The Scariest Day!

The NET Bible Matthew 7:21–23

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’24 will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do25 many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

The Scariest Day -

This Episode will release on October 31, 2022, Halloween Day.

Boo - Did I scare you?

I loved Halloween as a Kid.

When I was a boy, we could walk the streets as a roaming group of marauders, dressed in scary outfits with hard plastic masks you could barely breath through, held tightly to our faces with the skinniest, and most uncomfortable elastic strap imaginable and proceed to collect a pillow case FULL of candy.

What a fun day! A day where we could pretend to be whatever we wanted to be and be rewarded for our efforts.

Pretenders being rewarded. Halloween is one of the very few occasions where that actually happens.

Yes, I know! There has always been a dark-side to Halloween, but as a kid growing up in the Southern parts of the US, this wasn’t something we saw often. It was all about spooky stuff, fun with our friends and family and CANDY!

I could reminisce for hours on those happy childhood days, however what I really wanted to do today was tell you about the Scariest Day I can possibly imagine.

Scary..because it’s real! The make-believe stuff never really scares me, it’s the stuff that is REAL, the stuff that is possible that scares me the most.

The Scariest Day is recorded by the Apostle Matthew for us in Matthew Chapter 7.

Here... we find Jesus wrapping up his famous Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus has been teaching with some real power and authority to those gathered on that hillside that day.

So much so that Matthew closes his thoughts on this event by saying

“When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching,  because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law.”

Jesus took the time to exposed hearts and motives, given us a clear interpretation of the Laws of God and placed some heavy demands on those who would follow him.

He teaches us how to pray, how to fast and how to properly follow him.

He teaches us to not have a condemning attitude towards our fellow man, but also to be able to discern whether a person was truly a follower of Jesus, not with a Doctrinal test, but with a Practical test - “You will know them..by their Fruits”. he said

Jesus teaches us that the path that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven and Eternal Life with him, is not an easy path.

It’s not well travelled and the gate is narrow.

The broad path that we see everyone else travelling, which demands very little of us as disciples is not a path that leads to Life with Jesus but a path that leads to destruction.

“The gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it” Jesus says - that’s a scary thought!

The Fruit which Jesus claims is Authentic can be wrapped up in one simple statement that reflects the simple idea of Agape or Selfless Love recorded in v;12

In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.

vs 13-27 are broken up into 4 teachings that carry similar warnings

The Gate is Narrow - There are Few who find it

Watch out for False Prophets - they look like good sheep but inside they are wolves - you will know them by their fruits.

And then we have the Scariest Day

Jesus says “

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’

7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ 1

So why do I see this as the Scariest Day?

Well first of all it isn’t a mythological day! -

Both Old and New Testaments are filled with discussion concerning what is often called the Day of the Lord or The Final Judgement.

For most, this idea is archaic and far fetched because Christians have been saying that day is coming for 2000+ years

Peter tells us not to think that God has been slack concerning his promise of that final day of Judgement, but see it as a great mercy because the Father’s desire is that none should perish but for all to come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

Jesus plainly teaches us that this day is a real day and that it will come upon us like a thief in the night.

Matt 24:43

The images that the scripture plainly paints of this day are scarier than anything Hollywood has yet to produce.

Again, the Stuff that is make-believe isn’t really scary..it’s the stuff that is real that scares us..

This day...is real. You and I will find ourselves here at some point.

What else scares me here?

It’s the professors in this scene.

Here is a group of people that address Jesus as Kiros, as Lord.

This isn’t merely a nice greeting, like sir.

This was a direct claim to a relationship with Jesus. It’s an emphatic profession of faith and there is not hint of insincerity in this profession.

These people truly Believed they had an authentic relationship with Jesus.

it’s worth mentioning here, that to this Jewish audience, the concept of the Day of the Lord was a well known idea, however they would have expected Yahweh to be the final judge.

Jesus clearly teaches that HE is the one that will be the Judge on that Day and that entrance into the Kingdom of God is based on a relationship with HIM! So, all roads don’t lead to God. No One comes to the Father except through Jesus John 14:6

These people are full convinced in there own minds that they have a relationship with God that affords them entrance into God’s Kingdom and they then appeal to their works as the evidence of that relationship.

Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name and do many powerful deeds ?

You know what gets passed over here when we read this often? The arrogance of these statements. The appeal these people make is one of their works, not the redemptive work of Jesus.

Jesus, didn’t we go to church almost every Sunday!

Jesus didn’t we give up a week every summer to help with VBS?

Jesus didn’t we pray and offer thanks at the Thanksgiving Table every year?

Jesus, didn’t we always put good money into Salvation Army’s bucket a Christmas??

Jesus, didn’t we ............you fill in the blank!

What scares me in this scene is that I was in this number of people for a long time and if the day of Jesus’ return had happen 20 years ago, I would have been among this number.

What scares me is that I know TONS of Unsaved Christians.

I know TONS of people who are so-called “Good People”. Good Husbands, Good Dads, Good Men, Good Women, Good Moms , but Good doesn’t cut it.

The Christian Church has for decades lowered the bar of entry, made confessions of faith - comfortable and made discipleship optional.

What scares me is that there are people all around me who are fooled into believing they are safe from the coming Judgment of this very real day.

That there are people I know who will stand before Jesus on this day and be horrified to find, they were wrong.

They chose the wide path and the broad gate. They did what was right in their own eyes as opposed to what Jesus offers as the actual criteria..

Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ONLY THOSE WHO DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER.

Jesus says “I will declare to them “ I NEVER KNEW YOU. Go away from me you lawbreakers”

If I put myself in the place of people in this story and allow myself to feel what they must feel when these words are spoken, the horror of what comes next is very scary..because it is very real.

I’m in front of the King of the Universe and if he is real then his Judgement is too. And what Judgement awaits me? I was sure I was going to spend eternity with God in a Renewed Creation. Now, I know this is not the case and my place in eternity is never to be with God who is the author of life. My place is eternal separation from God. Horror grips my heart, Fear causes my strength to melt away in me. No wonder the picture Jesus paints is one where this are many who are weeping, wailing and clinching their teeth.

A thousand horrors imaged cannot measure up to what is to be faced here.

That’s Scary!!!

Jesus, in his typical loving and strong fashion then places a final exclamation point on this by teaching and offers the path that leads to life once again followed by the warning for those who chose otherwise.

 “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. 7:25 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock.

7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 7:27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!”

Whew, Utterly Destroyed! That’s some scary stuff.

Worth noticing here the Wise man and Foolish Man experienced the same Judgement, the same test of relationship and faith.

They may have even used the same house plans. Heck, the foolish man may have even used higher grade materials and sprung for the granite countertops instead of the formica.

To the casual onlooker the foolish man’s house may have actually looked like a better house.

I grew up and live today in what was once called the Bible Belt. Here, High School Football teams still say a prayer in the locker room before stepping on the field.

Most everyone here relates to some form of Christian religion or claims some affiliation with Jesus.

Country Songs ask Jesus to take the wheel and talk about raising Hell on Saturday Night and singing praises to God Sunday morning.

What scares me, is that my friends and family, the people in my community are living in a false sense of security and fully expect St. Peter to welcome them into Heaven and that is a damnable lie and they are deceiving themselves.

You know what else scares me?

Those who are awakened to the lie, keep their mouths shut for the most part because as soon as you draw attention to the possibility that someone may be basing their eternal destiny on a lie, you get persecuted for it. You get labeled a fanatic or even a hypocrite.

What Scares me is that I would be willing to keep my mouth shut for fear of being labeled or persecuted. That I would never lovingly challenge those around me to examine what they think is true.

I’ve been a Hypocrite and those who know me know this is true.

I spent years as a Cultural Christian, thinking that I had a relationship with Jesus because I said a few words of profession and got wet in a baptismal tub.

But I didn’t know Jesus and my fruit proved it.

I wasn’t following the path he forged or holding to his teaching, except when it aligned with what I wanted.

I was a broad path man for most of my adult life!

Thank God for his Mercy to allow the storms to come early enough and for the grace he gave me to live through the utter destruction of my life. Thank God for the suffering he brought me to wake me UP from the stupor that I had deceived myself into.

I deserve judgment!

I have done some terrible things and hurt a lot of people in my youth..all while professing to know Jesus.

I brought shame to his name by my deeds many times.

I do not deserve the forgiveness and the grace I live in today. I don’t deserve the confidence that I have in my spirit, given me by the Holy Spirit that dwells in me, that says I can stand before my King and know that he Knows me.

But God.. who is rich in Mercy, whose mercies are Fresh everyday was not willing that I should perish.

It was still a free-will choice on my part. I still had to choose a life of loyalty to Jesus, but that choice would have never happened apart from God’s patience and grace towards me and the fact that he tarried just a little while longer.

Those who mock as say “Where is his coming?” Why hasn’t Jesus already returned” will likely wish on THAT DAY that Jesus has waited at least one more day.

The Day of the Lord is a reality and it is coming but if you are listening to this today..it hasn’t happened yet and you still have time to examine yourself and make sure you won’t be in that group of people, the many who will hear Jesus say “I never knew you”

Make sure your relationship with Jesus is Authentic, so you never have to experience the true horror of what for a lot of good folks will be the scariest day ever!

2 Peter 1:10

Boo-Did I scare you?