I Never Knew You

“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?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’" Matthew 7:21-23

 These few scriptures that Jesus spoke are frightening. I think people often equate these with the world...unbelievers on the Day of Judgment and skip right over them. They believe they're going to heaven so this doesn't apply to them. But in fact they are a warning to those who profess Christ and not to those who don't. Jesus wasn't talking about unbelievers here. He was clearly talking about those who truly believe they are Christians, are in the church and believe they're going to heaven.


1. "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord Lord' will enter" Calling Jesus 'Lord' is not evidence of real regeneration. Even the Pharisees called Him 'Lord'. Judas was with Him for 3 years and referred to Him the same way. 


2. Next He gives a clear sign of the difference between those who do lip service and those who are real.."but only he who does the will of My Father". Obedience to God, obedience to His Word is a telling sign. Just going to church, being involved in ministries, tithing, attending Bible Studies is not evidence. Again, Judas did these things too. Are you obedient even when you're alone? Are you following Christ outside of church and Christian functions?


3. Now He switches to the actual Day of Judgment and says "Many will say". Not some, not a few but "Many". These people are already in a frenzy. They seem to already know they're being rejected. They're begging him and pleading with Him... "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?" 


The ability to prophecy is not evidence of real conversion. Balaam prophesied too. King Saul did as well. The witch of Endor conjured up Samuel (1 Samuel 28). Performing miracles and driving out demons are easily counterfeited. Jannes and Jambres, the 2 Egyptian magicians Moses found himself up against, performed miracles (2 Timothy 3:8-9 and Exodus 7). Satan can perform miracles. The anti-christ will also perform miracles. Satan always tries to counterfeit everything God does so depending on these things to prove or take assurance in one's salvation is delusional. But these people Jesus is talking about were doing exactly that to their own detriment and we have millions today who do this very thing and base their entire salvation on them. 


4. Jesus follows it with a terrifying statement..."I never knew you. Depart from Me you evildoers."

He doesn't know them. He has never had a relationship with them. Whatever miracles they performed, whatever things they prophesied, whatever demons they drove out had nothing to do with Him. He was no part of those things at any time, but worse, He was no part of their lives. He had no part in their ideas of salvation and because He wasn't, they were damned.

"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test" 2 Corinthians 13:5 

We're told to examine ourselves, examine the evidence, examine our lives to make sure we truly are saved. That self examination does not include if we've prophesied, cast out demons or performed miracles. That's not a viable scale. A viable scale the Bible gives is...

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Luke 6:46 Are you obedient? Do you follow the simple commands of scripture even when you're alone? We know no one gets to heaven by works but obedience is a natural result of sanctification. The desire to please, the desire to obey out of love and gratitude. If that's missing that's a big red flag. (1 John 2:4-6)

Are you bearing fruit? "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law" Galatians 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of true conversion. If the Holy Spirit is there one will bear fruit. It's impossible for them not to. If you're not bearing any fruit then the Spirit is not at work and that's not His fault. He's just not there.

Because the bearing of fruit doesn't happen over night and maybe you're a new convert, then you can examine yourself by...

1. Are you growing in a hatred for sin and love for righteousness?
2. Do you at least have a desire to be holy and pleasing to God?
3. When you do sin how do you respond to it?
4. Are you convicted of that sin and do you repent? Or do you cling to it, don't feel bad about it and tell yourself you don't have sin? (1 John 1:8-10)

Like Paul Washer said "If you don't have a new relationship with sin you don't have a new relationship with God."

Do you love the world? Do you love the things of the world? Do you still have attachments to the world that you just can't give up? (1 John 2:15)

When you face difficulties and trials, how does your faith hold up? Do you throw in the towel easily? Have you thrown in the towel? Or, after facing trials, has your faith remained in tact? Is it stronger? (1 Peter 1:7)

"Examine yourselves" Paul commanded. Don't ignore the warning signs. Don't put your trust in acts or a prayer. If you do this you are deceiving yourself and not using an accurate sale to measure the truth by. The accurate scale is the Word of God not something you've done or someone else told you. To ignore this could possibly cost you eternity.