how to be saved. This message was first preached sometime in the mid to late 1800s by J.C. Ryle. Our text for this morning comes from the book of Luke, Luke chapter 13, verse 24. Jesus said, Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not be able to.

There once was a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ a very serious question. He said to him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? We don't know who this man was. We're not even told what his motive was for asking this question. Perhaps he wished to gratify an idle curiosity. Perhaps he wanted an excuse for not seeking salvation himself. The Holy Spirit has kept back all of this from us. The name and motive of the seeker are both hidden. But one thing is very clear, and that is the vast importance of the saying of our Lord to which this question gave rise.

Jesus seized the opportunity to direct the minds of everyone around him to their own very clear duty. He knew the train of thought which the man's question had set moving in their hearts. He saw what was going on within them. Make every effort, he cries out. Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. Whether there are going to be a few saved or many, your course is clear. Make every effort to enter in. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. A day will come when many will seek to enter in and will not be able. Make every effort to enter in now.

I desire to call your serious attention to the solemn lessons which this saying of the Lord Jesus is meant to teach. It is one which deserves special remembrance in our present day. It teaches unmistakably that mighty truth, our own personal responsibility for the salvation of our souls. It shows the immense danger of putting off the great need of becoming a true Christian, as so many sadly do. On both of these points, the witness of our Lord Jesus Christ in the text is very clear. He who is the Eternal God and who spoke the words of perfect wisdom says to each one of us, make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you many, will try to enter and will not be able to.

I have three points I would like to discuss today. First, a description of the way of salvation Jesus calls it the narrow door. Secondly, a clear command. Jesus says, make every effort to enter through. And lastly, a frightful prophecy. Jesus says many will try to enter and will not be able to. Oh, may the Holy Spirit apply the subject of this message to the hearts of everyone who is listening today. May every one of you experience genuine salvation, obeying the command of the Lord, and thus be found safe in the great day of His Second Coming.

First, here is the description of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it the narrow door. Here is the description of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it the narrow door. There is a door which leads to forgiveness, peace with God and heaven. Whosoever goes in through that door will be saved. Never surely was such a door needed more than today. Sin is a vast mountain between man and God. How will a man climb over it? Sin is a high wall between man and God. How will a man get through it? Sin is a deep gulf between man and God. And how will man cross over it? God is in heaven, holy, pure, spiritual, undefiled, pure light without any darkness at all. A person who cannot bear that which is evil or even look upon sin. Man is a poor fallen worm crawling on the earth for a few years. sinful, corrupt, erring, defective, a creature whose imagination is only evil and whose heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. How will man and God be brought together? How will man ever draw near to his Creator without fear and shame? Blessed be God, there is a way. There is a road. There is a path. There is a door. It is the door spoken of in the words of Christ, the narrow door. This door was made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. This door was made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. From all eternity, he promised that he would make it. In the fullness of time, he came into the world and made it by his own atoning death on the cross. By that death, he made satisfaction for man's sin, paid man's debt to God, and bore man's punishment. He built a great door at the cost of his own body and blood. He raised a ladder on earth whose top reached to heaven. He made a door by which the worst of sinners may enter into the holy presence of God and not be afraid. He opened a road by which the vilest of men, believing in him, may draw near to God and have peace. He cries out to us, I am the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved. I am the way. No one comes to the Father except through me. In him, says the Apostle Paul, we may approach God with freedom and confidence. Thus was the door of salvation that was formed. This door is called the narrow door, and it is not called so without cause. It is called the narrow door, and it is not called so without cause. It is always narrow, constricted, and difficult to pass through to some persons, and it will be so as long as the world exists in its present form. It is narrow to all who love sin and are determined not to part with it. It is narrow to all who set their affection on this world and seek first its pleasures and rewards. It is narrow to all who dislike trouble and are unwilling to take the pains and make the sacrifices necessary for their souls. It is narrow to all who like the company of the world and want to keep in with the crowd. It is narrow to all who are self-righteous and think that they are good people and deserve to be saved. To everyone, the great door which Christ made is narrow and constricted. In vain they seek to pass through. The door won't admit them. God is not unwilling to receive them. Their sins are not too many to be forgiven, but they are not willing to be saved God's way. Thousands for many, many centuries have tried to make the doorway wider. Thousands have worked and toiled to get it to heaven on their own terms. But the door never changes. It is not expandable. It will not stretch to accommodate one man more than another. It is still the narrow door. Narrow as this door is, it is the only one by which men and women can get to heaven. As narrow as this door is, it is the only one by which men and women can get to heaven. There is no side door, there is no side road, there is no gap or low place in the wall. All that are ever saved will be saved only by Christ and only by simple faith in Him. No one will be saved simply by repenting. Today's sorrow does not wipe out yesterday's score. No one will be saved by their own good works. The best works that anyone can do are little better than impressive sins. No one will be saved just by going to church, by reading their Bible, by praying, by taking the Lord's Supper, by honoring the Lord's Day. When we have done it all, we are nothing but poor, unprofitable servants. No, it is a mere waste of time to seek any other road to eternal life. Men and women may look to the right and to the left and wear themselves out with their own methods, but they will never, never find another door. Proud men and proud women may dislike the door if they want. Depraved men and depraved women may scoff at it and make a joke of those who use it. Lazy men and lazy women may complain that the way is too hard, but men and women will discover no other salvation than that of faith and faith alone in the blood and righteousness of a crucified Redeemer. There stands between us and heaven one great door. It may be narrow, but it is the only one available. We must either enter heaven by the narrow door or not at all. Narrow as this door is, it is a door always ready to open. Narrow as this door is, it is a door always ready to open. No sinners of any kind are forbidden to draw near. Whosoever will may enter in and be saved. There is only one condition of admission. That condition is that you really feel and hate your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in his own way. Are you really aware of your guilt and wickedness? Have you truly a broken and contrite heart? Look at the door of salvation and come in. He that made it declares, whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. The question to be considered is not whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner, whether you are elect or not, whether you are converted or not. The question is simply this. Do you feel and hate your sins? Do you feel burdened and heavy laden? Are you willing to put your life into Christ's hands? Then if that be the case, the door will open to you at once. Come in this very day. Why are you standing out there? Narrow as this door is, it is the one through which thousands and thousands have already gone in and been saved. Narrow as this door is, it is the one through which thousands and thousands have already gone in and been saved. No sinner was ever turned back and told that they were too bad to be admitted if they really came sick of their sins. Thousands of all sorts have been received, cleansed, washed, forgiven, clothed, and made heirs of eternal life. Some of them seem very unlikely to be admitted. You and I might have thought that they were too evil to be saved. But he that built the door did not refuse them. As soon as they knocked, he gave orders that they should be let in. Manasseh, king of Judah, went up to this door. None could have been worse than he up to that time. He had despised his good father Hezekiah's example and advice. He had bowed down to idols. He had filled Jerusalem with bloodshed and cruelty. He had murdered his own children. But as soon as his eyes were opened to his sins and he fled to the door for forgiveness, the door flew wide open and he was saved. Saul the Pharisee went up to this door. He had been a blasphemer of Christ and a persecutor of Christ's people. He had labored hard to stop the progress of the gospel. But as soon as his heart was touched, And he found out his own guilt and fled to the door for forgiveness. Immediately the door flew wide open and he was saved. Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to this door. They had been grievous sinners indeed. They had refused and rejected their own Messiah. They had delivered him to Pilate and pleaded that he might be crucified. They had desired Barabbas to be let go and the Son of God to be killed. But in the day when they were convicted in their heart by Peter's preaching, they fled to the door for forgiveness and immediately the door flew open and they were saved. The jailer at Philippi went up to this door. He had been a cruel, hard, godless man. He had done everything in his power to harshly treat Paul and his companion. He had thrown them into the inner prison and locked their feet in the stocks. But when his conscience was aroused by the earthquake and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching of the word of God, he fled to the narrow door for forgiveness. And immediately the door flew open and he was saved. But why would I need to give only Bible examples? Why should I not say that multitudes have gone to the narrow door since the days of the apostles and have entered in through it and been saved? Thousands of all ranks, classes, and ages, educated and uneducated, rich and poor, old and young, have tried the door and found it ready to open. They have gone through it and found peace for their souls. Yes, thousands upon thousands of persons still living today have proven the effectiveness of the door and found it the way to real happiness. Noblemen and commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and sailors, farmers and skilled workers, laborers and workmen have found the narrow door to be a way of joy and a path of peace. They have not given an evil report of what they found inside the door. They have found Christ's yoke to be easy and his burden to be light. Their only regret has been that so few enter in and that they themselves did not enter in before. This is the door which I want every one of you to enter. I don't want you merely to go to church, but to go with heart and soul to the door of life. I don't want you merely to believe that there is such a door and to think that it is a good thing, but to enter by faith and be saved. Think what a privilege it is to even have a door at all. The angels who did not remain faithful to God fell never to rise again. To them there was no door of escape opened. Millions of pagans have never heard any way to eternal life. What would they have given if only they could have heard just one clear sermon about Christ? The Jews in Old Testament times saw only the door dimly and far away. The way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed, as long as the First Tabernacle was still standing. but you have the door set plainly before you. You have Christ and full salvation offered to you. You never need to be at a loss on which way to turn. Oh, please consider what a mercy this is. Beware that you don't despise the door and perish in unbelief. Better a thousand times not to know of the door than to know of it and yet remain outside? How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation? Think of what a thankful person you would be if you really had gone in at the narrow door. To be a pardoned, forgiven, justified soul. To be ready for sickness, death, judgment, and eternity. To always be provided for in both worlds, surely this is a matter of daily praise. True Christians ought to be more thankful than they are. I fear that few sufficiently remember what they were by nature and what debtors they are to grace. A heathen once remarked that singing hymns of praise was one special mark of the early Christians. It would be good for Christians in the present day if they knew more of this frame of mind. There is no evidence of a healthy state of soul when there is so much complaining and so little praise. It is an amazing mercy that there is any door of salvation at all. But it is a still greater mercy when we are taught to enter in by it and be saved.

In the second place this morning, here is a very clear command. Jesus says to us, make every effort to enter through the narrow door. In the second place this morning, here is a very clear command of Jesus who says to us, make every effort to enter through the narrow door.

There is often so much to be learned in a single word of scripture. The words of our Lord Jesus in particular are always full of matter for thought. Here is a word which is a striking example of what I mean. Let us see what the great teacher would have us gather out of the words, make every effort.

Make every effort teaches that we must use means diligently if we would have our souls saved. Make every effort teaches us that we must use means diligently if we would have our souls saved. There are means which God has appointed to help us in our efforts to approach him. There are ways in which we must walk if we desire to be found by Christ. Public worship. reading the Bible, hearing the gospel preached, these are the kind of things to which I refer. They lie, as it were, in the middle between us and God. Without a doubt, no one can change their own heart or wipe away one of their sins or make themselves in the least degree acceptable to God. But I do say that if we could do nothing but sit still, Christ would have never said to us, Make every effort.

Make every effort teaches that men and women are free agents and will be dealt with by God as responsible persons. Make every effort teaches us that men and women are free agents and will be dealt with by God as responsible persons. The Lord Jesus does not tell us to wait, and to wish and to feel and hope and desire. He says, make every effort. I call it a worthless religion which teaches people to be content with saying, oh, we can do nothing ourselves and makes them continue in sin. It is just as bad as teaching people that it is not their fault if they are not converted. and that God only is to blame if they are not saved. I find no such theology in the New Testament. I hear Jesus saying to sinners, Come, repent, believe, labor, ask, knock. I see clearly that our salvation from beginning to end is entirely of God. but I see with no less clarity that our ruin, if lost, is wholly and entirely of ourselves. I maintain that sinners are always addressed as accountable and responsible, and I see no better proof of this than what is contained in the words, Make Every Effort.

Make every effort teaches that men and women must expect many adversaries and a hard battle if they would have their souls saved. Make every effort teaches us that men and women must expect many adversaries and a hard battle if they would have their souls saved. And this as a matter of experience is strictly true. There are no gains without pains in spiritual things any more than in earthly things. That roaring lion, the devil, will never let a soul escape from him without a struggle. The heart, which is naturally central and earthly, will never be turned to spiritual things without a daily fight. The world, with all its opposition and temptations, will never be overcome without a conflict. But why should any of this surprise us? What great and good thing was ever accomplished without trouble? Wheat does not grow without plowing and sowing. Riches are not obtained without care and attention. Success in life is not won without hardship and work. And heaven, heaven above all, is not to be reached without the cross and the battle. The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing and forceful men and forceful women lay hold of it. A man or woman must make every effort. Make every effort teaches us that it is worthwhile for a man or a woman to seek salvation. Make every effort teaches us that it is worthwhile for a man or a woman to seek salvation. If there is anything that deserves a struggle in this world, it is the prosperity of the soul. The objects for which the great majority of men and women make every effort are comparatively poor and trifling things. Riches and greatness and rank and education are a corruptible crown. The incorruptible things are all inside the narrow door. The peace of God which passes all understanding, the bright hope of good things to come, the sense of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the consciousness that we are forgiven, safe, ready, insured, provided for in time and eternity, whatever may happen, these are true gold and lasting riches. It is right and good that the Lord Jesus calls upon us to make every effort. Make every effort teaches that laziness towards Christianity is a great sin. Make Every Effort teaches us that laziness towards Christianity is a great sin. It is not merely a misfortune, as some believe, a thing for which people are to be pitied, and a matter for regret. It is something far more than this. It is a breach of a clear commandment. What will be said of the man or woman who violates God's law and does something which God says you will not do? There can be but one answer. They are a sinner. Everyone who sins breaks the law. In fact, sin is lawlessness. And what will be said of the man or woman who neglects their soul and makes no effort to enter through the narrow door? There can only be one reply. They would be omitting an explicit duty Christ says to them, make every effort and behold, they sit still. Make every effort teaches that all those outside the narrow door are in great danger. Make every effort teaches that all those outside the narrow door are in great danger. They are in danger of being lost and tormented forever. There is but one step between them and death. If death finds them in their present condition, they will perish without hope. The Lord Jesus saw that clearly. He knew the uncertainty of life and the shortness of time. He would rejoice to have sinners hurry and not to delay, lest they put off the business of their soul until it is too late. He speaks as one who saw the devil drawing near to them daily, and the days of their life gradually ebbing away. He would have them to be very careful that they would not wait too long. Therefore he cries out, make every effort. Those words, make every effort, raises solemn thoughts in my mind. It is full of condemnation for thousands of baptized persons. It condemns the ways and practices of multitudes who profess and call themselves Christians. There are many who neither swear, nor murder, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor lie. But one thing sadly cannot be said of them. They cannot be said to be making every effort to be saved. The spirit of slumber possesses their hearts in everything that concerns Christianity. They are very busy about the things of the world. They rise early and go to bed late. They work, they labor, they are busy, they are careful. But the one thing they need to accomplish they never do. They never make every effort towards the things of God. What will I say of those who are irregular about public worship on Sundays? What will I say of those who are irregular about public worship on Sundays? There are thousands who answer this description. Sometimes, if they feel inclined, they go to some church and attend a religious service. At other times, they stay home and read the paper, or just lay around, or look over their bank accounts, or seek some other amusement. Is this making every effort? I speak to men and women of common sense. Let them judge what I say. What will I say of those who come regularly to a place of worship, but come entirely as a matter of form? What will I say of those who come regularly to a place of worship, but come entirely as a matter of form? There are many in every part of our country in this condition. Their fathers taught them to come. Their custom has always been to come. It would not be respectable to stay away. But they care nothing for the worship of God when they do come. Whether they hear the law or gospel, truth or error, it is all the same to them. They remember nothing afterwards. They take off their form of religion with their Sunday clothes and return to the world. And is this making every effort? I speak to men and women of common sense. Let them judge what I say. What will I say of those who seldom or never read the Bible? What will I say of those who seldom or never read the Bible? There are thousands of persons, I fear, who answer this description. They know the book by name. They know it is commonly regarded as the only book which teaches us how to live and how to die. But they can never find time for reading it. Newspapers, reviews, novels, romances they can read, but not the Bible. And is this making every effort to enter in? I speak to men and women of common sense. Let them judge what I say. What will I say of those who never pray? What will I say of those who never pray? There are multitudes, just multitudes, I firmly believe in this condition. Without God they rise in the morning, and without God they lay down at night. They ask for nothing, they confess nothing. They return thanks for nothing, they seek nothing. They are all dying creatures. And yet they are not even on speaking terms with their creator and their judge. And is this making every effort? I speak to men and women of common sense. Let them judge what I say. It is a solemn thing to be a minister of the gospel. It is a painful thing to look on and notice the ways of mankind in spiritual matters. We hold in our hands that great law book of God, which declares that without repentance and conversion and faith in Christ and holiness, no living man or woman can be saved. In discharge of our office, we urge men and women to repent, to believe and to be saved. But to our grief, how often we have to lament the fact that our labor seems all in vain. Men and women attend our churches and listen and approve, but do not make every effort to be saved. We show them the sinfulness of sin. We unfold the loveliness of Christ. We expose the vanity of the world. We set forth the happiness of Christ's service. We offer the living water to the wearied and heavy laden, but to our dismay, how often we seem to speak to the winds. Our words are patiently heard on Sunday. Our arguments are not refuted. But we see plainly in the week that men and women are not making every effort to be saved. There comes the devil on Monday morning and offers his countless snares. There comes the world and holds out its deceptive prizes. Our listeners greedily follow them. They work hard for this world's goods. They toil at Satan's bidding, but the one thing they need to do they won't. They will not make every effort at all. I am not writing from hearsay. I speak what I have seen. I write down the results of 37 years experience in the ministry. I have learned lessons about human nature during that period, which I never knew before. I have seen how true are the Lord's words about the narrow road. I have discovered how few there are that make every effort to be saved. Seriousness about fleeting matters is common enough. Striving to be rich and prosperous in this world is not rare at all. Pains about money, pains about business and politics, pains about trade, pains about science and fine arts and entertainment, pains about rent and wages and labor and lands, pains about such matters I see in abundance both in the city and the country. But I see few who take pains about their souls. I see few anywhere who make every effort to enter in through the narrow door. I am not surprised at all this. I read in the Bible that it is only what I am to expect. The parable of the Great Suffer is an exact picture of things that I have seen with my own eyes ever since I became a minister. I find, as my Lord and Savior tells me, that men and women will make excuses. One has their piece of land to see. Another has his oxen to prove. A third has their family matters to take care of. but all of this does not prevent my feeling deeply grieved for the souls of men and women. I grieve to think that they should have eternal life so close to them and yet be lost because they will not make every effort to enter in and be saved. I don't know in what state of soul many of you are today, but I warn you to take heed that you do not perish forever because you did not make every effort. Do not suppose that it needs some great scarlet sin to bring you to the pit of destruction. You have only to sit still and do nothing, and you will eventually find yourself in the pit of hell. Yes, Satan does not ask you to walk in the steps of Cain and Pharaoh and Ahab and Judas Iscariot, There is another road to hell that is guaranteed to get you there. The road of spiritual sluggishness, spiritual laziness, and spiritual sloth. Satan has no objection to you being known as a respectable member of the Christian Church. He will let you give your offerings. He will allow you to sit comfortably in church every Sunday that you live. He knows full well that so long as you do not make every effort, you will come eventually to the place where the destroying maggot never dies and the fire that never goes out. Be careful that you do not come to this end. I repeat it, you have only to do nothing and you will be lost. If you have been taught to make every effort for your soul's well-being, I beg you never to suppose you can go too far. Never give way to the idea that you are too concerned about your spiritual condition, and that there is no need for so much carefulness. Settle it rather in your mind that in all labor there is profit, and that no labor is so profitable as that bestowed on the soul. It is a maxim among good farmers that the more they do for the land, the more the land does for them. I am sure it should be a maxim among Christians that the more they do for their Christianity, the more their Christianity will do for them. Watch out for the slightest inclination to be careless about such things as reading the Bible, going to church, praying and taking the Lord's Supper. Beware of shortening your prayers. Beware of shortening your Bible reading and your private communion with God. Be careful that you do not give way to a thoughtless, lazy manner of using weekly services of the Church. Fight against any rising disposition to be sleepy, critical and fault-finding while you listen to the preaching of the Gospel. Whatever you do for God, do it with all your heart, your mind, and your strength. In other things, be moderate and dread running into extremes. In matters of the soul, fear moderation, just as you would fear the plague. Don't worry what men and women will think of you. Let it be enough for you that your master says, make every effort. The last thing I wish for us to consider today is the dreadful prediction which the Lord Jesus delivers when he says, many will try to enter and will not be able to. The last thing I want us to consider today is that dreadful prediction that the Lord Jesus delivers when he says, many will try to enter and will not be able to. When will this be? At what period will the door of salvation be shut forever? When will the making of every effort to enter in be of no use? These are serious questions. The door is now ready to open to the worst of sinners, but a day is coming when it will open no more. The time foretold by our Lord is the time when He comes to judge the world. The patience of God will finally have an end. The throne of grace will at last be taken down and the throne of judgment will be set up in its place. The fountain of living waters will finally be closed. The narrow door will finally be barred and bolted. The day of grace will be over and done away with. The day of final judgment on a sin laden world will finally begin. And then will be brought to pass the solemn prediction of the Lord Jesus, many will try to enter in and will not be able to. All prophecies of Scripture that have been fulfilled up to this time have been fulfilled to the very letter. They have seemed to many unlikely, improbable, impossible up to the very time of their accomplishment, but not one word of them has ever failed. The promises of the good things have come to pass in spite of difficulties that seemed impossible. Sarah had a son when she was well past the age for the burying of children. The children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and planted in the promised land. The Jews were redeemed from the captivity of Babylon after 70 years and enabled once more to build the temple. The Lord Jesus was born of a pure virgin. He lived, ministered, was betrayed, and crucified precisely as Scripture foretold. The Word of God was promised in all these cases that it should be, and so it was. The predictions of judgments on cities and nations have come to pass. Though at the time they were first spoken, they seemed incredible. Edom is a wilderness. Tyre is a rock for drying nets. Nineveh, that greater than great city, is laid waste and has become a desolation. Babylon is a dry land in a wilderness. Her extensive walls are utterly broken down. In all these cases, the Word of God foretold that it should be so, and it was. The prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ, which I press on your attention this day, will be fulfilled in like manner. Not one word of it will fail when the time of its accomplishment is due. Many will try to enter in and will not be able to. There is a time coming when seeking God will be useless. There is a time coming when seeking God will be useless. Oh, that men and women would remember that. Too many seem to believe that the hour will never arrive when they will seek and not find, but they are sadly mistaken. They will discover their mistake one day to their own loss, except they repent. When Christ comes, many will try to enter in and will not be able to. There is a time coming when many will be shut out from heaven forever. There is a time coming when many will be shut out of heaven forever. It will not be the lot of a few, but of a great multitude. It will not happen to one or two in this area or one or two in another. It will be the miserable end of an immense crowd. Many will try to enter in and will not be able to. Knowledge will come to many too late. Knowledge will come to many too late. They will finally see the value of an immortal soul and the happiness of having it saved. They will finally understand their own sinfulness and God's holiness and the glorious fitness of the Gospel of Christ. They will finally comprehend why ministers seemed so anxious and preached so long and implored them so earnestly to be converted. but to their own grief they will know all of this too late. Repentance will come to many too late. Repentance will come to many too late. They will discover their own surpassing wickedness and be thoroughly ashamed of their past folly. They will be full of bitter regret and hopeless wailings, of keen convictions and of piercing sorrows. They will weep and wail and mourn when they reflect on their sins. The remembrance of their lives will be grievous to them. The burden of their guilt will seem intolerable. But to their grief, like Judas Iscariot, they will repent too late. Faith will come to many too late. Faith will come to many too late. They will no longer be able to deny that there is a God and a devil, a heaven and a hell. False religion and skepticism and unfaithfulness will be laid aside forever. Scoffing and joking and free thinking will cease. They will see with their own eyes and feel in their own bodies that the things of which ministers spoke were not cleverly devised fables, but great real truths. They will find out to their cost that evangelical religion was not lip service, extravagance, fanaticism, or emotionalism. They will discover that it was the one thing they needed, and that the lack of it will cause them to be lost forever. Like the devil, they will finally believe and tremble, but too late. A desire of salvation will come to many too late. A desire of salvation will come to many too late. They will long after forgiveness and peace and the favor of God when they can no more be had. They will wish they might have one more Sunday over again and one more offer of forgiveness, have one more call to prayer. but it will matter nothing what they think or feel or desire then. The day of grace will be over. The door of salvation will be bolted and barred. It will be too late. I often think what a change there will be one day in the price and estimation at which things are valued. I look around this world in which my lot is cast. I note the current price of everything this world contains. I look forward to the coming of Christ and the great day of God. I think of the new order of things which that day will bring in. I read the words of the Lord Jesus when he describes the master of the house rising up and shutting the door. And as I read, I say to myself, there will be a great change soon. What are the dear things now? Gold, silver, precious stones, money, ships, lands, houses, horses, cars, furniture, food, drink, clothes, and the like. These are the things that are thought valuable. These are the things that command a ready market. These are the things which you can never get below a certain price. He that has a lot of these things is considered a wealthy person. Such is the world. And what are the cheap things now? Oh, the knowledge of God, the free salvation of the gospel, the favor of Christ, the grace of the Holy Spirit, the privilege of being God's children, the title to eternal life, the right to the tree of life, the promise of a room in the Father's house in heaven, the promises of an incorruptible inheritance, the offer of a crown of glory that does not fade away. These are the things that no man or woman really cares for. They are offered to men and women without cost. They may be had for nothing, freely and generously. Whosoever will may take their share. But sadly, there is no demand for these things. They go begging. They are scarcely looked at. They are offered in vain. Such is the world. But a day is coming. A day is coming upon us all when the value of everything will be altered. A day is coming when money will be as useless as rags. and gold will be as worthless as the dust of the earth. A day is coming when thousands will care nothing for the things for which they once lived and will desire nothing so much as the things which they once despised. The mansions and palaces will be forgotten in the desire of a house not made with hands. The favor of the rich and great will be remembered no more in the longing for the favor of the King of Kings. The silks and satins and velvets and laces will be lost sight of in the anxious need for the robe of Christ's righteousness. All will be altered. All will be changed in the great day of the Lord's return. Many will try to enter in and will not be able to. It was a weighty saying of some wise man that hell is truth known too late. I fear that thousands of those who profess to be Christians in this day will find this out by experience. They will discover the value of their souls when it is too late to obtain mercy and see the beauty of the gospel when they can derive no benefit from it. Oh, that men and women would be wise early in life. I often think there are few passages of scripture more awful than those in the first chapter of Proverbs. Listen. But since you rejected me when I called, and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I will in turn laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you. When calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you, then they will call to me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but will not find me. since they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. Some of you may be one of those who neither like the faith nor practice which the gospel of Christ requires. You think that we are extreme when we implore you to repent and be converted. You think we ask too much when we urge you to come out from the world and take up the cross and follow Christ. But take notice that you will one day confess we were right. Sooner or later, in this world or the next, you will acknowledge that you were wrong. Yes, it is a sad consideration for the faithful minister of the gospel that all who hear him will one day acknowledge that his counsel was good. Mocked, despised, scorned, neglected as his testimony may be on earth, a day is coming which will prove that truth was on his side. The rich man who hears us and yet makes a God of this world, the businessman who hears us and yet makes his ledger his Bible, The farmer who hears us and yet remains cold as the clay on his land. The worker who hears us and feels no more for his soul than a stone. All, all will in time acknowledge before the world that they were wrong. All will in time earnestly desire that very mercy which we now set before them in vain. They will try to enter in and will not be able to. Some of you may be one of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. You may well take comfort when you look forward to eternity. You often suffer persecution now for Christianity's sake. You have to bear hard words and unkind insinuations. Your motives are often misrepresented and your conduct slandered. The reproach of the cross has not ceased. but you may take courage when you look forward and think of the Lord's second coming. That day will make amends for everything. You will see those who now laugh at you because you read the Bible, because you pray, and because you love Christ, you will see them in a very different state of mind. They will come to you as the foolish virgins came to the wise, saying to you, give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out. You will see those who now hate you and call you fools, fools, because like Caleb and Joshua, you bring up a good report of Christ's service. Someday they will say, oh, that we had taken part with you. You have been the truly wise and we were truly foolish. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, do not fear the reproach of men. Confess Christ boldly before the world. Show your colors and do not be ashamed of your master. Time is short. Eternity rushes on. The cross is only for a short time. The crown is for forever. Many will try to enter in and will not be able to. And now let me offer to every one of you a few parting words in order to apply the whole subject to your soul. You have heard the words of the Lord Jesus unfolded and expounded. You have seen the picture of the way of salvation. It is a narrow door. You have heard the command of the king, make every effort to enter in. You have been told of his solemn warning. Many will try to enter in and will not be able to. Bear with me just a little longer while I try to impress the whole matter on your conscience. I still have something to say on God's behalf. For one thing, I will ask you a simple question. Have you entered in through the narrow door or not? Old or young, rich or poor, religious or atheist, I repeat my question. Have you entered in through the narrow door? Have you entered in through the narrow door? I do not ask you whether you have heard of it and believe there is a door. I do not ask you whether you have looked at it and admired it and hope one day to go through it. I ask whether you have gone up to it, knocked on it, been admitted, and are now inside. If you are not inside, what good have you received from your religion? You are not pardoned and forgiven. You are not reconciled to God. You are not born again, sanctified and suitable for heaven. If you die as you are, you will live in the same place of torment as the devil will. forever and your soul will be eternally miserable. Oh, think, think what a state this is to live in. Think, think above all things what a state this is to die in. Your life is but a vapor. A few more years at most and you are gone. Your place in the world will soon be filled up. Your house will be occupied by another. The sun will go on shining. The grass and daisies will soon grow thick over your grave. Your body will be food for worms and your soul will be lost for all of eternity. In all this time, there stands open before you a door of salvation. God invites you. Jesus Christ offers to save you. All things are ready for your deliverance. Only one thing is lacking, and that is that you should be willing to be saved. Oh, think of these things and be wise. For another thing, I will give plain advice to all who are not yet inside that narrow door. That advice is simply this, to enter in without a day's delay. I give plain advice to all of those who are not yet inside the narrow door. My advice is simply this. Enter in without a day's delay. Tell me, tell me if you can, of anyone who ever reached heaven except through the narrow door. I know of none. From Abel, the first who died, down to the end of the list of Bible names. I see none saved by any other way but faith in Christ. Tell me, if you can, of anyone who ever entered through the narrow door without making every effort. I know of none except those who die in infancy. He that would win heaven must be content to fight for it. Tell me, if you can, of anyone who ever strove earnestly to enter and failed to succeed. I know of none. I believe that however weak and ignorant men and women may be, they never seek life heartily and consciously at the right door and are left without an answer of peace. Tell me, if you can, of anyone who ever entered through the narrow door and was sorry afterwards. I know of none. I believe the footsteps on the threshold of the door go only one way. All have found it a good thing to serve Christ and have never regretted taking up His cross. If these things are true, seek Christ without delay and enter through the door of life while you can. Make a beginning this very day. Go to that merciful and mighty Savior in prayer and pour out your heart before Him. Confess to Him your guilt and your wickedness and your sin Open your heart freely to him. Keep nothing back. Tell him that you put yourself and all your soul's affairs wholly in his hands and ask him to save you according to his promise and for him to put his Holy Spirit within you. There is everything to encourage you to do this. Thousands as bad as you have been have applied to Christ in this way. And not one of them has been sent away and refused. They have found a peace of conscience they never knew before and have gone on their way rejoicing. They have found strength for all the trials of life and none of them has been allowed to perish in the wilderness. Why shouldn't you also seek Christ? There is everything to encourage you to do what I tell you at once. I know no reason why your repentance and conversion should not be as immediate as that of others before you. The Samaritan woman came to the well an ignorant sinner and returned to her home a new creature. The Philippian jailer turned from darkness to light and became a professed disciple of Christ in a single day. And why shouldn't others do the same? Why shouldn't you give up your sins and trust in Christ this very day? I know that the advice I have given you is good. The great question is, will you take it? The last thing I have to say will be a request to all who have really entered through the narrow door. That request is that you tell others of the blessings which you have found. The last thing I have to say to you today will be a request to all of you who have really entered through the narrow door. That request is that you will tell others of the blessings which you have found inside. I want all converted people to be missionaries. I don't want all of them to go out to foreign lands and preach to the heathen, but I do want all to be of a missionary spirit and to make every effort to do good at home. I want them to testify to everyone around them that the narrow door is the way to happiness and to persuade them to enter through it. When Andrew was converted, he found his brother Peter and said to him, we have found the Messiah, that is the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. When Philip was converted, he found Nathanael and said to him, We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth, can anything good come from there, Nathanael asked. Come and see, said Philip, come and see. When the Samaritan woman was converted, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" When Saul the Pharisee was converted, at once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. I long to see this kind of spirit among Christians in the present day. I long to see more zeal to commend the narrow door to all who are yet outside. and more desire to persuade them to enter through and be saved. Happy indeed is that church whose members not only desire to reach heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them. The great door of salvation is still ready to open, but the hour draws near when it will be closed forever. Let us work while it is called today, for the night is coming when no one can work. Let us tell our relatives and friends that we have accepted the way of life and found it pleasant, that we have tasted the bread of life and found it good. I have heard it calculated that if every believer in the world were to bring one soul to Christ each year, the whole human race would be converted in less than 20 years. I make no comment on such a calculation. Whether such a thing might or might not be, one thing is sure. That thing is this, that many more souls might probably be converted to God if Christians were more zealous to do good. This at last we may remember, that God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. He that endeavors to show his neighbor the narrow door is doing a work which God approves. He is doing a work which angels regard with interest, and with which the building of a pyramid will not compare in importance. What does the scripture say? Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. Let us all awaken to a deeper sense of our responsibility in this matter. Let us look around the circle of those among whom we live and consider their state before God. Are there not many of them yet outside the door, unforgiven, unsanctified, and not prepared to die? Let us watch for opportunities of speaking to them. Let us tell them of the narrow door and entreat them to make every effort to enter in. Who can tell what a word spoken at the right time may do? Who can tell what it may do when spoken in faith and prayer? It may be the turning point in someone's history. It may be the beginning of thought, prayer, and eternal life. Oh, for more love and boldness among believers! Think what a blessing to be allowed to speak one converting word! I do not know what your feelings may be on this subject. My heart's desire and prayer is that you may daily remember Christ's solemn words Many, I tell you many, will try to enter and will not be able to. Keep these words in mind. Amen.