Not Everyone Who Says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” Shall Enter (Matthew 7:21)

In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." Although rejected by the world and unpopular in the church, Jesus clearly taught that "few" people are going to heaven, and "many" people are going to hell. Learn from Jesus' important words in Matthew 7:13-14 and 21-23 to ensure you don't hear the terrifying words, "Depart from Me, I never knew you!" https://youtu.be/vCIkw3fG9ts Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:21-23). Jesus taught that "few" people are going to heaven, and "many" people are going to hell (Matthew 7:13-14, 21-23). Table of ContentsLessons for Not Everyone Who Says to Me, "Lord, Lord," Shall Enter (Matthew 7:21) Tests to Determine Whether We Will Hear, "Depart from Me I never knew you."Discussion Questions for Not Everyone Who Says to Me, "Lord, Lord," Shall Enter (Matthew 7:21) Sermon Notes for Not Everyone Who Says to Me, "Lord, Lord," Shall Enter (Matthew 7:21)Lesson 1: even spectacular works won’t get you into heaven.Lesson 2: the question is, “Does the Lord know you?”Lesson 3: lack of repentance keeps you out of heaven.Lesson 4: examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith.Test 1 – Have I experienced godly sorrow that produces repentance?Test 2 – Has my repentance produced fruit?Test 3 – Has my faith persevered through trials?Test 4 – Is my life characterized by obedience?Test 5 – Do I practice sinning?Test 6 – Do I have a spiritual hunger and thirst? Lessons for Not Everyone Who Says to Me, "Lord, Lord," Shall Enter (Matthew 7:21) Lesson 1: Even ______________________ __________ won’t get you into heaven (Matt 7:21-22; Rom 10:1-3; 1 John 2:9; Eph 2:8-9). Lesson 2: The question is: “Does the Lord ________ ______?” (Matt 7:23a cf. Gal 4:9). Lesson 3: Lack of ____________________ keeps you out of heaven (Matt 7:23b; 2 Tim 2:19). Lesson 4: ______________ ________________ to see whether you are in the faith (2 Cor 13:5; 1 Pet 1:6-9). Tests to Determine Whether We Will Hear, "Depart from Me I never knew you." Have I experienced godly sorrow that produces repentance? Has my repentance produced fruit? Has my faith persevered through trials? Is my life characterized by obedience? Do I practice sinning? Do I have a spiritual hunger and thirst? Discussion Questions for Not Everyone Who Says to Me, "Lord, Lord," Shall Enter (Matthew 7:21) Day 1: Read Matthew 7:21-23 & discuss: What reveals the ‘sincerity’ of those standing before Christ in verses 21 & 22? Why do you think (i.e. what is implied in Scripture) people will urgently try to convince Jesus that they are true Christians? What does this reveal about them - that is - what are they counting on as the reason they think they are saved? Day 2: Read & discuss Matthew 7:21-22; Romans 10:1-3; 1 John 2:9; Ephesians 2:8-9: Are works important? Why? Why not? What other Scripture can you bring to bear on this question? What is salvation based on - works or something else? Whose works do matter in regards to our salvation? Day 3: Read & discuss Matthew 7:23; 2 Timothy 2:19; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Peter 1:6-9: What can keep you out of heaven? Why is repentance hard? What does a lack of repentance reveal about a person? In which one of five tests of salvation mentioned at the end of the sermon do you most desire to grow? Sermon Notes for Not Everyone Who Says to Me, "Lord, Lord," Shall Enter (Matthew 7:21) In college I went through Army ROTC, so after graduation I served as an officer. My military experience allowed me to have some familiarity w/ military recruiters. Used car salesmen have the reputation for being dishonest and saying whatever’s necessary to make a sale. SOME military recruiters are a close second. Please notice I said some, b/c I do think there are others who are honest. Military recruiters have to satisfy what’s known as “commission mission.” Their performance is determined by the number of people they’re able to recruit. As a result, they strive to make the military sound as attractive as possible. You can imagine the strong temptation for them to lie. After looking at a number of articles, here are the top lies military recruiters tell people: There are horror stories of people who were promised any number of things before they signed on the dotted line, only to find out their military careers ended up being considerably different than what the recruiter promised. I tell you all this, b/c after I became a Christian in my early 20’s and started reading the Gospels, I saw that Jesus is the opposite of military recruiters in two ways… First, He was honest: Second, it seems like He actually tried to DISCOURAGE people from signing up…yes, you heard me correctly! When you look at Jesus’ interaction with people, you’d almost think He didn’t want people following Him. He made it sound very, very UNATTRACTIVE. Let me give you a few examples… Mark 8:34 [Jesus said], “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Does this make following Jesus sound attractive or unattractive?- Think about when Jesus spoke to the Rich Young Ruler: Mark 10:21 Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; [then] come, follow me.” Listen to this next example… Luke 14:25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, Picture what this looked like…and let me ask you two questions: First, what would you expect Jesus to think at this moment? “Wow, lots of people are following me. This is great.” Second, what would you expect Jesus to say to all these followers? Probably something really encouraging. Listen to what He said… Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. This isn’t as literal as it sounds. The Bible commands us to love and care for our family members. Jesus often spoke in an exaggerated way to make a point, and His point is our loyalty and affection for Him should be so great that in contrast the loyalty and affection we have for others might seem like hatred. But the main point is… Jesus knew many of these people following Him were not true disciples: He needed to trim the fat. He needed to cut the low hanging fruit. If you haven’t already, please open your Bible to Matt 7 and look verse 13… Matt 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and THE WAY IS EASY THAT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and THE WAY IS HARD THAT LEADS TO LIFE, and those who find it are few. Jesus said the way is hard. We do people a terrible disservice when we make it sound like following Jesus means a care-free life that involves no sacrifice. This is why it’s tragic that there are so many churches and so many pastors who are: This is what gave birth to the seeker-sensitive movement, or easy-believism. I was listening to some of Pastor Cary’s sermons, and you’re very blessed to have a pastor who preaches the truth to you and who does so boldly. Picture the typical easy-believism American church… The pastor gets to the end of the sermon and what does he say? What if the pastor quoted Jesus? “If anyone would come after Jesus, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Him.” How many people would respond to that invitation? Not many! The approach that many churches and pastors take has caused people to think they’re Christians when they’re not. As of last year, 83% of Americans say they’re Christians. If 83% of Americans were Christians, our nation would look a LOT different: This statistic tells me two things: First, it tells me there are a lot of deceived Americans. Second, it tells me there are a lot of churches that are allowing people to continue in this deception. The problem with so many people thinking they’re Christians is it’s the opposite of what Jesus taught…look back at Matt 7:13… Matt 7:13 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are MANY. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are FEW. You can read this as many times as you want and it still says the same thing… Regardless of what we think… Regardless of what any polls tell us… Regardless of what we want to believe… Jesus said many people are going to hell and few people are going to heaven. What percent do many and few represent? Is it 60/40? 70/30? Maybe 80/20 or even 90/10? The Lord doesn’t tell us the exact percent, but He does tell us it’s many versus few…and that alone is very, very sobering. I want to share a story with you from my life that comes to mind when I think about the narrow way Jesus is discussing… During college I was in Army ROTC. It’s a four-year program, and between your junior and senior year you go to Advanced Camp. It’s like a final after a three-year course. You spend your first three years training for this, and then you come back as a senior to help train the juniors who will be going that summer. One of the major tests is land nav, or land navigation. You’re given a map and a compass and you have to walk for miles finding a number of different points.