Why will not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord," be saved (Matthew 7:21)?

Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the people of His day, as recorded in 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? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Such people then may have been very active in what is called Christian work - they have preached, they have cast out demons, that is, their influence has been such that men and women have found deliverance from satanic power through their ministrations in the name of Jesus, they have professed with their lips, they have accomplished many wonderful works, but they are found in that day among the lost, and when they plead their great activity and their earnestness in Christian testimony, the Lord says to them, “I never knew you.” Notice, He does not say to them, “I used to know you, but you have forfeited My favor and I do not know you any longer.” He says, “I never knew you.”

There should be a "But" before ver. 15. Of course, we now, as christians, are in a different position to these disciples. They were to know the false prophets by their fruits, but we have the Holy Spirit and the written word whereby to "try the spirits whether they be of God." The two great tests are, the person of Christ, and the word of God. If you find anything derogatory to the person of Christ you may be sure that it is not of God, for the Holy Ghost is here to glorify Christ. Sheep's clothing is what is suitable to a sheep; but these false men have a fair exterior, but by their fruits ye shall know (or, recognise) them. This is all very searching, and shows thoroughly how these false prophets had not divine life in their souls. "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." If we take this as a figure of men, "there is none good"; "there is none that does good, no not one"; so, if there is any good, it can only be from a new, a divine, nature. Thorns cannot produce grapes, nor thistles figs, and those who do not produce good fruit have only one end, and that is the fire for "every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." It is all connected.

Ver. 21 shows us that these were evidently self-deceived. It was quite right to Call Him "Lord" as He says of His disciples in John 13, "Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well; for so I am." Yes, He was, and is, the Lord; and all through this portion He speaks with authority, not only as the great Teacher, but also as the Judge. Every one of the human race shall have to do with Him. In the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. But here, in Matthew, it is of those who make profession and call Him Lord by lip only. Scripture plainly reveals that profession alone will not suffice; there must be much more than profession. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord," and this is practical holiness. "The grace of God that brings salvation" teaches us (and you cannot divorce the doctrine from the grace) "that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." There is the danger of making everything of the profession. I think there is often a mistake in dealing with souls as to this. It is thought to be the great thing to get people to say 'I believe.' You should get them to believe, and, to this end, present Christ. But there must be subjection to Him, to His will, to His word. It is true that we who are the Lord's are "elect, according to foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." That is, we are set apart by the Spirit, the very first moment He begins to work in us, not only to the sprinkling of the blood of Christ, but also to the obedience of Christ.

Ver. 22. The Lord does not deny that they had prophesied. It was possible for a wicked man to do so. Balaam prophesied magnificent prophecies, but he perished with the enemies of the Lord. Caiaphas also prophesied. It is possible to understand all mysteries, and yet not be saved. It is well for us to take notice of what is said here, "In Thy Name have cast out demons." A man may be a wonderful preacher, and used of God to the conversion of souls, but yet have not life in his own soul! Paul says, "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away." He is referring to the Grecian games. He does not mean that he feared his being reprobate, for he ran, not as uncertainly, nor did he beat the air, but that if keeping under of the body did not go along with his service, it would but prove him a counterfeit. It was the apostle's way, when enforcing the unpalatable rather than the pleasant, to apply the former to himself as illustration. But where it was matter of what was pleasant, he loved to bring in others by way of example. "In Thy Name done many wonderful works." All this might be true. A man might indeed be used to turn a lot of drunkards into respectable citizens, and yet, sad to say, be lost! "I never knew you." But the Lord does know them that are His (2 Tim. 2:19). There is no such thing as a child of God being "lost." "I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of My hand," is what the Lord Himself has said. How emphatic! Yet one may be a mere professor, able to speak of wonderful deeds he has done, and yet have no love to Christ!

That all who take upon themselves the service of Christ must own Him as Lord need scarcely be said, for otherwise he would have no right to call himself a Christian. But not all that call Him Lord love either Him or His service. There are many reasons why people enter that service. It is taken up by some as a respectable way of earning a living; by others for the purpose of gaining ascendancy over the souls of men; not so many take it up out of pure devotedness to the interests of Christ. But those who take the place of His servants have the responsibility devolving upon the position, and may have a talent given to them to be used in their service for Him. “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 have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:22-23). The fact of their being servants of His and gifted with power to serve Him does not prove them to be in vital relationship with Him. These certainly were not, for He says: “I never knew you.” That He is omniscient and knows all men is just what the Word says (John 2:24-25), But here it is knowledge involving intimacy in the Divine life and nature. Jesus says, “I know My sheep, and am known of Mine, as the Father knows Me and I know the Father (John 10:15). This is the intimacy that subsists between Him and all His own, and outside of this is every other human being. The wicked servants are not in this fellowship.

But in our text, which closes the sermon on the Mount, it is another truth: not redemption (which was not there the object) but the absolute necessity of obedience in all who call Jesus Lord. To say Lord, Lord, without doing His Father's will, is worthless. Many shall say in the future day of account, Have we not prophesied through Thy name, and through Thy name cast out demons, and through Thy name done many works of power? But He will answer, I never knew you: depart from Me, workers of lawlessness. It was hollow profession, whatever the works of power, which only aggravated the guilt and will add to the endless remorse. There was no life possessed in Christ, and consequently no obedience, to which every believer is sanctified (1 Peter 1:2). Without holiness none shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:11). The point is here that obedience is indispensable from each one that bears His name.

Hence the Lord concludes, "Whoever therefore heareth these my words and doeth them, I will liken him to a prudent man which built his house upon the rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and fell upon that house, and it fell not; for it had been founded upon the rock. And every one that heareth these my words, and doeth them not, shall be likened to a foolish man which built his house upon the sand; and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and fell upon that house, and it fell, and its fall was great" (Matt. 7:24-27).

The essential thing is doing the will of His Father which Christ was revealing. As He said in John 5:24, where life eternal was in question, "Verily, verily, I say to you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath life eternal." These are the persons who, having done the good things as possessed of life now, rise for the resurrection of life (ver. 28). Equally peremptory is the Lord's word here. No profession without corresponding course of life can avail; nothing less or other than doing His heavenly Father's will. And who so competent to reveal as the Son, who left (as He tells us in John 16:12-13) many things, beyond hearing then, for the Holy Spirit to announce when He came?

It is clear that, as in the entire discourse, not a word is said about the new birth, still less redemption. The Lord is not here preaching to sinners how they were to be saved; He is teaching His disciples how to walk before the Father that is in the heavens. How does He view that vague and multitudinous profession, which is a burlesque of Christianity, though now so popular, on the one hand through histrionic ceremonies and gaudy shows and religious fables, and on the other through appeals to the intellect and to the imagination by oratory or reasoning. There may be seeming devoutness and profuse earnestness; but without living faith in Christ, neither is God known nor is self judged. The Lord insists on true obedience.

Many of these profess even a knowledge of the Lordship of Christ: their lips are able to form the words, "Lord, Lord," but they shall not in reality enter the kingdom of heaven: this is only for those who do the will of the Father, which can be true of none but the redeemed.

To many who claim to have done wonderful works in the Lord's name, the answer of the Lord will be most solemn, "I never knew you." At no time had they ever been believers, for there is no possibility of one being born a new and yet afterwards lost. In answer to their claim of wonderful works, they are called "workers of iniquity."

The Lord sums up all of this instruction now with the simile of two houses, one built on the rock, the other on sand. These sayings of His are of more emphatic importance than those of law; therefore disobedience to them brings a more severe judgment then did disobedience to the law (Cf.Heb.2:2-3). As the wise men's house, built on a rock, withstands the floods and storms, so the believer, obedient to the words of the Lord Jesus, who is Himself "the rock of ages," will be preserved from destruction by means of the rain from above, the floods from beneath and the winds from around. For every professor of the name of Christ will be put to the proof by all these things. The genuine believer, resting on Christ Himself, will withstand every such adversity.

(7) Useless indeed is the profession of the lips, — the saying, "Lord, Lord," except the life confirm it. Not that the best life will justify before God, or save in the day when all that can be will be shaken. But it is evidence, nevertheless, that Christ is the foundation of the soul, — of a house built secure against all the storms that can assail it. Faith in Christ must, of course, be real; but the more real the faith in other things, the more complete is the delusion, the surer and more fatal the ruin that awaits one. "The ruin of that house is great."

The Lord is showing, from ver. 24 and onwards, that the great thing is to have the right foundation, that which will bear all testing. It is true that it is not enough to hear, it is "Whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them." In Luke, it is, "Whosoever comes to me," etc. The coming would speak of faith. You get this in Hebrews, "He that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek, him." It would go to show that if there is merely hearing and not doing, the root of the matter is not there. In the case of Simon Magus, he heard and he believed when he saw, and yet he had no part nor lot in the matter; there was no faith in him. Hearing, with the doing also, supposes reality; and nothing but reality will do for God. Here it is evidently reality in contrast with mere profession.

But as this exceeding value of God's word is capable of being abused into a school of dogma, and consequently of mere knowledge, the next verse summons us habitually to reduce the word to practice. "But be word-doers, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves." This is the great business of every day. Our Lord had already enforced His most solemn warning against the same self-delusion. "Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens; but he that doeth the will of my Father that is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out demons, and in thy name done works of power? And then will I avow unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work lawlessness" (Matt. 7:21-23). The word must not only be heard but produce fruit accordingly. To hear the Son is the urgent call of the Father, but it is to form the new life in obedience; otherwise it is to mock God and delude ourselves. And hence the grave caution here.