“Does Jesus Really Know You, or Will He One Day Tell You to “Depart From Me”?

Shaken Awake

Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone – Hope you’re well! I’m your host, Ben Lively, and you’re listening to “Shaken Awake” – Episode #40!

I just want to thank you for tuning in, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing right this very moment.

And, as always, I promise you another great show – But, more than anything, my HOPE for you today, and always, is that you have an actual encounter with the Lord - He’s is always right there beside you. If you find ANY value in these episodes, the greatest thank you of all is to pass the work to at least one person you know to help spread the show to other’s that you feel could benefit.

So, without further delay, let’s get ready to invite God in with us, right here, right now and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.

So, today’s topic is: “Does Jesus Really Know You, or Will He One Day Tell You to “Depart From Me?”

Hell - It’s a very frightening thought. You know, it wasn’t until I realized who God was did I really understand the true suffering of Hell, or the bliss of Heaven – it wasn’t the pain and torment of hell and it wasn’t the beauty and perfection of Heaven that made each eternal home so incredible…it came down to the mere fact that one is an eternity WITH the Father while the other is an eternity WITHOUT the Father. And THAT is worst part of Hell or the best part of Heaven. The other facts about each are just a result of being with the Father or removed from His presence.

What intrigued me was the first time I heard Matthew 7:23. It was sometime in 2019, the first time I ever read the Bible through – or even really read it for that matter. Why did I never hear this in church growing up? I’ll never know. It reads, Jesus said, (speaking to His disciples), “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” But even a few verses prior brought me further confusion and uncomfortableness: “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. 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?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

I want to break this down first, just a bit. Now, one of those verses I’ve already made an entire podcast around, and I highly recommend you listen to it if you haven’t already, but it goes over the “What” is the “Will of the Father”. I remember reading Mathew 7 and being blown away at the fact that, at least to me, this confused me when lining it up with John 3:16 – arguably the most popular and well-known Bible verse of all. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believed in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Matthew 7 then describes people who come face to face with Jesus, as we all will one day, and soon, and they go as far as to not only have believed in Him, but also prophesied in his name, performed miracles, etc. – how could this be? Furthermore, How could Jesus say “I never knew you” – HE KNOWS EVERYONE, I HAD BELIEVED! And just as confusing to me, how come the people who not only believe in Him, but went as far as what most people, at least that I know, don’t even do – prophesy, cast out demons, perform miracles….why would THEY be the ones to be cast into outer darkness and for Jesus not to have known them, but they claim to have known HIM??

This is not an easy set of questions, nor is it my job or ability to give you full understanding – that is the work of The Holy Spirit. Today, I’m going to attempt at relaying what I’ve been given in wisdom and knowledge on this very topic and hope it resonates or puts a pebble in your shoe to seek this out further, with Jesus.

Jesus said, “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:23). It seems strange to hear our all-knowing Lord say there’s something—or someone—He doesn’t know. Jesus refers not to an intellectual knowledge here but to a relational or interpersonal knowledge.
To understand a verse, we always need start with the context. Jesus is wrapping up His Sermon on the Mount with a final warning about true faith. Jesus predicts that false Christian prophets will be coming as wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15) – “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are kravenous wolves.” They may use all the right “God talk” and even make impressive displays of power, but they will not belong to the Lord:
“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. 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?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21–23).
In Jesus’ words on Judgment Day, we see several important truths: it’s not a verbal claim that one follows Jesus that saves (Matthew 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.). Nominal Christianity cannot save. Nominal Christians are church-goers or otherwise religious people whose “faith” does not go beyond being identified with a church, Christian group, or denomination. They are Christians in name only; Christ has no bearing in their lives. Nominal Christians may attend church and Christian functions, and they self-identify as “Christians,” but it is just a label. They view religion primarily as a social construct, and they do not allow it to require much of them in terms of morality or responsibility. Nominalists take a minimalist approach to their faith.

Also, it’s not a demonstration of spiritual insight or power that saves (verse 22). A person can seem like a Christian in the eyes of other people, yet still be an “evildoer” in God’s sight and sent away from His presence (as seen in verse 23). Only those who do the Father’s will and who are known of God will enter heaven.
So, what is the Father’s will? Some men came to Jesus once with a question about what God required of them: “They asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” (John 6:28–29). God wants us to have faith in His Son: “This is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 3:23). Those who are born again by faith in Christ will produce good works to the glory of God (Ephesians 2:10).
When Jesus said, “I never knew you,” to the pretend disciples, He meant that He never recognized them as His true disciples or His friends. He never had anything in common with them nor approved of them. They were no relations of His (Mark 3:34–35 - 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are mymother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”)

Christ did not dwell in their hearts (Ephesians 3:17 - 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,), nor did they have His mind (1 Corinthians 2:16 - 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.). So, in all these ways and more, Jesus never knew them. Note that Jesus is not breaking off the relationship here—there was never a relationship to break off. And, despite their extravagant words and dramatic displays of religious enthusiasm, they had no intimacy with Christ.
So it turns out that what matters isn’t so much that we know God on some level, but that God knows us. As the Apostle Paul explained, “Whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Corinthians 8:3 - 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.; also see Galatians 4:9 - 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?). The Lord knows who are His sheep (John 10:14 - 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,).
Those somber words “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” in Matthew 7:23, that's the King James Version, show that Jesus is indeed omniscient (all-knowing; all-seeing). He did not “know” them in the sense He would if they were His followers, but He knew their hearts—they were full of iniquity! What exactly is iniquity, you ask? – Immorality, heinousness, evil, wickedness, sin). These are all the traits that the Bible lists, and more, that those that live and are this way will not inherit the Kingdom.

Isaiah’s condemnation of hypocrisy fits this group well: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). The evildoers whom Jesus does not know are fake Christians, they’re false teachers, and minor advocates of religion.
Those who are told to depart from the presence of the Lord will not partake of the blessings of the kingdom: “Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” (Revelation 22:15). They will be cast “into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12).

Those fake Christians whom Jesus says He never knew will not produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23 - 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.); rather, they will produce the opposite, the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.)
Jesus warns that one day He will tell a group of religious practitioners, “I never knew you.” God takes no delight in sending people to hell (2 Peter 3:9 - 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.). But those who are told to depart have rejected God’s eternal purpose and plan for their lives (Luke 7:30 - 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

They have rejected the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4 - 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.), choosing the darkness instead, because their deeds were evil (John 3:19 - 19 And this is the judgment: the lighthas come into the world, and peopleloved the darkness rather than the lightbecause their works were evil). At the judgment, they try to justify themselves as worthy of heaven on the basis of their works (prophecies, exorcisms, miracles, etc.), but no one will be justified by his own works (Galatians 2:16 - 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.). While claiming to do all these good works in Christ’s name, they failed to do the only work of God that counts: “to have faith in the one he sent” (John 6:29,). And so Jesus, the Righteous Judge, condemns them to eternal separation from Him.

The Meaning of "Depart from Me, I Never Knew You"

The ESV and other modern Bibles divide Matthew 7 into these subheadings: Judging Others, Ask and It Will Be Given, the Gold Rule, A Tree and Its Fruit, I Never Knew You, Build Your House on the Rock, and the Authority of Jesus.

Matthew 7:21-23 nestles between Jesus’ instructions about how to obey God, how to treat other people, and signs that one is truly living in Christ.

The verses about A Tree and its Fruit (Matthew 7:15-20) are echoed in John 15 where Jesus describes himself as the vine. His Father is the “Vinedresser.” Those who love Jesus must abide in him fully.

We are a part of Christ and he sustains us, as branches rely on the vine in order to live. Without the benefit of hindsight — which we have — the disciples didn’t understand what it meant to abide in Christ via the Spirit, but Jesus was trying to teach them that the power to rebuke demons and heal sickness was not given to the disciples separate from him; it was (and is) still Jesus’ power working through believers who rely on him totally.

Jesus teaches that his power is all-encompassing. Consider how Matthew 7:21-23 rests between “by their fruit you will recognize them” and “therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:20, 24).

As the Rock, he is mighty, his word is foundational, and his disciples are changed by it. They change inwardly, becoming more patient and kinder. They also grow from him like branches from a vine and can only live as part of that vine. Unbreakable Rock; sustaining Vine: Our Savior is simultaneously powerful and tender.

Growing Fruit on the Rock

Jesus provides a test for discerning believers: “You will recognize them [false prophets] by their fruits” because a “diseased tree bears bad fruit.”

Believers can recognize one who is in Christ, and be assured of their own salvation, by the same test for “a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit” (Matthew 7:15-18). Disciples are tender towards those who need Jesus’ power in their lives.

According to Paul, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). You will know someone’s heart by these signs.

Jesus makes a distinction between results and fruit. He seeks a heart that is devoted to him, relationship with other believers, and real joy in worship. He is uninterested in the mighty works of those who do not abide in him.

One can accomplish great things in Jesus’ name and abide in him as well, but great works alone do not prove that one is saved. He said, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20).

Jesus frequently chooses the worst situations to show his power because that’s where power seems unlikely, even impossible: which is commonly referred to as Miraculous. He can work through anyone, in spite of that person’s proclaimed beliefs, but joy comes with submitting to the one true God.

Those who try to earn salvation, worship their own ability, not Jesus’ power. He is not foundational to their lives. Teachers who do not rest on the Rock are “false prophets” who “come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” They proclaim Jesus but inwardly worship self.

Not only do they offend God and risk damnation, but they also deceive the unguarded heart. It is possible to be misled, for example, by prosperity preachers or liberal “all-roads-lead-to-God” preachers whose platforms are self-made distortions of gospel truth.

What It Means for Jesus to Know Us

“You will know [disciples] by their fruit,” or Jesus will say, “I never knew you.” There are multiple meanings for “to know.” One might recognize a person and say, “I know him” or understand a concept and say, “I know what that means.” When one says, “I know Jim,” he could know Jim as a close friend or as an acquaintance.

With a close friendship, a deep kind of knowing is evident. Respect, honor, concern, love: These are all displayed when two people possess more than statistics, but hopes, struggles, dislikes, goals, dreams, hurts, and joys.

The Bible features multiple meanings for “to know” as well. Matthew 7:23 uses the Greek “ginóskó,” which means “to come to know, recognize, perceive.”

In Luke 13:25, Jesus uses the verb “eidó” or “be aware, behold, consider, perceive.” “When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’”

In this latter verse, people ignored the gospel, turned away from Jesus, and did not realize they needed a Savior. The evidence of God’s power did not satisfy them; it will be too late to change their minds once the door is closed.

In Matthew 7, Jesus’ use of “ginóskó” goes deeper. He talks about followers who accept him but do not perceive him correctly. They recognize his power, but not the depths of it or the depths of their own immorality.

They hope to obtain power and authority for themselves by their connection to Christ; Jesus himself is not their greatest need and desire.

Is a person saved by calling on the name of God? John 15 is helpful here. Calling on the name of the Lord and being saved means living in and for him; this is intimate “knowing.”

Taken out of context, one might build an incomplete picture in which all you have to do is cry “Jesus!” but truly knowing Jesus, relying on him, is similar to abiding/remaining.

Abiding in Jesus

There are five features of abiding in Jesus, which all believers share:

1. Those who abide in Jesus bear good fruit. Good fruit stands in contrast to one’s unique pre-salvation fruit; the harvest of conflict, worry, or greed.

Angry people are less inclined to fight with others and enjoy warm, peaceful relationships; greedy individuals covet money less and are more generous, and worriers enjoy peace.

2. Those who abide in Jesus keep his commandments. The two greatest of these are to worship God with one’s entire being and to love others as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40)

A life abiding in Christ is not perfect, but worship becomes deeper, richer, more frequent: Central to one’s life. Making worship central feels like privilege, not drudgery.

3. Those who abide in Jesus read his word, and it comes alive. It is relevant, meaningful, essential.

4. Those who abide in Jesus love well. They find themselves loving people who are hard to love; people who might not love them back or who even reject and abuse them.

5. Those who abide in Jesus are joyful. Knowing the hope of Christ, that salvation awaits them, provides disciples with “pure joy” when they “face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2).

So, in closing, My final statement is this: After all, He’ll say, “Well DONE, My good and faithful servant.” That’s because done is better than perfect, which we never will be.

So, my final questions to you is this: Do You know Jesus? Better still, Does Jesus KNOW YOU?

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So, before we end today’s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by today’s message and scripture. I’d like to ask you a favor only IF you received any value out of today’s show – would you tell at least one person you know – call them, text them, email them, talk to them – tell them to give this show a listen.

Check out the show at shaken-awake.com, email me at [e-mail] or call or text me directly for any reason at (407)-493-3208 (repeat). If you have ideas for the show – LET ME KNOW! If you know of someone that has an incredible testimony of coming to the Lord, and you think they would be a great guest of this show, please connect with me – I’d love to hear more.

Next week!!!! Tune in Next Sunday – or WHENEVER YOU’RE ABLE, as we dive into another important topic of today, which is, “Persecution Is At Our Doorstep – Are You Prepared?”

Next week’s episode is another powerful and DO-NOT-MISS episode – thanks for joining!

Until next week, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You all.