Posted on 08/24/2013 2:58:30 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
Strive to Enter through the Narrow Door (Luke 13:22-30)
Do you ever wonder about who all will be saved? When people die, and when this world comes to an end, how many will make it into heaven? How many will end up in hell? And on what basis? Pastor, what about people who did the best they could? What about people who never heard the gospel, like in Borneo or Papua New Guinea? Will they get in? If they dont, how is that fair? What kind of a God would send anybody to hell? If thats the God of the Bible, then I dont want to believe in him. You see where these questions lead.
Pastors get asked these questions all the time. People want to decide in their minds if God is being fair. They want to put God on trial. And if they dont like the answers to their questions, then they feel they can reject the message, reject the Bible, reject the church. This is their way of keeping the message of repentance and faith at arms length, so as to not let it get too close to home.
Jesus was faced with this sort of a question in our text today. Jesus is traveling from town to town, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem, our text says. And on one occasion, somebody asks him, Lord, will those who are saved be few? Nice abstract question, isnt it? Lets ask this religious teacher a question about religion. But in a hypothetical way, not too personal. Lets talk about those people out there. Keep the discussion at arms length.
But Jesus is never content to do just that. Notice his response. He turns the question around: Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Jesus wont let us leave our religious questions at arms length. He always brings the matter home. You ask about other people. Will they be saved? But what about you? Will you be saved? Take heed, repent and believe, lest you be lost, shut out at the end.
Jesus has a habit of doing this sort of thing, of turning the question around. He does this many times in the gospels. Think of the lawyer who wanted to justify himself, and so limit the Love your neighbor commandment, and asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor? But Jesus turns the question around with the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and he basically ends up asking the lawyer, Are you being a neighbor to the person in your path, to the one in need?
Or think of the woman at the well. When Jesus starts to get too close with his knowledge of her sinful life, she tries to deflect the conversation into an abstract discussion about which mountain to worship at. But Jesus doesnt let the conversation stay in the abstract. He wants this woman to repent and to realize her thirst and so to receive the living water. Jesus doesnt leave things in some abstract discussion about religion.
Or think of the people who ask Jesus, What about those Galileans who were massacred at the temple? His response? Do you think that those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Jesus turns the question around, and he directs the questioners to their own spiritual need.
So also in our text for today. Someone asks Jesus, Will those who are saved be few? He answers, What about you? Will you be saved? Strive to enter through the narrow door.
And so today, here and now, Jesus would say the same thing to us: Will you be saved? Dont try to keep religion at arms length, out there at a safe distance. It wont work. Yes, Gods Word always is meant to be applied personally, to reach our hearts and lives, calling each one of us to repentance and to faith.
Jesus is speaking to you today when he says, Strive to enter through the narrow door. But, Pastor, you ask, whats this business about striving? I thought salvation was a matter of grace, not works. And whats this thing about the narrow door? I thought salvation was open to everyone, open wide, not narrow.
Well, glad you asked those questions. Lets deal with them one by one. First, strive. Strive to enter, Jesus says. How can he say that? Heres how. Yes, salvation is a matter of grace, Gods free gift in Christ. Our works do not enter into the equation, and we do not enter into the kingdom of God by means of our works, in any measure. Absolutely. All who are saved are saved purely and exclusively out of the free grace of God in Christ, and not by our own merit whatsoever.
So what does Jesus mean here with Strive to enter? I think its helpful to look at this word strive. The Greek word here in our text is agonizomai, from which we get our English word agonize. Agonizomai means to strive, to struggle, to exert enormous effort. Its the word the Greeks used to describe athletic contests, like in a wrestling match. The wrestlers would agonizomai to win the contest and prevail in the end. And this is the word thats used here when Jesus says, Strive, agonize, to enter through the narrow door.
Heres the sense. Its not that we contribute anything to our salvation by our striving. No, its a free gift. But as we come to Christ and enter through that narrow door, it will involve a struggle. There will be much agonizing along the way.
You know that, you feel that, that agonizing aspect of the Christian life. Its not easy. There are all these forces pulling against us, trying to keep us from entering through the narrow door. Youve got the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh working against you. Its like a tag-team wrestling match, and those three are on the other side, tagging in and out, each taking a turn to see if they can defeat you and pin you to the mat. So it is a struggle.
The devil, the world, and the sinful flesh--thats who were agonizing against. The devil will assault you and assail you. He will lure you with temptations. Hell whisper in your ear in the midst of your adversities, saying, God doesnt love you. Look at whats happening to you! Give up.
Then theres the world tagging in. Listen to the lies of our culture: There is no such thing as sin anymore. Everything is OK. You dont need to repent. Who knows if theres even a God out there anyway? As long as youre a good person, thats what counts.
And if the devil and the world arent enough, youve got your own sinful flesh to contend with: I know what I want, and Im going to get it. I wont listen to the Holy Spirits voice telling me otherwise. No, I want to make my own decisions. And if Im going into sin, and I know it--well, Ill just repent later on, I suppose. This way I can keep doing what I want, and I can rationalize it all away.
So you see what were up against. It is indeed a struggle, an agonizing, to live as a Christian and to keep the faith. Its like St. Paul says in Acts 14, that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. Being a Christian is not easy. It does call for a constant striving, and so Jesus says here, Strive to enter through the narrow door.
And then theres this narrow door business. What does Jesus mean by that? To say that the door is narrow is to say that theres just one way in. There are not many doors. There are not many roads that lead to heaven. Just one. Its through Jesus, through faith in him alone, and in nothing else. Jesus says in John 14, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Or again, in John 10, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. There is the narrow door for you! Its Jesus!
This door is narrow, meaning its the only one, but this door is indeed wide open! Jesus has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Trust in him, and you will be saved. This is all because of that journey to Jerusalem Jesus was on. There, in Jerusalem, Jesus arms length extended far and wide when he stretched out his arms on the wood of the cross. Those arms, those arms of Jesus, took in all the sins of the world, including yours. Whatever you have done wrong, your sins against God and man, the ways you have disobeyed God and hurt the people around you--all these are paid for, paid in full, by Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, dying sacrificially for you, so that you now are forgiven.
And having done this, Jesus rose from the dead, showing you what is in store for you through faith in him. Life. Resurrection life. Eternal life. Jesus arms are now extended to embrace you and to welcome you as a brother or sister in Gods kingdom. The door is open. Enter in.
There is a great feast waiting for you there. And you will be joining many, reclining at table at the wedding feast of the Lamb in his kingdom, which has no end--with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and a whole multitude coming from the east and the west, the north and the south. Will you be there, seated with them at the feast of salvation? If we had to answer on the basis of our works or merit, wed have to say no. But Jesus turns the question around in a good way and answers with a great big yes! He is your tag-team partner in the agonizing wrestling match youre engaged in. In fact, he is your champion. He wins the victory for you.
Strive to enter through the narrow door. Today one door is open, and it is open wide. Enter through Jesus, and you will be saved.
[Jesus] 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.
Ping.
1. Today Thy mercy calls us
To wash away our sin.
However great our trespass,
Whatever we have been,
However long from mercy
Our hearts have turned away,
Thy precious blood can cleanse us
And make us white today.
2. Today Thy gate is open,
And all who enter in
Shall find a Father's welcome
And pardon for their sin.
The past shall be forgotten,
A present joy be given,
A future grace be promised,
A glorious crown in heaven.
3. Today our Father calls us,
His Holy Spirit waits;
His blessed angels gather
Around the heavenly gates.
No question will be asked us
How often we have come;
Although we oft have wandered,
It is our Father's home.
4. 0 all-embracing Mercy,
0 ever-open Door,
What should we do without Thee
When heart and eye run o'er?
When all things seem against us,
To drive us to despair,
We know one gate is open,
One ear will hear our prayer.
Hymn #279
The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: Rev. 3:8
Author: Oswald Allen, 1861
Composer: Friedrich K. Anthes, 1847
Tune: “Anthes”
I struggle with this question. Since we are sinful people, how can anyone truly repent and turn away from sin? The minute we do, we sin again or commit other types of sin.
This doesn't really speak to the answer to the real question, but I do know what is happening in Borneo AND PNG.
Both places had missionaries come to them centuries ago and the people there turned them away. OK, the people there ate the missionaries. In essence, the Gospel was rejected.
This happened continuously off and on until the late 1800s to mid-1900s. At present, there are missionaries on both islands. Further, on the western side of New Guinea, some of the local churches send OUT missionaries.
Jesus died for ALL our sins, past, present and future. Of course, we sin, but the Holy Spirit living inside of us is continually remaking us and shaping us into Christ’s image. Therefore, the longer we walk with God, read His Word, spend time in prayer, the fewer sins we’ll commit daily. Still have the capability, but, over time, we won’t be as bad as we were.
For some reason your message made me think of this poem:
LOVE
by: George Herbert (1593-1632)
LOVE bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.
‘A guest,’ I answer’d, ‘worthy to be here:’
Love said, ‘You shall be he.’
‘I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on Thee.’
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
‘Who made the eyes but I?’
‘Truth, Lord; but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.’
‘And know you not,’ says Love, ‘Who bore the blame?’
‘My dear, then I will serve.’
‘You must sit down,’ says Love, ‘and taste my meat.’
So I did sit and eat.
Thanks,
a friend needs this,,,,
George Herbert is to Anglicans what John Vianney, the Cure of Ars is to Catholics...the patron and model of faithful parish ministry.
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