Matthew 7:21-23

F. THE DANGERS FACING THE WISE AND GODLY MAN

(Matthew 7:1-27; Luke 6:37-49)

7. THE DANGER OF SELF-DECEPTION.

(Parallel: Luke 6:46)

TEXT: 7:21-23

21. 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 who is in heaven.
22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works?
23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS

a. Would God empower an unconverted worker of iniquity to prophesy, cast out demons and do many mighty works? What makes you think so?
b. Does the phrase, I never knew you, indicate that the condemned miracle-workers, exorcists and prophets never had been Christians? Prove your answer.
c. In what sense, then, did Jesus never know them?
d. Do you think these who make this protest to Jesus about their past ministry in His Name, were sincere in their protest? In other words, do you think they are genuinely surprised that the verdict has gone against them? Or do you suppose them to be rising to the height of hypocrisy, hoping even to deceive the Judge into believing in their fakery by accepting their word about miracles which they did not, in fact, perform by His power. Do you think they did miracles rather by trickery with intent to deceive others through mention of the Lord's respectable Name?
e.

If you think the condemned were actually inspired and empowered by the Lord to do these wonders, what, then, is the basis of Jesus-' verdict that they were, in the end, workers of iniquity?

f.

What is the relationship between the miracles (prophecies, casting out of demons, etc.) wrought by someone, and his personal morality and consequent salvation?

g. What is the relation between this section and that which precedes it? Or is there any such connection?

PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY

It is not every one who keeps addressing me as -Lord, Master,-' that will get into God-s kingdom, but only those who actually do the will of my heavenly Father. What is the use of calling me -Lord and Master,-' if you do not do what I tell you? On the Day of Judgment, many will protest to me: -But, Lord, did we not proclaim divine revelations in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not many miracles in your name? Indeed we did, Lord!-' Then I will tell them to their face, -I never knew you. Get away from me, you who work iniquity!-'

SUMMARY

The final test of character and the first requirement for entrance into Gad's kingdom is willing obedience. That religion is nothing but a sham which will not make a man obey God, regardless of all its other pretences to orthodoxy. Even great evidences of God's personal intervention through the life of a Christian are not necessary evidence of that man-s personal conversion and consequent salvation, for he may be finally rejected because of his personal refusal to respond to his own preaching.

NOTES

This section has a natural connection with that which precedes it: if the false prophets will be recognized by the fruit of their lives, what does the fruit of my life indicate about me? Jesus-' argument is driving ever closer to the conscience of His disciple:

My friend, the false teachers will be damned, it is true, on the basis of their deeds, but what about you? What of your deeds? There are many border-line disciples who would never be called false prophets and would never wilfully seek to do what a savage wolf in sheep's clothing intends to do. Probably they are decent, law-abiding citizens of their community, good church-goers but have not done the one thing essential to entrance into Gods kingdom.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Not every one: but some will enter the kingdom. To say to Jesus, Lord, Lord, is equivalent to calling Him the Master of one's life. It is claiming that relation to Jesus expressed in the title. (See Malachi 1:6) Luke (Luke 6:45) abbreviates this dictum in the form of a hard-hitting rhetorical question: Why do you call me -Lord, Lord,-' and not do what I say? But as Matthew records the saying, He is not denying that the claimants are His servants or that they adhere to the orthodox teaching He gave them or that they are sincere. Their one grave fault was that they did not DO the Father's will. (Cf. Matthew 21:28-32; Matthew 25:11-12; Romans 2:12-13; James 1:22-25; James 2:14; 1 John 2:17) Only he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven shall enter into the kingdom. (Study John 5:29; John 8:51; John 12:26; John 12:44-50; John 14:15; John 14:21; John 14:23-24; John 15:14; 2 Timothy 3:5) There are those who would be quick to subscribe to the Lordship of Jesus in order to receive the benefits of such a relationship, but they do not often actually try to adopt Jesus-' way of thinking, which is, after all, the essence of the will of God (or the kingdom of God, see on Matthew 6:9). They might even crucify those who tried to live like Jesus. But, for Jesus, performance and production, not profession and pious prayers, is the test of membership in His kingdom. Too often a clear intellectual grasp of truth is divorced from its practical expression. Paul personally feared this possibility (1 Corinthians 9:27).

There is important psychological insight in Chambers-' observation (88,100) that

There is a great snare in the capacity to understand a thing clearly and to exhaust its power by stating it. To say things well is apt to exhaust the power to do them, so that a man often has to curb the expression of a thing with his tongue and turn it into action, otherwise his gift of facile utterance may prevent his doing the thing he says.. The frank man is the unreliable man, much more so than the subtle, crafty man, because he has the power of expressing a thing right out and there is nothing more to it,

To have given expression to some truth. such as Jesus-' Lordship, without acting upon its clear implications is self-deception, even to those who are involved in His service in some special way, (Matthew 7:22-23) Here is another clear principle on how to judge righteous judgments: in judging yourself and your works, do not judge only on the basis of external evidences and appearances and forget the reality of your inward relation to God through real obedience!

The will of my Father is a most significant phrase in this critical moment, because He hereby pronounces Himself Son of the Father in a unique sense, in a relationship shared by none. Shortly (Matthew 7:24-27) He will praise obedience to His message as the epitome of wisdom and He will denounce failure to build one's life on His word as the height of folly. In a very thinly veiled manner, Jesus is claiming that His words are the very words of God, the obedience to which determines entrance into God's kingdom. Here He proclaims Himself Judge and Lord before whom all must appear in judgment, Neither Moses nor the prophets could speak this way. These great judgments put the rest of the Sermon which precedes them into a different category, completely separate from all brilliant ethical systems constructed by carefully reasoning. For these words alone are the utterances of our Judge. It is with HIS words, and His alone, that we will have to deal! (Cf. John 6:45; John 8:24; John 8:31-32; John 8:47; John 8:51; John 12:47-48)

Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me in that day. Jesus begins to emphasize the theme with which He will terminate the Sermon: I am Judge, my Word is the final standard. But He does this not merely to assert His deity, but to give present moral guidance to His disciples in the face of moral failure of former disciples. look at Jesus! (Hebrews 12:1-4; 2 Timothy 2:8 f) We tend to panic as some saint we thought secure goes down in sin. We must not repose our confidence in the best man or woman we have ever met! We must trust only the Lord Jesus. In that day: see Matthew 10:15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Timothy 1:12; 2 Timothy 4:6-8.

Many will say. Lord, did we not? Their question implies that they expected an affirmative answer. There is nothing in the context to indicate that these who so address themselves to Jesus are sheer hypocrites or necessarily false prophets, although they could well be this also. (Cf. Matthew 25:11 ff; Luke 13:25 ff for examples of such judgment-scene conversations.) Did we not:

1. Prophesy by thy name? i.e. utter divine revelation and explain its implications. (Cf. Numbers 24:2; Numbers 24:4; 2 Kings 22:5-20, esp. 1 Kings 22:11; Jeremiah 23:17; cf. Jeremiah 23:16)

2. By thy name cast out demons? (Cf. Mark 3:14; Mark 3:19; Mark 6:7; Mark 6:13; Luke 10:17-20)

3. By thy name do many mighty works? (Cf. Mark 13:22; 1 Corinthians 13:2)

Some of the above-cited references generally prove that even unconverted men have been granted the power to prophesy, exorcize demons and work miracles. Even the Mosaic Law admitted the possibility that true miracle-working power be evidenced even in false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Jesus does not call these claims false and does not deny that the claimants actually did what they said. Whether these claimants be those who sincerely thought they had a right to claim Him as their Lord and reap the benefit of the relationship involved in this title, or whether these are hypocritical false prophets who actually worked miracles in Jesus-' name, does not matter greatly in reference to the principle involved, for the result and the verdict is the same. The principle involved is that even the obvious witness of the Holy Spirit, given through such mighty gifts as prophecy, demon-exorcism and mighty signs, is no evidence of personal conversion! (Cf. 1 Corinthians 12:14) But, some would ask, would God give such powers to those whom He could foresee would show up so badly at the final judgment? (Ye workers of iniquity) But this is just the point: until the final judgment there is yet mercy which leaves the opportunity available to every Christian to do the will of God or to apostasize. Judas Iscariot is a key example. (Study Matthew 10:1-4; Matthew 10:7-8; Mark 3:14; Mark 3:19; Mark 6:7; Mark 6:13) Jesus knew from the beginning what Judas-' end would be, but He empowered him to work right along with the others, God is able to make an instrument of His service even those who may not necessarily remain His willing servants. It is too easy to use Jesus-' message and miracles to correct the lives of others without responding personally to the implications of the message ourselves. He is pointing to the possibility of moral failure for the true prophet, the failure to live up to the stringent ethical requirements of his own divinely-attested message, Lord, Lord is not the anguished cry of false prophets, but of miracle workers who were once true disciples but did not remain faithful to the God who had empowered them. Their final rejection is stated, not on the ground that their claims are false, but that their failure to do the will of God (Matthew 7:21) was equivalent to working wickedness (Matthew 5:23; cf. James 4:17).

Matthew 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Cf. Matthew 25:12; Matthew 25:41; Matthew 13:41; Luke 6:26; Luke 13:27; 1 John 3:4) This verse does not disclaim authorization of their miracles and ministry, nor does it deny the reality of their having performed such a ministry, nor does it affirm that it had been pretence all along as merely a ruse to deceive the unwary, Nor is there any indication that they had used their miracles to attest false propaganda, Jesus-' verdict involves:

1. His plain declaration: I never knew you, (Cf. 1 Corinthians 8:3; 2 Timothy 2:19) They knew Him and were depending upon this knowledge of Him to save them (cf. Luke 19:22-23; Luke 13:25-26). They had thought of Him as Lord, Lord and were counting upon this relationship to save them. But they had not done what their knowledge and professed allegiance should have caused them to do. Thus, their claim of intimate acquaintance of Jesus went against them, because, for all that, they should have done better and, hence, were all the more responsible for their failure. I never knew you is not a confession of ignorance of their life and ministry, for the Lord knew all about them. He never knew them in the sense that He recognizes as genuine no disciple who does not fix his heart upon doing what God wills. Within the limits of the information offered in this text, it is possible to view these claimants as Christian servants who began to serve Jesus, yes, even worked great signs and wonders, but did not connect their own morality to their true religion and thus failed so miserably to do God's will, Despite all their professions, they had really been evil because their religion was totally expended in prayers, portents and preachments; it had no practice.

2. His rejection of their company for eternity: Depart from me! (Cf. Matthew 25:41; Matthew 25:46 a)

3. The justification of the verdict: they had really been workers of iniquity. If these are false prophets whom He thus addresses, there is no problem, for their doom is clear and needs no explanation. But if these condemned men were once disciples, an explanation is in order. Jesus finishes this section and moves smoothly into the final illustration with which He closes this tremendous Sermon. But there is a clear connection that runs from Matthew 7:21 to Matthew 7:27 and provides explanation of the phrase at hand: ye workers of iniquity. That clear connection is the ethical problem of not living up to the light we possess, because of the simple (but also profound) failure to do what we have heard in God-s Word. (James 1:16-25) Therefore, Jesus is regarding anyone-be he a true disciple, true prophet or false-who stops at hearing and knowing His word, short of full-souled obedience, as a worker of iniquity, for the result is practically the same as if he had never known the way of righteousness.

The formula is as simple as the warning is severe:

1. Only calling Jesus Lord is not doing God's will.
2. Only hearing Jesus-' will it not obedience.
3. Only working miracles is not obedience.
4. Only doing God-s will is obedience.
5. ALL else is disobedience and worthy of severest condemnation.

FACT QUESTIONS

1. To whom is reference made in the phrase: every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord?

2. What does Jesus mean by the kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 7:21) What then, is meant by entering it?

3. What is the one requirement Jesus mentions for entrance into the kingdom?
4. What does it mean to address Jesus as Lord, in the negative sense in which some would do so but not enter His kingdom?
5. What does it mean to address Jesus as Lord in the normal, right sense?

6. By the repetition of the double vocative, Lord, Lord, does Jesus mean to identify those in Matthew 7:21 who do not do the will of the Father, with those in Matthew 7:22 who claim to have worked miracles in Jesus-' name?

7. What is so important to the success of the miracle-workers- protest that they argue that their works were done in thy name? Note that the phrase, in thy name, is repeated each time,
8. What false ideas is Jesus correcting by His remarks about His rejection of certain prophets, certain exorcists and certain miracle-workers?
9. Name some obviously unconverted men who really worked God-given miracles or prophesied under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.
10. As a matter of fact, did Jesus deny that the condemned workers of iniquity had really done miracles, cast out demons or prophesied in His name?