How many will be saved? Will you be one of them?

Text Luke 13:22-30 Time 20/05/12 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

Let's start with an interesting question. Are there lots of people who will be saved and go to heaven or will it only be a few in the end? It's a fascinating question and one that there would be evidence for on both sides, both in support of the view that there will be few and the view that there will be many.

Often with difficult questions like this we find ourselves wishing Jesus was on hand to ask. We feel certain that if we could ask him then he would give a perfect answer and we would soon know what to think.

I raise this matter because it is the question that Jesus is asked here in Luke 13:23 where we read that Someone asked him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? Of course, the answer he gives is not the one we might expect. He certainly doesn't give a straight yes or no – Yes, only a few go to heaven or no, more than a few go to heaven. I think it would be unfair to suggest that he does not answer the question. Rather he goes at it in quite a different way to the way that we might have expected.

I want us to consider this morning exactly what he does say and so I want us to look at Luke 13:22-30 and I want to say four things to you.

1. Understand the work that Jesus came to do, the work of teaching and dying

People have various ideas about why Jesus came to earth. Clearly here the person who asks the question has the idea that he has come as a wise man to answer questions like the one he himself poses. People liked to ask Jesus questions. However, they didn't always get the answers they expected or wanted. I think if we look carefully at the very first verse in this section we will get a pretty good idea of why Jesus came to this earth. In verse 22 it says Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.

There are two things to see there. First, it says that Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching. Then it says that it was as he made his way to Jerusalem. Here we learn that two things then

1. Jesus came to teach us the truth

He was specifically going from village to village, town to town, not answering questions as such but teaching the people. Back in Luke 4 we read how people try to detain him from this task and get him to stay with them but he says (43, 44) I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. Luke adds And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea. This is what Isaiah 61:1 would suggest Messiah would be like. There the servant says The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

Jesus came not only to do miracles but chiefly to bring the message of salvation to this world and if we are wise we will listen to what he has to say. In these last days God has spoken through his Son. Listen to him!

2. Jesus came to die on the cross

The statement that he taught as he made his way to Jerusalem may sound quite innocent on the face of it but, of course, we know why he was going to Jerusalem. He was going there to die. It is clearer back in Luke 9:51 where we read that As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Before that, when he was transfigured Luke says that Moses and Elijah spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem. In verse 33 of this same chapter Jesus himself says I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day - for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

Jesus came to teach and preach but he is very much the man who was born to die. Any understanding of Jesus that does not focus here (eg he came as a great teacher) is very much mistaken. His death on the cross is central to who he is and what he came here to do. It is because of the cross and his death there in Jerusalem that it is possible for anyone to be saved and to go to heaven. There is no salvation otherwise.

2. Consider this interesting question he was once asked about whether only few will be saved

Now in verse 23 we are told that Someone asked him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? As we have said, it is a very interesting question. The questioner, no doubt, was not as clear on how to be saved as we can be now that Christ has come and not only preached but also died on the cross and risen again. However, given that some are going to be saved through Christ the question of how many are going to be saved is bound to come to mind. Are there only a few who will be saved?

Apparently this one of the questions that Jews often debated at this time. It was the general opinion of most of them, it seems, that only a few would be saved. Given that when the Children of Israel came through the desert only two of them (Caleb and Joshua) made it all the way from Egypt to the Promised Land surely those who are going to heaven will be proportionately just as few. Seeing how godless the Gentile world around them was for the most part only confirmed them in this opinion. Some of the discussions on this topic were very academic and trivial indeed.

Here is a question then. There is no simple answer to it, however. It is worth thinking about but only as far as it leads us to think about what Jesus has to say here. So let's look at Jesus's answer.

3. Hear this vital answer Jesus gave urging us to make every effort to enter his kingdom

He said to them, Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. In other words “enough of academic questions about how many will be saved. The real question is about whether you will be saved or not.” The Jews often spoke of heaven and salvation as like being at a great banquet. There was a tendency among them as individuals to assume that they would be at that great banquet. Of course, they would be there. Who else would be there, there was some room for conjecture over but they certainly would be there.

But here Jesus comes at them and he says “Don't be so complacent. Don't assume all is okay.” No, you need to make every effort to enter through the narrow door that leads to that banqueting house. It is a little bit like overhearing a conversation between some football fans about getting tickets for the big game. “Do you think there'll be a large number at the game?” says one. “I'm not sure” says another. “I think the numbers will be down this year” says a third. “No, no they'll be up if anything” says a fourth. And then you say to them “What about you? Have you got tickets for the game?” “Oh no” they say “we're not sure if we are going”. Weird.

Now something similar could be said to us. It is all very well to sit here and ponder deep questions like how many will be saved? Will there be more in heaven than in hell or less? Rather we should be saying to one another with great urgency Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. That is the real issue. Make sure that you put in every effort to make sure you enter through the narrow door that leads to eternal life. You notice the door is narrow. That means that it is not easy to get in. Think of the wicket gate that Bunyan talks about. A wicket gate is a small gate or door built into a larger one. You sometimes see them on warehouses where there is a big roller shutter that they use for lorries and a door within that so people can go in and out without opening the main door. It is through such a door we must pass to get into the kingdom. You can't drive in with a big lorry load. No only an individual can get through and as the door is narrow he has to leave everything else outside. Or think of a turnstile or the ticket barrier at an underground station. Only one persona at a time can come through and the passage is narrow. Are you making every effort to get through the door? I urge you to do so. Let go of everything else and make sure you can get through. As Jesus himself says elsewhere Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Make sure you find it. Make sure you come through.

4. Consider the reasons why he must be heeded

In the rest of the section Jesus is really underlining his main statement by giving reasons why we must make every effort.

1. Because many will try to enter and not be able to

He goes on Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. There is no automatic entry through this gate. There are people, he says, who will try to get through it, who will think they are going through it but they will find that is not the case. He goes on in verses 25-27 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! It is like a little parable, I suppose. There is the owner of the house which must be a reference to God. There is the house, a banqueting house no doubt, representing heaven. At a certain point the owner of the house gets up and closes the door. The door is now open – you can come in if you make every effort to do so. But soon the door will be closed. God will close it. Once that happens stand outside knocking and pleading, saying Sir, open the door for us. But he will answer, I don't know you or where you come from. You will try arguments. Jesus pictures the people here saying We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets. You will say perhaps “but I used to go to church and hear about you, I knew lots of Christians”. But he will reply, I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers! It is a frightening thought isn't it? It is very real though. How easy for someone here to get caught out. You say to yourself. I know I must believe in Christ. I know I must repent. But not today. And it may be that there will be other opportunities but still you will say not today. You refuse to make every effort to enter, to really struggle to get in. And then one day the door will be shut. You may well plead and call out but you won't get in. Have you ever been locked out? It is not nice, especially in bad weather. There you are right next to the warm house with the lights and the TV and whereas you could be making a sandwich for yourself and settling down to it you are outside in the rain. How unpleasant. It does not begin to compare with what it is like to be shut out for eternity. Or was there ever a day when no-one else would play with you or they had all gone away somewhere else, and though you were okay at first you felt very lonely in the end. Again, it does not begin to compare with what it is like to be apart from God's people forever.

Make every effort to come to Christ. So soon it will be too late otherwise.

2. Because to fail to enter is the worst disaster there can be

In verse 28 Jesus describes how in that place outside 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 weep for various reasons. You can weep for joy. You can weep just because your feeling rather emotional about something. When people weep and gnash their teeth it is because they are in agony and in anguish. This description of hell reminds us of how it will be for those who go there. They will weep and gnash their teeth when they see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, inside the house but they themselves thrown out. There can be no worse disaster. To be locked out of the house is a disaster. To be homeless is a much greater one. How sad if you have no friends at all. But to be in hell is an unmitigated disaster of the very highest order. There is no comfort whatsoever. Take care that it does not happen to you. Seek Jesus Christ with all your heart and mind and soul an strength.

3. Because today the door is still wide open

Those last two arguments are negative and I suppose they lead to the feeling by this point that the answer to the question are only a few people going to be saved? must be “Yes”. But our final argument is a positive one – make every effort to enter through the narrow door because the door is still open. Or to sharpen the argument, see that

1 It does not depend on race or religion

Jesus says in verse 29 to his Jewish interrogator People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. The Jews tended to think they were the only ones going to the banquet. We all have a tendency to be narrow minded and parochial. But no says Jesus, stop thinking that there will only be a few who are saved, just the Jews and not all of them. No, People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Race and religion in the sense of the religious background you have are neither here nor there. What matters is getting in.

Further,

2 It does not depend on rank or riches either

Jesus goes on (30) Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last. The Jews looked at the world in their day and it seemed that they were first and so would be going to heaven ahead of any others. Within Judaism the Pharisees and others had quite a high opinion of themselves and a very low opinion of others like prostitutes and take gatherers. They needed to learn that come the end of the world there would be those who are last who would be first, and first who would be last. Today people think that being rich or good looking, skilful or successful is the great thing. They too need to know that there is a day coming when those who are last who will be first, and those who are first who will be last.

You are well aware that the Olympics are coming up in two months time here in London. One of the events is the tennis at Wimbledon and the great British hope is, of course, Andy Murray. Murray is more than keen to win Olympic Gold. What is he doing to bring that about? Well, he trains, of course. An article a little while ago described what that involves.

“Murray's workouts” the article says “fall into distinct categories: in tournament and out of tournament. They are equally tough. In the winter, when he is out of tournament, he checks into a gruelling tropical climate body boot camp for a month where he will exercise in hot temperatures for six hours a day.

On a typical boot camp day he will start with one hour of aerobic sprint training on an athletic track where he runs 400-metre laps at intervals of five minutes, aiming to get faster with each lap. He will also jump hurdles sideways, to improve balance.

This will be followed by a one-hour upper body weight training session in the gym where, among other drills, he ties a rope around his stomach and pulls 40lb weights using just his abdominal muscles.

A 90-minute Bikram yoga session comes next, where he stretches and performs dynamic yoga movement in a room heated to 40c, during which he will burn 1,600 calories and lose 4 litres of sweat.

His workout will be rounded off with a two-hour tennis practice session with his coach. In tennis season, his gym sessions are reduced to an hour a day but he still hits the practice court for two hours before a match.”

No if a man is willing to undergo that sort of effort for a mere earthly prize then why are we not wiling to make as great an effort to know Christ? Of course, we are not saved by what we do. Salvation is all of grace and the Lord says plainly Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. Let's do so.