Luke's Gospel

A reading for this evening is from the book of Luke chapter 13 verses 22 to 30. Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him Lord are only a few people going to be saved. He said to them, make every effort to enter through the narrow door. Because many I tell you will try to enter and will not be able to.

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. Then you will say we ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets, but he will reply I don't know you or where you come from, away from me, all you evildoers that we will be weeping there, a gnashing of teeth. When you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of god, but you yourselves through now.

People will come from east and west and north and south and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of god Indeed, there are those who are last who will be first and first who will be last. Thanks, Ben. My name is Tom Sweetman. I'm on the staff team here and, a very more welcome to you. And, more welcome if you're with us for the first time this evening.

As Ben said, it's good to see some new faces, and great to be happy with us. We have been working our way on Sunday evenings through this gospel of Luke. Luke was a doctor, a physician, a historian, and, he tells us right at the beginning of his gospel that he has written this careful orderly account so that we may know with certainty who Jesus is, what he taught, and what he did for us. And we have been working our way through, and we've reached chapter 13, halfway through. You can download or stream any of the previous sermons, on our website.

Let's bow our heads as we come to this chapter together and pray. Father, we thank you that this is your living word, and we pray that you might speak to us this evening. We pray that you would glorify your son, Jesus Christ. Amongst us. We know that, our enemy, the devil, would seek to destroy, seek to block our ears, would seek to deceive and accuse us.

He roams around like a lion looking for someone to devour seeking to pluck away the word we pray that as you have defeated him already in your son, that you would banish him in that sense this evening, that you would help us all have ears to hear your truth. And we pray that as we consider this most important topic of the salvation of our souls in Jesus Christ. That you would help us to feel, not only the truthfulness of this message but the urgency of it this evening. That we might respond in repentance faith. And we ask these things in Jesus name, amen.

I'm sure you know, if you are a Christian here, that you can't be a Christian very long, before you have to deal with a tough question of some kind. Somebody might say to you, but what about those in the world who've never heard the good news of Jesus Christ? What will happen to them on judgment days. God's gonna condemn them. Would that be fair?

Or people might say, how can you realistically still be a Christian and a person of faith? When science has done away with the need for god in every area. Somebody might say to you, if there is a god and he is good and you believe in him, then how can you explain why there's so much suffering and evil in the world? Wouldn't it be make more sense for God to get rid of evil and suffering if he was good and if he existed? These kind of questions crop up all the time in different forms, and maybe you're here this evening and you wouldn't call yourself a Christian, And that is 1 of the questions that you've asked, and perhaps it's been a bit of a a stumbling block to you in the past or still today.

And the Bible sister Christians, yes, we should be prepared to give a reason for the hope that we have. If we are going to go public with the good news of Jesus. That is wise for us to consider the kind of questions that people might ask so that we can give a good answer and try to point them to Jesus. But the danger, I think with these kind of questions, and with the answers that we might sometimes give is what I call, arms length theology or god at arms length. In other words, instead of talking about a personal god who makes personal claims on people's lives, Those questions make it easy to treat him just as an idea as a philosophical concept.

You know, we can discuss God at arms left. We can hold him away from ourselves, and we can analyze him and criticize him and deconstruct him, and then we can just leave him on the table where we found him until next time. They enable us to kind of treat him just as a an an idea. Like maybe the multiverse or life on another planet. You know, he's not someone that we can really know, not someone that we have to do business with, He's he's a theory.

He's he's an idea. Here's the thing. Jesus never did god that way. He never did theology that way. There's an example of it back in verse 3.

I saw it a couple of weeks ago. Someone comes to Jesus and says, Jesus, what about governor pilot and that act of terrorism. Well, what about that tower that fell on those people and cray them. Why? Why is suffering?

Why was this allowed? No verse 3, Jesus says, you need to think about your sin. Because unless you repent, you too will perish. It changes the the dynamic somewhat, isn't it? We've already heard a bit about him this evening, but Taras was was was very good at this sort of thing.

We used to go door knocking in patiently around around these areas when he was an apprentice here. And, I don't know whether it was just a language issue or something, but he was fairly direct on the doors. And, he would say to people. I remember he spoke to 1 woman in Servburton, I think it was, and he knocked on a door and she answered, and they've got a nice house. And he said to him, you know, madamore, are are you a Christian?

And she said, yes, I go to the local parish church of the road. And he said, that's not what I'm actually asking. I'm asking, are you a Christian? Are you born again? Do you know Christ on the door of this woman?

You know, it's, amazing. And, that that is a very different question, isn't it? It's god's close in, not at arm's length. And in verse 24, that is the kind of thing that we find. Who is gonna be in the kingdom of god, Jesus?

Will those who are saved be many or will they be few? Jesus says, no, no. The question is not will those who are saved be many or few, but will those who are saved be you? That's the question. There is nothing arms length about the Jesus of this passage.

And this evening, he was to talk about your salvation. Not other people, not the people on this road, Not the people in Costa Rica or papua new guinea, he wants to talk about your salvation and mine. It's not that we can never ask questions about others, but Jesus will not let us treat salvation just as an idea. For him, this is personal. So let's have a look at verse 22.

And if you're making notes, this is the first point. When it comes to salvation, think about you, not them. When it comes to salvation, think about you, then. Those 22. Then Jesus went through the towns and villages teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.

Or is the, new living trans puts it. Jesus went through the towns and villages, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. So once again, we're in this section of Luke where Jesus is in the shadow of the cross. In chapter 9 verse 51, Luke tells us that he resolutely set his face to the cross. From then on, in the for, he would be directing himself towards the place of his crucifixion where he would die for the sins of his people before rising again in victory.

He in the shadow of the cross, and he has always been pressing on there, but he has not been traveling in silence. That's been clear over the past few chapters. As he's been traveling, Jesus has been unfolding the secrets of the kingdom of god. And in verse 23, It's often in the context of a crowd or a question or an interruption. Someone asked him, Lord, Will only a few be saved?

Will only a few be saved? And I suppose that all Christians here have wondered about that at some time or another. Maybe as you've sat on a train in the way to on the way to work or you've walked down your roads, or you've been in a school or on a campus, you thought you asked that question. As you've looked at the masses of people, you've thought, I wonder, I wonder how many of this crowd really know Jesus as their lord. I wonder how many of these will be saved.

Have you ever wondered that as you've looked out at the crowds? And it wants it. It's a good question to ask, isn't it? Because it kind of humbles us. And it should lead us to pray to feel a sense the scale of the task before us.

But the question in verse 23 is a little bit more sinister, I think. So this person is probably a due because later on, contrast with the gentiles. And it seems like there's some kind of group leader, maybe a religious representative of sorts. Because in verse 23, who does Jesus respond to? He responds to them, not just the individual.

And for the Jews, when it came to salvation, they assumed that they would be fine. Being a gentile or a non due was not enough. If you were a gentile, you you were kind of out by default. Unless something really extraordinary happened to you. But if you were a Jew, that's kind of enough.

If you were a Jew that had maybe committed some kind of terrible sin, then that might put your salvation in jeopardy. But in the main for the Jews's salvation was a given. And so behind this question is a kind of religious arrogance. We know we'll be saying, Lord. We're okay lord, but what about others, gentiles?

Any hope for them? Let's talk about them. Arms length. Let's talk about that. Jesus says, no, let's talk about you.

Verse 24. See how he changes it. Make every effort to enter through the narrow door because many I tell you will try to enter and will not able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading Sir opened the door for us, but he will answer. I don't know you or where you come from.

Then you will say, but we ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets but he will reply. I don't know you or where you come from. So I don't know what this guy was expecting. When he asked this question. But all of a sudden, the comfortable them has become the awkward you.

Don't worry about how many. The question is where are you going to be on that day? Which side of the salvation door are you going to be on? That's the question that you need to consider. And that's not the only change you makes either.

Firstly, when it comes to salvation, think about you, not them. But also secondly, when it comes to salvation, think about when, not how many. Think about when, not how many. Verse 24, note the emphasis on timing Make every effort to enter through the narrow door because many I tell you will try to enter and will not be able to. 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.

When it comes to the kingdom of god, the thing that is limited is not numbers, but time. In verse 29, at the end of this passage, we are supposed to picture millions of folks, millions and millions of people from the north. And from the south, and from the east, and from the west, and from every tribe, and tongue, and language, and nation, we're supposed to picture the international cafe on steroids. And they are all here from the nations, from every point on the compass, and they have gathered together to feast with the lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing small about the salvation that Jesus talks about.

There is nothing limited about his cross. It's like the mustard seed in the previous section. It looks small and narrow and there's a sense in which it is. But look at it in the end, and it is an enormous tree. Don't worry about numbers.

Jesus says you worry about time. Because at the moment, the door is open. This is the day of god's grace. And we must come while we can. Because when the master returns, he will lock the door And when the door is locked, that would be it.

It's frightening, isn't it? Verse 25? Sir, open the door for us. But he will answer, I don't know you or where you come from. Then you will say, we ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets.

But he will reply I don't know you or where you come from away from me. You evil doers. There will be weeping there and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. Jesus talks about hell more than almost any other biblical writer. And he describes it in many ways.

He describes it as a lake of fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels. He describes it as an outer darkness that is just oppressive. You know what it's like when you're in the dark for long enough and your eyes begin to adjust to your surroundings. But if for whatever reason you need to turn a light on, and then you turn it off. The darkness is just total, isn't it?

It's oppressive. You can see nothing and it's darker because you've had some light. You see, why is there this weeping and gnashing of teeth? What is that about? Well, it's a kind of sadness mingled with anger.

Sadness because they are now separated from Christ and all that is good forever and anger because they now know that they despise the day of grace They despised the grace, which could have been theirs, and now the door is shut. They despised the gentiles, assuming they would be out and now they find themselves out. There is a kind of misery and self cursing in this outer darkness. JC Ryle used to be the bishop of Bishop of Liverpool a long time ago, writes on this passage. There is something peculiarly striking in our lord's language in this prophecy.

It reveals to us the awful fact that men may see what is right when it is too late for them to be saved. Hell itself is nothing. But truth known too late. Hell itself is nothing but truth that is known too late. And, you know, as I said at the beginning, this is not this is not arms length theology.

This is not a theory or an idea, which we could discuss and either accept or reject. The master Jesus Christ will come again. Hebon and hell are more real than even the chair that you are sitting on. And just think in a hundred years time, every person in this room, every person on your table will be in 1 place or the other. This is not the time to treat god as a religious concept.

It is not the time to treat him as an idea It is not the time to assume that we'll be okay. This is the time to examine your own soul. And to get right with god while you can. Make every effort Jesus says. Not because the space is limited, but because time is running out.

And soon, it'll be too late. So you see how Jesus refuses to talk about salvation as an idea. He changes the them to the you and the how many to the when. But what about the how? That's crucial, isn't it?

If this is personal and if time is running out, how? How do we make sure that we enter through the narrow door. That's the third and last point. When it comes to salvation, make sure you know how. Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.

Because many I tell you will try to enter and will not be able to. Now there's actually a fuller description of this in Matthew's gospel, which you may recognize. This is Matthew 7 verse 13. And Jesus says, enter through the narrow gates For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it, but small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Many of you will remember a man who used to be a member of this church, Doug Kemp, who, was a great godly Christian man and has gone to be with the lord now and, was married married to Brenda.

And, in in the last kind of few years of life, when he had a number of hospital appointments, just occasionally, we used to go on the bus together up to the hospital. And, I think I've told this story before, but there was 1 occasion when we were standing together at Cromwell Road bus station. And, as all the buses were coming down into the bus station, He made the observation that there are so many buses that would take you down the broad way. Tooting broadway. Eeling broadway and Tollwood, broadway.

Every other bus goes down the broad way. But you never see a bus taking you down the narrow way. And it was a observation, but a sound theological point, isn't it? You never see a bus taking you down the narrow way. Why?

Because it's not the easy roads. We don't want the narrow way. We like the broad way. And the reason that we like it is because it says to us, you can do it yourself. You're not so bad your heart is not wicked.

You are not possessed by evil. You are not a sinner under the wrath of god. You are able. You can do it. You can you can make it yourself.

That's why at least in some measure, every other world religion contains that message. You are not as bad as you think, and you can do it by yourself. And we love that, don't we, by nature. We are drawn to that kind of message because it appeals to our pride. It's nice and easy, and it paints a pretty good picture of ourselves.

And fills us with possibilities. It's a broad, easy, flattering sort of road. But the way of the cross is hard. And it is narrow and it squashes human pride. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who was executed at the end of the second World War said this.

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. When Christ calls a man, he bids him, come and die. That is why it's a difficult road. Not because it's down to us to earn our salvation. But because the message of the cross says, in order to live, you must die.

In order to find life in Christ, you must die to yourself. In order to find salvation, you must repent of your sin, acknowledge your wickedness, and trust in Christ alone. The gospel is about him and not us. It's about magnifying his glorious squashing our pride. And by nature, we don't want that.

We want a broad way. Which says you can do it without him. But the narrow way, the hard way the way of the cross is the only 1 which saves. And given that we're not doing Arms length theology today. Can I ask based on the words of Christ here, are you does that describe you?

Are you making every effort to come this way? It's interesting that phrase make every effort is actually just 1 word in the original. And from it, we get the word agony. So you could translate this, agonize to enter through the narrow door, agonize to enter through the narrow door. This is not like a a stroll in the countryside.

Along the broad way, where we've got time to stop and get an ice cream and we could go this way or that way, and it doesn't really matter. This is a marathon runner. In the last hundred meters of the race. His lungs are burning. His limbs are about to give up.

He can see the line. You can see the tape he is on a narrow road, and he is agonizing to get through the way. It is all that he is about in the last hundred meters. He's agonizing to get over the line. Now, does that describe you this evening?

Does it describe you are you agonizing by repentance and faith to come by the narrow way of Jesus and his cross? Or are we trusting in ourselves. Because if so, there is 1 final warning from Jesus, Have a look back with me at verse 24. 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.

Then you will say, but we ate and drank with you. And you taught in our streets but he will reply, I don't know you or where you come from away from me. All you evil doers. There will be weeping there and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and all the prophets in the kingdom of god. But you yourselves thrown out.

People will come from east and west and north and south and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of god. Indeed, there are those who are last, who will be first, and first who will be lost. And you imagine being a religious crowd expecting to be saved. That is a bombshell, isn't it? Every good Jew believed that 1 day they would sit with these heroes of the faith.

That they would take their place with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That was their birthright. That was their destiny. But according to Jesus, not only will they be outside, but the gentiles will be in. And the point is beware a false sense of security.

You can picture it, can't you? That's why this language is so emotive. Lord, we were the chosen ones that you remember, that you remember us. We ate with you, lord, at your feast, We were in those crowds, lord. We may not have been there every time, but we were there.

We heard you teaching. We even enjoyed some of it. Do you remember why I asked that question? About you and you answered and we dialogue together and we spent time together and I walked through that came with you. Lord, I was at church most weeks.

I heard preaching thought. I even liked it sometimes. I ate and drank with your body, the church. I listened to you, lord. I was there lord that you remember me, lord.

But twice, twice, he says. I never knew you. Where are you from? Who are you? When it comes to the how of salvation, We need to know that being a certain type of person never saved anyone.

Religious upbringing, never saved anyone. Sitting in church never saved anyone. Having a Christian friend never saved anyone. Owning a Bible never saved anyone. Enjoying the teaching of Jesus never saved anyone.

Taking communion with other Christians never saved anyone. Singing a hymn never saved anyone. Knowing of Jesus never saved anyone. The only way to be saved is to know Jesus yourself. As your own personal lord and savior.

The Bible tells us that god so loved the world that he gave his only son and that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. The Bible tells us that if we will confess with our mouths that Jesus is lord and believe in our hearts that he has risen from the dead, we will be saved. The Bible tells us that if we confess our sins, god is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and he will purify from all wickedness. Isn't that wonderful? A wonderful promise for you and your eternity this evening.

That if you will confess Christ as lord and believe that on that cross, he paid the price for you in your place. And rose again in great victory 3 days later. If you will say, Lord, mine is the sin. Yours is the righteousness. Lord I want you to be my savior, then you will be saved.

You would enter. You would have agonized. To come by the narrow way, and a seat will be yours with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the kingdom of god. The how of salvation is to make every effort to enter by faith in Jesus and to beware a false sense of security. And friends, can I say this evening wherever you are The Bible says, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts?

If you hear his voice do not harden your hearts. 1 day, the door is going to be locked forever. But for now, it is open. This is the day of salvation. Will you be among those who have agonized to enter by Christ and his cross the narrow way?

This will take a a minute or 2 of quiet and wherever you are, just to talk to god in the quiet of your own heart. Perhaps you've been a Christian many years and you just want to say thank you to Jesus for your salvation. Perhaps you're not a Christian and you want to talk to god for the very first time confessing your sins and coming by Christ. That only narrow way. Lord god, we pray that you would forgive us for the way that we have treated you and for the way that we have sinned against you and fallen short of your glory, for the way we have not just failed to be good, but positively wicked and we have turned away from you and we have thought that independence from you is good.

And we have despised your words and your grace and your laws. And lord, we know if we're being honest with ourselves that we deserve to be among the group who are thrown into darkness forever, who are cast into the lake of fire for eternity, who are condemned to weeping and gnashing of teeth, who must hear the words from the lord Jesus. I don't know you away from me. We know that by nature, that is what we deserve And yet lord, we thank you that you have been kind and gracious, and you have sent your son the lord Jesus to experience that torment on the cross that he was plunged into the outer darkness into the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. That he bore our sins and our transgressions and he took our condemnation and he went away from you in that way so that we could be brought in.

Through repentance and faith. We thank you that the blood of Christ is the only remedy for our wickedness. And lord we pray that no 1 in this room would be hearing those words away from me on the last day. We pray that we would all make most of the days of grace that we would repent and believe turning from the broad ways and agonizing to come by the narrow way, Christ and his cross. We thank you for your grace in providing him and for even giving us this hour together this evening.

We thank you that that is a display of your patience with us. For your desire that none should perish, but that all should come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved. We pray that every 1 of us might lay hold of that gift of salvation and experience new life now and also the prospect and the joy of sitting with Jesus neighbor ham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets 1 day and singing and eating and drinking and sharing stories of your grace together. What a wonderful hope we have in Christ. And we thank you for the way that you have spoken to us through your word this evening.

Help us not to harden our hearts. But to believe, and we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.