Friday

Related Verses
Matt. 7:21-22
21 Not every one who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, was it not in Your name that we prophesied, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name did many works of power?

Eph. 5:17
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Col. 1:9
9 Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Rom. 12:2
2 And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

1 John 2:17
17 And the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Matt. 28:18
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Acts 1:7
7 But He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set by His own authority.

Related Reading
Matthew 7:21…does not refer to the reality of the kingdom of the heavens today but to the coming manifestation of the kingdom in the future. To enter into the kingdom of the heavens we need to do two things: call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly Father. To call on the Lord suffices for us to be saved (Rom. 10:13), but to enter into the kingdom of the heavens we also need to do the will of the heavenly Father. Hence, not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of the heavens; but those who call on the Lord and do the will of the heavenly Father will enter in. 

Since entering into the kingdom of the heavens also requires doing the will of the heavenly Father, it is clearly different from entering into the kingdom of God through regeneration (John 3:3, 5). This latter entrance is gained through being born of the divine life; the former, through the living of that life. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 284)

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[In] Matthew 7:22…the words that day refer to the day of the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor. 3:13; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10). On the day of judgment, when all the believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, many will say to the Lord that they prophesied, cast out demons, and did works of power in His name, but they will be rejected by the Lord. 

Matthew 7:23 says, “Then I will declare to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.” Here the word knew means “approved.” The same Greek word in Romans 7:15 is translated “acknowledge.” In this verse Paul says, “What I work out, I do not acknowledge.” The Lord never approved those who, in His name, prophesied, cast out demons, and did many works of power, but did those things not according to the will of the heavenly Father (Matt. 7:21). The Lord did not deny that they did those things, but He considered those things lawlessness because they were not done in line with the will of the heavenly Father. They were not done in the line of the divine will. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You prophesied in My name, you cast out demons in My name, and you did many works of power in My name, but I never allowed you to do them. I never approved you, because you did all those things in a lawless way. You did them in yourself, in your own desire, and according to your own intention, not according to the will of My Father.” Thus, those who do such things, even in the Lord’s name, will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens but will depart from the Lord, that is, be excluded from the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age. 

Certain works may be done in the Lord’s name and yet not be done according to the will of God…We have talked a great deal about going to the campuses, but are we going there to do a certain work or to do the will of our heavenly Father? Young brothers and sisters, how would you answer this question?…We must have the assurance in whatever we do that we are doing the will of the heavenly Father. Otherwise, the Lord Jesus will say to us, “Workers of lawlessness.” Even prophesying in the Lord’s name, but not according to the will of the Father, is a type of lawlessness. Moreover, casting out demons in the Lord’s name and doing works of power in the name of the Lord, but not according to the will of God, are also considered in the eyes of the heavenly King as lawlessness. 

Although you may run faster than others, your running will not be recognized if you run outside the lines of your lane. Rather, that type of running will be considered lawlessness. You must run the race between the lines; that is, you must run in a constricted way. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 285-287) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Matthew, msg. 24