Listen or read the following transcript as Richard Coekin speaks on A Door of Opportunity from Luke 13
The following unedited transcript is provided by Beluga AI.
Thank you for your warm welcome. It’s very good to be with you and especially to see some old friends, including the Martins here. Very nice to see them here. But thank you for your welcome.
I wonder whether you’ve ever had the experience of regretting having missed an opportunity, having ignored some opportunity that came up and then later wishing you hadn’t. It’s a little while ago now, but I was once rang up by a South African and it turned out to be a South African pastor. I didn’t know him and he rang me up and he said, “I’m in London. I was wondering whether we could meet up just for a few days. I’m here for a few days” and I thought, well, I’m a bit busy.
And he said, “I’d like to encourage you and introduce you to my family. It’d be nice to be with you.” And I thought, who is this bloke? And he said, “Tony Peterson or something like that. I don’t know who he was. And I said, “Look, I’m sorry. I’d love to meet you, but I’m a bit busy at the moment.” And he said, “That’s a shame.” I said, “Why are you here?” He said, “I’m here to see the cricket.” I said, “Up at Lord’s?” And he said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, South Africa, England.”
And I said, “Oh, how much of it are you seeing?” He said, “Yeah, all of it.” I said, “Oh, I mean, are you into cricket?” He said, “Yeah, yeah.” I said, “Do you know the South African team well?” He said, “Yeah, I know them all.” I said, “Oh, which of them do you know?” Well, actually, he said, “I know the England team a bit better because I know one of the players.” So I said, “Peterson, Kevin Peterson.” He said, “Yeah, yeah, I’m his brother. I’m staying with him. I thought you might like to meet him.”
Having said that I was too busy, I couldn’t now say, “Actually, suddenly, there’s a big hole in my diary. I could really come and meet you.” And I thought, oh, no, I’d really like to have met him. Went home, told my boys. They were furious. “How could you possibly say you’re too busy to meet Kevin Peterson?” And they’re real grumps.
But I wonder when you’ve ever had the opportunity where you had a, looking back, you sort of think, “I had an opportunity and I missed it. And I wish I’d taken that.” Whether it’s a job offer, investment opportunity, invitation to a party, we must all have stories of some opportunity that we missed once.
Well, in this famous story told by Jesus in Luke’s gospel here, Jesus compares a relationship with God to a fantastic opportunity that many people, and perhaps sadly some people here, will spend forever wishing they had taken up. He says a friendship with God is such a marvelous opportunity, but sadly many people who ignore it will spend forever regretting that.
Now the scene is set for us. I don’t know whether you could turn to your Bibles or to the passage where it’s written. I’ve no idea what page number it is. Do you know what page it is, Angus? Angus hasn’t even got a Bible. Is there anybody here with a Bible who could just tell us what page it is? Joe? 1047. You need to get one, Angus. You should have a Bible. Oh, he has got one. It’s just a little one.
Luke 13:22. Luke sets the scene for us.
22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. (Luke 13:22, ESV)
Now setting the scene at this point is quite important because this was not just a kind of friendly kind of ramble in the countryside talking to His mates about the wildlife. Luke and the rest of the gospel writers make clear that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to die. He knew that was what was going to happen. He told them again and again and again this was what was going to happen.
The reason He kept teaching all the way to Jerusalem was that nobody could understand why. Why would you walk into Jerusalem knowing you’re hated and you’re going to be captured and you’re going to be killed? He says, “Yeah, I’m going to be killed. In fact, I’m going to be tortured and then I’ll be killed and then I’ll rise again after three days.” Of course, everyone’s gobsmacked. Why would you do such a stupid thing? He explains why.
Now, it’s important for us to understand why if we’re going to understand what happens next. Many people struggle with the idea why would God shrink Himself down to become an ordinary bloke walking around Palestine. It is a bizarre thing, isn’t it? Why would the supreme being, the great creator God out there, why would He become an ordinary man and walk around Palestine in the first century? It’s a good question.
Jesus had to explain that as promised for centuries beforehand, the reason why God shrank Himself down to become an ordinary man was in order to swap places with ordinary people like you and me when He died on the cross. He had to become ordinary to take our place. He had to become like us to swap places with us.
Let me explain. A couple of years ago now, there was a George Cross awarded posthumously to a man who gave his life in a daring rescue. His name was Bill Deacon. You may have heard of him. There was a trawler called the Green Lily that was leaving Lerwick Harbour, got into difficulties and in mountainous seas was breaking up. The lifeboats from the Scottish coast couldn’t get to the boat. The only people that could get there was the air-sea rescue helicopter.
So, Bill Deacon, who was the winchman in the helicopter, in absolutely storm conditions in these tumultuous seas, lowered himself down on the winch and came down onto the deck of the ship. There, one by one, he attached each of the ten crew to the winch and they were raised up again to the helicopter. All ten were saved, but the last one was then swept off the top of the boat and his body was washed up on the shore a few days later. It was extraordinary sacrificial heroism.
I think it helps us understand who Jesus is. You see, He came down from heaven in order to help us get to heaven. He came down and became an ordinary person like us so He could swap places with us. On the cross, He suffered all the penalty for the things that we do wrong to one another and to God so that we can be accepted into heaven. Do you know why He did that? He did that because He loves us. He loves us passionately. He wants us to be with Him forever. That’s why He left heaven to come and be an ordinary man.
So as He’s walking on His way to Jerusalem, He knows He’s going to die in our place. On the way, somebody asks Him a stupid question. And you have it there in verse 23.
23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (Luke 13:23, ESV)
Somebody asked Him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” This is a really stupid question because it’s a bit like standing on the Titanic while it’s going down and saying to the captain, “How many people do you think are going to be saved?” And you kind of think, get in the lifeboat. I mean, why does it matter? It’s a very conceptual, evasive question. Let’s pontificate for a moment. Let’s speculate. How many people do you think? A lot or a few? How many millions?
And Jesus doesn’t answer the question because it seems to be a very kind of evasive question. It’s kind of avoiding any personal involvement. It’s about other people. It’s conceptual. It’s pointless. The answer makes no difference at all. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s important to ask questions, isn’t it? It’s important to ask our real questions and it’s important to get them answered. But sometimes there comes a time when you kind of ask questions evasively and really you’re using your questions as an excuse to go no further.
When I was younger, just after I’d left school, a friend and I thought it would be rather cool to go parachuting. So we went up to a parachuting course up at Langer Airfield near Nottingham and it seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway, just before we got into the plane, I was given this new kind of gas canister reserve parachute thing to strap on my chest with a red light on it. He said, “Don’t worry, as long as the red light’s on, it’s fine.” Well, I was looking at this machine thinking, you know, I don’t even know how this thing works. What are you supposed to do?
Anyway, we all jumped into this little aeroplane and it’s made of cardboard really and it took off and 2,500 feet, you know, they cut the engine. I’m looking at this thing thinking, I don’t even know what, am I supposed to press something or does the red light on mean it doesn’t work, has the battery run out or what? Anyway, so they turn off the engine and I was, you know, I have to confess, I was a bit scared and I kind of, anyway, people started jumping out the plane and it came to my turn. So I came up to this doorway, look out, oh, you know, there’s nothing there and I started asking questions. I was saying, how does the red light work? He said, “Don’t worry about it.” I said, but will it go off? He said, “Don’t worry about it.” I said, but, you know, question after question after question, in the end, he just grabbed me and threw me out, pushed me out.
And actually, it was fantastic because it was a fixed line, the parachute opened, it was great kind of going down there, although the report afterwards for the investigators said, “De-arched and kicking.” I think that would be about right. But you see, I was asking all those questions because I didn’t want to go out. I’d suddenly thought, I don’t want to go. And sometimes people are like that with God. Sometimes you get to a point where the questions, you ask more and more and more questions, in the end, you’re just avoiding the issue. Maybe there’s some people here like that this morning.
So Jesus, rather than asking the question, goes on to tell this rather sober and somber parable. What He does is He likens a relationship to God as being in a feast with God. So He likens it to a massive banquet. And it’s a fantastic place. He said, look, knowing God is like being in a feast hosted by God. You know, so you’re kind of thinking, you know, lobsters and piles of steak and, you know, lots of fine wines and raspberry pavlovas by the bucket load. You know, old speckled hen on tap.
You know, you get the scene. A fantastic banquet. And He says it’s like looking in through a door and there’s a door to go in. And He says three things about this door. The first thing we find in verse 24, 25, there’s a door that will one day be closed. Let me read to you.
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When 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.’ (Luke 13:24-25, ESV)
So there’s a door that will one day be closed.
I mean, the fantastic news is that there’s a door. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the door is open. In other words, there is a way to go in to know God now and to spend forever with Him enjoying His feast, enjoying His kindness. It’s fantastic. But Jesus says, “Look, it is a narrow door,” by which I think He means you don’t go through this door by accident. You don’t just wander in and not know. You know, you can’t wander in with your family or with the church, you know, like, and not really know you’ve gone in. This is a narrow door, which I take it means that it’s difficult to find. You have to put some effort into finding it. You have to put some effort into knowing what it took for you to be able to go through.
In other words, God wants us to understand that Jesus had to die to open this door. And I take it He also means that, you know, you can’t go through carrying all the luggage that you want, you know, like some people, you know, when they’re going on holiday, like my daughters, for example. You can’t, you have to leave everything behind. It’s a narrow door. You have to leave everything and you go through entirely dependent upon God on the other side. So He says it’s a narrow door.
And more than that, He says, it will be closed one day. “Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you’ll stand outside knocking and pleading.” So although the door is open at the moment, the day is coming, either when we die or when we kind of give up on God and move on. The day is coming when the door will be closed and then the opportunity will have passed.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I confess I’m rather famous for the lastminute. com syndrome. I love getting trains when they’re already moving. Anybody else like that? You know, I love buying presents on Christmas Eve just before the shops close. You know, I like to be the last passenger on the airplane and so on. It’s fun living like that, but every so often you get bitten by it and you discover, don’t you, it doesn’t quite work. So all the administrators here are shocked, appalled. But you know, sometimes you get bit.
It happened to me once when I was a lawyer in London. The senior partner owned a box at the Albert Hall. He let it out to his juniors. I’m not particularly cultured, but I thought it’d be a laugh. I invited my friends along and we went for a meal and drink beforehand and then jumped in a taxi and we got there just a couple of minutes late. So piled out of the taxi, you know what I mean, yuppies from the office, usual kind of smart-mouthed young lads. And there was this chap in a uniform and everybody else had gone in, the doors closed, you know, he said, “Sorry we’re a bit late, we’ll just slip in.” And he said, “Sorry, you can’t.” He said, “No, don’t worry, mate, don’t worry, you know, arm round him, don’t worry, old man, we’ll slip in and no one will even notice. I’m sorry, sir, you can’t go in, the door’s closed. Don’t worry about it, just let us in. Here, do you have a fiver?” He said, “Sir, the door is closed.”
And now this normally never happens to young men from the city, they always get what they want. So, “Oh, come on, let us in, no one will notice.” He pulled himself up to his full height and he said, “I’m sorry, sir, this is the Albert Hall, the door is closed and you are too late.” We had to walk around and go away again. I mean, it was utterly humiliating. I’ve got all my mates there and we just run it too close.
And some people treat God like that. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, don’t worry, God, you know, when I’m a bit older, when I’m a bit less busy, you know, when I’ve got a bit more time, when I’m really desperate, maybe never, I’ll think about you.” And Jesus says, there comes a time when the door’s closed and it is too late.
Now, I think we think, don’t we, that when we get older, we’ll have lots more time. Perhaps those who are older here can tell us what it’s really like. In my job as a clergyman, I’ve buried a lot of people. And it’s very striking when you talk to people in their 90s who’ve just buried a partner. And I’ve often said, very gently, you know, as we’ve had our discussions about the person who’s died and so on, “Do you ever think about God and life beyond the grave? Do you ever think about God and life beyond the grave?” “Oh no, far too busy, far too busy. 96 years old.”
You see, when you’re 26, you think, “Oh, when I’m 96, I’ll have all the time in the world, then I’ll think about God.” But of course, what happens is, you’re always busy. There’s never going to be a time when you’re not too busy. And what happens, of course, is we always make time for the things we think are important.
And of course, we get better and better at putting God off, as if He’s a door-to-door salesman, saying, “Some other time.” And Jesus says, that is a dangerous game to play. There is a door that is open, but one day it’ll be closed. And what a tragedy if you arrive at the doors of heaven, and somebody says, “I’m sorry, madam. I’m sorry, sir, this is heaven. The door is closed, and you are too late.”
That’s the first thing. The second thing Jesus then says is, there will be many unable to enter.
25 When 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.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ (Luke 13:25-27, ESV)
Now, the language is polite, notice, you see. There are clearly many here who are unable to enter, and people are pleading. Suddenly, you see, when the door is closed, that is, when we die and we’re then raised to face God, suddenly everybody is going to want to be inside. Everybody is going to wish they were on the inside. And Jesus is saying, look, pleading is not going to work. “Sir, sir, please, pretty please, open the door for us.” That’s not going to work. “Away from me.”
Now, at that point, many of us, of course, in our culture think, “What’s going on here? Why can’t I get in? I’m a privileged person. I’m always allowed in. Why am I going to be shut out? What’s wrong with me?” Let me explain this, because I think people get confused. We have such a high view of opinion of ourselves generally, don’t we?
Imagine a couple of teachers coming to Sevenoaks, and they’re going to teach in the local school. The Wilderness School? Whatever. Anyway, they’re going to teach there, and they want somewhere to live. So they’re looking at the local paper, and they’re looking for somewhere that they can afford. And they’re seeing this advert. Mansion. 40 reception rooms, 13 gyms, four swimming pools, 18 acres of grounds. Where would that be? Pinnington? Kippington. That’s what I said. Kippington. All right. £10 a month. What is this mansion? £10 a month. Well, I think it must be a misprint. Ring up. It’s not a misprint. Russian billionaire. Going to be away for three years. Wants someone to look after the mansion while he’s away. Doesn’t need the money. Just wants someone to look after the house for him.
So anyway, the two teachers tell him, “I can’t believe it. James and John, this is a fantastic place.” And it’s absolutely true. The billionaire says, “Look, I just want you to stay in touch with me. Keep me informed. This is a big place. Just stay in touch by email and just enjoy the place.” Well, I can’t believe it. Off he goes, and he heads off on business, and the two move in.
Anyway, James takes the first floor, and John takes the top floor. Now, John on the top floor, he’s a party animal, and pretty soon all his mates are all there as well, and there’s beer on the walls, and there’s cigarette butt marks in the antique furniture, and there’s vomit on the floor, and the place is absolutely trashed within a couple of months. And you probably know someone like that. Anyway, that’s what they’ve done. They’ve absolutely trashed the place. And everyone’s thinking, “God, when the owner comes back, he’s going to be out in his ear.” Everybody can see it.
But downstairs, James, he’s very different. He’s very smartly turned out, goes to bed in a suit, polishes the brass handles, cuts the grass with the scissors every weekend. He’s the model. He’s so polite. He’s so well turned out. He’s so middle class. Everybody thinks, “Gosh, when the owner returns, this guy’s going to be given the run of the whole place.”
Anyway, at the end of the time, the owner, the billionaire, returned and kicked them both out. And no one was surprised about the guy who trashed the place, but they were all surprised about this nice middle class person. And to anybody who bothered to ask, the owner explained, “Listen, I know they behave differently, but the truth is that they treated me exactly the same. I know that one of them made a mess of the place, and the other was very tidy, but neither of them bothered to stay in touch. Every time I contacted them, they didn’t respond. They totally ignored me. It was as if my kindness to them didn’t matter to them at all. They treated me as if I wasn’t there. They must think I’m an idiot. They certainly treated me like that, and so I’m afraid there’s no room for either of them.”
I tell that story because I think it helps us remember that although we do it differently, we treat God the same. You see, some of us absolutely trash our lives, and there are wrecked relationships everywhere. And in our hearts, we know that we’re in trouble with God for the way we’ve treated others, the way we’ve treated Him. We know we’re in trouble. But others are so nicely turned out, so polite, so smart and middle class, we think, “God, what would God possibly have against me?”I’m saying, the problem is, yeah, we live in His world, the privileges He gives to us, but we treat Him as if He isn’t there. We ignore Him, we just wish He’d stay out of our way, we criticize Him, we’d run the place better ourselves, and we take from Him, but we treat Him as if He wasn’t there. And if we spend our lives doing that, we cannot complain if at the end God says, “I’m sorry, I’ve given you all this in your life, and I’m afraid you can’t be with me anymore. You’ve treated me like dirt all your life, so I’m afraid you can’t stay.”
And Jesus is saying, you see, that is what will happen to those who haven’t done anything, they haven’t gone through the narrow door, they’re pleading. But then they say, it’s very interesting, they say, “Look, but we ate and drank with you, you taught in our streets.” In other words, we’re socially familiar with you. You know, I suppose you might say, we went to church events, especially weddings and Christmas, we heard you taught in our streets, we heard great sermons like your book, especially the ten rules and the old bit, and the sermon in the new bit. Like your book, it’s really good. And Jesus will say, “But I don’t know you, we’re not friends, are we?” So there’s a big difference, isn’t there, between friendship and just familiarity.
Again, I’ll tell you another story just to illustrate that. When I was humiliated in Sydney once, I’d met Rob Andrew, who’s a rugby player, then he was an England rugby player, now he’s in the administration of Rugby in England. I met Rob Andrew at a drinks party, had quite a conversation with him, really enjoyed it, sort of quite enjoyed my brush with this celebrity figure. I then went to study in Sydney, and when I was in Sydney, the England team came out to play Australia. They got thrashed, of course, but they came out to play, and they were playing down at the university ground, they were practising. So I went down the ground to see them, there was Rob Andrew practising his kicks. So I was standing on the sideline with all the crowd gathered to watch them play, and Rob Andrew came over to my side, you see. So I called out, “Hey Rob! Rob, how are you?” Thinking he’d be really pleased to see me, one of his great friends. And he went, “Hi.” Kicked a few more, then went off the other side of the pitch, you know, and I felt about this big. I thought, “you stupid idiot. You’re not a friend, you’re just an acquaintance. I know what he looks like.” There’s a big difference, you see, between being someone’s real friend, and being familiar with them.
And Jesus is saying, you see, a lot of people are going to say, “Let me into heaven, I’m very familiar with you.” And Jesus is going to say, “I’m sorry, we’re not friends, are we?” And you know, imagine if Jesus was to come back today, and He was to walk in through those glass doors, He was to come down, I’d shut up, I promise, I’d sit down, and He’d come through, and you know, He’s greeting all His friends. And you can imagine, as He comes along, “David, Vicky, it’s so good to see you, how are you? You know, big cuddle, come down the front, you know. Andy, Amanda, I know how hard it’s been working here, but it’s so good to see you. Angus, you’ve made a bit of a hash of it, but it’s good to see you, pal. It’s good to see you. Come and spend eternity with me, it’s all ready.” And then He comes to you and me, and we’re sitting here, and He says, “I don’t think we know each other, do we? We’re not friends, are we?” There’ll be many who are unable to enter.
And thirdly, Jesus is even more sobering, there’ll be anguish amongst those left outside. Verse 28 says,
28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” (Luke 13:28-30, ESV)
Now, listen, Jesus is saying these frightening things because He loves us. He doesn’t want anybody to be left outside. He wants us all to be on the inside. That’s why He died, to open the door. But because He loves us, like a loving parent, He warns us, “Listen, it will be dreadful to be left outside. You do not want to be left outside. With everything good taken away, because all the friendship, the joy, the fun, that’s God’s stuff. And that’ll be with Him. If you’re outside God’s place, you’ll have none of that.” He said you don’t want to be left outside.
He says, “Look, there’ll be weeping there. It’s dreadful, isn’t it, when you see adults crying, and crying. There’ll be gnashing of teeth.” They’re funny words, aren’t they, gnashing of teeth? But it’s a dreadful feeling. He’s talking about that grinding of teeth in anguish and regret at a missed opportunity. “Why didn’t I do something? Why didn’t I do something that day when they hauled me along to St. Nick’s Church? Why didn’t I do something when I had the chance?”
So he goes on, “you’ll see…”Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God. In other words, no surprises there. You know, the people of God will all be there. The Christians, you know, with their sandals and their cardigans, they’ll all be there. All God’s real friends will be there. He says that people from east and west and north and south, that’s from all over the world, because of course people are turning to Christ in their millions all over the world.
Please don’t assume that just because in the decadent west at the moment there’s a lot of rebellion against Christ, that somehow the world’s given up on Jesus. South America, Africa, Asia, the rest of the world, people are turning to Him in their millions. Just because some of the churches in this country, and let’s face it, some of the churches, a good idea they closed down. They’re not teaching the truth. See, just because in this country it’s in decline doesn’t mean Christ is kind of, you know, lost and no one’s interested anymore. People are turning to Him all the time, and they’ll be there in heaven. The north, the south, the east, and the west. They’ll take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
Indeed, there are those who are last will be first, and first will be last. She’s talking about the big reversal that there’ll be lots of people who are so privileged and successful in this life, who were left outside. But there are lots of people who’ve had very little in this life, who know their need of God, and have turned to Him, and they’ll be there, enjoying the feast.
So how tragic would it be, how tragic, to have fallen asleep in our hospital bed, to wake up and find ourselves outside the feast, to gaze in through the door, and to see people with their champagne glasses, enjoying that, having a conversation. And perhaps you can see a wife, or a husband, or a parent, and a child, talking about you, and saying, where’s dad? I thought he’d be here. You know, and mum says to, I know, my darling, he used to come along to church, but to be honest, he never really got involved, he never really got to know God. Or a sister will be saying, you know, where’s my sister? Why isn’t she here? And someone will say, I’m afraid, we tried, we invited her again and again and again. She said she would, but she never did. It’s very sad.
How tragic, if that person outside is you, because you were too busy to bother with God. That’s tragic. So Jesus says, what does He say, beginning in verse 24, make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter, will not be able to.
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. (Luke 13:24, ESV)
He doesn’t answer this speculative question, He says, look, make some effort to go in through the narrow door. Get to know God now, while you can. Don’t leave it to the last minute, and then find it’s too late. Don’t spend eternity in anguish, regretting all those missed opportunities. Why didn’t I do something when I had the chance? Make every effort to enter through the narrow door.
I mean, I imagine they run kind of discovery courses here for you to find out about Christianity. Most good churches do. Why not join one of those courses? Why not come to church here on Sundays, find out more about God? Why not become a Christian? Why not go in through the door, and actually begin a friendship with God? What on earth would keep you outside? He sent His Son to die to open the door so you can. He wants you to be with Him. He wants you to enjoy His kindness forever. So He says, come on in. Come and know me.
You don’t know everything about God. It’s like getting married, isn’t it? When I got married, I didn’t know everything about Sean. I spent the rest of my life finding out, but I knew enough to know that I didn’t want to live without her, and I didn’t want to risk losing her. It’s like that, becoming a Christian. You don’t know everything about God, but you know enough to know that He’s good, and you don’t want to live without Him.
In a moment, I’m going to pray a prayer for somebody who’d like to go in through the narrow door, to become a Christian, to start a friendship with God. Some here, I guess, have already started that friendship. Others need to start today.
Let me finish with one final story before I pray that prayer. The story is told of three little demons training at St. Lucifer’s College with Satan, and what they’re going to do to stop people becoming Christians. At the end of the year, their annual review, these three demons come before Satan, and Satan says, right, what are you going to do to stop people becoming Christians? The first one says, I’m going to tell them there’s no God. Useless, screams Satan. Useless. All they have to do is to look at the life of Jesus Christ. They know there’s a God. Back to stoking the boilers.
Well, the second demon comes forward, quaking. What are you going to do to stop people becoming Christians? I’m going to tell them there’s no salvation. Hopeless, useless, screeches Satan. All they have to do is study the death and resurrection ofJesus. They’ll know there’s a way of salvation.
Back to stoking the boilers. The third demon comes forward. He says, “What are you going to do?” The third one comes forward with a sly grin on His face. He says, “I’m just going to tell them that there’s no hurry.” “Brilliant,” said Satan. “Absolutely brilliant. Off you go. Get on with it.”
And do you know who’s here? He’s here. And He’s whispering in our ears, “There’s no hurry. No hurry. Just leave it. Do nothing.”
Jesus said, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”
Let’s bow our heads and be quiet together. Just give you a moment to gather your thoughts in your heart and to consider whether you need to go through that door and to begin a friendship with God today.
Let me now lead us in a prayer. And if you’d like to pray this to God, why not echo these words in your heart to Him? For I promise you, He’ll listen to the thoughts of our hearts.
Dear God, thank you for sending Jesus. Thank you that His death in our place has opened the door. Thank you that we can begin a friendship with you. Thank you for warning us that we need to go through this door. Dear God, please would you help us enter through the door, help us to get to know you. Please forgive us for ignoring you for so long. Would you please help us to begin a friendship with you today? Amen.
Thank you for listening. My time’s gone. If you’ve prayed that prayer for the first time today, why not come and tell me or tell a Christian friend that you know here, or Angus, one of the staff here, so that we can make some suggestions about what you might do next. If you’d like to, it’d be good to chat. Thank you.
