How many will be saved?

Sermon Notes, Sunday, August 21, 2022, Proper 16 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?" It's a good thing to be thinking about others first when considering eternity. Whoever asked Jesus this question probably had a number of others in his mind: family, friends, neighbors. He was looking for assurance that those whom he loved would continue in his love forever. But he also had in mind some others, such as his political enemies and those who treated him unfairly over the course of his life. Let's be honest; haven't we all at some point prayed that the so-and-so who got away with murder will get theirs come judgement day? Justice belongs to God. We take refuge in that. The unpunished iniquities of this world will come to light at the last day and, we hope, our own righteousness will be rewarded. I suspect that is what the inquirer wanted to hear from Jesus. But he received something quite different and more valuable. The short answer to his question is that few will be saved. Or to rephrase it in stark terms, most people will not be saved. I wonder how the proponents of universalism can step around all the times that Jesus gives this same or a similar answer in the Gospels. Matt. 7:13. "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many." Or consider any number of parables. The bridegroom seeks his guests for the wedding feast from people on the street, but then disqualifies those not properly dressed. Wheat gets separated from chaff that is then coast off and burned. It is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the gates of heaven. Confronted by the enormity of rejects, the disciples balefully ask, "Who then can be saved?" There are many things to be discouraged about and despairing of in this world. Sin in unrecognized and unopposed by thoughtful people. The church tries to accommodate the culture instead of reforming it. The sacredness of human life is not worth the burden of parenting. More and more Christians seeing all this are asking, are we nearing the end? If so, then the window of salvation is closing on us. When the end does draw close, we will know it. There will not be speculation as there is today, there will be signs and wonders and much soul searching taking place. The stakes will never be higher and many will write their own revisionist histories claiming knowledge of the Lord when there was none. They will be disowned and cast off. Universalists have a lot they need to explain away. Most will perish, but not all. Jesus said, "And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God." How many? Enough. There will be no shortage of worshippers of the Lamb. Neither will there be a quota on blessings for the saved. In the end universalism does triumph, but not in the way expected. It's not that all will be saved, but that salvation is available to all. Now comes the message Jesus' inquirer most needed to hear. How do we get to stand with the saved? We have to work for it. No, I just didn't disavow 500 years of Reformed theology or step on Martin Luther's toes. We are saved by grace. That is the heart of Paul's Epistle to the Romans and reaffirmed in his letter to the Galatians. But being saved by grace obligates us to respond with works that affirm the gift of grace given to us. We are to reveal the state of our heart by the works of our hands. In Colossians 4:12 Paul holds us Epaphras as an example. Epaphras who is, "always struggling on your behalf in his prayers1." Consider his advice to Timothy his disciple, "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things.2" Or finally from last week's letter to the Hebrews we read, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.3" All these references and many more alert us to the necessity of striving to live out what we believe. When Jesus tells his questioner, "Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able," he says more than is readily apparent. The Greek word for "strive", agonizestha, doesn't just mean the work will be difficult, it will be against something. There will be opposition. Entering through the narrow door implies we must force our way against and through all those forces that push us toward the wide door. That includes forces that we cannot see but sense, Satan and his tribe. Do we have what it takes? Note how the Gospel has moved us away from the broad concerns of how many will be saved and toward a very personal question, will I be saved? Jesus certainly knew and wants us to know that this is where the battle is fought. He is saying to us, you need to contend for your salvation. Your salvation has to be important enough for you to be willing to fight for it, and some of you may die for it. Last week we talked about the need to excise sin from our lives and Paul M and I continued the conversation after the service. Paul very rightly pointed out that today most people have to be taught what sin is before they can begin to see themselves as sinners in need of salvation. Such is the state of the many as opposed to the few. Satan has been very successful in blinding the many to sin so they feel no need to contend for their salvation. But the blinds will come off. At the time of judgement all the blinds will be removed and our true vulnerability exposed. Jesus said, " 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.'" Lk 13: 25. The time to contend is right now, while the war is waging. A good military strategist knows the value of diversion. Make the enemy think you are attacking him on one front when you are actually attacking him on another. The D-day attack on the beaches of Normandy was successful because the allies had the German command convinced that they were to be attacked from the soft underbelly of Europe. Diversion is a tactic Satan also uses. He would have us contend on a variety of fronts that direct us away from his true attack, our soul's salvation. Today especially he delights in our political and cultural wars because they distract us from his war, for our individual souls. Consider this: Satan sees you and me as his enemy. Does he want us to know that? Of course not. He wants us to think of him as our friend. He wants us to think of him as ally, one who has our best interest at heart. If God is demanding, Satan is accepting. But as Christians we are Satan's enemy. The affirmations of our Baptismal covenant last throughout our life. We are in the army of God with whom he is at war. So he uses every means to convince us that the war doesn't exist, that he is not our foe, that God doesn't care about us, and that he just wants us to be happy in our present estate. The last thing he wants us to do is contend for our salvation. Let us close by fixing our eyes on the one who truly loves us. While we were yet sinners, he died for us. Truly, he contended for our salvation to the point of dying. Does my salvation mean as much to me as it does to God? If it does, and I pray it does, then I too must contend for it. To do less diminishes the gift and the giver. Amen. 1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 4:12. 2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 4:10-11. 3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Heb 12:4. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------