Why Many Will Seek to Enter Heaven but Few Will Enter (Luke 13:24-30)

Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). We should consider the following verses to see why many will seek to enter heaven but few will enter. Table of contentsWe Should Consider Why Many Will Seek to Enter Heaven but Few Will EnterThe Question Is, “Does the Lord Know You?”The Lord Doesn’t Know People Who Haven’t RepentedJesus's Indignation Toward UnbelieversThe Main Problem with Easy-BelievismThe Jews Thought They Would Enter Heaven and the Gentiles Would Enter HellThe Jews Learned They Will Enter Hell, and the Gentiles Will Enter HeavenNot a Universal LawThere Will Be Surprises in the Kingdom of GodA Sobering Passage https://youtu.be/VJ6vNVMs3yQ Jesus said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. Many will seek to enter and will not be able” (Luke 13:24). We should consider the following verses to see why many will seek to enter heaven but few will enter. There are some things in life that you can be late for while other things can be very problematic if you’re late. For example, you can be late to a movie or a sporting event, but if you’re late for the bus or a flight, you’re in trouble. When I was in Army ROTC in college the commander of the program was Colonel Brewer. He told all of us, "My class starts on time, and when it starts I shut the door, lock it, and I don’t open it. If you’re late, don’t try to get in.” One of the cadets told me about a time that he was eating lunch at the same time as Colonel Brewer. He was watching him to see when he left so that he could follow him to class. He walked behind Colonel Brewer, expecting that Colonel Brewer would let him in when he reached the classroom because he knew he was walking behind him, but he still locked him out. The most terrifying example of being locked out in the Old Testament occurred in Noah’s day. Noah spent 120 years building the ark. The earth began to flood. Noah, his family, and the animals got on the ark, and then we read: "Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And THE LORD SHUT HIM IN" (Genesis 7:16). Shutting them in meant shutting everyone else out. We Should Consider Why Many Will Seek to Enter Heaven but Few Will Enter I can’t imagine what it was like for those people locked outside the ark. As terrible as this would have been it doesn’t compare to being locked out of heaven: "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able" (Luke 13:24). So, let's look at the following verses to see why many will seek to enter heaven but few will enter. Jesus said, "I say to you." The word you occurs 13 times in Luke 13:24-28, because Jesus wanted to make this personal. Please keep that in mind. We should picture Jesus speaking directly to us if we haven’t entered! Luke 13:25 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.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ This is interesting! These were not people who openly rejected Jesus. They were people who spent time with him during His earthly ministry. They had been around Him. They heard His teaching. He had been among them. They probably witnessed His miracles. They had even eaten and drank with Him and enjoyed His fellowship. The simple way to say it is this: they are people who looked like they were saved. And they seemed to think they were saved. They mentioned their behavior that led them to this conclusion and caused them to think they should be able to enter. But the claim to have been in social settings with Jesus and even to have been in his audience listening to his teaching carried no weight with him. The Question Is, “Does the Lord Know You?” If I had to think of what these people would look like today, it would be religious people who believe they’ve spent time with Jesus, listened to his teaching, but they didn’t have a saving relationship with him. These people, along with those in Matthew 7 who say, “Lord, Lord,” but hear, “Depart from me” are the best examples in Scripture of having a false sense of security. Two times (Luke 13:25 and 27) Jesus said, “I do not know where you come from.” They thought they knew him, but he didn’t know them. He told them the exact opposite of what they expected. It is not enough to know something of Jesus and have some association with him. He must know and recognize us. When Jesus says, “I do not know where you come from,” it sounds as though there are people Jesus doesn’t know. Of course, he knew them in a sense: He knew who they were and he knew of their lives. But he didn’t know them in a salvific way. He wasn’t their Savior. It is similar to Jesus’s words in Matthew 7:23 when he said, “I never knew you.” When we talk about salvation, we’ll commonly ask whether people “know the Lord.” But it’s not just an issue of whether people say they know the Lord. It is an issue of whether the Lord knows us. I stress this, because lots of people – especially those in cults – say they know the Lord. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and even Muslims will tell you about Christ, because they hold Him in high regard as a prophet. But it doesn’t mean the Lord knows them, which is to say He doesn’t have a relationship with them. When you speak to people in false religions and they want to convince you they know the Lord, “You might ask them: “Okay, but does the Lord know you?” Consider these important words, "Now that you have come to know God, OR RATHER TO BE KNOWN BY GOD" (Galatians 4:9). We must be known by God, but the people in this parable were not. The Lord Doesn’t Know People Who Haven’t Repented Interestingly, two times (Luke 13:23 and 25) they said, “Lord.” That makes them sound saved, but what’s harder: Saying the right thing or doing the right thing? Anyone can say, “Lord,” but it’s another thing entirely for Jesus to BE our Lord. Even though these people spent time with Jesus, and even though they called Him “Lord,” he wasn’t the Lord of their lives. Calling Jesus "Lord" was nothing more than lip service. Lord means Master, and if Jesus was the Lord, or Master, of their lives they wouldn’t be "workers of evil." Jesus doesn’t say they WERE workers of evil. He says that’s what they are. Currently. Presently. They are in habitual sin. It is similar to the parallel account in Matthew 7:23: "Then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, YOU WORKERS OF LAWLESSNESS.’" Sin is a habit or pattern that they didn’t break. Do Christians sin? Yes. All Christians continue to struggle against sin. But when we become Christians God puts His Spirit in us, and the Spirit is not going to let us live comfortably in sin. He is going to make us uncomfortable until we repent: Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Paul described the struggle against sin that is in every Christian’s life. But that’s the problem for the people in these verses: there is no struggle against sin. Jesus's Indignation Toward Unbelievers The words, "Depart from me," are said with a certain scornful indignation. The words are not said with any amount of pity or compassion like we might expect. I’m not saying Jesus didn’t have compassion on these people, but I am saying it doesn’t come out in these verses. Instead, he simply casts them out of His presence, and there is no hesitation whatsoever. How do we explain the hostility Jesus seemed to feel toward them, especially when they didn’t seem to reject him? The answer is the hypocrisy of their lives. They said they had a relationship with Jesus, but they didn’t live like it. They said they listened to his teaching, but they didn’t apply it their lives. Second Timothy 2:19 says, "God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: 'The Lord KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord DEPART FROM INIQUITY.'” The people in this parable named the name of the Lord. But they didn’t depart from iniquity, which is to say they hadn’t repented. The Main Problem with Easy-Believism The main problem with easy-believism is it doesn’t preach repentance. People have been told, "If you just believe…If you just say these words…You’ll be saved." But it leaves out repentance, and without repentance there’s no salvation. We stream the annual ACBC (Association of Certified Biblical Counselors) conference at Woodland Christian Church. ACBC was previously called NANC (National Association of Nouthetic Counselors). They changed the name because nobody knows what “nouthetic” means (it’s a translation of the Greek word for admonish). The father of this movement is Jay Adams, and he and his materials have received criticism from secular psychology. Here's a quote criticizing Adams: “Confrontation is essential to the theory of Adams.” Benner, David G; Peter C. Hill (1999). Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology & Counseling. Grand Rapids. p. 249. Condemning Adams for confronting is basically condemning him for trying to see repentance. It makes sense that psychology would condemn Adams for this, because psychology works against repentance. Psychology teaches that you do bad things, because bad things happened to you: You mistreat people because your parents mistreated you You scream at your coworkers because your boss didn’t give you a raise Basically, there’s an excuse for any bad behavior.