I'm reading from the Gospel of
Luke chapter 13 this morning. Luke chapter 13. I begin in verse
22 where it says, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, He went
through the cities and villages teaching and journeying toward
Jerusalem. And then said one unto Him, someone
asked Him, Lord, 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. He says, When once the master
of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, And ye
begin to stand without, to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord,
open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto
you, I know you not which you are. Someone asked him, Are there
few that be saved? He didn't directly answer that,
although in another place he did say, Many are called, but
few are chosen. In verse 22 it says, ìHe went
through the cities and villages teaching.î And the Lord has,
His gospel, His Word, His preachers have preached and taught in every
place. Paul wrote in Romans, ìHave they
not heard? Verily the sound, the word, the
truth has gone out throughout all the world.î And someone asked
him, are there few that be saved? Few that be saved. Well, he said,
strive to enter in. Strive to enter into the Kingdom
of God. Strive. Now, the term saved,
is a laughable term today. The modern world scoffs at the
notion that we need be saved. The fact is, now this is what
the Word of God teaches, and those who have been saved or
being saved, they know that they once were lost and now they're
found. Mankind is lost. He doesn't know
it. He's lost. He needs saving. If you're lost,
you cannot save yourself. Someone else must come and find
you. And that's what Jesus Christ
came to this earth to do, to seek and to save the lost, He
said. We can't save ourselves. He alone
can and must. Save us. Find us. Mankind, Scripture
says, is dead in trespasses and sin. He's always very much alive
to the things of the world, materialistic world and the pleasures of the
flesh and so forth. But spiritual matter? No, he's
dead. He has no interest, no thoughts
of God by nature. He's dead. He needs quickening.
He needs to be given life. Life is not offered. Life must
be given. The Lord came to save His people,
Scripture says, from their sin. Sin. Sin is the cause of all
the suffering and pain and sorrow and sickness. Anger, wrath, malice,
all the evil that's in the world. Sin. Sin entered the world. And
then ultimately, death is a result of sin. We need to save from
sin. We need to save from the penalty
of it, which is death. We need to save from the power
of it that reigns and rules. bodies and the minds and the
hearts of unsaved people. We need saved from the presence
of it. And that's what heaven, that's
what the new earth is all about, a place wherein dwelleth righteousness. No sin. No sin. We need saved
from the God of this world, from Satan who holds people in captivity,
who takes the things of this world and tempts and seduces
people with it and they fall for it, everything. We need to
save from ourselves this old man within us. We need to save
from wrath, the wrath of God, from destruction, from death.
Only one way. Jesus Christ said, I am the way. He is the only Savior of sinners. He came to save. So He came preaching, repent,
repent. He came preaching, call. Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He came
preaching, cry, ask, seek, knock, shall be opened unto you. Strive
to enter in at the straight gate. If you don't strive, you won't
enter. If you don't call, the Lord won't. save you." So he
said in verse 24, "...strive to enter at the straight gate."
Many I say unto you, you say, well, seek to enter in and shall
not be able. Once the door is shut, the master
of the house rises and shuts the door. He says, you'll seek
to enter in and pound on that door. And he says, I don't know
you. Depart from it. In the story
of Noah's Ark, the Ark of Noah, that whole story is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All those in that Ark were saved. All those outside the Ark were
lost. perished. The wrath of God, the
judgment of God, the anger of God fell on them outside the
ark. But those in the ark were saved. That's a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. To be found in Him is to be saved. To be in Him is to be saved. to be outside of Him, left out
of the Kingdom of God, is to be damned, is to perish. Well, that ark was a hundred
years in being built, and the Scripture says Noah was a preacher
of righteousness, a preacher of the holiness of God, a preacher
of the justice of God, a preacher of the law of God, the demands
of God. The preacher of righteousness,
which man is unrighteous. Scripture says there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that seeketh after
God, not one by nature. But some do. The reason they
do is God has mercy upon them. God calls them by His Word, by
His Gospel, awakens them, quickens them, gives them life, gives
them repentance and faith. And they ask, they seek, they
knock, or they wouldn't do it if He didn't give them life.
But they do, they call, they ask, they seek. That's how you
know that He's given them life. They ask, they seek, they come
to Christ, they believe, they repent, they come to Christ. Those inside that ark were saved. were brought in that ark by Noah,
the animals came because Noah went out and found them and brought
them in. Well, the door of that ark stayed open for seven days
after it was complete. Now, the work of salvation was
completed by Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. There's nothing
left to be done. He did all things necessary for
salvation of his people. He fulfilled the law. He brought
in an everlasting righteousness. He paid for the sins of his people. And He said one day, He stood
up one day, coming to me, all ye that labor and heavy laden,
I'll give you rest. Do you know the name Noah means
rest? Christ is the rest of His people. They rest in Him. They believe Him. They trust
Him who finished His work of salvation. He is their rest. He is their Sabbath. And they
are in Him and believe Him and trust Him. And they are saved.
They are saved. Well, the door of that ark Noah's
Ark stayed open seven days. People, I believe that we're
in the very last of the last days. The Gospel is still being
preached. I am preaching to you this morning. Come to Christ. Come. Come. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Come. Come to Christ. The door
is open. The door of God's mercy. The
door of God's grace. The door of salvation. Come.
Well, there came a day, and our Lord said this, when God shut
that door. He shut the door of Noah's ark
and then the rain began to fall. The judgment and wrath of God
fell upon planet earth and millions of people died, perished. God
didn't love them. He loved those in the ark. That's
the truth. And our Lord said, there's coming
a day as in the days of Noah when the Son of Man is coming.
The door of mercy is open right now. So I say, come unto Christ. Come, come. And he says here
in our text, strive to enter in. Strive to enter in this straight
gate. Many, I say, after the door is
shut, they will seek to enter but won't be able. Now let me
ask you two questions. What is the straight gate and
what does it mean to strive? What is the straight gate? Well, a gate is a barrier, a
fence, a wall, something in a fence or wall that bars the way into
one place. The gate must be open unto you
to be let in or let out. It's a passageway in and out
of a city or a pasture. Christ, Jesus Christ, is the
straight gate. He is the way, the only way into
the kingdom of God, into heaven itself, eternal life. He said
that. He said, I am the door of the
sheepfold. A gate is a barrier in a wall
or a fence. It bars the way. The wall separates
those on the outside from the inside. You can't climb over. If you do, our Lord said in John
10, those who attempt to climb over or get in some other way
are called thieves and robbers. You must come one way, the gate. And the gate is locked and you
have no key and you can't get in of your own will or of your
own power. Jesus Christ is the gate. He said, I am the door. He said,
I am the way. He has the keys of hell and death. You can't just come in when you
want to. He must let you in. Well, how? How does one get in the gate,
get into the kingdom? How does one come to God? They
come by Christ. How? They ask. They seek. They knock. He said that. It
shall be given you. Seek, you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened. Lord, here's what it means to
ask. Lord, would you let me into your
kingdom? There was a thief on the cross right beside the Lord
Jesus Christ when he was being crucified. He never did anything
good his whole life. He was nothing but an evil, wicked,
vile sinner. And he looked to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He heard His words. He heard
everything Christ said from that cross. And the Spirit of God
convicted him of his sin. And he looked to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He looked over at the Lord beside
him. And he said one thing, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. Lord, would you
let me into your kingdom? You're king, you're lord, you're
the master, you're the owner, the ruler of this whole planet
earth and heaven itself. Would you let me into your kingdom?
He said, I will. Christ is the way. He must let
us in. He must bring us to God. What
does it mean to strive? What does it mean to strive?
There is a story of old Jacob. One time he was left alone and
a man came and wrestled with Jacob. That man was the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he wrestled with Jacob and
Jacob said this as they were wrestling, I will not let you
go until you bless me. I will not let you go. I won't
go away. I'm going to keep striving. Striving means to wrestle in
prayer and seek, ask, call until the door is open. Strive to enter
in. Strive to enter in. Ask, seek,
knock. That's what it means. There's
another scripture our Lord said, the kingdom of heaven suffers
violence and the violent take it by force, meaning open unto
us, please, please and all who do, all who strive, all who seek
to enter in shall enter. You have the promise of the Lord
Jesus Christ on that. Strive, he said. Many, after
it's too late, will say, let us in. He will shut the door
and say, I know you're not. You're not my people. You're
not my people. Have you heard His word? Oh,
strive to enter in. Come to Christ. Amen.