Everyone wants to know that their life is going in the right direction. Heading to the right destination.
I’m sure you’ve had the experience of sitting on a train at the platform in Victoria. First stop is Ashford International. And just as the doors close, someone comes up and asks you if this train stops at Brixton. Sheer horror. They’re on the wrong train. They’re going to the wrong place. And it’s too late to change.
That’s my nightmare for life. Wouldn’t it be dreadful to find out that your whole life is not going to the right place after all. Even worse would be to discover this once it’s too late to change it.
In today’s Bible reading, Jesus warns that this will sadly be the experience of many people.
Let me remind us where we are in the Bible. We’re in Matthew’s gospel, in the closing section of what people call the Sermon on the Mount. Starting at chapter 7 and verse 13, Jesus is urging the crowds to respond to all that he’s been saying.
Jesus set out that for all our differences, there are only two ways through life. We’re all travelling on one of two roads. There’s the easy way that many people take, not following Jesus. It’s great for now, but that road leads to destruction. Nobody in their right mind would travel on it, and yet countless people do.
Or there’s the narrow way. Following Jesus through life. It feels constrictive at times. It won’t be easy. But the destination is life. For all its hardships, it’s the road to be on. Because when Jesus returns, and the life we enjoy now explodes into 3D, multi-coloured reality, believe me, you don’t want to miss out.
So, says Jesus, enter by the narrow gate. Take the narrow path. Follow me. And you’ll find life itself.
But he doesn’t end his sermon there. He doesn’t just tell us to enter through the narrow gate. He tells us how to find it. He tells us how to make sure we’re on it.
Last time, we heard Jesus warning us of people who point you in the wrong direction. There are people, he says, who will tell you how to find the narrow path to life. They say they’re speaking for Jesus. But actually they’re lining their pockets, building up their own reputation, by telling you exactly what you want to hear. The fact that the Jesus they tell you about is different from the real one is not the point.
And so Jesus says: Beware! There are people who will point out the narrow path to life, but are actually setting you on the motorway to destruction. Don’t follow them. Instead, pick out true representatives of Jesus. You can tell them by their fruit. They’ll point you to the narrow way.
But Jesus still hasn’t finished. Being on the right road in life is so important. He also wants us to be sure that we are on that right path. That we haven’t got on the wrong train.
When you’re driving, you look for all sorts of clues to tell you that you’re going the right way. Most of them without thinking. If you get on the M1 in Leicestershire to drive back towards London, you’re reassured to see the distance signs tell you it’s 98 miles to London. You’re not so happy if you see the signs say “The North”. (Nothing wrong with the north, I might add.)
So as you go through life. There are certain clues that tell you that you’re following Jesus. That your life is on the road with life itself at its end.
But Jesus wants to make sure we know what those clues are. If you join the M1 at junction 21, it’s no use feeling reassured by the fact that the road signs are blue with white writing. That just tells you you’re on a motorway. The M1 has those going both north and south.
So it is with life. Lots of us are reassured by clues you find on both roads. They’re on the wide road to destruction. They’re on the narrow road to life. So they’re quite useless if you’re trying to work out which road you’re on.
So in this passage, Jesus debunks two clues not to look at. Then he gives us two clues that are a sure pointer that you’re on the way to life.
No good calling yourself a Christian
Here’s the first clue to debunk: It’s no good calling yourself a Christian. It’s no good calling yourself a Christian.
Don’t get Jesus wrong. It’s a very good thing to call yourself a Christian. Of course it is. It’s just no use at all as a clue to which road you’re on.
So look at verse 21: Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
It’s not enough to call Jesus Lord. It’s not even enough to call him “My Lord”. It’s not enough to mean it so earnestly that you say it twice. It’s not enough to know Jesus’ name – to know that he’s the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, the Lord. Because, Jesus says, lots of people who choose to address him as Lord will not enter heaven.
So it’s not enough to call Jesus Lord. It’s not enough to claim to follow him.
This is a very timely message for our day and age. Great Britain has a fantastic Christian heritage. Not so long ago, going to church was the thing to do. When the census came round, or if you had to be admitted to hospital, you said you were a Christian. Everyone did.
Nowadays, we have people of lots of faiths living here. But a sizeable part of the population still goes to church on Sundays, still says they are Christian, still knows the stories of Jesus, would do well in a quiz when the Bible round came along.
What Jesus is saying is so important. None of those things is any indicator that your life is heading towards heaven. Jesus says that on the judgement day there will be lots of people who addressed him as “Lord, Lord” but who will not enter heaven. And a good number of them will be British churchgoers.
There’s not one person here this morning that I wish hadn’t come. I’m delighted to see every one of you. But please don’t think that because you come to church, that means you’re on the road to life. That’s a road-sign you see on both roads. It proves nothing.
It’s no good calling yourself a Christian.
No good having a Christian ministry
Then here’s the second clue Jesus debunks: It’s no good having a Christian ministry. It’s no good having a Christian ministry.
Verse 22: On that day (that is, the day of judgement), many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ But that proves nothing. They don’t get in.
We need to realise that, in Matthew’s gospel, driving out demons, prophesying and performing miracles are good things to do – provided they’re done in Jesus’ name. We’ve met the idea that not all prophecy is genuine. But Jesus is not saying these people were frauds. He’s not saying they hadn’t performed the miracles they claimed. He’s not saying they hadn’t driven out demons. He’s just saying that it proves nothing. It doesn’t tell you what road you’re on.
I think we’d be quite legitimate to expand this for today. We could add all kinds of other areas of ministry. Leading and speaking at services. Doing the readings or the prayers. Welcoming people at the door. Helping with Sunday Special or crèche. A turn on the coffee rota. A tireless visitor of the sick.
These are all good things to do. Please get stuck in, and if you’re not sure where you could help then please talk to me. But doing these things does not mean you are heading for life.
The Reverend William Haslam was an English clergyman who ministered in Cornwall. He’d been a great blessing to many. One Sunday in 1851, he was preaching a church near Truro. His text was Matthew 22, verse 42: “What think ye of Christ?” As he preached, he realised that he was like the Pharisee Jesus was talking to, who failed to recognise Jesus for who he is. As he preached, he put his trust in Christ. The Spirit worked on him in such an obvious way, that everyone could see the change. Apparently a local preacher who was there leapt to his feet and shouted, “The parson is converted!”. And then it is simply recorded that all the people celebrated in Cornish style, whatever that is.
It’s a remarkable story. But it also highlights how this man had had a public ministry for many years without himself being on the road to heaven. Wonderfully, he was converted through his own preaching! But with many others, the story does not end so well.
Jesus warns us we’d be fools to look at the ministry we have, and to conclude what road we’re on.
Not only is Britain full of people who delight to call themselves Christians. Britain is full of people who do great things for Christ. This church is full of people who gladly give their time, very sacrificially, doing things that are of great value. And that is replicated across the country.
But please don’t get to the day of judgement and asked to be let in because you were on the coffee rota. “5 of my friends became Christians at university, Jesus. I had a part to play in that.” Praise God for that. But having that on your spiritual CV won’t get you into heaven.
Having a Christian ministry is another road-sign that Jesus doesn’t want us to look at. It won’t tell you what road you’re on. It’s no good having a Christian ministry.
So what are the clues that we’re on the right track? Jesus gives us two – and they’re closely related.
Knowing Jesus
Firstly, those who know Jesus who get to heaven. Knowing Jesus.
The words Jesus says to those he sends away tell us what he was looking for. Verse 23: And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you’.
Sometimes you hear people say that Jesus never claimed to be God. The Jehovah’s Witnesses would say so. So would a number of my friends who are not yet Christians. There are many passages we could turn to, but this one is striking. When it comes to the day of judgement, and the final decision is taken as to who will be in heaven and who will be in hell, it all rests one thing. Did this person know Jesus?
That is an extraordinary claim for Jesus to make. The deciding factor on where someone spends eternity is whether or not they had a personal relationship with him. A big claim. A bold claim. And yet it’s exactly the claim he makes.
So are you on the road to life? Well tell me this: Do you know Jesus? Not just know about him. Not just know his name. But actually know him. In person. If so, then you’re on the road to life. If not, then you’re not. That’s what Jesus says here.
Imagine you were a Paul McCartney fan. I have no idea where he lives now – whether he’s in Liverpool or somewhere else. But you are such a serious fan you know where he lives. So you turn up at his house for tea one day. He opens the door, and you say, “Hello Sir Paul.” He looks a little puzzled, and says hello back. He doesn’t recognise you. So you carry on – “You are Paul McCartney, aren’t you?” “Yes,” he says. “Of the Beatles?” “Yes”.
It’s going nowhere, so you try a different tack. “I’m in your fan club”. “Then I’m pleased to meet you,” he says. “I’ve introduced a fair few people to your music over the years,” you say. “Thank you – that’s kind,” says Macca. Then he says, “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got things I need to be doing – what brought you here today.” “Oh,” you say, “I thought I’d pop in for tea.” “I don’t think we know each other, do we?” And you shuffle off home, a little embarrassed.
That’s the one thing that matters with Jesus. Do you know him? Never mind what you know about him. Never mind how much you claim to be part of his club. Never mind what you’ve done for him. Never mind who else you’ve introduced to him. Do you know him. As a person.
One Christian minister I know would occasionally be asked how he knows that Jesus is alive. He used to reply, “I was talking to him this morning”.
There’s an Easter hymn called “I serve a risen saviour”. The chorus goes like this: “He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives, he lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart.”
Now, there’s a problem with both of those. The Bible gives us many reasons to be confident that Jesus is risen, but it never asks us to look inwards, to our own hearts. But for all that, there’s also something in it.
If someone asked you how you knew Jesus was alive, could you say that you were talking to him this morning. Never mind whether that’s the right place to point the person you’re talking to. Could you say it? Is it true? Do you know him? Is your relationship with Christ Jesus that he is someone who walks with you and talks with you along life’s narrow way? Does he live within your heart?
You know lots of people. Friends. Members of your family. Neighbours in your street. People at work. Is Jesus one of the people you know. Because when judgement day comes that will be the one thing that matters: Do you and Jesus know each other?
Knowing Jesus
Living for Jesus
Then the second clue Jesus gives us that we’re on track is that we live for him. Living for Jesus.
At the start, Jesus says: Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
And then at the end, he tells those who did not know him to depart from him, you workers of lawlessness.
What matters is the way we live our lives.
If we want to know what God’s will is – how he wants us to live – we have to read the rest of these chapters. Jesus is not saying we have to be perfect. He’s not saying we have to reach a certain standard – be good enough.
God’s will is that we realise we’re not perfect, and come to him with all our mistakes. We come to him hungering and thirsting to be better. And he will adopt us as his children, he’ll write his law in our hearts, and begin a lifelong process of making us more like him.
That’s what Jesus means here. Are we on that road? Are we those who have been forgiven? Are we those God is changing, little by little, to be like him?
And if we are, we’re welcome.
And these two are related. If we know Jesus, then that will come out in the way he changes and transforms us.
Depart or Enter
So there are Jesus clues. Based on whether someone knows him personally or not, their destiny is sealed.
But what is the destiny? What lies at the end of the road?
Those who do know Jesus are welcomed to enter the kingdom of heaven. He doesn’t spell that out more here. We’re going to spend December thinking together about what is waiting for Jesus’ followers after they die.
But those who don’t know him will hear Jesus say these words: Depart from me. Depart from me.
Here’s another understated claim from Jesus about himself.
Being shut out from seeing someone is always painful. Being sacked at work, and told that your employers never wish to see you again. The relationship that breaks up.
How much more painful to be told by Jesus that he doesn’t want to see you again. Jesus, who is the source of all light, and life, and love, and joy. The author of all good things. He never wishes to see you again, smile on you again, or have you in his presence again. It doesn’t get worse than that, and it doesn’t hurt more than that.
Conclusion
So we need to make sure that never happens to us. We need to make sure we’re on the road to life.
And that means that whether or not we call ourselves Christian. Whether or not we go to church. Whether or not we get stuck in and help out. Whether or not we keep ourselves busy doing things for Jesus. Whatever happens on those fronts, we must do this:
We must get to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Personally. As our saviour from sin. As our lord of everything. As one we speak to. As one who speaks to us and we humbly trust and obey him. If you want help to get started, do speak to me, or perhaps do our Christianity Explored Course after Christmas.
Which words will we hear from him on that final day? “Depart from me, I never knew you.” Or “We’ve been friends a long time – it’s good to see you. Come on in.”