Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew's gospel, Matthew chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven. I mentioned last week in the Sunday evening sermon that justification is a one-time act. It doesn't have the first part in life and then the second part when we stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.
And I hope to demonstrate that to you tonight here in Matthew 7 at verses 21 to 23. I do want to pick up reading in verse 13 and read to the end of the chapter. So Matthew 7 at verse 13, 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 again ask God's help as we look to this passage. Father, we thank You for the written Word of God. We thank you that it's given by inspiration of God, and we know its profitability in our hearts and lives.
And we pray to that end now, that you would fill us with the spirit, that you would give us understanding into this passage. May it afford the comfort that I believe it is designed to do for believers, and may it speak fear and terror to those who are unbelievers. And may you work in the hearts of those who are outside of Christ and cause them to reflect upon their sin before a holy God. and cause them to reflect upon the reality that in Christ Jesus, there is everlasting life. Forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions and take away everything that would darken our understanding.
And we pray in his most blessed name, amen.
Introduction
Well, as I said, this particular passage does not teach a second phase of justification. Justification is unique in that as soon as one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they are forgiven of their sins and they receive the righteousness of Christ. It's imputed to them and it's received by faith alone. We don't grow in our justification.
Some aren't more justified than others. Paul and us are justified in the same way. We've received the same benefits, imputed righteousness and that forgiveness of sins. Now, there is sanctification, there is growth and grace.
The Bible does afford a category for sanctity in the Christian life. But in terms of our final acceptance by God, what I think this passage teaches is oftentimes contrary to the way that it's taught. I think this passage is often used as a bludgeon against the people of God to try to get them to do more things. Well, the problem with these professors on that day isn't that they didn't do more things.
It's that they didn't believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I hope to demonstrate that.
The Event Described
So when I look first at the event described, secondly, the parties identified, and then thirdly, the verdict rendered. I think everybody likes a good court case. We're all sort of drawn to that. We're mesmerized.
Back in the early 90s, it was the O.J. Simpson trial. I think many people were glued to their televisions while that carried on. There's something unique.
There's something interesting about it. And I think that's the way we approach a passage like this. It's a courtroom. It's the Lord Christ presiding.
He is the judge over the eschatological kingdom. And in the event, or the event rather, is that very thing. Now in terms of a larger context, this is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five to seven. And then in the immediate context, what I read, Jesus is calling for action.
Jesus is calling for decision. Jesus is calling for a response. He doesn't just present the material in the sermon. and sort of leave it out there, but now he issues these challenges and he highlights there are two ways. There's a broad way and a narrow way.
He speaks of two trees. He speaks of two claims, which we're looking at now, and then two builders at the end of the message. He wants the people that hear him to respond, ideally in faith and with repentance. Now notice in terms of the actual event, the two future tense verbs point us to the future.
Notice that Jesus says, will say and will declare to them. He's talking about a future thing. And most commentators are agreed that what's in view here is the judgment day. The judgment day wherein all men will stand before the Lord God Almighty and give an account of deeds done in the body whether good or ill.
We see that in Acts chapter 17 in verse 31. The apostle Paul says that God has raised Jesus and Jesus will be the agent by which men are judged. You see it in 2 Corinthians chapter five, you see it in Romans two, 2 Timothy four, Hebrews chapter nine. That's the reality.
There is a day appointed for us to die and then comes judgment. That'll happen on an individual basis, but then there is that great judgment day. where everybody will be raised, that general resurrection will all be assembled before the Lord Christ, and this is what this event is pointing us to. Christ is speaking about, rather, Christ is speaking about entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. He is not speaking about sanctification in this life.
There are passages that highlight that sanctification or the good works that believers do are fruits or evidences or consequences of the justification that we have received. That's not what's happening in this text. This text is dealing with those who enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The Parties Identified
Now, secondly, we ought to notice the parties, and there are two here. There are false professors and there are true professors. I want to focus first on the false professors and notice in the first place their number. There does seem to be many of them.
We see that also in chapter 7 verses 13 and 14. Broad is the way and many there are who find that way. The narrow way, there are few who find that. And I don't think that means there's not going to be that many people in heaven.
The Bible speaks of a great multitude that no man can number. The Bible speaks as well to the many whom Jesus shed his blood for. But in terms of the ethical impression that Christ is making, he wants you to consider your state before God. Are you on the broad way or are you on the narrow way?
Are you a false professor or are you a true professor? Are you somebody that will enter into the kingdom of heaven or will you hear those words from our Lord Jesus, depart from me, I never knew you. He is making an ethical impression upon the hearers. He wants them to respond.
He wants them to come to him in faith. But in terms of the number, the language suggests that self-deception is a reality.
The False Professors: Their Number and Surprise
Notice in verse 22, they're surprised by the Lord's indictment. When Jesus says, 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. Verse 22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not? There is a surprise in their hearts about the verdict that is rendered.
They are surprised that they are not entering into heaven. Self-delusion is a reality, and we need to be conscious of that fact, and this text indicates that. Many go to destruction by the broad way. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6, he says, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
He goes on to say, do not be deceived. Don't deceive yourself. Don't be deluded. Do not have this idea that your false profession of faith is somehow going to avail with God Almighty.
The False Professors: Their Profession
Notice the profession that they make. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, these aren't Muslims. These aren't Buddhists. These aren't atheists.
These are people who profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now it's not real faith, but you get my point. They're not persons that are calling upon the Buddha. They're not persons that are calling upon Muhammad or Allah.
They are persons addressing the Lord. That is their profession or their identification. They are not those who are caught unawares, but rather they expect this. They stand before Jesus and they actually address him as Lord.
Now
The False Professors: Their Argument
notice their argument, and this is the problem. Herein lies the issue. Notice at verse 22, after he has said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. He says, there's going to be those excluded, even though they've said, Lord, Lord, they will be excluded and not enter into heaven.
He identifies, and we'll look at that in a moment, but he who does the will of my father in heaven, and then notice their argument. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, again, not Muslims, not Buddhists, not atheists, they address Jesus as Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? They remind Jesus that they prophesied, that they exercised, and that they had done these wonders. Notice the ground of their appeal for their acceptance into heaven.
It's not Jesus' blood and righteousness. It is rather the works that they themselves have done. And notice as well that Jesus doesn't deny that they had done these things. He doesn't say, you're fakes, you're frauds, you didn't prophesy, you didn't exercise, and you didn't do these many wonders.
He doesn't say that. They had actually done this. Think Judas. Judas Iscariot had been one of the disciples of the Lord.
Judas Iscariot had gone out. Judas Iscariot had prophesied. Judas Iscariot had exercised. And Judas Iscariot had done many wonders.
So Christ does not deny the validity of the claim, but rather the problem is, is that they're banking their acceptance with God on what they've done. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. We sing in another place, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. These guys would sing, everything in my hand I bring, never to thy cross I cling.
You see, the problem isn't works, the problem is a lack of faith in the Lord Jesus, and we'll see that in just a moment. The problem with their argument, as John Gill says, it may be observed that these men lay the whole stress of their salvation upon what they have done in Christ's name, and not on Christ himself, in whom there is salvation, and in no other. They say not a syllable of what Christ has done and suffered, but only of what they have done. You see that, right?
This is problematic. Lord, haven't we done this? Haven't we done this? Haven't we done that?
Based on what we've done, Lord, you should accept us into the kingdom of heaven. Their plea, their hope, their ground for their salvation or supposed salvation is upon their performance of the works of the law. Christ says, that's not gonna happen. Many will say to me on that day, but I will not allow them access.
It is the one who does the will of my father in heaven. Now, again, the works of a true believer are fruits of justifying faith. I would never neglect that, and I would never teach otherwise. But this text is not the text we ought to appeal to, to try to prove and to try and demonstrate that.
These persons are resting their acceptance with God upon their works. Michael Brown, not the charismatic one, a better one, says, some turn the New Covenant into a bastard covenant of works by adding their works righteousness to faith. That's the problem here. You have to appreciate it.
It's not a matter of faith and works or faith with no works. It's a matter of faith versus no faith. That's the issue that Christ is dealing with with these two claimants with reference to acceptance by God into that kingdom. Now, note that Jesus highlights their true condition in verse 23.
The very end, verse 23 reads, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. It's not that they were saved and lost it. It's not that they were in and they were out. I never knew you.
They were not of us. For if they were of us, they would have continued with us. But the fact that they left indicates that they were never of us. 1 John 2.19 highlights that reality with reference to apostasy. So he says, I will declare to them, I never knew you.
Depart from me. You who, look at the language, practice lawlessness. When you think about practicing lawlessness, real quick, what pops into your mind? Smoking crack, visiting prostitutes.
Does self-righteousness ever pop in when we think of lawlessness? Do we ever consider that our attempts to broker favor with God by our actions is actually condemned as lawlessness by the Lord Christ Almighty? See, we're good at this. We're very, very polished when it comes to looking down our noses at those people who do those dastardly sins, and yet neglect the reality that our self-righteousness is a foul stench in the nostril of God Almighty.
See, when we think lawlessness, we typically think of self given over to indulgence and to lust and carnality and wickedness and profligate living. We never stop and consider the reality that Jesus spoke to in Matthew 21, when he condemned the Pharisees and the scribes of his generation, and when he says that the harlots and the publicans are entering into the kingdom of heaven before you are. What does that mean? It means that self-righteousness is a problem.
It doesn't mean go out and visit prostitutes and smoke crack because God will love you more. That's not what it means. Please don't take it that way. But we need to identify that a self-righteous approach to God's kingdom is lawlessness in the language of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Lawlessness here is probably an attempt to use God's law unlawfully. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1.8 that we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. There's stipulations placed on the law. It's like giving a child hair clippers and saying, okay, son, go ahead and give yourself a haircut.
None of us in our right minds would ever do that. We don't plug something in that's sharp and able to cut hair and hand it to a little child. It must be used responsibly, and the law of God is that way. If we take the law of God and we try to use it as a means for our acceptance with God, we have used it unlawfully, and hence, we have become lawless. in the sight of a holy God.
The lawlessness here is the self-righteousness, which is always and ultimately an attack upon the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says in Galatians 2.21, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. I mean, to hear these fellows in verse 22, Jesus should have said, well, by all means, you prophesied, you've exercised, you've done many works. Why would I have ever come into this world's centers to save?
Why would I have ever gone to the cross? You're such sterling, upright specimens of human beings. Of course, come on in, enter into the kingdom of heaven. These guys are looking for a reward.
And typically, brethren, if persons have this mindset on that day of judgment before they stand before the Lord Jesus, they have it presently in life. They're the sorts of people that we see in Luke 18 that pray thus with themselves. I thank you, God, that I'm not like other men. I thank you, God, that I'm not unjust.
I thank you, God, that I'm not an extortioner. I thank you, God, that I'm not like this tax collector here. You see, that kind of arrogance, that kind of boasting, that kind of pride exhibited before the throne of God on the day of judgment is the kind of stuff that you hear from the self-righteous even now. You don't hear.
Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die.
You see, what the hymn writers suggest there is that our condition is pretty bad. Really bad. Horrible, to be sure. And the only way, the only hope of heaven is not based on our righteousness, because we ain't got any, not based on our performance of the law, because we always do it imperfectly, but it's based upon the performance of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the emphasis in our passage. So far from using the text as a bludgeon to get the people of God to do more good things, This text highlights the problem when the people of God or the professing people of God rest on those good things for their acceptance with God. That is a huge issue that we need to be aware of. So the lawlessness in this particular passage is most likely using the law unlawfully.
It is the lawlessness of self-righteousness. Gil, again, he says they were workers of iniquity. I mean, if you just look at verse 22, they sound like pretty good guys. I mean, who wouldn't want these guys as friends?
You know, they cast out demons. That's good. I'd want to hang out with that guy. He's a good guy.
He casts out demons. He works wonders. He's a good guy. I want to hang out with him.
He prophesies in the name of God. I want to hang out with him. They seem like good guys, but Jesus calls them practicers of lawlessness. Gil says they were workers of iniquity.
It may be neither adulterers nor murderers nor drunkards what we typically think of workers of iniquity. And I think if I could encourage all of us to get this in our head, that our approach to God vis-a-vis self-righteousness, it's as bad as murder, it's as bad as drunkenness, it's as bad as adultery. Now again, for the civil polity, it doesn't affect people in the same way. I'll grant that.
I mean, if I just am self-righteous sitting in my living room, it doesn't affect my neighbor. If I actually have adultery with my neighbor's wife, that affects him. So yeah, I guess there is that gradation there. But in terms of our position before God, We really think that putting on a suit or reading our Bible or carrying our Bible or just coming to church is somehow commending us to God?
We somehow think that our acceptance with God is bound up in what we do? Now again, I'm not talking about sanctity in the Christian life. There is sanctity in the Christian life in terms of what's called sanctification. We're talking about acceptance with God vis-a-vis justification.
And a self-righteous approach is condemned by God. It is condemned by Christ. In fact, John Gerstner, many of you don't know that name, but you know his most famous pupil. You know R.C.
Sproul. His mentor was a fellow by the name of John Gerstner. And John Gerstner made this observation. He says, the main thing between you and God is not so much your sins, it's your damnable good works.
That's good. That's good. It's not so much your sins. Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save.
Now, again, we live in a day and age where if you comment on a neighborhood being dirty, you're a racist. So let me just qualify and make sure you understand what I'm saying. Okay? Let me just make sure everybody hears what I'm saying.
Gershner's not saying go out and sin. He's not saying, go ahead and sin. He's saying the big problem isn't so much sin because Christ forgives it. It's the self-righteousness that keeps you from seeing that you need that forgiveness.
It's the self-righteousness wherein you think that God's going to accept you because you've prophesied, because you've exercised, or because you've done many wonders. That self-righteousness blinds people to the reality of their need. Christ Jesus says, I didn't come into the world to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So Gershner is absolutely spot on.
The main thing between you and God is not so much your sins, it's your damnable good works. When you trust in those things for your acceptance with God, that's your problem. If you're doing that tonight, relinquish it. Stop hiding behind, prophesying, exercising many works.
Stop hiding behind, well, I was brought up in the church. My parents make a confession of faith. Stop hiding behind, my wife or my husband, they're believers. Go out and do tracts once in a while and you'll hear the response of people that are just bizarre.
Do you think you're going to go to heaven? Do you think about, gee, well, my granddad taught Sunday school. Wow, there you go. You should be fine then.
That's absolute craziness. And yet that is the default position. We won't come out into the open and accept what God has to say concerning our sin and concerning the provision He offers in the gospel, but we'll hide among the trees, we'll make those covers for our loins, we'll run, we'll cover, we'll do everything we can. And more often than not, that coverage comes via our supposed good works.
So the problem with these people is that they were practicers of lawlessness. They use the law of God unlawfully. They bank on or they rested in their self-righteousness rather than in Christ's righteousness.
The True Professors
Now let's look at the true professors. Notice what he says in 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. Now, I want to probably shock some of you here to suggest that what he's talking about is faith in Christ.
You know, we see that language, do the will of my Father in heaven, and we think 10 commandments, and we should think 10 commandments. Again, in the category of sanctification, doing the will of God the Father means for us tomorrow morning, getting up and not committing idolatry. It means not committing blasphemy. It means today keeping the Sabbath holy.
It means tomorrow and today honoring our fathers and our mothers and being subordinate to the governing authorities. It means not murdering people. It means not committing adultery. It means not stealing.
It means not lying. It means not coveting. That is the will of God revealed for us as believers through the Ten Commandments. They are abiding for us today in toto.
All ten of them are for the church in the normative application of God's law to his people. But remember what we're dealing with in this passage. We're not dealing with sanctification. We're dealing with acceptance into the kingdom of heaven.
So what is the will of the Father in heaven? If you could obey those 10 words perfectly, if you could obey those 10 words exactly, if you could obey those 10 words entirely and perpetually, well then certainly you'd enter right into heaven. But a moment's reflection should cause you to know we can't do that, right? Right?
Think with me, brethren. Nod your heads. You've got to follow this. Doing the will of my Father in heaven with reference to acceptance by God into heaven is not our obedience to the law because it isn't perfect.
It isn't exact. It isn't entire. It isn't perpetual. But Christ's is.
Christ is every jot and diddle of God's law Christ fulfilled. We've talked a lot about the imputation of Christ's righteousness, the crediting of our account with the righteousness of another. It'd be like if I went to the bank and I wrote a check and somebody had deposited a lot of money there to cover the check. Christ's righteousness is credited to our accounts.
So Christ has performed the law according to God's will in a perfect manner. So the way of appropriation of that for us is to believe on Jesus. The issue in Matthew 7, 21 to 23, isn't prophesy more, isn't exercise more, and isn't do more works, but it's to do the will of my Father in heaven. John's gospel fleshes out for us what that means.
In John 6, 28 and 29, Jesus, or rather, then they said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent. And then in that same chapter in John 6 40. And 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 at the last day. So again, Matthew 7 21 to 23. The emphasis is not. on keeping the Ten Commandments for entrance into heaven, because we have forfeited that. We forfeit it in Adam.
We forfeit it by our own actual transgressions that proceed from that original sin. There is no way any of us could ever earn our salvation based on God's requirement, save the Lord Jesus Christ. And the way that we gain access based on Christ's righteousness is by faith. That's the emphasis in John 6, 40.
Now to further stay off an objection, of course, when we believe the gospel, of course, when we're justified freely by His grace, there is sanctity. It is Christ's work for us and it is the Spirit's work in us, but our acceptance with God is ultimately Christ's work for us. When it comes to those works, it probably has to do with degrees of reward in heaven. There's other things that need to be taken into consideration.
Again, that's not the emphasis of the text. The emphasis is entrance into the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, didn't we not? And he will say, I never knew you.
The emphasis is not, you didn't do enough works. Unfortunately, this passage is often turned on its head to try to tell the people of God to do more works. Can I just say it? Do more works, by all means.
According to James, do more works. According to Paul in Ephesians 2.10, do more works. There are texts that we can use to bludgeon the people of God to do more works. I just wanna make sure we don't think Matthew 7, 21 to 23 is one of them.
It is not a passage designed to show us the effects of justifying faith. It is a passage designed to show us who enters in to the kingdom of heaven. It isn't those who rest their hopes on their performance. It is those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is what he teaches. The statement of our Lord underscores the necessity of justification by faith alone. I will argue in a moment, citing two of my favorite guys, that the purpose or one of the purposes of the Sermon on the Mount is to show us not why we should engage in self-congratulation, but it should show us our desperation before a holy God. Like we mentioned this morning in our Confession of Faith study, brethren, the Sermon on the Mount is law.
When you hear people say, we just need to live according to the Sermon on the Mount, they have no understanding of the gospel. I mentioned this morning, Machen's book. You want to read a great book that's very appropriate today, just like it was in the 1920s? Christianity and Liberalism by J.
Gresson Machen. He was dealing with theological liberals who just said, we need to live like Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Are you nuts? We don't live like Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.
We never live like Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Do you know that Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect? Do any of us ever read that and say, oh yeah, that's in my wheelhouse. I can perform that.
No, we're crushed. When he says in Matthew 5 20, that your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. high standard in the context of the Sermon on the Mount. It's not to try to cause you to say, well, I can do better than them. No, you can't.
The same self-righteousness that characterized them is the same sort of self-righteousness that characterizes a whole host of false professors in our own day. One of the aspects or one of the functions of the Sermon on the Mount is to cast us to the foot of the cross. And I think Matthew 7, 21 to 23 is powerful in doing that. The works that believers do are not taken into consideration by our Lord as the basis for our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
He, they had it. He doesn't deny that they had it. If he would have said, no, you never did do that. You're lying.
You're full of hot air here. You didn't really prophesy or exercise. Kids, when I say exercise, I don't mean bench press or jumping jacks. Exercise with an O means cast out demons.
So just want to make sure I clarify that. We're not talking about the squat or running or cardiovascular stretching or anything like that. Exercise with an O means to cast out demons. He never denies that they did these things.
If ever there was somebody that could have walked into heaven based on their works, it's these guys. Now, notice the verdict rendered as we move to the end of the exposition here. The verdict rendered. Verse 23, I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
Jesus Christ is the judge on the day of judgment. This is a bit of high Christology, a bit of very high Christology. Christ is asserting. Now, he's a man in this particular context teaching the Sermon on the Mount.
And he is saying to his hearers that I, the one you see now, will be that judge on that day. And it will be my declaration that either embraces or excludes men from the kingdom of heaven. That's a huge assertion. That is a massive statement.
And that does indicate high Christology in Matthew's gospel. So the fact that he is the eschatological judge underscores his glory. In fact, turn to Matthew 10. I'm certain that, I would hope, the disciples made this connection.
Because he mentions here in Matthew 7, 21 to 23, that it's he that will exclude men from entrance into the kingdom of heaven. And then notice in chapter 10 at verse 27, whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. You know what Jesus is saying, right?
Fear me. Don't fear them, fear me. It's one of those things that we don't often think about. In Revelation chapter 6, when the judgment of God is coming, the strong men and the brave men and the soldiers are all crying upon the rocks and the mountains to fall and to hide them and to cover them from the wrath of who?
From the wrath of the Lamb. The Lamb of God is the one who ultimately excludes people from the kingdom of heaven. And he says in 1028, fear me. I have the power, the ability to throw both body and soul into hell.
So going back to Matthew chapter seven. In terms of the believers, he doesn't speak a lot concerning them, but he does identify them as he who does the will of my Father in heaven. They are those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows them.
We know that for sure. He welcomes them into this kingdom of heaven. and he blesses them. What greater joy is there than for us to enter into the kingdom of heaven? I mean, the prospect of that day ought to fill our hearts with great joy and with great encouragement.
I think at times we get mired down in this world. We get mired down in the political scheme. We get mired down in all the things that affect us and burden us and cause us to just find some sense of sorrow. We need to fortify our soul with that prospect of entering in to the kingdom of heaven.
But then notice with reference to the lawless. He makes the declaration. They declare confidence in their works. He declares he never knew them.
It's Christ that welcomes men, or it's Christ who excludes men. He never denies their claim. He states that He never knew them. In fact, turn to 1 John 2.19.
Again, I think this is an idea that is out there, that people can be saved and then lose their salvation. Well, that, if it were true, reflects upon the Savior. Because if it were possible for saved men to lose their salvation, we most certainly would. You shouldn't doubt that for a moment.
If you and I could lose it, we would lose it. That is absolutely positively true. If it were in your capacity to not end up in heaven after Jesus had saved you, you would not end up in heaven. The reality is, is that there are those who profess, there are those who make a claim, there are those who say, Lord, have we not, but were never of us. 1 John 2.19, they went out from us, but they were not of us.
For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us." A few weeks ago in our studies in the confession of faith, we looked at Hebrews 6 and Hebrews 10. Those are apostasy passages. They're not passages concerning people that were actually saved and then fell away.
These are apostates. They are defectors. They were never believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we meet with. in this particular passage, he never knew them.
As well, he condemns self-righteousness as lawlessness. If you take one thing away from this sermon, well, I hope you take some other things, but take that away. Your self-righteousness and mine is bad. When we, you know, fancy that we're in the state of grace by some goodness on our part, we are delusional.
We have missed it by a long shot. Praise God that he even forgives self-righteousness. Praise God that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared, even when it comes to our arrogance and our boastfulness and our thought that somehow God needs us or Somehow God has rewarded us according to our worth or merit. That is absolute unbiblical thinking that we need to dissipate.
He excludes false professors from the kingdom of heaven. John Gill makes an interesting statement. He says, for as it is his presence that makes heaven, it is his absence that makes hell. I think that's fundamental.
I've said before how people think that heaven's gonna be whatever they like on earth, magnified. It's gonna be a big kitchen if you're a woman. No, I'm just kidding. I just wanted to see if everybody was awake.
It's gonna be a garage if you're a man. It's gonna be a shop. It's gonna be a basketball. It's not.
It's where Jesus is. That's what makes heaven heaven. He's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Wherever Christ is, that's heaven.
And that's where we're heading. And then Gil makes this observation, an awful consideration it is that men should be able to cast out devils and at last be cast to the devil. Did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name?
Did we not do many wonders in your name? They're able to cast out demons on this side of heaven, but when it comes to that day of judgment, they are cast into the presence of devils. Sobering passage, but an encouraging passage because the emphasis is upon the gospel of free grace. It's upon belief on our Lord Jesus Christ.
Application and Conclusion
In conclusion, the two parties, the contrast is not between profession with works versus profession without works, rather faith in Christ Jesus for salvation versus no faith in Christ Jesus. That's the contrast. The text is not highlighting the place of good works subsequent to salvation by grace. Again, the Bible teaches that everywhere.
Our confession of faith teaches that everywhere. Isaac pointed out that nagging help. We had a few more people at our Bible study this morning in the confession hour. I think we're gonna do it back to back and continue in chapter 11 next Sunday morning to see how the confession treats the subject of justification by faith alone, but that faith doesn't remain alone.
It's always accompanied by other saving graces. So that what James says is absolutely consistent with what Jesus says, with what Paul says. We're saved by grace through faith in Christ, and then we do good works. But when it comes to our acceptance by Christ into the kingdom of heaven, it's all about what Christ has done.
It's his life, it's his righteousness, it's his death that is the basis upon which any sinner will ever enter in to that heavenly kingdom. I mentioned the pedagogical function of the Sermon on the Mount. Pedagogue means child tutor. That's a function of God's law.
We preach the law to show sinners their sin so that they then see their need for the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not neglect this in the Sermon on the Mount. Do not forsake that approach with reference to the Sermon on the Mount. It baffles me.
It's not just the theological liberals that Machen was dealing with in the early part of the 20th century, but it's today. Oh, we just need to live like Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. And again, I agree we need to live like Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount. I'm not suggesting we don't, but to think that we'll be accepted by God based on how we live according to the Sermon on the Mount, we are seriously deluded if we think that's our pathway to heavenly life.
Listen to Machen. He says, the Sermon on the Mount, rightly interpreted then, makes man a seeker after some divine means of salvation by which entrance into the kingdom can be obtained. The Sermon on the Mount, like all the rest of the New Testament, really leads a man straight to the foot of the cross. Please, when you read Matthew 5-7, think that way.
Yes, be good. Yes, don't commit adultery. Yes, don't murder. Yes, all the things that Jesus highlights there in the antitheses, but also think how much you need Jesus.
And then Lloyd-Jones says, there is nothing Listen to this. This is powerful. There is nothing that so utterly condemns us as the Sermon on the Mount. There is nothing so utterly impossible, so terrifying, and so full of doctrine.
Indeed, I do not hesitate to say that were it not that I knew of the doctrine of justification by faith only, I would never look at the Sermon on the Mount, because it is a sermon before which we all stand completely naked and altogether without hope. In other words, if you read the Sermon on the Mount and you feel good about yourself and your own righteousness, you're not reading it properly. It ought to cast you to the foot of the cross. It ought to cause you or evoke from you.
Nothing in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I claim. Foul I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die. And then one final aspect with reference to our text, the place of assurance. the place of assurance. How do we find assurance of faith?
Well, it is by faith in the Savior, faith in the Lord Jesus. Now, certainly when we have faith in the Lord Jesus, when we have faith, that will be accompanied by all other saving graces. There will be a degree of obedience. There will be a heart for God.
There will be a desire for the things of the Lord. As we saw this morning, behold, he is praying. The regenerate man is a praying man. Again, not a hundred hours a week, but there are those seeds, there are those things present.
So those fruits help us to identify the presence of faith. But ultimately, it is that looking, it is that cleaving, it is that clinging onto our Lord Jesus Christ. another unknown theologian, that more people should know, by the name of Samuel Petto, said, I have often thought, if Christians did give more attendance to such direct acts of faith, that is, looking to Christ alone in the free promise of the gospel, and spent less time in questioning their conditions, or giving way to doubtings about them, they would find their interest in the covenant cleared up, yea, and consolation also coming in, as by the by. In other words, your assurance is tied up with Jesus Christ and His righteousness. Your assurance is tied up with that precious blood.
Your assurance is connected to Him. So the lesson is, look to him in faith. Jesus said, 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 at the last day.
That's what it means to do the will of the father in Matthew 7, 21 to 23. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this passage of scripture. Thank you for the consistency that we find in our Bibles. And God, I pray that this text would speak comfort to our hearts and encouragement if we are in Christ.
If not, I pray that sinners would be shaken, they would be awakened, they would see their need for the Savior, and that by your grace they would believe on him whom you have sent. We ask that you would go with us now, watch over us in this coming week, and cause us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we pray in his most blessed name, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.