Amen. If you would turn in your Bibles now to Luke chapter 13, verses 22 to the end of the chapter as we continue looking at Luke's account of Christ's life. Luke 13, 22 to the end of the chapter. Following the reading of scripture, we will sing together the Gloria Patri printed for you in your bulletin. Please stand for the reading of God's holy word. Then Jesus went through the towns and villages teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? He said to them, make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, sir, open the door for us. But he will answer, I don't know you or where you come from. Then you will say, we ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets. But he will reply, I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers. And there will be weeping there and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south and take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed, there are those who are last who will be first and first who will be last. At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you. He replied, go tell that fox I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day, I will reach my goal. In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day, for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And God will add his blessing to this reading of his word. Amen. Let us bow for a moment of prayer as we come to the word this morning. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the privilege of having your word before us. And we would pray that you would please be at work in us. May your blessed Holy Spirit open our eyes clarify truths in our minds, and prompt the willingness of our hearts and the desire of our actions to be conformed to your perfect and holy will. Father, we need your help, and we pray, O Lord, that you would work in and through this, enable me to proclaim your truth carefully and fully. And we ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. We've been working our way through this account of Jesus' life in the Gospel of Luke, and as we've seen, Jesus is having to deal with a growing opposition to him by the Pharisees and the conflict that that's bringing to him. And along the way, he's teaching us about the kingdom. along with other teaching, he's opening that to us and as Ryan reminded us of it last week, the kingdom of God is an invasion into this world of the kingdom of grace of God and it's life-giving and it's life-transforming. And this portion that we're looking at today is where Jesus builds on that thought with the reality of the urgency of our need to respond to the call of the gospel. There's an urgency to what he's communicating that to us today. And he brings it to us in two parts. Both parts begin with a question or a comment that prompts Jesus' words to us. But the urgency that he's trying to communicate in the first part is communicated through the idea of a door. We need to enter through a door. And along with that, it's a feast. We're given an invitation to the feast. We need to go to the feast. In the second part, the urgency is communicated through the idea of Jesus' own passion, His own compassion and desire to rescue us from sin. And He wants to rescue you from sin and you need to respond to that. There's an urgency to respond to that compassion of Christ, His longing. Both of these parts, emphasizing the urgency, also come with warnings. And those are things that we'll need to take note of. But the first part of this is where Jesus is given a question. Someone that's been hearing some of the things he's had to say in verse 23 asks him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? Now, we don't know anything about this person who's asking this question. We don't know if they have a serious interest. Maybe they've heard the parable just told about the mustard seed and it grows into a tree and many find refuge there, or the parable of the yeast that grows and expands. And maybe he's, maybe the person's thinking, well, you know, there's, you have a lot of people following you around, but not very many really key, close followers. And so he thinks, well, maybe there's, maybe heaven won't be very full. And it's interesting, Jesus doesn't even answer his question. The heaven is going to be very full. It's going to be an innumerable host. But he doesn't, Jesus doesn't answer his question. He brings up another topic and is, but you need to respond to the gospel. He says, make every effort to enter through the narrow door. And there's a, the concept of the narrow door is brought up. We've heard Jesus in other contexts talk about entering the narrow way. because wide is the road that leads to destruction and many go that route, but narrow is the road that leads to life. And that there's an urgency to respond to Jesus' call to enter the door. And he makes this comment, make every effort or strive to enter the narrow door. And it begins, perhaps makes us think inappropriately, are we gaining God's favor by our own effort? The Reformation Study Bible has a helpful note on that particular verse. It says, this does not mean that salvation is by works. But it is a strong way of saying that people must be in earnest about salvation. Are you in earnest about the way to life? Are you in earnest about walking that path? That's what it means to strive. and to be diligent and to be zealous about that. S. G. DeGraff makes the comments, we must go to God in faith, not in doubt. And when we believe in God, we lose our trust in everything else. Many people do not see and cannot find the narrow road because they don't want to see it. They go down the broad road of self-reliance, which leads to destruction. The narrow road and the narrow gate lead to life and communion with God. Are you striving to enter the narrow door? And what is the narrow door? Who is the narrow door? Well, the narrow door is Christ. Where you have to go is to Jesus. Jesus said in John 10, I am the door for the sheep. He says, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and he will go in and out and find pasture. Jesus is the door. We have to enter through him. So when Jesus is saying, strive to enter that door, it means to be serious in pursuing grace through him, but he adds to this urgency of responding to the call of the gospel a warning. The day is going to come when the door is shut and there will be those on the outside who will call out, open the door, let us in, and he'll say, I don't know you. But we ate with you, we drank with you, we walked with you on the streets. And he'll say, I don't know who you are. Depart from me, you evildoers. You see, the urgency of responding to the call of the gospel is there because there's one, the day will come when you can't enter that door anymore, when you won't be able to get in. J.C. Ryle has a very gripping comment about this. He says, there is something peculiarly striking in our Lord's language in this prophecy. It reveals to us the dreadful fact that men may see what is right when it is too late for them to be saved. There is a time coming when many will repent too late and believe too late. Sorrow for sin, too late, and begin to pray, too late. Be anxious about salvation, too late, and long for heaven, too late. Myriad shall wake up in another world and be convinced of the truths which on earth they refuse to believe. And note this, earth is the only place in God's creation where there is any unbelief. Hell itself is nothing but truth known too late. That's an amazing comment. I think an important comment for us to think. Earth is the only place in all of God's creation where unbelief exists. Because in hell they know the truth, in heaven they know the truth. There is truth there. No one's an unbeliever in hell or heaven. all know the truth, which underscores the urgency of entering the door, following that path before it's too late. The second part of Jesus' illustrations to emphasize the urgency is the feast. He says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The weeping is the sorrow, the gnashing of teeth is the anger. What are they sorrowful about? What are they angry about? Because they're looking in and they're seeing the feast, and at the feast is Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and people from all over the world that are gathered there to join the feast. And these Pharisees would have thought there were a lot of people that were unworthy of the feast. But Jesus says there are people from all over. It's an anticipation not only of believing Israelites who would be in the feast, but of Gentiles gathered from all parts of the world who would come and join in the feast and be gathered there. But these folks are weeping, they're sorrowful, and they're furious that these people are in the feast and they're not, they're closed out, they're on the outside looking in. And that's where Jesus' comment comes into play, that last will be first and the first last. The Pharisees thought the sinners were last. And Jesus says, no, they're going to be first. they're gonna receive grace. And the people they thought were the best, no, they're gonna be the last. And so there's an urgency to the response to the gospel, and the urgency is to come enter the door, to come enter the feast now when the opportunity is there. Then the second part comes to us with, begins with a kind of a warning, a comment, a warning that Jesus will respond to. In verse 31, it says, at that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you. Was this a friendly warning? Was it from Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea? His friends who were members of the Sanhedrin, were they really anxious about his situation? Jesus is probably ministering at this time in a region known as Perea. It's on the eastern side of the Jordan River, not that far from Jerusalem, but he's making his way to Jerusalem. And perhaps these friends really were concerned. It's the territory Herod ruled. Or was it the Pharisees trying to set a trap for him, make him afraid of the civil authorities, get him to cower before them or get in trouble with the civil authorities? And Jesus responds first to Herod, who would be listening in through people taking the news to him, and then he'll say something to the Pharisees. But he says in verse 32, go tell that fox. He's using some sarcasm here. He's calling Herod the fox. Fox are tricky animals, they're deceptive, they're cunning, they're liars, they're cheats. Tell that fox, that liar, that cheat, that I won't be deterred from my mission, that I'm gonna drive out demons today and heal people today and tomorrow and the third day I'll reach my goal. The point he's making and Jesus is making is nothing is going to keep me from doing the Father's will. Not Herod on the throne, no other thing is gonna keep me from accomplishing what the Father wants me to do and make it to Jerusalem. And it takes courage to call out a ruler. John the Baptist had the courage to call out the ruler, and he ended up being beheaded. There was a man at the time of the Reformation named Hugh Latimer. He ministered during the time of Henry VIII and his son, King Edward, and also during the time of Bloody Mary. He was burned at the stake under Bloody Mary. But he was preaching in Westminster Abbey and one of the hearers sitting there in the congregation was Henry VIII. And as he begins to preach, he does a little bit of a soliloquy to himself. He says, Latimer, Latimer, Latimer, be careful what you say, the King of England is here. And then he pauses for a moment and then he says, Latimer, Latimer, Latimer, be careful what you say, the King of Kings is here. And the courage he had to speak boldly was in Christ. And Jesus demonstrated the same boldness in himself, tell that fox I'm going to complete the work the Father's given to me. And then he says in a similar way to the Pharisees, in any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem. He's telling the Pharisees, you can't dissuade me from accomplishing the Father's will. I'm on my way to Jerusalem. And he knew what was facing him there. Every step Jesus made was taking him one step closer to the crucifixion. And he would let nothing prevent him from doing that for you and for me. He, in a sense, is like an Isaac climbing the hill. Isaac had the wood on his back and the fire in his hand, but Isaac didn't know what was ahead. He would ask his father, where is the lamb for the sacrifice? And Abraham would say, probably with tears, God will provide himself a lamb for the sacrifice. But Jesus is climbing that hill and he knows what's ahead. He knows where he's going. He knows what he faces. And yet he goes with the courage and the strength of his God, of him, and makes his way to the cross. And then he has this sorrowful lament. So we know Jesus is going. He's going to accomplish the Father's purpose. But what is his desire in doing that? Well, he tells us that in verse 34. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the repetition of the name demonstrating the sorrow and the intense emotion that he had. as he was going to Jerusalem. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets and stoned those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not. This is a lament by the son of God. It communicates his intense passion and desire to rescue God's people from the wrath that is to come. We're not told here whether he weeps with this lament, but we know that as he's coming into Jerusalem in Luke 19, he does lament and he does weep over Jerusalem because he knows what they face in the judgment that's going to come. But we have Jesus deeply moved at the hardness of heart of the people dwelling in Jerusalem. And here we have a marvelous picture of the incarnation. Here we have Jesus Christ, the son of God, and the strength of God is in him. And at the same time, in his humanity, he's overflowing with compassion for his people. and he desires them to find refuge under his wings. In the Old Testament, God is pictured as an eagle that protects its young under its wings. Jesus wanted to provide refuge for those of his people, but they would not, they weren't willing. They didn't see the urgency to respond to the call of the gospel. And Jesus gives that another warning. It's in verse 35. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. The result of their rejection of the Messiah that has come who wanted to rescue them, the result of their rejection is that their house was going to be left to them desolate. The judgment of God and the wrath of God was going to fall on Jerusalem and it would be destroyed in the generation to come. So you have this severe warning that underscores the urgency to respond to the gospel. And he gives that statement, you won't see me again till you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. There's a little debate on what exactly is he talking about. Matthew puts it after his triumphal entry and looking toward perhaps the second coming, you won't see me till I come back. Luke here puts it before his triumphal entry, and the crowd there is repeating the phrase from Psalm 118 that Jesus is saying they will say to him. But regardless of which point of Jesus' return it's talking about, the point that he's underscoring is the time is now, the urgency is now to receive the refuge that the Messiah has come to provide. There's an urgency to the response of the gospel. And the bottom line in all of this is to draw our attention to Christ, to look to him, to see him, to see his appeal, to see the gospel call. He calls you to enter the narrow door. He calls you to come to the feast. He calls you to find refuge under his wings. But if you will not, there's severe warning. One day that door will be closed. One day that feast, you won't be able to enter it. One day, that your house will be left to you desolate. And sometimes as we hear the severe warnings of Christ and of the Bible, we tend to think, aren't you being a little hard on people? It's kind of severe warnings. Aren't you kind of scaring them away? Wouldn't it be nice if you just kind of entice people in a different way? If I were to ask you to give me which sermon in your knowledge that you think is the most severe sermon that was ever preached, and a terrible sermon, and one you wouldn't want to have been there maybe to hear, I don't know what sermons might have come into your mind, but one that would come into some is Jonathan Edwards' sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. If you've never read it, I encourage you to do so. It's a very important sermon. What's interesting about it is when he preached it the first time, he got no response. People were totally indifferent to it. As he portrays the portrait of sinners hanging by a thread over the pit of hell to try to entice them and drive them to Christ, his own congregation ignored him. But then God had the opportunity to preach it somewhere else. And when he preached it, it was the beginning of a great awakening. But we look at that sermon, we think, wow, it's severe, it's kind of harsh maybe, what an awful sermon. But I want you to listen to how he ends his sermon. He's preached this terrifying material, but as he's bringing his sermon to a close, this is what Edward says. And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open. and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners, a day wherein many are flocking to him and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east and the west, the north and the south, many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in. are now in a happy state with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood and rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God. See, the purpose of the warnings is not to drive you away, it's to drive you to Christ. Because in him, you have hope. In him, you have refuge. And may you and I have that hope and that refuge, have entered that door, entered that feast, and have found refuge underneath his wings. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do thank you so much for the richness of your word in bringing to us the glory of Christ and the hope of the gospel and the wonder of your kingdom. I pray that you will be at work in all of us here, Lord, that we would go through the door, which is Christ, that we would come to the feast, that we would find refuge under his wings, and that we would follow you in love and hope and faithfulness all the days of our life. And we ask this now in Jesus' name, amen.