INTRODUCTION:
Illustration/Story/Quote/Statistic- A family one day decided to go on a vacation. So they went to the ocean, to the beach to enjoy a day of swimming and relaxation. This was their first time to see an ocean of water and white sandy beaches. They set up their spot. Mother laid down on a beach towel to get a nice tan. Father took his little ones over to help them make a grand sand castle fit for a king. That left the teenager on his own to brave the waves that came crashing into the shore. Mom and Dad said, “Okay, just be careful and don’t go out too far.” The teenager agreed and everyone went back to their nice vacation.
The teenager had an amazing time out on the waves but his legs weren’t quite used to the undertow. Pretty soon there was a cry for help. The young boy was being dragged out to sea by the strong current. He waited too long and went a little too far. Now he could no longer fight it to get back to shore and was in danger of drowning. So he cried out, “Help me! Help me! I’m downing!” A lifeguard was on duty that day. And he heard the boy’s cries for help and finally caught sight of him struggling to stay above the water. He sprung into action while telling the father to stay put. No need to make the problem any bigger. And he swam out to rescue the teen.
There was a small celebration of thanks and relief when the lifeguard got the boy to shore safe and sound. The mother wrapped her towel around her son as the father scolded him. “Never do that again, son.” That was an adventure he would never forget. And he would never forget the lifeguard who pulled him to safety or the lesson learned.
Spoken Need- This is basically the illustration that I presented to the kids during VBS while explaining to them salvation. It’s not that complicated really. You are the swimmer. The tide and the undertow is the power of sin, the influence of the world, the current that can drag you under. Many of us go just a little too far. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard. All of us have gone astray, each of us to our own way. Therefore, all of us need saving. We’re all in danger of drowning in the flood. The flood being God’s judgment, the consequences of our sin, our disobedience. We need a Savior. So we cry for help.
On the first Sunday of this Sermon Series, the saving device was an Ark. God’s judgment was a literal flood that He would use to cleanse the world of sin and corruption.
To be saved one had to get onboard the Ark of Salvation, but only Noah and his family were saved from the flood. Only a few who obeyed the Lord’s commands. That Sunday I invited you to get onboard before it’s too late.
The next Sunday the saving device was the hand of Jesus. Some of you have seen that famous painting of Jesus’ hands reaching out kind of like this. Jesus saved a drowning Peter who saw the wind and the waves and lost sight of Christ walking on the water. That Sunday I actually invited you to get out of the boat and come to Jesus. The boat being the life that is getting you no-where fast.
This Sunday I want you to think about that lifeguard and that teenage boy pulled under by the current. What did he need to do in order to be saved? What was necessary in order for him to get safely to shore and not drown?
And we are going to ask this main question today too: Will only a few be saved?
BODY:
Please Turn in your Bibles to... Luke chapter 13
Context and Background- Now you might remember from the story of Noah that God shut the door on the ark, right? Well, in this story another door will be shut. And also in the story of Noah, only a few were saved from God’s judgment. Well, in this story, Jesus is asked that very question. Let’s look at this together.
Luke 13:22-30 New International Version (NIV) says…
22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
So here we have a question- “Are only a few people going to be saved?” Jesus’ answer in the form of a command- Make every effort, strive to enter. And a narrow door.
The door represents salvation. All who are outside the door are not saved. Are lost.
So first, let’s deal with the question: Will only a few be saved?
Maybe you’ve been curious about that too. You see the world we live in, the corruption around us, the lack of people being concerned about their soul or God. Churches that could be filled, stay almost empty. People too busy to make time for Jesus. Too busy living their life too spend any of it, or much of it on preparing for the afterlife.
Not much effort being made to live for Jesus. Will only a few be saved?
In the time of Noah, there was only a few. One righteous man and his family.
Jesus said that when He returns it will be just as it was in Noah’s day. People in that day went on partying, and celebrating, and sinning right up until the time that Noah entered the Ark. They didn’t realize what was going to happen to them until the flood came and swept them all away. Will only a few be saved? In fact, Jesus even asked his own question: When the Son of Man returns will He find faith on the earth? Will only a few be saved?
Next let’s look at how Jesus answers this question.
Jesus doesn’t answer the question straight out with a yes or no. Instead, he tells how to be among those who are saved and why many will not. Because many will not make the effort.
“Make every effort.” “Strive to enter through the straight gate or the narrow door [depending on what translation you use].” But the meaning is the same. The word here translated strive or make every effort means “to contend, to struggle, to do something with strenuous zeal, willing to fight and face difficulties and dangers in order to obtain it.”
It’s the same word as used in the ancient sporting events of the time, used to describe the athlete trying to cross the finish-line first, or the wrestler not giving up even when he’s down for the count.
Make every effort. Strive to enter in through the narrow door.
What is he saying here? Is he actually saying that our works save us? That we enter the Kingdom of God by our good deeds and effort? Well, yes and no.
First of all - No. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter two that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works so that no-one can boast in what we’ve done. Look at me, I’m super spiritual. I’m super righteous. No. It is Christ who saves us by His blood shed on the cross done in our behalf for our sins. As we put our faith in that sacrifice and in Him we find salvation. And it is God who works in and through us to will and act according to His purposes (Philippians 2:13). We are God’s workmanship, handiwork, and masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). And Jesus says in John chapter 3 that we enter the kingdom of Heaven by being born again, or born from above. Born of God. We are given a new … brand new life.
If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.
Jesus himself is the gate, the narrow door through which we must enter.
He says so in John 10:9 (NIV) I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
So no, our works do not save us. It is God who saves us, His grace and our faith in His Son.
But also – Yes. Effort is required to enter in. The Bible repeats over and over again that we must love God, follow God, serve God, obey God with all of our heart. Not halfheartedly.
Not casually. Jesus even says this twice that those who endure to the end will be saved.
Let’s see if I can put this in a different way. Hopefully a way that all of us can understand.
Go back to that illustration of the swimmer and the lifeguard. The swimmer’s in trouble. He calls out to the lifeguard, “Help! Help me I’m drowning!” The lifeguard jumps in with a life preserver to save the day. The lifeguard says to the swimmer, “Hold onto this.” Pointing to the flotation device. So if it’s you… if that swimmer is you, what do you do? You hold on tight and you don’t let go as the rescue swimmer pulls you to safety.
But what if… what if you decided ummmm not for me. “Why do I need to do anything? After-all, it’s what they’re getting paid for, right? To save me? In fact, why do I need to even cry out, “Save me!”? Shouldn’t they just see me and know when to save someone?” And… and what if when that rescue swimmer got to you, you decided to fight against them. You called for help. They came. But now in your panic, you decide to sling your arms around like a crazy person and swallow a bunch of water because you’re hyperventilating. And in the process, the lifeguard can’t even get you to shore. So your problem hasn’t improved and now you risk drowning the both of you.
For you to be saved, cooperation is necessary. You do your part of trusting… and obeying… and listening, and not fighting. The lifeguard does his job of getting you to shore.
So what effort… what cooperation is necessary for you to make it to Heaven? What striving needs to take place for you to be saved now and in the end? Is it enough to say, “Save me! Help me!”? And God does the rest, right? We go forward, we repeat a little prayer, and we get a free ticket to heaven someday, right? Wrong!
The Bible says that you must confess your sins. That’s admit. Admit to it… that you are guilty. And repent of your sins. Now what does that mean? Well, first of all it means changing your mind about your sin. This is something that you don’t want in your life. You don’t want to live this way anymore. You want change. You want salvation. Because you see, your sin is killing you. Is leading you to death and destruction. It’s dragging you under. So you change your perspective about your sin, your lifestyle, and the person that you’ve become. And it also means this… and most importantly this: It means to turn, turn away from your sins, your wicked way of living, and turn to God.
Is that effort? Yes. Absolutely. Might you have to do it again. Most likely. You’re going to struggle with this in some way the rest of your life, but you see you know where your help comes from. You know who your Savior is. His name is Jesus.
So you make every effort to enter through the door that leads to life.
In case we didn’t get the message, the Bible repeats it.
In Matthew 7:13-14 New International Version (NIV) Jesus says…
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Only a few. Only a few find it.
They wished to enter in, but confined themselves to wishes. They made no strong, vigorous efforts. Theirs was no life of self-surrender, of painful self-sacrifice. To wish to pass through that narrow door is not enough. Effort… must … be… made.
Jesus says that not everyone who calls Him LORD will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But only those who do the will of the Father will enter in. (That’s in Matthew chapter 7)
Make every effort. Strive to enter through the narrow door, the straight gate.
Now finally let’s deal with that door, because it’s a door that’s closing. Closing soon.
Jesus says the master of the house, the owner of the house will one day close the door and those left outside will be knocking and pleading, “Let us in. Please, Lord, let us in.” But it will be too late. He says, “I never knew you.” I never knew you.
CONCLUSION:
You can go to church all of your life, be around Christianity, be a good steward, maybe even a leader in the church, maybe even known to everyone that you’re a Christian. But you can miss it. You can miss it, because you’re not really saved. He never knew you. He never had you as His follower, His disciple, His child. He never had you. It wasn’t enough to just be a church goer. It wasn’t enough to just be a good person. It wasn’t enough to repeat a prayer or get baptized one day in your life, and then live the rest of your life for you.
“I never knew you. Away from me, you evil doers. You workers of iniquity.”
What if He were to say that about you? What if Jesus said, “I never knew you.”
Make every effort to enter that narrow door. It was Paul who said, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” So I want to ask you this morning:
Are you saved? Are you among the few that are saved?
Invitation- Please stand
