I have often wondered and many have debated what Jesus meant by this Particular verse. "DEPART FROM ME, I NEVER KNEW YOU, YOU THAT WORK INIQUITY".
I am certain I mentioned this in a post somewhere recently, but I thought I would like to just make a thread for it, in case others would like to have a better understanding of it.
Mat 7:15¶Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:22Many 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?
Mat 7:23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
What is the iniquity here? Pride/waving their own banner of glory, though they did it "in Jesus' name", they are still boasting on what THEY did.
Mat 24:48But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49And shall begin to smite [his] fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for [him], and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint [him] his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Who is the servant here? And who is the lord here?
The lord here is Jesus as we all know, but notice, he called this person his servant who has "fellowservants". This is not a non-believer, but a believer who got puffed up with pride, it is the pastor with the rolex and the mercedes and the million dollar mansion and the entourage with the body guards. It's the one who got puffed up when his congregation grew so large that he felt he was the king and not Jesus. Pride.
Mat 25:34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink?
Mat 25:38When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]?
Mat 25:39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.
Mat 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me.
Mat 25:46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Notice what type of people Jesus is talking about when he says He was "hungry and sick and in prison and so on". These were all the humble lowly NEEDY people. Not much glory to be had in serving the "LEAST/LOWLY/NEEDY/WRETCHED/" but Jesus calls them "ME".
Notice what is really going on here, the folks that ministered to the LEAST of these, did it because it was the natural thing to do.
But the folks who didn't minister to the LEAST of these, didn't do it because they didn't know that it was Jesus. As far as these folks were concerned unless there was some glory in it for themselves, they weren't doing it. Again, pride.
1 Tim 3:1-8
1Ti 3:1¶This [is] a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
1Ti 3:2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;...................
1Ti 3:6Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil........
1Ti 3:8¶Likewise [must] the deacons [be] grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;
Isa 14:12¶How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!...........
Isa 14:13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Eze 28:13Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone [was] thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Eze 28:14Thou [art] the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee [so]: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:15Thou [wast] perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Eze 28:17Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Watch the contrast, the ugliness of what I have already shown, and the beauty of humility that is being shown next.
Mat 18:1¶At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Mat 18:3And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 23:11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Mar 9:35And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, [the same] shall be last of all, and servant of all.
Jhn 13:5After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe [them] with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Jhn 13:6Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Phl 2:3[Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
Phl 2:5¶Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Phl 2:6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Phl 2:7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Phl 2:8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Gal 5:19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:26Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
I believe that the "iniquity" in Matt 7:23 that Jesus is speaking of mostly is pride.
I think this just about says it all here, no one is getting into heaven waving their own banner of glory. No matter what we do or who we are, we are still just servants. And all that we do, all that we are, and all that we become and acheive, God is the one who did it. God created you for a purpose, we need to be careful not to let that purpose go to our heads, or we could fall from heaven also, and wind up in the pit of hell too. Let us all keep a humble heart never think ourselves as above the other. As God Himself was willing to humble Himself and be a servant, how much more ought we?
Well, I think I am done now, hope you all enjoyed this.
Originally Posted by Diggindeeper
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