I do want to read beginning in verse 13 of Matthew 7. Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. 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?
And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house.
And it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, as we come to this sober passage of Holy Scripture, we pray for the ministry of Your Spirit. We pray that He would be at work in each and every one of our hearts. that You would just cause us to reflect upon these things.
Cause us to think in terms of a judgment to come. Cause us to reflect on the fact that we will all stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. And God, may this indeed promote fear. May it promote comfort in Your people.
May it promote encouragement. And God, may it promote holiness in each one of us. We ask now, Father, that You would be glorified in our assembling together. And we pray through Christ the Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
Well, if we judge by the media, I think we can all agree that everybody has an interest, or at least most people have an interest in a good court case. I come from Southern California, and I remember when O.J. Simpson was on trial. There was a devotion to that trial that was almost religious in nature.
I mean, people were watching. People were reading about it. People were following it every single step of the way. And I think there is in us that desire for justice, that desire for righteousness, that desire for God to right the wrongs that have happened in His world, whether it's just for a vain curiosity or whether we have a vested interest in things concerning justice.
Will the judgment seat of Christ ought to be an issue or ought to be a topic that should concern the Christian and the non-Christian. When we consider verses 21 to 23 and what the Bible says concerning that day, we learn that each and every one of us will stand before the Lord God Almighty. Each and every one of us will stand before Jesus Christ. And I think understanding that puts things into perspective.
We can put a lot of effort and a lot of energy and a lot of time into those things, which in the big grand scheme really don't matter. And we often neglect those things which are most important. I have this idea that people who sell things think that their product is the most important. Somebody came to your house and told you, I want to sell you a fire alarm.
Well, you would say, well, I really have no interest in that right now. What do you mean you don't have an interest in that? That's the most important thing. Don't you care about your family?
Marketers use this. The most important thing about your vehicle is your tires or your brakes. You really ought to take a vested interest in those things. Next time somebody says that to you, say, what do you think about eternity?
Where are you going to stand when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ? What answer will you give when the judge of all the earth asks you why you should enter into His holy heaven? That is really what's important. That is really what demands our attention.
And I want to direct your attention to these verses, verses 21 to 23, under three considerations. First, the event. We need to locate the event that he is speaking of here biblically. Secondly, the plea.
The plea is an official argument. The plea is when the plaintiff or the defendant comes in and registers what it is he wants to be remembered for or what he wants the court to consider. And then thirdly and finally, we'll look at the verdict this morning. and what the judge pronounces in terms of these particular people. Now, there are other passages that speak to this judgment.
There are other issues involved. We are focusing our attention primarily on verses 21 to 23 this morning. There are questions that no doubt you'll have that will not be answered here. I apologize at the outset, but I hope you get the gist of our Lord's words in Matthew 7, verses 21-23.
The Event: Final Judgment
Notice first the event. He says, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. This event concerns entrance into the kingdom of heaven. There's a sense obviously right now where we believe the Gospel, and we are born again by God's grace, we will see the Kingdom of Heaven.
But the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven here, I take it as a reference to the consummate glory, to that end of all things in terms of this world, in terms of this life, in terms of this phase of our existence. It is entering into the presence of God Most High forever and ever and ever. This is confirmed by what he says in verse 22. He says, many will say to me in that day.
This is biblical shorthand for the judgment day that all men will stand before God on. That day is referenced in Acts 17 and verse 31 where Paul tells a group of philosophers that God will judge all men by Jesus Christ on that day. It is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.
That day is referred to in 2 Thessalonians 1 and 2 Timothy 4. It is spoken of or referred to in Hebrews 9. It is appointed unto men once to die and then comes judgment. So, the event that the Lord is ending His sermon on is a consideration of eternity.
It's a good thing. You all need to think about eternity. Some of you young people, for instance, never give a thought to what's going to happen when you die. That's wrong.
That is incorrect. You are here for a span of time. In fact, as Moses, the man of God says in the Psalter, says we might appear for 70 or by way of strength for 80 years, but then we will fly away. Where will you fly away to?
You need to consider this. Your life consists in more of where you're going to go to school or what job you're going to have. Whether you're going to get married and have children. Those are all legitimate and healthy concerns to be sure.
But where will you spend eternity? Where will you dwell forever and ever? Are you going to be with God in blessed, beautiful existence? Are you going to be consigned to everlasting punishment?
That's what this text calls us to consider.
The Presiding Judge
Notice the presiding judge here. He says, many will say to me in that day, to me, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that has judgment. He is the one to whom we will answer.
It isn't a lawyer. We don't hire somebody to stand in our stead. It's not a parent. It's not a loved one.
It's not a friend. We don't tell them and they put in a good word for us. There is one mediator between God and men. It's the Lord Christ.
On that day of judgment, He will function as the judge. You can read more about that in John 5, 22 to verse 30. God has given judgment unto His Son, Jesus Christ. He is presiding.
You will answer Him alone. It's a thing we need to consider as well. I suspect most of you hear sermons every week. I suspect most of you hear some form of Bible throughout the week.
And you give a little thought or attention to the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't factor in your decision making. He doesn't factor into your daily activity. He doesn't factor into how you roll.
He doesn't factor one bit. But know this of a truth, that the eyes in your head will one day look upon Him to give an account for things done in the body, whether good or evil. It's 2 Corinthians 5. Every single one of us will stand before this judgment seat of King Jesus Christ.
We won't be able to buy Him off. If we have a great big bank account, He won't say, well, I'm just going to look the other way on these few indiscretions. If we have done good things that sort of outweighed the bad, He's not going to grade on the curb. He will judge the world in righteousness, Paul says in Acts 17.
And he has furnished proof of this by raising Jesus from the dead. You know, when Jesus came forth from the dead, a lot of things happened there. A lot of things were signified. But one thing you need to consider is that that empty tomb demands your judgment.
Christ will render judgment.
The Standard of Judgment
Notice, the statement of offense Before they come in and make their plea in verse 22, Jesus sets forth what they are being tried for. He says, verse 21, 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. That's how He's judging. That's the standard by which He is looking at these people.
And it would almost appear here that Jesus is saying it's how you perform. It's what you do. It's the works that you engage in. It's the manner in which you've lived.
And some would take that and even pit it against Paul. Because Paul says that we're justified by faith alone. Here Jesus talks about doing the will of the Father. And Paul speaks of believing the Gospel in order to be saved.
Some actually see some discrepancy here. In fact, many commentators sound popish when they come to this particular passage. They see a place for good works at the bar of judgment in terms of our right standing before God. Now, mind you, and listen carefully, that someone justified by faith alone will obey God.
Not because He wants to be saved, but because He's saved by grace. Remember the progression. The Law comes to us. And the Law comes to function by provoking us and showing us our sin.
And it shows us that we stand naked before a holy God. And then the Gospel comes and we believe and we're saved. And then what does Jesus do? He points us back to the Law as a pattern for our sanctification.
But it's His blood, it's His righteousness, it's His doing and His dying that brings us into heaven. Those works simply evidence what He's done in our lives and in our hearts. And specifically here, what's going on, the contrast between verses 21 and 22 argues against the idea that Jesus is specifying a work salvation. We'll get back to that will of the Father in just a few moments.
The Plea: Works-Righteousness
But notice, secondly, the plea. Verse 22, "...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?" You see what's happened here? What happens if we read verse 21? Be honest, ok?
Just be honest. That's what I want from you this morning. Be honest. Trying to think about things of eternity.
Standing before the Lord Jesus Christ. I really don't care about a whole bunch of other stuff right now. This is the most important thing in your life. You must give heed to these things.
Notice in verse 21, not everyone who says to me. What's the natural inclination of our hearts? Not everyone, but most people. Not everyone, but certainly me.
What does Jesus do in verse 22? Many will say to me in that day. Do not delude yourselves that you will sneak by. Do not fool yourselves that you might go around another way.
Do not deceive yourselves into thinking that there is an alternate path to eternal bliss. Christ moves from not everyone to define fuller, verse 22. Many will say to me in that day. Notice, they acknowledge His Lordship.
There was a Lordship controversy, a Lordship debate several decades ago. People taught that you could have Jesus save you from your sins, but you didn't have to yield to Him as Lord. That's hogwash. You yield to a full Christ.
You believe on a whole Savior. But notice in this text, confessing Jesus as Lord doesn't necessarily mean they're going to heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord. They acknowledge His Lordship.
Notice that these are probably, if I can use the term, church leaders. These are the guys out front. These are the movers and the shakers. These are the leaders.
This is leadership. Now, that's not to say that the guy who works 40, 50, 60 hours a week can't prophesy in the name of Jesus, cast out demons in the name of Jesus, and do many wonders in the name of Jesus. But those three activities take some time. Don't they?
These are probably the leaders. The guys who to everybody else's appearance look like, they've got everything together. Notice what they say. They do these works in Jesus' name.
They're not humanitarians. They're not good atheists that like to do nice things for people. They're not doing it in the name of Buddha. They're not doing it in the name of Muhammad.
They're not doing it in the name of Shintoism. They're doing it in the name of Jesus. They prophesy in His name. They cast out demons in His name.
And they work mighty wonders in His name. And notice that Jesus does not deny this fact. He doesn't say, out with you, you liars. That's not the case.
That's not the issue. They really did do these things in His name. Notice they appeal to Jesus Christ. What's important in a court case?
Your testimony and your witnesses, right? I've got 15 guys who will stand with me in court and tell you that I wasn't there at that time. You bring your witnesses. You might pay a professional witness.
You get some leader in his field and you grace his palms so that he'll sit in the courtroom under oath and testify on your behalf. These guys appeal to Jesus. He's their expert witness, isn't it? Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not?
They're appealing to the testimony. They're appealing to the witness Christ.
The Ground of Their Appeal
Notice the nature of their argument. And this is what we really need to appreciate. What are they resting upon as the ground for entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven? Their works. their performance, their doing.
This is not a case of a genuine believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, who at the end of his days has done some good works, and our Lord says, well done, good and faithful servant. It's not the case of a Christian resting and receiving upon Christ alone for His pardon and for the imputation of righteousness, who by God's grace and sanctification obeys His law, does good things, loves God, loves his brother. These are men who are committed to the doing of their own hands. And I want to give you an encouragement today.
If there's one piece of advice Pastor Butler can give you from the Free Grace Baptist Church, when you are eyeball to eyeball with the Lord Jesus Christ, do not plead your works. You will lose. Think about your work. in comparison with their works? Do you prophesy in His name?
Have you ever cast out demons in His name? Have you ever done wondrous works in His name? I mean, by comparison, our works are pretty measly, pretty minor, pretty small. If these works don't avail with the Lord Jesus Christ, what makes us think that our works will avail with Jesus Christ?
Christ is condemning these people. They're not called liars. They're not said to have never done these things, but their appeal is to what they did. In just a few moments, you're going to sing, while we change our clothes, number 421 by Augustus Toplady.
Augustus Toplady wrote, Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. These guys say everything in my hand I bring. I want nothing to do with the cross. That's what's being condemned here.
That's what's being anathematized here. One man says, far from teaching a message of works, Jesus warns us that anyone who comes before Him at the judgment and offers his works, his covenant faithfulness, or his life as a defense, will be sent to hell. You put your emphasis, you put your grounding, you put your hope and your soul and your eternal life upon what you've done or what you did, you will go to hell. That is the clear testimony from the beginning to the end of Holy Writ.
This man goes on to say, far from teaching that our works are necessary for our salvation, Jesus here teaches that all our works contribute not one whit to our salvation. See, the Protestant Reformers were right. Our confession is right. Justification by faith alone.
We are not popish. We are not papists. We are not of those who say that God begins it in us and we must make it up. We must complete.
We must contribute. No. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Lord, did we not cast out demons in Your name?
Lord, did we not do wondrous works in Your name?
The Verdict: I Never Knew You
Now notice thirdly and finally, the verdict. The solemn pronouncement. Jesus says, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you. That's probably one of the most terrifying phrases in all of Scripture.
You know, imagine young people or a child. Imagine if you did something really heinous and you had to tell your parents. They'd be grieved or upset or they might yell at you or they might scream at you, depending on their place of sanctification at that given time. Imagine having to call a mom or a dad from jail.
I just got caught doing something. Can you come bail me out? I tell you, whatever your father or your mother has to say will pale in significance to these terrifying words that the judge of all the earth will declare on that day. And I will say.
Notice Christ's commitment to God's law. If there was ever a judge who didn't need to listen to testimony, it was Christ. If ever there was a judge who could sort of bypass due process, It was Christ. Man says, notice the and then.
Jesus pronounces judgment only after hearing the pleas. After hearing the pleas and defenses of the men on trial. If any judge had ever had the right to condemn a defendant without hearing his defense, this judge has. But he is so scrupulous about God's law.
He loves it. The law is not the problem. It's our sin that's the problem. He said that he is so scrupulous about God's law, and his law became the model for due process in civilizations influenced by Christianity, that Jesus does not pronounce judgment until after the defendants have presented their defenses.
We might be sitting on the sidelines saying, Jesus, why do you need to listen to them? They're wretched. They're sinners. They're evil.
Because God has ordained that it's right to hear witnesses. God has ordained that on the basis of two or three witnesses, every fact is established. And Jesus operates within that law. And then notice what he says.
Jesus says, I will declare to them, I never knew you. It's important that you get that. There's a brand of covenant theology out there that says we can enter into the new covenant and receive all the benefits thereof and be finally lost. That's not the new covenant of the Bible.
The New Covenant of the Bible, those participants who come by God's grace alone, by His sovereign calling and election, by His predestinating plan, who in God's timing are convicted of their sins and look to Christ and live, those participants in the New Covenant are safe and secure. They have received the forgiveness of sins. They are brought into a relationship of the knowledge of the Lord. They are, for all intents and purposes, eternally secure.
Christ is not saying, you were in the covenant and now you're out. Christ is not saying, you were a Christian and now you're not. Christ underscores this. He says, I never knew you.
In all your going out and prophesying in My name. In all your going out and exercising in My name. Not exercising like calisthenics, but exercising demons. In all of your wonder-working in My name.
This thing was never in place. You had never believed the gospel. You never entered in savingly. I never knew you.
How many of you think that based on what you do, you're in? based on your position perhaps in a family or in a church, based on your performance of certain rites and rituals. Men are committed to vanity and futility. It's not just in Jesus' day. We can go out on these streets right now and ask somebody, why do you think you ought to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven?
You know what kind of answers we get? Because I've never done anything really bad. God's loving. He'd never send anyone to hell.
Nothing about believing the truth. Nothing about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing about a bloodied, crucified and risen Savior who fulfilled God's law and was a surety of a better covenant. Nothing about that.
And I suspect some of that mindset might be present here today. Why do you think you should enter into the Kingdom of Heaven? Because I've not done this, because I've not done this, because I've not done this. Or because I have done this, or I have done this, or I have done this.
You need to learn from Top Lady. Nothing in My hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling. Better yet, you need to learn from Paul. Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. You must learn from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Will of the Father Defined
Notice how He defines the will of the Father. John 6, verse 40. We go back now for just a moment. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but those who are doing the will of my Father.
Jesus saying, go out and not steal, go out and not kill, go out and do this, go out and do that, and then you'll have enough merits to outdo your bad and you'll enter a place into heaven? Is that the will of God for you? If any gospel preacher ever tells you, here's the will of the Father for you, go out and do good. He's not a gospel preacher.
He is not a gospel preacher. Sinai can tell you what you ought to do. Calvary tells you you couldn't do it. And Jesus did.
John 6 and verse 40. This is the will of Him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life and I will raise Him up. There's that day. That last day.
Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him That's the will of the Father for you. The will of the Father for you this morning is not, try harder. The will of the Father is not, I'm okay, you're okay. The will of the Father isn't, He grades on a curve and He'll wink at your rich wretchedness.
The will of the Father is, look to His Son who obeyed in the stead of sinners. Who died in the place of sinners and who rose again for sinners. The will of the Father is cast your belief in Him. He will save you from your sins.
And then you'll approach His law. You'll approach those commandments and you'll say, oh, how I delight in the law of God in my inner man. This is the will of the Father for you. I don't care how old you are today.
In fact, some of you little guys may not have heard anything I've said. It might have just went whoosh. I understand that. I get that.
I know how things work. But listen to this. God is telling you through His Word that this is what He wants. This is what He calls you to do.
It says that everyone who sees the sign and believes in Him may have everlasting life. You're not to look to what you do. You're not to look to how you perform. You're not to look to your obedience.
You're to look to Jesus. That's the message. That's what Jesus is enforcing in Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 to 23. He's highlighting two ways of approach to the Lord God Most High.
Faith or works.
Lawlessness and False Doctrine
And then you go back for just a moment to verse 23. He mentions something very interesting. Verse 23, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
The practice of lawlessness. Yes, lawlessness is doing externally the things God commands without any faith in Jesus. That's lawlessness. You see the guy out there who's doing all these religious works?
If he is banking on those for his acceptance with God, it's lawlessness. It's wretchedness. It's looking to something other than the cross. It's looking to something other than the Savior.
Do you know what else? I think that these verses go with what preceded. I don't think there's a strict cutoff between the warning concerning false prophets and this statement here. I actually think that this is an illustration of the fruit of the false prophets.
Look at the text for just a moment. Not everyone who says to me, verse 21, 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? Who does that?
Prophets. He's just warned them about false prophets. Notice in verse 20, Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. Now here's where we do err sometimes.
When I say fruit, you think of behavior. You think of conduct. Fruit is also doctrine. In a passage condemning false prophets, fruit is bad doctrine.
Beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus would tell His disciples. What is the fruit that Jesus is here condemning? Anybody who will come to you and tell you, you can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven based on your performance. on your practice, based on your works. You answer. by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.
That's the point of the passage. So lawlessness here means, yes, doing those external works of God without any faith in the Lord Jesus. But lawlessness is also when men desiring to be teachers of the law use that law unlawfully. They start telling men. that in order to enter into the kingdom, they must, they must, they must.
No, you need to look and live by God's grace alone.
Application
A few thoughts in conclusion. The first, if you haven't got it yet, the inevitability of judgment. It's easy to forget that, isn't it? It's easy to forget every morning when you get up, man, I'm going to be judged someday.
We just don't think that way. Probably none of us wake up in the morning and say, my house is going to burn down today. I'm going to get run over by a truck today. I'm going to ingest poison today.
All manner of bad things are coming. We don't think that way. It just isn't how we function. Why does Jesus end the Sermon on the Mount on this note?
Because He wants these people, when they walk away, to be thinking, I'm going to see Him again. I'm going to stand before Him again. I'm going to render account for what I've done to Him again. Please keep that in mind.
As sure as you sit here this morning, as sure as your mind is wandering, as sure as you may be bored, as sure as you may be hungry, as sure as you may want to go home, as sure as that, perhaps much surer, you will stand before this Jesus.
The Reality of Self-Deception
Secondly, The reality of self-deception. If you would have asked these men, how do you think it's going to go for you on that day of judgment? What do you think they would have said? Hey, I've prophesied in His name.
I've cast out demons in His name. And I've done mighty works in His name. I'm as good as flame. I'm in.
Set. Dialed in. Don't have to worry. That area is taken care of.
They were self-deceived. Right? Paul says that to the Corinthians. Do not be deceived.
In fact, 1 Corinthians 6, you can look there, verses 9 to 11. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will enter the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." Self-deception is a reality. You can think you're set with God. They ask you, what are you looking to?
What are you trusting in? And you say with another hymn writer, Edward Mode, who said, My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. He says, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. I love that line.
Because we're often tossed to and fro by our sweetness of frame or our lack thereof. When we have a sweet frame, we think all is well between us and heaven. When we have a sour frame, we start to get worried. Our entrance into the Kingdom of God is not ultimately dependent upon our frame.
It's dependent upon the doing and the dying and the rising of Jesus Christ the Lord. What are you looking to?
Self-Righteousness Condemned
Thirdly, this text condemns self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. You have nothing to offer God. You're a sinner.
The best you've ever done is tainted with sin. I don't think it's an accident when Isaiah the prophet is bemoaning the sin of Israel, he says all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags before God. He doesn't say our abominations. He doesn't say our murder, our lies, our deception.
He doesn't say our thievery. He doesn't say our adultery. He doesn't say our homosexuality. He says all our righteousnesses, our performance of duty, our religious observance, our conformity external to the law of God.
All those things are like a menstrual cloth in the sight of God. That's the language the prophet uses. I know it's offensive. I know it calls up images that we'd rather not think about.
Sin is something offensive to God. And it just doesn't go away by your wishing, hoping, or outperforming it. It goes away one place only, in the doing, the dying, and the rising of Jesus. Remember Romans 4.25, He was delivered up because of our offenses, and He was raised because of our justification.
The Son of God went to the cross because our sin is that bad. It is such an offense to God. And if you think for a moment that you're the one exception, that you're not as bad as the rest of us, that you can shimmy your way past this judge of all the earth, you are self-deceived and must repent. Look to Christ.
Look to Jesus. He alone cleanses from sin. The top lady goes on to say, naked come to Thee for dress. Helpless look to Thee for grace.
Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior. or I die. And look at verse 23. This is what we'll end on.
I know we don't think about this. Depart from Me. That's the essence of hell right there. What's hell going to be like?
Will there be flames? Will there be punishment? Will there be torture? Yes, the Bible says all those things.
And it's a casting away from God. Think with me for just a moment right now. If you're here and you don't know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you get a lot of good stuff from God. You get a lot of good stuff from God, don't you?
Think of this day. Isn't it beautiful? The sunshine. You had a drink of water this morning.
Maybe you had coffee. You had a bagel. I don't know how good that is in the grand scheme of things, but we get good things from God. The most wretched, the most wicked, the most evil man occupying earth today still gets to smile sometime in his life.
May get to touch somebody in a less than offensive way. May get the grip of a hand. May get the encouraging word. Every one of us here gets many, many good things.
But on that day, that depart from me, that means that all good ends. Every blessing ceases. Everything you've enjoyed and taken advantage of for your entire life will stop. The essence of hell, brethren, the positive infliction of God's punishment is a reality and it's not to be dismissed, but as well it's the withdrawal of all that is good in God.
Oh, He's in hell. He is the one who sustains it. He is the one who has created it. Again, we don't like to think about this, but God is the active agent in the punishment of the wicked throughout eternity.
So it's not as if you'll be away from Him completely, you'll only experience His wrath. You'll only experience His fury. You'll only experience His anger. But one way to avoid that come to Jesus Christ, who on the cross took that wrath, who on the cross cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
It was as if the Father had said to the Son, depart from me. And the Son says, why hast thou forsaken me? You cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven based on your doing. You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the sober warning that we find in Matthew 7, 21-23. We thank You for the wonderful grace that we see displayed throughout the life and the ministry of our Lord Jesus.
We thank You for the explanation throughout the Scriptures of Your way of justifying sinners. And our Father, we pray that today as Your Gospel is preached, that as men are called upon to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you would send forth your spirit, you would bring conviction for sin, and you would bring that grace that men need to believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus. We thank you for this time to meet together We thank you for the occasion that brings us here. We thank you for your work of mercy displayed in the lives of Ray and Andrea.
We just commit them to you and to the word of your grace and pray that they would be of benefit to this local body and we to them as well. We ask these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.