Razor Planet



BUT I SAY TO YOU: really followingSunday, April 7, 2019Matthew 7:21-23, NIVThree weeks ago, the annual “March Madness” began. Sixty-four university basketball teams were placed into a play-off bracket system, every single team aiming to become the Division 1 NCAA men’s champions. Sixty-two games later, the Cavaliers of the University of Virginia and the Texas Tech University Raiders have emerged to play for the championship on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. Maybe you filled out a bracket. Millions of people try to predict the champions based on many factors. Real fans, rabid fans make selections based on records, coaches, star players, or NCAA pedigree. It is an intense process for these folks, but there are others who haven’t watched a single NCAA basketball game all season who also get excited about and involved in the tournament. Their brackets are based on team colors, mascots, which school they like better, or flips of coins. They aren’t really fans. They can’t be called followers. They do like the excitement and the hoopla for a few days in March and April. It is a lot of fun to dabble in the NCAA tournament.In Matthew 7, Jesus warns against this. 21?“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’?will enter the kingdom of heaven,?but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.?22?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 in your name perform many miracles?’?23?Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”One commentator says that this passage contains the scariest verse in all of Scripture, verse 23. “I never knew you. Away from me, evildoers!” It certainly is intense. The entire passage is pretty intense. Jesus shows us what really following Him requires.Following Jesus is not just about saying the right thing. (v. 21)Lord, Lord. Kyrie. Master. Teacher. Sir. Supreme in authority. Controller. Sovereign. The one who decides for those under His authority.He will be respected, but He won’t just be respected. Our knowing Jesus died and raised from the dead attaches even deeper meaning to this title. He is more than a masterful teacher or mentor. He… Is… The… LORD.He deserves more than polite respect when we address Him. He will be obeyed. Essentially Jesus declares, “Don’t call Me the controller authority in your life and then fail or refuse to do what I’ve said. If you’re not going to follow My instructions or yield to My authority, then stop calling Me ‘Lord.’” Obedience to the will of the Father is the requirement for entrance into the Kingdom. Jesus shows us that having the right vocabulary or verbal formulas isn’t the same as following Him. Being a disciple is not just about speech.Following Jesus is not just about doing the right things. (v.22)There’s no point in arguing about how these people have performed miracles “in the name of Jesus.” The twelve disciples of Jesus performed these very deeds—prophesying, casting out demons, and performing many miracles. Look at Matthew 10:1, “He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to cure every kind of disease and sickness.” Jesus gives the Twelve—Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the other James, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot—His authority; maybe these others have been wielding it without His permission or blessing. It isn’t totally surprising that the name of Jesus alone has effects: it IS a powerful name, after all.These people Jesus is speaking against in 7:21-23 very well may have done the things they claim. It’s not that the claims are false; the claims are insufficient. Another account may help us understand what Jesus is driving at. Have you ever heard the account of the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:11-17? It is one I’ve shared a hundred times at church camp with the boys in my cabin. It’s intense and at least a little funny. Listen to this:11?God did extraordinary miracles?through Paul,?12?so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured?and the evil spirits left them.13?Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits?tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus?whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.”?14?Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.?15?One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”?16?Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.17?When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus,?they were all seized with fear,?and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.The evil spirit’s response to the would-be exorcists is awesome: “I know Jesus. I am acquainted with Paul. But there’s not one thing about you that I will fear, respect, or submit to.” Under the power of the evil spirit, the man beats the fool out of them and sends them running naked and scared.These seven young men are dabbling in spiritual warfare. They like the excitement, the rush, the thrill of using Jesus’ name like a magic word. They don’t know Him at all. They may have seen Paul speak about the resurrected Jesus he met, and they are banking on two or three degrees of separation to give them some sort of spiritual credibility.Following Jesus is really about getting and staying close to Him.It would seem clear that the people who are claiming all these righteous deeds have never done them in Jesus name, actually. They do not seem well-acquainted with Him at all. His direction for them to leave is based in the lack of relationship. “I have never made your acquaintance. I’ve never gotten to know you. Go away from me. Depart! Get out of here!”These false followers are banking on their words—words without action—and their activity—deeds without relationship. Their belief is that sounding good and looking good will be enough. WRONG.We can see throughout the Bible “How close to spiritual reality one may come while knowing nothing of its fundamental reality.” The prophet Balaam delivered messages for the Lord, yet didn’t seem to fully appreciate the power or impact. He remained unchanged. In the gospels, the poster child for spiritual cluelessness is Judas Iscariot. He lived with Jesus for three years, heard every lesson, saw every miracle, yet he managed to be untouched by the power of Jesus. See, you can be near it, wear it, speak it, sing it, manipulate it, and not really know it personally. You can know about Jesus but never really KNOW Jesus.Imagine a guy at a fitness camp. Publicly he talks the talk and walks the walk (as much as is possible). But alone he inhales Twinkies and ice cream, and he pushes others to do the same. He’s a cheater and a fake. He is near it and can appear to be “in,” but clearly, he has never truly, personally invested himself. He’s not all the way in, just near it and beside it.1 Corinthians 13:1-3. If I speak in the tongues?of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.?2?If I have the gift of prophecy?and can fathom all mysteries?and all knowledge,?and if I have a faith?that can move mountains,?but do not have love, I am nothing.?3?If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,?but do not have love, I gain nothing.1 John 2:19, “They went out from us,?but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”“Away from Me, evildoers,” is a quote from Psalm 6:8. There, the sufferer has been vindicated by Yahweh and tells those who have been causing the suffering to depart. Jesus is ultimately the One who suffers at the hands of those who don’t know God and chose their own evil ways. What have you chosen for yourself? Maybe it’s your own evil ways, always looking out for number one, no matter the cost. Maybe you’ve put your hope in sounding good—singing the right songs, using the right phrases, sounding just like you’re supposed to. Maybe your eggs are in the activity basket, doing enough good things will overshadow all the bad things, and God will give you a pass. The only choice that makes an eternal difference is choosing to come to Jesus, to be changed by Him, and to say by Him. Do you really KNOW Jesus? ................
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