The Certainty Of Christ's Compassion
Book of Luke 13
Compassion is a warm feeling with and for other beings.
Compassion is suffering along with others who are suffering.
Compassion is a mixture of love and sorrow.
Compassion is a fundamental and a distinct conception of God.
It was God's compassion for a small group of people that set them free from the bondage of Egypt and form them into the nation of Israel.
The Old Testament full of God's acts of compassion, pity, and mercy.
When God made Himself known to Moses, He described Himself for the benefit of Moses.
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
God said He was a compassionate God and not some unloving being.
What did Moses do?
Exo 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
And Moses said "I have found Grace".
Until we have found the "Grace" of God, which is in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ we will never understand our compassionate God.
Because God is so full of compassion, then He expects those that love Him to be the same.
Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
God's greatest act of compassion was when He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem His people!
God gave up His own Son, to the death of the cross, in order to release us from the bondage of sin!
Therefore all who know the God, the Father of Christ, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, and call themselves the children of God, will also show compassion and mercy to all those who do not know the Lord as their "personal" Savior!
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the epitome of compassion!
We begin with who can be saved:
*****Luk 13:22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
The ministry of Christ Jesus was coming to an end and He was on the way to Jerusalem to Calvary's Cross.
This did not stop Him from preaching and teaching along the way, Jesus still remembered the work He was sent to do.
Jesus reached out to as many as He physically could.
Along the way a disciple asked Jesus a question that even many of us have asked and is still asked today.
Are there many or few who will be saved?
The word saved means to participate in God's Kingdom.
The truth is the door of "faith" has a narrow entrance.
The door of "faith" is found on our knees just as Moses found out when He fell on his face before the Lord.
The door of "faith" begins when we acknowledge God for who He is!
*****Luk 13:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
Luk 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
The question should never be how many will be saved but how many will be lost!
Notice the Lord Jesus did not respond to just the one who asked but took the time to teach all who were with Him.
There are so many today who think that everyone who dies goes to Heaven and they are wrong.
There are also those who think there is no place called Heaven or Hell and they are certainly more wrong.
There are also those that think only certain predetermined ones will get into Heaven and they are wrong also.
The first word Jesus uses is "STRIVE".
The word strive means to struggle, to compete (as for a prize), to endeavor (to accomplish something).
To strive is to make an effort, to labor hard, to exert yourself, to contend.
The Jews taught that all would be saved just because they were Jews by birth and circumcised, this is not so.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught that nationality meant nothing toward entering into God's Kingdom!
The Lord Jesus taught that religious rituals meant nothing toward entering into God's Kingdom!
The Lord Jesus theme has always been that many are called but few are chosen!
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
**The truth is that many people are curious about Heaven but not curious enough to truly seek the Lord in a personal manner!
They will certainly discuss the issue of salvation but they are unwilling to deny themselves of their own desires.
**Birth and ritual are not enough to save anyone. Not circumcision, Not Baptism in any form nor any other religious ritual and certainly not someone wearing some explosive device to kill others.
The entrance to the place of salvation is a narrow gate!
**In other words the way through this gate is specific, very specific!
This truth always seems to drive the liberal community crazy.
**There are not many ways to get to God's Kingdom, there is only One Way!
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Why is Jesus Christ hated so much in our world?
This one Scripture gives us the answer. You cannot enter into God's Kingdom but by Jesus Christ!
We cannot pick and choose our own way to get to Heaven!
**To get into God's Kingdom is not a cake walk!
We must all "strive" to get there!
It takes a whole-hearted dedication and effort, but let's not confuse the issue because you cannot work your way to Heaven either.
No amount of work can pave our way into God's Kingdom as many try and will fail.
**To "strive" means we must diligently seek God by "faith"!
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
First there must be "faith".
Next there must be "repentance".
Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way", and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and "let him return unto the LORD", and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
**This means we must deny ourselves and give ourselves to God.
In the military, to repent is to do an about face. Go 180 degrees from where you were headed,
We are our own worst enemy.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Few are willing to pay the price of self-denial!
Most will say that self-denial is just to high a price to give up this world we live in now.
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, "let him deny himself", and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
When God closes that narrow gate, no one can open it!
*****Luk 13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
What is the truth?
The truth is God will call us to salvation only so many times and some can move too late.
God says: the Holy Spirit will not always strive with man.
And we will not ever come until we are not called by the Holy Spirit!
Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, "even as ye are called in one hope of your calling";
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
We know that God loves everyone enough to call them at least once!
We also know that God is a God of the second chance!
But we also know God can see into the heart and He knows those who will never accept Him.
1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
Those who "strive", those who truly seek the Lord will find Him but the truth is, in the future many will seek the Lord but they will not find Him.
When is the proper time to seek the Lord?
2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, "now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation".)
Salvation is the thing that needs to be sought!
There is nothing to gain by delay!
In fact you lose every moment you delay!
And you may forfeit your salvation by delay!
Today is the day of salvation!
Today, all that strive to enter into God's salvation will be accepted!
There are many who try to clean themselves up of the things they do that are not pleasing to God but they still use the world's standards and not God standards.
When we seek the good opinion of the world, rather than the will of God who calls us out of the world, then we are not acceptable to God.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
There is no one that meets God standards!
There is only one means to be justified in the eyes of God!
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
That is why it is called "Grace".
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
There are no works that we can do ourselves to make us acceptable to God!
There is coming a day when the Master of the House "shall" rise up and shut the door to salvation.
There is a time limit to salvation!
The door to salvation will not always be opened!
Our death is certain but it is also certain that we do not know the time of our death!
We must not be fooled, the door to salvation is closed at a person's death.
There is no such thing as praying someone out of Purgatory!
For many today, the door to salvation will be shut in the next minute or the next hour or the next day!
There will be many who will cry on the day of judgment but it will be to late.
In fact at the Second Coming of Christ it will be too late and Christ could return at any moment!
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
If you doubt the words of Jesus Christ, then you will find yourself unable to get into God's Kingdom because the door, the gate, the entrance will be closed!
Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
It is then that God will hear all sorts of excuses to no avail.
*****Luk 13:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
There will be a great many who will come up short on the day that salvation is redeemed!
They will have given up everything except that one thing that will keep them out of God's Heaven.
They were "almost" believers.
They were "almost" through the gate.
They were "almost" guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
When your name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life, Jesus will utter those terrible words "I never knew you".
They may have attended church.
They may have fellowshipped with God's people.
They had heard the Word of God, as it was taught.
They had actually been close enough to see the work of God.
They may have actually passed out some tracts.
They may have lived in places where they could witness for the Lord without breaking any law.
They may have freely allowed anyone to speak of Jesus Christ.
HOWEVER, they were only professing believers, they were not genuine believers!
They had accepted all the privileges of the Gospel but they had never "strived" to have a close and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are to strive to have a close and a very personal relationship with our God!
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
*****Luk 13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luk 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
The first thing that will happen after "Judgement" is that there will be "an absence from God".
No matter where you are located on this earth or what circumstances surround you, God does have His eyes on your situation.
After "Judgement" that will not be the case.
They may think they can just run away feeling relief that God will no longer be seeing their sinful lives but this is also a false belief.
The truth is, they will stand without the power of motion, awe-struck and chilled at the doom that they face.
To depart from God is to be doomed to a place where there is no escape!
And God says there is no one who does not know of Him.
There is no such thing as an Athiest!
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
On the day of "Judgement" it is God who will say He does not know those who have rejected Him!
To be without God is to be in a place of extreme sorrow!
Left behind are all things that are perfect, all things of beauty, all things of peace and tranquility and they will be replaced with all things of fear, and lonesomeness.
They will find that Christianity was not a bondage to God, but evilness and suffering will then become the bondage of those who are told to depart.
This person will feel the sting of a life time of sin upon himself, he will be helpless at that time, and be hopeless for all eternity future!
The truth is:
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
To refuse the "gift of God" is to require payment for all that sin, which is death!
There will be much weeping!
There will be the gnashing of teeth!
They will actually get to see those that they have known personally, living in Heaven's glory, while they have been shut out!
The one thing they failed was to "strive" in seeking the Lord!
They will now be filled with rage, fury, and despair from which there is no escape!
Even on this day, God will look one more time to make sure that their name is not in the Book.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
BUT, they will see all those to whom the gate will be opened!
*****Luk 13:29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
God could have allowed all of us die in our sin but we see that there is no one who cannot be saved!
There is no where on the face of this earth that the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ cannot reach!
Those that are saved and enter into God's Kingdom will come from all nations!
**Those that will enter into God's Kingdom will come from all cultures and all societies but we also know that not many will have been rich in material things.
There may still be a great Gentile revival and conversion one day.
It could happen before the rapture of the church but it could also happen during the 7 year tribulation period.
It could be that we are already near the end of this great revival today!
The truth is, that the Lord Jesus died for the sin of the whole world!
The truth is, that Jesus Christ provides the only means of entering into God's Kingdom!
It is God who is the ultimate ruler of His entire created world!
It is only by "faith", and by striving that we can enter into God's Kingdom, but this is not working your way into Heaven.
This "striving" is seeking the face of God and not the arm of God!
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
**It is only the saved who will sit down in the Kingdom of God!
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
**God is no respecter of persons, the saved will come from all classes of people!
Gal 2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: "God accepteth no man's person":) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:
There is nothing about us that makes us beautiful before God but "our faith in the promises of Jesus Christ"!
We are to never over-rate nor under-rate the difficulties which lie in our way to Heaven.
We must view them exactly as they are!
What ever difficulties we have in obtaining the "faith" necessary to enter in God's Heaven, God's Kingdom will be well worth the "striving" it takes.
If we knock, it will be opened to us!
But we can wait too late to knock!
We must not trust in Church privileges because there are none. There is only the "Grace" of God which shows us His love and His compassion for us.
It is still God's plan and we must follow God's plan!
There will never be some man-made plan to enter into Heaven!
No matter the time or the season of the Lord, we are the disciples who have become the fishers of men at this time, and we are to be busy about the work the Lord has given us to do but this work only comes after He has saved us!
The truth of the Word of God is "that we will reap what we sow"!
No one on this earth can stop the plan of God!
*****Luk 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
The truth is, the Lord Jesus Christ has always been rejected and opposed by the majority of people.
He was opposed by the the religionist and we can see also by the rulers.
There is not one single class of people that flock to Jesus in true belief of Him!
Most of the world just ignores the Lord Jesus Christ!
Many try to stop those who witness for Jesus.
Many just ridicule and abuse those that try to follow the Word of God.
But there are still those who persecute and kill those who know the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.
There were a few Pharisees who were not hostile toward Jesus and they warned Him of Herod's plot to kill Him.
But many just wanted Jesus to leave the area and go preach His message somewhere else.
Herod at one time had been fascinated with John the Baptist and wanted to meet Jesus but the politics had changed and he had changed with them.
Many of those that did not recognize Jesus as the Savior still recognized Him as a good man and they knew to murder Him was still sin.
In either case we can see Jesus was not concerned about plots to kill Him!
Jesus was actually in the area ruled by Herod at that time, which was Galilee and we know that thousands were following Jesus from place to place as He preached "the Kingdom of God".
The whole area was aroused by the Messiah!
There had been many before that had claimed to be the Messiah but none of those spoke with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In any case when the subject of the Messiah arose, those in power would begin to tremble.
In many cases the subject of the Jewish Messiah would cause an uproar of the people.
We can be sure that even Rome was paying attention to what was happening around Jesus Christ!
The governments of all people have a dread and a fear of all people who give their loyalty to God instead of the state!
The truth is, that the Kingdom of Christ is not of this earth and God instructs all those trust Him in "faith" to be subjects of their government "unless those governments go against the Word of God".
If that government is truly subject to the people's needs there should never be an uprising by the people!
The truth is, righteousness, justice, and love are not at the top of the list of what most governments truly want!
Most governments are so caught up in spending money for frivolous things that they find their resources in the taxes that sin generates!
Jesus said Herod was a "fox".
What are the attributes of a fox?
Foxes are sly and crafty and sometimes treacherous.
Most people who attack Christianity are sly, crafty, and sometimes treacherous.
Why?
What are the attributes of the Devil?
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The Devil is sly, crafty, and always treacherous!
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Jesus said nothing could happen to Him until His ministry had been "perfected"!
The Greek word "teleoo" means completed or accomplished.
The pure fact is, that the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ cannot be stopped by any man!
The witness of Jesus in His person did stop but not before what He came to accomplish was finished!
Notice it was not the cross that completed the ministry of Jesus, it was His resurrection!
It was Jesus rising from the dead, having conquered death, that completed the work for man's salvation!
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Nevertheless the ministry of Jesus will continue because it is not in the power of man to stop the will of God!
*****Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
That word "must" means that the work Jesus was sent to accomplish "must" take place before He could be killed!
Jesus had to die in Jerusalem and Herod had no jurisdiction there!
Jerusalem was and still is the center of the Jewish nation.
Jerusalem was and is recognized by all Jews the capitol city of Israel.
The Temple stood in Jerusalem.
The Sanhedrin Court was in Jerusalem.
If a prophet of God was to die, that decision would be made in Jerusalem.
Jesus was saying, when people kill God's Son, it would be done under the circumstances that God had set forth in His Written Word.
Jesus was to die in Jerusalem but He was to die for the benefit of all mankind!
Many today still do not understand the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ but they all will one day!
And Jesus said:
*****Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
The truth is, that the sinners of that day and the sinners of our day and the sinners in the days to come cannot destroy the willingness of Jesus Christ to save them!
The soul is a precious thing to God!
When Jesus looked ahead to Jerusalem He wept!
Not for the things He was sent to accomplish but because He would be rejected.
Jesus would have saved them all but "they would not be saved".
Today our world is filled with many who just will not be saved!
They and their homes will be forsaken by the Lord!
*****Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
That house can be just a house but it can also be a church, a local group, a city, or a nation if they reject the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to save them, they will be forsaken and God will leave them alone.
They will spend eternity away from the presence of God.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
All we have to do is look and see what is happening in our world today, to know that these words are true!
God is giving up on our world!
Pro 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Pro 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Pro 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Pro 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Has God reached this point, only He knows but the evidence is growing that He has.
*****Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
There is still the day that the Lord will return to complete the promises He made to Israel.
The Lord will return and He will rule supremely.
Psa 118:26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
The truth is that everyone who has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will see the Lord return and it will be too late to accept Him at that time!
Those who foolishly believe that they can come to Christ at any time need to listen to what is said here.
There is a day to each of us when we will no longer see the Christ as the Savior that He is and it is too late for salvation.
God definitely has a deadline that once it has been reached none will be able to see Him until He returns and at that time all will bow the knee to the Lord of His creation!
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Here again it would be hard to say that most of the world has not reached this point already!
Still the fact remains that we who know the Lord must remain busy spreading the "Gospel" up until the very moment that Christ returns!
There is never a good time to quit on God!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
Book of Luke 13
Compassion is a warm feeling with and for other beings.
Compassion is suffering along with others who are suffering.
Compassion is a mixture of love and sorrow.
Compassion is a fundamental and a distinct conception of God.
It was God's compassion for a small group of people that set them free from the bondage of Egypt and form them into the nation of Israel.
The Old Testament full of God's acts of compassion, pity, and mercy.
When God made Himself known to Moses, He described Himself for the benefit of Moses.
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
God said He was a compassionate God and not some unloving being.
What did Moses do?
Exo 34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
And Moses said "I have found Grace".
Until we have found the "Grace" of God, which is in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ we will never understand our compassionate God.
Because God is so full of compassion, then He expects those that love Him to be the same.
Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
God's greatest act of compassion was when He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem His people!
God gave up His own Son, to the death of the cross, in order to release us from the bondage of sin!
Therefore all who know the God, the Father of Christ, and are filled with the Holy Spirit, and call themselves the children of God, will also show compassion and mercy to all those who do not know the Lord as their "personal" Savior!
Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the epitome of compassion!
We begin with who can be saved:
*****Luk 13:22 And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
The ministry of Christ Jesus was coming to an end and He was on the way to Jerusalem to Calvary's Cross.
This did not stop Him from preaching and teaching along the way, Jesus still remembered the work He was sent to do.
Jesus reached out to as many as He physically could.
Along the way a disciple asked Jesus a question that even many of us have asked and is still asked today.
Are there many or few who will be saved?
The word saved means to participate in God's Kingdom.
The truth is the door of "faith" has a narrow entrance.
The door of "faith" is found on our knees just as Moses found out when He fell on his face before the Lord.
The door of "faith" begins when we acknowledge God for who He is!
*****Luk 13:23 Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
Luk 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
The question should never be how many will be saved but how many will be lost!
Notice the Lord Jesus did not respond to just the one who asked but took the time to teach all who were with Him.
There are so many today who think that everyone who dies goes to Heaven and they are wrong.
There are also those who think there is no place called Heaven or Hell and they are certainly more wrong.
There are also those that think only certain predetermined ones will get into Heaven and they are wrong also.
The first word Jesus uses is "STRIVE".
The word strive means to struggle, to compete (as for a prize), to endeavor (to accomplish something).
To strive is to make an effort, to labor hard, to exert yourself, to contend.
The Jews taught that all would be saved just because they were Jews by birth and circumcised, this is not so.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught that nationality meant nothing toward entering into God's Kingdom!
The Lord Jesus taught that religious rituals meant nothing toward entering into God's Kingdom!
The Lord Jesus theme has always been that many are called but few are chosen!
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
**The truth is that many people are curious about Heaven but not curious enough to truly seek the Lord in a personal manner!
They will certainly discuss the issue of salvation but they are unwilling to deny themselves of their own desires.
**Birth and ritual are not enough to save anyone. Not circumcision, Not Baptism in any form nor any other religious ritual and certainly not someone wearing some explosive device to kill others.
The entrance to the place of salvation is a narrow gate!
**In other words the way through this gate is specific, very specific!
This truth always seems to drive the liberal community crazy.
**There are not many ways to get to God's Kingdom, there is only One Way!
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Why is Jesus Christ hated so much in our world?
This one Scripture gives us the answer. You cannot enter into God's Kingdom but by Jesus Christ!
We cannot pick and choose our own way to get to Heaven!
**To get into God's Kingdom is not a cake walk!
We must all "strive" to get there!
It takes a whole-hearted dedication and effort, but let's not confuse the issue because you cannot work your way to Heaven either.
No amount of work can pave our way into God's Kingdom as many try and will fail.
**To "strive" means we must diligently seek God by "faith"!
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
First there must be "faith".
Next there must be "repentance".
Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Isa 55:7 "Let the wicked forsake his way", and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and "let him return unto the LORD", and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
**This means we must deny ourselves and give ourselves to God.
In the military, to repent is to do an about face. Go 180 degrees from where you were headed,
We are our own worst enemy.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Few are willing to pay the price of self-denial!
Most will say that self-denial is just to high a price to give up this world we live in now.
Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, "let him deny himself", and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
When God closes that narrow gate, no one can open it!
*****Luk 13:25 When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
What is the truth?
The truth is God will call us to salvation only so many times and some can move too late.
God says: the Holy Spirit will not always strive with man.
And we will not ever come until we are not called by the Holy Spirit!
Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, "even as ye are called in one hope of your calling";
Eph 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
We know that God loves everyone enough to call them at least once!
We also know that God is a God of the second chance!
But we also know God can see into the heart and He knows those who will never accept Him.
1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
Those who "strive", those who truly seek the Lord will find Him but the truth is, in the future many will seek the Lord but they will not find Him.
When is the proper time to seek the Lord?
2Co 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, "now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation".)
Salvation is the thing that needs to be sought!
There is nothing to gain by delay!
In fact you lose every moment you delay!
And you may forfeit your salvation by delay!
Today is the day of salvation!
Today, all that strive to enter into God's salvation will be accepted!
There are many who try to clean themselves up of the things they do that are not pleasing to God but they still use the world's standards and not God standards.
When we seek the good opinion of the world, rather than the will of God who calls us out of the world, then we are not acceptable to God.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
There is no one that meets God standards!
There is only one means to be justified in the eyes of God!
Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
That is why it is called "Grace".
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
There are no works that we can do ourselves to make us acceptable to God!
There is coming a day when the Master of the House "shall" rise up and shut the door to salvation.
There is a time limit to salvation!
The door to salvation will not always be opened!
Our death is certain but it is also certain that we do not know the time of our death!
We must not be fooled, the door to salvation is closed at a person's death.
There is no such thing as praying someone out of Purgatory!
For many today, the door to salvation will be shut in the next minute or the next hour or the next day!
There will be many who will cry on the day of judgment but it will be to late.
In fact at the Second Coming of Christ it will be too late and Christ could return at any moment!
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
If you doubt the words of Jesus Christ, then you will find yourself unable to get into God's Kingdom because the door, the gate, the entrance will be closed!
Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
It is then that God will hear all sorts of excuses to no avail.
*****Luk 13:26 Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
There will be a great many who will come up short on the day that salvation is redeemed!
They will have given up everything except that one thing that will keep them out of God's Heaven.
They were "almost" believers.
They were "almost" through the gate.
They were "almost" guests at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
When your name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life, Jesus will utter those terrible words "I never knew you".
They may have attended church.
They may have fellowshipped with God's people.
They had heard the Word of God, as it was taught.
They had actually been close enough to see the work of God.
They may have actually passed out some tracts.
They may have lived in places where they could witness for the Lord without breaking any law.
They may have freely allowed anyone to speak of Jesus Christ.
HOWEVER, they were only professing believers, they were not genuine believers!
They had accepted all the privileges of the Gospel but they had never "strived" to have a close and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are to strive to have a close and a very personal relationship with our God!
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
*****Luk 13:27 But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luk 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
The first thing that will happen after "Judgement" is that there will be "an absence from God".
No matter where you are located on this earth or what circumstances surround you, God does have His eyes on your situation.
After "Judgement" that will not be the case.
They may think they can just run away feeling relief that God will no longer be seeing their sinful lives but this is also a false belief.
The truth is, they will stand without the power of motion, awe-struck and chilled at the doom that they face.
To depart from God is to be doomed to a place where there is no escape!
And God says there is no one who does not know of Him.
There is no such thing as an Athiest!
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
On the day of "Judgement" it is God who will say He does not know those who have rejected Him!
To be without God is to be in a place of extreme sorrow!
Left behind are all things that are perfect, all things of beauty, all things of peace and tranquility and they will be replaced with all things of fear, and lonesomeness.
They will find that Christianity was not a bondage to God, but evilness and suffering will then become the bondage of those who are told to depart.
This person will feel the sting of a life time of sin upon himself, he will be helpless at that time, and be hopeless for all eternity future!
The truth is:
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
To refuse the "gift of God" is to require payment for all that sin, which is death!
There will be much weeping!
There will be the gnashing of teeth!
They will actually get to see those that they have known personally, living in Heaven's glory, while they have been shut out!
The one thing they failed was to "strive" in seeking the Lord!
They will now be filled with rage, fury, and despair from which there is no escape!
Even on this day, God will look one more time to make sure that their name is not in the Book.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
BUT, they will see all those to whom the gate will be opened!
*****Luk 13:29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
God could have allowed all of us die in our sin but we see that there is no one who cannot be saved!
There is no where on the face of this earth that the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ cannot reach!
Those that are saved and enter into God's Kingdom will come from all nations!
**Those that will enter into God's Kingdom will come from all cultures and all societies but we also know that not many will have been rich in material things.
There may still be a great Gentile revival and conversion one day.
It could happen before the rapture of the church but it could also happen during the 7 year tribulation period.
It could be that we are already near the end of this great revival today!
The truth is, that the Lord Jesus died for the sin of the whole world!
The truth is, that Jesus Christ provides the only means of entering into God's Kingdom!
It is God who is the ultimate ruler of His entire created world!
It is only by "faith", and by striving that we can enter into God's Kingdom, but this is not working your way into Heaven.
This "striving" is seeking the face of God and not the arm of God!
Isa 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
**It is only the saved who will sit down in the Kingdom of God!
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
**God is no respecter of persons, the saved will come from all classes of people!
Gal 2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: "God accepteth no man's person":) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:
There is nothing about us that makes us beautiful before God but "our faith in the promises of Jesus Christ"!
We are to never over-rate nor under-rate the difficulties which lie in our way to Heaven.
We must view them exactly as they are!
What ever difficulties we have in obtaining the "faith" necessary to enter in God's Heaven, God's Kingdom will be well worth the "striving" it takes.
If we knock, it will be opened to us!
But we can wait too late to knock!
We must not trust in Church privileges because there are none. There is only the "Grace" of God which shows us His love and His compassion for us.
It is still God's plan and we must follow God's plan!
There will never be some man-made plan to enter into Heaven!
No matter the time or the season of the Lord, we are the disciples who have become the fishers of men at this time, and we are to be busy about the work the Lord has given us to do but this work only comes after He has saved us!
The truth of the Word of God is "that we will reap what we sow"!
No one on this earth can stop the plan of God!
*****Luk 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
Luk 13:32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.
The truth is, the Lord Jesus Christ has always been rejected and opposed by the majority of people.
He was opposed by the the religionist and we can see also by the rulers.
There is not one single class of people that flock to Jesus in true belief of Him!
Most of the world just ignores the Lord Jesus Christ!
Many try to stop those who witness for Jesus.
Many just ridicule and abuse those that try to follow the Word of God.
But there are still those who persecute and kill those who know the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior.
There were a few Pharisees who were not hostile toward Jesus and they warned Him of Herod's plot to kill Him.
But many just wanted Jesus to leave the area and go preach His message somewhere else.
Herod at one time had been fascinated with John the Baptist and wanted to meet Jesus but the politics had changed and he had changed with them.
Many of those that did not recognize Jesus as the Savior still recognized Him as a good man and they knew to murder Him was still sin.
In either case we can see Jesus was not concerned about plots to kill Him!
Jesus was actually in the area ruled by Herod at that time, which was Galilee and we know that thousands were following Jesus from place to place as He preached "the Kingdom of God".
The whole area was aroused by the Messiah!
There had been many before that had claimed to be the Messiah but none of those spoke with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In any case when the subject of the Messiah arose, those in power would begin to tremble.
In many cases the subject of the Jewish Messiah would cause an uproar of the people.
We can be sure that even Rome was paying attention to what was happening around Jesus Christ!
The governments of all people have a dread and a fear of all people who give their loyalty to God instead of the state!
The truth is, that the Kingdom of Christ is not of this earth and God instructs all those trust Him in "faith" to be subjects of their government "unless those governments go against the Word of God".
If that government is truly subject to the people's needs there should never be an uprising by the people!
The truth is, righteousness, justice, and love are not at the top of the list of what most governments truly want!
Most governments are so caught up in spending money for frivolous things that they find their resources in the taxes that sin generates!
Jesus said Herod was a "fox".
What are the attributes of a fox?
Foxes are sly and crafty and sometimes treacherous.
Most people who attack Christianity are sly, crafty, and sometimes treacherous.
Why?
What are the attributes of the Devil?
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
The Devil is sly, crafty, and always treacherous!
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Jesus said nothing could happen to Him until His ministry had been "perfected"!
The Greek word "teleoo" means completed or accomplished.
The pure fact is, that the "Gospel" of Jesus Christ cannot be stopped by any man!
The witness of Jesus in His person did stop but not before what He came to accomplish was finished!
Notice it was not the cross that completed the ministry of Jesus, it was His resurrection!
It was Jesus rising from the dead, having conquered death, that completed the work for man's salvation!
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Nevertheless the ministry of Jesus will continue because it is not in the power of man to stop the will of God!
*****Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
That word "must" means that the work Jesus was sent to accomplish "must" take place before He could be killed!
Jesus had to die in Jerusalem and Herod had no jurisdiction there!
Jerusalem was and still is the center of the Jewish nation.
Jerusalem was and is recognized by all Jews the capitol city of Israel.
The Temple stood in Jerusalem.
The Sanhedrin Court was in Jerusalem.
If a prophet of God was to die, that decision would be made in Jerusalem.
Jesus was saying, when people kill God's Son, it would be done under the circumstances that God had set forth in His Written Word.
Jesus was to die in Jerusalem but He was to die for the benefit of all mankind!
Many today still do not understand the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ but they all will one day!
And Jesus said:
*****Luk 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!
The truth is, that the sinners of that day and the sinners of our day and the sinners in the days to come cannot destroy the willingness of Jesus Christ to save them!
The soul is a precious thing to God!
When Jesus looked ahead to Jerusalem He wept!
Not for the things He was sent to accomplish but because He would be rejected.
Jesus would have saved them all but "they would not be saved".
Today our world is filled with many who just will not be saved!
They and their homes will be forsaken by the Lord!
*****Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
That house can be just a house but it can also be a church, a local group, a city, or a nation if they reject the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to save them, they will be forsaken and God will leave them alone.
They will spend eternity away from the presence of God.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
Rom 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
Rom 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
All we have to do is look and see what is happening in our world today, to know that these words are true!
God is giving up on our world!
Pro 1:28 Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
Pro 1:29 For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
Pro 1:30 They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Pro 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
Pro 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Has God reached this point, only He knows but the evidence is growing that He has.
*****Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
There is still the day that the Lord will return to complete the promises He made to Israel.
The Lord will return and He will rule supremely.
Psa 118:26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
The truth is that everyone who has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ will see the Lord return and it will be too late to accept Him at that time!
Those who foolishly believe that they can come to Christ at any time need to listen to what is said here.
There is a day to each of us when we will no longer see the Christ as the Savior that He is and it is too late for salvation.
God definitely has a deadline that once it has been reached none will be able to see Him until He returns and at that time all will bow the knee to the Lord of His creation!
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Here again it would be hard to say that most of the world has not reached this point already!
Still the fact remains that we who know the Lord must remain busy spreading the "Gospel" up until the very moment that Christ returns!
There is never a good time to quit on God!
Questions?
Let's Pray!
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