I Never Knew You Depart From Me

Matthew 7:21-23: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Try to imagine the horror and desperation you would feel if the Lord spoke those words to you personally or if you knew that He had spoken them to one of your loved ones. There is nothing worse that you could ever year. Plainly, if men are to avoid hearing those words, they must do the will of God. It cannot just be lip-service. Many people believe salvation is a reward for good works. It is not.

Ephesians 2:8-10: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

The good works that God has ordained are always the result of salvation, never the cause of it. Individuals must first become the workmanship of God. Before they trust the Lord they are the workmanship of Satan. We are either under the influence of Satan or under the influence of God.

Matthew 6:24a: No man can serve two masters: . . .

Romans 6:16: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We can*t say this too often or in too many ways. The only individuals who can do the works that God has ordained for them are those who have become new creatures in Christ. It is the will of God that men become new creatures in Christ and it is the will of God that they do good works. New creatures are the only ones that can willingly and purposefully know and do the will of God.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon on Isaiah 14:10: Art thou become like unto us?

What must be the apostate professor*s doom when his naked soul appears before God? How will he bear that voice, *Depart, ye cursed; thou hast rejected me, and I reject thee; thou hast played the harlot, and departed from Me: I also have banished thee for ever from my presence, and will not have mercy upon thee.* What will be this wretch*s shame at the last great day when, before assembled multitudes, the apostate shall be unmasked? See the profane, and sinners who never professed religion, lifting themselves up from their beds of fire to point at him. *There he is,* says one, *will he preach the gospel in hell?* *There he is,* says another, *he rebuked me for cursing, and was a hypocrite himself!* *Aha!* says another, *here comes a psalm-singing Methodist-one who was always at his meeting; he is the man who boasted of his being sure of everlasting life; and here he is!* No greater eagerness will ever be seen among Satanic tormentors, than in that day when devils drag the hypocrite*s soul down to perdition. Bunyan pictures this with massive but awful grandeur of poetry when he speaks of the back-way to hell. Seven devils bound the wretch with nine cords, and dragged him from the road to heaven, in which he had professed to walk, and thrust him through the back-door into hell. Mind that back-way to hell, professors! *Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.* Look well to your state; see whether you be in Christ or not. It is the easiest thing in the world to give a lenient verdict when oneself is to be tried; but O, be just and true here. Be just to all, but be rigorous to yourself. Remember if it be not a rock on which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the fall of it. O may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in no day, however evil, may you be led to turn aside.

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