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Sermons and messages from Pastor Jason White and others at Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Tyler, TX
Well, today we are continuing this summer message series that we've been in for the last six or seven weeks, called that's not what that verse means. And we've been looking at several popular verses, as many of you know, and how a lot of people will say that they're to mean one particular thing, but when you look at the context, when you look at what they're really about they really mean something else, and of course, they apply to our lives in a different way. And so it's important that we understand the true meaning behind the scriptures and what is written here and today, as we continue, we're going to look at another verse that I think often gets taken out of context, and it is often labeled as the most terrifying verse in all of the Bible. I mean, it's a big book. There's a lot of verses throughout this entire Bible, and this one is labeled most often the most terrifying verse in all of the Bible. What is it? Matthew 721, through 723, where Jesus says this, he says, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father, Who is in heaven. On that day, Jesus says, Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. I can remember reading that verse as a teenager, when I was starting to read through the Bible for the first time on my own to try to discover who Jesus really was and what he really had to say, instead of just taking other people's word for it, and I came across this verse, I mean, it did terrify me. I began to immediately think, what if I'm those, those people, right? I mean, what if I'm the one who thinks that I'm a Christian, who thinks I'm going to heaven one day, and I show up and Jesus says to me, Hey, Depart from me, because I never knew you. And at first glance, when I see all of these things that he's saying about these people who seem to be doing so many great things for the Lord and using those as reasons why they should enter the kingdom of heaven, then I'm going, Oh, I've got a problem, because they're doing some really big, great things. So I've got to be even more obedient to God's will than them. I mean, they seem like they were being obedient to God's will, but maybe they weren't being obedient enough to God's will, and so I better get to work. I do not want to show up and face Jesus face to face one day and him say, Depart from me. I never knew you because you weren't obedient to my will.
This should be seen in that light as the most terrifying verse in all of the Bible. How scary it really is to think that if you thought you were a Christian, to face Jesus one day and hear him actually say something like that. How scary, because you don't ever really know how much you have to be obedient in in order to know that you've done enough, right? He's just given a bunch of examples of all this other stuff they're doing. Apparently, that wasn't enough. So how much really is enough? But this isn't just the way that we tend to read the passage. This is also taught by very popular Bible teachers and pastors and other preachers that that is exactly what this verse means and is saying, as a matter of fact, I went to a conference when I first began to get into vocational ministry several years ago, and there was a super well known pastor, preacher, Bible teacher, who's still very popular today and preaches at a number of conferences, who used this very passage to say it's the one that kind of drove him into ministry in the beginning, but then also led him to even start to doubt his salvation and wonder if he was even really a Christian. While he was pastoring the church, he was saying that he had all these people kind of lifting him up in some way, right? I mean, you've got such great character, you're teaching with such passion from God's Word, you seem to be doing all of these things. And so they're kind of lifting him up as this spiritual leader amongst the American church. And he starts to read this verse, and he says, I don't even know if I'm the real deal. These people thought they were the real deal. And Jesus says, You're not the real deal. I never even knew you. And so what he began to talk about was how, what if? What if, because we live in the United States of America, where people can seem to be so shallow as far as Christianity is concerned, what if people are so shallow in their behavior and commitment to Christ? Christ, that just anyone who's kind of following Christ a little bit will stand out so much among all of the others, because it's such a low standard that you appear to be the real deal. But in fact, you're really not, because these guys, most likely, if you'd have seen them, doing all of these things that he's mentioning here, would have stood out, right? And they'd go look at those guys. If anybody's getting into heaven, it's gotta be those guys, because they're doing all of these things, and you're going, well, what if they just were so far above a culture that was so low, but they really weren't even far enough, apparently. And so he used this to kind of say, it should scare us. It should wake the Christian church up in America. We should be terrified about what Jesus is saying here, he combined it with another thing that Jesus had to say just a few verses later, where Jesus said this. He said, enter the narrow through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. And he used this verse to kind of justify Matthew 721, through 23 and what he is saying there that there's this obvious wide gate, this wide road that most people are on, and they're just following the ways of the world. They're doing anything they want to do, and they're living, you know, in a bunch of sin and all of this stuff, and that's easy to see, but narrows the gate and the narrow road, where people are super committed to Christ, and they're following Him in all of their ways, and they've counted the cost, and they're really on the straight and narrow, as we would say, right? There's only a few of those people. And what he began to talk about is how maybe there's a lot of people in the American church who have heard Jesus talk about this narrow road and this wide road over here, but somehow they've come to this thing in their mind where they think there's this middle road right, where we just kind of, we just go through the motions, right? We're, we're not radical enough and committed enough to say we're on the narrow road, but we're certainly not on a wide road, and we just kind of are on this middle road. And he was making this case that maybe most of the American church is in that middle road, which, according to him, again, there's no such thing. And if that's the case, then many of us are going to stand before the Lord one day and he's going to say those words, Lord, didn't we? We're going to say the Lord have we not prophesied? Am I going to church? We now do all these other things. And he's going to say, Depart from me, because I never knew you. So this is not just something that maybe we come across and we read and think these kind of things. This is popular among certain pastors and Bible teachers and those who are speaking at conferences, maybe passages that you've heard someone teach on on YouTube or in Bible study curriculum and all of those kinds of things. And to be quite honest, if that's what this verse means, it should scare us to death. We should be terrified in this particular moment. Because, again, what it is that he's saying is all of these things people are doing big things to follow God's will, and yet they weren't, apparently doing enough. And so you and I better get busy making sure that we are doing enough. But the thing that I'm here to tell you this morning, if you've read this verse before, maybe it has terrified you, maybe it's starting to terrify you right now in this moment, because you're thinking about those kind of things, that that's really not what that verse means. And so we're going to look at it in its proper context, along with some other things that Jesus said to really see what it means and how we truly can become reconciled to God, who's a holy and a perfect God. So let me just tell you right up front what this does mean. What Jesus is saying in this verse is that those who count on their works, their deeds, their actions, the things that they're doing instead of His grace, are those who will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Let's look at the verse again and just highlight what it is that he's talking about here to see if we can really figure out what he is saying again. He says, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. So we are talking about those who will enter the kingdom of heaven. I mean, he is communicating truth about that. There are some people who will enter, there are other people who will not, not all people will go to heaven. One day we'll get to that and talk about it more. He says, defines who but the one who does the will of God. So this is the key right here. The one who does the will of the Father is the one who will get to be in heaven one day. Now once Jesus says this, though, as we transition into 722, he now gives some examples of people who are declaring that they've done the Father's will. And he. Should therefore let them in right? So again, we go back and we look at what he says next. So on that day, Many will say to me, do we not prophesy in your name? Do we not cast out demons and in your name? Do we not do mighty works in your name? In other words, these are examples that these people are giving them to look to their deeds to justify them for their righteousness. Lord, look at all the things that we've done. You should let us in. We're good people, right? And then we know, of course, that Jesus comes back, and this is where he says, I declare to you, I never knew you depart from me. And so in other words, what we're seeing here are examples of things that were not God's will. When we look at verse 22 and he was they were listing all of these things, right? And he was saying, those who enter the kingdom of heaven are God's ones who does the will of the Father. Then they give them these examples, the ones of prophesying, his name, casting out devils. We're doing all these wonderful works. And you go, Okay, well, if those are the examples that they gave, and Jesus says, No, then those must not be what the Father's Will is. Because, again, that's what the verse says. Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven, only the one who does the will of my Father. Here's examples of those who are saying, we've done your will. And then he said, Sorry, you're not going to be in. So what is God's will? I mean, that's the thing that we really need to see here. I mean, if Jesus says only the one who does the will of My Father is the one that gets in, and those are not examples of what His will is, then what is His will? How can we know if we will get to enter into the kingdom of heaven? Well, Jesus didn't leave us hanging, right? I mean, that's the great thing about God. How cruel would it be if he created us and then something went wrong with the world that He created and in our lives, and there could be a way to get saved or to do the Father's will. How cruel would it be for him not to communicate that to us and let us know what it is? But he's a good God. He's a loving God, and he communicated exactly what it was so that we would know, so we wouldn't be left in the dark. Here's what Jesus says, John, chapter six, verse 40, for my father's will. All right, so we're looking for his will. And the other one, he said, Those who do the will of My Father are the ones who will enter the kingdom. Well, what is the Father's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven, he says. But those who do the will of my Father, here's the will of my Father, believe in him, and I will raise them up on the last day. Belief here involves trust. You're trusting in Him as the only way, the truth, the way and the life, and that no one comes to the Father, except through Him. There aren't multiple ways. There's one way. Jesus, he's the one who salvation comes through now all the other people in Matthew 722, what were they saying that they were pointing to all that they had done, right? Look, we've done things that are your will, God. We've done all these marvelous works, and we've done all of these things that we were trying to list out here. But Jesus says, no, no, no, no, you didn't do the will of my Father because you didn't believe in me as the way, the truth and the life you were counting on your good works, rather than trusting in me as the way good works, one way. Jesus another way. But the works are what we all kind of cling to. It's what we all kind of would rally around. We would rather point to those kind of works. And that's what people were even asking in Jesus's time. They came to him one time and said, Lord, what must we do to do the work God requires? If God requires certain works, if there's things that we have to do, then tell us right? Just give us the rules, give us the program, give us the steps that we're supposed to follow so that we can try to do those so that we'll be justified before you and have eternal life. Once again, Jesus answers them in the same way. The verse that we looked at earlier, Jesus answered the work of God is this to believe in the one he has sent. In other words, Jesus is saying, you want works. You want, the steps you want the program. There aren't enough works that you can do to come before a holy and a perfect God. There aren't enough steps that you can follow to come before me, who is a holy and a perfect God, because no matter how many good things that you do, you'll never be able to undo the bad things that you've done. And I'm a holy and a perfect God, if I let sin into a holy and perfect place, it would corrupt. A holy and a perfect place. There's no program you could follow, there's no amount of good works that you could do. Jesus saying, that's the whole reason I'm here. The whole reason I had to come is because you couldn't follow God's law, you couldn't follow the rules, you couldn't follow the steps. And so I had to come to be perfect, and then, out of my love for you, take the punishment for all of your sins to the cross. A holy and a just God cannot just overlook sin, right? He can't just say, Don't worry about it, you guys messed up. It's no big deal. A holy and a just God must demand accountability for that sin. And Jesus says, You know what, I'll I'll take their punishment for them. I'll take all of their sins to the cross and die on on the cross for them so that they could be forgiven and set free. And so what Jesus is trying to communicate to these guys stop trusting in your works, because there aren't enough works you can do to get to heaven before a holy and a perfect God, trust in me instead as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Now, quite honestly, that's
the hardest thing to do, though, sometimes
one of the most difficult things for a lot of us to do is to accept a gift, right? I mean, think about it, when people are trying to help us out, where we're in a rough patch and and we kind of need some help, and people come to us and they start telling us about the things that they will do for us or the things that they want to give us. What's our first reaction most of the time, no, no, no, no, man, we're good. I'll figure it out. We don't, we'll be okay. Or they try to give you some money to make up for something. You go, Well, no, no, I can't do that. Or okay, but I'll what pay you back, right? Or is there some work that I can do in order to get what it is that you will give me? In this moment, we're all looking to point to something that we've done to feel like we've earned it, because then we feel like we can justify having that thing. If you just give me money, I don't feel like you know I'm justified to have it, but if I've done something to earn that, then I feel like I'm justified for you to give me whatever that thing is. The other thing about that is, if somebody just gives you something, a gift, they we feel like they could take that back, right? But if there's something that I can point to that I've done, then he can't take that back. And we want to stand before God and say, but look at these things that I've done. Look how good I am compared to those guys over there, right? They're making a total mess of their life. I'm not half as bad as those guys are. And so what we see here is that Jesus says, again, you can't do enough good things to get to heaven. You simply have to receive my free gift of salvation by believing, putting your faith and trust that I'm the way, I'm the truth and I'm the life, and that no man comes to the Father except through me. When we go back to this verse that we mentioned earlier, that people kind of use in conjunction with it, what we then begin to see when we talk about these narrow gates, and we talk about the the wide gates and all of those kinds of things that the the narrow gate, then, this is the one that read, leads to life, is actually the gate of grace. What we think the narrow gate is the way of works. Right wide is the road, and narrows the road where all these people are doing whatever it is that they want to do, they're living their life and all of this way. And the narrow one is the gate of those who are really working and following Jesus in all of their actions and their true deeds. But what we see is that this is the harder gate to accept, because he's just saying it's a free gift. If we walk through that gate, there's nothing that we can point to before God and say, See, I earned it. I'm justified in what it is that I did. And if we walk through that gate, that's kind of scary, because he might take it back if he's just giving it to us, it's easier to stay on the wide road and trust in our works than it is to trust in something somebody else has done for us and is just trying to give to us and that we just have to accept. I mean, quite honestly, think about it in this way, when we talk about why is the gate of works? All the world religions, if you were to really study them, are all just a system of rules and steps and paths and things that you have to do in order to finally get where you need to be for God to let you into heaven, right? And so wide, if all the other world religions that gate is huge that people are walking down trying to justify. Themselves before God. And listen, if you're not thinking about the rules and you're not trying to justify and follow the path and all these things that you have to do in your mind, you're still playing that game. In the end, you're still thinking about, Okay, well, if there is a God and there is a heaven one day, then you know, if I look around man, I'm better than most, right? Right? I mean, I'm not great, I'm not perfect. I've never killed anyone. Hadn't cheated on my wife, right? I haven't done any bad things. Those guys did that. Those guys are in jail, right? So what are you doing when we play that game? A set of rules, a set of works, right? I've earned it more than those guys, because I'm not as bad as those guys. We're either all working the system, trying to figure out all the rules, or we're not really doing it, but in mind, we're still justifying ourselves based on the things that we kind of have done and that other people haven't done. That's the wide road. That's where most people are at. The narrow one is the narrow one of grace, where you say only Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and I can only come to the Father, except through him. No matter how many works it is that we continue to do, we're still going to die in our sins. That's what Jesus told them. He says, I told you guys that you would die in your sins if you do not believe that I am He you will indeed die in your sins. He's trying to tell us the truth. He doesn't want to leave us hanging. He doesn't want us to not know how you can be reconciled before a holy and a perfect God. Again, the truth is, you will die in your sins, no matter how good Mother Teresa, all the great things that you can point to that she's done still would never be enough for God to go, come on in. You've done so many great things here, she would still die in her sins, because she's not perfect. You can't ever make up for that. But if you've entered through the narrow gate of grace, you've received my free gift of salvation. Jesus would say, by believing in me again as the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Me, you will have eternal life.
And so when we look back at our verse today,
and we come across how certain people won't actually be in heaven. And we point to all of those examples, and we see Jesus say, Depart from me. I never knew you. It does not have to be the most terrifying verse in all of Scripture, because if you've put your faith and trust in Jesus, then you have eternal life. You don't have to worry about him saying, Depart from me. I never knew you, as long as you stopped walking on the wide road that leads to destruction of works and comparing yourself to other people and however you're going to figure out how to get to heaven one day and you follow through the narrow gate of receiving His free gift of salvation, then you have eternal security. You don't have to worry about the things that Jesus is saying here. Now, as we think about this, people hear this message a lot of times people will say, Well, what about good works? Though? Are we trying to say that good works don't really matter here? And always have two responses to that. The very first response comes along the lines when people are asking that question, because they usually associate it with things like, isn't what you're teaching just easy believism. Isn't what you're teaching just cheap grace, right? And that's what Dietrich Bonhoeffer would call it. It's cheap grace. If we don't talk to people about the narrow gate in counting the cost and making sure that you're willing to follow Jesus in all of those ways down that little road, then we're just preaching cheap grace here. And my response to that is, no, it's way better than cheap. It's actually free. It's way better than cheap. It doesn't cost you anything. It cost Jesus His very life. Cost him everything. But It's free to you, your only response is to receive what it is that he has done by His grace and will give to you. The second response I have to that is, of course, good works really do matter, right? The thing that we talk about is that when you enter through the narrow gate of grace, you're not just receiving a free ticket to heaven. Here's your ticket. You're good now when you show up one day and just go keep doing whatever it is that you want to go do, Jesus changes us in that moment, our old, dead, broken heart that's full of sin and leads us down these paths of unrighteousness gets changed into a new heart where Christ dwells within us and changes us from the inside out, and then he begins to express that new life. That new heart that he's given you through you, where love comes out and joy comes out and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and all of what Paul described as the fruits of the Spirit, of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians chapter five. And when people begin to see that being expressed through us, then they're drawn to that love, mercy and grace and that narrow gate of grace that they can walk through and receive eternal life in the same way that you and I have as well. So my point is, is that if you've said yes to Jesus, I mean, I was 10 years old, no clue what this was about. I've been going to church every Sunday, never figured it out, and all of a sudden, the light bulb moment for me was, you're a sinner, and God is a holy and a perfect God, and therefore you're separated from him, and there's nothing you can do to make up for your sin. I went, Oh, crud, I have a problem, right? But then they share with me the good news, right, that Jesus died on the cross for all of my sins, and that he will give me complete forgiveness, and he'll come dwell in me, and I'll be reconciled to God. I'll have eternal life, and my life will begin to change forever from that point on. Right if you've had that moment like my moment was at 10, and I've received His free gift of salvation, then you don't have to worry when we come to verses like this, you can experience true rest, to true peace, true assurance and true eternal security. You do not have to fear. Depart from me. I never knew you. And now what our role is is, if we've said yes to Jesus, we're looking for what Jesus is doing in us and through us to bring joy and life and peace into other people's lives, to treat them with kindness and serve them and meet their needs, so that they, too will be open to Jesus's love and accepting his grace into their lives as well. But if you're here today and you've never said yes to Jesus, you would say, Yeah, I'm I'm counting on the wide road to works. I'm trusting that I'll be okay based on what it is that I'm doing to stand before God one day and say I'm okay, because again, look at me, compared to most of those people, then what I'm hoping and praying is that the Lord has revealed that truth to you of where you're really at, that that sin in your life is a bigger deal than we tend to think, that it is, especially when you're comparing it to a holy and a perfect God, and that he would be kind enough to real, to reveal the truth to you, that you really do have a problem like We have to understand how bad the bad news really is, the state that we're really in, before we can understand how good the good news really is. And if he's showing you that today and revealing that today, no matter who you are, no matter where you've been, no matter what it is that you've done, no matter what you've been counting on, you can walk through the narrow gate of grace by saying a simple prayer of faith, coming to trust that Jesus is the way to heaven, that he is the truth, that he is the life that you're ultimately searching for and looking for and running on the treadmill and never can ultimately find because it's just out of your grasp, Jesus, you are that way, that truth and that life, and I'm putting my faith and trust in you, is the only way to be reconciled to God and have eternal life. Then
you can enter through that narrow gate of grace today,
even right now, as we close in prayer. And so let's do that, and I'm going to give you the opportunity to accept His free gift of grace, even right now, before you go, I.