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📍 Sermon Outline 00:00 Trailer 01:06

Which situation are you in?

04:15 I. THE PAYING OF LIP SERVICES

09:30 II. THE PERFORMING OF WORKS

How do we explain the works of these false believers?

Can you be serving and not be saved? Yes.

Is your confidence in your works?

23:19 III. THE DOER OF GOD’S WILL

The tests of salvation

You will increase in prayer!

You will increase in service!

The assurance of salvation: You are a new creature

41:38 Closing Prayer

44:47 Reflection Question

Our text for tonight's message is taken from Matthew 7:21–23.

Allow me to read for you Matthew 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. 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."

How can we know for sure that we are saved? How assured are we that we will enter the kingdom of heaven? The assurance of salvation is a very important topic. Actually, there are three possible situations regarding the assurance of salvation.

Firstly, it is possible for a person to be saved, or a person who is lost and he knows he is lost. That is the first situation. Secondly, it is possible for a person who is lost and yet he believes he is saved. In other words, he is deceiving himself. Thirdly, it is possible for a person to be saved and yet not be sure that he is saved. Lastly, it is possible for a person to be saved and he is sure he is saved, because he has the biblical assurance of salvation. And this is the very thing we desire every one of us to have — a biblical assurance of our salvation.

In the preceding verses, Jesus warns us about the wide gate that leads to destruction, and He wants us to beware of false prophets who would deceive us about the way of salvation. And then now Jesus warns us about ourselves. In other words, it is not only the false prophets who can deceive us about the way of salvation — we ourselves can deceive ourselves too. And this is what we want to learn from this passage.

The title of our message is The Folly of a False Profession.

I. The Paying Of Lip Services

Our first point is: The Paying of Lip Services, beginning with the first part of Matthew 7:21: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven."

The word “Lord” can be used as a title of respect and honour given to any political, military, or religious leader, or even teacher. But for the people to say “Lord, Lord“ and then with reference to the kingdom of heaven, it suggests much more than just human respect and honour, because the word “Lord” in both Hebrew and Greek is also a word that denotes divinity.

In the Old Testament, the word Lord means Jehovah — a name for God. In the New Testament, the citizens of the Roman Empire were required to confess Caesar as Lord, which means Caesar was divine. When the Christians refused to do that, they were persecuted and even put to death. So for the people to address Jesus as Lord means to profess Him as the only true God. Notice these people did not privately profess Jesus was Lord, but they did it publicly. How do we know?

The next verse tells us that they even prophesied in His name, which means people could hear their messages. They even cast out devils and done many wonderful works in the name of Jesus Christ. So these people publicly professed that Jesus was Lord.

Is there anything wrong with this profession? No. In fact, if a man refuses to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, he will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The true believers will always acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. But that is only one part of the equation.

Romans 10:9–10 says: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

In other words, you can be 100% right in what you say about Christ. You can be 100% accurate about the nature of Christ, His person, His atoning work on the cross, His resurrection, and His return. You may even be a defender of His Word and yet not be saved. Why? Because you do not believe in your heart.

Salvation is a supernatural work. It is the wonder-working of the Holy Spirit. It is a deep-seated conviction based on the truth of the Bible. It is to believe in your heart — in the inner man — that Jesus Christ is truly your Lord and your Saviour.

Here Jesus was not speaking about the atheist, the agnostics, the pagans, or the heretics. He was speaking about people who were seemingly religious. People who called themselves Christians, people who had deceived themselves into thinking that they were on the road to heaven, when they were actually on the broad way to hell.

So firstly, the paying of lip services is not enough to save you.

II. The Performing Of Works

Secondly, The Performing of Works is also not enough.

Look at Matthew 7:22–23: "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." In that day is a reference to the Day of Judgment.

2 Timothy 4:1 says: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom." The Judge is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus said, "Many shall say to me in that day..." They will stand before Him and say, ‘Lord, have we not done this? And have we not done that?’

If Jesus was speaking about the great white throne judgment, these professing believers — who are not true believers — would have already spent centuries in hell awaiting their final judgment to be cast into the lake of fire. Can you imagine? Even then they are still desperately trying to impress the Lord that they were zealous, active, and diligent in their religious works. ‘Lord, we have prophesied in your name. We have cast out devils. We have done many wonderful works. Don't you remember us?’

Jesus did not indicate whether these false believers had actually prophesied accurately, or whether they had actually cast out demons, or whether they had actually performed many wonderful works.

The works of false believers

There are three possible explanations for the claims of these false believers.

A first possibility is that these false believers may be allowed to do those amazing works by God's power. In the same way, God put words into Balaam's mouth even though he was a wicked and false prophet. In John 11:51–52, before Jesus was crucified, He was tried by the wicked high priest Caiaphas, who, by God's providence, he also prophesied. This is what the Bible says: "…he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad."

A second possibility is that those amazing works may be accomplished by Satan’s power. Remember, Satan is also a powerful adversary. Jesus Himself predicted in Matthew 24:24: "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

A third possibility is that those claims were simply fake and not true. Let’s presume they did prophesy, and they did wonderful works. Then the question is — isn't that a good thing? Today, you can watch high-profile preachers and faith healers preach the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel on television, on the internet. They will call upon the name of Jesus Christ. They will claim to have the gift of prophecy, the gift of healing, and the ability to perform signs and wonders. They can appear on live television night after night and month after month, but never once preach the true gospel, because they are preaching a different gospel.

As 2 Corinthians 11:4 says: "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." The word “another” is another of a different kind.

Can you be serving and not be saved? Yes.

You may ask: how can a preacher graduate from the Bible seminary and yet not be born again? How can a minister be preaching the word of God and counselling the church members and yet not be born again? How can a man be attending Sunday School ever since he was a child and then sitting in the pews week after week, serving in the various ministries of the church and yet not be born again? Can that be possible? Most certainly.

Martin Luther was one of the most prominent figures in a Protestant Reformation. Soon after Luther entered into the monastery, he became popular and respected, and he was ordained to the priesthood. He studied the scriptures and he became a doctor of theology. He lectured from the books of Psalms, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and Titus.

If anyone had asked Luther at that point in his life, ‘Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God?’ he would have answered, ‘Of course I do. I've always believed.’ ‘Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins?’ ‘Yes, I do.’ ‘Do you believe that Jesus would come again and judge the world?’ ‘Yes, I do and I tremble at the thought.’

Yet at that point in his life, Luther did not know the Lord personally. Jesus was God but not his God. Jesus was Lord but not his Lord. Jesus was the Saviour but not his Saviour. He was not born again. He was not a believer until he was convicted by the wonderworking of the Holy Spirit.

So the main point is that there are people who would profess that Jesus is Lord, and there are people who would perform wonderful works, but they do not belong to Christ regardless of what they say or do.

Is your confidence in your works?

Jesus emphatically said, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:23) That is very strong language. Jesus did not say, ‘I knew you for a while, but you fell away.’ He said, ‘I never knew you.’ In other words, you had never belonged to me. You were never a believer. "Depart from me" means to be eternally lost, eternally separated from God.

Notice Jesus used the word “many”. So not just a few, but there would be multitudes and multitudes of professing Christians who are not born again. They are lost.

There's nothing more tragic than this — for someone who thinks he is a child of God when he is on this earth, but when he stands before Christ on the day of judgment and he hears the Lord say to him, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:23)

Perhaps he might say, ‘But God, I have visited the poor. I have served in the ministries. I have given much money to charity.’ It doesn't matter if those things may be seen as wonderful works in the eyes of men. But because the heart was unconverted and all those things came out of a heart that was not cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter. They will be works of iniquity.

Some people have made decisions to receive the Lord Jesus Christ based on their own human understanding, will or efforts — sometimes to please their believing parents or to please their believing girlfriends — or during a gospel rally. They put up their hands and walked down the aisles just because everyone was doing it and they did not want to be the odd one out.

I'm not referring to those who are genuinely regenerated through the word and the Holy Spirit, but I'm referring to those who are just going through the motions, going through the emotional routines. So when you ask them, ‘How are you saved?’ ‘Well, the pastor said I was saved. Or the evangelist asked me to do this. The preacher said to me, Kneel thou and repeat this prayer after me and you will have eternal life. And I did just that.’

Dear friend, if there is no true faith in the heart, you will not be saved. Whatever you say, whatever you do, will not save you. Salvation is a supernatural work, and it is the Holy Spirit that brings conviction, faith, and repentance into your heart and transforms your life.

III. The Doer Of God’s Will

This brings us to our final point: the doer of God's will.

Who then is truly saved? Who then is a true disciple of Christ? Not the one who simply mouths the name of Jesus or the one who claims to have done many wonderful works — "But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21) It is to obey the word of God. As John 8:31 says, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed."

Salvation and obedience to the will of God cannot be separated. If you and I are truly saved, firstly, God must justify us. Secondly, He must sanctify us, and His transforming power must be in us. And if God is truly working in your life and my life, then we will be a doer of His will. Only God alone can make us a new creature in Christ Jesus. Only God alone can give us a new heart. And if God is doing His transforming work in our lives, we will have a new desire, a new direction, a new perspective, and a new life. The question is, what is God doing within us? This is something that only we alone can examine our own hearts and ask ourselves: Am I really doing the will of my Father which is in heaven?

The Bible is the word of God. Whatever is written in this book, whatever is commanded in this book, is the will of God for us. So how much we know the Bible will also determine how much we know of God's will. If we want to know whether we are a doer of God's will, measure our lives against this book — the Bible.

Tests of salvation

It has often been said that the book of First John is a book of tests — tests to see whether or not we are saved. Let us consider some of them:

1 John 1:6 — "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." In other words, if we say we have fellowship with God — which is tantamount to having salvation — and yet we are living in darkness, living in sin, we are lying. We are not speaking the truth. We may claim to be Christians, but in reality, we are not.

1 John 2:3 — "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments."The true believer who knows God will always have a desire to keep His commandments. A person may say the sinner's prayer, attend all the worship services and fellowship meetings regularly, but if he demonstrates no desire to keep the commandments of God, is such a person saved?

This is what the Bible says in verse four: "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:4) So, it is not what you say or what you do. It is the faith that you have in your heart that will cause you to desire to obey God's commandments.

1 John 2:9 — "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now." No true believer should hate his brother — or anybody, for that matter. If someone claims to be a Christian, and he hates his brother, and he cannot let go of this vengeful spirit, despiteful anger — does he have any biblical basis for his assurance of salvation? No. He may mouth the name of Jesus Christ a hundred times or even a thousand times. It makes no difference. God says he is in darkness even until now.

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." If he loves the very thing that God hates, then the love of the Father is not in him. He's not a child of God. It is like me telling my wife, ‘I love you,’ and I know that she would not share her love for me with any other women. But I love to go out and fool around with other women and then come back home and say to her, ‘Darling, I love you.’ Is my love for her genuine and acceptable? No. It is a fake love. It is not true love. You cannot love God and yet love the evil system of this world.

1 John 2:19 — "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." The word “us” is a reference to the believers. We were not told who these people were. But they had departed from the fellowship of the saints. They were no longer in fellowship with the church. They were no longer in fellowship with God's people. For a while they were active in the church and then all of a sudden they left.

This is not a reference to those people who have left us and they are now attending another church. Bethel BP Church is not the only church in Melbourne. If they have gone to a Bible-believing church, they should continue to worship in that church and be an active, serving member in that church.

This is a reference to those people who have left the fellowship of the saints altogether — no longer worshipping God in any of the churches. The true believer will not do that. Do you know why? Because he is a member of the body of Christ, and he would want to be joined to the other members of which Christ is the head.

1 John 2:29 — "If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him."

1 John 3:9 — "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." That does not mean the Bible teaches sinless perfection. No man is perfect. We still do sin from time to time, especially when we are weak and we do not look to God. But the true believer will not continue to dwell in habitual sin, because the true believer desires righteousness. His desire is to please God. He knows in his heart that sin grieves the Lord whom he loves, and he's troubled whenever he sins. The indwelling Holy Spirit will convict his heart and empower him to overcome that sin victoriously. He will not dwell in that sin.

Increase in prayer

You will also increase in your prayer life. If you are not a child of God, you will not approach the throne of God with confidence. If you do not know for sure that He is your Heavenly Father, and you do not have a true relationship with Him, prayers is nothing but a meaningless exercise. But if you are a child of God, you know that your Heavenly Father loves you, and He will answer your prayers according to His sovereign will and purpose. You will love to come before Him. You will love to talk to Him and tell Him all your struggles, simply because you are a child of God.

Increase in service

You will also increase in your service for God. It is hard to be effective in serving God if you are not sure whether or not you are His child. But when you know that you have been saved by His love, grace, and mercy, you will serve the Lord with gladness. A word of encouragement to all those who have been serving quietly for months and years — do not be discouraged if no one appreciates your work. God knows, and that is all that matters.

The assurance of salvation

Dear friend, how can we be sure that we are truly saved? When you turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and in faith, and God has given you a new heart to love Him, a new desire for His work, a new passion for lost souls. You will love the brethren. You will increase in your service for the Lord. You will grow. You will spend more and more time praying for the Lord's work. You will live your life to do the will of your Father which is in Heaven. That is the assurance of our salvation.

If you are still the same old man, nothing has changed before and after conversions, you may be still lingering outside the kingdom of God. Then you are eternally lost. Today is the day of salvation. Cast yourself at the mercy of God. There is one way of escape, and that is to turn to the only One — the Lord Jesus Christ — who is able to save you from eternal damnation.

In a large cathedral in Germany, there were these words engraved that so wonderfully reflect the teachings of Jesus Christ here. Allow me to read for you:

Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us:

You call Me Master and obey Me not.

You call Me Light and see Me not.

You call Me the Way and walk Me not.

You call Me Life and live Me not.

You call Me Wise and follow Me not.

You call Me Fair and love Me not.

You call Me Rich and ask Me not.

You call Me Eternal and seek Me not.

If I condemn thee, blame Me not.

John Newton, the one who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace, once said: ‘If I reach Heaven, I expect to find three wonders there. The first wonder is to meet some I had not expected to see there. The second wonder is to meet some I had expected to meet there. And the greatest wonder of all is to find myself there.’

Dear friend, I believe when he said the second wonder, what a surprise to expect certain people to be there and yet they are not there. This is the folly of a false profession. Not just paying lip services — it will not save you. Not just performing works but without a believing heart.

But you are a true believer if you believe in your heart the Lord Jesus Christ, and then confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and He must be the Lord of your life, and then you do all the good works through the working of the Holy Spirit indwelling in you. You will be the one whom Jesus says: "He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)

I pray that all of us will be the doer of God's will — the true believer.

Closing prayer

Let us pray.

Father in Heaven, indeed as we read this passage, as our Lord Jesus Himself said, many shall call unto Me, "Lord, Lord," in that day — what a frightening thought. Many, not just a few — which means multitudes and multitudes of professing Christians are not born again. They do not truly believe in Thee. They are just paying lip services. They are just performing works but without a believing heart.

Oh Lord, this is a reminder to all of us that we as believers ought not to live such a life. We do not want to just pay lip services. We do not want to just perform works without a believing heart. We believe in Thee with all our hearts, with all our souls, and we love Thee.

And therefore, it is from this faith that we have in our hearts that cause us to confess Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. That cause us to do works that will glorify Him, and to live our lives to be a doer of His will — the will that He has given to us in His word, the Bible.

So help us, oh Lord, that as we live our lives doing Thy will, living out Thy truth, we are assured in our hearts that we are saved, and it is all because of Thee. Thy Spirit lives in us and cause us to live such a life.

And we pray for those who are still lingering in this folly of a false profession, but in their hearts they do not believe. We pray that Thou wilt convict their hearts of their sins, that they may turn to Thee in repentance and in faith and have Thy salvation.

Oh Lord, help us not just to be hearers of Thy word only, but to be doers of Thy word as well, to the glory of Thy precious name.

In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

text for tonight's message is taken from Matthew 7 verse 21-23. Allow me to read for you Matthew 7 21. 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 will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. How can we know for sure that we are saved? How assured are we that we will enter the kingdom of heaven? The assurance of salvation is a very important topic. Actually, there are three possible situations regarding the assurance of salvation. Firstly, it is possible for a person to be saved or a person who is lost and he knows he is lost. That is the first situation. Secondly, it is possible for a person who is lost and yet he believes he is saved. In other words, he deceiving himself. Thirdly, it is possible for a person to be saved and yet not be sure that he is saved. Lastly, it is possible for a person to be saved and he is sure he is saved because he has the biblical assurance of salvation. And this is the very thing we desire every one of us to have a biblical assurance of our salvation. In the preceding verses, Jesus warns us about the white gate that leads to destruction. And he wants us to beware of false prophets who would deceive us about the way of salvation. And then now Jesus warns us about ourselves. In other words, it is not only the false prophets who can deceive us about the way of salvation. We ourselves can deceive ourselves too. And this is what we want to learn from this passage. The title of our message is the foley of a false profession. Our first point is the paying of lip services. Beginning with the first part of verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. The word Lord can be used as a title of respect and honor given to any political, military or religious leader or even teacher. But for the people to say Lord, Lord, and then with reference to the kingdom of heaven, it suggests much more than just human respect and honor. Because the word Lord in both Hebrew and Greek is also a word that denotes divinity. In the Old Testament, the word Lord means Jehovah, a name for God. In the New Testament, the citizens of the Roman Empire were required to confess Caesar as Lord, which means Caesar was divine. When the Christians refused to do that, they were persecuted and even put to death. So for the people to address Jesus as Lord means to profess him as the only true God. Notice these people did not privately profess Jesus was Lord but they did it publicly. How do we know? The next verse tells us that they even prophesied in his name, which means people could hear their messages. They even cast out devils and done many wonderful works in the name of Jesus Christ. So these people publicly professed that Jesus was Lord. Is there anything wrong with this profession? No. In fact, if a man refuses to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, he will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The true believers will always acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. But that is only one part of the equation. Romans 10:9 says, "Thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." In other words, you can be 100% right in what you say about Christ. You can be 100% accurate about the nature of Christ, his person, his atoning work on the cross, his resurrection, and his return. You may even be a defender of his word and yet not be saved. Why? Because you do not believe in your heart. Salvation is a supernatural work. It is the wonderworking of the Holy Spirit. It is a deep seted conviction based on the truth of the Bible. It is to believe in your heart in the inner man that Jesus Christ is truly your Lord and your Savior. Here Jesus was not speaking about the atheist, the anostics, the pagans or the heretics. He was speaking about people who were seemingly religious. people who called themselves Christians, people who had deceived themselves into thinking that they were on the road to heaven when they were actually on the Broadway to hell. So firstly, the paying of lip services is not enough to save you. Secondly, the performing of works is also not enough. Look at verses 22 and 23. 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. In that day is a reference to the day of judgment. 2 Timothy 4:1 says, "I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom?" The judge is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus said, "Many shall say to me in that day, they will stand before him and say, Lord, have we not done this and have we not done that?" If Jesus was speaking about the great white throne judgment, these professing believers who are not true believers would have already spent centuries in hell awaiting their final judgment to be cast into the lake of fire. Can you imagine? Even then they are still desperately trying to impress the Lord that they were zealous, active and diligent in their religious works. Lord, we have prophesied in your name. We have cast out devils. We have done many wonderful works. Don't you remember us? Jesus did not indicate whether these false believers had actually prophesied accurately or whether they had actually cast out demons or whether they had actually performed many wonderful works. There are three possible explanations for the claims of these false believers. A first possibility is that these false believers may be allowed to do those amazing works by God's power. In the same way, God put words into Balam's mouth even though he was a wicked and false prophet. In John 11:51 before Jesus was crucified, he was tried by the wicked high priest Caiaphas who by God's providence. He also prophesied. This is what the Bible says. He prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that was scattered abroad. A second possibility is that those amazing works may be accomplished by Satan's power. Remember, Satan is also a powerful adversary. Jesus himself predicted in Matthew 24:4, "For there shall arise false Christ and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." A third possibility is that those claims were simply fake and not true. Let's presume they did prophesy and they did wonderful works. Then the question is, isn't that a good thing? Today you can watch high-profile preachers and faith healers preach the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel on television, on the internet. They will call upon the name of Jesus Christ. They will claim to have the gift of prophecy, the gift of healing, and the ability to perform signs and wonders. They can appear on live television night after night and month after month, but never once preach the true gospel because they are preaching a different gospel. As 2 Corinthians 11:4 says, "For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if ye received another spirit which ye have not received, or another gospel which ye have not accepted, he might well bear with him." The word another is another of a different kind. You may ask, how can a preacher graduate from the Bible seminary and yet not be born again?

Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances. How can a minister be preaching the word of God and counseling the church members and yet not be born again? How can a man be attending Sunday school ever since he was a child and then sitting in the pews week after week serving in the various ministries of the church and yet not be born again? Can that be possible? Most certainly. Martin Luther was one of the most prominent figures in a Protestant Reformation. Soon after Luther entered into the monastery, he became popular and respected and he was ordained to the priesthood. He studied the scriptures and he became a doctor of theology. He lectured from the books of Psalms, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and Titus. If anyone had asked Luther at that point in his life, "Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God?" he would have answered, "Of course I do. I've always believed. Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins? Yes, I do. Do you believe that Jesus would come again and judge the world? Yes, I do. And I tremble at the thought. Yet at that point in his life, Luther did not know the Lord personally. Jesus was God but not his God. Jesus was Lord but not his Lord. Jesus was the Savior but not his savior. He was not born again. He was not a believer until he was convicted by the wonderworking of the Holy Spirit. So the main point is that there are people who would profess that Jesus is Lord and there are people who would perform wonderful works but they do not belong to Christ regardless of what they say or do. Jesus emphatically said, "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." That is a very strong language. Jesus did not say, "I knew you for a while, but you fell away." He said, "I never knew you." In other words, you had never belonged to me. You were never a believer. Depart from me means to be eternally lost, eternally separated from God. Notice Jesus used the word many. So not just a few, but there would be multitudes and multitudes of professing Christians who are not born again. They are lost. There's nothing more tragic than this. for someone who thinks he is a child of God when he is on this earth. But when he stands before Christ on the day of judgment and he hears the Lord say to him, "I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Perhaps he might say, "But God, I have visited the poor. I have served in the ministries. I have given much money to charity." It doesn't matter if those things may be seen as wonderful works in the eyes of men. But because the heart was unconverted and all those things came out of a heart that was not cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter. They will be works of iniquity. Some people have made decisions to receive the Lord Jesus Christ based on their own human understanding, will or efforts sometimes to please their believing parents or to please their believing girlfriends or during a gospel rally. They put up their hands and walked down the aisles just because everyone was doing it and they did not want to be the odd one out. I'm not referring to those who are genuinely regenerated through the word and the Holy Spirit, but I'm referring to those who are just going through the motions, going through the emotional routines. So when you ask them, "How are you saved?" Well, the pastor said I was saved. Or the evangelist asked me to do this. The preacher said to me, "Kneel thou and repeat this prayer after me and you will have eternal life." And I did just that. Dear friend, if there is no true faith in the heart, you will not be saved. Whatever you say, whatever you do will not save you. Salvation is a supernatural work and it is the Holy Spirit that brings conviction, faith, and repentance. into your heart and transforms your life. This brings us to our final point, the doer of God's will. Who then is truly saved? Who then is a true disciple of Christ? Not the one who simply mouths the name of Jesus or the one who claims to have done many wonderful works. But he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven, it is to obey the word of God. As John 8:31 says, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." Salvation and obedience to the will of God cannot be separated if you and I are truly saved. Firstly, God must justify this. Secondly, he must sanctify us and his transforming power must be in us. And if God is truly working in your life and my life, then we will be a doer of his will. Only God alone can make us a new creature in Christ Jesus. Only God alone can give us a new heart. And if God is doing his transforming work in our lives, we will have a new desire, a new direction, a new perspective, and a new life. The question is, what is God doing within us? This is something that only we alone can examine our own hearts and ask ourselves. Am I really doing the will of my father which is in heaven? The Bible is the word of God. Whatever is written in this book, whatever is commanded in this book is the will of God for us. So how much we know the Bible will also determine how much we know of God's will. If we want to know whether we are a doer of God's will, measure our lives against this book, the Bible. It has often been said that the book of First John is a book of test. Test to see whether or not we are saved. Let us consider some of them. First John chapter 1 verse 6. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. In other words, if we say we have fellowship with God, which is tentamount to having salvation, and yet we are living in darkness, living in sin, we are lying. We are not speaking the truth. We may claim to be Christians, but in reality, we are not. 1 John chapter 2:3. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. The true believer who knows God will always have a desire to keep his commandments. A person may say the sinner's prayer, attend all the worship services and fellowship meetings regularly, but if he demonstrates no desire to keep the commandments of God, is such a person saved? This is what the Bible says in verse four. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. So, it is not what you say or what you do. It is the faith that you have in your heart that will cause you to desire to obey God's commandments. 1 John chapter 2:9, "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother is in darkness, even until now." No true believer should hate his brother or anybody for that matter. If someone claims to be a Christian and he hates his brother and he cannot let go of this vengeful spirit, despiteful anger, does he have any biblical basis for his assurance of salvation? No. He may mouth the name of Jesus Christ a hund times or even a thousand times. It makes no difference. God says he is in darkness even until now. First John chapter 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. If he learn loves the very thing that God hates, then the love of the father is not in him. He's not a child of God. It is like me telling my wife, I love you. And I know that she would not share her love for me with any other women. But I love to go out and fool around with other women and then come back home and say to her, "Darling, I love you. Is my love for her genuine and acceptable?" No. It is a fake love. It is not true love. You cannot love God and yet love the evil system of this world. First John 2:1 19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. The word us is a reference to the believers. We were not told who these people were. But they had departed from the fellowship of the saints. They were no longer in fellowship with the church. They were no longer in fellowship with God's people. For a while they were active in the church and then all of a sudden they left. This is not a reference to those people who have left us and they are now attending another church. Better BP Church is not the only church in Melbourne. If they have gone to a Bible believing church, they should continue to worship in that church and be an active serving member in that church. This is a reference to those people who have left the fellowship of the saints allto together no longer worshiping God in the any of the churches. The true believer will not do that. Do you know why? because he is a member of the body of Christ and he would want to be joined to the other members of which Christ is the head. 1 John chapter 29, if we know that he is righteous, he know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him. 1 John chapter 3:9 says, "Whosoever is born of God do not commit sin, for his sin remainth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God." That does not mean the Bible teaches sinless perfection. No man is perfect. We still do sin from time to time, especially when we are weak and we do not look to God. But the true believer will not continue to dwell in habitual sin because the true believer desires righteousness. His desire is to please God.