Jesus was warning us that saying is not doing vol 2

JESUS WAS WARNING US THAT SAYING IS NOT DOING VOL 2
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Matthew 7:21-2321"Noteveryone who says to me,
'LORD, LORD,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only the one who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'LORD,
LORD, did we not prophesy in your name and in your
name drive out demons and in your name perform
many miracles?'23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
JOHN MACARTHUR
Empty Words
Sermons Matthew 7:21–23 2255 Jun8, 1980
A + A - RESET
Today we’re going to have the wonderful and yet somewhatsorrowful
privilege of finishing The Sermon on The Mount. Wonderful because we see
it come to a climax and sorrowfulbecause in a sense I fearthat we have not
anywhere near plumbed the depths of all that could be said, but as the Lord
would have us we move along. Turn with me in your Bible to Matthew
chapter 7, our text for today, that is this morning and againtonight will be in
verses 21 to 29. Matthew 7:21 to 29.

Let me read this to you as the setting for our day and ask that the Spirit of
God would speak to us in these tremendous truths. “Not everyone who says to
Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will
of My Fatherin heaven. Many will sayto Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in Your name, castout 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 whoeverhears these sayings ofMine, 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 greatwas its fall.’ And so it was, when
Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonishedat His
teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
Now all through The Sermon on the Mount, in chapter5, 6, and 7, the Lord
has been setting forth the divine standards of His kingdom. As the anointed
Messiah, the Christ, the King, He has certain principles which He has
demanded of those who desire to enter the kingdom. Now, those principles
occupy the thrust of this sermon, but they canall be summed up in one word.
The requirement for entering the kingdom is that you be righteous, righteous.
And, therefore, the whole sermon is summed up in chapter 5 verse 20, “ForI
say unto you that except your righteousness shallexceedthe righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees,ye shall in no case enterinto the kingdom of
heaven.”
The kingdom of heaven is God’s world, God’s dominion, salvation, eternal
life. And entrance into that kingdom is dependent upon righteousness. Now
how righteous are we to be? Well, we’re to be more righteous than the scribes
and Pharisees. How righteous were they? Well, they were as righteous as a
man could get on his own terms. They had come to the epitome of human
achievementin religion. They were obsessedwith religious function. As far
as the people around them knew, they were exceedinglyrighteous.

They seemedto do all the right things like praying and giving alms and
fasting. They seemedto have all the right standards like not murdering and
not committing adultery and making sure they maintained every minute
element of the law. It seemedas though they were the ones who were
exceedinglyrighteous and yet the righteousness that Christ demands far
exceeds theirs. In fact our Lord is requiring a righteousness thatis beyond
man’s capacity, a divine righteousness thatcomes from God, a standard that
man himself is utterly unable to attain.
In fact, if you want to know how righteous all you have to do is look at chapter
5 verse 48. And here our Lord says, “Be ye, therefore, perfect – ” how
perfect? –“evenas your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect.” We are to be
righteous, how righteous? More righteous than the most righteous. We are to
be perfect, how perfect? As perfectas Godis.
Now if you really hear that messageyou’re going to face a fact, and that is
that you can’t live this standard. You cannotbe more righteous than the most
righteous people, on your own. Because the most righteous people are as
righteous as people can be on their own. You can’t be more righteous than
that.
And you cannotbe as perfect as God is perfect because you’re a human being.
And so all through the sermon, Jesus is endeavoring to show men the
inadequacy of their own human resources to dealwith God’s kingdom. They
can’t make it. Therefore, the whole idea of the sermonis to bring them to the
very point at which our Lord started, “Blessedare the poor in spirit; for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessedare they that mourn; blessedare the
meek;and Blessedare they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness.”
In other words the Lord said at the very beginning that the people who enter
My kingdom are the people who know their own righteousness doesn’tmake
it, that the standard of perfectionis way beyond their capacity, and so they
are beggars in their spirit. They can’t earn it; they have to beg for it. They
mourn because ofthe total sinfulness that they see in themselves. They are
meek and humble because they know they fall so short of the standard of God,
and they hunger and thirst for a righteousness theyknow they can’t attain.

The purpose of The Sermon on The Mount then is identical to the purpose of
the law of God in the Old Testament. WhenGod gave the law on Sinai, the
law was not given in order to show man how goodhe must be. The law was
given to show man how goodhe couldn’t be, how bad he was, how short he
came.
And Paul summed it up when he said, “Forall have sinned and come – ”
what? – “short of the glory of God.” And Paul says that “The law was our
schoolmasterto drive us to Christ.” The law was what whipped us. And that
is essentiallywhat is going on in The Sermon on The Mount. Jesus is
upholding the law of God.
In fact He says at the early part of the sermon, “Not one jot or tittle shall in
any wise pass from the law. I didn’t come to remove the law, or to destroy the
law, but to fulfill the law.” And Jesus is reiterating the law of God and saying
the standard hasn’t changedand you must see how short you come, and,
therefore, beg in your spirit as a mourner, meek before God hungering and
thirsting for His righteousness. Now thatleaves men with two options, you
either live your life, you either invent your religion or you come God’s way.
You either come on your terms or His terms and that is preciselywhere the
sermon climaxes in chapter 7 verses 13 and 14.
And there our Lord says, “Enterby the narrow gate;for wide is the gate and
broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in that
way. Becausenarrow is the gate and hard is the way which leadeth into life,
and few there be that find it.” Jesus says there are only those two ways.
There is the broad gate, leads to the broad way, ends up in destruction. It is
the wayof easyreligion; it is the way of human righteousness;it is the way of
the scribes and the Phariseesand those who think they’re goodenough on
their own.
On the other hand there’s the narrow gate and the narrow way that leads to
life and that is the way of those who come with a broken heart, with a contrite
spirit, those who come and know they can’t make it. They can’t keepGod’s
law, they can’t meet His standard. They can’t live up to His righteousness,
they can’t be as perfectas Godis, and they castthemselves on the mercy of

Jesus Christ, who imputes to them His own righteousness. There’sonly those
two ways and that is the climax of the sermon.
Now having statedthat greatinvitation to enter at the narrow gate – and
we’ve coveredit in detail – the Lord then shows how difficult that really is. It
is not easy. Don’tbelieve anyone who says it’s easyto become a Christian. It
costGod everything, including His own Son. And it’ll costyou the same thing,
including yourself. It’s not easy.
And those who would offer us an easybelievism, a cheapgrace do us no favor
at all, they delude us. It is difficult to come to God on God’s terms. First of
all, it is difficult because you must recognize your own total inability. And
that means the death of pride, and that’s difficult because we are constantly
told that we’re the most important thing to ourselves.
Now the Lord points out the difficulty of entering in the narrow gate right in
verses 13 and 14. Firstof all it says in verse 14, “Few there be that find it.”
And the word find is important. It’s difficult to enter the narrow gate because
you have to find it, which implies a searching and a looking, and an examining
and an effort. It’s as the Old Testamentsays, “If you seek me with all your
heart, you will find me.” Nobodyjust stumbles along and falls into the
kingdom of God inadvertently. It’s a searching, and the idea is that it isn’t
easilymade visible.
Secondly, it’s difficult not only because you have to find it – and that means a
hard and diligent search – it’s difficult because it means it’s the opposite way
that everybody else is going. Many go in the broad gate, few go in the narrow
way. It’s what James saidwhen he said, “Friendship with the world is enmity
againstGod.” It’s what John said when he said, “If you love the world the
love of the Father’s not in you.” In other words, you have to come apart from
the systemto enter the narrow gate. It’s difficult because the crowd is going
the other way.
It’s difficult also because itis a narrow gate, and that means you come
through naked, stripped of all your self, your sin, your self-righteousness.
You come through absolutely alone. You don’t come through with a group;
you don’t come through with a family; you come through alone. And it is a

constrictedway and you know it’s going to be a narrow life and you must
count the cost.
And Jesus saidfurther, it’s not only difficult because it’s hard to find, it’s
awayfrom the crowd, it’s a narrow gate, but because you must agonize to
enter it, He said in the gospelof Luke. In other words there must be penitence
and confessionand repentance and soul-searching andbrokenness.
And then in our laststudy, we saw that there is another reasonwhy it’s
difficult to enter the narrow way, another reasonwhy it’s difficult to admit
that your – you don’t make it. You can’t live up to God’s standard, you’re
not as perfect as you have to be, and that is because offalse prophets, verse 15.
And in 15 to 20, the Lord says, “False prophets add to the difficulty because
they stand in the way and they chase people onto the broad road.” They’re
the ones trying to divert everybody for Satan’s purposes and Satan’s ends,
telling people they can go through the wide gate with all their sin and
selfishness andthey can flop from side to side and wanderall over a greatbig
wide road and there’s little price to pay.
And so the Lord offers a choice and a verdict, a decision. But He says the
right decisionis to enter the narrow gate and it won’t be easy, and He says,
“Few there be that find it.” Mark that people, few. Notmany but few. And
there’s one other reasonwhy the few is only a few. Notonly the deception of
the false prophets, but listen to this, self-deception. Self-deceptionkeeps
people from entering the narrow gate.
J.C. Ryle, Bishop Ryle, wrote, “The Lord Jesus winds up The Sermon on The
Mount by a passageofheart-piercing application. He turns from false
prophets to false professors, from unsound teachers to unsound hearers.”
And Tasker, the commentator, adds, “It is not only false teachers who make
the narrow way difficult to find. It is a man may also be grievouslyself-
deceivedthat adds to the difficulty.” In other words not just the false
prophets, but we can deceive our own selves into believing we’re Christians
when the fact is we’re not.
Now that preciselyis the issue the Lord takes up in verses 21 to 27, self-
deception. And what a fitting climax it is to the sermon. Having statedall the

principles and having warned about the false prophets the Lord says, “Now,
let Me warn you one other thing, make sure you’re not kidding yourself. Are
you really a true member of the kingdom of heaven?” And the Lord warns us
about two categoriesofself-deception. Number one is a mere verbal
profession, and number two is a mere intellectual knowledge.
In verses 21 to 23 it is a verbal profession. Verse 21, “Noteveryone that
saith.” Verse 22, “Many will say to me.” Now, these are the people who make
the verbal profession;they saythey’re Christians. And then in the second
paragraph it is the ones who have only an intellectual knowledge. Theyhear.
Verse 26, “Everyone that hears these things.” Now listen, then in verses 21 to
23 you have the people who say and don’t do, and in verses 24 to 27 the people
who hear and don’t do. That’s the issue and they’re deceived.
On the one hand it’s a verbal profession. On the other it’s an intellectual
knowledge. And I call it Empty Words and Empty Hearts, and that’s what we
want to speak to in our study today. These dealwith the matter of self-
deception, mere verbal profession, mere intellectual knowledge is, as John
Stott puts it, “A camouflage for disobedience.”
Now you will notice that at the end of verse 21 you have a keyword there.
“But he that doeth the will of my Father, who is in heaven.” It is not the ones
who sayand it is not the ones who hear, it is the ones who what? Who do. In
other words the Lord is saying, “If you do not live a righteous life I don’t care
what you sayor what you hear. You’re deceived.”
Now this is a very, very strong word, and I want you to listen as the Spirit of
God speaks. Bothofthese closing paragraphs, verses 21 to 23, and 24 to 27
contrasta right and a wrong response to the invitation of Christ, and they
show that our eternaldestiny is determined by the choice we make. One, as I
said, deals with what you say over againstwhat you do and the other what you
hear over againstwhat you do.
Now keepthis in mind. The Lord is not speaking to irreligious people; He is
speaking to people who were literally obsessedwith religious activity. They’re
not apostates, they’re not heretics, they’re not anti-God, they not atheists or
agnostics. Theyare utterly religious people but they’re damned because

they’re on the wrong road and they are self-deluded. Now, maybe their self-
delusion is a result of sitting under a false prophet or maybe they’ve actually
satunder the truth but have deluded themselves. They are not a lot unlike
Israelof whom Paul said, “They had a form of godliness but denied the reality
of it.”
And I really believe, people, that this is a message thatneeds to be spoken
today because I am convincedthat the Church of Jesus Christ is literally
jammed full of people who aren’t Christians and don’t know it. I mean when
I hear statistics like two billion people in the world are Christians and two
billion are not, then I wonder who in the world has establishedthe criteria.
That isn’t what the Bible says. It says many and few.
When Gallup says, according to his poll, that 52% of the American population
are born-againChristians that doesn’t square with the Scripture. And who is
going to live under the delusion that because you sign a line on a survey that
says you’re a born-again Christian you really are a born again Christian.
Certainly Jesus is saying many of those who think they’re in aren’t in, and
only a few are. This is the ultimate delusion, people. You could be deluded
about a lot of things but to be deceivedabout whether you’re a Christian
that’s really getting at your eternaldestiny. And so Jesus says you better
check it very carefully.
We have all kinds of people I’m sure, even right here in Grace Community
Church, who are connectedto the right religion and utterly devoid of the
righteousness ofGod through Christ. We have multitudes of deceivedpeople
who are in the church, who are on the Jesus bandwagon, who think
everything is well and for them judgment is going to be one big surprise.
Frankly, there’s no better way to undeceive them than by this particular
sermon of our Lord. Now some of these people I believe that are deceivedare
false prophets. I think some false prophets aren’t deceived. They know
they’re phony.
But I think some of them probably are self-deceivedso we’d see some of them
in this group. But I think the many in verses 21 and following is not just false
prophets but all of those who are self-deluded and deceivedabout whether

they’re really redeemed. You know I don’t have time to get into it because
our time is so limited, but the Bible literally is filled with warnings to people
who are deceived. Let me just give you one other illustration, Matthew 25.
And it’s very similar and I think you’ll get the picture. And the reasonthere
are so many warnings, listen, is because there are so many people deceived,
“Many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord.’ And I’ll sayI never knew you.” Not a
few, not an isolatedbunch but many. And because there are so many that are
deceivedthere are many warnings. Matthew 25:1 says, “Thenshall the
kingdom of heaven be likenedunto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and
went forth to meet the bridegroom.” And, of course, the virgins are symbolic
of people who are attachedto Christianity and the bridegroom is emblematic
of Christ. “Five of them were wise, and five were foolish,” like the people who
build on the rock and the sand.
“And they were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them.” In other
words they had a form of godliness but they didn’t have the power. They
didn’t have what they needed, they didn’t have the heart of it, they didn’t
have salvation, they just had churchianity. “But the wise took oil in their
vessels with their lamps. And while the bridegroom tarried, they all
slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, ‘Behold, the
bridegroom cometh; go out to meet him.’
“And then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish
ones said unto the wise, ‘Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.’ But
the wise answered, saying, ‘Notso, lestthere be not enough for us and you;
but go rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went
to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to
the marriage;and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins,
saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’ But he answeredand said, ‘Verily I sayunto
you, I know you not.’ ”
Now, there is a similar text. Go back to Matthew chapter 7. That’s saying the
same thing. There’s going to come a day when people are going to expectthe
door to be open and it’s going to slam shut forever in their faces. “Idon’t
know you.” What a fearful thing. So many people think they’re saved, think

they’re safe and judgment for them is going to be a shock. Whatlulls people
into that deception, what makes people really think they’re saved? Welllet
me give you severalsuggestions.
First of all, I think many times it’s because theyhave a false doctrine of
assurance. Inother words, let’s assume that when you were led to Christ
somebody saidto you, “Now, allyou have to do to be a Christian is pray this
little prayer and say this little formula basedon certain statements.”
Well, you prayed it, you saidit, you signedon the dotted line, and as long as
you said it and as long as you prayed it and as long as you went through the
thing, why you’re saved. And I don’t want anybody to ever question that and
so forth and so on. And that very often happens and you have a false sense of
assurance.
You want to know something? When you lead a person to Christ you should
never say, “Now, Iknow you’re saved and don’t you ever doubt it, and don’t
you ever let anybody else cause you to doubt it, boy, you’re saved.” And I’ve
heard people even say, “If you ever ask Jesus into your life a secondtime you
are denying something that belongs to God, you’re denying the permanence of
His salvation. You are questioning God’s integrity. You are, in a sense,
casting againstGodthat which He has said as if it weren’t true. Don’t ever do
that. Just acceptit, you said it, you signed the dotted line,” and that’s a lot of
baloney.
Listen if you feel in your heart that you want to invite Jesus Christto become
the Lord and Savior of your life and you’ve done it before, do it again. Don’t
let somebody’s false assurance, somebody’s false certificationtake the place of
the convicting work of the Spirit of God. And I think a lot of times in our
evangelismas long as somebody says the prayer and prays the little thing and
signs on the line and has the card stuck in their Bible, we give them this little
psychologicalgame that they don’t ever have to worry about whether they’re
savedor not, when the Spirit of God never did that in the beginning because
they never were really right.
I can’t ever say to someone, “Wellnow, boy, I know you’re savedand don’t
you ever doubt it and don’t you ever ask again. It’s all settledand it’s done

because you saidthe little formula. If I do that I give them a psychological
assurance ofsomething I don’t even know is true. When Jesus said, “The seed
of the word is caston four soils,” only one out of four turned out to be true.
Don’t go around certifying people’s salvation. You give them a false
assurance. LetGodgive them assurance through His Spirit witnessing with
their spirits that they are the children of God and crying Abba Father. Let
God give them assurance whenthey add to their faith virtue. And as they add
to their faith virtue and patience and godliness and love, then shall their
electionbe sure, then shall they know they’ve been forgiven of their sin, then
shall they not be blind to the reality of salvation. That’s God’s work not some
certificationby some human being. But I think a lot of people have been told
they’re savedso they believe it.
Another thing that I think lulls people into this deception is a failure of self-
examination; they never really examine themselves. Theyget into such a
grace concept, that everything is grace and everything is forgiveness that they
never really bother to face their sin. They hear somebody say, “Well, you
don’t have to confess your sin; your sin’s already forgiven. It’s all taken care
of. Everything is setaside. Don’t even worry about that; just go on live your
life. It almost borders on what is called antinomianism or an attitude against
the law of God, and people can get to the place where they don’t even bother
to examine their lives.
Why do you think the Lord brings us to His table, in First Corinthians 11,
over and over and over and over again? In order that a man may examine
himself. SecondCorinthians 13:5 says, “You better examine yourself,
whether you be in the faith.” If you don’t you’re in danger of self-deception.
You need to look at your sin; you need to look at your motives.
Why do you do what you do? And believe me, if you’re really genuinely saved
God will confirm that, by His Spirit witnessing with your spirit. But if that
confirmation isn’t there you shouldn’t be under the illusion that just because
it isn’t there you’re okay, by some certificationby somebody or some little
prayer you prayed.

Thirdly, anotherthing that I think causes people to be under the delusion that
they’re savedis a fixation on religious activity. In other words, they go to
church, they hear sermons, they sing songs, they read the Bible, they go to a
Bible study, they take a class. And because they’re all wrapped up in religious
activity they think they are saved. But that’s, that’s a very, very great
illusion, a very great illusion. There are many in the church that are not,
tares among the wheat.
And then a fourth area that I think lulls people into deceptionis what I call
the fair-exchange approach. And this is where when-ever you see something
wrong in your life, instead of really dealing with it and examining whether
you’re really a true Christian, instead of dealing with what’s wrong in your
life you find something right with your life and you make a fair exchange.
“Oh, I can’t be that bad. I mean look what I did over here, see.”
And you’re always trading off the negatives and the positives, and instead of
really evaluating your life honestly with integrity and saying, “Am I a
believer?” And if I am, can I be doing this?” You say, “wellI know I do that,
but oh look what I did over here,” and you make a fair exchange and you
whitewashthe deal. You can be lulled into deception by some false assurance,
by a failure to examine yourself, by a fixation on religious activity or by a fair-
exchange approach. But in all those casesyou’re deceived.
I mean it’s amazing to me how many people are deceived. I, I can’t believe
how many times I’ve entered into a situation of talking to people in the
homosexualmovement, who say to me, “Well we’re Christians and we’re born
again.” And they canrecite the creed, and they cantell you the day they were
savedand they can show you the card where they wrote the line, and they can
say, “We believe in Jesus,” andso forth and so on.
But the bottom line is this. With all of your false assurance,with all your
failure to self-examine, with all this fixation on religious activity, and with the
fair exchange principle in operation, the bottom line that you’d better
examine is this. Do you live in total obedience to the Word of God? And
when you disobey it, is there a sense ofconviction and remorse that draws you

to confess it to God? And if that isn’t there, there’s a fair question about
whether you’re even a Christian.
Becausethe one who comes into the kingdom, verse 21 says, is the one not who
says, but the one who does. And when these homosexuals or whoevercome
along and say, We’re Christians,” my answerto that is, if you were you
wouldn’t do what you do, and defend it. We have the same thing,for example,
take the women’s lib movement which is so much connectedwith
homosexuality and its origins and at the front running levels. Here are
women who are going around saying, “Well we don’t believe the Bible
anymore. The woman is to be elevated,” and so forth and so on, and over the
man and all of these other things. And they say, “We are Christians.”
In fact, I just read a book by a woman who says she’s a psychologistof
religion and she wants the world to know that religion is to be altered and
changedso that the woman gets her rightful place. And they say they’re
Christians. They say they believe, so many of them, and yet if you getdown to
it they are unwilling to submit to the Lordship of Christ as revealedin His
Word. And it is a lack of obedience that reveals the illusion.
And I always wonderyou know, just take for example that, that whole idea of
the women’s movement I get in a lot of trouble on that issue so I might as well
go ahead on it. At leastit won’t be anything new. But I am amazed how
many Christian womenare lead astrayby believing these people who just may
claim to be Christians but are so utterly deluded. And then there are some
who don’t claim to be Christians at all and they’re actually leading the
parade. And here are Christian women following the parade led by godless
kinds of people.
For an illustration, there’s a new book out calledThe Changing of the Gods.
Feminism And The End Of Traditional Religionis the subtitle, written by
Naomi Goldenberg. Listento what it says, “The feminist revolution will not
leave religion untouched. Eventually, all religious hierarchies will be peopled
with women. I imagine women functioning as rabbis, priests and ministers, I
picture womenwearing clericalgarb and performing clericalduties. And
suddenly I saw a problem. How could womenrepresent a male God?

Everything I knew about Judaism and Christianity involved accepting Godas
the ultimate and male authority figure.
“Congregations wouldhave to stop seeing Godas male. And what could these
women priests and ministers and rabbis read to their communities? They
certainly could not use the Bible. A societythat acceptedlarge numbers of
women as religious leaders would be too different from the biblical world to
find the Bible relevant, let alone look to it for inspiration. God is going to
change, I thought, we women are going to bring an end to God.
“As we take positions in government, medicine, law, business, in the arts and
finally in religion we will be the end of God. We will change the world so
much that He won’t fit in anymore. I found this line of thought most
satisfying. I had no greattie to God anyway. He never seemedto be relevant.
Reflectionon His cultural demise left me with no sense ofloss yet there was a
magnificence attachedto the idea of watching Him go. I felt part of a
movement that would challenge religions that had been enforcedfor
millennia.
“What will happen to God in His last years? The end of God and the
transformation of religion was of major significance to human life so I
returned to graduate schoolto study the end of God. The feminist movement
in Westernculture is engagedin the slow executionof Christ and God. All of
the roles that men and women have been taught to consideras God given will
be reevaluated. All feminists – ” listen to this line – “All feminists) are making
the world less and less like the one describedin the Bible, and are thus helping
to lessenthe influence of Christ and God on humanity.”
Now at leastshe’s honest enough to admit that. And there are feminists in the
church that are claiming that this is the truth of God when the facts are she
knows that this is a denial of everything the Bible teaches. And yet Christian
people are buying this in disobedience to the Word of God.
Let me read you a couple of other quotes, “Jesus Christcannot symbolize the
liberation of women. In order to developa theology of women’s liberation
feminists have to leave Christ and the Bible behind them. We have to stop
denying the sexismthat lies at the root of Jewishand Christian religion. It is

likely that as we watchChrist and God tumble to the ground we will
completely outgrow the need for an external God.” Then she says, “We have
to see the inner goddess as ourpsychic force. In the new age of changes for
our gods. Christ and God will no longer behave as egotisticalspoiledchildren
in our psyches.”
In the book there’s a sectionon feminist witchcraft. And, by the way, the
feminist movement is attachedto witchcraft. It goes wayway back. I don’t
have time to develop it. But all through the book it talks about the goddess is
alive. And in April, the 23rd of April 1976 they had their first national all
women’s conference onwomen’s spirituality, and NaomiGoldenberg
describes the conference. “Thewomenchanted the goddess is alive, the
goddess is alive, magic is afoot. They ended the goddess is alive chants with
dancing, stamping, clapping and yelling, they stoodon pews and danced bare
breastedon the pulpit Communion Table and amid the hymn books.”
All this in a church. And she says, “Why not display your breasts in a place
that has tried to teachyou that they are things to be ashamedof, features that
make you unlike God or His Son.” The chapteron witchcraftsaid, “That
what the women’s movement is going to demand in America is female deity,
nature is sacred, human will is supreme, no original sin, no goodand no evil,
the absence ofa sacredtext, no laws of discipline, sex to follow its own course,
and omnipresent in everything we do is play, PLAY.” Now, you tell me that
Christian women can line up with a movement like that and be obedient to the
Word of God?
I think there are a lot of people who are deluded about who really is a
Christian. When so-calledChristians advocate following that kind of
movement, and I’m sure many of the Christians who advocate the ERA are
not advocating that. They just don’t know what’s really leading their
movement. That’s part of the delusion. If you argue with Scripture, if you
twist the Scripture, if you manipulate the Scripture, if you force the Scripture
to say what you want it to say you are not doing the will of the Father, you’re
imposing your own will on the Word of God. And you may be a part of the
many, not the few.

You have failed, perhaps, to come through the narrow gate. You come
through the narrow gate. You know the law of God is perfect and you’re
imperfect. You come through the narrow gate;you know there is a righteous
standard that you can’t live up to. And insteadof coming through with pride
and egotismand demanding your rights, you come through with repentance,
confession, humility, brokenness, contritionof heart and submission to the
Lordship of Jesus Christ. There are many people deceived, beloved, many,
many. Few find it.
And the deceived come in a couple of categories,I think in the church, apart
from the hypocrites who aren’t deceived. They’re phony and they know it,
but they’re trying to live up to their wife’s standard or trying to appear
religious for whateverreasons. Butapart from hypocrites, there are two
categoriesofthe deceivedin the church, the superficial and the involved. The
superficial are the ones who callthemselves Christians because whenthey
were little they went to church or Sunday Schoolor they gotconfirmed or
made a decision, quote/unquote, “for Christ.”
And you hear very often people when they get baptized say, “Well I received
Christ when I was 12. But my life was a mess after that and now I want to get
back to that. Well, the truth probably is that they never receivedChrist at all
when they were twelve. They went through some religious activity. And these
are the superficial. Theycome to church now. They were somewhere in the
background, raisedin religionand they come on Christmas and Easterand
they come to weddings and funerals and think they’re Christians. They’re the
superficial who are deceived.
Then there’s the involved who are deceivedand they’re a much more subtle
and serious group. They’re in the church up to their neck involved, and they
know the gospel, they know the theologybut they don’t obey the Word of
God. Theylive in a constant state of sinfulness. Now, how does a deceived
person know he’s deceived? How can we spot such a person? Let me give you
some keys, and I want you to think these through.
Now, not everybody in these keys that I’m going to give you is really deceived
but these are goodindicators that someone might be deceived. If you want to

spot someone who’s deceived, look first of all for someone who’s seeking
feelings, blessings, experiences,healings, angels,miracles. Why? Chances are
they’re more interestedin the byproducts of the faith than they are the faith
itself. They’re more interested in what they can getthan the glory God can
get. They’re more interestedin themselves than in the exaltation of Christ.
Secondly, if you’re looking to see who might be deceived, look for people who
are more committed to the denomination, the church, the organizationthan to
the Word of God. Their kind of Christianity may be purely social. “I’m a
Presbyterian. “Well, I’ve been a Baptistall my life.” “I’m a Lutheran, I
belong to the – ” whatever. More committed to the organizationthan they are
to the Lord and His Word.
Thirdly, look for people who are involved in theologyas an academic interest.
And you’ll find them all over the collegesand seminaries of our land. People
who study theology, write books on theology, absolutelyvoid of the
righteousness ofChrist. Theologyfor them is intellectual activity.
Fourthly, look for people who always seemstuck on one overemphasizedpoint
of theology. This is the person who bangs the proverbial drum for his own
little area, some crazy quirk. And it usually is not some greatdivine insight.
They’d like you to think that they are so close to Godthey have a great divine
insight no one else has. The fact of the matter is they’re seeking a platform
for the feeding of their ego. Watchfor people with a lack of balance.
And one other thought. When you look for somebodywho might be deceived,
look for someone who is overindulgent in the name of grace, overindulgentin
the name of grace. Lackspenitence, a true contrite heart, and so forth. Now,
they all may be deceivedand on the broad road to destruction, thinking all the
while they’re going to heaven. Now our Lord warns these people in verses 21
to 27. We’re going to draw this to a conclusionin a few minutes, I want you
to listen.
The Lord says in this passagethat these people are the deceived. These people
think they are on the right road but they are not. And first, in the paragraph
verses 21 to 23, is the folly of empty words, and in verses 24 to 27, the folly of
empty hearts. Notice againin verse 21, “Notevery one that saith,” in verse 22,

“Many will say.” The claims are amazing. The claims are beautiful. But they
don’t do what they claim.
Elton Trueblood has said, “That our main mission field today as far as
America is concernedis within the church membership itself. Karl Bart, who
is by no means an evangelicalbut, did saysome things that were true, said,
“The true function of the church consists firstof all in its ownregeneration.”
We’ve got to get our own act together. We’re loadedwith people who are
filled with empty words. Theysay, they say, they say, they say, but they don’t
do God’s will. Now, there’s nothing wrong with saying. I mean, “If you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God
has raisedhim from the dead, you’ll be saved.” So you’ve gotto say,
confessionis necessary, but confessionwithout obedience is a sham
Now look with me for a minute, very briefly at their confessionin verse 21.
They say, “Lord, Lord – ” verse 22 – “they say, ‘Lord, Lord.’ And we heard
the virgins, didn’t we? “Lord, Lord,” in Matthew 25. This is an interesting
phrase. The first time they say Lord it could be their respect, the word means
Master, teacher, sir. It’s a term of dignity, respect, recognition. They’re
saying, Lord in a sense that we respectYou. The secondtime, “Lord, Lord,”
may emphasize the orthodoxy of their claim for the word Lord, Kurios is the
word translated in the Septuagintof the Old Testamentfor the name of
Jehovah.
They’re saying, “We know You’re God, we know You’re Jehovah. We accept
all that Your deity involves, Your virgin birth, miraculous life, substitutionary
death, powerful resurrection, intercession, secondcoming. They are
respectful, they are orthodox, they use the right terms, the right attitudes.
And then notice, “Lord, Lord,” the fact that they say it twice indicates their
zeal and their passionand their fervency and their commitment and their
strength of devotion.
And, by the way, if this is occurring at the greatwhite throne judgment and
they’re saying this at the greatwhite throne judgment; if this is the day of
which He speaks whenHe says, “in that day,” then it’s very possible that
those who come there have already spent centuries in a place of judgment and

punishment, and that even adds to their fervency. “Lord, Lord,” what have
we been doing being where we’ve been. And so there is a fervency and an
orthodoxy and a respectfulness.
And then in verse 22, they say three times, “in thy name, in thy name, in thy
name.” I mean, they aren’t even so self-centeredin that sense. We’ve been
doing it for You, we’ve been preaching for You, and we’ve been casting out
demons for You, and we’ve been doing miracles for You. That’s an amazing
claim. It is respectful, it is orthodox, it is fervent, it is zealous. Theyproclaim
and they do works. Boy, that sounds good. And we say, “These have gotto be
Christians.” I mean, they are respectful, they’re orthodox, they’re fervent in
their private devotion, they’re zealous in their public ministry of word and
work.
It sounds so good. But, verse 21, “Noteveryone that says that is going to
enter.” Becausenoteverybody who says that has been doing the will of the
Father who is in heaven. And so the Lord will confess inverse 23, here’s My
confession, homologe, “Inever knew you; depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.” What a shock. He says, “I want to give you a confession.” And, by
the way, this is takenright out of Psalm 6:8. “1 want to confess this to you, I
never knew you.” It’s like He said to the virgins banging on the door, “I don’t
know you.”
Well, you say, “Whatdo you mean, that God doesn’t know who they are?”
No, of course He knows who they are He knows everything. They’re not
talking simply about an awareness, nottalking about mental comprehension,
the word “know” is used in the Bible – and you have to watchthis – of an
intimate relationship. Forexample, in Amos 3:2 God says of Israel, “You only
have I known among all the nations.” Does that mean the only people He
knew about were Jews? No. It meant that He had an intimate relationship
with them. “My sheep hear my voice and I know them.”
To even put it more intimately – I think this will help you understand it. In
the Old Testamentit says, “Cainknew his wife and she bore a son.” Now it
doesn’t mean he knew who she was or he knew her name. It means he knew
her in the absolute intimate actof marriage. And you’ll remember that when

Mary was pregnant with our Lord as He, as the divine seed, was infused by
the Spirit of God, Josephwas shocked. And the Bible says he was shocked
because “he had never – ” what? – “knownher.” You see the word know
embodies an intimate relationship. And Jesus says, “Inever had any intimate
relationship with you. Oh, you were around the fringes but I never had that
intimacy with you.”
And then He says, “depart from me,” get out of My presence forever. Why?
Becausethe end of the verse 23, “You do always continue to work
lawlessness.” Thatis a present participle. Why? “Becauseinsteadof doing
the will of My Father – ” by the way that is a term that picks up all of the rest
of The Sermon on the Mount – “insteadof living by these righteous principles
you do always continue to do lawlessness.” And instead of doing God’s will,
His righteous standard, you do continually, always work lawlessness.
You know what it means to profess Christ? Absolutely nothing, if your life
doesn’t back it up. That’s why Petersaid what he said. “If you can’t add to
your faith, virtue, then you’re not going to know you’re really redeemed.”
That’s what James meant when he said, “Faithminus works equals zero.”
It’s dead. Professionis valueless.
In fact, I believe that to profess Christ and to claim Christ, invalidly, is taking
the Lord’s name in vain in the ultimate sense. I don’t think taking the Lord’s
name in vain is saying, “Jesus Christ” or“God” out on the streets. That’s one
way. But the epitome of violating God’s name is to claim Christ when He isn’t
yours.
G. Campbell Morganhas well said it, “The blasphemy of the sanctuary is far
more awful than the blasphemy of the slum.” It is a Judas kiss to say, “Lord,
Lord,” and then disobey. That is a Judas kiss. We must be consumedwith
doing the will of God. That’s why the prayer says, “Thywill be – ” what? –
“done.” not only in heaven but where? – “in earth." And that means through
me, through me. You say, “Well, John, what about if I don’t do it, if I fail?”
The prayer goes on to say, “Forgive us our trespasses – ” our debts – “as we
forgive those who trespass againstus.”

Yes, we know that we’re going to fail but that’s where we come for
forgiveness, andthat’s part of the righteous act. The righteous standard Jesus
speaks ofassumes we’llfail, but when we fail we’ll be there confessing. That’s
why First John 1:9 says, “if we are the ones continually confessing oursins, we
give evidence of the ones that are being forgiven.” In other words the ones
being forgiven are the ones confessing. Yousee, He’s not saying, “Here’s the
perfect standard. If you ever fail you’re out.” He’s saying, “Here’s the
perfect standard, and part of the perfect standard is that when you fail you
deal with it.”
That’s God’s standard. And I would dare saythat if The Sermon on The
Mount is not the direction of your life, not the perfectionof it but if it’s not the
direction of your life, I don’t care what confessionyou’ve made, I don’t care if
you’ve been baptized or whateveryou’re not a Christian. You remember in
John 6 they said to Him, “Well, what do we do to work the works of God?”
And He said, “This is the work of God that you believe on Him that sent
Him.”
Where do you start with the will of God? Believe on Christ. The only thing
acceptable to God is a righteousness thatis the product of repentant faith in
Jesus Christ, and that produces goodworks. And if that’s not there no matter
what you sayit doesn’tmatter. It absolutely doesn’t matter. And so the Lord
says in verse 23 if I canparaphrase, “Notfor one single moment have I
acknowledgedyou as My own or knownyou intimately. You are forever
expelled from My presence becauseyou continue to work lawlessness.
Now, what makes this so shocking? And I want to just do this in closing.
What makes this so shocking is that the claims they make are amazing. Look
at verse 22, “Lord, Lord, we’ve prophesied, castout demons, done wonderful
works.” Three words, prophecy, exorcism, and miracles. It sounds like much
of what’s claimed in the Charismatic movement today.
Now, you know something? Some people who claim that will be legitimate,
there are…have been some who were true prophets, some who truly in the
name of Jesus Christ castout the enemy, some that God used to do marvelous

things, mighty things. But there are plenty who are going to claim it and it
isn’t true. It isn’t true. That’s not going to do it.
Now, the question always comes up and I want to deal with it just briefly.
Just relax. We’re going to be here for another couple of minutes so don’t be
itching to go. This is my last time. But I want you to hear this. Some people
say, “Well I mean, boy, did they really do this? Did they really preach,
prophesy? Did they really castout demons? Did they really do mighty
works? There’s three alternatives. Number one, they did, by God’s power.
Number two, they did, by Satan’s power. Number three they didn’t, they just
fakedit. All three could be true.
You say, “Even if they’re unbelievers it could be true?” Yes. Do you know
that God has workedthrough unbelievers? Well, look back in the Old
Testament, and you’ll find that God has actually workedHis work through
unbelievers. Forexample, in Numbers 23:5 it says, “And the Lord put a word
in Balaam’s mouth.” “And Balaam– ” says Peter– “loved the wages of
unrighteousness.” He was an unrighteous evil prophet for hire, but God used
his mouth. There have been times when God has even workedthrough
unregenerate people.
I suppose you would have to say the crucifixion of Christ was one of the most
monumental ones. In First Samuel 10:10 and 11, the apostate king of Israel
who was by no means righteous, of him it says, “The Spirit of God came upon
him and he prophesied.” Amazing. Of Caiaphas, in John 11:51 and 52, the
Lord put a prophecy in the mouth of that vile high priest, so that he
prophesied the death of Christ for all men. It’s very possible that some of
these self-deluded people were actually used by God, did actually speak God’s
truth. I mean that’s within the realm of possibility.
Secondly, it is possible that they may have done wonderful things and castout
demons and preachedunder the powerof Satan. ForSatancan express his
power. Oh, Satanexpressedhis power on Job, didn’t he, in death,
destruction, disease? No questionabout it. Do you know that there were the
sons of Sceva, in Acts 19, that actually went around casting out devils? Jesus
even acknowledgedthat the Jews had this ability when Jesus said, “If I cast

out demons by Beelzebub, who do you castdemons out through?” He was
recognizing that perhaps they had evendone that and that you could castout
demons.
Perhaps some righteous Jews did it by the power of God. Perhaps some
unrighteous Jews did it through the power of Satan. You say, “Well, why
would Satan castout Satan?” Becausehe’s confusedto begin with, his whole
system’s a mess. Do you know that in Deuteronomy 13 it says, “There would
come false prophets and they would prophesy certain things, certainsigns and
wonders. And they would come to pass and you still weren’t to believe them.”
And maybe they were Satanicallyenergized.
Do you know that it tells us in Matthew 24:24, false Christs, false prophets
will come and do signs and wonders, SecondThessalonians 2 verses 8 to 10,
“that the Antichrist is going to come and do false signs and wonders.” Satan
can do some amazing things. And then there’s the whole area of just plain
fakery, and I think that’s what was cooking up in Egypt. I think the, the
magicians of Egypt who were trying to mimic the miracles of Moses were just
pulling off fake things. When they reproduced what Moses did, I think it was
just chicanery, just their own little magic. I call it magic shop stuff, tricks.
Now, the point is this, people. These people are going to say, “We preached
and we castout demons and we did mighty works.” And maybe some of them
were used by God to do that. If God will use Balaam’s ass He’ll use anything.
Maybe they did it by the power of the devil, masquerading as God, white
magic. Maybe it was just plain old hocus-pocus like most healers that you see
today. The point isn’t how they did it the point is they were deceived. They
thought it was God but it wasn’t God, it wasn’tGod.
I think there are a lot of people today preaching, a lot of people casting out
devils, a lot of people healing and a lot of people doing other stuff that they
believe is God and it isn’t God. And a lot of people believe that. They say,
“Oh yes, it’s the Lord, it must be God.” And it’s nothing but Satanic or
trickery.
But the point is simply this, no matter what they say, no matter what they
claim and no matter what miracles and wonders and stuff they’ve saidthey’ve

seen, Jesus says, “Youare not qualified to be in My kingdom.” And that’s the
shock, becausethey never came through the narrow gate, never. What a
devastating thing. Well, to make a mere verbal professionis not enough.
Tonight we’ll find out to hear is not enough either.
Father thank You this morning for this Word to us. We hear the words in our
hearts of JefferyO’Hara’s anthem, “Why callMe Lord, Lord, and do not the
things I say. Ye callMe the wayand walk Me not. Ye call Me the life and live
Me not. Ye call Me Masterand obey Me not. If I condemn thee blame Me
not. Ye call Me bread and eatMe not. Ye call Me truth and believe Me not.
Ye call Me Lord and serve Me not. If I condemn thee blame Me not.”
And we cannot blame You Lord for condemning those who say but don’t do,
for they give evidence of not being apart of the kingdom. May no one go from
this place in that category. OhLord, what a wonderful morning we’ve had.
We pray that it’ll be all that it could be as we honestly examine our own
hearts, that we might know we’re in the faith. Bring into the prayer room
those that need to come Father. Do Your work in all our hearts. In Christ’s
name, amen.
JOHN MACARTHUR
Savedor Self-Deceived, Part2
Sermons Matthew 7:21–27 80-327 Nov11, 2007
A + A - RESET
When all is said and done in terms of the ministry of the word of God, the
most important thing that we do is preachthe gospelof Jesus Christ. The
most important thing we do is to tell people there is a heaven and there is a
hell, and you will spend eternity in heaven or in hell; and then to tell people
that there is a way to heaven, guaranteed, absolutelysure and final. There is a

way therefore to avoid hell. And since heaven and hell are forever, this is the
most important messagethatanyone can ever give or anyone canever hear.
Every human being lives forever. Every human being is eternal. After this life
is over, we will live forever. We will live consciously, personally, intelligently.
We will live fully aware of every detail of our existence. We will experience
every moment of our eternal existence in a sense that we have never
experiencedany moment in this life – without distraction, with full
comprehension, full understanding of every moment and every experience in
eternity without ever sleeping or being unconscious.
The experience of every person in the life to come will be unlimited and
unmitigated and unrestrained and unprotected. We will have, in our final
form, fully functioning minds and bodies. We will feel, we will think, we will
emote at a level that far exceeds the most exhilarating moment in life here. We
will be fully conscious ofevery detail in the eternal experience of heavenor
hell.
The biblical description of hell makes this obvious. It is describedas a place of
a relentless accusing conscience,unrelieved guilt, remorse, sorrow, regret,
isolation, agony, suffering, punishment by God, describedas fire, darkness,
where there is gnashing of teeth and weeping and wailing forever. On the
other hand, the biblical description of heavenis stunningly attractive:
unending, unlimited joy, bliss, happiness, satisfaction, no pain, no sorrow, no
suffering, no loss, no remorse, sheerjoy forever.
It should be obvious that heaven is the place to be and hell is the place not to
be. The most important choice a person makes is the choice ofheaven. And
it’s a challenging choice. And sadto say, there are many people who think

they have made that choice, but they have not. They think they are setto
avoid hell and enter into heaven, but they are mistaken.
Open your Bible to Matthew chapter 7 and hear the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who is, by the way, Lord of heavenand Lord over hell. Matthew
chapter 7, verse 21, and I want to read down to verse 27. Matthew chapter7,
verse 21: “Noteveryone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Fatherwho is in heaven. Many will
say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in
Your name castout demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’And
then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness.’
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them,
may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst against
that house;and yet it didn’t fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And
everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not actupon them, will be
like a foolishman who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst againstthat house;and it
fell – and greatwas its fall.”
Surely there are no more serious words for religious people to hear than these,
no more serious words for people who profess Christianity than these, because
our Lord says there will not be a few, but many who are mistaken about their
future destiny. He points out in this passage forour considerationthe folly of
empty words, and then the tragedy of empty hearts – empty words coming
from empty hearts.

I don’t think there’s a more sobering text of Scripture than this one. I can
understand that there are people who rejectreligion, rejectChristianity, want
nothing to do with Jesus Christ, nothing to do with the gospelof Christ,
nothing to do with the Bible, the Word of God, and they are headed for hell.
But it’s a far more sobering and stunning and shocking thing to realize that
there are many who are going to say, “Lord, Lord,” to Jesus Christ. There is a
confessionopenlyof some attachmentto Him that has been carried so far that
they have actually functioned in His name, only to hear that they will not at all
enter heaven.
One’s final destiny then is not determined by what you say, it is determined by
what you do. It is not about profession, it is about obedience. Now that is not
to say that verbal professionof Christ is bad; it is not bad, it is good. It is not
just good, it is necessary. If you would be saved, you must confess Jesus as
Lord, Romans 10:9 and 10, and believe in your heart that God raised Him
from the dead. “Forwith the mouth confessionis made unto salvation, and
with the heart man believes.” Confessionis good.
Confessionis not only good, it is necessary. It is also the work of the Holy
Spirit, because in 1 Corinthians 12:3 we read that no one canmake this
confession, no one can make this professionapart from the Holy Spirit. So
confessing Jesusas Lord is necessary;it is also the work of the Spirit to bring
about a true professionof Christ.
But it cannotstand alone, just the profession. Let’s look at verse 21:“Not
everyone who says to Me,” the operative word here is “says.”You can
underline that and you’ll get the thrust of what our Lord is saying. “Not
everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord.’”

Now there is nothing in that confessionthat is anything short of right. It is
correctto say Lord, and to say it twice is to affirm a certain level of devotion.
“Lord,” that’s respectful. “Lord, Lord,” that’s orthodox, that’s fundamental,
that is certainly true. And so, here you have what is correct, what is true, what
is, to some degree, zealous and passionate, showing some strengthof devotion:
“Lord, Lord.”
And you add to that that this person is convincedthat, “In Your name we
have prophesied and in Your name castout demons, and in Your name
performed many miracles.” Here is a life given over to the purposes connected
to the name of Christ. This is not a fringe person. This is not somebodyon the
edge. Three times in verse 22 “in Your name” appears. It’s emphatic. There is
devotion here. There is an open confessionthat has passionand zeal. And
backing up that confessionand that professionis a life given over to ministry
associatedwith the name of Jesus Christ.
And even the activities themselves. “Prophesy”doesn’tmean to predict the
future, it means to speak forth. They have taught, spoken, proclaimed in the
name of Christ. They have engagedin spiritual conflict. They claimed to have
actually exercisedpowerover demons in that name, and even to have done
some miracles. Here is a life that could basicallybe defined as the life of a
minister, the life of a missionary, the life of a preacheror a teacherof the
gospel, oreven the life of an apostle who was able to perform wonders and
have powerover Satan. This is not then some superficial marginal person
making the claim, “Lord, Lord.”
How stunning then to hear in verse 22 many saying that. And then in verse 23,
in response to their confession, the Lord makes His confession, “And then will
I declare to them, ‘I never knew you.’” They may claim Him, He does not
claim them.

Why? Because salvationdoesn’tcome to those who only profess it, who only
speak of it. It’s not the sayers who are saved, it is the doers. And if you look a
little closerinto verse 23, you can see that these people are not known to the
Lord because they are doers of lawlessness. “Departfrom Me, you who
practice lawlessness.”Literally in the Greek, “Youthat do always work
lawlessness. Youthat do always work evil.”
Professing Christand living a sinful life will expose you one day as a
hypocrite. Professionis valueless if it stands alone. In fact, professionis a kind
of profanity. I’ve always felt that it’s pretty clearin the Old Testamentthat
you’re not to take the Lord’s name in vain. I know as a kid I was raisedin
such a way in my family to never ever eventhink of taking the Lord’s name in
vain, in any way, shape, or form. And my parents educated me about what
they called“minced oaths,” where you would intend to take the Lord’s name
in vain, but you substitute another word, and that is equally wrong and a
violation of that command.
I was raisedto avoid all manner of profanity and have raised my own children
in the same way, and I think it’s right to keepthat commandment, not to take
the Lord’s name in vain. But I would suggestto you that there is a far greater
profanity than from time to time using the name of God. A greaterprofanity
is to all the time use the name of God and have no real commitment to Him.
Now you have a life that is one total actof profanity.
The blasphemy of the sanctuary is far more awful than the blasphemy of the
street. The blasphemy of the sanctuary is far more awful than the blasphemy
of the street. Taking the Lord’s name in vain, claiming to belong to the Lord,
claiming to represent the Lord, claiming to speak for the Lord, claiming to do
ministry for the Lord while all the time having no relationship to Him, but
living a wicked, sinful, self-indulgent life is a kind of profanity that exceeds all
other profanities. It’s a profane life. And I suppose no one would argue that

the worse ofall kisseseverrendered in the Bible was a Judas kiss, to say,
“Lord, Lord,” while in your heart you have nothing but resentment.
The world is full of people who callJesus Lord, who say it with emotion and
passion, “Lord, Lord,” and yet never ever do they turn from their sin and
submit to that lordship, never do they obey the will of the Father who is in
heaven. The church is full of people like this. That is why we are told in the
Scripture, 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you’re in
the faith.”
And you don’t look at a past event, you look at the characterof your life. The
only thing that makes you acceptable to God is a pattern of obedience to the
word of God that is the product of repentance and genuine faith in Jesus
Christ, and truly abandoning your life in obedience to His lordship. “Faith
without works is” – what? – “dead.” It has no life.
In the text in the original, if you just look at that statement, “I never knew
you,” in the originallanguage, if you drew out all the components of that, it
would probably be better to read it this way: “Notfor a single moment have I
acknowledgedyou as My own. I have never known you.” That doesn’tmean
He doesn’t know who you are; the Lord knows who everybody is. He not only
knows who everybody is, He knows everyone’s heart and He knows what
everyone is thinking. You remember in John 2 it was said of Jesus that He
didn’t need to ask anybody a question, because He knew what was in their
hearts. When it says, “Inever knew you,” it doesn’t mean, “I don’t know who
you are, you’re a strangerto Me.” It means, “I have no intimate, personal
relationship with you.” That’s “knowing” in the biblical sense.
For example, in the Old Testamentbook of Genesis, Scripture says that,
“Adam knew his wife and she had a son,” and it means a lot more than he

knew who she was. He knew here in the sense ofphysical intimacy, and she
conceivedand brought forth a child. With regard to Josephand Mary, Mary
became pregnant, and in the New Testamentit says, “Josephhad not known
her.” It’s a beautiful, traditional, ancient euphemism for sexualintimacy.
But it has an even greatermetaphoricalmeaning; it is to have an intimate
relationship. For example, Amos 3:2, God says regarding Israel, “Israel, only
have I known.” It doesn’t mean that only Jews were knownto God in terms of
awareness. Itmeans with IsraelGod establishedan intimate relationship.
That’s why He calls IsraelHis wife, and He calls Himself her husband.
When Jesus says at the day of judgment to the person making an empty
profession, “I never knew you,” He is saying, “We never had a relationship of
any kind.” You may have respectfor their claim of interest in Christ. You
may have respectfor the factthat they talk about Jesus, they talk about Him
as Lord. You may have respectfor a certain measure of orthodoxy. You may
have respectfor the fervency that is exhibited in their public devotion. You
may see people like this singing hymns or even performing hymns and songs
of testimony to Christ. You may have respectfor some who can actually
preach, some who claim to castout demons, some who claim to do miracles.
This sounds a lot like what is claimed today by those leaders of the
charismatic movement, doesn’t it, and the preachers of the devilish prosperity
gospel. There will always be those who make these claims.
Were their deeds genuine? Not apart from God they weren’t. False miracles,
false exorcisms, false prophecies, becausetheyhave no relationship to Christ.
They never came, by the way, through the narrow gate. Back in verse 13,
Jesus said, “Enterby the narrow gate;for the gate is wide, the wayis broad
that leads to destruction; many are those who enter by it. Forthe gate is small
and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”

They didn’t come by the narrow gate. They didn’t come with an attitude of
repentance. They didn’t come knowing they were sinners. They didn’t come
stripped bare. They didn’t come naked, destitute, hungering and thirsting for
righteousness with that Beatitude attitude.
It’s a scarything to think about this, folks. It’s a frightening thing to think
about, that there are going to be people castinto hell who have spent a great
portion of their life giving testimony to their faith in Jesus Christ. But they’re
only empty words. Show me your life.
Go back to verse 18: “A goodtree cannotproduce bad fruit, nor cana bad
tree produce goodfruit. Every tree that doesn’t bear goodfruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their” – what? –
“fruit.” Look at their life.
Jeff O’Hara wrote these words: “Why call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the
things I say? You call Me the way and walk Me not! You call Me the life and
live Me not! You call Me master and obey Me not! If I condemn you, blame
Me not. You callMe bread and eat Me not! You call Me truth and believe Me
not! You callMe Lord and serve Me not! If I condemn you, blame Me not.”
Empty words.
The so-calledchurch of Jesus Christ is filled with those speaking empty
words. These empty words rise from empty hearts. Notice verse 24;this
illustration demonstrates the real condition of the heart beneath the empty
words and the heart beneath the true profession.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them, may
be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain

descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst againstthat
house; and yet it didn’t fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And
everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not actupon them, will be
like a foolishman who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst againstthat house;and it
fell – and greatwas its fall.”
And here againthere is this very familiar contrastthat we’ve been looking at
through this entire text: two gates, two ways;two crowds, two destinies; two
trees, and now two houses. Bothsubjected to the same judgment. The contrast
here is not betweenpeople who hear the word of God and people who have
not heard the word of God, but betweenpeople who hear the word of Godand
act upon it, and people who hear the word of Godand do not act upon it, or
those who are exposedto the truth and who obey and those who exposedto
the truth do not obey. This is about obedience as over againstdisobedience,
and the contrastbetweenthe obedient and the disobedient is painted for us in
a picture of two builders of houses.
The words here, you will understand then, are addressedto those who profess
to know God. These words are addressedwho profess to know the Lord – the,
“Lord, Lord,” crowd, the ones who have given their life over to preaching,
and confronting Satan, and doing things in the realm of ministry associated
with Christianity and with the gospeland with Jesus Christ. But that group is
divided into two groups: those who really obey, and those who do not
genuinely obey. You see then in verse 24, “Those who hearthese words of
Mine and actupon them,” and in verse 26, “Those who hear these words of
Mine and do not actupon them.”
So you have the professors andthe possessors.You have the false claimants
and the true claimants, but both look alike. And the stunning thing about this
illustration is that you really can’t tell the difference on the surface. Both

appear the same. You have a house, the only difference that is made distinct
here in the building of these two houses – in either case you have a house – the
only difference is the part you can’t see, right? It’s not the roof, it’s not the
side walls, not the windows and the doors, it’s the foundation.
That is to say, we’re talking to people who belong to the visible church. We’re
talking to people who have been exposedto Scripture, “Theyhave heard the
sayings of Mine.” They attend meetings, they attend preaching, they go to
Bible study; they may attend a Christian college, they may end up in a
seminary; they may read Christian books. Onthe surface they look like
everybody else who is a true Christian, and the foundation is not visible.
The real question here then is not whether they have heard the gospel, it’s not
about whether they’ve heard the teaching of Christ, but, “Whatdo they do
about it genuinely?” It’s not just that they have heard the teaching about
Christ, they’ve actually done it, done ministry in His name.
Now what Jesus says here is that there is no way to tell the true from the false
until the storm comes. The storm will manifest the truth. Then we’ll find out
who built like a wise man and who built like a fool.
Let’s look at these similarities a little bit before we look at the contrast. They
both built a house. A house constitutes a life of religious activity, a life within
the broad framework of what we would call Christianity or the gospel. They
both built it in the same place. How do you know they built it in the same
place? Becausethe same storm gotboth houses.
So we could say they were next door to eachother. Both are subject to the
same events. They built within the same area – true believers and false

believers, side by side, much like our Lord said in Matthew 13, that the wheat
and the tares would grow together. And the time of separationwould be at the
judgment. So similar are these houses that it’s hard for us to tell.
Sunday night after Sunday night we come, we gatherhere, we hear the
testimonies of those being baptized, and never does a Sunday night go by that
we don’t hear somebody – and we heard it againtonight – say, “I lived like a
Christian on the outside, I was not a Christian on the inside. I was raised in
the church, I was in the church, I reiteratedthe things I needed to do, I acted
the wayI needed to act, but I didn’t know the Lord.” That is not an unusual
experience, that is a very common one.
They both built a house. They built a house in the same vicinity, which puts
them within the framework of the true believers. They actually built it in the
same way; it looks the same. You could say that they built a house consistent
with the Christian development. It’s a tract house. It looks like all the other
Christian houses on the outside. The only difference here is the foundation;
that’s the only difference the Lord makes.
And this is significantfor us to understand. That’s why the Lord says, “Don’t
you take on the responsibility to separate the wheatfrom the tares. You can’t
know that, only the Lord can know that until the judgment day reveals it.
The difference is the foundation. One builds on petra, rock bed, rock bed. Not
petros, that’s boulder or stone. Petra, rock bed. One has a concrete, if you
will, or stone foundation; the other builds on sand. The Greek word for sand
is ammon, for which the capital city of Jordanwhere I have visited a number
of times gets its name: Amman, Jordan. It is aptly named. It is one big sand
pile – Amman, Jordan.

So there is a foundation of stone in one place and rock, there is a foundation of
sand in the other place. A man is a fool to build on sand, because when a
storm comes, it will washthe house away. And that’s exactly what happens.
Look at verse 27. Verse 26 says, “Foolishman builds his house upon the sand.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and burst
againstthat house;and it fell – and greatwas its fall.”
On the other hand, “A wise man” – end of verse 24 – “built his house on the
rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew and burst
againstthat house;yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.”
And here, by the way, againis a powerful rebuke of the religion of the
Pharisees,who were hypocrites. But of any false religion, but most
particularly in this context of false professionof Christ as Lord.
What does it mean to build on sand? No foundation. What does that mean?
Well, the one who builds on sand has no regardfor the word of God in terms
of obedience;not committed to a life of devout obedience, willing obedience,
loving obedience, eagerobedience.No regardfor true spirituality of the soul.
No regard for true purity of the heart. No integrity in behavior. No love for
the law of God. No longing to please God.
The one who builds on sand prays, occasionallyfasts, gives money, works
within the framework of Christian life, and does it to enhance his or her
reputation, does it to feelgoodabout himself or herself. It’s the religion of
externals. The outside looked good, but the foundation was non-existent. They
bring their bodies to prayer, but not their souls. They worship with their
mouths, but not their hearts. They boastof their orthodoxy, but have no love
for obedience.

What is the rock? Clearly, the rock is, “These sayings ofMine,” or, “These
words of Mine.” Verse 24: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine.” Verse
26: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine,” the word of Christ, the word
of God. This is the word that saves, is it not? Faith comes by hearing the word
of Christ. This is the gospel. This is the truth of Scripture. So in both cases
these people have heard “these sayings of Mine.” But where they actupon
them, where they obey them, there is a foundation that will stand the test of
divine judgment.
A life of obedience manifests true salvation. If it isn’t there, it’s deception.
John 8:31, “If you continue in My word, then you’re My real disciple,” John
8:31. “If you continue in My word, then you’re My real disciple.”
Do you remember James 1 – and there are a number of Scriptures we could
look at. But a couple to keepin mind: James 1:22, “Prove yourself doers of the
word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” If all you do is hear it,
and you don’t obey it, and you don’t obey it because you love it, you are self-
deceivedif you think your life will stand the test of the flood of divine
judgment. In the opening chapter of Titus, verse 16 speaks ofpeople who,
“profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and
disobedient.”
One thing marks the difference betweena true believerand a false believer,
and that is a pattern of loving, eager, submissive, obedience to the word of
God. Obedience is the key: hearing the word and doing it. That is the only
genuine, authentic validator of true salvation.
If you say, “Lord, Lord,” “Kurios, Kurios,” “Master, Master,” then
immediately you should say, “I am Your slave.” If He is Kurios, you are
doulos. If He is Lord and Master, you submit. And if you say, “Lord, Lord,”

with zeal, and devotion, and you do not submit, that is a blasphemy above all
blasphemies;that is the blasphemy of the sanctuarythat takes His name in
vain. You would be better off, frankly, to use the name of Jesus Christ or God
in an occasionalcurse word than to live an ongoing, hypocritical life that
blasphemes His name from beginning to end.
We’re not talking about perfection here, we’re talking about direction. I’m
not perfectly obedient, I am imperfectly obedient. But I long to be perfectly
obedient. That’s my passion;that’s my heart-longing. I have recognizedthat I
fall short. I have recognizedthat I am a sinner. I have repented of that sin and
embracedChrist as the only hope of salvation, and my life has been
transformed, and my heart longs to obey. True Christians build lives of
obedience, built on the rock of biblical truth.
Let me take you a little more deeply into the differences. What does it mean to
really build your life on the things that Christ has said that are revealedin
Scripture, to build your life biblically, as compared to building on sand? Just
some things to think about.
One: In the one case, youbuild the easyway; and the other, you build the
hard way. It’s really to build on sand. You don’t have to do anything, just
start building. You don’t have to dig. You don’t have to prepare the site. You
don’t have to set the footings. You don’t have to put in the foundation. You
don’t have to lay in the concrete slab. It’s easyto build on sand, you just put
your building up.
This speaks ofthe fool in a hurry, the easyway, shortcut, quick results. Fools
are always in a hurry. Fools always wantto getit fast. And in many ways, in
Christianity in our time, in our place, we aid and abet the fools by making
everything quick and easy:quick and easyevangelism, quick and easygospel

presentation– keepit moving. No time for soul conviction. No time for
building a deep sense of one’s sinfulness. No time for the cultivation of
conviction by the Holy Spirit, regretover sin. No time for deep soul searching,
no time for counting the cost. The fool is in a hurry, he wants it quick and
easy;and very often we accommodate the foolby making it quick and easy.
Also, not only is the fool in a hurry, but he’s very shallow. And againI say, we
live in a time when shallownessis at a premium as if it had some value. It’s a
shallow approachto almosteverything in our culture. There’s so much
superficiality and shallowness in the name of Jesus that is acceptedas if it’s
legitimate, that one canhardly getone’s arms around this, it’s so common. No
deep plowing. No hard spade work in the soul. No foundation exercises. No
brokenness ofheart. No grief oversin. No mourning over waywardness. We
lack depth. We lack sincerity. Everything is superficial.
On the other hand, the wise man, Luke 6:47 and 48 says the wise man dug
deep. The wise man dug deep, went down into the rock. What does it mean?
Not in a hurry, not in a hurry. Not looking for the fasttrack to heaven. Not
looking for the quick conversion, for the light confession.
You know, I agree with Arthur Pink who once said, “There are some who say
they are saved before they ever have any sense they are lost.” And it’s almost
againstthe rules now to give someone an overwhelming sense that they are
lost, to drive them down deep into the ugliness of their own heart, the
wretchedness oftheir own sin. But the wise are not in a hurry, they want to
make sure that what they’re doing is the real thing.
There are many who would claim Christ as Lord who have no thought of
what that means. In fact, strangelybut truly, there are many people who
confess Jesusas Lord and don’t think that means He’s in charge. Many rush

into a profession, and later rush out again. But the one who is wise digs deep.
He’s not shallow like the parable of Matthew 13. The rock is plowed out of the
soil. The weeds are removed so he doesn’t have a superficial, shallow faith.
That’s why, folks, we have to preachagainstsin. You have to expose the true
lostness ofthe human heart. The sinner must feelfar worse before he ever has
a right to feel any better. The personwho’s wise is not in a hurry. He is willing
by the working of the Spirit of God to take the full blast of condemnation that
comes at him for his condition. He embraces that “Godbe merciful to me, a
sinner” attitude that the publican had when he pounded his chest.
And secondly, and unlike the wise man, he is not superficial in his house-
building, he gives maximum effort. He counts the cost. Jesus saidthat. Look,
you don’t go to warwithout counting the cost. You don’t build a tower
without counting the cost. You understand what the Lord is asking. He’s
asking for your life, for your whole life. “Deny yourself, take up your cross,
follow Me.” If you say, “This is going to costme my family,” then let it cost
you your family, your father, your mother, your wife, your husband, your
sister, your brother, your friends. If it means you have to be persecutedeven
to a cross, letit be. “But you deny yourself and all other things, and follow
Me.”
This person wants to do it right, counts the cost, learns the right way and
willingly submits. He is emptied of self-righteousness.He is emptied of self-
sufficiency. He digs way down. He knows he has nothing commendable. He’s
overwhelmed with his sin. He makes the maximum effort in the Lord’s
strength to place the word in his heart. He’s interestedin genuinely
submitting to Christ and loving Christ. He longs to know the word in order
that he might obey the word. He doesn’t want to know the word so he can
wow the ignorant, he wants to know the word so he can compelhis own soul
into a life of obedience. Nothing superficialabout him.

Oh, there are so many people in Christianity today who want the quick, fast
track. They want the byproducts of a relationship with God without the
relationship. They want the byproducts of salvationwithout salvation. They
want the byproducts of repentance without repentance. Theywant forgiveness
without repentance. They want salvationwithout submission. They chase the
signs. They chase the wonders. They foolaround the Bible. They have no real
relationship with God.
And so, our Lord says this is how people build, and the truth will not be
revealeduntil the storm comes. Whatis the storm? It’s the day of judgment.
“The rain descended,” – verse 25 – “and the floods came, the winds blew and
burst againstthe house.” The same thing is described exactlyin verse 27. The
first house did not fall that was founded on the rock. The secondhouse fell;
greatwas its fall.
This is divine judgment. This is the final judgment. The day of judgment will
come when people will say, “Lord, Lord, it’s us,” to which He will confess,
“Homologeō,depart from Me, I never knew you, you who continue to practice
lawlessness.”
Listen, you may be respectful of Christ. You may have orthodox views about
Christ. You may see yourselfas fervent and zealous. You may be active in
some level of devotion to the church. You may make a public proclamation.
You may be busy building your little religious house adjacentto all the others
built by those around you. You may be deceived, only to have our house
smashedto a million pieces in judgment. Go back, dear friend, and check
your foundation. Go back and check your foundation.

Well, how do you know if you don’t have a foundation? A few things you
might think about – marks of the many with only sand under their religious
house: reservationin yielding to Christ. Do you find in your life an
unwillingness to yield to Christ? Are you irritated by the commands of
Scripture? Does it bother you that Christ is restrictive? Does it bother you
that the Bible is restrictive? Do you not like the factthat there are sins that
you would like to do and you restrain from doing them because pressure is
put upon you? That is evidence that you have no foundation.
Another one: External religious activities with no proper motivation. Do you
come to church because your parents expectyou or your friends expect you?
Do you come to church because you’re trying to make a goodimpression on
someone? Are you trying to earn your wayin? That’s a wrong motive. Unless
you do what you do in the cause of Christ because you are compelled by your
love for Christ and a desire for His glory, you may have no foundation.
Are you self-righteous? Is there anything in you that thinks you can earn your
way to heaven? Even if it’s a small component, even if you believe in the cross
and the resurrection, if there’s anything in you that thinks it cancontribute to
your salvation, you have no foundation. “If you love the world,” – 1 John 2:15
– “if you love the world, the love of the Fatheris not in you.” If you can’t let
go of the evil world around you, if you’re characterizedby pride, if you do
what you do for self-glory, if you love pleasure more than you love forsaking
pleasure for the glory of God – any of these marks would indicate that,
perhaps, under your religious house is sand, sand. And that would be true, I
hate to say this, of most professing Christians, because many will say, “Lord,
Lord,” but few come in the narrow door. Examine your heart and examine it
carefully.
Our Father, we come to the conclusiontonight of this soul-searching message,
a true invitation on the one hand, and a severe warning on the other. We

thank You, Lord, for confronting empty words and empty hearts, those who
profess to be in the kingdom but are not. Lord, rescue those who are guilty of
being hearers and not doers.
We pray, Lord, that for those who may be in the hearing of this message,who
have been building a very elaborate house, and have now found out that they
have no foundation and they will be sweptinto hell when judgment comes,
may this be the hour of their true salvation. May they dig deep. May they
come to grips with their sinfulness, their helplessness, their hopelessness, their
spiritual destitution and bankruptcy, their desperate condition. May they see
all the glory of the cross in its magnificence. And may they truly repent,
confessing Jesusas Lord, and themselves as His slaves, willing and eagerand
joyous in their commitment to obedience. And we ask that You would do this
for Your glory in the name of Christ. Amen.
SERMON:Once Saved, Always Saved?
SCRIPTURE:Matthew 7:21-29
SPEAKER:MichaelP. Andrus
DATE: May 6, 2007
Our Scripture text for today is Matthew 7:21-27, which constitutes the
conclusionto the Sermon
on the Mount. Will you pay close attentionto the words of Jesus, which are
also the Word of
God for us?
“Noteveryone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but

only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me
on that
day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive
out demons
and perform many miracles?'Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.
Away from
me, you evildoers!’”
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into
practice is
like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the
streams rose,
and the winds blew and beatagainstthat house; yet it did not fall, because it
had its
foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does
not put
them into practice is like a foolishman who built his house on sand. The rain
came down,
the streams rose, and the winds blew and beatagainstthat house, and it fell
with a great
crash.”
I used something of a teaseras my sermon title this morning: “Once Saved,
Always Saved?” I
wanted to get your attention and rattle a few cages, andthose words will
usually do it. But I hope
you noticedthe question mark at the end of the statement. You see, “Once
saved, always saved”

is not a quotation from the Bible but rather a popular cliche among
conservative Christians. In
the circles in which I grew up it was viewed almostas much a fundamental of
the faith as the
deity of Christ or the Virgin Birth. But I don’t think you have ever heard me
use it from this
pulpit or even in personalconversation. It’s not because I think it is heresy,
because I don’t. But
I do believe it is an unhelpful expressionwhich confuses more than helps us as
we consider this
morning the biblical doctrine of the security of the true believer.
I have discoveredthat many people who hear the phrase, “once saved, always
saved,” interpret it
as meaning that if you have ever made a professionof faith or walkedan aisle
or raised a hand or
prayed a prayer, then you’re home free. That is absolutely unbiblical and
untrue. Jesus’words
that we just read clearly contradictsuch a notion, as He says to some who
professedfaith in Him
as Lord, “I never knew you.”
I do not even like the term “eternalsecurity.” When I am asked, as I often am,
whether I believe
in eternal security, I ask, “for whom?” Forthose who profess faith in Jesus
Christ? No, not
necessarily. Forthose who possesstrue faith in Jesus Christ? Yes, I do affirm
that. Well then, if

we’re talking about security for those who are true believers in Christ, then
let’s use language
that makes that clear. That’s why I prefer the terminology, “the security of
the true believer,” or
as our evangelicalPresbyterianfriends like to express it, “the perseverance of
the saints.” This
2
communicates that the one who truly believes and has become a part of the
community of saints
is secure in his relationship with God. God will never abandon him. There is a
greathymn of the
faith that we sang this morning – How Firm a Foundation. Among the words
in that hymn are
these (God speaking):
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes.
That soul, though all hell should endeavorto shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!
I believe that with all my heart–Godwill never desertus or forsake us.
A more difficult question is whether or not a person could voluntarily
renounce his or her faith.
On the one hand, the answerseems patently obvious: of course!God never
forcedanyone to
believe in the first place, so why would He force them to continue to believe if
they wanted to

renounce their faith. On the other hand, why would anyone adopted into
God’s family ever
desire to leave that family? I can’t even imagine it!
More than likely this is a fruitless hypothetical debate. And it simply doesn’t
help to bring up
examples of individuals you have known who were once believers and
renounced their faith,
because there are two facts you can’t possibly know about any personother
than yourself:
1. Whether that personwas truly born again in the first place, and
2. Whether they are finally lost now.
Judas is a case in point. He gave every outward evidence of being a true
believer. He preached
the Gospel, he castout demons, and he performed miracles, as did all the
Apostles. So convinced
were this colleagues ofhis trustworthiness that the Twelve appointed him as
their Secretaryof
the Treasury. And when Jesus told them that one of them would betray him,
not one of the
Apostles was suspicious of Judas. In fact, they suspectedthemselves before
they suspectedhim,
for eachone asked, “Lord, is it I?” Yet Jesus calledJudas the Son of
Perdition, and it is clearthat
he died a lost man.
My point is that we often simply do not know enough. We can make
assumptions about whether

a person is or isn’t saved, but we are in no position to make final
determinations about the
security of others. It is better, in my mind, to concentrate on the critical issue,
“Am I a child of
God and therefore secure in Christ?”
Friends, it seems to me that what God wants for us is to enjoy security but to
avoid presumption.
So let me begin our study this morning with the following proposition:
There is a biblical distinction betweenassurance andsecurity.
Assurance is a subjective state; security is an objective state. Assurance
speaks ofhow you feel;
security speaks ofyour actualposition. I love storms;my wife is very afraid of
storms. I have a
sense ofassurance, evenexcitement, when riding out a storm; my wife lacks
that assurance.
3
Once when we were visiting my brother in Iowa a tornado came through the
little town of
Martensdale, Iowa in the middle of the night. She was begging me to go to the
basement, where
the restof the family was huddled. I was unimpressed until I lookedout the
upstairs window and
saw my brother’s canoe going down the streetwith no one paddling it, and I
decided to follow
her to the basement. There was a distinct difference in our subjective states,
but we were both

secure, for the storm bypassedus and causedus no harm. In the spiritual
realm, too, there is a
difference betweenassuranceand security.
Some people have assurance oftheir salvationbut lack security. Here in
verses 21-23
there are some individuals who are clearly in this camp. They call Jesus
“Lord, Lord” and appear
to be shockedwhenthey are not admitted into His presence. If you asked
them if they had
assurance oftheir salvation, every one of them would say, “Certainly! We’ve
made professions
of faith. We have the gift of prophesy. We are able to castout demons. We’ve
performed
miracles. How canyou even ask the question, ‘Do you have assuranceofyour
salvation?’?” But
the factis they had no security. Despite what they felt subjectively, they were
objectively lost
and spiritually doomed because they had no personal relationship with Jesus.
Some people are secure in their salvationbut lack assurance.I know people
who
were brought up in churches that taught them to fear the loss of their
salvation. If they committed
mortal sins, or if they left the church they grew up in and joined some other
church, or maybe if
they gotdivorced, then they could lose their salvation. Not surprisingly, such
people tend to lack

assurance oftheir salvation, even after coming to personalfaith in Christ.
And sometimes those
feelings of insecurity are so deeply inbred that they are haunted for years by
the fearof losing it
all.
But the fact is that some of these people actually do believe that Jesus died for
them; they really
are trusting Him to the best of their ability, and I believe they are born again
and secure in His
love. They don’t have assurance but they are secure. I feelsad for these
people, and one of my
happiest privileges as a pastoris to help bring such individuals to the point of
finding assurance
of their salvation.
Julio was an engineerin my church in St. Louis. He sharedhis faith story with
me, a portion of
which I would like to read:
In 1954, during my Junior year in high school, while still a practicing Roman
Catholic, I attended a weekendretreatat a Jesuitretreat house. On this
particular day,
the priest was talking about Isaiah52 & 53:“Jesus, the suffering servant, our
Redeemer.”
He very vividly portrayed the suffering of Jesus and, at the end he challenged
us
with the question: “He suffered for you, what are you going to do in
response?”

Immediately, I fell to my knees and askedGod to forgive me of my sins and
come into my
life. I know God changedmy heart at that time, but because I was not
properly
instructed. I continued to be frustrated trying to find righteousness in my own
efforts:
confessioneveryweek, novenas, penance andmany other things. I could not
keepmyself
savedno matter how hard I tried. Eventually I became so frustrated by my
lack of growth
4
that I gave up completely.
It was not until 15 or 20 years later that someone presentedthe Gospelto me
in a
more accurate fashionand I recommitted myself to the Lord, now knowing
that “it is
finished.” This was in 1972, andI have not stopped growing or serving since
then. I
believe the difference is that I now have securityand assurance. Myeternal
future is
settled. I believe it was settledthat day in 1954, but since I had no assurance, I
did not
grow until the day in 1972 whenthe Holy Spirit opened my understanding
and sealedme
until the day of redemption. I have never regretted it.
Now I have heard preachers warn that teaching security is dangerous,
because if people feeltoo

secure they will take advantage of that security and go off the deep end
morally. Therefore,
instilling a bit of uncertainty and fearis a goodmotivator to keepthem on the
straight and
narrow. I think that’s ridiculous. Would any sane personever say the best
thing for your child is
to feel insecure about whether you love her or not? No, of course not. Every
intelligent parent
would acknowledgethat the best possible thing for a child is to know her
parents love her
unconditionally and will be there for her no matter what! Why should it be
any different with
respectto our relationship with God? Security produces better behavior than
insecurity any day!
While it is true that some people have assurance but lack security, and while it
is true that others
are secure but lack assurance, . . .
God wants us to enjoy both assurance andsecurity, but only if our faith is
genuine.
Our subjective state should coincide with our objective state. If we are secure
in Him, then we
should have assuranceofour salvation. On the other hand, if we’re not
secure, Godsurely
doesn’t want us to feel secure. Frankly, I think many evangelists and pastors
make a mistake by
pushing assurance ofsalvationmuch too quickly and strongly on those who
have just professed

faith. They will ask the brand new convert, “Where is Jesus now?”,trying to
elicit the response,
“He’s in my heart.” They attempt to certify a person’s salvationapart from
the witness of the
Holy Spirit and the evidence of fruit in their lives.
John MacArthur speaks some very tough words about this danger. I’m going
to differ with him
on one issue, but first let’s read what he says:
When a couple lives togetherwithout being married, when a person practices
homosexuality, is deceptive and dishonestin business, is hateful and vengeful,
or
habitually practices any sin without remorse or repentance, such persons
cannot be
Christian–no matter what sort of experience they claim to have had or what
sort of
testimony they now make. God’s Word is explicit: “Do you not know that the
unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived;neither fornicators,
nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, northieves, nor
the covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
(1 Cor.
6:9-10)i
I would state one thing differently than MacArthur. I would not say, “Such
persons cannot be

Jesus was warning us that saying is not doing vol 2

Jesus was warning us that saying is not doing vol 2

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Jesus was warning us that saying is not doing vol 2

Similar to Jesus was warning us that saying is not doing vol 2 (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was warning us that saying is not doing vol 2