Matthew 7:21-23 – THOSE WHO SAY, “LORD,” AND DO NOT DO! 21 Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? and in your name cast out demons? and in your name do many miracles? 23 And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you! Away from me, you who practice lawlessness!” The strange thing here is that Jesus acknowledged that the false prophets did miraculous works! Either they did it in the name of God or they associated the name of Jesus with other gods. Two important truths: (1) The only way to prove sincerity is by actions, not just words. Fine words cannot replace good deeds. The only proof of love for God is obedience. We may often confess the name of God with our lips, but deny Him by the way we live. To say that we love God but do not obey His Word is a lie. 1 John 2:4. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (2) On the day of judgment, all will be exposed. A hypocrite may succeed for a long time, may deceive some people, but cannot deceive God, everything will be exposed, revealed based on the standard of obedience. "Doing" is the test of all teachings. Matthew 7:24-27 - THE ONLY FOUNDATION: OBEDIENCE 24 Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not collapse, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house; and it collapsed; and great was the ruin of it. Perhaps the Lord was inspired by Proverbs 10:25: “When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.” As a carpenter, the Lord understood the principles of construction. In Palestine, there were some very beautiful houses, but when the floods came, they were all washed away. Building on rock is difficult but solid. Two important things: (1) God requires people to listen! Today, the most difficult thing is not knowing what God teaches, what the Church teaches, what the pastor teaches! We must listen to what God teaches correctly! (2) God requires people to do. Knowledge is only meaningful when it is turned into practice. If you go to the doctor but do not do it correctly, you will still be sick. Listening and doing can be summarized in two words: OBEDIENCE. Do we obey God and keep His commandments? Where did the change in the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday come from? If Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, then only He has the right to change it, so why did the Church change it? Is there a command to change the fourth commandment in the Bible? The time of the apostles still kept the Sabbath, not the day of the Lord's resurrection. Did God command to keep the day of the Lord's resurrection? Jesus himself kept the Sabbath, and he condemned the way the Pharisees kept the Sabbath, not the Sabbath. Does God condemn and yet keep? Place the Sabbath within the Ten Commandments or take it out? Saying that we do not need to keep the Sabbath means we do not need to keep the fourth commandment, which is the same as not keeping the other commandments. Talking about the element of rest but forgetting the other two important elements: blessing and making the day holy. Saying that we can worship God every day, but the Bible says that not every day is blessed and made holy! (Genesis 2:3, Exodus 20:11) Talking about resting on grace is a lull for believers. Jesus himself required keeping the Ten Commandments: John 14:15. If you love me, keep my commandments. John said, to know God and not keep the commandments is a lie. 1 John 2:4. The oral tradition of men, quoting the Bible and quoting flattering verses to distract from the truth, while the command of the fourth commandment is very clear. When a soldier of the British Royal Navy was disciplined, many people thought it was too severe, but a Navy officer told of when they were using a cable to pull a damaged warship in the middle of the sea, at that time the waves were big, the commander shouted "Get down" and all the soldiers on the ship ran quickly down to the hold, at that moment the cable broke, everyone was saved. If anyone had stopped to ask why they had to get down, they would have died. Obeying God means not reasoning according to one's own will, the Bible shows it very clearly, only human reasoning obscures the truth.