Ralph Barnard used to advise
preachers always to preach as though the folks you're preaching
to are all going to hell right now. That's good advice. wrote to the Corinthians after
he spoke concerning the immortality of our souls, eternity, and judgment. He said, knowing therefore the
terror of the Lord, we persuade men. May God now persuade you, by
his almighty grace, to believe on his dear son. I don't pretend
to have any ability to know who is saved and who is not as far
as looking at a man. I've had folks ask me, do you
believe so-and-so is saved? I don't know. I have a little
problem. I can't see what's in his heart.
And I refuse to make a judgment concerning that. I do know, I
do know that salvation involves believing the gospel of God's
grace, not religious notions, but the gospel of God's grace,
and no one saved who doesn't believe it. But I'm not talking
to folks tonight who do not at least profess to believe the
gospel of God's grace. The facts, the doctrine, But
I am fully convinced, more and more convinced every day, that
most religious people are lost. Most of them. Most of the people I preach to
throughout this country, I'm fully convinced, know nothing
of the grace of God. Or as Peter said, still in the
gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. You see, professed
Christianity, professed faith, by and large, in our day, is
nothing akin to Christianity, and nothing akin to faith. Either that or I don't know what
either is. One of the two. One of the two. I hear folks
talking, you know, well he's such a fine Christian. He's such
a good Christian. She's dating a fine Christian
boy, he's dating a good Christian girl. We use the term too loosely. Too loosely. It's not as easy as you might
suppose. to find one who truly knows the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not hard to find religious
folks. You go out to dinner, you can't hardly sit down on
Sunday afternoon, and then you rest night and day. You're not
going to hear folks talking about religion. But there are few who
trust Christ. Few who know who He is. Few who
know what He did and what He's doing. Few who are committed
to Him. Few. who love the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is what the Spirit of
God says, if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him
be anathema, let him be damned, the Lord's coming. God's elect,
contrary to popular opinion, are not found everywhere. Some
of you, I am sure, are yet without Christ. I say that because I know, according
to scripture, in every assembly there are both sheep and goats,
wheat and tares, no exceptions, no exceptions. And in the last day, multitudes,
multitudes, multitudes of religious people who lived in a profession
of religion with full assurance of salvation. I mean full assurance. Absolutely. That's what they
say. They wouldn't bat an eye to think
about it. Yes, sir, I know what I'm saying.
I was there when it happened. They'll stand before Jesus Christ,
the judge, and he will say to them, depart from me. I never
knew you. And they will be cast forever
into the torments of the damned. Our Lord Jesus puts it this way.
Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. He that doeth the will of my
Father. This is the Father's will that
you believe on His Son. That's His will. And that's what
He's talking about. He's not talking about a person
who obeys this commandment or that or obeys this thing or that.
That's talking about faith. He said, doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day.
This is hard to imagine. It's hard to imagine. Folks, go through life. with a delusion,
a delusion with which they are so confident that when the Son
of God says, Depart from me, ye cursed, they will say, But
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name
have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful
works? And then I will profess unto
them, I never knew you. depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. He's talking about people who
believed the truth about him. People who professed faith in
him. He's talking about people who
stood where I stand now and preached in his name. People who performed
miracles in his name. People who performed many wonderful
works in his name. They had perfect peace. complete
confidence, absolute assurance that they were saved, born of
God, heirs of heaven, and eternal glory, that they were lost without
God, without Christ. That's the background with which
I prepared this message. I pray God will give me your
heart's attention. Let's look at Luke 13 and verse
24. The Master says, Strive to enter
in at the straight gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in. and shall not be able." Now,
let's make neither more nor less of this solemn exhortation than
our Lord means by it. And the best way for us to do
that is to determine its meaning within the context. So let me
show you four things, and I won't be long in doing it, but I pray
that they will be as barbed arrows shot to your heart by God himself. First, our Lord gave this exhortation
in answer to a remarkable question. The Master had been preaching
in Luke 13 about the necessity of repentance and faith in him. He had been preaching about the
necessity of men and women turning to God by faith in him, turning
from their gods and their notions about God to him, turning from
their religious deadness to him in whom is life everlasting. And he had given an example of
what faith is, teaching the nature of faith. They said faith has
the nature of mustard seed or leaven. It begins small, but
it grows and spreads and permeates the whole man. Like a little
leaven in a bit of meal, a bit of flour, it just spreads through
the whole thing. It seems so insignificant, but
it gradually consumes the whole man. And then someone asked the
Savior this question. Look at verse 23. Lord, are there
few that be saved? Lord, are you telling us that
not all faith is faith? That not all repentance is repentance?
That not all religion is true? That not all who profess to know
you know you? Are there few that be saved?
Now, we don't really know who asked the question. It might
have been one of the self-righteous Pharisees. It may have been some
curious spectator who was just popping off. That sure happens. Perhaps, however, it was asked
by one of the Lord's disciples, who suddenly realized the impact
of what he was saying. Very often you'll be reading
the scriptures, or I or someone else will be preaching the gospel
to you, and suddenly it just hits you. That's what that's
saying. That's what that meant. And somebody
said, Lord, are there few that be saved? Or as they had asked
before concerning the rich young ruler, who then can be saved?
Now this is a fact which we most naturally try to avoid. But it
is a fact. Turn over to Matthew 7 for a
moment. There are few in any generation,
few at any time, who are saved. Few. Few. Our Lord says in Matthew 7, 14,
Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life everlasting. It ain't near as broad as you
think. Not near as wide as you think. Straight and narrow. It's not
talking about straight-laced and narrow-minded. That's what
religion makes of it. It's talking about a small, straight,
constricted, tight gate and a narrow, narrow way. So straight, there's
just one gate. So narrow, there's just one way.
And that gate is Jesus Christ the Lord. And that way is Christ
the way. That's all. No other gate, no
other way. In Matthew 22.14, our Lord says,
For many are called, but few are chosen. So that's a fact. There are few who live by faith,
few who know Christ, few committed to Christ, few who do not love
this world, few who love the Son of God. And then secondly,
our Lord gives this sobering exhortation, and a very sobering
exhortation it is. He says here in verse 24 of Luke
13, strive to enter in at the straight
gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter in, and shall not be able." The word strive means
agonize, toil, labor, fervently seek. It even means fight to
enter in. It's a big word. To fight to enter in. to enter
into the straight gate. And that word straight, as I
said a moment ago, means narrow, constricted, contracted, close
gate. And our Lord is here showing
us what our responsibility is. It is your responsibility and
mine. Listen to me now. It is your
responsibility and mine to believe on the Son of God. Our concern in this matter must
be pretty selfish. That's exactly right. Our concern
must not be what others do, or even what happens to others.
It is our responsibility, yours and mine, to seek the Lord for
ourselves, whether anyone else does or not. The indecision of other people
will not excuse you when you stand before God. We must never follow the multitudes. It is strange you have to teach
adults that, folks our age. Never follow the multitudes.
When our daughter was growing up, started school, I tried my
best to instill that in her. Honey, you've got two choices
in life. Two choices. You can either fall
in behind other folks and try to keep up with them and do what
they do and live in utter frustration all your life, or you can know
and determine what is right and what is best and go that way,
whether anybody else goes along or not, and say, come follow
me if you will. and live in peace all your life. But you will never find peace
following the multitudes. And in spiritual things, that
is indescribably more true. We must never hope to go to heaven
with the crown. If we must go to glory alone,
God give us grace to go alone. If we follow Christ alone, And
all others perish if they insist on perishing. We must go alone. Don't you care about others?
Oh yes. I care about you. I care about
you. I care about your soul. But in this business of salvation,
Bob Duff, it's your business to make your calling and election
sure. Make sure whether Mary Lou knows
anything about it or not. It's my responsibility to make
sure whether Shelby knows anything about it or not. Make your calling
and election sure. Strive to enter in. We simply must not go all in
unbelief. Folks say, well, I can't do anything
about it unless God draws me. I can't come. I understand and
I believe the doctrine of man's total depravity and God's absolute
predestination and divine election and Christ's limited effects
of atonement. And I know that I cannot come
to God unless he calls me. So I'll just kind of wait and
see what happens. You're playing games with God
Almighty, what you're doing. playing games with things that
are sacred and ought to be reverenced rather than toyed with your battering
back and forth. I must strive to enter in. This is what our Lord says, the
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. What on earth does that mean?
What does that mean? Let's suppose, let's just suppose,
that you've been several days with nothing to
drink. Several days. Take it three days. That's about as far as you're
going to get. Nothing to drink. And you're sitting here in this
hot, hot, hot place, sun beating down on you. And you're just
about to die because you've had nothing to drink. And you walk
in here and see that glass of ice cold water sitting there. And you sit back and say, well I don't
know whether that poured for me or not. I wonder whose water that is.
I wonder if it would be alright if I took just a little sip.
No, no. If I was standing here, holding
this glass, and it wasn't glass, but it was steel, and it was
welded to my hand, and it's behind iron bars, you'd die trying to
get to it. Because you've got to have it.
That's what Christ is to your soul. The kingdom of heaven suffers
violence, and the violent takes it by force. I've got to have
him, else I die. And I ain't gonna die when water's
to be had. I ain't gonna die when water's
to be had. I'm not gonna perish while there's hope of life. Oh no, oh no. You need life. Have you got to have the Son
of God? I mean, got to have Him? Come and drink. It's just that simple. And it's
your responsibility. You see, our responsibility before
God, that for which we are responsible,
has nothing to do with either our ability or God's predestination. Our responsibility is what God
Almighty commands in his word. And this is his commandment,
believe on his side. And you know what I mean? I suspect,
now I'll let you be the judge how sound it is, but I suspect,
I suspect that the sheriff up here with the issue of summons
with my name on it and send one of his deputies out here and
say you are commanded at 10 o'clock Monday morning April 28th to
be in the courthouse. I would just sort of presume
it would be alright for me to be there. I would just sort of
presume. He intends and it's alright if
I go. Will you hear me? It's alright
for you to come and drink. It's alright for you to come
and eat the bread of life. It's alright for you to come
and take the cup of salvation from the hand of God Almighty! He commands you to do it. Thirdly,
our Lord next sits before us this very plain and serious warning. Verse 25. He says, Strive to enter in. Now, when once the master of
the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, and ye begin to
stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord,
open to us, then he shall answer, and saying to you, I know you
not, which are ye? Now, will you hear Oh, if I could draw in your heart
and in your mind a picture of heaven, I can. Because the Spirit of
God did. You can read it in Revelation
chapter 4. John was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And the Holy
Spirit called him up to heaven. And he said, Behold, a door open
in heaven. And entering in through the door,
he saw God the Lamb sitting on His throne, and the covenant,
all the glory and majesty of God. But the first thing he saw,
the first thing he saw was a door is open. Will you hear me? Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, has opened the door of heaven for guilty
sinners, whereby guilty sinners may freely, readily enter in
through his blood. The door is open. But it ain't
always going to be open. The long and short of our Lord's
statement is this. There is a day coming. when the
forbearance of God shall come to an end. He declares, My spirit
shall not always thrive with me." What on earth does that mean?
You know, I think it's time we start taking Scripture to mean
just exactly what it sounds like it means. That's what it means.
You can make what you want of what I'm saying. Men can argue
and debate about it for the rest of their lives. I'm sure I'll
hear from somebody who reads this tape and they'll charge
me with rank Arminianism, and I honestly don't have one care
about their opinion. I have no interest in the wranglings
of men about theology sitting in their easy chairs debating
the things of God while multitudes perish under the wrath of God.
I know this. There's a day appointed. By God
Almighty, when the door of mercy, which has been open for so long,
will be shut, never to be opened again, and my cares for your
soul, I bid you strive to enter in, because the door will be
shut. There comes a time, I wouldn't
attempt to say when, Somebody come to me and say, Preacher,
you reckon I've passed that time? I wouldn't begin to imagine such
a presumption. But I know this, there comes
a time when men and women cannot be saved. Even while they live, they're
dead. As surely damned as if they were
in hell already. I'm going to be questioning something. God's Spirit in the days of Noah
for a hundred and twenty years, through the preaching of righteousness
by God's servant Noah, God's Spirit strove with men. All Spirit of God speak through
this man now to the hearts of men! but I want to always speak
to you. I want to always do it. And then
the day came when God said to Noah, all right, get in the ark.
And he shut him in. And the door was shut and nobody
had died yet. Rains hadn't fallen yet. It wasn't
a cloud in the sky. It wasn't a bolt of lightning.
It wasn't a clap of thunder. Noah was brought in the door
as soon as the rains began to fall. And folks saw what they'd
never seen before. But Noah said, it's coming. Then
they began to beat on the door. And there was no opening the
door. Turn to Proverbs 1. Let's see if that's what the
book says. So a preacher, how does all that
apply to me? Here's how God applies it to
you. How long, you simple ones, you
foolish, ignorant, dumb ones? That's the language. That's the position you're in
as long as you fight God. How long, you simple ones, will
you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their
scorning, and fools hate knowledge. How long? Turn you at my reproof. Behold, I will." Is that what
he said? Is that what he said? Turn you
at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my Spirit
unto you. I will make known my words unto
you. Turn to me. I'll pour out my
Spirit on you and you'll understand what I'm doing. Because I've
called and you refused. Because I stretched out my hand. I stretched out my hand. Come
on. Come on. Come on. I stretched out my hand. Come
on. I stretched out my hand. And no man regarded. But you said it not, all my counsel. You decided that everything I
said to you was meaningless. And with none of my reproof,
you decided that my reproof was meaningless. Now notice how verse
24 began, because. Now look at verse 26. Because
this is what you've done. God's judgment is always the
result of what you've done. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh as desolation,
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and
anguish cometh upon you, then shall they call upon thee, but
I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find thee. For that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Here I sit before you, life and death, knowledge and
everlasting ignorance, the way, Christ the Lord, and the way
that appears right to a man. And every one of you are going
to make a choice right now. I believe I'll take life and
understanding and knowledge in Christ. Now, I'm going to walk
my way. That's what it says. You did
not choose the fear of the Lord. But they would none of my counsel,
they despised all my recruit. Therefore, when you go to hell,
you shall eat the fruit of your own way, and be filled with your
own devices. And you'll spend eternity learning,
that's the fact. Agonizing, that I'm here because
I spit in God's face all my life. And said, no, I won't let you. Strive to enter in now while
you may. While the door is open before
you. Because one of these days God Almighty is going to shut
the door. And you're not going to enter
in. Fourthly, our Lord assures us that there is a day of reckoning
and righteous judgment. Now I'll be honest with you.
I don't even have an interest as to when that day's coming.
I don't even have an interest. And you'd be wise not to have
one. Folks, write books and debate and divide up and create new
denominations over which one's right about when the Lord's coming.
You just be dead sure of this. He's coming. And you're going
to meet God in judgment. You're going to meet God Almighty. in the face of his darling son
sitting on his throne in judgment. Then shall they begin to say,
when the door has been shut, We have eaten and drunk in thy
presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. For he shall
say, I tell you, I know you not. Where you come from, which you
are, depart from me, all workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. When's that going to come? Whatever
hell is. Oh my God, whatever hell is. weeping, gnashing of teeth, when
you see. And you will see. Forever you
will see. Forever you will perceive. In the kingdom of God, you will
see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom
of God, and yourselves thrust out, eating the fruit of your
own way. And they shall come from the
east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the
south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. You're going
to see all the host of God's elect, sitting in glory, round
the throne, with Christ the Lord, enjoying the bliss of everlasting
blessing, in the presence of God, in perfect righteousness
and peace. Forever. And behold, there are
the last which shall be first, and the
first which shall be last. I don't know what all that means.
I suspect it means something like what John Newton said. He
said, when I get to heaven, I'm sure I will behold three wonders. The first will be that there
will be a great many people who are not there that I thought
sure wouldn't be there. And the second will be that there
will be a great many people I thought would never be there who are
there. But the greatest wonder of all will be that old John
Newton will be there. The last you'd ever expect, he's
going to be there. by the self-righteous Pharisee
and religious workmonger that everybody presumes is so good
he couldn't possibly miss heaven if Christ himself did. He'd cast out. These verses plainly
reveal the fact that many who thought themselves saved will
find themselves under the wrath of God. Their profession, their
experiences, their feelings, their doctrine, their knowledge,
their works will all prove but fires to torment their souls
forever. And all men will see what's right when it's
too late. Hell is a place where truth is known. too late. But in the last day, believers
shall receive the full reward of eternal glory. Now, in this
whole passage, the Lord is making an allusion to the ancient marriage
feast. They were customarily held at
night. When a person was having a marriage feast, it would be
like one of our great parties, when a man is preparing for his
daughter's wedding, and they're going to invite all the family
and guests in, their friends and relatives are going to invite
them all in, and they send out invitations. And in the big house
up on the hill, all the house, every room in the house is lit
up, porch lights are on, doors are open, and the guests would
come with an invitation in hand. And the porter would stand at
the gate. And he'd see the invitation, and he'd walk on in, come on
in. And then when all the guests
for whom the marriage feast was provided were inside, the porter
would shut the gate and join the party. And those who were in were enlightened,
and those who were out We're in outer darkness. Just darkness. Knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord, we persuade men. For you see, God was in Christ
Reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them. What a wonder! God Almighty chose
sinners from the four corners of the earth, out of every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue, and said, I will not impute their
trespasses unto them. Rather, I'll send my darling
son to be one of them. and I'll impute their trespasses
to him. And he's committed to us this
word of reconciliation. Nailing it. We are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us. What a word, Lindsay. As though
God Almighty did plead with sinners. through these lips of clay, as
though God Almighty did stretch out His hands and say, Come on
in. Come and welcome at the throne
of grace, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
name be you reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin
for us, whom you know sin. That we, who are nothing but sin, might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Have it. We beseech you. Receive not the grace of God
in vain. Don't hear this message in vain.
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation. Come right where you are. Don't
mutter a word. Don't move your lips. Don't move
your feet. Don't raise your hand. Don't
even say a prayer. Right where you are right now.
Come to Christ. And I promise you, upon authority
of this book, upon authority of this book, I promise you,
as God's ambassador, I promise you, you come to Christ, and
you'll find yourself welcome at the throne of grace. Refuse, and you'll find yourself
forever in outer darkness. Amen. That's the same idea, mind
you.