INTRODUCTION
In his book, Growing Deep in the Christian Life, p. 159-60. Charles Swindoll, writes, Several years ago, in Long Beach, California, a fellow went into a fried chicken place and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date late one afternoon. The young woman at the counter inadvertently gave him the proceeds from the day-a whole bag of money (much of it cash) instead of fried chicken. After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to open the meal and enjoy some chicken together. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken--over $800! But he was unusual. He quickly put the money back in the bag. They got back into the car and drove all the way back. Mr. Clean got out, walked in, and became an instant hero. By then the manager was frantic. The guy with the bag of money looked the manager in the eye and said, "I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money. Here." Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, "Oh, great, let me call the newspaper. I’m gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You’re the most honest man I’ve heard of." To which they guy quickly responded, "Oh no, no, don’t do that!" Then he leaned closer and whispered, "You see, the woman I’m with is not my wife...she’s uh, somebody else’s wife."
Things are not as they always appear to be. The outside does not always reflect what is inside.
Have you ever been around a person who claims to have a friendship or a close relationship with another person only to find out that the supposed relationship was not as close as the person indicated?
Maybe you have heard of people who stalk stars or other famous people, claiming to have a love relationship with that famous person, only to find out the famous person never knew the other person. This person was fantasizing a relationship with a person who did know them.
As we close in on the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is going to speak to us today about what happens to us when we chose the wrong path and follow the wrong teachers.
One of the sad things about this passage is that many of the people on the wrong path think they are on the right one.
Is there more to entering heavens gates than many want to admit to?
Today the title of my message is, “One of the Scariest Passages in the Bible, “I Never Knew You”.
Let us see what Jesus has to say to us today.
SERMON
I. STANDING (V21)
A. The Story
As we start in verse 21 we see a picture of people coming before Jesus at the final judgment. They are standing as they get to the end of the path they have chosen.
They have been on a path that they have made for themselves.
In the context the path may have included a little of Jesus mixed in with everything else they were doing in life.
I can picture some of these people being people who had been a member on a church, maybe they were a somewhat active part of the church.
They had heard the sermons on how Jesus demanded first place in our lives, but that thought really did not fit into their “lifestyle”. Jesus really did not mean those things about denying self or taking up your cross daily and following Him.
Jesus really did not expect us to let in reign as king in ALL areas of our lives.
As the people come to Jesus, this group will be in line calling out His name. (HEY JESUS, HERE I AM)
B. What Jesus has to say on the matter
READ VERSE 21
The fact that the people cried out “Lord, Lord” indicates that these people understood who Jesus was and that they thought they had made a commitment to Him.
John MacArthur Jr. in his commentary on Matthew says the following, “To address Him as Lord, Lord was to add a spirit of intense zeal to demonstrate strength of devotion and dedication. In verse 22, the three references to your name are emphatic and convey the significance of who He is. Jesus is therefore talking about those who make a profession of faith in Him.
Jesus is telling the people that lip service is not what God is looking for. Lip service without obedience is meaningless.
William Barclay in his commentary on Matthew say, “There are two great permanent truths within this passage There is only one way in which a man’s sincerity can be proved, and that is by his practice. Fine words can never be a substitute for fine deeds. There is only one proof of love, and that proof is obedience. There is no point in saying that we love a person, and then doing things which break that person’s heart. When we were young maybe we used sometimes to say to our mothers, “Mother, I love you.” And maybe mother sometimes smiled a little wistfully and said, “I wish you would show it a little more in the way you behave.” So often we confess God with our lips and deny him with our lives. It is not difficult to recite a creed, but it is difficult to live the Christian life. Faith without practice is a contradiction in terms, and love without obedience is an impossibility.”
A life without “doing” the will of God cannot save us. Doing the will of God does not mean that we are sinless perfect, but it means our life is one that displays as overall obedience to the will of God.
JOHN 8:31-32 says, “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
1TI 4:16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.
HEB 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,
HEB 5:9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, EXPLAIN THE OBEY.
Jesus tells us that the one who does the will of God enters into the kingdom of God.
When you become a Christian, more is supposed to happen to us than just going to church or going to church once and a while.
When we are immersed (baptized) into Christ, we are telling Jesus that we belong to Him and that we are going to live for Him. I can list you bible verses all day that show us that God expects faithfulness, not lip service or a show. Once again I am not suggesting that you must be perfect, only that you do the best you can in surrendering your will to Jesus. God’s grace will make up where we fall short if we have given ourselves over to Him.
We do not do God’s will in order to receive salvation; we do it because we already possess it. James tells us that faith WITHOUT works is dead and useless.
II. PLEADING (V22)
In the next verse the scene starts to change. Now after Jesus has explained that unless you have done the will of the Father, you will not enter into the Kingdom of God, the pleading starts. Look at verse 22.
This is where we try to stand before Jesus and justify to Him our lack of desire to put Him first. The pleading involves telling Jesus about all the “good” things we have done to “earn” our pass to heaven.
I have said before that we cannot earn our salvation by works. These people are laying out an impressive list of things they did for “Jesus”. He remains unimpressed.
In Hosea 6:6 God tells us, “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
The false prophets were able to do some of the things that these people were pleading with Jesus over. In Acts 19:11-20 the seven sons of Sceva (see va) were healing and casting out demons, but they did not belong to God.
These folks were telling Jesus that they were doing miracles, preaching and so forth in His name. When they say this they are telling Jesus they were doing it by His authority.
There basic message was that they acknowledged Jesus with their lips, but in reality, their hearts were far off.
It was said that many years ago, a notorious gangster named Mickey Cohen attended a Christian meeting in Beverly Hills. The meeting was being led by a young evangelist named Billy Graham. Graham was just starting out in evangelism and no one had really heard of him. Everyone knew about Mickey Cohen. Mickey was attracted to what he heard at the meeting. Afterwards, Billy and some of the others talked to him about salvation, but he made no commitment at that time. A while later a Christian friend read Revelation 3:20 to him - "Behold, I stand at the door...." The friend then asked Mickey if he wanted this salvation. He said, "Yes, I do." The news of his conversion made quite a sensation, and the ministry of Billy Graham became known across the nation. There was only one small problem - nothing in Mickey Cohen’s life changed. When his friend confronted him about it, Mickey complained: "You didn’t tell me I would have to give up my work!" [Mafia] "You didn’t tell me I would have to give up my friends!" [gangsters] Mickey had heard that so-and-so was a Christian athlete, and so-and-so was a Christian actress, so he thought he could be a Christian gangster.
Not too many of us are gangsters, but the story fits. When we give our lives to Jesus, we may and will have to give some things up. Putting Jesus first will cost us something. Many are not willing to let Jesus take them that deep.
The people Jesus is speaking of did not have a relationship with Him. Without nothing they could do would warrant them getting into heaven.
Religion will not make you right with God, only a relationship with Jesus will do that. God is all about the relationship. The relationship will motivate us to do the actions that are pleasing to God.
JOHN 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
III. DEPARTING (23)
As we gaze upon the end of this tragic scene, Jesus tells these people who thought they were on the right track the words they thought nor wanted to hear.
READ VERSE 23
Jesus will say to those who claim Him but never trusted in Him enough to give their lives to Him, “I never knew you”. “I have never known you as My disciples, and you have never known Me as your Lord and Savior.
We have no intimate part of each other You chose your kingdom, and it was not My kingdom.”
The command to depart from me is the final sentence to hell, and is identical in thought to the judgment of Matthew 25:41 at the Lord’s return: “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” The lake of fire awaits all false professors (Rev. 20:15).
Jesus tells them that they are practicing “lawlessness.” The word indicates a continuous, regular action, and identifies the unforgiven sin and unrighteous life patterns of those claimers of salvation.
Profession of Christ and practice of lawlessness are totally incompatible. A good tree cannot bear that sort of fruit (Matt. 7:18; John 3:4-10). (MacArthur Matthew Commentary)
1 JOHN 3:4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
Sin is lawlessness.
When we continually practice lawlessness we are giving evidence that we do not belong to Christ. When we practice lawlessness we do not recognize or confess their sins or hunger for righteousness. All religious activity, no matter how orthodox and fervent, that does not result from obedience to the lordship of Christ and the pursuit of His glory is rebellion against the law of God, which demands heart conformity. (MacArthur Matthew Commentary)
2TI 2:19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness."
How we live our lives shows God who is our lord.
English is a strange language. There is no butter in buttermilk and no egg in eggplant. There is no ham in a hamburger and no apple in a pineapple. Quicksand works very slowly and boxing rings are square. Inconsistencies of language are not significant. Inconsistencies in life are significant. Christians must act like Christians. Our words and deeds must be consistent with what we profess.
CONCLUSION
The scene that Jesus describes is one that we do not want to experience. Jesus does not want you to experience it either, that is why He shared it with us.
Somewhere along the line people have gotten the impression that God does not care how they live.
God cares and He cares because He loves you and wants what is best for you.
You cannot just mix a little Jesus into your life just in case the bible is true. You must give Him your total self.
That takes courage and trust. If we really trust God like our presence here today would suggest, we will give God our full attention.
Religion or being religious will not save us. Only through a relationship with Jesus will we be saved.
Eternal life is not just about when you die; it is about what God wants to give to you now. Have you ever felt the hole in your heart and tried to fill it with things other than Jesus?
Jesus wants you to be with Him for eternity. Do you want to be with Him? Do we want to be one of those with whom Jesus says, “Depart from Me, I never knew you?”
