R. C. Sproul, Can I Be Sure I’m Saved?, vol. 7, The Crucial Questions Series

Chapter One The Struggle for Assurance There is a passage in the New Testament that I believe is one of the most terrifying in the Bible. It comes from the lips of Jesus at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. We tend to think of the Sermon on the Mount as a positive proclamation by our Lord. After all, it is in the Sermon on the Mount that He gives the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.… Blessed are those who mourn.… Blessed are the meek …,” and so on (Matt. 5:3–12). Because of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has a reputation as a preacher who accents the positive rather than the negative. But we often overlook the climax of that sermon, where 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. 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.’ ” (Matt. 7:21–23) Here Jesus gives us a preview of the last judgment. He says that people will come to Him, addressing Him by the title “Lord.” They will say to Jesus: “Lord, we did many marvelous things in Your name. We served You; we preached in Your name; we cast out demons; we did all of these things.” Jesus says, “I will turn to these people and say, ‘Please leave.’ ” Not only will He say, “I don’t know you,” but, “I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness.” What is particularly poignant about this terrifying warning is that He begins by saying, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Then He repeats that by saying, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord.’ ” “Lord, Lord” There are only about fifteen occurrences in all of Scripture where someone is addressed by the repetition of his or her name. Let me mention a few: • Abraham on Mount Moriah was ready to plunge the knife into the chest of his son Isaac, and God intervened at the last second, saying to him through the angel of the Lord: “Abraham, Abraham!… Do not lay your hand on the boy” (Gen. 22:11–12). • Jacob was afraid to go down into Egypt, and God came to reassure him, saying, “Jacob, Jacob” (Gen. 46:2). • God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush at Mount Horeb, saying, “Moses, Moses!” (Ex. 3:4). • God called to the boy Samuel in the middle of the night, saying, “Samuel! Samuel!” (1 Sam. 3:10). • Jesus, when rebuking Martha in Bethany, said to her, “Martha, Martha” (Luke 10:41). • Jesus lamented over the city of Jerusalem and cried out: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Luke 13:34). • Peter said he would be strong in all circumstances, and Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat” (Luke 22:31). • Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus, saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). • Perhaps the most poignant example of this repetition in Scripture is found in Jesus’ cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). This rare grammatical structure has significance in the Hebrew language. When someone repeats the personal form of address, it suggests and communicates an intimate personal relationship with the person to whom he is speaking. So Jesus says here in the Sermon on the Mount that on the last day, not only will people come to Him and say, “Lord, we belong to you, we’re yours,” but they will address Him in terms of personal intimacy. They will say, “Lord, Lord,” as if they know Him in a deep, personal way. But despite this assumption of an intimate relationship, Jesus will say to them: “Please leave. I don’t know you workers of lawlessness.” Jesus is saying that there are many people who profess to be Christians, who use the name of Christ, and who call Him by His exalted title “Lord” but actually are not in the kingdom of God at all. They do not belong to Him and will not be able to stand at the last judgment. The terrifying aspect of this is that these people are not on the fringes of the church. Rather, they are immersed in the life of the church, heavily involved in ministry, and perhaps have the reputation of being professing Christians. Yet Jesus doesn’t know them and will banish them from His presence. I bring this up at the beginning of this booklet because when we make a profession of faith as Christians, we have to ask ourselves a question: How do we know that we won’t be among this group of people who will come at the last judgment, expecting entrance into the kingdom and addressing Jesus in intimate terms, only to be cast out? How do we know that our confidence that we are in a state of grace is not misplaced? How do we know we have not deceived ourselves? How can we be sure we are saved?

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