Let’s read Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in the day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, an done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

The Lord Jesus had just finished speaking to the crowd about “false prophets” and how “you will know them by their fruits” (read verses 15-20). The Lord knew them by “their hearts” (He could see that they did NOT BELIEVE ON HIM; they had hearts of UNBELIEF). The people could “know them by their fruits” (their “false prophecies” would not come to pass; see Deuteronomy 18:20-22). This, along with an ungodly life, would betray them. They were imposters pretending to be “speaking for God” while in fact they were “speaking for the Devil” who is the “father of lies” (see John 8:44).  

In verses 21-23 He speaks in general of those who “profess to own Jesus as their Lord”; in other words, they CALL Him Lord yet there too He could see their hearts and He knew they had “hearts of UNBELIEF.” They did not truly believe that Jesus was the Lord of glory so their profession of faith was not genuine. We learn in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” Like the “false prophets” these “false professors” were not being led by the Holy Spirit. They may be doing “outward acts of supposed service for the Lord,” but the Lord says of them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” Only those who have placed their faith in Christ as Lord and Savior can serve Him IN TRUTH and IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT and in those “true acts of service” they are “doing the will of the Father in heaven.” Those who have not trusted in Christ are simply going through “religious acts” either by their own power or perhaps by Satanic power and in those acts they are NOT doing the will of God but “practicing lawlessness.”

How solemn are the words “I never knew you, depart from Me.” Instead of “entering the kingdom of heaven” someday these false professors will be in hell, separated from God and His kingdom forever. We learn this from the Lord’s words to unbelievers in Matthew 25:41, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” They had every opportunity to put their trust in Christ but they rejected Him and they will be “punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). To the one who truly believes in Christ as Lord and Savior He says this: “My sheep hear My voice, and I KNOW THEM, and THEY FOLLOW ME. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one” (John 10:27-30). How precious are the words “I know them.” He sees the faith in our hearts and He sees the fruit of our faith by us “following Him” (obeying His word and doing the will of His father). And because we believe in Him and “He knows us” as His sheep, He assures us that WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE and WE WILL NEVER PERISH. We are kept safe in the double grasp of the Father and the Son and will one day “enter the kingdom of heaven” to be with Christ forever and ever! See 1 Peter 1:3-5; Philippians 3:20-21 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.  (DO)  (672.1)