Chapter 2: Self-Assertion
Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to" (Luke 13:24).
There once was a man who asked our Lord Jesus Christ a very serious question. He said to Him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
Who this man was we do not know. What his motive was for asking this question we are not told. Perhaps he wished to gratify an idle curiosity: perhaps he wanted an excuse for not seeking salvation himself. The Holy Spirit has kept back all this from us: the name and motive of the seeker are both hidden.
But one thing is very clear, and that is the vast importance of the saying of our Lord to which the question gave rise. Jesus seized the opportunity to direct the minds of all around Him to their own plain duty. He knew the train of thought which the man's inquiry had set moving in their hearts: He saw what was going on within them. "Make every effort," He cries, "to enter through the narrow door." Whether there be few saved or many, your course is clear--make every effort to enter in. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. A day will come when many will seek to enter in and will not be able. "Make every effort to enter in now."
I desire to call the serious attention of all who read this paper to the solemn lessons which this saying of the Lord Jesus is meant to teach. It is one which deserves special remembrance in the present day. It teaches unmistakably that mighty truth, our own personal responsibility for the salvation of our souls. It shows the immense danger of putting off the great business of Christianity, as so many unhappily do. On both these points the witness of our Lord Jesus Christ in the text is clear. He, who is the eternal God, and who spoke the words of perfect wisdom, says to the sons of men, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to" (Luke 13:24).
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