All right, these are the words
of our Lord. He speaks them, everyone. Matthew 7, 21 through 23. 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. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name
done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Now, I ask you, where are there more sobering words in all the
Word of God or the sayings of our Lord than what we have read
this morning? But let's get at it. It would
seem both impossible and also unwise to consider such a small
section of this scripture without considering the general or the
overall context, without looking, first of all, at the larger picture
of the whole discourse that relates unto the words of our Lord. you know of already, that this
is a part of that teaching of Christ that is commonly recognized
and called by the Sermon on the Mount. When you hear someone
speak of the Sermon on the Mount or the Mount of our Lord speaking
these words, because these words were not spoken in a synagogue
where people were assembled for formal worship, They were not
spoken in or about the temple, nor were they spoken in a private
or a public house. But according to Matthew chapter
5 and verse 1, upon a mountain, Our Lord went up on a mountain
and set himself down and spoke these words in Matthew 5, 6,
and 7. You know, how often do mountains
come before us when we read of the ministry of our Lord? For
example, He was transfigured up on a mountain. But another
thing in Matthew 5 and verse 1, the number of people that
were present there is also noted. The King James Version has it,
has the numbers of people present that are noted, has multitudes
came and were there that day. This is a favorite word with
Matthew. You will find him using it over
and over multiple times again. It can mean a crowd. It can mean
a great crowd. It can mean a throng of people. It can mean a company. It can
mean a class of people that are gathered in a particular place.
And by the way, if we drop back to the last two verses of chapter
4 of the book of Matthew, we will have an understanding of
it. Verse 24, Matthew 4. And his fame went throughout
all Syria, and they brought unto him all that were sick, that
were taken with diseases, that were in tarments, and those which
were possessed with devils, and those that were lunatic, and
those that had the palsy, and he healed them. And verse 25,
there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee. from
Decapolis, from Jerusalem, from Judea and beyond Jordan. So we see that because of His
mighty works, the things that He had done, the healing of diseases
and the great power that was put forth casting out devils
and relieving various sorts of misery, sicknesses and disease,
that His fame expanded It exploded, as it were, and many came to
see and to hear him, possibly more for the physical help at
that time than for the spiritual help. Some, no doubt, came out
of curiosity, some to see such a man. some in the hope that
this is indeed Messiah at last having come. But be that as it
may, when the multitude was gathered there, the Scripture said that
the Lord ascended a mount, and He taught them, and He spoke
to them of spiritual matters. By the way, I think that this
is the longest recorded discourse of our Lord found anywhere in
the New Testament in regard to his public ministry. But the
most important focus, or the most important question is, what
is the main design of this passage of the Scripture? What is the
emphasis of this very lengthy delivery of the Lord? What is
the purpose of our Lord having said these things? Then, of course,
we raise the question, to whom were these words originally spoken
unto? And are they applicable unto
the Christian and the Christian life today? Matthew makes a distinction
in chapter 5 and verse 1. Present, he said, were the disciples
of the Lord and then also a large number of others were present
there on that occasion And the Lord taught them all. But this may still beg the question,
why does the Lord say these things? Why does He say them at this
particular time and to this particular audience in that day? What are
the designs of the Lord in saying them? What impression? were they
meant to have upon those that there that day heard these things
from the mouth of our Lord? What were they to conclude after
hearing these words of our Savior? And then what do we take away
from this great discourse of our Lord? A. W. Pink has a book
called The Sermon on the Mount, and A. W. Pink called this Sermon
on the Mount, quote, the manifesto of his kingdom, unquote. C. H. Spurgeon said this, quote,
the king promulgates the laws of his kingdom, unquote. And
the word promulgate, of course, means to set forth or to declare
or openly declare. David Brown said in his book,
Before Gospel, when the Lord was surrounded by listeners from
every class and every section of Jewry, he began for the first
time to teach the great leading principles of His kingdom. Matthew Henry once wrote, there
is not so much creed in it that is to be believed, quote, but
it is wholly taken up with the agenda. That is, the things that
are to be done by those who are the followers and disciples of
the Lord. Or to put it another way, These
are the guiding principles of those that are followers of Christ. Here are the ways of those that
serve in His kingdom and under His kingship. Commentator John
Brown, in a large work entitled, The Discourses and Sayings of
Our Lord, made a connection which I really can't remember giving
much thought to it before. I also found that A.W. Pink mentions it, probably because
he read it in John Brown. But Brown said that there is
a key to understanding the reason and the meaning of the Lord's
teachings in this Sermon on the Mount. And that is to show the
Jews the particulars involved in the Lord and John calling
them to repentance. Here is what that repentance
would involve unto them. John the forerunner, John in
Matthew 3, verse 1 and 2, in those days, came John the Baptist
preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, Repent ye,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Our Lord opened His
ministry, as it were, in Matthew 4 and 17. From that time began
Jesus to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. Now, it was not a kingdom of
this world. For as the Lord said to Pilate
in John 18 and 36, My kingdom is not of this world. Pilate was convinced that Jesus
was no threat to the throne of Caesar. Now, it is evident from
the words and the actions of the Jew, as recorded in the four
Gospels, that they were under a great delusion concerning Messiah's
coming. They had degenerated into false
ideas and views of Messiah, and of His coming, and of His action. I think no one put it perhaps
better than Abraham Booth, the old-time Baptist, who said the
real nature of His kingdom. And this mistake about it led
to their crucifying Him, and finally, to the ruin of their
nation, their temple, and their priesthood. There are direct
references to the false notions and the false teaching of the
Jew in regard to these things in this Sermon on the Mount.
Not only in regard to Messiah's coming and kingdom, but also
about religion in general. And this will always be the case. You will find this to be true
in any generation, in any age in which you might be able to
light or to look. You will find that when the leaders
and the teachers are unregenerate or apostates, true religion will
then greatly degenerate under the hand of those who do not
know the truth as it is, in Jesus Christ. Error, therefore, will
be presented as if it were true. Heresy will take root, and the
doctrines of men will be put in the place of the Word of our
God. It happens every time in every
generation when the leaders are corrupt and degenerate. And the Jewish leaders at the
time of our Lord were as corrupt as they come. And this had happened
in Judaism until the majority of Jewish minds held inferior
views of the things that were set up and established by and
through Moses, that were preached by the prophets among the people,
and as one expositor put it, having been long perverted and
practiced under perverted teachers." And the Lord Jesus Christ in
this sermon drew a sharp contrast. between acceptable righteousness
and the righteousness of the scribe and the Pharisees to which
the people were accustomed and were in bondage. If I may say
so, the Sermon on the Mount is set against the backdrop of the
formalism of the ritualism and of the self-righteousness of
the Pharisees in that particular day. One thing that stands out
is the contrast that the Lord makes between the teachers of
Judaism and the teaching of the great teacher having come from
God that is the Lord Jesus Christ, that set forth the great principle
of evangelical and spiritual and heart religion. If you look
at the section, we're not going to read it, but in chapter 5
and verse 21 through verse 48, because it's rather lengthy,
Here we meet a series of contrasts, and they are after this order. You have heard it said by them
of old time. And it is contrasted with this,
but I say unto you, you have heard, you have been taught,
it has been your custom to do so and so and to hear so and
so, but I say unto you. Now there are at least six of
these in the last 28 verses of chapter 5. Your teachers have
taught you thus and so, but I, on the other hand, say unto you."
The Pharisees, for example, thought it enough to satisfy the law
if they refrained from actual murder and actual adultery, if
they kept and they paid their owes and their tithe, if they
loved their neighbor or their friend, or love those that love
them back in return. This spirit is seen in them in
Mark 10, 17 through 22, and Luke chapter 18 and verse 18 through
23. When one asks the Lord about
eternal life, what must I do to inherit eternal life? The
Lord answered him, you know the commandments, do not commit adultery,
do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, honor thy father and
mother, to which that particular man smugly replied unto the Lord,
All of these have I kept from my youth up. I've done these
since I was young. All my days have I made this
a practice. Now, let's listen in. On the
Pharisee praying yonder in the temple, in Luke chapter 18. And
it would be in verse 11 and 12. This man went to pray and he
prayed after this sword. God, I thank you that I am not
as others. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I am no adulterer. I'm not a
publican. I fast biweekly. I give tithes
of all that I possess. This is and was the spirit that
marked Phariseeism and in the day that our Lord spoke this
great sermon unto them. And this puts strong emphasis
upon a statement made by the Lord, and it's found back in
chapter 5, and I will turn there and read verse 17 through verse
20 of Matthew chapter 5. Verse 17 through verse 20. Concerning the law and the Pharisee,
So let's take time to read it beginning in verse 17. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore
shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach
men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. By the way, the word law is a
reference to the Scripture, the Old Testament Scripture, and
that not He, Jesus, but the Jewish teachers were the ones who had
rested and had twisted the law. By their tradition, they had
set aside the Word of God. Through the Jewish teacher, they
professed great honor for the oracles of God, as one said,
yet they tampered with its authority." This they did by explaining away
some of the requirements of the law. making many unauthorized
distinction that allowed the people to set aside the law without
any guilt of conscience. One said it was believed among
the Jew that their most eminent teacher and the Sanhedrin court
had the power to set aside any part of the law. Is that surprising
to you? Well, look at the Pope. He has
the power and the authority to change this or to change that. But I say verse 20, the bold
statement from the Lord's Christ in Matthew 5 and verse 20, to
me this is the outstanding crux of the message of our Lord. For
I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall in
no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now, mind you, our
Lord draws a line in the sand. Accept your righteousness, exceed. Exceed what? Notice, not the
publicans, not the harlots, not sinners of the Gentile, not the
pagans out yonder in their idle temple, but the Pharisee of the
scribes and the Pharisee of their system of teaching and of practice. Now you know, I assume, that
the Pharisees were the strictest of all of the Jewish sects, S-E-C-T-X-S,
in that particular day. They were the strictest of all
about their religion. also known as Saul, was a Pharisee
before his conversion. And he called it in Acts 26 and
verse 5, the most straightest sect of our religion, unquote. The Pharisees were the separatists. of their day. They were the largest
and therefore the most influential. Thus they controlled the synagogue. They influenced more people than
the other sects of Jewry. They and some others considered
themselves the most pious and the most devoted in their religion. They looked upon themselves as
righteous men. And yet remember that the Lord
Jesus Christ more severely criticized the Pharisees than any other
group that he dealt with during his ministry. And here he tells
this gathering, accept your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and of the Pharisees, what would be the consequences?
They would not enter the kingdom of heaven except in name and
profession only. And what was the righteousness
of the scribe and the Pharisee? Well, it was law righteousness. We heard them say, I kept this,
I did that. I didn't do this or that or the
other. It was law righteousness and
it was self-righteousness. And it consisted, or so they
thought, in the outward observance of the law of God. Paul explains this very well
in Romans chapter 10, verse 1 and following. We will not turn there
this morning. Thus, any that would worship
and serve Christ and live and walk in the gospel way must have
a righteousness that exceeds the most religious of the religious
in that particular day, the scruples of the scribe and of the Pharisee. Now, coming at long last unto
our text, the words of the Lord as He goes along become stronger
and stronger, and His warnings that are attached here, stronger
and stronger. And jumping into chapter 7, we
meet with some very stern words from our Lord. Look at verse
13 and 14. There is a contrast made between
the broad and the narrow way, that the gate is straight that
the gate is narrow and that there are few that find it that leads
unto life. Then look at verse 15 through
20, a stern warning here against false prophets that appear in
sheep's clothing but are in fact ravening wolves. Ferocious, I
think the word could mean. And in Acts 20 and 29 is another
warning about ravening, ferocious wolves that would destroy the
flock. And they may be known by their
fruit, our Lord said, for a bad tree does not bring forth good
fruit and vice versa. I agree with John Brown. that
at Matthew 7 and verse 13, the Lord begins to bring this discourse
to a close. And He makes here some very strong
and pertinent closing application in order that he might drive
it home to the hearts of his hearers and disciples, applying
the many contrasts that he had made between the righteousness
of the Pharisees and the true disciples of our Lord. In our
text he said, and look at it, Verse 21, not everyone that says
to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. There
are lots of people, multitudes of people. running around today
saying, Lord, Lord, Jesus, Jesus. The Lord is not condemning any
of His disciples for saying, Lord, Lord, for using the word
in addressing Him. We ought to call Him Lord. For
so he is, he once said, you call me Lord, and well, because so
I am. What he says is, not everyone
who does so, that is, is a true disciple, a true follower of
him. Maybe a mere profession, and
profession only, saying only empty, meaningless words. Even saying, Lord, Lord, does
not a Christian make according to our Savior. Not everyone that
says, Lord, Lord. Many in every generation do and
have said, Lord, Lord. I talk to them, they say, I'm
a Christian, I believe in the Lord, I pray, I read my Bible,
I attend church, and those things they rattle off. Of those who
say, Lord, Lord, even here there are variations. There are different
kinds that say, Lord, Lord, as we look at them in Christendom. Some could be called nominal
Christian, but as has been many times said, they bear the name
of Christ and that is all. They say, Lord, Lord, but they
do not do the things that He said. It's just that they were
born and they were raised in a particular religious environment
where Christianity was the dominant religion or belief. Many have
received some training in it or respected some Christian who
had an influence on them. or may even have joined a church
and learned the doctrine of that church. If you ask them, are
you a Christian, they will say, yes, I have taken Jesus for my
Lord. But our text is clear. Not everyone that says unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom. On the other hand,
there are those that we might refer to as formal Christians
who, like the Jews, were raised in the national religion of their
fathers. And they always considered themselves
Abraham's seed and Abraham's children. From youth they were
catechized in it. They were taught the creed. They
can repeat it Word for word, they've been in church all their
life. During that time, they have been
faithful to participate in the externals of their religion. Some of them are strict Sabbatarian
and are not what we might call worldly. They have been taught
to consider themselves to be covenant children. Ready are
they to say, Lord, Lord. But some of these have never
seen themselves as sinners before and against the God of heaven. Nor can they identify a time
when they were converted. by the power and the call of
God, nor are they aware of any work of regeneration having been
wrought in them, and of being born again, and of the Spirit
of God. And, of course, there are then
just plain old out-and-out hypocrites, of which the world has seen many. Who then will enter in according
unto our Lord? They who not only say, Lord,
Lord, but does the will of my Father which is in heaven. In
John 6 and 40, this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone
that sees the Son and believes on Him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise Him up again at the last day. And in verse
24 and verse 27, He speaks of those who hear and do the sayings
of His teaching. They follow His teaching. They
walk in His truth. They are obedient. Now there
are two expressions here that are considered in different ways
by many that are Christian interpreters throughout history. Number one,
in that day. And the second expression, the
kingdom of heaven. Now, the latter is a favorite
word and a favorite term with Matthew. And these views would
require an entire study in themselves if we were to discuss them fully.
I must tell you that I still at times have trouble with the
aspects of the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God,
the kingdom of Christ and such like. I do not think it is as
easy to interpret as some have said. But in verse 22 is an illustration
of what is said in verse 21. In verse 21, not everyone that
says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter in. Yea, verse 22, many
will still argue their case according to the 22nd verse. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name cast
out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works. Now, we notice here these things,
two things. They say, Lord, Lord. Many will say unto me, Lord,
Lord. And then secondly, we notice
three times in the 22nd verse, we read their profession, that
it is, quote, in thy name, unquote. Three times, to or toward your
name. They not only said, Lord, Lord,
but they also claimed that what they had done, they had done
in the name of Jesus. Not in their own name, so they
claim, but in the name of the Lord. Not in another's name,
but in the name of the Lord. And we might take notice that
the things they claim, as John Gill, one of my favorite expositors,
has said, were of an extraordinary nature." For example, prophesying. We prophesied in thy name, foretelling
those things that are to come. We performed the exorcism of
demons and of unclean spirits, as well as many wonderful works. We noticed something. The Lord
does not or does not take time to deny or refute their claims. He doesn't mention or reply to
that at all. But still they were under a strong
delusion and a self-deception. And the Lord does deny them,
deny knowing them. I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. And in contrast to their claims
of doing many wonderful works, notice the Lord calls them themselves
evil workers. Ye that depart, ye that do evil. the ones working lawlessness,
I believe we might render that. I never knew you. Meaning not that he had no knowledge
of them. It cannot be that he had no knowledge
of them, that he did not know who they were in the sense that
he knows all, but he never knew them in electing and saving grace. never knew them as his servants. This knowing that is absent here
is one so frequently in the Scripture that means to know. It means
to love, to acknowledge, and to approve. For example, 2 Timothy
chapter 2, And verse 19, the Lord knows them that are hid. Depart from iniquity, for the
Lord knoweth them that are hid. In John 10, verse 27, My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them. Amos 3 and 2, way back in the
Old Testament, God said to Israel, You only have I known of all
of the families of the earth. This has to have a unique meaning,
for God certainly knew of the existence, of the whereabout,
and of the action of every single nation and individual upon the
face of the earth. Neither can those in Matthew
7 and verse 23 be such as fell out of a state of grace and salvation. That's how some folks get around
this. These were once saved and they fell out of grace. But who
did once good things and then lost their saving grace or their
saving faith? This does not suit the text,
however, because the Lord Jesus Christ said to them explicitly,
I never knew you. Not at any time, not at any time
did I ever know you in the sense of the true meaning of that word. Now, let's notice something about
the way that the Lord uses the word many in the latter part
of this Sermon on the Mount. For example, in chapter 7, verse
13 of Matthew, many, many are entering the broad way that leads
to ruin. Few are entering into the narrow
gate that leads to life. Notice again, in verse 22, many
will say unto me. In verse 22, done many wonderful
works. Now the word rendered many is
from the word palos or pelous, meaning much, largely, mostly,
abundantly, plenteously. How many, how many, we wonder,
will spend their lives practicing a religion that ends in ruin,
staking the salvation of their soul upon what their church teaches
them, because, lo, there are many false prophets that are
gone out into the world. And they are, according to the
Scripture, deceiving many. One of the worst things, plagues
to hit, is that of easy-believe-ism that appeared earlier in our
lifetime, at least I remember it. Easy-believe-ism. Just as easy as falling off a
log backward. to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Just say some words. Just move
your feet. Just come to the front. Easy-believism. Way back yonder in Bible school,
nine years old. Believe on Jesus. Easy-believism
is the tonic of the day. And that, I think, has done a
lot of harm. Now quickly, let's look at the
Lord's closing illustration. It is a wonderful one, found
in verse 24 through verse 27. Our Lord said, let me illustrate
what I'm talking about. Here's an illustration. Whoever
hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to
a wise man who built his house upon a rock. The floods came,
the storms descended, and the winds blew and it beat upon that
house, but it did not fall because of its foundation. It was upon
a rock.