The Seven Devastating Words You Never Want to Hear

Encountering Jesus

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

Sept 6, 2026

The Seven Devastating Words You Never Want to Hear

In the closing verses of the sermon on the mount Jesus draws a simple and clear line and calls his hearers to choose to stand on the right side of the line. There is a narrow gate and a broad gate. The narrow gate leads to life. The broad gate leads to destruction. There are true and false prophets. Next week we’ll see that there are two types of builders who build on two types of foundations.

In the passage we’re looking at this morning we see yet another line: the line that goes between a true and a false profession of faith.

²¹ “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. ²² 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?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matt. 7:21-23

I want to talk this morning about the seven devastating words you and I never want to hear.I never knew you; depart from me. Let’s pray.

Whoever these people are, and Jesus says there will be many, they come to Jesus full of confident expectancy and hope only to hear words that send them away from the kingdom of heaven, away from Jesus, and into eternal darkness. Depart from me, I never knew you.

The question for us this morning is who are these people? And what did they get so wrong?

Because it seems they got a lot right.

They had the right words

Lord, Lord! These are not empty words. They believe Jesus is Lord. The repetition of the term Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord probably indicates they’re comfortable calling Jesus Lord. They’ve been doing it for much of their life. They had the right words.

They had the right works

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?’ vs 22

Jesus describes mighty works of ministry: they prophesied in Jesus’ name. They cast out demons in Jesus name. They did many – not just a few- mighty works in Jesus name!

Whoever these people are, they have done impressive works of ministry. And they did it all in Jesus’ name. I don’t have their resume. You probably don’t either. If Jesus tells them to depart, what chance do we have? Understandably we might worry, am I one of those he tells to depart? Will the kingdom of heaven be shut to me?

Jesus is driving home the point that there is a line between life and death, true and false, hearing and doing. He wants us to know the difference. And he wants us to choose the narrow gate, choose truth, choose building on the rock. But I don’t believe Jesus wants his followers to be anxious and insecure about our salvation.

These people did a lot right but they got the biggest thing wrong. They had the right words. They had the right works. But they didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. Jesus says I never knew you. Not, I knew you for a while and then didn’t know you. No, I never knew you. Jesus doesn’t mean he had no information about them. He means they had no relationship. They had religion, they didn’t have relationship.

They did mighty works of ministry but they didn’t do the will of our Father in heaven. Let’s look again at Jesus’ opening words:

“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. Vs. 21

Wow, if they didn’t do the will of the Father as they prophesied and cast out demons and did miracles, the bar for doing the will of God must be incredibly high.

Unless the height of the bar is measured by a different set of measurements than how much ministry we achieve.

When I was 12 years old I had the opportunity to go to Europe with my dad and stepmom. We did a lot of sightseeing, but I remember spending a lot of time in beautiful cathedrals and churches, such as Notre Dame in Paris and the Sistine Chapel in Rome. They are magnificent and historical but to me as a 12 year old they also stood for the highest expression of religion possible. While I was in Europe I wrote a letter to my grandma who was the most religious person I knew and I wrote that she would do a flip if she saw all these churches. I even drew a stick figure on the edge of the stationary doing a flip.

What I didn’t realize then but would come to know about my grandma is that the ornate décor or size of a church isn’t what she cared about. She was a lifelong Baptist – not exactly known for their ornate buildings. Her measurement was completely different. Size of a building and paintings and statues and stained glass windows weren’t the measurements she looked for in a church. The faithful preaching of the Bible, singing songs that proclaimed Jesus, a loving community of believers – these are the things that might make Grandma do a flip. I was using the wrong measurements.

When Jesus says only those who do the will of my Father will enter the kingdom, he’s not using the

measurements these people are: they point to what they did and how much they achieved and accomplished in Jesus’ name.

Jesus isn’t measuring by achievements, he’s measuring by relationship. What is the will of the Father? Jesus tells us in John 6:40

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jn 6:40

This isn’t a casual “yeah, I believe in Jesus.” This is a heartfelt trust and confidence in Jesus for our salvation. The kind of heartfelt trust that builds relationship. I remember Grandma would often say, “I belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to me. He is mine and I am his.” That speaks of relationship.

Out of that relationship we are motivated to obey Jesus. The obedience doesn’t create the relationship, it expresses it. Jesus says if we love him (relationship) we will obey him. Jesus’ verdict over these people is that they are not workers of God’s kingdom, they are workers of lawlessness. The word means ungoverned. Their lives aren’t governed by God’s will, it’s governed by their will. The true believer is governed by God’s will. When we get off track, we repent and realign with God’s will.

This warning should frighten anyone who is playing games with God, thinking if they go to church once in a while and say the name Jesus then their covered. They’re doing enough to enter the kingdom of heaven. If casting out a demon isn’t enough to save someone, going to church and saying Jesus once in a while sure isn’t! Jesus is warning the crowd – and each one of us – there’s too much at stake to place our confidence in religious activity. We need relationship. If our confidence is in having a few religious activities in place, Jesus warns that the day may come when you hear the seven most devastating word ever spoken. And once spoken, they can never be reversed.

We need to realize that Jesus is arguing from greater to the lesser. When he uses the example of people who are prophesying and casting out demons and doing mighty works, he doesn’t mean to limit it to highly charismatic or even highly successful churches.

When we read that they prophesied and cast out demons and did mighty works, it does tend to make us think of really charismatic or Pentecostal. I do think of the current state of the big name Charismatic churches and I am concerned that some of them fall into this passage. They tout amazing things and bank on the size and scope of their ministry as evidence that God is pleased.

There are many examples of spiritual abuse, sexual immorality, and financial corruption in the Charismatic church and I think it’s easy for them be deceived into thinking, “Look at all that we’re accomplishing in Jesus’ name! Crowds are still big. Money is still pouring in. Our ministry is touching more lives than ever. God must be pleased with us!” They need to heed Jesus’ warning that if they

continue they may hear the seven most devastating words ever spoken.

I believe these charismatic activities are still for today. I am a continuationist (I don’t like to use the term charismatic because there are many things the charismatic church at large is doing that I don’t identify with or agree with. But at the end of the day, I believe that the Holy Spirit is still doing miracles today and the gifts are still for today!

But this passage doesn’t let the non-charismatic churches who don’t even believe in prophesying, casting out demons, or doing mighty works, off the hook. They can easily be just as guilty of putting their confidence in the size and scope of their ministry, in the large buildings they build, and the vast money coming in. If our ministry is this successful, it’s got to be God!

But going further, it doesn’t need to be large or successful. It’s not about size or seeming success. It’s about trusting religious activities, achievements and accomplishments instead of nurturing a loving relationship with Jesus.

There is a beauty to warnings when we hear them and this is one of the most sobering and potentially frightening warnings in the entire Bible. Jesus doesn’t want his true followers to live in fear and insecurity thinking “am I doing enough to be saved?” He also doesn’t want people who give him the obligatory nod and think “I’m good!”

If you believe in Jesus – truly believe in him as your Savior and Lord – you are safe and secure. Jesus doesn’t want you living in fear and uncertainty. He promises us the opposite of “depart from me” – he says he is with us always even to the end of the age.

He calls us to take steps to deepen our relationship with him.

• Read your Bible – every verse in the Bible speaks of Jesus. Spending time in the Bible is the best way to spend time with Jesus and get to know him better.
• When you open your bible open your heart and mind as well. Let the Spirit speak through His word to your heart and your mind.
• Talk to God as you would a close friend.
• Be committed to your community of faith. Join a community group. Invite someone over for lunch or out for coffee.
• Be open to the Spirit’s conviction. Am I being loving? Patient? Kind? Gentle? Self-controlled? Lord, change my heart where I am not so that I bear the fruit of the Spirit.

If you don’t believe in Jesus or you’re convicted this morning that you have religion but don’t have relationship, draw near to Jesus. He promises those who come to him will never be forsaken. You don’t have to get your act together before you come to him. Just come. He will take you as you are! He won’t leave you as you are, but he’ll take you as you are! If you sense the Holy Spirit working in your heart, pray this prayer with me.

Jesus, I believe you are the Savior and you died for me. Come into my life and heart and be my Savior and Lord. I want to know you. I want you to know me. Forgive and cleanse me of all my sin and give me eternal life. Amen.