Strive to enter. That's the word that King James
used. It's a good word. Strive to enter through the narrow
door. Our translation says make every
effort and that's a good translation of it. The Greek word that is
there is the word we get or from which we get our word agony.
It was a word that the Greeks used to describe athletic contests. And so it's, we could translate
it, agonized, agonized to enter through the narrow door. And the Lord's words here are
an answer to a rather interesting question. Someone, it says, verse
twenty-three, someone, we don't know who, it wasn't important
who, but someone asked him, Lord, are only a few people going to
be. Now, this is an interesting question,
and I'll be honest with you, I wish I knew the answer. I wish
the scriptures would give us a hint as to the answer, but
you know, they don't. In fact, the scriptures are rather
enigmatic, and even we might use the word ambivalent. Sometimes
it seems a contradictory on this question, because we read in
the book of Revelation about a A multitude no man can number. Now that's a lot of people. We
can count pretty high, can't we? I mean, they're able to count
and know that there's over six billion people in the world today. So we can count pretty high,
and yet Revelation speaks of a multitude that no one numbers
or can number. And yet our Lord said, many are
called, but few are chosen. They said, well, how can you
reconcile that? I can't. I don't know what to
tell you about it. We read there in Matthew seven.
that there is a broad way, a broad gate and a broad way that leads
to destruction. And there's many that find that
and walk that way and go to destruction. And then there is a narrow gate
or a narrow door and a narrow way. And there be few that find
it. So we got a multitude nobody
can number. And we've got few there be that find it. I don't
know. I can't tell you what it's going
to be. This question that was asked
reveals some spiritual understanding on the part of whoever it was
that asked. First of all, it shows that he
understood that men need to be saved. It's remarkable how few
people understand that, isn't it? He says, shall, or are only a
few people going to be saved? He figured that people are in
need of it. The only question was how many
of them are going to be saved. You and I stand in desperate
need of being saved, of being rescued. That word, the word
is normally translated saved, it means to be rescued. It implies
that somebody's in trouble and that they are in trouble beyond
their ability to remedy it. And so someone else must come
and rescue them. And he says, there are only a
few going to be rescued. Whoever asked this question understood
that you and I need to be rescued. Secondly, this man obviously
understood that great theme of all the scriptures, which Jonah
learned down there in the belly of the great fish. It's this
salvation is of the Lord. He knew that men needed to be
saved, and he knew who it was was going to do the saving if
it happened at all. So how can you understand that?
Well, because he asked the Lord about it. He didn't go over to
the seminary of whatever conservative group there was and ask them
the question. He went to the one who was going
to do the saving and asked him, because only such a one as that
would know. Salvations of the Lord. I find
it very odd, and Garen and I were talking this past week, and we
both agreed, we find it odd, from our viewpoint as those that
have been saved by the grace of God, we find it very odd that
people really don't like the message that salvation's of the
Lord. Natural man wants salvation to
be of himself. He wants salvation to come by
his will and his doing and his decisions, not realizing that
the kind of salvation he hopes for is a salvation he can never
have. I'm so glad, aren't you? Salvations
of the Lord from beginning to end. It's His doing. It's His
purpose. It's His will. It's His action
that gets it done. I've noticed that nearly everything
I've tried in this world, I have failed at. And those things,
which I might say I've succeeded at, it's really just been kind
of a mixed thing. Now, if I cannot succeed at the
things of this world, how am I ever going to succeed at the
things of eternal life? Oh, I'm glad somebody else is
doing the saving of my soul. This man understood salvations
of the Lord. Thirdly, he also understood this,
that salvation is for a predetermined and preordained people. Salvation
is not even a venture on God's part. It's not as though God
came down here and said, well, I'm going to do something. I'm
going to see how many people it saves. I'm going to try to
save everybody, and in the end, we'll know how good I was at
salvation because we'll see how many are actually saved. No,
that's not the way it works. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Now, that's
just a description of salvation, being blessed with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But then Paul
goes on to say, "...according as He hath chosen us in Him."
That was the first act of God's grace towards us. Back in the
timeless eternity of His existence, He chose, He ordained who it
is He would save. It was a number known to Him.
The reason it's a multitude no man can number is because the
number is God's number. He ordained them. Now, there are a lot of people
that hear the doctrine of election and they say, well, I guess then
if God's chosen, He's going to save. All I need to do is sit
around and wait and find out if it's me. The scriptures never
talk that way. The scriptures say, salvations
of the Lord from beginning to end. Therefore, seek him with
all your heart. The gate is narrow, so strive
to enter in. Oh, one of Satan's devices in
keeping people from believing Christ, one of his methods of
distracting them from simple faith in Christ is to take a
true doctrine and then apply it the wrong way. Oh, David,
there. He comes to that battlefield
in Goliath, nine or so feet tall, standing there insulting the
people of God and insulting God, challenging any man from Israel
to come and fight Him and let the whole battle be decided by
just those two men fighting. And all those Israelites cringed
in fear at how big Goliath was and they wouldn't fight. And
here comes young David, probably 17, 18 years old, a shepherd
boy. And he comes there and he says,
Well, who's going to fight him? Not me. And he says, well, I will. What? How are you going to do it? Well,
here, wear this armor. He tried to put on Saul's armor.
No, this isn't going to work. Saul was a big man, stood head
and shoulders over everybody else. Wouldn't fit David. David said, I don't need this.
Here. How did David go out there? He said the battle is the Lord's. Now, did that make David say,
well, the battle is the Lord's, so there's no use me doing anything.
The battle's the Lord's, so let's just sit by here and see if he
topples Goliath over. No, David said the battle is
the Lord, and therefore he ran out to meet Goliath with a sling
and five rocks. And for in salvation's of the
Lord, therefore I tell you this day, run forth and lay hold of
it by his grace. And this man that asked the question,
he proved he had some wisdom because he knew not only that
we're in need of salvation and that salvation's of the Lord
and that it's for a predetermined people. He knew that the Lord
knew who those predetermined people are. He says, I didn't come except
for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now, when he said
that, the people who heard him didn't understand who the house
of Israel really is. But he showed, but he did demonstrate
this. He didn't come for everybody. He knew who he was coming for.
The foundation of God stands sure having this seal. The Lord
knows them that are his. Now the Lord knows it. You and
I don't. The Lord wrote it down in eternity.
And you know that high priest, when he would go into the Holy
of Holies each year, he had the names of Israel on the breastplate
and on his hands. He went in there and he represented
them, and Christ came for God's spiritual Israel. He knows who
they are, and I'm glad he does. And he'll find them wherever
they are, and he will save them. So this man, by asking these
questions, revealed that he knew quite a bit about the gospel.
But as interesting as this question might be, and as much wisdom
as it might reveal in the one who asked the question, when
our Lord answered it, he pretty much dismissed the question as
irrelevant. Now think about it. We read there
And this man said, Lord, are only a few people going to be
saved? He said to them, make every effort to enter through
the narrow door. Our Lord never did say, well,
it's going to be a lot of them. Or he didn't say it's just going
to be a handful of them. He never answered the man's question
as it was put to him. Rather, the Lord, as was so common
for him, he answered the question that the man should have asked.
You know, our God is so gracious to us. It says that the Spirit
of God comes to the believer and helps us in our infirmities. And the next line there in Romans
chapter 8 is, because we don't know what we should ask for.
Aren't you glad that the blessings of God are not dependent on your
being able to pray correctly for them? I'm glad that God answers
me with what I need rather than what I ask for. And He often
gives me things I never thought to ask for. The Lord God answers
according to what we should have asked for, and in these questions
on knowledge, he will answer the question we should have asked. Now, those Pharisees, who he
never intended to save, they'd come to him with questions, and
sometimes he'd answer their question exactly as it was put to him. They'd ask him questions on points
of the law. Well, is it all right for a man
to divorce his wife for any reason? And he answered their question,
and let them go on in their legalities, and let them go on with their
silly arguing over finer points of law. But this man, the Lord
dealt graciously with him. He asked an interesting question,
but the Lord answered an important question. And the essence of his answer
is this, whether salvation be for many or for few, you be sure
you're one of them." That's what he told him. That's a condensed
version of his answer. Whether it's going to be a whole
lot of people saved or just a handful, here's what you need to do. You
need to make sure you're one of them. Why else would a man
ask a question like this? but to discern whether or not
he has a good chance or just a slim chance of being saved. I mean, after all, if there's
a hat full of names and, you know, you've gone to the county
fair or whatever, and you put your name in that little box
for some kind of drawing. Now, if on there it says, out
of this hat we're going to draw ten names, And they're going
to win a new refrigerator or something like that. Well, you
think, well, I got a little bit of a chance of winning. If it
says out of this hat, we're going to draw a thousand names that,
wow, I got a good chance then of winning that refrigerator.
But brethren, salvation is not a lottery. Salvation is not God
picking names out of a hat. It's not even you picking names
out of a hat. And laying hold of God's salvation is not just
a matter of sitting around and waiting to see if somebody draws
your name out of a hat. And so for you and me as individuals
in this world, whether God's going to save a lot of people
or just a few of them is utterly irrelevant. The relevant thing
is, what are you doing in response to the gospel? Anytime someone asked the Lord
or the apostles, what must we do to be saved? They never did
say to them, I don't want to do anything. They always told
them to take action in response to the gospel. And our Lord here,
the Lord of salvation, says this, you strive. You give all your
effort to enter in by that narrow gate. Now let's notice five points
in what our Lord has to say, five major points. The first
is this, there is an entering into the kingdom of God. By that
I mean this, that if you are ever to be in the kingdom of
God, there must be a time when you enter it. Because you see,
brethren, nobody is born into it. Now, we tend to be like pendulums
swinging back and forth between extremes of a theological position. And there are some who will make
everything out of the experience of entering the kingdom of God.
And there are others who will make nearly nothing out of it
and say, we don't look for an experience. Well, that's true.
I'm not looking for an experience. I'm looking for Christ. But I am as sure of this as anything. If you are ever to be in the
kingdom of God, there's going to have to come a time when you
enter it. Because you weren't born in it.
You weren't born in it. They couldn't sprinkle you in
it. They can't dunk you into it. The church can't put you
into it. I can't put you into it. Not all the prayers of all
the sons of men praying at one time, ganging up on God, can
put you in it. If you're ever to be in the kingdom
of God, there must be a time when you consciously, from your
heart, enter the kingdom of God. I'm not saying that you'll be
able to know just what time that is. Some people make a big deal
out of that. Well, if you don't know just exactly what time it
was that God saved you, you're not saved. I don't go with that
theory. I can't tell you for sure just
when it was that God first opened my heart to the gospel. I've
had so many religious experiences, I can't tell you which one was
the grace of God. But I'm pretty sure I'm in the
kingdom of God now, and that means sometime I entered in. Kind of like somebody says, when
were you born again? Well, I don't know. But if you ask me, when
were you born? Well, I can tell you, but I can
tell you only because somebody else told me. The only reason
I know I was ever born is because here I am. So there's some people,
they can't point to a time, they can't tell you when God opened
their minds to understand the scriptures and opened their hearts
to receive it by faith. But I know this, if you're ever
to be in the kingdom of God, You must enter it consciously
and with purpose. There's an entering into the
kingdom of God. There is a time when you're out
and then a time when you're in. And there's no such thing as
being halfway between. Sometimes people trying to keep
the theology all nice and straight. I'm talking about even some of
the great writers whose writings have been a great benefit to
the church, but they'll in trying to explain things, they invent
states of grace that do not exist. They talk about morning centers.
As though this is an elevated state of grace over just a plain
center, but not quite a safe center, my friend, there is no
intervening point between being in the kingdom or between being
out of the kingdom and being in it. We don't pass from death
to life gradually. I mean, there is no middle ground
between death and life, is there? There is no middle ground between
darkness and light. Darkness is the absence of light.
When there's light, be it ever so dim a light. When there's
light, it's not darkness. There is no middle ground between
the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God's dear Son. And
our Lord says here, strive to enter. And I tell you this morning,
strive to enter. Secondly, that's the first point,
there is an entering into the kingdom of God. Secondly, this
entering is through a gate. which is Christ. Christ and Christ alone. Now, there is a gate called Christ
that opens to the broad road of destruction. You say, well,
now how can that be? Because it's a gate with the
name of Christ on it, but it's Christ plus. And that's what
makes the gate so wide. It's a big, wide gate because
there's room for Christ and other stuff. And it doesn't matter
what other stuff it is, friends. You add something to Christ,
you might as well forget Christ altogether. That's what Paul
says. If ye be circumcised, Christ profits you nothing. Now do you
honestly believe that? That if you try to add anything,
whether it be some kind of ceremony like circumcision or baptism,
or if it be some moral work on your part, or some ecstatic experience
on your part, you add to Christ, you make Christ of none effect
to you. Nonetheless, on the broad road that leads to destruction,
there is a gate that says Christ on it. But the narrow gate has
not only the word Christ upon it, but Christ alone. And it's
that word alone that makes all the difference between death
and life, between darkness and light. between the broad way
that leads to destruction and the narrow way that leads to
eternal life. There are many who will gladly
take the name of Christ upon them, who will take the name
Christian to them, and they loudly and proudly declare that they
are Christians. But if you could see in their
hearts, Christ is not all that's in there. In fact, it's simply
a name of Christ that's in there, not the person. But this narrow
door is so very narrow that you can't go through with
anything of your own. Brother Maurice Montgomery, I
heard him preach on this text of Scripture one time. There
was an article he wrote. I can't remember for sure. But he says
you can't go through there with your parents. There's just room. It's just wide enough for a sinner. You can't go through there with
your church. He says you can't even go through
there clothed with your own righteousness. There's just room for you, a
naked sinner. In my hands no price I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee. for dress,
wretched come to thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly. Save me, Jesus, or I die." Oh,
this is a narrow road. That's why people don't like
it. And that's why people don't find
it. It's not because it can't be
seen, it's because they're not looking for it. It says there
shall be many who want to enter, but won't be able to. Enter what? The kingdom of God. And why won't
they be able to? For two reasons. Number one,
they tried to enter through the broad gate. Well, everybody wants to go to
heaven. Everybody wants to have their sins, even if they only
perceive there's a few of them. We all want our sins forgiven.
Everybody wants to have the blessing of God. That's why religion is
everywhere. But they try to get into the
kingdom of God by the wrong door. And you cannot get to the right
destination by taking the wrong road. Many people won't enter in by
the narrow door because they recognize that they can't take
anything through with them. They realize if they enter through
that door, there are many things about what they are that can't
go through with them. They realize in all likelihood
they're going to be leaving family behind because family is too
busy on the broad road that leads to destruction. They might realize
that all kinds of relationships are going to be broken by this.
And this is why we've got to strive at it. This is why it
takes so much work. It does involve sacrifice, not
a sacrifice to put away sin, but the soul-wrenching sacrifice
of being willing to give up everything in order to have the Lord Jesus
Christ. Maybe that's one of the reasons
a lot of people don't have Christ. He comes at too high a cost for
them. They perceive that the things of this life and the joys
of this life are just too high a price to pay to have Him. And, of course, that shows what
fools they are, because they highly esteem the things of this
world and only put a low estimation upon the Lord Jesus Christ. They
have no understanding of what it is to love and be loved by
Him. And oh, they make a wretched
and foolish decision, like Esau who sold his birthright for a
bowl of soup. They won't go through the narrow
door because they realize they're
going to be stripped of everything if they do. Oh, what a narrow door. We must
strive to enter through that door. We must agonize and make
every effort if it's ever going to be done. Friends, salvation
is had without works. What does the scripture mean
by that? It means when the scriptures
say that we are saved by grace without works, it means that
we don't do anything that merits us our salvation. But it is equally
true that salvation is never had without labor. So what do
you mean? Well, listen to the scriptures.
Labor to enter that rest. Strive to enter through the narrow
gate. You see, the labor, the work is primarily this. Refusing,
now think on this, I know this sounds a little bit unusual,
but the work of faith, is in its first application to lay
aside all those works we thought would bring us eternal life.
You know, that's the hardest thing for a man to get rid of. You've been to the airport, maybe,
if you've flown here since 9-11, if you've flown in an airport.
Last time I went through, when I flew down to Houston last time,
we're all standing in line. Man, you've got to take off your
shoes and take off your belt. You know, and then you think,
man, I better hang on to my britches, you know, because you don't want
to happen. I turned around and said to somebody, you know, one of these days we're
going to walk in the airport. They're going to hand us a bathrobe and
say, you go in the next room there and you come out with nothing
but that bathrobe. But you've got to put everything
on the belt, you know, take off your belt, your shoes and out
your wallet and all this kind of stuff. Put it on that belt
that'll go through the X-ray machine. And then you can walk
through that gate, that metal detector thing, and get to the
other side. And that's kind of like the narrow
gate spoken of here. You can't take anything extra
through there. And we must strive because it's
hard to let go of the things we have. Oh, how we love our possessions,
whether they be material possessions or if they be what we think are
spiritual possessions, our high reputation. What'd Paul say?
He says, if anybody had a right to boast in the flesh, I more.
Boy, I was a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents. I was circumcised on
the eighth day. I'm from the tribe of Benjamin,
that feisty tribe, ready to fight all the time. He said, concerning
zeal, I was a Pharisee, as touching that righteousness which comes
by obedience to the law. He said, I was blameless. Nobody
could lay anything on me. But then he goes on and says,
but that which I counted to be an advantage, I now count to
be a liability. He said, God made me willing
to give up everything and go through that door naked. To go through that door, nothing
but a sinner in need. Oh, my friend, can you do that?
Can you be nothing more than a sinner? Oh, I'm a repenting
sinner. Sorry, this door's not for you.
What? Don't you have to have repentance?
Oh, every sinner that goes through that door is repenting, but he
isn't going through that door as a repenting sinner. He's just
going through as a sinner. That's all. In repentance, he
goes through as nothing but a sinner. Oh, but I'm mourning over my
sin. Well, when you're done mourning, thinking that your mourning is
going to impress God, and when you're nothing but a sinner in
need, go through that door. It'll be big enough for you then. Well, I'm seeking. Isn't it amazing
what people will put up? The moment you tell them to go
in with nothing, they'll tell you something about themselves.
Like that woman a year or so ago, we insulated her house and
just before we left, she found out I was a preacher. And so,
of course, as soon as they find out you're a preacher, they got
to give you their boast. And they said, well, I don't
go to church much, but I still say my prayers. You should have
just left it, I don't go to church much. I say my prayers. She's a sweet lady and I don't
want to make too much fun of her, but you know what? It just
shows you. that no matter how nice you are in this world, no
matter how good you may be in your personality and everything,
still spiritually dead and don't understand the things of God, all you must strive to give up
your righteousness. I could list many more things,
but that's the big one. That's the big one. We've got
to strive to give up our righteousness. There's a strife in it because
there's a lot of our friends and family on the broad road
that leads to destruction. And they're kind of holding us
back. They're saying, what's wrong with this road? I walked on this
road and my daddy before me walked on this road and my daddy before
him walked on this road. You think it's not good enough
for you? That's a hard one, you know that? The people on the broad road
seem to be having more fun. You go to their churches and
they got a band. And they got all kinds of programs to be interested
in so that you keep yourself all cranked up and all psyched
up for religion. A lot of hoopty-doo goes on over
there on the broad road. Narrow road. In fact, I'll give you a little
preview here. That narrow road, when it talks about a narrow
gate, In a narrow road, it's not the same word both times.
The one about the narrow way means tribulation, trouble. Oh, it's tough. In fact, it's
so tough no man can do it naturally. God must make him do it. Fourthly, the way is as narrow as the door. For the door and the way are
the same. Christ. The way into the kingdom
of God is Christ. The way to the kingdom is Christ. The way to enter eternal life
is Christ. The way to live eternal life
in this world is Christ. It's a small door allowing only
you through it. One thing about it, when you
go through the airport thing, you know, you put your stuff on a conveyor
belt, and once you go through, you get it all back. It's a little
different going through this door. You give up everything
that's yours, and you never get it back. But here's one beautiful
thing about it. You go through that door naked,
and the moment you're on the other side, God clothes you in
a robe of glorious righteousness, God's righteousness, worked out
by Jesus Christ and given to us by the grace of God. We go
through the door naked, but we don't walk the way naked. We
walk the way clothed in Christ. And all that stuff we put on
a conveyor belt, that conveyor went over to the dump. And it's
gone and never coming back. And anybody that's ever gone
through the door and walks on the way says, you know, everything
I gave up was nothing and everything I gained is everything. Walking the way involves much
strife and agony, just as much as entering through the gate. In Acts chapter 14, verse 22,
Paul is quoted as telling the churches, it is only through
much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God. And the word
translated tribulation there is the same word when it says
the way is narrow, full of tribulation. You might say to yourself, oh,
it just seems like it's so hard. Well, then maybe you're on the
right way. When it gets easy, get worried. When there's no
longer any strife, get worried. When you no longer struggle with
sin, my friends, you haven't become righteous. You're probably
lost. When sin no more is a trouble
to you, when you can no longer be tempted, Well, you know, if
a believer really gets spiritual, he can't be tempted. I'll tell
you, the more spiritual you get, the more sensitive to temptation
you'll become. The more with single purpose
you try to follow the Lord, the more with single purpose will
Satan try to obstruct your path. Oh, that's why I guess Paul said,
we glory. in our troubles. Why? They are
a witness to us that we're on the right way. It's only through
these many troubles and difficulties that we enter the kingdom of
God. I don't want to scare you, but the life of faith is not
easy. It's wonderful. It's great. I don't want to go
any other way than the way I'm going. But I'll tell you now,
it's tough. In all likelihood, friends, if
it's not tough, you're on the wrong road. If it doesn't require
purpose of heart on your part, if it doesn't involve striving
and struggling, you're on the wrong road. The broad road that
leads to destruction, you can wander around anywhere you want.
You're walking with a whole gang of people. And everybody's having
fun, and it's all good, so it seems. But there is help. Walking this
way, there is help. Why don't you turn with me to
Isaiah 30? Take one minute to make a point
that I skipped over when I said when the Lord said there's many
that will want to enter and won't be able to. There was another
reason, not only because they were unwilling to go through
the narrow door, but they frittered away the day of grace. Now, so long as you are alive,
I have hope for you. But I also know this, there are
people walking the earth today. And God will never speak to them
again. Now, I know that everything has already been decided in the
timeless eternity of God's existence, but you and I don't live there.
We live in this moment-by-moment succession called time. Esau despised his birthright,
and he never got the opportunity to get it back again. Never. And that's what our Lord said
to those Jews, because it was going to happen to the Jewish
nation. Christ came to them, and that was their day of opportunity,
so to speak. And instead, they crucified him.
And even then, God gave a whole generation of opportunity to
repent, and they did not. And so God came in there with
a Roman army and destroyed the Jewish nation. And he says, understand
this, many that were first shall be last. Who were the first?
Well, the gospel went to the Jew first. But they're going
to come up last. There'll be a few of them, remnant
according to the election of grace. But then he says, many
who are last shall be first. Who's the last? That's us Gentiles.
There's going to be a bunch of them. You Jews thought they'd
never be saved. But they're going to sit down
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and eat at the feast of the kingdom
of God. Don't you be like the Jews. You've been given the opportunity
to hear the gospel. Don't fritter away the day of
grace. But now let's bring back here
on that. We're on the way. The way of life, it's a difficult
way, but there is help. There are the promises of Scripture
to encourage us along the way. Promises such as our Lord said,
strive to enter. You said there's a lot of strife
in the way I'm going. Well, then you're probably on
the right way. At least that gives you a little encouragement.
When there's no strife, then you can worry. And there's promises
such as this, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. He that trusts in him will never
be put to shame. Come to me, all you that are
weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest. Got all these
promises in the scriptures to sustain us through the difficulties
of the way. Secondly, there are brethren,
in particular, those that preach the gospel to help us. Look at
Isaiah chapter 30, verse 20. Although the Lord gives you the
bread of adversity and the water of affliction, the way is narrow. Your teachers will be hidden
no more. With your own eyes, you will
see them. You know, here's one of the most
foolish things a man can do. Profess to believe the Lord Jesus
Christ, begin on that way, begin to face some trouble and everything,
and then withdraw themselves from the assembly of the saints
and from the preaching of the gospel. My friends, if the way
is difficult, then pour on the coal of listening. Listen to those who preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For although your way be hard,
their voice will be to you a confirmation that you're on the right road. But withdraw from it or give
only slight attention to the preaching of the Word and no
telling what will become of you. But there's something even greater,
something more important and more blessed. Verse 31. Excuse me, 21 of Isaiah 30. Whether you turn to the right
or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,
this is the way. Walk ye in it. And that's the voice of God. We're not on our own in this
thing. Now maybe some of you have never
even entered through the narrow gate, but you're hearing the
gospel. And you know, you think about
it and you say, you know, this is right. This is the way. This is the right door to eternal
life. I know it. I can tell it. But if I take it, there's a lot
of things I love that are going to be left behind. The Lord says, this is the door. Walk through it. Today, says
the apostle, or said the prophet and the apostle preached, Quoted
it, today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. And
I tell you this day, if you've never entered through that gate, listen to the voice of God. Say,
this is the door. You know it's the right one.
Enter in. And for those of you who are
on the way, You've entered the door, at least you believe you
have. You're walking away, at least you believe you are. But
it's tough. It's requiring a lot of, or bringing
upon you, troubles you didn't foresee. And really, you're tempted
to leave. You can hear the noise and clamor
over on that other road. Or you can hear the quiet of
not being on any road at all. and you want to give up. And you just like to go ahead
and say, you know, I just want to live my life as a non-religious
person and just make my bread and maybe pile up a lot for my
retirement and just kind of ease my way into the grave and be
no more. This is just too hard. Then I
ask you, listen to the voice of God in the gospel who says
to you today, this is the way. This is the narrow road that
leads to eternal life. Don't give up. Don't abandon
ship. Walk this road. For all its strife,
it is the road of life. May God Bless this word to our
benefit.