“I never knew you.” Those sound like such harsh words to hear from a loving person. However, they are not harsh when you look at them from the perspective of the speaker telling the truth. Imagine a random person walking up to a house during a funeral reception and saying they wanted to go in and mingle with the loved ones of the dead, and the owner of the house says “I’m sorry. You cannot go in.” And the person says “well, I walked by her class a number of times. I even sat at the back of her classroom once.” Then, the owner of the house looking in honesty and firmness repeats “I truly never knew you. I never met you before now. I am sorry but I cannot let you in.” Who is the wicked one here? The one who is being honest or the other person who was trying to freeload on funeral reception food, and felt like he had a stake in the sad event when he really was never intimate with the dead person or the person’s family. That is how it is with the LORD. He does not mean to be rude. He is just being honest.
In context, the Word (Matthew 7:21 – 23, NKJV) reads
21 “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. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Jesus says a few things here:
- He [/she] who does the will of Father will enter;
- Prophesying, casting out demons, doing wonders, and my additions: fasting, doing thunderous prayers, speaking in tongues, will not get you to heaven;
- Those who practice “lawlessness” will not enter.
Paul speaks in Galatians 5:22-23 of the fruits of the Spirit. When he is done listing them, he says “Against such things there is no law.” What are the fruits? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
In other words, if you lack love and the other fruits, you do not have the Spirit, and so, are lawless. Everything else you do is charades. Do not let that be you, my loves.
Do not be sentimental. We like to be sentimental. When someone is not performing their task, we like to sweep over it and say “oh it’s okay. No one does anyway” instead of calling them to caution and exhorting them to do better. We want to protect the feelings of others. In things of salvation, doing that is wickedness (Ezekiel 3:18). A person could lose their salvation because you were trying to protect his/her feelings instead of feeding him/her with truth. Would you rather be sentimental or their mini-savior? Don’t let it be said to them “I never knew you” when it could be “my good and faithful servant.” And do not be the one who is locked out. Love, the love of the Holy Spirit, is the only way to the heart of the Father.
You know you love if you are kind to a person and the person can say that of you. 1 Corinthians 13 gives us the other qualities and features of love. Love is the single greatest commandment. Love, and be called a disciple of Christ. To God be the Glory!
