Title: The False Claim of Christ’s Lordship
Scripture Reading: Matthew 7:21-27
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 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?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
This portion is derived from the Sermon on the Mount
Jesus Christ is addressing His disciples.
LORD means master, king, leader. It is even possible that you are the slave, the servant and a subject: one that is being led by your LORD
The expression, ‘LORD, LORD’ is more than just an a manner of speech. The repetition is definitely an emphatic manner of speaking. But the emphasis is that Jesus used the repetition to communicate that he is “אֲדֹנָייְהוִה” —- “Adonai YHVH”—- “Lord YHVH”.
- Empty Profession
We should not be surprised that we can be excluded from heaven because Jesus himself declares that he has 12 disciples and one of them is the devil.
Matthew 26:25 says, ‘Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi’, is it I?’
Don’t put a question mark in your salvation because of your lifestyles.
Examples:
Solomon
Lot
So, the emphasis here is not addressing Jesus Christ as LORD
Isaiah 29:13: ‘And so the Lord says, ‘These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.’
- Walk the Christian talk
The more important requirement here is ‘doing the will of the father’.
Our walk with God is a biblical imagery for lifestyle faith.
Your walk demonstrates your faith.
Saving faith is a mental assent but moral living is a lifestyle.
How to know the will of the Father?
The Word of God
The Teaching in the church
The revelation from the Holy Spirit.
What is the will of the Father?
1 Thessalonian 4:3 says, ‘This is the will of God, even your sanctification.’
The main objective for Jesus dying at the cross is that we be cleansed by his blood and made holy. The main objective of Christ’s resurrection is that we be victorious over sin and be holy.
In Leviticus 20:7 God says, ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy.
The book of Leviticus is filled with the heart felt cry of God.
He says, ‘I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Peter says, ‘Be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, “be ye holy, for I am holy.”
The Apostle Paul writes ‘that he may stablish your heart in blamelessness in holiness. Paul said so clearly, ‘God hath called us unto holiness.
We must understand why God hates sin.
Because God knew that sin will destroy you
Sin will banish you from heaven one day.
Sin was as widespread as the human population. The concept of ‘evil intent’ is key to understanding mankind’s moral nature. It means they have set their hearts ‘on evil things’. They were sexually promiscuous. They really tested God. They grumbled, rebelled and were intent on evil pursuits.
God postponed the destruction of earth and destruction of humankind as a result of the great flood.
Though God hates sin, he loves sinners. He showed it by sending his most precious son to die on the cross of calvary so that he can be punished on your behalf because of sin. When Jesus was resurrected, he gives you a new spirit, a new life, a victorious spirit, that empowers you to live victoriously, to live the clean lie. The Holy Spirit is breathed into you so that you can be willing to live a life of holiness in the days of His power. Sin has no more dominion over you. The Holy Spirit has enabled you to live the holy life.
Some of them think they are doing God a favor by attending church
Some think God cannot live without them.
They think that God needs them and cannot live without them
It is not that God needs you but you need God.
There are two permanent truths within this passage. There is only one way in which a man’s sincerity can be proved, and that is by his practice. Fine words can never be a substitute for fine deeds. There is only one proof of love, and that proof is obedience.
- Judgment
At the back of this passage is the idea of judgment. All through it there runs the certainty that the day of reckoning comes.
Matthew 7:23 says, ‘Many will say to me in that day.’ That day is the Great Day and notice Christ’s claim to be the future judge of the world on that day.
What can we learn at the judgment?
a. Not all disciples will be saved.
b. Not all teachers will be saved.
c. The Lord knoweth them that are his.
The lessons learn here is
- Words will not save us; only holy obedience, the obedience of the heart: ‘Thy will be done.’
- It will not help us to hear the greatest preachers unless we try to live as we are taught.
- Build upon the Rock
Build upon the only true foundation. Jesus was in a double sense an expert. He was an expert in scripture. But he was also an expert in life.
Only a house whose foundations are firm can withstand the storm, and only a life whose foundations are sure can stand the test. Jesus is the only true foundation. Your whole life is only stable when your whole life is built on a stable, continual, close relationship with Jesus Christ. And Jesus demanded two things.
a. He demanded that men should listen
b. He demanded that men should do.
In conclusion, we all failed miserably when it come to the will of the Father. But there was one who came solely to do the will of the Father. Jesus Christ was fixed on intention to do the will of the Father. He said, ‘I must be about my father’s business.’ When things becomes difficult we surrender. But when things became too overbearing, Jesus uttered, ‘Nevertheless not my will but thine be done’. He said that knowing it could mean death. Jesus declared that God is his Father and he demonstrated it by doing the will of the Father. He died on the cross so that we, who failed so miserably in our profession of faith and obedience, can be forgiven. But he not only died for our failure. But breathed unto us His Holy Spirit, so that we have the power, the dunamis, to obey the Father. He said, ‘I am that LORD that doth sanctify you.’ He can cleansed us and will be with over forever even unto the end of the world. When we failed, we can come to him again and he will cleanse us again. But as we walk with Christ, like Enoch walked with God, we are continually being changed to desire the pure life and empowered to live a life pleasing to the father until we meet him face to face one day. It is true that Christ is the only foundation. He is the Rock where when on built upon will never fall.
