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All right, we're here in Matthew chapter seven, and this is the sixth sermon in Matthew chapter seven. We have one more sermon that will be done with the Sermon on the Mount. And the name of the sermon is I Never Knew You. I Never Knew You. As I said during the announcements, a lot of people within the Christian realm will say these are the three scariest words in our King James Bible. They'll say, well, you know what, you can live your whole life and think you're saved and go to church and read the Bible and believe in Jesus, and then find out it wasn't good enough, okay? That's the way that people interpret this. Let me just show you what this means. Let me just first read you though verses 21 through 23, because that is our main text here today. So verse 21, the Bible reads, Not everyone 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 while I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. When I was 20 years old, I got my first opportunity to preach a sermon, and the name of it was, I never knew you. And so it was on these three verses. I did not record that sermon. I'm kind of glad because it was my first time preaching. So I don't think I want to go back and hear it, but here I am 19 years later preaching on the same subject. And this is a passage that is very misunderstood. So we're gonna go verse by verse and explain this. And in verse one, it says, Not everyone 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. One thing you're gonna see in this passage is they're saying, Lord, Lord, talking to Jesus. They'll say they're doing things in the name of Jesus. And these are not people that are Muslims. Because Muslims would not say they do things in the name of Jesus. These are not people that are Buddhists. These are not people that are Hindus. Now, I do believe that Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists will say something similar, like, God, we did all these works. How can you not accept us? But what he's directly referring to is those that are saying they're doing things in the name of Jesus. Because what Jesus is trying to explain to them is the way to heaven is very narrow, because even within the Christian realm, there are gonna be a lot of people that say they believe, and in reality, they're not actually believing on Jesus. They're not actually trusting on him by faith alone. Now, a lot of people get confused because they see at the end of verse 21, it says, He that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. So people say, well, see, going to church is not enough. Believing is not enough. You gotta do the will of the Father if you wanna get into heaven. That's what people say. Now, we're gonna be back in Matthew 7 throughout the sermon, but turn to John chapter six. John six. John chapter six. Now, there's a few different ways that you can look at this phrase, and I'm gonna kinda show you both of them. And one thing to keep in mind is these people that are begging for mercy, this is at the great white throne judgment, where basically they're in hell for all eternity, and now they're being judged before God, and they're pleading and begging for mercy, and God is not showing them any mercy at all. Now, of course, those that are at the great white throne judgment, it doesn't matter what good things they've done in their life. That doesn't outweigh the bad, and they're not gonna get any rewards for anything good they've done or lighten their sentence for the sins they committed. They're on trial for the sins they've committed, and they're gonna be punished for each and every one of them. Us that are saved, we go to the judgment seat of Christ, and anything bad you've ever done is not held against you. It's only what you've done that is good that you're getting rewarded for. So if you were to look at my life at the judgment seat of Christ, you know what you're gonna see? Any works that I do are just the will of the Father. You're not gonna see any sins that I've committed. You're not gonna see any lies that I committed or any time I stole or had a bad thought or lost my patience or whatever. All you're gonna see is good things. So as a saved person, you get punished in this life for breaking God's rules, but spiritually speaking, all you can do is good in terms of getting rewards, if you understand what I'm saying, right? But someone who's unsaved, someone who never believes, they're just gonna be held accountable for everything bad they've done. But the other thing I would reference is directly in John 6, because it says, do the will of the Father, and notice what it says in John 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will know eyes cast out. For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Now, when it comes to doing the will of God, obviously there's a multitude of things that we need to do to do God's will, but what does it start with? It starts with believing on Christ. And here's a group of people that will say, look at all the great things we did. It's like, you didn't even do the first step, which was believe on Christ. And you think you're right with me? It's like, imagine as a parent, you tell your kids, clean your room. They don't clean the room, but they do a bunch of other things. Mommy, mommy, are you happy with me? It's like, no, your room is still dirty. I told you to clean the room, right? And these people, they think they're doing all these things for God. I mean, I preached in your name, right? I gave money to charity and did all these things. And then Jesus is like, you didn't even believe on me. That's step number one. You didn't do the will of the Father, right? The will of the Father is to believe on Christ. And unfortunately, there are people that are in church their entire lives, in Baptist churches even, their entire lives. And unfortunately, they've never done the will of God the Father. They've gone to church every week. They've given money. They've given their first fruits offering or second fruits or whatever, you know? It's like they did everything the church asked them, but they never actually believed on Christ with their whole heart to get saved. Turn your Bible to Matthew 7, Matthew 7. Now, of course, the sad thing about it is that a lot of people never believe on Christ because they never actually know the way of salvation because it's never told on to them. God forbid that we don't give people in this area an opportunity, because obviously we can't reach the entire world as one church, but we better make sure we've tried everybody within our vicinity to do everything we can to at least give them a chance. And if they reject it, that's their choice, but we need to make sure that we give everybody a chance to hear the message of salvation. And what's interesting about this is people will go to Matthew 7. They'll turn to you. You'll give the gospel to someone, and they'll say, well, it can't just be by faith alone, and they'll go to Matthew 7, and they'll say, you gotta do the will of the Father. Does anybody do the entire will of God? I mean, who would sit here and say that in the last, you know, not even last, not the last 12 months, just in 2024, you have not told a single lie. You've never lost your temper. Every day you've read the Bible, at least an hour a day. You've meditated day and night. No foolish thoughts entered your head because the thought of foolishness is sin. Who would actually sit here and say that's true? And if you raise your hand, I'm gonna say you're the biggest liar in this church because nobody always does the will. So when people make statements like, well, you gotta do the will of God the Father to go to heaven, it's like, all right, good luck with that. Who does the entire will? When God says all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, and one murder makes you a murderer, one lie makes you a liar. And if you say, well, I don't know if I agree that one lie makes you a liar, later in the chapter says whosoever make it a lie. A, one, just one lie, you're guilty and deserve help. So nobody's done the will of God the Father. Even if you were to do, take the last six months and pick the best day that you had where you were really just meditating on God's word, no bad thoughts, you had a good attitude and everything, I'm sure that if God were to dissect that day and show it to you, you'd be like, ouch, I sinned here and here and here and here, and that was the first 10 minutes, and then here and here and here. It's like none of us are even close to living a perfect life. So it's ridiculous when people make statements like, you gotta do the will of God the Father to be saved. You gotta give your life to God to be saved. Have you given your entire life to God? You gotta repent of your sins. Have you repented of every sin? Do you never sin anymore? Nobody's done that. And this is why a lot of people are scared about their eternal destiny because they're like, I'm trying to do what's right, but I just haven't given my entire life over to God yet. Well, I thought God gave his life for us. Doesn't the Bible say God gave his only begotten son? I'm pretty sure he gave his life for us. So actually giving your life to God is the opposite of salvation because he gave his life for you to be saved. Bible says in verse 22, many will say to me in that day, many is a lot of people. I mean, why is the gate, as the Bible says, many, a lot of people are gonna say this. Now my opinion, because we talked about false prophets last week, and that is the direct context. And of course, false prophets are a main aspect of this. But I believe this will go to basically anyone that would say they're a Christian that's not saved because this is a lot of people. And you know what? Anyone who would say they're a Christian is probably gonna say something very similar. Begging for mercy, they're gonna say, but Jesus, I went to church every week. I never drank. I never smoke. And Jesus saying, many will say to me in that day, isn't it true we go out soul winning and many people tell us why they think they're gonna go to heaven because of their good works and their lifestyle. I mean, I would say we're gonna run into a lot of people later today unless we have a heavy typhoon during soul winning time that are gonna tell us their works are gonna get them to heaven, right? Many are gonna make the same plea to God. Many will say in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? They're saying they preached in the name of Jesus and in thy name have cast out devils. Now, during this day, there were apostles that had the ability to cast out devils. In our modern day, the application you make are the Pentecostals, right? And so these are people that are saying they're doing some great spiritual work for God and in thy name done many wonderful works. They're saying we've preached in your name, we've cast out devils in your name, we've done many wonderful works. And there's probably a lot of people in this room that before you were saved, if you had died and gone to hell and you were to stand before God at the great white throne judgment, you would say, but I never drank and other kids drank. I never smoked and other kids smoked. I mean, I talked to people about your name. How could I go to hell? I mean, I've done all these things. I did more than other people. And you would say something very similar. And I would have said something very similar if I died and went to hell and then stood before God, I'd be like, but God, I've never smoked a cigarette in my life. How did I go to hell and other people went to heaven when I did more than them, right? And why would I say something like that? Because I believed in a work salvation. I thought my works were gonna save me. Now turn your Bible to Matthew 12, Matthew 12, Matthew chapter 12. Now, obviously, if you're saved, if you've been born again, if you've received everlasting life, eternal life, received the gift of eternal life, if you've believed on Christ, you do not have to worry about your eternal destiny. Bible's very clear, I give it to them eternal life and they shall never perish, never. Bible says nothing can separate us from the love of God, neither life nor death nor things present nor things that come. Nothing you could ever do in the present or in the future is gonna separate you from God's love. We would throw you in hell for all eternity. I mean, literally it is impossible for me to go to hell and if you're saved, it's impossible for you to go to hell too. But let's just say hypothetically, you went to hell. I know if you're saved, you don't have to worry about it. I'm not one of these pastors who's gonna try to make you scared, like I better make sure I get saved again just in case. If you're saved, you're saved. But let's say you died and went to hell and then you stood before God at the great white throne judgment. What would you say as your defense to God? You'd probably say two words, I believe. Right? That's what I would say. I wouldn't say, but I preached five sermons a week for like 10 years or whatever. I'd say, but I believe. In fact, I'd probably say the opposite. I'd be like, but God, I know I didn't always read my Bible. I know I wasn't always zealous for you. I know I was worldly. I know I don't deserve to go to heaven, but I believe that's all you said I had to do. It's actually the opposite of what they're saying in Matthew seven, isn't it? They're saying, but we did all these wonderful works. I mean, if I died and went to hell, my plea would be, I know I didn't do enough, God. I know I messed up. I know I broke your commandments each and every day. I know I was a pastor and yet I was a hypocrite along the way oftentimes. I know I don't deserve it, but I believe that's what my plea would be. And if that would not be your plea, then I'm actually am worried about you because our salvation is based on what we believe, not based on what we do. If your attitude is, but I go to church every week, surely I'm saved. What does going to church have to do with being saved? But I got baptized. What does being baptized have to do with being saved? But I read the Bible every day. What does reading the Bible have to do with being saved? Think about how foolish this is. God is the just judge, right? Bible says he's the just judge. He's a fair and righteous judge. He's loving, but he's also just and holy and righteous. Imagine you're in a courtroom, you're on trial for murder, and what's your defense? And you talk to a lawyer, it's like, I did it. I killed them, but I've given a lot of money to charity. I mean, I killed them in cold blood, but other than that one murder, I've done a lot of good things. Can you imagine your lawyer standing up and say, well, here's their defense. He committed murder, but he did a lot of good things. Oh, innocent then. I mean, you did more good than bad, innocent. That's ridiculous. You'd be on trial for the murder. And so if you're guilty of that, it doesn't matter how much good you've done. And here's the thing. If you die by not believing on Christ, you're on trial for the sins that you've committed. And when you're guilty of all these things, it doesn't matter how much money you gave to charity. That doesn't outweigh the bad. And the fact is one lie is enough to send you to hell. And so the idea that your works are gonna justify you, I mean, good luck, because I'm not that good. Nobody's even close to being that good. And when people, and I get it, a lot of people just don't understand salvation. Of course, before you're saved, you don't get it. But as a saved person, doesn't it just seem ridiculous when people really think that their lifestyle is gonna be enough to justify or impress God to forgive all the sins you've committed? I mean, that's ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense because God is loving, which is why he sent his son, but he's also holy, which means he cannot overlook any sin. There will be no sin in heaven. So it's not about being good enough to go to heaven. It's about being forgiven, meaning you could be the worst of sinners, but if you believe on Christ, you are forgiven for everything, whereas you can be the best of people on earth, but if you never believe, you're guilty, right? Matthew chapter 12, verse 34. Matthew 12, verse 34. "'O generation of vipers, "'how can ye being evil speak good things? "'For out of the abundance of the heart, "'the mouth speaketh.'" Out of the abundance of the heart of these people in Matthew 7, what do they say is the reason why they should go to heaven? Because they preached in the name of Jesus. They've done good works in the name of Jesus. They've cast out devils in the name of Jesus. Out of their own mouth, they say, well, this is why I should go to heaven because I'm good. Is that not true? So what are they trusting to get to heaven? They're trusting a work salvation. They're trusting their lifestyle. They're rejecting the blood of Christ. They're rejecting what Jesus did, and they're trusting in themselves. And it's always humorous to me when people turn to Matthew 7 to show me how believing is not enough to go to heaven. And it's just like it teaches the opposite of what you think. It's like I don't think these verses are teaching the thing that you think they're teaching. It says they went to hell because they're trusting in their works. But people literally turn to Matthew 7 and say, well, see, these people went to hell because they did not do enough good works. That's what they'll say. I mean, I preached a sermon yesterday in Pampanga, and then some of my members, I asked them, well, what did your old churches teach about this? Some went to Baptist churches. Some went to Pentecostal. And pretty much all the pastors said the same thing, including the Baptist one saying in Matthew 7, it's like, well, here's the thing. A lot of people say they're saved, but if they're not reading the Bible every day, they're not doing the will of God. And it's just like that is the exact opposite of what Jesus is saying. Here are people that think they're on their way to heaven because of their actions. And Jesus is like, you know, I never knew you. You weren't my child. You say you're doing things in my name. Well, you were never my child. So why would you use my name when you're attaching something false to it, right? I don't believe what you were teaching is wrong, right? You don't believe the right thing. Now go to Luke 18. Luke 18. Luke chapter 18. You say, oh, pastor, what if you get somebody saved and they're still a drunk a year later? They're still saved. Where does the Bible say that if you get saved, you automatically change your lifestyle? Because ask yourself this, is that what took place with you? Think back to when you got saved. Did you just like immediately when you got saved, you never had a desire to ever listen to bad music ever again? You never had a desire to watch something bad on TV or a bad movie? You never had a bad thought enter into your mind. You just wanted to meditate on God's word day and night. That's not the way it worked for me. I remember after I got saved, I remember that battle to cast down the altar of Baal called my ungodly music in my life and it was hard. I still remember the moment I trashed all of my ungodly music and that was hard. I wish it had just happened automatically when I got saved. It's not the way it works. And I think there are people that get saved and they kind of just think it's gonna be really easy to serve God. No, actually it's hard to serve God. It actually requires you to deny your flesh. Flesh still exists after you get saved. You've got the spiritual man and you've got the flesh. And it's kind of like the cartoons you see as a kid with like the good angel and the bad angel where basically you know I should be doing this, walking in the spirit, but I'm tempted to walk in the flesh. And not a single person always chooses the spirit over the flesh cause you have free will. Now, hopefully you're getting closer and drawing more nigh to God each and every year. I hope that's the case. But even if you are, it's not just a steady climb. You're gonna have some peaks and valleys along the way. You're gonna go up and down. You're gonna have moments in your life where you kind of mess up and you gotta just get back on. Okay, I need to go back and start reading the Bible every morning and get away from this worldliness and start serving God more. So look, nobody is even close to making their way to heaven by their works. Now go to Luke 18, Luke 18. And when I first started going soul winning, I didn't really have any formal training for soul winning. So, you know, I had gone soul winning a little bit and I kind of changed this new technique, but it's kind of a self-taught technique. So I'm not really recommending it cause I don't use this technique now. It worked okay though. And what I would do is I would start in Luke chapter 18 and I would show them this parable and show them two people. And I would ask them at the beginning after I showed it to them, which one of these people do you think went to heaven? And here's the parable in Luke 18. I'll explain this in a second. Luke 18 verse nine. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote or beat upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. And I would stop after this verse and I would ask people, which one of these two people do you think went to heaven the Pharisee or the publican? Everybody always said the Pharisee. Every single time. I don't remember an exception when I gave the gospel doing this, every single person, because I'm talking to people that said they don't know for sure they're going to heaven. I showed them two people and I said, okay, you got person one here. He's like, I've lived a good life. You see the other one who's sinned and he's ashamed to even look upon a God because of his sin. Everyone always said, well, the Pharisee. I was like, actually it's the opposite. And they're like, what? But he lived a bad life. How did he get to heaven? And you can just see this is what people are trusting. They're trusting their lifestyle to be saved. When you look at this, Jesus speaks this parable specifically for people like the Pharisee or for people like the Matthew 7 crowd, people that are trusting in their works to get to heaven. And he says, there's two people that are going to pray. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but when someone is going to pray, they should be trying to get ahold of God, get close to God, ask for forgiveness and draw nigh to God, right? So here's the thing. If there's a person who is living a bad life and then they genuinely go down on their knees and pray to God, I mean, who am I to say that person doesn't really mean it, right? It's kind of ridiculous right off the bat because yeah, maybe he's messed up a lot before, but he's trying to draw close to God right now, right? And so two people are going up to pray. You've got the Pharisee, a very religious man and the publican who's essentially a tax collector, right? And it says in verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. Basically saying he prayed to himself. He's not really praying to God, he's just promoting himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Is that how your prayers start off to God? God, thank you for making me to be so awesome. I mean, look at me, I'm Mr. Perfect, right? It's just like, prayer should be a humbling thing where basically you feel guilty. I mean, whenever I pray, I feel guilty. I'm thinking, man, I should have done better. God, please help me to do better. Forgive me, help me draw an eye on you. But the Pharisee has the opposite reaction. He's like, God, thank you, I'm awesome. I'm not as other men are. Extortioners, okay, good job. You haven't stolen money by force. I mean, most people don't steal money by force. Unjust, well, you are unjust. I mean, there's none righteous, no, not one. Adulters, okay, good job, you never committed adultery. Or even as this publican. So now he specifically calls out this other guy. So he's praying. I mean, usually in the middle of a prayer, I'd be focused on myself and what I have to do to get right with God, rather than saying, you know, God, thank you, that I'm better than this guy. That's ridiculous. Have you ever thought anything like that during a prayer? God, you know, I just, somebody came to my, thank you, God, for helping me not be like this person or this person or this person. That's bizarre, right? And it says, I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. So here's a man who's self-righteous, and that's why Jesus spoke the parable, because of people just like him. And he says, and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes onto heaven. So basically it's saying he's embarrassed to look up to God. He's just ashamed. And naturally, you know, when you're not right, you kind of just hang your head down. Isn't that true with your kids growing up? When your kids are in trouble, they don't want to look you in the eye. They just hang their head down. It's like, do you understand? And then they're just like, trying to avoid looking at your eyes. It's like, look at me, look at me. Do you understand, right? That's just naturally what we do as people. We try to avoid, obviously we know God is everywhere, but obviously we think of God dwelling in heaven. And he's not even lifting up his eyes onto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. And what does Jesus say? I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. So it's saying the man that was just talking about the publican went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalts himself shall be abased, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. When a person gets saved, and I don't believe this parable can only be applied to salvation. I think there's another application, but in regards to salvation, it's like getting saved is a humbling thing because you admit that you deserve help. You realize you're not good enough. Now it's probably easier for a young child because they don't develop as much pride at a young age. I remember being 18 years old and it's hard to come to the belief that you've been wrong your entire life. It's like, no, there's no way I've been wrong about this. You're like, who are you to tell me? I mean, it's hard, it's a humbling thing. And then especially if you think you've lived a good life, it's hard to admit, actually I'm nowhere near good enough. It's hard. And I get it, a lot of people have trouble doing this. We explain it to them and it makes perfect sense to them, but they don't always believe it. They have trouble just being willing to embrace it and believing, yeah, you know what, this is true. Because they want to think that they're good enough. But the Bible says none of us are good enough, right? And the people that never humble themselves and just exalt themselves and think they're good enough, one day they are gonna be abased. And then one day after they go to hell and then they stand before God, they will be down on their knees begging for mercy and they're not gonna get any mercy from God. It's gonna be too late because they had their chance here on earth to believe on Christ and if they do not do that while they're alive, they're gonna spend forever in hell. That's just the way it is. Go to Romans 6, Romans 6. Now Matthew 7 is a very misunderstood passage, these verses 21 through 23. They're not really that confusing if you're saved though, especially as a soul winner because we run into people like this all the time. Right, people that think their works are gonna get them to heaven, it's like I've been in church my whole life and if you go soul winning for years and years, you end up hearing a lot of pretty funny things out soul winning over time. The reasons people say that they deserve to go to heaven, I mean, some of them are ridiculous, right? It's like some of the ones that have made me laugh through the years, I remember going soul winning in the US and somebody told me they knew they were going to heaven because their grandmother was a preacher. And I was trying hard not to laugh because I wanna try to, because that's legitimately what they thought and I wanted to go and give them the gospel. Now what's interesting here from my experience, in the Philippines, people generally will not say they're 100% for sure they're on their way to heaven, but in the US all the time people tell you they're 100% for sure they're on their way to heaven. And then they almost always tell you because of their good works, right? Here it's kind of different. I mean, if people don't know, they'll usually actually say they're not sure or say, well, I'm 80%, 90%, I hope so, I'm trying. In the US it's pretty common for people to say they're 100% for sure they're on their way to heaven, and usually that does not mean they're saved. And then you ask them why and you never know what's gonna come out of their mouth, right? It's like, I've helped out a lot of stray cats on the street. It's like, okay, the Bible says something a little bit different. Do you have just 10 minutes? I can show you what the Bible says and you try hard not to laugh, right? Romans 6, verse 23. Romans 6, verse 23. The Bible says in Romans 6, verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The Bible says eternal life is a gift. I mean, if I give you a gift, that means that I paid for it. If I say this is a gift to you and I require one peso, it is not a gift, right? Will uncouple it, will unbind, will uncondition, no strings attached for a gift. So if I add anything, it's not a gift, right? I mean, it's a great deal for a phone, but that's not a gift if I require anything for you to pay. And of course, there's no exchange for a gift. So if I give this to you, it belongs to you. Now, if I gave you a cell phone as a gift and then I saw you just pouring water on it and throwing it on the phone, I'd be pretty upset that you're just destroying the gift that I gave you. But since it's a gift, you can do whatever you want with it and it still belongs to you. Here's the thing. There's a lot of people that believe in Christ and they never go to church, they never read the Bible, they're not really obeying God's commandments. Well, God gave it as a gift. And the Bible says in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began. That gift is eternal life. God is not lying about it being a gift. He's not lying about it being eternal life, meaning it will not be taken back if you mess up because it was a gift. And you know, the thing is, if somebody gives you a gift and they do it out of, somebody gives you a Christmas gift, obviously you can do something nice in return. And I hope you feel that the attitude that you wanna do something nice in return. But sometimes somebody wants to give you something and if you reject it or try to pay for it or whatever, it's like disrespectful to them. And when God's trying to give you the gift of eternal life and you say the blood of Christ is not enough, that's disrespectful to God who died and sent God the Father, sent God the Son to die and pay for your sins. It's disrespectful to him. It's like, no, I'm giving you a gift. And they're like, well, no, I don't think that's good enough. The blood of Christ is not enough. I need to make sure I'm going to church every week. Is going to church more valuable than the blood of Christ? Right, it doesn't make any sense. Turn your Bible to Matthew 7. Matthew 7. And look, I know in a sermon like this, I mean, people are saved at our church. You believe in Christ. I'm preaching to the choir. Number one, we're going verse by verse through the Bible. But number two, this is one of the most common passages people turn to. It's sort of like a litmus test. And what I mean by that is, this is one of those passages that if you're saved, you're going to interpret it this way. If you're unsaved, you're going to interpret it this way. This is really one of those passages that really helps separate the sheeps and the goats to find out who's saved and who's not. People that are saved are going to look at this and say, well, see, this person is trusting in their works, so they went to hell. Pretty simple. Someone who's not saved that goes to church and is very religious, they're going to look at this and say, well, I mean, this person, I mean, they didn't even make it, and they're preaching in his name. I better make sure I'm in church every week or I'm not going to make it. It's like, that is not what it's teaching. But that's the way that people interpret it that are unsaved, because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Matthew 7, verse 23. And then while I profess unto them, so Jesus is speaking back onto them, those that are trying to make it by their works, he says, I never knew you. Notice, Jesus does not say, I used to know you, but you lost your salvation. He doesn't say that. He says, I never knew you. You were never saved. You never believed on me. You were never forgiven. He doesn't say, because these are people saying, we're doing it in your name. He's like, you were never even saved. What are you talking about? You're never my child. You never believed on Christ. Right? Go to John 10 in your Bible. John 10. John chapter 10. John chapter 10. And I know this is a very famous passage. We understand salvation. We're going verse by verse. But you know, the other thing is this, even though we know this, it's good every once in a while to get reminded about salvation, because one thing I'm very happy about our church is, we're not like the Church of Galatia, where everybody's confused on salvation, trying to add works through the back door. It's like, people at our church, they understand salvation. And here's the thing, if you understand salvation, it's gonna make you a million times better of a soul winner when you're not confused. Because if the way you think salvation is is kind of like gray area, good luck when you're preaching the gospel, explaining to someone, right? And so we better make sure we always keep salvation 100% free. It was paid for by Christ. It's not our works at all. Works are not required to be saved. Works are not evidence that you are saved. Salvation is a free gift. The gift of God is eternal life. It's nothing that we do. Look, when you get saved, you get born into God's family. Think about a child of their parents. Do all children obey their parents? No. That doesn't mean that they're not children of their parents though. Does any child always obey their parents? The answer to that is no. No child always obeys their parents, but that does not negate someone from being a child of their parents. My children will always be my children no matter what they do. And I do punish my children, but here's the thing, I'm never gonna punish my children by throwing them in a lake of fire. And so when you're God's child, God is never gonna throw you in the lake of fire for all eternity. You're his child, you're saved, you're on your way to heaven. John chapter 10, verse 27. Bible says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. Now, John 10, verses 27 through 29, very famous passage on eternal security, right? And we talked about in Matthew seven, I never knew you. What does Jesus say about his sheep though? And I know them. Those that die and go to hell, he never knew them. They were never, never children of God because you must be born again. They never believed on Christ. He never knew them. They never put their faith on Christ. They were always trusting in their works to be saved. Now, I do wanna mention because at the end of verse 27, people get very confused by these last four words where it says, and they follow me. Because if you were to read Matthew or read John 10, 27 by itself, it seems to imply that if you're really saved, you're gonna follow God. And people say, yeah, if you're really saved, you're gonna go to church and read the Bible and you're gonna get baptized. That is not what it's saying in John 10, verse 27. You say, well, prove it to me. Well, how do you prove it? By looking at the entire passage. Look at verse number four and let's see the context of following Christ. And the Bible says in John 10, verse four, and when he put forth his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice and a stranger will they not follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers. Now, he's using an earthly example and I don't have experience with sheep in my life, but what it's saying is, if you're the shepherd of a sheep, your sheep will follow your lead. But if somebody else comes in and it's not the voice of their master, they're gonna reject that voice because they don't know you. He's referring to people that are false shepherds. And what he's saying is this, if you're saved, you're not gonna follow the voice of Apollo Kibiloy. That's what he's saying. You're not gonna follow the voice of that church over there or that church or any false church. You're not gonna become a Muslim one day. You're not gonna follow the voice of Buddha or become a Hindu. No, because you understand and know the voice of Jesus and you believe on him. So what Jesus is saying is, hey, if you get saved, you're not gonna just convert to Islam and believe in Muhammad one day. He does not say, and he's not saying, well, if you're saved, you're gonna start going to church every week. No, what he's saying is you're not gonna follow Apollo Kibiloy. That's what he's saying in the context of John 10 because being saved does not guarantee that you're gonna follow God. I mean, look, obviously that should be the goal of all of us, but we know from experience, there's many people that are right on salvation and they're not following God at all. I mean, here's the truth. If you're really following God, one true witness or manifestation that you're following God is that you're a soul winner because the Bible says, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. So if you're really following God, you're gonna be a soul winner. You're gonna get people saved. You're gonna proclaim the name of Jesus to unsaved people. Does everybody who really believes do that? Not at all, right? And so there is no guarantee that just because you believe, you're gonna follow God, right? But there is a guarantee you're not gonna follow Apollo Kibiloy or Muhammad or somebody like that. Go back to Matthew 7, Matthew 7. Now, I will say in a side point, I've said this before, I do think it's possible, especially you think of this being a Catholic country, that you could get a Catholic relative saved and they could be like Naaman where because of embarrassment or they don't wanna offend the family, they still pretend to be Catholic or still pretend to believe in it. They maybe go to Catholic church. But I will say this, that if you get a relative saved or you think you get them saved and they still seem to be a firm believer in Catholicism, you might wanna double check that they actually got saved because more likely than not, they probably don't. But I would say this. I mean, if somebody's in a Muslim country and they hear the message of salvation and they believe, there's a good chance they're not gonna admit it to anybody because they're gonna be afraid that they're gonna get their head chopped off because that's more than likely what would probably happen to someone in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, whatever country if they left Islam and believed on Christ, they might not let people know about it. They might go through the motions of being Muslim without actually believing it. But obviously, if this is your relative and you think you got him saved, and then all of a sudden you see them just holding onto those rosary beads, and I would definitely double check that salvation, right? You go to their house and they're like they've got that morbid black Nazarene statue in front of them and they're bowing down. It's like, all right, double check that they understand salvation because they very well could still believe firmly in Roman Catholicism and not be believing on Christ alone, right? Matthew 7, verse 23, and it says in Matthew 7, verse 23, and then while I profess unto them, I never knew you. I never knew you. He says very clearly they were never saved. We saw my sheep hear my voice and I know them. A famous example of the Bible, Luke 16, when you have Abraham, Lazarus, and the rich man, you have the names of Abraham and Lazarus because he knows his sheep, but you don't have the rich man's name. It's just the rich man because he knows his sheep. He doesn't mention the name of the rich man in Luke 16, right? And he says, I never knew you. So what is he saying? He's saying everybody that's unsaved was never saved. You're never gonna run into someone who gets saved and they lose their salvation. That's not possible because those that go to hell, he's very clear, I never knew you. You were never saved. Now obviously we believe in eternal security at our church very firmly. Let me just give you a couple verses that we can look at to make sure we're reminded of these things, right? Go in your Bible to John five. I'll just show you three verses in the book of John. John five, John chapter five. I mean, isn't these verses in Matthew seven just very simple for us that are saved? Those that go to hell were never saved. Why? Because they're trusting in their works. It's like, okay, that matches with what I believe about salvation. But then people that are unsaved, they just don't get it. It goes over their head. They believe something completely different. John five verse 24, one of my favorite verses on eternal security. John five verse 24, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life. Hath or has everlasting life, right? I'm my Walang Hangang Buhay. So present tense, you don't have to wait till Pagna Matai to find out if you go to heaven or hell. The moment you believe on Christ, you have everlasting life. Now, obviously, this is not physical life. We obviously die physically, but it's spiritual life that lasts forever. Hell is the second death. Hell is death, the lake of fire death. So we have life or we have death, right? And so the moment you believe, you have everlasting life. So here's the thing. When I was 18 years old, I believed on Christ. I received everlasting life. End of story. It's done. I mean, I have everlasting life. And if you believed on Christ, you have everlasting life. I mean, how many examples do you know in life of people, because the Bible says being born again, of people getting born, and then a few years later, they're no longer born, and they gotta get born again, and then they're no longer born, and then they get born again, right? I mean, look, childbirth is very difficult to moms. It would be a nightmare if that were the case, right? Every time their child disobeyed their parents, they had to get born again. It's like, what? No, I mean, you get born, it's a one-time thing, and it is everlasting, meaning you're on your way to heaven. So half everlasting life is present tense, right? Then it says, and shall not come into condemnation future tense. So you have everlasting life. You're not gonna come into condemnation. You say, well, why is that? Because when you believe on Christ, your future sins are already forgiven. You don't need last rites or confession to get saved again. I remember, I was studying for a class in college one time with a couple guys in my class, and one of the guys was like a hardcore Catholic, and he was a hardcore Catholic that was always getting drunk, right? He would always go to church, but he lived a very ungodly life, and he's trying to kind of mock me a little bit, and he's like, you know what? I've got the greatest religion in the world. And I was like, why is that? And he's like, because I can do whatever I want during the week and just get forgiven on Sunday. I was like, actually, my religion's a lot better than yours, because I got saved and forgiven at one time. I can do whatever I want the rest of my life with no forgiveness. So he was trying to give me, I guess, a backhanded slap. It's like, well, actually, it's like, I'm already forgiven. I don't need to get forgiven again. I'm saved. Now, obviously, what do you want your kids to do if they disobey you? You want them to say, mom, I'm sorry. Dad, I'm sorry. But they're still your kids even if they don't. Well, same thing with God. I mean, every day, every morning and every night and even throughout the day, you should be praying to God and asking for forgiveness when you do wrong, but whether you do or not, you're still his child. So you have everlasting life. You will not come into condemnation. Why is it you will not come into condemnation? Because notice this, but is past from death unto life. So is past going to the past, present, future? Is past going to the past? You have everlasting life. Past, present, future, big and small, all your sins are forgiven. It's that simple. But is past from death unto life? It's already done. Nothing can ever change that. Go to John 3. We'll look at two more verses. John 3, John 3. Hey, look, yesterday the first sermon ran long. It's going to happen again. It is what it is. I'll shorten the second sermon. You know, whenever you preach on salvation, it usually kind of runs long. But we're in John 3, and look at John 3, 16. John 3, 16, for God so loved the world. So this is not just a promise to a Christian or Catholic country. It's a promise to a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or any country, the whole world, that he gave his only begotten son. So the answer to a Muslim country is not Muhammad. It is Jesus Christ. That whosoever believeth in him, believeth in who? Believeth in Jesus, because believing in God is not good enough. Everybody's born with a belief in God. That doesn't make you safe. You've got to believe on Christ for salvation. Should not perish, but have everlasting life. Do you believe on Christ? Do you have everlasting life? It's that simple. Have everlasting life, tul dok, period. End of story. It does not say everlasting life as long as you go to church every week. It does not say everlasting life as long as you do good. It's end of story. It's done. There's no, it's like, well, what if? What if you do this one day? Well, let me give you an example. Jesus said, whosoever believeth, right? Anybody that believes. Is God omniscient? Is God all knowing? Yes. He knows the future. He does not say, I will give everlasting life to anybody that believes except if you commit these sins in the future, because those are things I can't forgive. No, he says, regardless of what you do in the future, I will give you everlasting life right now. Meaning, well, what if you committed murder or suicide one day? It's everlasting. You're still saved. Suicide kills the body, not the soul. It's everlasting life. It's that simple. Nothing can ever change. I mean, there's no gray area. It's everlasting life. Spiritually, you're saved forever, period. End of story. Go to John 3, 36. Go to John 3, 36. Then we'll go back to Matthew 7 and we'll close up. John 3, 36. John 3, 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. I mean, it's that simple. Believe on Jesus Christ. You believe on Christ, you have everlasting life. And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. So there's two types of people. Those that believe on the Son and those that do not believe on the Son. There's nothing about living a good life. There's nothing about getting baptized. There's nothing about going to church. There's nothing about quitting drinking. It's about do you believe on the Son? And if you believe in the Son, whether you're good or bad, you have everlasting life. And if you do not believe in the Son, no matter how good you are, it is not good enough. You will not see life, meaning you never received eternal life. You never had it, but God's wrath is abiding on you and you're going to have to pay for each and every one of your sins for all eternity. Go to Matthew 7. And look, there's a lot of great verses proving internal security. Obviously, if you're a sole winner, I mean, you better make sure you have some verses on eternal security because that is often what stops people from getting saved because they think, well, salvation's by faith alone, but I got to keep doing what's right or I'm going to lose my salvation. We better make sure that we're explaining salvation is free on both sides of salvation. No works are required at all. Make sure they really believe it because if they still think they have to live a good life to go to heaven, they're not saved, right? They have to understand salvation is by faith alone, plus nothing, minus nothing, end of story. It's just by faith on Christ. Matthew 7, verse 23. And then while I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Now it's interesting because what Jesus says to this group of people, and remember that the primary context is false prophets, even though I think you can broaden it to with all the Christian realm. But he says these people that are false prophets, ye that work iniquity. What does that mean? It means you basically live to sin. You work iniquity. That's what you do. You're just filled full of wickedness. There's the phrase in the Bible, workers of iniquity. They're always very bad people throughout the word of God. We're out of time, but I have verses in Psalms and Proverbs and Micah that talk about people that just do wickedness, and that's what they want to do. And what he says to this group of people is you work iniquity. You're an evil and wicked person. And you know what you find with people that are false prophets? They're actually pretty evil people. Right. And you know, it's interesting because, you know, obviously there's certain people like Pope Francis. I mean, of course, Pope Francis is a false prophet. It's not really a confusing issue. And of course, the Catholic church, all they do is cover up pedophilia throughout all their churches. That's just what they do, right? They're filled full of wickedness. But even within the so-called Christian realm outside of Catholicism, you got a lot of famous mega preachers, and they might seem like they're good people. They're actually wicked people though. And I'm gonna give you a couple of examples that are kind of primary in the Baptist churches that are well-respected and well-known, but are actually nothing but just false prophets. One of them is Billy Graham. And Billy Graham is already dead. Billy Graham is already in hell. You say, wow, I mean, how could you say that he's in hell, Pastor? Billy Graham, and look, if you don't believe me, go on YouTube, go on Google, hear it out of his own mouth, see what he wrote in books, Billy Graham is on record as saying that the fire in hell is a burning thirst for God. It's not a literal flame. How do I know Billy Graham's in hell? Well, because everyone that rejects the idea of hell is gonna actually wake up in hell when they die. And he realizes, I mean, he doesn't believe hell is just a burning lust or a thirst for God anymore. I can tell you that because he's actually in hell. Right. You say, wow, you know, how can you say that? Look, out of Billy Graham's own mouth, he said, you don't have to believe on Jesus to go to heaven. You can, and look, if you don't believe me, because look, if you've never heard this, that might seem hard to believe, go on YouTube. You can hear it out of his own mouth saying, you don't have to believe on Jesus. I mean, God knows somebody's heart. And if they have a desire to serve God, whether it's the Muslim world or the Hindu world, it's like, then they'll be saved too. And he talks to this one pastor and the pastor's like, I'm so glad to hear you say that, Billy. He's like, I feel the same way. And he's like, yeah, he's like, God's calling people out of the Muslim world. And it's like, what kind of madness is that? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. So why would you give an exception because someone says they're a Baptist? He believed in a work salvation. Go back to listen to him 60 years ago and you know what you're gonna hear, you're gonna hear a work salvation. I mean, do you realize this? I, for the life of me, don't understand how this happens because there are countries that are completely shut out from Christianity, meaning they will not let Christianity be spoken about. And yet Billy Graham is the one person that has been invited in to preach in those countries. Billy Graham preached in North Korea to a multitude at a stadium. It's like, how did they let Billy Graham in North Korea and his son, Franklin Graham, has been there many times in North Korea? I mean, I just read this past week. It kind of shocked me. Billy Graham said, you know, he believes God gave him that special opportunity and he said that one thing he thinks that helped is that, you know, they were friends with the family, the family of the dictator. And I don't think it's the current dictator. I think it was either a father or the one before that. But it's like, your friends at what? Kim Jong-un, is that the name? Kim Jong-un? It's like, your friends with Kim Jong-un? And his father's like, what are you talking about? Billy Graham was really good friends with Bill Clinton. Really good friends. Billy Graham spoke for Bill Clinton at some sort of like remembrance thing for Bill Clinton about all the great achievements he did. He made a joke. I saw this and heard it with my own eyes and my own ears. And he made a joke about with Bill Clinton saying, hey, if you had chosen a career different than being a politician and becoming an evangelist, I think you would have been one of the greatest evangelists that ever lived. It's like, how do you even respond to that? I can tell you, when I was growing up in America, when Bill Clinton committed adultery in front of the world, it was the biggest embarrassment you could ever have. I mean, what an embarrassment as an American. You're like, man, our president just shamed our entire country before the world. And then you've got a preacher that gets up and says he's gonna be one of the great evangelists that's ever lived? It's ridiculous. Right, and I could go on rabbit trails for a while. I don't want to for time. I do wanna mention the other guy. Another guy who's a false prophet, John MacArthur. John MacArthur is not dead yet. He is twice dead, right? I mean, he is spiritually dead, but he's not physically dead yet. And I remember after I got saved, right after I got saved, I was given a book by John MacArthur called The Gospel According to Jesus. And I had been saved for just a couple weeks. And I read the book being newly saved. And I remember just thinking, this just doesn't sound right. And I assumed John MacArthur was saved. I didn't know anything about him. But I was just like, I don't believe this. Something's weird about the way that he's saying this. And of course, I didn't fully understand the doctrines I do today. But John MacArthur, when you listen to him, just full-blown works salvation. You've gotta turn your entire life and your will over to God. And if you're not going to church every week, it's because you're not saved, right? I mean, you can watch this video where there's this woman in a question and answer who comes up and she says, you know what, I'm worried. I'm not one of the elect. You know, that's what she said. She's like, I'm afraid because John MacArthur's a Calvinist. And she's like, I'm worried I'm not one of the elect. And can you give me some hope and assurance? And she's like trembling in her voice. And then John MacArthur's response is, well, I mean, do you have a love for God? Because if you have a love for God, you must be saved, right? Everybody that's unsaved thinks they love God. Right? Before you were saved, you thought you loved God. So how is that proof of salvation when everybody thinks they love God? Do you love God? Do you want to do what's right? Before I was saved, I wanted to do what was right. I say, what kind of an example is that? And you can tell when he's done, she leaves and it's kind of like, okay, but you could tell she has no assurance whatsoever. I wish I was in the audience that day so I could have just talked to that woman and said, hey, can you just take 10 minutes? I can show you how you can know. Right? But you can just look for yourself. I mean, there's no doubt. You say, but my old Baptist pastor loved John MacArthur. Yeah, everybody loves John MacArthur. And you know, woe on you and all men shall speak well of you for so did they to the false prophets. And when everybody loves Billy Graham outside of Baptist, he was good friends with Pope John Paul. Go and look at pictures with him with Pope John Paul. He was great friends with him. How do you become good? I don't want to be friends with the Pope. I'd be more likely to spit at Pope Francis than shake his hand. And then you're sitting down and just having fellowship with the Pope? Like, what in the world? There are a lot of false prophets. And this is why a lot of people are deceived. But let me just say, when it comes to people like Billy Graham and John MacArthur, here's my opinion about them though. They're probably people that they think they're actually good. They think that they're so great. They think that they're gonna be forgiven. I think it's unlikely that either Billy Graham or John MacArthur went down the road of major sexual perversion. Now, they're completely filled full of wickedness. But I believe it's most likely they never went down that road. They went down to other roads of wickedness and trying to control and power whatever. And then they're gonna be shocked one day when all of a sudden they go to hell. It's like, well, how did I go to hell? I mean, I preached to 100,000 people in North Korea. Who else has done that? It's like, yeah, that's exactly why you're going to hell. Why are you friends with a North Korean dictator, right? But it's just like, there's people, they think that they're right with God. They think they're so great. And then they're gonna find out they weren't even saved. Now here's the thing. As I said, these are considered the three scariest words in the Bible. I never knew you. And here's what I'll say. These words are not scary for me personally, for my own self, but I would still say they're scary words. And the reason why they're scary words is the fact that we know the vast majority of people are unsaved. And I'll tell you what, if you go to a grocery store or the mall and you stand in line to buy something and you have four people in front of you, most likely every single one of those people is unsaved. And that's pretty scary. And I'll tell you what, we've done a great job this year. I mean, our church this year, every single month we've had at least 1,000 salvations, so praise God for that. But no matter how many people we get saved, it's really a small drop in the bucket. And we have our entire lifetimes to reach more people. You say, why? Because the vast majority of this world is unsaved. I mean, when the Bible says it's narrow, I mean, it is truly narrow. Very makiti, masiki, very narrow. Very few people are actually saved in this world. And here's the thing, He's given to us the ministry of reconciliation. God's not gonna come down from heaven and preach the gospel to unsaved people. He's not gonna send angels. He's gonna send us to preach the gospel to the unsaved world. Let's go somewhere to prayer. Your heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to see this passage about salvation and help us to use this to motivate us to go out and preach the gospel, God, and spend our lives just trying to get as many people saved as possible, God, and help us to just turn people from their belief in their works to belief on you alone for salvation, God. We pray this.