In this message we come to Matt. 19:1-22, a portion in which Matthew places together certain incidents in Christ’s life to show the requirements of the kingdom. In 19:3-12 the Pharisees tempt the Lord by asking Him about divorce, and in 19:16-22 a rich man inquires of Him concerning eternal life. The Gospel of John does not mention either of these cases. But in Matthew they are not only recorded; they are put in the same portion of Matthew’s Gospel. In chapter nineteen we see the matter of divorce and the matter of loving riches. Between these two things we have the matter of receiving the little children (vv. 13-15). Apparently, these three things are not related. But when we get into the depths of the significance of these things, we see that all are related to entering the kingdom of the heavens. Hence, they are the requirements of the kingdom.
Matthew 19:1 and 2 say, “And it came to pass when Jesus had finished these words, He withdrew from Galilee and came into the districts of Judea across the Jordan. And great crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.” Due to the rejection of the Jews, the heavenly King left them and went to Galilee in the north. Now He was coming back to Jerusalem to accomplish His death and resurrection, as He had prophesied in Matt. 16:21 and Matt. 17:22-23, for the establishment of the kingdom. He came back still with the power of healing indicating that, as the King of the heavenly kingdom, He had authority over the negative things that damaged God’s creation.
If we mean business with the Lord concerning the kingdom, we must deal with lust, pride, and the love of wealth. The Gospel of John says nothing about dealing with lust because John is a book of life. But because Matthew is a book on the kingdom, it speaks of dealing with lust and other things as well. The kingdom is a matter of exercise, and most of this exercise involves various kinds of dealings. Lust, pride, and the love of wealth keep us from entering into the kingdom. The love of money is no doubt related to the self. By nature, we all love money for ourselves. However, if we would enter into the kingdom of the heavens, we must deal with this love of money. Again and again, the Gospel of Matthew deals with lust. In the constitution of the heavenly kingdom, the King explicitly mentions dealing with lust. The reference to plucking out our eyes or cutting off our hands in Matthew 5:29 and 30 shows how strict and serious we must be in this matter. Otherwise, there is no way to enter the kingdom of the heavens. The thorough dealing with lust has been neglected by today’s Christians. Very few Christians have ever heard a sober word from Matthew 5 and 19 regarding lust. Because of this lack, there is no genuine church life or kingdom of the heavens among today’s Christians. How the Lord needs a testimony on earth! For His testimony the Lord must have a recovery. We are not concerned about having a large number. At the time of Elijah, the Lord had only seven thousand. If the Lord had seven thousand in this country, He would have a prevailing testimony against all adulterous things.
Matthew 19:3 says, “And the Pharisees came to Him, tempting Him, and saying, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” The religionists did not let the Lord go, but came again and again to tempt Him. However, their tempting always afforded the Lord an opportunity to unveil Himself and God’s economy. Here the opposition of the religionists afforded the Lord the opportunity to expose the seriousness of divorce. The source of divorce is lust. If there were no lust, there would not be any divorce.
The Lord’s word in 19:4-6 not only recognizes God’s creation of man, but also confirms God’s ordination of marriage, that is, one man and one woman joined and yoked together as one flesh, inseparable by man. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman. This is God’s ordination, and it is very serious for anyone to break it. God’s ordination here involves not only physical things, but also spiritual things; for the union of one man and one woman in marriage signifies the oneness of Christ and the church. As there is one husband for one wife, so there is one Christ for one church. There should not be more than one wife for one husband, or more than one husband for one wife. How serious it would be if there were one Christ and many churches, or one church and more than one Christ! God’s ordination is to have one Christ and one church. In figure and in shadow, there must be one wife for one husband. That this was God’s ordination in creation is clearly recorded in the Word.
In verse 7 the Pharisees asked the Lord, “Why then did Moses command to give her a writing of divorce and to put her away?” This commandment was not a part of the basic law, but a supplement to the law. It was given by Moses, not according to God’s ordination from the beginning, but temporarily because of the hardness of man’s heart.
Instead of arguing with the Pharisees, the Lord said, “Moses, because of your hardness of heart, allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it has not been so.” The commandment concerning divorce given by Moses was a deviation from God’s original ordination, but Christ as the heavenly King recovered it back to the beginning for the kingdom of the heavens. This indicates that the kingdom of the heavens, corresponding with God’s ordination from the beginning, does not allow any divorce.
In verse 8 we see the principle of recovery. Recovery means to go back to the beginning. Things that exist may not date back to the beginning. We need to go back to the beginning. In the beginning, God ordained one husband and one wife, and there was no divorce. Because of the hardness of the people’s hearts, Moses tolerated divorce and allowed a man to divorce his wife by giving her a writing of divorce. The Lord was asking the Pharisees if they would care for God’s ordination or for the hardness of their heart. Every seeker of God should say, “O Lord, have mercy upon me that I may care for Your original ordination. I do not want to care for the hardness of my heart. I condemn and reject the hardness of my heart and return to Your original ordination.” This is what is meant by recovery.
Today many Christians are arguing for certain things. Because of the hardness of the fallen human heart, the Lord tolerates some of those things. Should we agree with this toleration and the hardness of the human heart? Certainly not. Rather, we must receive the Lord’s grace to go back to God’s original ordination. We must go back to the beginning.
Verse 9 says, “But I say to you that whoever puts away his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her who has been put away commits adultery.” The Greek word for fornication means harlotry, whoredom, which is worse than adultery. The Lord’s word here indicates definitely that nothing but fornication breaks the marriage tie. (Of course, death automatically breaks it.) Except for fornication, there is no ground for divorce.
Verse 10 says, “The disciples say to Him, If the case of the man is thus with the wife, it is better not to marry.” Now the disciples realized that according to God’s ordination, marriage is the strictest bond. Once one is married, he is fully bound, without any way to be released, unless the other party commits fornication or dies. It was such a realization that caused the disciples to think that it was better not to marry. But it is not up to them.
In verse 11 the Lord said to His disciples, “Not all men can accept this word, but those to whom it has been given.” Not all men, but those to whom God has given the gift, are able to refrain from marriage. Without God’s gift, any attempt to remain unmarried will meet with temptations.
Verse 12 continues, “For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs because of the kingdom of the heavens.” Those who are made eunuchs because of the kingdom of the heavens are those to whom God has given the gift not to marry for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens. Paul was such a one (1 Cor. 7:7-8; 9:5).
In ourselves we are not able to keep God’s original ordination. For this, we need grace; we need God’s gift. Only those who have received the gift of grace can accept the Lord’s word regarding God’s original ordination.
A eunuch is one who deals thoroughly with lust. In order to be such a spiritual eunuch, we need grace. Only grace can afford us the strength and the supply to have a thorough dealing with lust. Lust is a great problem in our life. Because in ourselves we are not able to deal with this “scorpion,” we need to look to the Lord and pray, “Lord, have mercy on me and grant me the grace I need.” By grace it is possible to deal with the subtle, evil “scorpion” of lust that damages our life.
Lust damages not only the kingdom life and the church life, but also human life. It ruins marriages and society. It damages the spirit, mind, and body. Anyone who is under the dominion of the “scorpion” of lust will be ruined for the proper human life, family life, social life, church life, and kingdom life. Lust damages every kind of life. The corruption in today’s society mainly comes from lust. If lust is dealt with, most of this corruption will disappear. We in the church life must deal with lust in a serious way. For this, we must depend on the Lord’s grace.
The religionists’ temptation here afforded an opportunity for the Lord to unfold a further matter concerning the kingdom of the heavens. Chapter eighteen reveals how we must deal with the brothers that we may enter into the kingdom of the heavens, whereas chapter nineteen reveals that firstly married life (vv. 3-12) and then our attitude toward riches (vv. 16-30) are related to the kingdom of the heavens. Married life involves lust, and our attitude toward riches involves covetousness. The kingdom of the heavens rules out every trace of our lust and covetousness.
When the disciples rebuked those who were bringing some little children to the Lord, the Lord Jesus said, “Permit the little children and do not prevent them from coming to Me, for of such is the kingdom of the heavens” (19:14). Then He laid His hands on them. Here the Lord stresses again that to participate in the kingdom of the heavens, we must be like little children.
On the surface, 19:13-15 seems to deal with an insignificant matter. Actually, these verses are concerned with pride. The Lord seemed to be saying to His disciples, “You should not reject these little ones. On the contrary, you must become a little one yourself. Pride is hidden within you. You must condemn and reject your pride. If you reject your pride and become as little children, you will be in the kingdom of the heavens.”
Matthew placed the dealing with pride between the dealing with lust and money. This arrangement is meaningful. Every fleshly person who is a lover of money is a proud person. Pride is always found between lust and the love of money.
Verse 16 says, “And behold, one came to Him and said, Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” To have eternal life in Matthew differs from having eternal life in John. Matthew is concerned with the kingdom, whereas John is concerned with life. To have eternal life in John is to be saved with God’s uncreated life that man may live by this life today and for eternity, whereas to have eternal life in Matthew is to participate in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens in this age and to share in its manifestation in the coming age.
In the Gospel of John the eternal life is mainly for regeneration, for the new birth. By regeneration, we become the children of God. Furthermore, the Gospel of John reveals that by the eternal life, the life of God within us, we may bear fruit. Hence, the eternal life in John is for reproduction. But in the Gospel of Matthew, eternal life is not for the new birth, but for the kingdom. Many Christians confuse the eternal life in John with the eternal life in Matthew. It is the same eternal life in both John and Matthew, but with different purposes. To repeat, in John the eternal life is for the new birth, but in Matthew it is for the kingdom. No one can have the kingdom life without God’s eternal life.
In verse 17 the Lord answered the one who had asked Him what good thing he should do to have eternal life: “Why are you asking Me concerning that which is good? One is good.” This One is God. Only God is good. This indicates not only that the young man asking the question is not good, but also that the Lord Jesus is God, who is good. If He were not God, He also would not be good.
The Lord also said to this young man, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Here the Lord speaks about entering into life. To enter into life means to enter into the kingdom of the heavens (v. 23). The kingdom of the heavens is a realm of God’s eternal life. Hence, when we enter into it, we enter into God’s life. This differs from being saved. To be saved is to have God’s life enter into us, whereas to enter into the kingdom of the heavens is to enter into God’s life. The former is to be redeemed and regenerated with God’s life; the latter is to live and walk by God’s life. One is a matter of birth; the other is a matter of living.
According to the Gospel of John, to have eternal life is to receive eternal life into us. But according to Matthew, to have eternal life is to enter into eternal life. The eternal life enters into us to give us the new birth to become God’s children. Then we enter into eternal life to have the kingdom life. Thus, in John eternal life involves salvation, but in Matthew it is not related to salvation.
“If you want to enter into life,” the Lord said to the young man, “keep the commandments.” Keeping the commandments is not the requirement for salvation; it is related to entering into the kingdom of the heavens. According to the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens, to enter into life requires us to meet not only the standard of the old law, but also the standard of the complemented new law (5:17-48). Salvation requires only faith, whereas the kingdom of the heavens requires a surpassing righteousness, which issues from the keeping of the old law plus its complement given by the heavenly King.
The disciples’ question in verse 25 — “Who then can be saved?” — indicates that they thought entering into the kingdom of the heavens was the same as being saved. Many Christians today have the same concept. They know only about salvation; they know nothing about the kingdom of the heavens. When we first preached the kingdom more than forty years ago, we proclaimed the assurance of salvation. Although missionaries had been in China for more than a hundred years, they had not made the assurance of salvation clear to the Chinese saints. Thus, wherever we went, we tried to help the believers to be sure of their salvation. When we preached the assurance of salvation, many pastors opposed us and condemned us for being proud. Some said, “We have been pastors for many years, and not even we dare to say that we are saved. How can you claim to be saved? You are too proud. We all must believe in the Lord Jesus, behave ourselves, and wait until we die and go to the Lord. Then the Lord will tell us whether or not we are saved.” But we fought the battle for the assurance of salvation, giving the people verse after verse to prove that we can know that we have been saved and that there is no need to wait for us to die and go to the Lord. After a few years of fighting, we gained the victory.
After winning this battle, we preached the kingdom reward. We began to say to people, “Yes, there is no doubt that you have been saved. But to be saved is one thing and to receive the kingdom reward is another.” Although this word did not offend very many pastors, it offended many careless Christians. When we preached the assurance of salvation, all the careless Christians were happy and said, “Hallelujah, we are saved! The Bible tells us so. As long as we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are saved.” But their happiness did not last very long, for the same ones who preached to them the assurance of salvation told them that they may have a problem, lose the kingdom reward, and be disciplined. None of the careless, worldly Christians wanted to hear this. After a message on the kingdom, a wealthy woman once said to me, “Brother Lee, is what you are talking about related to my going to heaven? I don’t care about anything else. If I can only be a doorkeeper at the gate of heaven, I shall be satisfied.” Many Christians have this idea. As long as they are saved and bound for heaven, they are happy. Those who say this have been drugged, caring only for salvation and heaven. But in Matthew 19 the Lord speaks about entering into the kingdom of the heavens. Although you may be saved, you may be in danger of not entering into the kingdom of the heavens. Surely the Lord’s word about it being easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God is not concerned with salvation. This word is concerned with the kingdom of the heavens. It is very difficult for one who loves riches to enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
When the young man told the Lord that he had observed all the commandments, the Lord said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me” (v. 21). Even if the young man had observed the commandments of the old law as he had claimed, he was still not perfect, not up to the standard of the requirement of the complemented law; for he was not willing to sell what he had and lay up treasure in heaven, as the constitution of the kingdom required (6:19-21). To follow the Lord is to love Him above all things (10:37-38). This is the supreme requirement for entering into the kingdom of the heavens.
Verse 22 says, “But the young man, hearing this word, went away sorrowing, for he had many possessions.” Loving material possessions above the Lord causes one to sorrow, but those who love Christ above all things are joyful in losing their possessions (Heb. 10:34).
There are two kinds of rich men: those who are rich with many material possessions and those who dream about being rich although they actually are not rich. In the past, some of us may have dreamed of being a millionaire. In the sense of dreaming about riches, everyone is a rich man. The desire of some young women is to marry a rich man. This is their dream. If you are not the first kind of rich person, then you probably are the second.
The Lord said that it is more difficult for someone who loves money to enter into the kingdom than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. This illustration reveals the seriousness of the love of money as far as the kingdom is concerned. The love of money is the greatest hindrance to entering into the kingdom.
The Lord dealt with the young man in chapter nineteen in a wise manner. He had come to the Lord to ask Him what he should do in order to have eternal life, that is, to live in the kingdom. Knowing the young man’s heart, the Lord told him to keep the commandments. When the Lord was asked which commandments, He listed six of them: the commandments regarding murder, adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, honoring father and mother, and loving our neighbor as ourself (vv. 18-19). Then the young man said, “All these things I have observed; what do I lack yet?” The Lord was ready to answer him and told him what to do in order to be perfect. In His answer the Lord seemed to be saying, “Even if you have kept all the commandments, you still are not perfect. You may be perfect according to the law of Moses, but not according to the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens. To be perfect according to the constitution of the kingdom, you must sell your possessions, give them to the poor, and follow Me.” This was a killing word. When the Lord mentioned six of the commandments, the young man was very encouraged, for he was one who kept the law. But when the Lord told him to uproot his love for money and to follow Him, he went away sorrowful.
When I was young, I was troubled by the Lord’s word in chapter eighteen concerning forgiveness. I regarded it as a sobering word, and I took it seriously. I asked myself if I was willing to forgive everyone. When I came to chapter nineteen, I asked myself whether or not I could uproot the love of money. Like most students in China at the time, I was quite poor. But even a poor Chinese student could dream of becoming rich. At that time I did not have the boldness to say, “Yes, Lord, I can uproot the love of money.” I realized that probably I could not succeed in doing this. The love of money exposes how far off the course many of today’s Christians are. To them, the Gospel of Matthew is a story book. When they read it, it seems that nothing touches them. But we must be touched by the Lord’s sobering word in chapter nineteen regarding the requirements of the kingdom. Do you mean business with the Lord for His kingdom? If so, then what about the love of money? Is there still room in you for the love of money? This is a serious matter.
Only by the divine life can we fulfill the requirements of the kingdom. It is easy to fulfill these requirements when we have the grace to do so. By our human life it is impossible, but by the divine life with the divine grace it is easy. In fact, it is a joy. What a joy to lay up treasure in the heavens!
We, the people in the kingdom, are altogether different from the worldly people. We are even different from those in Christianity. Our heart has been touched, and we are serious with the Lord concerning His kingdom. Riches and material possessions do not mean much to us. By our natural life it is very difficult to have such an attitude toward riches. But by the divine life with the divine grace, we can say that it is a joy for us to lay up treasure in the heavens.
We have seen three requirements for entering into the kingdom of the heavens: dealing with lust, dealing with pride, and dealing with the love of riches. To deal with the love of riches is to deal with the self. Those who love money do so for two reasons: for security and for pleasure. People in this country are worried about their security. They are anxious to provide for their future and their old age. Others love money for the pleasure it gives them. They enjoy counting how much money they have in the bank. Both security and pleasure are related to the self. Thus, the love of money is a matter of the self. To deal with the love of money is to deal with the self, although the self is dealt with indirectly.
The Lord’s sober word regarding the requirements of the kingdom should not merely be doctrine to us. We need to take the Lord’s word in a serious way and open ourselves to the Lord concerning lust, pride, and the hidden love of riches for the sake of the self. May the Lord have mercy upon us to give us a thorough dealing with these matters for the kingdom of the heavens.
