Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. I would suggest that if you do not have a Bible with you, there's one in the pew. Take it. If you're sitting next to someone, they do not know where the passage is, please help them find it. We want to be sure that you see that these are the words of Jesus Christ. They are not words that I've invented. They are not words that I've made up. I think it's something that we need to realize as we consider this passage this morning. Many of you have heard the illustration of the woman who came home only to find that her house was on fire. Realizing that her small child was in the house, she, doing what most mothers would do, braved those flames, went into that smoke-filled house, reached down into that crib and grabbed what she thought was her baby. ran out of the house with full assurance that she had her baby, only to find out in the naked light of day that what she thought was her child was only a dog. No matter how sincere she was, it could not alter the ultimate outcome. Now, with that little illustration in the back of your mind, let me ask you two questions this morning. First one is this. If you were to stand before Almighty God at this very moment, do you have assurance that He would allow you into His kingdom? Second question. What is the basis of your assurance? I ask those two questions because of the text that's before us this morning. In this passage, our Lord is predicting a time when multitudes will stand before Him on that day of judgment, assured that they had been truly saved, only to learn at that time that they had embraced a false assurance of their salvation, And no matter how sincere they were, it could not alter the ultimate outcome. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he 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 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." We are currently considering a series of evangelistic messages that I've entitled four damning delusions, which hopefully will expose at least four methods the enemy of our soul uses, the devil, to delude men and women for the sole purpose of damning their souls. If you will remember, and in case you did not, let us briefly review that first delusion was the way of salvation up in verses 13 and 14 of Matthew chapter 7. After going through what is commonly referred to as that Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus Christ invites sinners to enter into His Kingdom by the only way that one can enter, through that narrow gate. Down that narrow way, which is the way of true salvation, because it's the only way that leads to life. But in doing so, He warns us that the enemy of our soul will stand there and offer an alternate way of salvation through a wide gate down a broad way, but it's a way of counterfeit conversion because it leads to destruction. And one of the things that we glean from that passage is that many will be deluded by entering into that wrong gate. Many will be deluded by entering into that wrong gate that leads to destruction. The second damning delusion we looked at was in Luke 13, verses 22 through 30, which concerned the day of salvation. There Jesus invited those that heard him to enter the door into his kingdom, and he said, Do so, because one day that door of mercy will be slammed tight shut. And the delusion that flowed out of that passage was this, the devil would not seek to keep us from going into the kingdom, he would not seek to stop us from going into the right door, but he says, don't do it today, do it tomorrow. And one of the things we learned that Jesus said the same thing, many will stand outside the door and knock and try to enter and will not be able to. This morning it brings us to our third damning delusion, which concerns the assurance of salvation, and I believe that this delusion is the most deceitful of all. Because here we'll learn that the enemy of our soul, the devil, will allow men and women to make profession that Jesus Christ is truly their Savior, and then get them to embrace a false sense of assurance. That assurance, however, is so convincing that they never question its validity, and only at the day of judgment will they find out that they have been deluded and will be damned. No matter how assured they were that all was well with their soul, no matter how sincere they were in their service to the Lord, they will be consigned to a devil's hell forever. And may I say of all the three passages, this is the one that terrifies me more than all the rest. The reason I say that is because I believe this passage applies most directly to those of us who claim to be fundamental born-again believers. who are assured that truly God is our Savior, and yet Jesus one day will say to a group out of that group, and then I will declare I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Now I've divided this text up under three major heads. First of all, verse 21 is the dangerous reality of a false assurance. Secondly, in verse 22 is the deceptive features of a false assurance. And then thirdly, in verse 23, we have the damning results of a false assurance. Let's look, first of all, at the dangerous reality of a false assurance of true conversion. Verse 21. Jesus states the reality in the first part of that verse, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is saying not everyone that professes that I am Lord and Savior of the life will enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's exactly what he means. No one can be truly saved unless they acknowledge Christ as Lord. This involves recognizing His deity and His sovereignty. That's why Paul says in Romans 10 verse 9, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. One of the essential features of true saving faith is that I will openly confess and embrace Jesus Christ as Lord. Not only as Lord over all, but Lord over my life. Master of my soul. Master of my life. And therefore I must submit to myself to all his demands and all of his claims. No one can be truly saved who was ignorant of the claims of Christ. No one can be saved who rejects the claims of Christ. He claimed to be Jehovah God. And when Thomas saw the resurrected Lord, he saw the nail prints in his hands and the wound in his side. What did he say? He fell on his face and said, My Lord and my God. Two words are synonymous. Not only did Jesus Christ claim to be the Lord, in fact, that He was God, but He should have absolute sovereign rule over our lives, which means we acknowledge Him as the master of our life. Listen, I had to change something I've been teaching for years. The more I study the scripture, I find that this teaching, that you receive Christ as Savior now and twenty years later you receive Him as Lord, is not scriptural. That's a lie right out of the pit of hell. If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, there is salvation. You don't receive Christ the Savior and then ten years down the line receive him as the Lord of your life. You receive the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Philippian jailer said, what must I do to be saved? Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't divide his titles up in little segments and snatch and choose what you want and then accept the rest of them later. But if these things are true, that we openly embrace Christ as Lord, meaning that He's Jehovah God and also Master of my life, then I believe we can grab the promise of Romans 10, 19 as assurance that we're truly born again. But may I say, in this text before us, Christ is warning us that there is a false assurance where it is possible to proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior And yet that may be a false assurance that will damn your soul. That's the significance of that phrase, Lord, Lord. It implies that these people claimed Christ as the Lord of their life and consistently verbalized that fact, but they were deluded. Now that's the reality stated. Let's look at the reality of this explained in the latter part of verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Those who are truly saved will verbally acknowledge the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord, but that will be underscored by the fact that they submit to His authority and they believe and obey His word. My friend, that's the evidence of salvation. You claim that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of your life. You turn around and disobey the Word of God when it's laid before you. Jesus says that's a contradiction of terms. That cannot be. In Luke 6, 46, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? He says that's impossible. In that instance, the word Lord connotes the fact that he's my master and I'm his slave. A slave never questions his master. He doesn't decide to obey what he wants to obey and pick and choose what he wants to obey. A slave obeys his master in total. And that's exactly what it means to be truly born again. What does that phrase mean here? He who does the will of my father is in heaven. Well, I think the scriptures interpret themselves. Look at verse 24, because the parable of the wise man and the foolish man building the house is tied intimately in the words that our Lord speaks here in verses 21 through 23. Verse 24 begins with the word therefore, meaning that what he's about to say is tied in with what he just said. Those who hear these words of mine and act upon them, those are the ones who are doing the will of God and Father. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them, those are the ones who will stand before God and say, Lord, Lord, and He'll say, Depart, I never knew you. May I say by way of application, listen closely. If you don't get anything out of the message, listen to this. This passage can only be referring to those who claim to be fundamental believers. Do you hear what I said? This passage in Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23 can only apply to those who claim to be, quote, born-again Christians. Let me show you why I say that. First of all, no one can claim Christ as Lord without exposure to the truth that He is Lord. You couldn't go over to the heathen in Erie and Jireh and preach this message. They've never heard Jesus Christ as Lord. You couldn't go out to the man on the street and say that this applies to him. He never even heard the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord of the universe and Lord of your life, or should be. It certainly cannot refer to those who have no interest in the gospel. It cannot be referring to those who ridicule Christianity. They would never claim Jesus Christ as the Lord of the life. This cannot be referring to the cultists. They deny the very deity of Jesus Christ. This can't even be referring to Roman Catholicism. They deny the deity of Christ by their doctrine. It certainly cannot be referring to apostate Protestantism. They deny all the basic tenets of the faith. They deny that He's God. They deny the need for a shed blood on the cross. They deny His virgin birth. They deny His bodily resurrection. They deny it all, the Protestant faith does. That certainly can't be applying to them. My friend, listen, who's left? Who's left? What churches expose the plain truth of the Word of God? That which we call fundamental churches. And these people who will stand before God and claim that He's Lord, had to have been exposed to the truth which teaches that he is Lord. Second reason why I believe this can only be referring to those who are claimed to be fundamental Christians. No one will claim Christ as Lord unless he truly believes in his heart that he is. And who are the only ones that you know of who truly claim that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of my life and of my soul, and only Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of my life and of my soul? But those who call themselves fundamental Christians. And I believe that's why this text is so solemn and so terrifying and so heartbreaking. That out of that segment of people who claim to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, They will be the ones out of that segment will be many who stand before the Lord and verbalize the fact that Jesus Christ was their Lord and Savior. But he will have to say to them, I never knew you. Could that be applied to you this morning? Could it? One test. Are you doing the will of God the Father? Are you doing his will? All right, we've seen the dangerous reality of a false assurance. Let's look at the deceptive features of a false assurance in verse 22. First of all, the number of people deceived. There's that word again in verse 22, many. You see, if we were correct in our exposition, our interpretation of verse 21, and if that is referring to those who truly claim to be born-again Christians, then we see how deceptive this false assurance are, for out of that group, many will say to me on that day. Remember, up in verse 13, when we looked at the way of salvation, many are those who enter by the way of counterfeit conversion. Remember when we looked at the day of salvation? Many will stand outside the door, knocking, and will not be able to enter. Out of those here, as far as assurance of salvation, many will say to me on that day. Many who claim and openly profess Jesus Christ as Lord will be among those many who have been deluded. They will have embraced a false assurance. They, like Jacob, have embraced Leah rather than Rachel and will not know it until the day of judgment. That's how deluding this lie is. Many will say to me on that day. What's the nature of the people in deceived? Listen, let's tie these two things together now. 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." Listen, what's the significance of those three forms of religious activity that our Lord lays out before us there? I believe that those were the highest forms of religious activity during that period of time. Look over at Matthew chapter 10, please. Two pages over, Matthew chapter 10. Verse one, we see the context where Jesus is about to send out his twelve disciples to go and preach the gospel of the kingdom. And having summoned his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Verse 5, These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any of the city of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leopards, cast out demons, freely you shall receive, freely give." Notice what he tells them to do in verse 7, preach, preach, prophesying in his name. Secondly, he says, cast out demons, verse 8, that's exactly what they did, they cast out demons. And he said, then the third thing that Jesus mentions in our text, is the doing of mighty miracles. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers. That was the highest form of religious activity at that particular time in history. These people who will appeal to the Lord that He's their Lord and Savior will also appeal to Him on the fact that they were engaged in the highest form of religious activity. Not only that, we see that they were engaged in the purest form of religious activity. Notice the text again. Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles? They were not engaged in some kind of dubious pagan ritual. They were not engaged in some kind of false religious worship. They were engaged in preaching and exercising of demons and performing many miracles in the name, in the power, and in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The third thing that's interesting is that they were successfully engaged in the highest and purest form of religious activity. Notice the last two things that it says there. And in your name cast out demons. and in your name performed many miracles. They were successful in the exorcism of demons in the name of Christ. They were successful in performing not miracles, but many miracles. And by the way, the word miracles is exactly the same word that's used to describe the miracles that Jesus Christ performed. Let's tie it all together now. This group that will stand before Jesus Christ in this text heard the truth. They professed to embrace the truth as Jesus Christ is Lord. They were engaged in the highest form of religious activity. They were engaged in the purest form of religious activity. And they were successfully engaged in performing the highest and the purest form of religious activity. And as a result, they were absolutely convinced that they truly were born again. They were embracing a false assurance. Now, from that fact, let's draw a principle. A verbal profession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, coupled with a successful engagement in even the highest form of religious activity, is not in and of itself assurance that you're saved. Do you hear what I said? The fact that you verbally profess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and even though you couple that with the fact that you are successfully engaged in performing the purest and highest form of religious activity, is not in and of itself assurance of salvation that may be false assurance that will damn your soul. And I think of Judas. As I read Matthew 10, it never says anything that Judas was successful, but I think the fact that it's silent indicates very clearly that when the twelve went forth, Judas was successful in prophesying, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. I think we can safely conclude that Judas was successful in casting out demons. I think we can conclude that Judas was successful in performing many mighty miracles. I believe that. None of the disciples ever looked at Judas and suspected that he was the devil, as Jesus called him. As a matter of fact, when they sat around at the Last Supper, and he said, Jesus said, one of you are going to betray me. They didn't turn and say, aha, it's Judas. No, they said, Lord, is it I? They never suspected that Judas was the devil. He was a man who claimed that Jesus was his Lord and was successfully engaged in the highest and purest form of religious activity. But we know Judas went into partition. He went into hell. Let me apply that to myself. The fact that as a pastor and a preacher of the gospel, I verbalize the fact that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. And I couple that along with the fact that God has been successful in using me in the highest and purest form of religious activity. That in and of itself is not assurance of salvation. What's the highest and purest form of religious activity today? Taking the words of God, explaining them, applying them to the lives of people. Hopefully that souls will be saved and Christians will be built up in the faith. And even though there's been some success there, if all I have is a verbalization that Jesus Christ is my Lord and that I've been successful in the highest form of religious activity, that may damn my soul. If that's true with me, how much more of you who sit under my preaching? What is the basis of your assurance? If you were able to answer that first question in the beginning of our message, would God allow you into the kingdom of heaven? What about the second question? What is the basis of that assurance? Listen. In your mind, right this moment, strip away Any profession you may have that Jesus Christ is your Lord, just lay that aside for a moment, okay? Lay it aside. Take all of the religious activity that you're involved in. Lay that aside for a moment. Teaching at Sunday school? Youth work? Soul winning? Your own Bible study? I'm not telling you to stop doing it. I'm just saying, in your mind, lay those things aside, your prayer. Lay all the activities that are religious, that are truly fundamental, lay all of that aside for the moment. Lay the fact that you profess Christ as Savior, and lay all the religious activity aside for a moment. And then with Judgment Day honesty, ask yourself this question, what is left? What do you have left to cling to as assurance that you're going to enter the kingdom of God? What do you have left? I'm afraid some of you are saying in your own minds right now, nothing. When I strip away my profession and my religious activity, I see nothing which I can cling to as assurance of salvation. Friend, listen, you may be among the many in Matthew chapter 7. Do you recognize as 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, Oh, I do see that in my life God has made a new creation of me. If you can't say that, my friend, you're not in. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Are you able to turn to Galatians chapter 5 and say, those are the fruit, that's the fruit of the Spirit, although I don't see it there to the degree that I'd like to see it there. I do discern that there is love, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering. I'd like to see more of it, but I can say with judgment day honesty, there is some evidence of the fruit of the Spirit of God in my life. Are you able to go into 1 John and begin to glean from that book all of those tests that God gives us as a result and we'll be able to compare whether or not we're truly saved? Can you go through that book and glean those tests and say, although they're not as true in my life as much as I'd like them to be, I can sense that I do pass that test. Listen, when you strip away your profession and all your religious activity and there's nothing left, my friend, you better fear because you may be among the many here in this text. We look at the number of people who will be deceived, many. The nature of the people who will be deceived, people who verbalize the fact that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior and become successfully engaged in the highest form of religious activity and in the purest form of religious activity. And yet out of that group, Jesus said, many, I will say to them, depart from me, I never knew you. You see what I mean when I say that this applies to us who claim to be born-again fundamental believers? We will now look at the negligence of the people who have been deceived here. What were they negligent in doing? They were not doing the will of the Father who is in heaven. That makes the difference. That makes the difference between those who will be deceived in this passage and those who will hear God say, blessed are you, enter into the kingdom prepared before the foundation of the world. That makes the difference. Are you doing the will of God the Father in your life? If you're here this morning without Jesus Christ, God's will for you is that you repent. God would have all men repent, Peter prayed. If you're here this morning and you claim to be a believer, ask yourself this question. When I look back on my life, can I say with Judgment Day honesty that although I fail Him many times, I have an overriding desire to want to obey all the principles and precepts of the Word of God. This business of saying, oh, well, I'm a carnal Christian is a lie, another lie out of the pit of hell. Read what Paul talks about when he talks about carnality in 1 Corinthians. vastly different from what we've said it is. The term carnal Christian means I'm saved and I'm going to go to heaven when I die and in between I can live like I want to. That lie will damn your soul too. Because John makes it very clear over in the Gospel or the Epistle of 1 John, he says, little children, no one deceive you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous just as he is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for the purpose that he might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because his seed abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God. That eliminates Saved now and thirty years later, I lived like the devil for thirty years, but then I began to serve Jesus. My friend, if you're beginning to serve Jesus, you go back to the time when you began to serve Him. That's the day you got saved. And thank God you didn't die in between, because John says, a man who is righteous will live righteous. A man who lives ungodly is ungodly. That's the Word of God. We've clouded and muddied the water of salvation. We've blurred the clear distinction that the epistle of John is made so much that the church of Jesus Christ has spawned this generation of carnal Christians. I'll go and live any old way I want to. If I want to obey God's word, fine. If I don't, I don't have to. But I'm going to heaven because I'm eternally secure. One of the evidences that we are secure, and I believe that like no one else believes it, is that we will continue in the faith. We all backslide on occasion, but I'm talking about a consistent life of disobedience to the Word of God. No one who lives that kind of a life has a right to ever claim to be truly born again. And if you claim that, my friend, it may be something that you're clutching as a false sense of assurance that I'll damn your soul one day. That was brought home to my mind just last week. I dealt with three different people. All of them were under this delusion right here. I dealt with a 10-year-old lad, came up in my office and knocked on my door just last week. He said, Pastor Tom, I'd like to talk to you. He said, you were preaching on the Broadway in the narrow road. And he says, as I began to see all the trouble I was getting in in school and all the trouble I was causing my mom and dad, I all of a sudden realized I was on the Broadway. I said, how did you get off? He says, I went home and I talked to my mom and she led me to Jesus Christ. Don't you tell me young children can't sit in this service and be talked to by the Spirit of God. I talked to a 16-year-old girl in my home last Saturday night, a young girl who was born and raised in the church of Jesus Christ, heard the gospel proclaimed since she was old enough to understand it. And I challenged her with this question, how do you know you're saved? And she began to list all the things that she was involved in. Time went on, I asked her the question again, and again she listed all the religious activities she was involved in. All of a sudden I realized that this young lady had no concept of what it means to be saved, and I took her to the parable of the publican and the Pharisee, and I asked her one more question. When you stand before God and He says, why shall I let you into heaven, what do you say? And she began to list all of her activities all over again. And I said, all right, you read the publican and the Pharisee, and which one of those two men represent you? And the Spirit of God opened her eyes and she began to say, I have never received Jesus Christ by faith. And we had the opportunity of her praying in that sinner's prayer and asking God truly be her Lord and Savior by faith. And her reaction was this. If I would have died before this night, I would have went to hell. Thinking I was born again. Young lady called me on the phone last Monday night almost in tears. Saying, Pastor Tom, why am I terrified about being baptized? And I said, well, well, everyone's scared about being baptized. I began to sense that she doubted whether she was truly born again or not. And I began to press these questions home to her. And I said, well, I'll see you tomorrow night. And her reaction, which I'm glad was, well, I don't want to wait till tomorrow night. I need to know now. I took her through the word of God and showed her that we need to come to a point where we cry out to God for mercy. And when I met with her the next night, she said, May I ask you a question? Why was it that last night after I've heard the gospel, I've always believed that Jesus died for me. I've always believed I was a sinner. Ever since I can remember, I always believed I never deserved any mercy from God, but that he loved me enough to provide mercy for me. But only last night did it all make sense. Last night was the first time it was really clear and I understood it. She says, Is it possible that last night was the first time I've been truly saved? Of course, I said, I don't ultimately don't know that, but we can't be saved unless we have some understanding of the gospel. Are you doing the will of the Father in heaven? Forget about your profession. Forget about your religious activity. If you can't say with Judgment Day honesty that from the day that I have asked God to be my Lord and Savior, I can sense that although I fail many times, I can sense that my life is consistently seeking to be obedient to all that He shows me in His Word, regardless of the consequences and the implications. My friend, if you can't say that with the Judgment Day honesty, be careful, you may be among the many. These people were openly professing that Jesus was the Lord. They were engaged in the highest form of religious activity. They were successful in the purest and highest form of religious activity. But they were not doing the will of God. And as a result, Jesus said, you have been deluded. You have been embracing a false assurance. Depart from me. I never knew you. Could that be you here this morning? Could it? Oh, you say, but I've been in Fellowship Church almost since its inception. I've been coming here for 10, 15 years. I've done this. I've done that. So did these people. The reason why I feel so frustrated with this passage is because of all the fork-damning delusions. This is the one that I believe comes closest to home to everyone that sits in this congregation. Could it possibly be that you are among this many? What does it take to wake you up? Forget about your conversion. Forget about the day you walk the aisle. Forget about the little verse you can quote. Forget about the fact you're engaged in all kinds of religious activity. Are you truly saved? Are you doing the will of God the Father? That's the only test that has any validity to it. Some of you people, I fear, because I've seen your lives, there isn't one bit of fruit after 30 and 40 years of professing Jesus Christ. There's no evidence that He's ever changed your life. And you sit here, complacent, wrapped in a false sense of security, your mind 10,000 miles away, saying, oh, that must mean somebody else. My friend, it may be you, and you, and you. Look at the damning results of this false assurance in verse 23. First of all, Jesus said, you were never united to me. And then I would declare to them, I never knew you. He didn't mean I didn't know who you were. He knew everything about them. He was able to look right down in the very depths of their soul and see what they really were. He didn't mean, I didn't know who you are intellectually. He says, you were never unitedly joined to me by faith. We never had that intimate relationship together. They were never united to Christ. Secondly, they will be eternally separate from Christ, apart from me. And they'll be exposed by Christ. You practice lawlessness. I don't know what else to say. I can't think of another thing to add to what we just said. There's one thing I know I'll be able to say when I stand before God, no one will ever be able to say I didn't tell him. But that's as far as I can go. I can't go any further. Unless the spirit of God strips off that mask of deceit that's over your eyes, you're going to burn in hell. And some of you won't know it until the very day you stand before the judge of all the earth. Absolutely convinced and sincere that you've embraced Christ by faith, and you're going to listen and hear the worst words that have ever fallen on the ears of men or women. Depart from me. I never knew you. You're workers of lawlessness. As you stripped away all your religious activity and you stripped away your profession, what was left? What was left? Do you have anything else to hold on to? I mean, things to hold on to that God says we should be holding on to. Oh, friend, if there's nothing else to hold on to. Could it not be that you'll be among this many? Thinking I'm a fundamental Christian. And we'll one day spend eternity in a devil's hell.