Luke 13:22-30

I've got my own glasses.

Well, let me add my welcome, and it's a pleasure to be here today.

I think I was here about maybe about the first year that you actually started this,

! Three or four years ago now? Something like that?

They've been going a while.

But it's a pleasure to be here, and you might want to keep your Bibles open there to page 105,

because I'll refer back to the Scripture as we go along.

That way you can make sure that I'm not making it up and it's really coming out of your Bibles.

You know, as I was listening, as we were reading this, so often when I hear passages like this,

I am absolutely amazed at the way Jesus can teach such eternal truths in the simplest of ways.

I mean, His analogies are powerful.

His metaphors are illuminating without exception.

And as we look at this passage here in Luke 13, I think we should note that

this is a period of time when Jesus' ministry was at its most popular.

In fact, back in chapter 12, verse 1, we're told that the crowds who were gathering to hear Him preach

were so large you couldn't put a number on them.

We're also told that as people moved around in the crowds to hear Him speak or to see Him better,

they trampled on one another.

And also, to put this into context, we should note that

the first line of our text says that Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem.

This is referring to an earlier verse back in Luke 9,

which says that when the days grew near for Jesus to be taken up to heaven,

He set His face toward Jerusalem.

And that statement back there in Luke 9 marks the beginning of the last six months of Jesus' life.

Jesus knows that He is on His way to Calvary.

And it's important because it tells us that He does know that as He travels and teaches,

that it's only a few short weeks before He will be hanging on the cross and dying.

So this is the context in which we start our passage here in verse 22,

where we have this wonderful picture of Jesus moving to the towns and the villages,

teaching and healing and people flooding in from all over the countryside to hear Him and to see Him.

Now, as Jesus talks, it was not unusual for people to ask Him questions.

And here in verse 23 is one of them,

Now, this is an understandable question and probably not an uncommon thought to have.

And there may be several reasons why this person actually asked this question.

I mean, for one, the two previous parables suggested that the kingdom of God would be small.

This would have made a Jewish person very uncomfortable.

They had been taught from the start that all Jews would be in the kingdom of heaven.

And as Jesus talked, it was obvious that this was not the case.

Or maybe they heard Jesus' teaching and thought He demands so much of us

that no man or woman could ever accomplish this.

Will there actually be anybody at all in heaven?

But still, whatever the person's motives were,

Jesus focuses on the question at hand.

And note that it says,

Someone asked, and He said to them.

Jesus wants to address the whole group who is there,

and not just the one person who asked the question.

And what He does for us here is He takes a speculative question on the nature of salvation,

and He turns it into a very pointed challenge about personal salvation.

And Jesus begins His response to the question with His challenge.

Make every effort, He says,

to enter through the narrow door.

Now this is interesting,

but anyone who wants to know the number of the saved

only needs to refer to the Sermon on the Mount,

where Jesus says,

For the gate is narrow,

and the way is hard,

that leads to life.

And those who find it are few.

And Jesus is saying there in Matthew,

that to follow Me is not an easy option.

In fact, it is the hard option.

And you will not see many people on the narrow road that leads to eternal life,

but you will see many, many people on the wide road that leads to destruction.

And what Jesus is saying here in Luke, in our passage,

is strive.

Make every effort to enter the narrow door,

because whatever the number of those who are saved in the end are,

there's no concern of yours.

Your concern is to be sure that you are a part of that number.

Make sure that you are one of those few

who are taking the narrow road that leads to life.

Now this word here for strive,

and we have translated it as strive or make every effort,

is the same word that Paul uses later on

to talk about an Olympic athlete

who puts all his effort into his events

to make sure that he wins.

And in that context,

some might say it sounds like

we can earn our way through the door by the things we do.

However, we're told that it is by grace alone that we are saved,

and Ephesians 2 tells us that we're not saved by good works,

but that we're saved for good works.

And we also know the only basis that we have for salvation

is what the Lord Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.

So, when Jesus issues this challenge to strive,

he's not saying that we can earn salvation.

Jesus is saying that salvation is not always easy.

And we have to resist the pressures of the world

that are all around us,

that are trying to hold us back.

You see, everything in this world lies to us.

Even our own very natures lie to us.

Our nature tells us that to love God

will take away our happiness and rob us of our joy.

Now you see,

Jesus is simply laying down a challenge

to strive against a sinful heart

while everything in this world

stands against a pure heart.

Everything is working towards my taking on

all those things which are unkind and untrue

and unnecessary.

And as awful as it may seem,

our natural inclination,

mine, yours, everyone's,

is to turn away from God,

is to turn away from His Word,

but it is His Word

that makes us wise for salvation.

And you see,

the thing we should all be thinking

is that salvation,

to the utmost degree,

is offered to all men and women.

You see, everything on God's part is ready.

The plan is in place.

Jesus is ready,

He is willing,

and He is able to receive sinners,

but sadly,

sinners are not willing to come to Christ.

So in the end,

it is few who are saved.

So the Lord exhorts us here

to strive,

to agonize,

to enter through the narrow door.

You see,

there is a door

that God has opened to humanity.

It is the door to enter

into God's presence,

and He has made a way

for men and women

to have eternal life

and share eternity with Him.

And Jesus says

that it is the responsibility

of all mankind,

the responsibility

of every individual man and woman

to make sure

that they are inside the door.

See, this picture of the narrow door

is entry into God's presence.

It's the way of salvation

that God has opened up to humanity.

It's a door that only opens

from the inside,

and Jesus says

we must strive

to enter through it.

So Jesus begins

His response with a command.

But there is also

a warning here

in the second half

of verse 24.

For many,

I tell you,

will seek to enter

that they will not be able.

It's kind of an anomaly

to our thoughts.

Why is that?

That people will seek God,

but they will not be able.

Well, the answer is there

in verse 25.

It's because when the master

of the house rises

to shut the door,

the time for salvation

will be over.

The Lord Jesus

is telling us here

that there is a time

coming in the future

when the door will close,

never to be reopened again.

Now, it is true

that when you die,

the door closes,

but what Jesus

is referring to here

is the second coming,

what is known

as the end of the age.

And Jesus is saying

that there is an event

coming in everyone's future

that will shut the door

once and for all,

and it will never be

reopened again.

You see,

there is a day coming

when the long-suffering

of the patience of the Lord

will have ended.

The day of salvation

will be over,

the door of mercy

will be closed,

and all the people of God

are going to be shut in,

and everyone else

is going to be shut out.

You see,

the meaning of these words

is really impossible

to misunderstand.

Once the door is shut,

there is no possibility

of a second chance

for those who are not

on the inside of the door

when it's shut.

And anyone who is

under the illusion

that God is so forgiving

or so loving

or that Jesus is so kind

or compassionate

that will be offered

a second chance

needs to look seriously

here at these words.

If Jesus had wanted

to teach

that there would be

a second chance,

this would have been

a perfect opportunity

for him to do it.

But he does it,

does he instead?

He says exactly the opposite,

that many will want

to get in,

but on that day

they will not be able

to get in.

Many of his heroes

would have been Jewish.

They would have been

well-versed in the

Old Testament stories,

and I'm sure some,

if not many,

of them thought,

man, this sounds

an awful lot like

Noah and the Ark,

because it does.

You remember,

Noah was a preacher

of righteousness.

He told the people

over and over

and over again.

And the people

could always say,

Moses, you're,

I mean,

Noah, you're crazy.

Just leave us alone.

And they mocked

and they scoffed

and they turned

their back on him

and finally the day

came when the Lord

shut the door to the Ark

and the rain began.

And as the rains

lashed down upon their heads,

they beat

and they pounded

on the side of the Ark

begging to be let in,

but their cries

went unheeded.

They were too late.

And notice here

in verse 25

that those who are

shut out

they too

were expecting

to be let in.

Open the door,

sir, they say.

No, says the master

of the house,

I don't know you

and I don't know

where you've come from.

But hold on a second,

sir, you preached

in our streets.

Don't you remember

we ate

and we drank

with you?

Well, maybe you did,

says the master

of the house,

but I still don't know you.

Away from here,

you doers

of evil.

See, ultimately,

there are only going

to be two classes

of people.

Those who are on the

inside

and those who are

on the outside.

And for those

on the inside,

we see here

it's going to be

a time of joy

and happiness

and feasting.

They're going to be

reclining at the tables

with generations

of believers

from all times.

You see,

the true offspring

of Abraham

are those who believe

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's not about

your family tree

or your status

or whether you go

to church or not.

It's about believing

in and trusting

in the Lord Jesus.

And in verse 29,

we see that in the

kingdom of God,

there are going to be

people from everywhere.

They're going to come

from the east,

the west,

the north,

the south,

Jew,

Gentile,

slave,

free,

men,

women,

all living together

in perfect harmony.

All brothers and sisters

living together

in Christ

and they will all

be reclining

around the table

enjoying their time.

The Lord's people

are going to be

shut in for eternity

with Christ

and with the saints

and with the angels

all together

in the kingdom of God

never ever having

to deal with sin

again.

Can you imagine

the conversations

we're going to have

or the questions

we'll be able

to have answered.

If you like music,

can you imagine

the songs

we're going to sing

together?

But for those

who are still

on the outside,

Jesus says there

in verses 25

and 26

that they will

plead earnestly

!

But their pleas

will be answered

with this solemn

rejection,

I do not know you.

Depart from me,

you doers

of evil.

That command

to depart from me

is exclusion

from the presence

of God.

And the Bible

tells us that

it is in the presence

of God

where all

pleasures are found.

And the presence

of God

is where all

joy

is located.

And the presence

of God

is the ultimate

and the eternal

experience

of joy

and pleasure

and to be

excluded from that

will be the

ultimate experience

of separation

and isolation.

And verse 28

says that

for those people

who are still

on the outside

and when the door

is shut,

there will be

weeping

and wailing

as an expression

of their grief.

They will gnash

and grind

their teeth

as an expression

of their anger

and their rage.

You see,

we must note here

that Jesus

never saw

dying in this life

as the end.

He never saw

us lying in a hole

in the ground

rotting away.

No,

Jesus always

sees us

after death

in this life

as alive

with thoughts

and with feelings

and with emotions

in heaven

or in hell

for better

or for worse.

And here

in verse 28

we have

one of the most

horrific

and tragic

statements

of eternal

frustration

and eternal

loss

found anywhere

in the Bible.

Personally,

just note how

those who are

still shut out

call him Lord.

That's surprising

me at first

but that at

the moment

of the return

of the Lord

Jesus,

no one will be

in any doubt

that he is

anything but

Lord God.

And those who

said that he was

only a moral

teacher or a

prophet or a

religious leader

or just a man

will realize

on that day

that they never

honored him

for who he was

as the Lord

God.

We're told

too that on

that day,

the day of

the Lord's

return,

that every

eye is going

to see him

and every

knee will

bow to him

and every

tongue will

confess that

Jesus is

Lord.

So it

shouldn't

surprise us

when we see

these people

here calling

him Lord.

But you

see what

this is

saying to

us,

this is a

revelation

of the awful

fact that

men and

women will

see on

that day

what is

right.

But it's

going to be

too late

for them

to be

saved.

You see,

there is a

time coming

when sinners

will repent.

There's a

time coming

when sinners

are going to

believe in

Jesus.

They're going

to feel

sorry for

their sins.

They will

pray.

They will

even long

for heaven.

But it's

going to be

too late.

There will

be many

people who

wake up on

that morning

and realize

that their

homespun,

self-made

ideas about

God and

eternity and

reality were

all wrong.

And as they

wake up,

they will

find too

that they

are now

believers in

the Lord

Jesus.

But it's

going to be

too late.

The door

will have

been shut.

Because you

see, on

that day,

they will

know him

as Lord,

but they

will never

know him

as Lord,

the Savior.

They will

only ever

know him

as Lord,

the Judge.

And you

know, as we

look at this

passage,

I think it

should help

us set

straight in

our minds

some of

the things

around us.

Money,

pleasure,

importance,

status,

they're all

held in

great value.

While

praying,

striving to

enter the

narrow door

in the love

of Christ,

are despised

and ridiculed

and held

very, very

cheaply.

But you

see, the

salvation is

really an

issue of

God's grace.

salvation is

a gift.

And it

has nothing

to do with

your status

in this

life.

From the

lowest of

the low

to the

highest of

the high,

the invitation

to receive

salvation is

open to

everyone.

And the

door, the

narrow door,

it is open

right now,

but someday it

will close.

If you can

hear my voice,

then I can

assure you that

the door is

still open.

But it may

close tonight or

tomorrow or

ten years or

a hundred years.

Well, we do

not know, but it

will close.

And as I

began, I

pointed out that

these words that

we are looking

at are actually

the words of

Jesus himself.

And you

know, the

one person who

talks so often

about hell and

about judgment

is Jesus.

The other

Bible writers

use it and

they write about

it, but the

one person who

expands on it,

who expounds

and who preaches

it to us and

warns us over

and over and

over again is

the Lord Jesus.

And I think

this is because

Jesus knew that

one day he was

going to return

in the twinkling

of an eye.

And on that

day, he has

been appointed

by God to be

the judge of

all humanity.

And Jesus

wants us to

know beyond a

shadow of a

doubt that he

has already

come.

And the reason

that he came

the first time

was to prepare

us for that

day of judgment

by coming the

first time to

be our Savior.

You see, Jesus

loves you.

Jesus loves

mankind.

In fact, Jesus

is the most

loving person

who has ever

walked the

face of the

earth.

And it is

because of

this great

love for you

that he is

so emphatic,

that he is

so clear

when he teaches

about the

consequences for

the person who

finishes this

life on the

outside of the

door.

Because you see,

if you trust

in the Lord

Jesus as your

Savior, he will

save you from

that judgment

to come.

So in

closing, I

just want to

urge you,

really, hear

and listen,

heed the

words of the

Lord Jesus.

Strive.

Agonize.

Make every

effort.

Be sure to

be sure that

you enter

through the

narrow door.

Let me pray

for us.

Let me pray.

Thank you.