Luke 13:25-30

Matthew, or excuse me, Luke at chapter 13, beginning with verse 23, reading through 30, focus this morning, 25 to 30. Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, strive to enter in at the straight gate, for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up and have shut the door, and ye begin to stand without, and the knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are, he are. Then shall ye begin to say, we have eaten and drunk. in thy presence. And thou hast taught us, thou hast taught in our streets. But the, but he shall say, I tell you, I know you not when she are, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. When you see, you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, from the west, from the north, from the south. It shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last, which shall be last. May God bless to us. sacred and holy word this morning. Many years ago, there lived a man in China who was accepted as a member of the emperor’s orchestra. He got his position through the help of an influential friend, even though he was not at all talented. He claimed to be an accomplished flutist, though actually he could not play a note. Things went well for a period of time. During the concerts, he’d hold the flute to his mouth and pretend to be playing at the appropriate moments. And then one day, the emperor announced that he wanted to hear each member of the orchestra to play a solo before him. And he was going to evaluate their abilities. Well, the frighten. and me and immediately signed up for some flute lessons, but of course, that was a bit late. You know, he’s not going to have time to do that. He thought about claiming to be ill on the day of the scheduled appointment, but he was afraid that the royal physician might find him out and he would be in more trouble. So when the dreaded day for the recital came, rather than be discovered as a fraud, fraud, he drank poison, and died. You know, the day is coming when you will be called before the Lord, and you’re going to have to give a recital. The unconverted, as well as professing believers, must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and be evaluated. There is no escaping it, and you will be evaluated. carefully examined by the Lord. On that day, many people who claim to be believers will be exposed as frauds. Their profession of faith will be seen as a sham, and they will be utterly condemned by the Lord. Let me begin by saying this this morning. When Christ returns, he will separate. true believers from mere professors. We see in verse 25, he said, once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and he begin to stand without, and the knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, he shall answer and say unto you, I know not whence you are. Now, in order to understand the parable here, we must realize that the master house is Christ himself. He’s called the master by his disciples many times. The house here represents the house of God and refers to the professing church, as we read in Hebrews 3-6. But Christ is son over his own house. whose house we are, we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm under the end. His rising up refers to his second coming, the end of the age, after he has gathered in the full complement of his elect people, have shut the door, implies that all the elect people, having now been secured by the Lord, the day of mercy, the day of peace, is gone forever. Like Noah and his family that were shut up in the ark by God, all entrance into the place of protection is ended, and all outside will perish. Those who stand without are not permitted to enter and enjoy the wedding feast of Christ in his church. This is similar to the account of the ten virgins that we read about in Matthew 25. 25. Those without expect to be admitted, but are excluded by the Lord. the Lord does not recognize them as his own. So that’s the basic thrust of the parable. Now this is going to be a day of distinction. Within the visible church, there are carnal professors who do not know the Lord. When Christ returns, he will separate the wheat from the tears, the sheep, the sheep, the she is, sheep from the goats. He knows them that are his, those who are religious hypocrites, will be exposed. Christ separates the precious from the vial. Sinners may no longer stand in the congregation of the righteous. Sheeper on one side, the goats on the other, and there’s no mixed multitude. As Revelation 22 tells us, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He which is filthy, let him be filthy still. He that is righteous, let him be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy still. There’s no change in status. Once Christ comes, you’re going to be permanently among either the righteous or the unrighteous. Today is the righteous. the day of salvation. So do not squander it, but seek the Lord while he may be found is the message that we find throughout scripture. A day of distinction. We see it it’s also a day of denial. The door of mercy stands open now, but that door will be closed. And when the master shuts the door, you can no longer expect to enter in That opportunity is now gone. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. And when he shuts the door, it’s impossible to enter in even another way. So all you’re pleading and all your knocking on Christ shut door is useless. You’ll be like Esau when he realized that the birthright blessing was, was permanently lost. And we read in scripture in Hebrews 12, 16, and 17. He saw, who for one morsel of meat, a pot of lintel, sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it. carefully with tears. In fact, the scripture tells us in Genesis chapter 27 that Esau cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his father, bless me also, oh, my father. Hasth thou not reserved a blessing for me? Has thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, oh my father. And Esau lift up. his voice, it was too late. It was too late. Alas, the birthright blessing was gone. The door was shut. Don’t let this happen to use spiritually. Because once Christ shuts the door, it is too late to think about repentance at that point. So when Christ returns, he’s going to separate believers from mere professors. Secondly, many who are confident they are saved will be rejected. Think about that a moment. Perhaps you are assured that you’re going to be admitted into heaven. These people that we read about in this passage seem to think that they had a right to enter in and be at the wedding feast. They stand and knock. as if they had that right into heaven’s gate. They call out, Lord, Lord, open to us. They think they know the Lord. They think they would be recognized by the Savior. Sadly, many who are eternally going to be ruined, are ruined by an ill, grounded hope of heaven. you may have no doubts about your spiritual status, but you never have carefully examined yourself to see whether you were in the faith or not. Maybe you’ve never made your calling an election sure in your life to see whether you were one of God’s elect people. And so you are surprised on that day. That would be a terrible thing to find out. your denied entrance, it never entered your mind that you would be rejected. And yet, we see this is what happens here according to the scripture before us. Perhaps you thought you had fellowship with Christ. We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, he says here. Now this was literally true of many, and we know that Christ often went. to someone’s home. Many times Pharisees would invite him over, and they would have other guests there, and he would speak to them about spiritual matters. Many sat out in the fields. Listen to Christ as he taught the sermon on the mouth and spoke other messages to them. Many were able to do that. Many were miraculously fed by Christ. He multiplied the loaves and the fish. The privilege many will plead by way of argument for entrance into heaven is, have we not had fellowship with you? How often Judas ate and drank with Jesus Christ or perhaps put his hand in a dish. And yet he has always done. the son of perdition and he perishes. How many today think that heaven is assured because they have eaten and drunk of the Lord’s Supper. Perhaps they thought this, did I not have fellowship with you at the Lord’s supper? I was your guest. I gladly enjoyed communion. But you were unworthy to come and were eating and drinking condomation to yourself the whole time. You can’t. in an unconverted state and you never really examined yourself, as Christ said to do. You thought you had fellowship with Christ. You thought you had heard Christ’s voice in the teaching of the Word of God, thou hast taught in our streets, he says. Many were privileged to hear a discourse of Christ, sat under his public ministry. Today, many flatter themselves. because they think they’re ready for heaven by being in a church that teaches the word of God by a faithful minister or perhaps some famous Christian teacher you said on. You heard Christ’s voice as the word of God was expounded. You may even have made a profession of faith. Sadly, there are so many who are hearers of the word, but not doers of the word. You heard the gospel of Christ, but you didn’t obey the command to repent and believe. Perhaps you felt convicted at times, but it never led your conversion, and that soon, conviction soon passed. So you are assured you would be admitted into heaven. How your confidence will fail you, verse 27, if you would. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not when she are. depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. Christ is going to disown you. I know you not, he says. Jesus Christ declares, you don’t belong to my family. The Lord knoweth them that are his, scripture says. If any man loved God, the same is known of him. And the word know there speaks of love and approval. That Christ loves and approvals. of those he knows. Those he does not know are not loved. They’re not approved by him. So you may be a goat among God’s sheep. But the Lord knows who you are. You never can fool him. So the Lord will disown you. The Lord will discard you. Depart from me, he says. Depart from me, ye curse it into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, Jesus. said in Matthew 2541, it is the will of Christ that his people should be with him and behold his glory throughout all eternity. But the presence of Christ is one of those things that we look upon as being a choice, chief choice or source, I should say, of happiness in heaven. They’re going to be with Christ. On the other hand, The absence of Christ’s presence, depart from me, is one of the principal reasons for the misery of the damned in hell. So Christ will discard you. Christ will denounce you, ye workers of an equal. This is the reason for your eternal ruin, because you never broke off your sins. You continued in your sins. under the pretense of being a Christian, you never change your sinful ways. You continue to pursue your worldly ways. Never were a new creature in Christ. All things never became new to you. You just did the same old things you used to do when you were unconverted or didn’t profess Christ. You never discarded the old man. You never put on the new man. perhaps you did your best to keep your sins a secret from others, but the Lord knows your heart. And despite your religion, despite your professed piety, Jesus says you’re still a work of iniquity. Christ will denounce you. So how your confidence will fail you here. Now notice how terrible your punishment will be in verse 28. There shall be weeping. and gnashing of teeth when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves thrust out. You should realize that hell is a terrible place of agony and pain. There shall be there in that place, weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew’s Gospel 1342 puts it this way, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Nashing is the grinding of the teeth. El involves the utmost agony and grief. When we think of the story of the rich men and last There’s two phrases there to stand out. Luke 1622 in hell, he lifted up his eyes in torment. And the other, verse 24 of Luke 16, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am torment in this flame. Being burning the flames is a horrible. affliction. How is an everlasting punishment with no hope of relief. And so it is a terrible thing. Hell is the place of extreme pain and agony. Notice also here, the sight of the people of God in heaven will be a great aggravation of the sinner’s misery and hell. By all the prophets of the kingdom of God, we’re to understand, of course, the holy process. prophets, not the false ones. So he’s talking about what they prophesied. And as for the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their salvation is here and elsewhere positively asserted. In fact, we know that the Old Testament saints here are included in the kingdom of God. Now, from this passage, it’s clear that these men enjoyed the happiness of heaven. Notice also that particular saints will be known to each other and others. There’s going to be some distinctive characteristics. We’re going to be able to know who these people are. Also, their admission into heaven and happiness will actually be seen by the wicked on the last day. Because they’re going to see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sitting down and enjoying the heavenly bounty. And it will be a great aggravation to the wicked as they contrast it with the agonizing and painful state therein. Remember, the rich man, seeing the pleasant state of Lazarus after death, while he is tormented in the moment. flanks troubled him. Abraham said, son, remember that thou in thy lifetime, receiveest thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou are tormented. So many who are confident they will be saved will be rejected. Thirdly and lastly, think of who they are who shall be saved. Versus 29 and 30. They shall come from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first, which shall be last. People from all areas of the world are going to be converted, while many Jews are going to be excluded. Every nation under heaven, in particular focuses on the Gentiles, who will fill heaven. He will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. That’s what scripture says. It’s clear that there will be few, that will be saved from those perhaps you think most likely, to enter into heaven, those who had all the privileges, all the benefits. How many have the gospel repeatedly preached under them, and yet they remain unsaved? When you arrive in heaven, you’re going to see a great many people there. And you’re going to see a lot of people, perhaps you didn’t expect to be there from the heathen nations. And you will find many missing, which you did expect. to be there. So people from all areas of the world are going to be included while many Jews are excluded. Notice also, many who seem to be surely headed to heaven will not arrive. Neither admission nor exclusion shall always correspond to earthly to earthly appearances. Those who will not arrive. seem to be first in this life, they perceive to have the inside track, seem to be far ahead of others, even in the spiritual realm, will end up last in the next life. Lazarus seemed to be last in this life. I mean, he was a beggar with sores and, you know, he’s getting the crumbs that fall off the table of the rich man. But he ends up first. in the next with his head resting on Abraham’s bosom. So think of those who shall be saved. Let me conclude this morning with this. Never underestimate the difficulties of obtaining heaven. We should not think that it’s an easy thing that I can just pray this little prayer and I’m in. We should realize that the Lord tells us. You have to count the cost. It’s not an easy thing to do that. Notice this. Do not trust in church privileges to assure your admittance into heaven. Just because you were baptized, just because you observed the Lord’s supper, none of that guarantees you haven’t. Don’t think otherwise. Thirdly, don’t judge the heirs of heaven by earthly appearances. but solely by the teaching of the Word of God. There are many in this life. You seem to be out in front, you know, leaders or whatever the case may be in the religious realm. The question is, do they believe what the scripture says? Not how popular they are in religious circles. Not how famous their books are. But do they believe the teaching of the Word of the Word of God, God when it comes to salvation. Lastly, be diligent about the matter of the salvation of your soul or you will come up short of heaven. You don’t want to be one of those that’s knocking on the door and thinking that you ought to be on the wedding feast and you’re not. And so now is the time to look over your soul’s condition. Now is the time to evaluate where you stand. and not to put that off until it’s too late. Let’s close with a word of prayer this morning.