Lip Service and Shifting Sands: A Warning Against Self-Deception | The Book of Matthew: Sermon On The Mount | Matthew 7:21-29 | Pastor J. M. Lee

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John Lee

Mission Church

The Book of Matthew: The King and His Kingdom • Sermon • Submitted 17 days ago • Presented 16 days ago • 44:15

Matthew 7:21–29

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Good morning!! If I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you…my name is John and I serve Mission Church as the Lead Pastor. I am honored and grateful to be with you this morning. Please grab your Bible and turn with me to Matthew 7:21.

We have been journeying together through the Gospel according to Matthew and today we are concluding our study of Jesus’ famous discourse….The Sermon on the Mount.

So far in Matthew chapter 7 ….Jesus has cautioned us about the obstacles that can prevent us from making a full commitment to Him …those distractions in life that can prevent us from walking the path of true salvation. Jesus then highlighted the mistaken notion that salvation can occur without genuine repentance and faith….and last week…..Jesus warned us against the deception of false teachers. And now…..in these closing verses of the Sermon on the Mount …..Jesus turns our attention to a danger….he directs our gaze inward to the peril that originates from within our own hearts…….which is the reality of self-deception.

Now…if you are able too…please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Matthew 7:21–29 (CSB)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

This is the Word of the Lord

Let’s Pray

In today's world….. truth often appears to be as fluid and as changeable as the wind. Many people treat truth as a matter of personal interpretation… and absolute truth…which serves as an unshakeable foundation that stands firm regardless of personal opinion or sentiment…well….not only is this firm foundation rejected…but it’s also frequently dismissed as old-fashioned or even seen as dangerous. Those who dare to uphold the truth are often met with skepticism or outright hostility.

This unstable landscape also influences our understanding of God's Word and the sincerity of our faith. And while external deceptions can mislead us….today we are confronted with an even more insidious threat: self-deception. It's all too easy to convince ourselves that we are on the right path, that we know God, and that we are living according to His will for our lives. Yet, just as we can be misled by false teachers, we can also deceive ourselves, swayed by sin and our own pride, we can completely miss the truths of the Gospel and the demands of discipleship.

As a result, Jesus warns us about the danger of self-deception and He challenges us to examine our hearts more deeply and to ask ourselves the hard question: How can we be sure that we have not deceived ourselves into believing we are secure in our faith, when in reality we might be far from God? How can we ensure that our faith is secure and genuine?

The truth is….we can deceive ourselves…it's not enough to simply call Jesus “Lord"…it’s not enough to engage in religious activities….rather…Jesus calls us to strive for obedience and to pursue a true and intimate relationship with Him. You see…In a world that often blurs the line between appearance and reality…Jesus is calling us to seek authenticity in our faith and to walk closely with Him.

To guide us in this pursuit…. Jesus provides us with two compelling illustrations and we are going to navigate these illustrations by considering two realities of the self deluded.

The Empty Words of the Self Deceived vv.21-23

The Empty Hearts of the Self Deceived vv.24-27

Finally, we will conclude our time together by contemplating the complete and absolute authority of Jesus and the appropriate response to His Sermon on the Mount.

So let’s begin with the first reality…which is…

The Empty Words of the Self Deceived

Matthew 7:21–22 (CSB)

Underline or make note of the phrase, “On that day…” and consider how … with these three words….Jesus is directing our attention to the last day…..that terrible and great future day…. the day of judgement…the day by which all other days will be measured and judged.

This final day is coming…Jesus’ return is inevitably approaching and this morning I want for us to consider the implications of this truth…that you and I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result our our actions…either good or bad. (2 Cor. 5:10)

Dear friends…I pray that each of us could be given a new perspective…that we would begin to evaluate the things we most value in life in light of the future. Think about it….How will your bank account..how will all the possessions and experiences that you hold dear be assessed on that last day? What comfort will they provide you? Think about how you spend your money; will you look back on that with satisfaction? Consider your home, your car, your most prized possessions: what will they be worth on that day?

What about how you spend your time and your energy….will what occupies you today be worth it on the last day? What is the main goal of your life? Will you you still see it as a wise pursuit in that moment when you find yourself standing face to face with your creator?

Perhaps you live your life focused on other people’s opinions of you. Will those opinions still hold weight on the last day? You may value the respect you receive from others, and that is important. But do you truly deserve the good reputation you’ve been given? Is the judgment of others an accurate reflection of the truth? Will you be as respected later as you are now? Will you still receive praise for your honesty and virtue? Can you be sure there is no deception or counterfeit in you?

On the last day….all the temporary pleasures of this world will fade away….how will your choices and priorities look then? How will they hold up to the future judgement? When the time comes to account for your life, how will you explain your priorities and your choices?

Friends… I know that I am asking you to consider a reality that you may not want to think about. However, It is wise to reflect on our last moments and to evaluate everything in light of the future. It is even wiser to imagine yourself standing before the one who sits on the great white throne, Christ Jesus, who was once crucified…rose from the dead..and will soon return in power and glory. Because Jesus says…on that day…there will be people who will claim to be followers of Jesus …they may have even completely convinced themselves that they are eternally secure and Jesus will declare to them, “I never knew you!”

Consider with me how Jesus is not speaking to the irreligious, or the atheists, or the agnostics…these groups will not be surprised.…but rather Jesus is speaking to the devotedly religious…… look back at v21

Matthew 7:21 (CSB)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

The self deceived cried out to Jesus, “Lord, Lord!” which speaks to the truth that…these folks had at one time made a profession of faith … they considered themselves to be Christians. Perhaps someone witnessed to them and told them that all they had to do was walk down an aisle, raise a hand, and say a prayer and they would be saved. There was no call to repentance of sin….no call to discipleship…no call to obedience.

Unfortunately many pastors…and maybe because we see success in numbers…we are quick to confirm that someone is saved…we are quick to give them responsibility in the church…even though we have yet to see in their lives a conviction of sin, the fruit of the Spirit, and a continual obedience to God’s Word. …and the result of teaching grace without conversion…are churches that are full of people who have made professions of faith but are simply not born again.

In his book , The Cost of Discipleship Bonhoeffer writes

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1966), 47.

It’s clear that Jesus is warning us and inviting us to examine ourselves. Ask yourself, Have I truly entered that kind of true commitment to Christ which results in increasingly costly obedience and true discipleship?

Paul also tells us to examine ourselves. Consider his words in 2 Corinthians 13:5

2 Corinthians 13:5 (CSB)

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.

Brothers and Sisters ….We are to take time to examine the sincerity of our faith…we are to take time to look at our heart and to consider what our true intentions are…..We are to examine ourselves to see if our lives are in an alignment with God's holiness and His glory.

John tells us in 1 John 1:8-9

1 John 1:8–9 (CSB)

8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If a person has made a profession of faith but has no conviction of their sin and chooses to live in willful disobedience to God….well…then they have every reason to doubt the sincerity of their profession of faith…. in other words….. those who profess to be Christian but who habitually and unrepentantly continue in known sin makes God out to be a liar, because His Word clearly denies that any such person belongs to Him. (1 John 3:6-10)

Does this describe you today? Have you settled for knowing about Jesus rather than knowing Him? Have you confessed that Jesus is God and yet you have still not entered into a true personal relationship with Him? Maybe you’re thinking…How can this be? Can someone sit in a church for years…firmly believing that Christ is God…firmly believing that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead…and even believing that Jesus is coming back one day to judge the world…and yet never come to a place where he trusts Jesus to be his savior?

Yes. You see….The question is not…do you believe that Jesus is Lord?…or do you believe that Jesus is the Savior or the World…..but…. is Jesus your Lord? Is Jesus your Savior?

Look back at v21 and see that Jesus says,

Matthew 7:21 (CSB)

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

A true profession of faith will lead you to live a life of obedience. If Jesus is truly your Lord and savior…then your life will belong to Him. No longer will you fight to be the king of your own life…for….when you heard the gospel and recieved Jesus as your savior….when you were given the gift of saving faith….you willingly removed the crown from your head and placed it on Christ….and now you live as a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom in full pursuit of obedience to God and His Word.

Now……in the same way that someone can make a profession of faith and still be lost…..you can also have a successful ministry …you can faithfully serve and volunteer in the church and still be lost…look at v22

Matthew 7:22 (CSB)

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’

“But Jesus….…I don’t just believe the right things….. I am really serving you…. I am preaching…I am leading a small group…I am teaching in Kids ministry…I am serving the homeless and I am taking meals to the sick….and I am doing all of it in your name Jesus!!”

And look at how Jesus responds….Matthew 7:23.

Matthew 7:23 (CSB)

23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

All of their words of respect and honor….and all of their works of devotion and dedication will be declared as empty and worthless…. why? Well…Jesus says, “I never knew them!” Now…of course Jesus was aware of these folks…..He knew who they were….He knew they were deceived and that they were trusting in themselves and their good works for salvation.

SO….What does Jesus means? Well when Jesus says… “I never knew you.” He is speaking of an intimate knowledge. Much like a shepherd knows His sheep or a mother knows her son.

Jesus is proclaiming… “Look…I have never known you to be my disciple…and you never knew me as your Lord and Savior. We had no intimate part of each other…you chose your kingdom and it was not my Kingdom. You followed your sinful heart rather than my Word. You trusted in yourself for salvation rather than my work on the cross. You are a disobedient lawbreaker…. So depart from me.”

And here is the unsettling truth…..you can have a religious character without having a renewed heart and you can pursue religious activity without being saved. Friend….It is possible for a person to be baptized, to take communion, to serve as a deacon or an elder, to serve as a missionary, and to even serve in the nursery and still have never known Jesus and be born again.

In other words…good morals….and good works will not save you. Religous devotion will not save you. Growing up in a Christian home will not save you. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9.

Ephesians 2:8–9 (CSB)

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

You see…simply calling Jesus your Lord is not enough. God calls us to an obedience that flows from having been overcome by the holiness of God and the depravity of our sin. An obedience that flows from having been convicted of our sin and by grace being lead to repentance.

Tell me…have you trusted in Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sin? Have you died to your sin? When you do sin does it grieve you? Are you pursuing Jesus relationally? Are you pursuing a life of obedience and faithfulness to God’s Word? Are you seeing evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in your life? If so, then praise God!! But…. If not…then take Jesus’s warning seriously…and ask the Lord to reveal to you the state of your heart and ask him to lead you to the fullness of belief in Christ and a sincere commitment to Him.

In these concluding thoughts of the Sermon on the Mount……Jesus is nailing home the command He gave us in the very beginning of this sermon. Remember Matthew 5:20.

Matthew 5:20 (CSB)

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

Don’t be deceived……it’s not good enough to talk the talk …you have to walk the walk….. You cant just say the right things…your words are empty if your life does not match what you say. Also…don’t be deceived….it’s not enough to hear what God says…you have to live it out. The knowledge of God’s Word must travel from your head to your heart and to your hands….otherwise…your heart is empty.

2. The Empty Hearts of the Self Deceived

In this second illustration…Jesus contrasts those who listen to God’s Word and follow it to those who listen but choose not to obey. Both groups are exposed to God’s truth…. but only one group follows it with faith and trusts in God's righteousness…..while the other continues to rely on their own understanding…their own righteoussness, and they follow their heart. Let’s take a look ….verse 24

Matthew 7:24–27 (CSB)

Now…I am not very competent when it comes to fixing things around the house. I can do some simple tasks…I can patch a hole in the wall and I can change a lightbulb…but any more than that and I …well….i’ll give it my best go….but I eventually I have to call my Father in Law or one of you guys to help me fix what I made worse.

In the eighth grade I was given the assignment to build a bridge out of toothpicks…and the grade was determined on how much weight the bridge could hold…. and well….let’s just say….my bridge couldn’t even hold up its own weight ….you see….before the teacher could even place a weight on the bridge it collapsed ….and well….it collapsed with a great crash….toothpicks everywhere…. And the reason for that was because I didn’t build a solid foundation for the bridge.

Friends it’s important to build your life on a firm foundation and the question is…What is the foundation that you are currently building your life on?

To help answer that question I think it would be beneficial for us to compare and contrast both the builders and the houses in Jesus’s illustrations. Consider first the similarities:

Similarities:

First… we see that both the wise man and the foolish man hear God’s Word… they both hear the gospel preached and were given an invitation to respond.

Second…after hearing the gospel….after hearing God’s word preached…they both built their house…which represents how they lived their life. So…..they heard God’s Word and they both responded…the wise man heard God’s Word and lived his life according to God’s Word…..the foolish man heard God’s word..…even acknowledged God’s word as true… but He felt so secure in the knowledge of God’s Word that He didn’t act on what He heard.

The third similarity is that both houses experience the same storm…. which speaks to the truth that the outward circumstances of the lives of these builders were essentially the same. They quite possibly lived in the same town…attended the same church…heard the same preaching…went to the same small group….and hung out with the same friends.

And the final similarity is found in the fact that these two guys built the same kin of house….they purchased the same materials….the roof was the same…the windows were the same…the color of the brick was the same…..…from the outside looking in…the foolish man lived very much like the wise man. They were both religious…they both agreed on what the Bible says….. they had the same morals and values…they voted the same way…they both served and financially supported the church ….they seemingly believed alike and lived alike.

But…..there are some staggering differences between these builders and their houses.

Differences:

The first major …glaring….and obvious difference is that one builder was obedient to God’s Word…he built His house according to God’s divine specifications……and…well….the other guy…..he was disobedient to God’s Word…he heard what God said……but he built his house according to his own blue print.

Perhaps the greatest difference between these builders and the way they built their house was in how they laid their foundations. The wise man …he built his house on the rock…wheres the foolish man built his house on the sand.

Look back at v24

Matthew 7:24 (CSB)

24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

The word for rock is Petra…which also happens to be the name of an 80’s Christian rock band….Petra…..but more importantly…Petra doesn’t speak of a single stone or even a large boulder but it speaks of a great outcropping of rock…..it speaks of a large expanse of bedrock…which is solid and immovable. Sand by contrast….well…sand is loose….sand is unstable..and extremely movable.

Now…the question is begging to be asked…..what is the rock referring to in Christ’s illustration? What is the foundation?

Well….in construction projects….builders have long used cornerstones as key foundational stones…they would usually place the corner stone at the corner of a structure.…hints the name….cornerstone. The cornerstone would have been the largest and the strongest stone and it would have guided the rest of the building's alignment…..everything was measured in relation to the cornerstone.

This reminds me of Paul’s description of the building of the church in Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2:19–21 (CSB)

19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

Friends….. Jesus is the immovable bedrock….Jesus is the cornerstone on which His church is built. He is foundational, providing the basis for all measurements in the construction. As the cornerstone, Jesus sets the standard and alignment for the foundation of the church…which is…..the apostles and the prophets.

Which speaks to the truth that the foundation that we are to build our lives on …the rock that Jesus is speaking of is His Word…..and so building His house on the rock points to the truth that the wise man hears God’s Word and obeys God’s Word.

In other words….the man or woman who reads God’s Word….and hears God’s Word preached…and then goes and applies what God’s word says…well….you are like the wise man who built his house on a rock…you are not content with simply listening to sermons calling you to repent…to believe in Jesus and to live a holy life…you actually repent of your sin…believe in Christ…you stop sinning and you are pursuing holiness……you are learning to hate that which is evil and you are clinging to that which is good…. you are a doer as well as a hearer.

And here is the result….look at verse 25

Matthew 7:25 (CSB)

25 The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock.

When the trials of life come…..when the floods of sickness, sorrow, financial hardships, disappointments, and sadness beat against you …they do so in vain. You will stand unmoved. Your faith will not waver for you have heard and you have obeyed God’s Word. And then…on the last day…. when the final storm of God’s judgment comes…..you my friend can be sure that the storm of God’s judgement will blow over you for the cornerstone…Jesus Christ…has already weathered that storm on your behalf went He went to the cross….and so rather than fearing that last day…you can live with excitement and hope knowing that you are hidden in Christ Jesus who already paid the debt you owe…and on that day…you will no longer have to stand firm and you can collapse into your Father’s arms…and He will wipe every tear from your eye and welcome you into eternity with Him.

Now……the man or the woman who read’s God’s Word and hears God’s Word preached……the man or the woman who has a wealth of knowledge of God’s Word….But then refuses to apply what you read and apply that knowledge to your life…well….you are the foolish man building your house on the shifting sand…you are the one..James says…. stares at yourself in the mirror and then immediately forgets what kind of person you are. You are content to hear sermons calling you repent of sin.…to believe in Christ…and to stop sinning and to pursue holiness…but then you refuse to repent…in fact you are content to continue living in your sin….you say you believe in Jesus …but your profession is canceled out due to your refusal to stop sinning and to pursue holiness…. friend…..you are the foolish man….and your house …. is built on the shifting sand.

And here’s the result…..look at verse 27

Matthew 7:27 (CSB)

27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

When the floods of sickness, sorrow, financial hardships, disappointments, and sadness beat against you ….your faith will falter and collapse with a great crash. You will begin to question the truths of the gospel…you will begin to deconstruct your faith…..and reject the truths of God’s Word which you refused to put into practice. And then…on the last day…. when the final storm of God’s judgment comes…. Jesus will say to you… depart from me for I never knew you.

Understand…. Jesus is ending His sermon on the mount with a Mic drop…..and the bottom line for you who who rejects Christ is not that you will give up a great deal of blessing or even that you will give up a life of eternity with God in heaven…yes… those things are absolutely true. But the bottom line for those who reject Christ is that you are destined for everlasting torment, and destruction that keeps on destroying forever.

And so….knowing this future reality…..Jesus wants to make sure that you and I have not deceived ourselves into thinking that we are secure because we say all the right things…..or that we are secure because of our work in the church….…or that we are secure because of our knowledge of God’s Word….…if our words….if our religion…if our knowledge does not lead us to be poor in Spirit and to mourn our sin….. if it is not producing in us humility and a hunger and a thirst for righteousness…if we are not becoming more merciful and peaceful …and if its not leading us to experience persecution….then we should examine our hearts and the sincerity of our faith. Tell me…does your profession of faith have substance? Does Jesus know you? Are you a just hearer of God’s Word? or are you a doer? Is your life being built on the cornerstone of Christ Jesus and the foundation of His Word?

How are you going to respond? Well consider how the multitudes responded… look at v28

Matthew 7:28–29 (CSB)

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

The response to the most amazing sermon ever preached by the most impressive preacher was astonishment. They were astonished by Jesus and amazed by His authority….and that’s the first part of what’s necessary to come to Him…to be amazed by His authority…and my prayer for you this morning is that you will not stop at mere amazement but that you will press on to a deeply rooted commitment to Jesus and submission to his authority.

Friend…you can be sure that you will stand on that last day secure…you can be sure that you are not self deceived….and that begins by first repenting of your sin…repenting of your disobedience and trusting in Christ.

1 John 1:9 (CSB)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus has already paid the penalty that you deserve. Cry out to Him in repentance and faith…. receive Jesus as your savior…. submit to Him as your Lord and pursue a life of obedience.

James 1:22 (CSB)

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Mission Church may we not simply give God lip service and build our house on shifting sands…..rather….let’s be a people who rest in the fact that Jesus has accomplished everything we need to be reconciled to God. Lets be a people who know and are who known by Jesus. Lets be a people who don’t merely hear God’s Word but also are obedient to God’s Word. And if we do …we can avoid self deception and stand secure in our in our faith.