Lord, Lord

“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.” (Matthew 7:21)

Let’s take a look at what Jesus says here, then take a step back from it. Jesus said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven”. Most of the world’s population will not confess Jesus Christ as, “Lord”. Only a minority will. This is a very sad thought, for Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). The only way to the Father is through His Son, Jesus Christ. Most of the world has not and will not accept Christ as their Savior. Most of the world will perish.

But in this passage from the Book of Matthew, Jesus isn’t talking to the majority population that will die. He is addressing those who have confessed Him as their Savior. He makes it clear that, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven”.

In the Book of Luke, we see that Jesus asks, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

Simply confessing Christ as your Savior is not sufficient. A hypocrite will confess Christ as his Savior as will the devil himself will too. Think about that for a moment.

But vain words accomplish nothing other than hastening your oncoming demise.

Jesus warned, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37).

“…he that doeth the will of my Father…” is he who will be saved.

What motivates our will? What generates the words that come out of our mouth?

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45)

Be it good or bad, confession or denial, action or inaction, truth or hypocrisy, it all originates from the heart.

It is simple. That which fills the heart will flow through our lips. That in which we delight, we do! Action is the acid test of value. This is what Jesus is talking about.

“For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” (Luke 6:43-44)

James discusses this matter of doing the will of the Father in detail in his epistle. He writes that a man may “say” he has faith in Christ. But James will show his faith in Christ by what he does (works). What is inside of a man will be made manifest by his works and words.

The God (or devil) inside the man will be made manifest outside of the man. It can’t be stopped.

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19-20).

Most of the world will not see heaven because most of the world will not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Confessing Jesus as Lord is not enough. Doing a good deed isn’t either. The devil himself can and will do both. He does it all of the time.

We must accept Jesus with all of our heart, mind, body, soul and spirit. Then, and only then will the works of Christ freely flow from our being, without thought or premeditation, because we will be in Christ, Christ will be in us, and all will be one.

Bill Hitchcock