Today we are looking at a passage of Scripture where Jesus says that "Not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus has said over and over in His Word that all who call upon Him would be saved. Why now is He saying not every one? When we see what Jesus really meant by what he said it comes pretty clear that their were and are many who call out His name but have never met Him and they don't know Him personally. As we look at what He said, we need to think about our relationship with Him and ask ourselves if we simply have a Head-Knowledge or do we really have a Heart-Knowledge? Is our relationship real and personal?

In chapter 7 of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was coming to the close of the "Sermon on the Mount." In this chapter He tells us not to judge one another, to keep asking, seeking and knocking. He tells us the way is narrow and that we would know who is real and who is not by their fruit. He then says in verses 21-23 "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. 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!" What an indictment! I never knew you.

We often think that just because we may have been raised in a Christian home or we have been to church all of our lives that we are saved. We have heard the story of Jesus so many times we can quote the details of the Christmas birth. We know many of the parables and all about the resurrection story. We have learned to walk and talk like a Christian so well that the rest of the world would never know that we never have personally met the Master. We think that if we walk like a Christian and talk like a Christian we must be a Christian. Wrong! This passage of Scripture tells us that what others see may not be telling the real story.

There are three truths Jesus tells us in this passage that may fool the rest of the world but it won't fool Him. The first is the fact that professing doesn't mean possessing. He said they would call Him "Lord, Lord." There are a lot of people in this world today that like to use the name of Jesus but they don't have a clue as to who He really is. Many will go into churches week after week and say Jesus is Lord and never really mean it. In Isaiah 29:13 the prophet told the people "The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." I'm so afraid that we have taught many the fundamentals of worship without ever really leading them to the throne of grace. We teach they to profess it without ever possessing it. The second truth is that prophesying doesn't mean possessing. Jesus said that "many would say on that day, did we not prophesy in your name?" Jesus said in Matthew 7:15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." There are many today claiming to be the "Prophet of God" but they have never met the Him and they don't speak for Him. Many have entered the ministry or serve in churches today for all the wrong reasons. The may think it is an easy way to make a living. They may believe there is great power or prestige in serving in the church. They may be doing it for the money or for many other possible reasons. But, just because they are using His name and putting up a good front doesn't mean they really know Him. It's all an act and all for them not Him.

The third truth we see is that performing doesn't mean possessing either. In the last part of verse 22 Jesus said they would say "and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles." He also said in Matthew 24:24 "For false Christ and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible." Just because someone may appear to have great authority or power doesn't necessarily mean that he is acting on God's behalf. God does give us the power of His Holy Spirit to work on His behalf in this world. But you have to remember that there is another one working to destroy Christ's kingdom and fool as many as he can into thinking he is God. That one is Satan himself. Everything Satan does is an effort to copy what God is doing and lead as many as he can away from the truth. When you study the prophesies of the end times you find that the satanic forces will be working harder than they ever have before to stop the coming of our Lord and His kingdom. He will use whatever means necessary to fool even the elect if that were possible. You may be asking yourself, "How do we know when someone is a false prophet or not?" If his message doesn't line up completely with the word of God he is not a prophet of God. God's Word is true and unchanging. He will not change it to conform to our thinking. We must change our thinking to conform to His Word.

When we look at these three truths we quickly see that all of them have one thing in common. They are things we do not something He has done. It is not by our works but by His grace that we are saved. We can learn to act like a Christian but that doesn't make us a Christian. Then, what does? Moving from a Head-Knowledge to a Heart-Knowledge makes all the difference in this world and the world to come.

Moving from a Head-Knowledge to a Heart-Knowledge! What's the difference and why does it matter? In Romans 10:8-10 Paul penned these words "The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the Word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

Why the heart and not the head? First let's look at Head-Knowledge. Head-Knowledge is knowing about Christ. Remember the verse we used earlier from Isaiah 29:13 "The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is made up of rules taught by Men." Well look for a minute with me at what the prophet Ezekiel had to say in Ezekiel 33:31-32 "My people come to You, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to Your Words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them You are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear Your Words but they do not put them into practice." And Paul in his letter to Titus said "They claim to know God, but their actions deny Him." You often hear us talk about "changed lives." That's what it is all about. Having a Head-Knowledge won't change you. You may learn to act the part and fool many around you but sooner or later the world will find out who you really are. When the fires are turned up and the pressures close in, what is inside will come out. You may think that if you show up at church enough and do enough of the right things it will all work out. I can't help but remember a quote from Chuck Swindoll's book So You Want To Be Like Christ. In it he said "Hanging out at church hoping it will transform you into a deep Christian is only slightly less foolish than expecting enough time in a garage to turn you into a car." Sounds pretty foolish when you put it that way, doesn't it?

Now look at Heart-Knowledge. We said Head-knowledge is knowing about Christ. Well, Heart-Knowledge is knowing Christ. There is a huge difference! I think all of us could say we have a head-knowledge of our president George Bush. But, is there anyone here today that could honestly say they have a heart-knowledge of him. Does anyone know him personally and intimately? That's what we are talking about. Is your relationship with Christ based simply on what you have heard about him and think you can do for Him to somehow measure up or is it based on a personal relationship with Him trusting in His grace and His mercy? Paul said in Philippians 3:8-10 "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His suffering, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." He then said in his letter to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:12 "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day." Knowing Him is very different from knowing about Him!

Do you have a Head-Knowledge or do you have a Heart-Knowledge? One question remains. How do I know the difference? God's Word makes it very clear in John 14:23 "Jesus replied, if anyone loves me, he will obey my teachings." And in John 15:5 (KJV) Jesus said "I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." If you know Him and You love Him (if you have that Heart-Knowledge) you will be obedient to His Word and you will bear fruit for Him.

If you are here today and you have never received Jesus as your savior and Lord, you can have that Heart-Knowledge today. You can move from knowing about Him to knowing Him. My prayer today is that no one here will ever hear Jesus say "Depart from me, I never knew you."