Kingdom of Christ - Lord, Lord have we not... I Never Knew You...

By One Man’s [Adam] Disobedience Many were Made Sinners - 1 John 3:4 provides a definition for sin (or “disobedience”). Rom 5 chronicles both man’s fall into sin and the redemption man so desperately needs – which can only be provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible highlights the inescapable fact that all sin (or “disobedience” against the Law, or God’s Word, the Bible) results in spiritual death. Unless a person is saved, sin will eventuate in eternal damnation in Hell, which is the “second death”.

1 John 3:4 “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

Rom 5:19-20 “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

Rom 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”

Heb 2:1-3 “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;”

By the Obedience of One[Lord Jesus Christ]  Shall Many be Made Righteous - What the “first man” (or Adam) failed to accomplish, the “second man” (or the Lord Jesus) gloriously fulfilled. Indeed Christ came to fulfill all righteousness – every jot and tittle that the Law of God demanded. As the perfect Man and “God in the flesh” he perfectly obeyed His Father in thought, word, and deed. The Lord Jesus’ total commitment to obey His heavenly Father had its ultimate realization as He suffered eternal damnation for all of His elect people. Here we see the greatest exchange that has ever taken place in this universe - the Righteous God, Who is holy, pure, and sinless become unholy, impure, and sinful. Simultaneously, we see unrighteous unsaved man, who by nature is unholy, impure, and sinful become holy, pure, and sinless by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that is given, or imputed, to him.

Rom 5:19 “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Lord Jesus Christ] shall many be made righteous.”

John 8:29 “And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I [Lord Jesus Christ] do always those things that please him [God the Father].”

2 Pet 1:17 “For he [Lord Jesus Christ] received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

John 4:34 “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”

Psa 40:6-8 “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I [Lord Jesus Christ] come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”

1 Pet 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit”

Php 2:8 “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

2 Cor 5:21 “For he [God the Father] hath made him [God the Son] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Rom 5:10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Php 3:9 “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

Heb 2:1-3 “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;”

I will put My Spirit within You, and Cause You to Walk in My Statutes - It should be carefully noted that obedience is a result of salvation, as are all other Christian “virtues”. It is only by the obedience of Christ that anybody can be saved. Notice how God connects the idea of “knowing God” (that is, having a relationship with God) and “obeying the Gospel” (which in actuality is the entire Bible, or the “Law of God”, or the “Covenant”). This is because man’s soul is spiritually dead from conception which signifies that we have no relationship with God, except that we are under His just wrath.  If we have a dead, or “stony”, heart by nature, how can we obey? The only way is that God has to give us a “heart of flesh” means a living heart, using the analogy of spiritual circumcision. After salvation God continues to work in the life of the child of God in transforming him to the likeness of Christ and  leading him to be more and more obedience. God's chastisement is part of the molding.

Psa 51:5 “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Jam 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

2 The 1:8 “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

John 3:18-21 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Eze 36:26 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."

Deu 30:6 “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.”

Php 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Heb 12:6-7 "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

Isa 26:12 “LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.”

Rom 6:16-17 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.”

Rom 6:11-14 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Whoso Despiseth the Word shall be Destroyed - The Importance of Being “Honest” in Doctrine - We are living in a time of great spiritual famine, as we read in Amos 8. Yes, there are many more Bibles in the world than ever before but many people today are guilty of adding to or taking away from the Book that God Himself wrote by giving the prophets and apostles every exact word in the original languages of Hebrew and Greek. There is a great amount of disbelief regarding the Word of God, which is held in very low esteem by many in the world today – even by many who claim to be “Christians”.  Even the institutional Churches and Congregations are guilty of adding and removing the Words from the Bible and putting themselves above the authority of the Bible. All these factors indicate how much mankind despises the Word of God. But God will not stand for it, as we read in Rev 22.

Amos 8:11-12 “Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine into the land; not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water, but rather a famine for hearing the words of Jehovah.”

Rev 22:18-19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Num 15:31 “Because he hath despised the word of the LORD, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.”

Pro 13:13 “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”

NOT every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall Enter into the Kingdom of Heaven - Not only is the Christian admonished to be “honest”, or according to the Bible, in doctrine but in practice as well. In Luke 8 the Lord Jesus explains who his dearest and most cherished “relatives” are. Mat 18:3 explains what has to take place before one is admitted into God’s Holy Heaven. Mat 7:21 highlights the fact that those who have truly been regenerated will be motivated to obey the Bible implicitly.

Php 4:9 “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

Jam 1:22 “… be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Luke 8:21 “And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.”

Mat 18:3 “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted [born-again], and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Mat 7:21 “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.”

Luke 6:46 “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”

Lord, Lord have we not... I Never Knew You... - For many, those who are NOT honest in doctrine and practice, that will be a day of unspeakable terror and eternal foreboding as they hear with resounding clarity and trembling anticipation the solemn pronouncement from the Judge of all the earth as stated in Mat 7:23: “… I never knew you: depart from me…”. Those are exceedingly fearful words and saddest words that will be heard by all on Judgment Day who do not have a Savior – the Lord Jesus Christ. The same is taught in the parable of "ten virgins" who represent all those who are professing to know Him, professing to be children of God, to be Christians.  He has divided them up: five wise and five foolish. The wise are the born-again believers with Spirit and wisdom of Christ, and the foolish are those who are not saved but deceived themselves and who never became saved. The lamp represent the Word of God, the Bible. The oil represent the Holy Spirit. In 1 John 2:3 God sets down a specific parameter for assessing whether a person truly knows God. In this context, the “world” refers to all who are unsaved. Not only did they not understand Him, they did not have a relationship with Him.

Matt 7:21-23 "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. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Luke 13:24-30 "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: 26Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. 27But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. 28There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

Matt 25:1-12 "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not."

John 1:10 “He [Jesus Christ] was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”

1 John 2:3 “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”

1 Cor 8:3 “But if any man love God, the same is known of him.”

2 Tim 2:19 “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

1 John 2:4 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Judgment for Disobedience - God’s judgment against corporate Israel typifies His judgment against the institutional churches and denominations of our day, who did not submit themselves to the authority of Bible but to strange doctrines and traditions of men, and is sadly expressed in many verses. Every unsaved who do not have Lord Jesus Christ as their substitute to take their punishment will pay their own penalty in lake of fire.

Rev 20:11-15 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Jer 6:16-19 “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. 18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.”

Jer 7:22-28 “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: 23But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.  24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 25Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: 26Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. 27Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee. 28But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.”

Zep 1:14-18 “The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”