isn't a guilt trip, this isn't a beating over the head, this is an opportunity and an invitation.

And I can tell you, I lived for a little while on the other side of that door thinking I was in.

But once I was in, everything changed.

Everything changed almost overnight.

And it may not be overnight for you, that's fine.

Not saying it has to be.

But when God reaches into the grave and makes you alive, God reaches into your chest, takes your old heart out, and puts a new one in.

Things change.

And they are so good, no matter what circumstances come.

Will the saved be you.

Hold your hands out like this.

Your narrow-minded God calls you to the narrowness of life with him.

And only there will you find pasture, only there will you find provision, only there will you find his presence.

Go now and strive to enter through the narrow door.

And if you're there, enjoy it.

In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.