I Never Knew You...

Written by:  Ben Clark

Matthew 7:21-23:

(V. 21) "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

(V. 22) "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name? And in Thy Name have cast out devils? And in Thy Name done many wonderful works?"

(V. 23) "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity."

Do you know Jesus? Does Jesus know you? In that day are you going to hear "Go away, I never knew you?"

Jesus is coming back for His Bride VERY soon! Are you ready? He's not coming for a speckled and spotted lamb. He's not coming for anyone that doesn't love Him. He won't come back for anyone that doesn't know Him. He is not coming for anybody that He does not know.

How can you know Jesus if you do not spend time with Him? How can a man and a women, know and love each other, unless they talk and spend time together. Everyone knows that a man or woman that has no time for their husband or wife might as well not get married at all. Are you too busy for Jesus? Do you know Him?

Before you marry somebody, don't you talk to them and get to know them? And if you love them, don't you do the things that they like and the things that please them? How can somebody know you unless you talk to them or spend time with them? Do you listen? Talking is good, but you also have to listen.

John 10:27
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:"

Do you hear the Lord's voice? If you do not hear His voice, than you need to re-think if you are His sheep. Because if you were His sheep, than you would hear His voice AND follow Him.

Matthew 10:38
"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me."

Somebody who takes their cross is not looking back. Lot's wife did look back, and turned into a pillar of salt.

Luke 9:62
"…No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

You are crucifying your fleshly wants and desires and following Jesus. We do what Jesus wants, how He wants, when He wants, and by every detail He says. According to His Will and not ours.

John 10:2-5:

(V. 2) "But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep."

(V. 3) "To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out."

(V. 4) "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice."

(V. 5) "And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers."

Again it says that the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

John 10:14
"I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of mine."

If you are His sheep then the Lord knows you. You will also know Him. Knowing about somebody and actually knowing them are two different things. I know ABOUT many people but only actually know few. To know someone, you have to talk with them and spend time with them. You have to get to know them.

Luke 10:27
"…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind…"

There is a BIG difference between Love and Lust. Are you only talking to the Lord when you want money, a job, or a bigger and better-looking church? Are you only coming to the Lord when bad things happen and you need help? This doesn't sound like love. It sounds like Lust and all you want is what He can give you so you can be on your way, back into the world.

OR

Are you talking to the Lord every day and have a burning passion and desire to get to know Him? Are you picking up your cross daily and crucifying your fleshly wants and desires to follow Jesus? Are you making time and pushing away everything that gets between you and the Lord?

Colossians 3:22
"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in SINGLENESS of heart, fearing God;"

Are you giving the Lord your ALL? If you are not giving the Lord your ALL, then you might as well not give Him your anything. It's either all or nothing. Heaven or Hell. Jesus or Satan. There is no purgatory and no in-between. Jesus would rather you be Hot or cold …not lukewarm.

Revelation 3:15-16:

(V. 15) "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot."

(V. 16) "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

Matthew 7:13-14:

(V. 13) "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:"

(V. 14) "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

If you read verse 14, you will notice that it says "...few there be that find it." Let's just look at an example of how small 'few' really is:

1 Peter 3:20
"Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."

Did you read that? "Wherein FEW, that is, EIGHT SOULS were saved by water." Now that is what 'few' is. But Eight souls out of how many, you ask?

Luke 17:26
"And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man."

So shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. Eight souls out of the billions of people were saved. That is FEW! Are you one of the few? Are you making every effort to enter in at the straight gate?

Luke 13:24
"Strive to enter in at the straight gate: for MANY, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able."

So now we know that few… is very, very little. Now the Lord is talking about many.  MANY will seek to enter in but will NOT be able to. The Lord does not mess around. We already seen what few is. Now He says MANY will seek to enter in, but will not be able. Do not be one of the MANY … be one of the FEW!

Luke 17:26-30:

(V. 26) "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man."

(V. 27) "They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all."

(V. 28) "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;"

(V. 29) "But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all."

(V. 30) "Even thus it shall be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

Its time to stop messing around! Time to stop thinking that there's a lot of time. How do you know how long you have? How do you know if today is your last day?

James 4:13-15:

(V. 13) "Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:"

(V. 14) "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? Is it even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."

(V. 15) "For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."

Proverbs 27:1
"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest NOT what a day may bring forth."

We don't know how long we have. Today could be your last day and what have you done for the Lord?

1 Thessalonians 5:2
"For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."

Why is everybody so caught up in getting money and serving money? So if you get all the money in the world… then what? When you die, your money and all that you have worked for will be lost with this world. Why does everyone think they need money? Yet nobody thinks they need Jesus? Are you serving God or money… or are you trying to do both. You CAN'T serve two masters.

Luke 16:13
"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Read the parable about the rich man in Luke 12:16-21:

His whole life he stored up riches and food and built bigger barns and for what? For what did he gain? He gained nothing. His life was required that same night that he was going to build a bigger barn. All his life he did nothing but serve money and worldly things.

Matthew 16:26
"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

Jeremiah 33:3
"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

Jeremiah 29:13
"And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with ALL your heart."

Seek the Lord with all your heart. Because if you haven't found Him, than you haven't given Him your all and searched for Him with all your heart. You have to know Jesus. He is the only way.

John 14:6
"…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."

Maybe you said a prayer when you were five or ten years old. But it is not the prayer that saves you …it is Jesus. Repentance doesn't come from your lips, but from your heart. And repenting and keeping away from sin is not something you do once in your lifetime. It is a daily battle against Satan and it is YOUR choice to whether you give in to Satan's temptations or not.

1 Peter 5:8
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

Some last things that you need to really think about:

• Are you one of the FEW or one of the MANY?
• Is Jesus your shepherd, and are you His sheep?
• Are you on the straight and narrow road, or on the broad road that leads to the wide gate?
• Do know Jesus, or do you just know about Him?

And remember …right now, you still have a chance. But there will be a time when it is too late to decide. So decide right now, or you might not have that chance tomorrow.