When the man asked in verse 23,
Lord, are there few that be saved? And it's literally that are being
saved. Are there few that are being
saved? Now, which of us have not asked
this question? You see, God's people upon the
earth at any given time has always been a minority, according to
the scriptures. It's actually represented as
a remnant, a very small number. And you look at the scriptural
examples we have, the ark. How many people were saved when
God flooded the earth? Eight. What about Sodom and Gomorrah? God said he would spare that
city if there were 10 righteous men there. and there weren't
10 to be found. Elijah thought he was the only
one left. He said, Lord, I only am left alone and they seek my
life. But the Lord said, I've yet reserved to myself 7,000
men that have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. And it
comforts me to know that the Lord has always reserved his
7,000. But the man asked this question,
are there few that are being saved? Salvation is in the present,
it's because of something in the past, and it's gonna end
in something in the future. If I'm being saved, it's because
I've been saved. If I'm being saved, I will be
saved. And this man, by his observation,
seemed to think that there were only a few saved. Lord, are there
few that be saved? And you know, salvation is something
you can see. Now, I know not infallibly. You can't look at me and tell
whether or not I'm saved, and I can't look at you and tell
whether or not you're saved. But if someone's saved, it's
gonna leak out on them. I think of Barnabas coming and
seeing the grace of God in Acts chapter 11. He saw the grace
of God. I think of Paul saying to the
Thessalonians, knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. There's something he saw, there's
something that he heard that made him say, I know your election
of God. This fellow was looking around
and said, Lord, are there few being saved? It seems that way.
We don't see much. Are there few that be saved? And I love the Lord's answer
to him in verse 24. You strive to enter in at the
straight gate. You don't need to worry about
whether there are many or there are few. You need to worry about
yourself. You strive to enter in at the
straight gate. That's what I've entitled this
message, You Strive to Enter. Now, look what he goes on to
say. You strive to enter in that straight
gate. For many, I say unto you, will
seek to enter and shall not be able. Straight means very narrow. You strive to enter in through
this very narrow gate. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
7 for a moment. The Lord says in verse 13, enter ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leads to destruction. And many there be which go in
thereat, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Now
in those two verses that I just read, we read of two gates, two
ways, two crowds, and two destinations. We read of a very narrow gate,
and a very wide gate. We read of a very narrow road,
and we read of a very wide road. We read of a small crowd and
we read of a large crowd, depicted by the words few and many. And we read of two different
destinations, one called destruction and the other called life. Now this wide gate It's easy
to get in. Just repeat after me this prayer
and you'll be saved. ABC, acknowledge, believe, and
confess. Ask Jesus into your heart. And
this road is extremely wide. There are many on this road. And the road is so wide because
there's many ways to destruction. Pick your poison. You know, you
can be a Republican or a Democrat on this road. You can be conservative
or liberal on this road. It's wide. There's plenty of
room. You can be pro-life or pro-choice. These are the hot
topics of our day. You can be against gay marriages
or you can be for gay marriages and be on this wide road that
leads to destruction. You can be religious or you can
be non-religious. You can be an atheist or you
can be a theist. An atheist, somebody who doesn't
believe in God, a theist, someone who does. You can be a Calvinist
or you can be an Armenian. There's plenty of room on this
wide road. You can be moral or you can be
a profligate. You can be Protestant. You can
be Catholic. You can be Baptist. You can be
Buddhist. There's plenty of room on this
road. This gate is very wide. It encompasses a lot of people. And the road is very wide. And there's a huge crowd filing
through this wide gate, walking down this wide road. And the
great majority of them think they are on the road to heaven. Well, I don't want to be in this
crowd, do you? You know, when I read passages of scripture
like this, it scares me. It scares me. I remember last
time I preached from this passage in Matthew chapter 7, Wilma Warner
came up to me and said, I'm afraid I'm not saved. And that's generally our reaction
when we read these words of our Lord. when he talks about saying
to some, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you.
Wouldn't it be horrible to hear those words from the Lord? These people don't have a clue
that they're on the road to destruction. They feel secure. After all,
there's strength in numbers. Could so many people be wrong?
I read the paper just this morning where someone was talking about
if you have a hard time to pray, start praying in tongues. He
said, hey, there's 500 million Pentecostals. Could that many
people be wrong? It could help. And then there is the straight
gate. so narrow that you can only get
through naked. If you have anything in excess,
any works you think that recommend you, any experience that you're
trusting in that makes you think you're saved, you cannot enter. This gate is very narrow. And the road is very narrow and
the word simply means straightened or anguish. Anguish. It's filled with trouble. It's not easy. I'm called upon
on this road to deny myself. What's a hard thing to do, isn't
it? To deny myself. to take up my cross daily and
to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm told to lose my life. I'm told to mortify and crucify
the flesh. Everything about this way runs
contrary to our reason and our natural inclinations. And there's a very small crowd,
a minority, on this narrow road. Few there be that find it. I
love the fact that they found it. They were seeking it and
they found it. And if you ever, and if I ever
am saved by the grace of God, I'm going to seek to be saved.
I'm going to be looking for the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to
find him. Now, this road leads to life. It doesn't lead to destruction,
that one road, but this road leads to life, eternal life,
life more abundant. The broad road has room for everybody,
but it's like a bridge that goes halfway across. What good will
that do anybody, even if there is room for everybody? But the
narrow road goes all the way across and enters into life. Now, this narrow way is Christ
himself. It is the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the gate. He is the road. The crowds in him, that small
crowd in him. I love that song we just heard,
in the beloved I went to the tree. And in him, Now, he is
called the way. In John chapter 14, verse 6,
I love this. He says, I am the way. He doesn't
say, I'll show you the way. He said, I'm it. If you're in
the way, you're at the destination, being in him. I am the way. Not, I'll show you the way. Not,
I'll give you directions. I, myself, am the way. He is
called in Acts chapter 16 verse 17, the way of salvation. If
I'm ever saved, it'll be for this one reason. I'm in the way. He is the way. I'm in Him. He's
called in 2 Peter 2, 21, the way of righteousness. Now, if
I'm ever righteous before God, if I ever stand before God as
truly righteous and God himself looks at me and says, he's righteous,
he's accepted of me, there'll be one reason, because I'm in
the way. I'm in the beloved. He is called in Luke chapter
1 verse 79, the way of peace. Now the only way you'll truly
have peace of heart, not a false peace, but a real peace. knowing
that God accepts you and doesn't require anything more of you
than what He has, is if you're in Christ. If you're in Christ,
you have all peace. God is not mad at you. You're
accepted in the Beloved. He's the way of peace. Ephesians
2.14 says He is our peace. He's called in 1 Peter 2.2, the
way of truth. He is the truth. I love the way
He said that. He said, I am the truth. He didn't say, I'll show
you the truth. I'm it. Isn't that glorious? What a glorious
person He is. I'm the life. Not, I'll give
you life, but I myself am the life. If you have life, it'll
be His life. That's your life. No man comes
to the Father but by me. That means, if I'm in Him, when
He ascended back to the Father, you know who else did? I did. He's called in Hebrews 10 verse
20, a new and a living way. And that word new, I've told
you this before, that means a freshly slaughtered way. Oh, the power
of his blood. It's always in the present to
God. It's not something that happened way back when. It's
always powerful and fresh and poignant. The blood of Christ,
he's the new, he's the living way as opposed to a dead way.
I like what Paul called him in Acts chapter 24 verse 14, he
says, after the way which they call heresy. So, not that's how
I believe, but so worship I, the God of my father, believing
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. Now we are commanded, God commands me to do this. Christ
commands you to do this. We are commanded to strive to
enter in. To enter, that's the object.
To enter in, not to stay out, not to wait for something to
happen, but to enter in. And to enter this gate, you must
come empty handed, nothing in my hands I bring. Nothing in
my hands I bring. simply to thy cross I cling. To enter in there must be a doing
of God's will. 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." And I know
exactly what he's talking about. He's not talking about religious
works, because he says in that same passage, many will say to
me that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name?
In your name have we cast out demons? And in your name have
we not done many wonderful works? And then shall I say unto them,
depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never do you. The
one thing needed to be done is to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the work of God, that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. Many did many things, but they
never did the one thing needful. What must I do to be saved? What
a question. Believe. That means rely upon. Trust. Look to. Rest in. Come to. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Strive to enter like Noah entering
the ark. Like Moses entered the house
with the blood on the door. Like the manslayer running into
the city of refuge, fleeing from the avenger of blood. Like Paul,
when in his heart he was running to Christ saying, oh, that I
may win Christ and be found in him. Can you do that? Can you
run toward Christ like that? Like Rahab entered the house
with the scarlet thread with all of her family, the one place
of safety and security, the one place to enter in is Jesus Christ
himself. Enter in by faith, by trusting
who he is and what he did to save you. Is it really that simple? Yes. Yes. In verse 24, back in our text
in Luke chapter 13, he says, you strive, are the
few that be saved, you strive to enter in at the straight gate.
For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not
be able. I don't want to be one of those
people, do you? Anytime any of us thinks of this
concept that our Lord is saying, it's bound to scare you. I don't
want to be one of these people. I can't even stand the thought
of hearing him say to me, and believe me, I've thought about
it, what it must sound like, depart ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. I can't stand
the thought of hearing that. I don't want to presume on this.
I want to know. Many are deceived. They think
they should be able like the five foolish virgins. Lord, open
to us. Because self-deception is so
easy. We're so naturally disposed to
be partial to ourselves and easy on ourselves. We so easily take
things for granted and presume that all is well. I don't want
to be one of these people. He says, many shall seek entrance. They'll say, Lord, open to us.
Open to us. Many will do that. Why? We even have the parable of the
man who made it into the wedding feast. And the master spotted him and
said, Friend, how camest thou in hither without a wedding garment? Scripture says he was speechless.
I bet that's the first time he had ever been speechless. He
could always boast of his works and all the things that he'd
done, but no longer. When he hears the Master speak,
he's speechless. And the master says, bind him
hand and foot and cast him into outer darkness where there shall
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And this blindness lasts all
the way to judgment. These people will knock and not
have the strength like the foolish virgins. They have no oil in
their lamps. Now let's go on reading verse
25. Luke chapter 13. When once the master of the house
has risen up, and hath shut the door, and you begin to stand
without and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not, whence you
are. Then shall you begin to say,
we've eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught
in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not. whence you are, depart from me,
all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. 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 heaven. God's covenant people,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all who believe their gospel,
will come and set down in the kingdom of heaven, the place
of rest, the place of joy. From every place, east, west,
north, south, God's gonna have a people out of every kindred,
tongue, and nation. Now, here is the question I want
to address. How can I enter? I want to enter, don't you? How
can I enter? I won't be saved if I don't enter.
There has to be an actual entering into the kingdom of heaven, coming
from out and going in. How can I personally enter the
kingdom of heaven? First of all, our Lord said in
Matthew chapter 5 verse 20, except your righteousness exceed, surpass
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no
case enter the kingdom of heaven. Now in order for me to have the
ability to enter in to the kingdom of heaven, I'm going to have
to have righteousness. perfect, absolute righteousness. And you know, there's no way
I can achieve that. I know that. I know that the only way that
I can have righteousness is if God gives me this righteousness. You know, the gospel is more
glorious, more mysterious, more awesome. that Jesus Christ, the
Lord, was actually made sin. I don't know what all that means.
I'm still, the more I talk about it or think about it, the more
mysterious it becomes to me, that the Holy Son of God could
be made sin. He didn't simply have sins charged
to his account. Scripture doesn't speak that
way. He was made sin. And just as truly as he was made
sin, everybody he was made sin for is made the very righteousness
of God. Now, what did you have to do
with that transaction? Any contribution come from you?
No. The only way I can be made righteous
to enter in is for him to make me righteous through the gospel.
This is something he must do for me. Now for me to enter into
the kingdom of heaven, I must be born from above. Except a man be born again, born
of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
Born of water. Does that mean a guy has to be
baptized to be saved? No, that water has to do with
the Word. The washing of water by the Word. This represents the Word of God.
No one is born again apart from the Word of God. Hearing and
believing the Word of God. Now, you don't believe and then
become born, but you're born and you believe. Now, Logically,
the birth has to come before the believing, but chronologically,
in our experience, they come at the precise same time. You hear, you believe, you're
born from above. Now, once again, what can you
do to give yourself life? And you see this entering in,
the Lord's going to have to do something for you. He's going
to have to give you a righteousness. He's going to have to give me
a righteousness. He's going to have to give us this new birth. And then in Matthew chapter 18
verse 3, the Lord said, except you be converted. Now I love
that verse. In the previous verses, the disciples
were actually arguing over which of them would be the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. And I'm not going to get too
hard on them because I thought things like that. If I was honest, I
would want to admit it. Oh, I'm going to take the lowest
place, but you know, hey, come on, I'm the preacher. I think
things, stupid things like that, like the disciples did, very
stupid, very stupid. Which of us is going to be the
greatest? And the Lord said this in such a way, said, you don't
even need to worry about being there as long as you're thinking
like that. Except you be converted and become as little children,
you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall
humble himself as this little child shall be greatest in the
kingdom of heaven." Now, here's what's glorious about this gate.
You can't be too little to get through this gate. You can be
too big, but you can't be too little. Humble yourself. May God give me the grace to
do that, to humble myself at His feet, just like a little
child. The way up in this kingdom is
always down. And then in John chapter 14,
verse 9, the Lord said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter
in, he'll be saved. And the Lord says, I am the door. I'm it. I'm the entrance. I'm
the door. By me, if any man enter in, he'll
be saved. Now, how do you enter in? There's
only one way I enter in. By the door. By me, if any man
enter in, he shall be saved. Christ Himself is the door. Now, do you want in? Do you want
to be that number that sat down in the kingdom of heaven with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets? Well, let me
give you two scriptures. Number one, do you want in? There isn't a day that goes by,
I don't think, that I don't do this in some form. Romans 10, 13 says, whosoever
shall call. And don't miss that word whosoever.
You're in that demographic. Whosoever shall call. Lord, save me. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is who He
is. It's all of His glorious attributes. You know what, I'm asking the
Lord to do something for me. I'm saying, Lord, do something.
Save me by Your power. Save me by Your sovereign will.
Will my salvation. Save me by your justice. Save
me in a way where your justice is magnified and honored. Save
me by your wisdom, where you found a way to be just and justify
me. I'm calling on the Lord to all
of his attributes, every one of them. I'm saying, Lord, save
me by who you are. Thank God for this scripture.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
You call on the name of the Lord, you shall be saved. You've entered
in. Now, here's the second scripture
I want to bring out. Well, how can I know if I've
called? How can I know if I really have? How can I know if I've
really entered in? Well, let me show you. Turn to
1 Corinthians chapter 1. Paul says in verse 22, for the
Jews require a sign. And you know they were always
asking the Lord to give some kind of sign to verify that what
he's saying is so. Give us a sign from heaven. He
said a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign.
The Jews seek after a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
what they would consider wisdom, human philosophy. But we preach
Christ crucified. That's our message. The person and work of Christ,
who he is and what he did. Not just talking about the fact
that he was crucified, but what did he accomplish when he was
crucified? Why was he crucified? Who is
this one who is crucified? We preach Christ crucified. That's the whole of our message. Now to the Jews, this is a stumbling
block. It's scandalous. You mean to
say that you can be holy simply because of what He did? Why, that's scandalous. You mean
to say that you think you can be perfectly pure and holy and
accepted by God simply by what He did? without any reference
to your works? Why, that would lead to immorality.
That would lead to sin. Don't believe that for a second.
That's scandalous. And to the Jews, this is a stumbling
block. And to the Greeks, this is foolishness. You mean, do you expect me to
believe I'm saved by somebody else's righteousness? You expect
me to believe that His precious blood actually put away sin to
where it's no more. You expect me to believe something?
I don't believe that. Why, that's foolishness. That
doesn't even make sense. Verse 24. But unto them which
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
really is the very power of God? Such power that he can make your
sin non-existent. You believe Christ. You really
believe that, don't you? Christ is the power of God. You
know I believe that. I believe Christ is the mighty power of
God. I believe Christ is the omnipotence
of God. He's the arm of God. He's God's
salvation. And Christ, the wisdom of God. Christ himself is the very wisdom
of God. He's how God only was. has made
a way to really be just and punish all sin and not clear the guilty
and yet save somebody like me, somebody so weak and sinful and
foolish and helpless as me. I really believe that Christ
is the power of God and Christ is the wisdom of God. Now, you believe that? Beloved,
You've entered in. And you're being saved. And the
reason you're being saved is because you've been saved. And
because you've been saved, you will be saved. Are there few to be saved? Well,
you don't need to worry whether there's many or few. You strive
to enter. the straight gate, Christ himself
being the gate, the way, and the end. Let's pray.