BEWARE OF SELF DECEPTION
Matthew 7:21-23

Have you ever read a passage of Scripture that greatly troubled your heart?  Perhaps it was a passage that exposed a secret sin of your life and you came under conviction as David did with Nathan’s story.  Perhaps it was an attitude that needed to be changed as was Jonah’s concerning Ninevah.  I think we would all admit that there are portions of God’s Word that do trouble us.

The passage that troubles my heart is this text from Matthew 7.  Listen carefully to verses 21-23:  Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?”  Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!”  This passage is troublesome because it exposes the charlatans who use the ministry of the Word of God to accomplish their own purposes.  They are the Elmer Gantrys of our time.  It troubles my heart that one could use a calling that is so sacred and special to deceive others for the purposes of accomplishing his own intent. 

Is it possible for a person to profess Christ and even to labor for Him and yet be lost for eternity?  Jesus assures us in this text that it is not only a possibility but it is a reality.

These people were enthusiastic.  They cried out, “Lord, Lord.”  There was a spirit of excitement about them.  There was a spirit of dedication with them.  These people openly professed faith in Christ; they were not secret about it at all.  They were also very fervent religious workers, and we are not talking about ordinary tasks within the Church.  These people performed miracles; they cast out demons; they foretold the future.  I mean these people really seemed to have the Spirit of God upon them.  So, why did God condemn them?

First, these people were never intimate with Jesus.  He never knew them.  They knew Jesus as a person, but they never knew His heart and mind.  Friends, it is so easy to know the facts about Jesus.  We know of His incarnation and virgin birth.  We know about His exciting life, of the miracles He performed and the parables He told.  We know of His death, burial, and even of His resurrection.  Friends, you can know all these things and still never know Christ personally.  On my library shelves in my home, I have over a dozen volumes on the life of Abraham Lincoln.  I know a lot about this 16th President.  But I have never known him personally.  Friends, it is not knowing about Jesus that leads to salvation; it is knowing Jesus personally, being intimate with Him, knowing His heart and mind.  How tragic are those words, “I never knew you.”

Father, These are among the most sobering of the words of Jesus.  They give us cause to examine our own hearts to see if we are just pretending in our relationship with Jesus Christ, or if we are truly known by Him.  Oh to be known by Him.  In Christ’s name we pray.  Amen. 

 

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