Strive to Enter Through the Narrow Door
First B Jackson
2023-05-14

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Oh, t Hello, and good morning, everybody. Moms, happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day. We so appreciate you, and you'll hear it again and again throughout the service. But I I wanna be the first to say, moms, love you.

Mom, if you're watching, I love you so much. Happy Mother's Day. Here's an encouraging word from Psalm 62 to lead us in the worship. It says, let all that I am wait quietly before the the Lord. As we're gonna sing in the song, I will wait on you.

Let all that I am wait quietly before the Lord. Why? For my hope is in him. Shall we sing together? Would you stand with me?

My hope is in you.

I have a few announcements this morning, I'm sure. One of them is there will not be Monday nights at first B this week. That's right.

We are tomorrow going to recognize how many of one up volunteers are here in this room this morning? Can could you just shoot up a hand real quick?

Oh, how humble they are.

Tomorrow, we're going to have a volunteer a Wana volunteer appreciation dinner. And so we're going to take the Monday off to appreciate our volunteers

and no Monday night me hand, please. No Monday night, no Wana this week. This Thursday coming this Thursday is the last installment of the Christian Life and Witness Course. It has been really good. Billy Graham Evangelistic Association sent this fellow named Jermaine.

He's a lot of fun, great guy, and he's been coming and leading us in classes. If you missed the first two, you can still come to this one. The only only regret I have is that there weren't more people here. It's been it's been really, really good. Thursday night, seven to nine.

It's in anticipation of a big deal that's happening in September where Will Graham is coming and doing a big rally. That's happening September twenty third and twenty fourth. Over in Idaho Falls, big gathering, gospel presentation. And in anticipation of that, they're trying to strengthen churches and Christians to be able, to help with, with people. So that's part of that.

My Sister's Closet. Note the date change. It changed. It's June 3 now, so that's a Saturday coming up soon. My Sister's Closet, if you have any questions about that, Casey McCooey is the person in charge.

In the week, anticipating that event before that, we will have you bring in new and gently used items and then it's sort of a clothing swap among the ladies. Casey were here, I'd let her do this announcement. But June 3 is when that's happening. Is there another? This is Amazing Love.

It is. That's what we're here to sing about. But hold on just a second. I had somebody stop me this morning. Alma and Rod, would you stand up for a second?

They are Julieta's Julieta comes to church, sit Lylee, sit Lylee's daughter. And Rod and Alma asked me if I'd announce that the Jackson Hole High School speech and debate team is going to nationals? Nationals. And so they have some tickets that are helping them get there. And if you would like to, Rod and Alma will be in the back, and they would like to talk to you about it if you want to, but $5 apiece for tickets is what they're asking for.

Okay? Would you stand up and join them? Thank you very much. This is amazing love. Glad y'all are here this morning.

Happy Mother's Day.

God, this morning, we wanna thank you for your self giving, others focused love, Lord, that you would give your life sacrificially of love for us, that you would extend grace toward us. That's favor we don't deserve. And, God, I think of the mothers in this room, and I thank you for the sacrifice that so many moms so many moms make every day for their families, for their kids. And, Lord, I am so so grateful. That comes from you.

That we give you credit for that. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.

You can have a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward. We're gonna sing Psalm 34. Psalm 34. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Oh, the joys who take refuge in him and before we we sing, Ray, would you pray? God,

thank you for this gathering this morning. I thank you for this beautiful beautiful Mother's Day. Lord, we ask that you would use us to do your will and your way, lord. I pray that you would impress upon us exactly what it is that you would have us to do. Each step, each decision we make, that you would whisper it with that sweet, still, small voice and direct us, Lord.

Also, we ask that you would use the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead to empower us to take action on those steps. In Jesus' name, Lord, we ask that you would bless the the gifts that come in right now and the givers, Lord. Not just the financial resources, but everything that is given to you. Metaphorically, Lord, putting our lives in these plates saying, use me, lord, as you would. Your will and your way to advance the gospel, lord, to advance the good news.

In this place right here where we some of us live. Some of us are just passing through. Lord God almighty, I pray that you would use us this morning, right here, gathered together, that you'd impress upon us by your word, the urgency. And lord, that we'd be carrying the message of the gospel to the very uttermost parts to the other side of this big blue ball. In Jesus name, we ask your blessing.

Amen. Children's church is happening downstairs, and there they go. It's fun. Where are we here? Oh, gracious.

That's not where we are. Are those going be in order? They are. Good. That was going to make a big difference in how this goes this morning.

Agoniste. Remember where it was. Agoniste. That's kind of funny to me anyway. Luke thirteen twenty two thirty five.

So last week, I got up here, and we had done two sermons in a row, one from Luke, one from John, and then the next one were all about healings done on the Sabbath. And so it's three in a row, healings done on the Sabbath. But when I got up here last week, the very first thing I said was, oh, I skipped something. Now I've been preaching through the New Testament for eleven years. That's a long time.

Started in the gospel of John, went to the book of Acts, so life of Jesus, life of the early church, then we'll to back

back to next

the

going forward. In

this then section, chapter. Luke speaks alone. And so I was in Luke, and I just knew the next story. So I went ahead and did it. Well, I skipped this passage, and I promised you last week I'll come back to it.

I didn't mean to, but I did it anyway. Sorry. Blew it. I trust that God knows what He's doing. Had one time in Mexico, somebody said, tell the story from Mexico.

We went one time to a little church, same church we usually went to out in the Colonias. And we had about I don't know. Well, I do know. It was nine people, nine guys. And they were from Memphis, Tennessee, and they came down, and they were a men's team.

Men's team. Men's come men come down with cash. They just do. They have money because they don't know they're going across the border. They want to have money.

And usually, when I took a team into Colonia Church in Mexico, what I would usually do is say, all right, there's 60 of us, white people, and we're going to go into this little church out in the Colonia, and we drive through it. It's our second day in town. They're wide eyed when they get there, and I'd say, all right, go in here, we're just going to blend. Okay? This is a church of about 20 or 25, mostly mamas and children because that's the way churches usually start.

And then we go in. And I would say before we get out, said, listen, we don't want to overwhelm the church. We are going try to blend as best we can. And it's very easy to go in and overwhelm the offering plate especially. If you all go in and all of you put in a 20 into the offering plate, that's going be more than they'd usually get in a year because it was a pretty poor area that we were in.

And I said, we don't want for the churches to start turning towards the visitors and not towards the people. So typically, I wouldn't stop it. If you feel led, Luke, give what you need to give, but I'd give that little caveat before we go in, and I forgot. And it was a team of nine guys. And like I said, guys, teams carry cash.

And I went, oh my goodness. I forgot. This is the death nail for this church. They're gonna stop paying attention to their people and start paying attention only to the team that comes in. But it was a Sunday where the pastor I didn't see him.

I didn't see him. I didn't see him. And then I saw the pastor's wife get up, and she's got tears in her eyes. And we'd already had the offering. And she said, Fidel is not here this morning.

He sold tacos off of a bicycle, a rack on the front of his bicycle. Bicycle. And And so he he pulled his calf muscle away from his bone, rolled it up the backside of his leg. He's in the hospital right now, and it's just terrible. And I had forgotten to say that, and that was in God's providence.

Exactly the amount those guys had given us what he needed to be able to lose the income from work and get the surgery needed to reattach his muscle. And so I trust that God knows what he's doing even when I mess up or forget. So here we are. This is the passage. Yes, the part I accidentally skipped last week.

So the introduction of the setting, he went away again. This is John 10. So I'm in Luke, but just as a harmony goes, this will tell you where we are. And he went away again beyond the Jordan River to the place where John was first baptized and he stayed there. So this area right here, we know it as, in Greek it's Parea, Parea.

That's what we know it. It's over there, the country beyond or Parea spelled either way. Beyond the Jordan, you read that, that's where it is. Transjordan, some people call it and even in the Tanakh Temple, that the the the And we're is

going

familiar with John the Baptist ministry, while John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true. They recognized John as being the forerunner of Messiah, the one who must increase. And John said, I must decrease. They recognized that this is who he's talking about. Many came to him because of John the Baptist's faithful ministry.

Many came to him in that region, and they recognized that what John said about true was g said about Jesus was true. Although John didn't do miracles. John just had a very harsh prophetic message. Right? And people were going out to see him.

And this says, and many believed in Jesus there. John's faithful presentation of Jesus beforehand prophetically is what led many people to recognize this is the guy, and many believed in him there. I love that. So this is all the areas that we have seen Jesus in, in our study, in the gospels, all of those areas. But today, I believe he's in Perea.

Could be in Galilee. Some people think it was Galilee, but I think it's Perea. And as he was passing through one city and village after another, he was teaching. Jesus was teaching. I mean, that's what he did.

A lot of people would think of him as a miracle worker, but what he was doing was showing them what the Old Testament meant. He was fulfilling the law, but he was teaching about it the whole time too. And he was proceeding on his way to Jerusalem. In the book of Luke, if you're reading the book of Luke, there is up to nine fifty, and then in nine fifty one, it says Jesus set his face like flint and was headed towards Jerusalem. Knowing the cross was there for him, he was going forward towards a certain death there.

But he voluntarily chose to do that. And as he was proceeding, he was teaching the whole way. He was doing miracles here and there, some on the Sabbath. He was proceeding on his way to Jerusalem, and someone said to him, doesn't say who? Doesn't say Pharisee, Sadducee, Herodian, doesn't say who.

I might get excited, Carl. I'm gonna move this. I hope hope not to knock it over. And someone said to him, Lord. So Lord can be anything from just a simple sir to Lord.

You deserve you're worthy of worship, right? So I just wanted to point it out. Someone in the crowd said to him, Lord, are there just a few who are being saved? Is it a small number? Are there just a few who are being saved?

How how big is this kingdom of God? Are there just a few who are being saved? Which is a valid question, and it's about salvation, and there's not any doubt about it. He's saying that people are in peril, and are there just a few who are gonna be rescued? Saved.

So this is the word, so so. A lot of y'all have heard of so so ministry, but so so menoi, for you grammar nerds, is the present middle or passive participle, nominee masculine plural, which covers everybody. It is men and women, all of you. And it's from so to, the verb that means to save, to heal, to preserve, to rescue. Okay?

Are there just a few who will be saved, healed, preserved, rescued? Properly, it's to deliver out of danger and into safety, and that's what this person was talking about. It's used principally in the New Testament of God rescuing believers from the penalty and the power of their sin. Be for sin, the double cure, save from wrath, and make me pure. And into the provisions of God, into the family of God, out of the kingdom of darkness and into marvelous light.

That's what so so means. So are there just a few who are gonna be saved? And he said to them, so Jesus says, he kind of skirts the question a little bit. He answers it, but indirectly. Instead of saying, yes, it's 144,000.

Okay? He doesn't say that. He doesn't say exactly, but he says, all right, if I were you, strive to enter through the narrow door. It's not a wide gate. It's not a wide path.

It's a narrow way. So strive to enter through the narrow door. And that strive right there is this word, agoniztze. It's where we get our word agony from. That's why I thought it was funny when it popped up on the screen, and it wasn't the first love because for me, I went immediately into agony.

I rely on these things. I don't have any other notes up here. So it's an imperative. This is an imperative, and that's a command. And so when Jesus answers the question, it wasn't a straight up answer, it was a command.

And to be contending for a prize, to be struggling, like I said, it's from Agon, which is conflict or struggle. So now that's where we get agonized. Properly, it's to struggle like you're engaged in an intense athletic contest or warfare. And so I can say he's not saying work hard to gain the kingdom of God. He's saying strive to enter through the narrow door.

Pay attention to what God has said. Jesus was there teaching. He's there teaching. He wants the questions. And the people are asking, is it a wide open path?

Is it just everybody? Is it a just a few? Is it just a few? He said, it is a narrow door. And so be striving, be content, and try to hear what it is that God is saying and walking out the steps that he has for you.

So that word is used eight times in the New Testament, and most of them are by Paul. It's like this. He says, everyone who competes in the games exercises self control in all things. That's the same, agonizomai. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, but we're doing this for an imperishable.

For this purpose, I also labor, striving according to his power. So it's working by the power of God, not by your own power. Striving according to his power, which works mightily within me. I might stop right here and say, did God say to them when he gave them the law? Exodus.

Right? Go back to Exodus. We just finished it with first being the Bible. Did God say, do all this stuff and I'll save you? Or did he say, I'm gonna save you and deliver you, and then here's the law that will help you?

He saved first, right? He did. So when the people turn to him today, when someone turns to him and says, I believe, even if it's the thief on the cross, remember me when you come into your king. Today, you'll be with me in paradise. It's about belief.

Okay? The striving is we should be listening, striving to hear what God says. And according to the power which is working in us, we will be able to do what he has called us to do. Colossians, Epaphras, who is one of your own, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He is always striving earnestly for you in his prayers.

You can strive in prayer. Striving earnestly for you in his prayers that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. That's the way it's used there. First Timothy, it's used a couple of times. For it is for this that we labor and we strive because we've set our hope on the living God who is the savior of all mankind, especially believers.

The next one it says, Timothy, fight the good fight. Struggle with this. Go forward. Doing what it is that God's called you to do. Fight the good fight.

Take hold of the eternal life to which you are called. Grab hold of it. You know the invitation is there. Be getting after it. For which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

I know sometimes, Timothy, you get shy, but go for it, man. And then he says in second Timothy, Timothy, I'm getting old. I've fought the good fight. I finished the course. I've kept the faith.

In the future, there's reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will award me on that day. Not only to me, but also to all those who have loved his appearing. It's an open wide invitation, absolutely open wide, and he's saying that he accepted it and it was worth it to just go for it. So that's what he did. And if you're thinking, well, only Paul used it.

Jesus did too. And he used it like this, the struggle. He said, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my my servants would be fighting so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews to be killed. Right?

They'd be struggling to make sure that I wasn't. But as it is, I've called them off, and I'm going voluntarily because my kingdom is not of this realm. It's a different kind of kingdom. Okay. And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow door.

So I like Daryl Bach's commentary on this. His section right here is called the narrow and soon shutting door. Okay? So he starts with strive to enter through the narrow door. It's narrow.

It's not a wide path. Wide is the way Matthew says it leads to destruction. Also, by the way, the striving is an imperative, but it's a present tense, be striving. It's a continuous action verb. Habitually, be striving.

Always be looking for the narrow way. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and they won't be able. Well, that's hard. It's a wide open invitation. All who seek, find.

Why is it that they? And he goes on. He says they will not be able. Universalism is a popular heresy, probably the most popular heresy of our day, of our time. Right?

Have you all heard it? Everybody's going to be saved. Beloved God would never ever do that. No. Surely, he couldn't be serious.

The problem is, according to Jesus, it's heresy though. Universalism is heresy. It's pop popular, but it's still heresy. So he says, strive to enter through the narrow door. Listen to what God has to say.

Be willing to accept him. Be willing to accept the Holy Spirit, still small voice, urging to step out in faith and turn to Jesus. I tell you, many will seek to enter it and will not be able. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door so this is the shutting part. The narrow way, it will eventually be shut.

Now we're living in the age of grace. The door is open. The invitation is real, and it's open right now. It's open. But Jesus is saying, once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and no man knows thou or not even I, and you begin standing outside.

Boy, that's one of the saddest sentences in the Bible. And it's someone ask him and and you hear him saying, and you begin standing outside and you think, poor guy, but it's plural. Alright? It's not just that guy. You begin standing outside and you begin knocking on the door and saying, Lord.

Lord. The guy just called him Lord up above. Right? How what did he mean? Did he mean sir?

Did he mean Lord? Saying, lord, open up to us. Open up to us. And he then will answer and say to you, I don't know I don't know y'all. I don't know where y'all are from.

That's hard preaching. But it's from Jesus. It's straight from him. Then y'all it's not just you, not one guy. Then y'all will begin saying, but, hey, we ate and drank in your presence.

You taught in our streets. We were around you all the time in that day. In our day, it might be, but I I was there. I was there. We sang songs.

I know I was there. I went with my mama. We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. We know we know who you are. We we we know you.

And yet he'll say, I I don't know where y'all from. It's you're not of this kingdom. Leave me all you evildoers. Oh, what a stab. That must have been.

What a stab that is. I don't know I don't know where y'all from. Leave me all you evildoers. The the narrow way is soon shut. In Jesus' mouth to this person, he repeats it in several other places.

Right here, he goes further than that. Says, in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When y'all see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all of the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. Now this was in that time a crowd of people that had gathered around, and the next thing we're gonna see is and there were present some pharisees. So he's oftentimes speaking to the religious leaders.

This is not just to sinful, hopeless, reprobates, licentious people. This is also for legalists too. You can on either side. And this looks like he's pointing to the people who saw their heritage with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But we're we're Abraham's.

We're Abraham's spiritual kid well, physical kids from his lineage. We're trusting in that. In that place, there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth where you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. So I I'm gonna stop right here and come forward to the Corinthians. I love this passage.

The past. The And been in The last part of it says, for right now, we see in a mirror dimly or through a glass darkly or through an opaque hard to see through kind of glass like a shower door, right? We see in a mirror dimly. But then now we see only in part, but then face to face, it'll be clear as a bell. There's no doubt about it.

We'll understand. Now we get it in part, little snippets here and there. But now it says, I know in part. I have a clue, but it's a hint. It's not complete knowledge.

Be humble. You could be wrong, right? This, Paul says, I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I have been fully known. Can you imagine knowing God the way he knows you? That's a good comforting thought.

To know fully just as I have been fully known, That to me is the most comforting. There's consciousness and we know from Revelation a lot of other places, yet there are no tears. We understand completely, absolutely, all the way and we're not upset or sad about it. That's really comforting. But now faith, hope, and love remain these three, but the greatest of these is love.

Love continues forever. His steadfast love continues forever. Faith and hope are a now sort of thing. You can put your faith in that which is true, and it will make all the difference in your life and in eternity. You can hope, which in the Bible is an absolute certainty that will come to pass that has not yet come to pass, And faith and hope are a now sort of thing.

But then in the presence of God, when we know him the way he knows us, when we are seeing things just as they are with no tears, the greatest of these is love. It will continue absolutely forever into eternity future, okay? But faith and hope will be unnecessary because we'll see them just as they are. It's not something future looking. Okay.

So I'm contrasting knowing everything and being alright with it and with no tears versus what Jesus just alluded to. He said, you'll be conscious of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, but you won't be able to get there. The narrow door is soon shutting. I'm gonna jump forward to Luke 16 and let Jesus again if I had the wherewithal, I could have put the words in red. This is Jesus telling the story.

Okay? So Jesus is telling a story, and I won't say it's a parable because he doesn't say it's a parable. There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Then the implication is, but was not able.

He wouldn't give it to him. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. That's graphic. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

Notice the difference there. One of them is carried to the bosom of Abraham. The other one, it just says, was buried in Hades where he was in torment. He looked up and he saw Abraham far away. That's why I picked this up because the same reference is being made from Luke 13.

So he called to him and said, father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus, that poor beggar. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I'm in agony in this fire. But Abraham replied, son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things while Lazarus received bad things. Now he's comforted here and you're in agony. Besides all this between us and you, a great chasm has been set in place.

It is fixed so that those who wanna go from here to you cannot nor can anyone crossover from there to us. He answered, then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family for I have five brothers. Let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torment. And Abraham replied, they have Moses, and they have the prophets. We've sent that message.

Let them listen to them. No, father Abraham, he said, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they'll repent. If Abraham comes back from the dead and goes to them, they'll repent. And he said to him, if they didn't listen to Moses or the prophets, then they'll not even be convinced even if someone rises from the dead. Jesus is headed towards Jerusalem to die and be resurrected.

There's hope there. This carrying on and loop forward, heavy message, I know. But this is optimistic and hopeful. It says, and they. So it's been you, you, y'all, y'all, y'all.

And now it says, and they, they, they will come from the East and the West, from the North and the South, and they will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. This is unique. It says north and south. I think I'm thankful for that. Y'all can hear this accent.

It's for everybody. It's an open invitation. The invitation is absolutely open. They will come from the East and the West, from the North and the South, and they will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. It's a wide open invitation.

It's not just for y'all of the lineage of Abraham. It's gonna be surprising, the narrow and soon shut. Now last week, we did cover three different parables, three different stories that Jesus gave about a dinner party that was being given, and he had three different ways of looking at it. And one of them was that he had invited these guests, and then those guests all made excuses about why they couldn't come. And so they stepped away, and it hurt the manager of the house.

It hurt the head of the house, and he extended the invitation out in the highways and hedges to anybody who would accept it. And the servant, Jesus, came back and said, we've done that, Lord, and there's still room. So it's a wide open invitation, still is today. Wide open invitation. Anybody who will may come.

And it said they came in from the outside, north and south, east and west, and they were climbing at the table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last. That's a good translation. It's not an all. It's not an absolute reversal, but it is there are those, actually a wooden translation would be this.

And behold, they are last who will be first or there are those last who will be first, and there are those first who will be last. The great reversal. In Luke, this comes up a lot. In fact, I'm going go through a few of them here. This is from Luke two, Mary's song.

We're usually only here around Christmas. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my savior, for he has looked upon his handmaid's loveliness. He has shown might with his arm. He's dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

That's a great reversal. The arrogant of mind and heart do pretty well in this world. He's shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones, but lifted up the lowly. The hungry, he is filled with good things, but the rich, he is sent away empty.

Blessed are you who are poor. This is from Luke six. For the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and denounce your name as evil on account of the son of man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day. Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. Continuing on, but woe to you who are rich, for you've received your consolation. Woe to you who are filled now, for you'll be hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you'll grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way. Dang, Luke. At this very time, some Pharisees approached. Do you all hear the, dun dun dun dun dun dun.

Every time you hear a Pharisee and Luke, it's kinda like, oh, gracious. Here they are again. Those are the religious people. Alright? We have to we have to take that into account.

Here we are all gathered together in Jesus' name. We have to maintain our humility before God that we did not deserve this. None of us did. None of us did. And so we all have a possibility of becoming pharisaic, and we all have the possibility of walking in sin, lisentiousness.

At that very time, some pharisees approached, saying to him, and there's no hint of evil in this. None. Go away and leave this place because Herod wants to kill you. It was a sincere warning. Now they might have wanted him to go away and leave the place too because he's popular and many were believing in him.

That's a possibility too, but there's no hint of that. They're just saying, listen. You need to get out of here. You know what happened to John the Baptist. If you're wondering which Herod, it's this guy, Herod Antipas.

I don't have an actual picture of him. That's the best Internet could do. Basing that on this, who'd you go out to see in the wilderness? They went out to see John. Who'd you go out to see in the wilderness?

Wilderness? A reed shaken by the wind? Did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing? That's John the Baptist right there. Every time you see him, he's dressed in some skin of something, not soft clothing, but that's the way malachoice, hematois is where Herod is said, No, those who are splendidly clothed, they live in luxury.

They're found in royal palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, the one who's more than a prophet. He's the one about whom it is written, behold, I'm sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare the way before you.

This is where he's coming from, where John was first baptizing. And so right there, we've seen him cover all that ground, but now this is Herod's territory, Perea and Galilee. It's a weird territory. It's split. Decapolis separates it.

But those that's why there are two different schools that thought about where he was, but Perea, is where I think he was. Herod Antipas is the guy in charge. Jesus is calling people to righteousness. He is saying that it's just not about your heritage, it's about what you believe. And Herod was not putting his trust in Christ.

Go away. Leave this place because Herod wants to kill you. And Jesus says to them, go tell that fox. This has always caught me off guard. You go tell that fox.

Metaphorically, this is a sly and crafty man. Now he is sly and crafty. I mean, just the fact that he is right now the king of the Jews. Right? He is the king of the Jews in this area.

He's got that coverage for where he is. He's the head guy of of the Jews, but it's in the Roman Empire. So he's sly and crafty. He's playing both sides. Jewish enough to be head of the Jews, but also Roman enough.

He's holding on to both sides. He's sly and he's crafty, and he's murdered John the Baptist. That fox can also be a destroyer because foxes destroy. Behold, Jesus says, I'm casting out demons and performance healings today and tomorrow. Actually, the very next passage we see in perform a healing.

I'm casting out demons and Performing Heals today and tomorrow. And on the third day, I reach my goal. That's an idiom. Three days is is a common idiom for it's a it's a quick series of events. Right?

But I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do until my time comes. I might say right here. You're invincible until your time. Okay? You're absolutely invincible until your time.

Till then Jesus says, there's nothing here I can do to me because I know where I'm going. I know my mission, and I've surrendered to it. I'm going that way. Behold, I'm casting out demons and performing healers today and tomorrow. On the third day, I reach my goal.

Nevertheless, I must go day. I must go on my journey today and tomorrow and the next day. The next series of events is gonna be really, really important. I have been looking that way, and it's gonna happen that way for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. And then he launches into a lament right here.

Jerusalem has not treated the prophets well. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jesus says. Oh, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her. Actually, that was true Old Testament wise. It was true in the intertestamental period.

And even in the book of Acts, Luke volume two, we see the stoning of Stephen in Jerusalem. And Jesus had said, you're gonna be my witnesses right here in Jerusalem and Judea and to the uttermost parts. They stuck together and clumped up in Jerusalem until the stoning of Stephen and that scattered them. They went into Samaria and all over the place. Jesus goes on in this lament.

Oh, how often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her young under her wings. I wanted it, but you were unwilling. So that narrow and soon shut door that Jesus has just mentioned is open, and he's saying, come on in. You've received an invitation. You're welcome to come on in.

It's open and soon shutting. Come on in while you can, but you're unwilling. Isaiah 30. This is one of the prophets who was killed, most people believe, in Jerusalem. Sewn in half.

For this is what the Lord God, the holy one of Israel has said, in repentance, turning from your wicked way, and rest, you will be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength, but you are not willing. That's one of the saddest verses in the Bible too. A willingness to accept the word of the Lord is the requirement. Behold, your house is left to you.

It says desolate flatly in Matthew, behold, your house is left to you. It's just y'all in there now. And I say to you, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Now that's a festival March song. If I were to say, don't stop.

No. Of course. Right. Blame it all on my roots. I showed up in boots.

You know the whole song. Right? You all know the whole song. I know that you know the whole song. There are some songs you just can't get rid of.

And by the way, if you came on Mother's Day expecting me to sing a song, I have done two ridiculous songs on Mother's Day in the past. It's Simple Man by Leonard Skynyrd. I can't still can't believe I did that. And I did Mama Tried. If you came back expecting that, I'm sorry.

The closest you're gonna get is friends in little places. When Jesus calls this out, his hearers knew the rest of the song. Do you understand what I'm saying? Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord is what they sing as they're walking up the hill from Jericho to Jerusalem. It's a song of ascents.

This is what they sing on the way to Passover, which is coming in the next short while. You might remember it from the triumphal entry. You're not gonna see me again until I show up and people are laying down their cloaks and I'm riding a little donkey, and they're singing, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. That that that could be the reference, but I think what he's saying is around Passover time is gonna be the time that you see. So this is the verse.

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. Amen. But I want us to do the whole song, and I'll close with this. This is this is going be the last thing I I think I get to.

Thought Florian was coming up to play the piano like this sermon is over. Sorry. That's enough of that. This is Mother's Day for crying out loud. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

If you're sitting there and you're going, I can't believe he preached on eternal conscious torment on Mother's Day. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. It is a wide open invitation for anybody who will accept it. Thief on the cross, the vilest sinner who truly believes that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy is everlasting.

Mercy is when you don't get what you do deserve. Okay? That's has said in the Hebrew, which is sticky love. God's steadfast love, which includes his mercy and his grace. His mercy is everlasting.

Let Israel, the people of God, say his mercy is everlasting. Oh, let the house of Aaron say his mercy is everlasting. Let those who fear the Lord say his mercy is everlasting. I'm saying it right now. His mercy is everlasting.

From my distress, I called upon the Lord and the Lord answered me, and he put me in an open space. I was jammed up, but he put me in an open space. The Lord is for me. I will not fear. What can man do to me?

The Lord is for me among those who help me. Therefore, I'll look with satisfaction on those who hate me. It's better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It's better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in noblemen. All nations surrounded me.

In the name of the Lord, I will certainly fend them off. It's not by my power. It's by his power. Doesn't matter who's against me. Nobody can be against me if the Lord is for me.

They surrounded me. Yes. They surrounded me. In the name of the Lord, I'll certainly fend them off. They surrounded me like bees.

They were extinguished like a fire of thorn bushes. In the name of the Lord, I will certainly fend them off. I trust in you, Lord. You pushed me violently so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song.

He's become my salvation. The question that started all this was, is it just a few, Lord? And this is saying over and over, it's wide open for anybody who'll accept it. The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tent. Of the righteous.

The right hand of the Lord performs valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord performs valiantly. I will not die, but I will live. I'll tell the works of the Lord.

Remember John the Baptist. Everything he said about him was true, and many came to believe in him because of that, not because he did miracles. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he's not turned me over to death. Open the gates of the righteousness to me and I will enter through them. It's narrow, but I'll go through them.

And I will give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous will enter through it. I will give thanks to you for you've answered me and you have become my salvation. A stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

This came about from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made. Let's rejoice and let's be glad in it. Please, oh Lord, do save us.

I might add now. That's the urgency. Please, oh, Lord, do send prosperity. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We've blessed you from the house of the Lord.

The Lord is God. He has given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice to the horns of the altar with cords. Alluding to the salvation comes at a cost. You are my God.

I will give thanks to you. You are my God. I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy is everlasting. That's the Psalm that Jesus was alluding to, and they knew it.

And they can sing it in their head for the rest of the day. Right? John performed no sign, but he did have a message, and he shared it faithfully. And me and everything he said about this man was true. And if y'all are thinking, I wish I could do miracles.

Maybe people would listen to me. John didn't. He didn't. There's no floating ax heads. There's no multiplying meal.

There was no shoes that didn't wear out. Doesn't even look like he wore shoes. Everything he said about Jesus was true, though, and many believed in him there. And I do think that's the last slide. Would you stand with me?

God, would you help us? Would you help us to love one another love one another well? Lord, if there's anybody here today who's hearing this message and going, goodness gracious. Lord. And they don't know whether that means sir or actually lord.

God, I pray that you'd clarify it for them today, that the still small voice would be so clear and that they'd be able to hear it and say, that's what I want, Lord. I'll take the I'll take that. I'm trying to hear from you. I believe you're saying come in to the kingdom. I'm stepping through that narrow door.

In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that you'd bless the proclamation of your word just as you put it down. Amen. Today, God is willing. He is willing to accept. And there are there are folks I could have given an altar call.

So far, hadn't had anybody walked out. I've been here eleven years. It's just not the way things are done anymore. Lots of people do come into the office, and I'll be here and around. We have lots of folks in the room that can help you if you feel like I'm I feel like God's reaching out to me.

He is. Okay. It's an open invitation. The Lord is not slow or slack in some translation. The Lord's not slack in keeping his promise as some understand slowness or slackness.

Instead, he's patient with you. He's not wanting anyone to perish but for everyone to come to a place of repentance. The invitation is open. Would you accept it? In Jesus name, amen.

Amen.