Practical Religion — Self-Exertion
"_Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
_"--Luke xiii.
24. There was once a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ a very deep question.
He said to Him, "Lord, are there few that 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 Ghost has kept back all this from us: the name and motive of the inquirer 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.
"Strive," He cries, "to enter in at the strait gate."
Whether there be few saved or many, your course is clear;--strive to enter in.
Now is the accepted time.
Now is the day of salvation.
A day shall come when many will seek to enter in and shall not be able.
"Strive 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 unmistakeably 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 religion, 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,--"Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
I.
Here is a _description_ of the way of salvation.
Jesus calls it "the strait gate."
II.
Here is a plain _command_.
Jesus says, "Strive to enter in."
III.
Here is an awful _prophecy_.
Jesus says, "Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."
May the Holy Ghost 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 strait gate_."
There is a gate which leads to pardon, peace with God, and heaven.
Whosoever goes in by that gate shall be saved.
Never, surely, was a gate more needed.
Sin is a vast mountain between man and God.
How shall a man climb over it?
--Sin is a high wall between man and God.
How shall man get through it?
--Sin is a deep gulf between man and God.
How shall 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 iniquity.
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 shall man and God be brought together?
How shall 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 gate spoken of in the words of Christ,--"the strait gate."
This gate was _made for sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ_.
From all eternity He covenanted and engaged that He would make it.
In the fulness 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 gate at the cost of His own body and blood.
He reared 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 door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved."
(John x. 9. ) "I am the way: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
(John xiv.
6. ) "By Him," says Paul, "we have boldness and access with confidence."
(Eph.
iii.
12. ) Thus was the gate of salvation formed.
This gate is called _the strait gate_, and it is not called so without cause.
It is always strait, narrow, 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 determined 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 such the great gate, which Christ made, is narrow and strait.
In vain they seek to pass through.
The gate 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 in God's way.
Thousands, for the last eighteen centuries, have tried to make the gate-way wider: thousands have worked and toiled to get to heaven on lower terms.
But the gate never alters.
It is not elastic: it will not stretch to accommodate one man more than another.
It is still the strait gate.
Strait as this gate is, it is _the only one by which men can get to heaven_.
There is no side door; there is no bye-path; 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 repentance.
To-day'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 splendid sins.
--Not one will be saved by his formal regularity in the use of the outward means of grace.
When we have done all, we are poor "unprofitable servants."
Oh, no!
it is mere waste of time to seek any other road to eternal life.
Men may look right and left, and weary themselves with their own devices, but they will never find another door.
Proud men may dislike the gate if they will.
Profligate 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 gate: it may be strait; but it is the only one.
We must either enter heaven by the strait gate, or not at all.
Strait as this gate is, it is _a gate ever 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.
Art thou really sensible of thy guilt and vileness?
Hast thou a truly broken and contrite heart?
Behold the gate of salvation, and come in.
He that made it declares,--"Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out."
(John vi.
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 labouring and heavy-laden?
Are you willing to put your soul into Christ's hand?"
Then if that be the case, the gate will open to you at once.
Come in this very day.
"Wherefore standest thou without?"
(Gen. xxiv.
31. ) Strait as this gate 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, pardoned, 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 gate 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 gate.
None could have been worse than he.
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 gate for pardon, the gate flew wide open, and he was saved.
Saul the Pharisee went up to this gate.
He had been a great offender.
He had been a blasphemer of Christ, and a persecutor of Christ's people.
He had laboured 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 gate for pardon, at once the gate flew wide open, and he was saved.
Many of the Jews who crucified our Lord went up to this gate.
They had been grievous sinners indeed.
They had refused and rejected their own Messiah.
They had delivered Him to Pilate, and entreated 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 pricked to the heart by Peter's preaching, they fled to the gate for pardon, and at once the gate flew open, and they were saved.
The jailer at Philippi went up to this gate.
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 made their feet fast in the stocks.
But when his conscience was aroused by the earthquake, and his mind enlightened by Paul's teaching, he fled to the gate for pardon, and at once the gate flew open, and he was saved.
But why need I stop short in Bible examples?
Why should I not say that multitudes have gone to "the strait gate" since the days of the Apostles, and have entered in by it and been saved?
Thousands of all ranks, classes, and ages,--learned and unlearned, rich and poor, old and young,--have tried the gate and found it ready to open,--have gone through it and found peace to their souls.
Yes: thousands of persons yet living have made proof of the gate, and found it the way to real happiness.
Noblemen and commoners, merchants and bankers, soldiers and sailors, farmers and tradesmen, labourers and workmen, are still upon earth, who have found the strait gate to be "a way of pleasantness and a path of peace."
They have not brought up an evil report of the country inside.
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 gate which I want every one to enter, into whose hand this paper may fall.
I want you not merely to go to church or chapel, but to go with heart and soul to the gate of life.
I want you not merely to believe there is such a gate, and to think it a good thing, but to enter by faith and be saved.
Think _what a privilege_ it is to have a gate at all.
The angels who kept not their first estate, fell, never to rise again.
To them there was no door of escape opened.
--The heathen never heard of any way to eternal life.
What would not many a black man and many a red man give, if he only heard one plain sermon about Christ?
--The Jews in Old Testament times only saw the gate dimly and far away.
"The way into the holiest was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing."
(Heb.
ix.
8. ) You have the gate set plainly before you: you have Christ and full salvation offered to you, without money and without price.
You never need be at a loss which way to turn.
Oh, consider what a mercy this is!
Beware that you do not despise the gate and perish in unbelief.
Better a thousand times not to know of the gate than to know of it and yet tarry outside.
How indeed will you escape if you neglect so great salvation?
Think _what a thankful man_ you ought to be if you have really gone in at the strait gate.
To be a pardoned, forgiven, justified soul,--to be ready for sickness, death, judgment and eternity,--to be ever provided for in both worlds,--surely this is 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.
Well would it be for Christians in the present day, if they knew more of this frame of mind.
It is no mark of a healthy state of soul when there is much complaining and little praise.
It is an amazing mercy that there is any gate 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, "_Strive to enter in at the strait gate_."
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 word "_Strive_."
"STRIVE" 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 endeavours to approach Him.
There are ways in which a man must walk, if he desires to be found of 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 "Strive."
"STRIVE" teaches that man is a free agent, and will be dealt with by God as a responsible being.
The Lord Jesus does not bid us to wait, and wish, and feel, and hope, and desire.
He says, "Strive."
I call that miserable religion which teaches people to be content with saying, "We can do nothing of 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--labour--ask--seek--knock."
I see plainly that our salvation, from first to last, is entirely _of God_; but I see with no less plainness that our ruin, if lost, is wholly and entirely _of ourselves_.
I maintain that sinners are always addressed as accountable and responsible; and I want no better proof of this than is contained in the word "Strive."
"STRIVE" 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 ploughing and sowing;
riches are not obtained without care and attention; success in life is not won without hardships and toil; and heaven, above all, is not to be reached without the cross and the battle.
The "violent take the kingdom by force."
(Matt xi.
12. ) A man must "strive."
"STRIVE" teaches that it is worth while for a man to seek salvation.
That may well be said.
If there be anything that deserves a struggle in this world, it is the prosperity of the soul.
The objects for which the great majority of men strive are comparatively poor and trifling things.
Riches, and greatness, and rank, and learning, are "a corruptible crown."
The incorruptible things are all within the strait gate.
The peace of God which passeth all understanding,--the bright hope of good things to come,--the sense of the Spirit dwelling in us,--the consciousness that we are pardoned, safe, ready, insured, provided for in time and eternity, whatever may happen,--these are true gold, and durable riches.
Well may the Lord Jesus call on us to "strive."
"STRIVE" teaches that laziness in religion 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 plain commandment.
What shall be said of the man who transgresses God's law, and does something which God says, Thou shalt not do?
There can be but one answer.
He is a sinner.
"Sin is the transgression of the law."
(1 John iii.
4. ) And what shall be said of the man who neglects his soul, and makes no effort to enter the strait gate?
There can be only one reply.
He is omitting a positive duty.
Christ says to him, "Strive," and behold, he sits still!
"STRIVE" teaches that all outside the strait gate are in great danger.
They are in danger of being lost for ever.
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 fain have sinners make haste and delay not, lest they put off soul business 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 take heed they be not too late: therefore He cries, "Strive."
That word "Strive," raises solemn thoughts in my mind.
It is brimful of condemnation for thousands of baptized persons.
It condemns the ways and practices of multitudes who profess and call themselves Christians.
Many there are 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 "strive" to be saved.
The "spirit of slumber" possesses their hearts in everything that concerns religion.
About the things of the world they are active enough: they rise early, and late take rest; they labour; they toil; they are busy; they are careful: but about the one thing needful they never "strive" at all.
What shall I say of those who are irregular about public worship on Sundays?
There are thousands all over Great Britain who answer this description.
Sometimes, if they feel disposed, they go to some church or chapel, 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 "striving"_?
I speak to men of common sense.
Let them judge what I say.
What shall 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 parish of Great Britain 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 put off their form of religion with their Sunday clothes, and return to the world.
And _is this "striving"_?
I speak to men of common sense.
Let them judge what I say.
What shall 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 "striving"_ to enter in?
I speak to men of common sense.
Let them judge what I say.
What shall 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 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 "striving"_?
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 statute 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 on men to repent, believe, and be saved; but, alas, how frequently we have to lament that our labour seems all in vain.
Men attend our churches, and listen, and approve, but do not "strive" 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, alas, 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 "striving" to be saved.
There comes the devil on Monday morning, and offers his countless snares; there comes the world, and holds out its seeming prizes: our hearers follow them greedily.
They work hard for this world's goods; they toil at Satan's bidding: but for the one thing needful they will not "strive" 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 way.
I have discovered how few there are that "strive" to be saved.
Earnestness about temporal matters is common enough.
