A Heart Issue

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

A HEART ISSUE

Matt 7:21-23

21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 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 perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

NIV

This may be one of the more difficult sayings of Christ. We could see this as a conclusion of sorts to his previous words regarding false prophets. Those who preach the gospel message of sorts, even though they distort it for their own purposes. The idea is that while they preach the doctrine of Christ, his divine nature, his death and resurrection and ascension their own hearts are not bent on doing the will of God but rather their own will. How much more we should be careful to avoid any contact with such false teachers. If we were to be drawn into their snare, their trap of deceit, would we then be subject to their same fate? If, on the other hand, we took these words to apply to any believer, we would have to see them in a more personal way. However, we have to believe that because Jesus said that whosoever believes on his name will be saved.

John 3:16

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

NIV

Yet we are also told that if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart.

Rom 10:8-13

 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."   12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  

NIV

This certainly is the application for those false prophets. They confess with their mouths, but their hearts are not with God, but rather with themselves. But we could also apply that to ourselves. We confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but do we live that out fully in our heart? We have to go back to that divided heart thing again about serving both God and money. If we say we believe in Jesus Christ, that we put our trust in him for salvation, but not for the rest of our lives, that we have to store up the money for our own future, then have we truly believed in our heart? If we say, Lord, Lord, but our hearts are not fully devoted to him, we keep some area for our own pleasures, and then have we done what he speaks about? Surely sin will not completely leave us, we are bound to fail at some point in time, like daily, but it is the bent of our hearts that makes the difference. How can we say we trust in God when we do all we can to prove we really do not trust in him, especially when it comes to money, storing it up for retirement? Yet we say, “Lord, did we not work in the church?” “Lord, were we not on the broad, or were a deacon or elder?” “Lord, did we not serve in the choir?” On and on the list can go as to how we might remind God how much we did for him. But did we do it with a divided heart? Were we all the time still looking to our own devises, our own abilities and ways to provide for our future needs, and all under the pretense of being a good steward? So whether he was speaking only about the false teachers or applying this to all of us, it still comes down to the condition of the heart. Words and works are one thing, those are for man, but it is our heart that God looks at.  

1 Sam 16:7

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

NIV

We have already seen how Jesus talked with the Pharisees about being clean on the outside, but not on the inside. He called them whitewashed tombs. It cannot be about being sinless, or appearing to be sinless for that would be self-righteousness as the Pharisees were. It comes down to how we believe in our heart. Do we believe him in our hearts, do we live what we say? It is not even about walking the talk, for that is before men, it is about living the talk in our hearts. Truly believing in Jesus for every aspect of our lives. Yes, we should care what man sees, for we represent our Lord, we are his ambassadors in this foreign land. But God looks into our heart and what does he see?