Striving

Leckieville Freewill Baptist Church

Striving

9/24/06 Brother Lee Dotson

Luke 13:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, (24) Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

You see them every Sunday when dressed in their Sunday best they respectfully make their way into the worship service. They sing, they greet one another in the service, they put their bit into the offering plate and they listen to another sermon. When the service is over, they leave the service and tell the preacher he did a good job. Then they return home, take off their "church clothes" and forget about God for another week. Meeting with God has become for them nothing more than listening to messages, singing songs and placing a token amount in the offering. Yet somehow this routine seems to fill their need for reassurance. And because they have been "faithful" to come to church on occasion, they feel that they are all right, that they have secured a place in heaven. What a distortion of the message that Jesus delivered. Jesus told the religious crowd that even those who appeared the most dedicated were at best, last in the kingdom and probably would not get in at all, because they had too much religion and too little relationship with Jesus.

The narrowness of the door suggests an important lesson. If the door is narrow then few will pass through it, because they must pass through one at a time. You have to get through one at a time. You are not going to get to heaven just because your name is on a church roster or because your family is Baptist (or any other denomination). You will not get into heaven on anyone else's coattails, but you will answer to God for yourself alone.

This passage (Luke 13:22-30) is a warning, and people need to be sure that they have responded to Jesus. The core issue will be in "knowing" Jesus not just "knowing about Jesus." The original question was, "Will many be saved" and now is more properly understood to be, "Will you be among the saved."