Denying the Lord Who Bought Them

Imagine standing face to face before the Lord Jesus Christ and being told, I never knew you Matthew 7:23. To me, discovering that reality would be more devastating than the command following it, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. It is said, I never knew you means, “I never approved of you.” Either way, praise God, for He is not referring to any who have given their lives to Him and are trusting Him for the salvation of their blood-bought souls. But sadly multitudes of men and women will hear it. Prophets, demon expellers, signs and miracle workers, teachers, evangelists, popes, priests, pastors, elders – I never knew you, is what they’ll be told and it will devastate them.

Presently some have the world and the church falling at their feet; one day they’re going to fall at Jesus’ feet. Not only will they fall at His feet, they won’t be able to get up without assistance. If holy and righteous John the apostle fell at His feet as dead, when sighting the heavenly Jesus, Revelation 1:17, what can the unholy and unrighteous expect to encounter when they sight Him on that day? For that’s what these people are: unholy and unrighteous, religious and pretentious shams. Not only do they stand in church pulpits and on the world stage, but they sit behind computer keyboards, Radio microphones, Television and You Tube cameras. They talk Jesus’ talk and skillfully so, but they don’t walk His walk and for that, they’ll pay dearly!

Encouragement for new Christians: Jesus never knew these people. It is not that they repented of their sins like you have done, or had them washed….in His own blood like yours have been Revelation 1:5. Not at all; these are proud, self-willed, self-righteous, religious men and women whose desire it is to serve religious spirits for self-purposes, not the Holy Spirit for His purposes. For that reason they are worse than nothing before God. They did not fall from grace (God’s favor), they never had it in the first place. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast Ephesians 2:8-9. As God’s repentant people, we sometimes fall, but not from grace.

It’s hard for Christians to accept spiritually gifted people are not necessarily holy living people. That’s why we must never stray from the Scriptures. It is not, “A few” will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not….. Matthew 7:22, it is Many. They’re all around us today; there are more of them than there are the real deal. If we go by sight and feelings we will be deceived by them, nothing surer! Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many Matthew 24:11. There it is again, twice – many. To stray from the Scriptures to follow many doesn’t mean loss of salvation if we have it; it means loss of spiritual growth and maturity. You’ll get tossed to and from with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men….. Ephesians 4:14.   

“But people are getting saved under their ministry,” we say. “Listen to the testimonies – look at the healings and the miracles.” That’s right, God makes sure His word achieves that for which He sends it; the recipients are blessed, the false “ministers” are cursed. It’s wise to consider Balaam and Judas; God could use them but He couldn’t bless their dark, greedy hearts. Our Redeemer Jesus, who hung on a cross for all lost souls will go to any lengths to save one, even when that means using the worst of lost souls. Quote: “What an awful consideration, that a man of eminent gifts, whose talents are a source of public utility, should be only as a way-mark or finger-post in the way to eternal bliss, pointing out the road to others, without walking in it himself!” – Adam Clarke.

But there were false prophets among the people, even as there will be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction 2 Peter 2:1. As a new Christian, my underlined part of that Scripture puzzled me. Why would any minister deny Jesus, the One they represent? I learned along the way that among some things they deny are His claim of being God Almighty Incarnate and that as a Man He came into the world to die on a cross for the sins of us all. They don’t necessarily deny Jesus, the good Man who went about doing good. What I also learned along the way; many there are sitting in churches who love to hear such denials.

Those denials are serious enough to send anyone to hell. However, denying the Lord who bought them can be much more subtle than that. Let’s take homosexual and lesbian sexual practice for example. “Jesus didn’t say anything about it,” is a denial of the Lord who bought them. Any serious Bible study done with humility under the tuition of the Holy Spirit will reveal clearly to us that Jesus Christ is God of the Old Testament too. One example: And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM……thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you'” Exodus 3:14, cf. John 8:58. Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”  Deny Jesus’ claim and you deny the Lord who bought you.

Another example: You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination Leviticus 18:22. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them shall be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them Leviticus 20:13, cf. Matthew 5:17-18 Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. It is true, false prophets and teachers will bastardize these Scriptures in every way imaginable to support their stand for same-sex practice, of course they will. But in the eyes of Jesus, all they are doing is denying the Lord who bought them.

Preaching and teaching, “We all worship the same God,” is denying the Lord who bought them. How blasphemous! Before He was crucified, the Roman soldiers struck Jesus and spat on Him. Figuratively speaking, that’s what these people are doing, except (again figuratively speaking), they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open shame Hebrews 6:6, the Romans only did it once! More than anyone else, false prophets and preachers do the greatest harm to the gospel of Christ and, to the unbelieving world. Energized by Satan their master, they are the root cause of all sneering, laughing, mocking and blaspheming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible and true Christians.

“Koran and the Holy Bible are the same” is the claim supposedly made by Pope Francis at the White House last week. Whether he said it or not, it’s all over the Internet now and multitudes are going to believe it. That is exactly what they want to hear so it won’t be long before those denying the Lord who bought them pick it up and run with it. After all, lies are the life-blood of religious and pretentious shams, especially those wanting to placate Muslims. In any case, words are cheap! Bible Christians would be happy to put that claim to the test anytime. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart Hebrews 4:12. 

Those denying the Lord who bought them are on their way to hell. They don’t believe that of course; they don’t believe there’s such a place. To them, God is love. Rather a remarkable statement from them really, since they don’t know God. How is it possible to love someone you deny? They can’t possibly say they love God because if they did, they would love Jesus. If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God……. John 8:42. Jesus specialized in trapping religious hypocrites and that Scripture is a perfect example of it. If we study the Scriptures, live by them, making them our Final Authority, the Holy Spirit will make sure we do the same when we come into contact with them.

Denying the Lord who bought them. That is the reality for all people attempting to achieve righteousness before God from their own efforts, religious and otherwise. If it were humanly possible to achieve the high standard set by God for righteousness, you can be very sure God would not have become a Man, come down to this earth, take the sins of all humanity upon Himself and die the cruelest of deaths upon a cross for them. There is one Savior, it is not you, it is not me. If you believe otherwise and decide to go the way of the false workers, Jesus will say the same to you as to them, I never knew you. Depart from Me….. Settle it now; avoid being devastated on that day. “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked shall die?” says the LORD GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?” Ezekiel 18:23.