Whom May Enter In?
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Whom May Enter In?
Jeremiah 2:4-13
Psalm 112
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16
Matthew 7:13-23
The most important message of all time is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is only by this message that we know how to be saved from the punishment of breaking God’s law. Unfortunately, the reality that we may not want to hear is that not everyone who goes to church and maybe not everyone who does the work of ministry may be saved. That might seem strange or might shock those who hear this truth. However, I have shared the statistics before that only 35% of pastors today hold a biblical worldview and the percentages grow even less the farther you go down the leadership chain. What would this say about regular congregation members then? Jesus already knows that that this would be the case and it had been the case for ages past.
Our passage in Jeremiah 2 tells the descendants of Jacob to hear the word of the Lord. He says, “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me?” Did the Lord do something or say something wrong to cause us people ignore or abandon anything he says or commands? So, to us then worshiping man made idols sounds so much better. They stopped seeking the Lord as many of us do even today. Instead, we seek out our own desires.
Matthew 7 gives us an important message to understand. Starting in verse 13 we are told to enter through the narrow gate. “For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only few find it.” Then if we read ahead to verse 21, we see that not everyone who says Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. This is talking about people who are a part of the church. It may be even people who are in the ministry position. It is apparent here that not everyone who comes to church and not everyone who serves in the ministry is actually converted. Because they are not fully converted then they may not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus was not talking about the non-believers here. He was talking about the so-called believers in Christ. We know this because these people who say Lord, Lord are showing respect for him with their mouth by calling him Lord, Lord. They preached the message and cast out demons all in the name of Jesus. However, Jesus says in response that he never knew them. Though they were playing the part of a minister, evangelist, or missionary, they lacked obedience to the word for Jesus calls them evil doers. They may say all the right things but their actions lack obedience.
Jesus next goes on to tell the parable of two men building their houses. This is the wise man and the foolish man. Those who hear the Word and yet do not obey it are like the foolish man who built his house on sand. It went up quickly because he had less work to do. He just built up the house but it had no foundation. Therefore, when the storms of life came the house was washed away. However, the wise man dug down deep and built his house on rock. Therefore, when the storms of life came his house stood firm. It took him longer for sure and his house did not go up as easy as the foolish man but it was well worth it.
We must be careful about who we listen to for Jesus warns that there are many false prophets out in the world that claim to speak the Word but their actions are evil. They are compared to trees that bear fruit. Good trees can only bear good fruit while bad trees can only produce bad fruit. Those who bear bad fruit are cut down and thrown into the fire.
Another important message is that humans have eternal souls. Therefore, even though our bodies may die we don’t actually die. Our soul may live on in heaven or it may live on in a prison that is called hell. Unfortunately, according to the word there are those out there who claim belief in Christ and yet he will tell them that he knew them not. This is because they lack a relationship with Christ and lack obedience.
Hebrews 13 shows us what that obedience looks like. We are to show hospitality towards strangers for we may end up showing hospitality to angels without knowing it. We are to remember those in prison for their faith and be as if we were in prison with them and suffer as they suffer. We are to honor the marriage relationship and keep it pure for God will judge the adulterer and sexually immoral. We should keep ourselves free from the love of money and be content with what we have trusting that he will care for us.
Isn’t it interesting that today we forget about those who are is prison for their faith and we forget about keeping the marriage pure between one man and one woman. Instead, men seek out other women and women other man. Even worse men seeking out other men and women after other women. Greed and desire for money is all over the place. We see it in the lotteries and those who win do not seem to have enough and they desire more and more.
We are told to look to the leaders who spoke the Word of God to us and to consider the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith. We are to remember that Jesus is the same yesterday in the past, today in the present, and he will continue to be the same in the future. Verse 15 and 16 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
We must be careful about who we listen to for not everyone who claims faith in the Lord is obedient to the Lord and therefore may lead us astray. These are the people who claim the name of Christ because they go to church. I remember back in high school that a conversation came up in class about abortions. One girl had said that she was against abortions because her church was against abortions. That is great and all however, it was apparent that her relationship was with her church and not with Christ. She claimed to be a Christian because she went to church. However, she did not seem to have a personal relationship with Christ. She didn’t see abortion as wrong because God sees it as wrong but because the church saw it wrong. Therefore, if her church would decide to take a stance that homosexuality for example is acceptable then she would go along with that. If the church decided that abortion was suddenly ok then she would go along with that. If the Church would decide that adultery was acceptable then she would be ok with that because her church accepts that so it must be right. If she and people like her remain with this type of thinking and belief that just because they go to church then they will enter the kingdom of heaven then they will sadly be mistaken when that time comes for Jesus will say that he never knew them. And it is true for they did not know Christ. They only knew the church and the church historically is not always right. Therefore, we must be obedient to God and have our relationship with Jesus over our relationship with the church. His Word is far more important than the word of the Church. Who then may enter in the Kingdom of God? The one who takes the narrow road and enters through the small gate. The one who listens and obeys the Word of God over what the world claims.