Matthew 7, and I want to read,
beginning here in verse 21. Not every one 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 preached in
your name? Have we not cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I confess
unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that were
connected to me. 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 thy
house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And
every one 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, the flood
came, and the winds 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 sails that people were astonished at his
doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and
not as the scribes. You and I have, the last few
studies, come to the close of this sermon now. And I think
probably of all the passages that I have studied and attempted
to preach to you on, probably these have been the most heart-searching
passages from chapter 5 through chapter 7 that I've ever studied
on and tried to preach on. There's things here that would
disgrip our hearts. I know I've talked to some of
you about it, and you had the same feelings that I have. That
seemed like, as the Lord spoke here in this sermon, some of
the things that He confronted us with, it was searching, very
searching to us. Get right down to where we live
in the message that He preached. And I think as we remember this
message and what we've studied, here in verse 28 and verse 29,
there's no wonder that this comment was made when the Lord had finished
this message, that they were astonished. They were amazed
at his doctrine, at his teaching. And I want us to look mainly
at these three verses again this evening. Here in verse 21, there's
no wonder that they were astonished, and there's no wonder that he
taught them with authority. Look who he was. He addresses
himself this way in other places. And here in verse 21, other men
had addressed him. Not everyone but said unto me,
Lord, Lord. They say unto me, Lord, Lord. And they said well, because that's
who he is. Our Lord wasn't angry with them
because they misidentified Him by His title. He is the Lord. He's the Lord of glory, the Apostle
Paul said to them. David said, He's my Lord. He's
my Lord. The Lord said unto my Lord, my
Lord. Lord, Lord. What the Lord was
rebuking these four here is they didn't believe that themselves.
They said, Lord, Lord. But they did not do the things
that He commanded them. But He is the Lord. And He said
here in the last portion of verse 21 that He's the Son of God.
My Father, He said, is in heaven. He's the eternal Son of God. He's the Son of God, brothers
and sisters, in a way that you and I are not. We're born of
God. Until we're born of God, we cannot
be sons of God. But Jesus Christ is the eternal
Son of God. He's always been the Son of God. In a sense, the Lord Jesus Christ,
in His incarnation, He's so much like us. When He was born of
a virgin, He took our likeness, bone of our bone, and flesh of
our flesh. And He'll never be separated
from us again. You and I cannot reassign our
humanity. It's impossible. Neither can
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is humanity. He's born of
a virgin. He's like us now in heaven. He's
glorified, but He's still a man. The man of Christ Jesus. So in
that sense, he was born of a virgin, he was subject to our natural
infirmities, he cried, he hungered, his hunger could be satisfied
by eating, he thirsted, his thirst was quenched by drinking, he
grew weary and rested, he was tempted like we are in all things,
he was so much like us. But yet we find out here in this
passage that He is eternally different than we are. He's the
Lord. He's the Son of God. The eternal
Son of God. And He's the Son of God here
as He is, one old-timer said, one with God. He's one with God. He is with God because He is
the Son of God, and yet He is God. That's amazing, isn't it?
In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, it was
alongside of God, there with Him, and yet the Word was God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
There's no wonder He spake with authority, isn't there? His doctrine. Therefore, this Sermon on the
Mount doesn't at all surprise us when we remember who he was
that was preaching it. There's no wonder he reveals
our innermost thoughts. What were we thinking? There's no wonder he tells us
in this message that you and I have been reading that it's
not enough to do some religious act It's not enough to pray. It's not enough to do good works.
It's not enough to fast. He looks upon the heart. It's
the attitude of the heart. We do it in the secret presence
of God. And we remember who He is and
that He knows our hearts because He's the Lord. He's the Son of
the Living God. They were astonished at His doctrine. He's no scribe. Jesus Christ
was no scribe. No mere scribe. No mere prophet.
No mere king. He's eternally different. He's
eternally different. In verse 21, in the light of
that, and I think we can see this here so plainly, that He's
not flattered. He's not impressed by what man
says of him, or how man addresses him. You would think surely he
would be impressed by men who called him Lord, Lord. But he wasn't. He's only impressed
by those who call him that in truth. He's only impressed by
those who believe him. He's honored by those who believe
him. and those who take him at his word, and those who love
him and worship him and follow him. He's impressed by that. He marvels at faith. But he's not impressed when men
try to impress him and flatter him with their lips. Peter even
told us that the Lord had called us out of darkness into his marvelous
light that we may show forth His praises. He rejoices when we boast of
Him, when we brag on Him. He's worthy, and He likes to
hear that. When we tell of His mighty acts
and His wondrous works, He loves that. He loves to hear
His people talk about His greatness and who He is. But you know he
rejects utterly the flattery of men's words when their hearts is not in it.
He's not impressed. Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord. Look over here with me in chapter
15 of this same book, Matthew chapter 15. Look here in verse 7. Look here
at what he says about some of these people. And you know, I guess if you're
the Lord, if you're the Lord of glory, you don't have to accept anything
but what you want to accept. And He accepts truth. He accepts
faith and love and honesty and sincerity. Heart worship, spiritual
worship is what he accepts. Look in verse 8 of chapter 15
of Matthew. Here's what the Lord Jesus said
to these Pharisees. This people draw nigh unto me
with their mouth, and they honor me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." They worship him, and
he rejects it. But we call him Lord, Lord, he
rejects it. He rejects it. We can't flatter
him. It turns out if you're not speaking
to him from your heart, he's not impressed, and he's not listening.
He's the Lord. He doesn't have to be flattered. You remember when Nicodemus came
to the Lord Jesus by night. One of the first things he started
to do with our Lord is attempt to flatter Him. You remember
that? Remember the account of that?
Well, just before that, in John chapter 2, the scripture was
telling us about those who believed on Christ when they saw the miracle.
But he didn't commend himself until. They knew if they professed
Him, they'd be put out of synagogue, so He didn't commit Himself unto
them. He knew what was in man. The Scripture said He knew what
was in man, and He didn't need any man to testify to Him, because
He knows what's in man. He wasn't impressed when they
said, Lord, Lord, we believe you, when they didn't really
believe Him. But here comes Nicodemus in the very next chapter. And
he said, we know, we know that you're a teacher sent from God.
You're a great man. Nobody can do these miracles
that you do. God's not with you. You're a good man. You're a great
man. And he started to brag on him. And the Lord stopped him. And he said, listen, Nicodemus,
you have no idea who I am. And until you are born again
from above, you cannot know me, you cannot see, you cannot understand
the things of God, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
He tried to impress the Son of God with his flattery, but you
can't do it. He looks on your heart. The Lord
Jesus looks on your heart. I have heard people pray. I've
heard people pray. Sometimes, I don't think Clarence
would fear for me to tell this because he told me. Clarence
tells me often. I keep praying to heaven. Don't you tell me that? I keep
praying to heaven. Aren't you glad God doesn't hear the words?
We get up here before people and we just stammer along. And
people can't quite understand sometimes what we're saying when
we're praying to the Lord. Our thoughts are off, but He
sees the heart. There's people who can't pray
hardly enough, but God sees their hearts. That's what Christ is
interested in. The heart. You really know Him as your Lord?
You love Him as your Lord? You worship Him as your Lord?
You follow Him as your Lord? That's what He's impressed with.
That's what impresses the Lord. You and I, brothers and sisters,
should be learning more and more about Him. That we just more
and more might praise Him. Describe all the glory to Him.
From our hearts. From our hearts. There's something else here I
want you to see too. Turn back over here in our text
again. You'll notice what he said to
them here in this verse 22. When they said unto him, Lord,
Lord, they addressed him as that way, but he addressed them in
verse 23 as workers of iniquity. So see, he wasn't impressed,
was he? He wasn't impressed. They called him Lord, Lord. Lord,
Lord. And he calls them workers of
iniquity. This can't impress the Lord in glory, except you
do it in truth and in faith and love. Let's look at something
else now here in this passage. Look in verse 22. Many will say
to me in that day. This is amazing. This is amazing. People were astonished at his
doctrine, and here's why. Look at what he said. He's telling
them here that he's the judge of the whole world. Many will
say to me in that day. What day is that? That's a day
of judgment. You mean he's going to be there?
Here stood Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary. They knew who
his mother was. They knew where he was from.
And here he stands preaching this message to them, and he
makes this amazing statement about the Day of Judgment. And
he says, many will say to me in that day. What's he telling
them? He's the judge of this world. Before Him, every man and woman
and boy and girl is someday going to come before His throne, His
presence, and do business with Him, Jesus of Nazareth. That's
an amazing statement. That's an amazing claim for a
man to stand before a group of other people and say, I'm the
judge of this world. That's a claim he made for himself.
Do you remember when Abraham said, the judge? When Abraham
was talking to the Lord, and he said, Lord shall not the judge
of all the earth do right? You know who he's talking about?
You know who he's talking to? Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of
God. And here He is. He said, before
me, all nations are going to be gathered, and they'll say
to me, they'll do business with me. It's not just a matter of
if, it's just a matter of when. All of us, all of us are coming
to. this Lord, the Son of God, and
stand before Him, all nations. Look over here, William, at another
passage in the Old Testament. You see, you know, in Isaiah
chapter 45, You find these Old Testament passages, and sometimes,
maybe, you never know quite who it was talking about, if we didn't
have the New Testament to compare it to. But we turn over here
to the Old Testament, and we find Jesus, all through the Old
Testament. And we find Him so exalted. Look
what He said in Isaiah chapter 45. Look here in verse 21. You see who's talking here. Tell
ye, and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together.
Who hath declared this from ancient times? Who hath told it from
that time? Have not I the Lord? And there
is no God else beside me, just one God, a just God and a Savior? There is none beside me. Look
unto me, and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth, for
I am God, and there is none else. And look at this, I have sworn
by myself, the word is called out of my mouth in righteousness,
and shall never return void, shall never return. That unto
me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear. Who
is that? That same one we have been talking
about this evening. They're going to say to me in that day. And
Paul said that every man shall bow the knee and confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. And here he is talking in the
first person. And here's what he says in verse
24. Sure shall one say, And the Lord
hath my righteousness and strength, even to him shall men come. Some of us are coming now, aren't
we? I've done time, haven't some of you? I've come to Him. I've
come a guilty, lost, empty sinner. I've come to Him, the Savior,
to save me. I did just what He told me to
do here in this world, looking to me and be saved. And I looked
to Him. I looked to Him, and He saved
me. I've come. Some of you have come. But everybody's
coming. He said, Bruce, what about his
enemies? He's got some powerful enemies. They're coming too.
Ain't that what he said? Look at verse 24. Even to him
shall come, and all that are incensed against him. They hate
him, but they're coming too. They'll be ashamed when they
stand before him, but they're coming. And in the Lord, in the
Lord Jesus Christ, shall all the sea of Israel be justified,
and shall glory. Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I'm
the judge of all the earth. You know, he talks often about
this place and other places in the gospel. And every time he
talks about this day and this judgment, it's always to him
that men are going to stand before him. Let me just remind you of
two or three places right quick. In Matthew chapter 22, remember
the parable of the wedding? And when all the guests were
gathered together, and the Lord, the King, etc., the King came
in and saw a man down there that didn't have on a wedding garment.
And the King confronted that man and said, what are you doing
in here without a wedding garment? And the man stood speechless.
And this same Lord dealt with him, take him in, cast him out. And in Matthew chapter 25, before
him were gathered all nations. All nations were gathered before
this man, Jesus Christ, and they had to do business with Him.
He separated them one from another as a sheep does her goat. Remember
that? And in Luke chapter 13, he says
this, "...strive to enter in at the straight gate, for many
will seek to enter in and shall not be able, when once the master
of the house..." He tells us about the Father's house. And
now he says, I'm the master of that house. And when I've risen
up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock,
and say, Lord, let us in, he'll refuse you entrance. See what
it is? Every place when he talks about that day, it's men doing
business with him. With him. That's what he says
here. Many will say to me in that day, Look back over here in our text
again, something else we see here in this passage. Look here
in verse 23. Look at these three things that
you read in this passage. Look in chapter 7 of Matthew,
verse 23. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I saw three things as I looked
at this, and one of the things I saw that was so competent was
what the Lord didn't say. It's what He didn't say. When
he said here, apart from me, I never knew you, it's so confident
to know he didn't say, I knew you one time and forgot you. Ain't that confident? I don't
know of another passage of scripture that teaches the security of
God's saints any more than this does. Those who say one of the
Lord's little children, a true believer, can fall away and be
lost, Well, what's the Lord going to say to them during the judgment?
He knew them one time for sure. But He doesn't say that does
He? No. He didn't say, I thought I knew
you, but I really didn't. There was a fellow over here
across the street, most of you remember him, Charlie. Remember
old Charlie? Used to live across the street over here. He'd come
over here and help someone in the little room. I talked with
old Charlie a lot. I liked him. Tattoos and all. I liked Charlie. One day I got
to missing him. Where is he? They said he killed
a man. Still in jail. Still in jail. I don't know if he did it or
not. But obviously I didn't know him like I thought I did. But the Lord will never say to
one of his children, I thought I knew you. But I really didn't. And he'll never say, I knew you
one time, perhaps, but I forgot you. You just, you know, you're
out of my mind. I forgot you. I've lost track
of you. He'll never say that. He'll never say that. Ben Jones out of the hospital.
Well, I was out there with myself one time. I never will forget
this. A friend of mine died. Been dead for quite some time,
I thought. And I put him out of my mind.
You know, I forgot about old Claude. You know, bless his heart,
he's gone, worked with him for years, and he died. So I just
put him out of my mind. I was walking down the hall there
in the hospital, rounded the corner, and he was walking down
the hall this way, we rounded the corner, and come right eye
to eyeball. And I tell you what, I went numb for a minute. And
I said, Claude, I thought you was dead. He said, I look like
I'm dead. But he said, I'm not dead. And
you know something, I'd forgotten him. I'd put him out of my mind. But the Lord Jesus Christ never
does that with his children. I never, I never knew him. Never knew him. The children
of Israel was always saying, the Lord has forgotten me. As
one of the complaints, the Lord has forgotten me. And the Lord
confronted him about this one day. He said, I have a crow to
pick with you. You're accusing me of something
I never do. He said, can a mother forsake
her suckling child? That she would not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Ain't that a horrible thought? But he said, she might. But he
said, I'll never, never, never forget you. And then he made
this wonderful statement. He said, I'm graving you right
there. I put you right there. You know
what happened right there, don't you? That's where those nails
went through. Right there. I'm graving you
on the palms, the tender part of the hand. I'm graving you
there on there. Your walls are continually before
me. I can't forget you. I love you. I shed my heart's blood for you.
I'll never, never, never forget you. Not in this life, when trials
come, when the floods come. Not at death, when you're so
fearful about dying. Not yonder to judgment. I'll
never forget you. I'll never forget you. Ain't
that comforting? That's so comforting. But here's something else here
that's somewhat fearful. Somewhat fearful. Look at this verse again. I never knew that. That's fearful,
isn't it? Brother Bob talked to us the
other Sunday. Some of you weren't here, but
Brother Bob talked to us on John 10. about the Lord and his sheep. And he read a passage in there
that, boy, I tell you, went home to my heart. I commented to Bob
about it after the service. And Bob read where the Lord Jesus
told those Pharisees. He said, you're not of my sheep.
And boy, I thought, oh my. The most dreadful thing that
Jesus Christ could say to me was, Bruce, you're not my sheep.
You're not of mine. I tell you, if you're not His,
there's no hope. Ain't no salvation for nobody
but sheep. Do you know that? That's not
discouraging anybody from coming to Christ. That's just, you better
make sure you're one of His sheep. How can we know we're one of
His sheep? Well, His sheep hear His voice. And He said, they come to Me.
They come to Me. They follow me wherever I go. They follow me. And I give unto
them eternal life. Do you have life? You know if
you have life. You know. Dear souls, you don't
have to live in doubt of that. You know if Jesus Christ has
given you eternal life. Are you alive to God? You weren't
dead to Him. Are you alive to Him now? Are
you alive to Jesus Christ? Do you really love Him? Do you
love his word? Do you love his gospel? Do you
love his people? Do you love his ways? The more you find out about him,
the more you love him. You know if he's given you life.
You don't have to doubt that. I give unto him eternal life.
But you're not of my sheep. Oh, how dreadful that is. And
here's something that's very fearful. Look at this. Depart
from me. Depart from me. Well, I tell you, that's, you know, to hold a man's destiny
in his hand. What kind of man is this? What
kind of man is Jesus of Nazareth that holds men's destinies in
his hand? Depart from me? Where? I tell
you, sometimes it seems like the Lord Jesus, to me, is almost
two people. We see Him here in the Gospels,
and He describes Himself as being meek and lowly in His heart. We read of Him weeping over lost
people. He wept over Jerusalem. He wept
there at Lazarus' tomb. Paul talked about the gentleness
of Christ. And then sometimes you see Him,
and to hear what He says makes you afraid of Him. The disciples
one time was following the Lord, and they were astonished. They
had a question to ask Him. They were afraid to ask Him.
To a contrary, this evening, Moses, Moses was afraid of the
Lord because of his anger, his hot displeasure. Jesus, Christ,
afraid of Him? Paul talked about the terror
of the Lord, didn't he? The terror of the Lord. I tell
you, brothers and sisters, I guess, I guess he reveals himself like
this. to let us know that we better
not presume when we come into His presence. Here's not only
a meek and lowly Savior, but He's a sovereign Lord. He's a
King. He's the Governor of the nations.
He's the Ruler of this universe. And He holds the destiny of every
man in His hand. And the best thing you and I
can do when we come into the presence of the King is to bow
down, and seek mercy. Lord, here I come, but I dare
not, I dare not be presumptuous and demand of you anything. You're
the Lord. I'm just a creature. Be merciful
to me. Oh, let me see your meekness.
Let me see your gentleness. Let me see your love. Don't show
me your hard side. I'll despair. I'll despair. And conclusion, notice this about
him. He sets forth his word here as
the criteria for whether man is going to be saved and justified
and endear and overcome. What kind of man is that? You'll
laugh at me if I come up here this evening and I told you,
if you'll do what I tell you to do and you'll obey what I
tell you to do, You'll be alright in the end. You'll laugh at me,
wouldn't you? You'll say, Bruce, you're just
a man like the rest of us. The Pope's not infallible. The
Pope's a sinner. He's never written a thing infallible
in all his life. How can men be saved? Who's going
to be saved? Who's going to overcome the world
and the flesh and the devil? Who's going to be saved at last?
Those who believe, those who hear, and those who keep the
words of Jesus Christ the man. Now that's amazing. That's amazing. He's basically saying, you know
who's going to heaven? To the Father's house? Those
who hear my word and keep it. And tell what he said in our
text. I'll show you, he said, what the man's like that hears
my word, and he keeps it. He's like a man that digs deep,
and he lays his foundation on a rock, and the rains come down,
and the floods, and the winds blow, and it beats upon that
house, and it stands. Why does it stand? It's founded
upon a rock. What is the rock? It's his word.
It's the written word of the living Savior. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." What
an amazing statement. My word. My word. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. What an amazing statement. Will you go away? He said to
Peter. And Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. The words. Boy, no wonder they were astounded,
isn't it? He's the Lord. He's the Son of
God. He's God in our likeness. No
wonder he speaks with authority. Oh, Lord, let me hear your voice.
I long to hear it, don't you? Life-giving, life-strengthening,
life-comforting. Lord, let me hear your voice. Let's pray. Our Father, merciful, merciful
Father, tender, kind, forgiving great
sins and blasphemies and iniquities. Father so patient, so long-suffering. We live so long apart from you, so far off from
you. Could not return, didn't know
how to return. We were in darkness and despair
and fear and torment. Thank you, Father of Heaven,
for sending your Holy Spirit to draw us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thank you for opening our understanding
to know Him Thank you for removing the fear
and replacing it with the spirit of adoption. Thank you for removing
the torment and replacing it with the love of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You're God alone and you're so
good. You're so gracious and kind.
You're right in all your dealings with us, in all your dealings
with man, you're right. You're a glorious Lord. You are
our Creator. You are our Judge. You have determined
our destiny. Lord, all we can do is cast our
souls upon You utterly in faith. We believe You. Jesus Christ
is our Lord and our Savior. We take Him as our Lord and our
Savior. We're yours, Lord. We're yours. Do with us as you will. We trust
you. Though you slay us, we trust
you. Bless this bread and this wine as we partake of it. Let
us remember truly the great price that was paid that we might be
redeemed. In Christ's name, amen.