What are the saddest words you could ever hear? Would it be hearing your doctor inform you that you have an incurable disease, with only weeks to live? Would it be hearing your spouse tell you that they no longer love you, and want out of the relationship? Would it be a phone call informing you of an accident that took the life of your child? Would it be your banker calling to tell you that your account has been hacked, and your life savings have been stolen? Or one of a million other possibilities?

Words can be devastating. In a single moment, our lives can be irrevocably altered by hearing words that destroy us, leaving us in the wake of a verbal Sunami. Our lives can be shattered, changed forever, by simply hearing certain words.

But, as sad as the words stated above would be to hear, there are some other words that I feel are far sadder, far more devastating, far more destructive than any of them, or even of all of them combined. The saddest words in all of human language were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, and are haunting, even terrifying, to hear.

I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!

Matthew 7:23, NKJV

What unbelievably horrific words! These are words of eternal significance. Those to whom the Lord speaks these words will then be cast into the abyss of hell, to be forever separated from God. There are several matters of grave importance we need to make note of.

First of all, consider the people who hear these words: ‘you who practice lawlessness.’ We might read those words and think that Jesus is referring to wicked, evil, people who have lived their lives in unabated sin. The Apostle Paul gives a list of sinful lifestyles and behaviors that give an idea as to the kind of individuals we might think Jesus is referring to in His statement.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21, NKJV

That list certainly contains lawless behaviors. The Word of God clearly forbids each of these as rebellion against God’s prescribed law. However, a little closer look at the words of Jesus quoted above reveal that the individuals who practice such things as those listed by Paul are not the people to whom He refers. Let’s look at the context of Jesus’ statement.

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done may wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:22-23, NKJV

It should be quite obvious that those in the list given by Paul will not inherit the kingdom of God, but Jesus is speaking here of good people, relatively speaking. He is talking about religious individuals – people who have been involved in religious activities, even claiming to have performed those religious activities in the name of the Lord. But Jesus says that even those good works are actually works of lawlessness.

It is not what we do for the Lord, or in the name of the Lord, it is what the Lord has done for us, and our humbling ourselves before Him to ask for and accept His gracious offer of salvation. Please don’t fool yourself into believing that your good works, even those you’ve done in the name of the Lord, will gain you entrance into heaven. Your good works should be done out of your relationship with Him and not to earn a relationship with Him.

Please make sure that you have a relationship with Jesus Christ on the basis of His redemptive work, and not on the basis of your religious works. One will get you into heaven; the other will send you straight to hell. Yes – even ‘good works’ will result in spending eternity separated from God in hell.

So, it all comes down to the choice between religion and relationship. Make sure yours is the right choice.

Until next time:

Blessings!