Self Deception

We come now to verses 21 and following in which the Lord shows that the strait gate and the narrow way is even narrower still. In addition to man’s sinful nature and the presence of false prophets we discover in these verses a common tendency for sinners to deceive themselves. The scene described by our Lord is one of the most tragic scenes conceivable in all of the Bible.

The Lord Jesus carries us forward to the day of judgment. That day will be fearful. The dead, small and great will be present on that day. Sinners who thought they had gotten away with their sin in life will awake to the awful truth that their sins have been found out and now must be accounted for. They were judged every man according to their works we read in Rev. 20:13. Every knee will bow to Christ on that day – every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord on that day. It will be a day of fear and trembling of such a nature that the natural man does all he can to try to suppress his innate knowledge of that day.

But to add to the tragedy of that day we discover those that are now being described by Christ in the closing remarks of His sermon who thought they were ready for that day. These are not wicked sinners by men’s standards – quite the contrary, they’re religious sinners. Indeed as we’ll see you could call them orthodox Christians. They confess Christ as Lord. They perform deeds that require supernatural power and they perform many good works. And yet in the end they’re lost – in the end they must depart from Christ – in the end Christ Himself calls them workers of iniquity.

The response of Nicodemus to Christ seems like an appropriate response to this portion of Christ’s sermon when Nicodemus asks with regard to another subject – how can these things be? How can those that call Christ Lord be lost? How can those that cast out devils be cast into the same place with those devils? How can those who perform good works be judged as workers of iniquity in that day? The answer to these questions must be found in the fact that these orthodox and religious sinners deceived themselves. They thought they were Christians but they were not. They thought they would be accepted by Christ but they weren’t accepted. They thought they could impress Christ but they couldn’t.

This awful scene certainly adds to the dread of that judgment day. That day will prove to be a day of surprises. Those who in some cases were highly esteemed by men will not be esteemed at all by Christ. Do you begin to see just how strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life? Do you begin to see what so many that profess the name of Christ don’t to see which is the need for self-examination.

As dreadful as the day of judgment will be there is grace in these words of Christ. We’re being warned ahead of time about the things that will be revealed on that day. We’re being given the opportunity now to make sure that we don’t enter the ranks of those that say 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? It must be now, during our days on earth, that we must exercise the proper scrutiny to make our calling and election sure. Only by taking Christ’s solemn warning to heart and making the right application to our lives can we avoid what will be the awful tragedy of that day when Christ says depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

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