Strive to Enter
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Some people work well when a deadline approaches. The adrenaline kicks in and the mind is awakened and suddenly you get into a flow and boom the project is completed before the deadline. I am that way. It’s not that I always wait until the last minute to get something done, but when those deadlines are just around the bend, I usually am able to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.
The problem comes when a deadline is looming and there are other obstacles keeping me from doing the project that needs to be done. An family emergency happens or something breaks in the house or with the car. And suddenly I can’t get done what needs to be done because other things have gotten in the way. Has that ever happened to anyone?
What about something simple like needing something from the grocery store? It’s Thanksgiving and you suddenly realized you were out of a particular ingredient. All the stores are closed. You didn’t realize that you needed it until it was too late.
That is the issue in today’s text—waiting until it is too late. Except the consequences are not an F on a paper or a disappointed boss or a dish that doesn’t taste quite right. The consequences are eternal in nature. So as we open it up I want us to see four details about our eternity with which we need to come to grips.
The first detail is that there is a narrow door. The second is that there is no defense. Third, there is a necessary departure. And lastly there is a novel dinner.
There is a Narrow Door
There is No Defense
There is a Necessary Departure
There is a Novel Dinner
He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.
And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
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.’
Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’
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.
And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
There is a Narrow Door
There is a Narrow Door
The first detail in this passage that we need to come to grips with is that there is a narrow door. It’s not just that there is a door, but that door is narrow!
He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem.
And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
As Jesus is headed to Jersualem, knowing that it will mean his certain death, he is going from town to town continuing to proclaim the Kingdom of God. And while doing so, someone asked him how many people would be included in that kingdom. And like many times in Jesus’s teaching, he answered it in an indirect way.
Instead of giving a yes or no, he tells us about a door. A narrow door. Now here is the the interesting thing about this parable that Jesus tells. The narrow door keeps a lot of people from getting in. If you’re familiar with some of Jesus’s interesting sayings, you may remember one where he said that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. And the reaction was, “Then who can get into heaven?!” That’s the same idea with this parable here. The door is narrow that many who want to enter through it cannot.
And that may seem unfair to us at first. Most people would be inclined to say that anyone who wants in ought to be let in. But your ways and my ways are not God’s ways. Our thoughts are not God’s thoughts. Jesus isn’t saying that no one can enter; he’s saying that many who supposedly want to come in, can’t because they aren’t actually willing to enter.
Notice that Jesus says, “Strive to enter.” That’s a key phrase. He isn’t telling us to work really hard at getting through the door. That word strive is the Greek word “agonizomai;” it’s where we get our word agony or agonize from. And while it can mean to strain the muscles, Jesus is referring to agonizing the mind—the will.
Most people are too big to enter the narrow door. Our chests are too puffed-up. Our heads are too swollen with pride. We can’t fit. Many, Jesus tells us, will seek to enter and will not be able. They don’t fit.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. Let’s turn to
though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Paul had everything going for him. If anyone was the poster-boy for heaven, it was Paul. Yet Paul realized what most will never realize. Everything that he thought he had going for him, everything that he thought gave him a leg up on righteousness, everything that he relied upon to make him an upstanding citizen and spiritual person, actually would keep him from heaven, not help him enter it.
In the very next verse, Paul wrote
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
The gain that Paul is referring to is what we just read in the previous verses. He considered it all gain, an advantage, a leg up on everyone. But when he realized that Christ was the only way, he realized it was all loss. That word loss means to put at a disadvantage. It was actually keeping him from God’s kingdom, not helping him enter it.
That’s what Jesus meant when he said the door was narrow and many will seek to enter but not be able to. Most people, including some here may never enter the kingdom because you will never let go of your so-called advantages—the things that you rely upon, your identities, your family roots, your religious fervor, your rituals and traditions. All the baggage that you are carrying that you think are needed, are actually hindrances that keep you out.
And you won’t even know it until it is too late. You’re unwilling to let go of those things in this life; they’re too precious and dear to you. But you only have this life in which you can let them go. Once you leave this life and step into eternity, the time to get right with God is up.
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.’
There is No Defense
There is No Defense
Which takes us to the second detail. There is no defense. If you do not seek to know Jesus Christ as your brother in this life, he will not seek to know you in the next. All the excuses in the world will not help your cause. There is no defense you can give that will change Jesus’s mind.
Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’
Notice the two types of defense given. The first is that we ate and drank in your presence. Normally, that would seem like a pretty good defense. To eat and drink with someone in the first century would imply that there was fellowship between those sharing a meal. It would mean that they were at peace with one another. They were involved in communion.
But that’s not actually what the people say is it? They don’t say, “We ate and drank with you.” They say, “We ate and drank in your presence.” That’s completely different, isn’t it? Even today, we would think that it is bad manners to eat in front of someone without inviting them to eat with us. If someone stops by for a short visit, we often will offer them something to drink and if they accept our offer we go and fetch a couple of sodas or bottles of water or what have you. We don’t let them drink alone, and we make it a point to not drink in front of them. We drink together. We eat together. But these people are saying that they enjoyed communion with one another but Jesus was never a part of it. It was done in his presence, but not with his participation. He didn’t know them; he was never invited to know them.
But then they said that he taught in their streets. That’s wonderful! They heard Jesus’s teaching! They’d go out and listen as he spoke to the crowds. But there’s something missing. They never submitted themselves to his teaching. That’s what a disciple does. That’s what a Christian does. The very last words of Jesus on earth were,
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Those who are part of the kingdom, don’t just listen to the teachings of Jesus; they observe all that he has commanded.
There are many people who have grown up in the church. They have taken communion since they were knee high to a grasshopper. They’ve listened to sermon after sermon after sermon. They’ve attended Sunday School since before they could crawl and Vacation Bible School since they were in kindergarten and for all the eating in the presence of Jesus and hearing the teachings of Jesus, they still have not yet lain down their pride, their baggage, their so-called righteousness. And because they have not, Jesus knows them not.
No excuse, no defense will do.
There is a Necessary Departure
There is a Necessary Departure
And that is because Jesus understands what many do not. Without entering through the narrow door, having removed all the self-righteous junk, all the self-imposed identities, and self-exalting fervor and passion, one continues to carry all their filth. To enter through the narrow door is like going through a decontamination chamber. It decontaminates you from all the sin and filth and wretchedness—all the things that cannot enter into the kingdom of God. So to not enter the door, means they must depart. It is a necessary departure.
But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’
What Jesus understands that you and I have such a hard time coming to grips with is that anything we do, anything we think anything we say that is not in Christ—united with Christ, is evil. As Isaiah wrote,
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Many atheists will say that they don’t believe in God because of all the evil in the world. But there is more evil in this world than they realize. Our standard for what is evil is so low that we miss the billions of evil acts done all around us, and the billions more that are done within us.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Most people would certainly see murder as evil. Lesser still sexual immorality. Still less idolatry (as we live in a pluralistic and syncretistic society). Lying barely makes the radar anymore, and being cowardly seems too much!
Paul wrote,
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
The lists could go on and on. The bad thing about lists is that people think that so long as they stay off that list, all is fine with that’s simply not true. Hence Paul wrote, “and things like these.”
None of what John wrote in Revelation or what Paul wrote in Galatians, and what others have written elsewhere in the Bible is allowed into the kingdom of God. Thus, all who practice such things, not having laid them down to enter the narrow door, must depart. Jesus will not know you then if you do not know him now.
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.
Hell is not a popular belief anymore. You may not believe it now, but in that moment, when he tells you to depart for not having striven to enter the door before meeting your Maker, you will be both sad and angry. There will be both weeping (sadness) and gnashing of teeth (anger). You will see those like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, those who gave all for the sake of know Christ as part of the kingdom, but not you.
There is no annihilation. You do not cease to be. Anyone who does not enter the door will see through the window all that is being missed. And there is nothing to do but mourn and suffer the loss that could have been gain, if only you had been willing to suffer the loss now, so that you may gain Christ.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
There is a Novel Dinner
There is a Novel Dinner
Which leads to the last detail that we need to come to grips with. Because it probably wouldn’t be too surprising to see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets in the kingdom. But that’s not all who will be there. Jesus presented to the Jewish people a novel dinner.
And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
This was something completely unexpected. It was a novel idea to the Jewish people. The people to the east and west, the north and south, would be Gentile. They weren’t Jews. Thus, to be cut out of the kingdom and the celebratory dinner while Gentiles were allowed in was unthinkable. Why? Because they were not any of the things that Jews were. Remember how Paul had described himself? Circumcised on the eighth day, of Israel, of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, and so on. All the boxes were checked for Paul. Others may not have that many boxes checked, but at least they were Jewish. At least they were “God’s People.”
Jesus was saying, it’s time to lay those things down. It’s time to lay aside the prejudices. It’s time to lay aside the pride of thinking you’re better than others. It’s time to lay aside the credentials that you think you hold. Those who think they’re number one in line will find that they haven’t even stepped through the door yet.
And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Beloved, this goes for us too. There are many people we may have written off as hopeless and helpless that we will be surprised to see in heaven. They will enter in without a care in the world, while some of us enter in by the skin of our teeth. They will be seated near the head of the table while we’re so far at the foot that we’re afraid we may miss something important!
But here is the thing. Everyone who enters the kingdom and reclines at the table, only do so because they have entered the narrow door. And in case you haven’t caught on, Jesus and Jesus alone is that narrow door.
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
And all who go in will be given a new righteousness. They will no longer have the filthy rags of their own, but beautiful garments given by Jesus who is making for himself a blameless and spotless people.
Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
As we finish with Luke 13:22-30, we’ve seen some details that we need to come to grips with. The first is that there is one narrow door, that door is Jesus. There is no other way in to the Kingdom of God. It is by him and him alone. Anyone who tries to enter any other way will not be allowed in. It will be too late. Those who do not receive Christ now will not be received by him later. Instead, it will be necessary for them to depart the presence of Christ. They will see what they are missing through tears and anguish while they thought themselves to be part of the kingdom, only to find our they are excluded. Those they thought would never be, are seated near the front.
So let me ask you, have you entered through Christ? Is Jesus your only hope? As Peter said,
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.”
Jesus our Lord is our only salvation.
Prayer
Our heavenly Father,
We come now, humbled by your word and its meaning for our lives. I pray for anyone here who has not walked through the narrow door and into your kingdom. May today be the day they lay everything aside that they once thought to be gain, but now see as loss.
I pray for we who have walked through, may we never seek to walk out. By your strength and power, may we persevere during those moments in life that are difficult. May we be able to strive for the fellowship, the intimacy with Christ that can only come through suffering.
May we know beyond any shadow of a doubt that there is salvation in no one else; only the Lord is our salvation.
We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.