HOW TO ENTER THE KINGDOM

ENTERING THE KINGDOM

⇒What does Jesus say is most important to enter the Kingdom?
1. INTERNAL RIGHTEOUSNESS…A MATTER OF THE HEART
Matthew 5:20: For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Focus your heart on a personal relationship with Jesus and make it your business to follow after Him. Don't allow yourself to be caught up in the religiosity of following a list or system of do's and don'ts, thinking that you are impressing God while you are impressing others. Jesus makes it clear here that He is not impressed with this kind of thing, so don't you be!

2. DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER
Matthew 7:21: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

The context is fascinating! In the next paragraph it's clear what's going on. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

In the next paragraph Jesus illustrates exactly what He means by "doing the will of My Father", when He says: Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

3. BE LIKE A CHILD
In Matthew 18:3: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Then, again in Mark 10:15 Jesus says: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke repeats Jesus' words from Mark: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Then, in the Gospel of John, in a very familiar interaction with Nicodemus, Jesus uses a little different metaphor to say the same thing. He says in John 3:5: "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." He goes on to say: "That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit."

1. You don't know everything.
2. All that you have been taught needs to be stripped away.
3. You want to learn all you can about this new life with Jesus.
4. In order to learn more about the ABC's of walking with Jesus, it's most helpful to watch Him carefully and mimic what you hear and see.
5. Learn to simply trust Jesus for your life-your strength, direction and future.

4. DIFFICULT FOR RICH MAN TO ENTER
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments." "Which ones?" he inquired. Jesus replied, " 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NOTE that Jesus equates eternal life with entering life and then later in this passage he speaks of entering the Kingdom of God.)

The young man shockingly states: "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." By "perfect" Jesus means to be complete and whole in your search for life.

Then, Jesus makes the following observation recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke: In Matthew 19:23-24:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."


Then, in Mark 10:24-25:
 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Then, again in Luke 18:24-25: Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."


Whether the image here truly is a camel or a rope going through the eye of a needle, the essence of what Jesus is saying is still the same. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD! The difficulty for the rich person is that he tends to trust in his riches for security and tends to think that people, places and things can make him happy or whole and complete.

Do you want to enter the Kingdom of God? If you are rich and have a lot of stuff, then hold on to that stuff "loosely", so that you are not trusting in your riches, but in God for a complete and full, eternal life.

5. SINNERS WILL ENTER FIRST
The fifth reference Jesus made concerning what it takes to enter or not enter the Kingdom of God has a couple of dimensions. Both of these dimensions here contain direct warnings toward the religious. The first dimension is in Matthew 21:32: Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him."

Beware of being so religious and self-righteous. Jesus became most disturbed and angry with those who didn't see their need for God-those who thought they were right and righteous because of their beliefs and practices. In this dimension Jesus points out that those who see their need most are the ones who are actually entering the Kingdom right now ahead of the religious and the righteous. In fact, He is not just saying that the most despised tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the Kingdom someday, but that they are entering right now!

The second dimension is in Matthew 23:13: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." Note the specifics of what Jesus is saying here. He is clearly saying that these religious leaders in positions of authority are not entering the Kingdom. He has made several observations at other times about the reasons why they will not enter the Kingdom, primarily the leading one is their religious pride-that they know it all and know they are right.

Now Jesus points out that these religious leaders who are not entering the Kingdom are also stopping others to enter by shutting the door of the Kingdom of heaven in their faces. How is this done? I think it's done by continually setting up certain restrictions and limitations on who can get in and who will not. I did this as a teenager. I had been taught that no one could come into a relationship with God, unless he goes down front at the altar call at the end of the service and confess Jesus publicly before men. Either you go down front at the altar call or "invitation" or you won't get into heaven. In many discussions with my good friends I made this clear to them and basically kept them from entering the Kingdom. The man-made "rule" or "requirement" I had embraced served to be a major barrier to my friends being attracted to Jesus.

Also, in much of my ministry over the years I shut the door of the Kingdom on many by sharing a chart regarding Jesus being either "liar, lunatic or Lord". I cleverly drew the chart and then made fun of anyone who tried to make up a different conclusion, other than liar, lunatic or Lord. I would say that many today see Jesus as just a good teacher or a great example and Jesus simply didn't leave this alternative to us. You must choose one or the other-liar, lunatic or Lord. Jesus was the Lord, the Son of God and there is no other alternative.

What I was missing was the simple and clear example of Jesus' early disciples. They didn't make the decision that Jesus was the Lord or the Son of God at first. They saw Him as a good example, great teacher and a great man of integrity-flawless in every way. They didn't see Him as the Lord or the Son of God, UNTIL sometime later. Then, Jesus asked them, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter said, "You are God's Messiah, the Son of God." Jesus strokes him for this answer, but points out that Peter didn't think this up on his own nor did he get it from any other person. God, the Father, gave him this insight and conviction. Why? Because Peter and the others had been following Jesus over these years and God transformed their thinking and their hearts to see Jesus as the Son of God. In other words, for a person to see and accept Jesus as the Son of God, it will be an act of God that will bring about this result. It is not something you are taught by others. This is not my thinking, but the thinking of Jesus.

So, why should we shut people down for not believing Jesus is the Son of God right from the get-go? Why not let people follow Jesus at their own pace? And as they follow Jesus, God will change their hearts just as He did the disciples. This is how we shut the door of the Kingdom on well-meaning and interested people in Jesus. Do you see how easy it is to do?

By the way, missing this understanding of how a person's heart is transformed or "converted" causes a lot of problems. How haughty is it to think that anyone-Christian, minister or missionary-is able to "convert" or transform another person's heart. It is and must be a work of God.

Recently, a Buddhist friend, seeking to know Jesus and His teachings, decided to attend a bible study in her community. She went out and bought a bible to read and take with her to the study. When she showed up, she was initially welcomed and then was told that she had the "wrong" bible and she must go get a different one. At the Christian bookstore someone had suggested to her that she might enjoy starting out with "The Message". Now, this group of Christians essentially shut the door of the Kingdom in this young lady's face. I don't think Jesus is lifted up by this kind of thing and it certainly is not perpetuating the Jesus movement!

This fifth reference to entering and not entering the Kingdom boils down to this: 1. Those who don't have it together will enter the Kingdom first.

2. Those who think they have it together through what they know/believe and what they do may not enter the Kingdom at all.

3. And these religious "know-it-alls" tend to shut others out of the Kingdom, too.

Two things to beware of: FIRST-Don't deceive yourself into thinking that your belief system or your behavior will get you into the Kingdom.
SECOND-Don't divert others away from Jesus, because of your dogmatic belief system.

Be careful to follow Jesus and put your trust in Him and Him alone. He is the only way you'll ever get out of this world alive! That's why He said: "I am the way, the truth and the life."

Matthew 21:23-27

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23 When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, ``By what authority are You doing these things and who gave You this authority?'' 24 Jesus said to them, ``I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 ``The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?'' And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, ``If we say, `From heaven,' He will say to us, `Then why did you not believe him?' 26 ``But if we say, `From men,' we fear the people ; for they all regard John as a prophet.'' 27 And answering Jesus, they said, ``We do not know.'' He also said to them, ``Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Temple leadership questions Jesus' authority. "Where did you go to school?" In order to be a teaching Rabbi, you were to have 2 to 3 witnesses who affirmed you-witnessed you. They want to nail down Jesus' authority as to who were the ones who laid their hands on Him in order to teach with authority. Jesus gained His authority on the day of His baptism. There were 3 witnesses present from heaven-the Father's voice, the dove (Spirit of God) and John who was the primary baptizer.

It was customary for Rabbi's to sort of spar with one another by answering a question with a question. It's almost like a chess game. Jesus tied them in knots with His question, forcing them to either side with John as a man from heaven or as coming from men. Their predicament was that the people liked John and John identified Jesus as the Messiah.

NOTE that Jesus does not feel compelled to bring the conversation to some kind of conclusion, but lets it stay in the air for all to consider what was being said. It's like scattering seed indiscriminately to determine what kind of soil (heart) each person possessed. Jesus was content to let the seeds to fall where they will. So, don't you stress over "closing spiritual deals" with people. Just keep on planting the seeds and keep on watering. THEN God will work in their hearts and change them inside out!

Matthew 21:18-22

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18 Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, ``No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.'' And at once the fig tree withered. 20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, ``How did the fig tree wither all at once?'' 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, ``Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. 22 ``And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.''

Fig trees were a common and important source of food for the Jews. The unfruitful fig tree that was promising something it couldn't deliver was an illustration of those who looked good on the outside, but were fruitless. The history of Israel is one long preparation for the coming of the Promised One. But the promise is unfulfilled in those who reject Jesus through unbelief. Jesus' cursing of a fig tree is an action against the faithlessness of those who rejected his message. For faith to be fruitful and productive, it must be nourished authentic and focused faith.

Jesus turns the incident into a teaching time for His disciples. He challenges them to "have faith in God." They are to pray with a stubborn faith no matter how difficult the situation may be. The phrase "to remove mountains" was a common Jewish expression for removing difficulties. A wise teacher who could solve difficulties was called a "mountain remover". If we pray with faith, God will give us the means to overcome the difficulties and obstacles.

This stubborn faith is what Brennan Manning calls "Ruthless Trust". It's really ACTING AS IF.

GOD LEADS OUT-WE RESPOND TO HIM IN FAITH!

Matthew 21:14-17

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14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done and the children who were shouting in the temple, ``Hosanna to the Son of David,'' they became indignant 16 and said to Him, ``Do You hear what these children are saying?'' And Jesus said to them, ``Yes; have you never read, `OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?'' 17 And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there.

Note the sharp contrast between the children and the chief priests and scribes:

FIRST--The chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things Jesus did for the blind and the lame, yet became indignant and offended by it.

SECOND--The children saw the same thing and were praising Jesus as the promised Messiah-Hosanna to the Son of David.

What's the difference? The chief priests and scribes are in denial over their dependence upon God and His Messiah. In fact, God and His Messiah will easily mess up the "good thing" they had going for them. Whereas the children have no position to mess up, but are totally dependent upon God and welcome His Messiah. Take it one step further and note the desperate ones-the blind and the lame-who feel their dependent and desperate need to come to Jesus.

There are two ways to live your life: 1. You can be open, humble, eager to learn, and ready to listen.

2. You can be closed, prideful, defensive, and in denial and that's not a river in Egypt!

Matthew 21:12-13

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12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He said to them, ``It is written, `MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN.''

This was a real problem within the Temple. It was not simply selling CDs, DVDs and books in the back of the room as most churches do or through their church bookstore nor is it the many sign-up, register and pay booths we have at our local churches. This was a real defrauding of the people!

1. Each animal was presented for inspection to see if it was acceptable for a proper sacrifice. Not only did they have to pay the inspector, but they inspectors tended to reject most of them and offer to sell a better specimen back to them at a high price. Or, if a person didn't have an animal to sacrifice they were gouged when they bought one from the Temple authorities.

2. There was also a Temple tax that was imposed upon everyone who came to the Temple feasts. This tax was to be paid in exact half-shekels and nothing else, therefore there was a third offense.

3. In addition to being gouged, those who were from out of town had to get their moneychanged to pay for the sacrifices. In the exchange transaction there was also a gouging of sorts going on. Because of the vast amount of pilgrims which journeyed to Jerusalem for Passover from foreign lands outside the land of Israel where collections would not already have been made, the revenue from such a conversion of money would have been immense!

They were stealing money from those whose pure intentions were to come to the Temple and make sacrifices to the Lord.

All in all, it seemed to Jesus that this had the spirit of a busy swap-meet, a major distraction away from coming to worship the God of gods. Anything that brings this spirit with money and the exchange of monies is most demeaning to the holiness of our God. So, Jesus cleaned up a bit!

What would Jesus do at your church service?