Not every one that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out
devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.
(Matthew 7:21-23)
MAN’S CONDITION:
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
(Romans 3:10) For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God; (Romans 3:23)
MAN’S DOOM AND DESTINY WITHOUT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST VERSUS
GOD’S GIFT TO EVERY FALLEN MAN
And in HELL
he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham
afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said,
Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he
may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue;
for I am TORMENTED
IN THIS FLAME.
(Luke 16:23-24) And death and
HELL
were cast into the
LAKE OF FIRE.
This is the second death. And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire.
(Revelation 20:14-15) For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
MAN’S TRAGIC DELUSION IS THAT HE CAN WORK HIS WAY TO HEAVEN
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any
man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of
the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5)
GOD’S WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE IS ONLY THROUGH THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
GOD’S PROMISE TO THE LOST
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
SO CHURCH MEMBER:
ARE YOU “SAVED”
AND GOING TO HELL?
The most tragic and most troubling things we run into in our
city when we are out witnessing is the huge numbers of
professing “Christians” whose Christianity is not strong
enough to change their lives (and in many of our church
members). Nor is it strong enough to get them into church
and keep them there. Most of them are glad to tell you they
are church members, but you dare not ask them ARE they saved
and how and when they were saved for their father the Devil
will quickly be offended and put you down the road. They
will quickly brag about being a deacon, a Sunday School
teacher, and a piano player, but they will not brag about
the day the Lord Jesus Christ saved them The mouth that will
not publicly confess the Lord Jesus Christ is the mouth that
weeps and wails from hell. What a tragedy to die and go to
hell trusting in a profession that never changed you. We
would ask that you prayerfully read and consider the
following.
THE FOLLOWING IS BY PASTOR JAMES L. MELTON Copyright
© 2009
I was born on July 20, 1963, in northwest Tennessee. By the
time I was three years of age, I had lost my brother to a
house fire, and I had lost my parents to divorce. My entire
childhood amounted to my moving back and forth between my
two parents and my grandparents. The only memory that I have
of seeing my mother and father together was on one occasion
when they had a discussion about custody over me. My
childhood was filled with all sorts of evil influences, yet
very few Christian influences; so I didn’t hear a clear
presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ until I was
fifteen years of age. At that time, I had a sincere concern
about my soul. I wanted to know the truth, and I was
grateful that God had sent someone to give me the gospel.
When I heard the gospel, I believed it, and I received Jesus
as my Lord and Saviour. That was on May 3, 1979. I was truly
born again that day. I was truly saved by the grace of God
because a youth director named Patrick took the time to
carefully guide me through the Scriptures, showing me that I
was a sinner and that I could become a real Christian by
receiving Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
The following Sunday I was baptized, and I became a faithful
church member. I also received training on how to lead
others to Christ just as Patrick had led me to Christ. By
the grace of God, my life had been totally transformed, and,
for the first time, I felt that I was now a part of
something very important. I was excited about my future as a
Christian. Then Patrick left for the mission field, and
another man took his place.
I looked forward to getting to know Ron, our new youth
director, and I hoped to continue my Christian growth under
his leadership. Then it happened. Ron, the man that I was
trying to respect and follow, made a complete fool of
himself while trying to show me how to lead a man to Christ.
While standing on the doorsteps of a certain Mr. Wurley, a
man who made it clear that he had no interest in Jesus, I
saw Ron pressure the man into praying a little prayer. He
then told him that he had just gotten saved. We left Mr.
Wurley’s house with Ron rejoicing over his latest “convert”
and with me in a state
of shock over what I had just seen. Unlike Patrick, who had
carefully and prayerfully led me to Christ, Ron carelessly
and rudely offended a lost sinner and pushed him further
away from Christ! The man had no remorse for his sins;
therefore, he didn’t repent. He didn’t come to church,
didn’t get baptized, and we never saw him again. He clearly
did not become a Christian, yet Ron had assured him that he
was “saved” because he had repeated a prayer just to get us
to leave. I thought, “How could anyone do God’s work in such
a way?” I later came to realize that Ron wasn’t doing God’s
work at all.
Today, three decades later, I serve God as a husband, a
father to five children, and also as a pastor. I’ve knocked
on many doors over the past thirty years, and I’ve had many
people tell me that they were “saved.” Yet, most of them
were just like Mr. Wurley. They had never turned from their
sins. Their lives were filled with sin and worldliness, and
there was no visible evidence that they were living for
Christ. Most of them claimed to be “saved,” but the simple
fact is that most of them only said they were saved. Some
knew they weren’t saved, but others honestly thought they
were saved simply because they had once prayed a little
prayer, or they had been baptized, or they had joined a
church. Like Mr. Wurley, they were yet in their sins because
they had never truly received the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s
gift of salvation. John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as
received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God.” To “believe” on Christ is to “receive”
Christ, according to the Bible. Repeating an insincere
prayer is not receiving Christ, and it is not believing on
Christ. Accepting certain facts about Christ is nothing more
than mental assent, and even the devils believe mentally
(James 2:19; Luke 4:33-34). Mental assent is not salvation
because salvation is not a mental issue. Salvation is a
spiritual issue, a matter of the heart. So, a sinner must
believe on Christ with his heart by receiving Christ into
his heart: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom. 10:9-10) Anything
less than true heart belief is a false salvation. One might
say he is “saved” because of some past religious moment, but
he isn’t truly saved until he has received Jesus Christ:
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name.” (John 1:12)
What about you, friend? Are you a real Christian? Have you
really been born again into a new life in Jesus Christ?
Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) That includes you. Were you
really born again, or did you just repeat a little insincere
prayer? Were you really born again, or did you just get
baptized and join a church? Were you really born again, or
did you just believe someone who told you that you were
“saved?” Were you really born again, or did you just marry
into a Christian family and pretend that you too were a
Christian? “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
If a man is born again, then he is living a new life. He
isn’t the same anymore. The Bible says, “Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Cor.
5:17) No sinner becomes a Christian and then continues in
his sins. Jesus said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3) If you
have not repented of (turned from) your sins, then you are
not born again, you are not saved, and you are on your way
to hell.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God.” No amount of church membership or
“accepting Christ” mentally will change that. You are a
sinner who needs to REPENT and RECEIVE Jesus Christ by
BELIEVING on Him in your HEART. Any plan less than that will
leave you perishing in your sins.
Friend, you don’t have to continue in your lost condition.
God doesn’t want you to perish. John 3:16 says, “For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” Romans 5:8-9 says, “But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Friend, it’s the blood of Jesus Christ that you need, and
nothing else. Colossians 1:14 says, “In whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus died for your sins, and He rose again for your
justification. Don’t think for a second that God Almighty
will grant you an entrance into His glorious kingdom just
because you had a little religious moment. God is looking
right into your heart, friend, and He knows whether or not
you have truly been “born again.” He knows whether or not
you have become a “new creature” in Christ. You might fool
others, and you might even fool yourself, but you will not
fool God. I beg you to please examine your heart, and
receive Jesus Christ today, if you have never done so. “That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.” (Rom. 10:9-10) “For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom. 10:13)
USED BY PERMISSION OF JAMES L. MELTON |