Matthew 7:21-27
“Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the Will of My Father in Heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your Name and cast out demons in Your Name and performed many miracles in Your Name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.' Anyone who listens to My teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears My teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
[NLT version used unless otherwise noted. Emphasis mine.]
"You don't know Me! I never knew you!" Will Jesus say that of you? In Matthew, Jesus has been talking to His Disciples about mercy and God being the righteous Judge. At the core of His teachings is obedience to God's Will. Namely, one's response to His teachings will dictate God's response to them on the day of the Lord [when God will make all things right by dispensing righteous justice]. There, God will rescue the faithful and judge the oppressors. Jesus is emphasizing that obedience is paramount, not outward demonstrations or accomplishments. If one is tossing the Name of Jesus around, but is not living in obedience to Him, they are being disingenuous [fake], sinful and unrighteous in their dealings. That's like donating stolen money and putting Jesus' Name on it. Donating --> good; stealing --> bad. That is confusion, my friends and Jesus doesn't do confusion. Jesus' message is clear. There is only one way --> choose Jesus and receive eternal life or disown Jesus and receive eternal death. Gracious God that He is; He always gives us a choice as we read all throughout Scripture.
So how does one know Jesus and follow Him? And how will Jesus know them? We have been over this many times before, because it is the foundation of Christianity. Jesus will know you, because you have confessed with your mouth and believed with your heart that He died for your sins and have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior, aka --> received Salvation, aka --> gotten Saved. Because of this very fact you should hopefully begin to look like Him in word, thought, action and deed. Jesus said, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father" to His Disciples, so those around a Believer should say the same thing. If you have seen insert name here, you have seen Jesus. You see, Jesus desires that we "know" Him, not just "know of" Him. There is a difference.
So, who are those that Jesus says He won't know? Those that:
Know of Him, but don't listen to, follow and obey His teachings, though they may have done good things [albeit falsely] in His Name.
Need to make a decision in response to the Revelation of Jesus, because they were never truly converted.
Are foolish and have a shaky foundation that will collapse at the mere sight of trouble.
Those Jesus will know? Those that:
Know Him because they have accepted Him as Savior.
Are a new creation and hear, listen to and obey His commandments.
Are wise and have a firm foundation that will not be shaken and can weather any storm.
Often when I read this passage, a particular event comes to mind. One year at her high school reunion my sister met a former student who swore up and down that she knew me. To hear her tell it, we were BFFs that needed to do lunch soon. But in reality, she had only briefly met me decades earlier and honestly, she had left a terrible impression on me. She didn't "know me" as my friends know me, she only "knew of me" because she heard my sister mention my name and apparently, we had mutual acquaintances. My annoyed"ish" reaction upon hearing about it later was "Who is that? She doesn't know me!". While a bit sad, it is not unlike how we sometimes can act towards Jesus. People have different reasons for pretending to know others [and Jesus] more than they actually do and Jesus gives us grace and mercy in our fumblings. But what He won't do is water down the fact that to know Him is to accept Him and obediently follow Him. And as I say ad nauseum, He gifted us His Holy Spirit to help us! This is life to us as Believers, otherwise our actions are pretentious and in sinful vain.
Masterpieces, I encourage you to spend some time getting to know Jesus. That fellowship that has been the thread throughout these past months starts with surrender. Surrender to the Lord so that He may guide you, align you and uphold you in your purpose as you trust in Him. Think about new friends. How do you get to know them? Spending time together, eating meals, attending events of mutual interests, just hanging out, etc. Our Lord is no different. Spend time with Him in prayer, praise and worship whenever you get the chance, tell Him thank You throughout the day. Before you know it, not only will you look like Him, but instead of hearing "I never knew you!", you can look forward to eventually hearing, "Well done, good and faithful servant!".
Takeaways for you to remember:
#1 Doing God's Will and accepting Christ are required to enter Heaven.
#2 Get to know Jesus.
#3 When you know Jesus, you are on solid, unshakeable and holy[!] ground.
Yours in Christ!
Dr. Quahana
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