Sermon Tone Analysis
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INTRODUCTION:
If you have your Bible with you this morning…
Will you please turn with me to Luke 13:22-30?
Luke 13:22–30 (NASB95)
And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem.
And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?”
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.
“Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
“Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’;
and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’
“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 yourselves being thrown out.
“And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will 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.”
Church, today there are more than one thousand organized religions in America.
Each one has its own system of belief.
Each one has its own doctrine of God.
Each one has its own explanation of reality.
Each one has its own view of humanity.
(And) Each one has its own sense of destiny.
Now, I want ask you to engage your imagination for a moment.
Imagine that each of these different religions has its own door…
And imagine that you are standing in a long hallway that’s lined with these doors…
As far as the eye can see… door after door, religion after religion.
Which one will you choose to go through?
Some people say, “It doesn’t matter which door you choose because they all lead to the same place.”
They say, “You don’t have to worry about your choice of religion because they all teach the same thing.”
“Open any door you like… and you’ll still get to heaven.”
Church, this is the way that many people think about religion today… maybe even most people.
They see it as a personal preference that makes little or no difference.
But is that really true?
Do all doors lead to heaven?
What if the other doors don’t really lead anywhere at all, or even worse… what if they lead straight to hell?
What if there is ONLY ONE door that leads to salvation… ONLY ONE portal to the glory of God?
What if it happens to be such a small door that a lot of people miss it?
What if that door won’t stay open forever?
What if it will soon close… leaving people outside in eternal darkness?
In that case, I would imagine that you would want to know which door was the right door.
As you stand in the hallway, looking down the corridor of all the religions… you would want to be sure not to make a mistake.
You would give anything in the world if someone would just tell you which door is the ONLY DOOR that will LEAD YOU to God.
Well, Jesus said there IS only one narrow door that leads to eternal life…
And that we need to make sure we enter that door while we still have time.
And, Jesus said this (as verse 22 tells us) while
SERMON:
I. THE SETTING (V.
22)
Now, back in Luke 9:51… we’re told that…
And as we come to chapter 13… He’s still on His way.
He’s going to Jerusalem to fulfill His purpose.
He’s going to die on the cross for our sins.
And the closer He gets to His own destiny… the more He begins to talk about the destiny of all people.
He tells them to recognize the times.
He tells them to get ready for His coming.
And He tells them to repent before it’s too late.
II.
THE QUESTION (V.
23)
Now, in the course of our Lord’s traveling and teaching… people would often ask Him questions.
And here, someone asks Him an interesting question.
Now, it’s interesting in this context… because the Jewish rabbis would often debate the relative number of the saved and the unsaved.
Most rabbis agreed that only a few would be saved… the Jews.
While many would perish… the Gentiles.
So, this man is most likely looking for confirmation from Jesus.
But this question is also interesting in our context today… because it confronts the pervasive problem of pluralism in our time.
As I said a moment ago… most people seem to believe that all roads lead to heaven.
And that almost everyone will be welcome…
But again… Is that true?
Well, let’s look at the Lord’s answer.
III.
THE ANSWER (Vv.
24-30)
Most people probably assumed that Jesus would answer by saying, “Yes, only a few will be saved.”
After all that’s what the Jews believed… and that’s basically what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount.
Looking at Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus said…
There you have it.
How many people will enter the wide gate that leads to death?
— Many
How many find the narrow gate that leads to life? — Few
But notice, that’s not how Jesus answered this man’s question here in Luke.
In fact, He doesn’t directly answer the question at all.
Instead, He chooses to make the question personal.
It’s as though Jesus is saying, “The question isn’t how many will be saved.”
“The question is will YOU be saved!”
“Will YOU enter that narrow door?”
“Let’s get that settled and then we can talk about other people.”
Church, it amazes me how often we want to focus on the spiritual condition of other people… while we completely ignore our own spiritual life.
As a Pastor, I often hear people talking about how so-and-so really needed to hear that message.
“That was a good sermon about SIN Pastor Larry.”
“I only wish my wife was here to hear it.”
I sometimes want to say, “Well that’s ok brother, because I was really talking to you.”
It also surprises me how many people want to focus on the minor theological doctrines of the Bible… while completely ignoring the really important things.
For example: A lot Christians like to argue about end times prophesy.
When will Jesus come back?
Will it be before the tribulation?
Will it be after the tribulation?
Will there even be a tribulation?
Personally, I don’t care.
I just want to make sure that I’m ready to go whenever Jesus returns.
I just want to make sure that I’m Saved…
That I’m Sanctified…
That I’m Serving and Loving the people around me…
So, I can hear those precious words… “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
(Matthew 25:21, NASB95)
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