Matthew 7:21-23
Wrong Skins and Rotten Fruit
As I begin, let me say that I am not trying to make anyone angry. I
am attempting to fulfill my calling. Every person sitting in this
building—-as well as every person alive—-will have to stand before
God one day. There are some things you need to know. Not things
that I think, but things that God says.
This morning, let me give you four facts. They are not alliterated
or fancy, but they may save your soul.
I. \\#21-23\\ Not everyone who is religious is going to heaven.
Matt 7:21 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.
22 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?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never
knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
A. Notice that Jesus was talking about people who thought they
knew God.
B. Even more specifically, He was talking about people who
thought they knew HIM.
1. \\#21\\ "saith unto me"
2. "the will of my Father which is in heaven"
3. \\#22\\ "Many will say to me "
4. "prophesied in thy name"
5. "in thy name have cast out devils"
6. "in thy name done many wonderful works"
7. \\#23\\ "I never knew you"
8. "depart from me"
C. In those statements, Jesus was telling that crowd that:
1. He is the Judge that will one day rule on them.
2. His name is the name of power and authority.
3. He is the Member of the Godhead who paid the price for
sins and will judge every man and every woman who has
refused His payment.
D. Some say that Jesus never said He was the Christ.
1. Granted, Jesus did not talk about Himself being Christ in
front of the scribes and Pharisees but He did in front
of two crowds.
a. Woman at the well:
John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that
Messias cometh, which is called Christ…
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee
am he.
b. And Jesus told this crowd.
2. Why did Jesus not tell the scribes and Pharisees.
a. I don’t know for sure but I imagine it was because
they would have immediately stoned Him.
(1) What was the problem with that?
(2) He came to die.
b. Yes, but Jesus picked the when and the how and this
was not either.
3. So here Jesus openly and publicly spoke of Himself as God
and these people were okay with that.
E. \\#23\\ Notice Jesus statement-"I NEVER knew you"
1. Jesus was saying that at least some of these religious
people were lost!
a. Some of our friends who believe you can lose your
salvation want to use this as a proof text.
b. It isn’t.
c. Jesus did not say that He knew them and forgot them.
d. Jesus said, to the religious people who knew something
about Him. I NEVER knew you.
e. Just because you know God who God does not mean that
God knows who you are.
2. The fact is that most every writer of the Bible warned
the religious that they may not be saved.
a. The Apostle Paul
2Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye
be in the faith; prove your own selves.
b. John
(1) The whole book of 1John.
1John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
(2) John said if the love of the world is in you the
love of the Father is NOT.
3. Why would so many (if not all) of the Bible writers give
these warnings? Because you can be religious and not to
to heaven!
II. The vast majority of religious people will die lost.
A. Listen to that again: The vast majority of religious people
will die lost.
Matt 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that
leadeth to destruction, and many there be which
go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the
way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it.
B. Remember Jesus was talking to religious people not out-and-
out heathen. Even those who were willing to consider Him
to be the Christ.
1. To THEM Jesus said the road to hell is broad.
2. To THEM Jesus said the way to heaven is straight and few
of YOU are on it!
C. To think you are a Christian and to die lost and be cast into
hell, all the time thinking you were saved would have to be
the worst nightmare you could ever dream, but Jesus was
telling those people that it was to be at some of their
futures!
III. \\#15-18\\ The proof of true salvation is in the life we live
not the talk we give.
Matt 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come
to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil
fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit.
A. Here is where the title of the message came from.
B. Jesus made this point in two ways:
1. \\#15\\ He said that it is what is on the inside not the
outside that determines whether you are a Christian or
not.
a. Whether it is a false preacher in the pulpit or a
false professor in the pew, you have to look deeper
than the suit of clothes they wear.
b. Anybody can stick on a lambskin.
2. \\#16-18\\ It’s the fruit of the tree not the label on the
tag that we look at.
a. It takes some time to grow a tree and produce fruit.
b. No individual act can be used to determine whether a
person is truly saved or lost, but a track record
of their fruit over a prolonged time will be a pretty
good indicator.
(1) You might stub your toe and say a bad word (you
should not, but you might), but if you always
talk with a bad language, that’s bad fruit and
a problem.
(2) You might see a bad picture, but if you stay for
the show, that’s bad fruit and a problem.
(3) You might think poorly of a person, but if you
gossip about them, that’s bad fruit and a
problem.
(4) You might want a better job, but if you are a
bad employee, that’s bad fruit and a problem.
c. The day-in, day-out fruit of your life is the tell-
tale sign of whether you know Jesus or not.
IV. The Bible tells us what kind of fruit each kind of person bears.
A. For right now, we will say that there are three kinds of
people: lost, saved, and backslidden.
B. If I were to make a list of those sins that mark a lost or
saved person, I would be accused of judging or being a
legalist; but did you know God already has.
1. God made these lists up before any of us were even born.
2. The newest list in the Bible would have to be more than
1900 years old.
C. God’s list:
1. The unsaved:
1Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance,
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
and such like: of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they
which do such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God.
a. These are the works of a lost person.
(1) It does not matter how religious they may be.
(2) God said if they do these works, they "will not
inherit the kingdom of God" \\#1Cor 6:9\\.
b. This list can be divided into four categories:
(1) On that top of that list that marks a person as
being lost are sexual sins:
(a) adultery \\#1Cor 6:9, Gal 5:19\\-relations
outside marriage.
(b) fornication \\#1Cor 6:9, Gal 5:19\\-illicit
perverted sexual sins (prostitution,
homosexual and lesbian activity,
bestiality, pedophilia, and many others)
(c) abusers of themselves and effeminate
\\#1Cor 6:9\\ is homosexually in all of its
forms.
(2) There is also the lost people’s list of heart
sins.
(a) hatred, wrath \\#Gal 5:20\\
(b) envy \\#Gal 5:21\\, covetous \\#1Cor 6:10\\
Always wanting things you don’t have.
i. It is amazing how much church talk,
talk among Christians, is hatred and
envy talk.
ii. Back up, Jack!
iii. You will not see hatred, envy,
bitterness, tale-bearing and the like
listed on the behavior list of the
saved.
iv. Those things are only listed on the
behavior list of the lost.
v. You say, "Preacher! I know I am
saved."
vi. I say, "Prove it." Live like you are
saved and not like you are lost.
(c) lasciviousness \\#Gal 5:19\\-given to
fleshly desires
i. We may not use the word much, but we
practice the sin quite often.
ii. All of those posters you have hanging
on your wall of entertainers and
hotties and hunks. That is
lasciviousness.
iii. Reading your portfolio more than your
Bible. That is lasciviousness.
iv. Preoccupation with cars, and carding,
fishing, and fashion, trophies and
travel.
aa. The fleshly things that we are
focused on need not be sinful.
bb. The problem is not so much what
are focused upon, but that we
are so focused on them, putting
Jesus and service to Jesus
behind those things.
cc. That is lasciviousness.
(d) strife & seditions \\#Gal 5:20\\, murder
\\#Gal 5:21\\-trouble making and plotting
to make trouble, threating, rebelling, even
complaining, all the way up to the actual
act of committing murder.
(3) Sins of body
(a) drunkenness \\#1Cor 6:10, Gal 5:21\\
i. Drunkenness was, is and will be
behavior of the lost.
ii. Drunkenness in the Bible means
intoxicated, and that does not have
to be limited to intoxicated by
beverages.
iii. Drugs can induce intoxication as well.
(b) revellings
i. \\#Gal 5:21\\ partying
ii. Every generation thinks they invented
partying.
iii. Afraid not.
iv. You may have figured a way to take
partying to a new low, but you did
not invite.
(4) Sins of worship
(a) idolatry \\#1 Cor 6:9, Gal 5:20\\-Anything
placed before God
(b) witchcraft \\#Gal 5:20\\-From worshipping
the dark and the mystic up to worshipping
the devil himself.
(c) heresies \\#Gal 5:20\\-Rejecting truth
about God and believing a lie
c. You can think what you like about yourself, but the
Bible is the Word of God, and it declares that if
your fruit looks like this, it is an indication you
are not saved.
2. The saved:
a. I will not even read these lists because of time, but
you can and should read them.
(1) \\#Rom 12:9-18\\
(2) \\#Gal 5:22-25\\
b. Those lists are divided into three categories.
(1) \\#Romans 12:9-10\\ Demonstrations of the heart
(a) love-Christians should be the most loving
people.
i. A love upward to God
ii. A love outward to the body of Christ
iii. A love downward to those who have less
or know less than we do
(b) kindness-the lubricant of unity
(c) with an honor for the saved that prefers the
saved to the lost!
(2) \\#Romans 12:11-13\\ Demonstrations of the body:
(a) \\#11\\ not slothful-hard working
(b) \\#11\\ serving the Lord
(3) \\#Gal 5:22-25, Romans 12:11-16\\ Demonstrations
of the spirit:
(a) \\#11\\ fervent in spirit
(b) \\#12, 15\\ rejoicing
(c) \\#12\\ patient in problems
(d) \\#12\\ prayerful
(e) \\#13\\ giving and hospitable
(f) \\#16\\ of the same mind-humble
(g) \\#17\\ forgiving
(h) \\#17\\ honest
(i) \\#18\\ peaceful
3. The backslider: \\#Heb 12:4-7\\
Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin.
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which
speaketh unto you as unto children, My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor
faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you
as with sons; for what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not?
a. Notice some key words in this text.
(1) \\#Heb 12:4\\ "not resisted"
(2) \\#Heb 12:5\\ "forgotten"
(3) \\#Heb 12:5\\ "fainted"
b. Those words indicate that these believers once lived
like a Christian, but the fainted and forgot who they
were and eventually yielded to the pull of the world
on them.
(1) The problem I see with some is that you cannot
forget what you never learned or can’t faint
from a battle you never entered.
(a) At one time, these backsliders were living
like Christians.
(b) I fear a lot of religious people think they
are backslid from Jesus when the truth is
they never were close enough to Him to
slide away to begin with.
i. You cannot be in remission from a
disease you never had.
ii. You cannot retire from a job you
never worked.
iii. And you can’t faint from a battle you
never entered.
(2) But even if you really are backslid, that means
you quit on Someone you once loved dearly and
stood for supremely.
(a) That should not be a condition you want to
stay in.
(b) No! Once you realize it you should be
flinging yourself upon God’s altar, begging
God to forgive you and to make things right.
c. \\#Hebrews 12:6\\ There are two more important words
that sum of the condition the backslider is in,
"chastened" and "scourged."
(1) Chastened means corrected.
(2) Scourged means whipped.
(3) If you are backslidden, you have not forgotten
God or been forgotten by Him.
(a) Rather, you heavenly Father has been wearing
your backside down.
(b) Get it? Backslidden means something is
happening to your spiritual "backside."
(c) It is being chastened and scourged.
(d) If you think you are a backslidden Christian
and you are not walking with a severe
spiritual limp from an exceedingly painful
backside, you are not backslidden at all.
(e) You are lost.
V. In closing two more things:
A. Someone might ask, "Doesn’t the Bible say, ‘Judge not lest you
be judged.’?" Yes, but it also says:
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance,
but judge righteous judgment.
1. Is that a contradiction? No.
2. The Bible is telling us that while I am not your judge,
you had better judge yourself with God’s judgment and
not your own.
B. Some say, "I don’t believe God will send me to hell because I
do those things."
1. You are partly correct.
2. You are not lost because you do those things.
3. You do those things because you are lost.
a. People today think God is GOING to judge them because
of those works.
b. That is wrong.
c. God judged those works before man was ever created.
d. You are just acknowledging you are lost by doing
those works.
Understand again what I said earlier. I am not trying to get you
angry, or to embarrass you, or to hurt your feelings. I am trying to
warn you that being Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Church of God, or
anything else means nothing. That is nothing more than a tag on stump.
What manners is what is under the wool. What matters is what grows
on the branches. Instead of telling me what brand of Christian you
think you are, show me what kind of fruits you are bearing. That’s
what Jesus said tells is all.
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