Matthew 7:21-23 True And False Christians

We come now to consider the penultimate message in our journey through Jesus' teaching of what is called the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew records our Lord Jesus as any preacher ought to, taking time to apply the words of his sermon on the nature of the kingdom of heaven and of true righteousness. He does this so that we might realise the urgency of his teaching and message. Is it not surreal to think that the eternity of all peoples hangs upon the words of one man, the Lord Jesus Christ?

In the end, God's words are those which matter, and we find in Christ the words of God. Jesus said in John 12:49, "For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak."

Last week, we considered the warning Jesus gives concerning the false prophet of the broad way, one who comes as a wolf in sheep's clothing among the church. One defining feature of a false prophet that we saw is that it is not so much what is said that is most dangerous about the false prophet; it is what is not said. In the teaching of the false prophet, there is no straight gate; no message of repentance; no cross; no exclusivity of Christ.

In many ways and by many means, the false teacher maligns the truth of the gospel by withholding the truth. Masses of people will enter the eternal state having been deluded, all while their ears and consciences were tickled and entertained into a lost eternity, having never truly been born again and believing on Christ as he is revealed in his word.

Let's read together in Matthew 7:21–23: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practise lawlessness.'"

Perhaps you have heard of the Italian-born swindler by the name of Charles Ponzi. In the early 1900s, Ponzi managed for a time to pull off a scam claiming to be able to make large profits by buying discounted postal reply coupons from overseas and redeeming them for higher value in the United States. Charles promised huge returns to all who invested in his work. The scheme worked for a time so long as new investors kept coming on board. Ponzi would use those funds coming in to pay off previous investors, and so we have what is called the Ponzi scheme nowadays. In the end, when investors got weary and tried to pull out, the house of cards came down in a heap and he was exposed.

We all know about frauds and fakes, do we not? Human sin nature bends towards dishonest gain when given opportunity; like Jacob, who deceived his own brother and his father to steal the firstborn birthright and blessing for himself. We and others can be all too quick to live a lie, even if for the shortest period of time; we pretend to be someone that we are not; we accept praise that was not ours; we play along though we know something is wrong and misrepresents the truth of things.

This morning, Jesus is warning us about the reality of fraudulent Christians. Jesus tells us that there are those who may appear to the outward eye as Christians on the narrow way, but they do not know Jesus. Just as there are false prophets who walk the broad way, so Jesus here warns us of false Christians on the broad way. Jesus widens the scope a little more from last week’s section to show us that there are many who come in his name, speak in his name, perform in his name, who do not know Jesus, despite their thinking otherwise. We learn that it is possible to name Christ as Lord, as God, to check all the intellectual boxes and not know Jesus, despite thinking otherwise.

Like Israel, God said through Hosea in Hosea 8:2, "They cry out to me, 'My God, we of Israel know you,'" but they did not. Jesus speaks of a day coming when many who are in the churches, in our Bible studies, serving in ministry, preaching sermons even, will arrive as we all shall to stand before our Maker and will say, "Lord, Lord," only to hear Christ say, "I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practise lawlessness." Fraudulent faith is the topic of Jesus' discourse at this point; as another has said, "may we pray that God may open our eyes again to the terrible danger of self-deception and self-delusion."

I have four headings to work through this text with you. First, a sobering disclosure. Secondly, a sobering day. Third, a sobering discovery. Fourthly, a sobering declaration.

A Sobering Disclosure

We begin by considering first a sobering disclosure. In Matthew 7:21, we find that Jesus is not one to hide truth from his people. In Jesus' parables, you will frequently find in the gospels, he often hid truth from the unbelieving, but to his disciples he spoke things plainly and openly; we could hardly ask for clearer words here.

There is no teaching point hidden beneath a riddle or anything that needs to be dissected and analysed so that we can understand what he is saying. These words are plain. In verse 21, he gives us a principle which he then explains in verses 22 and 23. The principle is this. Read with me again, Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter."

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' subject front and centre has been the kingdom of heaven, promised in the Old Testament, revealed in the New Testament, inaugurated through his coming. The sobering point introduced here is that there are many who believe they are in the kingdom, that they are Christians on their way to heaven, but instead are on the broad way. This is why he says, speaking metaphorically, they say, "Lord, Lord." They confess Jesus' name; they say he is their master, but something is wrong. Something is off. This is an empty profession and not a true possession. The doubled up "Lord, Lord" speaks of their insistence that they have made Jesus Lord, but Jesus says these words alone will mean nothing.

Here is the principle then: it is not merely a matter of a person’s orthodoxy or right belief or Christian activity that defines or determines whether a person is truly a Christian. One way I can illustrate this is through the experience that many young people have after graduating from a polytechnic, college, or university. They often find employers disinterested in those who have no prior working experience in the industry, and a student will often bemoan the fact that no one will hire them until they have experience, and they cannot get experience in the industry until they are hired; so they get stuck in this loop.

Knowing about something and having lived experience are sometimes two totally different things. In a similar way, knowing Jesus personally is an entirely different thing from intellectual knowledge of the Christian faith and Christian-like activity of life. A true Christian man or woman understands walking by faith in the Son of God who loved them as a daily experience; a daily divine taste of the inner working of the Spirit of God conforming their mind, their will, their affections to that of Christ. They feel it in their spirit inside, day by day.

The internals have changed, you see. The flesh, though conquered by Christ, wars in its desires against the Spirit that has taken up residence in the Christian's life. You see, friends, this is what the false Christian knows nothing of. They are preoccupied with externals, with appearances, as were the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. Their lips say, "Lord, Lord," but their hearts betray their external profession.

In the second half of the principle, stated in verse 21, you will notice that Jesus says it is those who do the will of the Father who shall enter heaven. This raises an important question: what does Jesus mean by doing the will of the Father? Again, the context informs us—the life of all true Christians will produce, to some degree, the fruit of this greater righteousness of life that Jesus has been teaching in these three chapters; the inward bent of the heart in which God gives us love for his precepts and commandments.

It will not be those with a false external righteousness like the Pharisees who go to heaven, nor will it be those who simply thought they were living like a Christian and so believe they are Christians. Rather, it will be the poor in spirit, the spiritual beggars who beat their chest, saying, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner."

The rule of Bible study is that scripture interprets scripture. In John 6:40, we have Jesus telling us plain and simple what it means to do the will of the Father: "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day." The Christian life cannot be embarked upon until this reality has definitively occurred. This is God's will and command for all people everywhere; it is to believe upon Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Jesus said in John 5:24, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." This is the will of the Father—that you believe upon the Son. It is these who shall enter heaven.

A Sobering Day

The second heading I have for you is a sobering day. Verse 22: "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord'." What day is the Lord Jesus referring to here? The day he refers to is none other than what we call the final judgment. It is at the end of this present age and, as I understand it, follows the general resurrection at the return of Christ. John 5:28–29 says, "Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth; those who did good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment." This shall be a day like the world, friends, has never seen.

Just think about the sheer amount of people who will be present on this day. At the recent memorial funeral in the United States for Charlie Kirk, I think the number was around two hundred thousand people who showed up to honour him; they could not even fit everyone in the one stadium. Millions more watched online around the world. At the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, there were around four hundred thousand people present. At Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, there were up to three million people gathered in the United Kingdom. Now imagine this day of judgment, as billions upon billions of people who have ever lived from Adam forward until that day Christ returns, are gathered and are spread out before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Listen to this vision of Daniel in Daniel 7:10 for a picture of this day: "A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him; thousands upon thousands were attending him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before him; the court sat, and the books were opened." A courtroom represents exactly what will take place at this day of judgment. To every man and every woman ever born, all of Adam’s descendants, perfect and indisputable justice will be dealt.

In Revelation 20:11, John describes his vision this way: "Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them." The throne that John describes speaks to the sovereignty of Christ who sits upon it. It is here that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; that it is a white throne speaks to the purity of the judgment that he will render—perfect justice. John continues in Revelation 20:12, "And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds."

You see, on this day, no one escapes. It is mandatory attendance. John Bunyan says, "Though an opinion of no resurrection may now lull men to sleep in security and impiety, yet the Lord when he comes will rouse them and cause them to awake." So Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an account for it in the day of judgment."

Now, the Bible teaches us as Christians that God has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west; he keeps no record of our sin any longer; our names are in that Lamb's Book of Life, signed and sealed with the Lamb’s blood. Satan can never stand to accuse the believer that there is no hope for them, for it is ours to say, Christ is our surety. Nor can Satan ever stand before God and accuse him that he is unjust by not damning our sinful souls to hell, for God says, "I am both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ."

This is the believer's hope, but it is not so for the unsaved on that day. The books are opened; the record of guilt read; the damned will be silenced; there will be no right words found of protest, because God's book can hold no secrets nor can it tell any lies. Every lustful thought, every word of cursing, every lie, every theft, every blasphemy, every idol of the heart will show itself plain and clear for all to see. God on that day shall mark iniquity.

Friends, this is a sobering day coming upon this world, and according to Acts 17, it is a fixed day: "He has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead." It is a sobering, sobering day.

A Sobering Discovery

Thirdly, we have a sobering discovery. Many will say to me on that day, Jesus says, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?" Here is the real crux of what Jesus is teaching: many who think they are in the kingdom are in fact not, and they do not become conscious of it until it is too late.

R. C. Sproul put it this way: "In modern terms, they would say this, 'Dearest Lord, didn't we preach for you? Didn't we share our testimonies for you? Didn't we teach Sunday school for you? Didn't we go to the mission field for you? Didn't we give tithes for you?' These people would honestly believe they were in intimate relationship with Jesus and that they had served him faithfully."

You see friends, such people again make the mistake of intellectually professing Christ for possessing Christ, and there is a difference. To truly enter the narrow gate is to possess Christ by faith; to be born again from above (John 3); to repent of sins (Mark 6); to believe in his name only for forgiveness of sins (Acts 10); to be called out of darkness and into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2). This is to enter the narrow gate.

The sad yet true reality revealed here is that there are and will be scores of people who will for their whole lives play the Christian life, yet never realise they are without saving faith. On that day of judgment, they realise it is too late. As Thomas Brooks said, "Till men have faith in Christ, their best services are but glorious sins."

The exhortation for us, I think, is for all who profess Christ, who say to him, "Lord, Lord," who attend the service, who attend church, to ask whether supporting your profession of Christ as Lord is a true possession of Christ by faith. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Test yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; examine yourselves." For many will stand before that great white throne and learn that they were only pretenders.

Now, this is not a call to try harder or do better. This is not a call for you to do anything in your flesh, since we learn in this passage that these people already are trying harder. They are saying, "See, Christ, look at all these things that we have done for you." In no way is Jesus affirming any of these three works that they bring as evidence. Many in our day say that they prophesy in Jesus' name, but they do nothing of the sort. Many say and deceive others into thinking they cast out demons and have authority over the supernatural, but they do nothing of the sort. Many claim to perform healings and miracles for Jesus in his name; he will call them liars on that day.

A Sobering Declaration

Finally, a sobering declaration. Verse 23: "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practise lawlessness.'" So it will not do; a person shall never enter God's rest based on what they say they have done for God. That is not how you get to heaven. Rather, we get to heaven by what God has done for us—namely, the giving of his Son as a substitute in life and death, that we might become the sons and daughters of God forever.

Picking up again on those final verses from Revelation 20 I referred to earlier, in verses 14 and 15, it says, "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." The last words of God the unbeliever will hear are a command to depart from him. There are no more frightening words in all of the universe than these—than the Lord Jesus saying, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

There is to be no forgiveness on this day of judgment; it is too late. The day of God's salvation is now, now while you have breath in your lungs. The believer will hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Luke 19), and "Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25). That is what the believer will hear; but for the unsaved they will cry out, "Lord, Lord," but in vain, for Christ will judge them according to their deeds. They will get justice, and it is not justice we want; it is mercy.

For their lawlessness and sin, they will be put out. Here in Matthew 7:23, Jesus cites from Psalm 6:8, "Depart from me, you who practise lawlessness." In the last verse of Psalm 6, where he cites from, in Psalm 6:10, it says, "All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; they shall turn back, they shall suddenly be ashamed." So it will be on that day—a sobering declaration rendered against the unredeemed of humanity. Matthew 25:32–33 says, "All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left."

Conclusion

We have seen something this morning of Jesus' teaching concerning the reality of fraudulent faith and false belief. We are challenged, are we not, by this sobering disclosure. Do we each rest in things we think are our achievements for God as our basis to go to heaven, or is it as we ought to be, resting in what God has already done by sending his Son for us? For there is a sobering day coming—a day that can hardly even enter into our minds. Some will be resurrected unto glory, but those on the broad way unto destruction. On that day, there shall be a sobering discovery; many who thought they spoke for Christ and performed works in Christ's name will find that they were in fact deceived. Then at last, a sobering declaration will be made by Christ, and it can never be revoked. As he says, "Depart from me, you who practise lawlessness."

May we take to heart these four sobering realities we have heard of and flee to Christ in saving faith, where there is a surety and a rock to hold fast when these storms of judgment shall come.

I want to end with a word of comfort and a word of hope for the Christian. Though these words are a solemn warning, our Lord is not trying to drain the true believer of assurance. We are not to walk through this life wondering whether we will find out on that day whether we were true Christians or not. We can know now, and God desires that we would have assurance of our faith. You can know that you possess true faith in Christ by putting your faith in Christ. It is a very simple thing. The false convert has much activity, many things they are doing, but not this childlike, simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—this knowledge of the God who loved them and gave his only begotten Son to die for them.

In the margin of a book written by John Stuart Mill called "On Liberty", besides his words asserting that we can never be sure of anything in life, a student had written the words, "Are you sure of this, Mr Mill?" You see, God wants us Christian to be assured of our salvation; he outlines this in his word in 1 John 5:13: "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life."

There are many things I could perhaps say, but I will end on an illustration once used by the preacher D. L. Moody, to show you that it really just comes down to a singular point of difference between a true Christian and a false Christian. Moody says this: "It was the ark that saved Noah; it was not his righteousness, it was not his feelings, it was not his tears, it was not his prayers. It was the ark that saved him. If he had tried to make an ark of his feelings or of his prayers or of his life, he would have been swept away and he would have drowned with the rest; but you see, it was the ark that saved him."

So friends, rest only in Christ. When you come to the gates of glory, when you come to the foothills of eternity, and one stands before you and says, "Son, daughter, how will you enter?" do not say on that day, "Lord, Lord, look at these things I have done." Say, "Lord, Lord, for me the Lamb was slain." Hallelujah! It was the ark that saved Noah, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ that saves us.

Rest in that finished work, and in hope you can say, "Lord, Lord," and see his smile and good pleasure as he says, "Enter my kingdom which has been prepared for you." That is our hope.