We are in Luke chapter 13. The
title of our message is strive to enter in at the straight gate. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate. Words that our Lord spoke to
a very curious young man who felt that it was appropriate
at this time to raise the question, are there few that be saved? Luke reminds us continually that
we are with the Lord Jesus Christ on our way to Jerusalem. And as such, our Lord Jesus Christ
is ministering to people in the synagogue. He is ministering
to people in the street, in their homes. He has already spent about
two and a half years ministry in the temple on holy days as
we learned last week our Lord loved to worship God he loved
to to preach and to teach and to expound the scriptures. He
delighted in Holy Day. He delighted in being with the
people of God. He delighted in explaining truth. This is how the messianic voice
in the Psalms put it. I have preached truth in the
great congregation. I have proclaimed your word to
the people of God. I delight to do thy will, the
Lord Jesus says in the Psalms, and so we too. delight to hear
the voice of our Savior. Apparently this young man who
raised this question in our text is an individual who most likely
journeyed with our Savior throughout his excursion and has seen a
lot. We don't know if he's a disciple
Certainly he is a follower because he is comfortable with raising
this question before our Lord as they are making their way
to Jerusalem. But terms have significant meaning
and often they have nominal meaning. In other words, to be a disciple
is one thing. To be a true disciple is another
thing. To be a follower of Jesus one
thing to be a true follower of Jesus is Something else altogether
be careful that you don't place your security and titles in terms. I'm a disciple I'm a follower
of Jesus or I'm a Christian because if you're merely a nominal this
that are the other You're in danger apparently this young
man felt comfortable enough after the multitude of experiences
that he had with the Savior, one would have to think about
what he experienced if he was with the Master. for the whole
of his journey. And if Luke is writing and intentionally
veiling or obscuring that this is one of the disciples, then
we might imagine these are one of the disciples. That's not
impossible with the gospel narratives. The gospel narrative often will
not give you the name of the person in question because it
doesn't matter who it is that's talking. What's matter is the
content and the subject before us. In any event, can you imagine
an individual who follows the master from the beginning of
his ministry? He is preaching and he is teaching and he is
healing multitudes of people. And there is a fervor and passion
about Jesus taking place. The excitement that the people
that were with him, his closest circles, the disciples and those
who wanted to identify with him as disciples. For instance, the
70 that he had sent out. You remember them a few weeks
back. They were excited about being
a partaker of the Spirit of God and to preach the gospel to multitudes
and even seeing demons and devils cast out and healings taking
place. That must have been absolutely
exciting to them. And one can fall prey, certainly,
to thinking that if a thing is taking place where there is an
increasing and growing, abounding attention given to Jesus, that
this might continue and it might grow. And who knows how large
this movement might be? Certainly the disciples were
arguing amongst themselves, weren't they? Who's going to sit on his
right hand? And who's going to sit on his left hand? And who's
going to be the greatest in the kingdom? Now, listen to me. The
only reason we talk like that is because we are making assessments
and drawing conclusions based upon our interpretation of events
and situations taking place right now. But over time, as you know,
the winds have a tendency to change in life, don't they? One
day you're popular, the next day people are questioning whether
or not you are even relevant. One day your ministry may have
significant meaning to people, the next day And that could be
anything in regards to, that could be anything in regards
to vocations in life. People adore you. The next day
you are questioned. Certainly this is the case with
the Lord Jesus. Can you imagine what this young
man is thinking as the winds are changing, the winds are turning,
and he's going about ministry with our Lord. And if you understand
our Lord is headed to Calvary, his preaching becomes a little
bit more serious. The passion and the fervor of
his words are a little bit more stern, and the messages are a
little bit more probing, and the conviction level is rising,
even to the point of being uncomfortable. And on this day, this young man
rises up and starts heading out with the Lord, and he looks around,
and there's not as many people there. And even the ones that
are circling about our Lord Jesus, some of them are suspicious because
they're raising questions about the master's authenticity in
the ministry, his messiahship. This young man is aware that
there is conflict and agitation. And now all of a sudden the master
is controversial. And you know when you are identifying
with a person or a ministry or a group that now is not so much
popular But controversial you have to kind of start Asking
yourself. How should I position myself
in this? Because you know if you associate with somebody you're
gonna be identified with them good or bad, right? So self-preservation
will cause you to start thinking through a lot of things like
man. Where is this going? but This brother here doesn't
start seeking to ask himself, you know, where's the master
going? What is this all about? Am I being deceived? You know,
people think that. Am I being deceived? He's actually
doing something of which our Lord picks up on that I think
is very important for us to be careful to mark. He has inadvertently
or unconsciously or unwittingly separated himself from the people.
attached himself to the master and began to judge objectively
whether or not these people are saved. Are you hearing me? And so the question that he's
raising to the master is this. Are there few that be saved? Now, for most of us, that would
be a wonderful theological softball right down the middle that we'd
be more than willing to negotiate. Ah, he's asking about the doctrine
of election. You see, they really taught the
doctrine of election in that first century. The school of
Shema, the more conservative school of the Jews, held that
only the Jews are elect. and that if you were Abraham's
seed, you are going to glory. But this young man had been actually
listening to Jesus preach and teach, and Jesus was telling
the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the rulers, watch this now,
just because you be Abraham's sperm, that doesn't make you
Abraham's techno. Just because you are born of
Abraham's physical lineage doesn't make you a child of God. And
he heard the Lord Jesus Christ delineate and distinguish between
what it truly means to be in the kingdom versus this sort
of superficial relationship of which today's message, at least
in part, is going to deal with. Now, listen, the doctrine of
election is a glorious doctrine essential to understanding the
continuity of biblical truth. I believe that you really can't
understand salvation until you understand salvation is rooted
in election. There are three questions we
must ask when we ask the question of salvation. The first question
is why? Why would God save? That's the first question. Isn't
that a legitimate question? God didn't have to save you,
me, or anybody. So why would he? That's where the doctrine
of election comes in. Because the doctrine of election
answers the question, why are any saved? They are saved because
God chose them unto salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. They are saved because God chose
them in Christ before the world began. They are saved because
God intended before he created the universe to have a people
for himself to the praise of the glory of his grace. That's
why we are saved. Now the other question is how
are we saved? That's a very important question
too. How are we saved? We're saved by the work of Jesus
Christ on Calvary's tree. When he, as a substitute for
sinners, died in the place of the sinner under the wrath of
God to satisfy God's justice and holiness against their transgressions. By which sacrifice on Calvary's
tree, he obtained eternal redemption for those of us who believe on
him and trust him as salvation. he therefore imputes to us his
righteousness so that we stand before God on the grounds of
a perfect justification never ever having to worry about being
condemned before the bar of justice hallelujah the why is election the how is
Calvary and the who this is a really good question in the 21st century
where everybody is made out by this secular culture to be a
Superman and the who is who saved us God saved us. God saved us. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but by his mercy hath he saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed
upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Lord. How did I get
saved? By the work of Christ on Calvary. Who saved me? Not
me. God. Why did he save me? Because he
chose me in Christ before the world began. To God be the glory. Great things he has done. That's
the gospel. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel from God to God by God. That's the gospel. If you add
anything to it on a human effort part, you have just distorted
the gospel. But now let me help you. The
question wasn't really ultimately about election. It was, but it
wasn't. It was about this curious notion
of how many will be saved. Now that's strange, isn't it?
Why would this brother be concerned with how many folks would be
saved? That to me always boggles my
mind when we, as the creature, try to get into the numbers game. You got two categories of people.
I just want to help you with this. We ain't in our message
yet. I'm just, you got two categories of people. Are you ready? You
got folks who are scared to death of talking about God being in
control of saving people. Scared to death. Just scared
to death that God might make a mistake in saving people. That's
called unbelief, are you with me? And as such, they really
don't wanna embrace the doctrine of election. And so they will
argue that election should be played down. But then you've
got these other very sort of intellectually, hyper intellectual
folks who get a lot out of trying to determine who's saved. And
they will actually get into a numbers game. For instance, there are
some folks who feel pretty good about saying that there's only
few people that are going to be saved. And as such, they'll
get into notions like, well, you know, uh, it's not possible
for God to save a whole lot of people because only a few people
are being saved. And, you know, I would have a
tendency to agree with that if that was the whole tenor of scripture,
but because it's not, I can't. Okay. I agree that few will be
saved, But you know with God, few can be a number which no
man knows. From every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue. That's what John said in Revelation
7, chapter 7, verses 7 through 9. And I saw a number of those
who had come out of great tribulation. It was a number which no man
could number. That puts a bubble in your few
doctrine, doesn't it? On the other hand, there was before the flood of
Noah's day, hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people
who heard the gospel for a hundred years and rejected the message
of redemption. And on one day that God had promised
he would destroy the world, he called Noah and seven other souls
into the ark, closed the ark himself and destroyed the world
in a flood. Only eight people were saved.
That's ominous, isn't it? But that's the way God is. Mark
this now. It does not matter what the number
is insofar as you and I are concerned. See, if I was the one answering
the man's question, I might have gotten drawn in to deal with
him on these particulars. But I want you to know that our
Lord never, ever engaged him on that question. You know what
our Lord did? Knowing what was really going
on in that man's heart and intending to take this question and use
it as a moment to teach something, a teaching moment. Here's what
he said to the man. Listen, young man, you better
make sure you're saved. So the first thought in our message
is given in your outline. There's only one number that
really truly matters. There's only one number that
really truly matters. You know what that number is?
The number of the soul that's contemplating what it means to
be saved. There's only one number that
matters, and that number is yours. You are called upon, ladies and
gentlemen, to make your calling and election sure, to make sure
your salvation is a reality in you. You remember what the scripture
says. You and I must examine ourselves whether or not we are
in the what? Faith. To examine whether or
not Christ is in us of a truth, except we be reprobates. You
and I are to examine whether or not salvation is so precious
to us that we would spend our life securing our relationship
with the truth of the living gods on the grounds of biblical
truth. Now watch this. If you make your calling and
election sure, you will benefit every person around you. You
knowing the number of gods elect won't save anybody, especially
if your life is raggedy. But I'll tell you if you come
to know God and walk with God in the truth and make your call
in election sure you will bless people around you know what the
Bible says in first Timothy chapter four when Paul was talking to
Timothy he said Timothy be a believer in word and in deed and in charity
and in purity. Attend to reading attend to preaching
attend to those things that make for the faith Because in doing
so you will both save yourself and those that are listening
to you In other words, a true witness delivers souls. A false
witness speaketh lies. Our Lord was saying to that young
man, listen, young man, I know you struggling with the winds
of change and the fact that people aren't liking me anymore and
the fact that the numbers are dwindling, but you are actually
making an excuse for not examining your own self because tomorrow
you can be in that same number. Tomorrow you can be following
those same people. Tomorrow you could, you know,
this could have been Judas Iscariot talking. This could have been
Judas, right? It could have been Judas today.
And then the next day, once just the pressure really sets in and
his agenda and his plan not come to pass the way he wants it.
And you know how he got upset. Listen, I'm going to sell the
master out. One of the things you have to be careful about
before we go to point number two is observing and assessing
the kingdom of God with your physical eyes. Be careful that
you don't interpret what God is doing by what you see. The
whole world judges things on an outward basis. The whole world
seeks to determine whether God is blessing or cursing based
upon human opinion and empiricism. Let me assure you, you and I
don't know what God is doing ultimately in the matter of salvation. You and I don't know ultimately
what God is doing. We were talking about this last
night, and I'll give you an example before we go to our next point.
God saw to it that when he developed the nucleus of the New Testament
church called the 12 apostles, he saw to it that he let one
of them be a devil and a reprobate. And the other 11 men never knew
it. They never knew it. And these
men would be the foundation to the New Testament church. You
know what we're being taught by that judge nothing before
the time For when the lord comes he'll make all things manifest
won't he? The lesson before us then is
about what our master would have us to comprehend in the area
of faith So he gives this young man a command over in verse 24
now notice what it says Not answering this man according to his vain
curiosity. He responds by saying in verse
24 strive to enter into the straight gate. You see that? That's the way he responded to
him. You strive to enter. What a word. Again, my elder,
as he was reading that, comprehended the seriousness of the nature
of that statement because it didn't come from his pastor.
It didn't come from his elders. It didn't even come from the
apostles. It came from the master himself. Now watch this. When
the master tells you to strive to enter into the straight gate,
you better listen to him. You know why? Because he knows
some things we don't know. He's talking to us about making
sure that we arrive at our professed destiny. Successfully, it's one
of the reasons we sang to him. I want to see his face Don't
you I want to see the face of the Savior and and what I know
is between now and then Requires a journey that calls for diligence. So today we're going to be talking
about a certain characteristic of faith not faith in the sense
of the faith that is evident in conversion. There is a faith
evident in conversion that says when the gospel is preached and
the spirit is working and men and women are targeted for salvation,
that gospel message penetrates the heart and the mind and it
brings about a conviction that everything that God says is right
and you agree with God. That is called saving faith.
It is the beginning of your conversion. That's what we emphasize most
of the time, wanting to see men and women come to the point of
bowing the knee to the glorious Savior Jesus Christ. We call
it conversion. But we don't spend a lot of time
dealing with the nature of conversion and its ultimate objective. And
that is ultimately one day seeing Christ face to face. The text,
therefore, is dealing with faith on this level, not so much as
conversion, but perseverance. So I want you to let this word
sink into your head as we work through. Perseverance. He that continues until the end,
the same shall be saved. See, are those two tensions you
can hold on to? Can you hold on to the tension that salvation
is a free grace message given to all upon which if we believe
that message, we have experienced eternal life. And at the same
time, if a person is truly saved, they are going to persevere.
Until at last they see Jesus face to face. Can you hold those
two tensions? Because those are the two tensions
running through scripture often. The Bible will talk about eternal
life in terms of what takes place in our conversion, but it will
also talk about eternal life as that which takes place at
the end of the world. Isn't that right? Those two realities
have to be harmonized in our thinking. So you say you are
saved. Didn't we learn about this a
couple of weeks ago in Friday study? Just because you say you're saved.
don't make you say saying you say don't make you say and there's
a sense in which the scripture says to us as we work this through
follow me now the ultimate reality of our salvation is when we see
him face to face so in the interim we have to work out our salvation
with fear and trembling. In the interim, we have to work
that out. So our master says to this young man, and he's saying
to them all, because if you notice in verse 23, and he said unto
them, strive to enter into the straight gate. For many, I say
unto you, will seek to enter in and not be able. Yeah, young man, do me a favor
and step to the back. All right, do me a favor because
it's a little loud. You cool, just step to the back, okay?
Thank you. Strive to enter in. The word that he's using here
is the word labor. It's the term that is prominent
in the New Testament for striving and agonizing. Hey, hey, hey,
hey, striving and agonizing, persevering. The word is used
prominently by the apostle Paul on two levels, and I want you
to get this, to run a race and make sure you finish the race.
And in the process of finishing the race, are you ready? Beat
everybody that you run against. And you know what that means?
That means you ain't out jogging. And you're not just running.
You're running to beat everybody in the race. The other way the
word agonizomai, that's our common Greek term for labor or strive
is used, is to wrestle. Now, come on now, when was the
last time you wrestled anybody? That caused you to sweat to even
think about it, huh? And yet these terms, to wrestle,
and to run are prominent themes in the scripture. We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places, against unseen
forces that would seek to throw us off our course, that would
stifle us, stop us in our tracks, and if it could, pin us to the
ground and keep us from obtaining the prize. We wrestle. Now, isn't that strange? that
faith would be characterized by such effort? I mean, didn't
we just, didn't we just sing? Leaning, leaning, leaning on
the everlasting arms. Now that's like wrestling, isn't
it? That ain't running. And it certainly ain't wrestling.
But if you and I don't allow the whole of scripture to advise
us on a concept, we will be lopsided in our view of that concept.
There is a sense in which the believer rests in Christ. But
there's also a sense at the same time that we are running for
Christ. We are laboring for Christ. We
are fighting for Christ. In fact, I want to share with
you several verses to underscore this, because Paul had no problem
using this term all through his exhortation. Our Lord tells this
young man, it is imperative that you make sure that you don't
stop striving, that you labor. that you press, that you toil,
that you run, that you fight. All these are biblical terms
which describe the nature of saving faith as it pursues its
goal. Turn with me in your Bible to
Philippians 3, 14. You come to Christ when you're
a brand new Christian, and for a while you're in the honeymoon
phase. Isn't that right? And it's like being on vacation.
The Lord take that yoke of sin and burden and condemnation and
guilt off your shoulders, And boy, you breathe a sigh of relief
and you enjoy the victuals that he puts before you. You get to
graze in his green pastures and enjoy life. And you go, this
is wonderful. You go to sleep, you wake up
the next day and something hits you upside your head. And you
say, whoa, what was that? That was the fight that you just
found yourself entering into to keep your eyes on Christ.
That was the battle that you signed up for. as you forge your
way to Christ. That was the strife that the
believer is engaged in as you take your side with Christ. That's
the warfare that you sign up for when you become a soldier
of Christ. You are now in the battle. As
the apostle Paul exhorts the church at Philippi, here's how
he puts this term persevering in the faith. In his own words,
this is how he describes it. We're gonna start at verse, 14
listen to it. I press do you see that I press
That's our word to toil to agonize toward the mark of the what prize
of the high calling of God in Christ He just told that this
he told the church at Philippi. This here is my method I press
now as soon as you think about pressing, you know what you're
thinking about resistance adversity right conflict obstacles, right,
that you have to overcome because you've got to press. This is
not a downhill slide. It may be an uphill run, but
it's also filled with obstacles. So what Paul says is I am resolved
to press. Now, do you understand the only
reason that a person would be resolved to press is because
they value what's at the end of the race? Are you hearing
what I'm saying? that what's at the end of the
race makes the labor in the process worth it see we're still talking
process now aren't we a lot of people be they love to talk about
the journey of faith but when you get into the process this
is where our lord is warning us few are able to actually finish
the race. Now mark his words. I am pressing
toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. Why? I want you to mark this.
Why? Because he said in verse 12, I have not already attained. Look at it. Not as though I had
already what? Either we're already what? But
I follow after that if I may apprehend that for which I am
apprehended of Christ. See, he embraces the tension.
He embraces the tension. You know what he knows? Christ
saved me, but he saved me to come to him. And what I know
is I have not attained all that for which Christ has saved me.
I am still in process of the obtaining of that for which I
have been apprehended. And therefore, there is a reciprocal
relationship here. If a man or woman has truly been
apprehended by Christ, everything about their life will ultimately
mean I must apprehend him. I must have him. I must see him
face to face. God made me to stand before God
and behold his glory and to see his face. I am not satisfied
until I see him. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? That's the struggle, that's the pressing, that's the
toil, that's the labor that our master is warning about. There is another passage that
underscores this as well. Turn with me in your Bible to
1 Timothy chapter 6. As Paul tells Timothy, when it
comes to the ministry. And the minister of the gospel
is in the same battle that you are in on a personal level, but
that battle is also intensified on a ministerial level. The minister
of the gospel is in the same battle that you are in. No honest
preacher, no honest pastor would speak to you as if somehow he
has an easier course to glory than you do. No honest pastor,
no honest preacher would give you the notion or perception
that he is so full of grace that his race is on a scooter or a
motorcycle while you're running off your mere kinetic energy.
Nothing can be further from the truth. The reality is, as I shared
with my brother and again last night, when the very sober question
came to me, well, how do you know you're called to preach?
And I said to my brother, because someone had said, brother, I
think you called the preach. I said, be careful. Most people
running are not sent. Most people running are not sent.
The word run is a metaphor for being a preacher of the gospel,
a herald of the good news. Blessed are the feet of those
that proclaim peace upon the mountains. Most people running,
calling themselves called of God are not sent. Most of them
are false prophets and false teachers. The Lord said they
ran, but I didn't send them. They're speaking, but they're
not speaking for me. They're in this for themselves.
Most preachers will perish under the wrath of God because God
didn't call them. That's the danger of preaching.
That's why the Bible said, don't you do it. There are not many
called. There are not many teachers and
they will receive the greater condemnation. I told that brother,
listen, You'll know if God called you to preach the gospel for
several reasons. First and foremost, he will give
you such an overwhelming and compelling desire for men to
know this glorious Christ that you can't keep your mouth shut.
Secondly, He will so prepare you and train you to communicate
biblical truth that your communication will be effectual in the life
of men and women. Thirdly, he will give you a resolve
after giving you the gift to suffer for his namesake as a
token that you are a gospel preacher. You can't preach the gospel if
you're not willing to suffer ridicule and scandal and and
lies And slander and and even from the brethren. You got to
be ready for all that The master said if they did it to me, they're
gonna do it to you. This is this is the price of telling the truth
And most people don't want that. They just want to pay They just
want to get paid. Hey, listen, ain't no money in
this thing on this side Ain't no money in this thing. Now God
take care of brother, but he takes care of a brother just
like he takes care of you. The reward is at the end when you
see his face. And he says, well done, my good
and faithful servant. You told the truth. Very few
do that. He's just trying to enter in.
And Paul tells Timothy in first Timothy six, these words, Here
it is in verse 10, for the love of money is the root of all evil. which while some have coveted
after, they have what? Earned from the faith. Most preachers
who are not sent will be taken in by the idol of money, prosperity. This is why they change their
message. This is why they water down the gospel. This is why
they mix grace with works. This is why they diminish the
glory of God in the person of Christ and make it a humanistic
gospel. This is why they cater to the
felt needs of the carnal mind because they want to get paid
and we have turned the idea of making money into a blessing
from the Lord and thus do people in the thinking because he's
making a lot of money he's being blessed of the Lord talking to a young minister on
Friday about this he's a pastor I thank you man I thank you for
telling me before I got into this mess Got called to do some
serious preaching about six months ago. He says pastor. What should
I do? I said, I don't know you can get in but i'm gonna tell
you one or two things gonna happen Either you're gonna tell the
truth to those unregenerate religious folk and some of them are gonna
get saved Are they gonna throw you out on your fanny? Or are
you gonna compromise the gospel? To cater to their felt needs
because it's gonna be too hard for you to look into the face
of those thousands and thousands of people Who presume that they
know god? don't. He came back after six months
on the Friday study said I really appreciate you telling me that.
I fight this battle every day. He says I know you do. I said
I know you do. It's not easy telling the truth
to eternity bound souls. You know if it wasn't for the
grace of God you guys would gnash upon me with your teeth. You
would chew me up and spit me out. You would bury me under
the church. Listen to what he says over verse
11, but you oh man of God Flee these things do you see it flee
the covetousness that leads to wealth and financial prosperity
and fame and Follow after righteousness. Do you see it? Godliness faith
love patience meekness see the commodities of which the faithful
preacher is pursuing He's pursuing Christ and the characteristics
of Christ in his own life. What I want are those tangible
evidences of Christ in me. A life that is based upon his
righteousness and therefore acting in accordance with his righteousness.
A life that is able to demonstrate godliness. What is godliness?
God first. Pastor, what does godliness mean? It means putting God first. That's
what that means. Keep it simple for us dummies. What does it
mean to be godly? It doesn't mean to be walking
around, your feet not touching the ground, you floating on the
clouds. No, that's not godliness. Godliness is putting God first.
That's all. What does God think about it?
That's godliness. The heart's right when you got
to make a decision and you say, Lord, what do you have to say
about this? Isn't that what the Proverbs says? Trust in the Lord
with all your heart lean not unto your own understanding acknowledge
him in all your ways. He will direct your path That's
proverbs 3 fast will godliness me. He says godliness faith love
patience meekness now watch verse 12. Here it is fight the good
fight of what My goodness You mean faith is a fight That's
what I've been saying for the last 30 minutes. I Do you guys know that? Faith
is a fight. Isn't it a fight? Can I get an
honest person in the house? Don't you lose sometimes? Dang, you got me again. It's
a fight. Our master says strive. Strive. We're not talking about conversion.
We're talking about the character of faith. upon conversion. We're
talking about the nature of faith upon conversion. It is natural,
it is the evidence of all believers. I'm thinking about so many verses
now, but if you read Hebrews chapter 11, you know what you
find? You find men and women to whom God has revealed his
glory, calling them out of darkness into his marvelous light, striving
to walk with God. Every one of them, from Abraham
all the way up to Malachi. You know what they did? They
strove, not ever obtaining the promise. waiting for us. That's called faith, isn't it?
This is what we're talking about here, and this is what Christ
is talking about here, too, with this particular individual that
is curious. Now, I want to affirm what we're
talking about upon one reality, and that's this. Go with me now
in your Bible to the Gospel of Luke, Luke chapter 22. Why is
our Lord saying to this disciple or to this follower how important
it is for him to strive to enter in? It's because in a few days,
Our Master will exhibit the greatest act of striving to enter into
His promise that anyone could ever observe. We are in Luke
chapter 22 and we are in the Garden of Gethsemane. And our
Lord Jesus has just asked three of the disciples to follow Him
into prayer. By the way, when you're praying
right, guess what you're doing? Striving! That's why people don't do it
because they're too lazy. You better start building your muscles.
When you go to the gym, a lot of y'all go to the gym because
y'all want to burn all those calories, right? When you go to the gym
and y'all working out, I would work out, but the weights are
too heavy for me, so I just don't do it. But when you go to the
gym and you guys start lifting the weights and running and sweating,
transfer that energy to spiritual things and say, this is what
I should be doing in my prayer life. This is what I should be
doing in my meditation life. This is what I should be doing
in my relational life. This is what I should be doing
in my attempt to reach people for Christ. Working out to get
stronger so I can persevere in that. Is that good? Is that good?
Especially for all y'all that like to work out. There you go.
Now I'm going to be hunting you in your conscience when you go
to the gym. Because you know the end game for working out
for you is that chocolate cake. The end game for God is glory. You can have a cake. Listen to our master's words
as he describes for us the real toil. He said, disciples, come
with me, man. Come with me. Verse thirty nine. And he came out and went as he
would several times to the Mount of Olives. He went there often
to pray and his disciples also followed him. And when he was
at the place, he said unto them, pray. that you do not enter into
what? Temptation! And this is the anecdote
to that in our original text. If you strive, it'll minimize
the possibility of you falling. Pray. Pray that you enter not
into temptation. He was drawn from them, withdrawn
from them about a stone's cast away. Now, you can interpret
that how you want. Like if you're out of shape,
a stone's cast away is like five feet. If you're in shape, that
might be 30 yards. So interpret it however you will.
He was withdrawn from them, a stone cast away, and he kneeled down
and he prayed, Father, if you'd be willing, remove this cup from
me. Do you understand our master
is agonizing here? He's toiling here. He's laboring
here. Nevertheless not my will but
thine be done. Do you see that? Can I share
with you something? He got the victory right there
Now watch the next verse and there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven doing what? You need that angel. I need that
angel. We need that angel verse 44 and
being in Agony, do you see it? and being in agony, striving,
striving, laboring, toiling, toiling. You know what he wanted
to do? He wanted to finally cross over
into that victory that was essential for him to finish his course. This prayer Catapulted our master
into that resolve where of after he prayed and after he was strengthened
he headed to Calvary and somewhat of a breeze You know why the
Lord has strengthened him. This is where his battle was
his battle was right here. I The trial was right here. See, now watch this, because
when you go to the Lord and you go to the Lord in earnest and
you struggle and you toil with the Lord and you let the Lord
know you don't have any strength, you don't have any ability, you
don't have any grace, you need him. You need him. And then he
fills you with that grace. There's a result for you to get
on up and say, OK, we own with the business now. We own with
the business now. See, that's a turning, it's called
a conversion. It's a conversion. Christ was
much more calm. He was much more dignified. He
was much more at rest from that point to when he laid his head
down and said, it is finished for the race that was set before
him. He endured the cross, despised
the shame, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high,
waiting until God would make all of his enemies his footstool
because the joy of the Lord, in his experience, was the redemption
of his people, the redemption of his elect, and the satisfaction
of his father's will. But he had to struggle too. Now
let me ask you the question. If our master had to struggle,
Don't you think you got a struggle? If I'm asked to have to strive
to finish this race, don't you think you have to strive to finish
this race? See, we're not talking about conversion. We're talking
perseverance. And here's the reason why. Go
back to our text. Here's the reason why you must
know this. And as I have observed, professing Christians over the
last 30 years. We are in a darker day now than
I was when God converted me, when God saved me. 34 years ago to today is darker
spiritually now than it was then. I'm here to tell you, and I know
I may be talking on a very empirical, personal, observational level,
but I'm just here to say today is darker spiritually than it
was 35 years ago. Men and women are in crass rebellion
against God. Open, high-handed rebellion against
God. Blatant, obnoxious, detestable
rebellion against the Most High God. And folks in the church
are too. Folks in the church are too.
It's dark. Listen, it's dark. It's dark. And you know what
that makes me do? Cry out to God for mercy. Lord,
have mercy on me. Will I be saved? So our text informs us that our
master told him that he needs to strive to enter in at the
straight gate. Strive to enter in at the straight
gate. For I say unto you, there will be many that will seek to
enter in, and shall not be able to find it. You guys see that?
Now, you know who said that? The one who sees everything correctly. Now, I want you to hear me now.
He said, there will be many who will strive to enter in who will
not be able to. And what he's talking about is
not what happens when we witness to people and we evangelize and
we tell them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and trust him
for savior. Multitudes will do that. who
will have done that in hypocrisy or in shallowness to continue
to live a life of carnality and worldliness until they reach
a point in which they recognize that this matter of eternity
is serious and then all of a sudden they will be clamoring for the
door. What door are they clamoring for? It's not the door of conversion,
it's the door of glory. It's not the door of coming to
believe the gospel. It's the door that opens up that
allows them to see Christ face to face and The master talking
to the servant is telling the servant listen you better strive
to enter in because there's a time coming when the whole crowd will
finally be agitated and this is the apocalyptic language of
the scriptures what we are reminded of is Matthews 25 you remember
that Matthew's 25 verses went through about seven or so, the
10 virgins, five wise and five foolish. You guys remember that?
And how that they all had lamps. That is a profession of faith.
Five of them had lamps, five of them had lamps and oil. That
is, the five with the oil were authentic Christians who had
a vital relationship with God through the Spirit, who themselves,
when Christ came, they were ready to enter in, and the other five
found themselves frantically looking for oil. You guys remember
that? In fact, the same terminology that they are shocked with when
they come up against the door is the terminology that's here.
When they go to knocking on the door, Guess what they are surprised
with? Watch this. The master does not
answer. He does not let them in. When
they go to pounding on the door, He does not let them in. Now
granted, if we want to be much more precise with the context,
theologically speaking, our Master is speaking to these Jewish people
who have followed Him from the beginning of His ministry all
the way to Calvary, and He knows as He is getting closer and closer
to Calvary. Guess what? They are becoming
more and more incredulous, unbelieving, in fact hostile, ready to kill
Him. He said it in Matthew chapter
8. When the master rises up and shuts the door, you will not
be able to enter in and you will be rejected. You know what he
called them? The children of the kingdom.
He was speaking to his own Jewish people. He was letting them know,
as we're getting ready to see, that they really misunderstood
what the gospel was about. And in their own presumption
and pride, they waited too late. Listen to our next point here.
This is an important point as we make our way through our message.
Failure is certain for many. Would that be a legitimate statement,
given the fact that Christ says, I say unto you, many will seek
to enter in and shall not be able. Is that a legitimate conclusion?
Failure is certain for many. Many will go to hell. Many will
perish. Many will be destroyed. Even
while seeking to enter in. Is that what the text says to
you? See, sometimes the scriptures are a little difficult, aren't
they? Can we stay here for a moment and work with this? Can we can
we can we work with this? Our master is here talking. See,
he doesn't play with salvation like we do. He doesn't play with
redemption like we do. He doesn't play games with eternity
like religious people do. He just painted the picture.
You know what he said? There's a time coming when the
many people will be trying to get in and they won't get in. Do you know those people were
shocked that day? They were absolutely shocked. Well, they were no more
shocked than the people who couldn't get in the ark. when God shut
the ark on eight souls. No more shocked. No more shocked. The scriptures are silent on
it. But I can imagine some of those people beating on the door
saying, Noah, let us in. Watch this. Too late. Too late. Now, some of you have
been taught in your churches that God is always there with
loving arms, ready to bring you into his bosom. He will save
you in the last minute of your life. You can live like hell
and just before you die, reach up and grab for God and get you
some God. Oh Lord, save me. But nothing could be further
from the truth. Our text implies that they saw
and understood the urgency of the moment, but when they went
and requested to enter in, he refused them. Do you know what
Proverbs chapter one says? Turn there, I'll show you just
in case you think I'm saying this, I'm gonna make sure when
you leave here. Pastor Jesse didn't say this. The preacher
said this. Proverbs chapter one. Give me
10 more minutes of your time. Listen to how the proverb, I
remember when I was a young man and God had just called me by
his grace into the kingdom. And one of the things I don't
remember who guided me to the book of Proverbs. I really don't.
But I was so thankful because I grew up in the Bay Area here
like many of you. And I grew up without the guidance
of a father. I grew up without the wisdom
of a father. I grew up without the wisdom
of older men. This here is the damning condition
of a matriarchal culture today, which is the destruction of our
society because we have failed to obey the Word of God. That's
just the truth. Y'all know what I'm talking about.
Men are targeted, young men are targeted because in order to
be successful, you young men, you need the wisdom of your elders
speaking into your life. And I'll say it as we work through
the gospel and sexuality over the next several weeks. Mama,
you're great. Mama, you're cool. But you can't
be both a mama and daddy for a boy. You can't do it. You cannot
do it. It won't work. You can't be both
a mama and a daddy. Those boys will grow up with
a lopsided view of men and a twisted view of women. and not know how
to relate. This is why when they get older,
they have such dysfunctional relationships with their counterpart,
too. Am I telling the truth? I know
that hurt, but seeing a matriarchal, what we call an egalitarian society,
which we have today, they have the audacity to say that they
can exist without the man. I don't need a man. Now, isn't
that crazy? Now, follow me for a moment.
You don't need a man. But how do you think you got
here? Am I making some sense, brother Robinson? At least there
was one component that the man had to contribute for you to
get here. And when you peer into that component,
you will discover the wisdom of God and the complementarian
and necessary relationship between men and women when they understand
their roles. You cannot do family successful
without admitting that you need all the parts. It's just true. Now, by the grace of God, we
get by, don't we? But if you ever come to a saving
knowledge of biblical truth, you're going to agree with God
and say, it would have been better had I had a good husband on my
side checking me when I thought I could do it all by myself. You don't have to come back,
I know. Listen to the Proverbs. Here
we go. Listen to the Proverbs. I'm in
Proverbs chapter 1. I'm going to start at verse 20 and read
through verse 27. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth
her voice in the street. Who is wisdom? Christ. How does
he communicate? Through the gospel. By what means? The church. That's the feminine
gender. The church is the vehicle by
which the wisdom is communicated. She cries in the cheap places
of the concourse, in the opening of the gates, in the city, she
utters her words. Here's what she says. This is
called evangelism. How long, you simple ones, will
you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in scorning,
and fools hate knowledge. That was me before God saved
me. Verse 22 was me before God saved me. How about you? I hated
knowledge. I scorned wisdom. I rejected
wisdom. I scorned it. I rejected it. I was under the delusion I could
do it all by myself. I'm so thankful that faithful
proclamation takes place even though we reject it. Because
one day God might seize you by his grace and overcome your rebellion
and bring you to himself anyway. Am I telling the truth? Turn
you at my reproof. That's the word repentance. Behold,
I will pour out my spirit upon you and will make my make known
unto you my words oh because I have called we call it the
gospel call and you refuse do you see it you refuse I called
and you refused I have stretched out my head and no man regarded
it not the way it is today sometimes my brothers who are really intentional
about the effort of evangelism come back faster it just seems
like don't nobody care that's all right keep sharing the gospel
with them Keep sharing the gospel with them because I call And
you refuse I stretched out my hand and no man regarded But
you have said it not all my counsel and you would none of my reproof
watch this. I also will laugh at your calamity I will mock
when your fear comes when your fear comes as a desolation and
your Destruction comes as a whirlwind when distress and anguish come
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 despised all my reproof. You see, it's not
true that God will always receive you. it's not true there's an
hour no one knows only God and the reprobate where they're calling
out will be to no avail therefore as we said a few weeks ago as
our Lord is headed to Calvary he is compelled to warn the people
to blow the trumpet Warning the people is good. Isn't it warning
us is good. Isn't it us being told? We need
to make our calling election. Sure. It's good. Isn't it us
being serious about the gospel? It's good. Isn't it us? Striving
to enter in is good. Isn't it go back with our text.
I'll wrap it up here. Something is going on in our
text That's implicit. It's not not fully laid out,
but I want you to see what it is I want you to see what it
is. Here's what's going on Go back to our text the master says
Strive to enter in at the straight gate because there will be many
that will be seeking to enter in Who will not be able? Here's the problem. They are
seeking But they are not striving There is a seeking that is not
striving It is a casual presumptuous Assumption that they're all right
with God Are you hearing me that they're just fine with God. Don't
tell me I need to be a little bit more diligent Don't tell
me I need to be concerned about doctrine. Don't tell me that
I need to understand the gospel correctly They're just a little
bit presumptuous. I Are you hearing me? Don't tell
me I need to be diligent about my faith. Don't tell me I need
to be diligent about what it means to be a true believer.
I'm fine. I made my decision 30 years ago. I'm good. I remember,
I prayed, I spoke in tongues. I'm good to go. Still living
like hell. You understand? Still like, just toe up as anybody. Still living like hell. You ain't
read your Bible. You don't even know where your Bible at. And
you're professing to be a Christian. Jacked up you a slave of all
kinds of sins and passions you drink iniquity like water. You
ain't fooling nobody, but don't tell me I'm not safe. You guys
know people like that you We've been trying to tell him for the
longest. Hey, look. Hey, I got my certificate. I remember the
day see my picture There is a seeking that does
not result in striving There's a seeking that does not result
in the characteristics of truth-saving faith, which labors to make Christ
the main objective of their life. There's a seeking that does not
arrive. There's a seeking that pretends
to know God, but in reality does not know Him at all. That seeking
is hypocrisy. I'm going to give you one verse.
One verse. Jeremiah chapter 29 13 you have
to go there You can't if you want to but you have to if God
finally told Jeremiah Jeremiah tell these knucklehead people
Who are called by my name who worship every idol under the
Sun of whom you have been preaching now for 40 years You've been
telling them I'm coming. I'm coming in judgment. I'm coming
in destruction I'm coming to scatter them to the four winds
and they keep telling you we've been delivered to do all these
abominations and The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
Look at the temple of the Lord. Hey, we must be God's people.
We go to church. Are you hearing me? But in Jeremiah
chapter 29, 13, you know what God says? You will find me when
you seek me the right way. When you seek me, you will surely
find me. When you seek me with all of
your heart, you'll find me. Did you hear that? You know what
God just said? To seek God in a way in which
it results in finding him, you gotta cast your whole being on
that journey. Ain't no casually seeking God.
No casually seeking God. No casually seeking God. It's
earnestly seeking him. Humbly seeking Him. Diligently
seeking Him. Prayerfully seeking Him. Passionately
seeking Him. Exclusively seeking Him. I want
you. I need you. I've got to have
you. Are you hearing me? Listen to
it in the Scriptures. Luke 13, verse 25. Watch this. When once the master
of the house has risen up and shut the door, you begin to stand
outside and knock on the door saying, Lord, open unto us. What a vivid picture he's painting.
Thank you, Lord. He's painting a picture, isn't
he? Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he will answer and say unto
you. Now watch this. I don't know you. In fact, in the tense, I never
knew you. And I don't know where you are
now. Now watch their response. Watch
this. Then shall you begin to say,
we have eaten and we have drunk in your presence. You talk in
our streets. What do you mean you don't know
us? What do you mean you don't know us? Lord, we was with you
when you did all this ministry work. We were there. We went
to church with you. We sang your songs. We ate the
Lord's supper. We fellowship with the saints.
We did ministry. We had conferences and big old
ministries taking place. Lord, we was in all that. What
you mean we don't know you? And then he gonna return by saying,
you don't know me. See, they presume that they knew
him by virtue of the outward circumstances and their casual
acquaintance with him in a religious context, because they tip their
hat at church and learn how to quote Bible verses and meander
among the people and deceive the masses that they were all
right, when nothing in their heart was connected to the true
and the living God. When their heart did not beat
with a knowledge of God that said, that I might know him in
the power of his resurrection, being made conformable unto his
death, that if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection. I want to know him so bad, I
am willing to count all things dumb, everything for the excellency
of the knowledge of this glorious being called God. The taste that
I got of God has compelled me to want to give up everything
for God, that I might see Him in His glory. Something about
the revelation of God has me now fixed on this journey. My
soul is resolved to see God. If it costs me everything, I
want to see God. I want to see Him. I want to
see Him. I want to know Him. I want to
know him. Are you hearing me? And this
is eternal life. And this is eternal life. That
they might know thee. That they might come to know
you in the preaching of the gospel. That they might come to know
you in the conversion of their souls. That they might come to
know you in the gift of faith. That they might come to know
you in the exposition of biblical scriptures that continue to explain
to us who God is. That they might come to know
you in the providences of God in your life, where God keeps
you every day and watches over you every day and leads you and
guides you every day. That they might come to know
you as a great shepherd that delivers you out of the pits
that you come into. That they might come to know
you as the great physician that can heal you from your iniquities,
from your bondages, from your captivity to sin. That they might
come to know you as the God of light. that obliterates all the
darkness so that you can see the true and acknowledge the
true. That they might come to know you as a total Savior in
every part of your being. After all, that is eternal life. That they would come to know
you in the full scope of your offices as the Savior of sinners. See, it's an increasing, abounding,
ongoing desire that never ends. It never ends! And this internal
dynamic will always prioritize your life. Are you hearing me? He that thirsteth, let him come
to me. Out of his bellies shall flow
rivers of living waters, springing up to everlasting life. That's
what Jesus said. What does that mean? That means
it progresses. It progresses. It progresses. And what that'll do is, it'll
cause you to easily say, I ain't got time for that. I ain't got
time for that. No, not that. I've been there,
done that. That ain't gonna work. No, I
ain't got but 24 hours in the day. Eight of them, I'm sleeping.
Eight of them, I'm working. I got about eight I gotta negotiate.
And my conscious awareness of that eight, I wanna at least
give six of that to God, to the things of God, to the study of
God. Don't know what I'm gonna do with the other two, but I'm
not gonna waste my time and find myself striving at the end. And God's saying, I don't know
you, when I should be striving at the beginning. And when I
get to the door, and the master goes, come on
in and shut the door. It starts off with striving and
it ends with resting. It starts off with striving and
it ends with resting. Oh, what fellowship. Oh, what
joy divine. It ends with resting. It ends
with leaning on Christ. Jacob leaned on his staff at
the end of his journey. It ends with leaning on Christ.
Are you hearing me? It ends with leaning on Christ.
Right now, it's a labor of love. It's a work of faith. It's a
toil for his glory and his honor. It's the way God has chosen to
do this thing. There's only one number that
truly matters. You and I better strive to enter in. Failure is
certain for many. Sorry, there is an expiration
date on the gospel Ceremony and celebration and
church is not the same as believing on him It's not the same as knowing
him It's not the same as wanting to know him Turn with me in your
Bible to Revelation 22 one verse and I'm done. I This is how history closes itself
out. And this is how God speaks to
the joy and the comfort of his people, those who have suffered
in this world, those who have labored in this world, those
who have toiled in this world. And I should read Revelation
chapter 14, 15, verse 14, I believe, 14, verse 15, where it says,
blessed are they that die in the Lord from his for. for their works do follow them. They labored in this life and
entered into rest and their works do follow them. Blessed are they
that die in the Lord. But I want you to hear this verse
and may this verse encourage you and exhort you to press toward
the mark. Verse one through four. And he
showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst
of the street thereof, and on either side of the river, there
was the tree of life. It bared twelve manner of fruit,
yielding her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God, and of the lamb shall be in it. Do you
see it in glory? We will have a sovereign savior
sitting on his sovereign throne who is the sovereign lamb. Now
watch this. And his servants. Shall serve
him. You mean we still got to serve
when we get the glory? Yeah. Lazy. Verse four. And they shall see
his face. Do you see that? It's the reason
he saved you. The reason he made you. The reason
he created you was to see his face. Because there's something
about seeing the face of God that's going to fix every problem
you got. since he made you in his image
and his likeness. When this thing is done and you
finally see him face to face, are you following me? Watch this.
You're going to like what you see because you're going to be
just like him. That's what this labor is all
about. Him restoring you to the image which he had ordained for
you before the world began. When He said, let us make them
in our own image, in our own likeness, and give them dominion
over everything. There's a day coming when that's
going to be a permanent reality for every one of us. Until then,
let us strive to enter in. Amen.