I want to read to you the ending
of a great sermon, a great message our Master preached when he was
upon this earth, the Sermon on the Mount. And this is the ending
of it. I want to begin in verse 21.
Matthew chapter 7 and 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 prophesied,
preached in thy name? In thy name have we not cast
out devils? 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, the rock. The rains descended,
the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house,
and it fell not. where it was founded upon the
rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which build his
house upon the sand. And the rains descended, and
the floods 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 sayings, The
people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them
as one having authority and not as the scribes. In verse 21,
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the
kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven. Here the
Lord refers to His kingdom as the kingdom of heaven. Other
places it's referred to us as the kingdom of God, or the kingdom
of Christ, or the kingdom of God's dear Son. That's the same
kingdom. The same kingdom. Not the one
kingdom. That's His, the one that He set
up. Sometimes it's said of this kingdom that it is inside every
believer. It's in you. The Lord Jesus says,
The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither shall
they say, Lo, here, or, Lo, it is over there. For, behold, the
kingdom of God is within you." It is in you. Sometimes it is
said that believers are in this kingdom. It is in them, and they
are in it. He hath delivered you from the
power of darkness and translated you into the kingdom of His dear
Son." You're in that kingdom. It's a present kingdom because
it's in us and we're in it. And it's a spiritual kingdom.
You can't see it. You can't lay hold upon it. You
can't feel it. It's spiritual. The kingdom of
God is not meat and drink, Paul said, but it's righteousness,
it's peace, it's joy in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. The kingdom
of God is yet to come. Now, this is a mystery, isn't
it? If it's here now, how is it yet to come? That's the mystery
of the kingdom of God. It's yet to be revealed. It's
yet to be seen. It's yet to be exposed. Thy kingdom
come. Ain't that what the Lord told
us to pray? It's real now, but it's not visible. Someday, it will be real as well
as visible. Listen to what Paul said. I charge
you, Timothy, that before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, you
preach the Word. Preach the Word. Before Christ
I charge you. For He shall judge the quick
and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom." It's going
to appear. It's a glorious kingdom. And
when the Son of Man shall appear, He's going to sit upon the throne
of His glory. And He's going to be in the glory
of His Father, the glory of His angels. And that's when the kingdom,
the kingdom of God is going to be seen. It's going to be revealed. And note this. This is very important. Flesh and blood cannot enter
unto this kingdom. Flesh and blood. You can't get
into this kingdom here. You've got to be born into it.
You've got to be born into it. Except a man be born again, he
cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. How do we get into this world?
How do we get into this realm of nature? We have to be born,
don't we? Ain't but one way to get into
this world, you've got to be born into it. One way to get
into this kingdom, you have to be born into it. You have to
be born of the Spirit. You have to be born of the Word. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of the incorruptible vine. The Word of God. And there's one way to get into
that kingdom that's yet to come. One way to get into that kingdom.
One way to get into it here, and there'll be one way to get
into it yonder. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of heaven. Neither does corruption inherit
incorruption. To get into that kingdom, when
it comes, physically, there has to be a change take place. This
corruptible must put on incorruption. This mortal must put on immortality. Then, when that comes to pass,
you're in that kingdom. You're in that kingdom, that
glorious kingdom that is to come. We enter this kingdom here by
God's grace, by His power through a new birth. The only way to
get into it, and the only way to get into that kingdom when
it appears and when it is revealed, physically, is to be changed. To be raised from the dead, for
that corruptible to put on incorruption, for this mortal to be changed
and put on immortality, and who can perform such a task? Jesus
Christ the Lord. He shall change your vile body
and fashion it like unto His glorious body with a working
whereby He is able." How much did you have to do with your
first birth? Not too much, did you? Not too much. That's an
understatement. And you know something, brothers
and sisters? When you get into that kingdom that's to come,
you ain't going to have anything to do with that either. It's
going to be a day something like this, when the Son of God descends
from heaven with a shout, and the dead are going to be laying
there passive, and He's going to speak, and they're going to
be raised. You and I are going to be here
going on about our business. He's going to speak, and His
people are going to be changed, and He's going to fashion their
bodies like unto His glorious body. And you know something?
camera company tells us that's going to take place in one hundredth
of a second. Ain't that amazing? In the twinkling
of an eye. In a moment. And listen. Listen to this. Praying,
praying will not get anybody into this kingdom here. Though
everybody that's in this kingdom Praise God. Professing Jesus
Christ to be Lord will not get you into this kingdom here, though
everybody that is in this kingdom professes Him to be Lord. They
own His Lordship, they bow to His Lordship, and they love His
Lordship. But it is not what we say and
it is not what we pray that gets us into this kingdom. How do
we know that? addressed here, doesn't it? Not
everybody that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter unto
the kingdom of heaven. It's not what we say that gets
us into this kingdom. It's not repeating a sinner's
prayer that gets us into this kingdom. There's but one way
to get into it, and that's to be born into it by the Spirit
of God. Except a man be born again, he
cannot, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And I tell you, look
here in verse 22 of my text, we don't get into this kingdom
by works. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Cast out devils
in your name? Done many wonderful works in
your name? Did that get them in the kingdom?
This is not a kingdom of works, is it? This is not a kingdom
of human merit. This is not a kingdom of free
will and mortals earning their way into this kingdom. This is
a kingdom of grace. But you say, Bruce, what about
many works? A lot of works. What about wonderful works? Not
of works. By grace are you saved through
faith. Not of yourselves. It's the gift
of God. Not of works. Not of works. Not many works. Not wonderful
works. Not any work. It's not our work
that gets us into this kingdom. Lest any man should boast. Well, who's in this kingdom then?
If we don't get into it by our prayers, we don't get into it
by our professions, by our works, who is in this kingdom? I want to know that because I'm
concerned about this kingdom. Well, he tells us here in verse
21, the last portion of it. Look at there again. Not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But look at this. But he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Everybody that
does the will of the Father is in this kingdom. Well, that raises
a question, doesn't it? What is it to do the will of
the Father? Well, look over in John. We don't have to speculate.
Look in John. Hold Matthew chapter 7. And look
over to your right in the book of John, chapter 6, and look
here in verse 40. Look in verse 40. Here he tells
us what this is. Aren't you glad the Bible doesn't
leave us in doubt of these things? I mean, such an important subject
as this, facing eternity, facing the judgment, And the Lord said
praying won't get you into this kingdom, making a profession,
works won't get you into it, but doing the will of the Father.
That's who's in this kingdom. Well, He tells us here then what
that is in verse 40 of John chapter 6. Look at this. And this is
the will of Him that sent me. Well, there it is, isn't it?
He that doeth the will of my Father. And here it is. This
is the will of Him that sent me," look at this, "...that every
one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Now look at
this. This is the will of the Father,
that everyone which seeth the Son. Now, does anybody in here
this morning see the Son? The Bible teaches us that We
don't see Him. He's in heaven. Then how does
He say everyone that sees the Son? Well, we see Him through
spiritual eyes, don't we? We see Him through the understanding
of our minds, through the Word, through the Gospel. The Holy
Spirit reveals Him to our understanding. And we see Him as He's revealed
in the Bible. Do you ever see Him in the Bible?
The Holy Spirit ever opens your eyes and you see, oh, there He
is. There's my Savior. Oh, when He comes forth from
Mary's womb, the Son of God, the eternal Son of God in our
humanity, the God-Man. And you see Him, don't you? You
see Him as He goes about doing good, healing all that was oppressed
of the devil, pleasing His Father. doing His Father's will, you
see Him on the cross, don't you? Oh, you see Him there. What do
you see Him doing there? Atoning for your sin? You see
Him hanging in His blood? You see Him? You see Him through
the eye of your understanding. You see Him put in the tomb?
You see Him raised. You see Him ascended there at
the Father's right hand. And what's He doing there? He's
making intercessions for you. He's giving you access into your
Father's presence. And you say, there He is. I see
Him. I see Him. Do you see Him? Have you been able to see Him?
Oh, you see yourself, don't you? Yeah, you see yourself. Oh, you
see yourself so helpless. You see yourself so insufficient. You see yourself so lost, so
vile. But what do you see in Him? In
Him you see yourself accepted, don't you? In Him you see yourself
complete. In Him you see your righteousness.
In Him you see your life and your hope and all your salvation. You see it in Him. Don't you
see Him? Has the Holy Spirit ever opened
your understanding that you see the Son of God? Flesh and blood
has not revealed this to me, but my Father which is in heaven.
Do you see Him? And look what else he said, not
only see Him, everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him. Do you believe Him? I mean, you
see Him in the Bible, and boy, your confidence is in Him. You
trust Him with all your heart. You lay yourself aside and all
your ambitions and your plans and your wishes and your own
righteousness, and you believe in the Son of God with all your
heart. Do you believe Him? Well, you
know something. You are in this kingdom. You're
in this kingdom. And this is the way you can know.
You're doing the will of your Father. And everybody that does
the will of the Father is in this kingdom. And you'll see
Him here. You see Him now. You believe
on Him now. And you know something, what
He says here in the last part of that verse 40? I'll raise
you up at the last day. You're going to see Him there,
too. You're going to be in that kingdom there, to your happy
surprise. You will be in it here. You'll
be in it yonder. That seems too good to be true,
doesn't it? Doesn't that seem too good to be true? I mean,
seeing the Son of God as He's revealed, believing on Him as
He's revealed in His Word, that means I'm in this kingdom. I'm
in it now, and when it's revealed yonder, I'll be in it then. That
seems almost too good to be true, doesn't it? That's why they call
it the gospel. That's good news. That's good
news. One said, Bruce, I do believe
Him. I believe God's given me an eye to see Him. I believe
He has. Oh, there was a time when I didn't
see Him. I was so ignorant of Him. I just professed Him because
they told me to. But I didn't see Him. I didn't
truly believe on Him in my heart. I didn't know Him. But I see
Him now. I see Him in His Word. I believe
Him. What should I do now? Just keep on looking. Just keep
on looking. Looking unto Jesus. If you look
to Him, just keep on looking. Keep on believing Him. And someday you'll be with Him.
When that Kingdom comes, if you're in it here, then you'll be in
it yonder. He that doeth the will of my
Look back over at my text again. Boy, here's a solemn word here
in verse 22. Matthew chapter 7. And look at
this. Man, this is something that's
solemn. Verse 22. Many will say to me in that day. Oh my, that's solemn, ain't it?
Just think about this for a minute. In that day. God has appointed
a day. in which he'll judge this world
in righteousness. That day. The scripture calls
it the last day. What a solemn, solemn day that
will be. The last day. At the last day. The day that God has appointed.
But it's the last day. It's the last day in the history
of this world. Now, what does that mean? That
means everything's going to stop. That means all that we're doing
will cease to do it. The nature that we see over us,
the sun and the moon and the stars and all the planets that's
in their courses, that'll all cease. It's the last day. Time as we
know it will be no more. In that day, the seas will be
dried up. They'll give up the dead that's
in them. The graves will open and give up the dead. Every man
and woman and boy and girl that's ever lived in the history of
this world will be brought up to heaven in the presence and
at the feet and before the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ in that
day. Well, that's solemn. That's solemn. in that day. Oh, what a day! What a day! Do you believe it? Do you believe there's coming
a day that God is already upon you? I tell you, that fills me
with hope. But you know something else?
I tell you, there's a trembling in my soul. There's a trembling
in my soul. I stand in awe of that day. And when the skies roll back
as a scroll, like we sang this morning, and heaven and earth
flees from the face of Him that sits on the throne, that's a
solemn day, isn't it? But there's coming a day, the
day that God has appointed. And what did He say He'd do in
that day? He's appointed a day in which He will judge the world
in righteousness by that man whom He's ordained. Boy, things
are upside down now, aren't they? Everywhere we look, there's abuse. Abuse of power. Abuse of liberties. Things that's being done that's
not right. Defrauding, cheating, lying,
killing, stealing. You know, there's coming a day
when everything has to be set right. The earth is the Lord's. Everybody belongs to Him. We
are His creatures and as such we are accountable to Him and
therefore He must set everything right. And that is what this
day is about. That is what it is about. The
judgment. And Romans chapter 2 verse 16
says this, In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men. Oh my goodness. Man. That's what makes me stand up
and take awe. He's going to judge the secrets
of man. I just saw where they found that
abortion doctor guilty over in Ohio. Ohio, wasn't it Ohio? Where he killed all those babies,
brought them out of the mother's womb and snipped their spines. Ain't that repulsive? Going on
in the back room, you see. And they think they have this
stuff hid. Oh, if you and I knew what was
going on in those places, what would we do? But you know something
God knows. God knows what's going on in
those back rooms. He knows the pain and the agony
of those little infants that's being killed, that's being murdered
in the womb and out of the womb. The doctors may close their eyes. The nurse may close their eyes.
The media may not report it to us. They may not expose it. But
God knows it. I tell you, there are all kinds
of crimes being perpetrated on man and against God. But there
is coming a day when every secret will be made known. We have got
nothing hid but what is going to be exposed in that day. Oh, God, keep me. God, keep me. Because if the secret things
are going to be exposed, that means my thoughts, my motives
are going to be exposed. Oh, Lord, people can see what
I'm doing outwardly, but God sees my heart. Don't let me be
a Judas in my heart. Don't let me profess one thing
with my mouth and believe another in my heart. Lord, keep my heart. Keep my heart. Give me an honest
heart. Give me a sincere heart. Because
that's what He's going to judge in this day. Many will say to
me in that day. If you live your life, I mean
every day, in the light of that day? How would it change you?
How would it affect you? In verse 22, look at this. Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in
your name? Have we not cast out devils in
your name and in your name done many wonderful works? Boy, how contrary this argument
is. to the whole message that our
Lord had just got through preaching. He just got through preaching
about blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that
mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. You know
how the Christian life begins? It begins with brokenness, doesn't
it? It begins with emptiness. Our
insufficiency before God. Our lack of a righteousness to
stand before Him. And we must seek it in another.
And we hunger and thirst for it. It starts with brokenness
and being poor in spirit. And it continues that way. And
yet, here are these fellows. Are they poor? Are they broken? They're standing here bragging. Isn't it amazing? Here they stand
before the Son of God who has done everything, and all they
can talk about is what they've done. Isn't that amazing? The Lord told us here about hearing
His sayings and keeping them. Were they hearing His sayings?
Did they keep His sayings? Oh, Lord, I tell you what now,
just in case you've forgotten, I want to remind you how many
messages I've preached. I mean, I've got drawers and
drawers and drawers of CDs and sermon outlines, and I've left
a legacy. Just ask the world. They know
me. I'm a recognized evangelist. You know me. And I tell you,
I have Cause congregations to swoon, casting out devils. There's lions that stood before
me, waiting for me to cast out devils and heal them. I tell
you, I've not only done works, but I've done many. I've done
wonderful, marvelous works. Boy, that don't sound much like
they kept His sayings, does it? The Lord had just preached
to them. When you pray, he said, when
you pray, don't go out here on the street corner where people
can hear you and see you. Get in your closet and your Father
which sees them secretly, He'll reward you openly. When you give,
don't sound a trumpet so everybody knows what you're giving. You give, don't you let your
Left hand know what your right hand is giving. Giving secret. When you fast, don't be like
the hypocrite, disfiguring your faces so everybody will know
that you're fasting. Put oil on your face and look
cheerful, look joyful, that you'll not appear to man unto fast,
but unto God. Were they keeping these sayings?
My goodness, they were so bragging, so boastful. They hadn't dug
down deep and built it up on the rock. They were building
up their own salvation, wasn't they? I tell you, when push comes
to shove, and it has here, push comes to shove. And when it does,
you know what? Man is going to show where his
hope is then. Oh, they said, You are Lord,
Lord, and I bet they talked about grace, don't you? Oh, we believe
we're saved by grace. But when they got up there and
the Lord said, I don't know you, man, they had to run to where
their refuge really was then. And where was it? On the sand. On the sand. Are you broken? Are you so poor in spirit you
can't buy one single blessing from God? Are you horrified to
even think about it? Do you mourn for the righteousness
of another? That is provided for poor sinners
like you. When you approach unto God, do
you approach unto Him boastfully and arrogant, or do you approach
unto Him softly and meekly and lowly? That is the way the Master
said to God. Do you keep His sayings? Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, In verse
22, they gave him their profession. Lord, Lord, have we not? In verse
23, he gives them his. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. That's what he professed unto
them. I tell you, I love what he didn't say. That's very important
what he didn't say, ain't it? He didn't say this, I knew you
one time, but I don't know you anymore. He didn't say that,
did he? He didn't say, I thought I knew
you, but I really didn't know you. I knew you, but I lost track
of you. He didn't say that. If he's going
to lose track of anybody, he's going to lose track of us, ain't
he? The way we stray and prong to wonder. He didn't say this. I didn't like what I knew about
you, so I put you out of my memory. I got people like that. I don't
even want to think about it. Don't want to know you. Have
we ever said that? Don't want to know you. He didn't
say that, did he? I may have known you at one time,
but I forgot you." He didn't say that. What did He say to
them? I never knew you. Now, He never knew them at all.
Oh, yes, He knew them because He called them workers of iniquity. But He didn't know them intimately. They weren't His. They weren't
given to Him of His Father. They weren't His by new birth.
They weren't His by adoption. They didn't have His Spirit in
their hearts. They weren't in His favor. You're
not mine. I never knew you. You know one thing that scared
the children of Israel to death? They had something that they
were always afraid of. They entertained this doubt.
And I bet you somebody here this morning entertained the same
doubt. You know that He knew you at one time. He made you
to know that you're His. He had received you. But do you
ever entertain this awful thought that He's going to forget you? And sometimes during the long
valleys and the dark nights and the cold winters of your soul,
you feel like, He's forgot me. He's forgot me. I wonder, dear
Lord, when He was in that ark, month after month, if He finally
didn't say, Has the Lord forgot us? It seems like we're running
out of food. Everybody's getting impatient.
Has he forgot us? But what did the Scripture say?
The Lord remembered Noah. And if you're his, you know something? He said a mother may forget her
suckling child. She may. He's not like us, is
he? I'll never forget you. I've got
you gripping up on the palms of my hands. That's where you're
at, on the palms of my hands. I'll never forget you. Oh, what a blessing. I tell you
it's essential for us to know Him. But I tell you something
more essential for Him to know us. There may come a time you
may forget you know Him. Brother Paul Mahan went to a
nursing home to see one of his The members of his congregation
knew him for a long, long time. And the guy had that awful disease. And he forgot Paul. And Paul got down in front of
him and said, Brother, don't you remember me? Oh, I'm sorry,
brother. I don't know who you are. I don't know who you are. Paul said, Do you know the Lord?
Oh, yes. I know Him. But I tell you, there
may come a time when you don't. Your mind may be so diseased,
you don't know anybody including Him. But if He knows you, if
He knows you, that's what'll get you in up there. That's what'll
get you in up there. I know you. I know my sheep. I'll never forget them. I know. And what does he say to these?
Oh, look how dreadful this is. Depart from me. How awful. On that day, a great host of
humanity, no matter what you think about it, no matter what
I think about it, there's going to be a great host of humanity
that's going to hear the judge of all this earth say, Depart
from me. Lord, where are they going? If they depart from you, where
are they going? In His presence is fullness of
joy. What's outside of His presence
but eternal misery? In His presence is light. What
is it to depart from His presence but to go off into darkness?
In His presence is rest. What is it apart from His presence
but anguish and restlessness? Depart. Depart. Depart from my Father's house
and go make your bed in hell. Is it that serious? Yes. Depart
from me. Depart from my presence. Depart
from my kingdom. Depart from my goodness. Depart
from my favor. Depart from my people and go
weep and gnash your teeth and curse yourself for all eternity. Because you lived in disobedience
against me, and in your ignorance, and you refuse to bow, and you
hear my sayings. Depart. Depart. Oh, what a day. What a day. I tell you, everybody's coming
to Him, and He's going to determine who gets in that place and who
goes to the other place. He is going to say, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom. Or He is going to
say, Depart from me, ye cursed. But it will be Him that decides
it. Here is what the old prophet
said. Here is what the Lord said to the prophet. He is thinking
about this day. Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers. and shut thy doors about thee."
Hide yourself. Is there a place to hide? There
is a place to hide. Hide in the Son of God. Hide
in the Savior. Hide yourself, as it were, for
a little moment until the indignation be overpassed. But behold, the
Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of
this earth for their iniquity. And the earth shall disclose
its blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Oh, in that
day. In that day.