Four Words You Never Want To Hear God Say
Matt. 7.21-23
August 1, 2004 Chester FBC, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
One week prior to this sermon, during the children’s sermon, plant a pea seed in one clear glass and a round pebble that looks like a pea seed in another glass. Do not let the children know that one of the seeds is a rock. This intentional withholding of information (rock) is crucial to tying in the children’s message in to this message should you us it as part of your introduction! Water both of them. Explain that God gives the growth to the plants and also to us. Use Paul’s passage in I Corinthians 3.6-7.
A Let’s look at how our little plants are doing this week!
a The pea plant will barely be poking out of the soil, but you tell there is growth. (If plant is not poking out of the soil, dig it up and examine the roots of the pea.)
b The other glass is exactly the same as last week. Why?
*Dig it up and examine it. "It’s not a seed at all. It’s a rock. No wonder it wasn’t growing!"
c There are many people who call themselves Christians (our membership roll has over 600 people on and everyone of them call themselves one.)
aa How do you know if a person is believer? Christian? More importantly, how do you know if you’re a Christian?
bb I have a tremendous fear that many of those people on our rolls, and maybe even some of us here today, claim to be Christians but what we really may be is lost.
B Today’s message is Four Words You Never Want To Hear God Say.
a 21 "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.’
Matt 7:21-23 (NASB)
b Jesus told his fellow climbers that lip service alone did not bring them eternal life. (Essence of the Text in a Sentence)
C It takes more than the right password to enter God’s Kingdom. (E.S.S )
a I hope you will do what it takes to personally avoid hearing the four words you never want to hear God say. (Objective)
b What will God say to you when you enter heaven’s gates? (Probing Q)
T.S.: I Tim. 2.4, tells us that God desires for all men to be saved, but not everyone will be saved. Jesus could have prayed on the cross, "Father, save the whole world." But he didn’t. Not everyone’s going to this game of life’s post-game party. I want you to take inventory so can avoid hearing the four words you never want to hear God say.
I The first item on our inventory is . . . JESUS MUST BE OUR LORD.
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, . . .
A Jesus plainly stated that not everyone who said they knew Him really knew Him.
a There were those who have went to heaven and said, "I called you my Lord, Jesus. Let me in." Spending eternity in a devil’s hell this morning.
b Simply calling Jesus Lord with their mouth DID NOT GUARANTEE ENTRANCE INTO HIS KINGDOM!!!
*They called Jesus Lord with their mouths, but they weren’t saying from their hearts.
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10 (KJV)
B "Words and sounds are the cheapest part of our religion . . " -Jonathan Edwards
a (IL.) When we were children we had to have secret password to get in the club house. Passwords don’t get you to heaven.
(Prayers/ Doctrine/ Theology/ Church Membership/ Calling yourself a Christian . . . don’t get you to heaven.)
b It’s through Jesus we get to heaven!!!
12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
Acts 4:12 (NASB)
C Rudy Giuliani was the mayor of New York when they faced the tragedy of 9/11.
a In an attempt to call people to pray he said, "All of us should pray to the God of his or her own choosing."
b It’s not in the name of Allah, Buddha, Morality, Almighty Dollar, Philosophy that brings us salvation.
*That name above all names is Jesus!!!!
T.S.: Before God can do a lasting work in our lives we must allow Him to be our Lord. His Lordship is then manifested in our lives with the next item on our itinerary.
II The second item on our inventory is . . . DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER.
". . . but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. (V.21b)
This point is going to make some of you cringe because it talks about not only calling Jesus Lord, what that looks like in your life.
A Listen to what they were doing in v.22
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?’
These folks appeared to be doing some great things!!!
(preaching, casting out demons, and doing great miracles!!!)
a How could they be doing these great things and Jesus still not be impressed?
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; Isaiah 64:6 (NASB)
*These folks were trying to do enough good stuff to gain God’s favor!
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Eph 2:7-9 (NASB)
b Jesus is saying, "You might have said you knew me . . . but I sure don’t know you."
*The only way you can do the will of God is through FAITH.
B Our faith (if we have it) compels us to do the will of God.
(IL.) Got a call, "Pastor, I’ve been a member down at your church since I was little boy and I was wondering if you would marry me and girl whose living with me." I don’t know you! I don’t know about your salvation. "Don’t worry about me pastor. I walked the aisle, took the preachers hand, prayed and he said no matter what I did in my life, God was going to forgive me." I am worried. If you made a decision to live for Jesus, I’d know who your were. "That’s sure judgmental." Click
a If your faith is not being lived out in your life (doing the will of God) you are either . . .
aa Dead Sinner
bb Dull Christian
(cf. Matt. 6.14; 7.18; Jn. 13.35; Js. 2.20)
b When Jesus becomes real to us, we are different people!
*If you are who you were, then your not!
*ONCE GENUINELY SAVED, THEN ALWAYS GENUINELY SAVED.
*You’ve got to put your belief into practice.
C How do we do the will of God?
a Matt. 18.3 "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
*Converted? Turn, change course.
*children? Helpless, loving, ignorant.
b We can’t continuously stay in sin and call him "Lord" at the same time.
"Preacher, are you saying I’m lost if I don’t live a godly life after I say I’ve been saved? Read Verse 21!! I’m not saying it, but I do think Jesus is. V.23
Conclusion:
Jesus told his fellow climbers that lip service alone did not bring them eternal life. (ETS) It takes more than the right password to enter God’s Kingdom. (E.S.S )
A We’ve taken inventory today to see how we can avoid hearing the four words we never want to hear God say.
a Jesus must be our Lord.
b We must do the will of the Father.
B I hope you will do what it takes to personally avoid hearing the four words you never want to hear God say. (Objective)
a Some of you have walked an aisle, prayed a prayer, baptized, maybe even come to church pretty regular . . . but if you died right now, you’d bust hell wide open.
*He’s not your Lord!!! Your life outside the church does not show that Jesus is your Lord!!
b Some of you need to come clean today. You’ve given your life to Jesus, but you have allowed sin to creep back in your life.
*Do the will of the Father.
*You don’t have do it alone! "Come to him as a child!"
(IL.) Lake came to Pam and me this week and said a little boy was bothering him at VBS. We told him to say, "Don’t you know who I am. I’m the preachers kid." That little boy didn’t bother the rest of the week. Some of you are being picked on by the devil. Some of you need to go to dad this morning and say, "Daddy, that Ol’ devils picking on me." And he’ll give us the power to say to the devil, "Don’t you know who I am. I’m a child of the King!"
C What will God say to you when you enter heaven’s gates? (Probing Q)
a Billy Sunday told the story about his days in Major league baseball when a man got an in-the park homerun (didn’t go over the wall.)
*The man ran the bases and on his way to the dugout, the catcher came up to him and tagged him out. The umpire said, OUT! The hitter said, "I ran the bases and bet the throw at home!"
*Yes you did, but you didn’t tag first base.
b Some of you have been baptized, joined the church and you think your way to heaven (the big dugout in the sky), but your going to miss it.
*You didn’t tag first base. GENUINELY SAVED
c Close eyes/bow heads: Pray this prayer with me; "Lord, search me and try me; examine my heart, and let my conscience speak. Let me know whether I am converted or not. Amen."
What will God say to you when you enter heaven’s gates?
Good & Faithful Servant I Never Knew You
