Four Words, You Never Want To Hear

Text

Matthew 7:21–23 NASB95

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out 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.’

Introduction

Everyone can identify to once being in a situation where they heard something don’t want to hear

A break-up

The doctor brings some bad news

Police calls in the middle of the night

The teacher calls with an update from your child’s school

The boss calls you into their office

Someone brings you news that someone had passed away

All the above, pale in comparison to the possibility of hearing “I never knew you”

Background

Our text is located in the final recorded portion of what is famously called, “The Sermon on the Mount”

It is preceded by Jesus’ teachings regarding FALSE PROPHETS

Clothe like sheep but inwardly are vicious wolves

Can be known by their fruits

A tree can only produce based on its nature

A good tree and a bad tree can only produce fruits based on its nature

Grapes produce grapes, figs produce figs

The bad tree is eventually cut down and burnt

The ACTIONS of these “prophets” will indicate their nature

Our Text

Matthew 7:21 ““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

From this point it’s easy then to assume that all I need to ensure I’m pleasing God is to perform the right ACTION!!!

#a. Jesus now makes a more general statement, “Not everyone”

Now Jesus addresses FALSE ‘PROFESSORS’

These are not the ones we find in Universities

These are the ones that “say” but don’t do His will

They say, “Lord, Lord”

Lord = κύριος means:

Jesus is my Master and I am His servant

Jesus has full authority over my life

Whatever He tells me I will do

But Jesus is declaring to us:

Not because they call me means they are committed to me

Not because they proclaim my message means their heart has received my message

Not because they say, means they are truly my servants

Not because they know me, means that I know them “the Lord knows who are His” 2 Tim 2:19.

The Will of God

Matthew 7:21““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

The word used for will here is the Greek word, “thlema”

It expresses the desires of God’s heart. That which is designed by God which is derived from what pleases God

To do His will is not simply to perform an action

To do His will is:

To wholly be intuned to the heart of God, so that my activity through obedience to the word of God accomplishes the things that pleases God

John 8:29 ““And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.””

You’re not moved by reciprocation because you’re consumed with pleasing Him

You’re not consumed with policing the church, our leaders, or anyone because you realise you have a lot of junk in your life that needs to be removed so that you can “please God”

You’re not moved away by who’s not doing

You’re not moved away by pressure and hardship (things not going your way) because you know you need to please God

Not everyone that DOES, is intuned with the will of God

There’s some nuance between the WORK and the WILL

Notice where the empahsis is in the text “Those that do the will, enter into heaven”

Many folks are focused on going to heaven but not doing the will of God (what pleases God)

John 4:34 “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”

Lord, Lord

Matthew 7:22 ““Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’”

Many will say “I worked” But God will ask did you do my will? Were you and I one? Did we agree or did you fight me?

Did I have your heart along with your hands?

Those who have said “Lord, Lord”

They perform the formalities but they are not transformed

They clean the outside of the cup, but the inside is still dirty

They sing the words of the song but God receives no praise from their hearts

They are present for every church program but they have never presented themselves to God

They worship with their lips but their hearts are far from God

They read a chapter or post a scripture but the same has not convicted their hearts, “that’s not for me that’s for someone else”

They are content with their preference and tradition and unconcern with what God said

They say what is right but never seem to get around to doing what is right

They do the bare minimum and never strive for excellence

They rather move to the ways to of the culture than the words of Christ

They are content with the next person being worse than them, so they can remain exactly where they are, “at least I’m not like that publican”

They say, “Lord Lord,” but the Lord says, “I never knew you”

Matthew 7:23 ““And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Depart = to make a definite separation, to move away from

Can you imagination a place where God’s presence is absent?

The worst thing about hell, is not the descriptions (figurative) we see - It’s the absence of God’s presence (FOR ETERNITY)

This is why we are pleading to get on board with kingdom - the kingdom is what pleases God

Luke 12:32–33 ““Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.”

How can I be more “intuned” with God’s will?

Prayer - you cannot hope to get closer to God/God’s will without talking to God [the 1 minute prayer we do before bed]

Personal Study - you must spend time in God’s word, it is in the word that His will is revealed

Practice - Matthew 12:49–50 “And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.””

Heb 10:34-35

Hebrews 10:34–36 “For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”