Lord, Lord
- Scriptures: Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46; Matthew 23:3
- “The Two Builders” (First Quarter)
Transcript
Kerry Duke:Hi, I am Kerry Duke, host of My God in My Neighbor podcast from Tennessee Bible College, where we see the Bible as not just another book, but the Book. Join us in a study of the inspired Word to strengthen your faith and to share what you’ve learned with others.
The Sermon on the Mount is a unique part of Scripture. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most quoted sections in all the Bible. Jesus said you are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. He said to love your enemies. He said give us this day our daily bread, lead us not into temptation. Those statements are quoted by people somewhere in the world today on a daily basis.
So this is definitely one of the most quoted parts in all the Bible, but it’s also one of the most misquoted parts of the Bible. When Jesus said turn the other cheek, we have looked at that passage in Matthew chapter five, verse 40 and 41 and we have seen that people misapply what Jesus says. When Jesus said in Matthew seven verse one judge not that you be not judged, we’ve also observed that many people take that out of context and that is one of the most misquoted verses in all of Scripture. Ask and it shall be given you—sometimes people even take that out of context and apply to situations that it was never intended to be applied to.
But I would add this: the Sermon on the Mount is also one of the least quoted sections of the Bible. For instance, Jesus talked about hell fire in Matthew five verse 22. How many times do preachers even mention hell today? How many sermons do you hear on that subject today? Jesus preached on it. Jesus taught about this and it’s a part of the Bible, but it’s one of the least quoted parts of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus also said in the Sermon on the Mount that there is one cause for divorce and remarriage. That’s Matthew five, verse 32. The other time that he mentioned it was in Matthew chapter 19, verse nine. How many sermons do you hear about that? How many Bible classes do you hear about that? How many posts do you see on social media about that? And yet Matthew 5:32 is just as much a part of the Sermon on the Mount as “love your enemies” or “blessed are the merciful.” You also find in the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus said something that is the reverse. It is the opposite of the way that many people look at this, and that is, Jesus said that many will go down the way that leads to destruction, that is to hell, and few will be the ones who find the way to eternal life, and that is to heaven. That’s Matthew seven 13 and 14. What about Matthew seven, verse 15? Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening or ravenous wolves. That is politically incorrect today. It’s not appropriate to say things like that today in our culture. Yet, Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living, God preached this. He taught this. And that, again, is one of the least quoted sections of the Bible in that sense.
And then we come to our section today that we’re going to read: Matthew chapter seven, verses 21 through 23. And here we’re going to see that Jesus talks about people who say, but they don’t do. This needs to be taught just as much as anything else that He said in this book.
So let’s look at it in Matthew chapter seven, beginning in verse 21. “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, you that work iniquity.”
It’s good to talk about Jesus. The Bible says that we ought to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 10, verse 32). Jesus said if you confess me before men, I will confess you before my Father which is in heaven. We ought to use our mouths. We ought to use our voices to teach other people.
It’s good to talk about Jesus in that sense. It’s a good thing to teach Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter five, verse 42, the Bible says, “And daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ.” As a matter of fact, Jesus said this in Mark chapter eight, verse 38: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” So it’s good to talk about Jesus. It’s good to mention His name, but it’s not good to talk about Him and then turn right around and not do what He says to do. If we talk the talk, then we need to walk the walk.
And if we expect Jesus to listen to us, then we need to listen to Him and do what He said. In Luke chapter six, verse 46, Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” What a piercing question that is. There are a lot of people that need to think about that. They need to be asked, “Why would you call him Jesus? Why would you call him Lord when you know that you’re not doing what he said?” Why would an individual think that he can talk about the Lord this and the Lord that, and yet he knows deep in his heart that he’s not living the way that he should. He’s not really obeying the Bible. Why would a person do that?
Jesus knew that there were people in his day, just like there are people today, who will talk about Him and yet they don’t do what He says. And Jesus’ one question is: Why? Think about that one word. Why would a person talk all day about Jesus and never intend to do what He says or to do part of what He says, and then to deliberately disobey or neglect other parts of what Jesus said?
Either way, a person like that has no right to call him Lord. Do we realize when we use the word “Lord” what that means? A Lord in Bible times was somebody that had authority. A Lord was somebody that you respected. When we talk about a lord and master in the Bible, that was a very high honor. And when we talk about Jesus being Lord, that means he has supreme authority to tell us what to do.
Remember that Jesus said before he ascended up into heaven in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, ”All authority has been given me in heaven and in earth.” When we use the word Lord, we are implying that Jesus has that kind of authority over us, and we are also implying that we have the obligation that we ought to obey what He says because He is in that position.
We use the word Lord today in such a light way that I’m afraid that many people, even Christians, don’t even realize what they’re saying when they use that word “Lord.” Sometimes I hear Christian people use the word “Lord”in a light, in a flippant, way, and that ought not to be. Do you remember what the Bible says back in the Old Testament in Exodus chapter 20, verse eight? “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” Yet, that’s what many people do because they talk about the Lord in a way that is so lighthearted that it has no reverence behind it, and they don’t even realize what they’re saying. They just use it to make conversation or to put an exclamation at the end of a sentence.
This is not what we ought to do. And I believe that that is part of the reason why that people today will talk so freely about Jesus when they know that they’re not doing what He said. But let’s get to Matthew chapter seven, verse 21, where Jesus said, “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus said in verse 21, “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Notice here that He’s talking about people who say, “Lord, Lord” to Him. And there are many people that do that now, but Jesus doesn’t hear them. Why? Well, the answer is in the Old Testament in Proverbs chapter 28, verse nine. “Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an abomination.” The Bible says in First John chapter five, verse 14, “If we ask him anything according to his will, he hears us.” So this means that a man that deliberately turns his ear away from hearing the Bible is not going to be heard by the Lord.
Jesus said, “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” But Jesus said, the one that will go to heaven is he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. So notice the contrast here, and it’s a contrast that you’ll find several times in the Bible. It’s the contrast between saying and doing.
Jesus said, “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he then does the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Most people will talk about how good they are. Solomon said in Proverbs chapter 20, verse six, “Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find?” Most people will tell you about how good they are and what they’ve done in their life. But it’s hard to find somebody that really means it or that really backs it up with the way that he lives. Talk can be cheap today, just like it always has been. The world can be full of hot air, and sometimes that hot air is over the airways. Sometimes it’s over the internet. Sometimes it’s in personal conversations at work, at school, and at other places.
There are some Christians that are Christians in name only. In Titus chapter one, verse 16, the Bible says “they profess to know God, but in works they deny Him.” If any people were guilty of that in the first century, it had to be the scribes and the Pharisees. So in a sense, we’re again coming full circle here in the Sermon on the Mount as we near its end, because we have said in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is comparing and contrasting His teaching or His way of righteousness with what the scribes and Pharisees taught and how they lived. Remember Matthew chapter 23, verse three? “All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe”—that is rightly observe—you to do from the law of Moses. He said, “observe and do.” But notice this, Matthew 23, verse three. This is the scribes and the Pharisees that Jesus is talking about. He said, “Do not do after their works” or according to what they do. He said because “they say and do not.”
So notice here that Jesus said that we must do the will of God to go to heaven. How many times do you hear preachers say you can’t do anything to go to heaven? It’s not about what you do. Well, how would you explain then Matthew seven, verse 21? “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he then doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” How can anybody say that what we do plays no role in our salvation whatsoever?
Remember what Hebrews chapter five, verse eight and nine says, “But though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things that He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Jesus learned obedience. He obeyed His heavenly Father, and He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him, not just believe in Him.
That’s necessary. That is essential, but it has to be the kind of faith that leads us to choose to do what Jesus said. In Romans six 17 and 18, Paul said, “But God be thanked that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you; being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.” Notice that Paul contrasts the old life with a new life in Christ. He said that you were the servants of sin, that is, the bondservants, the slaves of sin. But he said, you have obeyed, you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. So it was obedience that took them out of that old life and placed them into Christ because he says in verse 18, being “then” made free from sin. At that point, they were justified from sin. At what point? Verse 17 says they had obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine delivered to them, and that it was then at that specific point in time that they were made free from sin.
You say, “Well, what is this form of doctrine that he’s talking about?” Well, the word “form” there means a pattern. It’s like a mold that you would have for something. And so this pattern or this form of doctrine had been delivered to them. Well, all you have to do is go back to the first part of Romans chapter six to read about that because he says in Romans chapter six, verse two, “God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Do you not know that so many of us, as we’re baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death that like us Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life; for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” So Jesus died. He was buried and he rose again. We die to sin when we repent of our sins. We are buried with him. And the Bible says we are buried with him by baptism and we are buried with him by baptism into death, into His death, spiritually speaking, so that just like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of life. We will be also in the likeness of his resurrection. That is the specific point in time when a man becomes a Christian when his sins are washed away, and that coincides perfectly with what you read in other passages. Acts 22 verse 16: “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
Now, Ananias said that to a man who had seen Jesus, who had talked with Jesus, who had heard Jesus. He said that to a man who had been praying. He was three days in Damascus without food and water, and he was praying, and yet he was not saved because the Bible tells us that Ananias had to tell him, “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
In other words, the calling is not verbal. The calling in that passage in Acts 22 verse 16 is not verbal. It’s not in words. That’s by his actions. By arising and being baptized, he is thereby calling on the name of the Lord. And I’m talking of course about the Apostle Paul and his conversion, and you’ll read about that in Acts chapter nine, verse six, verse 11 and Acts chapter 22, verse 16.
So the Bible plainly says again here in Matthew seven, verse 21 that there is = something that we have to do in order to go to heaven. Look at it again. Just read these words. Matthew seven, verse 21. “Not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
Now to make this point even stronger, look ahead just a little bit in Matthew chapter seven to verse 24. Notice that Jesus again stresses doing. He says, “Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine and doeth them…” And then He contrasts that man in verse 26 with one who hears these sayings of mine and doeth them not. So to conclude all this teaching that He’s given us in the Sermon on the Mount, to wrap all of this up, He says it comes down to doing it. He tells us that it’s not just about saying it, it’s about doing it. And it’s not just about hearing it. It’s about doing what He has told us to do. And we do need to emphasize that we’re talking about what God tells us to do in his written word.
Look again at verse 21. The Bible says, “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” What is that will? That will is the word of God! That’s the same thing that He’s talking about in verse 24 when Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore hears these sayings of mine.”
What are those sayings? That’s the written word of the Sermon on the Mount, and of course, what you find in the New Testament in general. In John chapter eight, verse 31, the Bible says that Jesus told the Jews, “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Jesus said the truth is the word. You have to continue in his teaching. In John chapter seven, verse 17, Jesus said, “If any man wills to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” What is the will of God? Where is the will of God found? It is found in His word, in His teaching. That is found in the Bible. Second Timothy chapter three, verse 16 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, and righteousness that the man of God may be perfect”—that is, complete—”thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Now, why is it important to state this? Why is it important to understand that we find the will of God in the Bible? If we want to know what God’s will is for us in our lives, we need to read the Bible because many people have the idea that “the will of God” is some kind of nebulous, mysterious thing floating out there somewhere that they’re trying to find.
And I realize that there’s an aspect of God’s work in the world, His providential hand in this life, that we do not understand, that we do not know. And sometimes we try to figure out where we fit in in relationship to the providence of God. But I’m not talking about that. I’m not talking about the will of God that is unrevealed.
I’m talking about the will of God that is revealed, because that must be what Jesus is talking about because He says we must do it. How can you do it unless you know it? How can you know it unless you learn it from the Bible? The Bible says in Romans 10, verse 17, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
The Bible states the word of God. It gives us the will of God. That’s why there’s no reason for anybody to say, “I just don’t know what God wants me to do. I’m just unsure about what God’s will is. How do I find the will of God?” Read your Bible. First John chapter two, verse three says, “Hereby do we know that we know him if we keep his commandments”
Someone might say, though, “But does it really make that much difference as long as we believe in God, as long as we treat other people right? Is it really going to matter in the day of judgment? Is it really going to keep us out of heaven? Do we really have to follow the Bible to go to heaven?” Now, it seems strange that we’d have to bring that up, but in this day and age, we have to emphasize that.
Yes, you do. And in verse 22 of Matthew chapter seven, Jesus gives us a judgment scene. He talks about this very thing. Look at Matthew seven, verse 22. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord…” You see they’re still saying the same thing in verse 21. He says, “Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
And then he says in verse 22, “Many will say to me in that day”—that day is the day of judgment. And in the day of judgment, these people will say to the Lord, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name, done many wonderful works?” Notice every time they say we did this in your name, Jesus.
We did this in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a conversation that these people will have with Jesus at the day of judgment. You might call it an argument. You might call it a questioning of Jesus judgment on that great day, but regardless of what words you put on it, these people are talking with Jesus at the day of judgment.
And in that sense, it’s different from most of the passages that talk about the judgment. Most of those judgment verses talk about every knee bowing, every tongue confessing, like Romans 14, 11 and 12, Philippians two verses nine through 11. You just don’t see this kind of situation in most of those instances, but here we do.
We find that these people are objecting to the judgment. We’re not talking about atheists here. We’re not talking about infidels. We’re not talking about Muslims. We’re not talking about Hindus. We’re not talking about people in all kinds of cults. We are talking about people who claim to be Christians.
Look at what they say they did. They claim to have prophesied in his name. They claim to have cast out devils in his name. They claim to have done many wonderful works in his name. Notice also the first word in Matthew seven verse 22: Many. Not a few, not some, but many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord.”
Now this ties back to Matthew chapter seven, verse 13, where Jesus said to “enter in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be, which go in thereat.” And notice that they will ask the Lord “Why?” What about all that we did? Notice that they’re pleading with the Lord. Lord, Lord, we have prophesied in your name. That is, we’ve taught, we’ve preached, we’ve written, and they may have preached to thousands and thousands of people. They may have made predictions. They may have made the claim that the Lord spoke to them. You see, Jesus is not saying that He inspired them here. He’s not saying that they were true prophets because obviously what he says in verse 23 indicates that they were not faithful people of God.
But that’s the claim that they were making because they say we did it in your name. And then they say we cast out devils in your name. Now again, that’s what they say at the judgment. That’s what they claimed. The apostles and the early disciples, and of course, Jesus were able to cast out demons, but false teachers could not, and they were exposed.
Sometimes you find a case of that as in Acts chapter 19 verses 13 through 27. But they will also say at the judgment that we did many wonderful works in your name. Now again, this is what these people are saying, and they’re not doing the will of God. So it’s possible for people to say that they’re Christians and to talk about Jesus, to talk about the Lord a lot, and still not be faithful to Him because they’re not following His will.
They’re following their own will. That is very frustrating to people who are really trying with all their heart to follow the will of God. They see people who talk about the Lord all the time and they tell people things that are not true. They teach doctrines that are false and contrary to the will of God, and their lives are out of harmony with the will of God.
They’re not living the Christian life much less believing and teaching the Christian doctrine. And so that gets frustrating to people who are really sincere about living the Christian life. But here’s the point. Matthew seven verse 22 tells us that there will be people in the day of judgment that will object to, that will question, maybe even argue with the Lord about His decision concerning their destiny.
And if people do that at the day of judgment. Then should it surprise us that people argue with the Bible here, that people argue with the Lord because when they object to the Bible, they’re objecting to the Lord who gave it? When people reject the Bible, they’re rejecting Jesus. John 1248 is where Jesus said, “He that rejects me and receives not My word has one that judges him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day.” That’s John 12 verse 48. The standard at the day of judgment will be the Bible, the Word of God. It will not be what our family said. It will not be what some preacher said. It will not be how we felt in our hearts.
It will be the will of God stated in His Word. But in spite of the case that these people make for themselves in verse 22, Jesus said that his verdict stands. His decision is final in verse 23: “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work inequity.”
Jesus said I never knew you. That means I never accepted you. He knew who they were. He’s not talking about that kind of knowledge. He’s talking about knowing in the sense of approving of something. He said I never approved of what you did. They said that they knew the Lord. They claim to be close to Him. They claim to love Him and to be friends with Jesus.
But remember that Jesus said in John chapter 14, verse 15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”
And notice the contrast between what they said about themselves and what Jesus said about them. Back in verse 22, they said that they had done many wonderful works in His name. Jesus said, depart from me, you that work iniquity. They said that they had done many wonderful works in His name. Jesus said no you have worked iniquity and you have attached my name to it in a wrong kind of way because I never authorized you to do those things. You didn’t do my will. You did your will. I can’t help but think of what the Bible says in Luke chapter 16, verse 15: “That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” And there are going to be a lot of religious leaders who have had all kinds of glory and fame and attention in this life (and by the way, a lot of money as well) and those people are going to arrive at the judgment, and it’s not going to be those religious leaders who will be surprised as much as the people who watch them.
There will be people around them because we’re all going to be there at the day of judgment before the throne of Christ, and there will be people who thought that these great religious leaders were holy men of God and they’re going to be exposed. Now, anyone who read the Bible should have known and could have known that these men were false teachers because the Bible tells us to test all things and to hold fast that which is good. First Thessalonians chapter five, verse 21. The Bible tells us that we ought to be like the Bereans who in Acts 17 verse 11 searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. We can and we should, and we must read the Bible so that we identify false teachers.
That’s why Jesus said in Matthew seven, verse 15, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” What I’m saying is the day of judgment will be a day of revelation. It will be a day of exposure. It will be a day of surprises for a lot of people because there will be false prophets exposed on that day who were thought to be great men of God, but they were not.
There will be preachers who will be exposed on that day as ministers of Satan according to Second Corinthians chapter 11, verses 13 through 15, who paraded themselves as angels of light when they were actually ministers of Satan himself. All this will be brought out in the open on the day of judgment.
The Bible says in Romans two, verse 16, “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” And what we need to realize and what we need to remember and stress to people is that things are not always what they appear to be. People are not what they say that they are.
They’re not what you think that they are. So instead of going by what people claim to be and what they appear to be, we need to use righteous judgment. You know, the Bible says in John seven, verse 24, “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” And this is so serious that in Matthew chapter seven, verse 23, Jesus ends this section with these words.
He will say to these people who were always saying, “Lord, Lord,” and who will say to him in the judgment day, “Why, Lord, Lord, we’ve done all of this for you,” He will say to them, depart from me. And that means that they will be assigned their place in everlasting punishment. In Matthew chapter 25, verse 41, Jesus said, “Depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Yes, it takes more than just talking about the Lord this and the Lord that in order to go to heaven. We must do the will of the Father which is in heaven.
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