The Most FRIGHTENING Verse in the Bible...

Scariest verse in the entire Bible. Matthew 7, 22, Jesus says, "'Many will say unto me that day,.

"'Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, "'but the one who does the will of my Father "'who is in heaven.'". It's not about us doing works in the name of Jesus, it's about us having relationship with him.

I don't think that's the dichotomy that Jesus is presenting to us in the passage at all. If you'd stop and you think for a second, this is about works. Who are those types of people today? Is it those who are works-based, who think that they can earn their righteousness by doing good deeds, but not having a relationship with Jesus?

No, not exactly. Have you heard the most frightening verse in the entire Bible? A lot of folks say this is the one that freaks them out the most. I think for me, this has been definitely concerning in terms of reading it and going, yikes, you know, for a long time, this passage gave me heartburn for sure, but what is the most frightening verse?

And do we even properly understand what it's communicating? We're gonna get into that in just a moment. If you're new here, welcome to Wise Disciple. My name is Nate Sala, and I'm glad you're here. This channel exists to help you become the effective Christian that you are meant to be.

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Scariest verse in the entire Bible, Matthew 7, 22. Jesus says, many will say unto me that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out many demons and in your name perform any signs and wonders?

And I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. See, Jesus says that when he returns, that some people who call him Lord and Master will say, Jesus, look at the things we did for you.

Look at the signs, look at the wonders, look at all the miracles we performed. And Jesus says, but I never knew you. I never had a relationship with you. You can't work your way into the kingdom. You need to know me.

You need to have intimacy with me. You need to have a relationship with me. Your signs, your wonders, all the great things that you did for my kingdom, they mean nothing unless you know me, unless I have your heart, unless we're in an intimate relationship.

How many of you have heard this interpretation before? That this verse is really about the difference between relying on works, and having a works-based righteousness, and having a relationship with Jesus.

I can't remember, I may have preached on that and taken this position in the past. So I'm not coming down on anybody here, but here's the thing. The way that we would figure this out, the way to know what Jesus is getting at in Matthew chapter seven, is by paying very close attention to the scripture and being good Bible students.

Not only that, but we need to try and receive Jesus' message, not by sort of thinking about ourselves in a very 21st century context, but by trying to think like the original audience, how they would have heard what Jesus said, how they try to consider what they would have been thinking.

That's how we're gonna figure this out. Again, we're confronted by a lot of Christians teaching on this topic, you know? And the dichotomy, again, just to make it clear, is you have a choice between works-based righteousness.

And a relationship with Jesus. The scariest verse in the entire Bible. I used to believe that in order to have a relationship with God and to go to heaven, I need to be a good person. But this is what Jesus said.

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, meaning judgment 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?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. It's not about us doing works in the name of Jesus. It's about us having relationship with him. Do you know him and are you known by him?

Yeah. By the way, again, I'm not trying to put these two gentlemen on blast. I bet they have great ministries. I literally just wanna showcase this particular interpretation because in one sense, I think they're both right.

In another sense, I think it's misleading what they're saying, but let's talk about it because I don't think that's the dichotomy that Jesus is presenting to us in the passage at all. And so I'm pulling up Logos Bible Software here and we're gonna get into it.

So I'm gonna go through this with you. Once we realize what Jesus is talking about, I think it's gonna free us up in one sense to just take a breath and not be so frightened by this verse. On the other hand, having said that, once we understand what Jesus was actually teaching, there's a new challenge that he presents to us.

So let's get right into it. So here it is, Matthew 7, verse 21. 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. Already, if you just stop and you think for a second, this is about performing action.

This is about works, right? Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Okay, let's keep reading. 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?

So, okay, stop. It sounds like the people who will not enter heaven are doing works. But Jesus said, it is about works. Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Okay, so again, you see what I'm trying to point out here?

It's not about works-based righteousness versus a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus is concerned that your works look a certain way. And I'm just walking through this with you so you can follow my train of thought.

Verse 23, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Okay, the first thing we have to bear in mind is let's just step back and figure out where we are in this moment in the gospel of Matthew.

In chapter seven, right, Jesus is wrapping up his sermon on the mount. The sermon on the mount is key. If this is the end of the sermon, then the sermon is connected meaningfully to what he's saying here.

Everything he said before is connected meaningfully to his ending here. And that goes all the way back to chapter five. It starts off with the beatitudes, and then it ends at the bottom of chapter seven here with a few more verses underneath the most frightening passage, okay?

Now, there are some important study questions to ask about this sermon. So for example, what is the focus of the sermon on the mount, right? What is its main point or big idea? Because whatever the answers are to those questions, it's gonna help us understand what Jesus is teaching in chapter seven, verses 21 to 23.

So yeah, let's talk about, what is the focus of the sermon on the mount? Have you ever asked that question before? The answer is the kingdom of God. Take a look at chapter five right here. This is the first few verses, and you'll find this repeated phrase.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the what? The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the what? The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.

You'll actually find this phrase repeated over and over again in the sermon on the mount, okay? And for good reason, Jesus is teaching his disciples about what it looks like for God's people to spread his kingdom here on earth.

Now, it's going to require a transformation of the heart that as we survey the totality of the teaching of the New Testament, means that we need to abide in Christ. It means we need to allow the spirit to do the sanctifying work necessary in us to be what God desires us to be, amen?

But that's the focus. It's the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. And so the theme of the sermon comes out of the Lord's prayer, which is right over here, chapter six, verses nine to 13. And the basic idea in this whole entire prayer is right at verse 10 there, on earth as it is in heaven.

I mentioned this in a previous video, but the Lord's prayer appears to be written in a chiasm and the center of the chiasm where the main idea comes out of it is on earth as it is in heaven. So again, Matthew chapter six, this is Jesus teaching his disciples to pray.

And we realize now that the earth is supposed to mirror heaven because we are spreading God's kingdom and we're living out our obedience to God's word. We're making disciples of all the nations right now, right?

It's no accident that Jesus begins the whole sermon by describing certain kinds of people with certain kinds of qualities in the beatitudes. Okay? These are the qualities that God desires all of us to have.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Blessed are the merciful, right? Blessed are the pure in heart. Now another good Bible study question to ask is why isn't God's kingdom already being spread? Why isn't Israel already doing this as God's people?

Like why does Jesus have to teach this at all to Jews? Shouldn't they already know this stuff? The more we study the Sermon on the Mount, and I encourage you all to do a deep dive into this in your own studies and with your own fellowship groups.

Okay? But the more we study the sermon, the more we'll see a contrast between two types of people, kingdom spreaders and the religious leaders, i .e. the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus later appears to call these particular people hypocrites in his sermon.

So on the one hand, Jesus is describing what kingdom spreaders look like. These folks are going to be humble. They're going to be meek. They're going to be righteous. They'll be merciful. They will be peacemakers, right?

That's verse nine. And they will in turn be a light of the world so that others will see their good works and give glory to their father who is in heaven. But wait a second. There's trouble. There is already trouble taking place when Jesus gives this particular sermon.

Watch this. Beware of false prophets. This is chapter seven, verse 15, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Thus, you will recognize them by their fruits. We cannot read, ladies and gentlemen, verses 21 to 23 without first considering 15 to 20. If we're not careful to respect the context, if we're not careful to respect the particularly Jewish way that Jesus taught, we are gonna slip into some interpretive choices that do not align with the text, okay?

We need to do our best to recognize and understand the way that Jesus taught, because he utilizes vivid images in his sermon, but they don't come out of nowhere. They come out of the Tanakh or the Old Testament.

So when students of Jesus, they hear talk about gates, when he talks about trees, you know, when he talks about fruit, when he talks about houses, right? They should, like good students of God's word, immediately recognize that these are connected to various passages in the Old Testament.

And when they make these connections to the Old Testament, they'll be able to understand what Jesus is saying on a deeper level. So for example, Jesus says, beware of the ravenous wolves, right? They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves, right?

Every good student of the Old Testament should immediately remember the moment that the prophet Zephaniah called the officials of Jerusalem evening wolves. Zephaniah chapter three, verse three, her officials within her are roaring lions.

Her judges are evening wolves that leave nothing till the morning. Her prophets are fickle, treacherous men. Her priests profane what is holy. They do violence to the law. In the evening is when the wolves are most ravenously hungry.

In Zephaniah, God is displeased to see that the very ones that were supposed to be judges and prophets of God's word do violence. Even the priests do violence to his law. They do not trust in the Lord, nor do they draw near to him.

Jesus says to beware of these types of folks. The way that his students will figure this out, that they'll be able to identify these types of folks is by their fruits, okay? But here again is another connection to the Old Testament, this time in Psalm chapter one, verse one, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

And on his law, he meditates day and night. Here it is. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

This tracks along Jesus' comments about the difference between healthy trees that bear good fruit and the trees that bear bad fruit. Remember chapter seven, verse 17, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit, okay?

Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. So why is Jesus teaching this way? He's leading the disciples to a moment of decision. By stringing together these pearls and putting together these connections, Jesus is calling his disciples to make a choice, live by the way of wisdom, which is to obey Jesus or live by the way of wolves, the false teachers of Jerusalem.

One of these ways leads to life and the kingdom of God. The other way leads to destruction. In this sense, the fruit of a false prophet is identified by the way they live out their teaching. In other words, if a teacher's theology does not shape him and his students into a lowly, merciful, grace-giving, loving, radically generous child of God, all the things that Jesus has been describing in his sermon, someone who obeys the father, seeks to be like the father, is a kingdom spreader, then it doesn't matter what he teaches because his fruit is rotten.

We have to remember, Jesus is talking about the religious leaders of Jesus' day, the religious leaders of Israel. These are the ones who will say, Lord, Lord. These are not skeptics. These are not atheists who doubt the existence of God.

These are not people also, let me be very precise here. These are not people who are relying on works-based righteousness. These are the teachers of God's word who obey God's law already. They have a lot of their theology correct.

They obeyed a lot of the righteous acts that God required, but here it is, not everyone who appears to have high positions of authority on behalf of the Lord will enter into his kingdom. They may say the right things theologically, but it is only those with a radically distinct set of deeds.

The Jews called this mitzvot. So a person's mitzvot will prove their theology. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This sounds familiar to you, does it not? James chapter two, verse 22. You see, this is what James says.

You see that faith was active along with his works and faith was completed by his, what? His works. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

And he was called a friend of God. Here it is. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. James is making the same principled argument that Jesus is in Matthew seven. The way that you'll prove yourself, the way that you will show that you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ, that Jesus knows you and you know him, that God has justified you in the way that James says is by your mitzvot.

It's by your fruit, by your works. You see that, right? The scribes and the Pharisees and the religious leaders, they were displeasing the Lord. Why? Because they forgot what mattered. And this was proven through their mitzvot, through their deeds.

What mattered to the Lord was that they first and foremost were lowly, they were humble, gracious, merciful peacemakers, right? That's the Beatitudes. What has always mattered to the Lord as a matter of fact is not merely outward observance of the law.

What matters is the kind of heart a person has while they observe the law because apparently having a humble and gracious and merciful heart will help people properly understand what God wants them to do.

It's actually going to change your works. When a person does not begin with prioritizing the heart in this way and having the kind of good eye of God's good eye that Jesus describes in his sermon, the mitzvot becomes rotten.

And when the mitzvot is rotten, the person is not fit for God's kingdom. Here it is again. 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, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name? Notice, seems like they're being successful when they do these things, right? Do we not do mighty works in your name?

That's why they're confused, by the way. It seems like they've been successful in these things. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Now, the videos in the beginning, they were right to point this out.

The word knew attached to the word know is not just some kind of propositional knowledge. This is relational knowledge, the kind of relational knowledge that a husband has with his wife. And so really what Jesus is saying is, I never covenanted with you.

How can Jesus say that, right? Think about that. It's because the fruit does not make the person resemble him. By the way, disciples of Jesus, at this point, right, making all the Old Testament connections, they should have been thinking, well, who are these types of folks, right?

And they should have made the immediate connection, right? Zephaniah 3 .3, the evening wolves. They're thinking of the officials of Jerusalem. There's one more connection to make here along these lines, and it's in Jeremiah chapter 23.

In the passage, Jeremiah is rebuking the Lord. Well, he's actually relaying God's rebuke against the false prophets and the priests of Israel. In verse 11, he says, both prophet and priest are ungodly.

Even in my house, even in my temple, I have found their evil, declares the Lord, right? The word for ungodly, by the way, that Hebrew word, hanef, it literally means polluted or corrupted. But guess what the word also refers to?

A hypocrite. Who is Jesus talking about when he's talking about hypocrites and false prophets? He's talking about the religious leaders of God's people. He's folks who obey the law, but are hanef. In other words, these types of folks, they're prideful hypocrites who know what the Bible says.

They even teach what the Bible says, but they are corrupt and they do not display the type of heart required in the Beatitudes and in Jesus' sermon. As a matter of fact, if we go on to read more of Jeremiah, we're gonna see that these kinds of folks, they say what the people want them to say, but their message comes from their own minds and looks more like the surrounding culture of the world than the word of God.

Who is Jesus talking about? Who are the ones who are gonna come to him and say, Lord, Lord, for the disciples, they're thinking the scribes, the Pharisees, the corrupt religious leaders of Israel. That is the consistent contextual reading of the passage.

But now wait a second. Who are those types of people today? Is it those who are works-based, right? They're more legalistic, who think that they can earn their righteousness by doing good deeds, but not having a relationship with Jesus?

No, not exactly. These are the types of religious leaders who put on a show. And they say a lot of right things, but inwardly are corrupt and who ultimately teach their churches to be the type of people that the Sermon on the Mount is not describing.

Do you know this type of church leader, by the way? Someone who is divisive, someone who is not humble, but prideful, someone who does not care about his congregation, but loves to get up and expound from God's word, never getting to know the sheep he professes to love.

Do you know anybody like this? By the way, like how is it even possible for religious leaders to teach about God, but not actually know him? This is what Jesus is showing us. It's amazing. Just because someone knows what the Bible says and can teach and preach it accurately does not mean that they know Jesus.

It is possible for respected religious leaders that teach and observe God's word, with authority, by the way, to be far from the Lord and ignore what truly matters to him. These are the hypocrites and false prophets that Jesus warns about.

And the way that his disciples should figure this out and identify these folks is the same way that we need to, okay? It's by paying close attention to not simply the things they say, however correct theologically they may be, but to their mitzvot, to their fruit, to their actions, and seeing if these people look like Jesus.

At the end of the day, all followers of Jesus must conform to his image. If they conform to his image, if they look like Jesus and they emulate his qualities and characteristics, that means Jesus knows them and they know him.

If they look like the type of person that Jesus was describing in his sermon on the mount, the beatitudes and the qualities there, right? Lowly, humble, radically generous with not only their money, but their perspective on people, radical in their forgiveness of others, right?

Golly, as I communicate these qualities, how many people in the church are really like this? And there's the challenge, right? Your deeds along these lines will prove your theology. That's a challenge for all of us, ladies and gentlemen, because that forces us to do a bit of thinking and wrestling, you know?

To consider whether or not we look like Jesus, whether or not we are the light of the world, humble, merciful, radically generous in our giving, in our forgiveness of others. Or are we the type of person that looks no different than everyone else in our culture?

Unforgiving, prideful, arrogant, either gossiping about others behind their back or mocking them to their face, ready to protest instead of making peace, bearing grudges instead of bestowing mercy. These are the outworkings and implications of what Jesus is teaching in Matthew chapter seven.

It shows us that simply having the right words, the right theology and knowing the right things, that's insufficient if it does not lead to a transformed life. So here's the question for you. So same question for me, and then we're done, okay?

Who are you following right now? Who is your pastor? Who is your influencer or thought leader? What does their fruit look like? Sure, they may say accurate things about God, but the standard apparently is a lot higher, especially for teachers.

Jesus says you will recognize them by their fruits. Is their teaching, and more importantly, the way that they conduct themselves personally, embodying the qualities that God desires and helping you look more like Christ, more like what Jesus describes in his sermon or not?

Because that's the criteria that you should be using to assess fruit, amen? All right, well, that was a lot, okay? Thanks for hanging in there because guess what? Now it's your turn. What do you think about all of this?

Is this really the most frightening passage in the entire Bible? Are you inspired or terrified by what Jesus said? Let me know in the comments below. Hey, if you made it this far and you're still not a part of the Patreon community, what else needs to happen before you join?

Jump into the discussions we're having right now. There's all kinds of cool stuff going on for your consideration, including the option to meet up with me one-on-one and chat about whatever you want.

The link for the Patreon is below, but hey, at the end of the day, let's all pray that we, the brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, look more and more like Jesus every day, amen? I'm gonna return soon with more videos, but in the meantime, I'll say, bye for now.