First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

Text: Luke 13:22–30
Theme: The Open Door
Other Lessons: Isaiah 66:18–23; Psalm 50:1–15; Hebrews 12:4–24 (25–29)

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Gospel lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
526 You Are the Way; through You Alone
1
You are the way; through You alone
Can we the Father find;
In You, O Christ, has God revealed
His heart and will and mind.

2
You are the truth; Your Word alone
True wisdom can impart;
You only can inform the mind
And purify the heart.

Introduction

A. Every day we enter and exit doors:
1. The door to the bathroom.
2. The door to the house.
3. The door to the car.
4. The door to the store.
5. The door to the office.
6. And today, as you came to worship, the door to the church.
B. But have you ever had one of those experiences where you came up to a
door and it was locked?
1. When I was in junior high school, I was known as a “latch key kid.”
2. That means, I had a key to the house I lived in and would let myself in
after school.
3. One day after school I was to let myself in with my house key.
4. That is kind of hard to do when I forgot to bring my key with me that
morning!
5. Guess what? The door was locked and I couldn’t get in!
6. Therefore I improvised:
A. I went to the backyard.
B. My room had two windows,
C. Thankfully, I was able to take off the outside screen and open the
window which was unlocked.
D. I lifted myself up enough onto the window sill to pull myself in.
E. Lesson I learned that day: don’t forget to bring your keys with you!!
C. Talk about disappointment when that front door to my house was locked
and I had no way to get in!
1. I want you to keep that image of a door in mind today as we look at our
text from Luke 13.
3. Posing Question: “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

A. Our text begins with someone posing a question to Jesus: “Lord, will
those who are saved be few?” (verse 23).
1. This was a common debate at that time amongst the rabbis.
2. Who and how many are going to be saved?
B. And even today, people debate this question.
1. What’s the standard for salvation?
2. What about those who just live a good life?
3. Will they be saved?
4. What if someone never has a chance to hear about Jesus?
5. Do they get a “pass”?
6. Will that person be saved?
C. But Jesus brings it from theoretical to practical.
1. Rather than asking, “Will those who are saved be few?” he essentially
asked, “Will the saved be you?”
2. There’s a shift from the few to you.
3. And that is where we need to focus our conversation.
4. You’re here.
5. You’re listening.
6. And the question is, “Will you be saved?”
2. Open Door, Open Invitation: “Make every effort to enter through the
narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be
able.”

A. And so, Jesus said to them:
1. “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will
seek to enter and will not be able” (verse 24).
2. Now, here with the image of a narrow door, Jesus gives an answer to the
theoretical question:
A. “Yes, only a few will be saved.
B. Many will attempt to enter and will be turned away.”
3. So let’s talk more about the narrow door.
A. It’s possible that this is a reference to a small gate next to the main
city gate where latecomers could enter.
B. However, the door could also be a reference to someone’s estate—hence,
the kingdom of God.
B. Regardless, there is a narrow door.
1. And Jesus says that it will take effort to enter.
2. Perhaps this word needs a little clarification.
3. The word for “effort” in Greek is agonizomai, where we get our word
“agony.”
A. It suggests that there is a level of striving and struggle in the
Christian life.
B. In the first century, the word agon referred to the Greco-Roman games,
where men fought against one another.
C. Paul uses this same word in 1 Timothy 6:12 to refer to our efforts to
“fight the good fight of the faith.”
D. There is effort involved in following Jesus.
C. Do you remember the classic book written by John Bunyan from the
seventeenth century called Pilgrim’s Progress?
1. It follows the story of a man named Christian, who is tormented by
spiritual anguish.
2. A spiritual guide named Evangelist visits Christian and urges him to
leave the City of Destruction and tells him that salvation can only be
found in the Celestial City, known as Mount Zion.
3. Along the way, he is tempted by distractions and shortcuts.
4. However, he perseveres.
5. There’s even one point in the book where he is directed by the
gatekeeper Goodwill to go to the “Wicket Gate,” which is the beginning of
the “straight and narrow” King’s Highway.
6. Later in the book, we see that Goodwill is Jesus himself.
D. The parallels to what Jesus is referring to here in Luke 13 and to our
Christian lives are as plain as day as what we read in Pilgrim’s Progress.
1. We struggle with the same temptations:
A. to take the easy way out,
B. to take shortcuts,
C. to get distracted,
D. to give up,
E. and even to despair of life itself.
2. And yet, Jesus invites us to persevere, to make every agonizing effort
to enter the narrow door.
3. And here’s the Gospel contained in this:
A. Jesus is the one who has fought off the forces of evil already for us,
opening the narrow door to us.
B. In Luke 22, the word “anguish,” agonia, is used as Jesus prays in the
Garden of Gethsemane just hours prior to his arrest and agonizing death on
the cross (verse 44).
C. That agony, his perseverance, enables the door to be open to us.
1. Closed Door: The door is now open, but the door is closing.
Therefore Don’t Ignore the Open Door.

A. And here’s the reason why effort is needed:
1. While the door is open, the door is closing.
2. And if we don’t agonize, if we don’t make the effort, the door will be
closed.
3. Jesus says in verses 25–26:
A. “Once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin
to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then
he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ ”
B. The point is clear: Don’t Ignore the Open Door.
B. Don’t lollygag around.
1. Don’t spend your life getting distracted by the pleasures of the world.
2. Press on.
3. Make every effort to enter the narrow door.
C. The Good News is that Jesus has opened the door.
1. The cross and open tomb mean this door is open too.
2. But what you need to know at the same time is it’s a limited-time offer.
3. You’re familiar with limited-time offers, right?
A. Some stores offer them on certain items.
B. Or, even just in general, there are store hours.
C. Not every store is open twenty-four hours a day.
D. Maybe you’ve had one of those moments where you realize at the last
minute that you need something from the store, only to show up and realize
that the store is closed.
E. There’s that terrible, sinking feeling in your stomach.
F. You missed it.
G. Perhaps you even got there just a few minutes after it closed, and the
employees are still in the store.
H. So you knock, and you say, “Can I still get in?
I. I just need a gallon of milk.”
J. But they shake their heads and say, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
K. And so you go home disappointed.
D. We look at these words of Jesus in Luke 13, and there are going to be
some people who, when the end of the world comes, are going to be
disappointed.
1. And they will plead with Jesus, “Open the door to us.”
2. And they’ll make excuses:
A. “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets”
(verse 26).
B. “We sat in your pews.
C. We attended your church events.”
D. We said all the right things.
E. We did all the right things.
3. And yet, Jesus will say:
A. “I don’t know you. Away from me.”
B. Rather than open, the door will be closed.
C. And many will be turned away, while only a select few will be included
in the feasting.
Conclusion
A. Let’s go back to the question I asked at the beginning:
1. “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”
2. That’s the wrong question.
3. The correct question is, “Will you be saved?”
4. And if so, how can you be saved?
B. Salvation comes through knowing Jesus.
1. Remember the reason Jesus rejects those who knock?
2. “I never knew you.”
3. And here, this is not just a “know of” someone, like I know the name of
so-and-so.
4. No, this is to know someone intimately, personally, to have that
relationship with the person.
5. Jesus has opened that door to have that relationship with you through
his death on the cross.
6. And in John 10, he’s declared himself to be the door, and that
1. “if anyone enters by [him], he will be saved” (verse 9).
2. He’s laid down his life for you, to know you . . . and to be known by
you.
C. And so, today, the door stands open.
1. The invitation remains:
A. “Strive (agōnizomai) to enter through the narrow door.”
B. While there’s breath in your lungs, there’s hope for your soul.
C. Don’t ignore the open door.
D. Amen.
D. Let us pray:
3
You are the life; the empty tomb
Proclaims Your conqu’ring arm,
And those who put their trust in You
Not death nor hell shall harm.

4
You are the way, the truth, the life;
Grant us that way to know,
That truth to keep, that life to win
Whose joys eternal flow.
Text: Public domain
E. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
F. In the Name of the Father…Amen.

Text: Hebrews 11:17–31 (32–40); 12:1–3
Theme: Faith in the midst of trial

A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Epistle lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our heavenly Father and from our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
→ All praise to God, who reigns above,
the God of all creation,
the God of wonders, pow’r, and love,
the God of our salvation!
With healing balm my soul he fills,
the God who every sorrow stills.
To God all praise and glory!
From <
www.bing.com/search?q=all+praise+to+god+who+reigns+above&form=ANSPH1&refig=06acd5ef22c24487b970d56498df5d51&pc=U531&sp=1&qs=SC&pq=all+praise+to+gof+&sk=PRES1&sc=10-18&cvid=06acd5ef22c24487b970d5649…
>

Introduction

A. “One of the noblest and most precious virtues of faith is to close one’s
eyes to this, ingenuously to desist from exploring the why and the
wherefore, and cheerfully to leave everything to God. Faith does not insist
on knowing the reason for God’s actions, but it still regards God as the
greatest goodness and mercy. Faith holds to that against and beyond all
reason, sense, and experience, when everything appears to be wrath and
injustice” Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II,
ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 43
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 52.
B. In our text today from Hebrews, everyone who lives by faith endures in
order to reach the “finish line,” where we are joined together with Christ
Jesus, who gives us each his victory.
1. Throughout this temporal pilgrimage, God’s people receive blessings upon
blessings:
A. his providence and protection for our bodily needs,
B. the forgiveness of sins,
C. answers to our prayers,
D. his peace and comfort,
E. and his fatherly guidance.
C. But we reach that finish line only through adversity, and it’s in that
adversity that our text would encourage us.
D. You are to Consider Those Who Endured Suffering, So That Your Faith Will
Prevail.

I. THE EXPLANATION OF FAITH (11:1–3, 6)

A. Its nature (11:1–2)
1. “It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to
happen” (11:1a).
2. “It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see” (11:1b).
A. “If anyone wants a distinction between faith and hope, we say that the
object of hope is properly a future event, but that faith is concerned with
future and present things. Faith receives the forgiveness of sins offered
in the promise in the present.” (Apology V 191)
B. Its necessity (11: 3, 6)
1. With it people in the Old Testament were approved by God (11:2).
2. With it we are able to believe the power of God (11:3):
A. This is especially true in regard to his creative power.
3. Without it we are unable to please the person of God (11:6).
A. “Only justified people, who are led by the Spirit of Christ, can do good
works. Without faith and Christ as Mediator, good works do not please.”
(Apology V 251)
B. “From this it is evident that in theology the work does not amount to
anything without faith, but that faith must precede before you can do
works. For “without faith it is impossible to please God, but whoever would
draw near to God must believe” (Heb. 11:6). Therefore the writer of the
Epistle to the Hebrews says that the sacrifice of Abel was better because
he believed. But because Cain was an ungodly man and a hypocrite, he
performed a work that was moral, or rather one that was reasonable, by
which he sought to please God. Therefore the work of Cain was hypocritical
and faithless; in it there was no faith in grace but only a presumption
about his own righteousness.” Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 26:
Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton
C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 26 (Saint Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1999), 264.

II. THE EXAMPLES OF FAITH (11:4–5, 7–40)

A. Who they were and what they did
B. Sixteen people of faith are named, and many others are referred to
as well.
1. Abel (11:4a)
a) Abel gave the Lord an acceptable offering (11:4b).
b) The Lord accepted the sacrifice and the one who offers the sacrifice.
2. Enoch (11:5a)
a) Enoch left the earth without dying (11:5b).
3. Noah (11:7a)
a) Noah survived the great Flood (11:7b).
b) Through the ark, Noah showed that God’s threat of destruction was real.
4. Abraham (11:8a, 9, 12, 17–18)
a) Abraham inherited a land (11:8b).
b) Abraham believed that God could raise the dead (11:19).
5. Sarah (11:11a)
a) Sarah bore a son through a barren womb, in old age, and began a nation
(11:11b).
b) Chrysostom: “While her laughter indeed was from unbelief, her fear was
from faith…when unbelief had been cleared out, faith came in its place.”
6. Isaac (11:20a)
a) Isaac and Jacob both predicted the future (11:20b, 21b).
7. Jacob (11:21a)
8. Joseph (11:22a)
a) Joseph anticipated the Exodus long before it happened (11:22b).
9. Moses’ parents (11:23a)
a) Moses’ parents defied the king of Egypt (11:23b).
i) They feared God more than the evil Pharaoh.
10. Moses (11:24, 27a, 28a)
a) Moses forsook the pleasures of sin (11:25).
b) Moses left the land of Egypt and was not afraid of the king (11:27b).
i) He fled in faith, intending to return when the time was right.
11. The people of Israel (11:29a, 30a)
a) The people of Israel kept the Passover (11:28b).
b) The people of Israel crossed the Red Sea (11:29).
c) The people of Israel shouted down a city (11:30).
12. Rahab (11:31a)
a) Rahab protected some Hebrew spies (11:31b).
b) The Lord brought about change in Rahab:
i) repentance,
ii) faith,
iii) and action.
C. Not enough time to talk about the rest of the list:
13. Gideon (11:32a)
14. Barak (11:32b)
15. Samson (11:32c)
16. Jephthah (11:32d)
17. David (11:32e)
18. Samuel (11:32f)
19. All the prophets (11:32g)
A. The prophets and judges subdued kingdoms,
B. shut the mouths of lions,
C. quenched flames,
D. escaped the sword,
E. exchanged weakness for strength,
F. put enemy armies to flight,
G. and a few even raised the dead (11:33–35a).
D. What they endured (11:35b–38)

1. Terrible torture (11:35b)
A. They would have been released if they denied the faith, but they
refused.
2. Ridicule (11:36a)
3. Cruel flogging (11:36b)
A. a punishment in which the victim is hit repeatedly with a whip or stick:
4. Imprisonment (11:36c)
5. Stoning (11:37a)
A. a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person
until the subject dies from blunt trauma.
B. Example: Stephen
a) Attempts: made on Jesus’ life and the woman caught in adultery.
6. Being sawn in two (11:37b)
A. Some ancient writers believe this happened to the prophet Isaiah.
7. Death by the sword (11:37c)
8. Extreme poverty (11:37d–38)
A. The world truly despised all of God’s saints then as they do now, even
though they were truly worthy of praise.
B. Only God counts them worthy through faith to receive His promises.
E. Why they endured (11:10, 13–15, 16b, 26, 35c)
1. They saw the invisible City of God (11:10, 13–15, 16b).
2. They believed that suffering for the sake of Christ was better than
having all the riches of this world (11:26).
3. They looked forward to their own resurrection (11:35c).
F. What they received (11:16a, 39–40)
1. In the past (11:16a, 39):
A. The earthly and temporary approval of God.
2. In the future (11:40):
A. The heavenly and eternal approval of God.
G. Many think that pain is the exception in the Christian life.
1. When suffering occurs, they say, “Why me?”
2. They feel as though God deserted them, or perhaps they accuse him of not
being as dependable as they thought.
3. In reality, however, we live in an evil world filled with suffering,
even for believers.
4. But God is still in control.
5. He allows some Christians to become martyrs for the faith, and he allows
others to survive persecution.
6. Rather than asking, “Why me?” it is much more helpful to ask, “Why not
me?”
7. Our faith and the values of this world are on a collision course.
8. If we expect pain and suffering to come, we will not be shocked when
they hit.
9. But we can also take comfort in knowing that Jesus also suffered.
10. He understands our fears, our weaknesses, and our disappointments (see
Heb_2:16-18; Heb_4:14-16).
11. He promised never to leave us (Mat_28:18-20), and he intercedes on our
behalf (Heb_7:24-25).
12. In times of pain, persecution, or suffering, we should trust
confidently in Christ.

Transition to chapter 12:
→ The author compares a godly life to a great race and explains to his
readers the reasons behind God’s discipline.
→ He again warns against the sin of unbelief.

III. THE CONTEST (12:1–4)

A. The race (12:1):
1. We are to faithfully run the spiritual race God has marked out for each
of us.
B. The role model (12:2–3)
1. Who he is (12:2a):
A. We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the start and finish of our faith.
C. What he did (12:2b–3):
1. He endured the opposition of sinners and died on the cross.
D. Why he did it (12:2c):
1. Because of the joy he knew would be his.
E. Where he is now (12:2d):
1. At God’s right hand, on our behalf.
F. The reassurance (12:4):
1. We are informed they have not suffered as Christ suffered.
2. Hebrews 12:4 (ESV) In your struggle against sin you have not yet
resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Conclusion

A. “Some were tortured. . . .
1. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
2. They were stoned,
3. they were sawn in two,
4. they were killed with the sword.
5. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted,
mistreated . . . wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and
caves of the earth” (11:35–38).
6. And those were the most faithful ones!
B. The Lutheran Fathers wrote in the Formula of Concord:
1. “We receive in this life only the firstfruit of the Spirit [Rom 8:23].
2. The new birth is not complete, but only begun in us. . . .
3. At one time he [the Christian] is joyful in spirit, and at another
fearful and alarmed. At one time he is intense in love, strong in faith and
hope, and at another time he is cold and weak” (FC SD II 68).
C. Luther once wrote:
1. “Faith is that foundation of the apostles and the prophets on which, as
the apostle writes in Eph 2:20, we are built and the ‘foundation that has
been laid,’ of which he speaks in 1 Cor 3:11.
2. Thus Christ himself says in Matt 16:18: ‘On this rock I will build My
church,’ that is, on the firmness of faith” (AE 29:229; emphasis added).
D. The Divine Service brings the worshiper into the gracious presence of
God, who serves his people, strengthening their faith in ancient evidence
of witnesses who endured trials and even death and who were sustained in
faith in the blessed hope of life eternal with Christ.
E. The ancients believed God’s promise though they didn’t receive the
fulfillment of the Messiah’s mission.
1. We who’ve seen Christ’s work of salvation fulfilled have even more
reason to continue through trials and difficulties.
2. The entire body of evidence points us to the Author and Perfecter of our
faith: in the midst of our strife, Christ Jesus is the proof of our eternal
hope.
3. He who endured the suffering of the cross and God’s wrath on our sin has
won for us the promise of life everlasting—regardless whatever Satan throws
at us.
F. Yes, the Christian life involves hard work.
1. It requires us to give up whatever endangers our relationship with God,
2. to run with endurance,
3. and to struggle against sin with the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. To live effectively, we must keep our eyes on Jesus.
5. We will always stumble if we look away from him to stare at ourselves or
at the circumstances surrounding us.
6. We should be running for Christ, not for ourselves, and we must always
keep him in sight. Amen.
G. Let us pray:
913 O Holy Spirit, Enter In (Stanza 3)
O mighty Rock, O Source of life,
Let Your dear Word, in doubt and strife,
In us be strongly burning
That we be faithful unto death
And live in love and holy faith,
From You true wisdom learning.
Your grace and peace
On us shower;
By Your power
Christ confessing,
Let us see our Savior’s blessing.
Text: Public domain
H. The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
I. In the Name of the Father…Amen.