The Paradoxical Sayings of Jesus
Jesus' Chilling Warning, Part II
Matthew 7:13-28
As we attended Dallas Seminary in the 1980s, my brother-in-law was attending dental school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at Oral Roberts University and lived in the student dorms there. So we would often visit them in Tulsa, and as we did, we got to know some of their fellow students. One was a theology student, not surprisingly a flaming Pentecostal, a young man whom I'll call Scott. He was certainly on fire for the Lord and told many stories about his ministry.
But the story that sticks out the most in my memory was a very odd one he told about a group of Pentecostal evangelists he knew who would often drive for hours to get to the many Pentecostal churches in the area to do ministry. He noted how this group of Pentecostal evangelists would generally drive at about 90 miles per hour to get where they were going, and how the Holy Spirit operated as their fuzz-buster to prevent them from getting speeding tickets. If you don't know what a fuzz-buster was, it was essentially a piece of electronic equipment that you could buy which would tell you if you were under radar surveillance by law enforcement. He told how accurately "the Holy Spirit" foretold and forewarned members of this speeding group of Pentecostal evangelists, for whenever "He" warned them, sure enough they would slow down just in time to find that the Highway Patrol was indeed there watching for speeders.
If you find yourself puzzled by this kind of story, well, you're not alone. So was I. I was somewhat skeptical of Pentecostalism generally at the time, so it seemed like just another extreme of that spiritual movement, though I must admit that I believe all the spiritual gifts, including the miraculous ones, are for today with the exception of apostleship. But I was puzzled at how to explain the supernatural element that, if this story were true, was so clearly involved in “busting the fuzz” and breaking the law. Would the Holy Spirit actually do this sort of thing and allow Christians, or professed Christians, to break the law of the land? That seemed to contradict the Bible, especially Romans 13 and other places. These folks, though they may have a different style and some differing beliefs, believe in Jesus and pray to Him, don't they? How could these things be? The answer to that question, as it turns out, is also the answer to the paradoxes and the seeming contradictions in that most chilling of all Jesus' paradoxical statements which we find in Matthew 7:21-23.
Again, let me read to you this most paradoxical and chilling statement given by Jesus as He concludes the greatest sermon ever preached, 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. 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?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’"
Now last week we did part one of this message. We asked four questions about the apparent paradoxes posed by this passage:
1. First of all, the clear teaching of Scripture that salvation comes by grace through faith in Christ and faith alone, apart from works. The New Testament clearly teaches a person is saved by faith alone, apart from works. So how then do we explain this emphasis that only those who do the will of God will be going to heaven?
2. Second, the apparent teaching of the Bible from places like Romans 10:13 which say
all who call upon and profess the name of the Lord will be saved. Clearly, Matthew 7:21-23 indicates that some, in fact, many, who call on the name of the Lord Jesus will most definitely not be saved
3. Jesus indicated that miracles were indeed a valid testimony that He was from God,
was God Himself, and that people should believe in Him because of those which He did in John 14:11. How is that also not always true for His apparent followers?
4. The New Testament's assurance that we can know with certainty we're going to heaven based on the promises of God. Matthew 7 says some will clearly be self-assured they're going to Heaven, when in fact many who will be certain of their salvation who will be most certainly and sincerely wrong, to their eternal regret.
Our answers to questions one and two were basically this: Salvation, or going to heaven, is definitely by faith alone in Jesus alone, and based on His work on the cross for us. There is nothing we can add to His work of salvation to us. But the faith that saves is always a faith that produces good works—what you truly believe determines what you do--and so the kind of faith that saves also works. Though the means of getting to heaven is faith in Christ, the result of that faith is good works. In other words, the faith that saves is always the faith that works, the faith that repents and the faith that generally obeys. Though faith does not produce perfection in our lives, it produces a complete change in direction, in which we are born again. "If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation, old things are passed away, and all things have become new." (II Corinthians 5:17).
Therefore, we concluded that the Bible agrees with Jesus. Though those who are saved are saved by faith alone, the proof of their salvation will be in their works—that, generally, they will do the will of God.
So what does assure us of salvation? Believe it or not, despite what most evangelical leaders say today, it is not just the promises of God’s Word, it is also our performance. Some who hear this may charge me with heresy. But the truth is, repent, or obedient faith is the ultimate assurance of salvation.
Where do I find this in the Bible? In a passage very neglected by evangelicals, like myself. II Peter 1:9-10. Peter has just enumerated a number of character qualities which should characterize a true believer. And He says that our continued prace of these things makes certain of our calling to be believers. “For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.
A spiritual mentor I greatly respect taught me that when a person doubts his salvation, he only needs look back at the cross—that Christ died for His sins and therefore he’s assured of salvation by God’s promises, not his performance. But this verse actually says something quite different—that our performance, our continued practice of Christian virtues makes us certain, or assured of our salvation. Yes, God’s promises and our performance assure us of our salvation.
Thus, repentant or obedient faith is also an assurance of our salvation.
So what about this incredible statement that "many" who profess the Lord Jesus as their Savior will support their contention that they should be going to heaven on Judgment day based on some of their works—most notably, the miracles which they have done in Jesus' name in casting out demons, and also in doing many miracles in Jesus' name? Now Jesus does not seem to contradict that they did any of these miracles in His name. On the other hand He does contradict the notion that these miracles are proofs that those who did them are actually going to heaven. How can these things be?
Jesus does not explain all of what is involved toward our understanding of what He says here. This paradoxical saying seems to beg us to think hard, to study hard, about how all of this can be true. It has certainly required me to think long and hard about it, and it's only after years of reflection on Scripture and involvement in ministry that I have come to the following conclusions.
So how can these things be? How could anyone do miracles in Jesus’ name and not know Jesus and go to heaven?
The answer is that God and Jesus are not the only source of supernatural power. The Bible tells us that angels and demons can also do the supernatural, and specifically warns us to beware of demons who will attempt to deceive us through the supernatural.
We have time for only one passage this morning—the Apostle Paul’s prediction of how the Antichrist will deceive many to believe in him in the last days. The passage is II Thessalonians 2:8-10, and the antichrist is here called the “Man of Lawlessness.” “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.” Notice how Satan deceives the world about the identity of the Antichrist. It is through “all power and signs and false wonders.” In this passage, I like how the King James puts it: “through lying wonders.” So how are wonders false? The wonders are actually supernatural works. What’s false about them is what they say about who Jesus is. They lie about who Jesus is. They are genuine miracles which testify to the notion that someone who is definitely not Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible. Therefore, they are actually wonders which lie about Jesus—thus “lying wonders.”
So don't believe every miracle, or supernatural sign you see is from God. Many are from demons who use them to deceive you.
So once again, this begs the question. How can you tell. How can you tell whether a miracle is from God or from the evil one?
Test the Spirits! The Bible repeatedly tells us to test the Spirits which are behind the miracles.
We’ve got to test the spirits because they counterfeit miracles and even spiritual gifts.
Where do we find this? First, in Paul's discussion about supernatural spiritual gifts given to believers in I Corinthians 12-14, the very first thing He is concerned about is to teach us how to discern the difference between a supernatural spiritual gift which is from God and a supernatural spiritual gift which is from Satan or demons. This is the most basic teaching about spiritual gifts, and it’s repeatedly ignored in our churches today. You’ve got to know what is a real gift of the Holy Spirit and what is not.
Check out I Corinthians 12:1-3: A warning comes first as Paul describes how to determine the source of prophecies, tongues, discernment of spirits, gifts of healing and miracles. This is because it is so essential to identify the source of supernatural spiritual gifts before accepting these miracles as signs from God.
So the Apostle Paul says, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, 'Jesus is accursed'; and no one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit."
In other words, Paul, as he refers to the pagan backgrounds of the Corinthians, indicates that somehow they were led astray from the true God to worship mute idols. He doesn't say it in so many words, but he is indicating that they were ultimately led astray to follow these idols by demonic spirits. This is demonstrated by a reading of I Corinthians 10:20, just two chapters earlier where Paul identified the power behind idolatry as being demonic: “ No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.” So then he tells them that when it comes to their supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, that these gifts of the Holy Spirit can be counterfeited by the same power that led them to worship mute idols. What invisible supernatural power would that be? Obviously, the demonic. So He tells us how to test the gifts, the supernatural gifts such as prophecy, and tongues, and healing. He tells us that the proof of their source is this: What they say about Jesus. Satan and His demons are forever opposed to the true Jesus, so if someone, by the power of a spirit, says Jesus is accursed in a tongue or a prophecy, then that's a clear sign that a demon has counterfeited that supernatural gift of the Spirit. But if someone says by the power of the spirit behind their supernatural gift, "Jesus is Lord," that's a sign that they have a genuine gift of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit always honors and glorifies Jesus Christ, testifying that Jesus is Lord.
The problem with some who claim to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit and miracles today is that they never test the spirit behind their gifts. They rarely interpret their tongues. In fact, they’ll often all speak out-loud in tongues at the same time, in clear violation of what Paul teaches in I Corinthians 14. This leaves them wide open for demonic deception.
As John says in I John 4:1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." And what’s the test John recommends—it’s parallel to the test Paul recommends in I Corinthians 12:1-3: It’s what they say about Jesus—“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world”
I have personally encountered on several occasions people claiming to have the gift of tongues, but who have never have tested the spirit behind the tongue or had their gift of tongues interpreted, and so until they were tested, did not discover that their spiritual gift was not of the Holy Spirit, but of a demon. More than that, I was demonically oppressed as a result of attending the healing meetings of a Pentecostal evangelist, Kathryn Kuhlmann, back in 1970. And so now it becomes clear that these supposed spiritual gifts of prophecy, tongues and even miracles, can be from a demon. And this is so often a problem today in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement: no testing of spirits, no interpretation, everyone going off at once, disorder and chaos, and this leads to deception.
But what about the matter of these great works being done in Jesus' name? How is that at all possible?
Well, there's an even greater deception going on with regard to the very things that determine our salvation. Demons even counterfeit Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Gospel. So another ctical point this morning: Watch out for demonic counterfeits of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Gospel. Watch out for demonic counterfeits of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Gospels.
The Devil is absolutely audacious and devoted to profaning the most holy things of God. He has absolutely no problem in counterfeiting even Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Gospel. In he delights to do so because it is so effective in deceiving you and I.
Demons will impersonate Jesus, through the teaching a false concept of Jesus; they will impersonate the Holy Spirit, through counterfeiting spiritual gifts in the name of Jesus, and they will also counterfeit the Gospel, that salvation is through faith in Christ and His death for our sins and resurrection (see I Corinthians 15:1-5, by proclaiming that it's through a different, false or counterfeit Gospel—a Gospel or works, or of faith in Christ plus works, or a Gospel of faith in some other entity or mediator, or some other god. We see this teaching in II Corinthians 11:3-4 and 13-15 where Paul warns the Corinthians of false teachers, the content and the source of their teaching: "But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully." What’s another Jesus other than a false concept of Jesus, that’s He’s less than God somehow, or something different from what the Bible portrays Him to be. What’s a different spirit from what they had received—clearly a different Holy Spirit—not a real one, but a counterfeit and a demonic Holy Spirit? What’s a different Gospel, but a false concept of the Biblical Gospel?
And then in verses 13-15, he tells us the source of these different concepts of Jesus, these different spirits from the Holy Spirit and these different gospels: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds."
Jesus then closes His sermon with how we can protect ourselves through deception. He tells us we can protect ourselvfes by knowing and doing God’s Word. God’s Word exposes all these powerful deceptions of the devil, if only we will study, meditate on it, read it, and follow it. Matthew 7:24-27: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”
And so we come back to the story of the speeding evangelists. How is it that the Holy Spirit was their fuzz buster, the Spirit that supposedly reveals the locations of cops who might give them a ticket for their lawlessness? Well, it wasn't the Holy Spirit. It can't be. He would never contradict His own Word about obeying the governing authorities. What has happened is that these lawless evangelists were actually under the deceptive influence of demonic spirits, posing as and counterfeiting the Holy Spirit. The result was that they, in the name of Jesus, had literally become workers of lawless as Jesus had indicated in Matthew 7.
Wow, suddenly we realize the world really is a very dangerous place. That there is a broad road that leads to destruction and many there be who find it. And that's because of so many false prophets who even arise in the name of Christ and are presently doing signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. And that we might so easily be deceived ourselves; deceived, if possible, to the ultimate result that on Judgment Day Jesus, the true Jesus, might even say to us, "Depart from Me, for I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness."
How do you know when someone, or even you yourself is truly saved? Jesus tells us this—That not all who profess Jesus as Lord are saved. Not all those who believe Jesus is Lord will be saved. Not even all those who do miracles in Jesus' name will be saved. That the ultimate test and proof of someone who is going to heaven is this—obedient faith in the Lord Jesus, an obedient life lived accord to God's will and God's Word. In other words—You shall know them by their fruits.
Yes, words are cheap and sometimes even miracles are cheap. But a life and life-style lived according to God's will and Word are not. This, and this alone is the ultimately testimony as to whether someone is truly saved.
So, what about you?
Let's pray.
