False Followers
Notes
Transcript
You have heard the saying, “You get what you pay for.” You have also heard, “If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.” You get what you pay for usually refers to buying cheap products that promise to be one thing but turn out to be another. Online shopping is a great way to get the stuff you want, but it can come at a price. You don’t get to see and feel a product before you buy it. You can’t tell if something is always what it claims to be. Cheap knockoffs abound. They are not always terrible, but often inferior to the original product.
Last week we talked about false prophets and teachers. Today we are going to talk about false followers. You may be asking what the difference is. A false follower may not be the one spouting false teaching, but rather has believed falsely. We are going to look at that today in the next section on the sermon on the mount.
“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.’
As we discuss this text, we will look at three truths centered around distinguishing true followers of Jesus from false followers.
Jesus is judge over creation.
Jesus is judge over creation.
Verse 23 says he will say to those who claimed to do good things in his name that he never knew them. The result of that statement is rejection into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus has the final say on who will and who will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
In Acts 10, Peter is preaching to Cornelius and his family. Listen to what he says Jesus told those who witnessed his resurrection:
“And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.
Jesus has been appointed by God the Father to be the judge of the living and the dead. So, right now Jesus is judge over all creation. Jesus himself claimed equality with God and claims to be judge in John 5:22-23.
“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Then later in Matthew Jesus says,
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
In the sermon on Mars Hill, the apostle Paul says,
“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
There is no one whom God has raised from the dead and handed over the right to judge the living and the dead but Jesus Christ. So we must begin then, by understanding Jesus is the judge over all creation. Whatever he says, goes.
Now that we have established this fact, what is Jesus saying?
A seat at Christ’s table is not based on merit.
A seat at Christ’s table is not based on merit.
Verse 22 expresses a rebuttal from those who receive the news that they are not entering the kingdom of heaven. “But Lord, didn’t we prophesy for you? Didn’t we perform exorcisms for you? Didn’t we perform miracles for you?” The modern day version of this might sound like, “But Lord, didn’t we show up to church like you wanted? Didn’t we clean up trash in the park? Didn’t we feed families through the food bank? Didn’t we go on a mission trip? Wasn’t I nice to my neighbors?” Jesus looks at the guest list. “Hmmm.... Nope. Sorry. You’re not on it.” What is Jesus saying? He is saying that entrance into heaven, a seat at his table, is not based on merit. It has never been based on what you have done or will do.
Scripture is the best interpreter of scripture. There are two instances where someone thought they could do something to earn God’s favor. The first is found in Acts 8:9-24
Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great;
and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.”
And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts.
But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John,
who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
“You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
“Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.
“For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Simon, this ex-magician, thought he could buy the Holy Spirit, but nobody can buy God. He didn’t know what he was asking. The Holy Spirit cannot be bought. He is received as a free gift to those who believe.
The second example is in Acts 19:11-20
God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.
But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.
Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.
And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
Here you have this strange scenario where the sons of a man named Sceva attempt to exorcise a demon by invoking the name of Christ, but failed. Why? Look in verse 13. The last three words say, “whom Paul preaches.” Not the Jesus in whom they preach, but in the one whom Paul preaches. What was missing? There was no personal relationship. In the first instance, you had a man who believed Philip’s message, but thought he could buy the Holy Spirit to use for his own purposes.
The second instance shows seven men attempt to cast out a demon by invoking the name of Jesus, whom they have no personal connection to. So they are trying to use the power Paul has without the power source Paul has.
I have a nephew named Isaac. When Isaac was about two years old, my sister and brother-in-law came to the house every week. My brother-in-law Carlos would come into my room and we would play video games together for hours. Isaac was aware enough of what was going on and he wanted to join in. But Isaac is two years old. He can’t play these games. So we decided to take the batteries out of the controller and let him think he was playing, when actually, he was not. What these guys were trying to do by invoking the name of Jesus was like trying to play video games without any batteries in the controller. It just doesn’t work. You can’t have power if you are not plugged into a power source.
A seat at Jesus’ table is not based on what you say you do in his name.
A seat at Christ’s table is based on relationship.
A seat at Christ’s table is based on relationship.
Paul had access to the Holy Spirit because of his relationship with Jesus. He has a seat at Christ’s table because he has a relationship with Christ.
One of my favorite celebrities is Keanu Reeves. I have not seen every movie he has ever been in, but I loved Bill and Ted and I enjoyed the Matrix series (except for part 4). But I tell you why I like Keanu Reeves. Because I believe you get what you see with him. He dresses like a regular guy. He rides the subway. He gives up his seat on the subway. He doesn’t think the world revolves around him like so many Hollywood celebrities do. I would love to sit across the table from Keanu Reeves one day because I think that I could have a real conversation with him. I don’t feel like he would be fake the whole time.
Now I can go and watch every movie and TV show he has ever been in. I could research his life and know everything there is to know about him publicly. I could know where he lives. I could be his number one fan. But none of that would ever get me a seat at his table. You cannot just walk up to this man’s house and knock on the door. He doesn’t leave a key under the welcome mat, which I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have. The only way I am getting into Keanu Reeves’ house and sit at his table is if I receive an invitation. The same is true of Jesus.
Here’s the thing. Jesus has already extended the invitation. Some refuse the invitation because they think he never existed. Some reject the invitation to sit at Jesus’ table because they do not believe what he said about himself. Some reject the invitation because they believe if they do enough stuff that he likes, he will let them in. No. The only way in is given to us in verse 21. Only those who do the will of his Father are permitted to enter.
Nobody does the will of God unless they already have a relationship from which to do it. We don’t do what God asks of us in order to get something from him. We do the things he asks of us because we have already gotten something from him. It is our posture of gratitude that drives our worship. Those who do the will of God enter the kingdom of heaven because those who do the will of God already have already accepted the invitation!
ACTION STEPS:
The first step in doing the will of God is trusting in Jesus, whom he sent! If you don’t believe what the Bible says about Jesus, there is no way to be right with God. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. He is the gateway into a relationship with the Father. If you want a relationship with God, then place your trust in Jesus and the payment he made for your sins on the cross. Turn away from your sin, ask for forgiveness, and you will be saved.
The second step in doing the will of God is baptism. If you have believed in Christ, but have never followed through and made your faith public through baptism, you need to do so. Baptism helps you make a public declaration that you have received new life and it gives us, your new brothers and sisters, the opportunity to welcome you into the family. If you have questions regarding baptism, you can come forward during the invitation or we can meet later to talk about it.
Lastly, the will of God is that you invest everything into the relationship. He has already given everything to adopt you. His will is that we give him more and more control over our affairs as we learn to trust him with the life we live. How much of you does God have? Are you holding anything back from him? Allow him to examine you and reveal the parts of your life that you need to surrender today.