“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord..."

Matthew 7:15-29 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

¹⁵ “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, you will know them by their fruits.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

²⁸ When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; ²⁹ for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

This passage of scripture is to me one of the most ominous warnings that Jesus gives us in all of His teachings. He says that there will be many people, even those who did great works in the name of Jesus who will not enter the eternal kingdom of heaven. He says His response to them will be: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Obviously if these people prophesied and performed miracles in the name of Jesus, they knew Jesus, or was it that they had knowledge of Jesus? There is a difference between having a knowledge of, knowing about Jesus and having an intimate relationship with Him, knowing His heart and His will, being as one with Him.

He says that those who He tells to depart practice lawlessness. In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus says:    ¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹ Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.   Those who do, practice and teach what the Bible calls sin will be at best, least in the kingdom and may be among those to whom Jesus says:  “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”   We all sin, so how can we have the assurance that the sin we commit will not be a sin which causes us to be kept from the eternal kingdom of God?

I do not have that answer because it is God alone who can judge the heart of people. But this I do think we can know from scripture. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin. Jesus says:    ⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (John 16:7-11)     There is  conviction, an awareness in our conscience, that we have when we do wrong things. Scripture tells us that if we confess our sins and repent, turn from them, our sins will be forgiven. If we choose to continue in our sin, justifying our actions and annulling the commandments of God and Christ, we choose lawlessness over forgiveness.

Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) To love someone or something we need to know them, to have an intimate knowledge and relationship with them. Again, it is not mine to judge who is one who practices lawlessness. Judgment belongs to Christ alone. John 3:17-21 says:

¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

In today’s text Jesus says:  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”    In Matthew 16:13-19, Jesus also speaks of building on a rock.      

 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Jesus says that He will build His church on the rock of the revelation that He, Jesus is the Christ. He is more than a great teacher or prophet as the world might know and believe. Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. He is the light of the world and He is, the way, and the truth, and the life.  It is upon that revelation of Jesus, that knowledge of who Jesus is, that Jesus will build His church. It is upon that knowledge, that Jesus is much more than a good teacher, much more than a prophet, much more than a man who lived 2000 years ago to give us an example of how we should live, it is upon the rock of the revelation that Jesus is the Christ that we too should build our house.

Thank You Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the revelation that Jesus is the Christ. The revelation which comes through the truth of Your word, Your eternal unchanging word and the revelation which comes through the conviction of Your Holy Spirit. I want to know You, to love You passionately and intimately. I choose to walk in Your light rather than the darkness of the world. Continue to reveal Your truth and Your light in my life, so I might walk more and more in Your righteousness. It is my desire to love You with all my heart, soul and mind. At the end of my days here on earth I want to hear You say: “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master”  I pray for any who are on a path to hear the words:   “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”, that You would give them a new and complete revelation of Jesus the Christ. The rock upon all that remains must be built.    Amen.