My Bible reading today took me to Matthew 7 where Jesus has been preaching a powerful sermon that started in Mathew 5. Jesus has given us the Beatitudes that cut through any reason or excuse people might have for not serving Jesus the way we ought. He goes on to tell us that we are salt and light in the earth, and that they both have purpose in His plan of redemption. Jesus then goes on to talk about His fulfillment of the Law and not the abolishment of it. He talks about the “biggies” like murder, adultery, divorce and being a man or woman of your word. Jesus talks about turning the other cheek, loving our enemies, and giving to the needy. He continues by talking about prayer, fasting, having a heavenly perspective, and worry. You would think that He has hit everything and then Jesus takes on the subject of judging others in Matthew 7.
Just when we think that we just might have made it into the clear, Jesus hits something that none of us escape, judging others. We all do it in one form or another. I know that I do. As hard as I try not to do so, there are times when I fail miserably. I question motives. I allow my mind to wander and make judgements as to why some people do the things that they do and why others do not do what they should do because, after all, I know what everyone is supposed to do. Wrong!!! We all do it! Jesus is talking to His followers here in this passage. They were sitting through a pretty long sermon so they must have been serious followers and probably even committed to their “religion.” Jesus obviously has their attention and then comes the passage that hit me like a ton of bricks. Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he 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 perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!'”
Did you get that? Jesus is talking to people who were sermon-hearers, Bible-readers, synagogue-goers, and yet they were people who were lost in a dream. Someone said “they were traveling toward hell with their church clothes on.” These are people who think that they are Christians, followers of Christ, but they are not! They obviously had a tremendous amount of respect for Jesus in that they called Him “Lord, Lord.” These people had the right names for Jesus. They knew who He was. It is obvious that they were emotionally attached to Him. They might have even got chills down their spines when he preached and taught. Their cry might have been “I feel and therefore I am saved.” Emotions don’t cut it! There were some who would say “I have done great things for God, and thus, I am saved.” Some even drove out demons and performed miracles. I have never done that, have you? They took action in Jesus’ name. Some of them were great teachers and communicators and there were even those who would prophesy. They were used of God and yet Jesus says “I never knew you.”
I never knew you! I don’t know about you, but for me as a pastor, those words are what I believe to be the scariest words in the Bible. These were people who were obviously going through the motions. They had no relationship with Jesus. They knew about Him. They listened to His sermons. They liked Him and thought that He was a very good man. They followed Him. They got a tingle down their spine every once in a while. They felt good being around Him for the most part, but I have to believe at this point in His sermon, there might have been some who said “What?” Too often people think wrongly. They thought that hearing was sufficient; that feeling was enough; and that public displays of religion would do the trick. The sad thing is that they wandered as if they were in a dream, trusting that they had heard, that they felt, or that they did something, and Jesus said: “I never knew you.”
As your pastor, what I want to know more than anything is do you know Him, and does He know you? If there were people sitting under the teaching of the Son of God who Jesus said He never knew, then I have to believe that there just might be some in the church today that Jesus does not know. It is time for us as a church to get serious about our relationship with Jesus. He is not looking for any “hanger-oners”, but rather people who are sold out to Him and His will for your life. Let’s stop playing the game. Let’s love the people that Jesus loves. Let’s love people the way that Jesus loves people. Let’s deal with sin in our own lives and not worry about those around us. Remove the log in our own eye before addressing the speck in the eye of that other person who drives you crazy. Let’s put others, and the needs of others, before our own desires and wants. Let the people of NWBC make it obvious, overwhelmingly obvious to those around us, that we are followers of Jesus in the way that we treat one another and love one another.
Our Wednesday focus has typically been on prayer so I am going to ask you to pray. Pray earnestly! Pray that God would do a work in your life first. Ask Him to show you what you must do or what you need to change. Please pray for me!! Please pray for our church!!!
I want to see God move in NWBC in a special way. I would love to see God add people to our church for our good and His glory.