The Door is Strong and True and Open
Lent II. Luke 13:22-35 God's Door is Strong & True
" For Diligence" 1929 Free Church Book of Common Prayer
" O GOD, grant unto us that we be not unwise, but understanding thy will; not slothful, but diligent in thy work; that we run not as uncertainly, nor fight thy battles as those that beat the air. Whatsoever our hand findeth to do , may we do it with our might; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
One of those listening to Jesus asked the question, "He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying
toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved few?" It may be after hearing Him speak that they were honestly wondering about it. My great-grandfather, DR. Morgan said, " I cannot help wondering whether this was a discerning person. He saw the crowds and their attitude, and he saw they were gradually drawing away...( so he asked the question..)" Studies in the Four Gospels G. Campbell Morgan
He had just healed a woman who could not lift herself up for eighteen years 13:10 , Luke. In ch. 12 our Lord talked about division and not bringing peace upon the earth. Earlier in ch. 12, " Be ye also ready: for an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh.." As we have talked about in our WED night studies, the Sermon on the Mount is so challenging that without the grace of God we are unable to even attempt its behavior. That may have been this man's challenge. He heard but was wondering.
Jesus' answer was not in a number but in a statement about striving and entering through the narrow door. The word striving is a command present tense verb where we get our English word agonize. Many will seek to come in but will not be able. They have not strived and contended as the word is used in the athletic contest context.
Just having a intellectual knowledge of Jesus that He existed and did many miracles is not striving and believing. We have to put our faith and trust in Him as a person. So the question is not how many are going to be saved, but, " Are you and I saved?"
2. Then there is more about the doorway and the people outside of the palace or house. Vs. 25 tells us that the Master of the house has already shut the door, " and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us: and He shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are..."
We are not of His sheep. We do not follow His voice and His commands as His sheep, then we are not going in to the sheep pen where the Shepherd knows the sheep by name, and protects them.
3. But they protest outside the home, " we did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets." And He shall say, I tell you, I know not whence you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
" It is not important to know exactly how many will be saved; it is for each who hears the gospel to place himself in that number, now and at any cost. " Erdman, The Gospel of Luke
Have we done that? Erdman goes on to say, " It is not enough that one lives in a Christian land, and in a religious home, and possesses knowledge of saving truth; each must repent and accept Christ for himself."
We do have a strong and ready Savior who accepts all those who enter in the Door ( Jesus is the Door) to the Heavenly Father and the home for all who have trusted in Christ. Jesus was on the way to Jersusalem and this is one of the incidents that we read about . He knew He was going to the Cross. He was therefore deadly serious about His message of eternal life as He knew the time was short.
All of us face small and large decisions as we journey through our lives. Our salvation is not dependent on ourselves but on God's love and grace. The Door is now open, but one day it will be shut . Pretending to have Jesus without actually having trusted and believed in Him is deadly serious because we do not know the day or hour of our death either. Lent is a journey but without Jesus it is a hopeless exercise. Trust in Him alone as you live this life and the small things you and I do are in His name and for His sake because the time is short. One day the picture on the walls of our children's homes will be ours, and we will be gone. That is what I thought about as I walked around the picture of my father and grandfather.
Strive and agonize about which door you are going thru. It is an ongoing and every day comittment, if we have truly believed. Amen.
" O GOD, the true Light of believers; O God, the everlasting Glory of the just , whose light never setteth and whose brightness knoweth no end; grant us to live in thy glory, and to enter into thy eternity, that as, after the night past, thou hast caused us to come to the light, so thou mayest bid us attain that blessed and everlasting day; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
( from 1929, The Free Church Book of Common Prayer
" For Diligence" 1929 Free Church Book of Common Prayer
" O GOD, grant unto us that we be not unwise, but understanding thy will; not slothful, but diligent in thy work; that we run not as uncertainly, nor fight thy battles as those that beat the air. Whatsoever our hand findeth to do , may we do it with our might; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
One of those listening to Jesus asked the question, "He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying
toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved few?" It may be after hearing Him speak that they were honestly wondering about it. My great-grandfather, DR. Morgan said, " I cannot help wondering whether this was a discerning person. He saw the crowds and their attitude, and he saw they were gradually drawing away...( so he asked the question..)" Studies in the Four Gospels G. Campbell Morgan
He had just healed a woman who could not lift herself up for eighteen years 13:10 , Luke. In ch. 12 our Lord talked about division and not bringing peace upon the earth. Earlier in ch. 12, " Be ye also ready: for an hour that ye think not the Son of Man cometh.." As we have talked about in our WED night studies, the Sermon on the Mount is so challenging that without the grace of God we are unable to even attempt its behavior. That may have been this man's challenge. He heard but was wondering.
Jesus' answer was not in a number but in a statement about striving and entering through the narrow door. The word striving is a command present tense verb where we get our English word agonize. Many will seek to come in but will not be able. They have not strived and contended as the word is used in the athletic contest context.
Just having a intellectual knowledge of Jesus that He existed and did many miracles is not striving and believing. We have to put our faith and trust in Him as a person. So the question is not how many are going to be saved, but, " Are you and I saved?"
2. Then there is more about the doorway and the people outside of the palace or house. Vs. 25 tells us that the Master of the house has already shut the door, " and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us: and He shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are..."
We are not of His sheep. We do not follow His voice and His commands as His sheep, then we are not going in to the sheep pen where the Shepherd knows the sheep by name, and protects them.
3. But they protest outside the home, " we did eat and drink in thy presence, and thou didst teach in our streets." And He shall say, I tell you, I know not whence you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
" It is not important to know exactly how many will be saved; it is for each who hears the gospel to place himself in that number, now and at any cost. " Erdman, The Gospel of Luke
Have we done that? Erdman goes on to say, " It is not enough that one lives in a Christian land, and in a religious home, and possesses knowledge of saving truth; each must repent and accept Christ for himself."
We do have a strong and ready Savior who accepts all those who enter in the Door ( Jesus is the Door) to the Heavenly Father and the home for all who have trusted in Christ. Jesus was on the way to Jersusalem and this is one of the incidents that we read about . He knew He was going to the Cross. He was therefore deadly serious about His message of eternal life as He knew the time was short.
All of us face small and large decisions as we journey through our lives. Our salvation is not dependent on ourselves but on God's love and grace. The Door is now open, but one day it will be shut . Pretending to have Jesus without actually having trusted and believed in Him is deadly serious because we do not know the day or hour of our death either. Lent is a journey but without Jesus it is a hopeless exercise. Trust in Him alone as you live this life and the small things you and I do are in His name and for His sake because the time is short. One day the picture on the walls of our children's homes will be ours, and we will be gone. That is what I thought about as I walked around the picture of my father and grandfather.
Strive and agonize about which door you are going thru. It is an ongoing and every day comittment, if we have truly believed. Amen.
" O GOD, the true Light of believers; O God, the everlasting Glory of the just , whose light never setteth and whose brightness knoweth no end; grant us to live in thy glory, and to enter into thy eternity, that as, after the night past, thou hast caused us to come to the light, so thou mayest bid us attain that blessed and everlasting day; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
( from 1929, The Free Church Book of Common Prayer
Comments
Post a Comment