In that day many will say before the Lord, "Was it not in Your name that we prophesied, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name did many works of power?" Within one sentence, the phrase "in Your name" is mentioned three times. This proves that these ones are the Lord's. The fact that they say, "Lord, Lord," proves that their standing is that of a Christian. Not only do they say that they prophesy, cast out demons, and do many works of power; they do these in the Lord's name. The mentioning of "in Your name" three times tells us of their relationship with the Lord.

Amazingly, the Lord tells them, "And then I will declare to them: I never knew you." Because many do not understand the meaning of these words, they think that these surely are not saved ones. But if these are not saved ones, then the Lord's word here would be meaningless. Matthew 7 is a conclusion to the sermon on the mount following the Lord's word concerning the Beatitudes. These words on the mount were spoken by the Lord Jesus to the disciples. After the Lord went up the mountain, His disciples came before Him, and He opened His mouth and taught them from chapter five to chapter seven.

The Lord Jesus said that they should not call Him Lord with their mouth only. If they call Him Lord, they should do the will of the Father. Even if they have the outward works of prophesying, casting out demons, and doing works of power, these works must not replace the Father's will. Doing the Father's will is one thing, whereas prophesying, casting out demons, and doing works of power are another thing altogether. Sometimes, one can prophesy, cast out demons, and do works of power without doing the will of the Father. We must remember that we should not only call Him Lord with our mouth, but we should do the Father's will in our walk as well. If the Lord were speaking about unsaved persons, this word would lose its meaning altogether, for if these are not saved ones, it would not matter much for the disciples to listen or not to listen to His word. The disciples may say that His word is for the unsaved ones, but they are the saved ones; therefore whether or not they do the Father's will, the Lord cannot deny knowing them. If this were the case, then all the unsaved ones would be those who do not do the will of God, and all the saved ones would be those who do the will of God. This would take away the highest meaning of these words.

The Lord Jesus must be warning the saved ones here by speaking about the saved ones. He cannot be warning the saved ones by speaking about the unsaved ones. Suppose one has a maid and two daughters, and suppose this one were to say to the younger daughter, "Do you see that maid? She is not born of me; I am beating her. You have to be obedient today. If you are not obedient, I will punish you in the same way I am punishing her." Is this word logical? A maid is not born of the family. If she becomes disobedient, she may be beaten. But the daughter of the family is not a maid. One cannot apply the way to deal with a maid to a daughter. The mother ought to say, "Last night I punished your sister because she was disobedient. Now be careful. If you are not obedient, I will punish you as well." The mother must take the sister as an example. The maid cannot be used for a comparison. There is no reason for the Lord to use unsaved ones as an example to show the disciples that they ought to do God's will. If He did, the disciples would rise up and say, "They are the unsaved ones, but we are the saved ones." If they were to say this, no one could say anything further.