Welcome to Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And now for today's program. Welcome to our program. If you'd like to join in and follow along in the Bible, I'm going to continue in a verse of Scripture that I preached on last week about the only right way to God. Matthew chapter 7 verses 13 and 14 where it talks about the straight gate, the narrow way, as opposed to the wide gate and the broad way in verses 13 and 14. And today what I want to talk to you about is how those who come to Christ who are on that narrow way, that straight gate, when those who lead sinners on that way are the true preachers of God. They know what the way is because it's been revealed to them. And I want to talk to you, the title of the message is, Does Christ Know Me? Does He Know Me? Now, when I say that, I'm talking about salvation. because we know that God is omniscient. Now that means that God knows all things. There's no ignorance in God. There's no knowledge missing. God knows you. He knows me. He knows who I am. He knows my heart. Scripture says that God knows the heart. Christ knew the heart. But what I'm talking about is a special knowledge that the Lord speaks of here that is an intimate union, almost like a marriage union, like a husband knows his wife and a wife knows her husband. And I'm not talking about anything sexual here between Christ and his people. Don't get that impression. People who go there are just idiots. But it is an intimate knowledge that only comes with salvation. So understand this, when unbelievers die in their unbelief and eventually stand before God at the judgment, He knows who they are and He knows their heart and He knows their works and they'll be condemned for it. But when a sinner saved by grace, one of God's children stands before Him He embraces them. There's that intimate knowledge. Now you see that in these who claim to be Christian, over in Matthew 7 and verse 21, when he says, when Christ says, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter in the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. And he says in verse 22, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied or preached in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. Now listen to verse 23. This is where I'm going with this. And then will I profess unto them, this is Christ speaking. Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work iniquity. My friend, there's no greater terror than to think of standing before Christ, the judge of all, and thinking that we're saved, thinking that we're fine, only to hear him say, listen to it. He says, I never knew you. Now, does that mean he was ignorant? Did they sneak up on him or something? He knew who they were. He knew their names. He knew their hearts. He knew everything about them. But he did not know them in covenant saving love. It would be, listen, it would be the same. Now, I know people don't wanna hear this, but it's true. It'd be the same of him saying, I never loved you. Now, preachers all over this country will disagree with me on this. They say, oh, God loved them and just breaks his heart. That's not the case. You better read your Bibles. The Bible says God hates all workers of iniquity. Now that's not a selfish hate or a sinful hatred like ours. It's God's judgment. God's just judgment against them for their sins. You see, they're standing before God with a profession of faith, but no real heart faith, and it's shown by their words, and I'll show you that in just a minute, but they're standing there without a Savior. They thought they had a Savior, but they didn't. They're standing there without the blood of Christ, without His righteousness imputed to them, accounted, charged to their account. My friend, there's no greater terror than to stand before God on your own, pleading your own works. Lord, haven't I done enough? I did this, I did that. And the answer's gonna be no, I never knew you. I know who you are. I know what you've done. And you deserve nothing but death and hell. That's what we earn. We can't earn salvation, no matter what we do. We cannot merit salvation. We cannot deserve it. That's why salvation is a matter of mercy and grace. Now God must be just whether He damns us or whether He saves us. And if He damns us, what's the basis? What's the just ground of our damnation? Our works that fall short. Sin demands death. The soul that sinneth must surely die. Well, what brings us to be able to have salvation? What's the ground of that? Our works? No. It's the blood of Jesus Christ. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood. Do you realize that? Nothing but the blood. Somebody said, well, I felt sorry for my sins and I cried all night. Tears won't wash away your sins. Should you feel sorry for your sins? Yes, you should. But that's not the ground that you plead before God at the judgment. If it is, depart from me, I never knew you. So my question, does Christ know me? Well, you know, last week I talked about the straight gate, the narrow way, as opposed to the broad gate, and the broad way that leads, wide gate, and the broad way that leads to destruction. The straight gate, the narrow way, is the way of the gospel, the way of the cross, the way of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen from the dead. It's the way of righteousness that can only be found in Christ. What right do I have to expect to go to heaven or to live forever in the new heavens and the new earth when I die or when I stand before God? What right, what ground that I can plead that gives me a right and title? It's only God's grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not because I made a decision and got baptized, no. That'll be a depart from me, I never knew you. It's not because I made a profession of faith or that I tried to live a good life. Now listen to me now, don't misunderstand me. Those who know Christ and whom he knows, intimately, savingly, we should try to be the best, our whole life should be wrapped up in trying to be the best people we can be. We should try to be good and sincere and dedicated, charitable, loving, conciliatory, kind, all of those things. And if we know Christ, we should confess that in believer's baptism. You know, walking in an aisle and all that, that's the concoction of false religion. But we who believe in Christ, we should ask to be baptized, to publicly confess that our salvation is by God's grace in Christ. That when he died, we died, and when he was buried, we were buried, and when he arose again, we arose again. But none of those things equal the perfection of righteousness by which God justifies us and gives us all the blessings of salvation. That can only be found in Christ. And that's the problem with these fellas here. Look at it, 721. He said, not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord. You can say Lord, Lord, you know, until you're blue in the face. And to his people, he is Lord. But not everyone that says that will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Well, what is the will of the Father which is in heaven? It's to enter in at the straight gate, the narrow way, the one way to God. Christ said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man cometh under the Father but by me. And as I said last week, that's just not saying the name Jesus or saying Lord. or walk on an aisle and get him baptized. It's understanding by the revelation of God now through the gospel who Jesus Christ is and what he accomplished on the cross. Mark that down. Write down that word accomplished. And this is what it is, not what he tried to do. Christ did not come here to try to save sinners if they would let him. Because if that was the case, we'd all be lost. No, listen, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. They're spiritually understood, and the Spirit has to give life. You must be born again, or you cannot know and see, enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God. So, all of these things, you see, The way of salvation. Well, look at what they said in verse 21. He says, or verse 22, well, first of all, what is it to do the will of his Father which is in heaven? It's to believe on the Son. That's what he's talking about. It is God's will that his people believe on the Son. And all who believe on the Son They've been given by God the gift of faith, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. You see, faith is not the product or the result of a decision that you make according to your so-called free will. We're born dead in sin, fallen in Adam, Scripture teaches us. That means we're born spiritually dead, totally depraved, and in the darkness of this world. And in order for us to have faith in Christ, we must be born again, given life from the dead, a new heart, new mind, a new will. Our wills are in bondage to our sinful, fallen nature. Therefore, we have to be given new life. Some people call that a new nature, and that's okay if you don't take it too far. You know, make it like a Jekyll and Hyde situation. But the thing about, and see, we have a struggle within. But the thing about it is, the only way that you're going to believe the gospel, believe in Christ and embrace him, is by the power of God through the preaching of the gospel of God's grace in Christ. And then he brings them to repentance. If he brings you to faith in Christ, you'll turn away from everything else. that was a rival to Christ. So they said in verse 22, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name? Now see what they're saying? I've heard preachers go to this verse and they say, well, these guys weren't sincere. Now hold on, you don't know that. I believe they were very sincere. And if sincerity were the standard, how sincere do you have to be What's the measure of sincerity? We don't know. But now I know the measure of perfect righteousness, that's Christ. The Bible says in Acts 17 31, that God has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained or appointed in that he had given assurance unto all men and that he had raised him from the dead. Christ is the standard of righteousness that we must have in order to hear the words of Christ, enter in, you faithful, faithful servant. And not hear, depart from me, I never knew you. So how can I know that if Christ knows me, if God knows me, whose righteousness am I pleading? Mine? Even if I say it's with the help of God? Or am I pleading His? Well, these guys are pleading their own. Lord, Lord. Have we not prophesied in thy name? I'm preaching in his name right now. But my preaching is not my righteousness before God. They said, and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works. You see what they're pleading? They're pleading their own works. And they do it, they would tell you they're not doing it for their own glory, they're doing it for the glory of God. They said, we do it in your name. I do many things in His name, but none of the things that I do in His name make me righteous before God. And without His blood and righteousness to put away my sins and make me righteous in His sight, oh, I'll hear those words, I never knew you. But those who stand before God in the perfection of Christ, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. They'll hear him say, oh, I know you, you're my child. You're my brother. You're part of my bride, the church. Well, that's the whole issue here of knowing, you know, go back to verse 15. of Matthew 7. I want to show you something here. Again, now remember, he'd been talking about the straight gate, the narrow way, the straight gate, as opposed to the wide gate and the broad way. Straight gate, narrow way, the way of grace, the way of Christ, the way of righteousness, the way of the gospel, grace, mercy, God's unconditional love towards his people, the broad way is every other way but that has to do with the works conditions put upon man and so in verse 15 he says beware of false prophets false preachers which come to you in sheep's clothing that is beware of those who come claiming to be christian like these up here in in matthew 7 21 who say lord lord and look like they may be sheep, but inwardly, verse 15, they are ravening wolves. They're ravening wolves, meaning they seek to devour the people of God. And to devour them means to get a following for themselves. And he says this in verse 16, you shall know them by their fruits. Now, boy, people go to town with that one. The fruits that they're talking about here that most people see are nothing more than human morality, religion, religiosity, sincerity, charity. In other words, if you see a person who claims to be a Christian who's immoral and mean and unkind, well, you know him to be a false prophet by his fruits. Well, now listen to me. Anybody who claims to be a Christian whose character and conduct is mean and ornery and uncharitable, unkind, all that, we know they've got a false profession. We know that. But that's not what he's talking about here. Listen to what he says. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Verse 17, even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. Now, I preach the gospel, but I don't produce the fruit, God does. And he does it through the preaching of Christ. The good tree here is the true Christ preached by true preachers. And he brings forth good fruit, which are believers looking to Christ. And when I preach, that's what I tell people. I point them to Christ. He's the tree of life. He says, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. That's a false preacher pointing sinners to a false Christ. The broad way that leads to destruction. Now, how do you know that? Look at verse 18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Christ, the good tree, he cannot bring forth evil fruit. He's the savior of sinners. He's the blood. His blood washed away my sins. His righteousness justifies me before God. And if I stand and preach the true gospel, preach the true Christ, the good truth, if anybody walks away in unbelief, remaining to be an evil fruit, Christ didn't produce that. That came out of Satan and Adam, see? But if there's anybody who believes it through the preaching of the true Christ, the good tree, my friend, that's good fruit. And the good fruit is a sinner saved by grace. And so he says in verse 19, he says in verse 18, a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. There is no sinners saved by the grace of God under the preaching of a false Christ, a false gospel, a false way. You cannot be saved under the preaching of a lie. Christ said it in John chapter eight, he said, the truth shall set you free. When Paul spoke of God's elect, as opposed to the non-elect, he said, brethren, we, beloved of God, we give thanks always for you, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit, that's the power of the Spirit to set us apart, and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel. To the obtaining of the glory of God. That's 2nd Thessalonians 2 13 14 So so understand he says in verse 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire Wherefore by their fruits in other words if their converts believe a false gospel You'll know them they preach a false gospel Now, if the converts that are brought out under their ministry, by the grace and power of God, believe the true gospel, then that's what they preach. And you'll know the difference, and then right after that comes our text. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven." If I stand before you and say, now, it's the will of God that you give your heart to Jesus and get busy trying to make yourself righteous enough to be saved, well, my friend, that right there is disobedience to God. That's a false message. But if my message to you is, look to Christ, the author and finisher of your faith, the only righteousness that sinners can have before God, the only right way to God, then that's what I preach, and that's what you believe. So he says it, verse 21, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, it's more than just words, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. Well, those who enter the kingdom of heaven were marked out by God before the foundation of the world, chosen of God and given to Christ. Their names were written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world. Christ knew them from the beginning. He was made their surety. What does that mean? Their sin debt, even before the world was created, was charged to his account. and He agreed to come to earth and be their substitute under the law. The Bible says in Galatians chapter four and verse four, in the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, that's His sinless humanity, His incarnation, made under the law, that's salvation conditioned on Him, righteousness through Him, that He might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And that adoption is a legal contract of the covenant between God and the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And because we are sons, He sends His Spirit forth to bring us to the new birth whereby we, in our hearts and minds, cry, Abba, Father. And that's that intimate relationship. You know, he said to these false professors, I didn't know you, never knew you. But he says to his people, I've known you from the beginning. I've known you always. You didn't know me always. Because see, we're born into this world, fallen in Adam, in a depraved state, darkness with no desire. You know, people talk about, well, you got to make the decision. Well, if left to yourself, you'll make the wrong one. And so with no desire to come to Christ and be saved his way, but you see, when God enters into our lives and brings us under the preaching of the gospel, it gives us a new heart, new eyes, eyes to see and ears to hear. Remember what Christ told the disciples over in the book of Matthew chapter 13 about those who close their eyes. He says, they seen, but they see not. meaning they have physical eyes, but they don't have spiritual eyes. Hearing, they hear not, meaning they have physical ears to hear what I'm saying, but they don't believe it, love it, they don't have spiritual ears. But he told his disciples, but blessed are your eyes for they see. Blessed are your ears for they hear. And those are the ones whom Christ knows. How do I know if Christ knows me intimately, savingly? spiritually, eternally? Do I do the will of the Father? Well, the will of the Father is when God, through His sovereign will, changes me in the new birth, gives me a new will to desire the things of God, gives me that hunger and that thirst for righteousness, Makes me poor in spirit, in other words, humbles me down to know that I'm a sinner and that if God were to judge me at any time based upon my best efforts to obey Him, I'd be damned forever. Makes me meek, in other words, submissive to Him and His way of righteousness. Remember Paul wrote about that in the book of Romans chapter 10 about Israel, that they didn't know God because they were not submitted to His righteousness. And what righteousness was he talking about in Romans 10 in verse four? For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Those are the ones whom Christ knows and knows savingly. Well, I hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us at 1102 Eager Drive. Albany, Georgia, 31707. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening today and may the Lord be with you.