3 Wise Things To Do So That We Will Be Able To Enter The Kingdom Of Heaven
Mathew 7:21-27
1. BE WISE TO DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER
Mathew 7:21
“not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, But he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Jesus said that not all of us will enter the kingdom of heaven, even if we call Him LORD, LORD. It is not enough that we know Him, but it is necessary for our happiness and joy that we do the will of Christ, which is indeed the will of His Father in heaven. We should do His will. We should do what He commanded us to do, if it is our desire to go to heaven.
The Bible frequently speaks of God’s purposes and plans as His will. His will usually refers to what the Lord decreed, or what the Lord commanded us. Now this is His will, that…
· THAT WE LOVE THE LORD WITH ALL OUR HEART, MIND AND SOUL & TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS OUR SELVES
· THAT WE MUST BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST
· THAT WE REPENT OF OUR SINS AND LIVE A HOLY LIFE
Jesus wants us to do what He has commanded us. Jesus is more concern about our walk than our talk. Just like many athletes who can talk about great games, they talk about how the games being played, but they don’t tell us about their athletic skills.
Many people talk about how nice their professions are, but they don’t tell us about their performances in their jobs. Some Christians talk about how good to be Christian but they don’t tell us about their relationship to Christ. Not everyone who talks about heaven belongs to God’s kingdom. The Lord wants us to be doers of the Word not just talkers or hearers only.
He wants us to apply what we learn from Him through reading of the Scriptures. Through our devotions, through our prayers, through sermons and even through the life of others, Jesus wants us to be doers of His Word
James 1:22-25
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James in this passage encourages us to get rid of all what is wrong in our lives if it is our desire to enter the kingdom of heaven. James told us to be obedient to what the LORD’s will for us. That we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul, that we love our neighbor, that we believed in Jesus Christ and live a holy life, James encourages us to do this things not just by hearing it.
2. BE WISE TO LIVE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
Mat 7:22-23
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name? And in Your name have cast out devils? And in Your name done many wonderful works? 23 And then I will profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
What is that day that the Lord is talking about in this passage? Mat 7:22 many will say to me in “that day…”
That day would be the second coming of Jesus Christ when He will come as a judge. The Book of Life will be opened and all of us will give an account to what we have done here on earth. It will determine whether men will enter or not in the kingdom of heaven.
That day is the second coming of Jesus Christ, the day of judgment, the great and famous day, fixed by God. This day is unknown to angels and men. It will be terrible to most, and joyful to others; the Lord Jesus Christ will come suddenly, as a thief in the night as in 2nd Peter 3:10
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ’s second coming will be sudden. This is the day of the Lord’s judgment on earth. If we are morally clean and spiritually alert all the times this will not be a surprise for us but it will be joyful moment for us for we are ready to meet Christ at any time.
But that day would be terrible for others who do not believe in Jesus Christ, those who are living their lives away from God’s will, for they will be thrown away to the lake of fire, wherein there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. But for those who are obedient to the word of the Lord and doing God’s will, that day would be joyful for them, for they will received a reward for what they have done in their lives. The Lord will say to them, “Well done my faithful servant.”
What will happen to those who were faithful and died before the second coming of the Lord?
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
On the other hand, on that day many will beg Jesus that they will be allowed to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Many on that day will say (Mathew 7:22)… Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Jesus here exposes those people who sounded religious, but there is no personal relationship with Him. He speaks about people who professed Christ but do not possess Christ. He speaks about people who are expert in telling others what to do, but they themselves disobey God. Jesus is trying to make it clear here that obeying God’s will is more important than just talking about it. On that day, (the Day of Judgment), only our own relationship with Christ, our acceptance of Him as our Lord and Savior, and our obedience to Him will only matter. Many people think that if they are good people, and say religious things, they will be rewarded with eternal life. But in reality, our faith and obedience to Christ is what will really count at Judgment Day.
That is why while there is time, we must work hard for our salvation because time is short, that day is near, Jesus said in Luke 13:24, 25:
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from
We should be prepared always and we should not delay our decision to obey God’s will because the door (the gate) will not stay open forever, we are living in the last days, we are living in the time of the shutting of the gate, sooner or later the trumpet will sound. The Master will rise up and shut the door. Look around us if you are watching the news about earthquakes, floods, wars, and rumors of war, violence in Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen. No one knows when He is coming back to earth but we should be ready at all times. Suppose Jesus is to return today? How would He find you living? How is your life? Are you ready to meet Him? You are the only one who knows. But be wise to live in righteousness.
Maintaining salvation requires hard work, it requires great effort but obviously we cannot save ourselves. There is no way we can work ourselves into God’s favor. But the effort we must put out is to enter through the narrow gate. It is our earnest desire to know Jesus Christ and earnestly follow Him. Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one can come to God the Father but through Him.
We must live each day as if it is the last day, prepared to welcome Jesus Christ our Rock, our salvation.
3. BE WISE TO BUILD YOUR LIFE ON A STRONG FOUNDATION (Life Application)
Mathew 7: 24-27
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
All of us are building a house in eternity. All of us are either building a house on a rock or sand foundation.
Jesus said that people who ignore His word are like people who build their house on sand, for all eternity. People who ignore His teachings, people who ignore prayer, people who ignore reading the Scriptures, people who ignore their devotion to God, people who refuse to come to church, people who ignore spending their time to the things that really matters is like a foolish man building his house on sinking sand. All of their time, all of their energy, all of the things they accumulated, one day they will disappear. When the storm comes, great would be the fall of those homes, of those lives that are built on the foundation of sand. Jesus said that the foolish man built the foundation of his life, of his home, on sand.
But the wise man builds his house, his life, on the rock; a solid foundation of rock. Every one of us today is building a house in eternity. Every one of us today is either building a house on a solid rock foundation or a sinking sand foundation. There is no middle ground. Every time you come here every Friday afternoon, you are building your house on a rock foundation.
If you are not doing the will of God in every area of your life, in your prayer life, in your giving, in reading the Scriptures, in your devotion to God, you are building your life on sand. You are building your life in eternity on sand. Storm is going to come.
Jesus is the only foundation that can secure your life, your home, your family, your marriage, your finances against the storm that is going to come into our lives in this time that we are living in. no other foundation is going to stand. Storm is going to come.
Even if we are Christians there are no exceptions. We will also experience the same storm. We are not immune to storms. We will experience the same storm in our life: same troubles and same money problems. We will all experience storms in our life. As long as we are still here on earth we will all experience storms. Storm is going to come.
But if we are founded on Jesus Christ the Rock, even if when the wind starts beating down on our lives, in the area of our finances, in our relationships, in our homes and in our families, when everything in our life is going upside down, when the storm comes, our house will be standing still, because we are founded in Jesus Christ the Rock, because He promised not to leave us and forsake us and His promises are Yes and Amen!
Even if you are a new Christian you should know this…that you should spend your life in serving God, honoring God, in doing His will. You do not have to be a perfect person, but if you are in God’s work, and in His house and you love Him, every time you come to church, even if you are tired, you are building your house on the rock. Every time you stand in front to give your testimony, every time you raise your hands, you are building your house on the rock. When the storm is over your house will still be standing because you are building your house on a strong foundation, Jesus Christ the Rock.
Building a house on a rock is hard work!
It requires great effort to build a foundation on the rock. It needs our time and effort; it needs our patience, even sometimes needs our money, before we can stand on the solid foundation of rock. Building a house without a foundation is easy and provides instant comfort. Yet building a house on sand leaves the builder in a very vulnerable position.
Building a house on the rock is hard work and tiresome but the builders are secured.
Our Christian life needs great effort and it needs hard work. Coming here to church is hard work. It causes us our time, our effort, and even it causes us our money. And yet instead of going to the mall and other places, you choose to come here today; you are building your life on the Rock. You are building your life in eternity. You are a wise builder. You are a wise man. You are a wise woman.
Conclusion
Deuteronomy 30:19 -20
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you, life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Because of sin, Moses was not allowed to enter the promise land. But before his people enter, Moses challenged them to obey God’s will so that they may live and will continue to receive God’s blessings. God does not force His will upon anyone. He let us decide whether to follow Him or reject Him. This decision, however, is a matter of life or death. God wants you to know this, that He would like us all to choose life so that all of us will live.
As Moses challenged the Israelites to obey God’s will in their lives, God is also telling us that the choice between life and death, between blessing or cursing is up to us. God does not only give us a choice, but he goes further and tells us what choice we should make. He even show us the benefit of making the right choice, and he let us know the consequences if we choose wrongly.
In essence, God is saying to you today to choose wisely. “Here is your choice, life or death, heaven or hell, blessing or a curse, obedience or disobedience, righteousness or wickedness. Build your life on a strong or weak foundation. You choose.
But wait!
Before you choose, let me tell you what is best for you. You must choose life so that you and your descendants may live. You must choose obedience, you must choose righteousness. Be wise to build your life on the Rock. Don’t be a fool but be wise. Now choose!
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