A Great Future Reversal (Lk 13:28-30) Intro: Wise Merchant Ps 139:23-24; Rev 2:23
Review: Fearful Portrait Many call Christ Lord. They desire, seek & expect to enter. But the door is narrow & they did not feel it necessary to strive. Their confidence failed them. Many will seek to enter & will not be able. Jesus gives exhortation for all time to all who would ever enter. 'I say to you all, strive.'
Exposition: Faithful Prophecy 1. They shall come from east & west (v29) See Mt 8:11-12
Question: Will there always be few? See Is 2:2-3
The Lord has said to his servants, 'Go out into the highways & hedges, & compel them to come in, that my house may be filled' (Lk 14:23) Cf Gen 22:17, Rev 21:2ff
Application: Not to fill us w/vain confidence See Rom 11:21
2. Last shall be first (v30) Jesus uses this saying for various purposes (Mt 19:29, 20:16, 24:64, Mk 9:35, 10:31, etc.). In every way, God has ordained that day of judgment is to be of great reversals.
(a) Jew & Gentile (v29) Although salvation is 1st for Jew & then for Greek, last shall be first & first last.
(b) Those who heard Jesus & those who have not (v26) Few of those who heard Jesus say 'strive to enter', actually did. But in came those who, as it were, had to strive to come from afar.
(c) The Pharisee & the sinner (v1-14) A maxim of the kingdom: the last shall be first & the first last.
Conclusion: Future of Jew & Gentile (Rom 11:28-36)
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