Luke 13:22-25


Luke 13:22-25
22 And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’

Results always seem to be much more important to us than they are to the Lord.  As Jesus was preaching in towns and villages on His way to Jerusalem, someone asks Him if there are just a few that are being saved.  This person seems to be concerned with the small results that His preaching was having.  Jesus does not seem concerned with the lack of results, instead He warns this man to be careful about following the crowds.  We are attracted to crowds because we think that if so many people are enjoying something, it must be good.  Jesus describes salvation as a door that must be entered.  He then warns the man and all of us through His description of the door of salvation.

THE DOOR OF SALVATION IS NARROW: Jesus describes the way of salvation as a door.  That is an appropriate metaphor, because it illustrates the truth that man, apart from Christ, is separated from God.  We are in one place.  God is in another place.  There is a door between the two places through which all who are reconciled to God must pass.  That door is Jesus and His work for us through His death and resurrection.  However, the door is narrow.  There is only one narrow door that leads us to God.  There are not many doors and there is not a big wide door.  There are not multiple paths to God.  It truly does matter what we believe because it determines our eternity.  We must strive to know and understand the truth of God’s Word, believe it in our hearts and place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

THE DOOR OF SALVATION IS POPULAR: Everyone wants to go to heaven.  Even those who don’t believe that there is a heaven would clearly prefer it over the alternative.  Jesus warned that there are many who will seek to enter into the narrow door of salvation, but will not be able to.  This statement explains why the original question in this text was about how few were being saved.  There were many who would follow Jesus around from place to place just like there are many who want to go to heaven.  The problem is that they don’t enter the narrow door.  Jesus does not tell us why they are unable to enter.  Perhaps for some, the reason they cannot enter the narrow door is because they have never been told the Good News of the Gospel.  They desire to be reconciled to God and seek blindly for a way they might earn heaven, but they have never heard the Gospel.  Others might not be able to enter because they are so fascinated with life on earth that they begin to worship the things of the world in place of God.  They many know where the narrow door is, but they are unwilling to set aside the pleasures of sin in order to go through the narrow door.  God calls us to share with all nations about the narrow door, but to go through that door, we must be willing to turn from our worship of the world.

THE DOOR OF SALVATION WILL SHUT: Salvation is a gift from God through Jesus Christ.  God desires for all to be reconciled to Himself, but there is a time when the opportunity to be saved will pass.  This is true on an individual as well as a universal level.  On an individual level, there are two ways for the door of salvation to shut.  One way is by death.  When a person dies his eternal destiny has been established.  They will either be reconciled to God, or spent eternity separated from Him.  The second way is through a hardening of the heart.  The only way anyone can be saved is through the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of man.  Some people repeatedly reject the Gospel or refuse to respond to the Gospel because they prefer to continue in sin and plan to make a decision later on in life.  This is very foolish.  They may never be given another opportunity.  God could harden their heart and they may spend all eternity separated from Him.  On a universal level, that door will close at the end of earth’s history.  There is a time when life as we know it on earth will end and all mankind will be judged.  We don’t know when that will be, but one day this earth will melt with fervent heat and then God will create a new heaven and new earth where only righteousness will dwell.  All unbelievers at that time will be cast forever into utter darkness.      

APPLICATION: Make sure that we have entered the narrow door of salvation through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Recognize that there is only one way of salvation and do all we can to help others find that narrow door.  Warn people that the time of salvation is now because we are only a heartbeat away from eternity.

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