The Daily Word of Righteousness

I Never Knew You, continued

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matthew 7:21-23—NIV)

There are two aspects we must consider, found in the above passage.

First, we must be doing the will of the Father.

Second, we must not be evildoers. We must be keeping the commandments of Christ and His Apostles.

It is not enough to "make it work." We must be doing the will of God and we must be living a righteous, holy life if we expect to have fellowship with Jesus Christ.

"But isn't it God's will that people be healed?" Right here is the problem. Much of today's Christian ministry proceeds on the assumption that we know God's will.

"Isn't it God's will that everyone hear the Gospel?" "Isn't it God's will that everyone be saved? "Isn't it God's will that everyone be healed?"

This is how a great part of the Christian ministry operates today. We are trying to do God's work without knowing for sure what God is saying; what God is doing. This is never the way of Jesus Christ or of the Holy Spirit. This is the False Prophet.

We are blind leading the blind. We do not know what Christ is saying today. We read the Bible and suppose we know what to do. We don't, in numerous instances. We are guessing. We are making assumptions.

Because it is possible to use the name of Jesus apart from Jesus, any enterprising person can go forth and do "great things for God." He will be acclaimed in this world. He very well may be rejected by Christ in the next age because he was not doing God's will, only what he supposed was God's will.

This is to put the head of man on the Body of Christ. This is the False Prophet.

In the hour in which we are living God is ready to demonstrate unprecedented power. As we have stated, the Charismatic movement will be divided into two camps.

There will be a minority, a remnant who will go to the cross with Jesus. They will be blind and deaf to mental reasoning and impressions. They will look to Jesus for every decision of life. God will judge them until all worldliness, sin, and self-will have been driven from their personality.

They may not be fruitful in the beginning, or they may. Who can tell what God will do with an individual? But in the end they will possess all things.

In the meanwhile the majority of believers will be learning how to work the spirit realm. Miracles will be commonplace. How wonderful! We can go forth and do great things in the name of Jesus. This "successful" group will not tolerate the idea of suffering, of patient waiting on the Lord. They are upbeat, enthusiastic. Their assemblies are exciting places to go. They are expert in marketing techniques. They are on the move "for God" and the communities are responding.

To be continued.