The Narrow Door

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. My name is Mike Gabendroth. Just finished the last episode and then ended up talking to Mario for 20 minutes. We should have made that an episode. I didn't know it was gonna be personal counseling today with Mario and I don't even get paid for it.

It's my day off, it's Monday. Like I'm forced to do ministry in between shows. I mean, come on. Next thing you know, Mario's gonna wanna be in front of the camera again. You can write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.

He's over there laughing. If you want to have bulk discounts on books, don't go through Amazon, go through me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com. Trying to work through a few things, maybe a new book on sanctification, sanctification, a primer, what's coming up.

A Tennessee conference down there with my friend Justin and the other two speakers are Pat Abendroth and Luke Abendroth. That's gonna be fun. That's a good way to get me to come and speak at the conference that you have is to say, well, we're also gonna invite your brother and your son.

Okay. So long as I get to speak last to clean up their messes theologically. And then of course the Pactum Conference in Omaha. It's interesting as you look at conferences across the world, the big conferences, I guess Shepherds Conference still has thousands of people.

It'll be interesting to see what happens now that John's in glory. Will it continue the way it has, or maybe it's gonna be changed? I don't know. I only want the best for them. G3 is gone. I know they're gonna have a new conference in 2027, but in light of recent activities, that's probably not happening.

What are the big conferences? Together for the Gospel no longer exist. Gospel Coalition, I think they still have national conferences. So are conferences any good? Well, certainly celebrity culture's bad and having green room demands.

And I have to have this much money given $10 ,000 and I have to eat at Outback Steakhouse and all these other kinds of things. That's all rotten to the core, obviously. But our local conferences, conferences at a local church to help the church body, the local church body, and anybody else who wants to come, are they a good idea?

I think they're a great idea. You have a conference at a local church, we have a certain topic, whether that's marriage or sanctification or anything else. And so I think Pat Ebenroth does a great job on the Pactum Conferences.

World-class speakers. This year, I believe it's Harrison Perkins, JV Fesco, Dennis Johnson. And I get to speak because I'm the brother. I'm not the world-class, but I just know people. So that's the whole thing is Mike Ebenroth knows people.

I think my messages are on the practical application of covenant theology, something like that. I need to figure out a shirt because I was given a few years ago, final justification, the myth of final justification.

I turned it into the lie of final justification. Final justification is a lie. Now we have t-shirts. So anyway, today I want to talk about questions, theological questions. If you could ask a theologian any question, but just one, what would you ask?

You've probably heard me tell the story. I asked Sinclair Ferguson, I want to guess it was 1996. I asked him a question at a Ligonier conference in the garage, the auto garage, 1996, Pasadena. And I said, Mr. Ferguson or Dr. Ferguson, what is God doing right now?

And I think I was still in seminary and still working through things. I don't know why I asked the question. I literally don't. And he looked at me and pensively then answered, I wish I could give you a Scottish accent.

God is simultaneously exercising all of his attributes. In other words, God is just doing, I mean, just God is, God. I thought, what a great answer. And whether you think about the cross, you think about creation, you think about anything, you're thinking God is, and God is pure act.

And you go, wow, what an answer. Well, years later, over a decade later, I took a class at Ligonier when they had a doctorate of ministry program and he was the worship instructor for a class on worship.

There were about 10 of us there. And so I said, Dr. Ferguson, by the way, thank you for the answer to the question that I asked you in Pasadena a long time ago. He said, what was the question? What's God doing right now?

He said, what did I say? I said, Sinclair, you said God is simultaneously exercising all of his attributes. And he said, that was a good answer. I mean, there's some crazy questions that people could ask.

I found some crazy questions online. Why did God make mosquitoes? Can God make a rock so heavy he can't lift it? What will he actually do forever in heaven? Did Adam and Eve actually have belly buttons?

Were dinosaurs on Noah's Ark? Why didn't God just kill Satan immediately? Will we recognize each other in heaven? Will there be marriages in heaven? Will we sleep in heaven? Will we see animals in heaven?

And I've found some on the funny side and since this is no compromise radio, and of course this is just a man in a room by himself laughing at his own jokes, remember? But now once in a while, Mario laughs.

Why do churches have potlucks? Why do people close their eyes when they pray? Why do some people raise their hands during worship? Why do pastors wear robes? Why do we sing three verses of a hymn and skip the fourth?

Now here at Bethlehem Bible Church, we sing all the stanzas, but the third stanza or the middle stanza, we sing acapella. Do you like that actually, Mario? And actually that has helped us sing better, I think as a church, sing in parts.

I learned that from Mark Dever when I went to the Nine Marks Weekend, or 20 years ago, 18 years ago. Well, today, Luke 13, a man asked Jesus a question. Jesus is passing through. He's not going to be there a long time.

Jesus’ Journey to Jerusalem and the Mission of the Sent Son

He's on his way to Jerusalem. He has set his proverbial face toward Jerusalem because he has a date with destiny. Remember the father has sent the son, right? The father, the sending father and the sent son, the son is going to accomplish a mission.

And that is to obviously fulfill all righteousness. That's obviously to fulfill all the types and shadows. It's obviously to fulfill all the prophecies and also to die on the cross and be raised victoriously from the dead.

To die is a substitutionary death. He is a representative and substitute. And he's going to die, not for his own sins, he was sinless, but for others' sins. All those who would ever believe, the bride, the elect, God's people.

Jesus Redirects the Question From Numbers to Personal Salvation

And so he's got to go to Jerusalem and it's got to be the perfect timing. And he's on his way and Jesus gets asked a question. And here we have it in Luke 13, verse 22. And he was passing, Jesus passing through one city and village to another teaching and proceeding on his way to Jerusalem.

In other words, he's not staying for a long time. You're not going to get to ask Jesus a lot of questions. This is not going to be, well, Paul's in Corinth for 18 months and we get to ask him all kinds of questions.

No, no, this is itinerant ministry. He's one town to the next, to the next. Teaching, obviously, and healing as well. Teaching there being of most importance because you can be healed and still go to hell.

So we need to learn about how to be forgiven. It is great to be healed. Jesus' compassion and how he takes care of people. You see his mercy, but teaching very, very important, right? Because repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

And so you get one opportunity to ask a question. What would it be? And someone said to him, Luke 13, Lord, are there just a few who are being saved? So that was the question. Are there just a few people who are going to make it?

Do you think that's a good question? How many people are going to make it into heaven? I mean, okay, let's just give him the benefit of the doubt that at least he's asking the right person a question.

We'd grant that. At least it's not something dumb like the potluck thing or the belly button deal or something like that that I just threw in for just craziness. It's a theological question. It has to do with end times.

It has to do with salvation. It has to do with forgiveness. It has to do with heaven, hell. It has to do with trusting God not. So at least he's got that part right. He's not asking, is post-millennialism correct?

Are there just a few being saved? Is it a good question? Well, it's not a sinful question. It's not something that's, you know, stupid. If you are thinking like he might be thinking, well, there's four soils in Luke chapter eight and you've been teaching our town and the four soils and the seed falls on four soils and only one soil is good soil.

So there's three bad, one good. That's 75 bad, 25 good. Maybe only 25 of the people alive are gonna go to heaven. He could be thinking that. Maybe you're thinking that. He could be thinking, well, a lot of people say they love your teaching and love you, Jesus, but many walk away.

Many say, I'm not going to do this because of persecution, cost of discipleship, it's too hard. I don't wanna be martyred. I'm gonna be kicked out of the synagogue. It's John chapter nine where the man born blind and the parents don't like it and et cetera, et cetera.

Some other might be thinking, you know what? In Israel's history, how many adults made it into the promised land? Two, all the rest died in the wilderness. And so in God's economy, it seems like, do you know what?

There's the few and the many and the few are gonna make it and the many aren't. But probably behind the scenes, here's what's happening. This man certainly is a Jew and he wants to know how many people are gonna make it from the backdrop of Israelites make it and Gentiles don't.

There are just a few, right? Us, we're the only ones that make it. Us Israelites, us Jewish people, not these pagans, not these barbarians, not the Scythians, not the Canaanites. No, no, we are the ones, right?

Hey, Jesus, we're the good guys, right? And you can see where this is coming from. Now, what does Jesus say to him? Okay, here's something that's fascinating. He expands it from him to them. He addresses not just this man, but everybody listening.

Lord, are there just a few who are being saved? And Jesus said to them, and so he broadens it because it's important for every person, including you. Every person alive needs to hear this question when we're talking about salvation and heaven and getting there, because you have an eternal soul and it will live forever, either in heaven or hell.

Heaven in the presence of God, the thrice holy God with an advocate, Jesus. And hell in the presence of a thrice holy God without an advocate, without a defense lawyer, without Jesus. Heaven and hell are similar in the sense that God is omnipresent.

It's not, people are like, well, there's no, God's not in hell. He's not? You mean Satan's the one that's like in charge? No, God's everywhere. He's omnipresent, correct? Mario, is God omnipresent? Yes.

God’s Holy Presence, Judgment, and Access Through Christ

So what's the difference between heaven and hell? Well, Revelation chapter 14, people who are unbelievers are in the presence of the lamb as judge, as righteous, not as a substitutionary sacrifice, not as an advocate, not as a mediator, they didn't trust in him.

And so being in the presence of God is not a good thing. I think it was Erwin Lutzer who said, we just want to trapeze into the presence of God without even thinking that might be a bad idea. We come into your presence.

If you have an advocate, if you have access to God through Jesus, of course, boldly approach the throne. Hebrews chapter four, Ephesians chapter two, we have access, but it doesn't take you very long to think, you know what?

What would happen to someone in the Old Testament tabernacle or temple where they would just saunter in and barge in to the Holy of Holies? It's not in the Bible, but tradition would say when that high priest on the day of atonement had to go in into the Holy place, then into the Holy of Holies and through that veil, that 70 foot veil to get into the Holy of Holies, they would put a rope around his leg and some bells on his ankle so that if the bell stopped ringing, you'd know he was dead in the presence of God and you could pull him out because who wants to go in there to get the dead body?

Cause then you're next. Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor. There's that video Mario of Benny Hinn set to that music when he's slaying people. Let the bodies hit the floor. I remember my professor once said, you know, a lot of this is show, a lot of this is psychosomatic.

He said, but what does it mean when Benny Hinn slayed that one guy and he actually on the camera, he got lifted up a foot or two and then thrown backwards. I mean, he's talking about, this is like satanic stuff, demonic stuff.

How does that happen? But that's for a different show. Jesus said, strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Hey, you asked me a question, but I'm not gonna answer the question because I'm passing through and there's a more important question that you should have asked.

And you should have asked, Lord, could I receive your mercy? Could I please have your forgiveness? Could I please have salvation? And if you look at the first chapter through this 12th chapter of the gospel of Jesus, according to Luke, you're going to see a couple of main themes.

Salvation Through Christ Alone and Faith Alone

Jesus is the Savior who alone can forgive sins. And whether that is Elizabeth saying that, Zachariah saying that, Simeon saying that, the angels born unto you this day in the city of David, Jesus Christ, the Savior, Christ Jesus, the Lord, John the Baptist pointing away from himself to Jesus and Jesus himself saying, I am the Savior, I forgive sins.

How do you receive that forgiveness? How do you receive reconciliation and redemption? Faith alone. So we need to be reminded of that. God is the Savior. He sent his son to die on the cross and be raised from the dead for sinners and that those sins can be atoned for and received grace to be received by faith alone.

Sola fide, by faith, by faith, by faith. You'll see that in chapter five, chapter seven of Luke. So this guy says, are just a few being saved? Jesus doesn't answer that. He says, here's the question you should be asking.

What about me, Jesus? And so he says to them, you should all be asking the same question. How do I know I'm going to heaven? And so I ask you the question, do you know you're going to heaven? Do you know for certain that when you die, you'll wake up in the presence of God with a mediator, Jesus?

It is so important because the text says, strive to enter through the narrow door. It's so important because some seek to enter and will not be able. Now, sadly, along with Matthew chapter seven at the end, many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, some Christians have taken this and they've said to their audience, to the congregation, to those listening, you better have enough works to prove your salvation in order to get to heaven.

Kind of almost a final justification type thing where do you have enough fruit and evidence? You know, they'll still say it's by grace alone, through faith alone, but passages like this, do you think you have enough to make it through?

Because if you don't have enough works to make it through, then what? So I just want you to get that out of your mind. Jesus is not saying, Christian, in this passage, inspect yourself, morbid introspection.

There's a time to look at our lives and talk about our fruit and how could we increase it? And second Peter chapter one, and if these things are yours and increasing, there's a time to talk about that.

But this isn't the time because what he's doing is, he's doing is he's talking to unbelievers. They're not pagans, they're Jews, but just because you're a Jew, just because you're a professor, just because you have the commandments, just because you have Moses, just because you have, you know, I'm an Israelite, it doesn't matter.

Have you repented is the question. So Jesus is talking to unbelievers. There's time and place to ask Christians about the fruit and evidence in their life, not as a condition of salvation, but as a consequence, not as a cause, but as fruit, but this isn't the time.

It is always Jesus, the savior through faith alone. And so if you're a Christian, you've believed, you've gotten through, God has brought you through the narrow door and you're in by faith alone, period, paragraph.

Striving to Enter: Repentance, Sin, and the Urgency of Salvation

Here, he says to an unbeliever, strive and the unbelievers, strive to enter through the narrow door. So when he says strive, it's where we get our word agony, agonizo, a lot of effort, straining, bulging veins on your forehead.

That's the idea. It's important. It's a top priority. There are lots of priorities in life. This is the top priority. Are you right with God? Because your biggest problem, unbeliever, is sin. And sin is rebellion against God.

Sin is lawlessness. Sin is iniquity. Sin is perversion. Sin is, I don't care who you are. You're my creator, but I'll spit in your face. I'll do what I want to do. Sin is rebellion. And so sin needs to be punished.

I said on Sunday, when I was preaching this passage, when I read about these prosecutors bringing cases to the judge of people that have committed 37 felonies and then are let out by DEI judges, let out by judges and just go, you know what?

They don't have to pay based on who knows what, the color of their skin, economic condition, migration status, or something like that. I'm appalled. I'm aghast. I want justice. I want righteousness. I want, if you do something, you pay society for that.

I can't stand it. And do you think God is the ultimate like DEI judge? Of course not. He's holy. You sin against a holy God, there's payment. The wages of sin is death. And so we see here, there's a big issue.

It's the most important question. Can I be saved? Am I saved? Because the biggest problem is sin. So Jesus asked the question. Now here's the really cool thing in this chapter. This whole chapter is about repentance.

Remember? Repentance. And so at the very beginning, chapter 13, verse three, the guy asked the question, hey, Jesus, Galileans, blood mingled with, you know, Pilate mingled the sacrifice blood. Hey, what's going on?

Are they bad? Are they worse? And Jesus said, unless you repent, you'll likewise perish. Galileans and the blood and Pilate, what about that tower of Siloam that falls down? You might be thinking, you know, what are they worse?

Are they better? Unless you repent, you'll likewise perish. Parable of the fig tree. There's no figs. There's no repentance in Israel. Oh, here's this lady. She's been hunched over. Looks like she's been looking for her own grave, Spurgeon said, for 18 years with some kind of demonic disabling spirit.

And Jesus heals her in front of all the people. And they will not say, praise the Lord, way to go. This is wonderful. They won't repent. Unrepentance. How do you live in a world full of unrepentance? How do you live in a world that just refuses who God is?

Well, then Jesus gives in the repentance chapter, two parables to encourage you when there's not much repentance. Mustard seed, small but sure growth. Leaven, small but pervasive. Don't worry, God is growing his church.

Jesus is going to come back. Gates of hell and death won't prevent Jesus from building his church. Even though there's a lot of unrepentance in this world, trust me, it's going to be fine. And then he says, do you know what?

Strive to enter. I could put it this way. He could just say, repent. That's what he's saying. You need to repent. Now we've talked about it a lot on this show, and I think it bears repeating. Repentance is the fruit of faith.

Now, some think repentance and faith are different sides of the same coin. I don't really mind that. As long as we start with heads first, faith. You do not have to stop sinning in order to come to Christ.

You do not stop your sins so that you can come to Christ. You do not stop your sins and then believe in Jesus. So the order's messed up. Think theologically. You can't do anything. Jesus justifies the ungodly.

God saves sinners. Unbelievers can't stop sin. So when I tell people to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance will follow. Good works will follow. Theologically, while they happen at the same time, experientially, theologically, faith, then repentance.

And so if somebody said, do I have to stop sinning in order to come to Christ? The answer's no. Come to Christ and you'll stop sinning. So when Jesus says, you've got to repent, he is inferring theologically.

You need to believe in me. You need to trust in me because when you trust in me, repentance is always there. Without repentance, there's no salvation. Say, well, I have repented. Then there's no salvation.

The Closed Door and the Danger of Religious Presumption

And so here Jesus is saying, you need to strive to enter. And there are consequences. Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door saying, Lord, open up to us.

He will answer and say to you, I do not know where you're from. I mean, can you believe it? Hey, we know who you are. Well, that doesn't help. It needs to be a personal faith and a real person. The second person, the Trinity, the Lord Jesus, the risen savior.

Then you will begin to say we ate and drank in your presence and you taught in our streets. Well, yeah. And what he taught in your streets was believe. Repent and believe. Believe and you'll have the fruit of repentance, but you won't do it.

You're trusting in your own civics, religion, Judaism. Hey, we're not as bad as Gentiles. We've done more good than bad. And he will say to you, 1327, I tell you, I do not know where you're from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.

That's why it's so serious. That's why the real question is not, hey, how many people are getting saved? Let's start off with the top priority. Are you saved? Have you repented? Because listen to what happens to those who don't repent.

In that place, there'll be weeping, they're sad, gnashing of teeth, that's anger. That's just so mad you grind your teeth. That's when Stephen was preaching in Acts chapter seven and the people gnash their teeth in anger, rage, mad at God, mad at the saints, mad at the Bible.

When you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets and the kingdom of God, but you yourselves being thrown out. Kind of language of Luke chapter 16, where the people in hell know about the glories of heaven.

Wow, they know about how good it is in heaven. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And by the way, how did they get there? By being good, by being circumcised, by doing more good than bad, by knowing about God.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all three in the same way. They made it in by faith alone. That's Roman chapter four. Abraham, hey, don't kill me. She's not my wife, she's my sister. Sleep with her instead of killing me.

Twice he did that, not once, but twice with Pharaoh and Abimelech. And Isaac learned the same trick that his dad had. That's not a really good trick. Jacob, that deceiver, that conniver, how did they make it in?

Matter of fact, how did Hebrews 11 people make it in? How did Sarah make it in, that laugher? How did Jephthah make it in, who killed his daughter? How did Samson get in there, who's around with prostitutes and says to his parents, give me a wife?

How did they make it in there? Hebrews 11 is not the hall of faithfulness. It's a hall of faith and faith has an object. And if you look at the end of chapter 10 and the beginning of chapter 12, it's all about who Jesus is and they trusted in the hope of the Messiah and they made it in by faith and by faith alone.

And here you wanna get into heaven, it's by faith alone. They've made it in. And by the way, the payoff is worth it because as bad as hell is, weeping and gnashing of teeth and knowing that other people are enjoying God, heaven is greater.

The Hope of the Kingdom and the Glory of Heaven

And they will come from East and West and from North and South and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. Behold, some are last will be first and some are first will be last. How do you describe heaven?

I mean, we don't have enough words to describe heaven. There are words in the Bible to describe it. Actually, there are more words to describe hell than heaven, but heaven's described as glory, being with Jesus, marriage, marriage supper of the lamb and reclining at table, relaxing, having a meal, the joy of fellowship and food and taste buds.

And Isaiah chapter 25, fine wine, marrow, no more tears, no more sadness. Surely God is in this place. Today's salvation, He has actually come. Our God has come to save us. As bad as hell is, weeping and gnashing, heaven is wonderful.

And it's mainly wonderful, not because your mom's there, but because Jesus is there. And you're in the presence of God with an advocate. And so when it comes to theological questions, you might have a lot of questions.

Why is there suffering in this world? How can a God of love send people to hell? How can God insist that you believe in one way of salvation that is Jesus? How can Jesus be truly man and truly God? All kinds of questions you could ask, but at the top of the list, the question you should be asking is, am I a Christian?

Am I going to go to heaven? Am I believing? Is it faith alone, knowledge, assent and trust? Yeah, but what about all those Old Testament stuff and they're stoning people and killing all the Canaanites and killing the women and killing the children and all this kind of stuff?

Now, I've got another question, a better question. Are you a Christian? Have you repented? Have you trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ and He's granted you the fruit of repentance? That's the question that you have to ask.

The Central Question: Have You Believed in Christ?

So today on the radio show, we have all kinds of questions we can ask God. The good news is when you get to heaven, I don't think you'll ask anything. I think you'll just be in awe and wonder and praise.

And you'll know as you're known, you still won't know everything there is to know about God because you're finite, glorified, yes, but finite. So you'll be learning and learning and learning. By the way, Mario, one of my favorite things about heaven is I'll have no skeletons in my mind about past sins.

It'll all be gone. I'll never could even think about things that I've done sadly in the past. And I also won't forget anything that I've learned about God. I've learned so much about God. I've forgotten so much.

And in heaven, when you learn something about God, you're never gonna forget. That's gonna be kind of nice. What do people say? Part of the Christian life is forgetting what we're supposed to remember and remembering what we're supposed to forget.

Our iniquities, our past, lay those behind, run forward for the prize. So today on the radio show, we've talked about the key. And the key is, are you a Christian? And the only way you can become a Christian is by believing the Lord Jesus Christ.

You must believe.