Profession v Possession

Lord, Lord

One of my least favorite passages. Why?

When I read this passage it makes me ask a lot of questions like:

Am I one of the ones that will say, “Lord, Lord” and not enter the kingdom of heaven?

How can a person do things like cast out prophesy, cast out demons and other mighty works and not know Jesus?

What is the will of the Father?

Let me see if I can help you and me answer these 3 questions that come from this passage.

Am I one of the ones that will say, “Lord, Lord” and not enter the kingdom of heaven?

How does one say, “Lord, Lord” and not enter the kingdom of heaven? The difference is profession v. possession.

What is profession?

Well it is simply saying, “Jesus is Lord.”

You acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord of all. You know in your head and you profess it, you will say it.

Profession does not require obedience.

You can profess the Father. You can listen to the Father. But you do not do what the Father commands or even asks you to do. You are not under nor do you want to be under that authority of the Father.

Today, I want to use President Trump as an example; actually what people said about President Trump right after the election in 2016.

In this country, in this state, and I would bet even in this town, there were people that said something to the affects of: “President Trump is not my president.”

What does that simple sentence say? It is someone professing that Donald J. Trump is the president. You don’t know how he became president but the person is in the first part of the sentence is profession that President Trump is President…just not their President. They are professing that Trump is in fact the person living in the White House while at the same time saying, “He might be president. He might be in office but I don’t recognize or want to be under his authority as President of the United States. I wanted someone else to be president.

That’s how it is with some people that say Jesus is Lord. The recognize that he is Lord of all but they don’t want His authority in their lives.

What is possession?

Possession is making Jesus your own.

Not only do you profess that Jesus is Lord but you believe in your heart.

It has been said that the longest distance in the world is only about 18 inches long. It is the distance between the head, what you think and your heart, what you believe.

What is the difference between believing something with your head and your heart and why is it important.

Let’s look at the first half of the question.

What is the difference between head belief and heart belief?

When you believe something in your head, that all the further it has to go. For example, I think that if I fall out of plane with a parachute on I can open the chute and drift safely to the ground.

I can believe it in my head so much that I can put the parachute on. I can get in the plane. The pilot can take me up to 5000 ft and I can still think that the parachute will allow me to drift safely to the ground. I can profess it to the other people wait for the green light to jump. But profession does not require you to jump. You can profess that the parachute is a wonderful thing as you ride in the plane back down to the ground.

Believe something in your heart cause you to JUMP! You put the parachute on. You get in the plane and go to 5000 ft. The green light shines brightly and you jump! You have put all your faith in that parachute.

Jesus says, that the difference be professing Him and possession him is doing the will of Father who sent him.

Why is it important? Why do you need what you believe about Jesus to not only be in your head but also in your heart?

Because what you believe in heart is what causes your to do what you do in your daily life.

If you believe in your heart that the parachute will save you, you jump. If you only believe in your mind, you don’t.

The belief about who Jesus is the most important thing about you. It will dictate all that you do or don’t do. Look at your actions. They will tell you what you truly believe.

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”  – A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.

How can a person do things like prophesy, cast out demons and other mighty works and not know Jesus?

The simply answer is that miracles are not the best “test” that someone know the Jesus or not. The best test as to whether you know Jesus or not is what fruit does the tree of your life produce.

There are false miracles that happen in the world. Remember Moses when he went into the Pharaoh’s palace. In Exodus 7:9-13

Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

Both Moses and the sorcerers did the same miracle. So what is the true or valid test to see if you are in Christ are not? It is doing the will of the Father. You see it is like Ralph Earle, a professor of New Testament at Nazarene Seminary wrote in the The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, the “Ability to prophesy, to cast out demons, to do many mighty works (miracles) is no proof that one is a true follower of Christ. The only valid test is: Does one do the will of God?

Earle, R. (1966). The Gospel according to St. Matthew. In Matthew-Acts (Vol. 4, p. 41). Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ex 7:8–13). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

What is the will of the Father?

The two greatest commandments sum it up nicely.