SUPERFICIALITY AND TRANSPARENCY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’”

Matthew 7:21-23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Will you enter the kingdom of heaven when your life is over?

If you asked people this question, I am sure you would find many who would answer “yes” with absolute confidence, believing it with all their hearts. And maybe that confidence will be verified and justified when the moment of truth arrives.

Then again, maybe it won’t. Maybe they were so sure they would enter the kingdom of heaven but either weren’t aware of the way to get there or chose to reject the way to get there. For the scriptures are truth and those scriptures make it clear that not everyone is going to enter heaven after their last breath and heartbeat happens here on earth.

We touched on this earlier when we looked at Jesus’ teaching regarding the narrow and broad roads with their associated narrow and broad entrances. But as we see in today’s passage and our continuing look at Jesus’ hallmark teaching, The Sermon on the Mount, our Savior wants to add a point of emphasis onto the matter of entering heaven and that point is centered on two things: superficiality and transparency. Let’s look at His words again here and then look at each point of emphasis as it applied to the faith life of Jesus’ audience in the first century and for us as we read His words today:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’”  Matthew 7:21-23

You may recall that I wrote in my devotion on the narrow and wide roads that many people believe they are standing on the narrow path to life (to the kingdom of heaven) when they are really on the wide path to destruction and damnation. These people are counted in the number who believe heaven awaits them when it doesn’t.

But what about people who profess the Lord with their lips and state they are doing good things in the name of the Lord and for His sake? Won’t these people be admitted to the kingdom of heaven because of their good works in the Lord’s name?

Jesus answers those questions for us saying:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’” 

Wow. Can you imagine this scene? Someone thinks they have lived their lives for the Lord and when they get to the time to enter the kingdom, they are rebuffed with Jesus telling them, “I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!”

Now you might say, wait a minute! How could people say “Lord, Lord” and do great works in the Lord’s name without Jesus knowing them?

It’s easy. You see, we can say a lot of things but it doesn’t mean those things are true. Let’s look at the two points of emphasis I spoke about earlier and start with the matter of superficiality.

As it pertains to this devotion and the words of Jesus, those mentioned in His teaching, the people who called Him Lord and did works in His name, had no real relationship with Jesus. They called His name and proclaimed works in His name but they never started a relationship with Him. Any connection to the Lord was completely superficial or non-existent. Using the Lord’s name served to try and add added emphasis to the work they were doing but in the end, the person doing the work was only really glorifying themselves. In the end translation, their works - whether prophesying, driving our demons, or performing miracle - could not and would not save them. Only a legitimate personal relationship with Jesus, their Savior, could do that.

So where does the matter of transparency come in?

It involves the truth that Jesus sees everything. He sees everything we do externally and He knows every part of our inner workings to include our mental and spiritual machinations. Nothing is hidden from His sight.

This is what allows Him to know when a person has proclaimed His name on the outside but had no relationship with Him on the inside. This is why He can make a statement as bold as “I never knew you” because truly He knows He truly hasn’t.

Perhaps this is the most heartbreaking part of this whole scenario painted by Jesus, heartbreaking not so much because someone at the brink of entry into the kingdom of heaven gets rejected but because that person has every opportunity to have a relationship with Jesus, their Savior, to carry out the will of God the Father, but they didn’t.

Jesus said that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). He is the gateway by which one passes to walk the narrow way to life now and forever.

Can you truly say today that Jesus knows you? Have you accepted Him as Savior and entered into a relationship with Him?

If so, then rest assured you can tell others with confidence that glory awaits you in the kingdom of heaven. And make sure you tell them how so they can come and join you.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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