Post by Admin on Jan 20, 2024 14:12:53 GMT -5
Self-Exertion
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because
many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to" (Luke
13:24).
There once was a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ a very serious question.
He said to Him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
Who this man was we do not know. What his motive was for asking
this question we are not told. Perhaps he wished to gratify an idle
curiosity: perhaps he wanted an excuse for not seeking salvation
himself. The Holy Spirit has kept back all this from us: the name and
motive of the seeker are both hidden.
But one thing is very clear, and that is the vast importance of the
saying of our Lord to which the question gave rise. Jesus seized the
opportunity to direct the minds of all around Him to their own plain
duty. He knew the train of thought which the man's inquiry had set
moving in their hearts: He saw what was going on within them.
"Make every effort," He cries, "to enter through the narrow door."
Whether there be few saved or many, your course is clear--make
every effort to enter in. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of
salvation. A day will come when many will seek to enter in and will
not be able. "Make every effort to enter in now."
I desire to call the serious attention of all who read this paper to the
solemn lessons which this saying of the Lord Jesus is meant to teach.
It is one which deserves special remembrance in the present day. It
teaches unmistakably that mighty truth, our own personal
responsibility for the salvation of our souls. It shows the immense
danger of putting off the great business of Christianity, as so many
unhappily do. On both these points the witness of our Lord Jesus
Christ in the text is clear. He, who is the eternal God, and who spoke
the words of perfect wisdom, says to the sons of men, "Make every
effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will
try to enter and will not be able to" (Luke 13:24).
I. Here is a "description" of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it "the narrow door."
II. Here is a clear "command." Jesus says, "Make every effort to enter through."
III. Here is an frightful "prophecy." Jesus says, "Many will try to enter and will not be able to."
May the Holy Spirit apply the subject to the hearts of all into whose
hands this paper may fall! May all who read it know the way of
salvation experimentally, obey the command of the Lord practically,
and be found safe in the great day of His second coming!
I. Here is a "description" of the way of salvation--Jesus calls it "the narrow door."
There is a door which leads to forgiveness, peace with God, and
heaven. Whosoever goes in through that door will be saved. Never,
surely, was a door more needed.
Sin is a vast mountain between man and God. How will a man climb over it?
Sin is a high wall between man and God. How will man get through it?
Sin is a deep gulf between man and God. How will man cross over it?
God is in heaven, holy, pure, spiritual, undefiled, light without any
darkness at all, a Being who cannot bear that which is evil, or look
upon sin. Man is a poor fallen worm, crawling on earth for a few
years--sinful, corrupt, erring, defective--a being whose imagination
is only evil, and whose heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked. How will man and God be brought together?
How will man ever draw near to his Maker without fear and shame?
Blessed be God, there is a way! There is a road. There is a path. There
is a door. It is the door spoken of in the words of Christ--"the narrow door."
This door was "made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ." From all
eternity He covenanted and promised that He would make it. In the
fullness of time He came into the world and made it, by His own
atoning death on the cross. By that death He made satisfaction for
man's sin, paid man's debt to God, and bore man's punishment. He
built a great door at the cost of His own body and blood. He raised a
ladder on earth whose top reached to heaven. He made a door by
which the chief of sinners may enter into the holy presence of God,
and not be afraid. He opened a road by which the vilest of men,
believing in Him, may draw near to God and have peace. He cries to
us, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved" (John
10:9). "I am the way: No one comes to the Father except through me"
(John 14:6). "In Him," says Paul, "we may approach God with
freedom and confidence" (Ephesians 3:12). Thus was the door of
salvation formed.
This door is called "the narrow door," and it is not called so without
cause. It is always narrow, constricted, and difficult to pass through
to some persons, and it will be so as long as the world stands. It is
narrow to all who love sin, and are determine not to part with it. It is
narrow to all who set their affection on this world, and seek first its
pleasures and rewards. It is narrow to all who dislike trouble, and are
unwilling to take pains and make sacrifices for their souls. It is
narrow to all who like company, and want to keep in with the crowd.
It is narrow to all who are self-righteous, and think they are good
people, and deserve to be saved. To all, the great door, which Christ
made, is narrow and constricted. In vain they seek to pass through.
The door will not admit them. God is not unwilling to receive them;
their sins are not too many to be forgiven: but they are not willing to
be saved God's way. Thousands, in the last nineteen centuries, have
tried to make the doorway wider: thousands have worked and toiled
to get to heaven on their terms. But the door never alters. It is not
elastic: it will not stretch to accommodate one man more than
another. It is still the narrow door.
Narrow as this door is, it is "the only one by which men can get to
heaven." There is no side door; there is no side road; there is no gap
or low-place in the wall. All that are ever saved will be saved only by
Christ, and only by simple faith in Him--Not one will be saved by
simply repenting. Today's sorrow does not wipe off yesterday's score.
Not one will be saved by his own works. The best works that any man
can do are little better than impressive sins. Not one will be saved by
his formal regularity in the use of the outward means of grace [going
to church, reading his Bible, praying, taking the Lord's Supper, and
honoring the Lord's day]. When we have done it all, we are nothing
but poor "unprofitable servants." Oh, no! it is a mere waste of time to
seek any other road to eternal life. Men may look to the right and to
the left, and weary themselves with their own methods, but they will
never find another door. Proud men may dislike the door if they
want. Depraved men may scoff at it, and make a jest of those who use
it. Lazy men may complain that the way is hard. But men will
discover no other salvation than that of faith in the blood and
righteousness of a crucified Redeemer. There stands between us and
heaven one great door: it may be narrow; but it is the only one. We
must either enter heaven by the narrow door, or not at all.
Narrow as this door is, it is "a door always ready to open." No sinners
of any kind are forbidden to draw near: whosoever will may enter in
and be saved. There is but one condition of admission: that condition
is that you really feel your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in His
own way. Are you really aware of your guilt and vileness? Have you a
truly broken and contrite heart? Look at the door of salvation, and
come in. He that made it declares, "Whoever comes to me I will
never drive away" (John 6:37). The question to be considered is not
whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner--whether you are
elect or not--whether you are converted or not. The question is
simply this, "Do you feel your sins? Do you feel burdened and heavyladen?
Are you willing to put your life into Christ's hand?" Then if
that be the case, the door will open to you at once. Come in this very
day. Why are you standing out there?
Narrow as this door is, it is "one through which thousands have gone
in and been saved." No sinner was ever turned back, and told he was
too bad to be admitted, if he came really sick of his sins. Thousands
of all sorts have been received, cleansed, washed, forgiven, clothed,
and made heirs of eternal life. Some of them seemed very unlikely to
be admitted: you and I might have thought they were too bad to be
saved. But He that built the door did not refuse them. As soon as
they knocked, He gave orders that they should be let in.
Manasseh, King of Judah, went up to this door. None could have
been worse than he up to that time. He had despised his good father
Hezekiah's example and advice. He had bowed down to idols. He had
filled Jerusalem with bloodshed and cruelty. He had slain his own
children. But as soon as his eyes were opened to his sins, and he fled
to the door for forgiveness, the door flew wide open and he was saved.
Saul the Pharisee went up to this door. He had been a blasphemer of
Christ, and a persecutor of Christ's people. He had labored hard to
stop the progress of the Gospel. But as soon as his heart was touched,
and he found out his own guilt and fled to the door for forgiveness, at
once the door flew wide open, and he was saved.
Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to this door. They
had been grievous sinners indeed. They had refused and rejected
their own Messiah. They had delivered Him to Pilate, and pleaded
that He might be slain. They had desired Barabbas to be let go, and
the Son of God to be crucified. But in the day when they were
convicted in their heart by Peter's preaching, they fled to the door for
forgiveness, and at once the door flew open, and they were saved.
The jailer at Philippi went up to this door. He had been a cruel, hard,
godless man. He had done all in his power to ill-treat Paul and his
companion. He had thrust them into the inner prison, and locked
their feet in the stocks. But when his conscience was aroused by the
earthquake, and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching of the Word
of God, he fled to the door for forgiveness, and at once the door flew
open, and he was saved.
But why would I need to stop short in Bible examples? Why should I
not say that multitudes have gone to "the narrow door" since the
days of the Apostles, and have entered in by it and been saved?
Thousands of all ranks, classes, and ages--educated and uneducated,
rich and poor, old and young--have tried the door and found it ready
to open--have gone through it and found peace for their souls. Yes:
thousands of persons yet living have proven the effectiveness of the
door, and found it the way to real happiness. Noblemen and
commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and sailors, farmers
and tradesmen, laborers and workmen, are still upon earth, who
have found the narrow door to be "a way of pleasantness and a path
of peace." They have not brought up an evil report of what they found
inside the door. They have found Christ's yoke to be easy, and His
burden to be light. Their only regret has been that so few enter in,
and that they themselves did not enter in before.
This is the door which I want every one to enter, into whose hand
this paper may fall. I don't want you merely to go to church, but to go
with heart and soul to the door of life. I don't want you merely to
believe there is such a door, and to think it a good thing, but to enter
by faith and be saved.
Think "what a privilege" it is to have a door at all. The angels who did
not remain faithful to God, fell, never to rise again. To them there
was no door of escape opened. Millions of pagans have never heard
of any way to eternal life. What would they have given, if they could
only have heard one plain sermon about Christ? The Jews in Old
Testament times saw only the door dimly and far away. "The way
into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the
first tabernacle was still standing" (Hebrews 9:8). You have the door
set plainly before you: you have Christ and full salvation offered to
you, without money and without price. You never need to be at a loss
which way to turn. Oh, consider what a mercy this is! Beware that
you do not despise the door and perish in unbelief. Better a thousand
times not to know of the door than to know of it and yet remain
outside. How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation?
Think what a thankful man you ought to be if you have really gone in
at the narrow door. To be a pardoned, forgiven, justified soul--to be
ready for sickness, death, judgment and eternity--to always be
provided for in both worlds--surely this is a matter for daily praise.
True Christians ought to be more full of thanksgivings than they are.
I fear that few sufficiently remember what they were by nature, and
what debtors they are to grace. A heathen remarked that singing
hymns of praise was one special mark of the early Christians. It
would be good for Christians in the present day, if they knew more of
this frame of mind. It is no evidence of a healthy state of soul when
there is much complaining and little praise. It is an amazing mercy
that there is any door of salvation at all; but it is a still greater mercy
when we are taught to enter in by it and be saved.
II. In the second place, here is a plain "command." Jesus says to us,
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door."
There is often much to be learned in a single word of Scripture. The
words of our Lord Jesus in particular, are always full of matter for
thought. Here is a word which is a striking example of what I mean.
Let us see what the great Teacher would have us gather out of the
words "Make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that a man must use means diligently, if
he would have his soul saved. There are means which God has
appointed to help man in his efforts to approach Him. There are
ways in which a man must walk, if he desires to be found by Christ.
Public Worship, reading the Bible, hearing the Gospel preached--
these are the kind of things to which I refer. They lie, as it were, in
the middle, between man and God. Doubtless no one can change his
own heart, or wipe away one of his sins, or make himself in the least
degree acceptable to God; but I do say that if man could do nothing
but sit still, Christ would never have said "Make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that man is a free agent, and will be dealt
with by God as a responsible being. The Lord Jesus does not tell us to
wait, and wish, and feel, and hope, and desire. He says, "Make every
effort." I call that worthless religion which teaches people to be
content with saying, "We can do nothing ourselves," and makes them
continue in sin. It is as bad as teaching people that it is not their fault
if they are not converted, and that God only is to blame if they are
not saved. I find no such theology in the New Testament. I hear
Jesus saying to sinners, "Come--repent--believe--labor-ask--knock."
I see plainly that our salvation, from first to last, is entirely "of God;"
but I see with no less clarity that our ruin, if lost, is wholly and
entirely of ourselves. I maintain that sinners are always addressed as
accountable and responsible; and I see no better proof of this than
what is contained in the words "Make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that a man must expect many
adversaries and a hard battle, if he would have his soul saved. And
this, as a matter of experience, is strictly true. There are no "gains
without pains" in spiritual things any more than in temporal. That
roaring lion, the devil, will never let a soul escape from him without a
struggle. The heart which is naturally sensual and earthly will never
be turned to spiritual things without a daily fight. The world, with all
its opposition and temptations, will never be overcome without a
conflict. But why should all this surprise us? What great and good
thing was ever done without trouble? Wheat does not grow without
plowing and sowing; riches are not obtained without care and
attention; success in life is not won without hardships and work; and
heaven, above all, is not to be reached without the cross and the
battle. The "kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and
forceful men lay hold of it" (Matthew 11:12). A man must "Make
every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that it is worthwhile for a man to seek
salvation. If there is anything that deserves a struggle in this world, it
is the prosperity of the soul. The objects for which the great majority
of men "make every effort" are comparatively poor and trifling
things. Riches, and greatness, and rank, and learning, are "a
corruptible crown." The incorruptible things are all within the
narrow door. The peace of God which passes all understanding--the
bright hope of good things to come--the sense of the Spirit dwelling
in us--the consciousness that we are forgiven, safe, ready, insured,
provided for in time and eternity, whatever may happen--these are
true gold, and lasting riches. It is right and good that the Lord Jesus
call on us to "make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that laziness towards Christianity is a
great sin. It is not merely a misfortune, as some fancy--a thing for
which people are to be pitied, and a matter for regret. It is something
far more than this. It is a breach of a clear commandment. What will
be said of the man who violates God's law, and does something which
God says, "You will not do?" There can be but one answer. He is a
sinner. "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness"
(1 John 3:4). And what will be said of the man who neglects his soul,
and makes no effort to enter the narrow door? There can be only one
reply. He is omitting a explicit duty. Christ says to him, "Make every
effort," and behold, he sits still!
"Make every effort" teaches that all those outside the narrow door
are in great danger. They are in danger of being lost and tormented
forever. There is but a step between them and death. If death finds
them in their present condition, they will perish without hope. The
Lord Jesus saw that clearly. He knew the uncertainty of life and the
shortness of time: He would rejoice to have sinners hurry and not to
delay, lest they put off the business of their soul till it is too late. He
speaks as one who saw the devil drawing near to them daily, and the
days of their life gradually ebbing away. He would have them be very
careful that they would not wait too long: therefore He cries, "Make
every effort."
Those words "Make every effort," raises solemn thoughts in my
mind. It is full of condemnation for thousands of baptized persons. It
condemns the ways and practices of multitudes who profess and call
themselves Christians. There are many who neither swear, nor
murder, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor lie; but one thing
unhappily cannot be said of them: they cannot be said to be "making
every effort" to be saved. The "spirit of slumber" possesses their
hearts in everything that concerns Christianity. They are very busy
about the things of the world: they rise early, and go to bed late; they
work; they labor; they are busy; they are careful: but the one thing
they need to accomplish they never do--they never "make every
effort," towards the things of God.
1. What will I say of those who are irregular about public worship on Sundays?
There are thousands who answer this description. Sometimes, if they
feel disposed, they go to some church, and attend a religious service;
at other times they stay at home and read the paper, or idle about, or
look over their accounts, or seek some amusement. "Is this making
every effort?" I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I say.
2. What will I say of those who come regularly to a place of worship,
but come entirely as a matter of form?
There are many in every part of our country in this condition. Their
fathers taught them to come; their custom has always been to come:
it would not be respectable to stay away. But they care nothing for
the worship of God when they do come. Whether they hear law or
Gospel, truth or error, it is all the same to them. They remember
nothing afterwards. They take off their form of religion with their
Sunday clothes, and return to the world. And "is this making every
effort?" I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I say.
3. What will I say of those who seldom or never read the Bible?
There are thousands of persons, I fear, who answer this description.
They know the Book by name; they know it is commonly regarded as
the only Book which teaches us how to live and how to die: but they
can never find time for reading it, Newspapers, reviews, novels,
romances, they can read, but not the Bible. And "is this making every
effort?" to enter in? I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge
what I say.
4. What will I say of those who never pray? There are multitudes, I
firmly believe, in this condition. Without God they rise in the
morning, and without God they lie down at night. They ask for
nothing; they confess nothing; they return thanks for nothing, they
seek nothing. They are all dying creatures, and yet they are not even
on speaking terms with their Maker and their Judge! And "is this
making every effort?" I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I say.
It is a solemn thing to be a minister of the Gospel. It is a painful thing
to look on, and notice the ways of mankind in spiritual matters. We
hold in our hands that great law Book of God, which declares that
without repentance, and conversion, and faith in Christ, and
holiness, no man living can be saved. In discharge of our office we
urge men to repent, believe, and be saved; but, to our grief, how
frequently we have to lament that our labor seems all in vain. Men
attend our churches, and listen, and approve, but do not "make every
effort" to be saved. We show the sinfulness of sin; we unfold the
loveliness of Christ; we expose the vanity of the world; we set forth
the happiness of Christ's service; we offer the living water to the
wearied and heavy laden sons of toil: but, to our dismay, how often
we seem to speak to the winds. Our words are patiently heard on
Sundays; our arguments are not refuted: but we see plainly in the
week that men are not "making every effort" to be saved. There
comes the devil on Monday morning, and offers his countless snares;
there comes the world, and holds out its illusive prizes: our hearers
follow them greedily. They work hard for this world's goods; they toil
at Satan's bidding: but the one thing they need to do they won't--they
will not "make every effort" at all.
I am not writing from hear-say. I speak what I have seen. I write
down the result of thirty-seven years' experience in the ministry. I
have learned lessons about human nature during that period which I
never knew before. I have seen how true are our Lord's words about
the narrow road. I have discovered how few there are that "make
every effort" to be saved.
Seriousness about fleeting matters is common enough. Striving to be
rich and prosperous in this world is not rare at all. Pains about
money, and business, and politics--pains about trade, and science,
and fine arts, and amusements--pains about rent, and wages, and
labor, and land--pains about such matters I see in abundance both in
the city and the country. But I see few who take pains about their
souls. I see few anywhere who "make every effort" to enter in
through the narrow door.
I am not surprised at all this. I read in the Bible that it is only what I
am to expect. The parable of the great supper is an exact picture of
things that I have seen with my own eyes ever since I became a
minister (Luke 14:16). I find, as my Lord and Savior tells me, that
"men make excuse." One has his piece of land to see; another has his
oxen to prove; a third has his family hindrances. But all this does not
prevent my feeling deeply grieved for the souls of men. I grieve to
think that they should have eternal life so close to them, and yet be
lost because they will not "make every effort" to enter in and be
saved.
I do not know in what state of soul many readers of this paper may
be. But I warn you to take heed that you do not perish forever
because you did not "make every effort." Do not suppose that it
needs some great scarlet sin to bring you to the pit of destruction.
You have only to sit still and do nothing, and you will find yourself
eventually in the pit of Hell. Yes! Satan does not ask you to walk in
the steps of Cain, and Pharaoh, and Ahab, and Belshazzar, and Judas
Iscariot. There is another road to Hell that is guaranteed to get you
there--the road of spiritual sluggishness, spiritual laziness, and
spiritual sloth. Satan has no objection to you being known as a
respectable member of the Christian Church. He will let you give
your offerings; he will allow you to sit comfortably in church every
Sunday that you live. He knows full well, that so long as you do not
"make every effort," you must come at last to the place where the
destroying maggot never dies, and the fire that is never quenched. Be
careful that you do not come to this end. I repeat it, "you have only to
do nothing, and you will be lost."
If you have been taught to "make every effort" for your soul's well-
being, I beg you never to suppose you can go too far. Never give way
to the idea that you are too concerned about your spiritual condition,
and that there is no need for so much carefulness. Settle it rather in
your mind that "in all labor there is profit," and that no labor is so
profitable as that bestowed on the soul. It is a maxim among good
farmers that the more they do for the land the more the land does for
them. I am sure it should be a maxim among Christians that the
more they do for their Christianity the more their Christianity will do
for them.
Watch out for the slightest inclination to be careless about such
things as reading the Bible, going to church, praying, and the taking
of the Lord's Supper. Beware of shortening your prayers, Bible
reading, your private communion with God. Be careful that you do
not give way to a thoughtless, lazy manner of using weekly services of
the Church. Fight against any rising disposition to be sleepy, critical,
and fault-finding, while you listen to the preaching of the Gospel.
Whatever you do for God, do it with all your heart, mind and
strength. In other things be moderate, and dread running into
extremes. In matters of the soul fear moderation just as you would
fear the plague. Don't care what men may think of you. Let it be
enough for you that your Master says, "make every effort."
III. The last thing I wish to consider in this paper is the "dreadful
prediction which the Lord Jesus delivers." He says, "Many will try to
enter and will not be able to."
When will this be? At what period will the door of salvation be shut
for ever? When will the "making of every effort" to enter in be of no
use? These are serious questions. The door is now ready to open to
the chief of sinners; but a day comes when it will open no more.
The time foretold by our Lord is the time of His own second coming
to judge the world. The patience of God will at last have an end. The
throne of grace will at last be taken down, and the throne of
judgment will be set up in its place. The fountain of living waters will
finally be closed. The narrow door will at last be barred and bolted.
The day of grace will be passed and over. The day of reckoning with a
sin-laden world will finally begin. And then will be brought to pass
the solemn prediction of the Lord Jesus "Many will try to enter in
and will not be able to."
All prophecies of Scripture that have been fulfilled up to this time,
have been fulfilled to the very letter. They have seemed to many
unlikely, improbable, impossible, up to the very time of their
accomplishment; but not one word of them has ever failed.
The promises of "good things" have come to pass, in spite of
difficulties that seemed impossible:
1. Sarah had a son when she was well past the age for the bearing of children.
2. The children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and planted in the promised land.
3. The Jews were redeemed from the captivity of Babylon, after
seventy years, and enabled once more to build the temple.
4. The Lord Jesus was born of a pure virgin, lived, ministered, was
betrayed, and cut off, precisely as Scripture foretold.
The Word of God was promised in all these cases, that it should be.
And so it was. The predictions of judgments on cities and nations
have come to pass, though at the time they were first spoken they
seemed incredible. Edom is a wilderness; Tyre is a rock for drying
nets; Nineveh, that "greater than great city," is laid waste, and
become a desolation; Babylon is a dry land and a wilderness--her
extensive walls are utterly broken down. In all these cases the Word
of God foretold that it should be so. And so it was.
The prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ which I press on your
attention this day, will be fulfilled in like manner. Not one word of it
will fail when the time of its accomplishment is due. "Many will try to
enter in and will not be able to."
There is a time coming when seeking God will be useless. Oh, that
men would remember that! Too many seem to believe that the hour
will never arrive when they will seek and not find: but they are sadly
mistaken. They will discover their mistake one day to their own
confusion, except they repent. When Christ comes "many will try to
enter in, and will 'not be able to.'"
There is a time coming when many will be shut out from heaven
forever. It will not be the lot of a few, but of a great multitude; it will
not happen to one or two in this area, and one or two in another: it
will be the miserable end of a immense crowd. "'Many' will try to
enter in, and will not be able to."
Knowledge will come to many too late. They will see at last the value
of an immortal soul, and the happiness of having it saved. They will
understand at last their own sinfulness and God's holiness, and the
glorious fitness of the Gospel of Christ. They will comprehend at last
why ministers seemed so anxious, and preached so long, and
implored them so earnestly to be converted. But, to their grief, they
will know all this "too late!"
Repentance will come to many too late. They will discover their own
surpassing wickedness and be thoroughly ashamed of their past folly.
They will be full of bitter regret and hopeless wailings, of keen
convictions and of piercing sorrows. They will weep, and wail, and
mourn, when they reflect on their sins. The remembrance of their
lives will be grievous to them; the burden of their guilt will seem
intolerable. But, to their grief, like Judas Iscariot, they will repent "too late!"
Faith will come to many too late. They will no longer be able to deny
that there is a God, and a devil, a heaven, and a hell. False religion,
and skepticism, and unfaithfulness will be laid aside forever;
scoffing, and joking, and free-thinking will cease. They will see with
their own eyes and feel in their own bodies, that the things of which
ministers spoke were not cleverly devised fables, but great real
truths. They will find out to their cost that evangelical religion was
not lip service, extravagance, fanaticism, and enthusiasm: they will
discover that it was the one thing they needed, and that the lack of it
will cause them to be lost forever. Like the devil, they will finally
believe and tremble, but "too late!"
A desire of salvation will come to many too late. They will long after
forgiveness, and peace, and the favor of God, when they can no more
be had. They will wish they might have one more Sunday over again,
have one more offer of forgiveness, have one more call to prayer. But
it will matter nothing what they think, or feel, or desire then: the day
of grace will be over; the door of salvation will be bolted and barred.
It will be "too late!"
I often think what a change there will be one day in the price and
estimation at which things are valued. I look around this world in
which my lot is cast; I note the current price of everything this world
contains; I look forward to the coming of Christ, and the great day of
God. I think of the new order of things, which that day will bring in; I
read the words of the Lord Jesus, when He describes the master of
the house rising up and shutting the door; and as I read, I say to
myself, "There will be a great change soon."
What are the "dear things" now? Gold, silver, precious stones, bank
notes, mines, ships, lands, houses, horses, cars, furniture, food,
drink, clothes, and the like. These are the things that are thought
valuable; these are the things that command a ready market; these
are the things which you can never get below a certain price. He that
has a lot of these things is counted a wealthy man. Such is the world!
And what are the "cheap things" now? The knowledge of God, the
free salvation of the Gospel, the favor of Christ, the grace of the Holy
Spirit, the privilege of being God's son, the title to eternal life, the
right to the tree of life, the promise of a room in the Father's House
in heaven, the promises of an incorruptible inheritance, the offer of a
crown of glory that does not fade away.
These are the things that no man hardly cares for. They are offered to
the sons of men without money and without price: they may be had
for nothing--freely and generously. Whosoever will may take his
share. But, sadly, there is no demand for these things! They go
begging. They are scarcely looked at. They are offered in vain. Such is
the world!But a day is coming upon us all when the value of everything will be
altered. A day is coming when banknotes will be as useless as rags,
and gold will be as worthless as the dust of the earth. A day is coming
when thousands will care nothing for the things for which they once
lived, and will desire nothing so much as the things which they once
despised. The mansions and palaces will be forgotten in the desire of
a "house not made with hands." The favor of the rich and great will
be remembered no more, in the longing for the favor of the King of
kings. The silks, and satins, and velvets, and laces, will be lost sight
of in the anxious need of the robe of Christ's righteousness. All will
be altered, all will be changed in the great day of the Lord's return.
"Many will try to enter in and will not be able to"
It was a weighty saying of some wise man, that "hell is truth known
too late." I fear that thousands of those who profess to be Christians
in this day will find this out by experience. They will discover the
value of their souls when it is too late to obtain mercy, and see the
beauty of the Gospel when they can derive no benefit from it. Oh,
that men would be wise early in life! I often think there are few
passages of Scripture more awful than that in the first chapter of
Proverbs,
But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I
stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would
not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will
mock when calamity overtakes you--
when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over
you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me
but will not find me.
Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD,
since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their
schemes.
(Proverbs 1:24-31)
Some reader of this paper may be one of those who neither like the
faith nor practice which the Gospel of Christ requires. You think that
we are extreme when we implore you to repent and be converted.
You think we ask too much when we urge you to come out from the
world, and take up the cross, and follow Christ. But take notice that
you will one day confess that we were right. Sooner or later, in this
world or the next, you will acknowledge that you were wrong. Yes! It
is a sad consideration for the faithful minister of the Gospel, that all
who hear him will one day acknowledge that his counsel was good.
Mocked, despised, scorned, neglected as his testimony may be on
earth, a day is coming which will prove that truth was on his side.
The rich man who hears us and yet makes a god of this world--the
tradesman who hears us and yet makes his ledger his Bible--the
farmer who hears us and yet remains cold as the clay on his land--the
worker who hears us and feels no more for his soul than a stone--all,
all will in time acknowledge before the world that they were wrong.
All will in time earnestly desire that very mercy which we now set
before them in vain. "They will try to enter in, and will not be able to."
Some reader of this paper may be one of those who love the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity. Such an one may well take comfort when he
looks forward. You often suffer persecution now for Christianity's
sake. You have to bear hard words and unkind insinuations. Your
motives are often misrepresented, and your conduct slandered. The
reproach of the cross has not ceased. But you may take courage when
you look forward and think of the Lord's second coming. That day
will make amends for all. You will see those who now laugh at you
because you read the Bible, and pray, and love Christ, in a very
different state of mind. They will come to you as the foolish virgins
came to the wise, saying, "Give us some of your oil; our lamps are
going out" (Matthew 25:8).
You will see those who now hate you and call you fools because, like
Caleb and Joshua, you bring up a good report of Christ's service.
Some day they will say, "Oh, that we had taken part with you! You
have been the truly wise, and we the foolish." Then do not fear the
reproach of men. Confess Christ boldly before the world. Show your
colors, and do not be ashamed of your Master. Time is short: eternity
rushes on. The cross is only for a short time: the crown is forever.
"Many will try to enter in, and will not be able to."
And now let me offer to every one who reads this paper a few parting
words, in order to apply the whole subject to his soul. You have heard
the words of the Lord Jesus unfolded and expounded. You have seen
the picture of the way of salvation: it is a narrow door--You have
heard the command of the King: "Make every effort to enter in"--You
have been told of His solemn warning: "Many will try to enter in, and
will not be able to"--Bear with me a little longer while I try to impress
the whole matter on your conscience. I still have something to say on
God's behalf.
(1) For one thing, I will ask you a simple question. "Have you entered
in through the narrow door or not? Old or young, rich or poor,
religious or atheist, I repeat my question, "Have you entered in
through the narrow door?
I do not ask whether you have heard of it, and believe there is a door.
I do not ask whether you have looked at it, and admired it, and hope
one day to go through. I ask whether you have gone up to it, knocked
on it, been admitted, and "are now inside?"
If you are not inside, what good have you got from your religion? You
are not pardoned and forgiven. You are not reconciled to God. You
are not born again, sanctified, and suitable for heaven. If you die as
you are, you will live in the same place of torment as the devil will--
forever, and your soul will be eternally miserable.
Oh, think, think what a state this is to live in! Think, think above all
things, what a state this is to die in! Your life is but a vapor. A few
more years at most and you are gone: your place in the world will
soon be filled up; your house will be occupied by another. The sun
will go on shining; the grass and daises will soon grow thick over
your grave; your body will be food for worms, and your soul will be
lost for all of eternity.
And all this time there stands open before you a door of salvation.
God invites you. Jesus Christ offers to save you. All things are ready
for your deliverance. Only one thing is lacking, and that is that you
should be willing to be saved. Oh think of these things, and be wise!
(2) For another thing, I will give plain advice to all who are not yet
inside the narrow door. That advice is simply this: "to enter in
without a day's delay."
Tell me, if you can, of anyone who ever reached heaven except
through "the narrow door." I know of none. From Abel, the first who
died, down to the end of the list of Bible names, I see none saved by
any way but faith in Christ.
Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered through the narrow
door without "making every effort." I know of none except those who
die in infancy. He that would win heaven must be content to fight for
it.
Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever strove earnestly to enter, and
failed to succeed. I know of none. I believe that however weak and
ignorant men may be, they never seek life heartily and
conscientiously, at the right door, and are left without an answer of
peace.
Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered through the narrow
door, and was sorry afterwards. I know of none. I believe the
footsteps on the threshold of the door are all one way. All have found
it a good thing to serve Christ, and have never regretted taking up
His cross.
If these things are true, seek Christ without delay, and enter through
the door of life while you can! Make a beginning this very day. Go to
that merciful and mighty Savior in prayer, and pour out your heart
before Him. Confess to Him your guilt and wickedness and sin. Open
your heart freely to Him: keep nothing back. Tell Him that you put
yourself and all your soul's affairs wholly on His hands, and ask Him
to save you according to His promise, and put His Holy Spirit within
you.
There is everything "to encourage you to do this." Thousands as bad
as you have applied to Christ in this way, and not one of them has
been sent away and refused. They have found a peace of conscience
they never knew before, and have gone on their way rejoicing. They
have found strength for all the trials of life, and none of them have
been allowed to perish in the wilderness. Why shouldn't you also
seek Christ?
There is everything to encourage you to do what I tell you "at once." I
know no reason why your repentance and conversion should not be
as immediate as that of others before you. The Samaritan woman
came to the well an ignorant sinner, and returned to her home a new
creature. The Philippian jailer turned from darkness to light, and
became a professed disciple of Christ in a single day. And why
shouldn't others do the same? Why shouldn't you give up your sins,
and trust in Christ this very day?
I know that the advice I have given you is good. The grand question
is, Will you take it?
(3) The last thing I have to say will be a request to all who have really
entered through the narrow door. That request is, that you will tell
others of the blessings which you have found.
I want all converted people to be missionaries. I do not want them all
to go out to foreign lands, and preach to the heathen; but I do want
all to be of a missionary spirit, and to make every effort to do good at
home. I want them to testify to all around them that the narrow door
is the way to happiness, and to persuade them to enter through it.
When Andrew was converted he found his brother Peter, and said to
him, "'We have found the Messiah' (that is, the Christ). And he
brought him to Jesus" (John 1:41-42). When Philip was converted he
found Nathaniel, and said to him, "'We have found the one Moses
wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' 'Nazareth! Can anything good
come from there?' Nathaniel asked. 'Come and see,' said Philip"
(John 1:45-46). When the Samaritan woman was converted,
"Leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to
the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.
Could this be the Christ?'" (John 4:28-29). When Saul the Pharisee
was converted, "At once he began to preach in the synagogues that
Jesus is the Son of God" (Acts 9:20).
I long to see this kind of spirit among Christians in the present day. I
long to see more zeal to commend the narrow door to all who are yet
outside, and more desire to persuade them to enter through and be
saved. Happy indeed is that Church whose members not only desire
to reach heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them!
The great door of salvation is still ready to open, but the hour draws
near when it will be closed forever. Let us work while it is called
today, for "night is coming, when no one can work" (John 9:4). Let
us tell our relatives and friends, that we have accepted the way of life
and found it pleasant, that we have tasted the bread of life and found
it good.
I have heard it calculated that if every believer in the world were to
bring one soul to Christ each year, the whole human race would be
converted in less than twenty years. I make no comment on such a
calculation. Whether such a thing might be or not, one thing is sure:
that thing is, that many more "souls might probably be converted to
God, if Christians were more zealous to do good."
This, at least, we may remember, that God does "not want anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He that
endeavors to show his neighbor the narrow door is doing a work
which God approves. He is doing a work which angels regard with
interest, and with which the building of a pyramid will not compare
in importance. What does the Scripture say? "Whoever turns a sinner
from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a
multitude of sins" (James 5:20).
Let us all awaken to a deeper sense of our responsibility in this
matter. Let us look around the circle of those among whom we live,
and consider their state before God. Are there not many of them yet
outside the door, unforgiven, unsanctified, and not prepared to die?
Let us watch for opportunities of speaking to them. Let us tell them
of the narrow door, and entreat them to "make every effort to enter
in."
Who can tell what "a word spoken at the right time" may do? Who
can tell what it may do when spoken in faith and prayer? It maybe
the turning point in some man's history. It may be the beginning of
thought, prayer, and eternal life. Oh, for more love and boldness
among believers! Think what a blessing to be allowed to speak one
converting word!
I do not know what the feelings of my readers may be on this subject.
My heart's desire and prayer is that you may daily remember Christ's
solemn words, "Many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able
to." Keep these words in mind.
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because
many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to" (Luke
13:24).
There once was a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ a very serious question.
He said to Him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
Who this man was we do not know. What his motive was for asking
this question we are not told. Perhaps he wished to gratify an idle
curiosity: perhaps he wanted an excuse for not seeking salvation
himself. The Holy Spirit has kept back all this from us: the name and
motive of the seeker are both hidden.
But one thing is very clear, and that is the vast importance of the
saying of our Lord to which the question gave rise. Jesus seized the
opportunity to direct the minds of all around Him to their own plain
duty. He knew the train of thought which the man's inquiry had set
moving in their hearts: He saw what was going on within them.
"Make every effort," He cries, "to enter through the narrow door."
Whether there be few saved or many, your course is clear--make
every effort to enter in. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of
salvation. A day will come when many will seek to enter in and will
not be able. "Make every effort to enter in now."
I desire to call the serious attention of all who read this paper to the
solemn lessons which this saying of the Lord Jesus is meant to teach.
It is one which deserves special remembrance in the present day. It
teaches unmistakably that mighty truth, our own personal
responsibility for the salvation of our souls. It shows the immense
danger of putting off the great business of Christianity, as so many
unhappily do. On both these points the witness of our Lord Jesus
Christ in the text is clear. He, who is the eternal God, and who spoke
the words of perfect wisdom, says to the sons of men, "Make every
effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will
try to enter and will not be able to" (Luke 13:24).
I. Here is a "description" of the way of salvation. Jesus calls it "the narrow door."
II. Here is a clear "command." Jesus says, "Make every effort to enter through."
III. Here is an frightful "prophecy." Jesus says, "Many will try to enter and will not be able to."
May the Holy Spirit apply the subject to the hearts of all into whose
hands this paper may fall! May all who read it know the way of
salvation experimentally, obey the command of the Lord practically,
and be found safe in the great day of His second coming!
I. Here is a "description" of the way of salvation--Jesus calls it "the narrow door."
There is a door which leads to forgiveness, peace with God, and
heaven. Whosoever goes in through that door will be saved. Never,
surely, was a door more needed.
Sin is a vast mountain between man and God. How will a man climb over it?
Sin is a high wall between man and God. How will man get through it?
Sin is a deep gulf between man and God. How will man cross over it?
God is in heaven, holy, pure, spiritual, undefiled, light without any
darkness at all, a Being who cannot bear that which is evil, or look
upon sin. Man is a poor fallen worm, crawling on earth for a few
years--sinful, corrupt, erring, defective--a being whose imagination
is only evil, and whose heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked. How will man and God be brought together?
How will man ever draw near to his Maker without fear and shame?
Blessed be God, there is a way! There is a road. There is a path. There
is a door. It is the door spoken of in the words of Christ--"the narrow door."
This door was "made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ." From all
eternity He covenanted and promised that He would make it. In the
fullness of time He came into the world and made it, by His own
atoning death on the cross. By that death He made satisfaction for
man's sin, paid man's debt to God, and bore man's punishment. He
built a great door at the cost of His own body and blood. He raised a
ladder on earth whose top reached to heaven. He made a door by
which the chief of sinners may enter into the holy presence of God,
and not be afraid. He opened a road by which the vilest of men,
believing in Him, may draw near to God and have peace. He cries to
us, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved" (John
10:9). "I am the way: No one comes to the Father except through me"
(John 14:6). "In Him," says Paul, "we may approach God with
freedom and confidence" (Ephesians 3:12). Thus was the door of
salvation formed.
This door is called "the narrow door," and it is not called so without
cause. It is always narrow, constricted, and difficult to pass through
to some persons, and it will be so as long as the world stands. It is
narrow to all who love sin, and are determine not to part with it. It is
narrow to all who set their affection on this world, and seek first its
pleasures and rewards. It is narrow to all who dislike trouble, and are
unwilling to take pains and make sacrifices for their souls. It is
narrow to all who like company, and want to keep in with the crowd.
It is narrow to all who are self-righteous, and think they are good
people, and deserve to be saved. To all, the great door, which Christ
made, is narrow and constricted. In vain they seek to pass through.
The door will not admit them. God is not unwilling to receive them;
their sins are not too many to be forgiven: but they are not willing to
be saved God's way. Thousands, in the last nineteen centuries, have
tried to make the doorway wider: thousands have worked and toiled
to get to heaven on their terms. But the door never alters. It is not
elastic: it will not stretch to accommodate one man more than
another. It is still the narrow door.
Narrow as this door is, it is "the only one by which men can get to
heaven." There is no side door; there is no side road; there is no gap
or low-place in the wall. All that are ever saved will be saved only by
Christ, and only by simple faith in Him--Not one will be saved by
simply repenting. Today's sorrow does not wipe off yesterday's score.
Not one will be saved by his own works. The best works that any man
can do are little better than impressive sins. Not one will be saved by
his formal regularity in the use of the outward means of grace [going
to church, reading his Bible, praying, taking the Lord's Supper, and
honoring the Lord's day]. When we have done it all, we are nothing
but poor "unprofitable servants." Oh, no! it is a mere waste of time to
seek any other road to eternal life. Men may look to the right and to
the left, and weary themselves with their own methods, but they will
never find another door. Proud men may dislike the door if they
want. Depraved men may scoff at it, and make a jest of those who use
it. Lazy men may complain that the way is hard. But men will
discover no other salvation than that of faith in the blood and
righteousness of a crucified Redeemer. There stands between us and
heaven one great door: it may be narrow; but it is the only one. We
must either enter heaven by the narrow door, or not at all.
Narrow as this door is, it is "a door always ready to open." No sinners
of any kind are forbidden to draw near: whosoever will may enter in
and be saved. There is but one condition of admission: that condition
is that you really feel your sins and desire to be saved by Christ in His
own way. Are you really aware of your guilt and vileness? Have you a
truly broken and contrite heart? Look at the door of salvation, and
come in. He that made it declares, "Whoever comes to me I will
never drive away" (John 6:37). The question to be considered is not
whether you are a great sinner or a little sinner--whether you are
elect or not--whether you are converted or not. The question is
simply this, "Do you feel your sins? Do you feel burdened and heavyladen?
Are you willing to put your life into Christ's hand?" Then if
that be the case, the door will open to you at once. Come in this very
day. Why are you standing out there?
Narrow as this door is, it is "one through which thousands have gone
in and been saved." No sinner was ever turned back, and told he was
too bad to be admitted, if he came really sick of his sins. Thousands
of all sorts have been received, cleansed, washed, forgiven, clothed,
and made heirs of eternal life. Some of them seemed very unlikely to
be admitted: you and I might have thought they were too bad to be
saved. But He that built the door did not refuse them. As soon as
they knocked, He gave orders that they should be let in.
Manasseh, King of Judah, went up to this door. None could have
been worse than he up to that time. He had despised his good father
Hezekiah's example and advice. He had bowed down to idols. He had
filled Jerusalem with bloodshed and cruelty. He had slain his own
children. But as soon as his eyes were opened to his sins, and he fled
to the door for forgiveness, the door flew wide open and he was saved.
Saul the Pharisee went up to this door. He had been a blasphemer of
Christ, and a persecutor of Christ's people. He had labored hard to
stop the progress of the Gospel. But as soon as his heart was touched,
and he found out his own guilt and fled to the door for forgiveness, at
once the door flew wide open, and he was saved.
Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to this door. They
had been grievous sinners indeed. They had refused and rejected
their own Messiah. They had delivered Him to Pilate, and pleaded
that He might be slain. They had desired Barabbas to be let go, and
the Son of God to be crucified. But in the day when they were
convicted in their heart by Peter's preaching, they fled to the door for
forgiveness, and at once the door flew open, and they were saved.
The jailer at Philippi went up to this door. He had been a cruel, hard,
godless man. He had done all in his power to ill-treat Paul and his
companion. He had thrust them into the inner prison, and locked
their feet in the stocks. But when his conscience was aroused by the
earthquake, and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching of the Word
of God, he fled to the door for forgiveness, and at once the door flew
open, and he was saved.
But why would I need to stop short in Bible examples? Why should I
not say that multitudes have gone to "the narrow door" since the
days of the Apostles, and have entered in by it and been saved?
Thousands of all ranks, classes, and ages--educated and uneducated,
rich and poor, old and young--have tried the door and found it ready
to open--have gone through it and found peace for their souls. Yes:
thousands of persons yet living have proven the effectiveness of the
door, and found it the way to real happiness. Noblemen and
commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and sailors, farmers
and tradesmen, laborers and workmen, are still upon earth, who
have found the narrow door to be "a way of pleasantness and a path
of peace." They have not brought up an evil report of what they found
inside the door. They have found Christ's yoke to be easy, and His
burden to be light. Their only regret has been that so few enter in,
and that they themselves did not enter in before.
This is the door which I want every one to enter, into whose hand
this paper may fall. I don't want you merely to go to church, but to go
with heart and soul to the door of life. I don't want you merely to
believe there is such a door, and to think it a good thing, but to enter
by faith and be saved.
Think "what a privilege" it is to have a door at all. The angels who did
not remain faithful to God, fell, never to rise again. To them there
was no door of escape opened. Millions of pagans have never heard
of any way to eternal life. What would they have given, if they could
only have heard one plain sermon about Christ? The Jews in Old
Testament times saw only the door dimly and far away. "The way
into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the
first tabernacle was still standing" (Hebrews 9:8). You have the door
set plainly before you: you have Christ and full salvation offered to
you, without money and without price. You never need to be at a loss
which way to turn. Oh, consider what a mercy this is! Beware that
you do not despise the door and perish in unbelief. Better a thousand
times not to know of the door than to know of it and yet remain
outside. How will you escape if you neglect so great a salvation?
Think what a thankful man you ought to be if you have really gone in
at the narrow door. To be a pardoned, forgiven, justified soul--to be
ready for sickness, death, judgment and eternity--to always be
provided for in both worlds--surely this is a matter for daily praise.
True Christians ought to be more full of thanksgivings than they are.
I fear that few sufficiently remember what they were by nature, and
what debtors they are to grace. A heathen remarked that singing
hymns of praise was one special mark of the early Christians. It
would be good for Christians in the present day, if they knew more of
this frame of mind. It is no evidence of a healthy state of soul when
there is much complaining and little praise. It is an amazing mercy
that there is any door of salvation at all; but it is a still greater mercy
when we are taught to enter in by it and be saved.
II. In the second place, here is a plain "command." Jesus says to us,
"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door."
There is often much to be learned in a single word of Scripture. The
words of our Lord Jesus in particular, are always full of matter for
thought. Here is a word which is a striking example of what I mean.
Let us see what the great Teacher would have us gather out of the
words "Make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that a man must use means diligently, if
he would have his soul saved. There are means which God has
appointed to help man in his efforts to approach Him. There are
ways in which a man must walk, if he desires to be found by Christ.
Public Worship, reading the Bible, hearing the Gospel preached--
these are the kind of things to which I refer. They lie, as it were, in
the middle, between man and God. Doubtless no one can change his
own heart, or wipe away one of his sins, or make himself in the least
degree acceptable to God; but I do say that if man could do nothing
but sit still, Christ would never have said "Make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that man is a free agent, and will be dealt
with by God as a responsible being. The Lord Jesus does not tell us to
wait, and wish, and feel, and hope, and desire. He says, "Make every
effort." I call that worthless religion which teaches people to be
content with saying, "We can do nothing ourselves," and makes them
continue in sin. It is as bad as teaching people that it is not their fault
if they are not converted, and that God only is to blame if they are
not saved. I find no such theology in the New Testament. I hear
Jesus saying to sinners, "Come--repent--believe--labor-ask--knock."
I see plainly that our salvation, from first to last, is entirely "of God;"
but I see with no less clarity that our ruin, if lost, is wholly and
entirely of ourselves. I maintain that sinners are always addressed as
accountable and responsible; and I see no better proof of this than
what is contained in the words "Make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that a man must expect many
adversaries and a hard battle, if he would have his soul saved. And
this, as a matter of experience, is strictly true. There are no "gains
without pains" in spiritual things any more than in temporal. That
roaring lion, the devil, will never let a soul escape from him without a
struggle. The heart which is naturally sensual and earthly will never
be turned to spiritual things without a daily fight. The world, with all
its opposition and temptations, will never be overcome without a
conflict. But why should all this surprise us? What great and good
thing was ever done without trouble? Wheat does not grow without
plowing and sowing; riches are not obtained without care and
attention; success in life is not won without hardships and work; and
heaven, above all, is not to be reached without the cross and the
battle. The "kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and
forceful men lay hold of it" (Matthew 11:12). A man must "Make
every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that it is worthwhile for a man to seek
salvation. If there is anything that deserves a struggle in this world, it
is the prosperity of the soul. The objects for which the great majority
of men "make every effort" are comparatively poor and trifling
things. Riches, and greatness, and rank, and learning, are "a
corruptible crown." The incorruptible things are all within the
narrow door. The peace of God which passes all understanding--the
bright hope of good things to come--the sense of the Spirit dwelling
in us--the consciousness that we are forgiven, safe, ready, insured,
provided for in time and eternity, whatever may happen--these are
true gold, and lasting riches. It is right and good that the Lord Jesus
call on us to "make every effort."
"Make every effort" teaches that laziness towards Christianity is a
great sin. It is not merely a misfortune, as some fancy--a thing for
which people are to be pitied, and a matter for regret. It is something
far more than this. It is a breach of a clear commandment. What will
be said of the man who violates God's law, and does something which
God says, "You will not do?" There can be but one answer. He is a
sinner. "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness"
(1 John 3:4). And what will be said of the man who neglects his soul,
and makes no effort to enter the narrow door? There can be only one
reply. He is omitting a explicit duty. Christ says to him, "Make every
effort," and behold, he sits still!
"Make every effort" teaches that all those outside the narrow door
are in great danger. They are in danger of being lost and tormented
forever. There is but a step between them and death. If death finds
them in their present condition, they will perish without hope. The
Lord Jesus saw that clearly. He knew the uncertainty of life and the
shortness of time: He would rejoice to have sinners hurry and not to
delay, lest they put off the business of their soul till it is too late. He
speaks as one who saw the devil drawing near to them daily, and the
days of their life gradually ebbing away. He would have them be very
careful that they would not wait too long: therefore He cries, "Make
every effort."
Those words "Make every effort," raises solemn thoughts in my
mind. It is full of condemnation for thousands of baptized persons. It
condemns the ways and practices of multitudes who profess and call
themselves Christians. There are many who neither swear, nor
murder, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor lie; but one thing
unhappily cannot be said of them: they cannot be said to be "making
every effort" to be saved. The "spirit of slumber" possesses their
hearts in everything that concerns Christianity. They are very busy
about the things of the world: they rise early, and go to bed late; they
work; they labor; they are busy; they are careful: but the one thing
they need to accomplish they never do--they never "make every
effort," towards the things of God.
1. What will I say of those who are irregular about public worship on Sundays?
There are thousands who answer this description. Sometimes, if they
feel disposed, they go to some church, and attend a religious service;
at other times they stay at home and read the paper, or idle about, or
look over their accounts, or seek some amusement. "Is this making
every effort?" I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I say.
2. What will I say of those who come regularly to a place of worship,
but come entirely as a matter of form?
There are many in every part of our country in this condition. Their
fathers taught them to come; their custom has always been to come:
it would not be respectable to stay away. But they care nothing for
the worship of God when they do come. Whether they hear law or
Gospel, truth or error, it is all the same to them. They remember
nothing afterwards. They take off their form of religion with their
Sunday clothes, and return to the world. And "is this making every
effort?" I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I say.
3. What will I say of those who seldom or never read the Bible?
There are thousands of persons, I fear, who answer this description.
They know the Book by name; they know it is commonly regarded as
the only Book which teaches us how to live and how to die: but they
can never find time for reading it, Newspapers, reviews, novels,
romances, they can read, but not the Bible. And "is this making every
effort?" to enter in? I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge
what I say.
4. What will I say of those who never pray? There are multitudes, I
firmly believe, in this condition. Without God they rise in the
morning, and without God they lie down at night. They ask for
nothing; they confess nothing; they return thanks for nothing, they
seek nothing. They are all dying creatures, and yet they are not even
on speaking terms with their Maker and their Judge! And "is this
making every effort?" I speak to men of common sense. Let them judge what I say.
It is a solemn thing to be a minister of the Gospel. It is a painful thing
to look on, and notice the ways of mankind in spiritual matters. We
hold in our hands that great law Book of God, which declares that
without repentance, and conversion, and faith in Christ, and
holiness, no man living can be saved. In discharge of our office we
urge men to repent, believe, and be saved; but, to our grief, how
frequently we have to lament that our labor seems all in vain. Men
attend our churches, and listen, and approve, but do not "make every
effort" to be saved. We show the sinfulness of sin; we unfold the
loveliness of Christ; we expose the vanity of the world; we set forth
the happiness of Christ's service; we offer the living water to the
wearied and heavy laden sons of toil: but, to our dismay, how often
we seem to speak to the winds. Our words are patiently heard on
Sundays; our arguments are not refuted: but we see plainly in the
week that men are not "making every effort" to be saved. There
comes the devil on Monday morning, and offers his countless snares;
there comes the world, and holds out its illusive prizes: our hearers
follow them greedily. They work hard for this world's goods; they toil
at Satan's bidding: but the one thing they need to do they won't--they
will not "make every effort" at all.
I am not writing from hear-say. I speak what I have seen. I write
down the result of thirty-seven years' experience in the ministry. I
have learned lessons about human nature during that period which I
never knew before. I have seen how true are our Lord's words about
the narrow road. I have discovered how few there are that "make
every effort" to be saved.
Seriousness about fleeting matters is common enough. Striving to be
rich and prosperous in this world is not rare at all. Pains about
money, and business, and politics--pains about trade, and science,
and fine arts, and amusements--pains about rent, and wages, and
labor, and land--pains about such matters I see in abundance both in
the city and the country. But I see few who take pains about their
souls. I see few anywhere who "make every effort" to enter in
through the narrow door.
I am not surprised at all this. I read in the Bible that it is only what I
am to expect. The parable of the great supper is an exact picture of
things that I have seen with my own eyes ever since I became a
minister (Luke 14:16). I find, as my Lord and Savior tells me, that
"men make excuse." One has his piece of land to see; another has his
oxen to prove; a third has his family hindrances. But all this does not
prevent my feeling deeply grieved for the souls of men. I grieve to
think that they should have eternal life so close to them, and yet be
lost because they will not "make every effort" to enter in and be
saved.
I do not know in what state of soul many readers of this paper may
be. But I warn you to take heed that you do not perish forever
because you did not "make every effort." Do not suppose that it
needs some great scarlet sin to bring you to the pit of destruction.
You have only to sit still and do nothing, and you will find yourself
eventually in the pit of Hell. Yes! Satan does not ask you to walk in
the steps of Cain, and Pharaoh, and Ahab, and Belshazzar, and Judas
Iscariot. There is another road to Hell that is guaranteed to get you
there--the road of spiritual sluggishness, spiritual laziness, and
spiritual sloth. Satan has no objection to you being known as a
respectable member of the Christian Church. He will let you give
your offerings; he will allow you to sit comfortably in church every
Sunday that you live. He knows full well, that so long as you do not
"make every effort," you must come at last to the place where the
destroying maggot never dies, and the fire that is never quenched. Be
careful that you do not come to this end. I repeat it, "you have only to
do nothing, and you will be lost."
If you have been taught to "make every effort" for your soul's well-
being, I beg you never to suppose you can go too far. Never give way
to the idea that you are too concerned about your spiritual condition,
and that there is no need for so much carefulness. Settle it rather in
your mind that "in all labor there is profit," and that no labor is so
profitable as that bestowed on the soul. It is a maxim among good
farmers that the more they do for the land the more the land does for
them. I am sure it should be a maxim among Christians that the
more they do for their Christianity the more their Christianity will do
for them.
Watch out for the slightest inclination to be careless about such
things as reading the Bible, going to church, praying, and the taking
of the Lord's Supper. Beware of shortening your prayers, Bible
reading, your private communion with God. Be careful that you do
not give way to a thoughtless, lazy manner of using weekly services of
the Church. Fight against any rising disposition to be sleepy, critical,
and fault-finding, while you listen to the preaching of the Gospel.
Whatever you do for God, do it with all your heart, mind and
strength. In other things be moderate, and dread running into
extremes. In matters of the soul fear moderation just as you would
fear the plague. Don't care what men may think of you. Let it be
enough for you that your Master says, "make every effort."
III. The last thing I wish to consider in this paper is the "dreadful
prediction which the Lord Jesus delivers." He says, "Many will try to
enter and will not be able to."
When will this be? At what period will the door of salvation be shut
for ever? When will the "making of every effort" to enter in be of no
use? These are serious questions. The door is now ready to open to
the chief of sinners; but a day comes when it will open no more.
The time foretold by our Lord is the time of His own second coming
to judge the world. The patience of God will at last have an end. The
throne of grace will at last be taken down, and the throne of
judgment will be set up in its place. The fountain of living waters will
finally be closed. The narrow door will at last be barred and bolted.
The day of grace will be passed and over. The day of reckoning with a
sin-laden world will finally begin. And then will be brought to pass
the solemn prediction of the Lord Jesus "Many will try to enter in
and will not be able to."
All prophecies of Scripture that have been fulfilled up to this time,
have been fulfilled to the very letter. They have seemed to many
unlikely, improbable, impossible, up to the very time of their
accomplishment; but not one word of them has ever failed.
The promises of "good things" have come to pass, in spite of
difficulties that seemed impossible:
1. Sarah had a son when she was well past the age for the bearing of children.
2. The children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and planted in the promised land.
3. The Jews were redeemed from the captivity of Babylon, after
seventy years, and enabled once more to build the temple.
4. The Lord Jesus was born of a pure virgin, lived, ministered, was
betrayed, and cut off, precisely as Scripture foretold.
The Word of God was promised in all these cases, that it should be.
And so it was. The predictions of judgments on cities and nations
have come to pass, though at the time they were first spoken they
seemed incredible. Edom is a wilderness; Tyre is a rock for drying
nets; Nineveh, that "greater than great city," is laid waste, and
become a desolation; Babylon is a dry land and a wilderness--her
extensive walls are utterly broken down. In all these cases the Word
of God foretold that it should be so. And so it was.
The prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ which I press on your
attention this day, will be fulfilled in like manner. Not one word of it
will fail when the time of its accomplishment is due. "Many will try to
enter in and will not be able to."
There is a time coming when seeking God will be useless. Oh, that
men would remember that! Too many seem to believe that the hour
will never arrive when they will seek and not find: but they are sadly
mistaken. They will discover their mistake one day to their own
confusion, except they repent. When Christ comes "many will try to
enter in, and will 'not be able to.'"
There is a time coming when many will be shut out from heaven
forever. It will not be the lot of a few, but of a great multitude; it will
not happen to one or two in this area, and one or two in another: it
will be the miserable end of a immense crowd. "'Many' will try to
enter in, and will not be able to."
Knowledge will come to many too late. They will see at last the value
of an immortal soul, and the happiness of having it saved. They will
understand at last their own sinfulness and God's holiness, and the
glorious fitness of the Gospel of Christ. They will comprehend at last
why ministers seemed so anxious, and preached so long, and
implored them so earnestly to be converted. But, to their grief, they
will know all this "too late!"
Repentance will come to many too late. They will discover their own
surpassing wickedness and be thoroughly ashamed of their past folly.
They will be full of bitter regret and hopeless wailings, of keen
convictions and of piercing sorrows. They will weep, and wail, and
mourn, when they reflect on their sins. The remembrance of their
lives will be grievous to them; the burden of their guilt will seem
intolerable. But, to their grief, like Judas Iscariot, they will repent "too late!"
Faith will come to many too late. They will no longer be able to deny
that there is a God, and a devil, a heaven, and a hell. False religion,
and skepticism, and unfaithfulness will be laid aside forever;
scoffing, and joking, and free-thinking will cease. They will see with
their own eyes and feel in their own bodies, that the things of which
ministers spoke were not cleverly devised fables, but great real
truths. They will find out to their cost that evangelical religion was
not lip service, extravagance, fanaticism, and enthusiasm: they will
discover that it was the one thing they needed, and that the lack of it
will cause them to be lost forever. Like the devil, they will finally
believe and tremble, but "too late!"
A desire of salvation will come to many too late. They will long after
forgiveness, and peace, and the favor of God, when they can no more
be had. They will wish they might have one more Sunday over again,
have one more offer of forgiveness, have one more call to prayer. But
it will matter nothing what they think, or feel, or desire then: the day
of grace will be over; the door of salvation will be bolted and barred.
It will be "too late!"
I often think what a change there will be one day in the price and
estimation at which things are valued. I look around this world in
which my lot is cast; I note the current price of everything this world
contains; I look forward to the coming of Christ, and the great day of
God. I think of the new order of things, which that day will bring in; I
read the words of the Lord Jesus, when He describes the master of
the house rising up and shutting the door; and as I read, I say to
myself, "There will be a great change soon."
What are the "dear things" now? Gold, silver, precious stones, bank
notes, mines, ships, lands, houses, horses, cars, furniture, food,
drink, clothes, and the like. These are the things that are thought
valuable; these are the things that command a ready market; these
are the things which you can never get below a certain price. He that
has a lot of these things is counted a wealthy man. Such is the world!
And what are the "cheap things" now? The knowledge of God, the
free salvation of the Gospel, the favor of Christ, the grace of the Holy
Spirit, the privilege of being God's son, the title to eternal life, the
right to the tree of life, the promise of a room in the Father's House
in heaven, the promises of an incorruptible inheritance, the offer of a
crown of glory that does not fade away.
These are the things that no man hardly cares for. They are offered to
the sons of men without money and without price: they may be had
for nothing--freely and generously. Whosoever will may take his
share. But, sadly, there is no demand for these things! They go
begging. They are scarcely looked at. They are offered in vain. Such is
the world!But a day is coming upon us all when the value of everything will be
altered. A day is coming when banknotes will be as useless as rags,
and gold will be as worthless as the dust of the earth. A day is coming
when thousands will care nothing for the things for which they once
lived, and will desire nothing so much as the things which they once
despised. The mansions and palaces will be forgotten in the desire of
a "house not made with hands." The favor of the rich and great will
be remembered no more, in the longing for the favor of the King of
kings. The silks, and satins, and velvets, and laces, will be lost sight
of in the anxious need of the robe of Christ's righteousness. All will
be altered, all will be changed in the great day of the Lord's return.
"Many will try to enter in and will not be able to"
It was a weighty saying of some wise man, that "hell is truth known
too late." I fear that thousands of those who profess to be Christians
in this day will find this out by experience. They will discover the
value of their souls when it is too late to obtain mercy, and see the
beauty of the Gospel when they can derive no benefit from it. Oh,
that men would be wise early in life! I often think there are few
passages of Scripture more awful than that in the first chapter of
Proverbs,
But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I
stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would
not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will
mock when calamity overtakes you--
when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over
you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me
but will not find me.
Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD,
since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke,
they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their
schemes.
(Proverbs 1:24-31)
Some reader of this paper may be one of those who neither like the
faith nor practice which the Gospel of Christ requires. You think that
we are extreme when we implore you to repent and be converted.
You think we ask too much when we urge you to come out from the
world, and take up the cross, and follow Christ. But take notice that
you will one day confess that we were right. Sooner or later, in this
world or the next, you will acknowledge that you were wrong. Yes! It
is a sad consideration for the faithful minister of the Gospel, that all
who hear him will one day acknowledge that his counsel was good.
Mocked, despised, scorned, neglected as his testimony may be on
earth, a day is coming which will prove that truth was on his side.
The rich man who hears us and yet makes a god of this world--the
tradesman who hears us and yet makes his ledger his Bible--the
farmer who hears us and yet remains cold as the clay on his land--the
worker who hears us and feels no more for his soul than a stone--all,
all will in time acknowledge before the world that they were wrong.
All will in time earnestly desire that very mercy which we now set
before them in vain. "They will try to enter in, and will not be able to."
Some reader of this paper may be one of those who love the Lord
Jesus Christ in sincerity. Such an one may well take comfort when he
looks forward. You often suffer persecution now for Christianity's
sake. You have to bear hard words and unkind insinuations. Your
motives are often misrepresented, and your conduct slandered. The
reproach of the cross has not ceased. But you may take courage when
you look forward and think of the Lord's second coming. That day
will make amends for all. You will see those who now laugh at you
because you read the Bible, and pray, and love Christ, in a very
different state of mind. They will come to you as the foolish virgins
came to the wise, saying, "Give us some of your oil; our lamps are
going out" (Matthew 25:8).
You will see those who now hate you and call you fools because, like
Caleb and Joshua, you bring up a good report of Christ's service.
Some day they will say, "Oh, that we had taken part with you! You
have been the truly wise, and we the foolish." Then do not fear the
reproach of men. Confess Christ boldly before the world. Show your
colors, and do not be ashamed of your Master. Time is short: eternity
rushes on. The cross is only for a short time: the crown is forever.
"Many will try to enter in, and will not be able to."
And now let me offer to every one who reads this paper a few parting
words, in order to apply the whole subject to his soul. You have heard
the words of the Lord Jesus unfolded and expounded. You have seen
the picture of the way of salvation: it is a narrow door--You have
heard the command of the King: "Make every effort to enter in"--You
have been told of His solemn warning: "Many will try to enter in, and
will not be able to"--Bear with me a little longer while I try to impress
the whole matter on your conscience. I still have something to say on
God's behalf.
(1) For one thing, I will ask you a simple question. "Have you entered
in through the narrow door or not? Old or young, rich or poor,
religious or atheist, I repeat my question, "Have you entered in
through the narrow door?
I do not ask whether you have heard of it, and believe there is a door.
I do not ask whether you have looked at it, and admired it, and hope
one day to go through. I ask whether you have gone up to it, knocked
on it, been admitted, and "are now inside?"
If you are not inside, what good have you got from your religion? You
are not pardoned and forgiven. You are not reconciled to God. You
are not born again, sanctified, and suitable for heaven. If you die as
you are, you will live in the same place of torment as the devil will--
forever, and your soul will be eternally miserable.
Oh, think, think what a state this is to live in! Think, think above all
things, what a state this is to die in! Your life is but a vapor. A few
more years at most and you are gone: your place in the world will
soon be filled up; your house will be occupied by another. The sun
will go on shining; the grass and daises will soon grow thick over
your grave; your body will be food for worms, and your soul will be
lost for all of eternity.
And all this time there stands open before you a door of salvation.
God invites you. Jesus Christ offers to save you. All things are ready
for your deliverance. Only one thing is lacking, and that is that you
should be willing to be saved. Oh think of these things, and be wise!
(2) For another thing, I will give plain advice to all who are not yet
inside the narrow door. That advice is simply this: "to enter in
without a day's delay."
Tell me, if you can, of anyone who ever reached heaven except
through "the narrow door." I know of none. From Abel, the first who
died, down to the end of the list of Bible names, I see none saved by
any way but faith in Christ.
Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered through the narrow
door without "making every effort." I know of none except those who
die in infancy. He that would win heaven must be content to fight for
it.
Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever strove earnestly to enter, and
failed to succeed. I know of none. I believe that however weak and
ignorant men may be, they never seek life heartily and
conscientiously, at the right door, and are left without an answer of
peace.
Tell me, if you can, of any one who ever entered through the narrow
door, and was sorry afterwards. I know of none. I believe the
footsteps on the threshold of the door are all one way. All have found
it a good thing to serve Christ, and have never regretted taking up
His cross.
If these things are true, seek Christ without delay, and enter through
the door of life while you can! Make a beginning this very day. Go to
that merciful and mighty Savior in prayer, and pour out your heart
before Him. Confess to Him your guilt and wickedness and sin. Open
your heart freely to Him: keep nothing back. Tell Him that you put
yourself and all your soul's affairs wholly on His hands, and ask Him
to save you according to His promise, and put His Holy Spirit within
you.
There is everything "to encourage you to do this." Thousands as bad
as you have applied to Christ in this way, and not one of them has
been sent away and refused. They have found a peace of conscience
they never knew before, and have gone on their way rejoicing. They
have found strength for all the trials of life, and none of them have
been allowed to perish in the wilderness. Why shouldn't you also
seek Christ?
There is everything to encourage you to do what I tell you "at once." I
know no reason why your repentance and conversion should not be
as immediate as that of others before you. The Samaritan woman
came to the well an ignorant sinner, and returned to her home a new
creature. The Philippian jailer turned from darkness to light, and
became a professed disciple of Christ in a single day. And why
shouldn't others do the same? Why shouldn't you give up your sins,
and trust in Christ this very day?
I know that the advice I have given you is good. The grand question
is, Will you take it?
(3) The last thing I have to say will be a request to all who have really
entered through the narrow door. That request is, that you will tell
others of the blessings which you have found.
I want all converted people to be missionaries. I do not want them all
to go out to foreign lands, and preach to the heathen; but I do want
all to be of a missionary spirit, and to make every effort to do good at
home. I want them to testify to all around them that the narrow door
is the way to happiness, and to persuade them to enter through it.
When Andrew was converted he found his brother Peter, and said to
him, "'We have found the Messiah' (that is, the Christ). And he
brought him to Jesus" (John 1:41-42). When Philip was converted he
found Nathaniel, and said to him, "'We have found the one Moses
wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' 'Nazareth! Can anything good
come from there?' Nathaniel asked. 'Come and see,' said Philip"
(John 1:45-46). When the Samaritan woman was converted,
"Leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to
the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.
Could this be the Christ?'" (John 4:28-29). When Saul the Pharisee
was converted, "At once he began to preach in the synagogues that
Jesus is the Son of God" (Acts 9:20).
I long to see this kind of spirit among Christians in the present day. I
long to see more zeal to commend the narrow door to all who are yet
outside, and more desire to persuade them to enter through and be
saved. Happy indeed is that Church whose members not only desire
to reach heaven themselves, but desire also to take others with them!
The great door of salvation is still ready to open, but the hour draws
near when it will be closed forever. Let us work while it is called
today, for "night is coming, when no one can work" (John 9:4). Let
us tell our relatives and friends, that we have accepted the way of life
and found it pleasant, that we have tasted the bread of life and found
it good.
I have heard it calculated that if every believer in the world were to
bring one soul to Christ each year, the whole human race would be
converted in less than twenty years. I make no comment on such a
calculation. Whether such a thing might be or not, one thing is sure:
that thing is, that many more "souls might probably be converted to
God, if Christians were more zealous to do good."
This, at least, we may remember, that God does "not want anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). He that
endeavors to show his neighbor the narrow door is doing a work
which God approves. He is doing a work which angels regard with
interest, and with which the building of a pyramid will not compare
in importance. What does the Scripture say? "Whoever turns a sinner
from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a
multitude of sins" (James 5:20).
Let us all awaken to a deeper sense of our responsibility in this
matter. Let us look around the circle of those among whom we live,
and consider their state before God. Are there not many of them yet
outside the door, unforgiven, unsanctified, and not prepared to die?
Let us watch for opportunities of speaking to them. Let us tell them
of the narrow door, and entreat them to "make every effort to enter
in."
Who can tell what "a word spoken at the right time" may do? Who
can tell what it may do when spoken in faith and prayer? It maybe
the turning point in some man's history. It may be the beginning of
thought, prayer, and eternal life. Oh, for more love and boldness
among believers! Think what a blessing to be allowed to speak one
converting word!
I do not know what the feelings of my readers may be on this subject.
My heart's desire and prayer is that you may daily remember Christ's
solemn words, "Many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able
to." Keep these words in mind.