Who is fit to enter into the kingdom of God, and how do I get in? If you've ever struggled with these questions, you're not alone. Even Jesus' disciples often got it wrong. Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg explores these questions and explains why humility is essential. We're going to read from the Bible this morning in the Gospel of Luke and the 18th chapter.
We're going to read from the fifteenth verse. People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God. belongs to such as these.
I tell you the truth, anyone who will not Receive the kingdom of God like a little child. We'll never enter it. A certain ruler asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Why do you call me good? Jesus answered.
No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother. All these I've kept since I was a boy, he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, You still lack one thing.
Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. When he heard this, he became very sad because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, How hard it is for the rich to To enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, 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.
Those who heard this asked, who then can be saved? Jesus replied, What is impossible with men is possible with God. Peter said to him, We've left all we had to follow you. I tell you the truth, Jesus said to them. No one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age.
and in the age to come. Eternal life. Amen. Yesterday morning I did something very unusual, that is, I watched the T V. I Watch TV, but I'd seldom, if ever, watch it in the morning, and I can't remember the last time I ever saw a television.
apart from maybe in an airport on a Saturday morning. But things fell out that way for me, and I found myself hooked into a program. that was taking place being filmed in the Yukon Peninsula. It was essentially the journey of a photographer with his apprentice. And the photographer was showing this young man how he might be able to maximize the photographic opportunities that were before him.
It was quite enthralling, and not least of all because this senior photographer was nurturing the younger man in the use of lenses and angles and so on. And so he was constantly telling him, you know, if you use this particular lens, then obviously your focus is narrow, your depth of field is limited, whereas if you back off and use a wider lens, then two-thirds of what you see will be in your depth of field and so on. And he was showing them, and the way the thing was shot was so tremendously helpful because you could see exactly what was taking place. And it was pressing upon my mind throughout the day as I continue to study for today, because I realized that in large measure what that man was doing there in photography, I was seeking to do in our study of the Bible week by week. Inasmuch as sometimes we're using, if you like, a lens which allows us to focus very directly on a specific incident.
Now, I mention that because I think it is important for us, particularly as we move towards the conclusion of Luke's Gospel, to be reminding ourselves of the fact that we do a disservice to our own ability to study the Bible. If we are led simply by the paragraph headings that are created for us in our English version of the Bible. These have been added for our help. And in many cases, they are helpful. It is, of course, perfectly legitimate for us to study the first eight verses on their own, and then nine to fourteen on their own.
We could, I suppose, study this little section concerning the children as an isolated incident. We could then go on and deal with a rich young ruler in isolation from the rest, and so on. But I think it's important for us this morning to zoom out a little bit, as it were, to make sure that we are not missing the line which is running all the way through these incidents that are described for us. One of the things that we want to try and identify, and we've said this before in our study of the Bible, is to be able to get, as it were, the melodic line that is running through all of the notes which sound out this tune which unfolds God's story for us. It's possible for us to listen to music in a truncated way.
I suppose you could listen and then switch it off and then listen again, and you would miss the melody that runs through the music. In the same way, it is important for us to catch the melody line which is running through.
Sometimes it's a very striking, full, rich Now resonant sound, other times it is In a minor key. And the melody line which runs through these verses, I want to suggest to you, is a melody line of division. That there is a clear contrast which comes again and again throughout all of these episodes here in Luke 18. If I were asking you, where then does this motif of division fall, illustrate it for me, write it down on a paper, then I would expect that you would look at it and you would say, well, we have the division between the unjust judge and the magnificent provision of God the Father. Correct.
We have the division that exists between the snobby attitude of the Pharisee and the humble response of the tax collector. Correct. We have the division that exists between those who brought children to Jesus and those who tried to shoo them away. Correct? And as you go through these verses, you will find that there is this recurring melodic theme which is there.
It is essentially that which exists between those who have faith and in turn act faithfully. In contrast to the self-possessed who are concerned only with their own honour and with their own position.
Now, Luke's orderly account of things which he has given us promised to us from the opening chapter. makes it impossible for us to miss the urgency with which he brings this challenge to his readers. We're not here talking about Matters of marginal importance, we're actually talking about who is fit for entry to the kingdom of God. That we live in the kingdom of man. We build our own little kingdoms, as it were.
But there is a kingdom of God which He has established. Jesus is the king, and he is inviting people to come and live under His kingly rule. This morning, we are ultimately divided between one another on the basis of those who have responded to the call of Christ's kingship. and have bowed down and honoured him as king, and those who as yet have resisted his advances and determined that we will live on in our own little citadel with ourselves on the throne, and we will try and champion our own destiny as best as we can.
Now this very important matter is highlighted for us by phraseology which is repeated. The issue in verse 17 of what it means to enter the kingdom of God. Is reiterated in verse 24 how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. What we are dealing with is the matter of eternal life, verse 18. To which Luke returns again in verse 30, finishing the 30th verse with the phrase, and in the age to come, eternal life.
We are addressing the question of whether it would be possible for us to amass a great fortune on earth. and yet still to have no treasure in heaven. To spend all of our energies and all of our time making sure that we have built our own little kingdom and yet find that we're so tied to our earth. Bound preoccupations that on the day that we stand before God, there will have been nothing entered in our bank account at all. These then are the issues.
Whew. Is fit for entry to the kingdom of God, and upon what basis will that entry be granted?
Now, of course, we ought to be able to answer that question as a result of all the study that we've done up until this point. We've certainly seen that the first answer that we may go to is probably the wrong answer. Especially if we're thinking the way the man in the street thinks. And last time, in the story of the Pharisee and the publican, we had our first surprise. Who do you think, says Jesus, would be the individual that would go home right with God?
Here's a man who goes to church regularly, he tithes, he is involved in prayers, he prays fastidiously, he fasts and so on. And here's another guy who's actually a crook and a cheat and who apparently is completely on the outside of things. Which man do you think would be the one who went home right with God?
Well, the man in the street would say, of course, the religious individual went home right with God because religious people are on God's side. But this fellow, no, he had no chance with God. Jesus said, no, you're completely wrong. The one who went home right with God was the man who admitted that he had nothing to plead in his defense. And the self-absorbed fellow, he actually made no progress whatsoever, except in being able to draw attention.
to himself.
Now, of course, again, this is no surprise to us if we step way back from it all and we allow the opening unfolding story of the Gospel of Luke to establish the pattern which follows. I want you, if you'd be good enough, just to turn back to the first chapter in order that I might point out to you just one thing. In the song of Mary, remember when Mary sings a song? Uh after the uh announcement of the uh birth of the Lord Jesus. And she magnifies God that he has looked upon the lowly estate of his handmaiden.
She can't get over the fact that he hasn't come and chosen a princess, he hasn't come and chosen somebody who is well known, he's come and chosen somebody in complete obscurity. And as she reflects upon this and she sings out her praise. There's 51. She points out that he has scattered those who are proud. in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but he has. lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things. But he has sent the rich Away Empty. In other words, the values of the kingdom are topsy turvy.
When we got to chapter 6, we saw that in the sermon that Jesus preached. He said, Blessed are you who are poor. For yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry, blessed are the sad, blessed are the heated. You remember we said about that?
That is bizarre. If you had the opportunity to say, do you want to be Hungry. Sad. Poor and insulted are rich Fat Happy and praised Which of the two options would you elect for?
Well, most people would say, well, I I think I better go for the happy fat. you know, and uh and and praised. Jesus says, But woe to you who are rich. Wot of you are well fed. Woe to you who laugh!
Woe to you when men speak well of you. What is he saying? He's saying that the issues of the kingdom are topsy-turvy. And of course, he drives it home back here in chapter 18 at the end of the story of the Pharisee and the publican. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.
And he who humbles himself will be exalted.
So, those of us who come to church and we want to make sure that everybody can see that we're here and that we're present and correct, as it were. relying perhaps on our fastidious commitment to coming. relying on the fact that we are very orthodox in the way we do certain things. Unless we have actually humbled ourselves before the mercy of God. Then God will send us away empty.
Those of us who come to church saying, you know, it's a surprise to me that the building doesn't fall down on my head. After all, if people ever knew what I was really like. Then we discover that in the humility of heart that cries to God for mercy, God is drawing us to. himself is completely upside down. This is a wonderful message, you see, because when we go out to the folks in our community, We have to say to them, those who think they're smart, They're not so smart.
Those of them who think they're well healed, they're actually not so well healed, they're down on their heels.
So that we really have no message for you except you're going to have to humble yourself before God. the proud and the self-assured and the well put together. They don't want to hear that story. And then the other people who think there is no story to hear, we love to tell them. I know you think that there is no hope for you.
I know that you've determined that your life is a shambles. I know that you feel yourself to be overwhelmed by many things. I've got wonderful news for you. The Lord Jesus comes to pick up people like you. He picks up the humble and he fills them with good things.
But the rich, he sends them away empty.
So I'm not sure that being rich then, I'm not sure the American dream is the best way into the kingdom. You're right. The American dream may prevent you from the kingdom.
Now, in verse 9, look at the audience. We're not going to go back through this section. We dealt with it last time. But I want to take you back again to the audience because I've thought about this more since last time. And I was greatly challenged by it in a way that didn't quite strike me before.
I want to mention it to you in case you may feel the same sense of challenge. Jesus is addressing those who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else. Those who, on account of their concerns with holiness, disdained others and sought to exclude them from their circles. No. Since he immediately goes on to tell the story of the two men who go to the temple to pray.
It is very easy for each of us to then go to the story. To identify who the bad guy is, who the good guy is. and then put ourselves on the side of the good guy. By making sure that we are not the bad chap, you know the Pharisee. This is obviously, we say to ourselves, a story about Pharisees and whatever else we may be, we are not part of the Pharisees.
Therefore, we can relax on this one. Let's see what happens when he gets to the story of the children. Mm-mm. Notice that Jesus in speaking in this way does not identify a particular group of people. But rather, he identifies an attitude.
He identifies a disposition. which in turn generates practices that are in opposition. to the way of the kingdom of God.
So, to the extent that any of us may find ourselves saying, Well, I'm so glad that this doesn't refer to me. We have just pronounced to ourselves and to anyone else listening that there is a more than even chance that it does refer. to me. Because we are each of us in constant danger of slipping on the shoes of religious hypocrisy. Of making ourselves seem far holier than we are by disdaining people who need to hear the message of Christ.
By making ourselves feel very orthodox by the limited way in which we draw the circle around us, thereby saying that everyone outside of the circle, by our perspective now, not by the demands of the gospel, but by our perspective, is somehow or another excluded from the group. In fact, look at how poorly the disciples fare. As they rebuke in verse 15 the people who are bringing children to Jesus. Presumably, if you look forward to the story of blind Bartimaeus in verse 39, at least a few of the disciples were involved in rebuking him because it was those who led the way. We would assume that at least some of the disciples would be upfront with Christ.
And those who led the way rebuked him, told them to be quiet. Jesus tells a story. To confront those who are confident in themselves and look down on everybody else. There isn't five minutes elapsed, and the disciples are going, get these kids out of here. They haven't hardly gone through 20 minutes and they're saved.
Who's that man shouting like that? Tell him to be quiet. Who is he? He's a blind man. Oh, a blind man.
Let's move on. The place is full of blind people. We've got places to go. We're the disciples. We're with Jesus.
We're going to Jerusalem. You see how possible it is? Because we live so close to the action. To constantly try and fill in the gaps that are left in the Bible by saying this is a wonderful passage for X, this is a terrific story for Y, this couldn't possibly have anything to say to the congregation of Parkside Church. Surely there are no people in Parkside Church, pastors or congregation included, who are confident in their own righteousness and are tempted to look down on everybody else.
So you pull the lens far enough back, you realize, whoo! There's more in this picture than I realized.
Now this isn't the first occasion. When the disciples had needed to be confronted with this fact If you turn back a few chapters to chapter 9, I'll just point it out to you. 946 An argument had started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. You would think that living this close to Jesus, nobody would ever talk like that. I think I'm going to be in the greatest spot.
No, I don't think you are. Philip, you're always asking silly questions. There's not a chance you're going to be there. And Thomas, I don't know why you even suggested you might be.
So Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child, made him stand beside him, and then he said to them, Notice this principle: whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. He who is the least among you all, he is the greatest.
Now that must have really stung them. And so John. Chips and he says, Hey, Jesus, Thanks for sharing that. We saw a man driving out demons in your name. We try to stop him because he is not one of us.
Hold your finger there, go back to some who were confident of their own righteousness and look down on everybody else. He is not one of us, and we shut him down. Jesus said, Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you. They can't get out of their own way, can they? He took a little child in the midst of them, and he says, Whoever welcomes this little child welcomes me.
In other words, there is a direct correlation. between receiving children and receiving the kingdom. A correlation that I'm not sure that I have ever considered till I study this passage again this week. When you look at this little section beginning verse 15 regarding the children, it tends to be the focus of romanticization. Is there such a word?
And uh Sentimentalism. You know Oh, this is a lovely little story and and Jesus is uh Is doing what we would expect him to do because, after all, we have these children and they're such devoted little things, and we love our children, and so on, and they're such wonderful little creatures, and blah, blah, and so on. And so, here's a lovely little touching story, but actually, it's not really that touching at all. This is not a kind of first century presidential photo opportunity. Jesus is teaching them here: let the lens come back fair enough and look at this.
He told a story concerning those who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else. They walk away from that, presumably saying, Okay, we passed that test. They walk right into the circumstances where people are bringing children to Jesus and they say, Hey, Move along. Jesus doesn't have time for you. To those who were confident in their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told the story.
They thought they passed the test, they didn't pass the test. Because immediately the next incident arises and they blow it completely. Do you see yourself in this at all? You're listening to Alastair Begg on Truth for Life. We'll hear more tomorrow about entering God's kingdom.
In the meantime, let me invite you to request the book we've been recommending. It's titled Both and Ministry: Living and Leading Like Jesus. This is a book that draws from Jesus' example as a leader to give us foundational tenets for how we lead others.
Now I will say this is a challenging book. Jesus' teaching was marked by contrasts, and if we're going to follow His example we have to be both and leaders, both leaders and servants, courageous and submissive. It's not easy.
So how can you employ seemingly opposite behaviours at the same time? This is a book that walks you step by step through how to apply balance in your leadership approach and style. You'll examine key contrasting leadership traits found in perfect harmony in Jesus, so you can see which traits you lean toward naturally and which traits you may need help cultivating. This book was written with church leaders in mind, but it's a book you'll find useful as you seek to reflect Christ as you lead your family. or friends or neighbors, or in your work environment.
We have only a few days left for you to be able to request the book both and ministry when you make a donation to Truth for Life, so ask for your copy today. You can use the mobile app or go online to truthforlife.org slash donate. or call us at 888-588-7884. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow we'll examine Jesus' response to the rich young ruler.
Was Jesus suggesting that poverty is a means for entering God's kingdom? We'll hear the answer tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
