Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.highlandparkbaptist.net/sermons/95260/not-everyone/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] We've been working our way through Matthew chapter 7.

[0:15] ! The theme of judgment continues throughout the chapter.! Remember what we've considered recently.! Two weeks ago we looked at Jesus' teaching to enter through the narrow gate and the hard way.

[0:28] He warned us that few people find the proper way, and finding the proper way requires us to exercise judgment. Last week we studied Jesus' warning to beware of false prophets, and those false prophets can be one of the obstacles to finding the proper way.

[0:47] Remember that when we're trying to decide whether a person is a false prophet or not, we must judge whether someone is a false prophet by comparing whether the person's teaching lines up with scripture and whether the person's lifestyle matches his words.

[1:02] Tonight's three verses are some of the scariest verses, and perhaps the scariest verses in the whole Bible. That's because Jesus gives us a preview of the ultimate ending for those false prophets, and for those the false prophets keep from the proper path.

[1:17] So let's read Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23. Jesus said there, 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.

[1:37] 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 mighty works in your name?

[1:48] And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, Were any man to utter such words, we should feel compelled to criticize and to even condemn him.

[2:04] But these are words spoken by the Son of God himself, and therefore demand our most earnest attention. How often, he said, I wonder, have we considered them or heard a sermon on them?

[2:14] Though we claim to believe the whole of Scripture, in practice we frequently deny much of it by ignoring it, simply because it does not pander to the flesh or because it disturbs us.

[2:26] But if we really believe that this is the Word of God, we must consider it all, and especially must we be careful to avoid those deceptive arguments by which certain people endeavor to avoid the plain teaching of Scripture.

[2:39] The main idea from this passage is clear. People trusting in their own works for salvation will be shocked to hear that they are condemned.

[2:51] Once again, people trusting in their own works for salvation will be shocked to hear that they are condemned. Jesus wants us to recognize the terrible danger of self-deception and self-delusion.

[3:05] He used the same general theme in the previous paragraph. There, of course, the danger was stated in terms of being misled by the false prophets because of their sheep's clothing and the attractiveness of their doctrine.

[3:18] Here, Jesus shows us the same thing, but not the false prophets, but in ourselves. True righteousness is the only thing that's acceptable to God.

[3:29] We've seen that throughout the entire Sermon on the Mount. We first saw Jesus call for true righteousness in his teaching in the Beatitudes. Matthew 5.6 is where Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

[3:47] Then in Matthew 5.10, Jesus said, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The warning in tonight's text is similar to the warning in Matthew 5.20.

[4:03] That is the verse where Jesus said, For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

[4:13] As we looked at the somber verses tonight, we need to avoid minimizing the warning that Jesus gives. But we also need to remember that Jesus already has told us how to avoid being the people to whom Jesus says these words.

[4:29] And Jesus will remind us again tonight how to avoid being one of the people who hears these words. The warnings that Jesus gives here in the Sermon on the Mount are also similar to other warnings elsewhere in Scripture.

[4:42] Early in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus tells us about the five foolish virgins who are unprepared when the bridegroom comes to get his bride. Then later in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus talks about separating the sheep from the goats.

[4:58] Other places in Scripture have similar warnings, and we'll look at some of those as we go through tonight's verses. But for now, let's start digging into tonight's passage.

[5:09] We're going to look at tonight's passage under three headings, one for each of the verses. And in verse 21, we see the surprising statement. So the surprising statement is your first section.

[5:23] Looking at that verse again, Jesus said in Matthew 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.

[5:39] Consider why this statement would have been surprising to Jesus' original audience. Remember what people are in the audience. We remind ourselves of this nearly every week, that Jesus was preaching this sermon to people who claim to be his followers, people who claim to be religious.

[5:57] We learn that from Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. That's where it said, Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them.

[6:12] Jesus is speaking to people here who are devotedly religious, but who are deluded in thinking that they are on the road to heaven, when they are really on the broad road to hell. Various polls in recent years have estimated that perhaps 50% of Americans identify themselves as born-again Christians.

[6:30] But if you really look at the Bible's definition of true believers, and the fact that few, if any, really come into God's terms, it's hard to believe that even half of the church members in the United States are true believers.

[6:43] And that's especially the case because many of these churches are pastored by false prophets that Jesus already has warned us about. The first part of verse 21 is easy to understand without much explanation.

[6:59] Jesus simply says there, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. So think about what makes these words so scary.

[7:10] On the surface, the words sound great, don't they? I mean, after all, they say, Lord, Lord. And John Stott pointed out several admirable things about the words, Lord, Lord.

[7:22] First of all, the words are polite. The people who said these words are being respectful to Jesus. Secondly, the words are orthodox. The words seem to acknowledge Jesus' rightful position as Lord, and we know that he is Lord.

[7:38] After Jesus' death and resurrection, the early Christians knew what they were doing when they called Jesus Lord. It was a divine title, a rendering in the Greek Old Testament for the Hebrew word Jehovah.

[7:53] And the people who say, Lord, Lord, in verse 21, seem to be tracking right along with what a genuine Christian would say. We can add some other things to these, too.

[8:05] The statement is emphatic because they repeat the term Lord. And in the Jewish culture, repeating a word emphasizes it. So the people in verse 21 meant to call him Lord.

[8:20] And one more thing, the statement is made publicly. They didn't hide the fact that they were calling him Lord. So to an ordinary human, these words do sound great. They're the very words that a true believer would say.

[8:34] John Stott said, What better Christian profession could be given? Here are people who call Jesus Lord with courtesy, orthodoxy, and enthusiasm, in private devotion and in public ministry.

[8:48] He says, What could be wrong with this? And then the answer is, In itself, nothing. And yet everything is wrong because it is talk without truth and profession without reality.

[9:00] It will not save them on the day of judgment. Being the God-man, Jesus knows that these words are empty words. The people who are saying these words in verse 21 are people who are relying on their words and their works instead of the work of Christ.

[9:17] Let's pause for a minute and think about the importance of what we say to people because we know that confessing Jesus with our words is critical.

[9:29] Listen to Romans 10, verses 9 and 10. Romans 10, 9 and 10 say, Even these beloved verses in Romans 10 clearly show that mere words alone are insufficient to be saved.

[9:59] To be saved, someone must believe in his heart that the words are true. Listen again to Romans 10, 9 and 10 and pay particular attention to the need for both confessing and believing.

[10:12] Again, Romans 10, 9 and 10 say, The true condition of the heart is a biblical principle that goes all the way back to the Old Testament.

[10:38] Remember 1 Samuel chapter 16, verse 7. Here is 1 Samuel 16, 7. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature because I have rejected him.

[10:53] For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. If words alone can't get us into heaven, let's look at how we do get into the kingdom.

[11:07] Back in Matthew 7, 21, Jesus follows the negative statement with the positive one. So here's the entire verse again. 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.

[11:22] The one who does the will of Jesus' Father who is in heaven will be the one who enters the kingdom of heaven. Consider how much Matthew 7, 21 parallels the passage that Pastor Mike preached on in our James study this past Sunday.

[11:38] Here are those verses again from James. They are James chapter 2, verses 14 through 20. James said, So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

[12:13] James, just like Jesus in our text tonight, and just like Paul in the Romans text, makes it clear that words alone cannot provide salvation.

[12:46] Those words must be backed up by evidence. We know that we are never saved by works, but works do provide evidence that we are saved. So if the person who does the will of God is the person who will make it to heaven, we need to spend some time looking at what it means to do the will of God.

[13:08] Listen to this quote from A.W. Pink, and then we'll boil it down. A.W. Pink said, What is meant by doing the divine will? Obviously, it does not connote a perfect or flawless performance thereof, for there is no Christian who has ever attained to such excellence in this life, though nothing short of this is the standard set before us.

[13:29] It means that I have surrendered my heart and will to the claims of Christ so that I truly desire him to reign over me and to order my life.

[13:39] It means that I have subjected myself to his authority and that it is the prevailing bent of my mind and constant endeavor to please and honor him in all things. It means that I genuinely aim to be both internally and externally conformed to his holy image and that it is my greatest grief when I do those things which displease him.

[14:01] It means I truly seek that my thoughts, affections, and actions are regulated by his precepts. It is not a sinless obedience which is here in view, but a sincere one.

[14:13] It is not a forced one, but prompted by love. It is not merely an external compliance with the divine commands, but a doing the will of God from the heart.

[14:26] Here's a one-sentence summary of that quote stated as simply as possible. God's will is that we obey God's word. God's will is that we obey God's word.

[14:39] And we see that illustrated from several passages in Scripture. We'll look at a few now just to underline that. Listen to John chapter 8 verses 31 and 32.

[14:52] In John chapter 8 verses 31 and 32 it says, So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

[15:08] Listen now to Paul's words in Colossians chapter 1 verses 21 through 23. Paul said, And here's 1 Timothy 4 verse 16.

[15:49] Writing to Timothy, Paul said in 1 Timothy 4 verse 16, Obedience to God's word as a condition for salvation is more than a New Testament concept.

[16:10] The Old Testament taught that too. Listen to what Moses told the Israelites in Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 1 and 2. Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 1 and 2 are where Moses said, And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.

[16:38] And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. In the next several verses of Deuteronomy chapter 28, Moses lists what many of those blessings will be.

[16:54] Then in Deuteronomy 28.15 and following, Moses launches into the flip side. Listen to just Deuteronomy chapter 28 verse 15.

[17:05] Moses said there, But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God, or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.

[17:20] So we know that the Jews in Jesus' original audience would have understood that obedience is a requirement for salvation. Salvation and obedience to the will of God are inseparable, and the writers of Hebrews made that clear.

[17:36] Listen to what the writer of Hebrews said. This is Hebrews 5.9. Writing about Jesus, the author of Hebrews said, And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

[17:51] That verse is critical, so let's hear it one more time. It says, And being made perfect, he, talking about Jesus, became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

[18:06] Also keep in mind one other point that we consider often. The text from Matthew 5.3 all the way to 7.27 was one continuous sermon.

[18:17] Jesus spent considerable time at the beginning of the sermon describing the character of the true believer. Our first lesson in this study was more than six months ago, but the original audience who heard this sermon would have heard what we know as Matthew 5 just a few minutes before Jesus said the words we're looking at tonight in Matthew 7.

[18:42] Think about how Matthew 7.21 fits with what we studied last week. Last week we said that we must evaluate whether a supposed prophet's words match his lifestyle.

[18:54] Then in verse 21, as we see in the James passage, that same test of words versus lifestyle gets applied to the ordinary believer. As professing believers, we should evaluate whether we are being obedient to God's word.

[19:09] The seeming sincerity of the people who said to Jesus, Lord, Lord, is what makes his statement in verse 21 so surprising. Not everyone who says these words will enter the kingdom of heaven, and the people to whom Jesus says the surprising statements are the very ones who are self-deceived in the thinking that they really are on the proper path.

[19:33] The second section of tonight's passage has the reaction to the surprising statement. In verse 22, we see the self-righteous shock.

[19:45] So the self-righteous shock is your second blank set. Look at what Jesus said in verse 22. Jesus said, The first thing we need to think about is what Jesus means when he says, When he says that day, he's talking about the final judgment.

[20:19] The final judgment on that day is presented here in general without reference to the distinction between the separate tribunals for believers and for unbelievers. That day is a frequently used reference to the era of divine judgment known throughout scripture as the day of the Lord.

[20:39] Matthew uses that day here in chapter 24, verse 36, where it refers to the second coming of the Savior. While I was talking about that day, you might have been thinking, I thought you just said that true believers have actions that match their words, and these people seem to fit that category.

[21:00] So how do we explain Jesus' condemnation of these people? Well, if you thought that, you thought about a very good question. That question essentially is the same one that the people to whom Jesus said these words were thinking.

[21:15] We'll get to that answer in just a minute, but consider something else first. Jesus never disputes the people's claims. Apparently, the people protesting here really did prophesy in Jesus' name.

[21:28] Apparently, these people really did cast out demons in Jesus' name and do mighty works in Jesus' name. Yet Jesus says that not everyone will get to heaven.

[21:39] So could these people have done mighty works, cast out demons, and prophesy without being a true believer? Well, actually, yes, they could have.

[21:50] Let's look at four examples in the Bible where God used unbelievers for God's own purposes. The first example is in Numbers, chapters 22 through 24.

[22:00] The king of the Moabites hired the false prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. However, God told Balaam to produce a blessing on the Israelites instead, and he did pronounce that blessing on the Israelites.

[22:14] It actually happened three times, plus some bonus prophecies at the end of Numbers, chapter 24. A second example of where God used an unbeliever is when King Saul prophesied in 1 Samuel 10.10.

[22:28] Saul, like Balaam, later showed himself to be an unbeliever. Listen, though, to what Saul was told about, or what Samuel told about Saul in 1 Samuel 10, verses 10 and 11.

[22:43] 1 Samuel 10, verses 10 and 11 say, When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, talking about Saul, and he prophesied among them.

[22:56] And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

[23:09] The third example of God using an unbeliever to prophesy truth comes from John, chapter 11, verses 48 through 52. In this passage, the chief priests and the Pharisees are trying to decide what to do about Jesus.

[23:26] Listen to John, chapter 11, verses 48 through 52. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.

[23:41] But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.

[23:54] He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

[24:11] You can see there that Caiaphas spoke the truth, even though he certainly was an unbeliever. But how about this for a fourth example, and that fourth example is Judas Iscariot.

[24:25] Judas must have done mighty works and many works in Jesus' name during the three years of Jesus' ministry. We know that's probably true because the other disciples had no indication that Judas would be the person to betray Jesus.

[24:39] Yet God used Judas, the greatest hypocrite who ever lived, or ever will live as a key player in God's plan to redeem believers from their sins. From just these four examples, we can see that God can and sometimes does use unbelievers to accomplish his purposes.

[24:57] And that's one possibility for how the unbelievers here in Matthew 7, 22 did many works in Jesus' name. Another possible explanation for the works done supposedly in Jesus' name is that the people during the works were empowered by Satan.

[25:15] Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 24. Matthew 24, 24 is where Jesus said, For false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

[25:34] We could use Judas as an example here, too. When Judas decided to betray Christ, the Bible says that Satan entered Judas. You can read about that in Luke, chapter 22, verse 3.

[25:48] For another example of Satan-empowered works, consider the seven sons of Sceva. The unbelieving sons of Sceva were Jewish exorcists who made their living casting out demons.

[25:59] Mark, chapter 9, verses 38 through 40 tells of someone outside the apostles also casting out demons. And Paul promises false signs in the last days, including lying wonders of Satan.

[26:16] Acts, chapter 8, verse 11, describes the work of a satanic sorcerer. And today there are some miracle workers, healers, and exorcists who claim to work for Jesus Christ but are actually satanic.

[26:29] And of course, another possibility for the people's claims in verse 22 is that the claims really were false. And if that is the case, Jesus simply refused to get into a debate about those claims.

[26:43] But if the people really did what they claimed, that leads back to the same question you might have thought about earlier. If the people have actions to match their words, why does Jesus say that those people will never enter heaven?

[26:57] The question does have a very good answer, and we've seen that answer earlier in the Sermon on the Mount. The answer is at the start of chapter 6. Here's what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 1.

[27:13] He said, So do you see the answer there?

[27:28] The people whom Jesus condemns in Matthew 7, 22 have been practicing their righteousness in front of other people rather than to glorify God. And they wanted to be valued by those people and esteemed by those people.

[27:44] Look again at Matthew chapter 7, verse 22. The pronoun the people use gives us an important clue. And that pronoun is what tells us about their self-righteousness.

[27:56] They said, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? Their emphasis was on what they did.

[28:09] They say, We did this. We did that. And people are never saved because of what they do. People are saved because of what God did. The people in verse 22 have the situation reversed.

[28:24] The people protesting there think that they were saved because they did works. The reality is that true believers do works because they are saved. The key is a person's motive.

[28:38] All religious activity, no matter how orthodox and fervent, motivated by anything other than obedience to the lordship of Christ and the pursuit of his glory, is rebellion against the law of God, which demands heart conformity.

[28:53] Something else about what the people say in verse 22 gives us another indication that the people were unconverted. Their words fail to reflect the traits of true believers that we saw in the Beatitudes.

[29:07] Think about what we saw in the Beatitudes. Some of those characteristics were that true believers are poor in spirit. True believers mourn over sin.

[29:18] True believers are meek. True believers hunger and thirst for righteousness. True believers are merciful. True believers are pure in heart.

[29:29] True believers are peacemakers. Based upon those characteristics, true believers would never stand in front of Jesus and say, Hey Jesus, look what we did.

[29:41] You know, perhaps new Christians might think that initially, but as they grow in their knowledge, those Christians will learn that salvation is all about God and what God did and what God continues to do.

[29:54] The people speaking in verse 22 have deluded themselves into thinking that they are saved. Self-delusion and self-deception are very dangerous. Today, many people who have deluded themselves into thinking that they are saved rarely go around claiming to cast out demons or to do mighty works.

[30:14] Some of the televangelists do that, but most people don't. Jesus' warning, though, still applies because today many people have false assurance of salvation simply because they belong to a church, because they grew up in a Christian home, or because they said a certain prayer.

[30:32] The moment we begin to rest our face solely upon repeating a formula without being sure that we are regenerate and that we have evidence of the life of God within us, we're exposing ourselves to this terrible danger of self-delusion.

[30:47] We have one more verse to cover tonight. That is Matthew 7, 23. So far we've seen the surprising statement and the self-righteous shock.

[30:59] Both of these things lead to the third section of this passage, and in verse 23 we see the swift sentence. So the swift sentence is your next set of blanks.

[31:13] Jesus says, And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. If a human judge said the statement in verse 23, we would be complaining about the judge sentencing people without giving them a proper hearing.

[31:32] However, this judge is Jesus, the perfect son of God who has perfect knowledge. We know that his judgment will be accurate. When Jesus says, I never knew you, he is talking about never knowing someone in a saving sense.

[31:50] He knows who these people are. He knows them well enough to know that they are unbelievers, even though they claim to be believers. To know was a Hebrew idiom that represented intimate relations.

[32:03] It was frequently used of marital intimacy, and it was also used of God's special intimacy with his chosen people Israel and all of those who trust in God.

[32:14] Listen to this verse from Nahum 1, verse 7. We don't quote from Nahum very often, but this is Nahum 1, verse 7. It says, The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.

[32:27] He knows those who take refuge in him. So there you see the use of know there. Listen to that verse again. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.

[32:38] He knows those who take refuge in him. Then going to the New Testament, in John chapter 10, verses 14 and 15, we hear these words from Jesus.

[32:50] Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.

[33:04] The people to whom Jesus is talking in Matthew chapter 7, verses 22 and 23, are unbelievers who only thought they were part of Jesus' flock. Look again at what Jesus says next, after the, I never knew you.

[33:19] Jesus says there, Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. And we'll look at these words, phrase by phrase. Depart from me is the resulting final sentence to hell.

[33:31] It's identical in thought to the judgment of Matthew chapter 25, verse 41, at the Lord's return. So here is Matthew chapter 25, verse 41. It says, Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed.

[33:46] Enter into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. So now let's look at practice lawlessness. And practice lawlessness is a present participle in the Greek, and that indicates a continuous, regular action.

[34:03] It's something that they do habitually. The phrase identifies the unforgiven sin and unrighteous life patterns of those who claim to be saved but are not. In other words, Jesus is telling them, You continually and habitually practice lawlessness.

[34:21] Profession of Christ and practice of lawlessness are totally incompatible. We learned last week that a good tree cannot bear that sort of fruit. And we learned that last week, of course, when we studied verse 18 of chapter 7.

[34:37] A life that professes to be Christian but in no way reflects Christ's righteousness has no part in Christ. That kind of profession comes from the kind of faith that has no works and is dead.

[34:49] That's what we saw from the James passage. It's the demon faith that James refers to in James 2.19, which is orthodox and accurate, but unholy.

[35:00] Think about the difference between the false professors Jesus condemns here and true believers. Every true believer will readily admit that he lapses into sin.

[35:13] As we've said before, the key is direction rather than perfection. So here are some questions to ask yourself. Is the direction of our lives leading us to be more like the people described in the Beatitudes?

[35:28] Is the direction of our lives leading us to become more like Christ? The Lord knows well that even his most faithful disciples will fail, stumble, and fall into sin.

[35:42] Otherwise, he would not have told us to pray, forgive us our debts. And remember, that phrase, forgive us our debts, comes from this same sermon. We also know that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[35:59] And of course, that is 1 John 1.9. So no Christian is sinless, but the fact that we continually confess our sins, seek the Lord's forgiveness, and long for righteousness is evidence that we belong to him.

[36:13] Remember the main idea. People trusting in their own works for salvation will be shocked to hear that they are actually condemned.

[36:25] I like these words from an engraving in a cathedral in Germany, and they actually reflect the Lord's teaching here. Listen to what the engraving says. Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us.

[36:38] You call me master, and obey me not. You call me light, and see me not. You call me the way, and walk me not. You call me life, and live me not.

[36:51] You call me wise, and follow me not. You call me fair, and love me not. You call me rich, and ask me not. You call me eternal, and seek me not.

[37:04] If I condemn thee, blame me not. So we're back to a very important question, and that is, how are we to know whether we are true believers?

[37:19] Well, 2 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 5 says, Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail to meet the test?

[37:35] Listen to this Martin Lloyd-Jones quote. He said, We must look at ourselves, and examine ourselves, in light of the commandments, in the light of scriptural teaching, in the light of this Sermon on the Mount, and we must do so honestly.

[37:53] When we come to this question of the works which we do, whether prophesying, or casting out devils, and doing many wonderful works, we must examine our motives.

[38:03] We must ask ourselves honestly, Why am I doing this, and what is the real urge behind it all? It is possible for a man to preach the gospel of Christ in an orthodox manner, to mention the name of Christ, to be right in doctrine, and to be zealous in the preaching of the word, and yet, really, to be doing it the whole time for his own self-interest, and his own glory, and his own self-satisfaction.

[38:29] Martin Lloyd-Jones continued, The only way to safeguard ourselves against that is to examine and scrutinize ourselves. It is painful and unpleasant, but it has to be done.

[38:43] It is the only way of safety. A man has to face himself squarely and ask, Why am I doing it? What is the thing that in my heart of hearts I am rarely out for?

[38:53] If a man does not do that, he is exposing himself to the terrible danger of self-delusion and self-deception. Jesus wants his true followers to know that their salvation is genuine.

[39:08] He wants us to have the joy of our salvation. He wants us to rest in the fact that when we are truly saved, we're saved forever. We know that we can never lose true salvation, and the best way to have that assurance is to evaluate ourselves honestly to see how we measure up to the standard we see in the Bible.

[39:28] So here are some other questions. Have we realized that we are sinners deserving of death? Have we repented of those sins and put our faith in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross?

[39:41] Are we trusting Jesus' resurrection as proof that God has accepted that sacrifice? If we can truthfully answer yes to all of those questions, then we can have assurance that we're saved.

[39:54] And listen to Romans 8, chapter 12, Romans chapter 8, verses 12 through 17. Again, this is Romans chapter 8, verses 12 through 17. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

[40:10] For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

[40:23] For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

[40:50] So listen again to that last couple of verses. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

[41:08] Thank you.