Depart From Me, for I Never Knew You

 I recently watched a clip from an interview with a man in which he shared a part of his testimony which should serve as a warning to all of us.

In this clip, he tells of his experience after an accident that he had in 1979 at which the paramedics proclaimed him as dead. They transported him to the hospital, and some time after he got there, he came back to life. This man was clinically dead for about 15 minutes, and he tells of what he experienced during that time.

While he was dead, he had the opportunity to watch the harvest of souls from the earth and see them as they found out their eternal destiny. This man states that in those 15 minutes in 1979, there were 2000 souls that left the earth, and the vast majority of them were met with rejection from Heaven. Only 50 of 2000 people gained access to Heaven; only 2.5%. 

That was in 1979, when there was still a significant Christian heritage in this country. We have since wandered far from God as a nation, and that occurs one individual at a time. It makes me wonder, if that man got to see that same thing today, what percentage of people would God accept into His Heaven?

One may state that the vast majority of those whom this man saw approach Heaven were probably not christians, which is why they were turned away, and they may be right. But consider Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus says, "“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" This is Jesus talking about those who claimed to know Him. They called Him "Lord", but He had no relationship with them.

This is a stark warning. This is Jesus talking, and He is saying that people who were prophesying and healing and undertaking spiritual battle in His name will be turned away from Heaven. These are professing believers that will be rejected. And why will they be rejected? Because they did not do the will of the Father; because they practised lawlessness. They were disobedient.

Obedience to God is not just reading the Bible and going to church. Obedience to God may not include being a Sunday School teacher or even a missionary. Please make sure that you read that last sentence correctly. Obedience to God is doing what He wants you to do. You might be working in the church, but be working outside of what God desires you to be doing. You may have decided that you wanted to go on missions, but God had other plans for you. Though the work that you have done may be noble, it may be contrary to God's will. This is disobedience. 

We recognize that the sacrificial system that God initiated in the Old Testament was a heavy burden on the Israelites and was important to build a bridge between God and His chosen people, but in 1 Samuel 15:21-22 we read of God's view regarding obedience to Him in contrast to this important system.

King Saul was instructed to destroy the Amalekites in battle, including all living things, but the soldiers took spoil instead, including the Amalekite king himself, and Saul allowed it. Samuel then came and confronted Saul regarding his disobedience, saying, 

                                    "“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
                                    As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
                                    Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
                                    And to heed than the fat of rams.
                                    23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
                                    And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.
                                    Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
                                    He has also rejected you from being king.”"

I wrote about the cost of disobeying God and this very scenario previously, but that article focused on Saul and the immediate implications of disobedience, not on the eternal implications as I am discussing here.

It may very well be that God is calling you to a regular work-a-day job outside of ministry, because He may want your finances for a purpose, or He may put you in a certain person's path to lead just them to Him, which you can only do if you are where God wants you to be. God may want you to change churches, but you are so comfortable where you are that you don't want to change. This is not living in obedience to Him.

And what does it mean in Matthew 7:23 to "practise lawlessness?" The Greek work is anomia, and it means iniquity or unrighteousness. This means that you live outside of a set standard. God sets the standard that He expects of us, which includes the expectation that we are submissive to His Spirit that He has given to us as a guide. When we don't submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we are living in unrighteousness. 

Too many christians don't know what it means to submit to the Spirit. They think that a prayer said at one time, regular Sunday church attendance and regular giving are all that it takes to enter Heaven. Others, like those mentioned earlier, work to expand the Kingdom of God, but they do so under their own power, with their own ideas and without God's blessing. These people are like the Pharisees whom Jesus said are making those who listen to them even more the sons of Hell as they themselves are (Matthew 23:15). They make a big deal out of teaching others about God, but if those whom they teach follow the example of their teachers, the students will end up in Hell just like their teachers will. 

When I think of the efforts that western churches expend in their "ministries", I am reminded of a leader of Chinese underground Christian churches who got the opportunity to visit America for a time, and he was given a tour of some American megachurches. Afterwards, he was asked what he thought of American churches, and he responded that, "I’m amazed how much the Americans can do without the Holy Spirit." Far too many of us are operating outside of the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is an aspect of practising lawlessness. Persecuted Christians know what it like to live under the leading of the Holy Spirit every moment of every day; their very survival depends upon it.

Matthew 23 is Jesus' rebuke against the religious leaders of His day; the Scribes and the Pharisees. These men knew the Law; they studied it day after day and told others what it meant and how to fulfill it, but while they practised the letter of the Law, they failed at understanding the spirit of the Law. 

In verse three, Jesus tells the people that, because of the office that the Pharisees hold, that they are the teachers of the Law, the people are to "therefore all that they tell you, do and observe,". But then He continues with this warning; "but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them." He goes on to describe how the Pharisees will act in public to receive honour for which they are not worthy. They seek adoration, but will do nothing to help others. They set standards and do not keep them themselves.

In verses 25-28 Jesus accuses them of making their outward appearance appealing to others while their very soul is filthy and corrupted. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Jesus is telling them to submit to God and He will make their soul clean, and this will make their outward appearance clean as well. This is not referring to their clothes and their grooming, which they took great care and pride in. This is talking about their true bearing and how people will truly perceive them. These religious leaders sought the external honour of their position while being corrupted inside. We cannot clean the inside by maintaining a "spotless" outward appearance. We will be just like a whitewashed tomb, clean and bright on the outside, but containing decay within.

If the testimony of this man's Heaven experience is honest and true, and I have no reason to believe that it isn't, it should be a stark warning to all Believers. Jesus' words of Matthew 7:23 are probably the heaviest words of the Bible; "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’". These words are aimed at those who believe that they are righteous, but Jesus will judge them as unrighteous and unworthy of spending eternity with Him.

I have to address what some may offer as a rebuttal to this position, and that is the teaching that one can enter Heaven upon a simple confession of faith in the same way that the repentant thief did on the cross beside Jesus. 

This doctrine is true and accurate, but let's look at Romans 10:9-10 for clarification; "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." This passage is often used to state how simple it is to accept Jesus as your Saviour, but this verse is talking about more than words that are spoken. The words should be spoken aloud; this is an important aspect of spiritual warfare, and accepting Jesus as your Saviour is definitely an act of spiritual warfare.

But this passage indicates that this confession is also a matter of the heart. "Believe in your heart"; "for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness". Righteousness is right behaviour, which, in combination with the confession of the mouth, is "resulting in salvation". Righteousness cannot cohabitate with lawlessness, and we see that lawlessness will disqualify one from entering eternity with Jesus. Those who practise lawlessness while confessing with their mouth may fool mankind, but God will not be fooled. He sees the heart and judges accordingly. This is why so many will be turned away to an eternity that they do not expect for themselves. Matthew 7:13-14 says, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

I have often written about talking with God rather than talking to God. There is a two way communication between friends and family; the same should hold true with our relationship with God. Those words that we hear from God are delivered by the Holy Spirit; this is hearing God. Jesus tells us that the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to lead and guide us in this life, and He does this not only through feelings and nudgings, but also by His words, if we learn to hear Him. This is, to my understanding, the most important part of our Christian walk. Without learning this skill, we are floundering around without proper guidance, but with this skill, we are walking in confidence of God's leading hand in our life. If we are walking according to His leading, we will fulfill everything that He desires of us in this life, and we will not be turned away from Heaven. We will find ourselves on the narrow way.

I want to always encourage everyone who will listen towards righteousness and obedience to God. It is only by living this way that we can be assured of our acceptance into God's presence with His full blessing poured out upon us.