READ: Luke 13:22-30
But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luke 13:27
Many Christians serve the Lord without knowing Him in reality. We must know the Lord! Not knowing God is the basis for being thrown out of Heaven. Over the years, I have found that people that I do not know personally, but have sent out, do not do well on the mission field. I once called a group of twenty-five university students whom I did not know well and sent them on a mission. None of them really prospered or succeeded on the mission. After years of labour, I had to send people I knew to replace all of them.
In the ministry, knowing people is very important. Jesus uses His personal knowledge of you as a basis for judgment. One day, I met a brother who introduced himself as a pastor in one of my branch churches. I blurted out the words, “I don’t know you.” I had never seen him before and I had never heard of him. Being known is one of the highest qualifications for serving God.
Jesus predicted that many people would serve Him without knowing Him. Today, many Christians go to church but never read their Bibles or pray to God personally. Even more amazingly, Christians attend prayer meetings, shout in tongues and speak great words as they are led to, but do not have a personal relationship with God.
God has feelings! God has a personality! God knows those who know Him!
Can you imagine the regret we will feel after having participated in church services, congregational worship, tithe paying, Christian sacrifice only to be told that we do not know God and therefore must be cast away? This is indeed an alarming prophecy.