Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
The words are the plea of those left standing outside after the Master of the house has risen and shut the door, knocking and asking to be let in by claiming they ate and drank in His presence and He taught in their streets. That claim of close outward fellowship and of having heard His teaching among them does not save them or open the door.
The plea is refused with the answer that He does not know where they are from and with the command that all workers of iniquity depart from Him. Then comes weeping and gnashing of teeth when they see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God while they themselves are thrust out. At the same time people come from the east and west and north and south to sit down in the kingdom of God, for the last shall be first and the first last.
It is the future plea of the Jewish teachers, scribes and Pharisees, who refused to hear God speaking and to yield to the Holy Spirit, made void His commandments, and turned the Sabbath from a memorial of creation and rest for man into vigorous bondage by false outward ceremonial standards. They had been warned to strive to enter the strait gate because many would seek and not be able, and when shut out they would knock saying Lord, Lord, open to us. The words amazed them because God had given them every facility and great light and they were regarded as the first and only pious people on earth, and on hearing it they determined to get rid of Him by intimidation.
It also exposes professed believers who had profession of truth and every opportunity to know it, yet mingled the sacred with the common and kept dishonest, crooked habits and practices in temporal and spiritual dealings. By this they showed they treated God's rich mercies as common and did not value purification. Because such dishonest practices cannot be carried through the strait gate and narrow road that leads to life, their actions prove they chose the broad road where the world travels.
The verse portrays unready professed Christians at the final day as the foolish virgins, all claiming to be Christians with a call and a lamp and professing to do God's service while waiting for Christ's appearing, yet five are unready and are found surprised and dismayed outside the banquet hall. They had profession and outward appearance and theory like the wise but had no oil, no grace of Christ and no genuine conversion. In this life they never entered into fellowship with Christ, while joining their claim of outward association to claims of prophesying and casting out devils and doing many wonderful works in His name.
Outward association with Christ, hearing His teaching, profession, opportunities, outward religion, moral standing, influence, ability, and knowledge of the truth do not prove that He knows them nor secure entrance and approval at the final reckoning. Familiarity with Christ and exposure to His words cannot replace personal salvation and a life faithful to Him after the door is shut. What is required instead is genuine conversion, fellowship with Christ, doing the will of the Father, and a humble, obedient, faithful life free of self-centered pride, not mere words or religious appearances.
The verse warns outwardly religious people who have apparently lived Christian lives but have woven self into all they do, with lives marked by selfishness and pride in their morality, influence, ability to stand higher than others, position, and knowledge of the truth. They think such standing and outward familiarity will win Christ's commendation. By their own unfitness for heaven's companionship they are shut out from heaven with bitter and fearful disappointment under an irrevocable sentence with no further discussion.
Because they lack fellowship with Christ and the Spirit's fellowship, those making the claim remain strangers to Him. They do not know the language of heaven, are strangers to its joy, and are shut out from its companionship.
The words are the plea of those left standing outside after the Master of the house has risen and shut the door, knocking and asking to be let in by claiming they ate and drank in His presence and He taught in their streets. That claim of close outward fellowship and of having heard His teaching among them does not save them or open the door.
The plea is refused with the answer that He does not know where they are from and with the command that all workers of iniquity depart from Him. Then comes weeping and gnashing of teeth when they see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God while they themselves are thrust out. At the same time people come from the east and west and north and south to sit down in the kingdom of God, for the last shall be first and the first last.
It is the future plea of the Jewish teachers, scribes and Pharisees, who refused to hear God speaking and to yield to the Holy Spirit, made void His commandments, and turned the Sabbath from a memorial of creation and rest for man into vigorous bondage by false outward ceremonial standards. They had been warned to strive to enter the strait gate because many would seek and not be able, and when shut out they would knock saying Lord, Lord, open to us. The words amazed them because God had given them every facility and great light and they were regarded as the first and only pious people on earth, and on hearing it they determined to get rid of Him by intimidation.
It also exposes professed believers who had profession of truth and every opportunity to know it, yet mingled the sacred with the common and kept dishonest, crooked habits and practices in temporal and spiritual dealings. By this they showed they treated God's rich mercies as common and did not value purification. Because such dishonest practices cannot be carried through the strait gate and narrow road that leads to life, their actions prove they chose the broad road where the world travels.
The verse portrays unready professed Christians at the final day as the foolish virgins, all claiming to be Christians with a call and a lamp and professing to do God's service while waiting for Christ's appearing, yet five are unready and are found surprised and dismayed outside the banquet hall. They had profession and outward appearance and theory like the wise but had no oil, no grace of Christ and no genuine conversion. In this life they never entered into fellowship with Christ, while joining their claim of outward association to claims of prophesying and casting out devils and doing many wonderful works in His name.
Outward association with Christ, hearing His teaching, profession, opportunities, outward religion, moral standing, influence, ability, and knowledge of the truth do not prove that He knows them nor secure entrance and approval at the final reckoning. Familiarity with Christ and exposure to His words cannot replace personal salvation and a life faithful to Him after the door is shut. What is required instead is genuine conversion, fellowship with Christ, doing the will of the Father, and a humble, obedient, faithful life free of self-centered pride, not mere words or religious appearances.
The verse warns outwardly religious people who have apparently lived Christian lives but have woven self into all they do, with lives marked by selfishness and pride in their morality, influence, ability to stand higher than others, position, and knowledge of the truth. They think such standing and outward familiarity will win Christ's commendation. By their own unfitness for heaven's companionship they are shut out from heaven with bitter and fearful disappointment under an irrevocable sentence with no further discussion.
Because they lack fellowship with Christ and the Spirit's fellowship, those making the claim remain strangers to Him. They do not know the language of heaven, are strangers to its joy, and are shut out from its companionship.