Beware of a False Profession! (Exposition of Matthew 7:21-29)

In a survey of women it was found that 15 percent of the ladies colored their hair, 38 percent wore a wig, 80 percent wore rouge, 98 percent wore eye shadow, 22 percent wore false eyelashes, 93 percent wore nail polish. And 100 percent voted in favor of a resolution condemning any kind of false packaging!

No one wants to be deceived. But many are deceived. In Matthew 7:21-27 Jesus deals with the most dangerous kind of deception: self-deception. The two categories of self-deception are those of mere verbal profession and of mere intellectual knowledge. The first, described in vv. 21-23, involves those who say without doing, and the second, described in vv. 24-27, involves those who hear without doing.

Let it be remembered that Jesus is not speaking to irreligious people here. He is speaking to people who are devotedly religious, but lost.

The many deceived are those who profess Christ without obeying Him and those who have an intellectual knowledge of Christ without obeying Him. This morning’s text is the invitation which Jesus gave to the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5-7.

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. (22) 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?” (23) And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (24) Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall. (2 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, (29) for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Matthew 7:21-29

I. Saying Without Doing (False Professors) vv. 21-23

The first group are those who are deceived by their false profession. They say without doing. The emphasis in these verses is what these deceived ones are saying (vv.21 and 22). The startling contrast to what they professed is found in Christ’s profession to them in v. 23, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

One of the amazing things about Jesus’ teaching about the gospel is how far He said individuals can go in religious activities without being a true child of God. The works they do are only external. They are hypocrites who say the right things but do not do them from the heart.

These people even say, “Lord, Lord.” They were sound and orthodox in their theology. They knew of Jesus’ lordship and even gave verbal assent to it, but they reason they were turned away is that they didn’t submit to His lordship by doing the will of the Father (v. 21).

Not only were they sound in their theology they were involved in doing things in Jesus’ name (3 times in v. 22). Preaching, exorcism and miracles are not proofs of true salvation. According to Jesus the only test of the sincerity of our faith in Christ is our obedience to “the will of the Father.”

What causes people to be so deceived? There are several reasons, let me give you four reasons.

1. False Doctrine of Assurance. They believe (many have been told this by preachers) that just because they walked an aisle, raised a hand, and said a prayer they should never doubt their salvation. This is an unbiblical approach. Which leads to a second reason of deception . . .

2. Failure of Self-Examination. In 2 Cor. 13:5 Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” We are to look at the motives and desires of our heart to see if we long for righteousness, even though we sin.

We are not to look for perfection in our lives to see if we are truly Christians, but we are to look at our desires. Does it grieve us when we sin? Do we repent over our sin? Or do we enjoy living in sin? Can we continue to live in sin without any remorse or desire to repent?

The Bible is very clear in 1 Cor. 6:9-10,

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Don’t be deceived! If you can live in unrepentant sin, you’re not saved.

3. Religious Activity. Others are deceived because of their “churchianity.” Attending church, hearing sermons, singing hymns, reading the Bible, attending Bible studies, and many other good activities can actually cause you to be more deceived if they make you think you are faithful and obedient when in reality you are not. Just like those in this passage who prophesied, cast out demons and did many wonderful works, but Jesus said “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

4. Balancing Out Approach. Others are deceived because they think their good deeds will one day “balance out” their bad deeds. So instead of confessing sins and asking for forgiveness, a person may simply try to do good in order to make up for their sins thinking that the positive cancels the negative. In January, 2002 Mike Tyson applied for a boxing license in Nevada. During his hearing, he argued on the scale basis. He said, “I’m not Mother Teresa, but I’m not Charles Manson either.” His application was unsuccessful and so will yours be on the day of judgment.

Whatever the reason for your deception, if all you have is a profession that hasn’t resulted in a changed life then you are deceived and you are not going to heaven. You are on the broad way that leads to destruction.

The words of an engraving from the cathedral of Lubeck, Germany, beautifully reflect our Lord’s teaching here:

Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us, You call Me master and obey Me not, you call Me light and see Me not, you call Me the way and walk Me not, you call Me life and live Me not, you call Me wise and follow Me not, you call Me fair and love me not, you call Me rich and ask Me not, you call Me eternal and seek Me not, if I condemn thee, blame Me not.

II. Hearing Without Doing (Foolish Man, Sand) vv. 24-27

Our Lord now expands on the danger of the coming judgment with a brief illustration. This is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount. This illustration brings together all Jesus has said up to this point.

In this section the emphasis is upon hearing, whereas in the previous section the emphasis is upon saying. This is an illustration of the contrast between those who hear and obey and those who hear without obeying. Although there are several similarities, there is one crucial difference.

Similarities

BOTH BUILD (involved in religious work, active)

BOTH BUILD IN SAME AREA (same block, same church, Bible studies, true Christians are side by side with the deceived, i.e. wheat and tares)

BOTH BUILD IN THE SAME WAY (buildings looked the same, only difference is in the foundation which was invisible till the storm came)

Differences

FOUNDATIONS (Rock vs. Sand) Petra does not mean a stone or even a boulder, but a great outcropping of rock, a large expanse of bedrock. It is solid, stable, and unmoveable. Sand, by contrast, is loose, unstable, and extremely moveable.

But the wise man builds his house upon a rock. The rock spoken of here is God’s Word. Jesus said, whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them. Building on the rock is the equivalent of obeying God’s Word.

In Matthew 16, Peter confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God” and Jesus said, “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you , but My Father who is in heaven. And I say unto you that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” This rock is the same rock of Matthew 7:24-25. It is the bedrock of God’s Word, His Divine revelation. It is the Divine revelation such as was given to Peter by the Father and is the only rock on which the Christian life can be built.

The songwriter said it this way in How Firm A Foundation:

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,

I will not, I will not desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake!

But to build on the sand is to build on the opinions, attitudes, and emotions of mere man. These, like the sand, are always shifting and unstable.

EASY VS. HARD (quick results, quick evangelism)

Differences are only seen when the storm comes. The storm with its rain, floods and winds sum up God’s final judgment. Those who have built on anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ will be utterly destroyed. Those who have built upon faith in Christ and His Word will be spared on the day of Judgment. The message Jesus is proclaiming is clear, Judgement is coming!!!!! It will then be painfully obvious to all which foundation you have built upon.

I hope that then you will be able to say in the paraphrased words of the great hymn, My Hope is Built,

My house is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the strongest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

The only validation you will ever have of your salvation is a life of obedience to Christ. Not a date or an experience, but your obedience to Christ is the only way to know you’re saved.

A few years ago I was looking at a New Testament given out in Vacation Bible Schools held in our Southern Baptist churches. On the inside back cover were these words, “If I ever wonder if I am a Christian, I can open this New Testament and remember this special day when Jesus came into my life to stay!” Then there is a place for the child’s name, age, date, place and a witness. Many are deceived because they can remember a time and a place but there has been no change in their desires. They still love the world, they don’t enjoy attending public worship with other believers, they have no hunger for the word of God, they can live in unrepentant sin, but they have something written down in their Bible or a baptismal certificate. Or worse they are told by others that they’re saved.

The book of 1 John was written so we could know that we have eternal life. Listen to what John said in 1 John 2:17 “He who does the will of God abides for ever.” Similarly James 1:22 says it this way, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

At the end of the sermon, the crowd was “astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (vv. 28-29).

But there isn’t a response of faith. Many seemed only to watch and listen the same as in our day. They made no decision and by not deciding they decided to stay on the broad road which leads to destruction.

C. S. Lewis gives a remarkable illustration from his own life of why many people reject the message of the gospel:

When I was a child I often had toothache, and I knew that if I went to my mother she would give me something which would deaden the pain for that night and let me get to sleep. But I did not go to my mother – at least, not till the pain became very bad. And the reason I did not go was this. I did not doubt she would give me the aspirin: but I knew she would also do something else. I knew she would take me to the dentist next morning. I could not get what I wanted out of her without getting something more, which I did not want. I wanted immediate relief from pain: but I could not get it without having my teeth set permanently right. And I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache. They would not let sleeping dogs lie.

It is that very sort of thinking that keeps many people out of the kingdom: the price is more than they want to pay. They want their sins forgiven, they want to go to heaven, they don’t want to go to hell, but they don’t want Jesus messing with their lives! And they choose to go to hell rather than submit themselves to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. What about you?

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