May it please God to bless us
together tonight as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the
Gospel of Luke, chapter 13, and we'll read verses 23 and 24. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 13,
reading verses 23 and verse 24. Then said one unto him, Lord,
are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, strive
to enter in at the straight gate, for many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able. We're not told who asked this
question. We're not told precisely where
it was, all we know is that Jesus was going through the cities
and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And it was
in that journey that somebody came and said, Lord, are there
few that be saved? We need to notice how the Lord
answered. He did not answer the question. The question really was and is
irrelevant. How many people today want to
know things and inquire about things which are really irrelevant? It might tickle their imagination.
They might be pleased to have some answers and some evidence
of things which are not necessary. And so we have this question
here which was not answered. On the face of it, we might think,
Lord, I left you that we saved. We might expect the Lord to give
a lengthy answer. But in actual fact, he directs
his answer in a very different way, in a very important way.
And important as it was in the day that he spoke it, It's never
ceased to be important and it is today for all of us here. And so the Lord then comes and
says, I don't think it's an answer to the question, but he says,
strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many I say unto you
will seek to enter in and shall not be able. how relative that is today. What does it come down to? It
comes down to a personal situation. It comes down to you and it comes
down to me. That's the question, isn't it?
How stands the case? My soul with thee, for heaven
are thy credentials Is Jesus Christ thy only plea? Is he thy
great forerunner there? These are the important things. Because when we come to die,
it won't matter how many people are saved, how many people are
not saved. It will matter whether you are saved and whether I'm
saved. That's a great question, isn't it? That's the vital question. And so, the Lord uses this word,
strive, to enter. And we may, of course, think,
well, that really smells rather of our own works, which we know,
of course, by themselves, will not get us to heaven. But let
us remember, as we said recently, faith without works is dead no
life and so here we have this statement strive we may say well
what does it mean how are we to strive i believe we can consider it
in this way we are to desire and to read the word of god we
are to desire to and to pray. We are to desire and to do to
set a good example in our lives, and to desire and to do follow
the example of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and those
good examples also by those who've gone before. Now all these are
things which you and I are to strive after and the inference
here is very clear that it's not easy and it's not easy none
of those things come to us naturally you know if they do I suppose
you have to ask the question whether it's just natural religion
because some people of course will read the Bible because they
find it naturally interesting they think it's very good literature
Richard Dawkins thinks it's a very good book to read for literature. He doesn't believe it's the word
of God, but he thinks it's a good word to read. So we should not
therefore think it's just a good book to read naturally. But if
the spirit of God is moving in our hearts, you know, there will
be opposition. And again, you may say, well,
why will there be opposition? Because the devil doesn't want
you to read the Bible. Be quite clear about that. He
does not want you to. And therefore there'll be all
manner of opposition when you try and read the word of God.
Yes, there'll be temptations to do other things. Many things
will perhaps come into your mind and you think, well, I must just
do that and I must just do this and carry on with that. And what
happens? We run out of time. we find there's
not time then to read the Word of God as we would do and then
perhaps when you sit down to read the Word of God you find
all manner of thoughts flood into your mind and you start
reading and you read and you get to the end of a few verses
and you've no idea what you read again you see it's the powerful
influence of the evil one. He's always there. He never wants
us to read the Word of God. So, what must we do? Well, let's take this. Let's pray. Whenever we come
to read the Word of God, let us pray that the devil may be
kept far away so that we may read it. And read it then that
the Holy Spirit may apply the Word to our hearts. And then pray again that the
Lord will give us willingness and desire and opportunities
to read the Word of God. Now this you see is striving. That's why the Lord uses this
word, strive, to read the Bible. And what a blessing it is when
the Lord gives us that grace and gives us that strength and
that ability to read it prayerfully and carefully. And then it becomes
a living Word. Why? Because it speaks to our
heart. It's not just then a historical account. It's not just then words
which we might think are wonderful literature and excellent prose,
but the Word of God speaks to our heart. What has occurred? The Lord's been gracious. The
Lord's spoken. The Lord's directed us. And so
never think therefore, well, that was relatively easy. You
need to continue to fight the good fight of faith. Strive then
to read the word of God because this striving directs us in the
way that we should enter in at the straight gate. And there
is a striving. from this perspective. And then,
as I said, prayer. We would think, would we not,
that prayer was an automatic reaction. Well, so it should
be. Sometimes it is, but you know, sometimes it's not. We
don't always pray, do we? No, and therefore we need to
be reminded the need to pray The need to pray, we can very
easily fall into a pattern in our prayers. Nothing against
that, but to forget other things that need to be prayed for. The Lord will be inquired of
by the house of Israel to do these things for them. Prayer
is very vital in the life of the Christian. It's referred
to as our vital breath. Without breathing naturally,
there's no life. Without praying spiritually,
there's no life. And how we need, therefore, to
be blessed with true prayer. And again, prayer is not easy
because the devil will come alongside us. Sometimes it's a good thing
to pray out loud. It's a good thing to pray out
loud. It's not quite so easy for the devil then to come and
disturb you. But no doubt mostly we are found praying perhaps
silently. You know, I think in years past
it wasn't like that. People did pray and they prayed
out loud. And one of the Scottish divines,
I'm not sure which one it was, I think it could have been Rutherford,
and he used to get out of bed at night and go into another
room and pray. And sometimes his wife would
creep out of bed and listen to what he was praying, praying
for. Now again you see, that was striving,
wasn't it? Often we like our bed too much,
don't we? It's too comfortable. What a blessing if the Lord gives
us that grace and spiritual desire to strive in prayer and not to
relegate it to just a few rushed words. It's very easy to get
into that condition and that position. But don't forget, the
word of God tells us encouragingly, the effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. And I'm sure that is true as
the whole word of God is true. And therefore we need to pray
that we may be blessed with effectual fervent prayer. And this will
be striving striving and you see then our walk in
the world striving to set a good example you know the word of
God tells us that the world may take knowledge
of us that we have been with Jesus and have learned of him
now if you and I have rightly learned of the Savior there will
be an effect in our lives because we will have and desire
to have and to seek to have and to strive to have a Christ-like
spirit. And what is that spirit? It's
very opposite to nature. What is it? Christ Jesus pleased not himself. That's good, isn't it? You see,
by nature, we like to please ourselves. We do what we want
to do. The Lord Jesus Christ did the will of his Father. My friends, what a blessing if
the Lord gives us that grace to strive in this way, to do
the will of our Heavenly Father. And the will of our Heavenly
Father is spoken of so clearly, isn't it, in the Word of God.
Striving. in our walk and then you see
in our conversation. It's very easy to join in the
conversation of the world, very easy. Our old nature goes along
that way and we don't like to be thought different, we don't
like to be separate as it were, but there will therefore be the
necessity of this striving to speak the truth of God. Now, it won't be in a proud,
bombastic way. There is a right way to speak.
And the way to speak is in love. In love, in humbleness, with
a contrite heart. Not vaunting our own ideas, but
speaking humbly. And what would be the desire,
what would be the concern? It would be for the salvation
of their souls. It'll be striving, it won't be
easy. None of these things are easy.
But may God give us all grace to be found striving. And then,
also then, to come down to that which is literally between our
souls and God, our thoughts. Again, to strive to keep our
thoughts concentrated on the things of God. and not wander
away into the things of time. You know, the devil wants you
and me to have wonderful imaginations. Left to ourselves, we imagine
vain things, don't we? They never come to pass, but
they're, as Solomon says, they are vanity of vanity and vexation
of spirit. They don't do us any real good,
do they? Just those vain thoughts. The psalmist says, I hate vain
thoughts, but thy law do I love. What a blessing if you and I
are favored to strive like that, so that we come and say, yes,
I hate vain thoughts. Now, it'll only be true if it's
worked out in our lives. Again, that's between your soul
and God. No one knows what you're thinking, do they? No one at
all. Only you and God. Because God looks into our heart.
He looks into our mind. He knows what you're thinking.
He knows what you're thinking since you've been in the building
tonight. You may have needed to strive to concentrate on the
things of God. Again, never forget there is
the warfare, the continual warfare between what we Described as
the old man and the new that means our old nature Which you
are born with and the new nature which God gives to us when he
calls us by his grace When we are converted there will be that
battle that conflict And that's why we have this word strive It's a good thing, isn't it?
When the Lord gives us an understanding of his word And what it really
means to us in our lives and to have be a gracious influence
from the Spirit of God to desire that we might be given that godly
ability to strive in those things I've outlined this evening. Don't listen to the devil. The devil will always try and
distract us. And remember, he's very clever. Remember, he knows what your
weakness is, he knows what my weakness is and he will home
in on that and attempt to turn us aside. Left to ourselves, my friends,
how successful he is. And what's the effect of that?
What's the effect of it? Do you know what the effect is? Sin. Sin. Very solemn, isn't it? Sin. So may God give us that grace
then to strive for heavenly things. And he tells us here in this
word, remember the Lord spoke, no answer to this question, Are
there few that be saved? But he says, strive to enter
in at the straight gate. There is a direct way. And the straight gate, the door,
I'm sure you know what that is. The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my friends, how important
it is that you and I are blessed with that grace to understand
that the Lord Jesus Christ is indeed the door. The Lord speaks to us himself,
of himself. In the 10th of John we're told,
verily, verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door
into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is
a thief and a robber." There's only one entrance into the right
way, and that's through the door. And we are not to climb up over
the wall and to think, well, I can avoid going through the
door. If we avoid going through the door and climb up over the
wall, we've entered in the wrong way and we will never come to
the end. And so here we have this statement
and it's a very beautiful picture we have in this 10th chapter
of John because it speaks of the Lord Jesus as the good shepherd
and that one who leads his people in the right way. And he tells
us, I am the door. He tells us, But he that entereth
in by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. What do we read there? We read a personal application. That means the Lord deals with
us individually, directly, speaks to our heart. yes and he that
entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep to him
the porter openeth and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth
his own sheep by name and leadeth them out that means there is
a personal call from god he calls every sheep every sheep that
means he calls every child of god He speaks to them, He calls
them, and He put it forth His own sheep. He goeth before them,
and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice. What a mercy
that is. Oh, tonight, my friends, do you
and I know the voice of the Lord Jesus? The voice. Yes, His voice is most sweet. You know, the voice of Jesus
is the sweetest voice, because it calls us to Himself. For they know His voice, and
a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from Him. For they
know not the voice of strangers, And then he tells us, I am the
door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers. There may have been those who
used to come to try and distract us and to pretend that this is
the way. You can go on and you can do
this. You can be involved in that. You can enjoy this. No,
you can't. You're listening to the robbers. who would desire to rob you of
your faith. I am the door of the sheep. I am the door. There's only one
door, the Lord Jesus Christ. Neither way into this straight
path that leads to glory, neither way I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. and shall go in and out and find
pasture." When God gives us that grace to go through the door,
we don't find it's a place where there's no food. We don't find
it's a place where there's no pasture. Naturally, where there's
no grass, but spiritually, there is grass. It's a spiritual place. because Christ provides the food. And the food that he provides
is himself. And so the Lord tells us, the
thief cometh not for, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come, what a difference. I am come that they might have
life. and that they might have it more abundantly. Now that's a great blessing.
If you and I, by the grace of God, have entered in to this
straight way, this narrow way, which leads to eternal life,
the Lord will be with us and the Lord indeed will feed us.
And so he tells us in this verse, strive to enter in at the straight
gate. the door, the straight gate,
which is before us, before his people, and not to try and avoid
it. We might think, well, to enter
into that way is going to be difficult for me. It's going
to cost me a lot. It's going to involve me in hardship. It's going to involve me with
persecution. It's going to involve me in opposition.
Well, it may. But it may not. Don't make assumptions. The Lord knows how to deliver.
The Lord knows how to make the way. And remember those gracious
words that he said, those that honor me, I will honor. The Lord
stands by his people. He goes with his people. He helps
them. He guides them and directs them.
He takes them by the hand. They're not by themselves. They're
not going in their own strength. They're relying upon His strength.
And their strength is made perfect in weakness. We don't go in our
strength. We realise, by the grace of God,
we're weak in ourselves. And we cast all our care upon
the Lord. He careth for you. What a blessing that is to know
the Lord cares for us. And so strive to enter in at
the straight gate. Now that's the gracious exhortation,
the gracious instruction that the Savior gives to us when he
speaks to us through his word. And it's a very important word. And those who enter in through
the door of the Lord Jesus Christ, those the Lord describes of in
this same chapter well Jesus says I told you and ye believed
not the works that I do in my father's
name they bear witness of me but you believe not because you're
not of my sheep as I said unto you and that's a very solemn
Statement, isn't it? It's a very true statement. Never
forget the Word of God is very dividing There's no gray areas
in the Word of God The Word of God is very dividing and so then
the Lord says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they
follow me and I give unto them eternal life and I They shall
never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."
What a great and glorious God we have, my friends. How humbling
it is, surely, to realize that here we have such a God who graciously
encourages us through his word. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate. For many, I say, unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able because they've been
following a wrong way. Because they've been relying
on their own strength. Because they have not been striving. No, they've just carried on in a worldly way. Because if there
is not this striving, If there is not that opposition, we have
to assume, well, it means that we're not in the right way. If
the way is very easy to the flesh, it means we're in the broad way.
The broad way that leads to destruction. The word of God tells us, if
we're in the right way, it will mean a crucifixion of the flesh
now we we perhaps shudder at that and we don't like the thought
of it because it means we need to put to death and painful death
it is the lust of the flesh and the pride of life and all the
things that the world that our nature goes after crucify our flesh. Yes. But you know, when God gives
you and me grace to do it, and it is His grace, without me you
can do nothing. But through Christ, I can do
all things that strengtheneth me. And if our hope and our expectation
is from the Saviour, desiring to do His will, that our lives
may honour and glorify his great and glorious name. Never forget
that. Never forget that. We're apt
to, aren't we? Our lives are not to enjoy ourselves in this
world. The Lord does give us many things to enjoy and we should
be very thankful for it and very grateful for it, but our life
on this earth is not for our glory. It's for the honour and
glory of God. It's a very solemn realisation,
isn't it? As we have such a thought and
position as that placed before us. And so we must therefore
remember the truth of these words and what was the effect of what
the Lord spoke to these people when he preached on this occasion?
Do you know what happened? The Jews took up stones again
to stone him. They didn't like what they heard.
My friends, our nature doesn't like to hear what the things
God speaks. And the world doesn't like to
hear the things that God speaks. But bless God if he's given you
that right spirit. And what is that? I'll tell you
what it is. It's a tender conscience. I'll
tell you what it is. It's a new heart. It's not a
rebellious heart. It's not a hard heart. It's a
soft heart that desires to do the will of God. I say unto you,
strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you,
will seek to enter in and shall not be able. Well, if you and
I are being brought to enter in, how will we enter in? What will the entrance be? Remember in the Passover night
the safety of the entrance into the house was to be under the
blood. Well that's the same today. If you and I are to enter in
at the straight gate we only enter in through that one way
under the blood, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all
sin. How comforting, how strengthening to realise
the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save us from our
sins, that we by his grace might inherit the kingdom prepared
for us from before the foundation of the world. Amazing grace,
isn't it? Wonderful blessing to think that
Almighty God, before the foundation of the earth, provided this way,
this entrance. The blood of the Lamb, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, have we then in our hearts
tonight the blessed evidence that we have entered in. We are
in that straight way, enter in at the straight gate and not
be found amongst those who have just sought to enter in because
they entered in under their own terms. And you see, we enter in by the
terms of Almighty God. who has paid the price for our
entry. He's paid, as it were, the entrance
fee. No unworthy sinner can enter
in to the gates of glory, but those who are washed, those who
are clean, those who are redeemed, the Lord Jesus Christ. has wonderfully paid that price. The condescension
of Almighty God. My friends, what a debt we owe,
don't we? Just think of it. The Lord has paid the price so
that we by his grace would inherit eternal life. What a prospect, what a blessing. What value there is in this gift
of eternal life? My friends, we should never be
able to repay that debt, will we? The Lord paid to ransom our soul
and give in his life and shedding his most precious blood. But
may we hear his words And may we desire to hear his
words. And may we desire to walk out
his gracious words, the admonition he gives. And remember, he giveth more
grace. You may think, well, I just can't
do this, I just can't do that. Again, come back to what the
Apostle Paul said. He was only a man like you and
I. But he knew the secret, and the
secret is still the same today. I, it's personal, I can do all
things through Christ that strengthens me. And you see, as we're able
to do those things through Christ, what does it do? It brings honour
and glory to his great and holy name. And it brings peace into our
hearts. Yes, we have the answer of a good conscience. It's a
wonderful thing to have an answer of a good conscience before God.
We often have, we don't have that. But bless God when he does
come and gives us that grace to follow the way. a way marked out with blood. It's the only way, the only way
to eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ has shown
us the way, directed us in the way, and so may we know therefore
that we are amongst those who have entered in through the Lord Jesus Christ,
yes, the door, the straight gate, and therefore believe that because
of his wonderful love, his love toward us, so great, so free,
that we shall spend eternity with our beloved. My beloved is mine and I am his. Union with Christ. Oh my friends,
what a blessing, what a favour. Nothing greater, nothing in this
earth can compare with union with Christ. Because union with
Christ means no separation. It means eternal blessing. So as we read this tonight, remember,
somebody asked the question, are the few that be saved? It's really irrelevant. The great
need we have is to be found striving to enter in at the straight gate,
be found amongst those who are the chosen of God, who've been
given grace to strive, not easy, hard, trying, but the end is
good. Remember, those that endure unto
the end shall be saved. Blessed be God. Amen.