Who Were the Folks in Matthew 7:21-23?

John MacArthur said, and I agree, that this is the most frightening passage in the Bible. A vast number of people today claim to be doing miracles and speaking in "heavenly" languages but they are hellward bound.

Matthew 7:21-23 BBE) reads, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will go into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the pleasure of my Father in heaven. A great number will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, were we not prophets in your name, and did we not by your name send out evil spirits, and by your name do works of power?' And then will I say to them, 'I never had knowledge of you: go from me, you workers of evil.'"


These "Lord! Lord!" people are those who think they serve Christ but they're really serving themselves. As Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 6:46 (BBE) "Why do you say to me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not the things which I say?"

Remember too that Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve. Before he betrayed Christ, he seemed like a model disciple. But Jesus wasn't fooled by his fakery. John 6:70 (BBE) proves his omniscience. "Then Jesus said, Did I not make a selection of you, the twelve, and one of you is a son of the Evil One?"


We can tell by these verses that Christ isn't fooled by fake praise. Many people act as if the Lord's name is a sort of magical invocation of power. But being in Christ's name and doing things in his name means that we've been adopted into his family. Check out what Galatians 4:4 and 5 (BBE) says. "But when the time had come, God sent out his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, That he might make them free who were under the law, and that we might be given the place of sons."

We also are assured in John 6:37 (BBE) of our acceptance in Christ's family. "Whatever the Father gives to me will come to me; and I will not send away anyone who comes to me." What an assurance that is!

But this adoption is conditional in that we must repent and surrender the running of our lives to Christ. Luke 18:17 (BBE) speaks of this total trust we must place in the Lord. "Truly I say to you, Whoever does not put himself under the kingdom of God like a little child, will not come into it at all."

This will be the main theme in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many people assume they're saved but their deeds and lives betray them.

On Thursday, providing the Lord doesn't return before then, I'll post about five foolish virgins and who they were.

"Why Do You Call Me Good?"

Since Jesus was the Son of God, why did he ask this question of the rich, young ruler? This sounds like a contradiction but it in fact isn't.

In Luke 18:18 and 19 (BBE), we read about this encounter between Christ and a leader from the temple. "And a certain ruler put a question to him, saying, 'Good Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life?' And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you say that I am good? No one is good, but only God.'"

Jesus didn't say he was or wasn't God but he doubted the ruler's sincerity. The Pharisees and Sadducees often questioned Christ but it was for a pretence. As Mark 12:13 (BBE) states, "Then they sent to him certain of the Pharisees and the Herodians, so that they might make use of his words to take him by a trick."

Jesus knew who were true believers and who were mere followers of him as long as he said and did what they wanted. As Matthew 2:23 and 24 (BBE) explains, "Now while he was in Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover, a great number of people came to have faith in his name, after seeing the signs which he did. But Jesus did not have faith in them, because he had knowledge of them all."

Our Lord deliberately spoke "hard sayings" so the fake disciples would turn away from him, as John chapter six says. Jesus even knew that Judas Iscariot would betray him. Check out what John 6:70 (BBE) says.  "Then Jesus said, 'Did I not make a selection of you, the twelve, and one of you is a son of the Evil One?'"

Furthermore, Judas was so clever that none of the disciples realized he was false. But Jesus wasn't fooled. John 13:18 (BBE) proves this. "I am not talking of you all: I have knowledge of my true disciples, but things are as they are, so that the Writings may come true, 'The foot of him who takes bread with me is lifted up against me.'"

Because people have such a hard time understanding that none of us are good, I'll have to repeat that truth ad nauseam in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? People can't seem to grasp that we all are born bad.

Saturday's song post will be about a good companion to many lonely people: radio. I sure needed it in Jericho Hill School.

Who Was the World's Biggest Loser?

I've written about sanctification but I only touched on what happens when it doesn't happen. The world's biggest loser, as John MacArthur has pointed out, is Judas Iscariot.

From all outward appearances, this disciple seemed to be a good man. But Jesus wasn't fooled. John 6:70 and 71 (BBE) records, "Then Jesus said, 'Did I not make a selection of you, the twelve, and one of you is a son of the Evil One?' He was talking of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. It was he who was to be false to Jesus--one of the twelve."

Even so, he partook in everything Christ did. Any time the disciples went to do something, he never was excluded nor did he excuse himself. The only exception we know of was when he betrayed the Lord.

Judas even feigned outrage when a woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus. John 12:3-6 (BBE)records, "Then Mary, taking a pound of perfumed oil of great value, put it on the feet of Jesus and made them dry with her hair: and the house became full of the smell of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was to give him up), said, 'Why was not this perfume traded for three hundred pence, and the money given to the poor?' (He said this, not because he had any love for the poor; but because he was a thief, and, having the money-bag, took for himself what was put into it.)"

But how could a person be in Christ's presence for so long without becoming truly devoted to him? The answer is in 1 John 2:19 (BBE) which explains, "They went out from us but they were not of us; if they had been of us they would still be with us: but they went out from us so that it might be made clear that they were not of us."

And even though Judas repented of his decision to betray Christ, he never asked forgiveness of the Lord. As we read in Matthew 27:5 (BBE), "And he put down the silver in the Temple and went out, and put himself to death by hanging."

I hope to point out Judas' huge mistake in my next book, You Think You're Going to Heaven? Even the worst of sins can be forgiven, except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. I'll explain what that blasphemy is in my book as well.

The song I'll post about on Saturday is a beautiful portrayal of God's creation and how it renews itself each spring.