DONT BE SURPRISED (1): FEW WILL BE SAVED

(Luke 13:22-24)
November 1, 2015
Read Lu 13:22-24 A young lady found an old shotgun in the attic of a new
home. She called Dad to ask what to do with it. He said, Take it to the police
station. Great idea, she said. Then Dad said, And Katie. Yes. Call
first! You dont want to surprise the police by walking in with a shotgun. And
you dont want to get surprised at Gods judgment seat. No way.
But its going to happen to a lot of people, Beloved. Billions. Thats what this
passage is about. How not to be one of them. The key verse is 30: And
behold, some are last [in this life] who will be first, and some are first [in this
life] who will be last. Thats not the kind of surprise you want to get.
Most people think they are on the narrow way. Most of us do. But the narrow
way is called that for a reason. Few find it. Most fool themselves with
placebos. Think theyre okay. They forget its what Jesus thinks that counts.
As Jesus was heading for Jerusalem someone asked, Lord, will those who are
saved be few? Great question. Jews were taught, Youre Gods chosen. If
youre a Jew, keeping traditions, youre good to go. They expected Jesus to
affirm all Jews were in unless theyd committed some grievous sin. They also
thought Gentiles were out. They presumed superiority of the Jewish few.
So Jesus answer came as a complete shock. 24 Strive to enter through the
narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Right between the eyes! Jesus says, You want to talk percentages? The
question isnt will few be saved? The question is will you be saved? Are you
striving to enter the narrow door? There are going to be a lot of surprises.
You must ask, will you be one?! Will few be saved? is safe, speculative,
academic question. Will you be saved? is abrupt, personal and demanding.
Its intended to get attention NOW to avoid surprise LATER.
More shocking statements follow all aimed at eliminating surprise. If we are
thinking we are first, better look out. Racial background, church attendance,
born in America, even physical proximity to Christ are no guarantee. So our
series is Dont Be Surprised. Three parts. I. Few Will Be Saved II. Many
Will be Lost III. It Pays to be Saved. Why will few be saved? Partly
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because weve turned two truths on their ear. I. Its Easy to be Lost II.
Its Hard to be Saved. We think the opposite. Lets see what Jesus says.
I.

Its Easy to Be Lost

What do you have to do to be spiritually lost? Be born! Thats it. But few
believe that anymore. For 200 years weve been told that man is basically
good. Weve translated good into good enough for God, and were not
worried. Typical is Codependent No More, Melody Beatties best seller where
she quotes Nathaniel Branden, To honor the self is to be in love with your
own life, in love . . . exploring our distinctively human potentialities. Thus
we can begin to see that to honor the self is to practice selfishness in the
highest, noblest sense of the word. This kind of thinking is our cultural
Bible. You dont need a Savior; you need to love yourself.
Perhaps a few are lost Hitler, Stalin, bin Laden, murderers, terrorists, rapists
and even in those cases, its probably excusable because of something that
happened in the fourth grade. Actor Will Smith says, Even Hitler didnt
wake up going, Let me do the most evil thing I can do today. So, if you
dont think its wrong, apparently its not. Given that premise, its not just
hard to be lost; it is well-nigh impossible. But is that what Jesus taught?
Not even close! Note the question in v. 23: Lord, will those who are saved be
few? The question itself implies all people need to be saved. And Jesus
accepts that assumption. But He adds: Lets stop talking about the world.
Lets talk about you! Are you saved? Because you need to be! The question
and the answer both imply that lostness is the normal human condition. Its a
lostness we dont see because we measure by the wrong standard.
In the 1968 Olympics, Bob Beamon collapsed when he found out he had long
jumped 29 2-1/2 almost 2 feet over world record. Most amazing single
athletic endeavor of our time. Next 20 years, guys regularly broke the old
record but against Beamons standard they were hopelessly lost. And thats
how we see sin. Were great by our standards, but way short of Gods. Rom
3:23, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. When did that
sinfulness start? Psa 515) in sin did my mother conceive me. It started pretty
early, wouldnt you say? Eph 2:1 reminds that outside Christ, And you were
dead in the trespasses and sins. Not just sick dead! Were the walking dead.
And the only solution, according to v. 8 is to be saved by grace thru faith.
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Gods perspective is that we all fall into one of two categories saved or lost.
And its easy to be lost if you dont even believe in lostness.
Leaving aside the Bible for a moment, is mankind really as bad as God says?
H. G. Wells didnt think so. He was an Enlightenment Age optimist. In his
Outline of History Wells confidently predicted that applied scientific advances
were the key to ridding the world of poverty and racism. Then came the
disappointment of WWI, but it was, after all, the war to end all wars. Better
days were still ahead. Then came WWII with its unspeakable atrocities.
When it was over, Wells wrote A Mind at the End of its Tether in which he
said, Homo Sapiens, which means the rational, is spent. This is the
end. He wasnt alone. Philosopher C. E. M. Joad wrote, This view of
human goodness which I adopted unthinkingly as a young man I have come
fundamentally, to disbelieve. And Nobel-prize winning Wm Golding (of
Lord of the Flies fame) said, "I believed in the perfectibility of social man . . .
but after the war I was unable to. I had discovered what one man can do to
another. . . . Anyone who moved through those years without understanding
that man produces evil as a bee produces honey, must have been blind or
wrong in the head." And frankly, nothing that has happened in our world
politically since that time in Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia,
ISIS or a dozen other places would lead to any different conclusion. Genocide
involving well-intentioned people reigns! Most people like Ahab in I Kings
16:31 find it a light thing . . . to walk in sin. We can rationalize anything.
Thats mankind. What about individuals? Nixons hatchet man, Chuck Colson
world fell apart during Watergate. He went to see a Xn friend one night in
August 1973. He says, I was seeking spiritual answers, but not for any
escape from my sin. Despite the bombardment of Watergate charges, I saw
nothing particularly wrong with myself. I knew what I had done was no
different than what everyone else had done. Right and wrong were not
determined by absolute standards, but were relative to people and situations.
People in politics played dirty; it was all part of the game. You see the issue,
right? Wrong standard. He goes on, But that night when I left my friend
and sat alone in my car, my own sin not just Watergate, but the evil deep
within was thrust before me by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, forcefully
and painfully. For the first time in my life I felt unclean. Yet I could not turn
away. I was as helpless as the thief nailed to that cross, and what I saw
within me was so ugly I could do nothing but cry out to God for help.

We dont even believe in lost anymore. Compared to others around us, we

are okay. Well make it. But Gods truth is youre born lost. And until you see
your heart as God sees it; the bitterness, selfishness, vengefulness, lust,
covetousness, selfishness until you see that, you cant be saved. We have to
decide whos right, society which says, Love yourself and practice
selfishness in the highest sense of that word, or Jesus, If anyone will come
after me, let him deny himself? By those terms, Its easy to be lost.
II.

Its Hard to be Saved

You wouldnt think that to listen to the typical gospel presentation the last 200
years. Just walk down the aisle, pray this prayer or turn in this card, and
youre good to go. Havent we all heard that? Getting saved isnt hard. Its
easy. NOW -- let me be very, very clear here. Walking that aisle or praying
that prayer may be a true indication of salvation -- but only if it reflects a
repentant heart. The act itself can only affirm a changed heart.
Ask yourself, where in the Bible do you see Jesus explaining salvation in
terms of praying a prayer or coming forward? You dont. Jesus doesnt make
it easy. He makes it hard. He demands complete and total allegiance reflected
in a changed life. To Jesus, a saved person is one who hears these words of
mine and does them (Mt 7:24). Theyve counted the cost before committing
to His Lordship. You say, I thought we just had to believe in him.
Yes, and heres how Jesus defined believing in Him. Lu 9:23, If anyone
would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and
follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for my sake will save it. Salvation is dying to self, and living to
Christ. Its exchanging my script for my life for His script. We forget to tell
people the giving up part. Salvation is a momentary decision to make a
lifetime commitment or it doesnt count. Thats not even close to easy; its
hard.
Look at what Jesus says in v. 24, Strive to enter through the narrow door.
Strive -- we get our word agonize from it. You
must agonize for this, strive for this. Now, to be clear, strive
does not mean good works. This isnt strive to do good
works; it is strive to leave good works behind. Its a
mindset. Look again. Strive! For what? To enter the narrow
door. Narrow constricted. Think MRI tube and
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youre getting the picture. Do you do any work to get into that
tube? No, but it is not easy to submit to that claustrophobic
encounter, is it? You have to be committed strive to enter!
Thats exactly what Jesus means here. Is it few that be
saved? Lets forget the few, what about you? Do you
want to be saved? Then you must strive to enter
through the narrow door. Its constricted there. It is
narrow there. You cant take anything with you
through that door. Nothing! What that means is if Jesus
were to say to you, Its me or your money and you would
choose the money as some of you are, youre not saved. If He
were to say, Its me or your relationship, and you would
choose that person, youre not saved. Its me or your
career; its me or sports; its me or your family; its me
or all your plans for your life, and you would take any of
those, then you are not saved. You are still on the broad way,
and in for a big surprise. Both the broad and narrow
ways are labeled Heaven, but only one goes there.
Its hard to be saved. Its hard to find the narrow door; and
its hard to go through once you do. Its hard to FIND
because our seeker-sensitive church culture loves numbers
more than getting the gospel right. Its not popular to talk
about that narrow door, so we dont. We give people what
they want instead of what they need. We give them feelgood messages on how to succeed in marriage, business,
relationships and life. We preach self-fulfillment. Jesus says,
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself.
Saving faith is not about exalting me; its about slaying
me. Its death to self. Now, what you get back is worth
way more than what you give up! But the cross comes
before the crown. Discipleship costs. But we dont talk about
that. We dont talk about sin; we dont talk about the cross;
we dont talk about atonement; we dont talk about death
to self because it offends. So people cant even find the
door. The message is lost.
But if they do find the door, we suggest that somehow they
can have Jesus and their idols, too. You can hold Jesus
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with one hand and your idol with the other. Not according to
Jesus. He never compromised the message to hold the crowd.
Never. He told the truth. And the truth is you have to enter the
MRI machine completely alone. You cant take anything with
you. No baggage. No negotiations Ill take Jesus if He doesnt
send me to Africa. Ill take Jesus if He doesnt attach my
bank account. Ill take Jesus as long as He doesnt mess
with my sexuality. Ill take Jesus if I dont have to tell
anyone. Ill take Jesus as long as it doesnt cost me the one
thing I want most. That baggage cant go thru the
door. Thats why there are going to be a lot of surprises.
Christopher Yuan was 20 years old when he acknowledged his
gay lifestyle. His unsaved parents threw him out, and he
began selling drugs in Louisville. Shortly thereafter with
divorce imminent, his mother bought a one-way train ticket to
Louisville to tell him good-by and take her life. But someone
on the train gave her a gospel pamphlet that captured her
attention. She continued to Louisville, stayed 6 weeks, found a
church and Bible study and entered the narrow door.
Returning home, her husband soon came to faith in Jesus, too,
and plans for divorce were put aside as they began to pray for
their son who responded to their faith by saying, Thats
good for you, but not for me.
Eventually, they moved to Louisville and were there one day
when the police caught up with Christopher, and he got a sixyear jail sentence. His mother prayed listen to this not
that he would get out of prison but that he would be
there just long enough to come to Christ. Christopher
began to read the Bible and realized his life would have to
change if he came to Christ. He was willing to give up the
drugs, but he also felt his sexuality was contrary to the
Bible, and he wasnt willing to give that up. He went to
the chaplain who to his surprise told him the Bible doesnt
condemn homosexuality. He gave him a book explaining the
Biblical justification. But as Christopher read with the book in
one hand and the Bible in the other, he saw the book was in
error. He says, I had no reason to reject what that book
was claiming. It would have been the easier route
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embrace my sexuality, as the world says, not to have

to deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Christ. . . .
I knew I was at a turning point: either reject God and
pursue gay relationships by allowing my feelings to
dictate how I lived, or abandon gay relationships and
live as a follower of Christ. I chose God. He went on to
write book Out of a Far Country: A Gay Sons Journey to God.
Did giving up drugs and a gay lifestyle save Christopher? No
but it showed that he had truly exercised saving faith.
Conc Have you chosen Jesus, Beloved, to the exclusion of all
others? Thats what saving faith does. Remember that rich
young ruler who came to Christ asking how to be saved? What
did Jesus tell him? Pray this prayer? No he told him to sell all
he had and give it away. Isnt that salvation by works? No,
Jesus was simply showing him the baggage that he could
not take thru the narrow door. He wanted Jesus and his
idol too and Jesus said, Its Me alone. That young man
went away sorrowful. How about you?
Its easy to be lost because were born that way. But its hard to be saved
because that cant happen until we accept that we are lost, and are willing to
come to God on His terms. That violates every natural inclination of our
idolatrous hearts. We want Christ plus something. Our very goodness can be
the idol that keeps us from God. It is hard to be saved. In fact, it can only
happen by Gods grace working in your heart. But if you feel His pull this
morning, dont turn Him down. Enter the narrow door. Leave the idols
outside, beg for mercy and enter in and you will find more than you ever
dreamed on the other side. Jesus gave all for us. Its only right for Him to ask
all in return. Strive to enter through the narrow door. Dont be surprised on
judgment day. Be well and truly saved. Lets pray.