"Profession"

Well, good morning, church. Would you turn with me to Matthew chapter 7. We are looking at verses 21 through 23.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

! That's page 762 in the Pew Bible. Let me pray for us, and then I'll read.

Father, we ask for Your help and for Your presence as we come.

I come near to You in Your Word. God, bless the reading and the preaching and the hearing of what, Lord Jesus, You have said to us in this passage.

God, help us not just to be hearers of the Word, but to be doers by Your Spirit. We pray this in Your mighty name. Amen.

Amen. All right. Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23.

Matthew 7:21–23

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and do many mighty works in Your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Well, we've come almost to the end of the Sermon on the Mount.

Next week will be our last sermon on this great section of the New Testament.

And here, in this part of the sermon, as we've said, Jesus is driving everything home by way of application.

And this text here, this second to last paragraph, in this part, we have perhaps one of the most sobering passages in the whole sermon.

Sobering because it strikes at the root of what most of us naturally put our confidence in when it comes to our standing with God.

You see, the great question that hangs over this passage is this, on what basis do you hope to enter God's coming kingdom?

You see, in this passage, according to Jesus, there are three things.

There's a kingdom to enter. There's a coming kingdom to enter.

And then there are some things that won't guarantee you entry.

And then there's one thing that will.

There's a kingdom to enter.

There are two things that won't guarantee you entry.

And there's one thing that will.

So let's consider each of those points in turn.

First, Jesus says there's a kingdom to enter.

Jesus mentions this in the first verse of our text, verse 21.

And, you know, until we get this point, we don't really understand the gravity and the importance of the rest of the passage.

We won't understand why the stakes are so high in the rest of what Jesus has to say until we pause over this kind of underlying reality that Jesus talks about here,

that there is a coming kingdom to enter.

So what does Jesus mean when He talks about entering the kingdom of heaven?

Well, to really understand this, you have to see it in the context of the big storyline of the Bible.

You know, it's easy to read a phrase like entering the kingdom of heaven

and think that Jesus is simply talking about some sort of spiritual, ethereal afterlife.

But that's not what Jesus is intending.

You see, the biblical story is more robust than that.

It begins with God creating all things out of nothing and creating humans to be His image bearers in the midst of creation.

Humans, we were meant to love and to serve God and to spread His glory and His reign throughout the material order.

But through the sin of Adam and Eve, that project was seemingly thrown completely off course.

Instead of life abounding in creation, there was now death.

Instead of joy, there was now sorrow.

And instead of God's blessing, there was now God's just curse on sin.

But the rest of the biblical story is about how God intervenes to rescue both His creation and His image bearers.

You see, the hope running through the Bible is that one day God would overthrow sin and death.

In other words, the great hope of the Bible is that one day heaven, that dimension of reality where God dwells in fullness,

would one day come to earth and make all things new.

That's what the prophets of Israel all spoke of at their core.

And that was the burning hope of God's people.

It's what they longed for throughout years of exile and suffering and confusion and failure.

What they longed for was the kingdom of heaven.

So the kingdom of heaven wasn't just, on the one hand, merely some human political arrangement that we could sort of set up.

But, you know, neither was it some sort of disembodied afterlife that abandoned the material creation.

No, the kingdom of heaven was the flooding of creation with God's presence.

A presence so holy and so good that evil and suffering and sin and death would have to flee.

God the creator, the rightful king, would at last judge and save.

The kingdom of heaven would mean perfect justice and healing.

It would mean a new creation.

Now, this hope for creation, this arrival of God's reign in fullness,

this is utterly integral to the biblical story and worldview.

You can't really be a Christian in the biblical historic sense without it.

But just consider how wonderful this hope is.

The biblical hope that we've just been talking about is neither the kind of nihilism of a pure materialism, right?

Nor is it the nihilism of just sort of a pure spiritualism either.

Here's what I mean.

On the one hand, if everything is just matter, time, and chance and nothing more,

if that's all there is,

then the future is just beyond bleak, right?

At all.

Everything amounts to nothing.

Whatever meaning we create is like the sandcastle on the shore,

just erased by the waves of a passing tide.

But if there is a God,

and if this God has a future in store for His creation,

if He has not abandoned His good world that is deeply flawed through sin,

if He's not abandoned it,

but promises to release it from its bondage to decay,

and promises to place,

bring it to a place of real freedom even from death,

and if God promises that His image bearers will participate in that freedom,

being resurrected into the eternal life of this kingdom,

if that's who God is and what He has in store,

then suddenly this life is full of meaning.

But do you see how this biblical hope is different from the opposite view as well,

this sort of purely spiritual view?

You know, if God's future just sort of leaves creation behind,

if we're just souls in an afterlife,

then that ends up being pretty meaningless as well, doesn't it?

After all, what was the point of this life

if God's future is just heading towards something that just leaves it all behind?

But you see, when Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven,

He's not talking about God abandoning creation

and taking His image bearers out of it.

No, Jesus is talking about God consummating His plans for creation

and resurrecting His image bearers to take their rightful place in it,

reigning with Him forever.

Okay, so there's a coming kingdom to enter.

And to miss entry into this kingdom,

to be on the outside when this kingdom comes,

is to be separated from the fullness of life itself.

To miss this kingdom is to be left in darkness and sorrow.

It is to be left in death and judgment.

Entrance into this kingdom is entrance into the greatest joy

and the most thrilling adventure.

Entering this kingdom ought to be our deepest desire

and our burning hope.

For when that kingdom comes,

when that reign begins,

the reign of heaven on earth,

that will be the freedom we've longed for.

Freedom not just from sin and death,

but freedom for all that we've been created for.

To bear God's image in glory

and to participate creatively in His reign of unending joy.

So there's a coming kingdom to enter.

But tragically, according to Jesus,

not everyone will enter it.

There are some who will be excluded from this kingdom.

Jesus says so in verse 21.

Not everyone, He says,

will enter the kingdom of heaven.

And that brings us to our second point.

According to Jesus, there are two things

that will not guarantee you entry.

And if we're honest, they are quite surprising.

And they are not what we expect.

Consider the first one in verse 21.

Jesus says,

Not everyone who says to me,

Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now, what does that mean?

Well, to boil it down,

it means that you can have

the most orthodox beliefs about Jesus.

You can say that Jesus of Nazareth

is Lord of heaven and earth.

But that is no guarantee

that you are a member of God's kingdom.

Even the most orthodox profession,

the most biblical head knowledge

will not guarantee you entrance into the kingdom.

You can believe all the right things.

You can believe intellectually

that Jesus was the Son of God.

You can believe with your head

that He lived and died and rose again.

You can profess all these things to be true.

You can even believe these things

with a lot of vigor and energy.

Notice in verse 21, they say,

Lord, Lord.

The repetition is a sign of enthusiasm,

of passion, right?

You can love theology.

You can devour apologetics.

You can debate and argue

the truth of these things.

You can be praised for your acumen

and skill in teaching the Bible

and articulating the faith.

Yes, your head can be full

of all the right ideas,

but that won't guarantee you entry.

The rightful judge could still say,

depart.

I never knew you.

Now,

let's not draw the wrong conclusion here.

Some have read this passage and said,

see, according to Jesus,

it doesn't matter what you believe

so long as you're a loving and just person.

It's not doctrine that matters.

It's your deeds.

But don't you see,

that's not the conclusion

Jesus intends for us to draw.

Doctrine does matter.

Ideas do have consequences.

Calling Jesus Lord

is absolutely essential.

We should seek

to bring all of our thoughts

into line with God's thoughts.

That's a good and worthy desire.

And God is pleased when we do so.

But,

a mere

profession from the lips,

a mere head knowledge

of the truths of the gospel,

this will not guarantee you

entrance into God's coming kingdom

as good as they are.

But it's not just that.

We said there are two things

that won't guarantee you

entrance into the kingdom.

Consider the second one

in verse 22.

On that day,

many will say to me,

Jesus says,

Lord, Lord,

did we not prophesy

in your name

and cast out demons

in your name

and do many mighty works

in your name?

And then Jesus says,

I will declare to them,

I never knew you.

Depart from me,

you workers of lawlessness.

Now,

what is Jesus saying here?

Well,

if on the one hand,

Jesus has said in verse 21

that even the most

orthodox profession

is no guarantee

of kingdom citizenship,

he goes on to say

that even the most

extraordinary performance

is no guarantee

of kingdom citizenship.

Here are people

who have prophesied,

who have cast out demons,

who have done many mighty works,

and they've done it all

in Jesus' name.

They've done it publicly

for His sake.

But even performing

miraculous deeds

is no guarantee

of being a member

of God's kingdom.

In fact,

no outward acts

of ministry

are a guarantee.

Becoming a missionary,

giving time and energy

to serving the poor,

volunteering tirelessly

in a local church,

you can do

all of these things

with great zeal,

with great amounts

of sacrifice,

and still be outside

the kingdom

when it comes.

Now, again,

we mustn't draw

the wrong conclusion

here either.

Just like in verse 21,

here in verse 22,

we shouldn't draw

the conclusions

that our deeds

don't matter at all.

No, that's not the point.

These actions

in verse 22

are commendable.

It's good and right

to prophesy,

to proclaim God's truth

in a timely,

edifying,

and courageous,

and encouraging way.

It's good to cast out demons

and to pray

for spiritual liberation

and to stand against

deception

and the evil one.

It's good to do

mighty works

in Jesus' name.

It's good to serve Him

with all the strength

that He provides.

But listen,

your gifts,

your works,

your performances,

promises,

even if they are done

in Jesus' name,

they will not guarantee you

entrance into God's kingdom.

Just as your head

can be full of all

the right beliefs,

so your hands

can be engaged

in all the right activities,

and you can still

be lost.

Of course,

God wants your mind

and God wants

your actions,

but you can say

the right things

and do the right things.

You can profess

and you can perform

and still not truly

be saved

on the last day.

So if these things

can't guarantee

entry into God's kingdom,

what can?

Well, it's not merely

your head

or your hands

that God is looking for.

He wants your heart.

This is our third point.

There's a kingdom

to enter, Jesus says.

There are two things

that cannot guarantee

you entry,

but there's one thing

that will.

Look again at verse 21.

Not everyone who says

to me, Lord, Lord,

will enter the kingdom

of heaven,

but the one who does

the will of my Father

who is in heaven.

You see,

God wants your heart.

He wants the very center

of you.

That's what Jesus means

by those who do the will

of my Father in heaven.

He doesn't mean

sort of external adherence

to a list of rules.

He means those

who have surrendered

their will

to the Father's.

Those who can say,

I no longer run

my own life.

I've actually ceded

the throne of my life

to God the Father

and to His Son,

Jesus Christ.

Of course,

no one can do that perfectly.

You are not going

to be completely sanctified

in this life,

but it means you have

entrusted your life to Him.

This is the question.

As Jesus comes

to the end

of this Sermon on the Mount,

have you surrendered

your will to His?

And as a result,

are not just your words

and your actions different,

but is your character

beginning to change?

That's what Paul means

when he says,

I can do all these things

in 1 Corinthians 13,

but if I don't have love,

it means nothing.

Surrendering your will

to God the Father now

is the only guarantee

of entering His kingdom then.

It's not just professing

or performing.

It's a change of heart

that results

in a change of life.

That's what the Bible means

by repentance,

by the way.

Real repentance

isn't just being sort of

sorrowful for disobedience.

It is that.

But it means surrendering

one's whole will to God.

But here's where we have

to be really careful.

Because if we're not careful,

we can begin at this point

to get very introspective,

can't we?

And we can start

to get very anxious.

We can start to ask questions like,

have I surrendered enough?

Is my character

really beginning to change?

And while there is a time

and place for self-examination,

these sorts of questions

asked on the wrong footing

can lead us to despair.

Because we'll always see areas

of our life in need of change.

And we'll always see ways

in which I still try

to keep control

and make myself

the Lord of my own life.

And it's in these moments

that we have to remember

who we are surrendering to.

Who is it that calls us

to give ourselves completely

to the will of the Father?

Who calls us to be poor in spirit,

to hunger and thirst

after righteousness,

to seek God's kingdom

and His righteousness?

Who are we inviting

to sit down

on the throne of our hearts

and to take control?

Who are we surrendering to?

We are surrendering

to the one

who is

and who has demonstrated

Himself to be

perfect love.

We are surrendering

to a God

of perfect love.

And of course,

doesn't that show us

the utter absurdity

of the human condition

and the irrationality

of sin?

Right?

God is infinite goodness,

but for some

unexplainable reason,

we reject Him.

We reject the stream

of eternal life

and we turn

and we dig a well

that can't hold water,

the prophet Jeremiah says.

Do you see how absurd

sin is?

But to us sinners,

God sends His only Son

and Jesus Christ comes

and is not ashamed

to call us brothers and sisters.

The eternal Son of God

took our very flesh

and blood,

endured our sin

and guilt on the cross,

and rose again in power

to defeat sin

and death on our behalf

so that now

all who surrender

their lives to Him

are forgiven

and granted eternal life.

You see,

this is why

merely professing

Jesus as Lord

intellectually

or performing

good deeds

in His name

aren't enough.

they're not sufficient

guarantees of entrance

into the kingdom

because Jesus didn't come

to merely give us

new ideas

and He didn't merely

come to give us

new laws.

He came to enter

into a deeply

personal relationship

with us,

a relationship

where He

would take

all that's true

of us

and give to us

all that's true

of Him.

He would take

our sin

and our death

and give us

in return

His righteousness

in life.

And this is where

the last part

of our passage

is so important.

Jesus says to those

who merely rely

on head knowledge

or merely on good works,

He says,

depart from Me,

I never knew you.

I never knew you.

the real question is,

does Jesus know you?

Of course,

the sense of know here

is very personal,

very intimate.

Have you stepped

into that sort

of relationship

with Him

where you can say

of Him

and more importantly,

He can say

of you,

I know you.

You can know

a lot of facts

about someone

and not really

know them,

right?

You can know

a lot of,

you can know

a lot of facts

about someone,

you can do

a lot of stuff

for someone

and not really

know them.

What will matter

on that day

is not what

you know about Him,

or all the stuff

you've done for Him.

What will matter

is whether you

know Him

and whether

He knows you.

As we wrap up then,

let's apply these things.

First,

as we consider

surrendering

our wills

to His

and entering

into this personal

relationship with Christ

as our Lord,

it follows from that

that we should be

seeking to live

this out.

And we do this

in the power

of the Holy Spirit

that He provides

and in the grace

that He gives.

We should be asking

ourselves,

how do I live today

with Christ

as my Lord?

How might I pray

and live today,

Father,

Thy will be done?

George MacDonald,

writing about these verses,

put it this way.

He said,

what have you done

this day

because it was

the will of Christ?

Have you dismissed

an anxious thought

for the morrow?

Have you ministered

to any needy soul

or body

and kept your right hand

from what your left hand did?

Have you begun

to leave all

and follow Him?

Did you set yourself

to judge righteous judgment?

Are you being aware

of covetousness?

Have you forgiven

your enemy?

Are you seeking

the kingdom of God

and His righteousness

before all other things?

Are you hungering

and thirsting

after righteousness?

Have you given

to someone

who asked of you?

Tell me

something you have done,

are doing,

or are trying to do

because He told you.

I wonder, friend,

how would you answer

that question?

Perhaps you might share

that with someone

in your small group

this week

or with a friend

over coffee.

You might engage

that question together.

Where has Jesus' teaching

in the Sermon on the Mount

been connecting

with your life?

And where in that new life

that He's invited you into,

where are you listening

to His voice

and seeking to do

or try to do

because He told you,

because He's your loving Lord

who cannot lead you astray?

His words are meant

to be lived.

How are you living them?

Second point of application.

Christian, I wonder,

who is it that you admire?

Who do you look up to?

Who are you seeking

to imitate or commend?

You know, it's easy,

isn't it,

to be immediately attracted

on the one hand

to those believers

who are intellectually prominent,

right?

Or on the other hand,

those who are accomplishing

great works.

We look up to those

who have published

great works of theology

or have pioneered

great mission endeavors.

believers.

And yes,

we should long

for wisdom and truth

and we should aspire

to do great things

for God's kingdom.

It's good to read

the biography

of great saints

and missionaries

and be inspired

to follow in their footsteps.

But who should we

ultimately emulate

in our sort of

celebrity culture?

who should we seek

to pattern our lives after?

Our real desire

should be to look up

to the Christians

who display

genuine humility of heart

and closeness

to God and Christ.

Those who walk

as He walked

in obedience and trust.

Those who long

simply to do

what Jesus says here,

to do the will

of their Heavenly Father.

Those whose greatest delight

is that Jesus,

the Son of God,

can say,

I know you.

Do you have a Christian

like that in your life?

They're probably not

on your Instagram feed.

but look around.

There are saints

in this church

for you to follow

as they follow Christ.

Are you getting

into a small group?

Are you coming

to the monthly prayer meetings?

Are you doing

what you can

to connect with them?

To walk with the wise

so that you can be wise?

If not,

by all means,

do so.

Third and last point

of application here.

Do you see in this passage

what matters most

in ministry?

You know,

every believer

is called

to use their gifts

in service of Christ.

If you're here

and you're in a relationship

with God in Christ,

He has given you

His Spirit

and He has given you

gifts to use

to build up the body.

He's given you

gifts to serve Christ.

He's given you

a mind to use.

He's given you

talents to use.

The Holy Spirit

indwells each one of us

so that we might

build up the church

and advance

His kingdom

in the world.

But at the end

of the day,

what really matters?

You know,

what really matters?

Is it when the book

proposal

that you've drafted

is accepted?

Is it when your

prayers are answered?

Is it when the pews

are full?

Those are

fine and good things,

but what really matters?

What about when

the book proposal

you've spent so long

on is rejected?

What about when

the prayers go unanswered?

What about when it seems

like there are no

mighty works?

What then?

What really matters

as we step out

and engage

in this ministry

God has given us?

There's a passage

in Luke's gospel

that connects

with what Jesus

teaches here

in the Sermon

on the Mount.

In Luke chapter 10,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Jesus has sent out

the 72 of His disciples

and He sent them out

to minister with power.

And then in verse 17

of chapter 10,

Luke writes,

the 72 returned

with joy,

saying,

Lord,

even the demons

are subject to us

in Your name.

And Jesus said to them,

I saw Satan fall

like lightning

from heaven.

And then He says,

Behold,

I have given you

authority

to tread on serpents

and scorpions

and over all the power

of the enemy

and nothing shall hurt you.

Nevertheless,

do not rejoice

in this,

that the spirits

are subject to you,

but rejoice

that your names

are written in heaven.

when your ministry

is going great

and your gifts

are blessing others

or when your ministry

is not so great

and you're not sure

if your gifts

are making a difference.

Rejoice in this,

Jesus says,

not the highs

and the lows,

but that your name

is written in heaven.

In other words,

that you are known

by God forever.

forever.

That's what really matters.

I know you.

Can you say that?

Can you say that

your deepest joy

is that He knows you?

If not,

then friend,

look again.

Look again

at what it means

to have your name

written there.

Look again

at what it means

for the Lord Jesus

to say,

I know you.

What does it mean?

It means that He

has set His eternal love

upon you

before you were born.

and that though

you were fallen

and sinful,

an enemy of God,

it means that He

left heaven

to take your place

in judgment

and that He died

on the cross

and rose again

for your forgiveness

and now ascended

to the Father's right hand.

He intercedes

for you continually

so that now

when the kingdom

comes in fullness,

when the doors

of heaven open

and the presence

of God comes flooding in,

and when His holiness

banishes sin

and evil

once and for all,

like a child

running through a field

sends the birds

flying in every direction,

then that same Jesus

will say to you,

not depart,

I never knew you,

but He'll say,

enter into your rest.

I've known you

before the foundation

of the world.

Rejoice that your names

are written in heaven.

Friend,

take no pride

in intellect,

put no trust

in works of power,

throw yourself

wholly on Him

and let simple

obedience to His will

be your daily bread

and let His love

for you

be your joy.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven,

thank You

for these sobering words

from our Lord Jesus.

God,

it's so easy

to get caught up

in the flashy things

of this world.

Even inside Your church,

God,

we put the emphasis

on the wrong things.

Lord,

help us.

Help us to be a church

that rejoices

in Your truth

and that stands firm

in sound doctrine.

Lord,

help us to be a church

that expects You

to do mighty things

in Your goodness

and sovereignty.

But God,

help us to be a church

that does not rest

our hope

in those things

but rests our hope

in You

and that our deepest delight

is to be surrendered

to You and Your will

because in Your paths

there is freedom in life,

forgiveness,

and grace.

Help us to live

into these things

we pray.

Amen.