#188 Lord! Lord! Matthew 7:21-23

I don’t know if I would be here today if it wasn’t for my childhood pastor Kraft. Growing up he made the Gospel come alive. I would often sit in on his sermons rather than go to children's church. One Sunday during service Pastor Kraft really wanted to drive his point home. He wanted the congregation to know if they truly trusted in God or in themselves. So he hired some local actors to rob the tithes. But he neglected to tell anyone what he was up to. Those actors improved on his plan and started stealing purses and jewelry. And the off duty police in the audience pulled guns on the actors. So there was a standoff Sunday morning in the sanctuary! I don’t know if most anyone paid attention to the sermon that morning but they remembered the robbery. I want to ask you, if something happened this morning are you ready to stand before Jesus?

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:21-23)

There are many questions that we could delve into, but I'm not gonna answer all of them. That's okay. We aren't gonna be taking a look at prophecy or driving out demons or miracles what we're going to be looking at is calling on the name of Jesus, being one of his followers, what it means to have faith in him and what it means to actually do good things for God that is our focus today in our central question is this: How can we know if our faith is genuine?

This text comes right at the end of the sermon on the mount. The longest recorded sermon of Jesus that we have in the Bible it covers multiple chapters of Matthew as well as the other gospels. Jesus climbs up a mountain, which is in this context more of a hill and many people follow Him. We don't know how many people, probably hundreds or more. The disciples were there, the Pharisees were likely there. This is where we get phrases like the meek shall inherit the Earth or blessed are those who mourn where they will be comforted. It is a beautiful message where the purpose of Christ’s coming becomes clear to everyone. Jesus revealed the deeper meaning of God’s law transforming rule-keeping into a relationship rooted in grace.

Right towards the end of this sermon is when we get our text today. We learn about the wide gate that leads to destruction and the narrow gate leads to heaven. Then we have a tree and its fruit, such that good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit. Then there is our text today. Followed by the final example at the end of Jesus's sermon, the two foundations the one built on the rock and the one built on the sand. It seems that Jesus gives these multiple comparisons in order to convey the same message in multiple ways so that hopefully we get at least one of them. The sermon ends with this final message. If you know God you go to heaven, if you don't know God, you don't go to heaven.

Right before getting to our passage Jesus was speaking about true and false prophets. He wanted us to know how to think about our own salvation and how to evaluate those in leadership.

We'll go ahead and take a look at Matthew 7:21 and Christ’s claim. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

To enter the kingdom of heaven, you must be doing the will of God. You cannot do the will of God unless you know what it is; you can't truly know what it is unless you know God. It would seem to me that Romans 12:2 gives us the key to what that will is. It reads “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” This of course introduces a lot of complexity to what God’s will is, but if you break it down it's those last three words; good, acceptable, perfect. God's will is for you to do the things which are good, acceptable, and perfect. That gives us some direction to aim at. If we have a decision to make we can ask ourselves is it good? Is it acceptable? Is it perfect? This can be applied to any question in your life.

Looking back at that central question, how can we know if our faith is genuine? We will know it's genuine when we order our actions according to God's will and not just according to what we want at that moment. It’s not about what I say. Knowing God's will is not about saying the right things. You cannot simply say that you are a Christian and be a Christian it must actually be true.

I wonder what Jesus was thinking and feeling when He said this? And what was His audience thinking? I am not a mind reader. Jesus could have been looking at the Pharisees when He spoke, He could have been angry. Or He could have been looking at the innocent youth in His audience saying “not everyone” with a look full of feeling. Was Jesus trying to cause fear in His audience? I believe He wanted the people to feel a sense of nervous hope. To question whether or not they knew God, but to have the hope that God would save them.

This is one of the scariest verses in the Bible, finding yourself in the place of living your whole life a certain way only to find out that you have failed in the most final and permanent way. Verses like these are hard to read. We find ourselves walking away from them quickly moving on to things that tickle our ears more and give us peace. When Jesus spoke these words, He wasn't trying to give us peace. He was trying to make us feel something important, to have a sense of urgency. To this very moment to put all things into perspective.

What Jesus is saying is not harsh. It comes from a place of love and justice. Jesus is making reference to Psalm 6:8 which says “Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.” God rescues those who weep and punishes those who are the cause of suffering. Our passage is about God’s deliverance for those whom He loves. But it goes beyond this, it is not about you not being good enough. It is a warning to those who think they can be good without God

Matthew 7:22 reads, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?”

That day can refer to Jesus’s second coming or I would suggest more appropriately to your death. The day you die and are standing in heaven in front of Jesus.

That phrase Lord Lord is meant to be a double submission to Jesus as Lord.

This hypothetical person that Jesus is referring to says he is prophesying and driving out demons and performing miracles. This is quite the spectacular claim. But it could just as easily Lord, Lord, didn’t I live a good life? I never hurt anyone. Or Lord, Lord, didn’t I lead people to You? Didn’t I live my life as an example for others? You see, this is a bit strange.

It comes down to this, It’s not about what I do. Of course there is so much that God wants us to do. Yet we know that there is nothing we can actually accomplish apart from God.

This is almost an illusion to proverbs 1:7 which says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Jesus is instructing us with these words. We must have a certain fear of God so that we will remember to order our actions properly with who He is. We ought not to be fools just assuming that we know what it means to follow God.

One thing that sticks with me when I think of fear is oven doors. I remember when I was maybe one or two years old and my cousin Sophia was babysitting me and my older sister Katie. I recall trying to walk around the kitchen, holding on to the oven door. And then the door fell off? I fell over crying. Well, I’ve grown up. Oven doors have not got the best of me in years. But I am always aware out of the corner of my eye what that oven door might be up to next.

A dynamic that we see here as well as throughout the Bible is this, we are to have faith and that leads to works. Yet our works are not made possible by us but rather Christ in us. You see in verse 22 this guy is saying that he is the one who has done great things. He is telling God to accept Him as an equal. He is saying “Hey! I am awesome. Have you seen what I can do? You need me here!” But here is the thing. God does not need any of us. Yes God wants to know you. He wants you to serve Him. But He does not need you. Without you He could use anyone else to accomplish His goals. In fact He needs no person. When we understand the awesome power of God we lose our arrogance. Jesus even says in Luke 19:40 “I tell you if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” If we do not declare God’s glory even the rocks will start to declare God’s glory. We do the work God has called us to, we worship God, not because we are good but because there is nothing else we can do. If all of humanity were dumber than a bag of rocks and turned away from God even the rocks would begin to testify and praise God.

I need to fill in some more details about the Law and Works. So let’s take a quick detour and look at Galatians 2:16. “Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16) Paul is communicating that nothing we do can bring us an inch closer to God. That phrase works of the law refers to the Jewish law that is built on the ten commandments. It is that stuff the Pharisees tried to do. No one could live up to the law. We cannot live up to God’s standard of conduct because we are not God. Yet God accepts us and justifies us by our faith.

Back to the Central Question: How can we know if our faith is genuine? We know our faith is genuine when we stop trying to earn our salvation and instead truly trust in God and do His will.

Most people would choose to preach from Matthew 25:21 of how uplifting it is, yet we must embrace and consider the Word of God in its entirety, especially its hard messages. Matthew 25:21 says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”

They did things for Jesus. I don’t know if those people actually drove out demons or what. But they had no power on their own. They only had what God gave to them. This is true of us as well. We cannot do anything on our own. It is only God in us that makes us effective.

Matthew 7:23, “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

This is where we have to pause for a moment. The NIV here is accurate yet since it is thought for thought I believe we miss a certain detail that pops out a bit more to me in the original Greek. It is the word law. In Greek it is “Nomos law” while the word that the NIV uses for evildoers is “ἀνομίαν meaning lawlessness” The NIV is a good and accurate translation of the original text but its goal is to communicate the ideas more so than the actual words. So please don’t let this upset you. I want to read to you how I translated this verse and then explain the importance of that word nomos. My translation of Matthew 7:23 reads, “And at that time I shall acknowledge that I never knew you. Go away from Me you workers of lawlessness.”

It is about who I know.

If you believe in Jesus you will be saved. If you do not know Jesus you will not be saved.

Lawlessness is not simply a failure to live up to the law but a willful rejection of God’s authority. We are not saved by works of the law. Yet we are not to be workers of lawlessness either. No one can live up to the law. We are all in a sense lawless. Yet when we have faith in Jesus we submit our will to His will. This act of submission to God’s will places us under the grace of Jesus. Jesus in turn forgives our faults. Our faith makes us right with God.

2 Thessalonians 2 describes the man of lawlessness as the devil. Therefore if you are a worker of lawlessness you are aligning yourself with the devil. That is not what I want to be doing, I don’t know about you.

You can serve God or the devil, not both. If your goal is to serve God you should know that it is not possible to do a good enough job. The only way is through faith in Jesus. Like we read in Galatians 2:16.

Central Question: How can we know if our faith is genuine? In light of what we have been discussing, how can we know if we are saved?

I know I am belaboring the point. But I want you to take a moment and feel the words that Jesus is speaking. Imagine that day you stand before Jesus and imagine that He says “Go away from Me you workers of lawlessness” that disappointment and pain is palpable. Now imagine the opposite: the ultimate goal of a Christian life is to arrive in heaven and hear those wonderful words from Jesus “well done, good and faithful servant.”

If you’ve trusted Jesus, He knows you. Even when you stumble, He will not say, ‘I never knew you.’ That’s the promise of the gospel.

Jesus was teaching the people what to look for in a leader. What to look for in themselves. The people saw the priests and scribes and compared them to Jesus.

We are no longer comparing the priests to Jesus. But we still must ask ourselves if we truly serve God. When this life is over will Jesus know who you are?

Jesus went on to conclude the sermon on the mount, he told the story of the house built on the rock and the house built on the sand. When you build a house on the sand when the winds come or the waves the house washes away. But when a house is built on the rock it is strong. The wind and waves are harmless. That is how Jesus ends his sermon. Our faith is like those houses. Is it weak and built on sand? Or do you know Jesus? If you do know Him, you will be strong no matter what may come.

Jesus started His sermon speaking to the weak among us in Matthew 5:3-8.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Central Question: How can we know if our faith is genuine? We can know that our faith is genuine when it stops being about us and what we can do. When we realize that it is not about what we say, or do. But it is about knowing Jesus. We learn who Jesus is, when we read the Bible, through prayer, and by living like Him.

Look this is God’s will as it says in John 6:40 “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

This passage isn’t meant to leave us in fear, it’s meant to draw us into Christ, our only assurance.

If you recall at the beginning I mentioned Pastor Kraft and the robbery at Church. Hopefully something like that won’t happen today. But are you prepared? If you were to stand before Jesus today would that be a moment of fear or joy for you?

Question to leave with: Does Jesus know who you are? And why

What is the central difference between those two outcomes? You and I don't contribute anything to our salvation. And we could quibble about the minor details on that forever. But what is the difference? How can we affect the outcome? It is simply this: believe. If you believe in Jesus you will be saved. It is so simple and so easy. But impossible at the same time. Simply believe in Jesus and you will be saved. Belief is hard, but as it says in Mark 9:24 “I do believe; help my unbelief.” I invite you to pray this, God I know that you are real. I want to serve you. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and rose again. God help my unbelief.