Never Known

Matthew 7: The Sermon on the Mount (40)

Pray Psalm 140.6-8.
I said to the LORD: “You are my God;
Hear the voice of my supplications, O LORD.
O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of battle.
Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
Do not further his wicked scheme,
Lest they be exalted.

Sing Psalm 140.6-8.
Old Rockingham: O Lord, Most High, with All My Heart
You are my God, O God, my LORD! Give ear, show mercy to my pleas!
Salvation grant by Your strong Word; grant not their wicked, evil schemes.

Read Matthew 7.1-23; meditate on verse 21-23.

Prepare.
1. What does Jesus mean by “that day”? To which “day” is He referring? What happens on “that day”?

2. Who are described as those “who practice lawlessness”?

Meditate.Here, at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus advises His hearers to focus on the end of their lives, and the end of all things. A day is coming—“that day” (v. 22)—when, according to Jesus, an accounting will be given for how we have spent the minutes, hours, days, and years of our lives. The prize for those who pass muster is full and final entrance into the Kingdom they have been seeking all their lives (v. 21). These are they who have done the will of the heavenly Father (v. 21): they have sought His Kingdom and righteousness, labored to increase in His perfections, nurtured a deep and vital inward relationship with Him, and have hung on every Word that proceeds from His mouth and the mouth of Jesus. The result is that they know Jesus Christ. They know Him personally and intimately, truly and lovingly; and what’s even better than that, Jesus Christ knows them (v. 23)!

Those, on the other hand, who account for their lives in terms of works they have done—works which they intend to hold forth before the eternal Judge as somehow deserving of His approval and earning them a place in His Kingdom—will be sorely disappointed. Because it will be seen that all their many and impressive works had but one end: to commend them to Jesus as having earned a place with Him (v. 22).

But their works were not according to God’s Law; they were lawless because they did not honor the Law of God in them. They were done to satisfy themselves and impress others; they were done as manifestations of self-love, and for self-serving ends. Jesus does not know—love—those who practice lawlessness, who think that somehow their good works, done in Jesus’ Name, merit them some eternal place in His Presence. 

We must pass the days of this life with an eye on the end, when we will stand before Jesus to give an account of ourselves. On that day, let us be seen as loyal and obedient servants, who have faithfully sought the Kingdom and righteousness of God in all our ways, and who plead not our faithfulness, but that of Jesus, Whom we know, and Whom we know knows us. 

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Jesus continues His work of disassembling the prayer that He taught His disciples to pray:
“Your will be done” (Matt. 6.10).

To begin, we can rest assured that God’s will includes the keeping of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20.1-17).
But it also includes the way we do them: What is our attitude? How goes our heart? (Prov. 4.23)

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, 
but have not love, 
I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and 
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and 
though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, 
but have not love, 
I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and 
though I give my body to be burned, 
but have not love, 
it profits me nothing” (1 Cor. 13.1-3). 

Unknown.

Without God’s love all those majestic works—
supreme oratorical and apologetical skills, prophetic abilities, unsurpassed skills in solving mysteries, in fact, knowing everything; having faith that knows no limit, even to the point of working miracles; boundless, sacrificial giving through endowments, tithes, bequests, and inheritances; then martyrdom— 
amount to nothing. 

If they are not done God’s way—by His Holy Spirit, as good fruit, through His love—they are not recognized by Him as good. As amazing as we seem to ourselves and others, and as powerful our deeds appear, He will not know us, because we have never really known Him. Known what pleases Him. 
We are strangers. And that is a horrible predicament to be in.

But easily resolvable.
Jesus said, “He who does the will of My Father in heaven” will be known by Him (Matt. 7.21).
“But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6.33). To be known by Him will be added. To have your good works accepted will be added. To live in His Kingdom here and now, and there and then—added! 

Every day is a new day with the LORD. If we sense that perhaps some of our good works have been done amiss, we need only confess it, repent of it, turn from it, and move ahead in His will—forgiven.
“O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O LORD for I am weak…For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer” (Ps. 6.1, 2, 8, 9).

“Now may the God of peace Who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, 
that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
make you complete in every good work to do His will, 
working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, 
through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory forever and ever. 
Amen” (Heb. 13.20, 21).

Fully known (1 Cor. 13.12).

Reflect.
1. What can you do to make sure your motives for doing good are what they ought to be?

2. How does the Law of God help us in knowing which works are good works?

3. What is lawlessness? Why can it never be a source of good works?

So long as they hold a place in his Church, they both flatter themselves and deceive others. He therefore declares, that a day is coming, when he will cleanse his barn, and separate the chaff and straw from the pure wheat. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Matthew 7.22

Pray Psalm 140.1-5, 9-13.
Pray that God will keep you in His path today, that He will guard you from all evil and through every temptation, and that He will keep you focused on your eternal dwelling place with Him.

Sing Psalm 140.1-5, 9-13.
Old Rockingham: O Lord, Most High, with All My Heart)
From evil, violent men, I pray, deliver me, preserve me, LORD!
Their hearts they bend to evil ways, and serpent’s venom is their word.

Guard me, O LORD, from wicked hands, from violent men preserve my life!
They sow my path with wicked plans, with nets and snares and cords of strife.

As for the head of all my foes, let all their evil bring them down.
Let burning coals and endless woes on all their sland’rous words abound.

The LORD, I know, my cause shall take, and justice for me surely do;
the righteous will thanksgiving make; the upright e’er shall dwell with You.

T. M. and Susie Moore

If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast continues readings from our book, The Kingdom Turn. Our Crosfigell teaching letter presses ahead in a series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column looks at David as a visionary leader. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.