Text: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 7:21).
How many of you are thoroughly convinced and know without a shadow of doubt that you will enter the kingdom of heaven? As Christians, all of us are sure that this is our destiny. Isn’t this true?
Do the words of Jesus “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven…” mean anything to you? You have read them many times or you have heard them quite often, but, has a red flag every popped up in your thinking?
At some point in our life are we going to be surprised? I believe we all like surprises if they are to our benefit. As children, we most likely had many surprises. We might have been surprised with a birthday party, or a trip to an amusement park, or by being chosen for a special award in school.
As an adult, we might have been surprised to learn of a raise in our paycheck or our loan for the house we really wanted has been approved. Perhaps we applied for a certain position that 100 other people applied for and we were notified we had been selected.
As a young high school graduate, you were surprised to find out your college expenses are covered by a full scholarship. Maybe you were surprised to discover the person you have been dating has accepted your proposal to spend the rest of their earthly life with them.
These of course are all positive or good surprises, but then there is the other side of the coin that shows negative surprises. For example, many working adults have been surprised to learn their company is cutting positions and their position will be eliminated. This is something that was not expected so it was a major surprise.
Maybe a spouse, without any known medical problems, suddenly dies. This is not only a surprise, but also a shock because it was never expected. My own brother suffered a broken collar bone in his teen years and a broken ankle in his 30’s, but other than that was in good health. One night he went to bed and within the hour he went to be with the Lord. This was a total surprise to the entire family.
It is probably safe to say that we have all experienced positive and negative surprises. We had no problem dealing with the positive surprises, but the negative ones were a shock. Even though the surprise was a shock, we were able to deal with it. We managed to gain strength from an unknown source and as a Christian we know that source was none other than Almighty God.
There is no doubt that at a certain time we are all going to leave this earthly life. As a Christian, we believe that we will spend eternity in the presence of God the Father and God the Son. In other words, we know our destiny and knowing our destiny, we have inner peace.
Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven…” We tell ourselves those words do not apply to us because we are “born-again” Christians. Not only that, but we were raised by a Christian mom and dad. We went to Sunday school and church. As adults, we raised our children the same way.
We go to church, serve on the various boards, teach Sunday school, financially support the work of the church, help our neighbors, and abide by the Ten Commandments. We have a sure ticket on the heavenly train which will take us passed the pearly white gate and into the terminal of eternity.
Many people think this way and are convinced in their mind they will be saved. Some people are sure of their destiny because they profess to be a believer in Jesus Christ. They claim that salvation is not an issue because they have done many wonderful works in the name of Almighty God. Yes, they have made some mistakes and they have made some wrong choices, but all their good deeds outweigh their wrongdoings.
This all sounds good, but in reality it doesn’t guarantee one a place in the heavenly kingdom. There are people, including some Christians, who say that believing in Jesus will save them. If you think for a moment, you will recall that demons believe in Jesus, but they certainly are not saved.
In James’ letter we find these words, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder” (James 2:19). In other words, the demons know who Jesus is but they do not obey Him.
John recorded these words, “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue, for they loved praise from men more than praise from God” (12:42, 43).
There are people who refuse to believe in Jesus and then there are people who believe but will not admit they believe. These people are in the same boat as those who do not believe.
I say this because Jesus, Himself, said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven” (Matthew 10:32, 33).
One either boldly acknowledges Jesus or keeps it secret and if they keep it secret, they are just like the non-believers. No one can secretly be a disciple. It just doesn’t work that way.
God requires us to follow His Word. God gave Micah these words to put in writing: “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). These words are pretty clear, so why do some people look for ways to please God.
It should not be difficult to be fair and treat people in a fair manner. That’s what God meant when he said, “to act justly”. People are going to do or say things to us that are not nice, but we need to show mercy to these people by casting a shadow of love over them. As children of God, we are expected to humble ourselves to the point of obedience and total submission to His will.
Jesus expects us to serve Him through serving His children. How do we serve His children? Matthew records Jesus’ words concerning the final judgment. He talks about feeding the hungry, giving them something to drink, going the second mile to make strangers feel welcome, providing clothes for those in need, taking care of the sick and visiting those in prison.
These are some of the ways we show our love to Almighty God. These are the concerns the issues that will assure we are doing His will. Some people do not understand the will of God and do not do these things. Other people do these things without thinking they are doing God’s will.
One day Jesus will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:34-36).
God wants us to treat all people as though each person is Jesus. This is not easy under our own power. Jesus said, “…with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
Jesus knew that as people stand before Him and ask when they did these things, Jesus will say, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). As we stand before Him we should not be surprised when He invites us into His kingdom to spend eternity with Him.
Some people will be surprised at Jesus response because they did not follow His Word. Those people will hear these words: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me” (Matthew 25:41-43).
Another item of concern relevant to obeying God and doing His will is that of controlling our tongue. We should be “…quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).
When cannot talk and listen at the same time. We only have a one-track mind. When we read or hear the Word, we must listen to what it says to us and then follow through in obedience to the directive.
God gave Moses a set of standards known as “The Ten Commandments” which were intended to lead the people down the path of holiness. These words became known as “The Law”. During this time in history, it was a common practice to worship numerous gods in hopes that more blessings would be received. This was not God’s intention nor was this his desire for the people.
His first Commandment stated that He was, without question, their one and only God. This means that He and only He should be worshiped and served. This was a difficult concept for the people to accept because they saw Him as just another god to add to their list of gods.
God said, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:4). God made this command first because He wanted to make a deep everlasting impression on their minds. He was not just another god, but He was their God and their one and only God. He wanted them to realize that He was the god that led them out of captivity.
It will be a surprise when we stand before God on the judgment day and hear him say, “You did not worship only me, but you worshiped other gods like fortune, work, fame, pleasure, entertainment, material possessions, and so on. Even though you obeyed the other 9 commands, you broke the first one. You will not be able to enter my kingdom.”
If that were to happen to us, I am sure we would be surprised, but there would be nothing we could do at the time. We might list a hundred other good things we did which would not satisfy Almighty God.
We might say that we preached in His name, or we gave to the poor, the hungry, and the thirsty. We thought we were on the right path and He would be proud of us for doing these things. The problem is that we did it under our own power. We did not worship only Him, but if we had, then He would have given us the power and the authority to do His work.
We will not enter God’s kingdom based upon all the accomplishments we have made. Our works do not merit us a free ticket into the kingdom. We cannot work our way into His kingdom.
His Word says, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteousness things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:3-7).
The bottom line is that we cannot get into His kingdom under our own power. Our salvation is by grace. We don’t deserve it, but through His love for us, He gave His Son to pay the sin penalty that we could not pay. He expects us to worship Him as the One and only God.
That is why He emphasized the First Commandment and placed it in the first position. We may and are expected to do other deeds just as Jesus did. Jesus feed the 4000 and the 5000 people. He wants us to follow in his footsteps and feed the one who comes to us hungry.
He healed the lame, the paralyzed, the woman who was bleeding, the blind and He restored life to a small girl. When we accept Jesus as our own Lord and Savior, we are empowered with the Holy Spirit. We have the same power that Jesus gave the disciples. They were able to carry forth His mission while He was with them upon the earth, and after He ascended back to Heaven, they walked in His footsteps continuing the healing and the restoring process because they received power from Him through the Person of the Holy Spirit.
You might be thinking that although you are a Christian you could not heal a person of some condition and that is true. You do not do the healing, but Jesus, who works through you in the power of the Holy Spirit, will do what you cannot do.
Miracles happen today just as they happened in Jesus’ day. You have heard of people being instantly healed of some physical condition. People on crutches for years have been made to walk without them because of the faith and love of God’s people and the power of the Holy Spirit working in those people. People who have never spoken a word have been able to speak. I have heard of a short leg and short arm instantly become the length they should be.
People have been healed of diabetes, cancer, heart conditions, and a myriad of other conditions. All people who have prayed for healing have not been healed, but in those cases God gave them something better and more beneficial.
People’s lives have been spared from some natural disaster. They should have died, but for some reason they lived while everything around them was destroyed. Automobiles have been totally destroyed, yet the person or people in the car for some miraculous reason came out without a scratch.
Story: “Our God Still Able!”
And officer in the first World war gives this account of God’s willing and ability to save men from shot and shell when they will pray. A German machine gun crew had their gun trained on an angle of our trenches where troops frequently passed back and forth, and the casualties were many.
As a last resort volunteers were called to storm the German gun in the open. Fifteen men volunteered. They themselves could see at a glance that most if not all of them must die. Even if they succeeded in silencing the gun they would scarcely escape the hail of lead that would follow them back to their lines.
The young office appointed to lead them, a chum of the one reporting the incident, before going over, addressed the volunteers as follows: “Men, I am a Christian. Before every undertaking I pray, Those of you who are willing, kneel with me and pray about this one.”
Then he uncovered his head and kneeling prayed, asking God to spare their lives, but if any must go that their souls might be saved. When he arose from his knees he noted that every man of them had knelt with uncovered head.
Then they went over the top and raced for the machine gun nest amid a hail of lead and steel. They overcame the gun crew, tore up the gun and took it with them as they ran back to their trenches – not a man missing or seriously wounded.
To the men looking on it was a miracle indeed. None among them will ever say that the day of miracles is past. God has not withdrawn His “exceeding great and precious promises.”
----------------Gospel Herald
These men prayed and worshiped Almighty God. They knew there were no other gods. Their faith in and love for God surfaced by their obedience to His Word.
Miracles do happen this very day and will continue to happen because God is still on His throne. God wants us to spend eternity in His presence. His Word tells us how to stay on the straight and narrow road. All we have to do is to be obedient and follow it.
We are given the opportunity to accept His Son as our personal Lord and Savior and be obedient to Him and follow the words in red, we will not be surprised when we stand before Him on judgment day and hear His words spoken to us: “Enter into the joy of the lord” (Matthew 25:21).
He will compare us to the wise man who built his house upon the rock. “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock” (Matthew 7:25).
Conclusion:
Will everyone enter the kingdom of God just because they say “Lord, Lord”?
No!
Why?
To do the will of Jesus’ Father is mandatory to gain entrance into the kingdom. To those who have done many good deeds and called Him Lord, but have never done the will of His Father will hear these words: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23).
They will be surprised, but it will be too late. They will spend eternity outside of His kingdom.
Amen.
