Amen. Remain standing, take your Bibles and open to Psalm 1. Psalm 1. Psalm 1, we'll be reading. The prologue of the Psalter, which is comprised of Psalm 1 and Psalm 2. In Luke 13, our sermon text Jesus brings us face to face with the reality of the narrow door this morning, and Psalm 1 and 2 paint for us a very similar portrait. Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, hear the word of the living God. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way. For His wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. The word of the living God. Now turn to our sermon text, which is found in Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13, beginning with verse 22, be reading verses 22 to 30. Hear the word of God, Luke 13, verse 22. He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, journeying toward 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. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door and you begin to stand outside and to 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, 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. 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 cast out. And people will come from east and west, from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Oh Lord, our great and awesome God, you who keep covenant with us, with our children to a thousand generations. We come now to You asking that in Your perfect faithfulness that You would break the bread of life to us, that You would send forth Your Word into our hearts, that You would give to us hearts that long to receive the Word of God as it's preached. We pray that as it is preached, it would be done faithfully, enabled by the power of Your Spirit, no demonstration of human wisdom, but rather an utter reliance upon the ministry of Your Holy Spirit. And so, Lord, we pray by Your Spirit that You would work in the one who speaks and in all those who hear, that You would build us up in the faith, that if there be any who are apart from the faith, who have not yet trusted Jesus Christ and turned from their sins, you might grant salvation this very day. Oh Father, set us to worship and meditate on the One who is that door of salvation for His people. We pray in His precious name. Amen. Be seated. Well, lest we forget the path that our Lord Jesus is on in this broader section, and it is a long section in Luke's gospel, Luke takes the opportunity at the beginning of our text in verse 20 to remind us what Jesus is doing. We've seen him do a lot of things, and even in the context of chapter 13, we've seen a great call to repentance. We have seen a distinction between what constitutes someone as a true child of the king as opposed to that which is false. We've seen that again in the illustration of the woman who was bound for 18 years. by Satan himself, and then the synagogue ruler who objected to having her healed because it was the Sabbath day. And we saw in such a reversal, this is so typical of Luke and really of the whole Bible, you see these reversals all the time. But you see a great reversal between the one you would expect to be the true child of God, a synagogue ruler, the religious elite, the teacher of Israel, but that one is viewed by the text as on the outside of the kingdom. But this disabled, this woman in bondage who is set free by the Lord Jesus Christ is, as it were, the poster child for one who is inside the bounds of God's kingdom of grace. We have, of course, another reversal in our own text right at the end. Many who are first, will be last. Many who are last will be first. And so Luke in this 13th chapter loves these kind of reversals. He's illustrating for us what it means to be a true citizen of heaven, a participant in the kingdom of God and of the saving realities that come because the king himself, Jesus Christ, is here. Well, then we saw last week two parables, one of the mustard seed and one of leavened bread and we saw that the kingdom doesn't operate the way we think it ought to operate. So many times we are caught thinking, well, if the Lord would just save these wonderfully intelligent and powerful people with all kinds of influence and money and resources, the church would be just so much better off. And of course, that's not the way that it works. It's not as if influential and Rich folks are never saved. That's not what the text ever means. But what the text does mean is this, that it is not a reliance on these things. It is not the possession of these things that will ever qualify you for the kingdom in the first place. And they certainly won't make the kingdom a better place because of their existence. It is the grace of God and the grace of God alone to the insignificant and utterly undeserving rebels, which we all are by nature. Those are the ones that He qualifies for the kingdom of his grace. Well, again, we have in Luke's gospel something that seems completely detached from what came before. And as we'll see, and as we've seen every week, it's not. He went on his way, verse 22, through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. That's the reminder of what Jesus is doing. He has set his face with resolution to go to Jerusalem. Children, why? Why so determined to go to Jerusalem? Because he knows that there he will be handed over to the religious leaders. He will be judged under the governing authorities. He will be put up on a tree. He will be utterly crucified. He will be killed for the sake of sinners. That is why He has set his face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem. Now, children, you might think if somebody told you, you know, if you go to the park today, you're going to have a terrible accident. You're going to fall off the slide. You're going to break your neck. And you were given the option to go to the park and break your neck or to stay home and not break your neck. You know what you would do. I mean, even the craziest of our children is not going to the park that day. But Jesus Christ willingly chose to go to Jerusalem. He was so resolved to purchase the salvation of his people that he would not be deterred by anything, not sweating drops of blood, not all the opposition of the religious leaders, not the threat of death, not even the thought of the wrath of God. could deter him from his purpose. And so Luke reminds us here, in the middle of this long section in his gospel, that Jesus' purpose has not been altered. It has not changed. He's on the same road, the same mission to save sinners for himself. And that theme only intensifies as we go and dig deeper and deeper into Luke's gospel here. He's journeying toward Jerusalem. And in the midst of that journey, This is what seems kind of unconnected. This happens a lot in Luke, doesn't it? Some random person, right? Verse 23, and someone said to him, Lord, will those who are saved be few? What a great question. Or maybe not so much because Jesus doesn't actually answer it. Well, he does and he doesn't. Are there going to be a lot of people in heaven? Is heaven going to be overpopulated? Underpopulated? Many? or few? Well, you might be thinking it depends on your eschatology. That's not quite the intent of the questioner or the answer that Jesus gives. Interestingly, the question is asked in Luke's gospel in the context of the mustard seed in the 11 parables. You remember that With the mustard seed, it's this tiny little seed and it's totally insignificant. You would never, if you were trying to plant a massive tree where a bunch of birds could make a bunch of nests, you would never plant a mustard seed and expect that to happen. But that's exactly the way the kingdom operates. That's how God sets it up. That's how God works. He'll have all the glory. from insignificant beginnings to the glorious purposes that he will accomplish. But then there's the leaven parable. And that, of course, is this small thing called yeast. You put a little bit into it and three measures of flour, enough to feed probably 150 people. And all of a sudden you've got the rising of the dough and the ability to feed all of these people because this insignificant little yeast or leaven will work its way through three measures of that dough. and it will magically transform the whole thing without you being able to see how it does it. Well, that's also how the kingdom works. But there's this pervasive element. There's this principle of growth and expansion within the kingdom. The kingdom will expand. It will grow. It will do so sometimes imperceptibly with respect to us. We won't be able to see it. We won't perceive it necessarily. But God's work will expand. It will grow. The kingdom will prosper. Well, in the midst of all that, you can see maybe the relevance of a question. Hey, are there going to be many who are saved? You know, you tell this story about insignificant beginnings and then the blowing up of the thing into a huge mustard tree, which it's not, it's a plant. But he calls it a tree because now many birds can make nests in it. Or the leaven, insignificant thing. And yet, when it works through the dough, it produces this massive, massive bunch of bread. So maybe there's a ton of people who are going to be saved. Now, somewhat unfortunately, at least from our perspective, we don't actually know the motive behind the person making the question. Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't it be nice if you could understand where that question was coming from? Maybe it was from one of the religious elite who held a view that was contemporary then, the view that it was only the super righteous, who would actually qualify for the kingdom. Maybe you had to be a religious elite. Maybe you had to perform enough good works. No, they would never deny that you needed faith and you should trust God and all of those things. But look, if you didn't have a pretty hefty treasury of merit behind you, well, then the door's narrow and you're probably not getting in. So that would be the party that thought that few would be saved, because there's only so many people in the world that are super righteous like that. What about the other way? There were also those, and maybe this was even a more pervasive view, there might have been those who thought, well, everyone who is of Jewish descent will be saved. That would be the many. will be saved. So on the one hand, there's the religious elite and the super spiritual, and that's the few. But then there's another party that says, you know, I don't really like that. I think actually that a better understand the Old Testament is that it's actually all of Israel. who will be saved. And so it doesn't really matter what you do as a Jew or how you conduct yourself. Works is important, but it's not decisive. But the fact that you're in, that's what determines. We're children of Abraham, after all, and that qualifies us for the kingdom. If Abraham's in heaven and I'm a child of Abraham, guess what? Compelling logic. I'm in heaven, too, because I'm a child of Abraham. That would have been the thought process of those who thought that it would be many who would be saved? Well, of course, we have our own versions of answers to this question. Will many be saved or few? But notice what Jesus does. Well, what he doesn't, he doesn't answer the question. Look at verse 24. In direct response to that question, how many people are there going to be in heaven? Is it going to be a big old party, or is it going to be really a celebration for the few, the privileged, the righteous? And he says, strive to enter through the narrow door. Maybe you think that means that there's only a few. I mean, if the door is narrow, you can only fit so many people through a narrow door, right? You ever tried that? We have that problem sometimes in the foyer. But yeah, you can't fit that many people at the same time through a narrow door. What if the door was broad? Well, you could fit more people. You see how the thing goes. But he's not actually saying that. He's saying something more profound. And Jesus does this again and again in Luke's gospel. You ask him a question, he gives you a better answer than the question that you asked. Your question actually turns out to be somewhat irrelevant. And even when, at the end of our text, he does somewhat answer the question about few or many, He doesn't do it to their satisfaction whatsoever. He doesn't gratify the ones that thought it was the few in Israel, and he doesn't gratify the ones who thought that you were automatically in heaven because you were a citizen of Israel. He answers it in a way that they could not have anticipated. You know, the real issue is this. Is it easy to get to heaven? Or is it exceedingly difficult to get to heaven? It's probably a matter of perspective in some sense. How would you answer that question? If someone just asked you, hey, you know, you're a Christian, do you think it's easy to get to heaven or is it hard to get to heaven? Well, you would probably say it all depends on your relationship to Christ. That's the determinative factor. We read in Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 and that's the exact same message of the introduction of the Psalter in those two Psalms and of the entire Psalter when taken together. There are two ways. There are two roads. There are these doors. There's a narrow door and then there's broad. There's a narrow way and there's a broad way. And Jesus in another place says that that broad way is massively populated and it leads to destruction. The narrow way, however, is difficult and few find it. So maybe that's our answer. There's few in heaven. Is it easier or hard to get to heaven? Well, it depends on your perspective with regard to Christ Jesus. So for whom would it be difficult to get to heaven? Well, it's exceedingly difficult to get to heaven if your view is anything other than you get to heaven through the purchasing redemptive work of Jesus Christ for sinners. If your view is anything other than that, even if your view is through the work of Christ, but my works as well, it's going to be exceedingly difficult. In fact, we might as well just go ahead and say it. It's going to be impossible for such a one to enter the kingdom of heaven. Now think about our day and age. Think about the church. Let's take the many will be saved. We're not even necessarily talking about universalism. We're just talking about those who profess an evangelical understanding of the gospel. Maybe these are the least semi-conservative churches. And maybe the view is that, hey, you know, we've got the Bible. We go to church. We're at least every once in a while nice to each other. And so That probably is going to be good enough. I mean, what more could God ask? Think about the mass of evangelicalism. Think about the mass of people that are flocking to churches that believe that there is some way outside of Christ to enter into heaven. Either Christ is divorced from the picture, or more commonly, something is added to Christ to form the picture. And so now when you ask, is it difficult or is it easy to enter into heaven? Well, the assumption here is that it's difficult. Why? Because of how we're wired as sinners. Now, he says an additional thing here as he opens the discussion. It's actually not much of a discussion. He's only gonna let them speak in terms of his own illustration or parable here. But he says in the middle of verse 24, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. So there's some future point at which there are going to be people who are trying to enter in through that narrow door, and they're not going to be able to do it. Well, Who are those people would be the question. If you were sitting in the crowd and Jesus answered this question, will those who are saved be few? And his answer is strive to enter through the narrow door. There will be those who seek to enter and will not be able. Many. Your automatic thing in the crowd would be, am I one of those people who are gonna seek to come in but not be able to? Now who are those who would seek to come in but not be able to? I think here Jesus has in mind, as he does later on in the text, ultimate issues. There are going to be some who, like we'll see later on in the rich man and Lazarus, you know, there's the day of death. After that, the judgment. And so you can see those in the judgment who finally have their eyes open to the truth, but not in such a way as they are able now to repent and to believe and to lay hold of Christ and to enter into the kingdom of heaven. No, they have been judged in their sins. And they may cry out on that day a whole host of things, but having their eyes open won't help. It'll only magnify their torment. And now Jesus tells a parable to reinforce what he's saying. And so we have here his mini parable. It's not quite a parable though because he inserts himself directly into the parable. Verse 25, when once the master of the house, that's Jesus, has risen and shut the door and you begin standing outside and to knock at the door saying, Lord, open to us. Then he will answer you. So he's got in mind here those who desire to enter in, but who cannot. Now, there's a conversation that's going to ensue. And Jesus says, this is how that conversation is going to go. You are going to be trying to get in, Lord, open to us. The answer that's going to come from me. Is I don't know where you came from. Now, in the Sermon on the Mount, you remember those terrifying words. Lord, we cast out demons. We did all these things, all the works that they did in Jesus' name. And what does Jesus conclude? I never knew you. Children, he's not saying there's a hole in my knowledge. I got to go look that up. I don't remember you. He's saying I have no saving knowledge of you. You are not mine. My sheep hear my voice. They follow me. He tends their souls well. They can never be snatched out of his hand. These are all the others. on that dreadful day of judgment. Then they respond, we ate and drank in Your presence. You taught in our streets. Now what are they saying? Of course you know us. We sat down at table. We even dined together. We had fellowship in the house together. And we listened to your sermons when you preached. What do you mean you don't know where we're from? And again, he reiterates, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil. And there he's mirroring the sermon on the mount. Now at that point, of course, it's terrifying. They are told to depart from him. He doesn't know where they are from. He has no covenantal, no saving, no relationship with them that will admit them to the place they're trying to go. And now reality hits them full in the face. Beloved, on that great day, verse 28, 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. It doesn't get any more ultimate than that, beloved. This is not, as some have erroneously taught through the history of the church, this is not some holding bay where there's some penultimate suffering where everyone is given a second chance to repent and believe. No, this is the judgment of God. It is for a man to die and then the judgment. That's it. There is no second chance. There is no purgatory. There is no holding bay for sinners. Now counts forever. You see what Jesus says. Right now, strive to enter through the narrow door, because in the future, you won't be able to get in if you don't. Now, there's compelling force here. Now, one of the questions that we might ask is, what does He mean, strive to enter through the narrow door? Is He saying some version of a works-based salvation? You've got to really work hard in order to get through that door. And what might those works be? Well, it's being kind to people, and it's the fruit of the Spirit, and it's the Sermon on the Mount, and it's conforming to the will of God, the moral law. No, it's not. The question is this. What's the door? What's the door? This is the door into the kingdom of God, beloved. Where is Jesus going? Why does Luke remind us right here that He's still on His way to Jerusalem? Because of what He will do there. He tells us in John that He is the door through which the sheep must come if they want to pasture with Him. If they want to be part of His flock, they have to enter by Him through the door. In John 14, you've memorized this from your earliest days. I am the way, Jesus said, and the truth. and the life, the way. No one comes to the Father except by me. These are sobering words. These are words that the world will paint us as bigoted for because it's so narrow. I know, it's a terrible pun. It's so exclusive. You're shutting people out that are good people. And you might object, you know, I have neighbors that are nicer than I am. And they're not Christians. How could they end up in this place where there's this weeping and gnashing of teeth? How could someone good end up there? And the problem is, beloved, they don't understand. There's none righteous. No, not one by nature. There's none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. There's nobody who's good. Not even one. All have sinned. and fall short of the glory of God. So, easy or difficult? It's a matter of perspective. Beloved, when the heart is made new and the Spirit regenerates you, then you might say it this way, it's the easiest thing that a former rebel against God can ever do, to lay hold of Christ. But therein lies the rub. It's impossible for man. There is no man, no woman, no boy, no girl that can ever enter through the door, that has any inkling to strive to enter through that door. And so what is needed? A repudiation of all your works. A repudiation of all your sins. You see, they go together. All have sinned. Fall short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death. But the free gift, this is not something you earn. Your striving is not earning. But it's God's gracious gift in Christ. So is it easy or hard to get to heaven? For all of us by nature, it's not just easy heart, it's impossible. For those who have been renewed by the Spirit, who have been granted the new heart so that they can see these things now clearly, it's easy in that sense, that it's all of grace and none of works. Will there be many or few? You know, you might look at the landscape today, and you might look at all the, you know, unreached people groups and the massive tide, it seems, of unbelief in our present culture, not just here in America, but around the world. The darkness that exists, you might say, well, certainly few. And of course, as reformed people, you might even like to go further and say, you know, frozen chosen few. And yet, That's not the emphasis that Jesus gives in the text. Where does he go with this? How does he come around at the end here and answer the question, many or few? He doesn't say few in the sense of number because notice what he goes on to say. While the religious people who are trusting in their works and not in Christ alone, will be looking through that glass into heaven, as it were, and see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and realize what a dreadful thing it is that my lineage is not going to help me. My status as a covenant child is not going to help me. It's only in Christ that there's any help. But, beloved, why is Christ going to the cross? For a few? Or for many? That's the question. He's going to the cross for many. For the sins of many. For the souls of many. And the proof of it is right here in the conclusion of this parable, verse 29. Even as all of these are going to be cast out, the people will come from east and west, from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who'll be first, and some are first who'll be last. Verse 29 has a rich, rich background. But beloved, we need to settle a question before we conclude with the background of verse 29. And the question's this. For every person that's sitting here this morning, now children, you who have grown up in covenant homes, It is assuredly true that there may be many of you who never remember a day where Christ was not sweet to you. And that is glorious. That is such a fantastic testimony of the grace of God. You know, we talk about the normal Christian life. That ought to be the normal Christian life, beloved. Our children are reared in the covenant Christ is held before them every day of their lives. They see Him as sweet. They love Him from the heart. Normal Christian life. But there are those who will presume and will rest on the fact that they've been born in the church, that they're part of a Christian home. And they will get the idea, wrongly, that that's enough. I'm in the church. I go to church. I'm in a Christian home. My parents are Christians. And the question is this, children, do you believe that that is what saves you from your sins? Do you believe that being born into the home you were born into or being a part of the church that you're a part of, that that is why you have the forgiveness of sins, if you have it. And you know, if I set the question up like that, that you're going to answer, well, absolutely not. That's not what we believe. It's Christ who saves. And that's the whole point. Children, don't presume, but cling to Christ in faith. This is what it is to strive to enter through the narrow door, to enter through Christ and through Him alone, to rely upon Him and the salvation that He purchases at the cross. He bled, He died, He suffered under the wrath of God for sinners just like you and me, and He did it for His own. And so today, the question is this, are you striving to enter through the narrow door? Have you entered through that narrow door, through Christ alone? If so, continue clinging to him in a life of repentance and faith. If you haven't, don't wait. You notice Jesus himself emphasized this. It's as if he's saying to you, what you do right now, when you're smacked in the face with the gospel, with the good news about Christ, and the offer of salvation in Him. What you do with it right now has implications for all eternity. You can't be indifferent to the Gospel. You can't. You've heard it. Christ came. He bled and died in the place of sinners. And so if you're hearing these words, turn from your sin and believe the gospel. Embrace Christ as He's offered to you this day. Don't rely on yourself. Don't rely on some good thing that you've ever done for God or being good enough. None of it will prevail. There's weeping and gnashing of teeth. There's judgment under the hand of God for all and for any who refuse to come to Christ. through faith. But believers, this is the glorious heritage that you have. Having entered through the narrow door, resting in Christ as you are, you have union and communion with Jesus Christ. You have the forgiveness of sins and relief from a sense of the guilt and shame of all of your past failures. You have deliverance from the reigning power of sin. You're no longer under bondage to sin. You're brought into the family of God. You have the privilege of adoption. You can call God Abba Father. You've been given a new desire to become more like Christ Jesus, even if it means hardship and suffering in this present life. And finally, you have the assured hope of eternal life, which is pictured here in the great banquet of our text. Hear it again. People will come. from east and west, from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. Many are few, many. all the nations, the four corners of the earth. This is the target of Jesus' mission. This is why he sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, to be crucified in the place of sinners, sinners of all stripes, from every tribe, tongue, nation, and people. And think about how it's pictured for us, beloved, in a text like Isaiah 25. I would take you through the whole of Isaiah and show you the theme, but there's not time. One text will have to suffice. Listen to the way that the salvation that Christ brings with Him, for which He's going up to Jerusalem to accomplish. Listen to how it's described, Isaiah 25, verses 6 through 9. On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well-refined. and He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that's cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever. The Lord will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God, we've waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the Lord, we've waited for Him. Let us be glad and rejoice in His Salvation. Did you hear it, beloved? It's the nations. The veil that's cast over all the nations. The Gentiles, so that they would not believe. And by the way, I dare say every person in this room, if you had to check the box on your voter registration card, Jew or Gentile, you would all have to check Gentile. This is you. The nations, the four corners of the earth. If the plan of salvation which Jesus came to the earth to accomplish, if it did not include the Gentiles, beloved, we're in hell forever in our sins. This is the scope, the many, the breadth of the kingdom of grace. And of course, it all culminates at the end. I'll leave you with this. As we meditate on Christ, the one who accomplishes salvation for His people, listen to the language in Revelation 5. There's a new song, a song of victory being sung in heaven. And it's of Christ. Worthy are You, Jesus Christ, to take the scroll, to open its seals, For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God." Now listen to how it's described. What people? From every tribe. and language and people and nation. And what has he done with these? He's made them a kingdom and priests to our God. That is classic Old Testament, as Jewish a language as you can get. The one church of Jesus Christ, Jews and Gentiles are described in this way, a kingdom and priests to our God. And what will we do with our king will reign on the earth forever and ever. Glory be to God. Praise be to His name. He's not left us in our sins. He's provided a Redeemer. And so the original question was, are there going to be many or few? the elect of God from every nation, tribe, tongue, and people to the praise of his glorious grace and to the eternal delight of all of those who lay hold of Christ through faith. Let's pray. Our Lord, these are sobering words. These are hard words, but they're the words of our Savior. It gives us great pause, O Lord, to search our own hearts to see whether we are relying solely on Christ and His work. Our great God, we pray for our friends and our families, co-workers, neighbors who are apart from Christ. Lord, how we long to see them believe this gospel that you have set forth in Christ. Lord, we acknowledge that like them, we are utterly unworthy. We could never earn or deserve a place at this great banquet and feast. It is all of grace that you set the table before us. O Lord, we ask For hearts that understand, for eyes that see, for ears that hear the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, calling to us to come unto him for rest. Oh, give us rest for our souls, our gracious God. In his name we pray, amen.