It's good to see you this morning,
and once again, we thank our Lord for the blessed privilege
to be able to meet together and to hear the gospel. I'm going
to ask you, if you would, to take your Bibles and turn with
me to the gospel according to Luke 13. Luke 13. I would like to read verses 22
to 30. Luke 13, verses 22 to 30. The Scriptures declare, And he went
through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying toward
Jerusalem. Then said one unto him, Are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive
to enter in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the master
of the house is risen 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. But he shall say, I tell you,
I know you not whence you are. Depart from me. all ye workers
of iniquity, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye
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, from the west, from the north, from the south, and shall
sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, therealast, which
shall be first, and their first which shall be last. Our Father, we ask this morning,
Lord, would you bless these words to our heart for the honor of
the Lord Jesus and the eternal good, salvation, and comfort
of your people. For it is in his name we pray.
Amen. I suppose that there is nothing
more settling than to be able to set forth and to preach, to
proclaim what God has said. I know that we can never be wrong. We are never wrong. What we set
forth exactly what He has set forth. The last few days, I had this
passage on my mind. I was just reading, and I came
across this passage. And it stirred my heart. I'd read it before. It just kept coming back to my
mind. And I'd come to the church and
I would be going over the passages that I had looked at, you know,
but this passage kept coming back to my mind. And yesterday
afternoon, I was looking at the clock and
fleshly thinking, carnally thinking, It's kind of late in the afternoon,
you know, but I couldn't leave. I started writing
out what the Lord had placed on my heart. And I pray this
morning that these words are honoring to our Lord. I pray
that they are for the comfort of God's people. This is a warning. This is a warning to those who
are without Christ. It's a comfort to God's sheep.
I'm going to show you that. But this is probably one of the
most sobering. It's recorded in some of the
other Gospels. But it's one of the most sobering
passages of Scripture because I do know that The Lord, our
Judge, the One before whom all men are going to stand, He's
telling us what is absolutely going to happen. Now, if you
want to know, people always want to know, I wonder what the future
holds. We're getting ready to look at
what's going to happen. Our Lord was traveling toward,
the Scripture says forth, Jerusalem. That's what verse 22 says. He went through the cities and
villages, teaching, journeying toward Jerusalem. The time of His crucifixion was
approaching. And as He was going to this place
of Jerusalem where He must lay down his life. He knew. He knew why he was going. It was for this reason that he
came into this world. John 4.34 says, My meat, my food,
my sustenance, my life is to do the will of Him that sent
me and to finish His work. He had a work to finish. The
Father, according to the Scriptures, Ephesians 1 verse 4, 2 Thessalonians
2 verse 13, we could look at those Scriptures, but we know,
according to the Word of God, according to the words of our
Lord. And if you want to know, when
the Scripture says, My sheep hear, that is, hear with acceptance,
hear with approval, They hear with understanding. My sheep
hear my voice. If you want to know what the
voice of the Lord Himself, what that voice is, what the voice
of the Shepherd is, here it is right here. Here's His voice. Blessed by the Holy Spirit, the
sheep hear His voice. They hear it, they accept it
by the grace of God, and they follow Him. We know that the Lord of Glory
came into this world as the surety, as the Redeemer. He came into
this world because God the Father had given Him a people. He had
a people given Him from before the foundation of the world.
The Father placed Him in Him, gave Him to Him. And he ever
stood as the surety. I will answer for them. What
they need, I shall provide. They needed righteousness. He
was made flesh. He came into this world born
of a woman. Made of a woman. Made under the
law. Conceived by the Holy Ghost. Not the blood of Adam. A body hath thou prepared for
me." He came into this world as their
representative, and He lived and established righteousness
as a man that is imputed, that is charged to every one of His
sheep that's going to believe. They're going to believe. And
he laid down his life according to his word. John 10, 15, he
said, I lay down my life for the sheep. He told some Pharisees,
he said, you don't believe me because you're not my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice. He's walking to Jerusalem, journeying,
preaching, And one of the ones that traveled with him, verse
23, this is what the Scripture sets forth. One of the ones that
was traveling with our Lord asked this question, verse 23, then
said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? Are there few? Now, I don't doubt for one second
that he had heard our Lord preach and refer to this very subject. He asked that question for a
reason. He asked that question because
it was on his mind. He asked that question because
it was bothering him. Lord, are there a few? Are there? I don't doubt he had
heard Matthew 7.14, because straight is the gate and narrow is the
way which leadeth unto life, and few, this is what our Lord
said, and few there be that find it. Our Lord said in Matthew 22.14,
many are called, but few are chosen. Many are outwardly called. We preach the gospel. We preach
the gospel to men and women, boys and girls. We preach the
gospel. Look to Christ. Believe Christ. Believe the Christ that we're
preaching. Trust Him. Many are called outwardly, but
few are chosen. Few. And ask the Lord, are there few? That's a sobering
question because it's dealing with men's eternal souls. Are there few that be saved? But our Lord answered this man,
answered that question with a needful and a necessary answer. I want you to listen. To what
our Lord said in verse 24, when He asked him, Are there few that
be saved? He said, Strive to enter in at the straight gate,
for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not
be able. This is what our Lord said to
the man that asked, Are there few? Really, is there really a remnant according
to election? Really? Is it so, Lord, that
there's a chosen people? Is this message of God's electing
Redeeming particular redemption. Particular redemption. That you
died only for the elect. That you are going to lay down
your life only for the elect. That God has a people out of
every nation, kindred, tribe and tongue that He has chosen
to set His affection on. Is that really so? Our Lord's answer when He said
to the one that had asked Him the question, He said, You strive
to enter in at the straight gate. Many, I say unto you, will seek
to enter in and shall not be able. Here was His answer. What difference does it make
whether God elects few or many if you're not one of them? What
difference does it make? We can sit here and debate the
truthfulness of God's Word. We can sit here and argue about
hearing these Scriptures set forth. This is God's Word. Here's the
Word of God. And I can tell you this, it's
not going to change. This is God's truth. What difference does it make
if we sit and debate and argue? Whether or not, how many, who
are they? If you yourself are lost. I know that this world, according
to the Scriptures, hates the truth of God's sovereignty. I know it. I know that the world
hates it. God Almighty is sovereign in
creation. He's sovereign in providence.
He's sovereign in salvation. And that doesn't change. He said, I'm the Lord. I change
not. Therefore, your sons of Jacob
are not consumed." How many? Are there really few? I read in Revelation 5.11, and
I beheld and heard the voice of many angels round about the
throne and the elders. And the number of them was 10,000
times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. How many? I know that there's a number
that shall be saved that no man can number. I know that. Is that number made up of the
vast number of infants that have died? But I know this, in any one generation,
I know that there's few, relatively speaking, there's few. I know
whenever God sent judgment to this world, people have speculated
on how many people there were in the world. I don't know how
many there were in the world. I have no idea. But I can tell
you this, one man found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah.
Noah. And for Noah's sake, his wife
and his three sons and their wives and some animals were in
that ark. By God's grace, God Almighty
who purposed and set His affection on one man, whenever God destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah, they were Sodomites. And God wiped them off the map. Is it wrong? Is that wrong? God wiped them off the map. Is it wrong? Almighty God showed mercy to
one man. His two daughters came out with
but one man lot. One man. One family, as a general rule,
it's very unusual to find out of a family more than just a
few. Just a few. God Almighty might
be pleased to show mercy to parents passed by children, or passed
by parents and show mercy to children, or show mercy to one. Does the judge of all the earth
have the right to do what he will with his own? Lord, are there few that be saved? Strive. It means agonize fervently. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate, for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter in, but shall
not be able." Now, I know this. Our Lord was
not speaking these words to discourage His people. But I do know that
they were spoken as a warning to all who trust in themselves that they're righteous. That
trust in themselves. It's like in Hebrews 4.11. Here's
what it says. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest. That is, labor. Strive against. Labor to stop laboring. for your salvation. There's nothing
that is more contrary to the flesh, more difficult to the
natural understanding than to be able to rest in Christ. Man
by nature has this attitude. There's something that I've got
to do. There's something that I can
do. There's something that I must do of myself in order to be saved. Man by nature This is man's thought. God offers salvation. Somehow, somehow, I've got to
accept it. Somehow, I've got to do something
in order to make that salvation effectual. Now, if that's the
case, all salvation is based on your works. If that's the
case, then salvation is by works. You say, yeah, but it says you
must believe. Belief is the evidence of Almighty God doing for you
what you cannot do for yourself. Must you believe? Absolutely.
You must believe. But it is God that worketh in
you to will and to do of His good pleasure. Strive to enter
in. Man by nature seeks salvation
in himself, in his work, in his choice, in his will. There is
one gate, a straight gate. S-T-R-A-I-T. Straight. Not straight, meaning not crooked. This straight gate. In the ancient cities, when you
walked into the ancient cities, they had doors. It had a wall
around the city, it had big doors. You'd open up. These doors were
wide. And the throngs would come in.
That's how you got into the city. Through the gates. You got in
through the gates. Wide, wide open gates. Anybody, anybody can come in. There it is. Open up. But once you got into the city,
there were gates called straight gates. Straight gates. S-T-R-A-I-T. And these gates
were not obvious. They would be like a little alley
or a little offshoot road or something like that. And it maybe
went around and then maybe around this corner there was a, on the
back side, maybe here's a gate. Here's a gate. And it goes into
a particular place. It goes into a private place.
It goes into a personal place. And it wasn't something that
just naturally was obvious. It was called a straight gate. One that is not obviously entered. Now these straight gates, they
led to areas that few entered in. We start talking about the
Lord declaring, strive to enter in at the straight gate. There
is one gate by which men, women, enter into the presence of God. It is the gate of the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. The gate, the straight gate,
is as wide as the Lord Jesus Himself. It is as narrow as the Lord Jesus
Himself. Now here is the gate. Here is
the straight gate by which men are told by the Lord to strive
to enter in labor To stop working your flesh, your flesh. I know
it wars against you. I know it does. Strive, struggle
to enter in. And God's people do struggle. They struggle with flesh. They
struggle with Satan, the fiery darts, the world. They struggle.
You don't take salvation lightly. Not you that believe. No, you
don't. Men talk about salvation as if it's no big deal. Well,
I go to church. I read my Bible once. And I pray when I'm in trouble. But I'm as good as the next person. I don't doubt that. I am too,
naturally speaking. But people of God, they strive
to enter in. to the straight gate. And here's
how straight it is. Here's how straight. This is
the gate. Here's the gate right here. It's the Lord Jesus. And
He's just exactly the way we set Him forth a while ago. Here He is. He is God's chosen
Lamb. He is God's chosen Redeemer. He is God's chosen righteousness. He is the Lord God Himself, God
in human flesh, that has a people. And He redeemed every one of
them. God justified every one of them
before the foundation of the world. They were chosen, justified
in Christ, the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the
world, and justified. No charge. No charge. Because God Almighty, who trusted
in Christ first, knew He shall finish the work. And God justified
Him. And in time, the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world and lived and died, ascended into heaven,
interceding for them right now. And those that Almighty God call
out have absolutely nothing. And they know it. They know it. There's nothing that they can
do. There's nothing. There's nothing. Remember, we looked at this a
couple of weeks ago. What part of salvation does God's
people have? What part do they have in salvation?
None. None. None. None. was saved by grace, through faith, not of works, not of yourself. Why? Because we would boast in it.
I did this. I did something for my salvation.
I walked down the aisle. I prayed through. I was baptized. I spoke in tongues. I went to
confession. The straight gate is Christ. Salvation in Him alone. By grace. And God's people Believe that. They believe that when they stand
before God, when their righteousness is set
forth, it's going to be Him. And nothing that they did. He's
the straight gate. Strive to enter into the straight
gate for many. Oh, that's a big number. Lord,
have mercy. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in and shall not be able." They're going to seek,
I know in the day of judgment, I know in that day, they're going
to seek, strive to enter in, but should not be able because
they expect to enter in the kingdom of heaven by another way. by
their own work. 2 Peter 2.5 says, If any man
also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he
strive lawfully, except he labor to stop laboring. And you that
know him, that's what you're doing right now. I know. I'm reminded again. Lord, you've brought it back
to my memory right now. What can I do? What can I do?
You see, here's the reason that your works will never stand.
Because if there's any spot of sin on your works, you've nullified
it all. You've nullified all of it. I did this, I did that. Yes,
but have you ever deviated? Before or since? Well, it's over. To offend in one point, it's
over. To think that you've got something
that will stand before God Almighty, who is of pure eyes and to behold
iniquity. God forbid that we look at ourselves. What are we looking at? We're creatures of the dust.
We're... Oh, wretched man, Paul said that
I am. What are you looking at? If you're
giving diligence to make your calling and election sure, if
you're striving to enter in, laboring to not labor, and realizing,
Lord, unless You save me, Lord, unless You have mercy, Lord,
unless your blood answers for me. Lord, unless you have mercy
on this sinner. As Brother Scott used to say,
I'm a gone Jesse. What have I got? I don't have
anything. I have nothing. The Lord Jesus
Christ is our only hope of acceptance before God. And we have absolutely
no confidence in the flesh. I want you to hear the solemn
words of the Lord of Glory. There is coming a day when time
is not going to be any more. There is coming a day when there
won't be any more gospel preached as we know it. There is coming
a day when there won't be any more Sundays, any more Wednesdays,
when men by the grace of God faithfully proclaim the unsearchable
riches of the grace of God. There is coming a day when it
is all going to be over. Now this is coming. How do you know
it's coming? God said it's coming. Verse 25
to 30, When once the master of the house is risen up and has
shut to the door, and you begin to stand without and knock at
the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us, he shall answer you
and say unto you, I know you not which you are. Then shall
ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence. Thou
hast taught in our streets, but he shall say, I tell you, I know,
I know, you are not whence you are. Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth." I've read that phrase so many times, and I don't know what it means.
But whatever it means, I know this. there will be an eternal
horror, just undiluted horror, eternal horror. There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves
thrust out. And they shall come from the
east, the west, the north, and the south. and shall sit down
in the kingdom of God, and behold, there are last which shall be
first." There's going to be some that heard Gentiles, that heard
the gospel later. Jews heard it first. There are
last that shall be first, and there are first. There will be
some that heard it. The gospel was sent to the Jews,
and they refused it. And there's going to be first,
there's going to be last now. God's going to show mercy to
whom He's going to show mercy. Oh, the horror of standing before
Him without His blood. And you that know Him not, who
consider this life and death issue just a trivial thing, just
lightly esteemed. Beware. Beware. It's you that fear Him. You that
respect Him. You that love Him. You whose
hearts are stirred afresh right now. I can tell you what's going
on in the heart of a believer right now. They're thinking,
Lord, don't leave me to myself. Lord, help me. Lord, I come afresh. He that cometh to me." Salvation
is not looking back. You know, when you were 14, making
a profession of faith. Here's salvation. Are you coming
right now? Are you trusting Him right now?
Are you casting yourself upon Him right now? Do you feel in
your very soul, right now, Lord, You are all my hope. I have nothing. If you do, I've
got a word from the Spirit of God recorded in 1 Thessalonians
1. Turn over there with me. 1 Thessalonians
1. I've got a word from God of comfort. Now, there's a warning. Now, you know God's just. Almighty
God is just. And there's no way in the world
that men are going to stand before God and say, You didn't tell
me. Nobody is going to stand before
God and say, you didn't warn me. By the grace of God, as Paul
says, my hands are clear of your blood. Men, women are warned. This is life. You say, yeah,
but what if I'm not one of the elect? That's what that man asked
the Lord. Are there few? He said, you strive
to enter in. You debating that issue, that's
a fact. But you debating that issue,
that's not the issue for you. We can sit here and argue, Pat,
whether or not... Are there just a few elect? You
strive to enter in. Here's the message. You come
to Christ. You seek Him. For you that believe,
I've got some hope for you. Do I know the Lord or not? Am
I His or am I not? Lord, decide the doubtful case.
You who are the righteous Son, tell me, Lord, is there any comfort
for me at all? Here's the characteristics of
a believer. They don't change. They don't
change. Here's the characteristic of
those that Almighty God has done something for. 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4, knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. Don't you want to know afresh
about Almighty God choosing you? Lord, am I found in that number? Am I chosen in Him? Does the sound of His electing
grace excite your heart? Well, it should. And I'll tell
you why. Because if God didn't elect a people, we'd all perish. Bitch, that's a fact. If God Almighty left it up to
us. Now, we fell in Adam. And I'm
going to tell you something. If God doesn't show mercy to
somebody, then men are going to perish. And I know the world
says right now, I'm telling you, that's not fair. You people are
not fair. You people are trying to make
this thing too narrow. What? About entering in according
to our Lord's Word, about entering into the straight gate? The narrow
gate? No, I tell you what I'm doing.
And you have to admit that this is so. I'm telling you exactly
what this book says. This is what I'm doing. I'm telling
you exactly what this book says. This is God's Word. And here's
some hope for a believer. You that know Him. Verse 5, For
our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what
manner of men we were among you for your sake. Our gospel. Before,
you could take it or leave it. I'd take it or leave it. Now,
let me ask you this. If it comes in word only, here's
what it means. Here's what that means. You can
give a mental assent. Well, I know that's true. I mean,
I know that it says election. And I know it says predestination.
I know it talks about chosen. I know it talks about particular
redemption. He laid down his life for the
sheep. I know it says that, and I can go along with it. Because
I know it says it. So, okay. But let me ask you this. Has
this gospel come to you, not in word only, but in power? This is right. This is God's
Word. This is the truth. I know this. Almighty God has set forth this
truth, and that settles it. And I rejoice in it. I don't
want to fight this. I rejoice that Almighty God is
sovereign to do as He will. If that's the case, Lydia heard Paul preaching. And she was there. She heard
what he said. But the Scripture says that God
opened her heart. And she attended to the words
that were spoken by Paul and the others. It was life to her. This is life
eternal. Our gospel came not in word only. but in power and in much assurance
of hope, God shone mercy to me through His Word. You didn't
continue in the false confidence of your self-righteous works.
This is the gospel of God's grace. This is mercy. It was the truth. And I must hear this. I must
hear this. I cannot just put this off. I can't let something else take
this away and just stay away. I can't. I can't. I must hear
Him. And He said, you know what manner
of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers
of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much affliction
with joy of the Holy Ghost. You know, you know. You know
what manner of men we were among you for your sakes. You became
followers of us and of the Lord as faithful men preach the gospel. You hear gospel preachers, and
you discern with an ear of faith the truth preached by God's preachers. And you don't and you cannot
hear false doctrine. You cannot hear that which honors
man and makes God to be a beggar. You cannot hear free will Men
stand up and they say, God's done all He can do. Now it's
up to you. No! No! No! That's a lie. And that man's a false prophet.
He's a false prophet. He's a liar. He's a wolf in sheep's
clothing. And he can tell you all that
you want to hear about how much he loves you and how much he
does this and that. He's a liar. If any man preach any other gospel
than that which we've preached, let him be accursed, having received
the Word in much affliction." You're striving right now. You're
striving. You see sin within. And wars against that old man. Wars against the new man. Flesh
and spirit against each other. And you have those without, and
they war against you. You're making this thing just
too narrow. You're just too narrow. Marvin and those other preachers,
they're just too restrictive. You receive the Word with much
affliction, but with joy in the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God
brings back to your memory Those precious truths that the Lord
Jesus Christ was made sin for us. He who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You are joyful
because the Spirit of God brings back to your memory, He that
cometh to me cometh and cometh and cometh. I will in no wise
cast him out. It is therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin." Verse 7 in 1 Thessalonians 1, so that
you were examples and samples, examples to all that believe
in Macedonia and Achaia. You were examples of walk, of
a right conversation. You walked depending on Christ. In love, love to Him and love
to God's people. In faith, knowing that there
is no hope outside. You live in this world concerned
with the testimony of our Lord. And you don't want to give occasion
for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme His holy name. You
don't. I want to be consistent. I know that there's nothing in
me that will stand before God. But I can tell you this, I want
to be honorable. I want to be consistent. I want
to be faithful. And in verse 8, we'll stop. For
from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith to God were
to spread abroad so that you need not to speak anything. Your
heart's desire is to act and to spread and to speak of Him. When you meet with God's people,
your desire is to honor His name. Come and hear all ye that fear
God. I'll declare what He has done
for my soul. Now listen, here's the way it
is. Almighty God is merciful. He said, I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. He said that. He spoke. He spoke of God's sovereignty. We can sit and argue and debate. Who are they? Where are they? How many are they? Here's his
answer. You strive to enter in the straight
gate. You strive. You strive. You come. He is God's gate. The only gate. This is who He
is. Now, knowing that He alone is
God's gate. He alone is God's door. Knowing
that, there's no confidence in flesh now, whosoever will. Let Him come. Do you want to? Do you want to come? Then come! Come! Come to Him for life! Why will you perish? Lord bless
these words to our heart for Christ's sake.