I Never Knew You the Most Frightening Words in the Bible

But I said I was a Christian, don't you believe me? But I did some good work, don't you believe me?

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.’"

They had words but they had no love because the works were to glorify the self and the words were to convince others of something that was not true, that is a heart condition of love flowing from Christ.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

When someone loves they care more about others than they do themselves. They are bold because they want to help those who are falling into pits that will harm them. They are kind showing mercy when someone is repentant.

It is not mercy to bless those who are unrepentant, it is mercy to forgive and bless those who are repentant. Discipline is the love needed for those who are rebellious. If someone is disciplined and rejects the chastisement then it is love that motivates us to turn them over to satan to be buffeted so that perhaps one day they will see their need for Christ.

Accepting sin in our friends and family is not love for them it is self-love to avoid the turmoil that might come because we spoke the truth. False love is of no use to anyone, it only further solidifies the sin in the one who will not repent. Never be the means by which a rebellious heart continues in their sin.

Ephesians 5:6-7

"6 See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them;"

God's love is far different from the world's love!!!!!

Do not love someone into hell, love them to Christ the One Who can change them in an instant when they repent and trust in Him.

Bold and Lions Gentle as Doves

It is a time in which the apostate church is common and the norm. We must depend on the Holy Spirit to present the gospel to the unsaved as the Holy Spirit leads us to those who would be open.

In the apostate churches we meet many people who profess to be saved but have no fervor for Christ, they even have angst toward His Word and Principles.

There are fewer and fewer people who want to hear about Christ in our nation, the true gospel. Most people worship their freedom and their pride rather than Christ. Those who say they are Christians are full of pride, steeped in self-esteem promoted by the culture of psychology. We have all been trained to love ourselves more than anyone else through the media, schools, and yes, even churches.

What does God say?

We are born loving ourselves too much, full of arrogance, and demanding our own way. To become godly when changed by the Holy Spirit after salvation we will become the opposite of the human condition.

Philippians 2:3-5

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus."

Matthew 16:24-26

Discipleship Is Costly

"24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.

25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

26 For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?

Just like in the garden with Eve the devil has managed to convince this generation that loving ourselves must be first before we can love anyone else. This is the opposite of what God says; He said we are born selfish and to be godly we must trust in Christ and walk as He did, that is unselfish. The devil's lies have not changed since the beginning.

Christ gave up His life for others, His entire existence was for the sake of others.

1 John 2:5-6…5 But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked."

Satan has lied through the use of psychology to convince people they must first love themselves when God said we are to love Him first and then others.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 This is the great and foremost commandment.

39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

If we obey the first commandment we will easily obey the second. Because cultural Christians are not obeying the first they have no ability to obey the second. When we obey the first commandment Christ is working love in us, it is our very nature, we can do nothing else.

In the fruit of the Spirit that God gives us when He sends His Holy Spirit to live in us the first fruit is love.

Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Without this fruit, there is no Holy Spirit and without the Holy Spirit, there is no salvation.

Matthew 7:16-20 " 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?

17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits."

This passage speaks of false prophets but also applies to false believers and those who follow false prophets.

Matthew 15:7-9 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”…"

Many people in our day proudly proclaim they are Christians but deny God in their words and their actions. Whenever someone promotes a principle that flies in the face of God's Word and defends it, we know we have met a false believer. There are so many of these people that we have become confused about who is a true believer and who is not.

Our culture counts on words more than a demonstration of a life of faith, leaving a bad taste in our mouths while oppressing us into silence about the truth. Do not be intimidated by these false believers. Speak the truth boldly in love, and do not become worried about the response of those who defy Christ in their lives.

Do not become gooey and milk-toast hoping the hearer will not explode in anger, simply depend on the Holy Spirit, speak what needs to be said, and leave the response to God. Do not become phony to win a non-believer, depend on the Holy Spirit He will give us the delivery He knows the person needs.

Never allow others to give you a formula for how the delivery must work, there is no cookie-cutter delivery everyone should use. God gave us our own personalities and the Holy Spirit for His purposes.

In Acts 4:5-22 we see the account of the apostles being accused of wrongdoing when they had healed someone. Rebellious pretenders will accuse you of all kinds of things, none of which are true, merely to diminish your words and discredit you in front of others who may be watching. So what!!!!!! Ignore their foolishness and continue obeying Christ when He told us to be Bold as Lions and Gentle as Doves.

Matthew 10:16

A Hard Road Ahead of Them

16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves."

Words mean nothing unless they are backed up by lifestyle and dedication to Christ.

Only God's Words are powerful, man's words are fluff and floss meaning nothing all by themselves.

Psalm 19:14

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 34:13

"Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies!"

We cannot go wrong speaking the Words of Christ even if the response is one of irritation or rejection. The rejection of others is not a measure of how well we did or if we should have spoken something. The response often reveals the heart of the responder, not the delivery of the presenter.

Depend entirely on the Holy Spirit brothers and sisters, He will always do the right thing in us when we yield to Him. Hallelujah