The Narrow Door

Luke 13:22–30 (NIV)         

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages,

              teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.

23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

              He said to them,

Jesus was speaking to a crowd made up mostly of religious Jews. They believed in the one true God.

They were not agnostics or polytheists.They believed in the Hebrew Scriptures and lived in basic accordance with them.In giving His answer, Jesus was not addressing a pagan audience. He was talking to the “church” crowd, most of whom assumed that they would go to heaven because they were good Jews.

And He gives us church folks some important and practical lessons on the subject of salvation:

24-------Salvation requires our earnest effort,

25a------our urgent attention,

25b-29--and our careful self-examination.

24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,

      because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to

Jesus isn’t talking about salvation by works or human effort. But He is talking about our attitude toward it. Those who are only mildly interested about salvation will not obtain it. Those who say, “I believe that all roads lead to God and all good people will go to heaven” are engaging in human speculation, but they are not submitting to Jesus’ divine revelation. They are putting their thoughts about being open-minded and tolerant above Jesus’ words that the door is narrow.The salvation of your eternal soul ought to consume your attention. We need to take great pains to make sure that you have entered the narrow door. It shouldn’t be a nice thing to think about every once in a while when you don’t have anything better to do. It should be on our mind. It should govern everything we do. It should determine how you spend your time, your money, and your leisure hours.

Salvation requires our earnest effort because the door is narrow and exclusive, not wide and all-inclusive.

The fact that the door is narrow implies that it takes some deliberate thought and effort to go through it. There aren’t many doors into the same place, so that you can take your pick. There is one and only one door, which is Jesus Christ. “No one comes to the Father except by Him (John 14:6).” You might not like the fact that it is narrow. You may say, “I believe that God is loving and that He will accept everyone who tries to do his best. I believe that all sincere people will get through the door.” You can either enter through the narrow door, which is Christ alone, or you can invent a broad door that includes many ways to God, and thus contradict what Jesus Himself said. Are you sure that you’re entering the narrow door as defined by Jesus and not a  broad door of your own choosing?”

URGENT

25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door,

   you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

The following verse indicates that they will not be able to enter because they missed the deadline. Some will wake up to the serious issues involved in their own salvation too late. They had assumed that all was well with them because they were decent, religious people. They knew Jesus in a casual way, but they had not taken the gospel to heart. They had never repented of their sins.

Another point is that if you follow the crowd you will not follow the Savior into eternal life. If you follow them, you will be shut out when that door slams shut. And, it always takes effort, both mentally and morally, to go against the majority. You have to think about matters for yourself and decide, “ I will not go along with group pressure.

                                               I will follow the Lord Jesus Christ.”

We all tend to procrastinate, but Jesus tells us that salvation is the most dangerous matter in all of life to procrastinate about. Salvation requires our urgent attention because the time is coming soon when the door will be shut. Clearly, at that point there will not be another chance to get in. Once the door is shut, it is shut. Those inside are in; those outside are out. Hebrews 9:27 states, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Since life hangs by a thread, even for the youngest and healthiest among us, we dare not procrastinate about the matter of salvation. Maybe you’re thinking, “I’ve got some time before I need to deal with these matters.” Don’t mistakenly think, “I’ve got plenty of time.” You may leave here and your mind gets caught up with work or duties at home or other things, and the tug of the Spirit on your heart fades. Once that door is shut, there will be no bargaining or working out a last minute deal. We must enter on God’s terms and in God’s time, or not at all.

CAREFUL EXAMINATION

There is a great difference between casual acquaintance with Jesus

and a personal relationship with Him. Those who are shut out seem surprised. They call out, “Lord, open up to us!”

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

They were acquainted with Him. But the problem was, He was not acquainted with them.

 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.

             Away from me, all you evildoers!’

If you have a genuine personal relationship with Jesus, you will not continue in your evil deeds. Salvation is God’s free gift, apart from works, but those who are truly saved will make progress in holiness,

apart from which no man will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14). Now, not later, is the time to make sure that you have a personal relationship with Jesus, not just a casual acquaintance with Him. One major evidence of such a relationship is that you are growing in holiness, not just outwardly, but in your heart.

28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.

The horrible consequences of making a mistake. Weeping and gnashing of teeth doesn’t sound like a fun experience, especially when it continues through all eternity! These men had assumed that they would be included in the kingdom. They were Jews, not filthy gentiles. They were related to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

29 People will come from east and west and north and south,

     and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

 But now they find themselves shut out and, of all things, those dirty gentiles from east and west and north and south are inside, dining with the patriarchs and prophets! These men were religious Jews who thought they were deserving of heaven. But they would not submit to Jesus and so they faced the horrible eternal consequence of being in that place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Because there will be many religious

people in hell, all of us who attend church should examine ourselves to make sure that we are not cast into that place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first,

               and first who will be last.”

There will be a great reversal. Many whom the “first crowd” thought were last, will be first. Those who assume they’re in may be out. The Jews of Jesus’ day despised the pagan gentiles. They thought that if they ate with gentiles they would be defiled. But Jesus says that many gentiles will be in the kingdom, eating with the patriarchs and prophets, while many self righteous Jews would be shut out. These verses demand our careful attention because we who are in the church are in the same place as the Jews of Jesus’ day. We are familiar with the things of God. But being in the church is not enough. Have you personally entered through the narrow door? Have you come to Jesus as a guilty sinner and laid hold of Him as the only acceptable sacrifice for your sins? Are you seeking to know Him and grow in Him as your Lord and Savior? General acquaintance with Jesus won’t be enough in that terrible day. Don’t assume that just because you know about Jesus, you know Him.