Albert N. Martin

Turn with me in your own Bibles to the Gospel according to Luke chapter 13, and follow as I read verses 22 through 30.

As Luke continues his narrative of the life and activities of the Lord Jesus, he writes, “And he went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and journeying on to Jerusalem. And one said unto him, ‘Lord, are they few that are saved?’ And he said unto them, ‘Strive to enter in by the narrow door; for many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us’; and he shall answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you whence you are.’ Then shall you begin to say, ‘We did eat and drink in your presence, and you taught in our streets”; and he shall say, ‘I tell you, I do not know whence you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without. And they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last.”

Now, that raises some questions, does it not? The first question is this: does this mean that our work and our earnest striving earns our salvation? Does this mean that, somehow, striving is a necessary preparation before God will welcome us through the narrow door of conversion? Does this mean, in any way, that we must prepare ourselves for the grace of God? Does this mean there is something we do that adds to the grace of God? To such questions I answer a simple, and an emphatic, unqualified: no.

Remember the setting of these words? Where was Jesus going when He spoke these words? He was going up to Jerusalem. To do what? To die on a cross. Why? If men, by their own efforts, could, in any way, one by one erase their sins from the record book of God, would the Son of God have ever gone to Jerusalem there to be spat upon, to be mocked, to be scourged, to be beaten, to be hung upon a cross, to be shrouded in the darkness of the spiritual night of the soul when the wrath of God, in all its billows, was poured upon Him? I ask you, would He have set His face to go to Jerusalem if we, by our striving, could earn our salvation? Of course not! Would He announce to sinners, as He did again and again in His ministry, His immediate accessibility to sinners, if there were any conditions we had to meet to prepare ourselves for the grace of God? Would He have said to sinners indiscriminately, “Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden and I would give you rest”?

Would He have said through the prophet, “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he that hath no money; come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend your money for that which satisfies not and your labor for that which will never meet your need?” Would He say those gracious words? The question arising from the text, “Does this mean that our work can earn, secure, or become a necessary preparation for the grace of God? The answer is: no, no, an unqualified no.

The Scriptures tell us, “For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory.” We have sung many times in our hymnbooks hymn #403, a precious gospel hymn, “Not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul; not what my toiling flesh has borne can make my spirit whole. Not what I feel or do can give me peace with God; not all my prayers and sighs and tears can bear my awful load. Thy work alone, O Christ, can ease this weight of sin; thy blood alone, O Lamb of God, can give me peace within. Thy love to me, O God, not mine, O Lord to thee, can rid me of this dark unrest and set my spirit free.” Or in the marvelous words of Augustus Toplady, “Could my tears forever flow, these for sin could not atone; thou must save and thou alone.”

So, a question is raised by the words of Jesus when He said, “Immediately set yourself to strain every nerve, and make getting through the narrow gate of true conversion the chief duty and activity of your life”—Does this mean that our works can earn salvation or our efforts are essential to prepare us for salvation? I say the Bible’s answer is an emphatic, “No.”

What, then, do His words mean? He did use very strong language. He did use a present imperative of a verb which speaks of marshalling and concentrating all of our faculties in a given area of endeavor, and He spoke in such a way that makes it an immediate and a continuous duty. Well, let me suggest that it means at least four things.

Here I plead especially for you dear children from Christian families. You are the focus, though not the exclusive, burden of my heart. I know of at least one or two old men who need to hear what I have to say, but I have a peculiar burden for the children and young people reared in Christian homes and reared under this ministry. You desperately need this signpost. You’ve looked at all previous eight signposts that I’ve preached upon, and perhaps in your heart you’ve not had a quarrel with a one of them; but yet, you’re still unsaved, and you desperately need this signpost. What does it say to you?

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