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The Narrow Door - Striving for God’s Kingdom (Luke 12-22-30)
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The Narrow Door - Striving for God's Kingdom (Luke 12-22-30)
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Sunday Message recorded 02 January 2022
by Associate Pastor Joshua Shell
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Church Information
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Associate Pastor Josh Shell. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Josh gives today's message.
Opening Scripture: Luke 13
00:00:45
Speaker
But if you wanna get your Bibles out and open them up to the book of Luke, we're gonna be in Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13.
00:00:54
Speaker
But while you guys are turning there, I just want to wish you guys a happy new year. It's kind of crazy that we're actually going into 2022. I still feel like we're finishing up 2020. Anybody like that? Anybody?
Seeking God's Kingdom and the Narrow Door
00:01:04
Speaker
So this morning, it's my desire for us to shine light on the importance and significance of seeking and striving for God's kingdom in a life that is so full of distractions, so full of temporary fleeting things that we'd like to set goals for.
00:01:21
Speaker
Because if we're not careful, we will miss the narrow door that leads to eternal life. And that's what we're gonna be looking at today at Luke chapter 13, which is the narrow door. So, will you guys look at that with me? It's gonna be a pickup in verse 22. If you guys like to stand with me as we read God's word, that'd be fantastic.
00:01:41
Speaker
And it says in verse 22, it says, he went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying towards Jerusalem. And someone said to him, Lord, will those who are saved be few? And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow door. For many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able.
00:02:04
Speaker
When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, open to us, then he will answer you. I do not know where you come from. Then you will begin to say, but we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets.
00:02:23
Speaker
But he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me all you workers of evil. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are cast out. And the people will come from the east and the west and the north and the south and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some who are last who will be first and some who are first will be last.
Prayer for Guidance
00:02:52
Speaker
Will you guys pray with me? Lord God, we come before you this morning acknowledging that you're the Lord of the universe and that you loved us so much that you sent your one and only Son Jesus to come into the world as a humble servant, ultimately to die on the cross for our sins so that we can have a path back to you, to be able to enter into your presence, into your kingdom.
00:03:18
Speaker
The Lord, that path that leads to eternal life, Father, it's not a wide path. It's not a big door. But God, it's a narrow path and it's a narrow door that leads to eternal life and only few will find it. So God, I pray though that as we work through this passage this morning that God, you're revealing each and every person in this room and myself included where we need to confess and where we need to reassess our lives and our relationship with you, Father.
00:03:49
Speaker
God, to identify if our relationship is truly authentic with you. So that when the day does come and the master rises and shuts the door, Father, we are in the kingdom and not cast out. So God, please lead us during this time. May you convict us. May you draw us closer to you is in Jesus name. Amen. All right, you guys may be seated.
Desiring God's Kingdom Over Worldly Distractions
00:04:17
Speaker
But as we work through this passage this morning, there's three things I want to ask, okay? There's three things I want us to ask ourselves as we work through this passage. The first thing is this. We see in verses 22 through 24 is, are we truly desiring the kingdom? Are you truly desiring the kingdom? The second thing I want you to ask yourself is, do you truly have an authentic relationship with Jesus? Do you truly have an authentic relationship with Jesus? And the third thing is this,
00:04:46
Speaker
Are you willing to stake your life on it? Are you willing to stake your life on it? Or are you willing to stake eternity on it? How about that? So the first question that we're gonna look at though is, do you truly desire the kingdom of God? And we see this in verses 22 through 24. And as I said before though, as we walk through this life, there's gonna be distractions everywhere you look, okay? Satan is very real and he is very active.
00:05:14
Speaker
And he's gonna do anything and everything to keep your focus off the gospel and keep your focus off of the eternal things, the kingdom. For as Peter talks about in his first letter to the churches, he says, be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a line, like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Which is why Paul also goes on to talk about in Ephesians 6, how when we wake up every single day, what do we need to put on?
00:05:43
Speaker
the whole armor of God. The whole armor of God, so that way when Satan comes at you, we can be able to withstand the schemes of the evil one. Because let me tell you this, for anybody who's in Christ, you have a huge target on your back. You have a huge target on your back, and Satan is ready to take you down. Do you think he's worried about those who are already lost? He's already got them trapped.
00:06:11
Speaker
But he's ready to take y'all down. He's ready to take us down. So if we don't acknowledge the power and the influence of Satan, we've already been deceived already and our eyes are not kingdom focused. Y'all feeling me? But what I love about this passage, though, in light of all this, is the example that we see immediately by Jesus in verse 22. And it says, it says, he went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying towards, where? Jerusalem.
00:06:41
Speaker
towards Jerusalem. Now this is later on in Jesus' ministry, he's already been on the scene, he's been doing miracles, he's been teaching with great authority to those around him and many people have already questioned that authority at this time. And so what we see here though is when he is going on his way through towns and villages, where is his focus? What is he looking towards? He's looking towards his final destination, Jerusalem, where he's gonna go and where he's gonna be,
00:07:11
Speaker
given over to the Romans, to where he's going to be crucified on the cross. And so he could have easily taken his eyes off of Jerusalem and focused on the there and now and just focused completely on the people and focused completely on the religious leaders there, but guess what? He said, no, that's not important.
00:07:33
Speaker
That's not important, what's most important is for me to fulfill my father's will for my life and that is to go to Jerusalem to take on that cross and to die for the sins of the world. But I do also want us to notice this, that while he's journeying to Jerusalem, he is stopping through towns and villages and he's teaching and he's healing and he's working in the lives of those people along the way. He's allowing the kingdom mindset to overflow into the people around him.
00:08:02
Speaker
He took advantage of the opportunities of reaching the people. This is the true kingdom mindset that we all must have. For us, if we truly desire the kingdom, this is our mindset. This needs to be our mindset, especially as we go into the rest of our life, right? We need to focus and keep our eyes on the eternal things and allow it to overflow into those around us. Because if we're not passionate about sharing the good news of the gospel and about the kingdom,
00:08:30
Speaker
Do we truly have authentic relationship with Jesus? Do we truly love the gospel?
Striving for Personal Salvation
00:08:42
Speaker
But he goes on in verses 23 and 24, while he's on his way and he's journeying towards Jerusalem, something happens, right? Verse 23, it says, and someone said to him, someone, we don't know who, someone from the crowd, says, Lord, will those who are saved be few?
00:08:58
Speaker
And he said to them, Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many I tell you will seek to enter, but will not be able." So he's approached by this question. The question is, will those who are saved be few? And right away we see that this is a well-intended question, right?
00:09:15
Speaker
someone from the crowd who knew Jesus was passing through most likely knew about the authority and the teachings in which Jesus was teaching by and how at this point he might even have said that I'm the way, I am the truth, I am the life and no one comes to the Father except through me.
00:09:32
Speaker
These are profound words, especially to a Jewish audience who, based on tradition and culture, think that just because they're from the lineage of Abraham and because they're a Jew, the remnant of Israel, that they will inherit the kingdom of God.
00:09:48
Speaker
And so this question was a well-intended question from the person in the crowd of Jesus. Will those who are in heaven, or for those who would be saved, will there be few? It's a well-intended question. But Jesus, when he hears this question, though it's a well-intended question, he understands the heart condition by which it's being asked. You guys see that?
00:10:08
Speaker
When Jesus, when he's answering the question, he doesn't answer the question directly, but he does what Jesus does so very well, is that he rebuttals the question with an answer that they're least expecting. And he answers it this way, he says, and he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow door.
00:10:30
Speaker
If you were that person who asked that question in the crowd, how would you respond to that? Jesus, are those who in heaven are gonna be saved few? And he goes, hey, just strive through the narrow door. Strive to enter through the narrow door.
00:10:42
Speaker
That's profound, right? And you can only imagine the kind of confusion that caused the crowd there. Because again, for the Jewish society, for the Jewish culture, they think that they are secure because they are the remnant of Israel. They're gonna be entering into the kingdom. When this person asked this question, he thought he was safe when he asked this question because he was a part of the remnant. But Jesus says, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:11:08
Speaker
You don't need to worry about whether or not it's gonna be many or few, or whether or not it's gonna be Jew or Gentile. You need to focus on yourself and you need to focus on the kingdom for your own soul. You need to be focusing on following me. That's what Jesus is saying here. So Jesus is addressing the heart condition in which the question's being asked.
00:11:34
Speaker
And what's really unfortunate about this when we look at it in context is that this is the same attitude and mindset that's still lingering around today, even among the Christian culture, even among the church. Many of us are thinking, Lord, will those who are saved be few and am I one of them? First off, you don't need to doubt your salvation if you're in Christ.
00:11:59
Speaker
If you're in Christ, you're sealed. You are bought by the blood of Christ and you are saved. No doubt about it. And you need to have confident assurance in that. But if you're questioning it, you got some bigger things going on. But this heart mindset or this heart condition is still leaning around today. And unfortunately, we as Christians who have a tendency to pick and choose who we think should be worthy of the gospel and the kingdom, just like the Jews were. Remember, they hated the Gentiles. They thought they were so undeserving of the gospel.
00:12:29
Speaker
So again, when he was asking this, he was like, hey, am I gonna be spending eternity with those people? And again, Jesus brings it back around, he says, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't worry about that. You strive to enter the kingdom of heaven. You strive to seek the kingdom first. Don't worry about other people. Don't worry about whether or not the Gentiles get into the kingdom of heaven. That's not your worry.
00:12:57
Speaker
Jesus is ultimately telling them, you worry about your own self first and you make sure that you are seeking the narrow door of the kingdom because if you are not doing that now, woe to you who is missing it.
00:13:12
Speaker
And the sad thing is that as much as we try to prepare you guys and as much as we try to prepare the church and the people in our nation, in our world of this, so many people will continue to live a distracted life, complacent with just knowing of God rather than truly knowing God.
Authentic Faith and Relationship with Jesus
00:13:33
Speaker
They're okay with just knowing about God.
00:13:38
Speaker
They're okay with just going through the rituals of it, the traditions, rather than truly knowing God and having an authentic relationship with Jesus. So again, are you truly desiring the kingdom? Or are you allowing the distraction of the world to lead you astray? Which leads me to the next question, which I've already mentioned several times is this. It's just, do you truly have an authentic relationship with Jesus? Now I know for many of us, this is an easy question to cast off.
00:14:08
Speaker
Sure, I have an authentic relationship with Jesus, don't worry about it. But I'm pleading with every person in this room today, and for whoever's listening online, I pray that you will not disregard this question, but that you will truly ask yourself this question. Because if we do not ask this question every day,
00:14:33
Speaker
The chance we get, we will easily fall into the way of the world. We'll fall into the religious system.
00:14:40
Speaker
in the way of the culture, right? So my question is, do your words, do your actions, do your desires line up with the kingdom mindset? Are you allowing the eternal things to lead your daily life? Are you allowing the spirit to work in your life through the process of sanctification, which will ultimately lead you to the purpose of advancing the kingdom?
00:15:07
Speaker
Are you allowing the urgency of the gospel to propel you forward and to seek, to ask, and to find? Guess what? For those of us who are in Christ, I don't care if you've been a believer your entire life. You need to continue to seek, you need to continue to ask, and you need to continue to find, because none of us have arrived. None of us. That's what Paul just talked about, right?
00:15:29
Speaker
It says, brothers, I do not consider it a thing to be grasped. But one thing I do is forgetting what lies behind, pressing on for what lies ahead, I press on toward the prize to the upper gall of Christ. Because he hasn't arrived. And guess what? We won't until he returns that we are in his presence for eternity.
00:15:51
Speaker
But, so is your life evident of these things, or are you being complacent? Are you just enjoying the momentary pleasures of the world? Are you enjoying just coming to church? Are you enjoying just going to Sunday school, or going to Wednesday night, or going to a Bible study? Those things are great, but guess what? Those things do not save you. Those things do not give you authentic relationship with Jesus. You know what gives you authentic relationship with Jesus?
00:16:16
Speaker
confessing your sin, repenting, turning away from your sin, and surrendering your life to Jesus, allowing him to take over every aspect of your life. So that way, your mindset, your mind, and your heart are not seeking the things of the world, or rather, they're seeking the things of the eternal kingdom. So again, do you have authentic relationship
Urgency of True Faith
00:16:40
Speaker
with Jesus? Don't disregard this question, because the day is coming where it will be too late for you to answer it.
00:16:47
Speaker
But we see this here through Jesus as he communicates a story after he answers the question. He goes on with this story, verse 25, and it says this, when once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside to knock, saying, Lord, open to us, then he will answer you. I do not know where you come from. I do not know where you come from.
00:17:12
Speaker
This is a terrifying picture and it should be terrifying for all of us, even if we are in relationship with Jesus. Because we have people in the world, brothers and sisters, who are walking as enemies of the cross of Christ. And if you're in authentic relationship with Jesus, your heart should be breaking for those who are walking that way. And vice versa, if you're here today and you don't have a relationship with Jesus, this should be terrifying because of where you're gonna spend eternity.
00:17:41
Speaker
what Jesus talks about here.
00:17:45
Speaker
But he goes on and he talks about how in verse 26 that when then you'll begin to say, but we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from, depart from me all you workers of evil. Again, it doesn't matter if you come to church every single time it opens. It doesn't matter if you serve in local missions. It doesn't matter if you give to I and B. It doesn't matter if you,
00:18:15
Speaker
I don't know, serve your neighbor, right? Do all the things, right? Love your neighbor as you love yourself. But without authentic relationship with Jesus, those things will burn. Those things will not last. You must surrender your life to Jesus and you must confess him as Lord of your life. And you must be seeking the kingdom. You don't just receive Jesus and then, oh, all right, I'm good. I'm gonna sit in the shallow pool and just paddle around. No, Jesus desires us to go into the deep end.
00:18:44
Speaker
He desires us to rely on him when times get rough. He desires to go to seek those who are lost. That's the eternal mindset. That's the kingdom mindset in which we must be having as believers in Jesus. And as we're walking through this today and you're asking yourself these things and you find yourself not having these desires, there's your flags that you need to really work through.
00:19:17
Speaker
In verse 27, I just wanna hit on this one more time, it says this, but he will say, after you ask, but we ate and we drank in your presence, we fellowshiped with you and you taught in our streets, he will say, I tell you, I did not know where you come from, depart from me all you workers of evil. So again, it doesn't matter how good of a person you think you are in this life, if you do not have the blood of Christ covering you to wash away your sins,
00:19:45
Speaker
If you're not walking in the righteousness of Christ, it doesn't matter how good of a person you are, you're still evil in the eyes of God. The only way that you can become righteous and pure and holy and blameless is by confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
00:20:01
Speaker
and allowing him to cleanse you of all your sin. When we just took of the Lord's supper, that's what that represents, to establish the new covenant, right? So he came to fulfill the old covenant, and he established a new covenant, meaning that for anybody who confesses him, now he's eternal life. They've been washed clean by the blood of Christ, which was shed on the cross of Calvary. Without that, you're workers of evil. It's kind of scary, right?
00:20:32
Speaker
But it leads me to the third and final question I want us to look at. As we're walking through this is, are you willing to stake your life on your current relationship with Jesus? Are you content with where you're at with Jesus? Again, if we were to cast your life up on a PowerPoint slide,
00:20:57
Speaker
and look at all the things that you've done and look at the things that you're doing now, is there evidence of the Lord working in your life? Is there evidence and proof that you are truly seeking the kingdom of God? Or are you more worried about the fleeting temporary things of the world? Are you more worried about
00:21:22
Speaker
what people think of you. Are you more worried about getting the next job promotion? Or getting the next pay raise? Those things don't matter. But rather, your eternal stance in the presence of God is the most important thing. So again, are you willing to stake your life on where you're at with your relationship with Jesus today?
00:21:48
Speaker
Because again, if you're not in a true authentic relationship with him and refuse to acknowledge it or fix it, woe to you. Because there will be a day where the master will rise and he will go and shut the door to the house.
Humility and Sacrifice
00:22:04
Speaker
And you will not be able to enter. You will not be able to enter. You know, the funny thing about the narrow entrance to the house is this. It takes, in order to enter the narrow door,
00:22:17
Speaker
It takes someone to be humble. It takes someone to humble themselves to even, I don't know, maybe crouch down and to squeeze through the narrow door. How many of you guys are willing to do that? We're so caught up in this monetary life and then the things in which the world gives us. It's like the rich young ruler that Jesus encountered, right?
00:22:48
Speaker
When he says, Lord, what do I need to do to inherit the kingdom, to enter the kingdom? And he goes on, Jesus talks about, well, you need to love the Lord your God and you need to do these things. He's like, well, yeah, and I keep the law, do all those things. I'm good, right? He says, hold on, hold on, hold on. I want you to go and sell all of your possessions and give it to the poor. Then you'll be ready. And what happens? The guy, the rich young ruler walks away dismayed because he is wealthy.
00:23:18
Speaker
And Jesus goes on and talks about how entering the kingdom of God, for those who enter the kingdom of God, it's as easy as a camel fitting through a needle, the eye of a needle. Same thing through walking through this narrow door. And Jesus also talks about how, you know, there's the parable that he gives about the wide gate and the narrow gate, right? Or the wide road or the narrow road. He says, wide is the road that leads to destruction and many find it.
00:23:47
Speaker
But narrow is the way and narrow is the road that leads to eternal life and only few find it. Only few find it. See the thing, it all goes back to this, is your heart, is your mind, is your soul seeking the kingdom first?
Prioritizing Eternal Life
00:24:05
Speaker
Because if you're not seeking the kingdom, you're gonna miss out. So again, are you willing to stake your life on your relationship with Jesus?
00:24:16
Speaker
right now, or do you need to fix it? And as we go into this time of invitation, I want to give us a
Invitation to Faith
00:24:24
Speaker
time of invitation. If there's anybody in this room who needs to fix the relationship with Jesus, I pray that you will not hesitate. We are not promised tomorrow. You know, the kingdom of God will come back like a thief in the night.
00:24:43
Speaker
when we least expect it. And if we're not ready, we're gonna be cast out. And go back to the new year, right? As we begin this new year, I pray that we will not just focus on just this year. I pray that our hearts and our mindsets will turn from the temporary things, the fleeting things, or from the short-term things, that we will now turn our attention and our gaze to the eternal things.
00:25:13
Speaker
Because the eternal things will last, but the things of this world will wash away. They will fade away. So if you need to fix your relationship with Jesus today, I pray that you will do that. You can come down to the altar and pray, you can come talk to Victor, or come talk to I. But,
00:25:37
Speaker
You need to fix it. And then for anybody who's in the room today, I'm like, let's be honest. In a room this size with this many people, not everybody's saved. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But if you need to start your relationship with Jesus today, I pray that you'll make it happen. It's never too late to start your relationship with Jesus. And I pray that you'll highly consider it.
00:26:06
Speaker
Because again, the only way you will find this narrow door that is really hard to find is by having authentic relationship with Jesus. Because it's through him that your eyes and your heart are open to the things of eternal, to the things that are eternal. So, will you guys pray with me?
Closing Prayer
00:26:29
Speaker
Lord God, we...
00:26:33
Speaker
are just so thankful, Father, for the daily reminder of our need for you. It doesn't take much to look out and to see how the world is broken. Lord, I can even look in this church and see that the world is broken. No offense to anybody in the room. But God, we are all simple people who are in need of saving. We are all simple people who are in need of the righteousness of Christ. And so Lord, I pray that if anybody that is in this room this morning
00:27:01
Speaker
They do not have a relationship with you, Father. God, that you will just truly pierce their hearts. God, that they will not wait or delay any longer. But Lord, that they will come and they will begin that relationship with you. Or they will start it right there in their seat. Father, it doesn't matter. As long as they confess and repent and confess you as Lord of their life. But God, I also pray that if there's anyone in this room who needs to fix their relationship with you, God, today,
00:27:29
Speaker
whether it's unrepentant sin or just a lack of seeking the kingdom and they want to start afresh. Lord, I pray that today will be that day, that we will all desire to seek the kingdom new today. But God, we just lift this time to you. We thank you, Father, for the way that you work in our lives. We just ask that you continue to lead us and guide us through the days to come. But we love you, Lord. We lift all these things in the name of Jesus.
00:28:00
Speaker
you