Preachers In Perdition

“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. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” [1]

He spent his working life wearing the clerical vestments prescribed by his church as he carried out his religious duties. He performed multiple weddings and presided over more funerals than anyone cared to remember. He faithfully preached sermons that followed the liturgical calendar, counselled countless worried and confused individuals, and visited in local hospitals week-by-week throughout his days of employment as a reverend minister. He was respected around the town as a good person and as a friend to many. When he died, everyone agreed that if anyone had earned a place in Heaven, he surely was the one. But the reality was far different.

As was true for all preachers, this cleric had on appropriate occasion used as a text the pericope that describes Jesus contrasting the life of a rich man and a man so poor that he begged for scraps that might fall from the table of that rich man. You undoubtedly remember the passage, which reads, “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side” [LUKE 16:19-23].

In the story Jesus told, we can only imagine the shock that the rich man experienced; he expected to be received into Paradise and instead found himself in torment in Hades. This is the dreadful reality discovered by the cleric described earlier in this message. That account is an extrapolation derived from the warning Jesus delivered at one point in the sermon delivered one day while seated on the side of a hill. And no doubt all who were present that day must surely have wondered at what His words could mean! Imagine, Jesus stating that there are people who engage in religious service throughout the days of their life on earth who will hear the jolting words delivered by the Son of God, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Are we surprised that people in that ancient day held attitudes mirroring those that are regnant in contemporary society? We seem convinced that everyone, regardless of how godless their lives have been, goes to Heaven at death. We have convinced ourselves that God is so “nice” that He can’t turn anyone away; He just accepts everyone even though they have ignored Him and eschewed righteousness all their lives. We have created a religion that minimises sin, needs no Saviour, and rewards man’s mere existence. But contemporary religion is not an anomaly in the sweep of history.

Truth compels me to caution all who hear me speak this day. Being religious, being a nice person, is futile if we are not prepared upon our death to meet the God Who gives us our being. You know that it is a certainty that this life is temporary, and beyond this moment we call “now” lies eternity. The issue is not “if” we shall die, but it is “when” we shall die. You will recall that the statistics on death are pretty amazing—one out of one die! You and I now stand on the precipice of eternity. This present life is but the vestibule where we are awaiting eternity. And each of us is destined to spend eternity either in the presence of the God Who gives us our being or separated from Him. The days we have now are on loan, allowing us to prepare for the inevitable meeting. Let us, then, use our days wisely as we take a long view of what lies before us.

“LORD, LORD!” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” [MATTHEW 7:21a]. Well, now, that’s a bummer! Jesus isn’t going to let everyone into Heaven! How does that happen? Isn’t Jesus too nice to turn people away? Doesn’t He really, really want people in Heaven? I thought Jesus eagerly awaits every starlet, every singer, every “good” person; I thought Jesus couldn’t wait for them to be in His choir! That is the consensus of popular theology in this day. However, if this text is accurate, our Lord is quite clear that not everyone will be welcomed into Heaven. In fact, even many religious people will be unwelcomed in Heaven. And that is shocking!