When The Door Is Shut
09/13/09 AM
Text/Reading: Luke 13:22-30
Introduction
I was listening to a radio broadcast on a local Christian radio station while on the way into work one morning and there was a discussion that revolved around opportunities in life and one of the speakers made the statement: “When one door closes, the Lord opens another.”
Now most of us recognize this philosophy of positive thinking, “when one door closes another door opens” (attributed first to Alexander Graham Bell.) The basic premise is that there will be times in life when we experience difficulties. There are times when everything does not go according to plan, there are losses and failures, there are relationships problems, we lose money or a job or a loved one, and sometimes things go wrong. When one of these things happens and we focus our attention on the difficulty – the closed door, we see only a closed door with its frustration and unhappiness, but if we would only move our focus away from the closed door, we would discover another door open to new possibilities, or perhaps even a multitude of open doors.
And we could spend a lesson or two relating that to God’s word but it won’t be today because today I would like to consider a lesson from what the second speaker said in response to the first. When the first host made the statement “When one door closes, the Lord opens another”, the second speaker said “unless it’s the door of an ark.” And that is the statement that got me to thinking and which led to our lesson today: When The Door Is Shut.
I. One door
A. One door to the ark
1. Genesis 7:15-23 After all had entered as God had commanded; the door was shut behind Noah.
a. There was only one way to salvation and life, the ark. And only one way into the ark, the door.
When the door was shut all life outside the ark perished.
B. One door to the house of the Lord v24
1. The door, the gate, and the way are narrow.
a. Matthew 7:13 - 14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
2. Entrance through the door is controlled by the owner
a. Jesus was asked, “how many will be saved?” v23
The answer given made clear that it was the wrong question. Jesus said don’t focus on the “how many” focus on the “how.”
II. The Way v23-4
1. There is only one way through the door to the house of the Lord.
a. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
1) People will say “all paths lead to heaven.”
A national figure recently quoted Muhammand Ali”
“I love this quote. A few years ago, he explained this view -- and this is part of why he's The Greatest -- saying, "Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams -- they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do -- they all contain truths."” Barak Obama September 1, 2009
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
b. God says there is one truth, the truth that leads to Him and His house.
2. Jesus is preparing the house of the Lord.
a. John 14:1 - 2 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3. The place is prepared for those who know the Lord of the house v25
a. Luke 13:25 “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
III. The Wayward v26-7
A. The door is open to all whom the Lord knows v26
1. There is the way (following after God) and the wayward (following after own inclinations.)
Jesus explained that although many people know something about God, not all accept His way.
a. Luke 13:26 - 27 “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’
b. Just listening to Jesus’ words or admiring his miracles is not enough.
1) Mark 7:6 - 8 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
c. Regardless of how many would be saved, Jesus said that many … will try to enter and will not be able.
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
2. What matters is not what we know but who knows us.
a. The Pharisees considered themselves righteous but Jesus said they neglected the weightier provisions of God’s Law (justice, mercy, and faithfulness, Matthew 23:23) following after their own tradition and agenda.
Paul wrote to Timothy of men who would oppose the truth, “holding to a form of godliness.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
b. Matthew 7:21 - 23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
c. Parable of the ten virgins: Matthew 25:1-11
1) There were 10 virgins awaiting the bridegroom. Five did what was needed to prepare for the arrival, five did not. v10
Matthew 25:11 - 13 “Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ “But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
Entry through the gate is dependent on whether the person knows the owner.
The lesson here: once the door is shut, it is too late.
IV. When the door is shut v28
A. Those unknown will be rejected
1. How could those who know Jesus be rejected by him?
a. The way of salvation is open to all. No one is excluded by birth or background (v29).
Jesus said in Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. And scripture tells us that all have sinned (Romans 3:23.)
But the door does not open merely because of loose association with Jesus.
We must come to Jesus on his terms, not our own. In repentance, trusting the grace of God, doing His commandments.
Matthew 10:32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
We confess Him by our beliefs, our words, and our actions, our whole lives and it is by this that He knows us.
We must take up our cross and follow Him. We must lose our own lives to be found in Him, to be known by Him. (Matthew 10:38-39)
2. Those unknown will be separated from the Lord.
a. Wicked separated from the just. Matthew 13:49
The sheep separated from the goats Matthew 25:32
Luke 17:34-36 There will be a day when some will be taken, others left behind.
B. On that day, it will be too late! v28
a. Matthew 13:47 - 50 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. “So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
When the door is shut and they are sent away, there will be intense sorrow (weeping and gnashing of teeth).
Conclusion:
To find the door we must find Christ. To know the way we must know Jesus but to enter in, Jesus must know us for salvation is from God through Jesus. It is not enough to know of Christ, we must be known by Christ.
Today the door is open but there will be a time when the door is shut.
Today is the day to prepare as there may be no tomorrow.
Today is the day to enter the door while it is not too late.
Invitation
