Luke chapter 13:
24-30 the parable of the narrow door
I have now lived long enough to have experienced a number of
approaches to evangelism. In my
lifetime, in order to make the gospel understood, a number of approaches have
been used. One of them involved a
booklet that took the readers through the facts of the gospel and at the end if
you agreed with them there was a sinners prayer and the person was declaired a
Christian.
I now find that very much at odds with what Jesus had say.
In fact he warns us in his parables and I have selected two that are about
doors
In the coming weeks, I will select parables about nature and
parables about lost and found and try to draw some lessons out of them
Today we are going to look at two parables about doors.
Jesus spoke in parables because this was one of the signs of
being the messiah
The question Jesus answers is, “Lord, are only a few people
going to be saved?”
We are not told WHO
asked the question, nor are we told HOW
it was asked
In other portions of scripture we are told that he was asked
questions to trap him. We do not know if
this was one of those occasions, but if he had said yes or no there could have
been repercussions. If he had said Yes
the scribes and Pharisees would have been angry. How dare he say such a thing,
they were good men and surely God would let them into heaven. If he said no then they could have said what
then is the point of your ministry?
Jesus knows the hearts of men, and his answer is intended to
make us search our hearts. It is not for
us to know how many will be saved. What
we need to know is are we saved? Is my
heart right with God?
I believe that it is to prompt that question in us that
Jesus tells this parable.
In this parable we are told to make every effort to enter
the narrow door to heaven. This suggests
that we need to strive with all that we have to enter. It is not easy believism
I do not believe that he is saying that our salvation can be
earned by our own efforts. We know from other passages of scripture that he is
not saying that. I think that what he is
saying is that we need to be sure of our salvation. We need to be sure that we have truly trusted Jesus in our hearts. That he is known to us and that he knows
us. That our names are indeed written in
the lamb’s book of life.
We are told in this parable that the door will be closed and
thereafter, no one else will get in.
Those who are unsaved will be shut out and endure eternal
punishment. We are told that there will
be much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
This is a picture of suffering and mourning. The worst agony that the jews could
contemplate.
In this parable we see that everyone seemed to be the same. They all seemed safe until the day the
door closed
Verses 26 and 27
those who were shut out gave their reasons for believing they deserved to
enter.
They had fellowshipped with him, they listened to his
teaching, they ate and drank with him.
Then he will give this terrible and chilling reply, “I DON’T KNOW YOU. AWAY FROM ME ALL YOU EVILDOERS”.
You see that all they did was not enough and Christ will
call them EVILDOERS. And this will be
things they thought they were doing for him, ie listening to him.
Fellowshipping with him, and thinking that they were saved, when in fact they
were still far from him
A Godly man once said, “Tasting Christ, is not the same as
making him you own”.
It is at this point that we need to do as he says in this
passage, we need to strive to enter by the narrow door. Our will needs to bend and submit to his
will. Let us not fool ourselves into
thinking that just because we believe the facts of the gospel that we are
saved. Let us soften our hearts and
strive to enter the narrow door.
I now look at a second passage about a door that will be
shut.
Mathew chapter 25:
1-13 the parable of the ten virgin
This would be recognisable to the original hearers as a
customary practice for a wedding. The
bridegroom would come to the brides house, but there was no way of knowing
exactly when he would come and if he came at night, his way to the house would
be lit by the bridesmaids. Hence the
reason that they had lamps. He would
then be escorted into the house with his friends. Once everyone had entered, the door would
then be shut.
In this parable all the virgins ( the bridesmaids) appear to
be ready for the bridegrooms arrive.
They all have lamps, and all can light the lamps.
However the bridegroom does not appear, he tarries, and all
the virgins have their lamps lit while they wait, and they fall asleep.
The time comes, when they are told that the bridegroom has
arrived. The foolish virgins find that
they are not prepared. They are running
out of oil, their lamps are going out.
They ask the wise ones to share their oil, but are told that if they do
there will not be enough. It had been
the responsibility of each of the five foolish ones to ensure that they had
enough. They seemed to be just as
prepared as the wise ones, until the moment came, and the bridegroom
arrived.
The bridegroom, is symbolic of Jesus. One day, he will return and gather the church
to himself as a bride, and that door that divided the wise who are saved and
the foolish who are unsaved will close never to admit them as they had presumed
they would.
The foolish ones asked for a share in the oil, but we cannot
be saved through the salvation of others.
I and I alone, am responsible for my position before the lord. Am I like the foolish virgins who did not
take enough oil, or am I like the wise ones.
I think that self examination, with honesty in the light of
Gods word is a good thing. It can
reassure us, or it can tell us the truth that we are not right before god and
we need to get right while we still can.
I think both of these parables are sound warnings to see that the state
of our souls is good. That our faith in
the lord is not just because we have heard his word and appreciated it, but
that we have heard his word and acted upon it.
