I Never Knew You

"Every man produces according to his nature." (Spurgeon) In the last section, we spoke about the good and bad trees. Every man is known by the fruit that he bears. Good trees produce good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit. Those who produce bad fruit are doomed to be chopped down and cast into the fire. What is that ultimate end?

"Not all who say to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." Matthew 7:21, NKJV

It is not enough to merely give Christ the title of Lord of our lives. We must act in obedience to Him. There are many who pay lip service to Jesus, but never fulfill the will of the Father. Anyone can fall into this dismal place. We can all find ourselves in church on Sunday and live like the rest of the world for the other six days of the week. To call Him Lord and to make Him your Lord are two vastly different things. As soon as we all come to that understanding in our lives, our walks will be tremendous. To call Him Lord is to also give Him the throne of the heart.

If one were to only call Him Lord, would that person die for Jesus or go hungry for Jesus or give up his belongings for Jesus? I want Him to be my Lord so that I might call Him Friend.

"Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and done many wonders in your name?" Matthew 7:22, NKJV

Is it truly possible to perform these acts without truly having Jesus be the Lord of your life? Apparently so. To perform liturgy and live liturgically can be the difference of entering and not entering the gates of heaven. What is it about these men that they feel they need to profess their good deeds to the Lord?

I am the kind of person who does not need someone to tell me something and then say the words, "Trust me," or "Honest," or "Swear to God!" If someone needs to suffix a statement with those words then I have all the more reason to distrust. The true servant of God needs only to stand in confidence before his Savior. Our deeds will always outweigh our words.

"And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice lawlessness!" Matthew 7:23, NKJV

The ultimate end for those who did not truly know Christ is Hell. Notice the words of our Lord; the word practice is in the present tense. The lawlessness in the life of the unbeliever and the false disciple is a constant. There is no end to the iniquity. If there is no end to the iniquity in a life then there is no room for Christ to sit upon the throne of the heart. Bad fruit fills the seat, wasted produce is scattered throughout the heart. Christ cannot indwell the heart of a man who refuses to cleanse himself. One cannot walk up to a celebrity and fein friendship; you would surely be exposed as a liar. In the same way one cannot walk up to Christ on "that day" and fein a relationship with Him; you will surely be exposed as a practicer of lawlessness.