But as we look at this passage
in Matthew 7 today, I want you to consider the title of our
sermon, which is going to be this. The only correct answer
to the ultimate question. There is a question that we all
must answer. And that question is of utmost
importance. It's imperative, it's essential,
for our life that we have the right answer. And mercifully,
God has given us the answer in His Word, so we know it's the
right answer. But in this particular text of
Scripture, what we see here is, first of all, how few there are
who have the right answer. That's the beginning of it. And
then we hear the Lord Jesus tell us in verse 21 what the right
answer is. And then we see in verses 22
and 23 how that most people will fail the test. Let's read together
in Matthew 7, starting at verse 13. Jesus said this to those
who heard him. He said, Enter ye in at the straight
gate. The word straight is often confusing
to me when I think of things. Think of a straitjacket, something
that binds you up, something that's like a narrow passageway
between two landmasses or a difficult situation like dire straits.
That's what the word strait means. It's a difficult and narrow thing. And the Lord says to enter in
at that gate, the strait gate, the narrow, the difficult gate,
For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction,
and many there be which go in thereat." You would think that
if the Lord wanted everyone to be saved, he'd make the way to
life wide. He would make the way to life
the one that everyone would take. But he didn't do that. He made
the road to life, the road to salvation, the road to heaven,
he made it narrow and difficult. And why did he do that? Well,
actually, it's not so much difficult because of what the Lord has
done, it's difficult because of what we have done, as we'll
see here. He says, because straight is
the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and few
there be that find it. And then he warns us, beware
of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing But
inwardly, they are ravening wolves. Now here you are, you've already
been told that the way to life is a narrow, difficult way. It's
a gate. And few find it. And then he
says also, to beware of false prophets who also come to you
in sheep's clothing. but inwardly they're ravening
wolves. Not only is the gate narrow and difficult, and most
people go the other way, but there are also surrounding us
these people who are false, and they tell things that are false,
but they look like sheep, but inwardly they're wolves. What
is the sheep's clothing? The sheep's clothing is what
makes people look like a sheep. And what do people think of when
they think of sheep? people that are meek and people
that are quiet and obedient and they do the right things. But
these people are able to do that. They're able to do what men consider
to be good things. But inwardly, they're ravening
wolves. And so he says in verse 16, you
shall know them by their fruits, their fruits. And now, the first
thing you think of when you think of fruits is what people do.
Isn't that what you think of? You're a fruit. That's what you
do. Well, keep that in mind. Jesus says, Do men gather grapes
of thorns? No, grapes grow on grapevines.
There aren't no thorns on them. Or do they gather figs of thistles?
No, figs grow on trees, and there's no thistles on fig trees. Isn't
that merciful of the Lord? to put the good fruit on the
thing that doesn't have thorns? And there's a reason for that.
You see it right here, because the Lord knows that good fruit
comes from good trees. Bad fruit comes from thorny trees. False prophets come from wolves. False things come from wolves,
not from sheep. Sheep bring forth good things.
He goes on. He says, even so, every good tree brings forth
good fruit. There's no way that it can't.
But a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. And he says as much. He says a good tree cannot bring
forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bring
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Now,
when he talks about trees here, he's not talking about literal
trees. He's talking about men, about people. Especially people
and their fruit, isn't he? Isn't he talking about that?
People and what they, whatever fruit means. He says in verse
20, Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them. Now, think
about the way God has written the Bible. What does he say to
the Galatians? The men who came to the Galatians
taught them they must be saved by Christ plus circumcision. Something they do plus what Christ
did. The whole book of Galatians was
written to counter the wolves. What was the fruit of the wolves?
Could they tell by looking at their outward life and behavior?
No. They did what other people did.
They said mostly what the sheep would say, except this one thing.
They added to what God had said concerning Christ. And think
about the book of Hebrews. The Hebrews were looking back
to the Old Testament and they were listening to those who also
trusted in the Old Testament works and ceremonies to save
them in addition to Christ. They couldn't let go of the altar.
They couldn't let go of the temple. They couldn't let go of the priesthood.
And they couldn't let go of angels. And they reverenced Moses and
Aaron. And God says, Christ is better and he only is our salvation. The problem with the Hebrews
is they were listening to false prophets who were sheep, I mean
wolves, in sheep's clothing. And the fruit that the false
prophets bring is a false doctrine. In 1 John, he says the same thing. He says, They went out from us
because they were not of us. If they had been of us, they
would have no doubt stayed with us, but they went out from us
that they might be shown that they were not of us. And they
were of Antichrist, he says, because every spirit that does
not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is Antichrist. It was what they taught, what
they believed. Look at 2 John. Right after 1
John, 2 John. Just before the book of Revelation,
just a couple of pages back from the beginning of Revelation,
look at this in the book of Second John, in verse seven, he says,
For many deceivers are entered into the world. Isn't that what
Jesus has many false prophets who confess not that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh? What was their fruit? It was
what they said or what they didn't say. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist. Then he goes on, he says, look
to yourselves that you lose not those things which we have wrought,
but that you receive a full reward or that we receive a full reward.
He includes himself. Verse nine. Listen carefully.
Whoever transgresses, to transgress means to go across the boundary.
Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of
Christ Hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there be any,
if there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, don't
receive him into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. You
see that? Look at Deuteronomy 13. Deuteronomy
13, the same thing is said there by Moses. And it's amazing how
many things God taught us in what Moses said In the Old Testament, they're
carried forward in the New Testament, and they're amplified. In Deuteronomy
13, he says in verse 1, if there arise among you a prophet, a
dreamer of dreams, and gives a sign or a wonder, and the sign
or the wonder come to pass. Now, here's somebody who actually
does bring to pass this sign or wonder, whereof he spake to
thee. And then he says, let us go after other gods, which thou
hast not known, and let us serve them." What should you do? Should
you believe him because he did a sign and a wonder? No. Why should you not believe him?
Because of his false doctrine. He says he's teaching you to
go after other gods. In verse 3 he says, "...thou
shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that dreamer
of dreams, for the Lord your God proves you to know whether
you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your
soul." I'll back to Matthew, the book of Matthew. Look at
Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12, the same
thing is said there. Jesus says in verse 32 of Matthew
chapter. I'm sorry, verse 33 of Matthew
chapter 12. He says either make the tree
good and his fruit good or else make the tree corrupt and his
fruit corrupt for the tree is known by his fruit. And then
he tells us what the fruit is, verse 34. Oh, generation of serpents,
vipers, seed of serpents, the seed of the devil, as Jesus called
them in John 8. How can you? He asked this question,
and it's a rhetorical question. How can you, being evil, speak
good things? You see what he says? Speak good
things. He had just said, make the tree
good and its fruit good. And then he tells them, you're
a generation of vipers. You are evil serpent. How can you speak good things?
Can the devil speak good things? Only in a mixture. He mixes God's
word with the truth and it comes out poison. And so he says, how
can you being evil speak good things? Now, listen carefully.
The next verse is a principle for out of the abundance of the
heart, the mouth speaketh. Whatever is in your heart, whatever
is in your conscience, whatever you're convinced of as true,
that's what you're going to say. If you say the truth about Christ,
it's because you believe it. If you say the truth of Christ
plus something else, like the Galatians, or if you refer to
some other confidence, like the Hebrews, or if you pervert the
gospel, like those who denied Jesus came in the flesh, as in
1 John, or if you go beyond the doctrine of Christ, as in 2 John,
or if you even work wonders and signs and yet deny the only Lord
God that bought them, then you are an antichrist. You're bringing
forth fruit that's evil because the tree, you and your heart
are evil. And then he says, verse 35, a
good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good
things, but an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth
evil things. And then he says in verse 36,
but I say unto you that every idle word that men speak, notice
he didn't focus so much on what they did. What they did was wrong,
but the heart is connected first to what you say and then to what
you do. That every idle word that men
shall speak, they shall give an account of in the day of judgment,
for by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou
shalt be condemned. Now, look back at Matthew chapter
seven. So the question is that there's an ultimate question,
there's an all important question that we all face. And we all
must answer this question. And the only answer that you
can give is what you truly believe in your heart, what is in you,
what God has convinced you of or not convinced you of. What
you're convinced of is what you're going to say in the day of judgment
and what you're going to say now, what you talk about, what
you profess to believe. And what you rely on is what
you say with your mouth, and that's in your heart. It'll come
out. It might not come out consistently like the devil. You might mix
it up with other things if you have a corrupt tree. But if you
are a good tree, God is going to see to it that you're going
to say what the same thing that He says, which is the truth.
Remember, the New Covenant is this. They shall all know the
Lord. They shall all know the Lord.
Everyone in the New Covenant is given that blessing to know
the Lord. And so everyone in the new covenant
is a good tree and they will bring forth good fruit. But look
at Matthew 27 now in verse 21. And here's where I want to focus
our attention. I'm sorry. Matthew chapter seven,
verse 21. Here's where I want to focus
our attention. He says this. Jesus says this. Not everyone. And when you read those words,
not everyone, you can imagine what it's like. Everyone's assembled
before the Lord. And not everyone that says to
me, Lord, Lord. And how many of those do you
think that that means? Not everyone. We think not everyone
must mean most people do enter. But not everyone. But he clarifies
it. He says, not everyone that says
to me, Lord, Lord. shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven." And then in verse 22, he tells us the proportions. He says, many will say to me
in that day, many, many. And notice what they say, Lord. And you can hear the entreaty
in their voices. They're imploring the judge,
the king, the Lord Jesus Christ, Because he says, notice, they'll
say it to me in that day. Every one of us must give an
account of himself to God. And when he says that, and we'll
read a couple of verses to show that, the Lord Jesus makes it
clear that it's to him they're going to give that account. He
says, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord. And they speak to him in this
next phrase in a question. Have we not? You see what they're
doing? They're asking him to refer to
what they say next as evidence to justify themselves before
the Lord of glory. Look at Romans chapter 14. Romans
chapter 14. What does he say there? Just
a couple of verses. Romans 14 in verse 10, 11, he says, I'm sorry, verse 10. But why does thou judge thy brother?
Romans 14, 10. Why do you judge your brother?
Or why does thou set at not thy brother? In other words, you
discount him. You consider him to be reprobate. For we shall
all stand Not before your judgment, but before the judgment seat
of Christ. As it is written, As I live,
saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God. And what are you going to say?
Well, he says in the next verse, So then every one of us shall
give an account of himself to God. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter
5. Same thing is said there. With
an addition, he says, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10, For we must all
appear before the judgment seat of Christ. You see that? Now
we see it's of the Lord Jesus Christ. That everyone may receive
the things done in his body according to that he had done, whether
it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror
of the Lord. What do we do? We persuade men. For we are made manifest unto
God. And I trust also are made manifest in your conscience.
So, the point here of these verses, and there are others too, is
that we must all, every one of us, have to answer this question. This question. And the illustration
that comes to my mind is this. If you've ever taken a course
of study in school, frequently they have a final in the end
of the course, and if you pass the final, you pass the course.
But if you fail the final, what does it mean? You didn't understand
the material. You couldn't give the right answers. Now, there's a final in comparison
to that test and that course you had in school. There's a
final that we must all give. And I remember what it was like
taking finals. My wife was here to bear record.
I would get so stressed out because I knew That not only did that
course and all of the effort that I put into that course depend
on the outcome of that final, but I had to get a job one day.
And if I didn't do well in the final, I wasn't going to get
a job. My kids depended upon me doing well in school. So I
had to do well. And I'm a tense person anyway,
and it just added to the intensity. Every time I had a final, I'd
go there just wringing my hands. And there would be a lot of times
students outside the class, and they would share last thoughts
just before the final. And that would only heighten
the tension. So I would never get involved in those conversations.
You start talking to someone, you go, oh no, I don't understand
what I'm doing. And that's exactly what you don't
want to do before a final, is get nervous. But here, God says
every one of us must give account of himself to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what these verses
are about. In Matthew 7 and 22, it says,
Many will say to me in that day. Now, what are these people doing?
They're giving their answer. What's the question? What right
do you have to claim that you know the Lord Jesus Christ? What
right do you have to claim that? You could ask the question this
way. What right do you claim to be a Christian? What do you
believe about Jesus? What account can you give of
yourself? We have to give it. And so Jesus
tells us, notice the way he words it in Matthew 7, 22. He says,
many will say to me in that day, this is a prophecy. This is going
to happen. They say that prophecy is simply
the future history. It's the history of the future.
It hasn't happened yet, but it's guaranteed to take place because
God said it. And everything God says actually
does come to pass. And so Jesus is telling us exactly
what's going to happen. This is what's going to happen
on the day of the final. Many are going to come to the
final. And do you know how many will be there? Everyone ever
born into the world. How many is that? Well, there's
several billion people in the world today. And they're dying
at the rate of, I don't know, whatever the death rate is. But
you know from the death rate that that population continues
to grow. So you can go backward in time
and you can calculate approximately how many people have ever been
born into the world. Hundreds of billions of people
standing at Judgment Day. Imagine what it's like. You're
there. Everyone is assembled. And if
you've ever been in a courthouse where they have a courtroom and
the big doors are there and there's usually a bailiff or someone
guarding the courtroom, you can't go in unless you're told to go
in. But if you're told to go in,
you better go in because he's got whatever hardware he needs
to enforce his word. And everyone is assembled, as
it were, outside of this courtroom. Hundreds of billions of people.
And everyone has got to go in one by one to face the judge
and give the answer that's in their heart and that will come
out in their words. The same answer that's in their
conscience. And there's so many people out there and they're
all sharing the answers that they've prepared. And you hear
them and you're standing there with them, perhaps, and you're
wondering, what answer do I hear them saying? And groups begin
to form, formulating their own answers that have similar answers.
And you have this one group here and many are in that group. And
who's in that group? It's those who say what they
say here. And as you listen to all the different answers, you
have an answer or maybe you don't. But if you do or don't, you're
preparing one. And you're thinking, is my answer
the right answer? And as you listen to others,
you're influenced. You're, I don't know, maybe my answer is not
good enough. And maybe you're tempted to change
your answer. But know this, that whatever
your answer is now, that's the answer you're going to give then.
Because no matter what people say... I mean, you might waffle
before a final and change your mind about what you... But once
you really get it down and you're looking at the test, and there's
only one question on this test, and there's only one answer that
will get you through to the final, get you through the final and
pass the course, enter heaven, enter life, receive salvation,
you have to have the right answer. These men, these many in this
group outside the courtroom of heaven formulating their answer,
they're convinced, they're convinced their answer is the correct one.
They've lived their life based on this answer. They have taught
and they've depended upon this answer. And notice what he says. Many shall say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, notice they reverence the Lord Jesus Christ.
They call him Lord. Isn't that correct, to call Jesus,
Lord? Jesus is the Lord. Speaking about
Jesus as the Lord, even believing He's the Lord, is not enough.
Remember what Jesus, when He commanded the devils to come
out, what did they say? They said, we know who you are,
the Holy One of God. They knew He was the Lord. They
knew. Did it save them? It did not
save them. The devils believe and they tremble. They know He's the Lord. But
they won't enter because they call him Lord. It says here,
many will say to me, Lord, Lord. And this is what they say, Lord,
haven't we? Haven't we? Do you see that? That is the
telling point in their answer. They understand. They have to give an account. And so they've depended on something
all their life without realizing it. The only thing they know,
they're on the broad road to destruction, the only thing they
know comes out of their heart and they say what it is. And
they say, have we, have we. And what they're doing there
is they're putting themselves in the as a link in the chain. They might believe on the Lord,
but they got themselves in that link. Look at Job chapter 8.
You'll see the same thing there. Job chapter 8. Job was afflicted. He was afflicted
by God. God Himself said Job was a righteous
man. And even after God afflicted
him, Even after God took away all that he had, the enemies
came and killed his servants. A whirlwind or some kind of a
storm came and brought the household down on all of his children and
killed all of his children. He had lost everything. His own
body was afflicted with boils. What would you think God's attitude
toward you was if all of that came upon you? Well, his friends
came to him and they told Job what they thought was the reason
for the trouble. Listen to Job chapter 8. Bildad
said this in verse 2, Job 8, 2. How long will you, Job, speak
these things and how long shall words of thy mouth be like a
strong wind? Does God pervert judgment or
does the Almighty pervert justice? How can you argue with that?
Does God pervert judgment? No. Does the Almighty, the one
who has all power, does He pervert justice? No. Verse 4, listen
to the cruelty of what Bildad says to Job in his affliction.
His children had all been killed. If thy children have sinned against
him and he have cast them away for their transgression. So it's an if, but it's kind
of a A rhetorical question, because it begs the question, the answer
is, that's why God did it, because of their transgression. Verse 5, If you would seek to
God the times and make your supplication to the Almighty, if you were
pure and upright, surely now He would awake for thee and make
the habitation of thy righteousness prosper. And look at verse 20,
Behold, God will not cast away the perfect man, He won't cast
away a perfect man, and he will not help the evildoers. That was Bildad's sermon to Job. If your children were destroyed
by God, it's for their wickedness. If you're pure, God will hear
you and He'll make you prosperous. God will not cast away a perfect
man, and He will not help the evildoers. That's what He's saying.
Is that true? Job says in verse 2, in chapter
9, he says, I know it is so of a truth. In other words, some
of what he said was true. God doesn't pervert judgment.
The Almighty does not pervert justice. But then he asked this
question because of what Bill Nett also said about how God
would hear him for his purity and not cast away him for his
perfection. He says, How shall man be just
with God? If he, and it means God, if God
will contend with him, with a man, the man cannot answer him one
of a thousand. If God were to bring all your
sins before you, go ahead, give me an answer for all these. Job
said the man couldn't answer for even one of them, not one. Now, remember that The big issue
here is the day of judgment. We must all give an account.
We must all give an answer. And it better be the right answer.
And Job says, this is one thing I know. Man cannot answer for
his sin. Not one. Look at verse 13. If God will not withdraw his
anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him. And the proud helpers
would be those like the kings of the earth. Remember it says
in Philippians 2, we just read it in Romans 14, every knee shall
bow unto me and every tongue confess. If the kings of the
earth If the fallen angels, who were much mightier than men,
if they fell and they have to stand and stoop before the Lord
of glory, verse 14 says, how much less shall I answer him
and choose out my words to reason with him? How can I find any
argument that God is going to accept? That's what he's saying,
based on my own righteousness. He says, verse 15, whom though
I were righteous, If I were righteous before men, if men could say,
your life is faultless, it's spotless, you are finally, Bill
Edward would say, OK, now you've reached that perfection, that
purity. Job says, no, if I were righteous, though I were righteous,
yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge. Look at verse 20. If I justify myself, my own mouth
will condemn me. If I say I'm perfect, it shall
also prove me perverse. How many times have you been
in a church or a sermon or an environment where the thrust
of the doctrine that's taught to you is that you have to come
up to some level before you can actually feel comfortable before
God? before you can really feel prayed through or spiritual or,
you know, you've come to some level and usually the measure
of that level is whoever's teaching or preaching. How many times
have you felt that? But Job says, no, no, if I were
perfect, my own mouth would prove me perverse. If I were, like
you said, Bill Dadd, no, it's not true. So he accepts the fact
that God is true and just and won't pervert judgment. But he
rejects the idea that based on his righteousness, God could
accept him. So back to Matthew chapter seven.
What do these men say again in verse twenty two, Lord, Lord,
have we not and listen to what they say, prophesied in thy name? What does it mean? It means that
they've told things that God is going to do or has done, and
they've done what they've done in the name of Jesus Christ.
What does that mean? That means that they're preachers,
they're teachers. That means that these men are
leaders in churches, and not just the unbelievers. I mean, they're not Buddhists,
are they? They're not Muslims, are they? They're not Hindus,
are they? These people are professing Christians. They say, Lord, Lord, and we
did what we did. We spoke in your name, in the
name of Jesus Christ. These are the many. This is the
group outside the courtroom who all have the same answer. And
they start the answer. Have not we? Look at the book
of evidences. Search and find out. Isn't it
true that we prophesied in your name? And in thy name have cast
out devils. And what does it mean to cast
out a devil? It means that you have to have the power of God,
doesn't it? You can't cast out a devil without
God's help. Look what he says here. And in
thy name done many wonderful works. And the words here are
many wonders, many miracles. The only way they could do what
they did is if God was somehow allowing them, through His power,
to accomplish these things. How can you deny it? It's just
like Deuteronomy 13, 1-3. These men were able to work signs
and wonders. And yet, what they taught was
wrong. And what did they teach? It's
what they believed. It's what they confessed right
here. They claimed, they argued, Their argument and their answer
to the Lord Jesus Christ, the judge himself, was that if the
Lord himself would just consider what they did in Christ's name,
he would have to let them in the gate, the narrow gate, the
straight gate, the gate of life, salvation, heaven. Let him into
their presence. But notice what he says in verse
23. This is what the judge is going to say. It's actually going
to happen. Out of these billions, there
will be many that believe this. Many professing Christian people
who preach and teach and did wonders in Christ's name. And
not a few, but many. And who can say, when you look
at this list, who can say that you yourself have any hope if
these men have no hope? Can you? Can you say, based on
what you've done, that you have any hope? What if I did what
I did? I did what I did under the influence of God. I did believe
on Jesus. I went forward in church. I dedicated
my life. I served Him with sincerity,
at least the best I could. And everything that I did, I
have to confess, it was by the grace of God. Lord, consider
what I've done. Do you know what that answer
is going to get you on the final? It's going to fail the final.
It's going to fail the final because it's not the right answer.
Because Jesus says this in verse 23, Then will I profess to them,
I never knew you. It's not like you knew me once
and I knew you and then you fell from grace because of something
you did, some scandal. No, I never knew you. And then
notice these chilling words. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. Now, there's at least three things
we can see from this. First of all, Jesus Christ is
the door to heaven. He is the one who admits, who
allows people, who brings them in, or he's the one who rejects
them and disallows them from coming in. Isn't he? He's the
judge. He's the door. You either enter by him, and
he allows you entrance, or he's rejecting you. And the second
thing you see here is that Christ is the life. Because He says,
depart from Me. To depart from the Lord Jesus
Christ is to lose life, is to lose heaven, is to lose salvation. And if they depart from Him,
how long are they going to be gone? Forever. It's not just
a temporary departure here. These men are departing forever.
Lack of eternal life forever, for eternity. This is an eternal
judgment. And so he says to them, I profess
to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. But notice back in verse 21,
because now we've gone through the question. We've looked at
the question on the final. How can you stand before the
Lord, the judge of all the earth, Jesus Christ himself? How can
you answer? Can you picture it? Can you picture
it? Jesus Christ Himself, who rose
from the dead, who now sits on the throne of the God of heaven,
sitting there on His throne, and you're standing before Him
as if no one else is around, and you're given an answer. How
are you going to answer Him? If you have this answer that
these men have, you will be sent to hell. Even if you confess
that Jesus is Lord, even if you do what you do in His name, And
therefore, it's important for us to have the right answer.
Now, a lot of times people will come to you and they'll say,
would you help me pick out some paint? I've never painted a house.
I need to pick out some paint for my house. And you've painted
houses before. Could you help? Or they might say, you know,
you work at a coffee shop. Could you help me find the right
coffee? Or they ask your advice. They might say, could you help
me hook up my gas line in my house or one of these things
here? We have a need for an answer,
a need for an answer of the ultimate test. And here I am standing
before you with God's Word, and I'm telling you that I have the
answer. How are you going to believe
it? The only way you can accept this answer is if it's the answer
from God Himself. If God hasn't given this answer
to sinners, And if this answer is not your answer, then you
have no hope. Look at verse 21. Not everyone
that saith to me, Lord, Lord, it's not what you say, Lord,
Lord, that's not good enough, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. But he that doeth the will of my Father. It seems
like what Jesus is saying here is that it's not what you say,
it's what you do, right? It's not just talk, it's actual
works. Isn't that what that seems like
it's saying? But that's exactly the perversion. That is the reason
that this text of Scripture has been used by many to twist the
Scriptures, to make it say so that exactly what these men failed
in is what you're supposed to say. They would say, no, no,
you need to have works to show that Jesus is your Lord. That
way, when you say, Lord, Lord, you can refer to those works,
and he'll have to say, well, I can't deny that. You certainly
were a Christian. Please enter into the kingdom
of heaven. But it's clear from what Jesus said in verse 22 and
23, that is not the case. What is it to do the will of
my Father which is in heaven? Look at John chapter 6 and verse
40. Make no mistake, this is the
will of God. Verse 39 says, and this is the
will, this is the Father's will, which has sent me, that of all
which He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. Verse 40, and this is the will
of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the
last day. Do you see that? Look at John
chapter five, John five. And he says. Verse twenty four, barely, barely
verse twenty four, John five, I say to you, he that hears my
word and believes on him that sent me half everlasting life
and notice the next phrase and shall not come into condemnation
but is passed, already passed, from death to life. And look
at John 6, 29. Jesus answered and said to them
in John 6, 29, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him
whom He has sent. You know what these men failed
to say? You know what they failed to say? They failed to exhibit
in what they said that they had any faith. These men were unbelievers. Because they had no faith, they
were rejected. Look at Hebrews chapter four.
Hebrews chapter four, he says this. I'm sorry, in verse chapter three,
Hebrews chapter three, he says verse 18, not in verse 18, he
says verse 17. But with whom was God grieved
forty years in the wilderness? Was it not with them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And then he
goes on. And to whom swear he that they should not enter into
his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could
not enter in because of unbelief. Do you see that? Verse 3 of the next chapter,
chapter 4 says, For we which have believed do enter into rest. So you can see, the difference
between those who stood and gave an answer, and answered by their
works, were rejected. And Jesus even said to them,
You that work iniquity, you're a worker of iniquity. But these
men might have said, well, wait a minute. We didn't practice
lawlessness. You know they actually did practice
lawlessness? What does it mean to be lawless? It means to not obey the law. And the law says that the purpose
of the law is that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
may become guilty before God. And Paul says in 1 Timothy 1.8
that the law is good if a man uses it lawfully. But they've
used it unlawfully because they tried to justify themselves before
God by what they did. That's an unlawful use of the
law. That is an unlawful use of the law. And an unlawful use
of the law is breaking the law. It's a worker of iniquity. To
walk in faith on what you do is to walk in iniquity. You're a slave of sin. Remember
in Romans 6, 14, it says, Sin shall not have dominion over
you, for you're not under the law. You're under grace. And
what does it mean to be under grace? It means you walk in faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And now we're getting to the
answer. What is the answer? What is the only answer that
God can accept? Look at Isaiah 45. I want you
to see these things. Isaiah. Chapter 40, because I
want you to have the right answer. I want to have the right answer.
This is my only answer. I'm telling you. I don't have
another rope to climb the cliff. It's this one and this one only.
Look at verse 21, Isaiah 45, 21. Tell ye and bring them near,
yea, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient
time or who has told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? In other words, what God has
said in that is. I'm the only one who's been saying this and
I've been saying it forever. What has he been saying this?
There is no God beside me, a just God. And a savior. A just God and a Savior. From the beginning of the world,
God has been giving this answer. I'm a just God, but I'm a Savior. When Adam and Eve sinned, what
did God do? He gave an answer. What was the
answer? He killed the animal and clothed them with skins.
In other words, He gave the answer, the lamb slain. When Abel brought
his offering from his flock and offered it to God, and God said
he was righteous, what was the answer God gave for him? The
Lamb slain. And when Noah and his family
were saved in the flood and the rest of the world was destroyed,
many were destroyed, only eight souls saved. Well, what happened
there? God gave an answer. What was the answer? The lamb
slain. The ark was that lamb in which
they were and by which they were saved from the wrath of God. The propitiation, the pitch was
over the ark. And they were saved by that atoning
blood. When Abraham and Isaac went up Mount Moriah, And there
God had commanded Abraham to take his son's life and to offer
him as a sacrifice. What did God do? God intervened
and He gave an answer for him. And what was that answer? The
Lamb slain. Moses at the Passover and all
the children of Israel, they faced the certainty of the firstborn
being killed and God gave the answer, the Lamb slain. You see,
in Revelation 13, verse 8, it says, And they whose names were
not written in the Lamb's book of life, who was slain from before
the foundation of the world, and their names written there,
they would all go into perdition. The only answer that you have
is if your name is in the book where the answer is given, the
Lamb slain. Look at Romans, chapter 8. This
is where it's... In fact, look at Psalm 143. We
read this earlier. Psalm 143. Psalm 143, verse 2. Enter not into judgment
with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be
justified. Do you see that? Now look at
Romans chapter 8. Here's the answer. It's the same answer
God's been giving for His people since before the foundation of
the world. He gave it then. He gave it at
the cross. He gives it to us now from His
Word. He gives it to you when by the Spirit of God, He applies
the work of Christ to you and gives you faith to believe Him.
Romans chapter 8 and verse 32. I'm sorry, verse 33. Who shall
lay anything? Who? Who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? Bildad? No. Your own conscience,
perhaps. Or the devil? The world? The
Sadducees, the Pharisees and all those other people? No. Why? Because it's God that justifieth. He sits on the throne and He
says, this one's good. Look at verse 34. Here's the
basis. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also makes intercession for us. What is the only acceptable
answer that God will receive, that the Lord Jesus Christ can
receive? When he's looking at the books, he's looking at the
books. Remember, the books are going
to be opened. And he's looking at the books. One of the books
that's going to be open for his people is this text of Scripture. And the judge himself will look
at the book here and he'll open it up. And because it's the judges,
you know what the judge's job is to look at the law, to look
at the evidence against the accused and see if the law says by that
evidence that this one is either guilty or not guilty. So the judge is going to open
this up and he's going to say for this one, Who is he that
condemneth? And then there's silence, a long
time in heaven. And the answer comes, it's Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession
for us. What is the only answer that
God accepts? It's Christ that died. What is the only reason that
you have to come? When it says in Hebrews 10, 17,
he says, 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into
the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The only thing God accepts is
the blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the only acceptable answer. And not only that, look at 1
John 2. This is the last verse. 1 John chapter 2. He says this in 1 John 2.1. He says. Now, you, she or my little children,
these things write I unto you that you sin not. There it is,
there's the there's the exhortation, don't sin. Remember, they that
fell sin. And if any man sin, And we all
do, don't we? We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. You see that? And He is the propitiation
for our sins. What is the answer? What does
the advocate say? Jesus Christ, the righteous.
The only answer you can give is the one your advocate gives. And the answer the advocate gives
has already been given. He himself, by himself, purged
our sins. And it says it here, he is the
propitiation for our sins. What's a propitiation? A propitiation
means that God has received from him a payment of satisfaction
to his justice. And because God has received
that payment and satisfied His justice, His wrath is appeased,
He Himself is made at peace with those for whom the sacrifice
was made. And therefore, the sin is removed, it's taken away,
the account is blotted out. And the answer that God receives,
the only answer that God receives, is the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And He receives that answer from
Christ Himself for His people. He's the answer. I want you to
be persuaded of this in your heart, so that on the day...
And you know how you'll know what you're going to say that
day? Because you say it now. You might even ask, How do I
know that when it says, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ
that died. I can claim an interest. I can claim a stake. I can claim
that I have some part of what Jesus did when he died. How can
I know that? Remember what Jesus said, whoever does the will of my Father
which is in heaven, which is to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And if you believe on him, You
only have one answer. How do you know that the answer
that the Lord Jesus Christ gave in His death is for you? How
do you know it's for you? Only this. Is He your only answer? Or do you have something else
you have to bring? Do you have something that you want to look
to, some evidences, some experience, some feelings, some sincerity,
something you've done, something you were when you were born,
something you might be someday? All these things are valueless
when it comes... Job said it, how can man be just
with God? If I were perfect, my own mouth
would prove me perverse. No one can be just before God
except in the Lord Jesus Christ. So the answer we give in judgment
is the same answer we give now. Lord, be my answer. Let your blood and righteousness
be mine. Paul said it this way. Oh, that
I might be found in him, not having mine own righteousness.
Do you ever wonder how am I going to stand before God in judgment?
God Himself has given us that answer. It's a narrow gate. It's
difficult because it requires you to leave everything else
behind and hold to Christ only. It's the only answer God accepts.
It's the only answer that God's people want. This answer gives
glory to God only. This answer justifies why Christ
died, because it was required to save us from our sins. This
is the only answer. It's Christ that died, the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Let's pray. Father,
we pray that Christ would be our only answer. We know He's a sufficient answer.
And He answered for His people at the cross. In fact, He answered
for them before the world began, when He stood up for them as
their head and acted for them as one man for the people and
gave an answer, committed himself to death and suffering in obedience
to your will to save us and to bring us to glory. And we know
that he did this all by himself when he cried, it is finished.
Help us, Lord, to enter into this rest by faith and trust
him only and to have confidence, and not just a little, but help
us to actually joy in God our Savior, who is a just God and
Savior, and in the day of judgment, with joy, look into our Judge's
face and see Him there defending us by the only answer that God
provided and approved, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In
Jesus' name we pray. Amen.