I haven’t felt
the sharpness of the Lord’s sword until after I’d read this passage.
Admittedly, I’ve been in sin, indulging in the sin of comfort, comfortable with
where I am, comfortable with pleasures. Ultimately comfort has led to limiting
my duty of prayer to the Lord, my duty to know Him and His word in greater
measure. I’d strayed from the narrow path, and so when I’d read this passage,
it was very clear that the Lord was directing His warning to me.
“Lord,” someone
asked Him, “are there few being saved?”[a]
He said to
them, 24 “Make every
effort to enter through the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to
enter and won’t be able 25 once the homeowner gets up and
shuts the door. Then you will stand[b] outside and knock on the door, saying,
‘Lord, open up for us!’ He will answer you, ‘I don’t know you or where you’re
from.’ 26 Then you will say,[c] ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You
taught in our streets!’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you, I
don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from Me, all you workers of
unrighteousness!’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that
place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom
of God, but yourselves thrown out. Luke 13:23-38
This passage is
very similar to the passage I’ve written a few articles about based on Matthew
7:21-23. This is a sharp warning, and we must consider warnings in scripture
with extreme care, examining not only what the text is teaching us, but also
our own lives as well. Let us first consider the question that is raised in
verse 23 “Are there few being saved?” We’re not told who asked this question,
that’s irrelevant. But the nature of the question itself, is humbling
non-the-less! So how does the Lord respond? Christ presents us with a command “Make
every effort to enter through the narrow door!” Let us consider the Lord’s
teaching in this command. We know God is not a God of disorder or confusion (1
Corinthians 14:33), Christ is being direct. He doesn’t even tell us yet that
there are two paths, He tells us to make the effort to enter the narrow door.
This is very similar to how Christ warns us in Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate. For the
gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are
many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads
to life, and few find it. Matthew 7:13-14
We see Christ
gives us His command to enter through the narrow gate, and in the passage of
Luke, we see a similar beginning “enter through the narrow door”. We must at
this stage note that the Lord is direct, His ways are not convoluted. So what
of this warning? Friends this is not a warning for the lost, this is a warning
for people who consider themselves Christians, people who know of the narrow
door. How do we know this? There are two clues in the passage that tell us that
this is a warning for those who call themselves Christians. In verse 25 we see
the respondent addressing Christ as Lord;”Lord, open up for us!” And in verse
27 we see in closer detail the nature of the respondent; “Then you will say,[c] ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You
taught in our streets!” We know that these people who are cast out in the
presence of the Lord are those who confidently know the Lord, even those who
approached the Lord to say “we ate and drank in your presence!” So perhaps
there are two questions you might be pondering then. How do we make sure we
enter through the narrow gate? John 10:9 explains Christ is that gate!
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he
will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. John 10:9
We must enter by the Lord, making every effort
to humble ourselves, to uphold the name of the Lord, to fight off sin as
mentioned by example in Romans 7, to embrace the Lord’s armour as mentioned in Ephesians
6 and to continue to share the gospel with non-believers. It is our duty, our
calling as Christians to respond to the Lord’s outpouring of His grace and
mercy, and respond in such a way that gives Him the honour and the glory!
Finally friends if you (like me) have been in sin and you know you’ve strayed
from the narrow path, cry out to the Lord. Ask Him to reveal the sin in you.
Repent of not honouring the Lord’s holiness, not honouring His supremacy, not
honouring His attributes. We have much to repent of and we’re in a battle that
we can’t win by ourselves. That is why in Ephesians 6 it is called “the Lord’s
armour”. Run to the Lord if you’ve been in sin, run to Him and beg for His
mercy. For He is merciful and abounding in steadfast love!
The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
