Please turn with me in the Gospel of Luke to chapter 13. We'll take up our reading at verse 18. I don't want you to be too disappointed that I'm not preaching from a psalm. I'm going to do that tonight. So I'm expecting you all to be back, and you'll get your psalm tonight. But this morning, Luke chapter 13, beginning our reading at verse 18. Let us hear God's own word. Jesus said, therefore, what is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches. And again he said, to what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until it was all leaven. He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and 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 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 and from north and south and recline at the table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last. At that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to him, Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. And he said to them, Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is forsaken, and I tell you that you will not see me until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So far the reading of God's holy word. You may not have noticed, but this is a season of politics in America. Oh, you have noticed. And one of the great questions, of course, being addressed in a political season is, what will the country be like? What should the country be like? Where should the country be going? Those are important questions, aren't they? But here in our text, Jesus asks even a more important question. He asks, what is the kingdom of God like? You know, it's one thing to have a national, healthy state. But Jesus and the word of God tell us it's much more important that we be clear in our minds of what kind of a kingdom God is building, or what kind of a kingdom God is establishing. And that's what this text is very much about today. He's been talking about the kingdom of God, and he's compared it to little things. To a tiny mustard seed, and to a little leaven. And this seems to have provoked in the mind of some of his listeners a question. Lord, will those who are saved be few? If the kingdom is like a mustard seed and the kingdom is like a little bit of leaven, will the number who are saved be few? It's an interesting question, isn't it? Maybe you've wondered about that question. Interestingly, Jesus treats it as a hostile question. In this section of Mark's Gospel, almost all the questions put to him are hostile. Even whether it's obvious that they are or not. Maybe the hostility of this question is, maybe we get Jesus in trouble. Because if he says few will be saved, some of his followers will think he's too narrow. Too narrow-minded. Terrible thing to be narrow-minded. And if he says many will be saved, maybe some of his followers will think he's too loose. So it had already been a problem, hadn't it? John the Baptist was too strict. Jesus was too loose. That's what their critics said. It's one of the comforts for ministers. You know you can't get it right going in. Lord, will the number who are saved be few? Hostile questions. Or at the very least, a distracting question. Those are the kind of questions you sometimes get at seminary. Just theological questions. Always the danger that theology is turned into a kind of game. Who's going to win? Jesus isn't having anything of questions that are a game or questions that are a trap. And you notice how he answers this question. How powerful this answer is. The answer is in the Godfrey paraphrased edition of the Bible. Don't worry whether the number of the saved are few or many. Worry whether you'll be saved. That's the important question. The really important question is not whether there are many who are getting into the kingdom of God. The really important question for you is, are you getting in the kingdom of God? That's what Jesus says. And there's an irony in the way that he approaches this answer. Strive. Do you know how hard pious Jews worked in their idea of how they served God? How their lives were filled with rules and regulations and directions, Striving, striving, striving to keep the law perfectly. And Jesus surely is being somewhat ironic when he says to these strivers, I almost said overachievers, they weren't overachievers because they didn't achieve much by their striving. But they were striving and Jesus says to them, strive to do what? To enter by the narrow door. That's what he says there in verse 25. Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. That's really terrifying, isn't it, if you pause to think about it. We're very good at not pausing to think about things. We're good at rushing on. What a thing for the Savior to say, many will seek to enter and not be able. You think there was a gasp from the crowd? What can he mean? What is he saying? Not be able. Surely this is an important question for us to ponder today, isn't it? It seemed to me it was a very appropriate text for us to consider on Preparatory Sunday as we are called by the Apostle to examine ourselves to get ready to come to the Lord's table and of course the preparation for being ready to come to the Lord's table is to be ready to enter the kingdom of God. Getting ready. That's what Jesus is addressing here. And he begins with this quite solemn warning that he's laying down. Strive. Strive to find the narrow door. It's not a wide door. It's not a huge door. It's not a door before which the world will pause and say, wow, what a door. It's not an impressive door. It's a narrow door. But it's the door that leads into the kingdom of God. That's what Jesus is saying. And he's warning those who are there, resisting him, hostile to him, questioning him. Are you striving to find the door? Are you striving to find the narrow door? And why is he pressing this on people? There are crowds following him. Why shouldn't the crowds just be encouraged? You're doing the good thing. You're doing the right thing. Because the passion of Jesus' ministry is that he would have true disciples. People who would really understand what he is about. What he's doing. Who would not follow him for the wrong reasons. Would not follow him with the wrong assumptions. would not follow him with the wrong actions, but would follow him as he is, as he truly is. That's what Jesus is about throughout his ministry. And to those who are weak and suffering, he's tender and loving and kind. And to those who are hostile and hardened against him, he's tough. And that's why he's speaking the way he is here, against a hostile questioner and crowd. And so he says to them, you may not be able to enter. Why? Why would they not be able to enter? He makes it very clear. He says some of you won't enter because you'll wait too long. And when you finally get around to being concerned about the kingdom of God, the door will have been closed. And you'll come and bang on the door. But the master won't open. Wait too long. That's a problem. There's always a problem, isn't it? In the church, too. People say, yeah, yeah, that religion stuff is important, but I've got other things I have to do right now. I have my life to live. I have my priorities. I have my concerns. I have my education to get. I have my family to start. I have work to do. It'll wait. It'll wait. and Jesus is saying here beware of waiting beware of waiting today is the day of salvation not necessarily tomorrow I was driving to church this morning down Country Club Lane terrible accident I don't know how it could have happened car all banged up Thankfully, the driver seemed to be sitting by the side of the road all right. But I thought, we can't wait. We don't know what tomorrow brings. We don't know what the next hour brings. As I was reading the preparatory form, I thought it was slightly defective. It said, we plan next Lord's Day to celebrate the Lord's Supper. I thought it should have said, Lord willing. The Lord may return before next Sunday. I'm sure Pastor Gordon has a wonderful sermon planned for next Sunday morning. It'll be a wonderful administration of the sacrament. But if Jesus comes sooner, we'll have a better feast. Don't wait. Your life is not your own. Your time is not your own. Your days are not your own. This is particularly important, I think, for young people who are considering profession of faith. There's nothing more important. There's nothing that you should be waiting to get done in your life before you make profession of faith if you're a believer in Jesus Christ. Today is the day of salvation, the Lord said. Prophets held out their arms, didn't they? Come, come, why will you perish, says the Lord. That's what Jesus is saying here. He's not closing the door in this passage to anyone. But he's saying, you're not able if you're not willing. Don't wait. Don't assume you can do this anytime, he's saying. Prepare now. And this is the word for all of us. That as we look at our lives and consider the sins that we are guilty of and hold on to, are we ready to get ready to come to the table in sincere repentance and true faith? That's what the Lord says to us. That's what the Lord calls us to. And his warning is not just about waiting. His warning is also about presuming. Lord, they say in verse 26, we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. You were one of us. Don't you know who we are? Lord, we're the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You notice how Jesus puts this in summarizing their attitude. He doesn't have them say, Lord, we ate with you. No, they just say we ate when you were around. And he doesn't have them say, Lord, you taught and we listened. No, they just say, you taught in our streets. He's saying to this people, you think where you're from guarantees where you'll be. But his word to them is, I don't know where you're from. They presume on a relationship. And this must cause all of us to pause and to reflect. We mustn't presume. There's sometimes a danger that we might do that. Lord, don't you know we're descended from John Calvin? Don't you know we go to a reformed church? We don't go to those crazy churches. And Jesus is saying, don't presume. Don't presume that because you come from a Christian family. Don't presume that because you sit in a Christian church. Don't presume that proximity guarantees your relationship to me. There are people who sit in church because they're dragged along. I know you find that hard to believe. But there are people like that. Or there are people who sit in church because the coffee is so good afterwards. And Jesus is saying, look at your heart. Look at your attitude. Are you waiting when you should be acting? Are you presuming when you should be examining? He wants to warn these people. And then he says to them, you with all your striving have not accomplished anything except to be labeled workers of iniquity. Because you've sought in all sorts of detailed ways to keep the law, but you haven't loved God and you haven't loved your neighbor. And that's what he calls us to think about, I think, today. Do we love God? Is God important to us? Is God central to us? And do we love our neighbor, or are we just consumed by ourselves? That's the warning that Jesus is making. And he really sums that up, doesn't he, late in this passage when he thinks about Jerusalem. And he says, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not. What Jesus is really saying in this passage is some are not able to enter into the kingdom because they will not enter the kingdom. Today the door is open. Everyone who will enter the kingdom may enter the kingdom. That's what Jesus is saying. And he's saying it to the covenant people. He's not saying it to the world. He would say it to the world. But here he's saying it to the covenant people. You are the people who for generations have heard my word. Do you cherish the word? Or do you resist the word? Do you believe the word? Or do you in your heart despise the world? This is what Jesus is pressing here. What Jesus is pressing upon all of us to think about. And so he says there are many who will be excluded. But there are many who will come. There are many who will come. Abraham will be there. You keep talking about Abraham, he says to his people. He'll be there. He's entered in. Isaac will be there. Even that rascal Jacob will be there. He found the narrow door. Not his striving to be a perfect law keeper. He found the Savior. All the prophets will be there. And all sorts of people So, from the north, from the south, from the east, from the west, what does that really mean? From the north, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks and Romans. From the east, Edomites. From the south, Egyptians, from the west, Philistines, maybe even Americans. Many will come, Jesus is saying. Many Gentiles will come. How do you feel about that, covenant people, that God brings in all these outsiders? How do you feel about that? Many will come. So, will the saved be many or be few? yes there'll be many saved and there'll be few saved many of those who wait and presume few of them will be saved but many who hear the call of God they'll all be saved because the door is open today and Jesus is the door that's why he moves right on from talking about this really solemn warning to talking about his work somebody says to him again whether it's hostile or friendly we don't know somebody says to him you better go hide Herod's after you I don't know that we think of Jesus as angry often enough go tell that fox that's not a compliment go tell that bum I have a work to do and I'm going to get it done some of us went yesterday to the funeral of Jim Houston at New Life Church he'd been an elder there some of you may know him his kids all graduated from Calvin Christian in his younger days he had been a Top Gun pilot and it was reported at the service that when his group of Top Gun pilots went out flying they always took a motto with them and the motto went approximately, I am invincible today unless God has other plans. And that's what Jesus is saying. Go tell that old fox, I'm invincible today because God has other plans. It's not Herod that's putting me to death today or tomorrow or the next day. Don't you see the power I have to cast out demons and heal the sick? Do you think that old fox has anything to say about me? I'm going to accomplish my work. And then I'm going to Jerusalem to die. Because it's really by that death that he opens that narrow door. So that we may go in. So that we may find salvation. So that we may be redeemed. His work is so serious that the warning becomes that serious. How can we wait in light of such a great salvation? How can we presume on such a faithful Savior? I'm going to Jerusalem, Jesus says. I'm going to die there. He doesn't elaborate on the meaning of his death, but we know what it is from the rest of Scripture. He's going to pay the penalty of sin for all who belong to him. and he's going to Jerusalem, and he's going to bear, in effect, this same message that he's already bearing, the message that says, come. There's a welcome in the warning. Because the real heart of Jesus here is saying, don't wait till the door is closed, but enter now. How often I would have gathered you. Now, there's a number of interesting things about that. One of them is, do you see the claim to divinity here on the part of Jesus? How often I would have gathered you, Jerusalem. He's talking about all the centuries of God's dealing with his people. All the words through the centuries that have been spoken to his people. And Jesus is in effect saying here, I was the one speaking there. I was the one speaking in the Holy Scriptures. I was the one speaking through the prophets. I have come to you again and again to gather you. And Jesus today would say, I'm still the one speaking to you. I'm still the one seeking like a mother to gather her children, like a hen to gather her chicks under her wings to protect them. That's my appeal to you. That's my prayer for you. That's my message for you. Come. Come and sit down at the table of everlasting life. Come drink the bread. Come eat the bread. Come down from heaven. Come drink the water of everlasting life. That's His appeal. What a great God. What a great appeal. What a great feast. What a great salvation. How can we not come? How can we not believe? How can we be so foolish as to play in the streets until the door may be closed? Jesus says, come. Jesus says, come now. And join in the glad song of faith. A glad song of faith of Psalm 118. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Why do we say that? Why is it so important that Jesus refers to Psalm 118 at this point? Because he is the door. And it's those who recognize that he is the door. That he is the one sent from God. That he is the one blessed of God. That he is the one who establishes the kingdom. and opens the kingdom and gathers the kingdom and provides the feast of the kingdom. Those are the ones who are able to enter in and to join in the glad song that sings, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And so the word of the Lord to you today is, Are you ready? Are you ready if he returns in glory this afternoon? Are you ready to come to the table next Sabbath if he tarries? You're ready if you've seen Jesus as the door to life and you've entered in by faith. God grant that that might be true of every one of us here. Amen. Let us pray. Oh, Lord, our God, we are not wise enough. We are not strong enough. We are not good enough to enter in on our own. But Jesus has opened the door. And Jesus has come. And we believe that by His Spirit, we will have the grace to come. And so, Holy Spirit, minister this word to every heart here so that on that glad day of His appearing, We will all be together there with the innumerable saints who have heard the call and have joined their hearts in faith to say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.