I Never Knew You!
Notes
Transcript
Intro: You might not think it, but our world is very heavenly minded. That is a strange statement considering just how wicked our world is.
• A CNN poll [2015], it was discovered that 81% of the people asked believed in a literal heaven where people lived with God after death.
• 61% of those polled said that they believed they would go to Heaven immediately when they died.
• Another 88% believed that they would see departed family and friends when they arrived in Heaven.
There is another side to this story.
• Of those polled 6% believed Heaven could be reached by doing good works.
• Another 57% believed that Heaven was available to all who place their faith in God and did good works.
• Another 34% believed that Heaven was for those who had faith in God alone.
Now, here is where problems begin to appear.
• A full 63% of those who responded believed they were going to Heaven, but they cited the wrong method for getting there.
• The other 34%, who believed that Heaven came to those who placed their faith in God, may be just as wrong as those who believe salvation comes as a result of works.
Carr, A. (2015). Not Everyone Gets to Go to Heaven (Matthew 7:21–23). In The Sermon Notebook: New Testament (p. 138). Alan Carr.
Not everyone goes to Heaven when they die! I know we want to believe they do, but the Word of God says something far different. Not everyone who thinks they are going to Heaven really is. In what is, without question, the most important area of any person’s life, most people, are sincerely wrong concerning what they believe about salvation.
Jesus makes it very plain in our text tonight by saying, “I Never Knew You!”
Text; Mt. 7:21-23
Matthew 7:21–23 (NKJV)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
1. Entering the Kingdom of Heaven; 21
1. Entering the Kingdom of Heaven; 21
Jesus is making it very clear that there is a big difference in a profession of Christ as Lord and the possession of Christ as Lord.
Keep in mind that Jesus has been talking about the scribes and Pharisees and their religious claims/works without having a true relationship with God.
Matthew 5:20 (NKJV)
20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
A person must do God’s will to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Now I’m not talking about a salvation of works, but salvation of believing, obeying and loving God’s Son.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:23 (NKJV)
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 14:15 (NKJV)
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
John 15:10 (NKJV)
10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
Doing the will of God requires confessing Christ as Savior and Lord through genuine repentance and obedience to Jesus as Lord which comes from the heart and being of a person. There is only one proof of true love, and that proof is obedience. There is no point in saying that we love a person, and then do things which break that person’s heart.
The words of an engraving from the cathedral of Lübeck, Germany, beautifully reflect our Lord’s teaching here:
“Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us,
You call Me master and obey Me not, you call Me light and see Me not,
you call Me the way and walk Me not, you call Me life and live Me not,
you call Me wise and follow Me not, you call Me fair and love Me not,
you call Me rich and ask Me not, you call Me eternal and seek Me not,
if I condemn thee, blame Me not.”
Mattoon, R. (2007). Treasures from the Sermon on the Mount (Vol. 2, p. 259). Rod Mattoon.
2. False Profession Gives False Hope; 22
2. False Profession Gives False Hope; 22
The problem with the profession of those who call Jesus “Lord, Lord” here, is that they make it all about themselves!
“Have we” not done all these things in Your name?
“Surely because we have done all these wonderful works—we must be saved.” It’s the language of self-confidence. They flatter themselves that they are saved because of their works and that should gain favor with God.
Prophesied in Your name- to bring a spiritual message on behalf of God [preaching].
[Prosperity Gospel] Joel Osteen, who leads the largest crowd in the United States, wrote this in his book ‘’Your Best Life Now’: “We have to conceive it on the inside before we’re ever going to receive it on the outside… You never will if you don’t think you can have something good. The barrier is in your mind. . . . Your own wrong thinking can keep you from God’s best. . . . To experience [God’s] immeasurable favor, you must rid yourself of that small-minded thinking and start expecting God’s blessings, anticipating promotion and supernatural increase. You must conceive it in your heart before you can receive it. In other words, you must make an increase in your own thinking, then God will bring those things to pass” (from Your Best Life Now, chapter 1).
Cast out Demons in Your name- Some false professors of Christ will have cast out demons but that will not give them entry to heaven.
1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
Done “Wonders” in Your name- There were many who worked miracles in the name of the Lord but that doesn’t mean they know Him nor will it give entrance into heaven.
38 Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”
22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
Grace will bring a man to Heaven without working miracles, but working miracles will never bring a man to Heaven without grace.
3. Go Away, I Never Knew You; 23
3. Go Away, I Never Knew You; 23
These words are probably the most tragic words in the Bible. Jesus brings a grim reality that one day, The Day of Judgment, there will be people who thought they were going to heaven, only to be told by our Lord they are on their way to hell. Why?
Practice Lawlessness- they based their hope of salvation on their own works and goodness instead of faith in Jesus Christ.
Mark 10:17–22 (NKJV)
17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:
15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
The phrase, “I never knew you” means “I never approved or regarded you as my friends.”
4. Many; 22
4. Many; 22
Jesus says, “Many” will have this happen to them on that Day!
The word “many” indicates that the crowd of false professors will be a large crowd. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Christ did not say that a few people here and there are guilty of false profession, but He said that “many” are guilty of it. There will be surprises in Heaven at judgment time.
5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
Close;
John Newton, author of the song “Amazing Grace” said, “If I ever reach Heaven I expect to find three wonders there:
first, to meet some I had not thought to see there;
second, to miss some I had thought to meet there;
and third, the greatest wonder of all, to find myself there.”
Will you be there or will the Lord tell you to “Go away,” because you rejected Him?
It is my prayer that when the roll is called up yonder you’ll be there.