The NXR Podcast - THE SERMON - There Will Be Far More People In Heaven, Than In Hell

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00:00:28.060 Please join me in standing for the reading of God's Word.

00:00:30.640 This morning we continue our series

00:00:32.340 through the Gospel according to Matthew.

00:00:34.500 Our text for today is Matthew 7, verses 12, 13, and 14.

00:00:40.080 Again, our text for today is Matthew 7, verses 12, 13, and 14.

00:00:44.480 I'll read our text for us in its entirety.

00:00:46.660 When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say,

00:00:48.400 this is the Word of the Lord,

00:00:49.380 at which point I would appreciate very much

00:00:51.060 if you would respond by saying thanks be to God.

00:00:54.480 One final time, our text for today

00:00:56.080 is the gospel according to Matthew 7, verses 12, 13, and 14.

00:01:01.300 The Bible says this.

00:01:03.260 So whatever you wish that others would do to you,

00:01:05.940 do also to them.

00:01:07.320 For this is the law and the prophets.

00:01:10.000 Enter by the narrow gate.

00:01:12.200 For the gate is wide,

00:01:13.400 and the way is easy that leads to destruction.

00:01:17.160 And those who enter by it are many.

00:01:19.780 For the gate is narrow,

00:01:20.980 and the way is hard that leads to life.

00:01:24.220 and those who find it are few.

00:01:27.460 This is the word of the Lord.

00:01:30.220 All right, please be seated.

00:01:31.780 Let's begin.

00:01:33.200 As quickly as possible,

00:01:34.280 I'd like to address the first verse of our text,

00:01:36.700 verse 12,

00:01:37.900 and then the second point of the sermon today

00:01:40.300 will deal with the last two verses,

00:01:44.420 namely verse 13 and 14.

00:01:46.680 Verse 12, once more,

00:01:48.740 the Bible says this,

00:01:49.880 so whatever you wish that others would do to you,

00:01:52.040 do also to them,

00:01:53.440 for this is the law and the prophets what's being said by jesus in verse 12 of our text

00:02:00.940 at the very end there for this is the law and the prophets what jesus is essentially saying

00:02:06.200 is that this is the law and the prophets summarized this is the summary of the law

00:02:12.240 and the prophets it's very reminiscent of what jesus says elsewhere and he says that there are

00:02:19.260 two great commandments the first and greatest commandment is that we love the lord our god

00:02:25.680 with all our heart all our soul and all our mind elsewhere he says strength this is the first and

00:02:31.440 greatest commandment and the second then is like it that we should love our neighbor as ourself

00:02:37.600 and then he continues this is matthew chapter 22 verses 37 38 39 and 40 he then continues and says

00:02:49.240 all the law and the prophets rest or hinge upon these two commandments what jesus is saying in

00:02:57.620 that context is that loving god and loving neighbor loving god and loving neighbor is

00:03:04.400 the summary of all the law and all the prophets now the decalogue the ten commandments that we

00:03:11.360 have set forth in exodus chapter 20 also serve as summary law so we could say in a sense that

00:03:18.720 the first and second greatest commandments given to us by Jesus are a summary of a summary.

00:03:26.900 It's taking the summary and making it even more concise, more concise, that all of the law and

00:03:35.180 the prophets, that is all of the Old Testament, all the Old Testament scripture is the law word

00:03:41.700 of God. And all of it can be summarized. It contains within it hundreds of commandments,

00:03:48.840 but all of it can be summarized in the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. And those

00:03:55.460 Ten Commandments can be even further summarized by two commandments. Love God, love your neighbor.

00:04:03.540 The Ten Commandments, there are ten of them. As Connor's already said, the first table of the Ten

00:04:08.800 commandments namely commandment one through four love the lord your god also uh do not make any

00:04:15.420 graven images do not take the lord's name in vain and remember the sabbath and keep it holy these

00:04:21.220 first four of the ten commandments are summed up in the first and greatest commandment that jesus

00:04:26.400 gives us love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and all your strength

00:04:31.400 or all your mind okay then the next six of the ten commandments honor your father and mother do not

00:04:37.840 commit murder do not commit adultery do not steal do not bear false witness and do not covet these

00:04:45.160 next six of the ten commandments are summed up in the second greatest commandment that Jesus

00:04:49.940 provides which is to love your neighbor as yourself that's what Jesus is addressing in verse 12 he's

00:04:56.720 simply addressing what he says elsewhere in Matthew chapter 22 love the Lord your God and

00:05:02.920 Love your neighbor as yourself is a summary of all the law and the prophets because it's the summary of the Ten Commandments, which also is a summary of all the law and the prophets.

00:05:12.800 Here in our text today, Matthew chapter 7, verse 12, Jesus is simply providing for us that same principle, that same concept, but just in relation to the second greatest commandment instead of the first and second.

00:05:26.220 And again, namely, to love your neighbor as yourself.

00:05:29.100 So once more, Jesus says, so whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.

00:05:36.360 In other words, love others the way that you want to be loved.

00:05:41.040 Or to put it another way, love your neighbor as yourself.

00:05:45.840 For this is the law and the prophets.

00:05:48.600 That is to say, this is the summary of the law and the prophets as they speak to the second table of the law, which is love for neighbor.

00:05:57.860 Okay, that's the point. That's verse 12 of our text. One more point on that. It's noteworthy that the first portion of this verse, whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.

00:06:13.120 that this is providing for us one prescription and one description.

00:06:21.200 If we're not careful, there are modern, more liberal, progressive theologians

00:06:26.680 who simply put their finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing

00:06:31.720 and then kind of tweak and twist and pervert the scripture in order to fit the culture.

00:06:40.120 There are theologians and pastors like that

00:06:42.760 that have tried to work into this text two prescriptions,

00:06:48.160 meaning something being prescribed, something being commanded,

00:06:52.360 two commandments, instead of one prescription, one commandment,

00:06:57.120 and one description, that is, one assumption.

00:07:01.540 The two prescriptions that the modern, more liberal theologian and pastor

00:07:06.280 would try to force, eisegete, read into the text,

00:07:10.360 rather than exegete, read out of the text,

00:07:12.760 are as follows.

00:07:14.280 They would say Jesus is commanding two things.

00:07:17.240 Love for neighbor and love for self.

00:07:22.120 Jesus is commanding love for your fellow man.

00:07:26.340 That's true.

00:07:27.220 That is in the text.

00:07:28.140 But he's also commanding pedicures.

00:07:32.760 Treat yourself.

00:07:34.620 Right?

00:07:35.020 He's commanding a little self-care.

00:07:38.020 Some me time.

00:07:39.460 Right?

00:07:39.740 That's the second commandment.

00:07:42.040 It's not. It's not. The summary of all the law and the prophets, as Jesus says elsewhere in

00:07:47.480 Matthew chapter 22, is two commandments, but it's to love God and love your fellow man.

00:07:54.260 It is not to love your fellow man and to really work hard on loving yourself.

00:07:59.260 That portion of the text is not a prescription, love for self, but rather a description.

00:08:05.440 The prescription is love your neighbor as you love yourself.

00:08:11.080 Love your neighbor, prescription.

00:08:13.480 That is commandment.

00:08:15.220 As you love yourself, description.

00:08:18.440 That is assumed.

00:08:20.760 It's assumed.

00:08:22.240 It is assumed that we love ourselves.

00:08:25.280 Therefore, simply try to love others the way that you already love yourself.

00:08:33.140 That's verse 12.

00:08:35.140 Now, verse 13 and 14.

00:08:37.760 Let me read them once more so that they're fresh in our minds,

00:08:40.380 and then I'll provide a couple of quotes.

00:08:43.660 Beginning in verse 13.

00:08:45.680 Enter by the narrow gate, Jesus says,

00:08:49.220 for the gate is wide, and the way, the path, is easy

00:08:54.300 that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

00:09:00.000 For the gate is narrow, verse 14 now, and the way is difficult, hard to traverse, that leads to life.

00:09:09.380 And those who find it are few.

00:09:13.980 Now, if we're not careful, these two verses have been used time and time and time again

00:09:19.580 in order to assert and definitively conclude that the population in the final analysis,

00:09:29.160 at the end of the age, that the population of hell will far exceed the population of heaven.

00:09:36.660 And I assume, and I don't blame you for this, it's not an indictment,

00:09:41.660 but I assume that for many of you this has probably been your position.

00:09:46.440 And not necessarily your position because you've done all the exegetical research

00:09:52.220 and that you've written some dissertation on this topic,

00:09:56.220 But it's probably just been your position by default.

00:10:00.880 You've probably heard these verses or read these verses yourselves.

00:10:04.980 And on its face, it seems to be what Jesus is communicating.

00:10:08.300 It is a logical conclusion on its face with just a surface level reading.

00:10:17.300 And more than just your own study, which has probably been brief on this topic,

00:10:22.060 You've probably also heard this very confidently asserted by others, namely theologians and preachers.

00:10:31.600 And so I assume that today there are many of you present that likely just by default believe that when this age, this church age has ended,

00:10:42.580 And when Christ finally and physically returns, that the final results, when the numbers come in, hell and its population will dwarf the population of heaven.

00:10:57.520 And maybe you don't have a number, but I think it's probably safe to assume that many of us think that hell will overpopulate heaven, not just by a simple majority, but by some high multiples that perhaps even, you know, a 10 to 1 ratio.

00:11:23.780 Or it's possible that perhaps some of us may even go as far as to think that it would be a hundred to one ratio.

00:11:32.760 That for every one person in heaven, that there would be a hundred souls eternally in hell.

00:11:41.020 That has been, not necessarily historically, but certainly recently, and there have been time periods in history as well.

00:11:49.360 I don't want to say that there hasn't.

00:11:51.020 That has been a dominant position, and I don't want to mislead you.

00:11:55.220 That has been a dominant position, but it's certainly the dominant position by most Christians today in recent modern history.

00:12:05.660 But I don't believe that that's what Jesus is teaching in verse 13 and 14 of our text.

00:12:13.520 Let me use a quote by B.B. Warfield, and then I'm also going to provide some more context from the scripture.

00:12:25.500 So in our text, in Matthew chapter 7, Jesus makes this statement, and then he moves on in the Sermon on the Mount.

00:12:32.960 But if we are to cross reference from the gospel according to Matthew chapter 7 over to the gospel according to Luke chapter 12, namely verses 18 all the way through verse 30 and even further verse 34 and 35.

00:12:52.160 and find these words of Jesus

00:12:55.740 about the gate being narrow

00:12:58.200 and the way being difficult

00:13:00.540 that leads to life

00:13:02.000 and that the gate is wide

00:13:05.200 and the path is easy

00:13:06.600 that leads to destruction.

00:13:07.880 When we find these same words

00:13:10.060 because these same words of Jesus

00:13:11.980 in Matthew chapter 7 verse 12

00:13:14.580 or 13 and 14

00:13:16.380 the same words appear in Luke's gospel

00:13:19.360 chapter 12

00:13:20.920 And when we look or chapter 13, rather, when we look over in Luke's gospel, we find more context surrounding this teaching of Jesus that I think provides insight into what he's really getting at his actual meaning.

00:13:39.680 So we'll look at more scripture to provide the context.

00:13:43.400 But first, let's look at a quote again from B.B. Warfield.

00:13:46.840 He says the following,

00:14:16.840 valid motives, to action, to all who find themselves with similar needs, but they cannot

00:14:24.040 be read as assurances that the circumstances intimated or implied are necessarily constant

00:14:32.560 and must remain forever unchanged. What Jesus says is directed to inciting his immediate hearers

00:14:42.700 to strenuous effort to make their calling and election sure,

00:14:48.120 rather than to revealing to them the final issue of his saving work in the world.

00:14:54.980 When we read his words in the latter sense, we therefore do certain violence to them.

00:15:01.680 In deflecting them from their purpose, we distort also their meaning and confuse their implications.

00:15:09.360 We can learn from these passages that salvation is difficult

00:15:13.680 and that it is our duty to address ourselves to obtaining it with diligence and earnest effort.

00:15:21.380 We can never learn from them how many are to be saved.

00:15:28.620 Let me read a portion of that once more.

00:15:30.520 Christ's words supply valid motives to action

00:15:35.860 to all who find themselves with similar needs

00:15:39.160 namely the need to be saved

00:15:42.000 the need to not go down the easy path

00:15:46.100 and to enter through the wide gate

00:15:48.540 the need to not be deceived

00:15:50.460 the need to listen to the words of Jesus

00:15:54.200 and not the words of false prophets

00:15:57.040 and false teachers

00:15:59.620 What Jesus is doing, in other words,

00:16:02.200 B.B. Warfield is saying,

00:16:04.040 is that Jesus is speaking to an immediate human audience.

00:16:09.400 Right? All Scripture is for us.

00:16:11.400 You've heard me say this before.

00:16:13.220 All Scripture is for us.

00:16:14.860 It's all inspired, it's all infallible,

00:16:16.900 and it is all pertinent and relevant and useful

00:16:20.780 for training and rebuking

00:16:23.020 that the man of God might be equipped for every good work.

00:16:26.340 The scripture itself testifies to this fact.

00:16:29.760 So all scripture is relevant.

00:16:31.720 All scripture is infallible.

00:16:33.880 All scripture is useful.

00:16:36.940 All scripture, therefore, we can say, is for us.

00:16:41.560 It's for us.

00:16:42.880 Not all scripture is to us.

00:16:46.280 All scripture is for us.

00:16:48.040 Not all scripture is to us.

00:16:49.760 And what I mean by to us is that every single biblical passage has an immediate audience.

00:16:57.580 Those words are being addressed to.

00:17:00.640 It also has a universal and timeless audience, namely you and I, that those scriptures are for.

00:17:08.660 So all scripture is for all people in all ages.

00:17:12.820 But not all scripture is to all people.

00:17:16.280 Jesus is speaking literally, directly to an immediate audience and his point, we must

00:17:24.200 conclude, his point is not to inform those people who are standing in front of his face

00:17:29.740 listening to his words.

00:17:31.420 His primary point is not to indicate to them the final number of salvation.

00:17:39.220 That's not what he's doing.

00:17:40.900 He's not saying gather around.

00:17:42.500 I want to inform you about the ratio between the reprobate and the elect.

00:17:52.320 I want you to be properly educated in regards to how many people at the end of the age

00:17:59.640 will be in heaven and how many people will be in hell.

00:18:04.140 That's not his primary point.

00:18:06.480 In fact, I would argue that that's not his point at all.

00:18:09.760 His point, rather, is to say to, it's for us, but to them, that immediate audience standing before him as he's teaching,

00:18:19.780 it is to say to them that for them, for them, few will ever find this narrow gate.

00:18:29.300 That for them, few will be willing to traverse this difficult and hard path.

00:18:37.920 And that for them, many will, in fact, enter by the wide gate and choose, opt for the easy path that ultimately leads towards destruction.

00:18:53.600 His primary point, in other words, to his immediate audience is to spur them on to vigilance, to spiritual vigilance.

00:19:04.240 He's saying, wake up. He's not getting out spreadsheets to talk about the final numbers

00:19:11.640 of heaven and hell. Instead, he's seeking to motivate his immediate audience saying, for you,

00:19:20.000 for you, you are living in a place and a time where many will ultimately go to destruction

00:19:29.980 and few, in fact, will be saved.

00:19:34.100 So therefore, pay close attention.

00:19:38.860 Be vigilant.

00:19:40.820 Do not have itching ears.

00:19:43.100 Do not opt for the easy way.

00:19:46.560 Do not enter through the wide gates,

00:19:49.520 but rather go through the narrow gate

00:19:52.100 and traverse the difficult way

00:19:55.520 because this is the only path to life.

00:19:59.820 Elsewhere, Jesus describes himself.

00:20:02.860 He does this many times by saying,

00:20:04.500 I am the good shepherd, for instance.

00:20:06.340 But he also describes himself as the door.

00:20:10.660 Or another word that we could use would be the gate.

00:20:14.080 That he is the narrow gate.

00:20:17.000 When Jesus says that the gate is narrow,

00:20:19.200 his primary point is not to say because it's narrow,

00:20:23.200 only a fraction of humanity will be able to enter it.

00:20:27.600 That's not his primary point.

00:20:29.460 His primary point is about the supremacy and, more particularly, the exclusivity of Christ as the only way of salvation.

00:20:40.640 His primary point is describing the way to salvation.

00:20:44.940 He's saying the way is narrow.

00:20:47.520 There will be many who will come to you and say that all roads lead to Rome.

00:20:53.560 There are many paths to eternal life.

00:20:56.260 There are many ways, many gates or a wide gate

00:21:00.660 that includes multiple different options.

00:21:05.000 But that is not true.

00:21:07.440 The gate that leads to life is narrow.

00:21:10.380 It is a singular gate, a narrow gate, one entrance.

00:21:16.720 And I, Jesus speaking, I am the gate or I am the door.

00:21:22.660 So there's only one way in through Christ.

00:21:25.160 And upon entering, the way is hard.

00:21:30.800 You cannot enter by the narrow gate, but then take the easy path.

00:21:37.020 It is a narrow gate that gains entrance, gives you entrance to a difficult path, a cost to discipleship.

00:21:47.800 Likewise, you can't take the wide gate, but then hop over to the difficult path.

00:21:55.160 Wide gate? Easy path.

00:21:58.020 Narrow gate? Difficult path.

00:22:00.840 Jesus is not instructing them about the final numbers of salvation.

00:22:04.860 He is instructing them about the nature and the way of salvation.

00:22:10.040 That's his point.

00:22:12.140 And in terms of the few moments in our text where he does actually speak

00:22:16.920 in a way that would indicate numbers, few ever find it.

00:22:21.880 or many, will go on this path of destruction.

00:22:26.180 There is numerical language in the text.

00:22:29.680 But I believe that that numerical language

00:22:32.420 that we find in the text

00:22:33.700 was true for the audience

00:22:36.300 that this text is to.

00:22:38.740 Not the universal and timeless audience,

00:22:41.440 which includes all the saints,

00:22:42.800 you and I as well,

00:22:44.100 that this text is for.

00:22:46.920 All Scripture is for all people

00:22:49.520 in all places in all ages.

00:22:51.880 but not all scripture is to all people in all places in all ages this scripture is for us

00:22:59.880 but it was to them and in reference to them it was true that many would be destroyed

00:23:08.180 that many would be destroyed he came to his own but they received him not

00:23:16.940 and in the larger context again when you cross reference from Matthew chapter 7 verses 12 through

00:23:24.840 14 over to Luke's gospel chapter 13 Jesus goes on he says these same things gives the same

00:23:32.560 instruction about the narrow gate versus the wide gate the difficult path versus the easy path and

00:23:39.560 he uses the same numerical language of few ever finding the path that leads to life and many

00:23:46.180 going on the path that leads to destruction.

00:23:48.620 He says all these same things.

00:23:51.000 But then he continues in Luke's gospel, chapter 13,

00:23:55.800 and he adds to it a little bit more context

00:23:59.200 that illustrates the exact point that I've been making thus far,

00:24:03.500 which is that this scripture is for us,

00:24:06.880 but it's not to us.

00:24:08.860 It was to them,

00:24:10.700 the immediate human audience that he's speaking to.

00:24:13.780 Let's look at that now.

00:24:15.600 This is Luke's gospel, chapter 13, verses 22 through 30.

00:24:20.460 It says this,

00:24:21.660 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.

00:24:27.260 Someone asked him.

00:24:28.780 So someone here explicitly asked him.

00:24:30.980 We don't have this in Matthew's gospel, chapter 7, but we do have it in Luke's.

00:24:35.460 This shows us where this teaching came about, how it rose up.

00:24:40.780 Well, Jesus, he teaches this about the narrow gate and the wide gate and few being saved and many being destroyed.

00:24:47.820 He teaches it actually as a response to someone's direct questioning.

00:24:53.880 Someone directly asked him, what do they ask?

00:24:57.200 Someone asked him, Lord, are only few people going to be saved?

00:25:01.380 And Jesus said to them, yes, throughout all times, in all ages, in all places, only one person for every 10 that go to hell will be saved.

00:25:13.460 No, that's not what it says.

00:25:16.320 He said to them, verse 24, make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

00:25:27.840 Verse 25, once the owner of the house

00:25:31.320 gets up and closes the door,

00:25:34.340 you will stand outside knocking and pleading.

00:25:38.620 Sir, open the door to us.

00:25:41.020 But he will answer,

00:25:42.400 I don't know you or where you come from.

00:25:45.600 Verse 26 now, then you will say,

00:25:48.380 but we ate and drank with you

00:25:51.240 and taught when you taught in our streets.

00:25:54.540 Now take that for a moment.

00:25:56.440 Now go back to the principle that I've provided thus far.

00:25:59.320 All scripture is for us, but not all scripture is to us.

00:26:03.440 Is that scripture right there?

00:26:05.380 Namely, verse 26, is that true of you?

00:26:09.320 Then you will say, we ate and drank with you,

00:26:13.360 and you taught in our streets.

00:26:17.000 And has that been your personal experience?

00:26:19.740 Has Jesus in the flesh come to your town in your lifetime?

00:26:23.920 did you eat with him literally did you drink with him literally did he teach and preach sermons

00:26:31.080 in georgetown on the street corner and you were sitting there no that's not you

00:26:38.960 see it's for you all scripture is for you but it's not immediately to you but you know who that is

00:26:46.920 true of it's not true of you but it was true of them jesus is speaking to the jews

00:26:53.180 in his time.

00:26:56.580 He's saying, I ate with you guys.

00:26:59.320 I drank with you guys.

00:27:01.440 I healed you.

00:27:02.540 I cast out demons.

00:27:04.320 And I preached.

00:27:05.580 Most importantly, Jesus came as a preacher.

00:27:08.620 I preached to you.

00:27:09.660 Remember all the multiple times

00:27:11.540 in the gospel narratives

00:27:12.520 where Jesus would cast out a demon

00:27:14.400 or he would heal a paralytic

00:27:15.900 or someone who was blind

00:27:17.140 and he would specifically tell them,

00:27:19.440 do not tell anyone.

00:27:20.840 Do not tell anyone.

00:27:21.680 Why?

00:27:22.320 Because it would hinder his preaching.

00:27:25.020 Because the moment that someone would go

00:27:26.600 and spread the word like wildfire

00:27:29.140 that Jesus was healing,

00:27:30.940 or especially that Jesus was giving out free lunches

00:27:33.860 and multiplying food,

00:27:35.280 then all of a sudden the crowds would come

00:27:37.660 and with the crowds would come

00:27:39.380 a bunch of people who were not interested in his message,

00:27:43.080 but just interested in the temporal immediate benefits.

00:27:47.100 Also, even worse than those people,

00:27:49.220 that's just uninterested people.

00:27:50.800 people trying to game the system but far worse than that would come bad faith actors they would

00:27:57.700 catch oh he's in this town he's doing these things and then they would come and they would attempt

00:28:04.740 to trap him to arrest him to kill him and because Jesus did not want his preaching as any preacher

00:28:12.900 doesn't want his time cut short wants to preach as long as he can get away with Jesus didn't want

00:28:19.160 his sermons cut short he wanted to stay in certain towns for a week but but sometimes could only stay

00:28:25.520 for three days why because the word the message of his miracles would spread it would draw crowds

00:28:33.760 with the crowds would come antagonist and opposition and then because it was not yet his time

00:28:40.420 event he did come for the purpose of dying behold the lamb of god who comes to take away the sins

00:28:45.960 of the world, but only at the father's proper time. And if it was not yet his time, then when

00:28:52.180 the crowds would gather because the news of his miracle spread with the crowds would come bad

00:28:57.360 faith actors and Jesus would therefore have to leave. And what he may be intended, according to

00:29:03.460 his human will, as a seven day preaching tour would get cut short to a three day preaching tour.

00:29:10.740 Jesus came to preach.

00:29:13.380 He's the preacher.

00:29:15.460 More than the miracles was the preaching.

00:29:19.060 The preaching of Jesus.

00:29:21.160 Now, all that being said,

00:29:22.800 what Jesus is saying here

00:29:24.160 of his immediate human audience

00:29:27.580 that he's directly speaking to,

00:29:29.200 not you and I 2,000 years removed,

00:29:31.380 but for them, he's saying,

00:29:33.140 I ate with you, I drank with you,

00:29:35.240 I walked your streets,

00:29:36.820 and I preached sermons directly to you,

00:29:40.000 and you were physically sitting in the crowd.

00:29:43.580 And for you, that group of people,

00:29:48.420 namely Jews in the first century

00:29:51.180 who were eye and ear witnesses

00:29:53.380 to the earthly ministry of Christ,

00:29:55.280 for you, many will be destroyed

00:29:58.280 and few will be saved.

00:30:01.800 For you, many will opt for the wide gate

00:30:07.080 rather than the narrow

00:30:09.880 And what is the narrow gate?

00:30:11.120 I am the door.

00:30:12.280 It's the exclusivity of Christ.

00:30:14.200 Meaning many will take the wide gate rather than the narrow one,

00:30:17.640 which speaks to Jesus, the exclusivity of Jesus.

00:30:20.120 No one knows the Father but Jesus, the Son.

00:30:22.440 He's saying many will reject me.

00:30:24.840 I am the narrow gate.

00:30:26.620 For you in this time, in this place,

00:30:30.480 many of you will reject me, the door, the narrow gate.

00:30:34.700 And you will choose rather to go through the wide gate

00:30:37.740 and take the easy path

00:30:41.140 and many will ultimately be destroyed

00:30:44.500 and few will ever find

00:30:47.320 the salvation that comes

00:30:49.160 only by entering the narrow gate

00:30:51.520 and taking the difficult path,

00:30:54.800 the cost of being my disciple.

00:30:58.540 This is what Jesus is saying.

00:31:01.120 Going back to our text now

00:31:05.040 in luke chapter 13 verse 26 then you will say we ate and drank with you and you taught in our

00:31:11.940 streets now okay so this this so far we already have a little bit more context verse 22 we found

00:31:18.280 out where where this saying of jesus um came you know what it came out of in the first place

00:31:25.340 he was directly asked a question what was the question somebody directly asked him explicitly

00:31:31.220 asked him, will few be saved? So somebody actually did ask about numbers. And the question was about

00:31:37.520 numbers. But then Jesus gives an answer, and it includes numbers for those people at that time.

00:31:45.220 But what it timelessly includes for us is not the numbers, the final numbers of salvation,

00:31:52.680 but rather the nature of salvation.

00:31:56.580 It's narrow, exclusivity of Christ,

00:31:59.520 and it's not easy.

00:32:02.560 It comes by grace, which is free,

00:32:05.420 but with that free grace comes a cross

00:32:09.020 that we must take up to follow him,

00:32:11.480 a cost of discipleship,

00:32:14.520 a forsaking of the world

00:32:17.100 and all that it has to offer,

00:32:21.280 The foregoing of the praise of men.

00:32:24.280 The loss of relationships.

00:32:26.460 There's a cost.

00:32:27.420 It's difficult.

00:32:29.260 So in terms of for us,

00:32:31.560 the timeless teaching here,

00:32:34.060 timeless principle,

00:32:34.960 is that salvation is always narrow.

00:32:38.840 It's always exclusive.

00:32:40.500 There is always only one way.

00:32:43.040 Oh, but the culture has changed.

00:32:44.380 And we don't think in those dogmatic terms anymore.

00:32:47.440 Tough.

00:32:48.840 That's timeless.

00:32:50.460 that was not just to them, that's for us, it's for all people in all places.

00:32:55.400 The nature, not the numbers, but the nature of salvation is always exclusive and narrow.

00:33:02.860 Jesus is the only way.

00:33:05.040 And the nature of following Christ always comes freely by grace,

00:33:10.920 but also, in a practical sense, costly.

00:33:15.560 The cost of discipleship.

00:33:17.960 and in that sense the path is difficult there will include certain difficulties that's true

00:33:26.820 for all people in all times in all places but what was only particularly true or at least as far as

00:33:34.780 Jesus is applying it is it for those people in that time in that place the numerical aspect

00:33:41.780 that few would find salvation and that many would be destroyed so where did the question come from

00:33:47.620 What's the larger context?

00:33:48.920 Someone asks, will few be saved?

00:33:50.580 Jesus answers the question by saying, yes.

00:33:54.660 Yes.

00:33:55.660 Here and now, yes.

00:33:57.760 But also, let's get away from,

00:34:00.120 you're asking a very timely question

00:34:02.640 about these people today.

00:34:06.220 In regards to that question, I admit, few.

00:34:10.700 However, in regards to the nature,

00:34:14.400 not numbers, but nature of salvation for all people,

00:34:17.540 Let me teach on that now some timeless, not timely, timely answer to the numbers question.

00:34:24.640 Timeless principles to the nature of salvation question.

00:34:29.460 Narrow, difficult, narrow, difficult.

00:34:33.960 So that's where the question came about.

00:34:36.200 That's where this saying comes about.

00:34:37.720 Jesus is directly responding to a question.

00:34:40.760 Will few of these people here in Israel, will few be saved? 0.96

00:34:46.660 Jesus gives the answer. But then now we're ready for verse 27, 28, 29 and 30. Now this provides 0.77

00:34:54.500 some really helpful context. OK, so now starting Luke chapter 13 with verse 27.

00:35:01.700 But he will reply. This is the owner. Right. So Jesus says the owner eventually will come back,

00:35:07.400 the owner of the house, and you'll knock on the door and say, please, sir, open the door and let

00:35:11.740 us in but he will answer i don't know you and then you will say but you do know us you ate with us

00:35:18.000 you drank with us you taught in our streets but he the owner of the house that is god he will reply

00:35:24.240 i don't know you or where you come from away from me you evil doers there will be weeping there and

00:35:31.140 gnashing of teeth and look at this when you see abraham isaac and jacob and all the prophets in

00:35:38.740 the kingdom of god they'll be at the banqueting table of the lamb they'll be here in in the house

00:35:44.780 in the feast and the king's great hall but you'll be on the outside saying we knew you we we did

00:35:51.720 know you what do you mean you don't know us i you were in my house you were on my street corner i

00:35:56.460 was sitting in the crowd when you were preaching i ate the five loaves and the fish and came back

00:36:02.240 the next day for another free lunch you know you know me jesus you know me i was on i was signed 0.96

00:36:07.900 up for jesus welfare i'm your guy i love a free lunch no i don't know you you evildoer and you

00:36:17.940 will be cast out where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth i do know your fathers the ones you claim 0.53

00:36:23.860 to be in their lineage and you may be in their lineage in a physical sense but spiritually

00:36:30.620 you have no resemblance to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

00:36:36.000 You're not their sons, according to the promise.

00:36:40.520 Perhaps according to the flesh,

00:36:42.140 but not according to the promise,

00:36:43.660 not by the spirit.

00:36:44.960 Abraham, as Jesus says elsewhere in John chapter 10,

00:36:48.520 Abraham looked ahead through the eyes of faith prophetically

00:36:51.640 and saw my day coming and he welcomed it

00:36:55.740 and welcomed me with gladness.

00:36:58.920 But you didn't do that.

00:37:00.620 You weren't glad to see me.

00:37:04.480 You used me.

00:37:07.200 And many of you even conspired to entrap me.

00:37:13.180 You heard my words, but you did not believe them.

00:37:17.720 Depart from me. I don't know you.

00:37:21.100 You'll see from the outside where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth.

00:37:24.760 You will be on the outside looking in and you'll see those that you claimed

00:37:28.680 as your spiritual fathers,

00:37:31.420 but they were not.

00:37:33.440 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

00:37:35.100 and all the prophets in the kingdom of God,

00:37:36.960 but you yourselves are thrown out.

00:37:40.420 And then I love this, verse 29.

00:37:43.400 People will come, however.

00:37:45.960 It won't just be Abraham,

00:37:48.060 and Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets.

00:37:51.240 It won't just be them.

00:37:53.300 There will be.

00:37:54.280 So he just said,

00:37:55.520 Few, not for all times and all peoples and all places,

00:37:59.920 but for them, his immediate audience.

00:38:02.520 But now he actually is speaking in a future-oriented sense.

00:38:07.480 So he gives the immediate answer, will few be saved?

00:38:10.360 Well, for you here now, yes.

00:38:15.200 But will few be saved ultimately in all places,

00:38:20.380 with all peoples, in all time periods?

00:38:23.320 Now he starts to indicate what he thinks about that.

00:38:26.600 Verse 29.

00:38:27.580 But people will.

00:38:29.000 Will being something that has not yet happened.

00:38:31.180 But will.

00:38:32.100 A future sense.

00:38:33.300 So he answered presently for them.

00:38:35.720 Now he is prophesying in a future sense for everyone.

00:38:40.000 But people will come.

00:38:41.840 It won't just be Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the prophets.

00:38:44.840 People will be seated with them.

00:38:46.960 And they will come from where?

00:38:48.720 From Jerusalem. 0.96

00:38:50.200 From Israel. 0.90

00:38:51.960 No. 0.83

00:38:53.660 They will come from east and west and north and south,

00:38:57.480 and they will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.

00:39:01.560 Indeed, there are those who are last, who will be first, and first, who will be last.

00:39:08.760 Jesus is saying that the wedding banquet will be filled.

00:39:13.040 And as we see elsewhere in the scripture, I'll read it for you right now,

00:39:16.900 what the apostle John says from the revelation that he received when he was in exile.

00:39:22.940 on the island Patmos and he was caught up on the Lord's day by the Spirit and he sees the host.

00:39:29.800 Again, this is a numerical description. This actually is getting at numbers. A numerical

00:39:34.840 description of the host of heaven, not just angels, but souls, people. Revelation chapter 7 verse 9 and

00:39:41.960 10. John says this, after this I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number from

00:39:51.640 Now, using that text, let's now look at the words of Charles Spurgeon in regards to that text.

00:40:19.540 And our text today, Matthew 7, verses 13 and 14.

00:40:24.560 In regards to this question of the final tallied up numbers of heaven and hell.

00:40:31.060 The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon, he said this.

00:40:35.460 It is my firm belief that the number of the saved will be far greater than that of the damned.

00:40:42.900 It is written that in all things Jesus shall have the preeminence.

00:40:48.320 And why is this to be left out?

00:40:51.220 Can we think that Satan will have more followers than Jesus?

00:40:55.500 Oh, no.

00:40:56.820 For while it is written that the redeemed are a number that no man can count,

00:41:03.420 it is not recorded that the lost are beyond numeration.

00:41:08.220 There's no verse in the Bible that says,

00:41:10.140 Behold, I looked to hell and saw a number that no man can count.

00:41:14.700 It's never said of hell.

00:41:15.720 Not in Scripture.

00:41:18.080 But it is said of heaven.

00:41:20.320 That heaven would contain a number beyond man's ability to count.

00:41:25.600 Spurgeon continues.

00:41:26.680 True, we know that the visible elect, okay, at any given moment, in a particular place, at a particular time,

00:41:38.500 that the visible elect, that is the visible church,

00:41:42.580 that those people comparatively in their place,

00:41:47.480 in their town, in their state, in their country,

00:41:50.860 that they may comparatively be small

00:41:53.660 at that place, at that time.

00:41:57.440 Spurgeon, he acknowledges this.

00:41:59.900 He's not crazy.

00:42:01.440 He acknowledges this.

00:42:02.480 True, we know that the visible elect 0.99

00:42:04.580 are always a remnant.

00:42:07.180 Now there, I disagree with his word always,

00:42:09.820 just for the record.

00:42:10.440 I'll come back to that if I remember.

00:42:12.300 But then there are others to be added.

00:42:15.100 Now this I love and absolutely agree with.

00:42:18.780 Okay, so he's saying,

00:42:19.840 well, the visible elect in any given place

00:42:22.740 at any given time, right?

00:42:24.440 In Georgetown, Texas,

00:42:25.480 there might actually be less people this Lord's Day

00:42:29.060 in church than those who are not in church.

00:42:32.740 That's probably the case.

00:42:34.980 And Georgetown, Texas is probably doing comparatively

00:42:37.800 pretty well compared to San Francisco, right?

00:42:41.820 which for the Christians in San Francisco, 0.99

00:42:43.740 I don't know what to tell you.

00:42:45.520 I've said it before.

00:42:46.660 Leave, please, leave.

00:42:48.000 Okay.

00:42:50.180 That said, comparatively, right now,

00:42:54.240 saints in church on this Lord's Day

00:42:56.800 in Georgetown, Texas,

00:42:59.380 probably less than those who chose to stay home.

00:43:02.740 That's true.

00:43:04.280 Spurgeon acknowledges it.

00:43:05.520 He's being fair here.

00:43:06.740 He's making a fair argument.

00:43:08.440 True, we know that the visible elect

00:43:10.280 are always a remnant.

00:43:13.600 I disagree with always.

00:43:14.800 But then there are others to be added.

00:43:17.020 So think about this.

00:43:18.620 Think for a moment of the army of infant souls

00:43:21.460 who are now in heaven. 0.90

00:43:23.560 These all fell in Adam, 0.98

00:43:25.600 but being all elect, 0.85

00:43:27.160 that's his view, it's mine as well,

00:43:29.740 were all redeemed and all regenerated

00:43:32.900 and were privileged to fly straight

00:43:35.660 from their mother's breast or the womb, 1.00

00:43:38.140 those who died in utero.

00:43:40.280 straight from their mother's womb or breast to glory.

00:43:44.140 Happy lot, Spurgeon says,

00:43:46.720 which we who are spared might well envy.

00:43:50.720 Nor let it be forgotten that the multitudes of converts in the millennial age.

00:43:55.540 I would obviously have some disclaimers here and how I would describe that.

00:43:59.700 But I do think in principle, the point still stands that Spurgeon's making. 0.94

00:44:03.480 So think of all the children, elect children that die in infancy.

00:44:08.220 I mean, think about that for a moment, just in America.

00:44:10.280 In the last 50 years alone.

00:44:12.140 Well it's like we've gotten further and further from God.

00:44:15.060 And although God hates abortion.

00:44:17.800 And it's an abomination.

00:44:19.420 And we must do everything we can to end it.

00:44:22.580 It is also true.

00:44:24.020 That in God's sovereign will.

00:44:25.720 Not his moral will.

00:44:27.440 His revealed will in scripture.

00:44:28.940 Which is that he hates murder.

00:44:31.840 And we must work to end it.

00:44:34.180 That's his moral will.

00:44:36.260 But in his.

00:44:36.980 That's the will of God that's revealed to us.

00:44:38.900 But the secret things.

00:44:40.280 that have not been revealed to us, namely His sovereign will,

00:44:43.520 belong to the Lord.

00:44:45.620 In His sovereign will, God has allowed,

00:44:48.760 and I would argue ordained all which comes to pass,

00:44:51.060 has been ordained by God, including sin, including suffering, including death,

00:44:56.440 ordained by God for good, holy, and righteous purposes.

00:44:59.540 God has ordained that as America apostatizes,

00:45:03.880 and there are fewer converts, simultaneously in His sovereignty, 0.57

00:45:08.640 although in the one hand according to his moral will he hates it namely abortion at the very same

00:45:15.460 time according to his sovereign will God has seen fit that at least and this is a low number 70

00:45:21.780 million children have died through abortion and their mother's womb in this nation alone just

00:45:28.760 over the last 50 years this does not include abortions through pills and potions this also

00:45:36.960 does not include all the children who were not aborted but died by natural causes sickness and

00:45:43.300 disease in infancy after having been born imagine all the children that have died in infancy all

00:45:51.160 the children that have died in utero even apart from abortion just through miscarriages

00:45:56.180 and then add to it the abortion numbers the numbers that have been counted 70 million

00:46:03.340 then add to that i would say easily perhaps double jacob you think that's fair

00:46:08.920 double those numbers now 140 million with the pill that's not the miscarriage add the miscarriages

00:46:16.960 200 million add all the children that died in infancy that were born but died in that first

00:46:23.560 year or two of life before they could even speak and spurgeon is saying depending on your view

00:46:29.620 his and mine as it these children were elect so now you're looking at 250 million quarter of a

00:46:38.360 billion close to the current size of our total population in heaven just over the last half

00:46:45.740 century just in this country alone so when he's talking about the numbers of heaven and hell he's

00:46:52.160 like well make sure that you count the numbers accurately let's include the army of infant saints

00:47:00.160 Okay, let's further include.

00:47:01.740 So that's one big category.

00:47:03.240 He then says, let's also include not only those who died in infancy,

00:47:09.400 but the multitudes of converts in the millennial age will very much turn the scale.

00:47:15.700 For then the world will be exceedingly populous.

00:47:18.940 So he's arguing that the cultural mandate will continue to be fulfilled

00:47:23.340 despite wicked men trying to thwart God's will,

00:47:28.200 that we be fruitful and multiply,

00:47:30.420 that overall, that Christ will win out,

00:47:34.040 that we will, in fact, be fruitful and multiply,

00:47:36.540 especially Christians,

00:47:38.480 and that this will continue throughout this church age

00:47:41.280 so that the latter years of history,

00:47:44.100 closer to Christ's final return,

00:47:47.240 will have overall a greater population

00:47:49.640 than those earlier years.

00:47:51.780 And in those earlier years,

00:47:53.320 when the gospel was far less spread out over the earth,

00:47:57.920 When fewer had heard the gospel and the reign of Christ,

00:48:03.360 the mustard seed had been planted but had not yet come into its fruition

00:48:08.260 as a tree that covered the whole face of the earth,

00:48:11.160 as the yeast had been introduced to the batch of dough

00:48:14.760 but had not thoroughly been worked through the whole lump,

00:48:18.940 leavening the whole lump.

00:48:20.000 During those earlier years of the gospel age and even before the gospel age,

00:48:24.440 pre-Christ in very dark times 0.72

00:48:27.600 when the world was filled with demons

00:48:30.240 and false gods.

00:48:33.460 And I would argue even giants,

00:48:35.580 hybrid, Nephilim,

00:48:36.660 got to work that in there. 1.00

00:48:37.500 Maybe mermaids.

00:48:38.280 I'm just saying,

00:48:38.920 I'm just saying it.

00:48:39.660 It's not a definitive position.

00:48:41.960 It's just fun, guys.

00:48:42.920 It's fun, but definitely mermaids.

00:48:46.300 But during those times,

00:48:48.060 yeah, a lot of people went to hell.

00:48:50.400 A lot of people went to hell. 0.89

00:48:52.200 But even in those times pre-Christ, 0.75

00:48:54.440 before the mustard seed is planted,

00:48:56.540 before the leaven enters into the lump of dough.

00:49:02.560 Even in those times, there are moments, time and place.

00:49:07.160 For instance, Nineveh, capital city of Assyria.

00:49:11.260 Remember what happens to Nineveh in the time of Jonah?

00:49:14.180 The whole city repents.

00:49:16.960 And if you think it's just outward moralistic behavior,

00:49:19.740 but not really faith,

00:49:21.200 what Jesus literally says when he comes on the scene

00:49:23.800 in his earthly ministry that the men of Nineveh on the final day would rise up with him and judge

00:49:30.640 these Jewish cities. So Jesus actually affirms that the revival that happened in Nineveh

00:49:38.180 was not just a Christless conservatism, but it actually was a Christian revival.

00:49:45.200 And in Nineveh, at minimum, you could only argue minimum, 120,000. We know that because that number 0.95

00:49:51.820 is literally in Jonah chapter four.

00:49:55.000 But in Jonah chapter four,

00:49:57.280 Jonah is speaking of children

00:49:59.440 that do not know their right hand from their left.

00:50:03.480 He says, are there not?

00:50:04.800 This is God actually speaking to Jonah.

00:50:06.720 He says, but you're upset

00:50:08.940 because I sent a worm to kill a plant

00:50:11.660 that was providing shade for you.

00:50:14.060 And you're sitting here saying,

00:50:14.860 oh, it was an innocent plant,

00:50:15.980 didn't do anything wrong.

00:50:16.960 No, no, you're not concerned for the plant.

00:50:18.260 You're just concerned for you, Jonah.

00:50:19.840 because if you were concerned for the plant because it's an inanimate object and therefore

00:50:25.120 not guilty of sin and you think i was unjust to destroy it well if that was really your your

00:50:30.780 operating principle then you know what you would also be concerned about 120 000 souls in nineveh

00:50:37.880 that that do not even know the difference between the right and left hand do you know what god's

00:50:42.200 talking about he's not talking about the overall population of nineveh he's talking about the

00:50:45.980 population of the very small children in Nineveh who weren't guilty. Their parents had done

00:50:52.780 incredible crimes to Israel, but the children hadn't. And this is why God includes right next

00:50:58.640 to it. If you're wondering, well, how do you know that that's what he's talking about? Because right

00:51:02.560 next to it, he says, there are 120,000 that do not know the difference between the right and left

00:51:08.460 hand and very much cattle why why like what it seems random it's right there at the very end of

00:51:16.640 the book of jonah and there's a lot of cows well god has compassion on all he has made the psalm

00:51:23.020 said he owns the cattle on a thousand hills the scripture says but the reason why he includes

00:51:28.400 cattle or some translations say and i think it's better livestock is he's saying the children who

00:51:35.260 aren't guilty of crimes against Israel and the animals. You want me to send fire and brimstone 0.51

00:51:42.400 from heaven and destroy them all. But that would include the children who are not guilty of these 0.99

00:51:47.040 crimes and the livestock, the animals that aren't guilty either. He's making the argument, including

00:51:51.420 the animals, because he's saying, Jonah, you're a liar. You're pretending to be justifiably, 0.98

00:51:58.320 righteously indignant that I killed a plant. And you're saying, well, the plant didn't do anything

00:52:04.680 wrong. No, you don't care about the plant. You just care about your shade. Because if you actually

00:52:09.260 cared about the plant and you actually thought I was being unjust for killing, sending a worm to

00:52:14.340 kill a plant because plants aren't guilty, they're inanimate objects, well then you would also care

00:52:18.820 about cattle. But you want me to kill thousands of cattle in Nineveh. So why are you mad about me 0.98

00:52:25.300 killing one plant over here outside of Nineveh? And not only do you want me to kill thousands of 0.90

00:52:30.100 livestock animals that aren't guilty just like the plant in Nineveh you also want me to kill 0.98

00:52:35.060 children human children made in my image who are also not guilty not of these crimes that you're 0.72

00:52:42.420 mad about that that Assyria and Nineveh have committed against Israel the adults have done

00:52:47.780 that yes true but not the children so all that being back to the main point here 120,000 who's

00:52:54.540 don't know the difference between the right and left hand that's the population not of Nineveh

00:52:58.100 but that's the population of the children of Nineveh.

00:53:01.220 You can make an argument that there were 500,000

00:53:03.420 or perhaps even a million people in Nineveh.

00:53:06.480 And as far as we know from the narrative

00:53:08.280 provided for us in scripture in Jonah,

00:53:10.160 and then Jesus later affirming it by saying,

00:53:12.520 these men, the men of Nineveh, not just some of them,

00:53:15.100 but they'll rise up and join me in the judgment of Israel.

00:53:19.900 Meaning they actually, this was a Christian revival. 0.55

00:53:22.620 According to that, we've got a million people,

00:53:25.320 500,000 to a million people saved.

00:53:28.100 In a fortnight, in Nineveh, pre-Christ. 0.74

00:53:33.320 This is before the seed, the mustard seed is even planted. 0.77

00:53:36.560 Much less after it's planted, but we're still waiting for it to grow into fruition to a full earth encompassing tree.

00:53:43.340 So even in the darkest times, here's the point.

00:53:46.180 Even in the darkest times of human history, there were still times and places where God moved mightily.

00:53:52.940 And saved more people than you and I are aware of.

00:53:58.100 He did that when the world was infested with demons and mermaids, guys.

00:54:03.040 He did that.

00:54:04.900 How many more times has he done it since Christ?

00:54:09.000 Since the seed has been planted.

00:54:10.800 Since the tree begins to sprout.

00:54:13.360 You know another time period?

00:54:15.260 The Dark Ages.

00:54:17.320 Those terrible, terrible Dark Ages.

00:54:20.100 No, the true Dark Ages is the Enlightenment and everything that's come since.

00:54:23.560 But during the Dark Ages, as far as we know,

00:54:26.740 the average person in the known world at the time 0.76

00:54:30.800 was a Christ-exalting, God-fearing Christian. 0.94

00:54:39.920 For all we know, the vast majority of people were regenerate. 0.89

00:54:45.640 And then back to the saints who die in infancy,

00:54:50.520 not only do we have many who meet that because of abortion, 0.97

00:54:53.760 which is an abomination, it must be stopped,

00:54:55.660 but think about before modern medicine it was normative not because of abortion necessarily

00:55:01.220 but it was normative that children would die in infancy that's happened again even pre-christ

00:55:09.760 even pre-christ you could argue that half the population for the first 4 000 years of human

00:55:16.380 history before christ even appeared died in infancy in which case the population of heaven

00:55:22.380 and hell would be tied post-christ still many dying in infancy but then oh joe but modern 0.94

00:55:29.340 medicine now less dying infancy yeah but we made up for it by intentionally killing them

00:55:33.760 and that doesn't include certain time periods in entire continents such as europe and the in

00:55:42.500 america with great christian revivals where i believe in in just a couple centuries ago even

00:55:48.920 less than that that the majority of adults not just infants dying elect infants but the majority

00:55:54.140 of adults were bible believing christians and i would further argue that we haven't seen anything

00:56:01.080 yet that we're just getting started and that the scripture will prevail and prove to be true in the

00:56:07.940 final analysis that the knowledge of the glory of god will cover the whole earth even as the waters

00:56:12.740 cover the sea. And that there will be great Christian revivals all over the earth. And that

00:56:19.060 Christendom has fallen in many ways, but not forever. That she will rise again. And that all

00:56:27.580 the plans of the enemies of God will ultimately be thwarted. And that there will be great time

00:56:33.820 periods of true light. Not the enlightenment, not a dark enchantment, a demonic enchantment over

00:56:42.160 the world but true christian light that it will fill the earth once more and that all will know

00:56:48.760 him from the least to the greatest like we see even isaiah chapter 65 that no longer will the

00:56:57.800 youth die in infancy but even the youth will live to be a hundred that the leopard and the lamb would 0.86

00:57:03.620 lie down together that the nations would no longer know war right no more zionism 0.98

00:57:10.020 a leading cause of war it is it is zionism will be done

00:57:18.240 and so there i mean that cuts out 90 of wars right there

00:57:22.720 so false doctrine will ultimately fail dispensationalism will fail zionism will

00:57:28.980 fail there will be less war in fact isaiah 65 and this is pre-christ this isn't oh we're in

00:57:34.880 in the eschaton no this is leading up to the final return of christ meaning there's still

00:57:39.540 earthly families husbands wives children being born there's still sin there's still death but

00:57:44.880 death doesn't happen like it used to when someone dies at a hundred years old you say he was he was

00:57:51.240 but a youth and the nations will no longer know war they'll take their swords and beat them into

00:57:56.780 plowshares and the christian gospel will reign supreme many will know him the majority i could

00:58:04.080 argue from isaiah 65 will know him from the least to the greatest and at a time period where the

00:58:10.680 overall population of the world would be at its highest so this is not just a wishful argument

00:58:18.240 add all these things together from infancy to nineveh revivals of half a million to a million

00:58:25.060 people even pre-christ to the dark ages and christendom in places and times prior and a

00:58:31.480 reigning Christendom once more

00:58:33.000 with the largest population on the earth

00:58:35.920 that we've ever seen

00:58:37.100 because of the cultural mandate

00:58:40.440 continuing to be fulfilled,

00:58:44.320 to be fruitful and multiply.

00:58:46.780 And when you think of all these things,

00:58:48.480 it is not only biblical,

00:58:49.820 but it is logical to say

00:58:52.020 that Christ will get the preeminence

00:58:55.680 in all things,

00:58:57.120 including even the number of the redeemed.

00:58:59.920 you could say it like this we win we win down here we do we really do we really do

00:59:10.800 final thing i'll say we've got to wrap it up the words of jesus for us is not about the number of

00:59:19.040 salvation but the nature of salvation it's always narrow exclusive christ alone it's always difficult

00:59:25.880 there is always a cost to discipleship in terms of the numbers that was not for us but to them

00:59:33.000 however to be fair this argument cuts both ways what i'm arguing is that those words about the

00:59:40.780 numbers being few which was not for us but to them that um i'm saying that that doesn't have

00:59:47.720 to be true of all people in all places it was true of them in their place in their time it's

00:59:52.080 not necessarily true of all people in all places however that argument cuts both ways it means it

00:59:57.560 doesn't have to be true of all people in all places in all times but it may be true of all

01:00:02.080 not all people but some people in some places and sometimes in the same way that jesus goes to these

01:00:07.520 people and he says for you things are bleak there can be other places other peoples and other time

01:00:15.980 periods where likewise things can be bleak that's an entirely possible scenario and this is precisely

01:00:24.000 what we need to consider as we seek to do the work of an evangelist we need to be in any time period 0.59

01:00:30.540 never writing anyone off entirely i believe that that is immoral unbiblical and wrong

01:00:36.380 okay so don't think i'm saying that but we can i think with wisdom and prudence recognize

01:00:43.580 that at any given time

01:00:45.940 there are some peoples

01:00:47.940 and some places

01:00:49.280 where God is saving from more

01:00:51.720 and other peoples

01:00:53.400 and other places

01:00:54.380 where God is saving less. 0.87

01:00:57.780 That's always been historically true.

01:01:00.420 Always.

01:01:02.000 And so we should recognize

01:01:03.200 in our place, in our time,

01:01:05.460 one, who are my people

01:01:07.180 and whether they're particularly

01:01:09.480 obstinate to the gospel or not,

01:01:11.400 I do have an obligation,

01:01:12.700 a unique obligation to them. Secondly, whether these are my people or not, who are the people

01:01:19.820 in this moment that God seems to be doing a work with? Where are the fields white

01:01:29.120 with the harvest? Just for the record, that's literally the words of Jesus, white. I mean,

01:01:35.300 they're ready, ripe. It's not, where are the white people? That's not what Jesus was saying. 0.96

01:01:40.780 He's saying, where are the ripe harvest fields ready to be harvested?

01:01:46.680 And we should be thinking strategically.

01:01:49.680 Jesus even condemns his own followers and says,

01:01:53.880 the sons of darkness are more shrewd than you, the children of light.

01:01:57.980 We should be shrewd.

01:01:59.640 Like the parable of the servants with the talents.

01:02:02.640 We are commanded with whatever talent, whatever resources,

01:02:06.280 whatever giftings that God gives to us to return a profit.

01:02:10.780 To return a profit.

01:02:12.620 It is not hateful.

01:02:13.920 It is not animus.

01:02:15.960 You can have animus.

01:02:17.120 And if so, repent.

01:02:18.420 But not by necessity.

01:02:19.900 It is not necessarily hateful to say,

01:02:23.120 I'm going to minister in this place primarily.

01:02:27.860 Or among this demographic primarily.

01:02:31.160 In this nation primarily.

01:02:33.400 Because not for all times and all places.

01:02:36.820 Not as a universal timeless truth.

01:02:38.500 But in this moment, God seems to be doing a work here.

01:02:42.440 And I want to strike where the iron's hot

01:02:45.600 because the master demands that I give him

01:02:48.360 the highest return on his investment.

01:02:51.940 That's just faithful stewardship.

01:02:53.660 That's faithful Christianity.

01:02:55.160 And I'll give you one application.

01:02:57.900 There's a harvest on the right, not on the left.

01:03:02.540 I'm speaking culturally and politically now.

01:03:05.480 The harvest is on the right.

01:03:06.720 If you haven't figured that out, you are dense. 1.00

01:03:08.500 and you need to repent of being ignorant and biased 0.99

01:03:13.360 because you can only come to the alternative conclusion 0.99

01:03:15.300 by being biased, by willfully being blind.

01:03:18.180 For the last 30 years, our evangelical elites

01:03:21.300 sold conservatives, sold them out

01:03:25.080 so that they could take the widow's mites

01:03:27.700 and go and build their ministries

01:03:29.900 in Manhattan, New York, in San Francisco,

01:03:32.440 all over the West and East Coast,

01:03:34.940 doing ministry with all the liberal elites,

01:03:36.960 making sure that they had an opportunity to go and speak at Google,

01:03:40.140 to speak at Apple, to speak here, to speak there.

01:03:44.620 There was never a harvest on the left.

01:03:47.660 The left hates God.

01:03:49.420 Can they be saved?

01:03:50.740 Yes.

01:03:51.800 Of course, you never write anyone off.

01:03:54.020 I'm not saying them.

01:03:55.280 But what I am saying is you can look at the providence of God and say,

01:03:58.660 he's blessing this, and currently he's not blessing that.

01:04:02.220 and then you can utilize, optimize, monopolize on God's blessing, not with sinful favoritism,

01:04:11.060 not with hateful animus, but out of proper stewardship saying the master demands a return

01:04:16.680 and I want to get the biggest return possible. You want to lead a lot of people to Jesus?

01:04:22.680 Find cowboy hats. You want to lead a lot of people to Jesus? Be in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,

01:04:31.740 Not New York.

01:04:35.180 Is that true for all times?

01:04:37.560 No.

01:04:38.500 This is not a timeless principle.

01:04:40.280 This is a timely principle.

01:04:42.180 It's a timely principle.

01:04:44.680 God is always saving fewer or more

01:04:47.880 among a particular people in a particular place.

01:04:51.220 And we need to have eyes to see that

01:04:53.080 and get behind what the Lord is doing.

01:04:55.220 Where are the fields white with the harvest?

01:05:00.840 And where can we be faithful to go and get as big of a harvest as we possibly can?

01:05:06.700 Right now, Christians have an opportunity.

01:05:09.240 Is Trump a Christian? I don't think so. 0.97

01:05:12.240 He had my vote.

01:05:14.120 I'd vote for him again and again and again.

01:05:17.240 I'm so glad he's our president. So glad.

01:05:20.140 Is he a Christian? I don't think so. 1.00

01:05:24.800 But does his election create an opportunity for Christians?

01:05:30.080 to have more prominence and more influence

01:05:33.040 and more opportunity than we would have otherwise.

01:05:35.920 Yes, yes.

01:05:38.700 So seize the carp.

01:05:42.120 Carpe diem, right?

01:05:43.700 Seize it.

01:05:44.500 Take advantage of what the Lord is doing

01:05:47.360 providentially in this moment

01:05:48.640 and go and find those Christless conservatives

01:05:51.240 of which there are many,

01:05:53.480 would never say otherwise,

01:05:54.800 and give them Christ. 0.95

01:05:56.140 And some, not all, but I believe more of those Christless conservatives will, in the providence of God, choose to receive Christ than the leftists who hate him and promote the killing of children and sodomy.

01:06:15.780 I don't think that's a crazy argument.

01:06:17.060 the homesteading conservative guy over here who's not a christian

01:06:23.540 but has traditional values might be more open to the gospel

01:06:28.020 than the guy who's a part of the world economic forum and trying to end the human population

01:06:33.540 i don't think that's like oh joel's just trying to you know be hyperbolic i think that's a fairly

01:06:39.700 safe argument all right let's pray father bless your word to your people bring yourself great

01:06:44.960 glory. In Jesus' name, amen.

The NXR Podcast - February 10, 2025

THE SERMON - There Will Be Far More People In Heaven, Than In Hell

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