Least in the kingdom of heaven - Chambers, Oswald
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19
John wesley in expounding this passage said it meant that whosoever shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall not be in the kingdom of heaven at all; but our lord is warning that it is possible to be as the least in the kingdom of heaven. When the apostle paul says he is less than the least of all saints, he is not referring to this standard of measurement, but to himself in his own eyes. (see ephesians 3:8. )
What is it exactly to be least in the kingdom of heaven? For one thing, the words surely point out the necessity of searching the scriptures in order to find out what the commandments and precepts of god are. As we go on in the spiritual life, the spirit of god educates us down to the scruple,21 that is, he applies the commandments of god to all the ramifications of our being. We may see christian people doing things that surprise us, and yet it would be untrue to say they were not Christians; as you watch their development in the ways of god you find they are becoming more and more careful over things they used to be careless over.
The writer to the Hebrews warns us about the sin which doth closely cling to us (rv mg), literally, the spirit of the age, the spirit which makes our minds obtuse to the commandments of god. There is a cul- ture in the spiritual life not realised by all teachers and preachers, consequently they tell men that god does not hold certain things necessary. What an awakening awaits all such when they stand before god and find they have not glorified him as they should have done, because they stood more for their own personal freedom and independent rights than for the care- ful searching out of our lords commandments and teaching men regarding them. It is easy for those who are out and out for god to condemn such teachers and put them outside the kingdom; our lord puts them not outside, but as least in the kingdom.
This warning should bring us to the place where we measure up and see whether we are growing in sensitiveness towards all gods commandments so that we tremble at the very approach of any defilement that might blur the clear vision of his truth. Our spiritual fighting trim becomes enervated by any compromise with the worlds standards, and if we teach men by both word and precept to do the same, we run perilously near being those our lord warns.
To know how to maintain and develop the habits of the holy life according to the commandments of god is the sublime education of the soul. There are times of ignorance that god winks at and overlooks, but there are other times when he holds us responsible for being frivolous and light regarding his commandments. I wonder how many of us in our dealing with our fellow men have made it easy for them to break some of the commandments of god because it was so hard for us to appear unsympathetic with them?
He shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, says our lord. What need there is that the minister of the gospel should continually face himself with his saviour, to know how he stands before him, lest he fail to measure up to his standard, and having preached to others should himself become a castaway. The argument that the keeping of certain commandments is not essential to salvation is such a mean,22 beggarly line of argument that it need scarcely be mentioned. If my love for god is so faint and poor that i will only do what is absolutely essential and not what it is my privilege to do, it is then that i deserve not only to be least in the kingdom of heaven, but not to be in it at all. May every faculty of heart and mind and soul be roused up to be its glorious best for god all the time for the glory of the lord Jesus Christ.