Depart From Me

Today, we find ourselves in Matthew 7:21-23. Here Jesus continues with his series of twos that He’s been doing. He has mentioned two gates, two trees, and now He will give us two proclamations. This is a passage that is sobering and it strikes fear into the hearts of a lot of those who read it and I believe it is for good reason. When the Bible speaks with language like this, the shock value of these statements should reach out and grab our attention. But it shouldn’t just leave us scared, it should leave us walking in truth and that is my hope today as we aim to understand the proper meaning of this passage. My goal is to look at this from two points. The first being, Christ speaking as the Authority and the second point being of whom is Christ speaking?

Is Jesus telling us that some of us are going to live our lives trusting in Him and that He’s going to give the greatest shock in history by playing switch around with us? Will some of us live our whole lives trusting in Jesus only for Him to send us to Hell? If that’s how you read this text, that would certainly be a reason to worry when you read this passage. But I hope that as we view this, it will scare those of you who need to be afraid and it will comfort those of you who need to be comforted as you wrestle with this text.

First, let’s look at:

Christ - The Authority

In Matthew 7:28-29 we read,

Matthew 7:28–29 ESV

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

As Jesus delivers this sermon on the mount, He leaves the people flabbergasted because He isn’t speaking like a guy who is guessing about what He’s teaching. No, He’s confident in what He is saying because it is His truth, it is the truth. But what do we learn about Him from this text? A few things:

He speaks as the Son of God. (21)

He speaks as the One who is to be served. (22)

He speaks as the Judge of men. (23)

So, as we look at this passage, so far we understand that Jesus is speaking to these people as God, who is the Judge of all men and who is worthy to be served. But what we need to look at now is who He is talking about. Who are these deceived people who claim Him as Lord, who claim to work for Him, yet are cast away from Him into Hell?

The Subjects of His Sermon

Let’s go ahead and look at the subjects of this sermon and I want us to break this down into to sub-points. The first being,

Their Sayings

A. They speak respectfully (Lord, Lord) v21-22

B. They speak to Him properly (By calling Him Lord.)

C. They speak to Him with emotion (Lord, Lord!)

D. They speak of Him publically.

Now, from this point you would think there’s nothing wrong. By calling Him Lord, we would think, “Wow, they have their doctrine right, they are passionate, they are respectful and they say they served Him publically. They must be right with God!” But Jesus says, “No!” Notice, they all know who He is but He looks at them and says, “I never knew you.” That word, “knew” there is the same word used in Genesis where it says, “Adam knew his wife Eve and they conceived a son.” Now, this doesn’t mean anything sexual in regards to Jesus and us, but it speaks to the intimacy of the relationship that Jesus has with us as His people. He knows us! He knows our failures, our sins, our struggles, our weakness and He loves us! But as He look at these people who seem to have this impressive testimony He says, “I don’t know who you are.” Why? Let’s look at our second sub-point which is:

Their Self-Righteousness

Look at verse 22. Notice, in the midst of them defending themselves, as they plead their case, it is never about who Christ is, our what Christ has come to do, but all they rest upon is themselves. Look what we did, look what we said, look what we saw. They are trusting in their works, their experiences, and their words but not Christ’s work.

It is to this people that Jesus says, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” It is to this people that Jesus speaks of as vipers. It is people like this, people that rest in their church attendance, in their faithfulness, in what people think of them, in their knowledge of theology, that Jesus says, “I don’t know you.” to. Do you know Jesus? It is Ephesians 2:8 that says,

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

We are saved by Christ’s work for us, not by our own works. Now, you might be looking back at verse 21, where Jesus says,

Matthew 7:21 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

and you might be thinking, “Jesus literally says that only those who do the will of God will enter Heaven. So how is it not by works? Well, the question we need to answer is, “What is the will of the Father.” I am inclined to connect this passage with John 6:40

John 6:40 ESV

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

So, it is the Father’s will and our only hope, to trust in Christ who is our Saviour. It is Christ’s finished work, not our works, that guarantee Heaven to us. And it is this faith in Christ, that will not be without works as James teaches us.

So, if you are trusting in your works today. If you lay in your bed at night and tell yourself it’s okay because you’ve grown up in Church and you’re faithful, then you should be afraid because Jesus is going to tell you, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

But if you are broken in your sin, if you hunger and thirst after righteousness, if you are tired and beat down, Jesus reaches His hand out to you and says, “You’re exactly who I came for. Come to me you who are weary and heavy-laden, I will give you rest.”