Sermon on the Mount True and False Disciples

Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he
who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform
many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from Me, you
evildoers! (21-23)
As Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount, He challenges the disciples (and us) to choose
the narrow gate and narrow way that lead to life (7:13-14), and warns us to beware of false
prophets (7:15-20) who would lead us to the wide gate and broad road that lead to
destruction
Following the warning of false prophets, Jesus cautions us to make certain we are not false
disciples and in so doing utters perhaps the most solemn words in the New Testament
Unmistakably calling Jesus Lord and identifying with His people is not necessarily
evidence of salvation, and James reminds us that evens the demons believe and shudder in
fear (2:19)
We cannot dismiss what Jesus says, and all of us would do well to heed the Apostle Pauls
challenge to examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith (II Corinthians 13:5)
Paul teaches that salvation is evidenced by belief of the heart and then verbal confirmation:
If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised
Him for the dead, you will be saved; for it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved (Romans10:910)
But why would Jesus say, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the
kingdom of heaven? Because this statement prompts us to ask, then who will enter His
kingdom?
His clear and unambiguous answer? But only he who does the will of My Father
A disciple of Christ will obey Him a false disciple may look the part but does not do
what He says; Jesus said in John 14:15: If you love Me, keep my commands
Just as Paul teaches that true belief of the heart results in verbal confirmation of that faith,
Jesus teaches that true love for Him results in obedience and doing the will of the Father
John teaches the same truth about the necessity of obedience: If we claim to have
fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth (I
John 1:6)
James teaches that faith without works is dead (2:17) not that works will save anyone
(Ephesians 2:8-9), but if faith in Christ is real, this faith will express itself in obedient action
Gods Word does not contradict itself, and Jesus warning is to open our eyes to the terrible
danger of self-deception and self-delusion (Martin Lloyd Jones, Studies in the Sermon,
517)
The many false disciples to whom Jesus addressed this statement protest by saying, Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons and perform many miracles?
Jesus answers, I never knew you though they identified themselves as disciples and did
some of the actions of His followers, they never experienced the new birth as Jesus
explained to Nicodemus when He said: You must be born again (John 3:3-8)

 Only when we repent of the sin of rebellion and self-assertion and entrust our lives to Christ
do we experience this new birth and become a new creature in Christ (II Corinthians 5:1721)
The phrase in Christ or in the Lord appears in the bible over 130 times this is the
unique experience of the Christian no matter what activities a false disciple accomplishes,
if there was not a born again experience of being united with Christ, He will say I never
knew you
This union with Christ is deeply personal, and Jesus tells us, abide in me (John 15:4)
And this experience is not only intimate but infinite, so much that Paul, who we consider to
be perhaps the most mature disciple, could still say, Oh that I might know Him! (Phil
3:10)