Doing The Will of God (Matthew 7:21-23)

The Kingdom of Heaven Is at Hand

Well, it is wonderful to be with all the saints this morning. If you would, please join me in turning your copy of God's Word to Matthew chapter 7. We're going to be looking at verses 21 through 23. And so as you're turning there, I want to read to you what Jesus said right before he gave his famous Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 4, 17.

Jesus began to preach saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so then Jesus gives the entire Sermon on the Mount to explain what he means by repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. It is among us.

And so if you recall, the first beatitude also mentioned the kingdom of heaven. There Jesus said, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And so the whole Sermon on the Mount is showing us that the kingdom of heaven, this narrow gate is salvation and true citizens of the kingdom are present tense presently in fellowship with Jesus Christ because he is King of Kings and he is Lord of Lords.

And so he says the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is now. And we understand that there is a future aspect as well, where Jesus will restore all things and set up the new heavens and the new earth. That I mentioned that that is still yet the future.

That is a part of our blessed hope. And so in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns of those that will miss the narrow gate, those who will miss the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 520, Jesus said, for I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Right. The Pharisees, they were people that look to their heritage. They look to themselves as being sons of Abraham. These were people that were looking to earn favor with God by what they could do. And Jesus is saying, no, the righteousness that far surpasses those who are trying to earn favor with God is a heart righteousness.

It is a person who is a spiritual beggar, someone who looks to the Lord in faith and says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And so one of my favorite verses that we talk about in the youth all the time is Mark 115, where Jesus mentions the kingdom there.

He says the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. We have to keep in mind the kingdom of heaven. Salvation is now it is at hand and Jesus is king of that kingdom.

But we must have eyes to see it. We must be born again. And so with that being said, let's stand for a moment as we read God's holy word, starting in verse 21 in Matthew 7. Jesus says, 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, do we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?

And I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. You workers of lawlessness. Let's pray this morning, Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for who you are, how you are sovereign, that all creation testifies to your glory.

Lord, I pray that this time that you would please send your spirit to illuminate our hearts and minds to the truth of your word. God, please help us to remove distractions. Please stop me from error and for your truth to be the only thing that shines forth.

Lord, we pray for wisdom this morning. We pray these things in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

False Profession and True Discipleship

You may be seated. So look back with me at verse 21, where Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. So he is talking immediately here about the kingdom of heaven.

This is referring to the sphere, the realm of salvation. This is referring back to the narrow gate that Pastor Nathan preached on a few weeks ago back in verse 13. He pointed out that the narrow gate is not just a future reality where we think about maybe we'll enter into the pearly gates one day.

No, it's here and now, right? You must enter through the gate through Jesus by trusting in him. And so when believers enter that narrow gate, this shows us the trajectory of our entire lives until we reach glory.

And so we must follow Jesus and we are currently citizens of that kingdom. But it's a very narrow way, right? It's a very hard way, meaning that it's going to be compressed from all sides as we follow.

Him.

The world is going to be coming at us from every angle. We are going to suffer persecution, affliction, trouble, and that's okay because the world first hated Jesus. So what do you think they're going to do with his followers?

They're also going to hate us as well. We are going to suffer great trouble. In fact, the scripture tells us that it's not been only granted to us to believe in Jesus, but to also suffer for his namesake.

And so we do this with joy. We contend for the faith and Jesus is always who we are looking to. And so he warns us to beware of false prophets. He tells us to keep watch not only for false teachers, but also false disciples.

And so in this passage, Jesus is identifying those who have made a profession of faith, but they do not bear the fruit of salvation. They have a right knowledge and theology of who Jesus is, but they do not know him relationally and their life gives evidence of that, that they are not truly saved.

And so here in verse 21, Jesus is not saying all people that say, Lord, Lord, are in fact lost. Let's look at verse 21 again. He says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

So Jesus is comparing and contrasting fake Christians with genuine born again Christians. Fake Christians will say a lot of the right things about the Bible, but that does not always indicate a repentant heart.

Real Christians who are born again, they desire to be doers of the word and not hearers only. And why is that? That is because we have been changed from the inside out by Christ. We know him and better yet, he knows us.

And so I wanted to make another note here in Jesus's words. He says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord. This is referring to a lot of those people that go to church. They know a lot of the right things and they will talk about the divinity, that Jesus is.

God.

He is divine all day long, but merely being able to articulate the right things does not save a person. In fact, the book of James says this, what good is it my brothers? If someone says he has faith, but does not have works, can that faith save him?

James is saying no way that faith cannot save. It is useless. Even the demons know many facts about the one true God and they are even compelled to respond with extreme fear. A mere said faith is a dead faith and it is actually a lie.

First John 1 .6 says, if we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. And so please hear me say that confessing that Jesus is Lord is important for our salvation, but it must not be in word only.

It must be truly from the heart. And so the context of Jesus' day, many of his hearers would have understood the Hebrew scripture that says, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And the apostle Paul is a wonderful example of someone that encountered the risen Christ and could not help but to confess him as Lord. He said, Lord, what shall I do? And when someone has tasted and seen that the Lord is good, you cannot help but to confess him as your personal Lord and Savior.

The apostle Paul said, Lord, what would you have me do? He is saying, Lord, send me. That is not a mere said faith. It is not a mere said faith when your heart is fully engaged. That is why the apostle Paul goes on to explain in Romans chapter 10.

He says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And so I've had so many conversations, it's not just merely saying the words, right?

He does say, if you confess with your mouth, but he's talking about what it means to confess from the heart, confessing Jesus as Lord. It's fundamentally a heart of worship. That is why the apostle Paul says, you must believe from the heart.

That is fundamental and that is what God is looking at. He can see directly what your heart's in the state of who you are is like. And so something else I want to point out here. Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

I believe he's presenting a double emphasis here. I think this is showing us that even fake Christians will have a certain zeal about their profession of Christ. And you may say, are you saying that people can go to church with great enthusiasm and be lost?

Absolutely. That's exactly what we see here, right? They're very zealous about what they are claiming to believe. And I think the reason is, is because the flesh can counterfeit almost everything. Many people enjoy being around other people that show kindness, right?

So who better than to go to a place where Christians are gathering? Some people really like intellectual conversation. So I want to go talk to some theologians about the purpose of life. And so Jesus is telling us that having a lot of knowledge about who he is or being enthusiastic about going to church does not save a person.

And I want to share with you an unpopular opinion that I have. I believe one of the most dangerous places in the entire world, spiritually speaking, is here in the South. I believe it's right here in the Bible Belt.

And I think it's because so many people are deceived into thinking that they are saved and in reality, they're not. Here in the South, many people confuse Christianity with the culture. I look at Jonesboro and there's almost a church building on every corner and a lot of people are dedicated to going to their church.

And in the Bible Belt, many people go to church every time the door is open, anytime there's events, meetings in small groups. And please hear me say that those can be wonderful means of God's grace. When your heart is revering Christ as Lord, those are wonderful things.

But I think a lot of times we get it backwards. A lot of times people are more interested in the byproducts of the faith than the faith.

Itself.

And so we're talking about self-deception. These people are going to stand on the Day of Judgment before Jesus and say, hey, look at all the things that we've done. We've even said the right things. And they are self-deceived.

Self-deception comes in here in the South because many people assume that if they are doing Christian activities in a Christian environment, that that makes them a Christian. And that's not so. We must examine ourselves and ask, what are we really interested in?

Because it's a terrible reality that many people are purely interested in a very particular church, a particular denomination. Some people are very intrigued and want to keep the same routine of life that they've always grown up in, and they've never been interested in salvation or knowing the Lord relationally.

And so the fake Christian merely says, Lord, Lord, and they will not enter the kingdom of heaven. But that's being contrasted with real Christians that Jesus says, the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

So they're being contrasted with one another, and I want you to notice the distinguishing.

Factor.

It's when Jesus says, the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Right?

I was looking into this word, does. This word means to produce. It means to bring forth. It means to bear fruit. And so this matches the context, right? Look earlier in verse 17, where Jesus said, so every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.

And so Jesus is laying the context for when he says, the one who does the will of my Father, that's the one who's ultimately going to be saved.

Right?

And so that's what he's saying. There is going to be genuine fruit that flows out of a changed heart. And so the life of a Christian, we can expect a transformation. We will see the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.

And so godly children desire to do the will of their heavenly Father. And that is because a good tree bears good fruit. And so a question for all you note takers that I'd love for you to make note of is, I want us to be asking the question, what is the will of God?

Salvation and Sanctification as the Will of God

Now this is a question I get asked a lot, whether I'm interacting with people just in the community or in youth. And it's a great question. What is God's will for my life? I want to give you two principles.

And probably this is the central point of the entire sermon. What is the will of God? Well, number one, God's will for your life is salvation.

Okay?

And number two, God's will for your life, if you're saved, is your sanctification. It really boils down to that right there. What's the will of God for my life? That you be saved.

Right?

To look to Jesus in faith alone and not to yourself and the things that you can do. Not your works.

Right?

You are justified by faith alone and in Christ alone. That is firstly God's will for your life, your salvation. And so when we say that next, God's will for your life is your sanctification, we're talking about your growth and walking with Christ.

Right?

Being set apart from the world and being made more like him. We're talking about your walk with Christ. And so if you would, please join me for a moment and turn in your copy of God's word to Matthew chapter 21.

I want us to examine a parable there called the parable of the two sons. Because we're going to get a picture of what it's like to do the will of the father. And so Matthew chapter 21, we're going to look at verses 28 through 32.

So starting in verse 28 in Matthew 21, Jesus says, what do you think? A man had two sons and he went to the first and said, son, go and work in the vineyard.

Today.

And he said, I will not. But afterwards he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said to him, and he answered, I will go, sir. But he did not go. And so the question that Jesus poses is which of these two did the will of his father?

Now, the people he was talking to, they said the first, the first son. And Jesus said to them, truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him.

And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him. OK, now, one of the central focuses this morning is we're saying doing the will of God. What does that look like? And so we see this modeled with the first son.

But the first son initially rejected what the father's will was. Guess what? That's everyone here. At one point or another, we've all rejected God's will. And so he rejected God's will initially, the first son, but then he changed his mind.

He was moved with emotion and he repented and believed. And so that is the immediate takeaway right here, is that if you desire to do the will of the father, then guess what? Repent and believe the gospel.

That is primary. What is God's will for your life? Number one, your salvation. The scriptures tell us in Acts 1730 that God now commands all people everywhere to repent. That means to turn to Christ for salvation.

And so I've had so many wonderful conversations with people in the community, secular people that say, I wish I knew what my purpose was in life. If there is a God, I wish he would reveal himself to me and tell me what to do.

And in that moment, I get to say, guess what? There is a God. His name is Jesus, and he has told us exactly what we ought to do. Remember Mark 115? He says, the kingdom of God, salvation is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.

That is the will of the father. And so we see this model with the first son. He changed his mind, he repented, and he went, in verse 29. In verse 32, further adds, he changed his mind and believed. So doing the will of God is number one, your salvation, and number two, your sanctification.

And so we see this also with the first son. He changed his mind, and the next word is he went. And so once a heart and mind are changed, we see different actions now taking place. The first son, we see him bearing fruit and doing the will of the father.

And so once someone is saved in Christ by faith alone, looking to the only savior, now we are called to be sanctified. That's exactly what the apostle Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3, for this is the will of God, your sanctification.

And he goes on to say, for God has called us not to impurity, but to holiness. And so Jeremiah, how do we become sanctified? What is this whole sanctification process you're talking about? Well, for starters, if you're a child of God, you're immediately set apart from the world.

You are a child of God, and now you desire to grow in the faith, becoming more and more like Christ and being set apart from the world. And so we desire to make war against sin. We desire to put it away.

We desire to take in the spiritual milk of the word of God that grows us. That is your sanctification. It depends on renewing your mind with the word of God. Romans 12, 2 says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what the will of God is, what is good, acceptable.

And perfect.

Sanctification. Jesus said, Father, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. So that's why here at 12 .5, we are very intentional how we structure this time of worship. Everything is rooted in the word of God because we know it has the power to transform us, to sanctify them, to sanctify us.

And so our order of worship is structured to read the word, to pray the word, to preach the word and to sing the word. And we even see the word through the elements of going to the Lord's table and baptism.

And so this is the will of God. Number one, your salvation. And number two, your sanctification. And so look back with me to this parable of the two sons. I want to show you how strongly this relates back to our main passage in Matthew 7.

Jesus here is speaking to the religious elite. He's talking to Pharisees, the priests. In verse 30, he moves to the second son. He says, and so the father went to the other son, the second son, and he said the same.

Thing.

And then that son answered, I go, sir. He said the right thing, but he did not go. And then Jesus asked, which of the two did the will of his father? They knew the right answer. They said the first one.

And so this religious elite, they did not realize that they just condemned themselves with their answer. Jesus was calling them the second son. These are the ones that say, we love God. We are sons of the most high, but they are not doing the will of the father.

Jesus goes on to say, truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. Now, Jesus is not saying you've got a big line going into heaven and the tax collectors and prostitutes, they're first, and then right behind them are the Pharisees and they're just all going in one at a time.

It's not what he's saying. He's saying that the first in line are the tax collectors. These are people that first rejected God, but then they repented. They were broken over their sin and they trust in the provision of the savior.

They will enter eternal life and you are those that will miss the narrow gate. You are those that say one thing with your mouth, but do not do the will of God and will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Danger of Self-Deception and Legalism

So, turn back with me to Matthew chapter 7 and let's read verse 21 again. Jesus says, 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.

Now, remember, Jesus is talking about those people that read this verse and say, okay, you want to talk about the one who does? Let me show you everything that I do in my life. I must be the one who is following the will of God based on everything that I do.

I go to church. I've prayed a sinner's prayer. I've even been baptized. I go on all these mission trips. And I was listening to R .C. Sproul talk about legalism. He says, I don't cuss, I don't chew, and I don't date women who do, right?

Because that's the mindset of legalism, right? Look at all the stuff I do and don't do. Surely I am doing the will of God. Well, not necessarily. We understand the flesh can manipulate almost every single one of these things.

And it is the religious elite, they outwardly follow the law of God better than anyone else. And Jesus told them, you are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your.

Hearts.

You honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from me. That is why number one, doing the will of God must begin at the heart in salvation. And we think back to the first son, he initially rejected, I initially rejected, right?

That's a testimony that every child of God has. But then he repented. He believed there was a change of heart, and then he went. And so once again, these people are testifying, saying, look, I do the will of God.

Look at all this fruit that I've accomplished in my life, and I've done it all in the name.

Of Christ.

And then verse 22, Jesus says, 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?

These people are saying, since I've done all these things in the name of Jesus, that must mean that I am saved and a Christian. And I think that's a very compelling point to many people, because when they look at things like prophesying and casting out demons, they're like, surely those are Christians,.

Right?

It's not true. I want to show you that this morning. So the word prophesy and the broadest meaning means to either predict the future or to declare truth. It's essentially like preaching. And so there are many examples of how enemies of God have actually prophesied in the Bible.

One example I want to bring up is Caiaphas. Joseph Caiaphas is mainly mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew and John. He was a Sadducee, and he was probably very wealthy. He ruled as high priest in the Sanhedrin for 18 years, and he thought he was pretty hot stuff.

This is what John chapter 11 says about Caiaphas. Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.

He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for a nation, not for the nation only, but to also gather into one children of God who are scattered abroad.

And so from that day, they all made plans to put Jesus to death. Caiaphas prophesied. Yet he was a wicked man, and God used him to predict the future, to declare truth, what was about to happen. Caiaphas meant something for evil, but God meant it for good.

And so I want you to understand that prophesying is not this undeniable proof that someone is a follower of Christ. And so someone say, okay fine, well surely Christians being able to cast out demons, that is proof that someone is legitimately saved.

That doesn't work either. In Mark's gospel, during the time of Jesus' ministry, Jesus appointed the twelve, who are also called apostles, so that they may be with him, and he might send them out to preach or prophesy in its broadest meaning, and to have authority to cast out demons.

So who would the twelve include there? Judas, Judas Iscariot, right? The one that would betray Jesus. Scripture does not hold back explaining exactly who Judas Iscariot is. He betrayed the son of glory with a kiss.

He was a devil. He was the son of destruction. And Jesus even had this to say about Judas, woe to that man by whom the son of man is betrayed. It would have been better for that man not to have been. So casting out demons is not this irrefutable evidence of being a legitimate Christian either.

These are just two examples that Jesus is bringing up that many people will say on that day of judgment, we prophesied, we cast out demons, we performed so many mighty works.

In your name.

And so the ESV here actually says, do many works, okay? And so other good translations say perform many miracles, done many wonders, do many powerful deeds. And so they're all kind of saying the same thing.

We look at words like perform, done, or what you're doing. Guess what the Greek word is? The same for bearing fruit. And so Jesus is saying, the one that does the will of my father, the one who bears fruit will enter the kingdom of heaven.

They're saying, oh, you want to see fruit? Let me tell you about all the things that I've done, all my works that prove that I'm.

A Christian.

And so Jesus says in verse 23, Jesus will declare to them one of the most scariest things that I can imagine that I find in the Bible. He says, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

This is so scary because these people are convinced they are saved and they're actually.

Not.

I can't think of anything more terrifying than being self-deceived about my standing before Christ. But Jesus, we worked really hard to perform all these mighty wonders in your name. And Jesus is saying, you were working really hard at doing many tasks, but you were missing the mark every time.

You were trusting in yourself rather than trusting in me. You chose your kingdom, but you did not choose my kingdom. And so in verse 23, I want to look at it in three parts. And I want to start with the third part and work our way back.

Jesus says, I declare to them, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. So how can a professing Christian be a worker of lawlessness? Well, it's very simple. They didn't have faith in Christ.

They had a mere said faith, which is a dead faith and is useless for salvation because that heart is not trusting in the Savior. The apostle Paul said in Romans 14, 23, whatever is not of faith in Christ is sin.

So there's a direct connection there that Jesus is making when he mentions the word.

Lawlessness.

It means to be without law, to be in violation, to habitually be in sin, and there's no faith. 1 John 3, 4 says, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.

And so we have this whole phrase here, workers of lawlessness. This could also be translated a number of ways. It could say, you lawbreakers, you evildoers, you who practice lawlessness. And so this is a professing Christian and he is producing all kinds of fruit by working really, really hard.

But guess what? It's not pleasing to God. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. And so Jesus mentions that word work or to practice. And so I got really interested in what the Greek word for this is. And it's ergadzima.

And you may say, it's Greek, Jeremiah. I don't understand that. But there is a word in English that we do understand, energy. Ergadzima and its root is ergon. That's where we get our English word energy.

So the idea here is working really, really hard at your labor, and you produce a lot of energy in accomplishing your tasks. And it thrills my heart to no end to know that entering the kingdom of heaven does not depend on my works or how well I perform tasks, because Jesus did it perfectly.

It depends on me putting my faith in the one who is perfect, the one that was able to perform works of righteousness perfectly. You can't do it. These people said, I can do it. Look at all I have done.

That is the will of God, your salvation. Looking to Christ alone and faith alone, not looking to the works that you can accomplish. Faith in Christ, that will produce fruit in your lives that is pleasing to God.

And so that word ergadzima, I know it sounds fancy, but I want to take you to a place, you don't have to turn there, but in Romans 4, the apostle Paul uses this same word in connection with the gospel.

In Romans 4, starting in verse 4, Paul says, now to the one who works, ergadzima, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. He is saying if you are working, then it's no longer a gift. It's no longer of grace because you are earning what you think you are trying to get, and you will get exactly what you deserve.

Then he says, and to the one who does not work, the one who does not ergadzima, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. The point is you are either trusting in yourself or you are trusting in Christ.

You are either looking to God's grace or you are looking to your works, and it cannot be both. And so let's move up to the middle, the second part of what Jesus is saying in this verse. He says, depart from me.

Now I believe this ties back earlier into the verse where Jesus says, on that day, meaning that day of judgment, Jesus is contrasting his words with the words of the fake Christian. On that day, they are going to profess to him, Lord, Lord, look at all my works, and then Jesus will profess to them, depart from me.

You will be accountable for your sin and receive perfect holiness and justice. In fact, later in Matthew's gospel, Jesus uses these exact same words in the exact same context. In Matthew 25, he says, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devils and his angels.

These will go away into eternal punishment. So all of this ties back into the first thing that Jesus says. He says, I never knew you. Now, when we first read that, it might sound kind of strange that there's something or someone that our all-knowing Lord doesn't know.

And that's because Jesus is not referring to an intellectual knowledge. He is referring to relational knowledge. He is saying, I never recognized them as true disciples or my friends. I never recognized anything.