”…Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, done many wonders in Your name?”
(These are believers are operating in the supernatural. They're operating in kingdom reality)
“…and I will declare to them: I never knew you! Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
In this passage, Jesus is referring to entrance to the coming millennial kingdom, and the accompanying rewards. The thing at stake here is the entrance to coming kingdom; not operating in the kingdom now but entering into the glory of Eternal Rewards. He's saying here, ‘many’ - that's multitudes of people! They will have experienced supernatural ministry. They've seen the power of the kingdom. But this is what Jesus uncovered: they lacked an intimate, surrendered heart.
“I didn't know you”. That word ‘know’ means: to be intimate; deeply personal, intimate, because of building a relationship. He uncovers the lack of an intimate, surrendered heart; and He uncovers their motivation. He says: you practice, this as a habit - this is how you're doing your life! You're practicing lawlessness. That means ‘without law’; or virtually, it means you're operating in independence; pride; self-promotion. That word ‘lawlessness’ or ‘inequity’ refers to the reason that Satan fell - because he wanted to elevate himself. It's saying: yes, I saw you did all those works, and I blessed the people for My Name’s sake - but I also saw WHY you did it. You did it to build your own ministry, your own life, your own finances, your own reputation - you didn't love the people. You loved what you could get from the ministry.
Wow, isn't that powerful! So just a few thoughts for reflection then, that you need to ask…
What has the Holy Spirit been speaking to you about in this teaching? What have you felt impacted you? What action would you need to take in response?
Thinking about the judgement seat that you're going to stand before one day, the bema seat of Christ, for evaluation - how does that challenge you right now?
What about your motivations - how are they challenged?
I listed a number of different defiling heart motivations, that are moved out of things other than love. Are there any you could identify with? Have another look at them. What changes would you need to make?
Are there any areas you should surrender to the Lord? I think the key thing here is, the need to develop an intimacy; develop a surrendered and pure heart. We need a humble and surrendered heart; a heart that's become pure - and that's a journey to do that, but it starts with the first decision. All the works that we do, God is going to pass them through the test of intimacy. Have we humbled ourselves, and surrendered to the Lord's will, and done things out of a pure heart of love?
I trust this really helped you, and been a blessing for you, and I look forward to carrying on Part 2 of this... God bless!