Matthew chapter 7 verses 21-23 (Jesus is speaking) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'… I don't know about you, but this portion of scripture has always made me a little uneasy. There are certainly a lot of things we can focus on in this short passage, but I want to concentrate on verse 23 where Jesus says, 'I never knew you…..' Notice he didn't say, you never knew me, rather 'I never knew you.' Now, a lot of people (well, maybe not 'a lot' of people , I'm not that popular: ) may say they "know" me (Big D, personally:) because they've been to a concert or talked to me, or have been where I was at the same time, or even had a meal with me, but I wouldn't say I know THEM. We may have been introduced, maybe even believe some of the same things, they could go so far as to even promote the band or show great support for the 'cause,' but that doesn't mean I know them. Many people would say they 'know' the President, but in reality they only know 'of' the President, they know who he is, they recognize his face when they see him, they may have even campaigned for him, but they don't actually know him. Familiarity is not the same as knowing someone. In fact, like Ray Comfort says, (loosely quoted) if you go up to the White House gate and insist that you "know" the President of the United States and would like to see him, they will probably chase you away….however, if the President of the United States says he knows YOU, then you will be ushered right in to where he is. Because he knows you, not because you say you know him. Judging by the context of Matthew chapter 7 and the verses leading up to this portion of scripture, it seems clear to me that Jesus is teaching His disciples that knowing Him will be judged by what we do, rather than only by what we say. In verse 15 Jesus warns of "'false prophets' who come to you in sheep's clothing , but inwardly are ravenous wolves." He goes on to tell them that the disciples will know them by their fruits. Those 'fruits' good or bad will expose the heart of a person. Jesus is telling the disciples that we can actually see the heart of a person by 'their fruits.' It's not who you say you know, but who knows you. Remember the first verse we started with, Verse 21 " Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven……. (but who will enter the kingdom of heaven?) but he who DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER Who is in heaven. In John 15:14-15 we find that the will of God is that we, his 'friends', should bear fruit that remains, which I'm convinced is defined for us in Gal. 5:22-23. Please consider John 15:14-15. Jesus is speaking to His disciples and says, "14 You are my friends, if you do what I command you." Here we find out how to be known by Jesus, or how we can be His friends….He goes on in verse 15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He may give it to you." Here we find Jesus revealing what it's like to be a friend of His, to be known by Him. To be His friend means we hear from Him, He tells us things He would only tell His friends. We also see how this "friendship" started and how it is maintained. (Jesus chose us, we obey Him) There are two key words that stick out in my mind, know (known), and fruit. What is the 'will of the Father?' According to this passage it is to bear fruit that remains. Isn't it interesting how in the previous passage (Matthew 7) we were told that we would "know them by their fruits," and the people who were saying 'Lord, Lord' were trying to be known by their gifts ('did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?') It's the heart that has a relationship with Jesus. It's the heart of a person that He KNOWS. It's the heart that He does a work in that truly shows through the deeds of the body, in obedience, the will of the Father. The only way we can do or know the will of the Father is to have Jesus (the Holy Spirit) dwelling in us. Period. Ask almost anyone on the streets in America if they are a Christian….most, I think, would answer yes. Ask them if they know Jesus, and their answer would probably still be yes. The fact is they don't spend time with Him, nor do they obey Him, or even give Him much thought, but still they will insist that you are judgmental, because judging from the lack of fruit in their lives we say they aren't of God, (that's funny because Jesus told us we could judge whether someone is of Him by their 'fruits.') Let's try something new, instead of asking people if they know Jesus, let's ask this question: does Jesus know you?….if you died right now and you saw Jesus face to face would He usher you through the Gates of Pearl, right into Heaven? Would He embrace you and say, "well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master." (Matt.25:21) Would He recognize You as being one of His? There is an old song by Wayne Watson called "Born in Zion." I absolutely love the words in this song, it's very encouraging to me, I hope it will be to you as well. Here are some of the lyrics: Very few are born to riches, very few; And very few of fondest wishes ever come true; But that won't matter much at all, on the day your name is called; When this earthbound life is through and your Father says of you….. This one was born in Zion, make no mistake, this one is Mine! This one was born in Zion, this one will never, this one will never die… Very few are ever famous, very few at all; Very few will ever live the dream that they chose; But that won't matter much at all, on the day your name is called; When this earthbound life is through and your Father says of you….. This one was born in Zion, make no mistake, this one is Mine! This one was born in Zion, this one will never, this one will never die… So, in the final analysis, when all is said and done, and you pass from this life to the next ….the important thing will not be who You know, but Who Knows You. Does Jesus know YOU? Big D:) PS Let me know if you have read this and aren't sure if Jesus knows you, I'd love to talk with you about it. Please email me at bigd@bigdblue.com