Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. There's a number of frightening passages in the Bible. The book of Revelation has a number of them. But I don't find there to be any single passage that is more frightening than this passage, these few verses here toward the end of Matthew chapter 7. And the reason is, the book of Revelation is describing the damnation of the ungodly, the reprobate, those who are apart from Christ. Here, he's talking about those who are saying, Lord, Lord, those who seem to be professing believers, those who would claim to know Christ. And he's talking about them. He's talking about people like us. He's talking about people who are in church on Sunday morning, and the scene is the final judgment. And if you'll remember the context, Jesus has brought the Sermon on the Mount to an end. He has given us enough teaching that we could spend the rest of our lifetime trying to understand and fully apply everything that he had to say in chapters 5 and 6 and to the middle of chapter 7. And then in verse 13, he began to then apply it and begin to exhort us. And what he did is he warned us then about the false way and the false road and said to stay on the narrow way. And then he began to warn us about false prophets who are wolves in sheep's clothing. And then he began to warn us about false fruit and distinguish between the right and false fruit. In each of these cases, the problem is that they have the appearance of being the right thing. They have the appearance of being the true thing. There's that wide gate and broad way, and there's all kinds of people walking on it. But he says it leads to destruction. It appears to be one thing. It's actually another. There's that wolf who's all dressed up in sheep's clothing. He appears to be one thing, but he actually is another thing. There's the problem of the fruit and of discerning which is a good tree and which is a bad tree. And they look the same, but it's only as the fruit actually develops and grows that you're able to discern the rottenness that's at the core of that tree. And so now he's talking about false believers, or as the Puritans would have called them, false professors. Those who claim to be true believers, but things are, again, are not as they appear to be. They say in verse 21, Lord, Lord. And Jesus is saying, look, not everybody that says that is going to enter into the kingdom of heaven. At verse 22, they're claiming all kinds of things that they've been able to do. They prophesy, they cast out demons, they perform many miracles. And the thing to note at this point about all that is there isn't a hint of insincerity about what they're doing. They really believe they're true. They are earnest. They are saying, Lord, Lord, and they're pointing to all these things that they've done. It's not that they're insincere. It's not that they're knowingly hypocritical. The problem here is that they are self-deceived. They think that they are real. They think that they are genuine believers. They think they are authentic. They believe they're saved. They believe they're going to heaven. They believe that they are numbered among Christ's disciples. That's what they think, but the problem is they are not. That's the warning that Jesus is giving us this morning. There are those who think they are, who are very involved, and who are not. How can this be, and why is this so? And I think we need to look at this very, very carefully, at least for the sake of our own peace of mind, because I don't want to be numbered among those who, on Judgment Day, find out that their profession of Christ was a false one, who were self-deceived? Could it be that one of us would be numbered among, he says, there are many who are in this lamentable condition? And so we need to look carefully at what he has to say here, pay close attention to it, so that we might not find ourselves numbered among those who hear the terrible, terrible words of verse 23, I never knew you. Depart from me. I believe that we need to note first that what Jesus is teaching here is that a merely verbal profession of faith in Christ is not enough. That seems to be the point initially. You'll note the qualities of the false professor, the the false believer in verse 21. He says, Lord, Lord. Now, we can say several things about that. John Stott helps unpack this in his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. He notes, for example, that it's a very respectful way of referring to Jesus. It's at least that. It's a very polite form of address, the equivalent of sir. Beyond that, here on Judgment Day, it's an orthodox profession of the identity of Christ. It's virtually a label of deity. It is an acknowledgement of the deity of Christ. On Judgment Day, to see Jesus and to say to him, Lord, is to use what the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses as the divine name, kurios. It's to acknowledge the divinity of Christ. So he's not only polite, he's orthodox, and he's fervent. Wherever you see doubled words in the Bible, It's for emphasis. It means it's an emphatic use. It means that it's an earnest use, a fervent use. This is being said with some feeling. This is a strong and public declaration by this one who is not genuine that he does know Christ. And the problem that Jesus identifies in verse 21 is that only those who do the will of his Father who is in heaven are those who are going to enter the kingdom of heaven. So what's the problem? The problem is, this person who's saying, Lord, Lord, saying it politely and with orthodox intent and fervently, the problem is he doesn't do the will of the Father. The problem is he doesn't obey. The problem is he doesn't change. The problem is, you see the contrast again in verse 21? Not everyone who says, the problem is he's saying one thing, but he who does. The problem is, he's saying one thing, and he's doing another thing. The problem is, his life doesn't conform to the will of the Father. And so the faith that he claims is not a genuine faith, because it doesn't result in obedience, it doesn't result in change, it doesn't result in conformity. And for that reason, Jesus said, if this person who says, Lord, Lord, and doesn't do the will of the Father, he will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, this confuses people at some points, because it seems to be almost compromising of justification by faith. You know, you've got to do certain things in order to give into heaven. But I want to just point out the contrast of the verse is not between faith and works. The contrast is between a merely verbal faith and a faith that is joined with change of life. That's the contrast. And what Jesus is saying that a faith that does not result in change, A faith that doesn't result in obedience, that doesn't result in conformity to the will of God, that doesn't result in love, that doesn't result in good works, is fraudulent. It's not the real thing. It's just an intellectual assent. It's just an affirmation of a creed. It's not real faith. Jesus says in Luke 6, 44, or asked this question rather, why do you call me Lord when you do not do what I say? You see the incongruity. I am not your Lord. You cannot call me Lord. You cannot attribute to me Lordship and expect the benefits of that Lordship, which is salvation and entry into heaven. If you don't do what I say, if you're not doing what I say, then I am not your Lord and you should not call me as such. You should not attribute Lordship to me if you're not surrendering to that Lordship, if you're not being ruled by that Lordship, if you're not under my Lordship. Matthew Henry says that Jesus is warning here us of the indispensable necessity of obedience to the commands of Christ. It's absolutely necessary. Now, obedience is not meritorious. Love is not meritorious. Conformity to the will of the Father is not meritorious. Obedience is not meritorious. It's just necessary. It does flow from inevitably and invariably and always flows from genuine faith. So that it is impossible for somebody to say, Lord, Lord, and not be conformed to the will of the Father. It can't be done. Such a faith A faith that does not result in change is not a true faith. It's spurious. James puts it this way, faith without works is dead. He also puts it this way, I will show you my faith by my works. It's not that you're working your way into heaven, it's that the testimony to the reality of faith, to the authenticity of a faith that is being claimed is going to be change. It's going to be obedience. It's going to be conformity to the will of the Father. It's going to be love for the brethren. There's going to be a heart change that results in change of behavior. And the problem is that this person is deceived. And the problem is, has got to be, that there are many who are deceived in this way. And that's what Jesus is saying. Many will say to me, this is a common problem. It's not a problem for a few. It's a problem that is frequent and prevalent in the church. There are people, you see, who are claiming to know Christ. And they do because they've walked an aisle, they signed a card, they prayed a prayer, they had an experience, they went through a confirmation class, they've repeated the vows of the church, they say the creed every week. And so they think they're real believers. And come judgment day, they're going to stand before Christ and they're going to say, Lord, Lord, and they're going to make some claims. And he's going to say, you didn't do the will of my father. Your claims are not credible claims. It's necessary if our faith is genuine that we do more than affirm the Lordship of Christ, but that we live for him. Verbal salutes are not enough. Obedience must follow if our faith is credible, if it's genuine, if it's authentic. So Jesus says, not everyone who says, Lord, Lord. Secondly, Jesus is warning us that religious activity is not enough either. Look at verse 22, many. There it is again, not a few. It's going to be a frequent problem on the judgment day, a frequent occurrence. Many will say to me, on that day, what day? The final day, the judgment day, the day when the living and the dead will appear before Christ and give an account of themselves. And notice who the judge is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you, when you're coming to Christ, you're coming to the right person. You're coming to the right one because he's the one who's going to be judging. Judgment is going to be entrusted to him. He will weigh our souls. So many will come, he says. Many will say to me on that day, there's the saying again. They're going to be able to talk it up, you see. They're going to say, Lord, Lord, good fervency again, an urgency. Did we not prophesy? We spoke for God and we did so in your name. Notice it's repeated three times in verse 22, in your name, by your authority. That's what we mean even today when we talk about, well, I did that in the name of, and we talk about an organization or an individual. We're saying we're doing it by their authority. We're saying we're doing that by their authorization. or with their approval. If I prophesied in your name, you must have sanctioned it. You must have approved of it. You must have authorized it. Did we not prophesy in your name? They were speaking from God. Maybe there was even miraculous prophecy going on, predictive prophecy, or the disclosure of hidden truths. So did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name, cast out demons? There will be those who will have done battle with demonic forces and actually triumphed over them and cast them out of individuals. And in your name, perform not some, not a few, not a couple, but many miracles. This is an extraordinary thing. In your name, we did all that. In your name, we prophesied. We cast out demons. We did many miracles with your approval, so it would seem. But Jesus does not concur. Verse 23, and then I will declare, and what he declares, that's what's going to stick. That's what's going to count. It's not going to be what we say. It's not going to be what we claim. It's going to be what he declares. What will the declaration be in the case of many? It'll be this, I never knew you. That doesn't mean I never knew of your existence. It's that I've never acknowledged the claim that you're making. I've never known you as one of mine. You have never been one of my disciples. You have never been one of those who believe in me, not genuinely. You're a counterfeit. You're a fake. You're a fraud. I never knew you. And then depart from me, away with you, out of my presence, out of my sight. You who practice lawlessness, Leon Morris, the Australian commentator, calls this the verdict of total rejection. You practice lawlessness. The word there is law with a negation in front of it, the letter A. Anomia, no law, anti-law. You did not obey the law of God. You did not conform your life to the law of God. law that he said back in chapter 5 would be normative until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot or tittle would pass away from that law until everything was accomplished. He said, you didn't conform to that law. You practiced what? Anomia. You ignored my law. You lived contrary to my law. You disobeyed my law. You disregarded my law. In spite of all the religious claims that you were making, in spite of all that you attributed to yourself and claimed to be doing on behalf of my kingdom and thought was true about yourself and others thought was true about you as well, I never knew you. And you won't remain with me, out of my presence, eternally, you worker of lawlessness." How could it be that somebody could perform miracles like those that are being spoken of here? and not be genuine. How can that happen? Well, matter of fact, it happens in the Bible frequently. You've got Balaam, who's prophesying. You have Pharaoh's magicians who were able to duplicate a number of Moses' miracles. Remember, they were able to turn a rod into a snake as well and turn the snake back into a rod again, a staff. They were able to turn water into blood. They were able to do some of the miracles of Moses. There also is Judas himself, one of Jesus' disciples, who will go out with them doing all these things. In subsequent chapters, we'll see Judas, along with the rest, casting out demons and performing miracles and prophesying, speaking on behalf of God. So it does happen. In fact, it's going to happen in the New Testament era, in our era as well. 2 Thessalonians 2 9 warns of a heightened activity of Satan in which There will be power and signs and false or lying wonders that are being performed. He's talking about a time when there would be miracles that would be performed, but there'll be lying miracles, false miracles, counterfeits being performed by those who are not genuine believers. First Corinthians 13, 2 speaks of those who have faith so as to remove mountains. That's a significant miracle. You know, I grew up in the foothills of of the mountains that surround Los Angeles. The idea, this was a vivid verse when I was growing up and we could see through the smog, and you see those great San Gabriel mountains there, and the idea of those mountains being lifted up and thrown into the sea. What a tremendous miracle that would be. What a work of wonder that would cause wonder. He's saying there are going to be those who have such faith that they could perform miracles like that, but if they don't have love, he says, they're nothing. They're frauds, not if there's not love, not if there's not change in their hearts, not if they're not conforming to the will of the Father, not if the love of Christ hasn't been shed abroad in their hearts and being manifested in love for the brethren and love for others. Even if they perform a miracle such as that, still, if they're practicing lawlessness, if they're not doing the will of the Father, then Jesus is saying, they are not real and he will say, depart from me, I never knew you. Now, we can argue, can't we, from the greater to the lesser. If it's possible to have gone so far along in the profession of Christian realities that one could perform these kinds of astonishing miracles and yet not be genuine, arguing from the greater to the lesser, then what about people like us? We're not up at that scale. We're just sort of run-of-the-mill believers. Well, that would mean that there are going to be people who will have been officers in the church, people who will have taught in the Sunday school, been officers in the women of the church, attended Bible studies and circle meetings, served on committees, been involved in mercy ministries. Again, back in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the apostle Paul warns there of those who have all knowledge, they know all mysteries, and they don't have love. He says they're nothing, or those who would give all of their possessions to the poor and even give their bodies to be burned as martyrs. But they don't have love. It counts for nothing. It's empty. It's fraudulent. It's worthless. How about standing in a pulpit? Oh, Jesus says, or rather Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, If I speak with the tongue of men and of angels and don't have love. It'd be possible to be very, very eloquent and be a very good public speaker. Go on and on about the things of God and still be a fraud. Why? Because you don't do the will of the Father. Because you don't obey God's law. Because you don't conform to the will of God. Because you don't live by the word of God. You don't do those things. You're not the real thing. You're not genuine. You're a fake. You're a counterfeit. You're a fraud. Now, what does that mean for us? Well, there's a number of things that it means, and we're just going to be able to begin to touch on them today. We'll have to come back to them next week. But I would say at least it means this, and let me just sketch it a little bit. At least it means this. It means, number one, don't be surprised about the church. Don't be surprised when things go wrong in the church, things go bad. Christian people professing believers do bad things, and there's division and scandal and all this. Don't be surprised. Why not? Well, in part, because Christian people do bad things, and we're sinners and we're flawed. But you know what the other reason why not? Because there are many who say, Lord, Lord, and are frauds. Church is full of unbelieving people. They don't appear unbelieving. They appear to be genuine. They say, Lord, Lord. They have lots of service that they can point to. But Jesus says, they're not the genuine thing. They're not real. They don't do the will of the Father. They practice lawlessness. So that would be one application. Don't be surprised. Don't get disillusioned about the church. Don't be surprised at the kinds of stuff that goes on. There's many here. in every church in all of Christendom who are not authentic and only will be known to have been fakes on judgment day. And then the other application would have to be a call to self-examination. It'd have to be that, wouldn't it? And why does Jesus say these words? These are all unsettling. Why'd he say unsettling things? Why didn't he say nice things at the end of the Sermon on the Mount? Why'd he say these things that disturb me like this? Well, there's a point, isn't there? And at the very least, it's a call to self-examination. And I think everybody in here, from the youngest to the oldest, are you in elementary school? Are you not even there yet? Middle school, high school, college? Young adults? Older adults? Oldest adults? Where do you lie on the scheme of things? Been in church a little time? Long time? Forever? It's a call to self-examination. Do I do the will of the Father? Do I obey Him? Has the love of Christ been shed abroad in my heart? There's going to be many who are going to say, Lord, Lord, there are many, many who are self-deceived. They don't know their own hearts. They don't know the eternal danger they are in. See, I believe the gospel gives us peace and joy. Every genuine believer has is the promise of the gospel assurance, peace, security, and joy. But what I think that we have failed to appreciate is the degree to which the same Bible that promises that to the genuine believer also asks the question, but who is the genuine believer, and tests that, and warns of the dangers of being self-deceived on that question. And that's what Jesus is doing here. He's warning us. And every one of us should ponder the answer to that question and search our souls and do it regularly. Am I genuine? Am I authentic? Am I a real believer? Or am I one of those who say, Lord, Lord, and start counting off all the things I've been doing. I've been on committees. I'm serving the church. And he's going to say, I never knew you. Depart from me. Depart from me. May it not be that there'd be even one today that would leave, not having humbled himself before Christ and sought true repentance, forgiveness, change. In other words, sought an authentic profession of the Lordship of Christ as we pray together. Our Father in heaven, we pray, O Lord, as we ponder these sobering and somber and fearful words, we pray, O Lord, that They would not fit any of us. O Lord, we pray that we would have such a faith that would result in doing the will of the Father, practicing lawfulness. So change our hearts, O Lord. Give us a passion and a desire to live in conformity with your will, not in rebellion against it, conforming as carefully as we are able. Oh, for the fruit of righteousness. Oh, for the fruit of the Spirit. Oh, for the love of Christ to be shed abroad in our hearts. And it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.