Jesus has been preaching His most popular sermon, what we call the “Sermon on the Mount.” It is the single most important sermon in all of history. It is the centerpiece of Christian living, a sermon we want to plunge the depths of if we want to live significant lives. The entire sermon is important, but I want to take a moment and look at the end. While we look at the end, I want to invite you to consider your own life. These considerations are best made while we are young. If, as a young man, you can imagine yourself in the advanced years of life having never lived beyond yourself or having wasted your life on many things that do not ultimately matter, would you be satisfied? Consider the words of Jesus, now.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” (Matthew 7:21).

Jesus’s whole sermon is about the kingdom of heaven and repentance (cf. Matthew 4:17; with reference to all of Christ’s teaching during His bodily ministry). Here, Jesus tells His disciples that not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Neither everyone who is religious nor everyone who makes a profession of faith will enter the kingdom of heaven. Our ears ought to perk up when we hear this. It is a surprising statement in the cultural paradigm of the First Century and in our own time. The message we often hear is that all we need to do is be religious in the right way. Jesus’s words are different. Not everyone who professes, “Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven.

Contrarily, it is he who does the will of Jesus’s Father who is in heaven will enter. Jesus will expand on these words in the coming sentences, but we can already see a distinction between mere religion and actually living for God. While not everyone who professes, “Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Every single person who does the will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus doesn’t say they may or could enter the kingdom. Those who do the Father’s will, will enter. This is a promise.

Notice, also, something about the relationship between Jesus and the Father. Jesus calls the Father “My Father.” The Father is the personal Father of Jesus, who is The Son. Further, the Son, Jesus, is concerned about doing the will of the Father. The Father is the one who wills. When we are in Christ, if we are citizens in His kingdom, we are concerned with the Father’s will. In the assumption of His human flesh and nature, Jesus is the perfect model for us–never being concerned about the will of His human flesh but always with the will of the Father in Heaven.

Now, consider Jesus’s explanation of His statement:

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

There are many people who, on that day, will tell Jesus all that they have done in His name. We need to get this, because many people do many things in Jesus’s (or God’s) name. The day Jesus is referring to is ambiguous to us because there are no other references to a certain day surrounding this statement in the literary context. We see Jesus’s use of the future tense, “Many will…” as if they are looking back on their lives. “…that day…” Jesus refers to seems to be that day when a person will give an accounting of his or her life to Christ in order to be recompensed for his deeds during his life on this earth (cf. Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10). On that day, people will tell Jesus all that they did for Him in this life. Did we not preach in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not perform miracles in your name? Did we not go to church in your name? Did we not defend you on social media in your name? Did we not get degrees in your name? Did we not pastor in your name? Did we not abuse our bodies in your name? Did we not give up alcohol in your name? Did we not start ministries in your name? Did we not put our families on hold in your name? Were we not poor in your name? Were we not witnesses in your name? Did we not hold people accountable in your name?

Look at Jesus’s words. He will say to those many (not everyone but many), “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” What is the key to doing the Father’s will? Consider Jesus, here; it is being known by Him. So, here we are being super religious thinking that we are doing well, and Jesus calls that lawlessness. But, to simply be known by Christ is the will of the Father. That is what we are to do. Jesus’s language, here, amazes me because it seems like we are to be active in being known by Christ. This is a relational term. Nearly every time we read about God’s knowledge of us or His foreknowledge concerning us in the New Testament, it is a relational term. Jesus is knowing us, and that is our entry into the kingdom of heaven. Yet, there is action on our part; somehow we do the will of the Father. Somehow we do being known by Christ. What do you think that means?

When I meet someone new, I am nearly always reserved and quiet. In most cases, it takes me a long time to open up and let someone into my life so that they can know me. I am slow to expose my soul to others. I am great at going to work. I am so good at serving. I am great at listening to others and giving counsel. I am really bad at being vulnerable voluntarily. I am terrible at being known by others. In order to be known by another person, I have to confess my heart. I have to become vulnerable. I have to surrender and trust that I’m not going to be abused or hurt. A relationship with Jesus is a little different because Jesus is God and, in His divinity, has all factual knowledge. He already knows all the intimate details of my life. He is the one who, I believe, begins a relationship with those given to Him by the Father (cf. John 6:37-39). I can be religious or make a profession of faith and never be known relationally by Jesus. This is why we invite people to surrender to Christ. It is why we invite people to actively be converted at a moment in time. Jesus is holistically the one who does the saving. His work is monergistic. It is those who do the will of the Father, who are being known by Christ, who enter the kingdom of heaven. 

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Therefore, those who act on Jesus’s words here are like a man whose work is secure. Faith is the foundation. A relationship with Christ is the foundation. Then, when we work and serve and do whatever it is we do in Christ’s name on this earth, it will withstand the storm, an event I believe to also be the judgment of each person. However, all the work that is done outside a relationship with Christ will fall, and great will be its fall. We can do all the work we want. Without building on the foundation of a relationship with Christ, we build in vain. We keep ourselves busy without actually accomplishing anything meaningful or everlasting. In Christ, all of our work will stand because He knows us relationally.

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Jesus’s teaching is different from that of the religious leaders of His day. He teaches as one who has authority–as the one who actually has authority to approve or disapprove of our work in this life. So, we don’t start with our works. To do so is lawlessness. We begin by being known by Christ. He is our foundation. He approves the work of His people. He brings us into His kingdom. If you haven’t, will you surrender to Him today?