THE CONDITION FOR ENTRANCE TO THE KINGDOM

THE CONDITION FOR ENTRANCE TO THE KINGDOM

Then the silence is pierced by the words of Jesus Christ, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). Here we have, first of all, the condition for entrance to the kingdom.

What is that condition? How do men enter the kingdom of God? How can they be in a vital relationship with God? Well, first of all, it’s not the ones who say, “Lord, Lord”—it’s those who do the will of God who enter. Matthew 25:1–13 is a very interesting story of ten virgins invited to a feast. Five of them came and had prepared beforehand by bringing oil and having it in their lamps. The other five were foolish and did not prepare. In Matthew 25:11 the door is shut and the five left on the outside say, “Lord, lord, open up for us.” But the Lord of the feast says, “Truly I say to you, I do not know you.”

The virgins were all invited to the feast—they had heard the gospel, in a sense, symbolically. They had heard the proclamation, “Come to the feast.” This is an illustration of God’s call to the world. They were prepared to the extent that they had their lamps. They even had the right clothes on. They even arrived at the meeting house. But they didn’t get in. Their cry is similar to Matthew 7:21, “Lord, lord, open up for us.” But He says it is not those who say, “Lord, Lord,” but those who do His will.

What a solemn warning! At the end of that parable Christ says, “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour” (Matt. 25:13).

Hosea illustrates this in Hosea 8:2. Hosea’s people were just about at the bottom historically. Israel had hit the skids and by the time you get to Hosea’s prophecy, he is ranting and raving about their lack of knowledge, saying, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (4:6). He says that they don’t have any reality on the inside. He likens them to the early morning dew that evaporates (6:4). They don’t have any substance. They have neglected and forsaken God. They don’t even go near the house of God.

By the time you come to 8:1–2, Hosea paints the picture of a vulture. (It’s translated “eagle” but it’s the Hebrew word for vulture.) The image is a vulture swooping over the house of God. And it symbolizes the fact that with all the religious activity in Israel, the real truth was that the place was dead and that’s why the vulture was swooping over it. There was nothing there but a dead carcass. Israel forsook God’s temple as the symbol of her relationship to Him and instead she became a tragedy—a picture of a flying vulture testifying to the fact that judgment was coming. Hosea goes on to prophesy that Israel will be crushed because of her neglect of God.

Israel was still religious. Israel still had religious feelings. The people still went through some of the motions, but they were dead. There was no reality to their religion, only a formality. What do they say in response to Hosea? “My God, we of Israel know You.” It’s just like Matthew 7:21, “Lord, Lord, it’s us. What do You mean by judging us; we know You, it’s us. My God,” they cry out, “it’s us.” What a tragedy. But God doesn't know them. That particular generation of people had set aside their relationship with God as a result of their own desires.

You can see that it’s not those who wish to enter the kingdom who get in necessarily. It’s not even those who ask to enter that get in. It’s not enough to ask; it’s not enough to wish; it is enough to be obedient. God has set up certain rules for entrance to the kingdom; they must be obeyed or there is no entrance. You may want to enter to such a degree that you come to church and you get involved, but not too involved. Unless you come by way of Jesus Christ, you cannot enter. All your religious activities and all your rituals are meaningless. Peter said in Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” There is no other name other than Jesus Christ.

There was a blind man on a bridge in London. He was reading his Braille Bible. And as he was reading in Acts 4:12, he lost his place with his fingers. Being oblivious to anyone around him because of his blindness, he kept running his fingers over the same phrase, “No other name . . . no other name . . . no other name.” A group of people who had gathered around him as he stumbled over the words began to mock him and laugh at him as he fumbled with his Bible. There was another man standing on the edge of the crowd, not mocking but listening. That man walked away that night, went home, fell on his knees, and invited Christ into his life. Later he testified in a meeting that what brought him to Jesus Christ was a blind man on a bridge stumbling over the words, “No other name . . . no other name . . . no other name.”

It is only through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that you or I or anyone will ever enter the kingdom of God. We can’t enter through our religious emotion or our sanctified feelings. It is only through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Lip profession is no good—there must be obedience. And in the statement, “Lord, Lord,” you get the idea that these people are surprised—in fact they’re shocked. “You mean we’re not even getting in?” But remember what Jesus Christ says in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”

The following verse is on an old slab in the cathedral of Lübeck, Germany: “Thus speaketh Christ our Lord unto us, ye call Me Master and obey Me not, ye call Me Light and see Me not, ye call Me Way and walk Me not, ye call Me Life and desire Me not, ye call Me Wise and follow Me not, ye call Me Fair and love Me not, ye call Me Rich and ask Me not, ye call Me Eternal and seek Me not, ye call Me Gracious and trust Me not, ye call Me Noble and serve Me not, ye call Me Mighty and honor Me not, ye call Me Just and fear Me not; if I condemn you, blame Me not.”

God has established the requirement for entrance to the kingdom of heaven. It has nothing to do with a building; it has everything to do with Jesus Christ. Calling Christ “Lord” or anything else is not enough; doing the will of God is the answer.

You say, “Well what is the will of God?” Paul told Timothy that “God our Savior . . . desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim. 2:4). That’s the will of God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). That’s God’s will. In John 6:40 Christ says, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day.” John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God.” God’s will is for you to receive Christ. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him,” and that means faith in Jesus Christ. You don’t get into the kingdom by sincerity, by religiosity, by reformation, by kindness, by service to the church, not even by simply naming the name of Christ; you get there only by personal trust and faith in Christ.