21-23: 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. 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?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
Entering the Church Does not Guarantee Entrance Into Heaven
There is a misconception among young people everywhere and it is this… that if you go to church, you’re safe. If you go to church, that makes you a Christian and that means you’re going to heaven. However, there’s a problem with thinking that way because here’s the reality… it is a lot easier to enter into church than it is to enter heaven. Not everyone who calls Jesus Lord makes it into heaven. Jesus tells us about religious people, those in the church. They do lots of deeds in the name of God, they know who Jesus is, they even know enough to call Him “Lord.” These are the people who have made it into the church, but they don’t make it into heaven. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The Requirement is Faith in Jesus
Ephesians 2:8-9 says that “for by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works.” In Acts 16, Paul and Silas’s jailer pleaded to them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” The requirement into heaven is faith in Jesus. But in a world where everyone who goes to church thinks they have faith, how can you examine yourself in the church? How can you, in the church today, really tell if you’re a believer or just a self-deceiver?
The Evidence of Faith is Works
A real, born-again Christian is someone who has faith concealed in an inward trust of Jesus and faith revealed in an outward obedience to the Father. It’s the one who does the will of the Father who is in heaven, that’s the one who is really saved. James 1:22 says “but prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” The reason is because works is the evidence of faith. Without good deeds to accompany a profession of faith… that profession of faith is most likely false. A faith without works is dead (James 2:26).
How does one work for the Lord?
So the question becomes, how does one work for the Lord? The religious people of this time understood that it wasn’t enough just to claim that you followed God, many of them actually tried to live their lives a certain way to try to be holy. They served in the temples, they taught God’s Word to others, they shared messages in the name of God, cast out demons, and even perform many other miracles. However, it wasn’t enough. But when those people stand before God on the day of judgment… Jesus will declare to them, “I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” This is a reference to psalm 6:8 where those who are called to depart are those who will suddenly be ashamed of the sin they have committed. These very people pining about their “good deeds” for the Lord will one day be ashamed of the wicked lives they have lived. Will that be you on that day? Proud of the good things you’ve done only to, when it’s too late; realize that you really did nothing good at all. They were missing something that all of us need if we are to be right with God… it’s a relationship with Jesus. You have to know Jesus and He has to know you.
It All Begins with a Relationship with Jesus
You can’t do anything for the Lord if you don’t have a relationship with Him. Entrance into the kingdom of heaven isn’t dependent on the number of times you pray, or how many verses you’ve memorized, or how much you read your Bible, or how many people you’ve shared the gospel with. It’s dependent on your relationship with Jesus first. All those things only go to show what your relationship with Him actually is. Is He your Savior? Are you the wicked sinner? Is He your King? Are you His servant? Is He your Master? Are you His slave? What is your relationship with Jesus? That’s where it begins, and what you do with your life here and now determines where you go for the rest of eternity… because it is a reflection of your relationship with Jesus. Without a relationship… without a dependence on Him as your Savior… without a reverence of Him as your King… without a submission to Him as your Master… it is useless to go to church, it is worthless to read the Bible, it is profit-less to pray… and it is certainly hopeless to do good deeds. You can’t live for Jesus until you have a relationship with Him. He won’t know you. It doesn’t matter what if you know about Jesus and who He is if He doesn’t know you.
Matthew 7:23 - “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Before You Get Caught Up in Living for Jesus, Make Sure You Have a Relationship With Him
Does He know you? Without a relationship with Jesus, you can do nothing but sin. You can only serve God when He’s empowered you through the Spirit and that only comes by a relationship with Jesus. You can’t serve Him if you don’t love Him. That’s how you get to be known by God. 1 Cor 8:3 tells us that “if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” Jesus has given us the test of faith for those in the church… that faith is shown in works. Watch out though, don’t be like the self-deceivers of those times… you’re not living for Jesus unless you’re first loving Jesus.
