Locked Out of Heaven

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“Locked Out of Heaven” Luke 11:45-54 Have you ever been “locked out” of your house or car? And maybe the keys are locked inside. How did you feel when you realized you were locked out? Scared, exasperated, foolish, berating yourself for your carelessness? The intensity of those feelings can vary depending on the circumstances. If your neighbor has one of your spare keys or another family member is close by, it’s not a big deal. But what if you’re a couple hundred miles from home and you’re locked out of your car? Or what if you’re a woman in a deserted parking lot at night and you have no way of getting into your car? There are definitely going to be some different feelings in that kind of situation. Years ago, when we lived in the city, it was late one night and Joyce and I heard a strange sound. We got out of bed and went to the other side of the house. From there we could see the other houses across the alley. In the backyard of one of those houses a young child was crying piteously. By listening carefully we finally understood what the child was saying over and over again; “Let me in.” Evidently, the child was locked out of the house and was begging to be left back in. Without knowing the details of the situation our feelings for the child were sympathetic; our feelings for the parent or guardian were anger at the injustice of the child’s treatment. Being locked out is never a good feeling. Sometimes it’s inconvenient; at other times it’s dangerous. But there’s one place you surely don’t want to be locked out of – that’s heaven! That would be the tragedy of tragedies; with eternal consequences too terrible to think about. And yet, even worse is the possibility that you might cause others to be “Locked Out of Heaven.” That’s the title of our study today and it is centered on the closing verses of Luke 11. Jesus is in the home of a Pharisee. In preparation for the meal Jesus refused to perform the ceremonial washing expected of Him as a Jewish rabbi. His host responded with amazement at His refusal. Jesus used this as an opportunity to teach about the imperative of inner cleansing. We looked at those verses, 37 to 44, last time under the title, “Cleanliness is Godliness.” In today’s text, verses 45 to 54, Jesus addresses another group of people; a group of people who, like the Pharisees, should have been the first to accept Him. Instead, they were the

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first to reject Him. Listen now as I read the text, Luke 11:45 to 54 and Jesus’ warning about being “Locked Out of Heaven.” In our text Jesus reveals several KEYS that will result in people being “Locked Out of Heaven.” You and I want to be careful to avoid using these keys.

Let me give you a little information about the lawyers, or scribes as they were sometimes called. These men were the interpreters of the Law; hence the term lawyers. They were not a religious group, like the Pharisees, but an elite professional class. So the lawyers were the interpreters of the Law and the Pharisees were the enforcers. The lawyer in our text was trying to make a distinction between his group and the Pharisees, but Jesus quickly pointed out that they were just as hypocritical as the Pharisees. The text tells us that the lawyer felt insulted.

The First KEY is, The Onerous Key of Obligation A pastor I know was reminiscing about his childhood and how his father gave him and his brothers work to do. Like most children or young people they would sometimes respond with the words; “Dad, do we have to?” To which the father responded “You don’t have to if you want to.” He was teaching his sons the blessing that comes from wanting to obey instead of obeying out of obligation. Christianity is often referred to as a religion. But those who genuinely follow Jesus do not have a religion; they have a relationship. We see this clearly in this section of Jesus’ teaching. The lawyers focused on obligations; and they were onerous, that is, they were an oppressive burden. They made following God a hardship, something distasteful. People came to the decision that the effort needed outweighed the advantages; so in many cases, they just gave up. In contrast, Jesus focused on relationship and said, in Matthew 11:29 and 30, that His yoke was easy and His burden light. It’s true; a disciple of Jesus does have requirements. Jesus said, in Luke 14:26 and 27, that unless we are willing to forsake all, and take up our cross and follow wherever He leads, we cannot be His disciples. So there are requirements for disciples. 2

But our obedience is to be motivated by our love for Him! When we reflect on all that God has done for us in Jesus, obeying his commands is not an obligation, it is a privilege. That’s the difference between religion and relationship. In some of Jesus’ final words to His followers He gave them what we’ve come to call “The Great Commission.” Many of you can quote the words, but I’m going to read them for you. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Did you catch what Jesus said? He said we are to “…teach them to observe all that I commanded you…” The difference was, and is, these commandments were to be fulfilled out of a heart of love to God for who He is and what He has done for us; they were not to be fulfilled to try to gain God’s approval. The religious people of Jesus’ day were trying to gain God’s approval by their outward piety and Jesus was not impressed. We still have these two groups of people with us today. Jesus pronounced three ‘woes’ or denunciations on the lawyers just as He had for the Pharisees. They were loading men down (present tense) with unbearable burdens that caused many to give up trying to follow God. Meanwhile they were refusing to touch the burdens even with the little finger! The word touch as its used here is a medical term and refers to gently feeling a sore part of the body or of locating a pulse. So they were refusing to even give a light touch of obedience to their own laws. Their motto could have been, “Do as I say, not as I do.” As we examine this key of onerous obligation I want to clarify something. There is a mistaken idea among many professing Christians today that any Scriptural obligations are onerous. That is not true. Every genuinely born again believer will endeavor to live a life of holiness. How we work that out will vary and we need to be charitable with each other. And we must never equate salvation with our good works. Let me give you a personal example. I have, in the past, been part of a congregation that did not allow members to have a TV. Some people immediately bristle at the idea of such a restriction. They say “That’s legalism!” But that choice was made because the members of the local congregation agreed that it was one way to live out the command to think on things that were true, honorable, pure, right, and so on. It was a sincere attempt to live a holy life. However, if that same congregation had said you 3

cannot be a child of God and own a TV, that would have been contrary to Scripture; and it would have been legalism. Legalism is making a requirement for salvation based on works; and we are not saved by our works. Do you see the difference? The lawyers had this onerous list of rules and regulations. And they said, “Unless you follow these, you cannot gain access to God.” On the other hand, Jesus said “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Our relationship with God through Jesus gives us access to Him. The obedience Jesus requires of His followers is designed to give us joy. Jesus talks a lot about the relationship of obedience, abiding in God’s presence, and fullness of joy in John chapter 15. So let’s get the balance here. The requirements for salvation are: “If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead; you shall be saved. For with the heart, man believes, resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Yet salvation is not the ultimate goal, as Jesus makes clear in the Great Commission. The ultimate goal is discipleship, oneness with Christ; a people of God whose love for Him motivates them to obey all that He commanded and to teach others to do the same. Jesus and the Father were and are one; and because of that Jesus said He did only those things that pleased the Father. Jesus told Nicodemus that those who are truly born again have the Spirit of God; and the Spirit of God is, in a way, like the wind. You hear the sound of the wind and you see its effects on the trees; but you can’t literally see it. You don’t know where it comes from or where it’s going. When someone is genuinely converted there will be a corresponding change in behavior; it will be motivated by love – not obligation. My friend, let’s be careful never to carry or use the onerous key of obligation. We don’t want to experience the curse Jesus gave to those who “lock people out of heaven.” The Scriptures are clear about the requirements of salvation; they are simple, but not easy to accept. They are given as a free gift; yet costly because they demand that we give up all our own ideas about righteousness and cast ourselves on the mercy of God.

The Second KEY is, The Fallacious Key of Obfuscation 4

Now some of you are thinking “What’s with the big words? My response is simply this. Biblical teaching should not only challenge us spiritually; it should also challenge us intellectually! An older gentleman I know said to me recently; “I like to listen to Ravi Zacharias. I can’t understand all the big words he uses, but I like to hear him teach the Scriptures.” It’s true, Ravi Zacharias speaks to many audiences in academia and he meets them at their level of language. Any good teacher will know his audience well enough to make those choices. But he will also not shy away from challenging the audience to expand their intellect. In case you haven’t noticed, our culture is becoming increasingly lazy with regard to language. Just listen to many young people or interviews with some sports figures or other celebrities. Some of them can hardly construct a coherent sentence. As followers of Jesus we need to capitalize on the value of language in preserving a level of coherence in our culture. Otherwise we have no way of effective communication. Now, why did I say all that? Because in addition to challenging you spiritually each time we look into the Word of God, we want to challenge you intellectually too. I believe you can understand from the text what the fallacious key of obfuscation was. Fallacious means false, deceptive, misleading. What was the falsehood promoted by the lawyers? Look at verses 47 to 51. They record the second ‘woe’ Jesus pronounced. He said they were building the sepulchers, the tombs, the graves, of the prophets. They were preserving and beautifying the burial places of the prophets whom their forefathers had killed. So outwardly, they appeared to venerate or honor the legacy of Israel’s earlier prophets. There was nothing wrong with that. In fact, it seemed to show that they disapproved of their ancestor’s actions. But Jesus knew, and we know, this was not the case. He said, “Truly you bear witness that you allow the deeds of your fathers.” Now, when we see the word ‘allow’ we think of permission. But the Greek word carries the idea of approval or full consent. So they acted like they disagreed with their forefathers while in reality they too neglected and opposed what the prophets taught. By this pretense Jesus said they were witnesses against themselves. So what did they hope to accomplish with this false narrative they created? Obfuscation that equals Confusion. They wanted to cloud the issues. They didn’t want the people to figure out what they were really doing. So they tried to make it appear as though they honored Israel’s

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prophets, when in reality, they hated them just like their fathers. Their rejection of John the Baptist, and now Jesus, proved that their hearts were just like their forefathers. Because of this, Jesus said they could be legally charged with blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zechariah! If you want to read about the death of Zechariah you can do that in Second Chronicles 24:20 to 22. Second Chronicles is the last book of the Jewish scriptures. So in essence, Jesus is saying that “from the first murder to the last.” Interestingly, Zechariah’s last recorded words were “The Lord look upon it (my death) and require.” In other words, “God, hold them accountable for what they’ve done.” Jesus was showing the lawyers the pattern they were following. The blood of the prophets was perpetually being shed from the beginning of time even to the present. They were participating in that pattern even while they tried to create a false impression and confuse those who looked up to them as spiritual leaders. Again, I fear this key is causing people to be locked out of heaven in our day. The details are different, but the results are the same. There are many who claim to be “spiritual leaders” who handle the Word of God deceitfully. They put on a ‘show’ of godliness but in reality they are far from God. Some spend lots of time and energy researching their heritage. They want to be sure and preserve the historical record of the roots of their biological family and their faith tradition. Yet in many cases they have rejected the clear teaching of Scripture that was an integral part of their roots. They claim to respect the faith of their fathers while walking in disobedience to what they believed the Scriptures taught about faith and practice. They openly endorse and promote those things the Scriptures call an abomination! Others twist the Word to promote false ideas about health and wealth. They use the Gospel, Paul says in First Thessalonians 2:5 as a pretext for their own covetousness. They call on the poor and the widows to exercise faith in God by sending their largest possible donation, and then live a luxurious lifestyle while some who support them live in poverty. Peter describes them this way; “In their greed they exploit you with clever lies so they can lay hold of your money.” And there are others, just like this lawyer, whose pious outward appearance masks the depravity of their hearts. Far too many of them have never been truly born again and are thieves, covetous, and abusers of others. They hide behind a cloak of respectability. They have a form or 6

appearance of godliness but the power of genuine godliness is absent from their lives. Paul tells Timothy, and us, to avoid this kind of people. I grieve for those weak in faith with little knowledge of the Scriptures who are unable to discern the genuine from the false. And I tremble at the fate those who carry and use the fallacious key of obfuscation. Let’s make sure we are not among them.

The Next KEY is, The Ponderous Key of Denegation In verse 52 Jesus pronounces the third ‘woe’. It seems to me this is the most serious offense in this list. Jesus said they had “taken away the key of knowledge…” What were they doing? They were denying the people entrance into the kingdom of heaven. That’s what denegation is – denying someone of something. That is a terrible weight to carry to judgment! The key Jesus mentions is not the key to open knowledge; but rather, knowledge IS the key to eternal life. That is a key of great weight! Jesus made that clear in John 17:3; “And this is life eternal, that they might KNOW you [that’s experiential knowledge] the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Instead of helping the people to know God, the lawyers and the Pharisees obscured the truth by their wretched traditions. And by them they also nullified the commandments of God. Later on in Luke’s Gospel in the opening of chapter 17 Jesus said; “It is inevitable that offenses come, but woe to him through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone was hung around his neck and he was thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.” Jesus said these lawyers were giving just such an offense. In Matthew 23:13 these men are accused of shutting heaven; here they are accused of taking away the key – an even greater offense. They refused to enter the ‘house of knowledge’ and learn. In Colossians 2:2 and 3 Paul informs us that “In [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” The house of knowledge was right there with them, easily accessible; but they refused to enter. They rejected the ministry of Jesus and they tried to hinder the common people from following Him too. I agree with the assessment of New Testament scholar, A.T. Robertson who wrote; “It is the most pitiful picture imaginable of blind

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ecclesiastics trying to keep others as blind as they were, blind leaders of the blind, both falling into the pit,” a reference to Matthew 15:14. They should’ve recognized who Jesus was; they studied the Old Testament thoroughly and claimed to understand it. If they had accepted Jesus He would have brought their understanding to a whole new level, just like He did later for the two on the road to Emmaus. But because He did not meet their expectations and fit within the system of religion they had designed, they rejected Him. That is the trouble with religion in contrast with relationship. Religion creates clearly defined structures or processes that attempt to make man acceptable to God. Relationship embraces the provision God has made for our acceptance through Christ and lives in joyful obedience to His commands. I believe that all of us, regardless of our faith tradition, must be like the Bereans of Acts 17 and make it a priority to acquaint ourselves with the Word of God. We must also help others to understand it. If we’re honest, we’ll need to admit that there are things we’ve been taught that may not necessarily agree with Scripture. Take for example Jesus’ command in Matthew 6:42; “Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away one who wants to borrow from you.” As a young man I often observed the negation of this command with another biblical principle - stewardship. Many times I heard this response; “It would not be good stewardship to help that person with money, or food, or whatever the need was, because they might use the money to buy liquor, or cigarettes, or drugs. Or, “Helping them is pointless because they don’t know how to manage their money; that’s why they have this need.” Those statements may be true, but Jesus didn’t give those qualifiers. And what I observed seemed to me to be an excuse for holding on to my stuff; an unwillingness to get involved in the lives of other people. It was easier to point out the failures of the person in need than to bring my own choices into line with Christ’s commands. It was a way to salve my conscience. So as I grew in my understanding of the Word, those responses left me unsatisfied. I wondered if there wasn’t some way to obey Jesus’ specific command without disobeying the biblical principle of good stewardship. I discovered that one can help others in a way that fulfills the principle of stewardship. There is always room for growth in our understanding and practice. 8

And then there are those today who teach that God is finished with the Church. I’m not sure what they do with Jesus’ promises or Paul’s instructions on this subject, but they discourage people from being part of a local body of Believers. This kind of teaching may be responsible for keeping them and those who hear them out of heaven. How tragic! Those who have no use for the Church highlight the abuses of fallible men and use them as an excuse to disregard the infallible Word of God! If the Church is no longer needed why does the New Testament have so much teaching on it? And why do our suffering brothers and sisters in places hostile to the Gospel long for the opportunity to be part of a local fellowship? I’ll tell you why. Because they understand that the local congregation provides accountability and unique opportunities for spiritual growth. God can and does provide for an isolated Believer if circumstances demand it. But the normal plan He established is for His followers to worship and fellowship together in a local body. Let’s not be like these lawyers who denied people access to the truth and ultimately to heaven. Instead, let’s do all we can to make sure people can understand the Word of God, act upon it, and experience God’s blessing.

The Final KEY is, The Insidious Key of Denigration This brings us to the final verses of our text. Look at the response of the lawyers and the Pharisees. Jesus’ words had cut them to the heart. They are incensed, enraged! This is the same word that is used to describe the hatred that Herodias had for John the Baptist because he confronted her with her sin. She plotted and planned for a long time until the time was right to accomplish her evil purposes. As you know, these men did the same with Jesus! Their rage motivates them to look for an opportunity to trap Jesus in His teaching. That’s what insidious means; the use of treachery to entrap someone. And along with that they resorted to another typically human response. If you can’t refute the message, defame or denigrate the messenger. They wanted to destroy Jesus’ reputation in the eyes of the people. So like a wild beasts they waited in ambush to catch Him. The text says they asked Him all kinds of questions, hoping that something in one of His answers would give them the opportunity to pounce on Him. They were fierce and hostile as 9

cornered beasts often are. Jesus had, as it were, ripped them open so everyone could see that the good looking exterior was a façade, a false front. They were exposed in their hypocrisy and their intent was now murderous. This still happens today to those who speak the truth. We expect that kind of treatment from unbelievers. But sadly, it often comes from those who profess to be our brothers and sisters. There are many profess to know Christ but are comfortable with their own ‘system’ of serving Him. They are not really open to an honest evaluation of their way of life. They expect others to conform to their ideas; when others don’t, they denigrate them, making them the object of gossip and slander. They have no use for those who will not fit their program. Sadly, many people, especially young people, see this pride and arrogance and reject not only the misrepresentation of truth, but the truth itself. They see the unwillingness of spiritual leaders to reexamine the truth to see if they are really being faithful to the teachings of God’s Word. These young people are often told, “You don’t understand; just wait ‘til you get older and have more experience.” Brother, sister, in whatever position you are, I plead with you, don’t be like these hypocrites. Don’t make following Christ and onerous obligation; make it a joyful relationship of learning to love and obey Jesus. Don’t wield the fallacious key of obfuscation, trying to confuse people and conceal from them your true character. And please don’t lift the ponderous key of denegation. Remember the curse Jesus pronounces on those whose choices cause others to be offended and shut out of the kingdom. And finally, throw away the insidious key of denigration. The Scriptures command us to build each other up, not tear each other down. Paul says we are to do everything in our power to live in peace with each other. We know what happened to these people in the end. They secured their goal; they had Jesus put to death. But they lost out completely. God allowed their religious system to be smashed while the church of Jesus Christ continues today. He will do the same to the hardhearted religious people of our day. As they lock people out of heaven, they will find themselves locked out in the end. So, if you have any of these keys, I urge you to put them away and make a commitment to never use them again. That way, you won’t be “Locked Out of Heaven.” 10

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