If you have your Bible, the Gospel of Luke chapter number 13 is where we'll find our reading. Luke chapter number 13. I want us to look at just a couple of verses in Luke chapter number 13 beginning in verse 22. He went on His way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying towards 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. In our time this morning, I want us to pick up and take up this very, very important question that we find in our text today. And the question is, will those who are saved be few? Are there few that are to be saved? Of course, the only answer to be found is in Scripture. It's the safe place for us to go. There is no other place for us to go to find the answer to this question. And I hope today, in our time, that we can sift and sort through this very serious subject today. The first thing I want us to take up this morning as we think about this question is I want to ask and answer, what does it mean, first of all, to be saved? What does it mean to be saved? Because it's a bit implied here that those who are asking the question to the Lord have an understanding of what being saved actually means. And so let's spend just a moment this morning because there's a lot of different answers that people would give to this question in regards to what it means to be saved. But we want a Bible answer today. We want to understand what the scripture says to us. And many times it's very helpful to us to understand things and to get the definition of things by thinking of what something is not. So when we think of the reality of salvation, let's ask the question, what does it not mean? Well, it's not a mere profession of Christianity. It's not mere connection to the things of Christianity. A person can grow up in a religious home with Christian parents and they can be completely lost in regards to the truth of the gospel. It's not baptism. It's not some other religious ritual that someone might engage in at a young age or somewhere down the line. It's not adherence to some creed. You know, we're a confessional people. We believe in confessing the faith. We believe in many of the great historic confessions of the faith that crystallize the truth of Holy Scripture. But it's not just adherence to some religious creed. It's not denominational affiliation. I'm proud to be a Baptist, but that's not salvation. Being a Baptist, or being a Methodist, or being a Presbyterian, or being a non-denominational, it doesn't matter. None of those things really matter when it comes to being saved. It's certainly not mere intellectual agreement to the things of the gospel. There's many, many churchgoers and people that every year at Christmas and Easter you'll find them in a house of worship as they would say, oh yes, we believe that Jesus died and was raised. We believe in the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's many, many people who would subscribe to an intellectual reality of things of Scripture and things of the Gospel. So being saved is not just intellectual assent to the truths or the core doctrines of the Christian faith, nor is it some emotional experience that someone might have had in the past. A lot of people who go to meetings and get whipped up in excitement, but that doesn't prove anything. There's no validity necessarily in some experience, that emotional experience that someone might have had in the past. Again, it's not church going. It's not chapel going every Sunday. It's not being a so-called good or moral person. A lot of people think that's what it means to be in the right with God, is that they're a pretty good person. They don't really hurt anybody. They don't really bother anybody. They're too good and they pay their taxes and they don't kick their dog and scream at their cat and their kids and so they're okay. Being saved is not just some decision or choice that someone decided to make someday. Well, you know, I think I kind of like this Christianity thing. You know, when you begin to look at real Bible salvation, it all goes much, much deeper than just those things. As a matter of fact, on the positive side, when we begin to talk about what is salvation, we could say today that it's deliverance from some things to some things, right? It's deliverance from the penalty of sin. It's to be pardoned. It's to be justified. It's to be redeemed. It's to be cleared of every single charge from our criminal rap sheet that we had before a holy God. It's to be freed from all of the guilt of sin. Isn't that wonderful? I love the lyrics of the song, no guilt in life, no fear in death. It's deliverance from the power of sin in the present and also from the presence of sin in the future. It's deliverance from spiritual death that the Bible tells us we're born into. Men are dead in their trespasses and sins. It's deliverance from that. It's deliverance from darkness. It's deliverance from dumbness and deafness and blindness. Don't we see all those pictures for us in the gospel accounts Those who are blind and dumb and deaf, all encountering the Lord Jesus Christ. It's to be delivered from Satan's dominion and domination of one's life. It's to be delivered to life, and freedom, and joy, and peace, and hope, and blessing, and an eternal inheritance, and eternal life, which eternal life is a reconciled relationship to a holy God that you get to partake in throughout all of eternity. Eternal life is to know God. It's an ongoing relationship, a favorable relationship with God. Of course, as you go through the pages of Scripture, You find about this great salvation that all of this was planned in eternity past from the Father. And that boggles my mind. To read those great passages of Scripture. They talk about His plans and His purposes and His design and His decrees. All of those things from eternity past. And then He would send His Son into the world to accomplish all of these amazing benefits. that Jesus Christ would come and accomplish salvation, and that the Holy Spirit of God would come and then apply this great salvation to sinners. And so you see in this salvation that this is a work of the Trinity, of miracle proportions that takes place in people's lives. You know, you think about people You speak to those who are believers, those who have been changed, and you realize that people have a variety of experiences. There's a lot of different ways in which God brings people to Himself. There's a lot of ways that people come to this salvation, but we find that in every single case there is this initial work of God that begins to work in a person's heart that leads them to the point of repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, of course, there is the universal effect of a changed and a transformed life for all of those who are saved. And anything less than that is not biblical salvation. Did you get that? God does a work. God comes along. For you who are believers, you love Him because He first loved you. He orchestrated His providential sovereignty and His workings in your life to bring you to a point of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He caused you to be born again. He gave you a new nature. He transformed your life. Everything about your life changed when you encounter the Gospel. That's what it means to be saved. It doesn't just mean to be delivered from hell. It doesn't just mean to raise the hand, or pray the prayer, or sign the card, or come down the aisle. Bible salvation is far more than that. It's something that radically changes every element of your life. Salvation, in short, again, is to be born again. It's to pass from death to life, from being lost to being found, from being a criminal to being a child, from being a sinner to being a saint, from condemnation to Christ, from self to the Savior, from a rebel to God, to one who is reconciled to God. And let no one dream, J.C. Ryle says, let none dream that he shall ever be saved at the last if he is not born again first. Well, let's ask another question this morning. As you begin to take a survey and talk to different people, what would you say today that most people think is the reality in regards to the number of the saved? Ever thought about that? What do most people today think in regards to the number of the saved? You know, I think we can just observe some realities with our own eyes today. Just kind of glance around and think about people that you talk to and situations that you encounter. You know, if you just look today, you find how little spiritual conversation takes place in our family, in our friends, with co-workers, with acquaintances, neighbors. And we look around today and there's ample opportunity to do that. You know, men spend their time talking about all kinds of different things. We can talk about the Super Bowl game. We can talk about, you know, the sports stars. We can talk about this thing or that thing or what's popular on the television. Men find plenty of time to discuss the things of this life. But how often is it that men spend talking to one another about the realities of their soul and their condition before a holy God? You know, I think there's a massive lack of interest in the things of eternity. And you know, you have to deduce from that that because there's so little conversation that typically takes place between people, I think most people believe that the spiritual state of the people that they know is okay. How often do we spend time pleading with and asking the deep questions of life to those that we care about? people that we run into. Oh, it's so easy to strike up a conversation about things that really in the long run and in the scope of eternity do not matter at all. And I think the lack of conversation today proves that most people just simply think that everybody's okay with God, that their soul is fine, that everything is well with them and in fact they are in a safe condition, that they don't need anything spiritually. Well, what do most people think about people after they die. You know, this is what I just described to you is what goes on while men are alive. There's very little conversation that goes on while we have an opportunity because people think everybody's okay. But then about what do people think after someone dies? You know, I've been to a lot of funerals as a pastor. A lot of them. And you know, I for one, and you may have had a different experience, but I for one, I have never ever heard a preacher preach a funeral of anyone who went to hell. Have you ever heard a preacher stand up and sorrowfully bemoan the reality that this person after slipping off into eternity is not in the presence of God but suffering the wrath and the condemnation of God in hell? Everybody goes to heaven, right? That's what you'd be led to believe at a funeral for sure. Some of them might have been meaner than the demons of hell. And yet the preacher stands and just preaches them on into heaven. You know, as a matter of fact, I've been to some funerals where the flowery funeral sermon was just so flowery that you had to stop and ask the question, is this preacher actually talking about the same person that I know? Do they know this person? You ever been to a funeral like that? It's a very disheartening thing. I was at a funeral one time and It was one of those deals where there wasn't really a gospel sermonary preaching, hardly of any kind. It was one of those kind where all the friends of this particular person that had passed got up and began to speak about that person's life, sharing all these stories and all these things. This was a few years ago, and I knew this gentleman, and I knew his wife, and his wife was a faithful believer, and I had the privilege of preaching her funeral, and I had good grounds and great hopes to believe that she certainly did know the Lord, but the husband, on the other hand, There was no evidence or fruit of conversion in his life at all. As a matter of fact, at the funeral, all of his friends got up and basically celebrated his sin. And they spoke about his lifestyle, and all the relationships that he had been in, and all of the different things that he had done, and his party lifestyle, just kind of making light of it. And I'm saying, there in the front listening to all the laughters of the congregation. And then the preacher gets up and speaks well of this man that he's certainly in the presence of the Lord. And I knew him. You know, most people typically die just how they lived. And I believe that probably was the case for this man. You know, you stop and think about it today. Most people will have it that all people are okay with God. That everybody is in a good condition. That they have passed from this life to a safe and sound condition before a holy God. Well, and then we ask, well, what if a preacher of the gospel, when he comes along and begins to differ with that sentiment, and he begins to give biblical doctrine and evidences that would go contrary to that popular opinion that everybody's safe and sound in heaven, Well, most people would look at a preacher like that and say, well, he's just a little bit too fanatical. He's too strict and he's too hard and he's too close and he's too particular with all the things that he says. Surely there's more of a wideness in the mercy of God that this preacher would have us to believe. They would say, well, these people, they're certainly not as bad as you would think them to be. Everything will be fine for all of them in the end. And so again, I think it's true. It's my persuasion today that when you think about how people think in regards to the condition of the people that they know while they're living and also after they die, I think that most people think that it's pretty much an easy business to make it into heaven. I think most people think that it's just not really all that big of a deal and it's not that hard and that in the end, most people will be saved. You know, I think about that again this morning and begin to ask questions of that. And you have to ask, why do people have that persuasion? Well, I think the simple reality of that is that they certainly don't have a scriptural warrant for that belief. They certainly didn't get it from the Bible that I'm reading. So you begin to ask, where do they get such an idea? Why do they care so little for the souls of others? Why do they think that a person can live completely opposite of what the Scripture teaches and in a way that would be contrary to the transforming grace of God and still think that this would be a person who has experienced grace. And I think the truth about that is, is that most people are in this delusional view that all of these people are okay or will be saved because when they begin to think about the realities of eternity for their own life, it begins to cause them to shudder. It begins to cause them to think just ever so often, could it be true what the preacher is saying? Could those things about heaven and hell and eternity, could those things really be the reality? And God gives us these somber occasions like funerals and other things that take place when a great calamity in a nation happens, when a plane crashes or a building falls. And people are forced in those moments to think about those eternal realities. And I think what happens to people is that there's just so much strain and so much trouble that comes upon them that they want to push these things down and think, well, everything is more rosy and clear than what we want to believe. It forces them to think of their own situation. They don't want to entertain the reality that they might not be in a favorable relationship with God. They don't want to think about the fact that it's God with whom they have to do when they leave this walk of life. You know, I think we have to guard against these mistakes, don't we? We need to be careful today not to delude our own souls and put our heads in the sand like an ostrich. But rather we need to go to the Scripture and see what God's Word says. What is the plain truth from the Scripture? Which brings me to the third thought this morning. What does the Bible say in regards to the actual number of the saved? Are there few or are there many? Notice our text again this morning. And someone said to Him, Will those who are saved be few? And he answered. Jesus gives the answer. Who's speaking here? This is the Lord Jesus. And I want to tell you today what Jesus says is true. Listen to what Jesus says about it. Strive to enter through the narrow door. Okay, here it is. You ready? Here's the many. For many, for many, I tell you, will seek and will not be able. What does Jesus say about those who are actually in through the straight gate? Those who have come into the sphere of salvation? That there's many, there's many out there that would seek it, that would want it, but will not be able. And flip it around, all we have to say is that it's the few. That who do enter into the sphere of salvation? Matthew 7, verse 13 and 14. Very familiar words from our Lord. "...Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction." You ready? "...And those who enter by it are many, for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. And those who find it are..." What's the word? Few. "...Those who find it are few." You know, you think about the words of Jesus back in our text where He says, "...strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able." And you know, I think there's two senses in which Jesus maybe means this. I think one is more predominant than the other because of what the rest of the text says. But I think we have to entertain the words of the Lord Jesus on two fronts. When He says, many will seek and not be able, what does He mean by that? Well, on the one hand, presently I believe there's many who would seek and not be able. In other words, right now, in this season of grace and season of opportunity, I think there's probably many, many people who say, wow, it would really be great to be in heaven. You know, I would really like all of the blessings and all of the things that God would have. And then they are confronted and encounter the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they begin to see the cost of what it actually means to be a Christian. They see that there is repentance and faith that's involved in this deal. That there's a taking up of one's cross and following after the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a denying of self. There's this disposition that has to happen in the soul of a man to where all of his affections and all of his allegiances pale in comparison to his affections and allegiances to the Lord Jesus Christ. If a man's not willing to hate his father and mother and sister and brother, and yeah, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And some men come along and they say, well, I'd really like the benefits of heaven, but I sure don't care about that. I like just fine my lifestyle. I like just fine the people that I spend time with. I like just fine my relationships and my sinful way of life. And I like just fine that I'm on the throne of my life. Sure, I would love to have what God has to offer, but I'm not willing to give up these things. I'm not willing to repent and to turn from these things, from these idols of my life and take up a cross. What are you talking about? Seriously? You mean I gotta repent and turn from all of this and follow after a crucified Jew? Seriously? Oh yeah, many, many people would love to have the benefits. They hear the blessings, they hear about the inheritance. You remember obstinate and pliable in the Pilgrim's Progress, right? Pliable comes along with Christian, I'll go on this journey with you awhile. Tell me what's in your book about all of these wonderful things that we're going to experience. And Christian says, well instead of telling you, I'll just read them out of my book. And he starts reading and Pliable says, oh this is wonderful, what else? Christian continues to read and then all of a sudden they fall into the slough of despond. And you remember Pliable's response. This isn't what you promised me. A hard life. If we've had so much trouble in the beginning setting out, how much more difficulty are we going to have when we proceed along? You see, this is the mindset. Many, many people would love to have the things and the blessings that are promised in the gospel and will seek those things but will not be able to experience them because of the great cost. So there's a present view to this statement of the Lord Jesus. But I think maybe more importantly that the mindset of Jesus in this text is really an eschatological view or a view that's off into the future. When we speak of eschatology, we're speaking of last things. And I think Jesus, if you continue to read, he says, when once the master of the house has risen and shuts 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 don't know where you come from. I think this is an end view. This is later in the future. It's kind of like the picture of Noah's Ark, right? The door was open, there was time, and then the door was shut, and then the opportunity was gone. And then many, many people, when they, oh wow, I've blown it, and now I see the reality, and the door of eternity is now shutting in for me in a favorable way, and now the door to condemnation and to hell and to judgment throughout all of eternity is beginning to open. And then they knock and they say, let me in, let me in! Let me in, I wanna get in, I wanna get in, I'm seeking, I would love to come in now. And Jesus says, strive to enter through the narrow door, for many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able. Presently and eschatologically, many will seek and not be able. Few there will be that find it. You know, listen, I want to tell you that you don't have to know Greek. You know, you don't have to be a scholar. You don't have to be highly educated today to understand what the Scriptures are saying. In the end, the Bible says that many, many people will be lost and few that will be saved. You know, just another proof of this. Think about for just a moment. Try to find one single period of time at which godly people were more abundant in the earth than ungodly people. Isn't that an interesting thing to think about? Can you think of one time in the history of mankind that's been recorded for us on the pages of biblical history or secular history where there were many, many more godly people than ungodly people? You can't! It's just the opposite. You think about the days of Noah. There were few. In the days of Abraham and Isaac and Lot and Jacob. How about in Moses' day? What about in the days of the judges and the kings and the time of the captivity? As the people are hauled away. What about in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ? What about in the early church and the middle ages and even in the Reformation? We praise God for those great days of revival and awakening that have taken place going all the way back to the Reformation and then through the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, all the wonderful outpourings of the Spirit of God. But even in the midst of the Holy Spirit of God blowing, it was still relatively few in regards to the number that were exposed to the truth. What about in our day? What about in our own context? What about here in America? What about here in our state? What about in your own circle of influence? What about where you work? What about the places that you go and the people that you run into? Are the godless more in number or the godly more in number? Oh, it's far more ungodly. It's far more who are shaking their fist at a holy God saying, I don't want anything to do with you. Jesus says, strive to enter through the narrow door for many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able. They will not be able. What is the scripture saying? We need to mark it down. We need to get it. We need to understand today that the simple fact of the matter is that there are few who are saved. There are few who are being saved. Listen to me. Most of the people that you know are lost. Most of the people you know are lost. Now I don't say this today because we're so smart and we figured something out, and we don't say that gleefully or happily. We say that with a heavy heart today, don't we? Of course we do, because we care for the souls of those whom God has created in His image. We don't want anyone to go to hell. That's why I'm standing here preaching today with the fear that there might be someone in our number who does not know the Lord and who might be numbered among the many who will perish, not a part of the few. Oh listen, it isn't our method to stand and have a Billy Graham evangelistic crusade every Sunday. But listen, from time to time you need to have the hard truths of Scripture pressed upon your mind so as to think of your condition, so as to think, have I encountered the saving grace of a holy God? Or am I numbered among the many who are on the road to destruction? Because the Scripture says, mark it down, Jesus says, it's few who find the way. In the final analysis, it's few. Luke 12, 32, Jesus called the flock a little flock. It's a little flock. Now consider another question with me this morning. How about we examine the current religious landscape and so prove this truth that there are few who are actually saved? I've given you the reason from Scripture. We could shut our Bibles and go home because if Jesus says that it's true, But just in case you push back and say, well, preacher, I don't know about all of this. I just don't know. Well, let's just throw out a scenario this morning and talk about it to try to give us some perspective. Let's just consider today just the persons who are on the membership roles of the Baptist churches in our local Baptist Association of Churches. Which, by the way, our local association here, the Blood River Association, they're somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 churches. And then you have Graves County next door, and you have Colwell Line next door on the other direction. And all of those associations, usually it's somewhere between 35 and 45 churches that represent a local association. So let's just hone in for just a moment on our local associations that are there. And let's just talk about the membership roles of our churches. Now we're not talking about our area in general in regards to the persons who have never ever made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if we were to go knock on doors and if we did somewhat of a statistical examination, I think what we would find today is that there's so many people who have never ever made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ at all. So if we brought all those people into the discussion, the case would already be closed. There would already be proven that there are certainly few who are part of the flock. But again, Let's just consider our Baptist churches. Let's just consider those persons who have made a profession of faith that are on the membership rolls of our Baptist churches. And let's test those professions for just a moment by the criteria of Scripture. Because after all, doesn't the Bible tell us some things that will be true of persons who are saved? Let's never forget the general truth. The gospel changes and the gospel transforms those who are truly saved. Listen to me this morning. Isn't it a true statement to say that if there's been no transformation, there's been no salvation? 2 Corinthians 5, right? If any man be in Christ, 5.17, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, new things have come. And notice Paul said, if any man... In other words, any person who is in Jesus Christ, who has been united to Jesus Christ through the Gospel, which by the way, that's what happens to you when you're saved. There's this mystical union that takes place between you and the Lord Jesus Christ. What's true of Him is true of you. You're going to go through death and come out true on the other side because that's what happened to the Lord Jesus. So there is a union. There is a mystical union that takes place with someone who is in Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you today, if you have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, it's going to be transformative. You can't encounter the second person of the Trinity in a saving way and not alter things about your life. So the general rule is that if there's no transformation, there's no salvation. So again, let's just think for a moment about all of those persons on our membership roles in our Baptist churches. Let's just start out this morning and let's exclude and say that these people are not part of the few. Let's say these are the people that's part of the many. First of all, let's exclude all of those who are habitually living in any kind of open sin. such as fornicators and adulterers and liars and thieves and drunkards and druggies and cheats and all the rest. Now, notice what I said. I'm not talking about persons who have fallen into those sins. We're talking about persons who are habitually living a lifestyle of those sins. Let's just exclude them off of the list for just a moment because there's plenty of scripture that shows us that those kinds of persons will have no inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. Secondly, let's exclude all of those who for no valid reason fail to keep the Lord's day in the meetings of the saints. Listen to me. If you have a group of people that are part of a church that say, I love Jesus, I love the church, I love God's people, but yet they care absolutely nothing for associating with the people of God. If they have no desire to assemble themselves with the outcropping of heaven that we call the church, they're certainly not going to enjoy the company that's in heaven. As a matter of fact, they quite detest it. If they detest it here, they're going to detest it there. It's amazing to me how many people you run across and they say, oh yeah, I became a member of that church 30 years ago. I remember the revival, you know. And I'll say, well, where are you going to church? Oh, I haven't been in 30 years. Wow. I can hardly make it three days without being with the people of God. Much less 30 years. Well, in the third place, let's exclude all of those careless and thoughtless professors. All of those who care nothing for the true substance and the doctrine and instruction of the Scriptures. Let's just exclude those persons that pay the Bible no mind, and they don't care anything about submitting to the Word of the Lord. I remember a story about the Holocaust. There was this lady, this Jew, a Jewish Christian. And she had a Bible, and when they came to take them to the concentration camps, they took her Bible. And she said, please don't take my Bible. Please don't take my Bible. Let me hold my Bible. And they said, why do you want your Bible so bad? Because I can't live without it. That's the true heart cry of the believer, isn't it? Oh, how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day, all the night. Well, in the next place, let's set aside all of those who are mere formalists, and all of those who are self-righteous, all of those who are seeking acceptance with God by their religious rituals, and by their forms of religion, and by their good deeds. By the way, doesn't the Bible address that camp over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again? It's not by works, it's by grace, it's by faith, it's not by what you do. Nobody's ever going to get to heaven. Nobody's ever going to be reconciled to God because of the good deeds that they do. Nobody's ever going to be able to earn or merit favor with God because of their formalities in the things of religion. Nobody's ever going to have acceptance with God in that way. Well, in the next, let's exclude all of those who know the gospel only in their heads, but have no experience with the gospel in their hearts. Think about all those persons, again, who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but they have no affection for God. They have no affection for the people of God. They have no affection for the things of God. They really don't care anything for the Lord Jesus Christ as it's evidenced in their life. They don't really have any kind of walk with the Lord. How about all of those persons who are banking on some emotional experience or some high profession? They can go back to a time and place in their life and everything hinges on this one great moment. I remember when this happened. Listen, all kinds of people have those experiences. I know a Mormon, a guy who's been a Mormon for 50 years and he bases his standing with God because some experience that he had 50 years ago. Come here and let me show you the place on my farm where the heavens parted." That's what he says. I can show you. I can show you where God came down and the heavens parted. I talked to an angel. He holds everything on this experience. But listen, how many people in our Baptist churches do the same thing? I remember, oh yeah, such and such. Parents even holding on to false hopes about their children. Oh, I remember back when they youth camp and they made this profession of faith. But their children have grown and they're living godless lives. They care nothing for the gospel. And they hold on to that one little hope that happened way back when. And there's no vibrant religion. There's nothing except a high profession. There's no kind of ongoing experiential walk with God. Well, lastly, let's sit across and put aside all of those hypocritical professors, again, whose religion consists in mere talk and high profession and nothing else. You ever met somebody who is a saint in public and a heathen in private? A lot of people like that. They have a lot of public religion, but they don't have much private religion. If you could stand back with a video camera and video their life in private, That private expression and private devotion, so called, of their life would not measure up at all with the public demonstration of what they say. There's no vibrancy in the private life. There's no communion with God. There's no love for the Scriptures. There's no communion with the Lord. There's nothing. It's all hypocrisy. So think about it. After we exclude all of these kinds of professors who have what we could call some form of godliness, but their life completely denies the gospel's power, what are we left with? We're left with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ that there's a few sheep in the midst of the multitude of goats. And from that we draw the true conclusion. What did Jesus say? Many, many, many are lost and few are saved. And yes, that's even true in our Baptist churches. Well, let me ask you another question this morning. I know this might be a bit heart-searching, may intrude on your present comforts and security of mind, but I have to ask today, are you numbered among those who are the few? Are you numbered among the ones who in the end will be saved? You know, again, I know those kind of questions are difficult sometimes, and my intention today is not to shake you from your assurance if you truly are converted. My goal today is to expose those who might have false assurance. Or those who have made no profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, so that they understand the true condition of their state, of their soul, of the eternal realities, of what's coming next, of the reality that this life is so, so very short. And eternity is eternity. And you know, here we are today and we have an opportunity. We have time to think and we have time to deduce and we have time to examine our lives. And listen, I want to ask you, when your life is about to come to its end, do you have the confidence today that in the end you will be saved? When you enter into the world to come, will you be saved? I was just at a funeral last night. You're going to be there one day. You're going to be up there in that casket one day. And you don't know when that's going to be. You've heard me say it so many times, but everybody dies from little bitty children all the way to the ages and everywhere in between. You have no idea. You have no idea of the providence and the sovereignty of God over your life when God says, that's it, last breath, now. You don't know that. And you need to wrestle with this question. When you enter into the world to come, when it's time, when you cross over, when you don't suck air here anymore and you go there, what's it going to be? When you die and you stand in the judgment, will you be saved in the end? You know, again, I know these are difficult questions. They're hard questions for us to think about today. It's not fun to do this, but again, we do this while there's opportunity, right? Remember the Apostle Peter in his second epistle when he says to the believers that he's writing to, he talks about some of the evidences of faith. And he says, you know, if these things are in you, then you're going to be fruitful and abounding in the grace and in the truth of God. And he calls him, he says, you know, while I can, while there's opportunity, I'm going to stir you up to think about these things, even though I know you know them. You know, that was a method even from the Apostle Peter. And the Apostle Paul, as he called men and women to examine themselves to see if they'd be in the faith. Listen to me, I know it's bitter medicine, but it could be the medicine that saves your soul. Nobody would like it if they were in a sound sleep, for someone to come and shake them violently to get out of bed, but you would appreciate it if there was a fire in your house. Well, it's not comfortable when you sit and you hear these kind of things, but it's needful, it's necessary. They're for the benefit of your soul. And with that, one final question as we close. Maybe you're here today and you say, how may I be one of the few who are saved? If you sit and you say, well, I think I'm part of the many. I don't know that I'm part of the few. Well, then the logical question would be, how can I be part of the few? Well, let me say this to you. First off, you have to be born again and that's a work of God. It's something that's outside of your control. The wind blows where it will. You must be born again. God must do something in your life. But at the same time, at the same time, Scripture calls you to action in regards to the matter of your own salvation. What's the text say? This is coming from the words of the Lord Jesus. Someone said to Him, Lord, will those who are saved be few? And what did Jesus say to them? Listen, mark it well. Look at it in your Bible. Strive to enter through the narrow door. Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Listen, Jesus didn't say, sit back and wait on the Spirit to get to working. Jesus didn't say sit back and wait for some big experience. Wait for something to blow up in your situation that just makes you run to... No, no, no. Jesus doesn't say that. Jesus says you need to pay attention to your business. And what is your business? Your business is to strive to enter through the narrow door. You are to strive to enter through, to get into the sphere of salvation. Scripture calls you to do this. It doesn't mean to work for it. It doesn't mean that you're going to be able to earn your salvation with God. What it means is, it means to do business with God. It means to strive without delay. Notice Jesus did not say in the text to seek. He said to strive. It's not enough just to seek. There's plenty and plenty of people who are going to seek to enter in and they're not going to be able. Jesus didn't say just seek. Jesus said strive. Jesus said to strive without delay. Make sure work of it at once. Give it all you have. Do not let go of God until uncertainty has disappeared. You say, I don't know if I'm one of the few. Then get a hold of God. Don't let go of God. Are you with God? Just like Jacob when he wrestled him, remember? I'm not going to let go until you give me the blessing. You strive with God. You work with God. You look to the Lord Jesus Christ. You gaze upon the gospel. You listen to the sweet comforts and the gracious offer of the gospel that says if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved. This is the only way. You must flee from the impending ruin upon your life if you die without the Lord Jesus. Oh, I exhort you today. I encourage you today. If you find yourself as one who is part of the many, on the road to destruction, of the many who will say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do this, and didn't we do that, and didn't we do the next thing? If you find yourself in that category, lay hold of God, lay hold of the Gospel, lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not let go again until uncertainty has disappeared in your life. Now, for those of you who are here today numbered among the few, let me give a word to you. Number one, be thankful for what you've been given in the Lord Jesus. Amen? Be thankful for the gospel of grace. And also, don't be amazed and don't sit back and wonder that you often find yourself standing alone. Have you noticed that? The moment you begin to realize, wow, it really is a small flock. There really are few who are going to make it. There really are many who are going to perish. There are many, many, many people that are going to perish. Don't be amazed at that when you find yourself in the midst of a world of lostness and unbelief because Jesus said this is the way that it's going to be. You got to get that paradigm. You got to get that understanding. You know there's a lot of people that are in your life that you need to get the understanding that few are going to make it in so that now you're in a new way of thinking about them so you'll start evangelizing them. You know, if you're holding on to false hopes that, oh, this person's fine, you know, they did this or they did that, everything is gonna be well with them, you're probably not gonna engage them to think about their soul. But the moment you get this paradigm that just about everybody you meet is somebody who's lost, it changes your mindset in regards to how you think about them. Also, make much of this great gift that you've been given in the Lord Jesus Christ, let me say it to you this way as well, engage with all your might regarding all of your privileges. Hasn't the Lord given us so many benefits and blessings in the Gospel? Engage in those things. Strive for greater consecration to God. Make use of the treasure box of the Lord Jesus. Cooperate with God in sanctification. Work and strive with all of your might in sanctification. Of course, God works to will and do of His own good pleasure in your life, but He also says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Make use of what He's given you. Get in the gymnasium of Christ and start working out. Become a sweaty Christian. Strive. Work with God as He shows you things in your life. Cooperate fully in your sanctification and in your holiness. Spend your life also trying to do good for the souls of other people. And you'll remember last week as we were in the Gospel of Mark, we said the truest servant is the one who gives Jesus away to people. The true servant, the one who's truly great, is the one who stoops down to serve other people. And the best way that we serve other people is not by meeting necessarily their temporal needs. Sure, all those things are important. It's about meeting their spiritual need. It's about offering the Lord Jesus Christ. It's about being an ambassador for Jesus and going to the lost and saying, you want to be fully reconciled to God? You want to be fully forgiven? Look to the Lord Jesus. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ. So look, look to Jesus. Point people to Jesus. Give Jesus away. Pray for those future few who will be saved. Father, we wanna thank you today for your word and Lord, what a sobering truth. Lord, I know it's something that's hard for us to hear and to think about, but I pray that you would get us in a frame of mind, Lord, to understand the seriousness of this truth that's before us. Lord, you tell us in your word, it's very, very clear that it's few who are gonna find the way. Father, I pray that if there be one among us today that doesn't know you, I pray if there be those who are numbered among the many, who are on the road to destruction. Father, I pray that you would interrupt their journey now with the truth of the gospel. I pray, Lord, that they've heard the gospel today, the message of Jesus Christ who saves, who will deliver them, who will put them in a right standing with you. And Father, I pray that today would be the day that you would either save or turn on the lights and help someone to begin to strive to enter in, Lord. I pray that there would be someone who'd be awakened to the necessity of making sure of their salvation Father, I pray that we'd use our time today to examine our own lives, Lord. I pray that we would think deeply about our condition and make use of this, Lord. Father, we thank you for the gospel. We thank you for Jesus who died on the tree for us, Lord. It's the only way we could ever be saved. We could never do it. We could never earn favor with you. We could never put ourselves in a right state. We could never have the merits to measure up to your holiness, which is why you had to give Jesus, who is our righteousness, who is our holiness. And we praise you and we thank you for that. And we pray all these things in Christ's name. Amen.