Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. If you would like to open your
Bible with me to Luke chapter 13, I'd like for us to look at
a statement that our Lord made here in Luke chapter 13. And to some, this is going to
be a shocking statement. This will be a very shocking
statement, but to others, and I hope to many, This will be
a very relieving statement. I hope it's as relieving to you
as it is to me. Now, this is the subject that
our Lord is dealing with. He tells us what will keep a
sinner out of heaven. That's what he is going to tell
us in this. What will keep a sinner out of heaven? We're going to
look at what it is that will cause many to not be able to
enter in, not be able to enter in to the kingdom of heaven. Now let's begin reading here
in Luke 13, in verse 18, Luke 13, 18, it says, then said he
unto what is the kingdom of God like? The Lord asked the question,
what is the kingdom of God like? And where unto shall I resemble
it? It is like a grain of mustard
seed which a man took and cast into his garden, and it grew
and waxed a great tree, and the fowls of the air lodged in the
branches of it. And again, he said, where unto
shall I liken the kingdom of God? Now, first he said the kingdom
of God is like grain of a mustard seed." A mustard seed is one
of the smallest seeds on this earth. And he said, that's what
I will compare the kingdom of God like unto, the grain of a
mustard seed. And he said in verse 20, again,
where unto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the
whole was leavened. He said, it's like a tiny bit
of yeast. That's interesting, isn't it?
He said, what is the kingdom of God like? He said, it's like
a tiny bit of yeast. That a woman hid in three measures
of meal. Verse 22, 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? A man listened to what he said,
and that was shocking. And that was his reply. That
was his question. Lord, are there few that be saved? Are there just a few that are
going to be saved? This man said, Lord, everything
you are comparing the kingdom of God to is very small. There's just a little bit of
it. Lord, you didn't compare the
kingdom of God to the three measures of meal. You compared it to the
leaven that goes into it. Just that small bit of leaven.
He said, are there few that be saved? And the end of verse 23,
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. When once the master
of the house is risen up and hath shut to the door, And you
begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord,
Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto
you, I know you not, whence you are. Then shall you begin to
say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence. And thou hast
taught in our streets. You went up and down our streets
teaching. But he shall say, I tell you,
I know you not whence you are. Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity. Sin. There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust
out. And they shall come from the
east and from the west and from the north and from the south
and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are
last, which shall be first, and there are first, which shall
be last. Now that's shocking, isn't it?
What he just said is shocking. For any person who's never heard
that before, that is a shocking thing to hear the Lord say. The Lord said that. He said in
verse 24, strive to enter in at the straight gate for many. And we need to remember that
God cannot lie. Whatever he says is truth. And
he said many. I say unto you will seek to enter
in and shall not be able now this is how he said it in Matthew's
account the same account in the book of Matthew if you'd like
to look with me at Matthew chapter 7 he said in Matthew 7 verse
13 enter ye in at the straight gate for wide is the gate and
broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there
be which go in thereat." Do we understand what he just said?
He said, enter in at the straight gate, wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leads to destruction, death. And he said, many are
going to go in there, many. Many are not going to go into
the straight gate. But instead, many are going to
go into that broad way that leads to destruction. Verse 14, because
straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life and few there be that find it. That man said, Lord, are
there few that are going to be saved? The Lord said, few there
be that find it. This straight gate is a narrow
way. It is a narrow way, and Luke
13 says, strive to enter in to this narrow way, because many
will seek to enter in. want to they will seek to enter
in and shall not be able to there is only one way that leads
to eternal life he's talking about right here away he's talking
about the way this straight way this narrow way there is only
one way that leads unto life Many are going to seek to enter
into this way. Many, but they're not going to
be able to. Now, first, let's acknowledge
something that I believe many people already know. I believe
many, I believe most people already know this. It's in John chapter
14, verse six. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. I am the way. I am the truth
and I am the life. No man cometh unto the father,
but by me. No man or woman can come to the
father but by me he said I am the way he is the way he is the
narrow way he is the straight gate this straight gate that
he's talking about is himself he is the way most everybody
I believe knows that and agrees on that I believe most everybody
does there shouldn't be any problem in declaring that from God's
Word and men and women hearing that most everybody knows that
he is the way the Lord Jesus Christ is the way now in both
Matthew chapter 7 and in Luke 13 our Lord never said that those
people who were not able to enter in he never said they were standing
at the wrong gate Never did he say that they knew that he was
the way they knew that in Luke 13, he said, they are going to
seek to enter in to the straight gate, the straight gate. But he said,
they're not going to be able to, they're going to stand there
crying, Lord, Lord, here we are standing at your straight gate. You taught in our streets. You,
we preached in your name. We preached, we stood up and
preached in the name of Jesus. Many, many people preached in
the name of Jesus and the horrible news. The sad news that our Lord
has declared to be absolute fact and truth is he's going to say,
my gate is shut to you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. I never knew you. Oh, I don't
want the Lord to say that to me. And I don't want the Lord
to say that to you. I pray he might reveal the truth to us
so we don't ever have to hear him say that. Now, most people know that he
is the way he is the gate. I don't believe that standing
at the wrong gate is going to be the problem for anybody. I
don't believe that at all. He's made it very clear that
He is the way. I believe many people know that.
I also believe that most people know that they must come to Him.
I believe they know He is the way and that they must come to
Him. If He is the straight gate, the
narrow way that leads unto life, how do we come to Him? If we
must come to Him, and if most people know that they must, how
do we come to Him? If we acknowledge Him to be the
gate, and we must come to Him, how do we do that? Well, again,
I don't believe that this will be tough for anyone to understand.
I don't believe this will be difficult. I believe most people
can agree with this. I believe most know this. In
John chapter 3, this is... This is a verse of scripture
that most of the world can quote. If you ask someone to quote a
verse of scripture in the Bible, more than likely this would be
the number one quoted verse. John chapter three will begin
in verse 14. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up that
whosoever believeth in him, Whoever believes in Him should not perish,
but have eternal life. John 3.16 says, For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth, whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. believeth. In Acts chapter 16,
this is where Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for preaching
the gospel and God delivered them through an earthquake he
sent. It opened all the doors of the prison cells and loosed
all the chains and The Philippian jailer, after he saw this great
deliverance, it says in Acts 16 verse 29, then he called for
a light and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before
Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, sirs, what must
I do to be saved? How can I enter in? And they
said, believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved in thy
house. Believe. In Romans 10, the Apostle
Paul said in verse 9, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. If you confess the
Lord Jesus and believe in the heart Believe in the heart, thou
shalt be saved. So how do we come to him? How
do we come to this narrow way? We come by faith. We come by
faith. I believe most people know that. I believe most people know that. I believe we could declare that
anywhere. And that wouldn't be a shocking statement to people.
Stand up and say, Christ is the way, Jesus Christ is the way. I believe everybody would say,
yes, that's right, amen. Come to him, you must come to
him. I believe everybody would say,
amen, that's right. Believe on him, you have to believe
on him, that's right. I believe that everything that
we've seen and declared so far, most people can agree with. So
here's the question. If that's the case, why would
our Lord say many will seek to enter in but are not going to
be able to? Why would he say that? If most
people know and understand the things we've looked at so far,
why would our Lord say that? Why is the entrance to eternal
life, why is Christ himself described by Christ himself to be so narrow
and so difficult, so straight that many will not be able to
enter in. Why? Why is that? Is it because, is this the reason? Is it because those particular
men and women are too sinful? Is that the reason? Is it because
they're just too sinful? Does a man or a woman get to
a point when he or she is just so sinful? They're just so sinful. They've piled so many sins on
themselves. They've lived a horrible life
of sin after sin after sin, and they're carrying such a burden
of sin, a burden so large they just cannot fit through that
narrow way. Is that what it is? Just too
many sins to fit through, just cannot fit through the gate.
I'll give you the answer and it thrills me to tell it to you.
No. That's not the reason. That is
not the reason. That sinner. That sinner who's
carrying all those sins, the burden of all that sin, that
person. he's going to be able to fly
right through with ease. That person will be able to enter
right in. That person won't have any difficulty
at all. None at all. I'm the sinner who's
carrying all that sin. As a matter of fact, the scripture
says that the most wicked and vile sinner that has ever lived The one who could be called the
greatest sinner of all time, the chief sinner. The scripture says that man or
woman can enter right in and pass right on through with ease,
walking comfortably all the way to glory, all the way to eternity. Plenty of room in the narrow
way, plenty of room. There's a song in our hymnal
that we sing and one of the lines says, the vilest offender who
truly believes, that moment from the Lord Jesus, a pardon receives. The vilest offender. Well, who
then is he talking about? Who is he talking about that
will not be able to enter in? The answer is in Matthew chapter
nine. If you are interested in this
answer, Look with me at Matthew chapter 9. Matthew 9 verse 13
says, But go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy
and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous. but sinners to repentance. He said, I am not come to call
the righteous. That word, when you look that
up in the dictionary, the concordance, it says those who seem to themselves
to be righteous. The scripture says there's none
righteous. No, not one, not in the flesh. Not naturally. But that means the person who
thinks he's righteous. The person who sees himself to
be righteous. Those who pride themselves in
their virtues. Those who pride themselves to
be righteous. Here's what it means. righteous that's what the word
means self righteous now this is going to be so shocking to
some could be you've heard this before
it could be you've never heard this before this is coming straight
from the mouth and the word of god almighty and it's going to
be shocking to some but this is going to be so relieving to
some so relieving It is not a man's sin. Everybody knows sin is the problem. Sin is the problem with me. It
is not a man's sin that keeps him from coming to Christ and
entering in. It is not a man's sin Sin is
not what keeps us from coming to Christ and entering in. It's
not sin. It is his own self-righteousness. This man receiveth sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous.
He came to call sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. It's not sin that'll keep any
man or woman from coming to Christ and entering in. It's his own
or her own self-righteousness. It's him or her believing that
he or she is worthy worthy to enter in. When a person looks
at himself, when a man looks at himself and looks at his deeds
and looks at his life and says, yep, I think I'm worthy to enter
in, be warned. Be warned. It's believing I'm worthy to
enter in. It's believing that based on
the kind of life I've lived, I'm right with God. That's what
self-righteousness is. Believing that because of all
my good deeds and all of my selfless acts, everything I've done for
others, I just can't see any reason why he wouldn't open that
door wide open for me. Open that gate wide open. That
is self-righteousness. And a man or a woman who walks
up to the straight gate with a self-righteousness is going
to try to enter in. That man or woman is going to
call to enter in. I'm here. That man or woman is
going to expect to enter in. But that man or woman will not
be able to. will not be able to. The way
to enter in is not to get rid of all your sins before you come,
which is what most people believe. Well, if you want to get to heaven,
if you want to enter in, you got to get rid of all your sin.
That's not the way. That's not the way. The way to
enter in is to bring all of your sin to the straight gate. which is Christ himself, come
just as you are. Come just as you are in all of
your sin. If a sinner comes carrying one
fig leaf of his own self-worthiness and self-righteousness, that's
what Adam and Eve made. When they sinned, they sewed
fig leaves together and they tried to cover their sin. And
that's what men and women do by their good deeds. They're
trying to cover their sin. If we bring one fig leaf to the
gate, we'll never enter in. The gate is too narrow. We cannot
enter in with that fig leaf. But if we come carrying the load
of every sin we've ever committed, If we come condemning ourselves,
begging Christ to have mercy on us, begging Him to take this
load from us and pay the price for every bit of it in His own
blood, The sinner who comes to Christ, renouncing himself, renouncing
his own righteousness, begging for the righteousness of Christ,
the blood and righteousness of Christ, to that sinner, not only
will mercy open the gate wide open, grace will come take that
sinner by the hand and lead him in, lead him all the way home. There's no better example I know
of than the Pharisee and the publican who went into the temple.
That Pharisee was so self-righteous, God said, not justified. He said,
oh, I do so many good things. God said, not justified. That
sinner wouldn't lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his
breast, crying, God, be merciful to me. And God said, I'm telling
you, the door was swung wide open for that man. wide open
and that sinner was justified he said come unto me the straight
gate come unto me all ye that are that are laden and heavy
labor and heavy laden with sin i'll give you rest that's what
he said i'll give you rest if god has given us ears to hear
that call if we've been chosen to receive the call of god Then
we respond to his call by crying, Lord, I come. I come to the gate. I come to Christ. I come in all
my sin, just as I am, begging for mercy. Come that way, and
you'll enter right in. Till next week, may the Lord
bless his word to our hearts. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of sovereign grace, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m., Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week
for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.