The Surprising Qualifications for Entering the Kingdom of Heaven (text)

Note - unfortunately the audio for the message was not recorded due to technical difficulties, miscalculations, and misappropriations. In other words, folks, we goofed! So sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Matt and I just got back from the SGM pastor’s conference in Orlando, Fl. It was a really good conference with a lot of important stuff communicated which we will be digesting and sharing more with you really soon. But sometimes little things catch my attention and one of those things on this trip was that at the hotel/conference center where we were staying, at the entrance there was a gate and a manned booth and as we drove up he came out of his booth to determine whether we could enter or not. We pulled up, told him we were guests, and he raised the gate and waved us on. After that, every time we drove in, he would come out and wave us in. We stopped even telling him we were guests. It made me wonder, why is he there? If all it takes to get in is to say you’re a guest, then who would ever be kept out? I guess if someone pulled up and said, “I’m here to blow up the entire hotel” or, “I just want to ransack a few rooms, is that ok?” maybe he might not wave them on. But other than that, it seemed like he was just there to welcome everybody in.

I think that’s how a lot of people think heaven is. Maybe if someone is a terrorist, or a Hitler or something they won’t make it in, but other than that, if there is a heaven, everybody gets waved in. I read recently about a neurosurgeon who was in a coma for several days with his brain shut down from meningitis and while in a coma he says he went to heaven. He described colorful landscapes and a beautiful young girl who was his guide, a girl he later discovered to be his stepsister who had died in 1988 and whom he had never met. Over everything, he described a loving, divine presence. His book describes a heaven where everyone is welcomed and waved in. Now I totally understand the attraction of that, and a part of me wishes that were the case. But the question is, is it true? Does everybody just get waved into heaven?

That makes the question the young man asked Jesus one of the most important questions we could ever ask: what must I do to inherit eternal life? The Bible says that our lives on this earth are very, very brief - like a vapor, a mist that is here in the morning and burned up by afternoon but that we are all eternal beings who will exist eternally, either in a state that is described as “eternal life” or in a state that is described as “eternal death”. Far from the gates of heaven being manned by a guy who just waves everyone in – the gates of heaven are guarded by a holy God to whom we must all give account, and those gates are shut forever to everyone who falls short of the holy and perfect standards of God, which is everyone of us.

So this young man asks the most important question we could ever ask: what must I do to inherit eternal life? What does it take to enter the kingdom of God? What do I need to do to be saved? How does a person qualify to enter heaven? That’s the focus of this entire passage and Jesus tells us the surprising qualification for entering the kingdom of heaven in verse 15.

I. To qualify to enter the kingdom of God we must receive it like a child (vs. 15)

Parents are bringing children to Jesus so that he might bless them and the disciples rebuke the parents and tell them to stop bothering Jesus with their children. Vs 14 says Jesus was indignant – this is the only place in the NT that this word occurs and it means to be much grieved. Jesus was grieved that they forbade the children to come to him.

We see throughout Jesus’ ministry that he loves children and often used them to illustrate a quality that we as disciples are to imitate, and here Jesus is not only grieved that they were keeping the children from him, he tells them that anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child won’t enter it at all.

So the qualification for entering the kingdom of heaven is receiving it like a child – but what does that mean? If the qualification for entering eternal life is in some way imitating little children, it’s important that we know how we are to imitate them. And, maybe just as importantly, how we aren’t to imitate them.

I heard about a guy who gets a disability check each month because he lives life as an adult baby, actually wearing diapers and having his meals spoon fed to him and everything. Is that what Jesus is talking about? Are we to revert to child-like immaturity if we are to enter heaven?

No, the Bible calls us to grow in maturity, not live in perpetual immaturity. Is it their child-like innocence that Jesus is talking about? No, at the risk of offending every parent here, while children are certainly more innocent and less stained with guilt than adults, the Bible says that children aren’t born innocent, they are born sinners. So it’s not their “innocence” that we are to imitate. Kids tend to be more gullible, is that it? Are we to be gullible, ready to believe anything? Again, the Bible says there is no virtue in being gullible and calls us to be discerning in our faith, able to differentiate between truth and deception. So what child-like quality is Jesus talking about?

I think the answer is in the word “receive”. We are to receive the kingdom of God like a child. How do children receive? They just receive – freely, with trusting dependency. Kids aren’t born with negotiating power – they are completely helpless to earn their room and board, helpless to do even the simplest things for themselves. Everything they have, they “receive”. In their earliest years, everything that’s done is done for them.

Last night around our dinner table a conversation broke out about how much kids cost. Isaac Wilber was with us and he was trying to convey to Matthew how much it costs just to bring a kid into the world. And of course, when you add up all the meals and clothes and doctor bills and schooling and gifts and things they break…well, it adds up. And yet, I’ve never heard my kids say, “wow, can you believe mom’s made dinner for us again? What is this, the 42nd thousandth time she’s done that?” or, “Do you think it’d be all right if we stayed in our rooms again this year? We can’t afford to pay you rent.” They trust, they depend, and once in a while they even find confidence to complain that we’re not doing enough for them.

Let’s think back through this gospel and consider all those who have received from Jesus:

• The leper who begged him to make him clean – Jesus, moved with compassion stretched out his hand, touched him, and made him clean. He freely received his healing.
• The paralytic lowered through the roof by friends. He had nothing to give, but what a display of trusting dependency. He freely received ability to walk again.
• The man with the withered hand, the father with a demon possessed son, the woman with the long term bleeding condition, the deaf man, the Gentile mother whose daughter was demon possessed.
• Children are brought to Jesus with nothing to give to him – they just come with trusting dependency and open hands and Jesus sends them away with a blessing.

To qualify to enter the kingdom of God, we must receive it like a little child, in trusting dependency on God.

II. To qualify to enter the kingdom of God, we must be willing to give up everything we trust in apart from Christ

Contrast this child-like receiving with the attitude of the rich young ruler. Notice again his question, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus, what do I do? How can I contribute? He is a successful man – young, rich, a ruler with authority. He is used to achieving what he wants to in life, and eternal life is the next achievement he is setting his sights on.

Jesus relates to him on the level where he is at – you know what the law says to do: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not bear false witness, DO honor your father and mother. The young man is confident that he has kept all these since his youth.

Look with me at verse 21. Jesus saw this young man’s zeal and passion and he loved
him. He loved him. This young man had a lot going for him: he had zeal – he ran to Jesus. He had a deep desire for eternal life. He had a strong commitment to keep the law – and when he tells Jesus that he kept the commandments from his youth Jesus didn’t roll his eyes at him. Jesus looked at him and loved him. It’s the only place in the synoptic gospels that says Jesus loved someone. There was something about this young man that Jesus loved.

And because he loved him, Jesus went right for his heart – to the one thing he lacked: a heart of trusting dependency on God. His wealth was blocking him from a child-like dependency on God. He lived in a perpetual state of disobedience to the first commandment to have no other god before God – he didn’t know it, but money had become an idol in his life, something he loved more than God. So when Jesus tells him to sell everything, give it to the poor, and he will have treasure in heaven (the heaven he was asking to enter) and follow him, he is touching the idol of his heart.

Do we have to sell everything and give to the poor to be qualified to enter heaven?

I think a lot of times we read a passage like this and wonder – is that what we need to do? Do we all have to sell everything we have and give it to the poor? Is that what it takes to be qualified to enter eternal life?

The answer is no…and yes. We know this isn’t a universal command because many others in the Bible didn’t have to sell everything and give it all away. Many godly people in the OT were very wealthy. And there were wealthy women who followed Jesus and helped to fund his ministry but he never commanded them to sell everything. And when Zacchaeus gets saved, he says he’s going to give away half of what he owns to the poor, and restore fourfold to anyone he’s cheated.

But yes, Jesus will touch us right where it hurts and right where we worship false gods. And here’s why: the one thing we lack isn’t usually some empty hole in our hearts that Jesus just comes along and fills. If that were the case, we’d all be like, “c’mon Jesus, fill this empty hole!” No, like this rich young man, the one thing we lack is usually something that should be filled with trusting dependence on God but is filled with something else.

The one thing we lack might be filled with self-confidence. It might be filled with pride about how religious we are. It might be filled with a desire to be successful in the eyes of the world. It might be filled with a craving for other people’s acceptance and approval.

The Lord’s been bringing to the surface some things in my heart over the last week or so that has been a little uncomfortable. I am realizing how filled my heart is with concern about what people think about me. As I ask the Lord to reveal it more to me, here’s how I think it hits my heart: I am not that concerned with looking like a bigshot (which is a good thing, cause I’m not). I don’t have a great desire to look successful or impressive or be admired. That’s in there, I’m sure, but it’s not a driving thing. But here’s what I think is being revealed: I do have a distinct fear of looking foolish, a fear of failing or being rejected.

This fear can keep me from speaking the truth to someone for fear of offending. It can silence me from witnessing for fear of botching it up or offending them. But that’s not the most important consequence. The most important consequence is that, as long as my heart is filled with this fear, my heart is not filled with a trusting dependency on Christ.

The answer Christ brings to me in my need, and you in yours, is, “one thing you lack – sell everything and give to the poor and follow me.” Am I willing to sell all my dependence on what people think of me in order to follow Christ? Am I willing to be a fool for Christ if he asks me to? Am I willing even to be laughed at, scorned, mocked, and hated, for the sake of following Christ?
This rich young man walked away sad. It was too much for him to give up– his grip on his wealth (and it’s grip on him) was too strong. He wanted eternal life, but not as much as he wanted his wealth. He wasn’t offended at Jesus – didn’t necessarily disagree with Jesus – didn’t get mad at Jesus. He was sad. And he walked away. Little children came to Jesus with nothing in their hand, and left him with joy because they received a blessing. This rich young man came with much wealth in his hand, and left sad, because he chose not to give up his wealth in order to receive the kingdom. Notice that, while Jesus loved him, he didn’t run after him. He let him go. No one can be forced to trust in God.

III. To qualify to enter the kingdom of heaven we need to trust God to do the impossible

Let’s read vv. 23-34

Jesus says it is so difficult for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. If we take his words about how we need to receive the kingdom of God like a child or we will never enter it, than we see that the wealthy have a hard time seeing their need to depend on God. Their wealth creates an illusion of self-reliance, of strength, of accomplishment.

The wealthy rarely feel poor. The Bible tells us they are poor, but they rarely feel poor. 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. The disciples are shocked and ask, “who then can be saved?” – if this zealous and sincere young man can’t be saved, who then can be saved? Jesus looks at them and says, “with man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

What qualifies us to enter eternal life? Nothing we could ever do or accomplish. It is impossible for man but not for God. All things are possible for God. But even God couldn’t just decide to let us into His kingdom – not without compromising His holiness. He couldn’t just “wave us in” without contaminating heaven and His character with injustice and unrighteousness. How can God accomplish what is impossible – to get a rich man, or a poor man, into heaven?

In verse 32, for the third time Jesus pulls his disciples aside and tells them that he will be handed over to the religious leaders, condemned, mocked, and killed. That is how God will accomplish the impossible and save the lost. Jesus would exchange places with us, receiving the death that we deserve so that we could receive the life that he deserved. On the cross Jesus satisfied God’s just wrath for our sin so that, if you will believe in Christ, there is no wrath left. You can receive eternal life as a gift.

For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Rom 3:23-25

And then there is the promise in Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you aren’t a Christian, this is the most important question you will ever consider in all your life: will you trust in Jesus Christ this morning? Will you trust in his shed blood on the cross and believe – his blood was shed for my sins? Will you trust that his resurrection is the first of many – that everyone who believes in him will also be resurrected on the last day into eternal life? Into his eternal kingdom?

Will you trust in God to do the impossible? To save you from your sins and give you eternal life? You can’t earn eternal life. It’s not something you can achieve or negotiate. You can only receive it. Like a little child, with trusting dependence on Christ and what he did to save you on the cross.
I wish there were more time this morning – that we didn’t need to leave quickly. That we could take time for you to consider, to think about it, but in a way, that’s how this life is. Time is very short – we don’t know how much time we have. Now is the day, if you hear His voice, to believe, to give your life to Jesus, to receive eternal life.

For those of us who are Christians, may this give us confidence to witness to people about Jesus – because it’s impossible that they would ever come to faith in Christ and get saved unless God does it. We are called to join God in doing the impossible. We are Jesus’ witnesses, and God gives them faith, child-like dependence, a willingness to leave all in order to follow Jesus, and He gives them eternal life.

When we leave everything to follow Jesus there is great reward, both in this life (with persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. May God grant to us a trusting dependency on Him for all these things as we follow Christ.

Let’s pray.