Do I meet The Requirement To Get Into Heaven?

TL.10.14.2012 Do I meet the requirements to get into heaven? The Narrow and Wide Gates 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. True and False Prophets 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. True and False Disciples 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ The Wise and Foolish Builders 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” I recently read a story about a student who went to study at a monastery. Each student was to take a turn and give a message. When it came time for the student to give his sermon before all those other teachers, students and the large number of people that had gathered he drew a blank and could not remember anything that he had prepared to speak about. So he asked the audience, “What is it that I will be speaking on today?” Obviously no one knew what he would speak on so they replied”We do not know.” So then the student replied, “How can I give a sermon on something that you do not know?” And with that he stepped off the stage. The head master thought to himself that this is not how it should be, so he told that student to give a sermon the following week. The following week came and when he stood before the audience he had forgotten everything again so asked, “What sermon do you think that I will give today?” Since last week they answered they did not know this time they answered that they knew what he would be talking about. To which the student replied, “There is no need to give a sermon on which you know everything about” and then walked off the stage. The head master was not amused and ordered the student to give another sermon the following week. So the following week it was the same, but now half the audience replied that they knew and the other half answered that they did not know, to which the student replied, “Those who do not know should ask the ones who know, and the ones who know should teach the ones who do not know” and then he stepped off the stage. Is that not truth? That institution eventually used that teaching as part of their mission. To have those who do not know ask the ones who do know, and for the ones who do know to teach the ones who do not know so that all may live the life of faith. As we see in today’s scripture in Matthew 7, is there anyone here who does not know what is written in it? We all know the words that are written here. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Everyone knows this. But what do you prefer? Is it to go through the narrow gate or through the wide one? Of course we want to go through the wide gate. It is more comfortable. So what would I say to you? You all know the answer. I do not stand here preaching to you because you do not know. You already know but I preach the message to you again. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Does it say that there will be many? It says only a few. Should I be part of the few or the many? You already know the answer, but what we desire is that the path of the many would be the right path. Is this not so? In life, we accept the teachings of the many as truth. 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. He is teaching us to be careful of the false prophets. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. He says that you will be able to see them by the fruit of their lives. This does not only pertain to those who lead but to anyone who says that they are a Christian. How are we to know that someone is a Christian? It is by their fruit. If I say I am a Christian, then I must bear fruit of my faith to show that I am a Christian. You know this. The important question we need to be asking ourselves is “Am I bearing the fruit of following Jesus or am I not?” Head knowledge of what I must do, is not the same as bearing fruit in one’s life. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. We are even shown the result of not bearing the right kind of fruit that I should be as a follower of Jesus. What is that result? We will be thrown into the fires of hell. We know this. Though I do not preach, if we just read the Bible everything is clearly explained. Just as I have said in the beginning, if you do not know, ask the one who does know, and if you know, teach the one who does not know. At your home, the father who knows should communicate with his wife, and together they should lead by example the life of faith to their children. Without doing so, I will be unable to bear good fruit. I will be cut down and thrown into the fires of hell. We should be teaching this way at home, but do we? Do we not teach our children to do as we say and not as we do? Do we teach them to watch us suffer in our lives and end up going to hell so they should follow us and do the same? What difference is it whether we say it this way or not when that is what we are really showing them? We teach them that even though we are living a double life they should live a holy and righteous life. Then at church I pretend to be holy, so that if anyone sees me I act as if holy, but when I go home, I am the owner, I am king so I do whatever I want. Then what do the children learn? They see that when you go to church you are supposed to be one way, and when you come home you are to be different. Then the children come to church, act holy, and when they go into the world they lie to their parents and it means nothing to them. Why? Their parents come to church and lie to God so why would lying to their parents be any more of an issue? What is it that they have seen and learned? Is this not how they think? I am the one who planted the seeds to bear this fruit, but the moment I see the fruit of my actions I am the one to get angry. Who gets angry? I get angry because I feel like I was deceived and I am dissatisfied with the outcome. The parent or the leader, rather than repent of their ways for being a bad example, or think that they are the one who has deceived God, they get upset because they think that they are the one who has been deceived. It is just like going the path that enters the wide gate, but desiring to get into heaven. It is taking the path that everyone else is going on and trying to get everything that you want. We should look at ourselves and see that we are living incorrectly and have mistaken the truth for lies, but we fail to see this. Why? Speaking spiritually, we have fallen into the trap of the devil. We think that the knowledge that we have in our heads is enough to get us to where we desire to go without changing. This is why we are living the double life without even trying. It does not bother us that we do and we accept it as truth. We forget that one day we will stand before the Lord in judgment. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Of those who call out “Lord, Lord,” some will enter into heaven and some will not. Let us talk about those here at True Light Church. Some of you may not like what I have to say, but if all us call upon the Lord today, it would be great if everyone entered into heaven, but what if everyone did not enter and you were part of the group that did not? We must realize that even though I may not enter now, I can be one who does eventually. Many of us do not realize this. Last week I spoke on the requirements of getting into heaven. We spoke about being like children. Today also, the requirement for entering according to Jesus is for the one to do according to do the will of His Father. That is the main point of today. What is the will of our Father in heaven? In Matthew 5:48 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus also teaches us that we are to build our foundation on solid rock, so that even though the world will try to break us with temptation, we will be able to stand firm in the house that has been built on the Word. We must be people who do the will of God so that we may enter into heaven. What is doing the will of God? If we are talking about work, let us look at John 6:28-29 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Who is the one that God has sent? He is Jesus. He is saying to believe in Him is to do the work of God. So what do we mean when we say we believe? It is abandoning oneself and accepting completely what the other person is saying. That is what it means to believe. If someone tells you that if you eat that you will die, then will you eat it? You do not because you believe that if you eat it you will die, so you do not eat of it. The Bible, Jesus the one who we are to believe, tells us assuredly what we are to do and not to do. If someone is about to die and is told that if you eat of something then you will live, will they not eat of it? We have all heard stories of people having to attain something so precious but that is absolutely necessary to their lives and must do all they can to have it. We have been given the medicine to take off this life of sin that is killing us, but will you eat of it or not? You should eat of it, it is the Word of God, but to eat of it means that you are to live the way it teaches us. But do you live the way it teaches? Do you believe what it is telling us to do? Do you believe? To believe means to do as it says. Are you doing it? You do not. Why? It is because you judge. When you look you think whether you are capable of doing it or not capable. You become the standard for the things that you decide to do. Therefore there is no life of faith or obedience. After Friday night service I was watching a different pastor’s testimony. All he had was a second grade education. He ended up being the owner of a huge after school tutoring program. With the little education he had, he grew up cleaning up other people’s homes, but because of the lesson of tithing he had learned in church, he had applied that lesson to his life. As times got hard, he slacked on his tithing and God had told Him to give the whole tithe. When he began giving the whole tithe, he shares that his life was dramatically transformed. If we say that we are to see the fruit of our faith in our lives, then there needs to be fruit in our lives according to the Words that we hold dear to. This is the true life of a believer. Whether this is possible in my life or not is completely up to me alone. We all know it in our heads, but unless I am able to put it into practice in my life, the knowledge is useless. God sent Jesus to us. Believing in Jesus is to do the work of God. We say that living the life of faith is difficult. Matthew 5:43-48 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. When Jesus taught us, he tells us what the law used to say which was to hate your enemy and love your neighbor. It is easy to keep and do the things that are obvious. But what did Jesus say. He teaches us to love your enemies and to pray for them that persecute you. Is it easier to hate your enemy according to the law or is it easier to love and forgive? What is easier? Jesus teaches us that which is harder to do. There are those of us today who say that we are living the life of faith, and like to say that the Law no longer matters to us. That it has been done away with. We say that Jesus has saved us from the Law. But the truth is it is harder to live according to the new teachings of Jesus than it was to follow the ways of the Law. But we refuse to see this because it bothers us. Because we think it is too difficult to follow. But if we die to ourselves as Christ has died for us, and we have killed our pride, then we can do what it says. It is because we refuse to die, to let go of our pride, and we get stuck in the battle in our minds with knowledge and only accept the teachings that we desire to hear which produces no change in our lives. Jesus says: ’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Who enters the house of their father? Is it not the child? I must do as Jesus teaches so that I may be the child of God then I will be able to enter into the house of my Father. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. We ignore the truth of God’s grace and assume that He is allowing the evil and unrighteous to be and think that He is accepting of their behavior. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? We know that it is obvious to love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but now Jesus is saying that teaching is now useless. 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. This is what Jesus is teaching us to do. When we speak of living the life that will allow us to be God’s children, and we are taught to love our enemies, he teaches his disciples that those who do the will of the Father is his brother, mother and sister. Why did he say this to the people? In Mark chapter 3, Jesus casts out an evil spirit and what did the people say? They said that Jesus was filled with an evil spirit. The news spread that Jesus was casting out evil spirits because He himself was filled with an evil spirit and His mother and brother were looking for him. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” 31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Jesus teaches that those who will live in God’s kingdom, those who are to be called children of God, brother, sister and mother to Jesus are the ones who do God’s will. His mother and brothers did not enter into the place where Jesus was. We are not sure why, but if we are to guess as to why they were not allowed to enter… We can say maybe there were too many people and the place was crowded. But if there is someone famous and someone who is close to them was there, would they not try to get to where that person was? Could it be that maybe His mother and brothers were scared and really thought that Jesus was filled with an evil spirit and that is why rather than going into to see Him they had asked for Him to be called out to them? That is why Jesus asks who is my brother and my mother? He teaches us it is not the one who sits outside calling Him to come out to them, but the ones who He is with that are doing the will of God. What kind of life are you to live to show that you are following Christ? If I am ashamed to show my faith to others, then Jesus will not acknowledge us when we are before Him in judgment, but if we confess Him openly before other, he will also stand for us when we stand in judgment before Him. So what does it mean to deny Christ? Does it mean that I never openly denied Him? No. It means that unless all my speech, thought and actions reveal Christ then it is the same thing as denying Him before others. If someone asks you if you are a Christian then why are you behaving in that manner, then what will you say? If they ask, “Is it right for a Christian to behave that way?” Then how will you respond? I have already denied Jesus by the actions of my life so when I stand before Him in judgment He will deny me just as I have been denying Him with my life. Then it will be all over. We try to make excuses to Jesus and ask Him to overlook our sins while we decide when we will be living according to God’s Word and when we will not. Could the light of Jesus shine through in our lives when we live in this manner? What do you think as you examine your life? How many times do we find ourselves trying to understand an infinite God with our finite minds? The history of all the faithful people of God shows us that they did not try to understand God but they would humble themselves in obedience to Him. That is what the people of faith have left for us to see. If I am to live this life then I will not be able to understand. There are many things that happen today that science and medicine cannot explain. But how do some supposed believers explain these events? They say that it is an evil spirit or something not of God because the Jesus they believe that Jesus no longer manifests himself in miraculous ways. They say the times of the working of the spirit is passed. I have mentioned to you many times before and I ask you again, is the Bible the complete record of who God is and all that He does? There are those who believe that to know God in any manner outside of what is written in scripture is wrong. I disagree with them. It is clearly recorded in the Bible, in the book of Revelations, when John saw and hear dsome of the things in heaven to record it, what happened? He was told not to record it. Why do you think he was told not to write down what he heard or saw? We do not know. Even Paul tells of his vision in the third heavens, but did he write it down? He did not. Then we too, when we have a close relationship to God, can experience and taste the third heavens, but because it is not written in the Bible, and we begin to experience the things of the spirit, should we accept it or deny it? What about those who were dead and raised back to life like Lazarus? What about the centurions daughter? Did Jesus only raise them back to life? Did Jesus not save others as well? Jesus may have not raised them back to life himself, but after he died and was resurrected, what happened? Many of the dead that were buried were raised back to life. Those were buried and had died were raised back to life, so even today they may be raised back to life, but because we do not understand it in our own minds, and science cannot explain it nor medicine explain it, we deny it. We must decide if things are happening as we are being obedient to the Word of God, or if things are happening as I deviate away from the Word of God. If I abandon the Word of God and just seek the things of the spirit it is possible that I may experience certain things. But if in the pursuit of God’s Word, and in trying to live according to His teachings and He shows me things of the Spirit that I may draw closer to Him, I must accept these things. It is for a spiritual growth that God shows us these things. It is not for me to boast about. Let’s say that today I am able to see the hearts of everyone. What do you think will happen? If I saw your heart would I like you? Let us speak honestly. I would think to myself how could I like someone who has a heart like that? We cannot like anyone when we see their hearts. Why? Because I am not Jesus. But when Jesus shows us these things, it is not for us to judge them, but it is so that we can pray for them. We see that the person is having difficulty with a certain problem, he is stuck in his walk, and we are to pray for them. We are to be grateful for the grace given to us and the gift that has been granted to us, but rather than doing so we use the gift to judge others. When we judge and stray from the Word, we are in turn judged by others and persecuted for not being Biblical. When we stray from the path we have no choice but to be judged. But when we are living in obedience and God is showing us things in the hearts of men and told to pray for them, then we must pray. If I am to be an intercessor then I must pray for the one that God tells me to pray for. Let’s say that you are praying for me, but your spiritual eyes have not been open and I have not shared with you any of my problems. The how can you pray for me? How will you know what is in my heart so that you can pray for me? Let say out of pride I say that I am doing well, and pretend that everything is fine, but inside because of my pride I am suffering. When you are shown that I have pride and I am suffering for it, then you are not to judge me for my pride but rather pray for me that I may overcome it. You are not to judge me for my pride. You are to pray that God will have mercy on me and show me what is wrong that I will be freed from my burden and that is why you pray. This is the work of an intercessor. This is the kind of work you are to do as you follow Jesus. It is not about your pride and to see how great you are. If the mother and brothers of Jesus reacted in this way when they heard that Jesus was filled with an evil spirit, then how much more embarrassing would our reactions be? Do you think that for 30 years Jesus only helped his father do carpentry work and then one day decide to get up and go on His ministry? If he had done so, then would Mary have been able to tell the servants to do whatever Jesus commanded and the wedding banquet in Cana? Could she? Would she have told the servants to obey whatever Jesus commanded if all Jesus ever did was work with wood and paint? Think about it logically? Even though there was no more wine, she knew that there would be wine because she had already seen it happen before. Could it not be that the house where Joseph and Mary lived that they never lacked any wine ever? Could it not be that water was turned into wine more than a few times at that home? That is why Mary was able to say what she did. That is what I believe. If that is so, then no matter if the whole world did say that Jesus was filled with an evil spirit, then she should have boldly said no to that thought, but having a bit of doubt, she tried to have Jesus called out to her. If we too, are like this in our lives and unless we are completely transformed by the spirit, we will stumble and fall constantly in the traps of the devil and have no choice but to make mistakes. Why is it that we are happy, but the moment someone says something we immediately become bothered? It is because those words do not meet my standards. Unless I am a true Christian the it is possible that we are like this. I must repent of this and humble myself before God. I must lay myself down before the cross of Jesus. But rather than doing so we get caught in the trap of the words and stumble over our emotions. This is why we fall back down. If we keep running in the hamster’s wheel, then it only gets more difficult to change our lives and the goal of ever doing so gets further from us. If this is true then the blessings that God has desired for me to attain will likewise diminish as time passes on. I must be able to live the life that God desires so that I may attain all the blessings He has for me. It is to live this life that we are discussing these things. What is the point of believing in Jesus? Is it to receive material blessing here on earth? Is it to get a job? Is it for healing? Is it so your children are well, or to have whatever you desire happen the way you want? What is the reason? The life here on earth is brief and passing. In that brief time, we are given an opportunity to receive the things of eternity. If we barter correctly, and use the things of this world and trade it for the things of eternity, then you can reap great rewards when you enter into heaven. This is why you have been given life. But our problem is that we try to use the things of heaven so that we can live well here on earth. We try to persuade God to give us all the things that we ask for, for his kingdom, but in truth we want all that so that we can boast about ourselves. Let us look at out church and call us a body. When we look at a body there are different parts, some are exposed others are hidden, some are honored and others are dirty. Let us say that you are to be the feet of the body. Are feet to be stepped on or lifted upon the head? If feet were at the head then we would have to crawl around. We would not be able to walk. But the feet are to be stepped on, and at times must overcome pain, and then when it does so it can support and strengthen the entire body. It allows the body to work so that the body can do the work of God. You must do your best in the position that you are put in to fulfill your purpose in life. But we refuse to live this way. We tell God to put us in a place where we can be seen because we are believers of Christ. We ask to be changed and put into a different position. For who? It is for me. The Bible asks, “Can all be the mouth or the eyes?” If everyone was the same, is it then one whole body? What happens if you had an extra eye? What if you had two mouths? That is not how it is to be. In your homes there is one head of that home. If there are two, is that a normal home? God does not want us to live in this improper manner. God desires that we do our best in the lives that we are given and bear good fruit. A husband is to be a good husband and a wife a good wife. Together they are to be one and raise the children and bear good fruit. Doing the best in the life that you have been given and by doing so you can bear good fruit. If you fail to live this life not only will you fail personally but you will also ruin your family and not be able to stand before God. A husband must do all he can as a husband and a wife must do all she can as a wife. It is not individually but together as one, showing the life of faith to their children so that they family can bear the fruit of true faith. This is living the life of heaven. This must be evident in our lives. We must be able to throw away the things of this world and hold onto the things of the spirit so that we can raise a family in and of faith. 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. When Jesus says that you will recognize them by their fruit he is saying that if I am living a true Christian life and am bearing the fruit of it others will see it and know that I am a Christian. They will see that my family follows Christ. I will be recognized as a believer. We are told that when we plant seeds of good then there will be good in us and if we plant evil then there will be evil in us. If I do good then I will reap the things of good. I will reveal the good that has been planted by the Word in me. In the end we will be judged by the very words that we have spoken. It means I am living the life that will eventually give me judgment or reward. It all starts with the words that we speak. If we do things that we will be judged for, then can we also receive His blessings? If I am convicted of being a criminal will anyone believe the words I speak? If God judges me as a sinner then I cannot receive His blessing. If I am unable to receive God’s blessings then the path I am going is already set before me. Do you want end up going there? You know. If you do not want to go there then what must you do? It starts with being careful of the words that you speak. The Lord tells us that we will be judged by the words that we have spoken, so what does that mean? That means I will be judged by the fruit of what I have lived out from the words I have spoken. If I am still living my life the way I want according to how I feel, as if I am my own master, then will I be living the life that meets the requirements to get into heaven? You already know that it is not the life that the Lord desires. Just like the story I shared with you about the monastery, do you not know? You already know what you are to do and not do. Then that means you are to be teachers of what to do and not to do. Then that further means that you are to live the life by example. The decision to do so is yours. To teach or not is up to you individually. If you do then you will have lived a good life and be rewarded for living so. But if you do know, and your actions are contrary to your words, then you will be judged for what you have spoken and you will have no one else to blame but yourself. Do your best to enter in through the narrow gate. Be a part of the few who will enter through it. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Then everything I must do in this life must be to do the will of God. This is the life of Jesus. The life of Jesus must become my life so that I can be given entry into heaven. If this is something that you know then live this life. Make the decision to live this life, to be blessed in this life, to be recognized by our Lord and receive the crown of glory. May this be the time you decide to live for the Lord. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park Translation by Miguel Park