Depart from me

Depart from me

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?” –

Luke 6:46

Matthew 7:21-23

 21 “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.”

 22 “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.’”

 23 “But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who break God’s laws.’”

In the age of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tik-Tok, Wikipedia, and 24/7 streaming news it can be easy to confuse actually knowing people and simply knowing about them. We can misconstrue reading through someone’s Facebook profile, looking at their tweets, or commenting on a Facebook post as really knowing them, that is, having a relationship with them.

Relationships with people are a two-way street, you cannot build a relationship with someone who doesn’t even know you exist. Most of us realize this.

The difficulty arises when people do not recognize that a two-way relationship is necessary to know the Father. People erroneously believe that being a good person is good enough for entrance into heaven. This usually centers around things such as trying to do good and not evil, reading the Bible, attending religious services and caring for those in need. What exactly is good enough? How do we measure and quantify that?

The Lord Jesus Christ is intentionally provocative. He is trying to get us to examine our assumptions, beliefs, and conclusions. He wants us to be certain that we do not just know about Him. But rather that we actually know Him. If we do not have a relationship with Him, He does not know us.

The stakes are high very high. The question can be haunting and that is intentionally so. “Do I truly know the Lord Jesus Christ or do I just know about Him? Putting it in other terms, “Do I simply believe in the concept of God without actually knowing the living God”?

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. – James 1:22

REFLECT & PRAY

“Willing and eager obedience is the hallmark of someone who has truly come to faith in Jesus Christ. They obey, not because they want to earn God’s favor, but because they feel delighted already to have received it” (Stanley).

Father thank You that You showed me early on that You are perfect in Your holiness and I am not. Thank You for calling me to enter into a personal relationship with You.

INSIGHT

What are the entrance requirements for heaven? The Lord Jesus Christ explicitly tells us what they are not. He indicates that a personal relationship with Him is required.

Matthew 7:21-23

 21 “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.”

 22 “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.’”

 23 “But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who break God’s laws.’”

Sadly, the Lord Jesus Christ has many pseudo-followers who were not followers at all. Such individuals profess their faith in Him and call Him Lord. On top of that, they invoke His name to prophesy, cast out demons, and perform miracles. How is this even possible? Such works require superhuman power and authority. Where do the power and authority come from? The answer is staggering and mind-boggling.

Ponder the Star Wars franchise by George Lucas. This sci-fi fable of the 20th and 21st centuries intentionally interjected spiritual themes into the story. Lucas desired to provoke conversation about God and spirit. All types of spiritual elements are found to reflect upon. The God of the Bible is nowhere present. In the Father’s place is The Force. The Force is some type of pantheistic, everywhere present supernatural energy source. The Force can be tuned into providing skill and power to those that are able to do so.

The Force enhances the goodness of those that are good. But The Force also has a seductive dark side.

The Scriptures speak of good versus evil, morality and immorality, selflessness and self-centeredness, the desire to do good for others, and also the desire to rule over them and make them slaves.

The God of the Scriptures is holy, righteous, and good.  God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all (1 John 1:5). The Father’s great antagonist, the enemy of our souls is wholly evil, deceived, prideful, and destructive. He is dark and in him, there is no light at all.

There is a spiritual struggle that engages all of the human race. Each of us is either a child of the light (1 Thessalonians 5:5) or a child of the darkness (Ephesians 2:2).

Children of the King are energized by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:3-4). Children of darkness are energized and some inexplicable fashion to do the supernatural. The enemy is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God (Ephesians 2:2).

If the pseudo-followers of the Lord Jesus Christ are not His followers of all, and the source of their miraculous power is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, but rather the dark forces of evil. [The antichrist will] do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9).

2 Corinthians 11:14-15

 14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

 15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

The pseudo-followers of the Lord Jesus Christ present their credentials. They are genuinely surprised when he denies any relationship with them. “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:2).

Each child of the King is called upon to search themselves and verify that indeed they know the Lord Jesus Christ and He knows them.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.

If you do not act like a child of the King and strive to keep His commandments and do His will, then perhaps you are not a child of the King (Matthew 7:21).

Examine yourself. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ and have a personal relationship with Him? Who servant are you?

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