Luke chapter number 13, if you're able to stand for the reading of God's word, I love that song.
Ms. Nina sang, goes right along with our songs and go right along with the message.
It's what Jesus told his disciples.
Remember there in Luke chapter 10, we were there a while back and he's going to send out the apostles, the disciples.
They're going to go minister.
And he tells them in verse number 20, verse number 19 of chapter number 10, he says,
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all power of the enemy,
and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
But Jesus says, Notwithstanding, and this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you,
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
Listen, that's the most important thing.
That's the most important place your name will ever be written down.
And I'm thankful for that.
Growing up in school, my name was on the whiteboard a lot.
It's not a great place to be.
Usually that means come see me after class.
But I'm thankful my name's written in heaven, and I hope that that's your testimony as well.
Found your place there in Luke chapter number 13.
We'll pick up our reading in verse number 22, where the Bible says this,
And he went through the cities and villages, teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem.
Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?
And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the straight gate.
For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able.
When once the master of the house is risen up and is shut to the door,
and you begin to stand without and to knock at the door, saying,
Lord, Lord, open unto us.
And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not when she are.
Then shall you begin to say, we have eaten and drunk in thy presence,
and thou hast taught in our streets.
But he shall say, I tell you, I know not when she are.
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
when ye 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 God.
And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
Over this last couple chapters we've seen in the Gospel of Luke,
he's really driving this point home.
Jesus is driving this point home.
We need to be ready.
That Jesus Christ is coming back.
And here's the real serious thing.
If we die before he comes back, we're still going to meet him.
But the question is, are we ready?
Are we ready to meet him?
And this question seems like a great question.
But really, it was more of a presumption.
And the idea is we can't just presume that we're on our way to heaven.
There's a way to heaven.
And we have to enter.
We have to strive to enter at the straight gate.
And so Jesus has a lot to say, and I think it will be helpful and a good reminder to us.
So let's go to him in prayer and ask him to help us this morning.
Father, thank you for this time together.
Thank you for the baptism this morning.
We're thankful that you still save souls.
It doesn't matter if they're young or old, Lord.
The Gospel is for all people.
And Lord, I pray that if there is somebody here in this service this morning that doesn't know you as Savior,
that today would be that day.
But I pray that you would help me with this text, Lord.
It's a difficult text, and my intention is not to scare or cause doubt, Lord,
but just to clearly proclaim the truth that you teach here in this passage.
Lord, I pray you would be with me.
You would empty me of self, cleanse me of sin, fill me with your spirit,
that I'd be a help to these people, Lord.
I pray that you would just help us not just to hear but to respond.
And we ask it in Christ's name.
Amen.
Thank you so much for standing.
May be seated.
I want us to imagine that we're standing in just a massive hallway.
And just all it is, I mean, we can't see the end of the hallway.
It just seems like it goes on forever.
And in the hallway, there are just door after door after door claiming this is the way to heaven.
And when you see it, and you see a door, and we picture in our mind,
and one door says this, be religious.
That seems like a good way.
And maybe you think, hey, that's the way that we should go.
And another door says, as long as you're sincere, then you'll make it to heaven.
Another door just says, just do some spiritual things.
Another door says, be kind to your neighbors.
Another door says, all roads lead to God.
And honestly, that sounds appealing to a lot of people.
Because really, the idea is, it doesn't really matter which door you walk through,
that you're going to find your way to heaven somehow, someway, someday.
Because in the end, it all just kind of plays out perfectly.
I mean, that's the society we live in.
Really, that's the culture that we live in.
And that's not something new.
That's kind of always been there.
But our culture is kind of taking it to an extreme.
We hear things like this, truth is personal to you.
As long as you just believe your truth.
Listen, I know your teacher said there's no dumb things not true.
That's not.
There is such thing as truth.
And Jesus shows that here in the gospel.
Our world says, everybody has their own path.
Hey, I'm glad that works for you.
You might invite somebody to church.
You might witness.
You might share how God's changed your life.
Hey, I'm glad you found something that works for you.
But I have something that works for me.
And as long as I do good things, you know, I'll be good in the end.
But as we're looking down this hallway and we see all these doors with all these signs
and promising the truth, it's almost like Jesus steps in the hallway
and we can see him at the end.
And he said, listen, not all these doors lead where you think they do.
Not all these doors lead to heaven.
There is only one door.
It is a narrow door that leads to eternal life.
And Jesus here in this text, don't misunderstand what he's doing.
And I hope that it comes across this way when I preach it this morning.
But Jesus is honestly and he's urgently warning people, don't miss the door.
If you're going to miss anything in life, make sure it's not this.
That this is the most important thing.
And I just want to say something carefully before we go any further.
That the goal of this message, and I know it's a Sunday morning and it's kind of a heavy subject,
but the goal of this message is not to create unnecessary fear in the life of a genuine believer.
My goal, my aim, Jesus as he's teaching and Jesus as he was preaching to the crowd that day,
wasn't to get people that had truly trusted Christ to begin to doubt and begin to worry and think,
did I go in the right door?
Did I make the right decision?
You see, Jesus is not trying to push people away from salvation.
No, that's why Jesus came.
I mean, that's the whole goal.
That's his whole mission.
We're going to see later in Luke 19, the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
But what he is doing here in our text this morning is he is lovingly warning people not to presume that they are saved
simply because they are close to spiritual things.
Because they are around the things of God and these Jewish people would have been in that situation.
And as we walk through this passage, we're going to see that Jesus is confronting one of the most dangerous things imaginable,
false assurance.
We all have false assurance in our life.
I mean, we're certain it's going to play out.
I mean, some of you are excited.
You know, this past week they released the schedule for the NFL and you're thinking,
I think the Cowboys are going to be so good this year.
That's called false assurance.
Not going to happen.
And we can laugh when it comes to silly things and we put assurance in sports teams and this and that and those type of situations.
But Jesus is dealing with a very serious matter.
He's dealing with people and he's speaking to people here as they've asked this question who knew all about religion.
I mean, these weren't just kind of some passerbys that maybe have been to the synagogue once or twice.
I mean, this was a way of life.
Religion was their life.
I mean, they knew the scriptures.
There was verses they would quote every single morning and every single evening.
And they knew the Psalms almost by heart.
And they knew truth.
They had heard the prophets.
They knew the Messiah was coming.
They knew all of these things were going to take place.
And the simple idea is these people were surrounded by spiritual things,
but many of them never truly entered into a relationship with Christ, entered into faith with him.
And I just want to submit to you this morning that this warning is still as applicable today as it was when Jesus first gave it.
Just to give us a little bit of context, we see there in verse number 22 that Jesus is journeying towards Jerusalem.
He's on his way to the cross.
He's alluded to it.
The disciples are still missing it.
But Jesus is there.
And every single step is bringing him closer and closer to the cross.
And maybe you've been thinking over the last month or two as we've been going through this, like Jesus is real serious right here.
I mean, he's been dropping the hammer, so to speak, in Luke 12 and here in Luke 13.
Why?
Because he knows his time is short.
And he didn't come just to feed the multitudes.
He didn't come just to heal the lame and the blind.
He did those things.
But they all pointed to the truth that he is the Messiah, that he is the Savior, that he has more than what they need.
But as they're there and these people have been hearing these messages and no doubt the word has got around.
And the Bible tells us he's going to these cities and villages.
And verse 23, someone pops up and asks a question.
And they've been waiting for it.
I mean, they've been waiting for Jesus to come to their city, waiting for Jesus to come to their village.
They say, hey, Lord, I've got a question.
I've been wondering this for a while.
Are there going to be few that are saved?
How many people are going to be saved?
And you think to yourself, maybe even when I read it very off the get-go, I think, man, that's a great question.
I mean, that's a good theological question.
I mean, who wouldn't want to know that?
But underneath is something much deeper.
You see, in this time period, and I know sometimes history kind of bores some of you, but it's very important to this text.
That the Jews of Jesus' day largely assumed that they were safe and on their way to heaven simply because they were Jews.
When you read the Gospels and you see the Pharisees talking all the time, they'll say things like this.
Well, our father Abraham.
Well, Moses and the law.
And here's the idea.
The Jews thought they were on their way to heaven because they had Abraham, which gave them the land.
They had Moses, which gave them the law.
And now they've got a temple.
What else did they need?
They figured, man, anybody that's got all three of these things, we don't have to do anything.
I mean, we're basically a shoe-in for the kingdom.
We're Jews.
After all, we're God's chosen people.
And on top of that, not only did they believe that they were in, they were pretty certain everybody that wasn't a Jew was out.
Except a few exceptions, maybe like Rahab and Ruth because it's in the law, so we can't really deny that.
But they really didn't believe Gentiles were going to make it.
So this question that is asked of Jesus is not curiosity.
Here's what it is.
Religious presumption.
It was almost like, hey, Jesus, we know we're really good people.
I mean, we know that we're kind of on the end.
The crowd wanted to talk to Jesus about who was outside the kingdom.
Because you know what?
When you want to make yourself better, you find somebody else that you're better than.
Like, hey, at least I'm better than them.
Hey, at least I'm, look at those people.
I'm at least doing a better job than that.
So obviously Jesus has got to let me in.
I'm not a horrible person.
But we notice what Jesus does here.
Is he turns the spotlight back on them.
Jesus doesn't answer with statistics.
And they said, how many, how few are going to be saved?
He said, well, let me just tell you, 1,400.
No.
Jesus is not giving statistics.
He's not giving a number.
He's not going to give a certain thing.
No.
Here's actually how he responds with a command.
They said, Lord, Lord, are there few that be saved?
And here's Jesus.
He says, strive to enter in at the straight gate.
That was Jesus' response.
In other words, kind of here's the main idea of this text.
He says, don't spend your time wondering how many are going to be saved.
I want you to make sure you have.
I want to make sure you've entered into the door.
That you know that you're on your way to heaven.
And with that warning in mind, Jesus is going to give us four kind of sobering truths
that every person must understand before eternity arrives.
Because eternity is coming.
I mean, we're already here.
We are eternal beings.
The question is, will we be with the Lord or will we be in hell?
Because hell is real and Jesus is going to really get into it in the next few chapters.
So if you're taking notes, here's the question we're going to answer.
What must we understand before the door closes?
Because there's a door we have to enter.
But at some point, the door is going to close.
What do we need to know before that happens?
Number one, we see first of all in verse number 24, we see the demand of salvation.
The demand of salvation.
Notice Jesus doesn't say, hey, that's a great question.
Y'all should really consider trying this door out.
You know, that's not how it is.
Jesus isn't just giving some, you know, real good advice.
Hey guys, when you get around to it, don't you love that?
See, sometimes I'm like that with my kids.
I'm like, hey, when you get around to it, my wife says, we can't say that.
Because they're never going to get around to it.
I'm like, oh yeah, yeah.
You know, because I'm trying to be kind about it and say, that's not what Jesus is saying.
He's not saying when you get around to it, you know what?
Try this door out.
It's a really great door.
It's one of the best doors I know.
No, that's not what he's saying.
He says this, strive.
Strive to enter in at the straight gate.
This phrase, strive to enter, it's intentional.
It's powerful.
I know everybody loves Greek, but it comes from the Greek word agonizomia.
Yep, butchered that.
But I think you probably heard a word that you kind of understand, agonize.
That's where we get our word, agonize.
It implies and describes an intense effort.
It has the idea of seriousness.
Really, these last couple of chapters, it just keeps screaming this, urgency.
Jesus isn't saying, hey, you got all the time in the world.
No, he's saying this, today is the day of salvation.
Today is the day you need to enter into the door.
Now, do not misunderstand what I'm saying or what Jesus is saying.
Jesus is not teaching salvation by works.
That is nowhere to be found in the Bible.
You are not saved by what you do.
You are not saved because you're here in this church.
You're not saved because you've been through the baptismal waters.
You're not here, you're not saved because of all of these things.
No, scripture is clear.
For by grace are you saved through faith.
Because if it was up to us, we'd boast about it.
But it's a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
You can't work your way to heaven.
You don't accidentally end up in heaven.
No one just says, I think I'll go to heaven today.
Everybody wants to go there, but Jesus says there's a way to get there.
See, that's what he's saying.
He's implying there is a specific route by which someone must take.
And he's saying you've got to be urgent about it.
Because eternity is too serious to be casual about.
You know, sometimes I'm casual about things in my life I shouldn't be casual about.
Bills.
Like, that's just a suggestion.
I'll get around to it.
And sometimes it just slips my mind, honestly.
And you get a phone call, is this Mr. Erbittner?
We're just saying, would you like to make a payment online today?
I was like, oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Listen, we just treat a lot of things in our life just kind of casually.
Like, it's still going to be there, it's not a big deal.
That's not how we should treat eternity is what Jesus is saying.
Because we don't know.
We assume.
Everybody in this room assumes we have a lot of life to live.
And I pray to the Lord, I do.
But the reality is, we do not know.
And salvation is not something to casually postpone.
Because what Jesus is saying, he's not saying, listen, you just kind of live your life,
and when you feel like the time is right, just add me on to it.
Just add me on, and someday when it's convenient.
No, no.
He's saying, the reason you have to agonize and there's urgency is because this is life and death.
This is heaven and hell.
This is eternity, and that's a long time.
So when he's saying strive, it carries the idea that we have to humbly walk through this door.
The door is narrow, and you can't take anything with you.
We can picture maybe trying to walk through the door.
You ever try to get into a small space with a bunch of stuff?
You know, we got all our baggage with us, and the door is real tiny.
Like a Willy Wonka door kind of situation going on.
You ever seen Willy Wonka?
I don't know what you're doing with your life.
But there's like a little door, and you're trying to get through it.
Listen, only you can get in there.
That's what Jesus is saying.
He's saying, you can't bring your good works with you.
You can't bring your religion.
You can't bring all the things you know about me.
Here's how you get in.
Humbly.
Jesus says it like this in the Sermon on the Mount.
Now, blessed are the poor in spirit.
Those that realize that they're bankrupt, and they have nothing to offer, and we come humbly before Christ.
That's how you enter the door.
That's how you strive.
That's where the effort comes from.
And when they would have heard this command, it would have shocked them.
It would have shocked that situation.
Thank you, Brother James.
He's bringing me a cough drop.
So if I put a cough drop in in a second, you just hang in with me, okay?
This lovely pollen is helping me out a lot.
But Jesus, what he does here is they would have been shocked because many assumed in that crowd, when they asked that question, they were already in.
They say, hey, we know we're in, but just tell us why we're in.
Tell us how awesome we are.
But he destroys their complacency in one statement.
He 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.
They just said, who's he talking to?
I mean, we're good Jews.
We go to the synagogue every Saturday.
I mean, we observe all the feasts.
We love the law of Moses.
We love all these things.
But notice what he said.
He didn't say, he didn't say, just a few are not going to be saved.
He said, many will think they're in, and they're not.
That's a sobering thought.
It really is.
And the demand for salvation is great, but this presumption still exists today.
And we mentioned it already.
I mean, you can grow up in church.
Your parents can be Christians.
Your granddaddy could be a preacher.
You can know all the Bible stories.
You can say I'm a good person.
But I just want you to hear me carefully.
Proximity to spiritual things has never saved one single person.
I mean, there was a guy that walked around with Jesus for three and a half years and didn't make it.
Because I'm here.
I know all the stories.
I mean, this guy was involved in the miracles.
He's carrying back his loaves.
His name was Judas, and he missed it.
Why?
Because he's a bad person?
No, because he chose not to trust Christ.
He said, I'm good.
I mean, I'm one of the 12.
Proximity never saves anybody.
And you can sit in church every Sunday.
You can hear the gospel.
You can repeat the Romans road by heart.
You know Psalms 23 like the back of your hand, and you can still not know Christ.
Why?
Because salvation is not automatic.
Listen, you're not saved because you live in the Bible belt.
No, you're saved because you place your faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
There's a demand for that.
So we see the demand for salvation, but what is this narrow door that Jesus speaks about?
Secondly, he wants us to understand this.
He wants us to understand the door of salvation.
That's what the Bible says.
Enter in at the straight gate.
The idea of straight, it just means narrow.
It means constrained.
What Jesus is doing is he is teaching there is one exclusive entrance into the kingdom of God.
All roads do not lead to heaven.
They don't.
The world says all religions are basically the same thing.
No, it's not.
I mean, it's just not.
I'm trying to say it as nice and lovely as it can, but that's just the truth.
And Scripture makes that unmistakable.
The Bible tells us in John chapter 10 verse 9, I am the door.
Jesus tells us again in John chapter 14 verse 16, I am the way and the truth and the life.
Peter stands before the Sanhedrin and he says, neither is there salvation in any other.
That it is only by Jesus Christ.
Simply put, Jesus is not one of many doors.
He is the door that we have to walk through.
Picture that narrow door.
We already kind of did.
Your pride doesn't fit through that doorway.
Your self-righteousness doesn't go through.
It's going to weigh you down.
It's going to make it impossible.
Your good works can't make it through.
But what does make it through is when you humbly, brokenly, repentantly come and trust Christ and say, Father, forgive me.
I'm a sinner.
That's how you make it through the door.
Our world and really American Christianity in the West especially talks about how the gospel, you make healthy, wealthy and all that stuff.
Listen, the gospel is not about self-fulfillment.
Here's what it's all about, self-denial.
Jesus says, if any man come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
There's a reason why a lot of people in the crowd weren't really following because they said, that's a hard saying.
Who can hear it?
That's what they said in John chapter 6.
They said, hey, listen, we like the good parts.
We like when you feed our belly.
But we're not really sure we want to go all in right there.
But you have to go all in.
You're either all in or you're not.
You can't ride the fence.
And following Christ, here's what it means.
It means you surrender your sin and your pride and your righteousness.
And you think, well, that seems simple.
But listen, we like to hold on to those things.
Because we want to say, you know, we like to do things on our own, don't you?
Remember when you're little?
I mean, every kid wants to do it on their own.
They want to dress themselves.
They want to open the door.
They want to do everything.
They can't read.
They can't tie their shoes.
But they want to do everything.
It's like sometimes the parents, you just let them do it and you laugh at them.
I mean, it builds character.
And we think, man, what's their problem?
I think a lot of well-meaning Christians live their life the same way.
The Lord's like, hey, this is the way.
I know that you said it's the way, but I want to do it.
Like, I want to be a part of this.
Here's the only part you bring, sin.
I know we don't like that.
It's not woo.
But Jesus paid the debt.
He paid the price.
And you're going to have to lay down your life.
And when you do that, here's what's going to happen.
Your life's going to change.
But you know what sin and pride and self-righteousness leads to?
It leads to death.
It leads to hell.
I mean, you might enjoy life a little bit here.
Sin's fun for a season.
But there always comes payday.
But Jesus paid that debt.
See, Christ came that we might have life and we might have it more abundantly.
Not just here, but eternally.
That it's worth it.
And the application here is that we don't accidentally drift into heaven.
Nobody stumbles into the kingdom of God.
Nobody just asks, what's this door?
Let me try this one out.
No, you must personally enter the door.
You.
Each individual.
You don't enter the door by joining Central Baptist Church.
I'm going to say something that's going to shock y'all.
There's going to be more than just Baptists in heaven.
I know.
Write it down.
Research it.
No, don't misunderstand.
I have a bunch of reasons why I'm a Baptist.
We can go through all the distinctives.
We'll do that.
That's another sermon for another time.
But you're not saved because you're Baptist.
There's going to be Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics.
There's going to be everybody in heaven if they go through the narrow door.
You don't go because a lot of your family already is on the way.
It's not like you're in the car on a road trip and, well, I don't know if I want to go, but at least I'm in the family, so I have to go.
It doesn't matter.
My kids aren't going to make it because I'm the preacher of this church.
No, they're going to make it because they place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
You're not going to make it because you're a good, moral person.
Jesus kind of really throws that to the ground in the Sermon on the Mount.
He said, well, I've never killed anybody.
He said, but if you hate somebody in your heart, you already have.
See, our morality, it may be good outwardly, but inwardly we're wicked.
The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.
Who can know it?
The next verse says the Lord knows it.
The Lord knows our heart.
Listen, your good deeds, your good intentions, none of those things help you enter.
That's not how you enter.
No, it's by grace alone, through faith alone, through Christ alone.
And don't misunderstand what Christ is saying here.
The narrowness, people say, well, that's so narrow.
The narrowness of salvation is not cruel.
No, it's Jesus being clear.
He wants all of us to know, hey, the door's open for everybody, but you have to go through this door.
For God so loved the world that whosoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
And Jesus isn't finished.
He now gives a warning to those who assume they are safe simply because they're close to spiritual things.
That's what He says in verse 25 through 27.
We won't read it again for the sake of time.
But He gives this parable of a master getting up and closing the door.
The beautiful thing about that, number one, is this.
The door's open right now.
If you're still breathing, hopefully that's you.
If you're still breathing right now, the door's open.
You still have an opportunity.
But also, the other side of that coin is, it's not going to stay open forever.
What Jesus is saying in verse 25, 26, and 27 is this.
There is a limit, a time limit on the offer of salvation.
And this parable, Jesus kind of makes it ominously clear what He means here.
Because one day the door will close.
Either through death or Christ will come back.
One of two things will happen to everybody on this planet.
And when that happens, it's too late.
The door's closed.
And we see that, and we read it earlier.
But just imagine the panic as they're kind of saying, hey, well, I'll talk to Him later.
And when I get around to it, I mean, I'm pretty busy this week.
And it's just not a good time.
And I'm just not sure.
And I don't know if I want to do it.
But then the door closes.
And now these people are outside.
Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, open unto us.
Hey, hey, we want in.
We realize you are serious.
We realize the time is now.
And then in verse number 26, they begin to list all their religious familiarity.
They say, hey, we've eaten and we've drunk in thy presence.
We've been around all the things of God.
We were there when you were preaching.
We heard you teaching in our streets.
I mean, they're saying we're around you.
We heard you.
We know all about you.
But notice what the Lord says.
I know you not.
He doesn't say, I know about you.
I've heard about you.
Now, don't misunderstand.
God knows everything.
He knows everyone.
But what he's saying, he's saying this.
You're not in the family.
You didn't come through the door.
You refused the door.
You heard the truth.
You were given the route.
You plugged the coordinates in.
But you just refused to accept it.
See, salvation is not about how familiar you are with the things of God.
It's about a relationship with Jesus Christ.
That's what Jesus is saying.
And I know we keep hammering this point.
But I think that's what Jesus keeps doing in this text.
There's people all over this world.
And my prayer is there's none of them in this church.
But we can know Christian songs.
And we can know the hymns.
And we can know the Bible stories.
We can know church culture.
We can have religious language.
And never really surrendered to Christ.
See, Jesus is describing people that know all about him.
But don't really know him.
I mean, I can't remember what my wife wants me to get from the grocery store.
But I can tell you the most obscure stats about a sports player.
Like, I know when they're born.
That's just saying it out loud.
That's weird.
I never met this guy.
But I'm like, hey, I know when your birthday is.
Like, hey, that's called stalking, actually, is what that's called.
And so, you know, but it's what it is when Dirk's the goat.
I mean, it's just how it is.
He's my favorite player, so I know everything about him.
But if I saw him on the street, if I saw Dirk Nowitzki on the street, if you don't know who it is, it's probably not the church for you.
I'd say, hey, Dirk.
And he's like, who's that guy?
I know that's a really crude illustration, but that's kind of how people live their Christian life.
They can know all about the Bible.
Oh, I love the Lord.
But the Lord says, I don't even know who that person is.
They're not part of the family.
See, being close to spiritual truth is not the same as entering through the narrow door of salvation.
But Jesus has one last thing, another illustration.
And what he does here in the final few verses in verse 28 through 30 is he really pulls back the curtain on eternity.
He's saying eternity is a real thing, and I want you to understand it.
In verse number 28, 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 are 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 God.
And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.
What Jesus does here in these closing verses is he really describes eternal separation.
And what he said here might be more shocking than what he told them at the beginning.
Because these men, these women in this crowd would have prided themselves, as we mentioned, on being of Jewish lineage.
You remember when Moses was there at the burning bush in the book of Exodus?
And when he comes to the burning bush, God introduces himself as the God of your father,
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
And these weren't just men to these Jewish people.
These were the progenitors of Israel.
I mean, this was the Mount Rushmore.
You put Moses up there.
You put David.
But I mean, these were the guys.
And for any Jewish person, this is man.
I can't wait until one day we're sitting in heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And I'm going to ask them all those questions.
Which, by the way, I'm looking forward to that too.
I'd love to sit.
I cannot wait to sit down and talk to Abraham.
Like, how did you convince your wife to move all those times without even knowing where you're going?
I need to know how that's possible.
You know, deep theological questions like that.
The prophets are going to be there.
You go through the Gospels, and they would always say, well, the prophet's this, the prophet's that.
We love the prophets.
Jesus said, yeah, your father killed them.
And you would have done the same.
Elijah, and Elisha, and all of these, Jeremiah and Isaiah.
All these great prophets are going to be there.
And this crowd thought, we're going to be there with them.
Jesus said, no, you're not.
You'll see them, and you're going to realize, we went through the wrong door.
Jesus actually says, there's going to be weeping, which has the idea of sorrow and gnashing of teeth.
It's this idea of fierce rage.
Like, why are they there and we're not?
Hey, we're good people.
We're Jews just like they are.
Well, Abraham wasn't justified because he was a Jew.
He was justified because he believed God.
He trusted him.
He realized who he was.
And if that really didn't set him off, verse 29 did.
Because he said, not only will you not be there, you're going to be thrust out.
There's going to be people coming from the east and the west and the north and the south.
What does that mean?
Jesus says, you know who's going to be in the kingdom of heaven?
Non-Jews.
You know who's going to be there?
We are.
Anybody that's placed their faith and trust in Christ is going to be there.
That they wouldn't have understood that because they thought, you know, well, we're the first.
I mean, we're the Jews.
We're the people.
We're God's chosen people.
He said the first is going to be last and the last is going to be first.
In the kingdom of heaven, there's no hierarchy.
Here's what it is.
God and everybody there by grace.
That's what he's teaching there.
See, Jesus says that believing Gentiles would be seated at the table with God.
And I don't know, but maybe some of the Jews in the crowd that day just fainting.
Like, what?
You can't say that.
Why does Jesus make that point to close it out?
Because salvation has never been based on ethnicity or heritage or privilege.
It always has and it always will be based on grace through faith.
You know, heaven's going to be the only place where everybody there shouldn't be there.
You know, people say, well, hell's not fair.
No, hell's the only place where everything is fair.
Heaven's the only place where nothing's fair.
None of us should be there.
But the only way you get there is going through the narrow gate, going through the narrow door.
And just imagine the heartbreak that's going to take place that day.
And God was trying and what Jesus was teaching here, he wasn't trying to make their life miserable.
No, he was trying to break their heart here so it wouldn't be broken there.
Imagine the heartbreak seeing the kingdom, seeing the redeemed, seeing what could have been yours and realizing it's too late.
He's going to give a parable of the rich man and Lazarus pretty soon.
You know what he realized?
It's too late.
It's too late for me.
But send somebody to tell my brothers that it's the real deal, that Jesus is who you need it to be.
See, there's nothing wrong with religious privilege.
There's nothing wrong with it.
Listen, I'm thankful that I was raised in the Bible Belt.
I'm thankful I was born in America.
Just to be honest.
I mean, I'm thankful that from a young age I've had a Bible.
What a great privilege.
There's places in the world they still don't have Bibles.
They still don't have the Word of God in their own tongue.
I'm thankful for that.
Listen, there's nothing wrong with a Christian upbringing.
There really isn't.
Listen, I think that's the best way to go.
And some of you didn't experience it younger, but praise the Lord, you're here and you're trying to bring your kids up in it now.
Listen, there's nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with Bible knowledge.
Listen, even people that don't know the Lord, the Bible still will help you not do dumb things in life.
I mean, it's pretty foolproof.
There's nothing wrong with church attendance.
I'm glad you're here.
I hope it helps you.
I hope you feel encouraged.
I hope you feel blessed when you come here.
I hope you have relationships and friendships.
Listen, we need that.
You look in the New Testament, nothing happens outside of a community of a local church.
That's how God works.
God works through the church.
But none of that saves you.
None of that saves you.
If you're trusting in religious privilege, your upbringing, your knowledge of the Bible, your church attendance, one day there's going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Because that's not going to save you.
See, the greatest tragedy is not being far from Jesus.
I think the greatest tragedy is being close to Him and never entering the door.
You're right here this morning.
Some of you have been wrestling with it.
Think, I'm just not sure.
No, no.
It's the door you need to go through.
It's the door you need to walk through.
The narrow door is still open today.
But it will not remain open forever.
Don't hesitate.
Don't delay.
See, the question in the passage was, will few be saved?
But Jesus redirects our focus.
And He asks them, and He's asking still today, have you been saved?
Because that's what matters.
Listen, Jesus isn't interested in the crowd.
Jesus could draw a crowd, but He could thin one too.
You know who Jesus was interested in the crowd?
Individuals.
He's interested in you.
He knows what you're going through.
He knows where your life is.
And He wants you to make sure that the door has been presented to you.
And He's giving you an opportunity, even today, to walk through that door.
Because when the door closes, eternity is forever.
Strive to enter at the straight gate.
Would you stand with your heads bowed?