The Scariest Passage in Scripture (Matthew 7:21-23)
The Scariest Passage in Scripture
Matthew 7:21-23
As you know we have been studying through the Sermon on the Mount.
And you also know that we are now wrapping this great sermon up.
And this morning we come to what I have called
“The Scariest Passage in Scripture.”
In this passage of Scripture a spiritual reality is revealed to us
That is absolutely terrifying to understand.
AND THAT IS THE REALITY OF RELIGIOUS PEOPLE IN HELL.
And this was a reality that Jesus first revealed to us back in verse 13.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
What Jesus revealed to us there was indeed a difficult truth to swallow,
And that was the truth that most people
Who think they are going to heaven aren’t.
The reason of course is because when it comes down to it,
Most people choose sin over righteousness.
Christ has systematically laid out for us what righteousness looks like throughout this sermon.
• It is humility (poor in spirit)
• It is mourning over sin
• It is meekness (submission)
• It is hungering and thirsting for righteousness
• It is to continually shine your light
• It is to continually be salt
• And it is to be better than the most religious people alive.
Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
• It is to live a life without anger in your heart.
• It is to live a life without lust in your heart.
• It is to live a life without deceit in your heart.
• It is to live a life without unfaithfulness in your heart.
• It is to live a life without revenge in your heart.
• It is to perform religion without the slightest desire for personal glory.
• It is to love God’s favor more than the things of this world.
• It is to have a humble and proper view of self.
The standards that Jesus has outlined are rigid and extreme.
You might even call them “narrow”
And when the masses come wanting to go to heaven,
Most don’t make it because
Most aren’t willing to put forth the effort that is required.
Most choose a “broader” lifestyle.
The amazing thing is that even though they choose
This “broad” lifestyle over the one Christ called for,
Most still think they are headed to heaven.
THEY ARE DECEIVED.
SOME ARE DECEIVED BY THE FALSE PROPHETS
• They are wolves in sheep’s clothing
• They usher people through the wide gate
• They give out gobs of false assurance
And while that is a scary truth,
Most in the church seem to have an answer for it.
The False Prophets are those pushing false religions
(Islam / Jehovah’s Witnesses)
The people on the wide road are people in false religion.
But Jesus blows that notion out of the water with this passage.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
And all of a sudden everyone in the pews has to take a step back.
These aren’t the wicked…
These aren’t the muslims…
These are people who called Jesus Lord.
These are people who preached in Jesus’ name.
These are people who cast out demons in Jesus’ name.
These are people who worked miracles in Jesus’ name.
And yet, they are going to hell.
You see, these reveal to us that there is a much greater deception Than just the deception of false prophets.
There is something out there that is lying to people
With a far higher success rate than any false prophet ever had.
WHAT IS IT?
Your own heart
Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”
More than false prophets.
More than demons.
More than the devil himself.
NOTHING LIES LIKE THE HEART.
And that is the problem we see here in this text.
These people are deceived. (self-deceived)
Based upon their religious involvement they have convinced themselves that they are headed to heaven, and they are wrong.
I can’t think of a more horrifying scene, than the Day of Judgment,
When men and women are desperately looking up
Their baptism certificates, giving receipts, and mission trip pictures,
Desperately trying to prove they are saved;
Only to hear Jesus tell them otherwise.
According to Jesus, hell will be full of actively religious people.
And even people who were active in the right religion.
3 points
#1 THE FRIGHTENING REVELATION
Matthew 7:21
In order for this revelation to startle us,
We only have to read the first two words:
“Not everyone”
According to that we ought to quit singing “When we all get to heaven”,
Because Jesus clearly indicates that “all” aren’t going.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
There will actually be people who in this life said with their mouth
That Jesus is Lord who will not go to heaven.
This is one of the prerequisites for salvation.
Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Paul indicates that true salvation occurs
When a person is so convinced of the Lordship of Jesus in their heart
That the confession automatically comes out of their mouth.
“out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks”.
And that is what Paul refers to.
And yet Jesus here reveals that not every one of those
Who actually say that He is Lord are going to heaven.
That can only reveal one problem.
They obviously missed the other requirement.
They said it with their mouth, they just didn’t believe it with their heart.
You see, you can’t believe without confessing,
But you can confess without believing.
IT IS CALLED EMPTY PROFESSION.
It is when people something with their mouth
That is not a reality in their heart.
Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”
James 2:14 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”
Jesus even seemed puzzled by these people.
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”
It almost seemed puzzling to Jesus that people would say He was Lord,
When they had no intention whatsoever of obeying Him.
And those are the people Jesus is speaking of here.
They claim to know God.
They claim that Jesus is Lord.
But the words of their mouth are as far as their commitment ever goes.
And that is why they won’t go to heaven.
Of all the people who say Jesus is Lord
There are only a few who actually will go to heaven.
WHO ARE THEY?
“but he who DOES the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”
Confessing Jesus as Lord is required,
But it is only valid if it is accompanied with obedience.
If you say Jesus is Lord, but you don’t obey Him,
Then your confession is a lie and you have deluded yourself.
The only people in heaven are those who confess Jesus is Lord
AND do the will of the Father.
WHAT IS THE WILL OF THE FATHER?
Be poor in spirit
Mourn over sin
Be meek
Hunger and Thirst for righteousness
Let your light shine
Do not be angry
Do not lust over a woman
Do not break covenant
Do not break integrity
Pray for your enemy
Do not do your religion for your own glory
Do not love the world
Seek first His kingdom
Do not judge your neighbor
Love your neighbor as yourself
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
God demands righteousness.
1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”
Only the righteous will enter.
And of course that is why we
Are in such desperate need of the salvation of Christ.
That is why we are in need of justification.
Romans 5:6-11 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
We need to truly surrender our lives to Christ.
We need to believe in Him.
We need to not only call Him Lord, but to obey Him as Lord.
We need His sacrificial death to make us righteous
Because only those who are righteous in the sight of God
Get to go to heaven.
John 6:28-29 “Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
We need Christ.
And we don’t just need to say He is Lord,
We must submit our lives to Him as Lord.
Because according to Jesus, “Not everyone who SAYS to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven”
And that is a frightening revelation
#2 THE FUTILE RESUME
Matthew 7:22
I suppose you have to hand it man for trying.
Because come judgment day, religious men and women
Will be pulling out all the stops in order to plead their case.
And they show up to the judgment with their resume in tact.
And please notice how many will do this.
“Many”
In other words, those same people who are on the wide road.
When they come to their turn to stand before God,
They are going to do everything in their power
To convince Him that they should get to go to heaven.
And notice they start talking about all their deeds.
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’”
That alone is enough to discourage some of us.
Especially if you were planning to stand before God and say,
“I was baptized on July 17, 1985.” Or,
“I was a member of First Baptist Church for 75 years”.
These guys have that beat something fierce.
These guys were preachers.
These guys cast out demons.
These guys worked miracles.
And notice they did it all in Jesus name.
I mean that is quite a resume.
They are trying to convince Jesus why they should get to go into heaven.
And friend if you find yourself standing before God trying to convince Him
As to why you should get to go into heaven, you are already in a world of hurt.
But that is what these people are doing.
They offer up to God all of their religious deeds.
Yet if you fast forward down to verse 23
You will see what Jesus thought of their “good deeds”.
“you who practice lawlessness.”
Jesus called all of their “good deeds” wickedness.
Isaiah 64:6 “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
God is no more impressed with your baptism certificate,
Or your giving receipt than you are
With the poop your dog scatters all over your back yard.
It’s filthy to Him.
These people may have done the right deeds,
But they weren’t pleasing to God.
They were like the hypocrite who gave to be noticed by men, or who prayed to be noticed by men, or who fasted to be noticed by men.
BUT THEY BRING THEIR DEEDS TO GOD NONE THE LESS.
A Frightening Revelation A Futile Resume
#3 THE FINAL RULING
Matthew 7:23
After they finish going through all the sermons they preached.
After they finish listing the name of every person they cast demons out of.
After they finish detailing every miracle.
They turn to the judge for His answer.
“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”
And some will say, well how did they do all that if they didn’t know God?
Didn’t Balaam prophesy?
Didn’t Caiaphas prophesy?
Didn’t the seven sons of Sceva cast out demons?
Didn’t the magicians of Egypt work miracles?
I can’t explain to you how they did this stuff, but they did.
What is clear is that the fact that they did them,
Convinced them that they were saved when they weren’t.
And men convince themselves with a lot less today.
Men go to church
Men get baptized
Men give money
But none of those where the criteria.
Righteousness was the criteria.
THEY WERE BUSY IN ALL SORTS OF “JESUS” ACTIVITY,
BUT JESUS DIDN’T KNOW THEM.
And it reveals a bit of misnomer in our religious thinking.
People continually ask the question today, “Do you know Jesus?”
And people routinely answer “yes”.
Does it surprise you to know that there is no one standing outside the gates of heaven with a clipboard asking that question?
Because I could ask anyone in this room if they knew Jesus
And they would all say, “Yes”.
Because the fact is we all know Him.
But you know something, I know Troy Aikman too.
(Some facts about him)
(I even know how he responds in some situations)
I even have a napkin that he wrote his name on.
(I didn’t get it, my college roommate saw him in a restaurant and got it for me)
Yet that is exactly the type of relationship many have with Jesus.
They know His stats.
They know what team He plays for.
They know how many championships He has won.
Some even have a piece of paper that contains words He wrote (bible).
But if you were to approach Troy Aikman and ask him about me,
He would say, “Who? I don’t know who he is.”
And yet sadly that is precisely the same with Jesus.
The problem isn’t that these people didn’t know Jesus.
They were obviously calling Him Lord.
THE PROBLEM WAS THAT JESUS DIDN’T KNOW THEM.
“I never knew you”
You preached sermons…
You cast out demons…
You worked miracles…
But I don’t know who you are.
He didn’t know them because they didn’t follow Him.
He was on the narrow road and they were on the wide one.
These are people who heard about Jesus, but they didn’t follow Him.
That is what we see next week.
This morning we talk about people with empty words.
Next week we see people with lousy ears.
Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.”
Some profess, but don’t obey.
Some hear, but don’t obey.
And because Jesus doesn’t know them,
He will say, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Even though they call Him Lord.
Even though they do religious deeds.
They will still go to hell when they die.
AND FRIEND, THAT IS A TERRIFYING TRUTH.
This isn’t a sermon preached to the godless,
This was a sermon preached to the most religious people of the day.
The Sermon on the Mount was meant for the slums,
The Sermon on the Mount was meant for the sanctuary.
Jesus is trying to open the eyes of the self-deceived.
• It’s not about what you say, it’s about what you do.
• It’s not about who you know, it’s about who knows you.
• And everything you do is useless, if it is done on the wide road.
I think this is obviously a call for Self-Evaluation.
According to Jesus, there will be people from this room,
Who right now think they are headed to heaven,
Who one day will be shocked to find out otherwise.
And if that is me, I would rather find out now, instead of then.
It calls for self-examination.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”
How do you know you are saved?
How do you know you are a child of God?
“I just know” – how?
Because you want it to be true?
Friend go to Scripture and make sure!
2 Peter 1:10-11 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
Self-examination is important.
That is one of the reasons the Lord has us continually return to His table.
1 Corinthians 11:28 “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”
And friend you and I must do it to.
I claim to know Jesus, but does Jesus know Me?
Am I following Jesus, and is it evident in my life?
Not by my religious works, but by my fruit.
You want a list?
2 Peter 1:5-9 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
Want another?
Galatians 5:19-24 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Want another?
1 John 2:3-5 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”
Want another?
1 John 3:16-20 “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”
Want another?
James 1:26-27 “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
And we could go on and on and on.
The point is friend don’t convince yourself you are saved
Because you are religious.
Take the truth of Scripture and the righteous standard of God
And evaluate your life by it and see if Christ is in you.
Because there are many who think He is, and He is not.
If you find He is not in you, then strive to enter the narrow gate.
Ask Christ for righteousness.
Beg Him to make you new.
Let go of your own life and choose to follow Him no matter what.
Put to death the old you and find new life in Christ
And He will save you.
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
