The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Luke 13primary text for the sermon, setting where Jesus teaches about the narrow door
1 Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.
4 Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
6 He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.
7 He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?’
8 He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it, and fertilize it.
9 If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”
10 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.
11 Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up.
12 When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.”
13 He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight, and glorified God.
14 The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!”
15 Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water?
16 Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
18 He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it?
19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and put in his own garden. It grew, and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.”
20 Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom?
21 It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”
22 He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem.
23 One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them,
24 “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.
25 When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’
27 He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’
28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside.
29 They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom.
30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”
31 On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.
33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!
35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
the dinner party story preached the previous week, referenced as what comes right after Luke 13
1 When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him.
2 Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him.
3 Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
4 But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go.
5 He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”
6 They couldn’t answer him regarding these things.
7 He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,
8 “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him,
9 and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.
10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.
11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back.
13 But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind;
14 and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.”
15 When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!”
16 But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.
17 He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’
18 They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’
19 “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’
20 “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’
21 “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’
22 “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’
23 “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’”
25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,
26 “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.
27 Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple.
28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
33 So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
34 Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?
35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Epaphras striving earnestly in prayer for the Colossians
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
we labor and strive because we have set our hope on the living God
10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we have set our trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
fight the good fight of faith, take hold of eternal life
12 Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you confessed the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.
Paul saying he fought the good fight, finished the course, kept the faith, crown of righteousness reserved
7 I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.
8 From now on, there is stored up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his appearing.
Jesus says his kingdom is not of this world, servants would not be contending to keep him from being handed over
36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.”
rich man and Lazarus, the great chasm fixed between heaven and hell, conscious torment
19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was taken to his gate, full of sores,
21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
23 In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
24 He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But here he is now comforted, and you are in anguish.
26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
27 “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house;
28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
29 “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
30 “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
in repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you were not willing
15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,
the Lord is not slow or slack, He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance
9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mark preached from Luke 13 on a question someone put to Jesus: "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" Rather than giving a number, Jesus told the man to strive to enter through the narrow door, and the sermon followed that answer carefully through the surrounding passages in Luke. It was Mother's Day, and the service also included a Psalm 118 reading that brought the morning to a close.
What was said
The setting matters. Jesus was in Perea, the region east of the Jordan also called Transjordan or Gilead, the same place where John had been baptizing. The people coming to Jesus there were saying that everything John had foretold about him was true, and many believed. Pastor Mark pointed out that John did no miracles at all. He simply told the truth about Jesus, and that was enough for people to come to faith.
When someone in the crowd asked how many would be saved, Jesus did not give a number. He gave a command: be striving to enter through the narrow door. Pastor Mark worked through the Greek word for strive, showing it is a present-tense imperative, the same word used elsewhere for an athlete contending for a prize or a soldier in combat. The effort is not earning salvation; it is the posture of someone who takes the invitation seriously and is pressing through rather than drifting past.
The next line is one of the saddest in the Gospels, Pastor Mark said. "Many will seek to enter and will not be able." Once the head of the house shuts the door, those outside will knock and say they ate and drank in his presence, that he taught in their streets. He will answer that he does not know where they are from. Pastor Mark noted that this is not only about openly sinful people. Religious pride and self-reliance can put a person just as surely on the outside.
This is also where Pastor Mark addressed universalism directly, calling it the most popular heresy of the present day. He said Jesus is the one maintaining the distinction between heaven and hell, and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 reinforces it: a great chasm is fixed, no one crosses from one side to the other, and the rich man's five brothers still have Moses and the prophets. If they will not listen to those, they will not be persuaded even by someone rising from the dead.
The narrow door is also genuinely open. Jesus told the Pharisees who warned him about Herod that neither Herod nor anything else would stop his journey toward Jerusalem. He was walking voluntarily toward the cross, and the lament over Jerusalem that follows reads almost like a song: how often he had wanted to gather the city's children the way a hen gathers chicks under her wings, and they were unwilling. The refrain "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord" points back to Psalm 118, a psalm Pastor Mark then read in full as a picture of what God is actually like, a God whose steadfast love is everlasting, who answers from an open space, and who has made the cornerstone the builders rejected the very center of his redemptive plan.
Pastor Mark closed by returning to where the passage began. John the Baptist performed no sign, yet what he said about Jesus was true, and many believed. The sermon's final point was that speaking the truth about Jesus is itself enough. No miracles are required. Anyone who believes passes through that narrow door, and once through, nothing can take them out.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor used the story of the bi-vocational pastor in Mexico to illustrate trusting God's providence even when things don't go as planned. Can you think of a time when something you forgot or got wrong turned out to be exactly what was needed?
Jesus answered the question 'Are there just a few who are being saved?' by saying 'strive to enter through the narrow door' rather than giving a number. Why do you think He redirected the question that way, and what does that redirection say to you personally?
Speaker 1Good morning, everybody. How are you? We might sing a few more in. There were some folks that I recognize that usually come to this service, came to the early service this morning, but the few and the fervent, would you stand with me and we will sing of the wondrous story. Happy Mother's Day.
Speaker 2I sing of the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me, How he left his home in glory for the cross of Calvary. Yes. I'll sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me. Sing it with the saints in glory gathered by the crystal sea. I was lost, but Jesus found me, found the sheep, and went astray.
Through
Speaker 1How about we sing love lifted me? Love lifted me. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a couple of announcements, not a ton of announcements.
One of them is Monday nights this week, we're not having Monday nights this week because instead of Awana, Awana wrapped up last week. Big, big time on the Monday Grand Prix. That was fun. But if you are a volunteer for Awana, this year, we're having on Monday night, we're having at the same time we normally do. We're having an appreciation dinner for all of the volunteers because it takes a lot of volunteers.
And so we're not doing Monday nights at first B this week. We're having that appreciation party. So no Monday night, no Awana this week here. You see the circle or oblong circle now is gone. So, the Christian Life and Witness course though is happening on Thursday night.
This has been really good. So, Jermaine is the guy who is coming from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to teach these classes. And it's Christian life and witness course. It's been very good and effective, I think, this week. The only issue we're having at all is that it's just not a whole lot of people here to hear it.
So if you would, you can catch up with us. The last two weeks, he'll summarize at the beginning. And then the bulk of the material he's covering this week is what he'll cover from seven to nine Thursday night. It's a good time. It's an anticipation.
The whole Billy Graham Association is kind of trying to saturate the area with some good kind of reinforcement about evangelism and discipleship before this big event that's happened in September over in Idaho Falls. September 24, the look up tour. Will Graham will be preaching, giving a clear gospel call to anyone who, shows up, but in anticipation of it, they're doing these classes. The twenty third, the day before that, there's a big Kids Fest for children and teens, and it will be a good clear message that night. Musical guest is Crowder, also Ren Collective and a couple of other ones.
One of them, I can't pronounce her name, but she's great. Anybody have anything else on that? My sister's closet. Casey McCooey is the person who typically heads up and does this announcement. She will help.
It's a women's clothing exchange. So for the ladies of the church and community, actually, if you would come together, June 3 is going to be the actual day of the swap. So bringing in the close a few days ahead of that. And we will have new and gently items, here, new and gently used items gathered here and it's just a good time. It's on June 3.
Note the date change. It moved from late May to early June. So June 3, My Sister's Closet. I think that that's probably the last announcement up there. Is there another?
Am I missing one? Anybody? Anybody? If you would, stand with me. We'll sing a couple of more hymns.
Was a hearty rendition right there. Y'all love that song, don't you? It's really good. Holy, holy. I say it every time.
Not to be confused with holy, holy, holy. Alright.
Speaker 2Before you as a token of our love. Gracious father, gracious father, precious Jesus, Precious Jesus. We're so glad that you've redeemed us, precious Jesus. And we lift our hands before you as a token spirit, come and fill our hearts anew, oh Holy Spirit, and we lift our voice before you as a token of our love. Holy Spirit.
Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1On the last. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna pray for the the ushers are coming forward and for this time, lord, where we give back a portion of what you've given to each of us, lord. We know that we are stewards of all you have entrusted us with. I pray, Lord, that we would have open hands toward the poor.
We would have open hands toward the needy. We'd have open mouths toward those who are seeking and searching but not finding. At this point that we would be ready to speak a word for you, Jesus. I pray lord that you would empower us to, walk out the walk, the steps that you have in advance for us. It's not just financial resources going into these plates, Lord, it's our lives.
We're offering back what you've given us if we have a sharp intellect, Lord. May we be using it for you. If we have articulate speech, may we be using it for you. If we have the ability to work hard. May we be using that for you.
Lord God almighty, would you empower us to do exactly what you would have us to do? We know that nothing done in the name of the Lord is ever in vain. So, we ask lord that you would bless and multiply these gifts to do your kingdom's work, your will, lord, done in your way. Amen. Great.
Thank you. So, this morning, it's Mother's Day and I am going to preach on this. Now, last week when for those of you who are here last week, I know we have a couple of visitors, but when last week I got up and I said, hey, we've been doing this study for a long time and I accidentally skipped something. So I'm going to cover what I accidentally skipped last week, alright? But before I do that, I want tell you a quick story.
I told a little quick story about Mexico last week and somebody sits right here in the first service and I like it when you tell stories in Mexico, tell us another one next week. So I said, all right. I would not have chosen to preach on this passage today. I would not chosen to do it, but I've got a story. So when in Mexico, we're down there, and we used to pick people up in the airport on Saturday.
They were there on Saturday. On Sunday, we'd take them to church, give them a breakfast, take them out into the colonias, and we're passing through a really, really poor, like one of the poorest areas in Mexico. And we're passing through all these things, mud puddles and sewage ditches and everything, and we get to a tiny little colonia church out in the countryside. And when we get there and pull up, we've got various numbers, but average of 30 or 40 gringos with us. And when we're on the bus, I would say, all right, before we go in there, this is a small church.
It's going to be mostly mothers and children. That's the way churches generally start in Mexico. And so before we go in there, I just want to say, it'd be easy for us to overwhelm the offering plate. That's actually possible in Jackson. It would be possible to overwhelm it.
You think, well, there's never too much. But people do start to pay attention to the wrong thing if it's overdone, right? And so I said, we don't want to be guilty of taking pastor's attention away from his people that God's put under his share. So as we go in here, probably $1 or $2 and the offer plays plenty. If each of you all gave $20 it'd be overwhelming more than they got in a year and it'd be hard to keep focused on the work.
So usually I said that. Well, one time I forgot that. And it was with a team of men, and men for some reason like to carry cash. They're going to carry cash, dollars 100 bills. That's what they're carrying when they go out of the country.
I don't want be stuck in Mexico and not have a way out. And so I went in and I remembered when I got in there and I just my blood ran cold. I was like, oh, no. I forgot to say that. This is gonna be the Sunday where we overwhelm them.
Oh, but I didn't see the pastor. I didn't give him any fair warning. They had already taken up the offer and it was done, you know. And so the pastor's wife stood up and she was crying and she was rubbing her face. I still remember Sandra saying, Fidel, who's a pastor of this church, is not here this morning.
He sells tacos. He's bi vocational. He sold tacos off of a bicycle. He had a little platform on the front of his bike. And as he was selling tacos this week, he ripped his calf muscle away from the back of his ankle leg down there, and it just rolled up inside of his skin.
Sorry, it's kind of graphic. But he he was missing work, so he wasn't able to sell the tacos from the bicycle. He missed church, so he wasn't able to be there to preach. And she was just overwhelmed with the responsibility of what how are going to do this? And I had forgotten to say, Don't overwhelm the offering plate.
And that was exactly what they needed for him to be off work for a month, to have the surgery, to get it reattached, to allow for their family to heal up after the fact it was just right. So I trust in God's providence. I say that because I wouldn't have chosen this one this week, but here we are. Okay? Now the introduction of the setting.
If you're trying to figure out where Jesus is, it's really important to pay attention to that. Now, I'm preaching from Luke 13. It's the thing that happened right before that story from Luke 14 last week about all those lessons from the dinner party after Jesus heals somebody there. When he asked the Pharisees, is it legal or not? Is it right or not to heal somebody on the Sabbath?
So John says, at this time in our Harmony study, I've been doing this for eleven years, right? We've covered all of the New Testament except for this is the last three months of Jesus' life. First life here. He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing And he stayed there. Now, if you're looking for where that is, that's where it is right there, Perea.
In Greek, it's Perea, like that. You'll hear it called the country beyond because it's on the other side of the Jordan River. You might hear it called Perea spelled that way or spelled that way. You can hear it called beyond the Jordan. That's what it's typically called in some places.
Transjordan is another one, meaning beyond the Jordan. And in the Tanakh, the intertestamental literature, sometimes it's called Gilead. There is a balm in Gilead. That's where it would be right there, Perea. So that's where Jesus went and it says, many came to him.
Well, we're used to that. He has crowds around him everywhere he goes. But this says, many came to him and were saying, now while John, remember this is where John was first baptizing. While John performed no sign, he didn't have any miracles. Jesus is performing miracles.
His miracles are authenticating his message. Many came to him and were saying, while John performed no sign, everything that John said about this man was true. Remember John's prophetic warning, you know, even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees and he must increase and I must decrease. I'm not worthy to even untie his shoes. He he said everything that John said as the forerunner of Messiah was true about Jesus.
And this says, and many believed in him there. I like that. I'll come back to it at the very end, but I like it because John didn't have to do any miracles. If y'all hadn't done any miracles yourself personally, you can still tell the truth about Jesus. And that is the way that people come to believe in it.
So these are all the places that we've seen Jesus ministering in our Harmony of the Gospel study in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So all of those are represented. And as he was passing through, one city and village after another, teaching. That's what his regular ministry was teaching. Now he did do miracles and some people might call him a miracle worker.
But primarily he was saying, this is what God has given. You see how in the Old Testament it says this, and he's teaching about that. He's also teaching about the kingdom of God. It's at hand. It's right here in your midst.
You just need to take hold of it. He said that. He was teaching. That's his primary thing. But in Luke, he was proceeding on his way to Jerusalem.
From Luke nine fifty one all the way to the end of the book. It says, and he had set his face like flint and he was headed towards Jerusalem. Certain death on a cross, voluntarily walking out everything that God had for him. So he was teaching and proceeding on his way to Jerusalem, and nothing was gonna hinder or stop him from that journey. And someone said to him, now this doesn't say a Pharisee said or a Sadducee said or Herodian said or a scribe or a lawyer.
It just says somebody. Someone. Nondescript. Someone said to him, Lord. Now Lord can mean anything from sir, kind sir, all the way to Lord.
Lord Jesus. In this case, it's not the tetragrammation, it's not the Lord with a big L and a capital O R D, it's just Lord. I mean, that whole range, Lord. Are there just a few who are being saved? That's the question that sparks Jesus' response.
Are there just a few? How big is this kingdom? You've been teaching and the Pharisees have been teaching and the Sadducees have been teaching and everybody's been teaching. How many? How many are being saved?
Are there just a few who are being saved? And Jesus hears that and he says, well, let me go back to save for a second. So are there just a few who are being saved? That are being saved is from so. So so is the verb.
It means to save, to heal, to preserve, to rescue. If you're a grammar nerd, that's the present, middle or passive participle. Nominative, masculine, plural, Greek is like Spanish and that when it's talking about everybody, a whole group, mixed group, men and women, it uses men, plural meaning everybody. So, so so to save, heal or preserve. Properly, means to deliver them out of danger and into safety.
In the New Testament, it used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and the power of sin. I think of the line from the song, be for sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. The penalty and the power of sin and into God's provision. So removed from the kingdom of darkness and placed into by grace, God's marvelous light.
So here's the question again. Lord, are there just a few who are being saved? How big is this king? And he said to the minute he kinda skirts the question. He does answer it, but he answers it sort of indirectly.
Instead of saying 144,000. He doesn't say 144,000. Don't report that
Speaker 2I said that he said that. He doesn't he doesn't say that. He doesn't do
Speaker 1it in multiples of 12. He doesn't do it in multiples of seven. He says, strive to enter through the narrow door. It's not saying work for your salvation, but he's saying, hear your question. Your question's about salvation.
It's a valid question. People's souls are in peril. Souls in danger. Look above. Jesus completely saved.
We just sang that. People are in peril. How many of them are gonna be rescued, Lord? And he said to him, if I were you, I'd be striving to enter through the narrow door. Don't just assume it's a wide, wide path that most people are going, that only Hitler is going to be excluded, right?
Strive to enter through the narrow door. That's what you can do. Now, this word for strive is agoniste. That is actually, for you grammar nurse, present, middle or passive, imperative. So it's an imperative.
That's a command. It is a command to be striving. It's interesting that it's middle or passive. Middle is be striving for yourself. As far as you are concerned, you be striving.
You yourself strive. But there's also passive element in that when you trust, you're striving to hear what God is saying and he says, just trust me. You say, I do. Where would you go from here? Where would you have me go from here, Lord?
Listen, be striving. Be striving is contending, as if contending for a prize. As if you're struggling for what? A conflict or a struggle. It's from Agaan and it's where we get our word agonize.
It is a struggle. Properly, it is to struggle like you're engaged in an intense athletic contest or even in warfare. So if you're sitting there going, Jesus is not saying be striving for your salvation. No. He's saying strive to enter through the narrow door.
There is an open invitation right now to enter through the narrow gate. It's open. It's narrow, but it's open. There's one way. I know the exclusivity of the gospel is a problem for our age, but it is the truth.
So he's saying, it's a narrow door. Be struggling to hear what the invitation is, And then come on in. Used eight times, this word is used eight times, agonizomai is used eight times in the New Testament like this. So most of them from Paul. He says, everyone who competes or struggles in the games exercise self control.
They buffet their bodies so that they would be able to race through the Italian Alps on bicycles. Everybody so that they'd be able to run the race to completion. Struggle. They strive. So they do it to obtain a perishable wreath, we do it an imperishable.
First Corinthians, Colossians. For this purpose, I also labor, Paul says. I am striving according to his power which works in me. I'm striving because I know to do that. I'm striving but I'm striving according to his power.
It's not me. It's I've recognized the gift that I've been given. He has saved me and now I am working out that salvation. I'm doing what he's leading me to do according to his power which works mightily within me. It's not a trust in self.
It's a trust in God. Colossians again says, Epaphras. Y'all know Epaphras. He's one of your own. He's a bondservant of Christ Jesus.
He sends you his greetings always. He's striving earnestly for you in his prayers. So you can strive with God in prayer. And that's what he says Epaphras is doing for the Colossians. That you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
Be contending with God. What he's saying? For it is for this that we labor and we strive because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the savior of all mankind, especially of believers. Fight the good fight, Timothy. Be fighting the good fight of faith.
Take hold of the eternal life to which you are called and for which you've made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Be contending, Timothy. And he says again to Timothy, you know what, Timothy? Second Timothy, I fought the good fight. I have struggled with this.
I've struggled with the work that God had for me to do. It's not always easy, but I'll say this, I have finished the course. I'm an old man now. 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 to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
It's an open invitation for everybody who will accept it. Am I talking faster than I usually do? One guy told me I was so wound up this morning, must have had six shots of espresso. I told him what I had was 19 more slides than usual. That's the truth.
So it's not just Paul. Jesus uses the word too, and he answers it saying, my kingdom is not of this world. I have a kingdom that's of a different realm. It's right here in your midst, and if you grab hold of it, you'll be a part of it. My kingdom though is not of this world.
If it were of this world, my servants would be contending and struggling and trying to keep you from handing me over to the Jews. But as it is, I recognize my walk. I recognize my kingdom is not of this realm and I'm walking towards the cross, not away from it. Alright. So that's the way the word strive is used.
He said to them, Strive to enter through the narrow door. Actually, should say it is be striving. It's a present tense progressive action verb. So be striving to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and they will not be able.
Oh, that's one of the saddest sentences in the whole Bible. Strive to enter through the narrow door for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. But you said all who seek will find. Well, way is right there and the invitation is open. If you choose to ignore it or reject it, that's on you.
That's not on God. Right? There will be those who try to find a different way in and they will not be able to enter in. Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, tell you, you'll be seek to enter.
I'm going say something. This is something that in our day, universalism is a very popular heresy. Rob Bell wrote a book several years ago called Love Wins. He's saying love wins because God loves. He's gonna win every single soul.
He's gonna bring every single soul into the kingdom of God. There won't be anybody left. Universalism is a popular heresy. We have in our hymn book left out a few verses that hint at universalism. We have heard a lot of people that have presented a universalist gospel.
Some of them in one form or another. Some believe in post death conversion. There's a whole group of people around here that believes in that, postmortem conversion. There are some who believe in purgatory, which is an extra biblical. It's outside of the biblical canon to even come close to that.
Universalism is a popular heresy, probably the most popular of our time. All roads lead to heaven is a pretty common thought process among people. God is love, and they don't pay any attention to anything else in that little book, first John says. Just God is love. According to Jesus, universalism is still heresy.
He does say it's a narrow door and not everybody will enter it. So strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter. They will not be able once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door. So this is it.
Darrell Bock and his it's a great commentary. It's two volume commentaries about this thick. He says, this is the this section he calls Jesus's teaching on the narrow and soon shut door. The answer to the question is be striving to enter through the narrow door. There are a lot that will try other ways, but they're not going to be able to get in.
Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, that's it. You begin standing outside looking in and knocking on the door, but you're outside of the door. It was narrowly open and then all of a sudden it shut and you're outside knocking on the door saying, Lord. Now the same guy. He's speaking to just that one guy.
He said up here, Lord, are there just a few who are getting in? And then he says, now you're outside saying, Lord, open up to us. We recognize now what was going on. We understand it better now. Hindsight is twentytwenty.
We get this. Open up. We want in. Open up to us. And he then will answer and say to you, head of house will say, I don't know where you all are from.
And when I say, he's saying to that guy, he's not just saying to that guy, it's plural, you all. It's an open thing. You all, they were trusting in other things or trying to find a different way. I don't know where you all are from. Then y'all, again, it's y'all, not just that guy, y'all will begin saying, but hey, we ate and we drank in your presence.
Remember us? We were right there with you. Actually, the very next story is what I taught last week. He's at a Pharisee's house hanging out with the Pharisees and the leaders and this guy who has dropsy or edema. Y'all will begin saying, listen, we ate and we drank in your presence.
He accepted every invitation that I see that anybody who invited Jesus anywhere, he went. Y'all began saying, we ate and drank in your presence. And you taught in our streets. I know you. And yet he will say, I don't know where y'all are from.
You didn't know me. You didn't trust me. You didn't call out. Now the thief on the cross, he did. He did.
He didn't have any works. He didn't have any religious background as far as we know. None. Except remember me when you come into your kingdom. Surely you'll be with me in paradise.
Just just that quick. Today. For these folks, we ate and drank in your presence. We're right there with you. You taught in our streets.
We all knew who you were and yet he'll say, don't know where you all are from. Leave me all you evil doers. Now, when we hear evil doers, I think that most of us think about licentious people who take advantage of others in the realm of just sin. Right? This sinful, licentious lifestyle.
But it's just as possible to be religiously sinful, haughty, arrogant, proud. And it's possible to fall off of that either way. And this is the answer to those folks outside. I don't know where y'all are from. Leave me all you evildoers.
In that place in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Sounds horrible. When when y'all see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but y'all yourselves being thrown out. That's a terribly sad passage. Now, if I'm ever asked to provide something comforting to a believer's family after that believer's class, this is where I go.
This is, to me, is one of the most comforting passages in the whole Bible. It's at the end of the love chapter of Corinthians. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is this.
Love doesn't keep a record of wrongs. We've heard it at almost every wedding we've ever been to. When you get down to the bottom of that, in twelve and thirteen, it says, for now, on this side, right now, we see as through a mirror dimly or through a glass dimly. It's opaque. It's kind of hard to see.
It's translucent, but just barely. You can see how it is, but not clearly. But then we'll see face to face, clear as a bell, no doubt about it. Now, right now, I know just in part. I have a hint.
I have a lot of good leads, but I'm I have to remain humble because I I could be wrong. As God leads, I'll follow, but now I still I still just know in part. I have to admit that but then, I will know fully. Absolute consciousness. I will know fully just as I'm also been fully known.
God almighty knows me. Every hair on my head and everything about me, every cell in my body, he knows me And it says that I will know him just that way. That's really comforting. If you add to that revelation that says, and by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony, he will wipe away every tear from our eye. We'll have absolutely perfect conscious understanding and won't be upset about anything.
Amen. That's something amen. That is very comforting. Now, in 13, it says, but now faith, hope, and love remain. Right now, we've got faith, hope, and love.
Those are the best three. Faith, hope, and love. We've got them. Faith. Faith is believing in what?
Things not yet seen. It's forward looking. I believe it. I trust God who has said that this will come to pass. So faith, hope.
It's an absolute certainty that has not yet happened, Ephesians. That is something that's gonna happen but has not yet happened. Well, if you're thinking of now and then, now faith, hope, and love remain. But the greatest of these is love. Love is eternal.
God is eternal. God is love. And we will be able to experience his love forever because our faith is met with the reality of justice passage where we are fully known and without any upset. Our hope, absolute certainty that has not yet come to pass is happened. And love has said, continues forever.
So I want to contrast that with knowing everything and being alright with no tears. Okay. That's comforting. But contrast that with what Jesus is alluding to. He's saying, you'll be able to see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and yet you won't be able to get there.
That's conscious. And I say torment because he says torment in this story. I'm gonna flash fast forward to Luke 16. It's right around the corner, not far before we get there. And he tells this story.
And it's a story. It's not he never says it's a parable. So there was a rich man who was dressed up in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus who was covered with sores. He was longing to eat and the implication here is that he couldn't because the rich man wouldn't allow it.
His gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table, even the dogs came and licked his sores. Pretty 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. Look at the contrast there.
The beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's bosom. The rich man died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, Jesus said, if if I always put stuff we haven't covered yet in yellow if you haven't noticed the code, But these are words in red. These are Jesus' words. Rich man died and was buried in Hades where he was in torment.
He looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. And so he called to him, Father Abraham. Father Abraham. He's calling out his heritage. Have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire.
But Abraham replied, Son, remember that in your lifetime you receive your good things while Lazarus received bad things. But 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. A great chasm is fixed, the old King James used to say. It's fixed.
It is there. Besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been set in place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone crossover from there to us. They're distinct places. He answered, then I beg you, father Abraham, 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, listen, they've got Moses and they've got the prophets. Let them listen to them. That's just the way it is. There's a great chasm fixed and it's appointed to man once to die and then the judgment. And he says, no, father Abraham, no.
He said, but if I if someone from the dead goes to them, they'll repent. They've got to. If Abraham were to come back and he started preaching, he told this story, they'd repent. I'm sure of it. And he said to him, listen, if they didn't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.
So Jesus is maintaining the distinction between there is such a thing as heaven and hell. There is such a thing as rejecting the salvation that is being offered. He goes on and this is hopeful. And they. It doesn't say you or y'all right here.
It says and they. They, those who are in the kingdom, those folks will come from the East and from the West and from the North and from the South. North and South is actually distinct. This is unique to Luke. He's he's the one that says it.
I like that. Y'all hear this accent. I like knowing that the North is included. And the South is included. That's a merciful God.
They will come from east and west and from north and south and they will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. Now, remember, the next thing we're going hit is what I preached last week about that dinner party story and when he tells them that the invitation has been sent out to those and the people who originally received the invitation, first the Jew, then the Greek, then the Gentiles. Right? If the people who received the invitation to begin with can reject it and not come. They can make excuses about somebody to see, something to do, trying to please somebody else.
I forget all three of those, but they're good. They got something better to do, they got something they want to buy or they have somebody they want to please. They give the excuses, but they don't come to the party. And it hurts. It hurts the master of the house.
And he says to the slave, go and invite the people in the highways and the hedges. Have them come in. And he goes out and he invites them and they come in. From the north, south, east, and west, they come in. And then he goes back to the master of the house and says, listen, they came in and there's still room.
It's a wide open invitation. Absolutely open, narrow but open. And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last. This is a great reversal. In Luke, we see this pretty plain.
There's a wooden translation I'll use that is, and behold, they are last who will be first. It's the NASB says some and it's in italics, meaning they add that to make it make sense. The grammar does allude to the fact that there are those who are last in this world who will be first. And there are those first who will be last. It's not exclusive.
It's not an absolute reversal. Trusting in Jesus if you're poor or if you're rich. Trusting in Jesus is the way. But if you just go by the way of the world, you're gonna end up missing out. The great reversal in Luke.
If we were to go back and see all of the humble who are exalted, I mean, could have also taken all those who are exalted that are going to be humbled. But just starting in chapter one and two with Mary, the Magnificat. Mary, when the angel announces the plan of God to her to use her as Jesus' earthly mom, my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. My spirit rejoices in God, my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness.
That's humble. Right? He has shown might with his arm. He's dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones, but he has lifted up the lowly, the great reversal.
The hungry, has filled with good things, but the rich man is sent away empty. The beatitudes in Luke sound like this. Blessed are you who are poor 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. Chapter six continues. But woe to you who are rich, who have received your consolation.
Woe to you who are filled now for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now for you'll grieve and you'll weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you. Think about this, for their ancestors treated the false prophet in just this way. The great reversal in Luke is very real.
At that very time, it says some Pharisees approached. When y'all hear Pharisee in Luke or in the New Testament, do you just hear like the imperial march, the Darth Vader song? It's kind of that. At that time, some pharisees approached. But listen to this.
It's not that way this time. There's no hint of evil on their parts. Now they may be wanting Jesus to get out of town because he's receiving some attention they had rather receive. They may be just trying to move him on down the line because he's causing too much trouble for the way things are in their synagogue. They're trying to push him on down the line, but what they say is, hey, man.
Go away. Leave this place. You gotta get out of Perea because Herod wants to kill you. Now, which Herod? If you all know where he is right there, Herod Antipas was in charge of Perea and Galilee.
This is a picture of him. You know, his senior photo right there. No. Senior superlative. Now, that that's just a a mock up that the Internet had.
I thought it looked pretty good based on this. The harmony of the gospels. Jesus is talking about John since he's in the place where John was first ministering. We'll go from Luke. When the messengers of John had left, he began to speak to the crowd about John.
What did y'all go out to see in the wilderness? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? Did you go see a man dressed up in soft clothing? The soft clothing.
That's not John the Baptist. Right? He was rough. Rough and rugged. He told the truth like a prophet does.
He's covered in skins of animals with a leather belt and bag. No shoes, kind of rough, hairy. This is the way that he describes softer effeminate clothing, He says, No, that's not what you all went out to see. Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces. But when what did you go out to see?
Did you go out to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you. And the one who is more than a prophet, John. He says, Of those born women, there's nobody better than John. This is one about whom it is written, behold, I'm sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you.
This is kind of picking at Herod Antipas. Did you go out to see somebody dressed up in soft clothing? So we've covered all these places. But if we're to look at where he is, it's either going to be Perea or Galilee because that's where Herod is in charge. Now think about Herod Antipas.
He is the king of the Jews. Right now, he is the king of the Jews in these two areas under the rule of the Roman Empire. So he is playing both sides. He's very, very rich, very, very comfortable as the ways of the world. But he's also, he's Jewish, kinda.
By lineage he is, but he's certainly not really paying attention unless it's politically expedient. And he's also under the Roman government. So Galilee or Perea, some scholars think it was Galilee. I'm pretty sure. I think it was Perea since John says it was in Transjordan.
Herod Antipas ruled forty two years, maybe a little longer. Go away and leave this place because Herod Antipas wants to kill you. You know what he did to John the Baptist? Cut his head off. If you keep talking like that, he's going to get you too.
Get out of here. Aren't you scared of him? We're fine. We're fine. We're part of the system.
But you, you gotta get out of here. And he said to them, Jesus said to the Pharisees, you go and tell that fox. Does that sound like Jesus to y'all? Go tell that fox. So the the fox, metaphorically, it means somebody who's sly and crafty.
I just mentioned that he's playing both sides. He's got the Romans on one side, and he's got the rest of the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, everything else. And he liked for his place to be a place of peace because if it was not a place of peace, he gets the boot from the Romans. He's trying to take care of business. Metaphorically, he's a sly and crafty man.
Also though, Fox, in the next definition down in the lexicon, it says someone who destroys. And considering what he did to John the Baptist, he's a destroyer. So you go tell that destructive, crafty, sly joker, pay attention to this. Behold, I'm casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow. And on the third day, I reached my goal.
So one, two, three, with three literal days, this is an idiom that means in quick succession. We're in the last three months for sure of Jesus's earthly walk and teaching ministry. On the third day, I reached my goal. It's happening in succession and there ain't nothing here I can do about it. I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do today, tomorrow, and then the next day.
And I know what my goal is. In fact, he goes on saying, nevertheless, I must go day. It is necessary on my journey today, tomorrow, and the next day for it cannot be the prophet would perish outside Jerusalem. He's saying, I know what I'm walking towards and it ain't going to be Herod that does it. I'm voluntarily stepping into my role.
This is what the father has for me as an act of redemption for all who will put their trust in me. The invitation is wide open. I say wide open. It's a narrow door, but it is wide open. This immediately kicks into a lament from Jesus.
It's almost a song. It sounds like Jeremiah. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those that have been sent to her. This is true in the Old Testament. We see several prophets that were killed in Jerusalem.
We see Isaiah was sawn in half, hid in a hollow tree, and they cut down the tree and soldered it in half with him in it. Pretty pretty horrible. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that killed the prophets, stones though it's have been sent to her. Actually, if you look in the New Testament, Acts, Luke volume two, it records the stoning of Stephen in Jerusalem. When Jesus said to him, you're going to be my witnesses.
My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even the uttermost parts. They were clumped up in Jerusalem until when? The stoning of Stephen, which he was speaking prophetically even as he died. We have Jesus sitting at the right hand of the father who stands up to receive Stephen in. Man, how often, Jesus said, how often I wanted to just gather your children together?
Children's ministry. How often I wanted to gather your children together? Just as a hen gathers her young under her wings, I wanted to gather them all up. But you were unwilling. You're sticking to your own old traditions.
The stuff you made up, not the commandments of God, but the traditions of men. How often I wanted to just gather y'all up under my wings like a mother hen does her chicks, but you were unwilling. That's sad. It sounds a lot like Isaiah thirty fifteen, and I just mentioned what they did to Isaiah. This is what the Lord God, the holy one of Israel has said.
He has said, in repentance, turning from your wicked way, whether it's a legalistic way or a licentious way, turning from that in repentance and resting in the work of God, you'll be saved. In quietness and trust is your strength, but you are not willing. It is possible to reject the invitation of God. It's possible. But it's on you, not on him.
He's made the way. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. It's just y'all. He's he's saying to the pharisees, to the governing bodies, whatever. You've rejected it And because you've rejected it, you're left alone.
Matthew actually says desolate. That's provided to make it make a little more sense in English in Luke. Behold, your house is left to you. That's what it says. It's just y'all.
You're you're not going by the teaching. You're not going by what God has provided. You're not recognizing Messiah. You're answering the call with a no. And I say to you, to all of y'all, you're not gonna see me again until y'all say, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Now that that little passage right there, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We know they said that at the triumphal entry. Right? So is Jesus alluding to that? Possibly.
Maybe. Could be. It's definitely in there, and it's in there in Luke, so probably. But the blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord is from Psalm 18. It's Psalm eighteen twenty six.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. Now, if I were to start singing a song, I did it in the first service and I kinda had a good feeling that everybody would know the songs I was starting off with there. Should I change it or should I just use the same songs? If I were to say, don't stop believing.
Totally. You know that. It's a song about journey. You got that one. How about blaming all on my roots.
Speaker 2I showed up in boots.
Speaker 1Yes. You all know that one too. Good. That's a Garth Brooks song. Some of y'all are not getting that.
Would I have to go back to like Goodnight Irene? No. I'm just kidding. So I'm kidding. So if I start a song, the point is if I start a song, you know the song, you'll be singing that this afternoon, right?
Jesus started a song here. It's it's in the middle of the song. It's a refrain sort of. But he started it. He says, you're not gonna see me again until you're singing this song.
And this song was a Psalm of Ascents as the people of God go up to the city of Jerusalem. I'm gonna close with the whole of Psalm one eighteen. It's a Psalm of a sense. If you have been listening today and saying, man, Jesus is hard preaching today. It's a narrow door.
It's bad, but soon shut is even worse. Like, there's no other chance. You're gonna be outside trying to get in, but the invitation's open. The invitation's open now. And if you think that God's unmerciful, he didn't have to make way for anybody, and he has made that way.
So, Psalm one eighteen is talking about the goodness of God. This is a song, a song that sings of his excellent greatness. So, here we go. I'm going to sing. I'm going to read the whole of Psalm one eighteen and we'll see what God is like.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy is everlasting. His steadfast love is everlasting. His mercy is everlasting. In Hebrew, that is Hased. Hased is that kind of love that God has for his people that is just pursuing and sticky.
Mercy, not getting what you do deserve. Grace, getting so much more than you could ever merit because it's not about merit. It's about grace. Give thanks to the Lord for his good. His mercy is everlasting.
Let Israel 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. From my distress, I called upon the Lord and the Lord answered me and he put me in an open space. I'm not backed into a corner anymore.
I'm in an open space. I was in a place of distress. I called on the Lord. Lord, answer me. Put me in an open place.
The Lord is for me. I'm not gonna fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among all those who help me. Therefore, I will 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 and trust in noblemen. All the nations surrounding me in the name of the Lord, I will certainly fend them off. It doesn't matter who comes up against me. God is with me.
They surrounded me. Yes. They surrounded me. In the name of the Lord, I will certainly fend them off. They surrounded me like bees.
They were extinguished like a fire, thorn bushes. In the name of the Lord, I will certainly fend them off. You pushed me violently so that I was falling but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength. He's my song.
He has become my salvation and it keeps on talking about salvation. Who's going to be saved, lord? Anybody who will accept the way that God has made. It is a narrow door. Be striving to enter through it, not making excuses.
The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents 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.
And I'll tell of the works of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not turned me over to death. Open the gates of righteousness to me, Lord. I'm striving for it. I wanna be righteous.
I will enter through them. I'll go through it. 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, and you have answered me. And you've become my salvation. A stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This came about from the Lord. It's marvelous in our eyes.
We understand it now, lord. This is the day which the Lord has made. Let's rejoice. Let's be glad in it. Please, please, oh Lord, do save us.
Please. Oh Lord, do send prosperity. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. That's what we see in the triumphal entry. Save us now from the Roman government.
Save us now. But Jesus is saying, when you say, Lord, save me, I accept the terms. It's through Christ and Christ alone. I take it. Lord, do save us.
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 and he's given us light. Bind the festival sacrifice to the horns of the altar with cords.
It's not without sacrifice. Redemption is not without sacrifice. And this points to the sacrifice of Christ. You are my God, and I give thanks to you. You are my God, and I exalt you.
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy is everlasting. God has made an open invitation. Now I'm gonna go back to John for just a second. John performed no sign. There were no floating axe heads.
There were no shoes that didn't wear out. There was no replicating meal, you know, oil. There wasn't any of that with John. He just had a simple straightforward message to repent because the kingdom of God is at hand. John performed no sign, yet everything that he said about this man was true.
If we speak the truth about Jesus, we don't have to do signs. We just present the way and anyone who believes will be in. They have passed through that narrow door and nothing can take em out. I think that's the last slide. Well, thank you, Connor.
Would you all stand? Have thine own way, Lord. God's way, he is not willing that any should perish, but all should come to everlasting life. So have thine own way, Lord. Hymn number five ninety one.
Speaker 2While I am waiting yielded and still have thine own way lord have thine own way Amen.
Speaker 1Second Peter three nine says this, the Lord is not slow. Actually, some translations say slack. There's a problem of evil, yes. And people get tripped up on that and they just go, God is so slack. He's so lax about things.
He's not. He's not. He's made a way. The Lord is not slow or slack in keeping his promise as some folks understand slowness or slackness. Instead, what he is is patient with you.
He's not wanting for anyone to perish, but he's wanting for everyone to come to repentance. That's what God wants. He's laid it out there. Now, I could have offered a invitation to come up the aisle. I've been here for eleven years.
I've had one person come forward. She came forward to tell me she was a Christian Buddhist. Okay? Yeah. It's just not the way we do things anymore apparently.
She felt sorry for me and she said so. I'm here all week, and there are a lot of folks who are sitting around right here who can help you with how it is that you just turn over but in your heart, just like the thief on the cross, just remember me, lord, when you come into your kingdom and he'll do it. In Jesus name, I pray that you'd be using us, lord, to reflect your light on a world that is pretty dark. Amen.
