JUDGMENT OF PRETENDERS

As you dive into this blog post, I wanted to set a foundation of remembrance on the key thing when it comes to revealing the state of our heart reality.  I believe it is the posture that Mary took in Luke 10:38-42 that will never fail us when it comes to where we stand before the Lord.  If we place ourselves before Him then He will continue to tenderly reveal the truth that lies in our hearts.  Prayer is central to remaining in Him unto the Day of His appearing! Language of prayer separated from action in it, leaves us deceived in believing we do pray when we really don’t and very surprised at the Day of resurrection.

NOT LOSING SIGHT OF HIS FEET, SO WE MIGHT FALL AT THEM

Luke 10:38-42

And a woman named Martha welcomed Him (Jesus) into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled (bothered; NAS) about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.

There is a lot that we could discuss from this passage of Scripture but I want to zero in on just one thing.  Mary did not buckle under the pressure of (people) pleasing her sister Martha but was overcome at the revelation of Jesus as the Messiah, which humanity had been waiting for since the fall of man and the prophets had declared all throughout the Old Testament.  Mary obviously believed Jesus was the Anointed One who was to restore all things and knew the magnitude of getting to sit before God’s Son, Creator of all things.  Mary is described three times in Scripture. Each time the Holy Spirit highlights her as sitting at the feet of Jesus (Mark 14:3-9; Luke 10:39; John 11:32).   

Those who walk the same way Mary did will draw “the Martha’s” around them to Jesus so that He can then address the motives of their hearts.  Mary’s heart of devotion to Jesus caused the irritation of Martha’s insides, resulting in her drawing near to Jesus and asking Him a question which He then answered. 

Thank you to all in my life who were not pretenders in Jesus and drew my Martha-like heart to Jesus to ask Him the questions irritating my insides!

JUDGMENT OF PRETENDERS (title given this portion of scripture in NET Bible)

Matthew 7:21-23 


“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

Here is an excerpt from something Matthew Henry wrote:

Matthew 22:11-14 

But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

“Observe, This hypocrite was never discovered to be without a wedding garment, till the king himself came in to see the guests. Note, It is God’s prerogative to know who are sound at heart in their profession, and who are not. We may be deceived in men, either one way or other; but He cannot. The day of judgment will be the great discovering day, when all the guests will be presented to the King: then he will separate between the precious and the vile (ch. 25:32), the secrets of all hearts will then be made manifest, and we shall infallibly discern between the righteous and the wicked, which now it is not easy to do. It concerns all the guests, to prepare for the scrutiny, and to consider how they will pass the piercing eye of the heart-searching God.”

This post hopefully continues to reveal why the subject of salvation has become a passion of mine. I fear to throw just a few (probably out of context) verses at the subject (which is what I did most my life), comfort myself by saying that God would never place me in Gehenna (as though God isn’t going to judge my heart) and ignore Scripture’s full narrative on the subject.  

This subject really does mean life and death.  But it is more than the life and death we define in this age based on whether you have a pulse in your body or not.  It is about the second life (born again) we find with the bodily resurrection in the Messiah and the second death for those who didn’t believe in His return (judgment) and thus lived their lives w/o the fear of God and abstaining from evil.