What You’ve Been Searching For

The Scariest Passage In The Bible

All right, no more beating around the bush. You’ve asked for it. What is the scariest passage in the Bible? Let’s talk about it. Be strong and courageous. I’m Joel Fieri. This is What You’ve Been Searching For on Christian Podcast Central. Stay tuned.

All right. As I said, we beat around the bush long enough. You asked the question, what is the scariest passage in the Bible? The last couple of weeks, I’ve told you a couple passages that scare people, but shouldn’t, and I’ve explained why. And if you caught those podcasts, you know that I mentioned I Corinthians 11, where Paul talks about people who take communion in an unworthy manner and how they got sick and sometimes died. And how we’ve let that scare us, because we misunderstand the context of the whole passage, which is don’t take it in an unworthy manner compared to the other people in the room. Don’t think you’re better. Don’t hog all the resources, get drunk while they go hungry.

And then last week we talked about Matthew Chapter 7, first part of Chapter 7 about judging. Judge not lest you be judged, where Jesus is talking about how we judge our fellow believers. Take the plank out of your own. Take care of your sin first. Realize that you have sin problem, too. Don’t think that you’re better than the other Christian, which it seems to be a theme here. Remove that plank from your own eye. Then you can see clearly and help your brother with a speck in his eye. So, we have that responsibility with each other. So, we’ll put the links to those down below if you didn’t catch them. So, what is the scariest verse and/or passage in the Bible? Well, I’m still in Matthew Chapter 7 because as you go on in Matthew Chapter 7 something happens. In Matthew 6 and in Matthew 7, during the sermon on the Mount, Jesus is talking about how we relate to each other. How we relate to each other and worship. And pretty much the theme is don’t be hypocritical when you do this.

Don’t think you’re better than other people. And don’t put on a show for people and don’t put forth anything that’s not true about yourself. And part of that is in judging. In Verse 7, it shifts a little bit. And He talks about asking, seeking, and knocking, how the Father wants to give good gifts to His children, to those who ask, seek, and knock. There’s a progression there of intensity or pursuit. And then He does a complete pivot in mid chapter. Chapter 13, He says, “Enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.” Well, that’s a complete pivot from what he was talking about before.

And then he goes on to warn about false profits and how we will know false profits by the fruit that they produce. He compares it to a tree. You know a good tree because it bears good fruit, you know a bad tree because it bears bad fruit. That’s how you spot false profits. So, He’s taken a completely different direction here, going from and this is how we treat each other. Don’t be hypocritical. This is how, especially when you’re pointing out sin in another brother, make sure you do it in the right way. Doesn’t the father want to give good gifts to his children? And all of a sudden He starts talking about the narrow road and the broad road. Also, he starts talking about salvation, really. A road that leads to death and destruction versus a narrow road that leads to life.

And then in Verse 21, He says what I think is the scariest passage in the Bible. Are you ready for it? Verse 21, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father, Who is in Heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name, drive out demons? And in Your name perform many miracles. And Jesus says, “Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you away from Me you evil doers.” I don’t know about you, but whoever says this to Him on that day has a better resume than I do. I don’t prophesy much. I don’t perform many miracles. I’ve never driven out a demon, but on that day, and what is that day, well, obviously he’s talking about that day being the judgment day.

Let’s talk about in Revelations, the white throne judgment day, when we are all called to give account to why… Going back to the old evangelical question… Why should God let us into Heaven? What is our qualifications? What is our answer to our life? Well, for these people, they prophesied, they did miracles, they drove out demons. Jesus says, “I never knew you.” This is scary to me because these people have a better resume, they have a better case than I do. I’m generally considered a good guy, but you don’t really know me. God does. So, what’s the answer then? What is Jesus really getting at here?

What He’s saying, I think, what is the perfect will of the Father? The will of the Father is that you repent and receive Him. Take care of your sins. That’s really what He’s been talking about up until now. This is how you view your standing with Me. Don’t be hypocritical. Don’t think that your great prayers will get you into Heaven. Don’t think that you have the right to judge your fellow believer on your own judgment. That’s not the way it goes. There’s a lot of false information out there. You need to get it right. And the thing that you need to get right is you are not qualified to get into Heaven. So, since I don’t have the resume these people have, my answer is going to be when that time comes, when that day comes, when my answer determines my eternal destiny… No pressure.

My answer is going to be nothing. There is nothing about me. No miracle I perform, no gift I have. No deed I’ve ever done is going to be good enough to get me into Heaven. I’m pointing right back at Jesus. And I’m saying the only case I have for getting into Heaven, the only case I have for entering that narrow gate and going along that narrow road that leads to life is the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross for me. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. If you don’t know that song, please look it up. It contains the entire gospel. It’s an old hymn, yeah, boring old hymn, but it’s profound. And it is the answer here. Jesus’ body, which was broken for me, going back to our communion, our Lord’s supper, His blood shed for me is my only case for getting through that narrow gate, that small gate onto that narrow road that leads to life and few will find it.

And the scariest part of that for me beyond my own status is that apparently there will be a lot of people who think that they have a right relationship with God or right standing with God who will think, I’m on my way to heaven. Look what I’ve done. But when the time comes, when that day comes, Jesus is going to say, “I never knew you.” I don’t want to be one of those people. So, my best bet and your best bet is to receive His gift of salvation done on the cross for our sins. His body which was broken for our transgression, His blood which covers our sin. That’s your answer. And I want to proclaim that now publicly. And I want to do that when the day comes.

So, I hope that’s helpful. Again, it is a scary passage. It’s a scary reality, but there’s good news. There is an answer you can give and it’s going to be my answer. Hopefully it’ll be yours, too. So next week, now that we’ve wrapped up our scary Bible verses, we’re going to tackle another question that you have been searching for. I’m Joel Fieri. Thanks for listening.