The Door Won’t Stay Open Forever

Introduction

This is the second and final message in our two-week series, The Narrow Path. On the heels of the greatest event in human history- the resurrection of our Lord - we paused last week to wrestle with a sobering reality:

Not everyone that utters the words, “He is Risen” actually benefits from His resurrection. We have to come to term with this:

Not everyone that calls himself a believer is truly a believer. Not everyone that confesses faith actually possesses faith.

There many who are merely nominal Christians – what we might call pseudo-Christians. They look like believers, talk like believers, and even think themselves as believers… but in the end, they are not.

Last week in Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus made it clear: there are two roads–but only one leads to life. The other leads to destruction.

The road to life is narrow, difficult, and few people find it. The other road requires no effort to find, you are born on that road.

But there is another truth we must face: The door to that narrow road will not remain open forever. That is what makes this urgent.

This is why we preach the gospel. This is why we plead with people to come to Christ. Because tomorrow is not promised

Today we turn to Luke 13:22-30, where Jesus makes that urgency unmistakably clear. And my prayer is this: If there is anyone here who has only been standing near the door, that today you would enter

And for those who are inside–that we would go and compel other to come, just as we have followed Christ. (pray)

I. Strive to Enter the Narrow Door vv. 22-24

In these opening verses, Luke shows us that Jesus is on a mission. He is making His way to Jerusalem–that is His destination

Luke 13:22 LSB

22 And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem.

But notice this–on His way to the destination, He did not waste the journey. Between here and there… there were souls.

There is a lesson to be learned right from this simple narrative: Every city, every village, every person–Jesus treated as a God-ordained opportunity. He did not see interruptions–He saw purpose:

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Jesus was redeeming the time. This ought to shape how we live. We all have places to go, schedules to keep, destinations to reach. But between here and there… there are people.

I remember being on a cruise with Shelley. I am not sure where Shelley was at the time but I found myself sitting in a jacuzzi enjoying the moment with my mind totally blank

Then my mind was violently brought back into the world I was sitting in when I overheard a conversation–people discussing evolution, confidently dismissing the need for God

I sat quietly trying to drown the sound of their voices with own thoughts, “I am on vacation”. I did not want to do, I was not going to do what Jesus was doing in this passage. But then one of them said:

Do you have an opinion? I remember pouting in my mind, “but I was on vacation.” I did engage, but only when it was in my face, that is not the example placed before us.

He did not wait for opportunities to come to Him–He made them most of them as He went. At some point His teaching stirred a question:

“And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” (v. 23).

That question reveals something deeper. Jesus does not merely answer the question–He exposes the heart behind it. Because Jesus does not deal only what what is said–He deals with what is beneath it. Words have roots

John 2:25 → He knew what was in man

Jeremiah 17:9 → the heart is deceitful

There was an assumption behind the question,–a sense of security, likely rooted in identity, background, or proximity to truth and Jesus goes straight for it when he says,

Luke 13:24 LSB

24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Striving to enter in  no way suggests that anyone can merit salvation for it is of grace alone

Ephesians 2:8 LSB

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

But it does mean this: entering is not casual. It requires turning from pride, from sin, and from every false ground of confidence. It means abandoning the idea that proximity to truth equals possession of truth

And Jesus is not finished, he now shows us what happens to those who wait to long.

II. The Door Will Not Stay Open Forever (vv. 25-27)

Luke 13:25 LSB

25 “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.’

There is an assumed relationship by those outside, but it exists only in their minds.  When the door is shut, the master’s response exposes reality—not only is there no relationship, but there is no recognized identity.  

They are not acknowledged as belonging to his household. Their presence outside does not make them outsiders—their presence outside reveals that they were never truly insiders to begin with.

But notice something even more pressing: the door closes. It is one thing to know that the narrow road is difficult that It requires turning from pride, from sin, and from every false ground of confidence.

It is another to realize: there is a time limit. Many dismiss this. They mock the idea of urgency saying, “its been almost 2 thousand years…” But Scripture answers that directly:

2 Peter 3:8–10 LSB

8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be found out.

God’s delay is not a neglect, it is mercy. There will be a moment in which all of history is brought to its conclusion. This is what Jesus is describing:

“Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door…” (v.25)

And once that doors is shut no amount of knocking will open it. And notice what those outside are are saying:

Luke 13:26 LSB

26 “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’

Those outside begin to describe activities done around the master. Some of those activities are even done in His name:

Matthew 7:22 LSB

22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’

The writer of Hebrews presses even deeper:

Hebrews 6:4–6 LSB

4 For in the case of those once having been enlightened and having tasted of the heavenly gift and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and having fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

These people on the outside were enlighten, but not transformed, they tasted but never digested, they shared in the activities of the Holy Spirit, benefited from His presence but there was not evidence of a saving relationship.

They were on the path externally, but never entered internally. They were around the kingdom...but never in the kingdom. This is the sobering conclusion:

These passages are not mainly about atheists or false religion. They are about people who sit under truth, engage in religious activity, feel spiritually confident and are still outside

A careful examination of their lives would show that they did not bear fruit in keeping with repentance. They were not transformed, their minds were not renewed.

These are the people that came to the altar once, or recited a sinners prayer yet their lives remained virtually unchanged from the inside.

The danger here is being close enough to the truth to feel safe while still being lost. Proximity to the gospel is not the same as being consumed by it. This is extreme and Jesus used extreme words to describe what this looks like:

John 6:53–56 LSB

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

Rightly understood, the masses will not accept this:

John 6:60 LSB

60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”

John 6:66 LSB

66 As a result of this many of His disciples went away and were not walking with Him anymore.

But it is the only way to enter the kingdom, it is the narrow way. And your refusal has caused you to be on the outside when the door is shut and now you are knocking saying, “we were there, remember when…”

Luke 13:27 LSB

27 “And He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you workers of unrighteousness.’

You do not get in because you were close

You do not get it because you were familiar

You do not get it because you assumed you belong

You get in because you entered while the door was still open.

Jesus has told us the door will be shut. Now He shows us what it means to be on the outside when it does

III. The Reality of Being Shut Out (vv. 28-30)

“In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…” (v. 28)

This a terrifying notion. We do not like to think about hell. But we must because Jesus spoke about it often.

There will be two dominant realities in that place. There is sorrow –deep overwhelming anguish. It is regret, despair, grief over what was lost.

But this is not repentance. This is not “I was wrong. I should have listened” This is sorrow over consequences… Not sorrow over sin.

2 Corinthians 7:10 LSB

10 For godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world brings about death.

This is wordly sorrow. Feeling sorry for yourself. Grieving the pain you are in without ever acknowledging the sin that brought you there.

Then Jesus uses the image of gnashing teeth. This is not sadness this is hostility, defiance, this is anger toward God. “How dare You God put me in a place like this?”

It is fury without restraint. Undiluted hatred. So hell is a mixture of anguish with rage forever.

Jesus explains what intensifies that anguish

“…When you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being cast out.” (v. 28)

You will see your patriarchs… your prophets… those you assumed you belonged with. And yet you will be outside. Why?

Because you assumed that proximity meant belonging. And adding insult to injury Jesus says,

Luke 13:29 LSB

29 “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

People coming from the four corners of the world representing the various population groups. Not your people, not your background, not your heritage

They were not entrusted with what you had and yet they enter while you are shut out. And then Jesus gives a final word

Luke 13:30 LSB

30 “And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

Everything you assumed… Wrong. Those who were confident they were inside–will be outside. And those who seemed farthest away will be welcomed in.

Conclusion

We have walked through Jesus’ words together. He has not been unclear. He has told us:

There is a narrow door and you must strive to enter it

That door will not remain open for evver

And when it is shut… many will find themselves outside

Then He shows us that, that means weeping, gnashing of teeth, shut out. Not because they never heard but because they never entered

Let me bring this back to you. Not the person next to you, your family, and not your past but YOU.

The question is not, do you know about Jesus? Have you been around the truth? Have you had spiritual experiences?

The question is, have you entered? For many are close but not in. Familiar, but not transformed and confident yet mistaken

Jesus is clear that that kind of confidence will not hold when the door is shut. Right now the door is open. Right now there is opportunity

But the same Jesus to offers the door is the One who will close it and when that moment comes, no association will open it.

So, don’t stand near the door and assume you are inside. Don’t delay. Enter. Turn from your sin, abandon your false confidence

Come to Christ, not casually, not intellectually, but comepletely.

And for those who know you are in. Don’t waste the journey. Between here and there are are people.

People standing at the door, assuming they are safe. People who will be outside if nothing changes.

Compel them. Speak to them. Point them to Christ. Because the door that is open today will not be open forever.