I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The title for today's message is Self-Deception. And our text is taken from Matthew chapter 7, verse 21 to 23. We are looking at three sub-headings. The first one is awareness, the second one is the Father's will, and the third one is I know you not. Let us go to the text, Matthew chapter seven, verse 21 to 23. I read. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but you who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done mighty wonders in your name? Then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Last week on the Salmon on the Mount, we looked at false prophet. How do they come? They come to us in sheep's clothing while they are ferocious wolves. How do we detect them? Their lifestyle betrays them, because the Bible says, by their fruit, we shall know them. On the other hand, a true prophet of God has a genuine compassion and love for God and his word, and their duty to preach the word of God fully. They call people to repentance, to live a holy life, and knowing that it is by the grace of God in Christ alone that short a life will be lived out for the glory and the honor of God alone. They don't preach or teach for the money, but they are concerned about the eternal salvation of our souls. And so today, we are looking at self-deception, a danger that threatens our salvation. The heart of man is desperately wicked and can be deceived regarding the state of ease or our salvation. So sometimes we can deceive ourselves, thinking that, oh, I am saved, when truly, truly we are not. And God has given us descriptions from the word of God to know whether we are in a state of salvation. Now to our first subheading this morning, awareness. Let's go back to verse 21 to 22. Now, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? Jesus in this text reminds us of the final day of judgment. The last day when he would separate the sheep from the goat. An unregenerate man in church can be deceived by works righteousness. Superficial faith that is not demonstrated by love and devotion to Christ. He may be aware of all the nice and cozy things that he had participated in in the church in the name of Christian fellowship, but hypocritically with a self-deceived motive that is in for the loss of the flesh, the pride of life, and the deceitfulness of riches. They may be aware that they have done certain things in the name of the Lord, forgetting their motives and intentions of the art. For the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16 verse 7, But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the art. Jesus is saying to his disciples that it is not by being related to Abraham physically, or being of a certain bloodline, or the bloodline of David, or obeying some certain external laws, or the appearances of man. Many in our day have a verbal claim that they follow Christ. It is called nominal Christianity. Some people look like Christians in the eyes of other people, yet be evil doers. Have you not come across people you think well and good about, until you have a misunderstanding and they begin to open up to you the bitterness and grudges they have against you? The heart of man, the Bible says, is desperately wicked. And it's very hard for us to determine what is going on in the heart of man. It is common in our daily experiences, when you have a problem with someone, you will not know the details of the heart of that person until he or she begins to open up and tell you the grudges, the strife, the bitterness that he may have accumulated for a very long time But you will not be aware of it because you cannot see what is in the heart of man It is only by the appearances and so that is a kind of situation that is going to bewilder a lot of In heaven, bewilder a lot when they stand before the judgment seat of Christ. God is going to say to them, depart from me, I know you not. But some of them will say, yes Lord, did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not perform miracles? The Lord will say to them, depart from me, I know you not. If those people think that they were in the Lord while they were serving Him, they have claims of all the good things they have done, all the interactions they had with Christian fellowship, with brethren in the church, and so they go before God based on their preconceived notion of Christian fellowship that was based on falsehood and deception. God will say to them depart from me. I know you not All along, but you never knew That is how deceiving the heart can be Because you never actually know what is going on in the hearts of men until they begin to open up to you The heart of man is desperately wicked the Bible says who can know it you may be living in with someone and you think he or she loves you, while deep down in his or her heart, there is no true love. That is what Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew chapter 15 verse 8. These people draw near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Can you imagine? This was Isaiah the prophet speaking 700 years before the Messiah was born. These people are self-deceived in their notion of Christianity, in their belief that you can only be a Christian by a verbal conception. or by a declaration of words without true spiritual transformation and true repentance and faith that can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. The tragic thing is that on the last day, they will be aware of this honor given to Christ. This is a kind of cozy, comfortable Christianity, where the motion, the ceremony, the duty is more important than conviction of sin and true repentance. There is going to be a lot of surprises, my brother, because most people look at the outward appearances only. I was told of a story in which a man bought a new car for his wife. He said to her, darling, I bought you a new wife. The woman not knowing the intention of this man and that the new wife is actually a brand new car, she turned around, took a knife and stabbed the husband. This is a true story. What a tragedy! If we begin to measure things from the intentions of our heart, we will really see how sinful we are. That will make you never to one day boast of your righteousness. For the Bible says all our righteousness is like filthy rags unto God. Sometimes I hate myself for the thoughts that come into my heart. And I asked myself, why should I be thinking this way in the first place? But I remember what Paul said, that, oh, how wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from the body of sin? In Romans 7, verse 24. The heart of man is deceitful. We are deceivable people, and we should look out for our own self-deception. Ask yourself, is this what I truly want, and why? Do I truly love God, or am I just pretending? The greatest person that has done me much evil is myself. I met a man who lived in a marriage for many years, but he never loved his wife. But he tries to do everything to put food on the table. That is how deceiving the heart can be. The wife was crying the day she discovered that the man never loved her. The man went out into the street and had an extra marital affair. The man even went and secretly married another woman. Only for the wife to discover that my lovey lovey, my beloved husband, has never loved me. And when this man was axed, Deeply, why, why do you go and do a thing like that? And the man begin to explain and gave us reasons why he never loved this woman. That was a big surprise to all of us. We were intrigued and touched to the heart to discover a hardworking man that would spend the whole day going up and down and when he gets money, he brings to the wife. This man will buy food, will buy chicken, will buy ice cream and all the good things of life and bring to this woman. Only for us to discover at the end of the day that he never had any love for this woman. That in fact, he never even wanted to marry this woman. It was a marriage that was done by the mother. It was not his intention. We started to discover when the marriage has already gone. That is how deceitful the heart of man is. No wonder in heaven they will say, Lord, Lord, and Jesus himself will say, I know you not. I know you not. If you discover that in a marriage your love for your spouse is going down the drain, and you are becoming attracted to another person, begin to pray right away that God will restore that love you owe to your spouse. The Bible says, owe no man anything but love. In 2 Corinthians 13, 5, the Bible says, examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourself. Do you not know yourself? that Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified? This is a sobering question. Many would say to me, Lord, Lord, if you find sin so easy and pleasurable, you don't battle or struggle at it in any way at all. That is a sign of a dead spiritual condition. But you are aware that I go to church. Yes, I go to church. I pay my tithe. I show some love with my friends and neighbors. I'm good to go. Some people go with that conception. Well and good. I have a good name with everyone. I'm good to go. You are aware of all the good deeds. I'm not bothered about the intentions of your heart. You don't mourn for your sins. You don't mourn for your sin and the sins of other people. You are definitely on the broad way that leads to destruction. If you cannot identify with the portraits of a true Christian on this Salmon on the Mount, then you have never been one a Christian in your life. You need to repent right away and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. The true believer in Christ is one who has this struggle within. A struggle between the flesh and the spirit. And you are aware of this ongoing battle between the flesh and the spirit. Paul, the great apostle, is aware. He said in Romans chapter 7 verse 15. For what I am doing I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. Ask yourself again, Sina. Do you hate sin? Like Paul said, what he hates is what he finds himself doing at times. Do you hate sin? Ask yourself. For I delight in Romans chapter 7 verse 22. Paul says, for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. Do you delight yourself in the law of God according to the inward man? If you are not a hypocrite, you will delight yourself in the law of God. That is the portrait of a true Christian. In this text, Jesus listed things these false or nominal Christians actually did, which they are aware of. And so that is why when they get to heaven, they will say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? They're aware of their deeds. And so Jesus listed them for us to know. I think the notable one I can think of in this list is Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Remember, at some point Judas and the 12 disciples, all of them including Judas, were sent out by Christ for a ministry walk. They went out, the Bible says, they cast out demons and did many miracles. And they came back and reported to Christ how the demons were subjected to them. Judas was among those that went out and did those exploits. The Judas is called the son of perdition. Surprise will be to him on that day. He will say, I ate with you, Christ. I kept many the money bag. We did most of the things together. He would probably forget his thoughts, the desires of his heart, his inclination, his bent, his disposition, which was continually evil. He never struggled with sin. There was no inner struggle within Judas. He's like a man with no conviction. Because how can you be with the Lord Jesus Christ? For three years of ministry, you heard the gospel preached several times, you saw the miracles, but you did not believe, and you went ahead and betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the deception of the heart. The heart of man is desperately weaker. We can look at Judas and paint a picture of him. But we should ask ourselves this morning, are we part of those Judas' character? Do we have a bent and a disposition that is continually evil? Even while the gospel is preached to us, do we go back in the dark and begin to practice sin and evil practices? Jesus would be disappointed at us on the last day Even when we say Lord Lord look at us and say the path for me. I know you not in Azar chapter 29 verse 13 These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips But their hearts are far away from me. I Was told that someone used to come to this woman and Every time she sees this woman, she would bow down and greet the woman. I think that is a culture that is prevalent with the Yorubas. And anytime this man comes to this woman, he would bow down and greet the woman. But the woman was never satisfied. She felt in her heart that this man is a poisonous man. He's up to no good. He is an evil person. and is bent on evil continually. Finally, this man exposed himself upon all the greeting that he had been greeting this woman, bowing down to this woman. Finally, he exposed himself to be the devil's incarnate. Destroying, trying to destroy the life of this woman, her family, and all that she has worked for. That is how deceitful the heart can be. And it is not by the physical appearances of men. Judas never struggled with sin. If he did, he would have considered it a terrible thing to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. He would have not compromised in any way to do short and abominable work. Because he was not struggling with sin. Sin. was residing within him, was reigning over him. Sin had dominion over him and he found pleasure in his sinful activities. He's like pliable in pilgrim progress who had no burden. and could get out of the mare on that side of the slouch, which was next to his own house. So away he went, because there was no burden within him. But Christian had a burden. And when the evangelist came to him, he said, look at the steps. Let me give you a hand. He said, help me. Because of the burden upon him, he was running away from the city of destruction and heading to the gates. The primal said, I cannot go any further. I cannot be part of this, your many tribulations, going back to the city of destruction. That is how an hypocrite, a false believer who look at life in general, doesn't want to suffer. And when suffering comes his way, he will not accept it. He will compromise. Do anything to escape the sorrows of this life. If you do not have the burden of sin, if you do not struggle with sin, you will not want to escape the city of destruction. Hell and all its evil. Now to our second subheading, the father's will. We still go back to 21 to 22. I read. Everyone who said to me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven that he who does the will of my father in heaven Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord. Have we not prophesied in your name? Cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name Have we not done all this Jesus continues to give us the most important statement in this life and the next, which is knowing Jesus is not simply knowing about him, but having an intimate, passionate relationship that is characterized by love and obedience. To confess faith and fail to do the will of the Father is hypocritical. And that faith is said to be a dead faith according to James 2 verse 26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. This is a most terrifying and fearful statement. Not all that say, Lord, Lord, these people are seriously self-deceived and they are unaware of it. This warning is not to scare or worry us about our salvation. but to warn us and spur us to examine ourselves as Christians, to test the quality of our faith, to make our calling and election sure so that we experience fully the joy of the Lord, which is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Those who are known by Christ follow him by obeying his commandments. They follow the father's will out of love and appreciation of who the father is to them. Because of the love and mercy that the father has shown to them through his son, Jesus Christ. Even when they don't deserve anything from God. Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandment. On the day of judgment, heaven is reserved for those who do the will of God. Submission to the Father's will is the result of salvation. It's the fruit of the Holy Spirit in salvation. If you are truly born again, it will reflect in your attitudes and actions in a positive, redeeming way. The works themselves, what we do, do not save anyone. They are the fruit of salvation. So therefore, we should be aware of false prophets and other people who claim to represent God when they are not. We have to be motivated by sincerity and truth, not just mere words. Doing the will of the Father is not a verbal claim. Only those who do the Father's will and who are known by God will enter heaven. So what is the Father's will? First of all, it starts with believing in the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. God commands us to have faith in his Son, in 1 John 3, verse 25. And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. Those who put their trust in Christ for salvation will produce good works Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works Which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them So intimacy with Christ starts with doing the will of his father. I Never knew you means you were never his true disciple. I or you were never his friend. You never had anything in common, nor did Christ approve of you. Jesus himself said in John chapter 10 verse 27, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. So what matters is not high sounding words. Surely displays, religiosity, performance, legalistic or ceremonial religion, superficiality, but intimacy with Christ. Like Solomon would say in the songs of Solomon, my beloved is mine and I am his. Song of Solomon chapter 2 verse 16. Why do you think the church is called the bride of Christ? is because there is an intimate, passionate relationship characterized by love and obedience. Whoever loves God is known by God, intimately, because God tends His flock like a shepherd. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 11. And knows His sheep. False Christians, false teachers, do not do the will of the Father. They will not partake of the blessing of God's kingdom. On the last day, they will be cast into darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do not pretend. This is not a matter of pretense. It's a matter of life and death. Do you delight yourself in doing the will of the Father? Are you honestly and sincerely serving the Lord? Or are you sitting on the fence, playing games with God? Repent before it is too late. Now to our third subheading. I know you not, verse number 23. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. In this text, Jesus is not referring to an intellectual knowledge because he knows us all. Even the very ears on our heads are all numbered by God. Luke chapter 12 verse 7. So what knowledge is God talking about here? Well, the word to know in the Bible is to be intimate with someone. This is the same word that is used in Genesis chapter 4 verse 1. Now Adam knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. In other words, to know Jesus is to know him personally. You know all the scriptural verses in the Bible, yet you do not have an intimate, passionate relationship with Christ. You are nothing. Jesus spoke about our need to know him in John chapter 17 verse 3, and this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. It is one thing to know about the best footballer in the world. You may have seen him several times on TV, read about him on the news articles, collect a lot of memorable information about him, but never knew the person himself. To truly know the best footballer in the world, you would have to do more than watch him play a match on television or read articles about him. You need a relationship that is based on time spent together. regular conversation So when you say I know Jesus your knowledge of him must be based on relationship Do you spend time together? Do you talk regularly in prayer? Do you read the Bible study the word? The truth test of our spirituality is not public prayers family worship, but our personal devotion to God in our secret prayers and John in first John chapter 5 verse 20 the Bible says and we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding that we may know him whom who is true and We are in him who is true in his son Jesus Christ. This is true God and eternal life The word I know you not means you are never intimate with me. You are not my bride. I came for the church, the bride of Christ, and you are not one of them. Some people are just simply aware that God exists. There is no deep appreciation and relationship with God. I never knew you means you never loved me. You were just an hypocrite. You have pretended to love me all this while, but you never did. You never did. Knowledge implies relationship. And this, you never had with God. The word no is used by Christ to refer to a seven relationship he had with his followers. In John chapter 10 verse 14, I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Is to love and be loved by God. If you do not want to be among the reject on the last day, now is the day of repentance. Repent of your sins now, for when you die it is too late. Repent, turn away from them and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, God in the gospel is inviting us to get to know him, to talk with him, to ask questions, to make requests, to seek forgiveness, and to spend quality time with him. If you do not want to be among the rejects, start with repentance today. Start with repentance. Both Jesus and John the Baptist called the people to repent. And the apostles did the same. They implore people to leave their sins behind them and trust in Christ for salvation. There is no faith without repentance. We will be considered lawless on the final day of judgment if we confess faith and fail to repent of our sins. If we turn from sin, we will seek to be the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. and he will not deny us on the last day. Let us pray. Our most gracious and everlasting Father, we thank you for your word this morning. Indeed, we are deceivable people. The heart of man is desperately wicked. Who can know it? But the gospel has given us salvation. delivered us from the dominion of sin and darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, giving us a new desire, a bent disposition, a willingness to obey God and to do the will of the Father. May it please you, O Lord, this morning to strengthen us with might by your Spirit in our inner man, that Christ would dwell in our heart by faith to the Word and the Spirit. These and many other masses we ask through your Son's name and for his sake. Amen.