Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 13 and follow along as I read verses 22-24:
“And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”
Wednesday I preached on the previous verses that deal with how the nature of the kingdom of God is to spread. It spreads when we are faithful to Jesus’ command to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. It especially spreads when we love our neighbor as ourselves. My primary argument is this: How you treat people is perhaps the greatest evidence that God reigns in your heart. That is the Kingdom of God – when God reigns in your heart. If you are hateful toward people, God does not reign in your heart. I know it is difficult, which brings us to this morning’s message. Are you seeking the kingdom of God, or are you striving for it?
Jesus destroys the idea that the religious rulers epitomize righteousness. He rebukes the Pharisees, the rulers of the synagogues, and the scribes. What they have in common is great knowledge of the Scriptures, but a lousy record in showing kindness and mercy to the people. Jesus shows that love demonstrates itself in kindness, compassion and mercy. To fail in loving people is to fail God. This shocked his followers. They understood that the rulers, Pharisees, and scribes were the most righteous. People do the same today. A minister does something terrible and people think that he was made of angel dust – how could he have fallen? If the Lord rebukes those seen as the most righteous, who in the world can be saved? Jesus creates a vacuum: if not them, who? And this is the question that gets us started this morning. We have, first, a question. Then we have, not so much an answer, but a challenge.
The question: Are there few that be saved (v. 23)? The assumption is that some are “non-saved” and others are “saved.” This is not a safe assumption in our culture. Whether pop-culture or post-modern culture, the prevailing theology denies hell and judgment. Some are nihilististic, and believe we cease to exist at death. Some are optimistic, and believe that since God is Love, there can be no judgment and we all go to heaven. Some are fatalistic, and think hell won’t be so bad. Besides, they say, my friends are there and I want to be with them. Is salvation necessary? If so, from what must we be saved?
For these answers let’s escape the snare of our culture and examine the Scripture. God’s Word should shape our culture. Culture has no business shaping God’s word.
We want a clear answer, so we tend to create vivid pictures of hell. Often it resembles a cavern with rocks and flames. There is a satanic figure with a tail and horns, armed with a pitchfork. These pictures cause people to joke about hell, dress their children up as devils on Halloween, and generally not take it seriously. I want you to push these scenes out of your mind this morning. Instead I want you to hear the simple language of the Bible on the theme of hell.
The word “Hell” shows up 54 times in the Bible, though it is spoken of many other times in other terms. It does not always mean a place of eternal torment. Usually it only refers to “the place of the dead,” where good and evil alike go until the judgment. This is also known as Hades. It is an intermediate state for the dead. Then there is Gehenna. Can I hear you say, “Gehenna” so I know you are still with me? Gehenna is the place of eternal damnation. There is no escape or parole from this terrible place. It gets its name from the Valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem. II Kings 16 and 21 tell us of a time that the children of Israel allowed their culture to take precedence over the word of God. Thy began to do what their neighboring cultures did – they sacrificed their children, and other human beings, to foreign gods. They would then take the bodies and throw them into the Valley of Hinom, and burn them. You can imagine the sight, and the smells of the burning flesh, the rotting corpses, the valley of bones. So fearful and terrible was the valley that it become a symbol used by the Old Testament prophets to warn of eternal judgment. Once in Gehenna, you never return.
Beyond Gehenna, Sheol, and Hades, the Scriptures go on to describe Hell like this:
1. a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28)
2. a place of unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12)
3. a place of damnation, condemnation (Matthew 23:33)
4. a furnace of fire (Matthew 13:42, 50)
5. a place of blackness and darkness (Jude 13) Think about that – no color.
6. a lake which burns with fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8)
7. a place prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)
There is no one in hell right now. Those who died in Christ are with him, though their bodies remain in the grave, for now. Those who died without Christ are not in Gehenna, yet, but in Hades, the abode of the dead. From there they will one day be brought to what the Bible calls the great white throne of judgment. They will then be thrown (yes, thrown) into Gehenna, also known in Revelation 20:11-15 as the lake of fire. I assume that in Hades they are as though asleep, waiting for a rude awakening when they are brought in for judgment. But the thought has occurred to me how terrible it would be if somehow they were dead, yet their spirits conscious of the impending judgment. Imagine, for example, that you were Nietzsche. He is the famous German philosopher, a brilliant man, who turned away from God and developed the famous “God is dead” theory. At 66 years old, he died a mad man in 1900. That was 105 years ago. Imagine if he were somehow conscious, aware of his impending doom in the lake of fire. Suspended in the grave, waiting for 105 years now, knowing the torment that was coming… Wouldn’t that be awful? And for those who have waiting for a thousand years? Knowing it is too late and there is no hope for them. That is not God’s desire, yet it is what some men choose. According to Jesus, it is what “many” choose.
Popular culture today says, “There is no Hell.” But that simply contradicts Scripture. Let Scripture shape culture. Never let culture shape Scripture.
That is our question: Are there few that be saved? It assumes some are non-saved, which will be thrust into hell, and some are saved, and will escape hell and go to heaven. I don’t need to know how good heaven is to want to go there. It is sufficient to see how bad hell is to want to “strive” to avoid it. That is the question to Jesus: Are there few that be saved? How does he respond?
The Lord’s wisdom shines brilliantly; he does not say “yes.” Instead, he makes it more challenging, turning the question into a great lesson. Read verse 24 with me:
“Strive to enter in at the straight gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”
Let’s dissect the keys to this verse. The first word is paramount: “Strive.” Oh, how lazy we have become! So satisfied that we are “saved by grace”, so content that it is the “free gift of God” that we have neglected and ultimately forgotten our duty to “strive” in our salvation. I look around and see followers of Christ who have mastered doing church but completely and miserably failed in loving our neighbor as ourselves. We are not striving.
Why, I ask you, is it necessary to strive? Because we are “to enter” a straight, that is, a narrow gate. Jesus says that to be saved, one of the few, you must move from where you are (non-saved) to where you need to be (saved). You must “enter.” That presupposes that not everyone is saved! It debunks the pop-cultural myth that everyone goes to heaven. And he says that this narrow gate is difficult to enter.
Why is it so difficult? I thought salvation was free? I thought I was saved by grace? I thought all I had to do was say this little prayer, receive Christ and that was it? That prayer is your confession. It is the beginning of your salvation. It is complete in the sense that your name is immediately written in the Lamb’s book of life. It is complete in that your sin, past, present and future are forever washed away and you are covered by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. But if that is what happened in your heart, your salvation has only begun; you have taken the first step of a lifelong journey of striving. It is a great adventure, but beware of becoming complacent, beware of only seeking.
“Strive” is an athletic term. It implies great intensity and effort. When you give your life to Christ, you give yourself to the athletic intensity and effort of expanding his Kingdom. “I don’t understand, preacher. Am I to strive to earn my salvation?” No. Jesus earned it for you. But have you ever tried to love someone, for example, who is unlovely? Maybe they hurt you. Maybe they are arrogant. I see too many Christians loving “in spirit” but hateful “in practice.” Love should never look like hate. Unbelievers should observe our behavior toward all people and recognize God’s love, saying, “I want what they have.” Jesus says, in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Every Wednesday morning I meet with Rutherford County pastors. We have a wonderful, encouraging time sharing what God is doing around the county. But one nasty common item is to see hateful behavior among Christians within God’s Church. We must “strive” especially in loving one another.
As we read this story, don’t miss the farming imagery. If you have ever worked livestock, then you know the picture of a bunch of cattle or goats trying to squeeze through one gate. Growing up I worked cattle twice a year on the family farm. We had 500 cows coming through those corrals and you had to be ready and organized or you’d have a mess.
Verse 22 says Jesus was teaching as he went from city to village. I wonder how often he watched cattle stampeding each other in order to squeeze through a gate. I wonder if he was pointing to such a scene while answering this very question. Here’s what’s more alarming: Jesus sees all the future already. This great judgment has not happened even up to this present hour. Yet when Jesus foresaw it, this is how he describes it. I think of the horror and the terror as people begin to realize that that it’s too late, and the have been left behind.
Jesus answers the question, “Are there few that be saved?” in verse 24: “Many” he says, “will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Imagine with me the multitude we saw after the hurricane, the tsunami, the terrorist attacks of 9-11, now imagine you can foresee what Christ saw, “many”, like livestock, desperately trying to enter, and they are not able.
What strikes me is how Jesus tells us to “strive” to enter, while many will “seek” to enter. Do you know what the difference is between “seeking” and “striving”? Someone who plays the lottery is “seeking” money, but they are not doing anything about it. Someone who works is “striving” to get the money.
Are you seeking the kingdom of God, or are you striving for it? Too many churches abound with seekers; like the lottery, they do church passively and hope for the best. But they don’t strive. If loving someone, showing kindness, is too difficult, if their first attempt is not met with satisfaction, they sneer and gossip. Jesus tells us - no, I’d say he warns us, not to “seek” to enter the kingdom, which is damningly passive, but to “strive.” “…Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven…” because that’s what He does. (Matthew 5:44-45) You can not do that unless you strive. Are you actively striving, or are you passively seeking?
