In the last couple of weeks we have looked at 3 parables Jesus spoke of. Two of them teach that the Kingdom of God grows from the smallest and humblest of beginnings. In one parable the Kingdom grows visibly to the eye but in the other the Kingdom grows invisibly in the human heart. As the Kingdom grows, it reaches out and changes the world. Of notable significance at this time in the life of PCC is The Parable of the Fig Tree as God is providing fertiliser to help us grow in this season. On Tuesday, we arrived at the building to find the painting finished and the roof being cleaned ! Not me or anyone else, it is the Lord who builds the house. However, as in the parable where there was a time limit of one year before the tree would be cut down if it did not produce fruit, we must grab hold of the opportunity now or it could be gone in just a few weeks.
This weeks message is from Luke 13:22-30 about the Narrow Gate.
Have you ever thought about the security of your home and how to protect it from thieves and robbers? In France, the walls around the old cities are built very high, but not just the city, even the older homes. In Spain, the entrance to the city was made very low so the person would have to bend down to get in. If they were an enemy, it was easy to chop their head off. Men would sit on top of the city walls and keep a lookout for the enemy. We still have doors, locks and walls but now we have technology like security cameras, ID’s and passwords and software to protect our computers from invasion. The level of security depends on the size of the threat. In New Zealand we used to be be able to leave our homes unlocked but that has all changed now. If the gang friendly Greens get in, we might all need a security upgrade.
Early on Wednesday morning, I was reading in Nehemiah about what he did when they returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the gates and walls after many years of captivity in Babylon.
The return to Jerusalem happened in 3 stages, Nehemiah’s was the 3rd wave.
1. 538 BC : After conquering Babylon the year before, King Cyrus proclaimed that the Jewish exiles could return to Judah and rebuild the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.
2. 458 BC : King Artaxerxes I commissioned Ezra to return to Jerusalem to evaluate the state of Judah, appoint magistrates, and teach the law.
3. 445 BC : Upon hearing that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down and its gates burned, Nehemiah wept and petitioned the king to let him return to rebuild the city. The king agreed and appointed him Governor of Judah.
After the first and second waves, there was still a problem because the enemy could easily attack the city because its walls and gates were in ruin.
Once the gates and walls were secured, they would be able to worship the Lord in the temple without being attacked by the enemy. In the same way I thought the various gates at PCC would also need for them to be secured against the enemy.
Later in the morning, we came down to PCC to join the PACT team for their prayer meeting, you’ll never guess what happened next. Sarah got out a bottle of frankincense and told the team to pour some on their hands and go and anoint every door in the building and pray the enemy would not be able to enter. Just like Nehemiah, the Lord is securing our building!
Our need for security from enemy attack goes right back to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were thrown out and the way to God became very strict because God cannot allow sin in his presence and we are all sinners.
The Old Testament temple had very tight regulations about who could enter;
- The Gentiles were not allowed into the temple, they could only go as far as the outside court of the Gentiles
- Israelite women could go inside the temple as far as the Court of the Women
- Israelite men could go up the steps and into the Court of the Israelites.
- Priests could go further into the Court of the Priest and up some more steps into the Holy Place
- Then once per year, the High Priest with a rope and bell attached went beyond the curtain into the Holy of Holies to make a sacrifice. Only he was allowed to do it. The rope and bell had to be attached because the place was so filled with God’s presence that if he was unclean and died there, they could pull him out with the rope.
With all this in mind, let’s read today’s passage and perhaps understand what the Lord did to make his home secure.
Luke 13:22-23a
And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
Someone with understanding asked, is it so hard to get into Heaven that only a few will be saved? Is the chasm so wide, the walls so high and the gates so thick and secure that it is impossible to get in. Who asked this question? It happened while Jesus was travelling so it could have been a disciple or someone from one of the cities and villages. Actually it doesn’t say. But it was clearly someone who was listening to Jesus speak and understanding the difficulty of following the Lord. Like many of us, thinking of our friends and family and observing that relatively few are truly following the Lord but hoping and praying that they will also come to faith.
Luke 13:23b-26
And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’
The Greek word for door and gate is used interchangeably. In this parable, many people fail to go in to the Kingdom of God through the narrow door of salvation.
The good news is, there is a door. The bad news is that if you don’t do through it before it is shut, the Lord will say to you he doesn’t know you, a terrifying prospect.
In the story of the Great Flood in Genesis 6, the indication is the Lord gave mankind 120 years to repent before he sent the flood. The task of building the ark was a huge one and all that time Noah and his sons did the work, the door remained open, but the people did not take the opportunity. Then the day finally arrived when the animals came, that Noah and his family entered and the Lord himself shut the door of the ark. It says in 2 Peter 3:20, that only 8 souls were saved. We have been in the age of grace for nearly 2000 years and the Gospel is being preached to all mankind but when the Lord comes, he will finally shut the door and it will be too late for those who remain on the outside, just as in the days of Noah. It will be horrifying to hear his words,
Luke 13:27-30
But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 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, and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
The Lord is not talking about a physical door. If he was, everyone who came through the doors of a Church would be safe. They might call him Lord but something is missing. They don’t have a relationship with the Lord. They call him Lord but he doesn’t know them. These are people who think they are safe because they attended the gatherings and listened to his teaching. They even called Jesus Lord. They may have been at Church but there was a problem because somehow they didn’t understand that the need to repent and be born again applied to them, not just to the people « out there ». Since they were not born again, they were still the Devil’s children. The Lord did not know them as a son or daughter. They did not have a relationship with him. They weren’t saved. It is devastating to think of that.
Well then, that thought should make any thinking person say to himself, what must I do to be saved?
In John 10, Jesus began talking about gates and sheep and thieves and robbers and people didn’t at first understand what he meant so he expanded further.
John 10:6-10
Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Jesus described himself as the gate.
Jesus is the narrow gate. There is no way into Heaven but by him. That is the message that the World hates. Being a good person doesn’t get you in. Your good works DO NOT get you in to Heaven. The religions of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Bahai, Judaism or however many others there are, won’t get you in. Only knowing Jesus personally gets you in.
But notice there is a freedom once you come in through the narrow gate. You have the freedom to come and go, the grace that God gives to live a righteous life and an abundant life. You are blessed !
Hebrews 10:19-22
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
When Jesus died on the Cross, at that moment the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom.
Who else but the High Priest would have dared to tear the curtain. But the curtain was very thick, so it wasn’t humanly possible. Only God could have done torn the curtain and that was proven by the fact it was torn from the top down.
This is very significant, because it shows that Jesus death on the Cross was acceptable to God once and for all and no other High Priest would ever have to make an annual sacrifice ever again.
Since that moment nearly 2000 years ago the Holy of Holies is open to all believers who can enter into God’s presence because of the sacrifice Jesus made which is eternally acceptable to God.
We have the freedom to come boldly to the throne because Jesus has made the way and there’s no other way;
So even though the gate is narrow, if you go through it, you are set free. This is the true freedom that the world is searching on the dark for.
Psalm 100:4-5
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
