CrossMoments Message

The Bible is full of false things. Ah ha, I have your full attention now. I did not say that the Bible is false. It is simply full of false things. The Bible speaks of false humility, false motives, false hopes, false dreams, false visions, false words, false oaths, false testimonies, false gods, false doctrines, false christs, false apostles, false witnesses, false prophets, false teachers and false brothers. As you can see, many, many false things are spoken of in the Bible.
I want to focus in on just one of these falsehoods and then re-introduce you to a very familiar person who fit the mold to a T. The Bible, however, does not use the specific terminology that I will use, but the Bible is chocked full of examples and verses dealing with this particular topic. The topic is none other than the topic of False Brothers. I will refer to this type of person as a False Convert. This is the one who professes to be a Christian but is completely destitute of any Christian understanding or holiness; someone who goes through the motions, but is completely lost. This is the person if they do not repent and turn from their wicked ways; they are in danger of falling away to the point where repentance is impossible. It is a sad, sad state for this type of person.
Before I introduce to you the person who openly admits to being in this sad state, I want to point to what I think is the saddest passage in the Bible that illustrates the very danger facing those who are false converts. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 7 and verses 21-23. “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. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV)
What a tragedy! Jesus just finished the Sermon on the Mount giving them His moral standard of righteousness. Not only did He reiterate the teachings of the 10 Commandments, He took them a few steps further and expounded on what it means to follow after Him. Then in verse 21, He points out something very significant. Well, it’s all very significant, but for the sake of time and the point of the message today, this is very significant. Not only was this significant in their time, the condition of the heart revealed to us in the type of person depicted in verses 21-23 is prevalent today; maybe even more so today than in that time.
Take a look real quick at these people that come to Jesus. They call Him Lord; they prophesied in His name; they cast out demons in His name; they did mighty works in His name. These were people who expected heaven; they thought they had entered through the narrow gate, they thought they did everything according to His will; they thought they were worthy enough to come to Him. Yet, on the “On that day” all they heard was, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness”. Folks, that is tragic. It completely saddens me to the point of tears. There are many, many people who fit into this category and some may even be sitting right here, right now. That, my friend, is why I am here today.
You might be thinking, “How did we get to this point?” How did we get to the point where people sincerely believe that they are saved, yet at the Day of Judgment, all they will hear is, “Depart from Me”? The answer is very simple, you see. Jesus points out the problem earlier in this book of Matthew. Turn back a couple of chapters to Matthew 5:17-20. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” There is a lot packed into these verses that we will not have the time to dive into, but what I want you to see something here. First, I want you to see that Jesus did not destroy the law, but fulfilled it. I also want you to see that the person, who breaks these commandments and teaches others to do so, will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. And finally, I want you to see that the person who hears, does and teaches these commandments is the one who will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. These verses are in what is referred to as the Aroist tense meaning that it is an on-going action; a lifestyle if you will.
Herein lays the reason Matthew 7:21-23 is so prevalent today; we have removed the law from our teaching of the Gospel. Please understand that I am not saying that the law will save you. There are plenty of verses that will refute that and I am not saying that the law should be the center of what we preach. I am simply saying that, we have relaxed these commandments to the point that they are dead to us. We have stepped so far away from them that we fail to see their purpose. We no longer use the law as a means to reveal sin. Instead, we tell people to simply pray a prayer or we focus solely on God’s love. To relax or remove this teaching produces many false converts. The popular term is “Easy Believe-ism”. This is why Pastors spend most of their time counseling people in the church in place of intense study time. But wait, what were the Scribes and Pharisees infamous for? Their overzealous desire to keep the law and the people in Matthew 7 did all they were suppose to do. Yet they still missed heaven. Take a closer look at verse 20. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. What does He mean by that? I’m glad you asked. I’m not going to tell you just yet. It is time to introduce to you our focus person.
Meet Saul of Tarsus. That’s right; the Apostle Paul is an excellent example of a false convert. Before you get mad at me, consider his testimony as we continue on. Before Saul became Paul, he was a persecutor, a blasphemer, an injurer, an unbeliever and the chief of sinners. Those are his own words describing himself. He also said this in his testimony in front of the temple before the Roman Tribune and the people of Israel. Turn with me to Acts chapter 22 and verses 1 through verse 15. “Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.” And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.” (Acts 22:1-21 ESV)
Saul was secure in his understanding of the law. He was raised up under one of the best-known teachers of the law. He was at peace with himself concerning the law. In fact, he was so secure that he felt he was acting on behalf of God. He believed in God, but had his own understanding of who Jesus was. Philippians 3:4-6 gives us insight to how Saul thought of himself. He kept the whole law and even if he failed in one point, he would make it up later. Paul had perfect credentials. He was circumcised on the eighth day in accord with OT law (Lev. 12:3). He was an ethnic Israelite and knew the tribe from which he came. He came from Jewish ancestors and he spoke Aramaic (the national language of Israel in his day), even though he came from Greek-speaking Tarsus. He was from the strictest religious sect—the Pharisees (Acts 26:5). His zeal was such that he had even been a persecutor of the church. He whole heartedly believed that he was blameless.
Let’s read a little further in Acts. This is how confident he was in his belief that he was in a right standing with God. “And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.” Saul not only watched, but approved of his execution. Saul ravaged the church entering house after house dragging off men and women throwing them into prison (Acts 7:54-8:3). Now that is sure confidence in what you are doing is right. That was Saul who did all this in the name of God. In his own mind, he was in right standing with God.
Now let’s look at what happened that changed his life forever and turned him into the great Apostle Paul that we all so love and appreciate. Keep your finger in Acts chapter 22 and turn to Romans chapter 7 and we will focus in on verse 9. Oh and by the way, if you need proof that it is not by the law that salvation comes; chapter 7 contains great verses to read. Verses 7 through 25, Paul again is giving insight to who he is and what struggles he has been through. Verse 9 reveals his false convert state. Let’s take a good hard look at this verse. “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” I want you to see 3 things here in this verse. Paul said, “I was alive once without the law, when the commandment came, sin revived and finally I died”.
Let’s look at alive once without the law. What did he mean by this? He just said in verse 1 of chapter 7 that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives. How then can Paul say that he was alive without the law? Does he mean that he did not know the law? Well, that could not be. He knew the law; he was a son of Pharisee and he was taught by the great Gamaliel. He did not mean that he did not know the law or that he never heard the law. As a Pharisee, that is all he did was study the law, teach the law and argue over the law. So what did he mean? As a Pharisee, Paul’s ticket into the Kingdom of Heaven rested in his lineage. The Pharisees and Sadducees thought they were automatically qualified for the Kingdom because they were descendants of Abraham (Matt 3:9). Paul’s salvation rested in who his forefather was, not in who his Heavenly Father is. He thought, “I am going to Heaven because I am a Hebrew.” Because of this way of thinking, he was just going through the motions. He lived by rules and by his own testimony, he was blameless. He was very much alive, but in respect to the law, he was dead to it. This is the destructive reality of a false convert. Let’s take a quick look at the law and its function: Psalm 19:7 – “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” I Tim 1:8-11 – “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and or sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.” Romans 3:19-20 – “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Did you catch that? First, the law is perfect converting the soul. Its purpose is to point out sin, it was given to the ungodly not the righteous and by it no one will be justified everyone will know sin. See, Paul was very much alive, but in respects to the function of the law, he was completely without it. The law did not convert his soul; he saw no need for that because he was born into the Kingdom. The great I was very much alive in him. He was perfectly happy serving God in his flesh. Much like those in Matthew 7, if you remember, they said, “Did WE not…” their focus was on what they did and not what Jesus did. He was very much ALIVE, but without the TRUE law. He saw the law as something you did, not something you are.
Keeping your finger also in Romans 7 and going back to Acts chapter 22, let’s look at when the Commandment came. We will be bouncing back and forth between the two texts. We all know that Saul was converted in the road to Damascus. The light shone all around him and he heard Jesus’ voice. You may recall that those around him at the time did not hear Jesus calling Saul; it was a personal call meant only for him. He was on his way to persecute more Christians when the Commandment came. This great persecuting Saul of Tarsus was knocked to the ground, not by physical force, but by the pure Glory of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, revealing Himself to this great sinner; a sinner, who was acting whole heartedly on behalf of God. And what was Saul’s response? Simply, “What shall I do?” I really believe that God blinded him to block him from seeing what was on the outside and forced him to look at what was going on inside of him. Look at verses 13-15. Look at what Ananias says to him. God has chosen you; in other words, you did not choose yourself nor did your lineage choose you; God chose you. You should know His will and see the Righteous One or, in some translations, the Just One. You shall hear the voice of His mouth and you shall be His witness to all men. Acts chapter 9 tells us that he immediately preached Christ proving that Jesus is the Christ. What commandment came? None other than The greatest commandment. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. Saul finally saw that his salvation did not rest in who he was or in what he did. He saw that it rested deep within his heart, soul and mind. He saw the law was dead to him because he had mastered and it was now quite ALIVE. His sin that lay dormant and dead was now ALIVE in light of the law. Sin had always been there, but his conscience was dead to it.
Now let’s look at Romans 7:9-13. I died. The thing in Saul that died was something that never should have lived. I. Saul said in his heart much like the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. I thank thee that I am not like that. When Saul prayed he bent his knee, but not his heart. When the Commandment came, he saw that he was condemned to death; guilty of the whole law. All his good deeds were done in the flesh and not in his heart. He was now accountable to God not only in deed, but in his heart and mind as well. He realized that all future good could not erase the past; he needed Jesus to bear those sins for him. The “I” in Saul truly died. This is what Jesus meant by “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. It is when you reach the point where the great “I” in your life, meets the great “I am” and the only response is “Lord, what shall I do?” Jesus will then say, “The I in you must die so that the I in Me will live.”
It’s only fitting to finish up shedding more light on this great law. What law has the power to convert souls; to bring quote righteous unquote men to their knees? Is it Civil law; hardly. Is it Sacramental law; I doubt it. Is it Moral law; you bet, God’s moral law. Do you know it? Do you live it in your heart and mind? Is it every part of your being or is it a religious practice done on the outside to please sinful man? I’m talking about the 10 Commandments. You shall have no other gods before me; you shall not make for yourself a carved image, you shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain; remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy; honor your father and mother; you shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not covet. If God were to judge you by this standard, would you be guilty or innocent? If you answered “innocent” is it because, like Saul, you keep all these commandments? Or did you answer “guilty” knowing that it is impossible for “YOU” to keep even one of these commandments? Can you see your need for someone to meet that standard for you? That is what Jesus meant by “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to FULFILL them.” The whole law was kept in Him and all prophecy was fulfilled in Him; yet the penalty for breaking this law was poured out on Him for us. Only Jesus could endure the full wrath of God and rise again. The false convert who thinks for one minute that he is good enough must look at the law, see his failure to the point of repentance and place his faith in The Righteous and Just One. God is righteous because He judges sin; He will not overlook your sin.
False conversions are real. 50% to 80% of people attending church today may not be saved – A.W. Tozer said, “It is my opinion that tens of thousands, if not millions have been brought to some sort of Christian experience and they have not been saved.” This, like Saul, is personal. Where do you stand? Only you can answer this question. Did you simply pray a prayer? Have you truly repented and placed your trust in Christ? Please do not let Satan tell you that, “so and so needs to hear this message”, this message is meant for you. As in Rom 2:15-16 – your conscience will bear witness. To know Him is to love what He loves and hate what He hates. Let us pray.