THE ULTIMATE DECEPTION

MATTHEW 7:21-23

“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.

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?”

Some of the saddest words are uttered in this passage that could ever be spoken, written, or heard. They are spoken by a loving Savior who has willingly paid the price, the full ransom, for the sins of all mankind. In this setting, He is speaking in the shadow of the cross, because he has not yet given His life in a literal sense, though it is a settled issue. He came to die, for he spoke of the cross before Him as “His hour.” The sad words to be uttered on that day are, “depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you.”

The Lord had warned here that salvation does not come through the natural course of things, He spoke these words to Nicodemas, who came to Him by night, “ye must be born again” and explained to this religious, but lost man, what that meant.

These deceived ones had done what they called, “many wonderful works,” but He called their efforts, working iniquity. “Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord shall enter the Kingdomof Heaven,” He warned, then stated that, “many will say unto me Lord, Lord.” He explains that they are deceived, for He is not their Lord at all, neither is He their Savior, but he desires to be and has done all that He can do to be. He has paid the full ransom price for our sins when He died on Calvary. The works they claim to have done are high caliber works, indeed, and they may have been done as they spoke his name, but deception and presumption are at work here. They have omitted the most important part of the Christian life, which is, coming to the Savior and receiving by faith His finished work on the cross for them, as He died as their substitute. It omits the admission of one’s sinful condition. It is the way of the cross that leads to salvation, not the wonderful religious works done in His name. Let us not presume upon the grace of God by merely reforming our lives, we must be transformed by the grace of God, as we confess to Him our true condition.

Let us not hastily overlook the word, “many,” for many will be deceived about themselves in this manner on ‘that day.’ Be sure you have come by the way of the cross, my friend, because when this sentence is pronounced, there will be no appeal to a higher court, this is the highest court and no appeal will ever be heard. Sad words indeed and they will be uttered to many on that day, that terrible Day of Judgment. A little child can understand the gospel, so that is not the reason these are deceived, but it is a heart condition, a proud unrepentant heart condition.

In His wonderful name,

Pastor Ed Bowen

February 7, 2010