I Never Knew You

Have you ever wondered about this verse?

Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You

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.’

I assume this conversation is happening during the time of judgment when people are standing before Yeshua for their final destination, Heaven or Hell.

As you can see by their words, they are shocked that they cast out demons and other mighty works in Jesus' name and He is telling them they never knew Him.

How is that possible? Have you ever really thought about that verse? Have you ever wondered if that scenario could play out with you and Jesus when you stand before Him?

I have….

I don’t know about you, but I have never personally cast out demons. I have prayed for people to be set free from their demons and have seen God work in mine and other's lives, but I have never laid hands on a person and seen demons leave. I know people who have and can imagine it is a sobering experience.

So how did they cast out demons if they didn’t know Jesus?

The answer is, they didn’t.  It was and is God’s power that performs every miracle that happens. God may choose to use us, but the actual power is done in Jesus' name with the Holy Spirit because God said so.  Jesus told us He only speaks what the Father tells him.

John 12:49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.

I believe “the many” in the above verse are people who were a part of a miracle, but they missed the part of “in Jesus name.” Maybe they started off with the right heart, I don’t know, but somewhere they forgot that God can use anyone or anything He chooses. He used a donkey to speak to a man when He had to.

They assumed because it was their personal hands that it must also be their power as well. Perhaps they started to believe their own publicity that they were the ones who performed the miracle.

I can see how it can happen, people start seeking you out, they tell people how great you are. They want to be around you for personal and selfish reasons. You start getting words of praise, gifts, popularity, fame. Who would not get caught up in all that? Read today's tabloids, it's one sad story after another of tragedy.

It is the worst kind of disease, PRIDE.

Moses knew this condition all to well and he was considered the humblest of men.

Numbers 12:3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.

Remember the miracle of the water from the rock?

Numbers 20 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”

6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

After everything Moses did with the Exodus from Egypt, then 40 years in the wilderness! He made, what we would consider, one small mistake, and his punishment was not entering the Promised land with the Israelites he led so faithfully.

What had he done? The Lord said to speak to the rock and water would come out, but Moses hit the rock twice. Many people think that was the end of it. I believe it was part of it, but I think the larger part was Moses' words when he said “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”

“We” did not do the miracle, God did. Trust me I am not dissing Moses in any way, I’m trying to make a point to all of us that God does the miracles. Moses did and does know God, yet he still had a very harsh punishment. 

That is nothing compared to the punishment of doing things in Jesus name and not knowing Him personally. The punishment for this decision will be not entering the Kingdom of Heaven for all eternity.

How to have a relationship with Jesus is the same as any other personal relationship. You spend time with Him. You read your bible which is the word that became flesh. Jesus the son of man.

You speak to Him and let Him speak to you. It’s following His 2 greatest commandments.

Don’t wait until you stand before the Throne of Judgment to find out if Jesus ever knew you!

The punishment is eternal separation from God.

If you have any questions or want to talk more about it, please contact me I would be happy to share with you about knowing your Savior, making sure He knows you and your name is in the book of life.

For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten son that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life

John 3:16