I invite you to turn with me to Psalm 1. Psalm 1. As we read together this familiar psalm. Before we do so, let's bow together in prayer. Father, we do come before You. For You alone are God. The Word which we prepare to open, to read, to consider, is Your Word. We rely upon You and You alone by Your Spirit to reveal to us the truths of Your Word, that which You would have us to know and to understand, that which You would use to mold and shape our lives, to instruct us in Your truth. We thank You for it and pray for Your blessing upon us and upon this Your Word. May You be praised. In Jesus' name, Amen. Psalm 1. Hear now the Word of God. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever He does prospers. Not so the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. We read that in connection with our text. If you would turn to Matthew 7. Matthew 7, the text being verses 21-23. For those of you who may be visiting with us, we have been considering our Lord's Sermon on the Mount for about the past year on and off. And we now come to the end. And as we come to the end, we have seen in the last couple of weeks especially that our Lord says some sobering things. Watch out for false prophets, wolves in sheep's clothing, even among God's people, those that are known by their fruit. And then today as well, in connection with that, and also pointing us once again to ourselves, to examine ourselves, some very sobering words about what will take place on that day of judgment. And I would like to again begin at verse 15. And I'm going to read through the end of chapter 7, our text being verses 21-23. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them. The words of our text. 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. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching because He taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law. There ends the reading of God's holy word. May He indeed, as we have prayed, add His blessing to it this morning. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, if I remember right, it was, it still is, I believe, that evangelism technique taught by Evangelism Explosion, which asks one the question, well, if you were to die tonight and God would meet you at the gate of heaven and say to you, why should I let you into my heaven? What would you say? What answer would you give? You see, beloved, it is a question that we all need to ask ourselves. It truly is a question that we all need to think about. It's a question that Jesus addresses here. It's a question to which there is only one correct answer. Now, indeed, we are called to examine ourselves in preparation for coming to the Lord's table, But our examination, I trust you understand or believe, is not something that is simply to be done once in a while for us seven times a year in preparation for coming to the Lord's table. But a self-examination ought to be constant. It ought to be ongoing. And it's not just simply a good idea to do it. It is a command of God. Paul in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5 says, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. And we might say, well, no problem. You know, I believe in God and I go to church and I read my Bible once in a while. Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm in the faith. Jesus teaches here why it is so important, why that question is indeed so important. And what He says may be surprising to us as church members, especially for most of us, for most of our lives. It may be surprising to us as we see here that he is not talking here about open, blatant despisers of God. He is not talking about callous, open rejecters of Jesus Christ. But he is talking here about those who think or thought that they were safe or okay, who think they have or thought that they had true faith. But they are deceiving themselves. And those who are deceiving themselves, if they are not shaken out of their spiritual sleep, these frightening words of Jesus, and indeed, these are most frightening words when He says, not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Most frightening words. They ought to be. But for those who are deceiving themselves, if they are not shaken out of their spiritual sleep, those frightening words will apply to them. And on that day of judgment, they will hear Jesus say to them the last thing He will say and the most terrifying thing that He could ever say, I never knew you. Away from Me. Jesus declares the chilling truth of Judgment Day. First of all, expressing His place on that day. That day, of course, points to that day of separation that He talks about in Matthew 25 in that story of the sheep and the goats. When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say, He is the king. And on that day, he will take his people to heaven, but he will send those who are not his people to hell. Here he is expressing his place by identifying himself as Lord. Now, he says that those who will not enter the kingdom will call him Lord, Lord. Now, notice he doesn't say that they are wrong in what they say. He doesn't say that they are in error with what they say about him. And I believe this ought to at least somewhat remind us of what Paul says in Philippians 2, verses 10 and 11, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven, of those on earth, and those under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Even those who have not believed in Him will recognize Him as Lord. There will be no doubt on that day that He is Lord and Master, that He is the one who alone deserves to be served in worship because He is God. He is also identifying Himself here as God. He speaks of My Father's will. Here, in this very Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is claiming, declaring Himself to be the Son of God, one with the Father. After all of the instruction, He has given much of it to fly in the face of the current religious leaders of that day. And here, toward the end, He says, I am God. He identifies Himself as Lord, as God, and as Judge. He teaches here that the decision about entering heaven lies with Him. He determines who enters heaven because He is the basis of judgment. Man's judgment is determined by one's relationship with Him. As we think of the false prophets that Jesus has been talking about and we have been considering what makes them false is if they do not point to Jesus Christ and the truth of Him. And indeed, we know that He said they are wolves in sheep's clothing. They look like they belong and it sounds like they say the right things. And no doubt they are included in those Jesus is talking about. But notice too in the second place that His declaration of the chilling truth of the judgment day exposes the self-deceit of many. Self-deceit. Deceiving themselves reflected in their claim. Again, verses 21 and 22, 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. Now some take that to mean, well, therefore we have to work our way into heaven. No, the next verse shows that's not true. 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? The self-deceit of many is reflected in their claim to be Christians. Again, Jesus is not talking here about those who are irreligious, those who have no sort of religion, those who are crusty when it comes to spiritual things. And we know that there are false prophets even in our day, those who use the name of Jesus deceitfully, those who claim to be the church, who use the name of Jesus deceitfully for their own advantage, to their own gain, in order to gather a following. And again, they may very much be included here, but Jesus here seems to point to those truly deceived in themselves. Truly deceiving themselves. Those who truly thought they had a relationship with Him. Now, we also need to understand this from the perspective of that day, that judgment day when all will be gathered and separated, goats, sheep. And to understand that many in the goat company will have already experienced the suffering of the soul in the torment of hell. And now they are gathered, body and soul, and they will appear with those who had not yet died. They will appear before the judge. And it is clear from their claim, it is clear from their plea that they already understand the doom that awaits them. But they stand trying to make their case, trying to convince the judge to change his mind. Yet they don't understand why what they said and did didn't work. They call Him Lord, Lord. Now understand, beloved, that indeed one will not enter heaven unless by faith they call Him Lord. But not all who simply call Him Lord will enter. Here with those whom Jesus is talking about, Lord, Lord is an acknowledgement of the truth of His person. That He is God. That He came to this world. That He died and rose and ascended. That He is the one to be obeyed. We are to understand that it is possible to know and believe all of the true details and doctrines about Jesus. And as Answer 21 of the Heidelberg Catechism regarding true faith says, to have knowledge and conviction that everything God reveals in His Word is true, we must know and believe this to be true. It's possible that one can know and believe everything about Jesus and yet not be a kingdom citizen. Not be a child of God. We might say, how? James helps us to understand that in James 2, verse 19. He says, you believe there is one God, good. Even the demons believe that and shudder. Even the demons believe that Jesus is who He said He is. We think about the demons that Jesus cast out of individuals when He walked this earth. Those demons, the Bible tells us, knew Him. They confessed His identity. They called Him the Son of the Most High. But guess what? They were still demons. On that day, many will claim Jesus to be Lord and even claim to have had genuine union with Him because of what they have done in His name. They claim to be Christians. They make a claim based on all that they have done. In the original, three times, in the NIV it only records it two times, but in the original it says three times, and stressing it, in your name we have prophesied. In your name we have cast out demons. In your name we have done all these wonderful miracles, as if to say, we gave you the credit. Again, they were active in the practice of religion as preachers, as exorcists, as miracle workers. And again, notice that Jesus does not deny that these things were indeed done, even that they were accomplished in His name. He doesn't say that these activities were wrong or bad. The Bible gives us examples of those who prophesied, who drove out demons, who performed many miracles, but did not believe in Jesus Christ. Did not believe in God. We think of, in the Old Testament, we think of Balaam. We mentioned him last week, I think it was. And King Saul prophesied, you may remember. Philippians 1, verse 15, there Paul says, It is true that some preached Christ out of envy and rivalry. And then there was a man named Demas who was a companion of Paul for a time, but deserted Paul. Demas may have preached many fine sermons. Yet none of these that we mentioned belonged to the Lord. There were those who drove out demons. We are told in one place that Jesus sent out the twelve and it lists their names two by two and He gave them power to cast out demons. Well, you know who was in that list of twelve, right? Boys and girls? Judas Iscariot. At that time, no doubt, Judas himself was given power to cast out demons. And when Jesus was accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons, he questions his accusers and he says, well then, by whom do your sons cast them out? There were Jewish exorcists at that time. In Acts 19, we read about the seven sons of Sceva. Only there we read they were not too successful in casting out a demon. And there were those, and would be those, who would perform many miracles. In the last couple of weeks, we've alluded to Matthew 24, 24, where Jesus speaks of false prophets who would come and perform many great signs and wonders that would even, if possible, deceive the elect. God has allowed and even accomplished amazing works that have benefited those who are the recipients of that work. And He has even accomplished it through unbelievers. who deceive themselves. Claiming false assurance because they said the right things about Jesus or claimed to work for Him. They were going through all the right motions. And they thought that they were good enough to deserve a place in heaven because what they did, they did as a favor for Jesus. Yet their self-deceived, beloved, is not only reflected in what they claim, But notice, in a sense, the silence is loud. It's blaring. It's reflected also in what they fail to claim. They claim their own testimony. They claim their own work. But they fail to claim the work of Jesus Christ. They fail to claim His blood shed on the cross. Jesus calls them evildoers, those who do not do the will of His Father. How ought we understand the will of God here? Hopefully this is helpful. In Matthew 17, verse 5, on the Mount of Transfiguration, God says, This is My Son whom I love. With Him I am well pleased. And what does He say? Listen to Him. Well, what did Jesus say? In John 14, verse 6, He said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. And in John 6, verse 40, He says, For My Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. The Father's will for His Son was to save those whom the Father had given to Him, And the Father's will for you and me is to believe in Jesus Christ. To trust in His work alone. The only possible answer of why God should let you or me into His heaven is because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing else will do. Our boast is not to be in ourselves. On another occasion, we read that Jesus sent out 72 disciples, a number of His followers, two by two again, And he gave them power, it says, to heal sickness and again to cast out demons. And when they came back, they were all excited. They said, Lord, even the demons listen to us. Jesus' response is, don't rejoice because the demons listen to you. Rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Our boast is not in ourselves. Our boast is only in the cross of Jesus. Only in Christ crucified. Only in the power of the cross. It's only by the work of Jesus that we can say, I stand forgiven. But on that day, beloved, there will be those, many, Jesus says, who knew the right things. They knew the right details about Jesus. They even said that they believed that He is God. That they believed that He is the Savior. and they even looked like Christians in their behavior. Yet, as answer 21 of the catechism also says, true faith not only is a knowledge and conviction that all that God reveals in His Word is true. Not only. It is that. But it's much more than that. It is also, as the answer goes on to paraphrase, a personal, deep-rooted assurance into that truth that it's for me. in Jesus Christ, that what He has done is for me too. But on that day, there will be many who will say that it's for me. Because they have not truly trusted that He shed His blood for them. They will not be able to say, not only others, but I too have had my sins forgiven, been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation. They have not claimed Him as Savior. And you know what that means, beloved. One can, like the devils, like the demons, can believe everything about Jesus and believe that it's true, but still be unbelieving and unrepentant. Many will express confidence in themselves as Jesus points to. However, true trust, true faith in Jesus Christ removes all confidence in one from self. And the opposite is true, that one is poor in spirit. Understanding my own spiritual bankruptcy. That there's not one thing that I can do to make God look at me with favor. They mourn because of sin and strive to run away from it. Their confession is not what my hands have done can save my guilty soul. I bless the Christ of God. Only confidence in Jesus Christ and in His perfect righteousness and precious blood will stand in the judgment. In the third place, Jesus here is emphasizing what will stand in the judgment. And what will stand is not the self-deceived. Jesus' terrifying words, I never knew you, will be in response to their claim of all that they said and all that they did for Him. Jesus says here, I will tell them plainly. The word there is the word for confess. They make this big grand profession about what they have done for Him and He confesses something about them. To confess, it's a solemn activity. He will confess solemnly, I never knew you. Away from me. Well, someone, maybe one of the boys or girls here would say, but Jesus knows all things, doesn't He? Well, of course He does. As the Bible says when He walked this earth, He knew the hearts of men. But when He says, I never knew you, here we are to understand that He is saying, I do not know you as mine. And those are terrifying words because as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2, verse 19, the Lord knows those who are His. He knows His own intimately and personally, savingly. but he also knows those who do not know him by faith. And to them he says, I never knew you. I did not die for you. You are not my sheep. You don't know my voice. Those who are self-deceived will not stand in the judgment. All that they have done is like the chaff. meaningless that the wind blows away. But those who will stand are those who do the will of God. The righteous in Jesus Christ. The righteous of Psalm 1 who are planted, who are nourished by the living waters of Jesus Christ. Many will declare that they deserve to enter heaven because of what they have done, but only those who are justified by the grace of God, those whom He declares righteous because of the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, only they will be given entrance. Those who truly understand that their hope of heaven is only in Jesus Christ. Those who do the Father's will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the only Savior, that His blood was shed for me. And that faith then too is demonstrated as they walk with the Lord. Those who delight in obedience to God who calls us to faith and repentance in Jesus Christ. True faith, beloved, that trusts only and completely in the work of Jesus demonstrates that trust by surrendering heart and life to His authority. By striving to conform to His image. By submitting one's thoughts and desires and actions to His will. That trust is demonstrated by forsaking oneself. We read this morning, we come not seeking our salvation in ourselves, but only in Him. And by being poor in spirit, indeed understanding my spiritual bankruptcy, that it's only because of God's undeserved gift that I have any hope. By hating sin, mourning, crying out because of it, and desiring to flee from it. By being meek, humble, not thinking highly of oneself, but trusting God in all circumstances. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Desiring to please God. Being merciful to others, even as God has been merciful to me. Being pure in heart. Having a heart focused on the things of God. Being a peacemaker as well. This all points to that new life. That new life of joy. Not a burdensome life. I have to do this. A life of joy with true contentment, whatever lot the Lord places me in. True trust in Jesus Christ alone. True confidence that I belong to Him. A life, a new life of service and devotion to God alone. Not as a burden, not as a duty, but as a desire and a delight. Not in order to gain entrance into heaven, but because we have already entered. Through Jesus Christ. Beloved, the difficult truth here, I believe, is that we are being taught that alongside with those who are blatant rejecters of Jesus Christ, there are those, many, who have been raised in Christian homes, in a Christian atmosphere. Many who have been taught the truth of Jesus Christ and even believe the truth about Him. Many who have been baptized and made profession of faith and maybe had the privilege of attending a Christian school or grew up with family devotions in the house, regularly attended church and participated in the life of it. Those who preached, yes, indeed, what a warning for preachers. Those who preached and taught the truth of the Word of God. Those involved in various ministry and mission activities. those who wear not-of-this-world t-shirts or emblems or bumper stickers with Scripture passages on them. While all of these things may be good and noble in themselves, not one of them, or anything like it, makes one a true Christian. None of it means one, that one is a true Christian. None of that will get one into heaven. But many who participate in those things will be turned away, Jesus says. That's a difficult truth. Indeed, those things and things like them are to flow from being washed in the blood of Jesus. But boys and girls and young people and the oldest saint here, none of these things gains you a ticket into the door of heaven. Now, our Lord's purpose here is not simply to scare us or to make us worry or to make us doubt our assurance, but indeed, His purpose is to warn us, to spur us on to make our calling an election sure, as Peter says, to motivate us, to examine ourselves, to see whether we are in the faith. Because we are not in. Boys and girls, please, young people, listen. We are not in the faith. We are not saved. We are not in heaven by physical birth. We are not in by church membership. We are not in by anything you or I have done. We are certainly not in by going through the motions. Heaven is not for good people. Sometimes we talk about individuals whom we care for and we say, well, they don't go to church, they don't do this, they don't do that. They don't speak well of God's people. But he or she is a good person. And I think they'll be okay. Heaven is not for good people. But it is for those who are saved by the grace of God who trust in Jesus Christ. He spoke these words, beloved, not to rob us of joy, but to help ensure that we do not miss the joy that comes from knowing Him savingly by faith. It's a reminder to you and me, a call not to be deceived. Indeed, God is not mocked. Understanding that it is nothing in my hands I bring simply to the cross of Jesus. We are called to cling. His blood and righteousness. And our devotion and our obedience is pleasing to God and will be genuine only as it flows from finding our only hope for eternal life in Him. Another question for you to consider. Will you tremble on judgment day? Will you tremble on judgment day? You will if you do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not trust only in His blood shed to pacify God's anger, to pay for your sins and His righteousness by which you are right with God. No one is saved without blood, only the blood of Jesus to wash away sins. Why should God let you into His heaven? Only if you are able to say, by faith, because of Jesus, who has paid my debt, who makes me acceptable to God, who saved me. He died and rose and ascended and He's coming again for me too. It's only because of His work that He will say to those He knows, to you who believe on Him, enter into the joy of your Lord. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we bow before You, humbled, being reminded vividly and clearly again of our hopelessness in and of ourselves, but the living hope that we have in Christ Jesus alone. Father, may that be the hope of each and every one here this morning. May it be, Father, that if there are those here who do not know You by faith, that You would indeed work powerfully by Your Spirit through this, Your Word. That they might examine themselves, their hearts, and to see that no matter what they say, no matter what they do, if that is it, they are lost forever and ever. But that there is life forevermore in Jesus Christ who shed His blood, that we might have life and have it abundantly. Oh, Father, thank You for Your Word. We praise You for Your Holy Spirit to live and work in our hearts and lives to lead us and guide us. We pray for that work to be carried on busily, actively in our hearts. Father, increase, strengthen our faith and trust in You in the work of Jesus and help us to praise Your most holy name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.