Luke chapter 13 Verse 25 again, but verse 25
needs to be understood with Verse 24 where our Lord 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. And
then of course the passage that we just read a moment ago describes
in more detail those who will seek to enter in, but he's not
letting them in. He's not letting them in. Does this mean now, this is a
question that I believe needs to be asked and answered, does
this mean that the Lord turns away some who come to him for
mercy? God forbid. Our Lord said in
Matthew 11, 28, come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest, all ye. that labor and are heavy
laden. When that leper came and worshipped
the Lord in Matthew 8-2 it said he came and worshipped him saying,
Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean. He just came as
a leper saying, Lord if you want me to be clean, I'll be clean.
And the Lord said, I want to. I want to. And he put forth his
hand and touched him. He did what nobody else would
do. Saying, I want to be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. Our Lord never, ever turned away
a sinner that came to him for mercy, not one. So what happened
here in our text? Well there are some very important
words left out in the latter part of verse 24. Strive you
to enter in at the straight gate and we know that gate is Christ.
I am the door by me if any man enter in. He saved. And then he said there are going
to be a lot that want to enter in that won't be able but you
notice what he didn't say? They're not coming to the gate.
They're not trying to enter in by the straight gate. They're
just trying to get in. Everybody wants to go to heaven. You ever
met anybody that didn't want to go to heaven? There's probably
somebody out there somewhere. And if you asked them, they'd
say no. Well, might as well be honest about it. If you don't
love him now, you're not going to love him then. Heaven's Christ.
But most people want their idea of heaven. Anyway, so what happened
here? Many are going to want in, but
they're not going to want in the door. They're not going to
want to come in the straight gate. They're going to try to
get in another way. Our Lord said that you're a thief and
a robber if you try to get in another way, John 10 1. He said,
verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way. And it doesn't
matter. And how many times do we see that in scripture? There's
the door and there's every other way, some other way. It's Christ
and Antichrist. They're just two. Christ and
not him. Just two. The same as a thief and a robber.
There's also here a problem with time. Notice when they come. That's another reason they're
not getting in. It's because of when. And this is something
you're not going to hear much. You don't hear very much. But
there is a when, and you know when it is, don't you? The word when in verse 25 is
a very important word. When once the master has risen
up and shut the door. When is eternal life for some
and eternal death for others now. It is a matter of when. But it's not just a matter of
the clock running out. It's not just the clock ran out
for a reason. These people are strangers to
the Lord. And when there wasn't anything
but strangers outside, he shut the door. That's what happened. This is a solemn reminder now
Second Corinthians 6.1, we then as workers together with him
beseech you that you receive not the grace
of God in vain. And this is talking about the
preaching of the gospel because I'm going to read on and you're
going to see that. That you receive not the grace
of God. Don't listen to the gospel in
vain. Don't receive the message of
God's grace in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee
in a time accepted. And in the day of salvation have
I secured thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. And I always like to point out,
it doesn't say now is the accepted time and today is the day of
salvation. It's now is the day. You don't
even have a day. You have now. That's what you have. And now
the door is open. One day the master of the house
will get up and shut the door. Right now he has not done that.
And right now he is the door. that leadeth unto life. That's
what you need to know right now. Right now, the door's open. Right
now, the door is life. And right now, the door is Christ.
He is the life. Not always. Not always gonna
be true. One of these days, the last gospel
sermon will be preached. Don't receive it in vain. Don't
hear it in vain. Now is the time. Turn to Proverbs
chapter 1, verse 20. Verse 20. Proverbs 120. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth
her voice in the streets. She crieth in the chief place
of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city she
uttereth her words, saying. It's not hidden, not done in
a corner. There are people around this world, not very many, there's
some though, that are shouting the truth. The truth is shouting
through them, uttering her voice in the streets, and would that everyone around
would hear. And saying this, how long, you
simple ones, will you love simplicity? You see, by nature, we're not
just stupid. We love being stupid. And the scorners delight in their
scorning. We don't just hate God. We relish
in it. We love hating God. And hate knowledge, turn you
at my reproof. That's what wisdom is saying,
turn you. I will pour out my spirit unto you. Behold, I will
pour out my spirit. I will make known my words unto
you. That's got to happen, doesn't
it? Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched
out my hand and no man regarded, but you have said it not, all
my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh
at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh,
when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. You
know when that's gonna happen? When the door's shut. Nobody's
scared of God now. They don't care. You can talk
about hell all you want to, they don't care. You can talk about
God requires holiness, they don't care. But when the door's shut,
they're gonna care. Your anguish cometh upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would, none of
my counsel. They hated the gospel. And you're
still going to hate him. If you're outside the door dying
to get in, you're still not wanting him. You just want to get out
of hell. And you're not getting in. You're still gonna hate his gospel. If you hate his gospel now, you're
gonna hate him then. He is the gospel. Therefore shall
they eat of the fruit of their own way. Aren't you glad you're
not gonna get what you deserve if you know him? Because that's
what it is. You're just getting what you
deserve if you shut out. Oh, I don't want that. I don't
want that. And be filled with their own
devices for the turning away of the simple shall slay them.
All you've got to do, just turn away. Just hear the
gospel and just say, I've got other things to do. That was
a good sermon, brother. Appreciate the sermon. And the prosperity of fools shall
destroy them. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
You say before God, we're clothed. We're rich. We're clothed. We
have everything we need. Oh, that's a bad place to be.
But whoso hearkeneth unto me, not everybody is going to turn
away. My sheep hear my voice. You believe not, you Pharisees,
because you're not my sheep. If you were my sheep, you'd believe,
because they hear my voice, and they follow me. And I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Whoso hearkeneth
unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. You remember fear up in the other
part of it? When your fear comes, your anguish,
you're going to be desperate to get in. The ones who are inside,
they're sitting down. No fear anymore, no anguish,
no regret, no sorrow, no tears, no former things at all. Just the joys of our Lord. So they come after the door is
shut. But the Lord's not going to shut
the door until only strangers are outside. We know that, don't
we? When there is nothing but strangers
outside, the door's going to be shut then. No elect sinner
whom God has loved from the beginning is ever going to be shut out.
He said in John 6.37, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. And Him that cometh, I'm not
going to cast them out. I'm not going to send them away.
In our text, He sends them away. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And when they do, they're welcome. They're welcome. So our text
simply describes that time when all that the Father hath given
unto the Son shall have come to Him. And they're inside the
house. We're in there with the Master. And then he will shut
the door and many shall cry unto him then." And notice what they
cry, Lord, Lord. They're still not bowing to him.
They're just trying to say what they think they need to say to
get in. You'll remember the text in Matthew
chapter 7. Let me look over there. You're familiar with this. Many
shall cry unto me in that day, Lord, Lord. Matthew 7.21. This is, of course, very much
akin to our text. Matthew 7.21. 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,
which, of course, is believe on Christ. That's the message
of the Father. This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he has sent. And just because you say,
Lord, Lord, you know, you know, some doctrine, you know, he's
sovereign. That don't mean you've believed on him. Many will say to me that day,
verse 22, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and
in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful
works. Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you depart from me, you that work iniquity. Therefore,
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a wise man which built his house on a rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and
it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house, and it fell. And great was the fall
of it. And when he says in our text,
I don't know you, they say, Lord, but we ate with you. We had dinner
with you. We sat at the same table with
you. We heard you preach. You preached in our streets.
Isn't that sad that he was right there in front? The very Son
of God walked among them. And they didn't know him. One thing matters. Do you believe
on the Son of God? We know you. You preached in
our street. We ate with you. One thing matters. Do you believe on the Son of
God? Because in our text, the ones
who are in And the ones who are without
have one thing between them, one reason given as to why they
cannot enter. He doesn't say it's too late,
even, although it is. He doesn't say that, does he?
He shut the door, and once it's shut, you can't open it. When
he shuts it, it is too late, but he didn't say that, did he? He didn't say you haven't done
enough. He didn't say you're not good enough. He said, I don't
know you. Salvation is not what you know. They knew he was Lord, or at
least they pretended to. Salvation is who you know. It is that. This is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom he hath sent. And we say to sinners, believe
on Christ. Make it your business to know
Christ. Y'all's pastor priest at our
conference and said, made that exact statement and I hadn't
forgotten it yet. I don't think I'm going to. Make it your business
to know the son of God. That's good advice. Come to Christ. Bow to him, submit
to his word, to his will, to his way. Submit to him. Believe
on him. But in our text, those days are
over. He doesn't say that. He doesn't
say, whosoever believeth on me shall have everlasting life in
our text. That's over in our text. That's over. He does not say, believe on me. Right now, now think with me now. Right
now, your business is not to find out whether God knew you
from before the foundation of the world. Let's investigate
that. Because that's salvation. Now
if God never knew me, then I'm not ever going to be saved. Let's
find out if He ever knew me or not. You can't know that. That's
not your business. Your business is to know Him.
Right? To believe on Him. That's the
gospel call, come to him, hear him. But then, in our text, that
business is over. You know what matters now? I
never knew you. That's what matters now. When
that day comes, when once the master arises and shuts the door, All that matters then is whether
he knows you or not. Salvation is knowing Christ,
but if you know him, it's because he knew you first. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow. He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? And if he's for you this morning,
he's always been for you. And I'll tell you this, if he's
always been for you, one of these days, you're gonna be for him
if you're not already. But it's him first. We love him
because he first loved us. We choose him because he first
chose us. We know him because he first
knew us, he foreknew us. And there are two or three really
important things that we need to understand in this text. Christ
is the master. He opens the door and nobody
can shut it. And he shuts it and nobody can
open it. He's the master. He's the door
and he's the master. John said in Revelation 3.7,
it says, God said to the angel of the church in Philadelphia,
write, these things saith he that is holy, he that is true,
he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth,
and shutteth and no man openeth. He has opened the door to his
elect whom he foreknew. And when they're all in, It's
gonna shut it read 2nd Peter chapter 3 we I don't think we
have time this morning 2nd Peter chapter 3 8 through 13 You know
why the Lord hadn't come back this morning He may have a whole lot of reasons
that I don't know anything about but I know one of them There's
still a sheep around here somewhere You reckon That's the reason
that the Apostle Peter gave in 2nd Peter chapter 3 He's not
slack concerning His promise. He's coming back. But here's
why He hasn't yet. He's not willing that any of
His sheep should perish. You know, I thought about this.
I'm always saying, you know, Lord, even so come. Lord, I'm
kind of anxious for Him to come back. And we might be tempted
to say, you know, Lord, come back today. Come back right now.
But what about our loved ones? You ever think about that? Maybe the Lord didn't come back
yet this morning because of our sons and our daughters. Maybe
that's why. Would that be okay with you? He's the master and he's opened
the door. Aren't you glad? He's opened
the door and nobody, nobody can shut it. John 10 is such a beautiful Beautiful passage of scripture
and so applicable to our text. Here's just here's just a little
bit of it Then Jesus saith unto them again verily verily I say
unto you. I am the door of the sheep All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep didn't hear them I They're not going to hear them.
Weren't you glad? If your loved ones, if they're
one of his sheep, you look at this world and you say, man,
it's hopeless. No, it's not. No, it's not. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved. And shall go in and out, and
shall find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for
to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. That's why there's a door. Because
Christ came down here and gave himself for sinners He is that
door Christ crucified is that door? Because he gave himself
There's access to heaven He goes on to say in that chapter
having given his life for them They hear him and they follow
him And they are in his mighty hand and no man can pluck them
out and they shall never perish because he gave himself he is
the master he came to save he saved he's the door and he'll
shut that door soon but not yet not yet and that brings us to the second
lesson I suppose in our text and of course the overriding
lesson of all of this is that he's the door Christ is our hope
now. He's life. He is access to God. But notice this now also. There's an urgency here, isn't
there? There's a win. It's urgent. We're told to strive.
We're told to enter in. God told Noah and his family
to get in the ark, and they did. And it says in Genesis 7, 16,
and the Lord shut him in. It's a pretty good picture of
what we're talking about in our text. It's exactly what happened
now. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And God opened the door and said, get in there, and he
shut him in. Because grace was found, not
earned. Doesn't even say he wanted it,
but he found it anyway. He found it and then he wanted
it. But listen to what's written about Noah in Hebrews 11, 7.
By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear. That's in our text too, isn't
it? Strive to enter in. When once the master has gotten
up and shut the door, you're not getting in after that. Noah
moved with fear. That's how you get in. That's the way the Lord has arranged
it now. You're going to get in and there's
not going to be anybody stopping. Lord, I can't let you go until
you bless me. I'm not letting go. He moved with fear and prepared
an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the
world and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith. You're warned of God to strive,
to enter in, to move with some fear, with some urgency. And you know, if you ever see
what you are, and you ever see who he is, you're not going to
be lackadaisical about it, are you? There is an urgency to the
gospel. Many are going to want to escape
what they deserve, the wrath of God. They're not going to
be able to. There's one safe place in our
text. It's described this way in In in Christ Christ is the rock
So what does God say enter into the rock Isaiah 2 10 and had
thee in the dust for the fear of the Lord and for the glory
of his majesty and Christ is the ark. Christ is the city of
refuge. And Christ is the door. He's
the way in, and He's the destination. He's the door that you enter
into, and He's the one you're in when you're in. And you know, I suspect in verse
28 there, the Lord mentions the prophets. He mentions Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, because the Jews trusted in them. And many
trust in their religious heritage. And in the case here, the prophets,
the Jews trusted the prophets, the prophets trusted Christ.
They're in. If you trust them, you're not
getting in. If you trust your religious heritage, you're not
coming in. That's not how you get in. It's by believing on
Christ. So shall they be in. Well, those
who trusted in them instead of Christ are out. In John 8, the
Jews said, Abraham is our father. And the Lord said, if Abraham
were your father, you'd love me. You wouldn't hate me. You'd
hear me. Abraham saw my day and was glad. Also, when the Lord identifies
himself this way, when he says, when you see Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob on the inside and you're shut out, There's going to be
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You know, when the
Lord identified himself as the covenant God of his people, he
said, I'm the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob. There's
something to do with the covenant in that. So he's saying in our
text that salvation is not by works, but by covenant mercy.
Many are going to say, look at our wonderful works. That's not how sinners get in.
It's by covenant mercy. Think about this, Abraham's in
there. Why? Because God sought him out in
Ur of the Chaldees. He was an idolatrous son of an
idolater. And God said, I'm in the mercy
business and I'm gonna have mercy on you today. In blessing, I'm
gonna bless you. That's why he's in. What about Isaac? Isaac is the son of a miracle
birth. How about you? When it's impossible for there
to be life, God gives life. That's how sinners get in. When
you're dead in trespasses and sin, but God who is rich in mercy. For his great love wherewith
he loved her. That's how Isaac got in. A miracle. A powerful
miracle of God. Giving life to him. What about
Jacob? Jacob was a worm. Thou wormed
Jacob. What's he doing in there? Jacob
have I loved. And Esau have I hated. That's
how Jacob got in. How about you? How are you going
to get in? Those who get in, get in by sovereign,
free, electing love and grace. Now, come to Him. Strive to enter
in now. We didn't come here this morning
just to talk about entering in. Maybe you're here this morning
to enter in. I came to enter in. Well, Chris, aren't you in?
Yeah, but you know what I want to do? I want to enter in. Once
you're in, that's all you want to do. That I may know Him. Paul,
don't you know God? That I may know Him. Who are we coming to? The Master.
The Master. Oh, you got to come to the Master
now. Hear Him. Come to Him and find
rest. Many from all over are going
to come. And you know what they're going to do? He said there in
verse 20? They're going to sit down. And you think about this
life now. We're getting along pretty good.
We're doing alright, aren't we? We don't go around with our heads,
you know, hung down and sad all the time. But you know what? We do groan. I don't want to
groan on the outside, but I'm groaning on the inside, aren't
you? Waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our
bodies. Chris, aren't you resting in
Christ now? Boy, I sure hope so. I believe I am. I don't see
any rest anywhere else, do you? And yet I'm still crying. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? There's a war
going on. And you know what I need to do?
You know what I'm ready to do? I'm ready to sit down. Aren't
you? I'm ready to sit down. That's what we're going to do.
I'm ready to just rest in Christ. I'm ready to experience that
perfectly. Aren't you? Perfectly. Oh, but God who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. We see
that, don't we? And hath raised us up together
and made us sit. Together. I'm glad we're going
to sit together, aren't you? I'm not going there to see you,
but I'm glad if I see you, I think I'm going to be glad, don't you
think so? But we're going to be looking at him, aren't we?
But together. I don't know what that is really,
do you? I don't understand that. I know that there's no marrying
or giving in marriage, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to know
my wife. And I have a feeling our relationship's not going
to be something less than it is now. In glory, you reckon? For him to be everything to both
of us, I think that's going to... Whatever our relationship there
is going to be, I think it's going to be better than it is
now, don't you? In him. Because of him. And that's true
of us as a church. We're one body. I'm not thinking
that's going to change. Do you? I don't think that's
going to change. I think it's just going to get better. And made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. They're going to come from every
direction and sit down. That's the whole point of our
whole text, isn't it? in. It's all about in. Strive to enter in. That in the
ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. If you're in, it's
because of His kindness toward you. Through Christ Jesus, for
by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. You didn't know that was that
context. Yeah, you did. Through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man
should boast. We're going to sit down with
him and he's going to get all of the glory. He's the master,
he deserves it. And we're sure enough going to
give it to him. That's part of the resting, isn't
it? We want to, we want to, we want to, now we can't. How to
perform that which is good I find not. It's a weariness isn't it? It's a weariness. We're going to sit down with
Him and it's all going to be to the praise of the riches of
His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ. I want him to come back. But I sure do want him to save
some folks too, don't you? But that's up to him. He's the
master. He's the master. And he doeth all things well.
And he delights to show mercy. Let's pray.