Your Judge Can Be Your Saviour

MATTHEW 7:12-23     THE DIFFERENCE IS KNOWING GOD

Jeremiah 31:31-36   Matthew 13:24-43

This week we have had NSW State Government Ministers fail "The Pub test"  The pub test? There is a greater test than the court of ublic opinion. It is the court of God the Most High Judge.   Pub Test? Court Test? No!  The Day of Judgment test!

Many will say to Me in that day." He used no other words–"in that day"–that terrible day–that Last Great Day–that day for which all other days were made–that day by which all other days must be measured and judged.

What is the chief objective of your life? Will you think as much of it "in that day" as you do now?  "In that day," when the glare of this world's lamps shall have died out and the glitter of its pomp shall forever have passed into the eternal darkness, how will your pleasures look then?

Sometimes the day of Judgment comes early for folks.   I remember sitting in a hospital waiting room at midnight, called in by nursing staff, to sit with the family of a 45 year old, who was dying of cancer.  A deacon in my church had witnessed to him often in his work place in a car yard.  We had talked briefly of him opening his heart to receive the Lord Jesus but he had put off the urgings of my dear friend  for years.   And now he sat there in the hospital bed at midnight and called out repeatedly "My heart is too hard."

That day came for him to face the Lord. And he knew he was unprepared.  He cried out for hours until he passed away early that morning.   For others of us, we await the day, the day of judgment, and we know it may come at any point when the Lord Jesus returns suddenly in glory.          That day.

Here were persons who made an open profession of being Christians. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of Heaven." They called Christ, "Lord," so they virtually declared that they were His disciples. They said this plainly, as though they were not at all ashamed of it and were, indeed, even proud of it. They said it twice over, zealously, frequently, "Lord, Lord." They said it as if the saying of it were so sweet to them that they could not say it often enough. They said it in all sorts of company.

But here are three sorts of people to whom the Lord says,

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

There they were, preaching, teaching a Sunday school class, distributing the bread and wine at the Communion Table, going about among their fellow members, actively engaged in Christian service and everybody saying of them, "What good people they are! "Yet the Lord Jesus Christ knew that they were not!

There is a problem. Actually there are three types of problems.

 Our Lord shows us some of the false and wrong things on which men tend to rely. He gives us a list of them.

Being a preacher won't save you
Being powerful won't save you
Being prominent won't save you.

1.  PASSIONATE WORDS DO NOT BRING ETERNAL LIFE.

Correct orthodox belief will not give us eternal life. This is not to say that correct belief is not necessary for salvation—it is. Paul makes that clear in Romans 10:9, 10: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." A man who refuses to say "Lord, Lord" will never enter the kingdom of heaven. All true Christians say, "Lord, Lord." But not all who say "Lord, Lord" are true Christians!

DMLJ  `Lord, Lord'. He is referring to people who are right in their doctrine concerning His nature and about His Person, to people who have recognized Him, and who come to Him, and say `Lord, Lord'. They say the right things to Him, they believe the right things about Him. Our Lord is not criticizing them for that. What He is saying is that not everyone who does say that shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

 Intellectual orthodoxy does not indicate saving faith. You can be absolutely correct in your belief about Christ's nature and person, his substitutionary atonement, his resurrection, and his return, you can have even fought against heretics, and yet not be truly saved.

Furthermore, zeal and fervency do not bring eternal life. Saying orthodox things with emotion is not enough.

DMLJ  "But the alarming and terrifying thing which our Lord says is that not everyone who does say `Lord, Lord', shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Those who do go in say it; anyone who does not say it can never enter into the kingdom of heaven; but not all who do say it shall enter in."

DMLJ These people may not only be believers of the truth, but also fervent and zealous. You notice the repetition of the word `Lord', they do not merely say `Lord', they say `Lord, Lord'. These people are not intellectual believers only; there is an element of feeling; emotion is involved. They seem keen and anxious and they are full of fervour. Yet our Lord says that even that may be quite false, and that there are many who thus zealously and fervently say the right things about Him, and to Him, who still shall not enter into the kingdom of God.  The emotional type of person is always more liable to weep when he prays, but it does not mean of necessity that he is more spiritual. Our Lord, then, is emphasizing that though they say `Lord, Lord', and are fervent and zealous, it may be nothing but the flesh. Great enthusiasm in these things does not of necessity imply spirituality.

These professing believers say, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name . . . ?" Prophesying, preaching, does not prove anything. Balaam gave an accurate message but was a hireling and a sinner (Numbers 22—25). Saul was used by God when he was under the spirit of prophecy, but he himself was lost. Fervent proclamation of truth does not prove spiritual reality. A preacher can be fervent simply because he likes his outline and likes to move people, but it does not prove anything about the man himself. These are sobering thoughts. The Lord does not want anyone to miss the point of all the great teaching that he had given in the Sermon on the Mount.

 

2. POWERFUL WORKS DO NOT BRING ETERNAL LIFE.

These professing believers also say, "Lord, Lord, did we not . . . cast out demons in your name?" Is it possible for a person to do that and yet be outside the kingdom? Yes, for the New Testament clearly says Judas had such power (Luke 10:17). Our Lord may allow power to course through a man though the man himself is lost.

There were exorcists who cast our demons who were of the Pharisees, and in Acts we read of seven sons of one Sceva a high priest, who attempted to cast our demons.  There are may who attempt great things, and God may permit them to do great things in the spiritual realm who may not necessarily know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some professing believers may say, "Lord, Lord, did we not . . . do many mighty works in your name?" How can it be that these are lost? Jesus explains in Matthew 24:24, "For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." Paul notes a similar phenomenon in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, 9: "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders." In other words, a man may be able to do great things and get great results, but that says absolutely nothing about his salvation. We need to hear this well in a day when there are thousands who are claiming that in Christ they have supernatural powers. People say to me they have heard of some bizarre thing going on and will comment that it is okay because the individual uses Jesus' name every time he does it. Using his name does not prove anything.

Satan is still "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2), and he will do anything to keep people under his bondage, even if it means getting them to say "Lord, Lord" and endowing them with evil supernatural power.

Jesus says that orthodoxy, zeal, and spectacular displays of spiritual power do not prove a thing.

Now notice He says "many" at the beginning of Matthew 7:22. There will not be a few, but many who do these things to whom he will say, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness" (v. 23). Sadly, multitudes of evangelical Christians are not born again—they are lost.

If you are to stand on that day, the great day of judgment, before God's Great White Throne of Judgment, you must truly Know Christ.

Jeremiah 31:31- "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

 Why a new covenant?  Israel, and all of us, fail under the old covenant. We failed! Everyone of has failed! If it up to you to get you into heaven? You have failed already and you are lost forever under God's judgment.

BUT!

God Sovereignly and graciously makes this covenant with you.  See how throughout He keeps saying "I will make this covenant." I will put my teaching within them …, I will be their God,… For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.."

God guarantees forgiveness.

God changes our hearts.

We shall know this God and Saviour.
THIS IS SOMETHING PERSONAL GOD OFFERS YOU TODAY IN JESUS

The one thing that matters is our relationship to Christ. He is the judge, and it is what He thinks of us that matters. It is He who will say to these people, `I never knew you', and that word `knew' is very strong. It does not mean that He was not aware of their existence. He knows all things, He sees everything; everything is naked and open to Him. `Know' means `taking a special interest in', `being in a particular relationship to'. `You only have I known of all the families of the earth,' said God to the children of Israel through Amos. That means that He is in this peculiar relationship to Israel. What our Lord will say on the judgment-day to these self-deceived people is that they have done all these things in their own power and energy. He never had anything to do with it. So the most important thing for all of us is not to be interested primarily in our activities or in results, but in our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we know Him, and does He know us.

THIS IS SOMETHING POWERFUL THAT GOD OFFERS YOU IN JESUS.
John 17:1-3. When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
THIS IS SOMETHING  PERVASIVE THAT GOD OFFERS YOU IN JESUS.

Hos 6:3, Let us strive to know the LORD. His appearance is as sure as the dawn. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the land. 6 For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Matt 7:21 "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

CONCLUSION

Notice how these people found out their fatal mistake. They found it out from what Christ said. He said to them, "I never knew you." Not passionately, or angrily, but in stern, sad, solemn tones He said, "I never knew you." "But we used Your name, good Lord." "I know you did, but I never knew you, and you never truly knew Me." I can almost imagine someone turning around, "in that day," and saying to some Christians who used to sit in the same pew, "You knew me." "Yes," they will reply, "we knew you, but that is of no use, for the Master did not know you." I can picture some of you crying out to your minister, "Pastor, did you not know us? Surely you recollect what we used to do." What can he reply? "Ah, yes, sorrowfully do I acknowledge that I know you, but I cannot help you. It is only Christ's knowing you that can be of any use to you."

JI Packer wrote "The entire New Testament is overshadowed by the certainty of a coming day of universal judgment, and by the problem thence arising: How may we sinners get right with God while there is yet time? The New Testament looks on to "the day of judgment," "the day of wrath," "the wrath to come," and proclaims Jesus, the divine Savior, as the divinely appointed Judge.

The judge who stands before the door (Jas 5:9), "ready to judge the living and the dead" (1 Pet 4:5), "the righteous Judge" who will give Paul his crown (2 Tim 4:8), is the Lord Jesus Christ. "He is the one who has been designated by God as judge of the living and the dead" (Acts 10:42 NEB). God "has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed," Paul told the Athenians (Acts 17:31); and to the Romans he wrote, "God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares" (Rom 2:16). Jesus himself says the same. "The Father . . . has entrusted all judgment to the Son. . . . And he has given him authority to judge. . . . A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned" (NEB has "will rise to hear their doom") (Jn 5:22, 27-29). The Jesus of the New Testament, who is the world's Savior, is its Judge as well." 

Jesus the Lord, like his Father, is holy and pure; we are neither. We live under his eye, he knows our secrets, and on judgment day the whole of our past life will be played back, as it were, before him, and brought under review. If we know ourselves at all, we know we are not fit to face him. What then are we to do? The New Testament answer is: Call on the coming Judge to be your present Savior. As Judge, he is the law, but as Savior he is the gospel. Run from him now, and you will meet him as Judge then—and without hope. Seek him now, and you will find him, and you will then discover that you are looking forward to that future meeting with joy, knowing that there is now "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:1)."  Knowing God.  The Judge