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.

What Did John Mean by Fathers, Young Men, and Children?

Continuing on with the theme of sanctification, a fancy word for spiritual growth, I want to explain 1 John 2:13. The Bible in Basic English renders it this way. "I am writing to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil One. I have sent a letter to you, children, because you have knowledge of the Father."

Fathers, in John's verse, are those mature Christians who desire to know the Father better. Unlike young men and children, they are plumbing the depths of God's awesome character.

Paul expressed this longing in Philippians 3:10 (KJV) when he wrote, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;".

Young men, as John MacArthur explained in one sermon, are those who are zealous for the truth. Paul advised those young-men types in 1 Corinthians 14:12 (BBE) when he wrote, "So if you are desiring the things which the Spirit gives, let your minds be turned first to the things which are for the good of the church."

As for those "children" types, they are the ones who are new believers in Christ. Jesus likened immigrants into the Kingdom of Heaven like little children. They have implicit trust in their parents, as we should in Christ. Luke 18:17 (BBE) says "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."

But some Christians refuse, for one reason or another, to grow up spiritually. Hebrews 5:12 (BBE)chides, "And though by this time it would be right for you to be teachers, you still have need of someone to give you teaching about the first simple rules of God's revelation; you have become like babies who have need of milk, and not of solid food."

We easily see how John's analogy demonstrates sanctification. Children in Christ trust him. Young men learn and defend his teachings. But Fathers seek to know the Lord intimately.

I'll point this out in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Just as a child who won't develop mentally is a worry to its parents, so Christians who won't grow up are an embarrassment to the family of Christ.

On Thursday, I'll post about the world's biggest loser. He spent more than three years with the greatest teacher ever to walk this planet and still blew his golden opportunity.