Verse 23 says, “And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, workers of lawlessness.” Here the word “knew” means “approved.” The same Greek word in Romans 7:15 is translated “allowed” by the King James Version. In this verse Paul says, “For that which I do, I allow not.” The Lord never approved those who prophesied, cast out demons, and did many works of power in His name, but not according to the will of the heavenly Father (v. 21). The Lord did not deny that they did those things, but He considered those things as lawlessness because they were not done according to the will of the heavenly Father. They were not done in the line of the divine will. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You prophesied in My name, you cast out demons in My name, and you did many works of power in My name, but I never allowed you to do them. I never approved you because you did all those things in a lawless way. You did them in yourself, in your own desire, and according to your own intention, not according to the will of My Father.” Thus, those who do such things, even in the Lord’s name, will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but will depart from the Lord; that is, they will be rejected from the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming age.
We see from the Lord’s word here that certain works may be done in the Lord’s name, and yet not be done according to the will of God. Are you doing this kind of work, or are you doing God’s will? We have talked a great deal about going to the campuses, but are we going there to do a certain work, or to do the will of our heavenly Father? Young brothers and sisters, how would you answer this question? Are you going to the campuses to do the will of the heavenly Father? We must have the assurance in whatever we do, that we are doing the will of the heavenly Father. Otherwise, the Lord Jesus will say to us, “Workers of lawlessness.” Even prophesying in the Lord’s name, but not according to the will of the Father, is a type of lawlessness. Moreover, casting out demons in the Lord’s name and doing works of power in the name of the Lord, but not according to the will of God, are also considered in the eyes of the heavenly King as lawlessness.
The runners in any race must run in the proper lanes. Although you may run faster than others, your running will not be recognized if you run outside the lines of your lane. Rather, that type of running will be considered lawlessness. You must run the race between the lines, that is, you must run in a constricted way. Today the work of many Christian workers is not restricted by the heavenly lines. In their own eyes, they have done a great deal in the Lord’s name and for the Lord. In the eyes of the Lord, however, their work is a kind of transgression, a violation of the heavenly lines. Hence, their work is lawlessness. The Lord’s word in 7:21-23 is a strong word of warning to us all that we should not care only for prophesying, for casting out demons, or for works of power. We must take care of the heavenly lines. If you transgress the lines as a runner in the heavenly race, you will be disqualified. There are constricting lines in the Lord’s recovery, and we must be constricted in our running. If we run between the lines, not outside of them, we shall be approved by the Lord.
Again I say that the consummation of the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens is to usher us through the narrow gate and into the constricted way. Now we are running on this constricted way. We should not care for prophesying, for casting out demons, or for works of power. Instead, we should care only for doing the will of our heavenly Father. You may wonder how we can know the Father’s will. We can know it by the Father’s life and nature within us. The Father’s nature will always tell us “yes” or “no.” If you are running according to the divine nature and within the constricted lines, the divine nature will indicate, “Yes, you are right; go on.” But if you are not running according to the divine nature or if you step outside the lines, the divine nature will say, “Don’t go this way.” There is no need for anyone to tell you what to do, for the regulating, constricting, divine nature is within you. This nature tells you where you are. Because a runner in a race can see the lines, he needs no one to tell him whether or not he is inside the boundaries. Likewise, we have the constricting lines within us, the lines of the divine life and the divine nature, and we can tell where we are. According to the divine nature within us, we cannot use rock music in our meetings. Although you may try various worldly methods, the divine nature would disagree with them all and indicate that you are transgressing the lines. All those who are the kingdom people, all those who have been regenerated by the Father, have His life and nature within them. The Father’s life and nature indicate whether or not we are in the constricted way. Let us all run the race according to the Father’s nature.