There are two Verses in the Book of Matthew that have always intrigued me. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus is talking about people who are doing ministry in His name and are being quite successful. They were prophesying, casting out demons, and performing miracles all in His name. Yet, Jesus said at the end of these Verses, “Depart from Me I never knew you.” How can these people do the kinds of ministry they were doing and not be known by Jesus?
Let me answer that, but first let’s go to the second section of Scripture where we find these words, “I never knew you.” In Matthew 25:12, Jesus said to the five virgins returning from buying oil for their lamps, “I never knew you.” Again, these five virgins were part of the wedding party waiting for the bridegroom to come. These five were called foolish because they did not keep their lamps full of oil ready to light the way for the bridegroom. They probably thought there was enough time to buy more. These five foolish virgins were caught off guard when the bridegroom came and they were unprepared to greet Him. Two examples of Jesus saying, “I never knew you.”
I believe in both cases the people were obeying a religious obligation but were not committed to God. The folks in Matthew Chapter 7 were excited because their religious experience had power in the name of Jesus, and it worked well for doing miracles and casting out evil spirits … all in the name of Jesus. Using His name and knowing the person of Jesus are two separate things. In Revelation Chapter 2, Jesus is telling the Ephesian Church that they had great success doing ministry, but they were doing it without putting Jesus first in the process. Remember, Jesus told them to repent, and if they didn’t make changes, regardless of how successful they were, He would shut them down.
The work of God must be done in accordance with God’s will, not according to what works or what we think will work. King David realized he sinned by taking Bathsheba as his wife by stealing her from another man, and then having that man killed. King David knew he was wrong and came before God to find forgiveness. David wrote:
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
Jesus didn’t know these people in Matthew Chapter 7 and Matthew Chapter 25, because their hearts were not right. There was no broken, repentant, or contrite hearts displayed in either case.
I have been writing in recent years telling people to keep their spiritual lives simple. There is no need to be deeply theological to please God. In fact, I don’t think theology is the ticket to God’s heart. Knowing Him theologically and pleasing Him are too different things, and I think David had it right … God desires a broken and contrite spirit.
I have watched great spiritual men fall and ministries found guilty of being inept and incorrect over the years. We shouldn’t be shocked by the failure … most of what the Bible talks about is our failure and God’s mercy to rescue us. However, at the end of the day, the bottom line is the heart. The prophet Jeremiah says:
Jeremiah 17:9 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
So, when we discover that the human heart is not good by itself and is beyond cure, then we know we need God’s help. Religious activity, theological studies, and spiritual practices of Church attendance, prayer meetings, Bible studies … all will fail, if the heart is not right with God. You may not like what I just said, but Matthew Chapter 7 and Matthew Chapter 25 prove it when Jesus says, “I never knew you.”
So, what am I saying? Knowing God is a heart matter, not a practicing matter. People practice religion all the time, but don’t know God. Read Hosea Chapter 4 and get a good dose of the truth that God hates religion. Why? Because religious practice does not make the heart right with God … only a broken, repentant, and contrite heart is one that God finds pleasing in His sight. These are the signs of a person who is serious about knowing, obeying, and following Him. It is the only way to know Jesus will never say to you, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler