Pastor Alex Sands, Kingdom Life Church

Series: The King and His Kingdom (Gospel of Matthew)

June 6, 2021

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The declaration that He has the  exclusive   authority  to determine who enters heaven and who is banished is the most extraordinary claim Jesus has made so far.

Jesus rejects this group even though:

1. They  profess   faith  that Jesus is Lord.

2. They performed  miraculous  good deeds in His name.

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us.

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

When Jesus said, “I never knew you,” He meant, “I never knew you as a  disciple  because you never knew me as your  Lord .”

4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

In spite of their profession of faith and miraculous works, these were not true disciples of Christ because they never  repented  of their  sins .

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

Tragically many people point to their confession of faith or good works as evidence that they know Christ but will not enter the kingdom.

The dead giveaway of a false follower: a spirit of  entitlement .

28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends.

There is no substitute for  personal   discipleship .

If you never want to hear Jesus say ‘I never knew you’:

1.  Slow  down.

2. Get to  know  God.

3.  Examine  yourself.

5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.