\u201cNot everyone who says to Me, \u2018Lord, Lord,\u2019 will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. \u201cMany will say to Me on that day, \u2018Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?\u2019 \u201cAnd then I will declare to them, \u2018I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.\u2019\u00a0 (Matthew 7:21-23)<\/p>\n
Swinging over the pit of eternal damnation; dangling from a thread the breadth of a spider\u2019s web; bouncing and provoking, from this thread, the flames below and the hand of God above, resides the unrepentant sinner.\u00a0 His life-line is well-charred and his conscience is well-seared and he is foolishly unaware of his precarious position.\u00a0 The frailty of his consistence is ill-known to him.\u00a0 His residence here, not more than a spark from eternity, is God\u2019s allowance – God\u2019s mercy in providing for repentance.<\/p>\n
The text of Matthew 7:21-23 is a frightening one, to be sure.\u00a0 It is a passage that assures us of the eternal damnation of \u201cmany\u201d self-proclaiming prophets and followers of Christ.\u00a0 It is a difficult passage to fully grasp but, pulling it apart, we can gather much information that I truly hope can help us on our journey.\u00a0 More importantly, though, I hope that we can use this text for the benefit of those in the same position as the lawless to whom Christ spoke.<\/p>\n
Beginning with the first words of the condemned, \u201cLord, Lord\u201d, we can begin to sketch something of their character.\u00a0 \u201cLord, Lord\u201d, carries the tone of a frightened plea; a rapidly accelerating heart-beat.\u00a0 The context, in verse 19, discusses a bad tree that is cut down and thrown into the fire.\u00a0 It may be that the condemned of whom Christ speaks are cut down in a manner similar to those mentioned in Luke as having been crushed by the tower in Siloam.\u00a0 The condemned, it seems likely, are cut down unaware and unrepentant.\u00a0 They\u2019re surprised at the pace of the events that have led them to judgment.\u00a0 Their plea, as death so quickly dawns on them, begins with a lie and ends with deception. \u00a0\u201cLord, Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
We can be sure that they had not appraised Christ as Lord in life by the predicament in which they found themselves in death.\u00a0 No one who truly confesses Christ as Lord will ever be told \u201cDepart from Me\u201d.\u00a0 Their appeal, then, to Christ\u2019s lordship was a lie.\u00a0 Furthermore, they continue with their deception by trying to convince Christ that they had been doing His work while they were living.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost as if they were saying \u201cLord, Lord, we were happily and innocently going about your work when this horrible thing happened, and now You\u2019re rejecting us \u2013 what\u2019s the deal?\u201d<\/p>\n
We can be sure that whatever the works that these condemned busied themselves with were not the works of the Father.\u00a0 He who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter<\/em> [heaven].\u00a0 Though we can\u2019t be sure what exactly these men were doing, we are told by Christ that they lived outside of the law.\u00a0 They, themselves, tell us that they were performing miracles and casting out demons.\u00a0 It is likely that they had been deceiving people in some manner or another for personal gain.\u00a0 They carried this trait into death, then, and attempted the same with their Judge.\u00a0 They hoped that Christ would fall for the \u201cworks\u201d that they had deceived others with in life.<\/p>\n These men were swinging over the pit of eternal damnation; dangling from a thread the breadth of a spider\u2019s web; bouncing and provoking, from this thread, the flames below and the hand of God above until, in a moment, they were cut down.\u00a0 And what a surprise it was.<\/p>\n In life, these men must have looked like so many that we see around us today.\u00a0 Contemporarily, they would probably have a large Bible on their coffee table; the spine of which remained unwrinkled.\u00a0 They would attend church regularly and engage religious topics from a biblio-secular perspective.\u00a0 This perspective might likely use as its platform its interest in the well-being of all men; its celebration of [sexual] diversity; its tunnel-visioned focus on its [perverse] understanding of Christ\u2019s love, and the allure of its [faithless] questioning of several particular portions of scripture that a loving [holy] God wouldn\u2019t permit.<\/p>\n Those of whom Christ spoke are plentiful.\u00a0 They look like you and I.\u00a0 They speak some Christianese.\u00a0 They\u2019re seen and respected by many because of their works or words, which appear quite holy.\u00a0 They are our friends and family members; co-workers and fellow church-goers.\u00a0 We probably believe that their walk is straight and true.\u00a0 They may also believe this.\u00a0 Christ, though, when the thread burns through, will cast them away as unknown criminals.\u00a0 Let us consider this and concern ourselves with this and take Christ to our people, no matter our understanding of their walk.\u00a0 Edification with our brothers and sisters will always be a fruitful endeavor.<\/p>\n A practice of transparency in our own lives and an openness in communication about such topics as hell, and those who fill it, may well be the instrument that Christ chooses to use to weave that thin thread into a tow rope for our loved ones.<\/p>\n Make life to be about pulling the rope for those who are weaker.\u00a0 Make love to be about drawing them toward reconciliation with their God.\u00a0 Make faith to be about stretching so far that no anchors remain but Christ.<\/p>\n Be faithful.<\/p>\n Today.<\/p>\n Assist.<\/p>\n Love.<\/p>\n Pray.<\/p>\n Speak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Many<\/h2>\n