Matthew chapter 7 and from verse
13 Jesus has the following to say, Enter ye in at the straight
gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth
to destruction and many there be which go in thereat. Because
straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves. You shall know them by their
fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt
tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bring if not
forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore
by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that sayeth
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 have 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. Therefore whosoever heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise
man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that
house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And
everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house, and
it fell, and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass when
Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at
his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority and not
as the scribes. Jesus said, 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 have 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. I never knew you. Depart from
me. Ye that work iniquity, I never
knew you. What awful words to hear when
we come to stand before Almighty God on that day of judgment,
when the days of our life have come to their conclusion, when
we pass from time into eternity, when we stand with time behind
us and eternity spanning out ahead of us. And the days of
reckoning are over. And we stand before Almighty
God and all He has to say unto us is, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. And as those who have worked
iniquity, we are sent off forevermore into outer darkness. to dwell
under the eternal judgment and wrath of Almighty God because
of the sins which we have committed throughout our life. Those are words which many have
heard. Those are words which many will
hear. Are they words which will be
uttered unto you? They're awful words. Awful words
to hear at the end of your life if you've lived denying God,
denying his existence, denying his rights, denying his rule. denying his praise, denying his
service, denying his glory, denying his gospel, denying his truth,
denying his son. Is that the life you live? One where you live as though
God does not exist. Whether you pretend to His existence
or not, your life is such as though it is not there. You live
for yourself, you live for your own glory. You live for your
own pleasure. You have a heart which hates
Almighty God. A heart which rages at the truth
of God. A heart which rages against the
Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Psalmist says, the fool
have said in his heart there is no God. You may make lip service
to God, but if your heart acts as though there is no God, if
your heart denies him and his rights and his glory, then on
that day when you stand before him and when it's too late, he
will say unto you, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. Are you one who works iniquity
every day of your life? For if you are, and if that's
the state you remain in until this day, there's no turning
back. There's no undoing what you've
done. There's no second chance. You've
used up your second, your third, your fourth chances. You did
hear, you did hear there was a God, you did hear there was
a Jesus Christ, you did hear there was a saviour of sinners,
you did hear there was a way of salvation and you said away
with this man. You shut him out of your thoughts
and your affections. You would not bow the knee to
Jesus Christ. You mocked those who followed
him. You mocked those who preached
him. You mocked those who loved him. You shut him out of your
mind. You shut him out of your life
and here's this day come upon you when you cannot rewind the
clock and he will say unto you who hated him, I never knew you. depart from me. Well those will
be awful words to hear if that's your life but they're even more
awful words to hear if you've lived your life under the delusion
that Jesus loves you and that you have served him and that
you are saved and that you have done God's service. When in reality,
your profession of faith was a lie. And your belief was in
a lie. And your idea of God and Jesus
Christ was but an idol of your own making. And all that you
did was a deception. It will be even more awful to
hear the words, I never knew you, when you stand before this
God and say unto him, Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in thy
name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done
many wonderful works? And despite your Lord, Lord,
and despite your life full of wonderful works as you saw them,
and despite your doing things in his name, he turns around
to you and says of you, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that
work iniquity. What dreadful words to hear at
the end when you think that you love Jesus Christ, when you think
that you are saved by him and all the time you've believed
a lie. Now if you think that's stretching
things it is not because that's exactly whom Christ is speaking
of here. These words are not the words
addressed in this context to the wicked in the world who know
nothing of God, though they will hear this too. But here the context
is those who take God's name upon their lips, who have lived
a life of religion, thinking they are saved, when in reality
they have fought against the true gospel. and believed another
gospel. When in reality they have denied
the one true and living God and served another God. When in reality
they have denied the Lord Jesus Christ and served another Jesus,
another Christ of their own making. And in the end they will say,
Lord, Lord, I've done this. I've done that. Receive me because
of what I've done. And he will say, I never knew
you. I never knew you. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. There are those who speak of
Jesus Christ blind sinners once, broken and bruised, knowing they
are nothing, knowing the corruptions of their
natural frame, knowing that their salvation is entirely in God's
hands, knowing that they sought him not but he found them. There are those There are those
who know their nothing. There are those who are brought
to know the grace and the mercy of God, and to them as broken
sinners, who can barely utter the words, Lord, Lord, on that
last day. But when they come, full of what
He's done for them, knowing that they've done nothing for Him,
He will say, well done my good and faithful servant. Enter ye
in to your eternal rest. But there are others. Others
who've heard of him. Others who seek to follow him.
Others that take his name upon their lips. Others full of religion. Others who can tell you the doctrines
inside out. Others full of themselves and
what they've done for God. Who will come unto Him, addressing
Him by name. Saying what they have done. Following
their Lord, Lord with I have done this and I have done that. Receive me God for what I have
done. Unto whom He will say, I never
Knew you. I never knew you. It's not what
you know. It's not what you say. It's what he knows. And what
he says that matters. It's what he has done that matters. You can know all about him, but
does he know you? You can say you know him, but
will he say I know you? You can do many things, but has
he done something for you? You can speak, of the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. But did the Lord Jesus shed his
blood upon that cross for you? Really doesn't matter what you've
got to say, but what he will say of you when you stand before
him. Consider the differences between
these two groups of people. Differences set forth in this
chapter. Where Christ begins in verse
13 to say, enter ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the
gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction. And many
there be which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life. And few there be that
find it. There's a straight gate and a
broad gate. A straight gate and a wide gate. A narrow way and a broad way. And there are those on a broad
way who will say, Lord, Lord, at the end, whom he does not
know. But there is a narrow way and
a straight gate. which few find and which few
enter by, which leads unto everlasting life. Now which gate have you
entered? Because you can't pass through
a narrow gate, you can't pass through a straight gate when
you're full of yourself, when you're full of your own glory,
when you're full of your own riches. When you're full of your
I have prophesied in thy name and I've cast out devils in thy
name and done many works, wonderful works in thy name. When you're
full of what you are and what you have done, you're too fat
to pass through this gate. But those that enter by a straight
gate and walk along a narrow way are those who have been brought
down. Those whom God has shown are
sinners. Those who have been broken, those
whose burden has rolled from their back, the burden of their
sin. Those whose works and self-glory
and self-righteousness has been broken away. Those who are hungering
and thirsting after righteousness. The hungry and the thirsty are
not fat, but thin. And only the thin can pass through
a straight gate. Only those who truly hunger and
thirst after that righteousness which God can give. But those
who are full of their own righteousness, their own works, their own glory,
will never pass through this gate. There's the difference. At the end of the chapter we
see Christ compare those who build a house upon rock with
those who build upon sand. The house built upon rock is
that which is built upon Christ and His Gospel and on the rock
of His Gospel and on the solid truth of His Gospel and on the
firm declaration that salvation is of God alone. But the foolish
man thinks that he can gain salvation through what he's done and that
God will treat him and receive him freely and easily. The foolish
man thinks that he can live in this world full of the world's
riches and glory, full of his own self-attainments and still
get to God. The foolish man builds his house
upon sand. But when the rains come and the
storms come, His house will not stand, no matter what the house
may look like. His house may look like the house
that the wise man built upon rock. It may look the same outwardly,
he may be just as religious. He may go to the meeting like
the other man goes to the meeting. He may have sat under the sound
of the gospel like the other man has sat under the sound of
the gospel. He has a house just like the
wise man has a house. But his house is not set upon
rock. God didn't take him. And God
didn't place him upon the rock. He did the choosing. He did the
building and he built his house upon sand. Where are you building? Because
the difference between the two is in the foundation of what
is built. Both can speak of the Lord. Both could say, Lord, Lord. But
one has been built upon the foundation of their own glory and righteousness
and the other has been built upon the rock of Jesus Christ. The difference is Christ. The difference is Christ. And
those whose house is built upon the rock which is Jesus Christ
are no different by nature in themselves from those who build
upon the sand. They're no more capable, no more
able, no more righteous in themselves. The difference is in the foundation. The difference is that God has
took them and built them up. God has placed them on the rock. or everyone else is scrabbling
around on the sand. God has shown them what they
are and their need of salvation. He's shown them that they need
to be delivered from what they are. He's shown them that their
good works, their good deeds, their prophesying, their casting
out of devils, their wonderful works are just filthy rags in
his eyes. They don't pass the test. They
need righteousness in order to enter into glory and they have
no righteousness. What they think is righteousness
is filthy rags. What you think is righteousness. What you think you have done
which is good, in God's eyes, set against His righteous standards. It's just full of sin. Full of
sin. And this is what Christ has been
showing in these few chapters. In this discourse called the
Sermon on the Mount, from chapter 5 through to chapter 7, he's
been showing that in order to enter glory, his disciples must
have a righteousness which exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees. They must have a righteousness
which is perfection. The people knew how zealous the
scribes and the Pharisees were for the things of God. The people
who heard Christ speaking here, the people here all knew how
zealous the scribes and the Pharisees were for the law of God and how
zealous they were in their adherence to that law. and how hard they
work to approve themselves unto God. And yet Christ says, even
if you live as well as they live, even if you live and are as zealous
and wholehearted and put every hour of every day into your religion
as the scribes and Pharisees do, which they did, even if you're
as good as they are, you will not enter into the kingdom of
God. I say unto you that except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven. You need a righteousness greater
than theirs. And what Christ is saying is
not strive harder, is not do better, is not work harder. But he's saying you can't. You
can't do it. And you will not attain unto
this standard by your efforts. So he goes through in these chapters
showing us and contrasting something of what the law of God said.
with exactly how righteous you need to be to fulfill that law
in its entirety and to attain unto salvation. You've heard it said of them
in old time, thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall
be in danger of the judgment and that is what the law said.
But Christ says, whosoever is angry with his brother shall
be in danger of the judgment. You must not even get angry. You've heard it said don't commit
adultery but I say even if you look upon a woman with adulterous
thoughts in your heart you are guilty. You've heard it said of old time
thou shalt not forswear thyself but shall perform unto the Lord
thy nose but I say unto you swear not at all neither by heaven
for it is God's throne. You've heard it said, an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you that ye resist
not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek,
turn to him the other also. You've heard that it have been
said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say
unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father
which is in heaven. Now here's a standard and here's
a righteousness, which not only soars above that which the scribes
and the Pharisees sought to attain to, but goes way beyond anything
that any man, woman or child is capable of. And Christ is
saying, except you attain to this standard, you will never
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. No one can, you can't live a
life of this standard. You say you love others, well
love your enemies. You say I've never murdered,
well never get angry. You cannot attain to this standard. But what Christ is showing that
what you cannot do, what is impossible with man, is possible with God. That there is a people who though
by nature they know they're full of sin, who though by nature
they know that they get angry, They know that they hate their
enemies. They know that very often they
hate their friends and loved ones. They know that they lust
and desire after this, that and the other. They know that in
them there is no good thing. That though there is a people
who know that they could not possibly attain unto the righteousness
of God presented here. Nevertheless, in the Gospel,
In Christ, by God's grace and mercy, they are chosen by God
to be made the righteousness of God. To be made to attain
unto this standard. In Christ, with their house built
upon him as their rock and their foundation stone, They not only
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, but they
have a righteousness which God the Father can look upon and
say, I find no spot or blemish in them. They have the very righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ. And they've not wrought it. They've
not attained unto it, by nature they've not even sought it, but
God has come unto them in the gospel and found them as lost
sheep wandering afar off and brought them to hear the sound
of the truth that he sent his Son into this world. to save sinners such as them,
that He gave His Son as a sacrifice for them, that God's own Son
suffered for them, that His blood was shed for them, that they
should be washed and cleansed in Him and made to be the righteousness
of God. They're brought to hear that
and having faith put in their hearts they believe that and
receive that. And these are the ones whom God
can say on that last day, you are mine. I not only know you
but I have known you from eternity past, chosen in my Son. chosen to receive grace and blessing
in the gospel, chosen to enter in at a straight gate and be
led along a narrow way, chosen to have your house built upon
a rock, chosen to be washed clean, chosen to live and reign in righteousness. The difference is Christ and
His gospel and His grace. And yet despite all that Christ
has to say in this discourse and despite all that is written
in these chapters there were, there are and there continue
to be those who take these very words as some kind of target
and goal for which they must live and to which they must try
to attain. There are those who take these
words of Christ about the law and the contrast of the righteousness
of God in the gospel and think that Christ is here merely reinstating
that law, emphasizing its spirituality and setting it before the people
again as some sort of goal to which they must attain. And there
they go off with this understanding and try to live by that understanding. And though they may say much
about the grace of God and though they may profess to be saved
by Christ's death and His blood, they live a life trying to live
up to this standard and when they come to stand before God
on that last day, their words to Him as a consequence, as a
consequence are Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name
and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many
wonderful works because they've lived with their law as their
rule of life with their legalizing of the gospel, with their works
thrust in the place of free grace, with their acceptance of Jesus
overturning the free acceptance of God's elect by God in Jesus
Christ alone. Because they put their decision
in the place of God's decision, their will in the place of God's
will, and their works in the place of God's works, their righteousness
in the place of the righteousness of God because they put themselves
first they come betraying themselves and what they are on the last
day to almighty God himself and say Lord, Lord have we not done
this? Have I not done these many wonderful
works? Wilt thou not receive me for
what I have done? And he has to say unto them. And he will say to you, if that's
you and your heart on that day, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. because it doesn't matter what
you profess of Christ and his gospel, or what you claim, if
your heart cries out, Lord, Lord, I have done these wonderful works,
receive me, if that is your language, then he will say I never knew
you. His children, those that enter
in at the straight gate, Those who know His grace and mercy,
those who are blessed by His gospel, are those who say nothing
of self, except that I am a sinner, but are full of the grace, the
love, the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Their language is full
of what He has done for them, though they deserve it not. The difference is Christ and
His grace. This whole discourse is full
of His grace. It's full of His grace. It opens
by declaring the blessedness of God to His people. Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Not the
strong in spirit, not the mighty, not the knowledgeable. But the
poor, the weak, those who say, I don't understand, I'm nothing,
I struggle, I doubt, I fear, I'm nothing. If that's you, you're
one of that type. Of whom Christ says, theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. not those who rejoice in what
they've done, and in how wonderful and great their church is, and
in how powerful their ministry is, and in how great their church
program is performing, and how wonderful their courses are in
gathering in the lost into their community church, into their
great growing church, which is reaching out into all the community
round about how great we are, how wonderfully God is blessing
us, Blessed are they that mourn.
Mourn because they're nothing. Mourn because they're weak. Mourn
because they're few. Mourn because they're cast out.
Mourn because they're rejected by the religious world around
them. Mourn because the way is hard. mourn because they're brought
to walk on the same way that their Lord Jesus walked, cast
out and rejected by a world around them but received by God, they
shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they
shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness, they're thin, they enter in through
a straight gate, for they shall be filled. But if you're full
now, full of your self-righteousness and glory, you'll never enter
in. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye where men shall
revile you and persecute you. and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice. Rejoice and be exceeding
glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you. These are the sort
which enter in through that gate. These are those who will be received. Not those full of self and what
they have done. Now what is your language? What
does your heart say? What will you say unto God on
that last day? Lord, Lord, in thy name I have
done many wonderful works. In thy name I have preached the
gospel, in thy name I have led the church, in thy name I have
led the Bible studies, in thy name I have led many to Christ,
in thy name I have done this, I have done that. Depart from
me, I never knew you. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. But chapter 7 opens up with a
description of those who are without mercy. As so many religious
professing Christians are. So much of what is called Christianity,
so many who claim to be Christians are utterly mean in their character
and attitude towards others. Christ says, Judge not that ye
be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge,
ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet,
it shall be measured to you again. Why beholdest thou the mote that
is in my brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine
own eye? How many people go about who
profess to love God, who profess to follow Jesus Christ, who are
constantly finding out and pointing out the moat in their brother's
eyes. Constantly finding fault, constantly
judging others, constantly measuring themselves against others and
boosting themselves up, boosting their knowledge up by rubbishing
the understanding or knowledge of another. Boosting up their
own glory by finding fault in another. Judging. Utterly without mercy. Mean. Is that you? Oh, they say, I'm defending the
faith. I'm standing for the truth. I'm walking in righteousness.
Did you see what that fellow did? He's not bringing glory
under Christ's name. It needed to be pointed out.
I had to show him. Consider the beam, my friend,
in your eye. the beam in your eye. And be merciful unto your brother's
failings, for blessed are the merciful. for they shall obtain
mercy. This is a book about grace. And this is a sermon about grace. And the difference between those
who enter in and those who hear the words, I never knew you,
is grace. Not your knowledge. Not your
understanding. Not your decisions. not your
will, not your upbringing, not your association, not your heritage,
not your birthright, not where you go to church, not what you've
read, not where you've studied, not what you have done but grace,
grace But these who cry out, Lord, Lord, are constantly finding
fault with others, constantly comparing themselves with others,
constantly judging others. Yet the child of God, the recipient
of grace, asks and he receives. He knocks and it is opened unto
him. He doesn't earn, it's all given. He isn't rewarded for what he's
done, he's rewarded for what God has purposed to do for him. God took him, a filthy, black,
corrupt sinner and cleansed him and washed him clean in the blood
of the Lamb of God and placed him upon a rock. and said unto
you said unto him though you are persecuted though men revile
you though the religious reject you and hate you because you
speak of my grace because you speak of electing grace because
you speak of the sovereignty of God though they despise and
hate you and cast you out rejoice and be exceeding glad for great
is your reward in heaven not a reward you've earned but a
reward I've set before you by grace for so persecuted they
the prophets that were before you. I will reward you in the
end you may suffer now you may be hated now you may be cast
out now but I have chosen you I know you I have known you from
eternity I have loved you in my son And that is why I've brought
you through a straight gate as one who's been stripped of all
you have, stripped of all your glory, stripped of self, stripped
of all your worth, stripped of your works, stripped of your
sin, stripped of the guilt of your sin, stripped of all you
have and made to be hungry and thirsty. I've brought you through
that gate, that straight gate. to make you righteous. Oh God
must make you like this. God must strip you of all. all
your pride, all your religion, all your works, all your self-righteousness,
all your worldliness, all your false professions, all your easy
believism, all your pretense to grace whilst indulging the
flesh, all your arrogance, all your indulgence, all your intellect,
your letterhead knowledge, all your learning, all must be stripped
away for you are nothing. You are nothing. But if you are
brought to know you're nothing, and confess you're nothing, and
say you're nothing, and brought by this way and led forth by
this gate to enter in, then you will know an exceeding great
reward. You may say, but doesn't Christ
tell us in Luke in a similar passage repeating these words
that we should strive to enter in at this gate. Doesn't he say
that we should work at it? We should use our effort at it?
Yes, he does say there, strive to enter in. But he says, because
you will not get in by your striving. You will not. Just as he says
to the scribes and pharisees, search the scriptures. For in
them ye think ye have eternal life, but ye will not come unto
me. He tells them go and do it, go
and find, go and read them, but you won't come unto me. And there
you go, reading and reading and reading and never coming unto
me. So go and strive to enter in at this gate. Go on, go with
your works. Go with your own strength. See
if you can get through. You'll never get through a gate
that narrow. Whilst you have all this worldliness,
all this religion, all this self-righteousness upon your back, you must be stripped. And only I can bring you through.
Go and work at it. See where you get. You'll get
nowhere. You'll get to that day in the
end where you'll stand before me with your Lord, Lord. And
I will say unto you, depart from me. Never knew you. Oh, you speak much, you study
much, you read the scriptures, but you won't come unto me. All your reading, your religion,
your intellect, you won't come unto me. You worship the scriptures,
you worship the letter, you worship the law, you paint the sepulchres
of the prophets. of the reformers, of the Puritans,
but you won't come unto me. I never knew you. But Christ broken, bruised, despised,
rejected, thin, wasting away, hungry, thirsty, little ones,
these enter in, for only these can. Christ warns of the false
prophets who come in sheep's clothing when they're ravening
wolves, warns that evil trees cannot bring forth good fruit.
He warns of those prophets, warns of those prophets who will take
these very words in this Sermon on the Mount and turn them into
works for you to follow. When Christ is merely showing
us that without His grace and His righteousness we will never
entering. Christ is speaking to disciples,
those who are disciplined, those who walk. You may say well isn't
that a working? It is, but a disciple of Christ
Is he whom God has taught? Is he whom God has stripped and
brought to be nothing? Is he unto whom Christ comes
in the gospel as he came to his disciples, as recorded in Matthew
and the other gospel, and comes to them where they are and says,
follow me. And they give up all and follow
him. They give up their works, their
glory, their own ability. their own righteousness, their
religion. They say they're nothing, and
they turn, and they follow Christ. And their discipline is to give
up all, and to say they're nothing, and to receive His grace, and
to follow Him. All is by grace. Disciples are
those under whom Christ has come, because he knows them, and he
seeks them, and he finds them, and he comes in his gospel, wherever
they may be, perhaps here this day, and he comes in his gospel
to wherever they are, in whatever state they are, and says unto
them, by name, follow me, follow me. And those words of grace,
That voice of the Son of God speaking unto the dead who lie
in graves is powerful enough to raise up the dead, to lead
them forth, and to cause the most hardened of sinners to turn
from this world, to turn from their religion, to turn from
the darkness unto the light, and to enter in at a straight
gate which leads unto everlasting life. That word, that gospel,
that voice brings grace. That voice is a voice which the
people said when they'd heard it declaring this gospel unto
them. They were astonished at his doctrine. They said, never man spake like
this man, for he taught them as one having authority and not
as the scribes. Have you heard him? Have you
heard him calling unto you? Has he said unto you, follow
me? If he has, get up and follow
him. Or will he say unto you on that
last day, when you waltz into his presence, full of self, saying,
Lord, Lord, I have done these wonderful works in thy name.
Will his parting words unto you I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.