In Jerusalem this week, President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert met as well as other mid-east officials to work on yet another middle-east peace process. As one commentator said, there is a lot of process and very little peace. This process is important for Mr. Bush, for in many ways he sees this as the legacy of his presidency. This year is an election year in the US and Bush knows that time is running out.
In Luke 13, time is also running out for Christ. Jesus has come to a point in His ministry where the inevitability is clear. He has been showing since Luke 11:37 that the Pharisees and many others in the nation have not responded. Though they see themselves joined to the patriarchs and prophets, they are rapidly placing themselves in apposition where they will be isolated from them.
For each of us, time is also running out. Our time on this earth is limited and we have a short window of opportunity to accomplish our mission. The gospel of Salvation is a message that must be received in this life in order for Christ to redeem. Assumptions can be deadly, both for us and for those to whom we are charged to present the message. The exclusive nature of the message will offend many, but the window of opportunity is closing, and for some, it is shorter than we think.
Jesus gives us very clear instruction on the way to God directing us to seek the 1) Right Door (Luke 13:22-24) 2) at the Right Time (Luke 13:25) 3) by the Right Way (Luke 13:26-30)
1) The Right Door (Luke 13:22-24)
Luke 13:22-24 [22]He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. [23]And someone said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" And he said to them, [24]"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. (ESV)
Luke mentions in Luke 13:22, that Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem. The nation’s very resistance to accept Jesus will drive Him to His death in the nation’s religious center. Since Luke 9:51 he set His direction toward fulfilling the mission for which He came and taught on His way to Jerusalem.
Jesus presented the expectations of God before His offer of Grace. Only when we present the need for salvation first, does it make sense. That is why most likely, the follow question arose in 13:23.
Luke 13:23 [23]And someone said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?" (And he said to them,)
We don’t know who asked Him this question or why exactly. We do know that up until this time it had been assumed that every Israelite belonged to God.
Many today also falsely assume that people today will be automatically saved because they currently belong to a political state called Israel.
Romans 9:6 [6]But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, (ESV)
The line of demarcation between saved and unsaved was not nationalistic but spiritual.
This question is also a common response to difficult teaching. Instead of self examination, the questioner may be trying to avoid Jesus’ teaching by taking the matter to a theoretical or general level regarding groups of people. Jesus did not teach just facts and history but confronted people with their personal sin and personal need for a saviour. And so should we.
• Instead of just considering this a moral or historic lesson, consider who do you know that is not saved? Who do you know who needs the message of salvation and God has put you into their life to lovingly tell them.
Jesus answers them in Luke 13:24
Luke 13:24"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell y o u, will seek to enter and will not be able
Jesus answers the question indirectly with what is in effect a warning. He does not describe the number of saved as few, but He shows that people come into blessing from everywhere (13:29), and He notes that many who thought they were inside will find themselves outside.. The idea is not that we work our way to God, but to labour hard at listening and responding to the message. This was directed not just at the questioner but the “y o u” in the passage is plural, directed at all who would hear His teaching.
“strive” – Gk. – ‘agonizomai’ – this is where we get our word “agonize” from. It was the word used for those who competed in the athletic games like wrestling. It means to put all your energy towards the prize. This is where we ought to concentrate our lives … put all our energy … eternity depends on it. We wrestle against our unsantified selves, our sin, the world and the kingdom of darkness:
Ephesians 6:12 [12]For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (ESV)
Please turn to Phil. 2:12-13
No one has ever stumbled into the kingdom or wandered through the narrow gate by accident. Entering the door to God’s kingdom takes conscious, purposeful, and intense effort. That is the term from which we get agonize, and is the same word Paul uses to describe an athlete who agonizes (“competes”) to win a race (1 Cor. 9:25) and the Christian who “fights the good fight of faith” (literally, “struggles the good struggle,” 1 Tim. 6:12).
The requirements for kingdom citizenship are great, demanding, clearly defined, and allow for no deviation or departure. Luke 16:16 says,
Luke 16:16 [16]"The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. (ESV)
Jeremiah 29:13 [13]You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (ESV)
• I get concerned when someone professes faith in Christ yet there is no distress over sin, and no striving for holiness. Perhaps they have a mistaken idea about genuine faith and have not really sought God on His terms.
The most dangerous position to be is to forget that we are in a battle or think that we have noting to do in this battle. Once God has saved someone he directs us:
Philippians 2:12 [12]Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
• The working out of salvation is not that we can do a work to earn salvation, but to strive to work or live out what God has already done. This is Santification, the progressive separation from sin to holiness.
Now verse 13 describes God’s action in Santification:
Philippians 2:13[13]for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (ESV)
Please turn to Matthew 7
From Luke 13: 24, what is Jesus commanding in telling us to strive to the narrow way?
Matthew 7:13-14 [13]"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. [14]For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (ESV)
THERE ARE TWO GATES
Enter is in the aorist imperative tense, and therefore demands a definite and specific action. The command is not to admire or to ponder the gate but to enter it. Many people admire the teachings of Jesus but never follow those principles. Many people respect and praise Jesus Christ but never receive Him as Lord and Saviour. Because they never receive the King and never enter the kingdom, they are as much separated from the King and as much outside His kingdom as is the rankest atheist or most unethical pagan.
Jesus’ command is not simply to enter some gate but to enter the narrow gate. Every person enters one gate or the other; that is unavoidable. Jesus pleads for men to enter the right gate, God’s gate, the only gate that leads to life and to heaven.
Jesus has repeatedly shown the narrowness of God’s internal standard of righteousness, in contrast to the broad and external standards of Jewish tradition. The path to that narrow way of kingdom living is through the narrow gate of the King Himself. “
John 14:6 [6]Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (ESV)
When we preach, teach, and witness that Christ is the only way to God, we are not proclaiming our own view of right religion but God’s revelation of truth. We do not proclaim the narrow way simply because we are already in it, or because it happens to suit our temperament, or because we are bigoted and exclusive, We proclaim the narrow way because it is God’s way and God’s only way for men to find salvation and eternal life.
We proclaim a narrow gospel because Jesus said:
John 10:9[9]I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. (ESV)
We proclaim a narrow gospel because
Acts 4:12 [12]And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (ESV)
and because:
1 Timothy 2:5 [5]For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (ESV)
We proclaim a narrow gospel because that is the only gospel God has given and therefore the only gospel there is.
The person who enters the narrow gate must enter alone. We can bring no one else and nothing else with us. Some commentators suggest that a turnstile represents the idea implicit in narrow gate. A turnstile allows only one person through at a time, with no baggage. People do not come into the kingdom in groups, but singly. The Jews had the mistaken notion that they were all in God’s kingdom together by racial salvation, signified by circumcision.
THERE ARE TWO WAYS
The two gates lead to two ways. The gate that is wide leads to the way that is easy/broad; and the narrow gate, which is small, leads to the way that is narrow. The narrow way is the way of the godly, and the broad way is the way of the ungodly-and those are the only two ways in which men can travel.
The way that is broad is the easy, attractive, inclusive, indulgent, permissive, and self-oriented way of the world. There are few rules, few restrictions, and few requirements.
As one commentator noted on the nature of the easy believeism prevalent today:
Quote: “All you need do is profess Jesus, or at least be religious, and you are readily accepted in that large and diverse group. Sin is tolerated, truth is moderated, and humility is ignored. God’s Word is praised but not studied, and His standards are admired but not followed. This way requires no spiritual maturity, no moral character, no commitment, and no sacrifice. It is the easy way of floating downstream, in “the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). It is the tragic way “which seems right to a man,” but whose “end is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12)”.
The way that is narrow, however, is the hard way, the demanding way, the way of self-denial and the cross. Stenos (narrow) comes from a root that means “to groan,” as from being under pressure, and is used figuratively to represent a restriction or constriction. It is the word from which we get stenography, writing that is abbreviated or compressed.
THERE ARE TWO DESTINATIONS
Both the broad and the narrow ways point to the good life, to salvation, heaven, God, the kingdom, and blessing-but only the narrow way actually leads to those. There is nothing here to indicate that the broad way is marked “Hell.” The point our Lord is making is from what He said in Matthew 7:13-14 is that it is marked “Heaven” but does not lead there. That is the great lie of all the false religions of human achievement. The two very different destinations of the two ways are made clear by the Lord (cf. Jer. 21:8). The broad ... leads to destruction, whereas only the narrow ... leads to life. There are many of those roads, and most of them are attractive, appealing, and crowded with travelers. But not a single one leads where it promises; and not a single one fails to lead where Jesus says it leads-to destruction.
Apôleia (destruction) does not refer to extinction or annihilation, but to total ruin and loss (cf. Matt. 3:12; 18:8; 25:41, 46; 2 Thess. 1:9; Jude 6-7). It is not the complete loss of being, but the complete loss of well-being. It is the destination of all religions except the way of Jesus Christ, and it is the destiny of all those who follow any way but His. It is the destination and destiny of perdition, hell, and everlasting torment.
Psalm 1:6 [6]for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
THERE ARE TWO GROUPS
Going through two doors, traveling down the two ways, and heading for the two destinations we find two groups of people. Those who go in through the wide gate and travel the way that is broad toward the destination of destruction are many. The many will include pagans and nominal Christians, atheists and religionists, theists and humanists, Jews and Gentiles-every person from whatever age, background, persuasion, and circumstance who has not come to saving obedience to Jesus Christ.
Illustration: The Directions Were Wrong
The doubleheader train was bucking a heavy snowstorm as its steam engines pulled it west. A woman with a baby wanted to leave the train at one of the little stations along the route. She repeatedly called, “Don’t forget me!” to the brakeman responsible to call out the stations they approached. Her husband was to meet her. The train slowed to a stop, and a fellow traveler said, “Here’s your station.” She hopped from the train into the storm. The train moved on again. Forty-five minutes later, the brakeman came in. “Where’s the woman?” “She got off at the last stop,” the traveler said. “Then she got off to her death,” the brakeman responded. “We stopped only because there was something the matter with the engine.” They called for volunteers to go back and search for the woman and child. When they found her hours later, not far from the track where they stopped, she was covered with ice and snow. The little boy was protected on her breast. She had followed the man’s directions, but they were wrong—dead wrong.
Ron Carlson, commenting on the story mentioned: Paul declares Christ is the one Mediator between man and God. Peter emphasizes there is no other name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. The Lord Jesus Christ is our only Authority. His blood has made atonement for our sin. Only He can tell us how to reach our final destination. Depend on the One who has experienced death and provided redemption for you, the One who will walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death.
Adapted by Ron Carlson, Reprinted from: Moody Monthly, February, 1983
Jesus gives us very clear instruction on the way to God directing us to seek the 1) Right Door (Luke 13:22-24) at
2) The Right Time (Luke 13:25)
Luke 13:25 [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,’ then he will answer you, ’I do not know where you come from.’ (ESV)
Please turn back to Luke 6
This appeal in verse 25 of Luke 13, calling Jesus Lord, is based on their perceived assumption of closeness to Jesus. But is it not awareness of Jesus and His teachings that saves but a true salvation that one can be seen in obedience:
Luke 6:46-49 [46]"Why do you call me ’Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? [47]Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: [48]he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. [49]But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." (ESV)
Matthew 25:1-13 [25:1]"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. [2]Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. [3]For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, [4]but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. [5]As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. [6]But at midnight there was a cry, ’Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ [7]Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. [8]And the foolish said to the wise, ’Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ [9]But the wise answered, saying, ’Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ [10]And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. [11]Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ’Lord, lord, open to us.’ [12]But he answered, ’Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ [13]Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (ESV)
One day, at death or once Christ returns, it will be too late. If we haven’t already come in through the narrow door, we won’t get in. There’s coming a time when it will be TOO LATE.
Illustration: Opportunity: Billy Graham
In his autobiography, Just as I Am, Billy Graham tells about a conversation he had with John F. Kennedy shortly after his election:
“On the way back to the Kennedy house, the president-elect stopped the car and turned to me. ‘Do you believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ?’ he asked.
‘I most certainly do.’ ‘Well, does my church believe it?’ ‘They have it in their creeds.’
‘They don’t preach it,’ he said. ‘They don’t tell us much about it. I’d like to know what you think.’ I explained what the Bible said about Christ coming the first time, dying on the Cross, rising from the dead, and then promising that he would come back again. ‘Only then,’ I said, ‘are we going to have permanent world peace.’ ‘Very interesting,’ he said, looking away. ‘We’ll have to talk more about that someday.’ And he drove on.”
Several years later, the two met again, at the 1963 National Prayer Breakfast.
“I had the flu,” Graham remembers. “After I gave my short talk, and he gave his, we walked out of the hotel to his car together, as was always our custom. At the curb, he turned to me. ‘Billy, could you ride back to the White House with me? I’d like to see you for a minute.’ ‘Mr. President, I’ve got a fever,’ I protested. ‘Not only am I weak, but I don’t want to give you this thing. Couldn’t we wait and talk some other time?’ It was a cold, snowy day, and I was freezing as I stood there without my overcoat. ‘Of course,’ he said graciously.” But the two would never meet again. Later that year, Kennedy was shot dead. Graham comments, “His hesitation at the car door, and his request, haunt me still. What was on his mind? Should I have gone with him? It was an irrecoverable moment.” Galaxie Software. (2002; 2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press.
Jesus gives us very clear instruction on the way to God directing us to seek the 1) Right Door (Luke 13:22-24) 2) at the Right Time (Luke 13:25) by
3) The Right Way (Luke 13:26-30)
Luke 13:26-30 [26]Then you will begin to say, ’We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ [27]But he will say, ’I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ [28]In that place 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. [29]And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. [30]And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last." (ESV)
Here is where the confusion is presented:
13:26 –
Luke 13:26Then you will begin to say, ’We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
They will be outside of Heaven, banging on the door, arguing with Jesus, saying that they had professed to be a friend of Jesus. They had been in church and heard Him preached. They had counted themselves as being one of the “Christians” … they had fellowshipped with them. The problem is that it is not familiarity with Jesus, but response to Him that he desires. Outward contact with the message and person of Jesus counts for nothing. Inward reception is everything.
• I can’t help reflecting on our community dinners. One of my greatest fears is that those who have rejected the teachings and obedience of Christ in this life will appear before Him and site some dinner or event here and claim a relationship.
13:27 –
Luke 13:27 But he will say, ’I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’
Jesus will tell them that He never knew them. It’s NOT that He knew them, and they lost their salvation. BUT … He never knew them, because they were never saved in the first place. He will utter the most devastating words anyone could ever hear … “Depart from Me … I don’t know you.”
In Verse 28
Luke 13:28 In that place 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.
For the Jews, their birth made them ideal candidates for inclusion in the kingdom, their close proximity to promise has worked against them as they failed to respond. They have removed themselves from experiencing the promise proclaimed by their ancestors and the prophets.
Matthew 8:11-12 [11]I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, [12]while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (ESV)
The weeping is that of inconsolable, never-ending wretchedness and utter everlasting hopelessness. The accompanying grinding or gnashing of teeth is that of frenzied anger, unmitigated rage. Why is there this reaction? They will see their spiritual ancestors (Abraham and Isaac and Jacob) they will see all those who tried to warn them of the impending doom (the prophets) but they will not be among them (you yourselves cast out).
In Verse 29
Luke 13:29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. (ESV)
This is the promised guaranteed success of the world wide evangelism effort with the message of salvation going east, west north and south. We will be gathered together at the end of time with the redeemed of every nation.
Matthew 22:1-14 [22:1]And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, [2]"The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, [3]and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. [4]Again he sent other servants, saying, ’Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ [5]But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, [6]while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. [7]The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. [8]Then he said to his servants, ’The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. [9]Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ [10]And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. [11]"But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. [12]And he said to him, ’Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. [13]Then the king said to the attendants, ’Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ [14]For many are called, but few are chosen." (ESV)
Some who have
There is a cost to continually ignoring the call to salvation. Unless we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, unless we repent of our sins, and seek the righteousness of Christ, there is a terrible judgment coming.
There are degrees of glory in the restored universe (1 Cor. 15:42) and there are degrees of suffering in hell (Luke 12:47-48). The judgement will be quite similar for many in Canada. With so many sources of broadcast of the Christian message and so many Churches, people in this country should be ideal candidates for inclusion in the kingdom. But this close proximity will be an extra reason for judgement for those who do not respond.
And finally in verse 30
Luke 13:30 [30]And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last." (ESV)
There will be those in Heaven from all over the world. Those who considered themselves to be “first”, will find themselves to be “last”. Many Jews thought that they were guaranteed a place in God’s Kingdom, simply by the fact that they were Jews, “God’s chosen people”. Many look upon the Gentiles as being “last” … out of favour with God.
Jesus is telling us that many who EXPECT to get to Heaven, WON’T be there. Others, whom we DON’T EXPECT to be there, WILL be there.
The way to salvation is narrow, the door to enter is small, entering comes on God’s terms, the time remaining before the door closes is short and contact with or racial connection to Jesus is not good enough.
Do you know which road you’re traveling on this morning? There will be many who won’t make it to Heaven, because they’re not on the right road. They haven’t gone through the narrow door. They have read all the warning signs … AND … they believe they are true … BUT … they have never repented, never changed their direction away from sin and towards Christ. That is faith If you have never done this do it now. If you have, strive in holiness.
