What the Lord Jesus is saying is this: "Many people are God's children. They are saved and are the same as you are. They call Me 'Lord,' and they have done many works. But they are nevertheless shut outside the kingdom. For this reason you must be careful. You have to do the will of God." Only in this way will the disciples know that though they do many works, if they do not do the will of God, they will receive the same punishment. If He were speaking to the unsaved ones, there would no longer be the piercing element to His word. The Lord was warning us that only those who do the will of God can enter the kingdom. If one were to rely on his own work to come before God, the Lord Jesus would tell him, "I never knew you."

Let me give you another example. Suppose a judge's son drives carelessly and hits another car. He is taken by the police to the court for a hearing. The judge would ask, "Young man, what is your name? How old are you? Where do you live?" The son down at the stand may think, "You should know all these things better than I do." He may answer the first few questions. But after a while, he may shout to the father, "Father, don't you know me?" What should the judge do then? He may bang his gavel and say, "I do not know you. In my home, I know you. But in the court, I never knew you." If one sees the matter of the kingdom, he will realize that in the kingdom, it is not a matter of whether or not a person is saved and whether he is a child of God; what really matters is his work after becoming a believer. Suppose after you are saved, you are very zealous. Although you have not carried out God's will, you nevertheless prophesy, cast out demons, and do works of power in the Lord's name. If you come before the Lord asking to be admitted into the kingdom because of these unprincipled works, the Lord will say that He never knew you.

Why did the Lord say, "I never knew you"? The next sentence explains: "Depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness." Please remember that the Lord did not tell them to depart from eternal life. In the original Greek the meaning of workers of lawlessness is people who do not follow the rules, keep the law, or abide by the regulations. In the eyes of God, to do evil does not mean only to do bad things. It does not matter how much one has done; as long as he has not hearkened to God's demand, His judgment, and His sovereign arrangements, it is evil in God's eyes. If this word "lawlessness" were translated as "evil," as some versions have done, many would have the ground to argue. The problem here is not a matter of doing evil, but a matter of being unprincipled. What are the principles? The principles are God's word. But what is God's word? God's word is God's will. If you are not doing the will of God, no matter what you do, the Lord Jesus would say that you are lawless. Those who do things according to their own self will have no part in the kingdom of the heavens.

My purpose in saying these things is to show you the importance of a Christian's works. The Bible shows us clearly that after a person believes in the Lord, though he will never lose eternal life, he may lose his place and glory in the kingdom. If we do not do the will of God, but work according to our own will instead, we will be shut out of the kingdom. We may think that prophesying, casting out demons, and doing works of power are most important, because we think that if we can do these things, we will be a marvelous person. But these things can never replace the will of God. All those who have never learned not to work for God are not worthy to work for God. Those who do not know how to stop their own work surely know nothing about God's will. Only those who know the will of God can stop working. God wants us first to obey His will and then to work. God does not want us to volunteer to work for Him. The more one knows about the will of the Lord, the more he will learn not to work carelessly. Thus, there is a big difference between working and doing the will of God. Today we may appreciate the works and may be interested in prophesying, casting out demons, and doing works of power. But one day, many will be awakened.