A Grand Entrance

Last Sunday's sermon brought to light some assumptions that people make regarding how one enters the kingdom of God:

Physical death- There are some who believe, falsely, that people go to heaven as a sort of "default" location for those who lived life without making a decision for Christ.

Mental assent- Mere belief in the existence of God is not sufficient for gaining entrance into the kingdom of God. As we mentioned in a blog earlier this week, even demons believe in the existence of God while remaining committed to deeds of darkness.

John 6:53 reveals to us that Jesus is the only entrance into the kingdom of God. Our confession and renunciation of sin, and our acceptance of and belief in Jesus as the sacrifice made on our behalf, bring us into a position where we can enter the kingdom of heaven.

Have you entered into the kingdom? One of the challenges we face is that there are often many people filling the church pews, but they have only entered the building in which we worship; they have never entered into the kingdom of God and as such are lost in darkness. As was said at the start of Sunday's sermon, we are concerned and pray for these who are self-deceived, whose "membership" in the kingdom is a masquerade.

In this group of pretenders we have sub-groups. Some are intentionally indifferent to the wooing of the Spirit of God. Others are intentionally fighting against the mandate of God to come to Him. What perplexes me is that while they are saying no to God, they are securely ensconced in the company of God's people- as if they can enter the kingdom of heaven by association. Some pretenders sit in the pew. Some pretenders are choir members. Some pretenders are teachers.

When the judgement of God falls in a congregation, there is no position left exempt from examination. The Old Testament records the attire of Aaron as high priest, and we note in Exodus 28 that the hem of his robe was surrounded by bells and pomegranates so that he could be heard walking and his colleagues would be assured that God had not struck him down during his ministration. And in an earlier blog we have already discussed the Acts 5 account of Ananias and Sapphira, a prominent church couple who lied to God and suffered the consequence of God taking His breath from them.

For those of you who might be reading who hold positions of authority in church, and you know you have not submitted yourself to God, this is a great opportunity to repent before His judgement crushes you. As was said so powerfully in the sermon "Giving to God: Lose the Attitude", lip service is not a substitute for obedience to God. (For those of you who did not hear that sermon and want to read the source text, it is based in Psalm 50.) Do not make the mistake of thinking that you can ignore God and do what you please. More importantly, if you love Him, why do anything that you know would grieve His heart?

Let's make sure that we are in the right position to make a "grand entrance" into the kingdom of God!

"And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name." Revelation 15:2