Which Claim Will You Make

Well, let's take our Bible. Let's turn back to Matthew chapter 7. And like I said earlier, we're going to be in John chapter 2 a little later. Specifically, we're going to read verses 23 to 24. Now, sometimes I will get you to turn and look at a few other verses, and I do that on purpose. Sometimes there's some verses we need to read, we need to put our eyes on. And that does help us, although it can take a little more time. But this morning we're going to be in verses 21 to 23. And I think we all know that we are in the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount.

And if you look at our verses that we have this morning, you really see that we're right in the middle of the conclusion. Now, I say we are in the middle because we are in the middle of the verses, but also because we have covered two of the four lessons that are in this conclusion. We have covered the two paths. Remember the narrow path and the broad path? We saw that in verses 13 and 14. And then we covered the two trees, the good tree and the bad tree. That was in verses 15 to 20. And this morning we have two claims, and that is out of verses 21 to 23. And then the last lesson deals with two houses.

These are four distinct lessons which come together for one message, and really one message is the conclusion of the message. And Jesus has one purpose here. And we should all know the ultimate purpose of Jesus in this conclusion. I've said it over and over. The fact that Jesus was calling those listening to a point of decision, and this calling started in verse 13. Really this calling started with that first word, that word "enter." Now, look what Jesus is doing here. This is when I will say, "Take a step back.

Just think about all that we've studied." He was calling those who were listening there to enter into the narrow gate, the narrow gate of salvation which is Him. Jesus is the gate, folks. Remember that. Jesus is the gate. And this was not a casual decision that He was calling for. He was calling them to strive to enter the narrow gate because He knew that no one accidentally or unconsciously enters the gate of salvation. He was also calling them to the narrow way road of life, which is a hemmed-in way, a difficult way. Sometimes the narrow way is a treacherous way, and for some it can be a deadly way.

Have there not been Christians who have lost their lives because of following Christ? And Jesus was issuing this call to the narrow way, all while showing them that there will be so many who will live it up in sin and self on the Broadway of life. And He is also calling them to beware, to beware of the false teachers who were sure to point them towards the Broadway in life. He says you will recognize them by their fruit. Remember, like kind produce like kind. And He is saying when you do see them, avoid them at all costs because false teachers are extremely dangerous. I think about a good illustration that will help us here.

You know, in the springtime we start working in their yards, isn't that right? We mow the grass, plant flowers, get the flower beds looking good. And that's something that we always do. One of the things we do is we put out pine straw in our flower beds. And you know, I've been trying to keep the yard looking nice, and the flowers looking nice, and all those good things. Well, a couple of weeks ago, after I mowed the yard, I was beginning to weed eat. So I made the corner, rounded the corner of my house, and got to the front of my house, and I saw something in the flower beds. A snake. At first glance, I thought that was a copperhead.

But oh, after I looked again, I thought, no, that's a rattlesnake. I know what a rattlesnake is. And I was amazed, because he was about eight or ten feet from my front door. And I had my steel weed eater in hand. And I thought, how am I going to deal with this little serpent? Because I knew if I took a step away, he would be gone. So I made sure which way the string was turning, and I just turned that thing up and I chewed him to pieces. Why? Because I know what a snake is, and I know what a rattlesnake is. And you know, you've got to be extremely careful when it comes to rattlesnakes.

But you know, I made a little mistake about this rattlesnake. I told my wife a little later on that if I would have been prepared, I would have tried to catch the rattlesnake. Well, that didn't go over well. But what am I trying to show you? False teachers and false prophets are extremely dangerous, and we should view them like we would a rattlesnake, something that is very, very dangerous. Now, stories like that aside, these were life and death decisions for those people listening that day. Think about that. These were life and death decisions. These were eternal life and death decisions.

And this teaching really mattered to them, and it really matters to us. Now, another story that's not so humorous. In studying what I'm sharing with you this morning, I was reminded this week of a young man that I had in ministry years ago. Now, this young man professed to serve the Lord. This young man professed to be converted to Christ. This young man professed to be called into the ministry. As a matter of fact, I poured into him in so many ways. I helped him go into the ministry, helped him in ministry. And, you know, he struggled like so many do in ministry, and ultimately he ended out of the ministry. He was out.

And, you know, that decision led to being out of church and not being faithful to church. And then, lo and behold, over a period of time, it became evident that he was involved in a very sinful lifestyle, a homosexual lifestyle. And last I checked, he was on staff at a homosexual-affirming church. Now, what am I trying to show you? He made some life and death decisions, folks, when it comes to the narrow way and the narrow way of life. These are very serious things. Now, here there are two things that I want to make sure we remember before we get off into the verses.

First of all, we need to see that Jesus was calling these people from an external religion of man-made rules and legalisms. He was calling them to a living relationship with God, which comes from the new birth. I have been faithfully teaching you that. And the standard that Jesus exalts here in the Sermon on the Mount, it can only be lived in Christ and by Christ and by His grace. This cannot be lived outside of Christ. Simply, He was calling them from a dead religion to a living relationship in Christ. And then second, the fact that God has always been calling men to decide for Him.

I have given you a couple of Old Testament examples about how God's always been calling men, but this morning I want to give you a New Testament example. This is one of my favorites. John 6. In John 6, Jesus was calling four groups of people to follow Him. Four groups. After Jesus fed the 5,000 plus, He had this massive crowd of people following Him and then systematically and purposefully, He identified the false reasons for them following Him and He was calling them to leave those false reasons to true discipleship. See, this was a great two-day event. Now, what happened to the crowd? What did they do? 5,000 plus?

Almost all of them quit following Jesus because they were superficial. See, the price was too high. The cost of discipleship was too much for them to pay. And in light of what we've learned here, the crowds there in John 6 chose the broad gate in the broad way all but the 12. Imagine He would have failed church growth class. 5,000 plus, down to 12. And the climax of this event came when Jesus turned to the disciples and He asked them, He said, "Are you going to leave me too?" Now, I want to read you some of these verses. I want you to see how He ends this event. I'm going to read verses 6 to 69, or excuse me, verse 66 to 69, John 6.

"As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew." See, He raised the bar of true discipleship, so they withdrew. They fell away. And they were not walking with Him anymore. See, they were superficial. Jesus said, "Therefore to the 12, you do not want to go away also, do you?" What is He saying? Everybody else left. Are you going to leave too? Simon Peter, the spokesman for the 12, He answered and said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God." Now, note what's taking place here. Notice what Peter is saying.

With the construction of the language in verse 69, Peter was actually saying this, "Lord, we believe yesterday, Lord, we believe today, and Lord, we'll believe tomorrow." He was saying, "We have truly decided to follow you." Peter was saying, "We have answered the call. We have become true followers, not like all of those superficial followers who just left." Well, in verses 21 to 23, Jesus is issuing this call that He has been issuing since verse 13. And He was doing so by showing those listening that not all who claim to be followers are really followers. Not all who claim to be true followers are actually true followers.

So Jesus is calling those in the crowd. Remember, there was a great crowd to determine which one they will be. He was saying, "Which one will you be? True followers or false?" And really, when you look at these verses, there are three things. On the top, the main theme is this, a false claim to discipleship. And then right there in the middle, there is a true claim to discipleship. And then underneath all of the teaching here, there is the judgment that is to come. And we have three verses. And I'm going to be honest with you, folks, this is a lot. So I'm going to ask you to get on the edge of your seat.

I'm going to ask you to buckle your seat belt spiritually speaking. And I want us to get all that we can get because this is so, so needed for us today. So number one, I want us to see Jesus shows the false profession. It's right here in the verses. Jesus gives us, He shows us the false profession. Look back at your verses, verse 21. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.'" Paul's right there. Now, right away, we need to see that Jesus is speaking about the reality that is difficult for some. The fact that some profess Jesus, but they are not true Christians, it really seems contradictory to some.

As a matter of fact, some of you might not like this. And these are not the false religions of the world, folks. These are people who claim Christ with the right words and what seems to be the right actions. There's a lot here, so follow me. But they are false. Now, we see that they profess Christ, and we see that this comes right out of the verse how they profess Christ. Let's break this down. First, we see this is a verbal profession. This is a true verbal profession. It seems that verse 21 applies to the time when Jesus was teaching.

It seems that Jesus was speaking to those right there in the crowd when he said some would follow him or soon profess to follow him. But whether it was right there that day or whether it was later on into the ministry, his earthly ministry, Jesus was showing that many would make a verbal profession to follow him. We see this all throughout his earthly ministry if we know much about his earthly ministry. There were many who openly profess to be followers. But whatever time Jesus was referring to, whether it was right there or a little later, Jesus was aiming at those who had a verbal profession of following him. We can see that in John 6.

But then second, this is a lordship profession. This is a verbal profession and a lordship profession. Here Jesus gives the words of their verbal profession, "Lord, Lord." Now this word "Lord" was used by the Jews fairly often. This was not foreign to their culture. It was a title of respect. It was a common title of honor. It was used when addressing political figures, even military figures. It was also used in the religious world. This title would have been used for respected teachers and respected religious leaders. But here it means much more.

The fact that it is tied to prophesying, we'll see later on, it is tied to casting out demons and performing miracles in Jesus' name indicates that those using the title saw Jesus as a supernatural being, perhaps even as God as he claimed to be God. To address Jesus as Lord, Lord indicates religious devotion. It indicates religious dedication. It indicates submission and Lord, Lord, it could even indicate a recognition of his deity. So this profession of lordship spoke to a religious devotion, a spiritual submission to Jesus, and even possibly a submission to his deity. And then third, we see this is a false profession.

This is a false profession. Ultimately, this is not a true profession. It's false. Now look back at the verse again. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." And then he contrasts, starting with the word "but" there. We need to see Jesus is saying that not everyone who verbally professes me as Lord to me is making a true, genuine profession. Now how do we know? He says this group will not enter the kingdom. Isn't that what it says? So this is obviously one who makes a false profession of faith. Now take notice here of what we have. Jesus is exposing the false profession of faith.

He is revealing a false confession to the lordship of Christ. On the surface, this seems like a genuine confession of faith. It is verbal. That means it's not in secret. It is a verbal confession to the lordship of Christ, and it is made to Jesus, but it is false. It's not true. It's not genuine. Now it is important to see that this was very common during Jesus' earthly ministry. Very common. Now here is where I want to refer you, or ask you to turn to John chapter 2. I want to put your eyes on some of these verses. John chapter 2 verses 23 to 24.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, that would have been a great celebration, throngs of people. During the feast it says, "Many believed in his name." Many believed in his name. Beholding the signs, the miracles which he was doing. But notice verse 24. "But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men, and because he did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man." Here we see that great crowds were following Jesus, and declaring that they believed in him. Isn't that what we see? We would say this is a wonderful thing, right? But things are not what they seem.

Because in verse 24, "Jesus did not entrust himself to them." Now why is that? In the original language it says something like this, and I'm paraphrasing it, but this is accurate. "Jesus did not believe on them, because he knew their profession wasn't real." Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because they did not truly entrust themselves to him. They were actually unbelieving believers. And I know that seems contradictory. They were unbelieving believers. They professed that they believed, but they truly didn't. That's why Jesus did not entrust himself to them. They had a false profession.

Now in applying what we have here, it is vitally important for us to see, and not just see, but to understand, and not just understand, but to accept this fact. This is hard, folks, for some. It is vitally important to see this, and to understand this fact, and to accept the fact that there are unbelieving believers. They are not true believers. They are false. They have a verbal profession. Well, the right words, all of the right words, they are false. And actually, folks, this is one of the biggest problems in the church, in our culture, and in our time. This is one of our biggest problems.

People professing Christ, saying they are Christian, they have all of the right words, all of the right lingo, but they are really not. Now you might say, "Pastor, can you give me any evidence?" First of all, our church roles. Church roles are swelled with people who don't even come close to living a true Christian life. Most churches have a role full of people who never even come to church, even at Christmas and Easter. And so the church roles are filled with people who don't even come close to living the true Christian life, as we see here in the Sermon on the Mount.

And you know, folks, the Sermon on the Mount is the yardstick, the measuring stick. It's the true Christian life. It's the extraordinary Christian life. We have church roles full of people who don't live according to this standard. And then also, there's so many of the average church members, their lifestyles prove this reality. What I mean is, so many that just sit on the pew, they even come to Sunday school, they're even active in our churches, but their lifestyle says otherwise, their lifestyle is anti-Scripture, anti-Bible, anti-Sermon on the Mount, and it's anti-Christ. Now, why is that the case? I could give you more evidence.

Why is that the case? It's because we have so many forms of simply signing people up into the church, into church membership with no evidence of regeneration, no evidence of repentance and faith in their life. Just sign folks up, come on in and sit down. And the question for you this morning is this. Are you a believing unbeliever? Are you a believing unbeliever? Do you profess Christ? Yet you would be called an unbeliever? And we need to see why, folks. We need to understand why these folks are unbelievers, although they say they are believers. But I must ask you, are you an unbelieving believer? Let's continue.

So we see that we have this false profession. Let's move on. Number two, I want us to see the true profession. We see this at the second part of verse 21, this true profession. I want you to put your eyes on these verses as well. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven," the false profession. "But he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Now the main point of what Jesus is teaching in the verses is to expose the false follower. That is why he describes the false follower and even goes on to describe his ultimate destination. We'll get there.

But Jesus does give one bit of information about the one who has a true profession of faith right there at the end of the verse, and we can overlook that. Now here, Jesus says the one with the true profession of faith does have a verbal profession, and it seems the one with the true profession does profess Jesus as Lord, Jesus to be Jesus. But the one with the true profession possesses one key ingredient, which is a matter of eternal life and death, as we will see. And the key ingredient is obedience. Now a serious question. What is this obedience? More specifically, what is this will of the Father? Go back to the verse.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven," the false believer. "But he who does the will of the Father who is in heaven." The question's got to be asked, folks. What is the will of the Father here? I think this question is best answered by looking back on what Jesus has taught all throughout the sermon. Think about what he's taught, folks. He's given the true Christian standard, the true Christian standard. Jesus has called those listening to enter through the narrow gate, and the gate is Jesus. This involves the gracious work of God and regeneration and man believing in Christ, repenting of their sin.

This is conversion to Christ, folks. And this involves living life on the narrow way. The narrow way of life is described all throughout the sermon on the Mount. I'll give you a little help here. I think many of you know what this term means, "standard of living." You know, we are accustomed to a particular standard of living. We are accustomed to a certain amount of money. In our jobs, we're accustomed to a certain wage or a certain salary. You know how I know that? It's because if you're liking in money, you're going to complain. If your job changes and you lose some of your salary or your wage, it's going to hurt.

We are accustomed to a certain type of job. We are accustomed to a certain type of housing, certain types of cars, certain types of possessions, hobbies, maybe even certain types of vacations. You get what I'm talking about. You'll get a shocker here when you travel outside of the country. I never forget years ago when I went to India. You know, they have a different standard of living over there, folks. I learned real quick to be vague. I was talking with a good brother one day when I was there, and I don't know how it came about, but in conversation, I mentioned the fact that we had two cars, two vehicles. His eyes got as big as saucers.

He couldn't believe it because in his eyes, anybody that had two cars was filthy rich. A different standard of living. Well, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives the standards for true Christian living. You see? That's the standard of the Christian life right here, folks. And obedience is living according to kingdom standards given all throughout the Sermon. You see? We see the standards related to self. Chapter 5, verses 1 to 16, how we should view self, how we should be, who we should be from the inside out. We see the standards related to morality. Chapter 5, verses 7 to 48, who we should be morally, God's moral standard.

We all fail there. We see the standards related to religion. Chapter 6, verses 1 to 18, what true religion should look like. We fail there as well. We see the standards related to money and possessions. Chapter 6, verses 19 to 34, money, necessities, luxuries, even how we should trust God. We all fail there as well. And then we see the standards related to relationships. In chapter 7, verses 1 to 12, how we shouldn't judge, we should want to do for others, what we would have them to do for us. Simply, the Father's will is obedience. The Father's will is obedience to the Christian standard of living as seen in the Sermon on the Mount.

And any person who gives you a different standard of living for Christianity is a false teacher. Listen to that, folks. Any person who gives you a standard of living that lowers the standard from what we see in the Sermon on the Mount, they are a false teacher, are very close to being a false teacher. Now, I said we needed to understand what the Father's will is and the ramifications. And the ramifications are eternal life or eternal death. You see? Go back to the verse. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.'" That's eternal damnation, folks.

"But he who does the will of the Father, who is in heaven." Now, in application, let me help you understand this here. It's just like slicing an apple, folks. Taking a knife and slicing an apple right down the middle, you get both sides and the seeds that are in the middle. Isn't that right? The one who professes Christ as Lord, the one who professes Christ as Lord to Christ, but does not possess an obedient life according to the kingdom standards itself, forth by the Word of God, they are false. They are a false profession. They have a false profession of faith. Jesus repeated the same thing in John 8.31.

Notice what Jesus said to his disciples. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples." What is he saying? "If you don't abide in my word, you are not my true disciple." And as we see the ugly seeds in the middle, what do we see? Disobedience. And we will see what this disobedience is, this utter lawlessness. They are not neutral. They are wicked lawbreakers, folks. So we see the one who professes Christ as Lord to Christ, but they do not possess an obedient life. They are false.

And then the one who professes Christ as Lord to Christ, and he does possess an obedient life according to the kingdom standards set forth by the Word of God. They are true. They possess a true profession of faith. Again, what did Jesus say in John 8.31? "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples." And when you slice open their lives, the seeds in the middle of their life is what? Obedience. Obedience to the kingdom standards for kingdom living as set forth where? From the Word of God and the Sermon on the Mount. Again, I love how commentators can put things.

It just helps me see how we need scholars to help us understand some of these things. I love what one commentator said here, and I'm quoting, "The determinative factor regarding who enters the kingdom is obedience to the Father's will." You see, that's what determines it all, folks. Obedience. Again, I like how another commentator says it. He's tying this, "A profession with a possession of obedience." Notice what D.A. Carson says here, and I'm quoting, "It is true, of course, that no man enters the kingdom because of his obedience. But it is equally true that no one enters the kingdom who is not obedient." You see how they're tied together?

"It is true, of course, that no one enters the kingdom because of his obedience." That would be a work salvation. "But it is equally true that no one enters the kingdom who is not obedient." It is true that men are saved by grace through faith in Christ, but it is equally true that God's grace in a man's life inevitably results in obedience. What am I trying to show you here? You can't separate the two folks. See, the problem is, in our culture, in our time, they've been separated. I'll give you a little example. I've had a little saying that I used to say quite often. I think I've moved on from it. I've forgotten about it.

This really was born out of anguish. This was born out of anguish of watching so many people in the life of the church not live according to the standards of God's Word. They had a profession, but they did not possess a life of obedience. Years ago, I said it like this, "No one goes to hell in a country music song or at a funeral." Think about it. In a country music song, everybody goes to heaven, no matter how they've lived. And at a funeral, everybody goes to heaven, no matter how they've lived. You see, this is a problem in our church culture, in our culture at large.

And listen, folks, Jesus is saying that obedience is proof of this true profession. And as we will see, that obedience is not empty religious activities. So we have the one who has this true profession of faith in Christ. But I want us to move on. I want us to see, number three, a day of reckoning. Jesus gives us the day of reckoning. Let's look back at our verses, verses 22 to 23.

"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 or say to them, 'I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'" Now, in verse 21, it seems to apply, what Jesus is saying, seems to apply to that time when Jesus was speaking or shortly after. But verses 22 to 23 speak to a future time. Just the phrase "that day," don't we see that phrase "that day"? Basically what we have here is this, the day of judgment. This is often spoken of all throughout the Scriptures as the era of divine judgment.

The book of Matthew, Matthew speaks of this day in Matthew 24, 36, when he speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus. And we see this day, this great day mentioned all throughout the Old and the New Testament. A couple of Old Testament examples, Isaiah 2, 12, the book of Joel, chapter 2, verse 1. And then over in the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 5, 2 and 2 Peter 3, 10. They all speak to this day, the day of judgment. So Jesus is referring to that day, of that day of judgment. I call it the day of reckoning. I call it the day of reckoning because those here in verse 21, they will give an account. It's their day of reckoning.

Now here Jesus gives us more insight into the very nature of those who have a false faith. And this is all related to the great day when Jesus, Judge Jesus brings all these things to life. Notice, first we see there are many. What does verse 22 say? Many will say to me on that day. Here we have that many contrasted with a few. Here we have many. They're contrasted with a few. The few are implied. Again, this is seen in light of the previous verses. Here we have the many who have entered the broad gate and they live on the broad way. And that what we see back in verse 13 and 14.

So we have the many who entered the broad gate and they've lived life on the broad way. But they openly profess Jesus as Lord, isn't that right? But theirs is a false profession. So those who have a false profession of faith, they are many. Then second, we see their deeds or their works. Now this is quite a bit here. I want you to go back and look at the verses. Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Here we see their profession goes beyond a verbal confession of Christ as Lord.

Here we see their professed deeds, which they offer up as proof that their profession was valid. Three works that they say or mention. First, we see their prophecy. The English Standard and the New American use the same language, their prophecy. This refers to two possible realities. First, this can refer to prophecy or foretelling. But then also this could refer to the public teaching and declaration of the Word of God. But either way, this was a declaration of the Word of God or what God said. So this is what they're saying right here.

We know that we have a legitimate profession of faith because we have spoken for God and we have spoken the Word of God. Then second, we see them casting out demons. Now demon possession was common in Jesus' time. If we study the Gospels, we see numerous occasions when Jesus confronted demons and he cast those demons out of real people. So they were saying something like this. We know that we have a legitimate profession of faith because we have cast out demons. And then third, we see their miraculous works. The English Standard says mighty works. And this speaks of many types of mighty works. This could speak to speaking in tongues.

This could speak of handling deadly serpents. This could speak to drinking poisons, deadly poisons. We see that in Paul's ministry. This could speak of healing all types of sickness and disease. So they were saying something like this. We know we have a legitimate profession of faith because we worked all kinds of miracles. And notice one detail, folks. All these works were done in Jesus' name. Which means these works were actually, purposely performed in the name of Jesus. So somehow to invoke the actual power of Jesus. Now this is perplexing. This is perplexing and powerful. And this leads us to a question. How is this possible?

How is this possible? It's okay to ask these questions, folks. If these are false believers, and they were, how in the world were they able to do these works? One possibility is that God allowed these works to be done according to His will and His plan. Didn't we see that in Balaam? We studied Balaam last week in our study, our small group study of Jude. We see that God put the words, His words in the mouth of the false prophet. And there are other examples of how God used wicked kingsaw. Another possibility is that these were false claims.

We do not see this as a possibility because Jesus seems to accept the testimony that is brought here as true. And then the third possibility is that these acts were literally satanic. That these things were accomplished by the power of Satan. We see this in Mark chapter 24, verse 24. Jesus said that false Christs and false prophets would arise. And He says they would do great wonders so as to mislead people and even to try to mislead God's elect, if that could take place. So there's so much more that we could say here. But because of time, we need to move on.

But I believe these things were done by the power of Satan, all for the purpose of deceiving men. I believe these are false teachers because what is Satan? He is an angel of light and he always masquerades as an angel of light. But there's one more thing in this day of reckoning, this day. Number three, we see his verdict. Let's look back at the verses. Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not in Your name cast out demons? And did we not in Your name perform many miracles?" They're pleading their case.

"Then I will declare to them, I never knew You, depart from Me, You who practice lawlessness." Now we finally come to the final verdict. Here, Judge Jesus weighs the evidence and issues the verdict. I like how one commentator said it. It is Jesus Himself who not only decides who enters the kingdom, but also who will be banished from the kingdom. And we need to see three things here in this verdict. First, Jesus says He never knew them. Now this can seem odd to some, but this does not mean that He did not know who they were. The Scripture says He knows all men.

We read in John 2 that He even knows the hearts and the thoughts and the motives of men. But this speaks to an intimate personal knowledge or an intimate relationship. Jesus is truly saying something like this, "Although You claim to know Me personally, I never knew You personally." He's saying something like this, "I never knew You as a true disciple because You never knew Me as Your true Lord and Savior." Again, go back to John 2, verse 23 and 24. And then second, Jesus says, "Depart from Me." This is that final and awful sentence to hell.

We see this same language in Matthew 25, 41, at Christ's return when He says, and this is the words of Christ, "Depart from Me, You cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." And then third, Jesus calls them workers of lawlessness in the English Standard Version. The New American says, "You who practice lawlessness." Now, question, what is lawlessness? Simply, this is sin. Simply, this is breaking God's law and God's Word. Simply, this is not living according to the standard given in God's Word. And notice this one important detail. This is not a one-time act of sin or a one-time act of lawlessness.

The construction of the language tells us that this is a continuous lawlessness. This is a continuous practice of sin. This is a continuous disobedience. This is a true lifestyle of sin, a lifestyle of disobedience to God's Word, a lifestyle of lawlessness. So, notice what we have here. We have this great and awful day of reckoning. That day, that day when the many who have a false profession of faith are revealed, they have a right verbal profession to the right person, Jesus. And they perform what seems to be true works of God, even great works for God.

But, Judge Jesus declares them to be impostors, false teachers, false by their very nature. See, He reveals them as lawbreakers because they never obey the Word of God and the will of God ever. And He banishes them to hell. Now, an application. The sobering thing that we need to see here is this. Just how right with God some people can sing and truly be lost. The sobering thing is this. The difficult thing is this. Just how seemingly right with God and Christian somebody can be. And they can actually be Christ less and the ultimate lawbreaker.

And more than that, it is unbelievable to many that one can do what seems to be great works by God and for God and yet be damned to hell. You tell me, what is Jesus saying? And for us this morning, this shows us that a person can do all of the works in the church today and still be just as lost as Charles Manson. Someone can be baptized. That doesn't guarantee anything. Someone can be a church member and even be a good church member. That doesn't guarantee anything. I've said for years, if a fellow joins a church and he's faithful on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night, I mean, he'll be a leader in the church before you know it.

And you don't even know anything about his nature. This tells us that someone can teach Sunday school for years, 30 years, and they can still not be a Christian. Someone could be a small group leader, a deacon. They can be an elder. They can stand behind a pulpit and preach for year after year after year and still not be a true Christian. Again, what is Jesus saying here? Do you realize that on that day, if you have a false profession of faith, I'm getting more personal. Do you realize that on that day, that day that's coming, if you have a false profession, you will try to reason just like those in the verses? You will.

So we have this day of reckoning, that day. And oh, what a sad day. Now as I move away from the verses. Now I'm not going to say the word conclusion because we talked about this last week. When we say conclusion, we'll close our Bibles and turn off our Bible devices and we'll start thinking about other things. I want to give you a little more here. I want to give you a little application. Now when I say this, don't run for the door. I want to give you four reasons why so many are deceived here. I ran across this in some John MacArthur material. I kind of barred it and changed it up and made it my own. This will really help us.

I want you to listen up. I want you to be honest with yourself. Be honest with yourself here. Because I think some of this might touch someone here. First, I want us to see many are deceived here because of a false assurance for salvation. Many are deceived right here because they have this false assurance for salvation. Let's say things like this. Well, I made a decision. Sometimes people will have these emotional experiences. Like I saw a warm sunset and I knew that the Lord loved me. Sometimes people will say something like this. I know I'm a Christian because of my mother told me I was. Sometimes people will say something like this.

I went through church membership class. I went through confirmation. So I know I'm a Christian. Look folks, I went through confirmation. I passed the test. I got all of the answers right. But I was as lost as Charles Manson. I've known people who got under conviction, questioning their salvation. And rather than going to the Word of God, they ran home to see their mother. See, I know people who have had these warm fuzzy feelings. They maybe were dealing with who they were. They walked out and saw a nice sunset and they thought that was the Lord speaking to them. See, these things can be a false sense of assurance for us.

2 Peter 3, 3 to 11 says, "A person's profession of faith is seen as true and secure when increasing Christian fruitfulness is seen." Now what do we see here? There are two things that are wed together. A legitimate profession of faith and a possession of an obedient life, not perfection. See, it's a two sided coin folks. We have a profession that we've been converted to Christ and we possess this obedient life striving to live for Christ. That's where our assurance comes from. Second, many are deceived because they refuse to examine themselves. The idea of a false profession of faith is not on their radar.

They just refuse to examine themselves in light of what God's Word says about a true profession of faith because they don't believe in examination or they think they don't need to examine. Think back to the Corinthian situation folks. Remember how sin sick that church was? Paul writes two extensive letters to that church trying to straighten all that out. And then in 2 Corinthians 13 verse 5, Paul calls the Corinthian church, those Christians, those professed Christians to examine themselves. He says examine yourself. Why? Because their lives were full of sin and disobedience. And what is he saying?

Some of you are so sinful you're probably not in the kingdom and you need to examine yourself. You know some of you here, that's been the way you've lived. You've made a profession but you've lived more like a Corinthian than a Christian. You need to examine yourself. And then third, many are deceived because they have an unhealthy fixation on religious activities. An unhealthy fixation on religious activities. I know I'm beating this horse to death. I've been baptized. I'm a church member. Sometimes people will say I've attended church all my life. Sometimes people will say I've sung in the choir.

Some people will say I've taught Sunday school. I've been to Sunday school all my life. I'm the son or a daughter of a minister. There are so many ways where people can fixate on religious activity and that can all be of the flesh. I've seen deacons come to faith in Christ. I'll never forget years ago I was at a youth camp, a student camp. And there was a deacon, a chaperone from another church. And he grabbed one of the men preaching and he grabbed him by the shoulders. And I thought oh no he's fixing to punch his lights out. And he took him out behind the outdoor pavilion and he said I don't have what you have.

He was a deacon in his church. Many of you know that I met my wife in church. I didn't meet my wife in a bar. I met her at church. She was doing all the things right but she came to faith in Christ later after we were into the ministry. And what it was was she had to get past her religious activity and her religious upbringing. I could go on and on. And what does Jesus say here in Matthew 7 22? You can preach. You can cast out demons. And you can raise the dead all in the name and the power of Jesus and still be banished to hell. And then forth many are deceived because they see some type of good versus bad exchange.

This is more common than you know. They see they're good balancing out the bad. I call this the diet coke and snicker bar approach. See if I eat a snicker bar and then I drink a diet coke doesn't that kind of even things out? I won't gain any weight. Some folks view their Christian life that way. They think if they're good outweighs their bad. Well who are they comparing themselves to? Well pastor I've never killed anybody. Well according to the standard that we see here in the Sermon on the Mount. If you've hated anyone you have murdered. You see? And that kind of standard is found nowhere in scripture.

It's totally made up in the mind of man and it comes right out of the pit of hell. Now something I haven't done. I haven't given you the title of the message. The title of the message is a question. What claim will you make? Which claim would you make? There's only two folks. There's only two. And look this is a very accurate title. Think about what Jesus was doing with that great crowd that day. He was saying enter through the narrow gate. Come to me. Come to me is what he's saying. Enter through the narrow gate. Get on the narrow way. And he's saying which way will you go? Which way will you go? And he's saying what claim will you have?

You're either going to be false or you're going to be true. And that is what Jesus is asking some of you this morning. And I don't know God's heart and I don't know God's mind. And I don't know the heart and the mind of men. But I have to believe there's someone here this morning. And this has been right for you. And I believe the Lord could be drawing you to do what only you can do with his help. And that is to choose Christ. Enter into the narrow gate. And have that true claim. Biblical claim on that great day.