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Pastor Ron Woodward’s sermon on May 15, 2011, – John 3:3

This morning is the last message in this series on the Kingdom of God. A couple months ago we looked at “The Good News of the Kingdom,” and the last couple weeks we’ve considered “The Mystery of the Kingdom,” and “The Kingdom’s King.”

Now in case you’ve ever noticed, Jesus refers both to “the kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom of God.” Most scholars believe there’s no difference in meaning between them at all; in other words, the two terms can be used interchangeably. Some Dispensational theologians profoundly disagree, but personally, I don’t think they have a case.

One other point to remember, in review, is that the kingdom is both present and future. Jesus announced that the kingdom of God had arrived with his coming, and he was referring to the rule of God in the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. The Apostle Paul recognized that the kingdom was present right now when he wrote to the Colossians with great excitement, declaring that

“God has,” and I quote, “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son”—and that’s now, not future.

But of course, often when we think of the kingdom of God, we’re thinking future—heaven, or perhaps the Millenium, the 1000 year rule of Christ on earth described in the Book of Revelation.

So, when you’re reading the Bible and you find a reference to the “kingdom of God” or the “kingdom of heaven,” you need to look at the context, and discern whether the writer is talking about the present kingdom or the future one.

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Matthew 5:20. This, of course, is from the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus tells the crowds,

“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.”—neither the here-and-now-kingdom, nor the future eternal kingdom.

So, from the springboard of this verse, my sermon this morning is on “Entering the Kingdom.” It’s a fascinating study to go through the Bible and look for all the references to entering the kingdom.

Let’s start with the negative—What prevents people from entering the Kingdom?

Chapter 23 of Matthew, verse 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.”

These are the religious insiders Jesus is talking about. They think they have it made with God because they’re so religious. But Jesus said that they will not enter the kingdom because of pride, self-sufficiency and works-righteousness.

These religious leaders were so sure they were in the in-group; they were God’s chosen ones. After all, they were Jews, “sons of Abraham.” They had all the answers, plus they were so religious—in terms of keeping the Mosaic Law. But Jesus said that in all their legalism they were “straining out gnats” and swallowing camels. (Don’t you love the wild metaphor?)

Can’t you see a Pharisee so concerned over choking on a tiny gnat that lands in his soup that he gets a strainer to remove it, but then thinks nothing of swallowing a camel whole!

You see, the Pharisees were getting caught up in stuff that really doesn’t matter very much while turning their backs on love, justice and mercy—the stuff that’s really important to God.

When I was growing up this attitude was fairly common among many Evangelicals in the U.S., folks who, like the Pharisees, got caught up in legalism. Their religion was a religion of “don’ts,” things you don’t do if you’re a Christian: Don’t smoke. Don’t drink alcohol. Don’t play cards. Don’t go to dances. Don’t go to movies, etc. Unfortunately, if they observed this long list of “don’ts,” they felt sure that they were insiders with God. They had earned the right to heaven.

A second group who won’t enter the kingdom, according to Ephesians 5, are the immoral, the impure and the greedy. These are people who break God’s moral laws with abandon, and do so as a way of life. In some ways, they’re the direct opposite of the first group.

Galatians 5:19: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you,” says Paul, “that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

A third group at high risk are the wealthy who put money first—people who make a god out of money and materialism. Jesus shocked his disciples by saying that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Of course he didn’t mean that wealth is evil—simply that it’s a huge temptation; it puts one at high risk in terms of who or what is actually their god.

Okay then, if these are the kinds of people who won’t enter the kingdom, who will? How does one enter the kingdom?

First and foremost, Jesus says, one enters the kingdom through a change of heart.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus: What’s required is a heart transplant—a whole inner change of heart and attitude. And, what’s the essential requirement for this to happen? Humility (Mt. 18:3)

Holding a little child in front of him, Jesus said, “… unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Again, it’s pride that easily gets in the way and bars the door to the kingdom. “Unless you’re born again, you won’t enter the kingdom.”

Jesus also seemed to say that one must enter the kingdom through a forceful, decisive decision to do so! If you have a Bible, you might want to turn with me to a very difficult verse to interpret: Matthew 11:12. Here’s how it reads in the NIV:

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men [and women] lay hold of it.” The original Greek lends itself to several possible meanings, so the translation varies widely from version to version, but if the NIV made the right choice, then,

… the idea is kind of like a fast-moving train that only stops at the station for 30 seconds, and if you don’t jump on board right away, you’ll be left behind.

Several years ago I was reading Billy Graham’s autobiography, Just as I Am, and he gave a fascinating description to his very first large revival meeting in a huge tent in Los Angeles in 1949. This was when the media first took notice of Billy Graham.

Anyway, he was telling how God was moving in the hearts of people; celebrities were getting saved; the meetings had been scheduled for 3 weeks and had been extended to 8. A pastor from a little church way out in the California desert had gotten a leave of absence from his church just so he could be a night watchman at the revival tent—and once in the middle of the night he heard someone rattling the chain at the entrance gate. “Who goes there?” he called out. “Just me,” came the reply. “What do you want?” “I want to find Jesus.” So the pastor not only let him in the gate, but led him to Jesus in the wee hours of the morning.

So, here was a guy who couldn’t wait until the next night to go forward at the invitation. He came in the middle of the night determined to have peace with God right then and there. He didn’t want to miss the train! Maybe that’s what Jesus meant by forceful men and women laying hold of the kingdom!

(Incidentally, this was the same Billy Graham crusade that led to the conversion of Louis Zamperini about whom I spoke two weeks ago.)

Finally, Paul says in the book of Acts that we enter the kingdom through steadfastness. Once we’re born again, we finally enter God’s eternal kingdom by “hangin’ in there” through trials and difficulties in this life.

Acts 14:22: It was in the cities of Asia Minor where Paul and Barnabas were strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith when Paul said, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” [And of course he was referring to the eternal kingdom.]

One of my personal sorrows is that several young men with whom I attended a Christian college in Indiana way back in the 1950’s … several of these guys have since “bailed out” on the faith. They didn’t follow through with steadfastness. They’ve given up on Christ as Lord in favor of what C.S. Lewis called “Christianity-and-water,” i.e. – a watered-down version of the Gospel, mixed in with a little Buddhism here, a little something else there, so what’s left is no longer the gospel.

Jesus said it in Matthew 24—and it’s so clear in the Book of Revelation:

“He who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

So, the Bible teaches that one enters the kingdom:

– Through a change of heart,

– Through a forceful decision to “get on board,” and

– Through steadfastness—“hangin’ in there” with Jesus.

Right now I want to ask Jenn Yong to tell you how she entered the kingdom.

Jenn Yong:

I came from a Buddhist family with my mom religiously carrying out all the rituals for the various festivals, i.e. – Chinese New Year, etc. I remember asking my mom the reason behind why we do all the things we did and her answer was, “That was what your grandma did.” I wasn’t satisfied with the answer but my mom did not encourage further discussions on this. You just accept it. We even visited Haw Par Villa in Singapore & there were depictions of hell such as having your tongue cut off, put in boiling oil, etc. I felt fear but at the same time there was this feeling in me even at that age that this cannot be. There has to be some mistake & though I behaved after that experience, it was not because I knew it was the right thing to do but just to avoid the punishment of not behaving. This feeling of wanting to know if there was another way, allowed or rather led me to pursue God when I first learned about Him.

In secondary school, I was in a convent school in Singapore & being exposed to God for the 1st time. It was packaged along with Mary & Jesus & I attended mass in school for the very first time. The priest would give a sermon then serve Holy Communion. I was intrigued by it, eating his body & drinking his blood? Wow!! Who is this Jesus? I attended a Methodist Church on Sundays with friends & liked it so I would go regularly but would leave quickly after service, not getting involved in any of the church activities. This was mainly due to me attending without parents as I was staying in a hostel & did not feel that I should be there. The songs in mass at school & at church on Sundays touched me & I felt a huge sense of peace within me despite the problems I was experiencing.

Throughout college the only times I attended church was Christmas. After graduating and returning to KL, I started work but had to resign to go back to JB to help my parents & I resented it. My mom had been attending the local church, though she was not yet baptized. She introduced me to the young adults & encouraged me to attend the YA bible study. I was selfish & had huge arguments with my mom as I was not willing to compromise on the way I did things & would not listen to the advice of my parents who had more wisdom. I eventually left home to return to KL to work. I hardly spoke to my mom. After a while, I started looking in KL for a church to attend & visited a few until finally settling on SAPC. I started the baptism class with my husband but he dropped out after the 1st class but I continued on. The things that I learned in the class helped me to give my life to Christ. After giving my life to Christ, I was able to see that I had been wrong in the past & so took steps to mend my relationship with my mom who had moved to KL. She had attended the Alpha course in JB before moving to KL during the time we were not speaking & had decided to get baptized. However being a very proud woman, she could not admit to forgiving me because I was sorry & used my newborn baby boy as the excuse to mend things with me. As we started talking, we slowly healed until there was true forgiveness. My mom came through for us many times after that. I don’t know how I would have managed without my parents’ support in my son’s early years.

After baptism, my gift was identified to be in children’s ministry. I helped in Sunday school & eventually progressed to teaching. However, my husband was not baptized & rarely came to church with me. My parents helped me to instill God’s word in my son in his early years. My husband could not understand why I insisted on attending church every Sunday & bible study on a weekday evening after a long day’s work. Instead of arguing with him, I would work out a way for me to bring my son to church then rush back to PJ to pick up my husband & go out for lunch. I would arrange for my parents to keep my son until after bible study & pick him up then. I kept praying for God to work in my husband & surrendered that into God’s hands despite criticism from my in-laws who wanted me to force him to be baptized.

I knew in my heart that he needed to want to give his life over to God in order to be truly transformed & to be born again. God had His timing & knew best. In 2008, when my son was 5 years old, my husband came to Christ & took over as the spiritual head of our family. God had given me the strength to persevere in my spiritual walk & through changing me in terms of attitude & behavior, I was able to bring my husband to Christ. Now we are stronger spiritually as we encourage, pray & support each other in areas of our ministry work, career, parenting & spiritual walk. In my relationship with my parents, my husband, son, co-workers & fellow Christians, I try to use Christ as the example. How would Christ handle these situations & though I don’t always succeed in being Christlike, I know that God knows I am trying & The Holy Spirit is working in me to improve on that. A life lived in Christ gives me joy & peace despite whatever problems & issues I face.