Albert N. Martin

We will be taking up one of those texts that I have gathered together under the title of “Simple Signposts to the Celestial City.” Texts which highlight fundamental gospel truths; texts which point us to the way of life and salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. Our signpost for today will be taken from a section of Matthew’s gospel somewhere between Matthew 7:13 and the end of the chapter.

It would be interesting to see how many of you thought that the signposts would be verses 13 and 14 or perhaps verse 14; or perhaps others thought, “Well, the signpost may be verse 19.” Others perhaps may have thought that the signpost would be this analogy that Jesus gives between the wife and the foolish man, the one who hears and does the words of Christ, thereby builds upon a rock, and the foolish who merely hears but does not do them and is like one who builds upon the sand. But if in your mind you thought that the signposts would be comprised of the words of verse 21, you made the right guess. For the simple signpost to the celestial city—to which I direct your attention tonight—is the word of our Lord Jesus in verse 21. “Not everyone that says unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

As we draw near to consider what this signpost teaches us, I want us to note, as we try to analyze its contents, first, the sobering prophecy, and secondly, the simple contrast. First of all on this signpost is: the sobering prophecy. Jesus—towards the end of that which we call Sermon on the Mount—makes a very sobering, prophetic utterance that constitutes the first half of this signpost to the celestial city. It says to everyone who passes by, “Not everyone that says unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.”

If we are to understand what Jesus is saying, we must understand that a profession of attachment to Jesus Christ is a necessary part of true and saving religion. Again, a profession of attachment to Jesus Christ is a necessary part of true and saving religion. To say to Christ, “Lord, Lord,” is to profess a true attachment to Him as the Scriptures require men to do if they are to be saved. As surely as the Bible teaches that the ground of our salvation is to be found in the work of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners and that work alone, it teaches with equal clarity that when a sinner has been brought to rest by faith in Christ crucified, apart of true and saving religion, will be the profession of that attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is made clear in such texts as Romans chapter 10, verses 9 and 10, “Because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Now, in a book where the work of Christ is made foundational to the salvation of the sinner, where Paul goes through great pains to show that all men by nature are under the condemning power of the Law, are sinfully and morally and legally dead in Adam, here he tells us that in any true and saving religion there will not only be faith in the heart unto righteousness—that is, confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect life on behalf of sinners and His substitutionary death undergone on behalf of sinners—there will not only be that faith in the heart unto righteousness, but there will be the confession of the mouth unto salvation.

Likewise, in Matthew chapter 10, the words of our Lord Jesus in this context are equally clear that a profession of attachment to Jesus Christ is a necessary part of true and saving religion. Verse 32, “Everyone therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.” If we would have the Lord Jesus openly confess us to be His own in the Day of Judgement, we must be prepared to confess our attachment to Him in faith and love here in this life and even in a hostile environment when men may threaten us, even with death itself.

On the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:37-38 says that those who were stabbed in the heart cried out. “They said to the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’” Peter, without in any way becoming a sacramentalist, inferring that there is some grace unto forgiveness to be found in the water of baptism, nonetheless says, “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins.” Though baptism is not the meritorious ground of our forgiveness, it is an inevitable accompaniment, unless providentially hindered, it is an inevitable accompaniment of true repentance and faith, which are spiritual activities of the heart. Open confession of Christ is a vital and indispensable part of true and saving religion.

I quote, without asking you to turn to it, as a final witness, the words of Jesus from Mark 8:38, “Whosoever should be ashamed of me and of my words of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory.” We will never understand the sobering prophecy edged upon this simple signpost, unless we understand that principle. When Jesus said, “Not everyone who says unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven,” He is assuming that we understand that the open profession of attachment to Christ is a necessary part of true and saving religion. However, the sobering prophecy in this signpost informs us that the mere profession of attachment to Christ is no proof of true and saving religion. We’ve established what is implicit in this sobering prophecy of Jesus when He said, “Not everyone who says unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter,” He’s assuming that among true believers saying, “Lord, Lord,” is indeed a part of true and saving religion, and they shall enter the kingdom of heaven in the last day! But His sobering prophecy is informing us that the mere profession of attachment to Christ is no proof of true and saving religion for those some.