Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I desire to continue this evening with questions asked in scripture. And this time in the passage
that we have read in Luke chapter 13, we have a question that is
asked in verse 23 of our Lord. Are there few that be saved? And the whole verse reads, Then
said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And the Lord then answered. But he did not answer to give
a number to say whether there were few or whether there was
many that would be saved at all. There are many things the Lord
could have said. He could have directed this man
back to Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 10. And he could have said to
him that there shall be a remnant, a remnant that shall be saved. Though thy people Israel be as
the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return. He could
have pointed to that, and Paul did, certainly in Romans 9 and
Romans 11. He could also have quoted from
Zachariah and said about the third part that would be brought
through the fire. And then he could have pointed
to Noah's day when only eight souls were saved in the ark. Or Lot's day with only three
that were plucked, as it were, ran from that burning. And as
he says in another time, as it was in the days of Lot, so shall
it be in the days of the Son of Man. But he didn't do that. He could have spoken, as he does
later on in Luke 18, that when the Son of Man comes, shall he
find faith in the earth? Or maybe he could have spoken
of, as that recorded in the Revelation, that there imbued there an innumerable
multitude that no man could number. The Lord didn't choose any of
these texts or illustrations, giving no indication whether
there'll be few or whether there'll be many, but He brought the matter
straight to a personal need. strive to enter in at the straight
gate. And he doesn't just say to the
one that asked him. Our text says, then said one
unto him. But at the end of the text, the
answer of the Lord, and he said unto them, not unto just that
one. He uses this question to address
a point that is so vital. Many times we might have questions
arise in our hearts, maybe from curiosity, maybe it is Satan
saying, well, if this question can be answered, then the Scriptures
are true and right and the Lord is right, but if it's not, it
can't be. They undermine the Word of God. But we have set before us in
the Word what is needful, what is vital, and is not to satisfy
curiosity, is not as a bystander, that we're just viewing and just
reading about a plan of salvation, about a people, about sin, about
the law, about the sufferings of the Lord. We're reading about
a personal salvation of a people that are real people, You know,
in Romans, Romans is a beautiful book that deals with doctrine. It deals with it simply, but
it's very often a very profound way. And we go right through
15 chapters of that book, and hardly a person is mentioned.
All doctrine, vital doctrine. But then we come to the last
chapter, and there's greetings and made mention of many, many
that Paul wanted to be remembered to, spoken to in Rome. He was writing to the church,
yes, writing the inspired word of God, but he was writing to
real people. Often think of the Old Testament,
where we have chapter after chapter, there's nothing but names. Why
so many names in the Word of God? It proves that it is a real history
of real people, a real record, and that this book concerns men
and women, you and I, our souls, our lives. We think of when our
Lord revealed to Peter what would happen to him when he was old.
Now that another should gird him, he'd stretch forth his hands,
another would carry him, whether he would not, signifying by what
death he should die. And Peter, he turns round and
he sees John following and he says, and what shall this man
do? And our Lord says, what is that
today? our way. It is in a similar vein
here. We're not to be probing. How
many are to be saved? Are there few? Are there a lot? Are there many? Our Lord makes
it clear at the end of the chapter that it shall be from every nation,
that it shall be right through all of the world, in verse 29,
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. He's pointing to the gentile
nations, pointing to every nation, kindred and tongue, but he's
still not answering this question that was asked
of him Are there fewer to say? But he has answered it, because
he's answered it pointing to a personal application. So I
want to look this evening, firstly, the personal need that we each
have. And then secondly, the warning
of a wrong way that is in the context here and what follows
this question. and then the striving in a right
way. First there is the personal need. 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. Now that straight gate,
as we'll see later, is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the
I Am The Door from John 10. But in this first point, it's
the personal application. It is so easy to listen for others,
to have the most severe warnings just passed over, thinking, these
don't apply to me. Or to have simple directions
that are given and again we think it doesn't apply to us and we
go away and we do not obey, we do not put into practice those
things that are set before us. Every one of us has a soul and
a body That soul and body is under the
curse. The body shall die, it shall
be laid in the ground. The soul already is dead spiritually,
and unless quickened into life, we shall stand before God's judgment
throne, and there shall be the second death, where soul and
body cast into hell forever and ever. Our soul is not mingled with
another, not bound up with another. Everyone shall die for his own
iniquity. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. And he comes down to one, one
soul, one person. the worth of one's soul and the
worth of our soul. How vital it is that we don't
let father, mother, wife, children, any, come between us and this
salvation and the needs of our soul for eternity. We've only
bought a small number of years here, Even if we live like one
of the dear aged saints I saw this morning in the pilgrim home,
she's 107, still very with it. But even if we live that long,
what is that length to the countless years of eternity? And we cannot
measure eternity by time, because time shall be no more. It is a created thing, we cannot
enter into that. but what we are sure of, that
we each are in time. We had a birth, which was our
birth, and we have a life that is our life, and we shall have
a death that shall be the death of our body, and the release
of the soul to return to God that gave it. And our Lord is
seeking in this way to emphasize that personal need of a personal
faith, a personal interest in the Lord Jesus Christ to be personally
saved and delivered from the wrath to come. If ever there
was a portion of scripture that emphasizes that, it is this,
but right through the scriptures the Lord is emphasizing that
which belongs to each and every one of us. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate is the message that the Lord has to everyone that reads
this word, that everyone that maybe has had this same inquiry
and same thought, the Lord would say, don't worry whether there
is few or whether it is many, but be concerned whether you
are amongst them. That's how we sung in our first
hymn. What if my name is left out when
thou for them shalt call? Can I bear the piercing thought? Is it a piercing thought? Is
it a concern? Is it a burden to us? Do we lay
it to heart? Do we realize what is personally
at stake? Or do we just drift along, as
a door upon its hinges, in and out of the house of God, or perhaps
every now and again just hearing about the things of God, never
coming to the house of God, never listen for ourselves, never regard
the Bible that we may have picked up, as being the word of salvation
for our souls. The Apostle says to Timothy that
it is able to make thee wise unto salvation. Now may we really
realize that, that when we have in our hands the holy, sacred,
infallible, inerrant word of God, We have that which God has
given to men that they might be saved. John, in the end of
his gospel, he said there are many things that the Lord Jesus
did which are not written in this book. Yes, we might wonder,
well, what were they? We'd like to know what they were.
He says, but these are written that ye might believe and that
in believing ye might have life through his name. might believe
what? That Jesus is the Son of God
and that in believing he might have life through his name. So
may we take on board the way the Lord turned this question
and pointed it in a very personal way to all those round about
him that they had a path that they were directed to, to strive,
to enter in, at the straight gate. I want to look secondly at a
warning of a wrong way. And our Lord makes this clear
in the comments that he makes afterwards. He says that there
shall be those that seek to enter in and shall not be able And
what follows is implying this, that either they are seeking
to enter in, in this life, but seek it in a wrong way, or it
is left until too late, and then they seek beyond the grave, but
that is too late. When death comes, there is no
more seeking, there is no more salvation. And so the very thought
that there shall be some, that seem to be seeking and seem to
want the way of salvation but do not obtain it, should make
us to ask ourselves, well, what did they do wrong? Where did
they go wrong? Why did they not obtain it? Well, we have in verse 25, when
once the master of the house is risen up and hath shut to
the door, and ye begin to stand without. Without. Why are they without? The entrance in through the door
is here. It is in this life. It is while
the door, the gospel door is open. While the gospel is preached,
when the way of salvation is set forth, What is typified here
is a people that have never entered in, in the day of grace. In the account of Noah and the
ark, when the ark had been made at the commandment of God, the
Lord then said to Noah, come, come thou into the ark. He didn't say go into the ark,
he said come. The Lord was there. It's the
same word, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. The apostle Paul's desire was
that he might be found in him. Oh, that I might be found in
him, in Christ, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is by faith of Christ. But here is
pictured a soul that is without. They've never had that close
closet walk with the Lord. They've been an out-of-court
worshipper, outwardly, not inwardly, and that they've really never,
never known the Lord, never had witness that He knows them. And that is emphasised in verse
26, because the Lord then says, For they begin to say, we have
eaten and drunk in thy presence, thou hast taught in our streets.
The Lord had said, I know you not whence ye are. He didn't
know them. But they had an outward religion. They had gathered in the house
of God, perhaps. They'd sat down at the Lord's
table, eaten and drunken. They'd heard Him preached. that
had an outward form of religion. But an outward form of religion
will never save on its own. The wrong way is just an outward
form. We have the Pharisees, the scribes
in Christ's day that the Lord used as such an example of this. The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee
and he saw how That way was such a wrong way. They were proud
of their religion. They were very religious people.
They wanted to be seen of men. It was all outward. They made
many prayers, but they were all outward prayers. Later on, the
Lord was to say, concerning Paul, Saul of Tarsus, behold, he prayeth. You might say, but he was a Pharisee,
Lord. He prayed much. But that's not
true prayer, not right prayer. It's just an outward show, an
outward performance. Then we have another picture
of what was done wrong. Verse 27, but he shall say, I
tell you, I know not you, not whence ye are. Depart from me,
all ye workers of iniquity. They're very searching. were,
because every one of us and the Lord's people know what sin is
that plagues them. And here are those that have
never turned away from their sin. They've tried to marry up
religion with the world. Flesh has not been crucified. They have still walked on in
a worthy way. Our Lord says He cannot serve
God and mammon. But we have those today that
have turned worship places virtually into pop concerts, and the music
of the world is the music of many churches, the dress of the
world, the conversation of the world, the attitude of the world,
and yet God's Word is there. It is read, it is preached, it
is sought to be applied, but doesn't seem to make any effect.
on those that hear that word. They seem to be just as much
mingled with the world as what the world is. A religious, perhaps
social club, but not those that are redeemed, separated, a holy
people. A people here, the Lord says,
who work iniquity. The redemption in the Lord Jesus
has not been seen and known in their lives. Our Lord, He shall
save His people from their sins. And yet here is a people, the
Lord is telling them, you have not been saved from your sins. Yet still walking in them, delighting
in them. And I say it is a searching word,
a trying word. And many will look at that and
maybe say what the disciples said when the Lord insisted that
those that love riches, that cleave to riches, how hardly
shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of God. And the disciples
there said, then who then can be saved? Who then can? They knew how much they cleaved
to riches or had the things of this world. The Lord says that
that which is impossible with man is not impossible with God. And then we have what the Apostle
Paul identified when he wrote to the Romans in chapter 10.
And he said, and we think of our Lord over Jerusalem and here
is Paul, he says in verse 1 of chapter 10 of Romans, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. And he saw they had a zeal of
God. You might say they were striving,
but not according to knowledge. They were trying to obtain God's
salvation by their own works, by their own goodness. You might
say, well, on the one hand, you're saying they didn't depart from
iniquity and still sin. On the other hand, you're criticizing
because they are trying to be good and trying to make a righteousness. But they're trying to make a
righteousness to be saved by their own good works, not realizing
that by works no man can be justified. that it is not by works of righteousness
which we have done. We are called to live holy and
godly lives, but that is not our redemption. That is not how
we gain an access to heaven. That way is through Christ and
Christ's righteousness alone. So a zeal, a striving, must be
according to knowledge, and not just anyhow. And especially not
just thinking, well, I've done this and that, I must be good
enough, God must accept me as I am. Because the apostle says
here, they were ignorant of God's righteousness. They hadn't submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. They wouldn't let go
of their and cleave solely upon Christ's good works, Christ's
righteousness alone. They still had some hope in self. The natural man does not like
to be told that he is sinful, he is evil, he is vile, he is
lost, he is ruined, and he has no ability to redeem himself
by good works or otherwise. He does not like to be told he
is not a good person. He is a sinful person, that the
heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked,
who can know it, that we are full of wounds and bruises and
putrefying sores. And he likes to know God on his
own terms, his terms, not God's terms. And these are the errors,
the wrong way, that The Lord points to in His answer, when
giving the exhortation to strive to enter in at the straight gate,
He gives warnings as to a wrong way and wrong striving and those
that did not attain what they aim for. So what is it to strive
rightly? In the third place then, striving
in a right way. To strive is to really make great
effort and great diligence to do something. It's not lazy and
careless and indifferent, half-hearted. It is a very zealous and very
focused attempt to enter in at the straight gain. So what is
it that is set before us here? Well first of all I'd say this,
we said in the first place it was personal. So let us think
of what our Lord said when we are to pray and it was a direct
counter to those that stood on the corners of the streets praying
and they fasted to be seen of men, they prayed to be seen of
men. To strive in a right way is to strive
first in the closet, where no other person, no other man sees
us. The Lord says, when thou prayest,
go into thy closet, shut thy door, I pray unto thy Father
which seeth in secret. Thy Father which seeth in secret
shall reward thee openly. That which is wrought in the
heart and in the closet, it will have an effect upon our lives. They said of the disciples, they
took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. It is vital that if we have a
personal faith, that it is between us and our God. As much as it
is right to have family worship, family worship does not take
the place of a personal relationship with the Lord. As much as it
is right to be constant at the means of grace and every time
the church gathers for worship that we are found there, but
that does not take the place of that personal closet walk
with the Lord. And so that is the first of the
striving, that it is between our soul and the Lord in the
closet. Time with the Lord, time in His
Word. The second thing is this. Our
Lord says He has strived to enter in at the straight gate. That is at Christ. We're told
about the way that is a straight gate. We have 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. The many there be which go in
there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way
which leadeth into life, few there be that find it. And he gives a warning there
as well, beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's
clothing and inwardly, they are ravening wolves, ye shall know
them by their fruits. Later on there, not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. And so in the will of the Father,
we read in Colossians, it hath pleased the Father that in him
that is in Christ all fullness dwell. We read in Paul's epistle
to the Philippians that our Lord humbled himself, was obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross, Wherefore God hath
highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. A true
worship is bowing before the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord. The Lord said, you call me Lord,
but you do not the things that I say. He said also that whosoever
shall be ashamed of me and of my words, This generation of
him shall my father be ashamed before the angels in heaven. Many will say, well, we're not
ashamed of the Lord Jesus. But what of his words? How many
are saying that they follow the Lord, but they do not the things
that he says. So if we are striving to enter
in at the straight gate, Now, the Lord said in John 8, He said
to those Jews which believed on Him, that believed that He
was the door, I am the door, as in John 10, that believed
He is that straight gate to enter in at, He said unto them, If
ye continue in My word, then ye shall ye be My disciples indeed. Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. That is the secret of it. We think of the parable of the
sower, where our Lord spoke of the word as the seed. And the
first one, where the seed fell by the wayside, and the birds
came and they ate it up, it went straight away. And the Lord likened
that to one that hears the word but does not understand it, and
Satan comes and takes that word out of their hearts. Then there
was others, where the word was, or the seed was upon the stony
ground, and it did not have much depth of root, and so as soon
as there was persecution or trouble because of the word, then they
were offended, and they went back, they walked no more with
the Lord. For others it was in ground where
there was thorns, and the thorns sprang up and they choked it,
The worldly cares of this world choke the word that it becomes
unprofitable. The one that was sown in good
ground was one that heard the word and understood it and brought
forth fruit. That is the striving. The Lord
says, from me is thy fruit found. Except ye be united to the vine,
without me ye can do nothing. And here the striving is after
Christ, that everything that we have comes from Him and not
from us. That we seek after His grace. You know the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor. And Paul had to prove that in
his trial, the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, My grace
is sufficient for thee. He couldn't do it. He couldn't
suffer that affliction, that trial, without the grace and
help of the Lord. And you and I will find things
in our lives. If the Lord is teaching us and
leading us and has quickened us into spiritual life, then
it will be those things that we cannot get through and cannot
endure and cannot manage. Without the Lord's grace and
without His help, many will be the cries for the help of the
Lord. What the law could not do, because
it was weak through the flesh, God sent His Son. That which
is impossible with man is not impossible with God. And the
Lord brings these things before us so that we seek unto Him and
cry unto Him We read that to know Him is life eternal. And there are many set forth
here that profess to know the Lord, but didn't really know
Him. Our Lord invites those that are
heavy laden and burdened to take His yoke upon them and to learn
of Him. For His meek and lowly in heart
you shall find rest unto your souls. We're yoked together with
someone, we walk very closely with them. We learn their spirit,
their mind, their way, how they think, how they talk. And that
is what is set before us here, entering into Christ. We shall
be His sons and His daughters and learn of Him. It is to be blessed with his
faith or the faith that is of Christ. In Romans, that we are
saved through by his faith. In Hebrews 12, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. No, if we try to
raise up a faith of our own, it will do us no good. But if
we seek the Lord for faith, the dear disciples said, Lord increase
our faith. It's one of the great blessings
of the new birth, when the Lord passes by and bids his people
live and quickens them into life, he immediately gives them faith.
Gives them that eye of faith to look unto him. By nature we
do not have it, we cannot exercise it to bring ourselves to a new
birth. That is God's work. It's God's work to give us a
concern and to give us a hearing ear. And no doubt there were
those that heard our Lord speak here and His word did not fall
to the ground and bear no fruit, but there were those that heard
it and those that walked according to it and strove to enter in
at the straight gate. May we strive for that humility
that is in Christ. One of the great marks of the
fall of man is pride. And the child of God will know
how soon pride rises up. One of the hymn writers says,
the heart uplifts with God's own gifts and makes even faith
a snare. Even the blessings of God he'll
take to himself and exult as if he's got something of himself. For we are told in the Word that
what hast thou, then what hast thou received? The gift of God
is eternal life and no man has merited it or earned it yet. It is a sovereign free gift. If we discern and honest with
ourselves, May we cry unto the Lord at every breaking forth
of the pride of our heart. Rejection of his word, rejection
of reproofs of men. The proud heart will always resist
the lowly, humble Lord Jesus. Resist his teaching, resist his
people. Then we think of the obedience
of the Lord Jesus Christ is set before us. Obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And that is the path that we
are to strive as well. Entering in at that straight
gate. Entering into Christ to know
something of His obedience. in Christ's obedience clothe
and wash me in his blood, so shall I lift my head with joy
amongst the sons of God. But we will not trust in that
obedience, we will not trust in our own works, but trust in
Christ's obedience, his righteousness, what he has accomplished and
he done. That was the thing that the apostle
was pointing out in Romans 10. that those that had a zeal, they
were trusting in their obedience, and not in Christ's obedience. We will be obedient, but the
more we will try to, the more we will realize that we are not,
and that our obedience is not a perfect obedience, and that
will then lead to that need of Christ's obedience. Our Lord
spent whole nights in prayer. I was thinking of this the other
evening, the other night, in the night watches, trying to
watch unto prayer. And I thought, well, I can't
seem to pray for long at a time at all. And our Lord spent the
whole night in prayer. And yet we are to strive to walk
in the path and the ways of the Lord. You mentioned the Apostle
Paul, behold he prayeth, and prayer is the life of the people
of God. May we truly have that fellowship,
communion and union with the Lord in prayer. Another aspect of that striving
to enter in at the straight gate, is to desire that holiness that
comes from the Lord. The apostle says, be ye holy
as I am holy. The Lord says, he is a holy God
and bids his people to be as he is. The hymn writer takes
it up, Christ has holiness enough to sanctify us all. There are
those attributes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that
are not communicable. He cannot communicate to us that
eternal nature, that He was from eternity to eternity. He can give eternal life, but
He can't make us to be as He is in that way. There are aspects
of His Godhead and those things that belong to Him that are not
communicated, but regarding holiness, regarding obedience, regarding
grace, regarding faith, those things the Lord communicates. Thou hast received gifts for
men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. And it's those gifts that come
straight from the Lord Jesus Christ that we are to strive
for, beg for, ask of the Lord for. If ever I've had an illustration
of striving, it was when my dear mother died. She was dying of
cancer. She was blind. She was within
a week or so of her death. And she as yet did not have the
assurance and comfort that the Lord was her God. And she used
to pray for a long while during the night season when most of
us were asleep, but she used to pray aloud and just almost
nonstop. Lord, open the ark and take me
in. And she begged and begged for
His salvation and for His blessing, earnestly. And you know the Lord
did come and He did bless her. And then she spoke of that blessing
and the blessedness. And then all was quiet. Her striving,
her laboring, her cries, they had turned to praise. And then
there was just that quiet waiting for the Lord to come. And it's
always been. Left a mark on me. I remember
creeping along the corridor and writing down some of her prayers
and the breathings that she breathed at that time. And it is this
that the Lord presses upon those that hear him, that this is an
urgent case of our souls. Their great worth, infinite worth,
is worth laboring for. worth fighting for, fight the
good fight of faith, lay hold upon eternal life. It's worth
running for, let us run the race that is set before us, looking
unto Jesus. It's worth taking the whole armour
of God unto us, as Paul says, to the Ephesians, and fighting
that good fight of faith. There is a right striving, and
that is set forth before us in the Word of God and is all-centering
in the Lord Jesus Christ. What He has done, the payment
He has paid at Calvary, the righteousness He's brought out in His life,
the gifts that He has received for men and that He may give
to those for whom He has suffered, bled and died. He gives them
eternal life and all what is in that life What is bound up
in that parcel of life, His faith, His prayer, His humility, His
obedience, His holiness, His righteousness, all of these things
are bound up in that gift that He gives to His people. Of His fullness have all we received
and graceful grace. The Lord gives the spirit of
grace and of supplication And using that prayer, they ask for
further helps, for further graces. And in answer to that prayer,
those further graces are given. The Lord imparting those things
that He has for His people. He gives of His fullness for
the poor. He provides for them. He does
what Boaz did for Ruth lets forth those handfuls of purpose. He
does like he did for the children of Israel, gives the manna from
heaven. All that they have, they have
from the Lord. Dependence upon him. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate. And as we heard in Matthew, following
that straight gate doesn't open enter a wide way at all. It is not only a straight gate
but it is a narrow way. 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 there out. Because straight is
the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and
few there be that find it. What an important chapter that,
chapter Matthew 7 is. Warning of those false guides
that will make that narrow way wider, make it that it is not
only Christ, and there is not a closet way, there's not a holy
way, not a way of dependent upon the Lord. that where there is
much self-seeking, pride, self-sufficiency, walking in sparks of our own
kindling, a faith that is of our own making, well may we have
that at which there will be times we feel our poverty, we feel
our sin, we feel our pride, we feel our lack of faith, we feel
our lack of prayer, You feel our unholiness and our unrighteousness
and all of these things we long after and we seek from the Lord
because we know in ourselves we haven't got any of them and
we seek those helps from the Lord and that sense of what we
are keeps us low and humble and beggars at his footstool. May then this word be a word
that we really take home and meditate on and think on and
ask ourselves how do we put it into action? Are we just drifting
along day by day or is there an urgency, a striving? Is there
that which we really beg of the Lord and ask of the Lord that
He'd impart for us and give us and appear for us and help us? Are there few that be saved?
If you wanted a question answered this evening, that question is
not answered by our Lord, but it is answered. It's answered
in a way that you and I need to hear. Strive to enter in at
the straight gain. Enter in at Christ, to know Christ,
to know the secret of the Lord which is with them that fear
him, to know him which is life eternal. The Lord has his blessing. Amen.