Not everyone 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

Our Lord Said

My friends, can anyone even imagine hearing a more frightening passage of scripture than this one, coming directly from our Lord and Savior’s own mouth! This scripture could very well be the most frightening of them all in the entire Bible. Yet, our Lord said there would be “Many” who would be in this situation one day, and this is exactly what they will hear. These folks who were so sure they would be entering into heaven will sadly be disappointed when the Lord refuses to allow them to enter into His kingdom.  Jesus even said some had done many wonderful works in their lives here on earth.  Some had even preached, or cast out demons.  Indeed these were very “religious” people. Even so, the plight of those still unsaved when they reach their last days on earth will be to enter into a place they never expected to be, and sadly, it won’t be heaven.

Does this disturb you my reader?  These were people who knew about the Lord and “professed” to be serving the Lord, but they were really unsaved people. How can this be?

There are a number of ways this can happen, and it often does in our modern day churches.  Too many ministers who seemingly are interested in the number of salvation professions are interested for an entirely different reason than they should be. It looks good on their resume, and implies God is using them and the power of the Spirit of God upon them, to reach all of these “converts.” They preach an easy believe message which in the end has probably sent more people down the wrong road than it ever did in teaching them the proper direction for life that is clearly taught throughout the scriptures.

My friend, the truth is there is no such thing as an easy believe message.  To be saved one must believe they are lost and in need of salvation.   They must be convicted of their sin, and turn from it to Jesus who alone can save them.  When one is saved they will have an interest in the things of the Lord.  They will want to please the Lord.  They will be greatly convicted by the Holy Spirit when they do wrong, and chastened (disciplined) by the Lord. When a person can live in overt sin and the Lord does not deal with them, it is because they are not a born again child of God.  This is a clear teaching of the scriptures.

Biblical Examples

In writing to the church at Corinth the Apostle Paul wrote concerning taking communion;

But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.  1 Corinthians 11:28-31

This is an example of some saved church members who were taking communion. By the way the Lord was judging them with sickness, and even death from un-confessed sin in their lives, they probably shouldn’t have been taking communion.  Now someone may say I just don’t take communion. Still, God will judge a true believer in church, or out of church attendance.

Another powerful example in scripture is in Acts chapter five where we see a Christian man and his wife doing wrong in the sight of the Lord by lying;

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?  Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.  Acts 5:3-5

The same thing happened to his wife Sapphira. God struck them dead for their sin of lying to the Apostles.

Misbeliefs

Did you know that some people are so uninformed, or should I say so biblically uniformed that they think if they are a church member, and, or are baptized this automatically allows them entrance into Heaven. No! My friend, being baptized does not save anyone, nor does being a church member. To be saved one must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who died upon the cross for their sins. As I have already said, each person must ask Jesus to forgive them, and be their Lord and Savior.  Unless one truly turns from sin to accept Jesus in their heart as their Savior, they are not saved.

Do you know people who are church members who do not go to church?  They do not support the work of the Lord?  Their interest is in the things in this life that pleases the flesh.  They truly seem to be only occupied with the things of this life.  But Jesus said;

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  John 3:5-7

The Apostle Peter wrote;

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.  1 Peter 1:22-23

And no, I am not speaking of those who are unable to attend church because of some sickness. God knows about those who are providentially hindered.  But many who are church members never go to church and they do not support the church because they have no interest.  They are just like those described in 2 Peter;

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.  For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.  But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 

2 Peter 2:20-22

Yes, there are many who go to church routinely, or just now and then, and they have some untrue beliefs, so they live secular, worldly lives. That is why being in a good bible teaching, preaching church is what we all need. To be up under the true teachings of the Word of God so that we know what the truth is. We learn this by faithfully going to a good church, and then reading the bible and praying on our own to know what the Lord says. Not what your friends, or your family believe.

Sometimes children join the church because some of   their friends joined. Sometimes, in the churches that practice sprinkling at birth they assume because their parents had them baptized at birth they are a member of the church and are saved. So church members start out living thinking they are saved. They go to church, they start giving offerings to the church, but soon it begins to infringe upon the places they want to go, and they quit. When this happens they come up with many excuses like they don=t like the pastor, or the way the church spends the money. Or they don=t like those ole songs they sing, so they complain that more modern songs should be sung.

You know why they don=t like the old hymns? Because they are spiritual in nature, and have the truth in them.  Unsaved people do not want to hear sermons that convict them, or songs with the message of salvation through the blood of the cross because of their sin.

Unsaved church members want to hear, Jesus loves them and think he understands all the things they do and he wants them to be happy.  Unsaved church members think there are too many hypocrites in the church so thy don't want to go and be in that crowd.

So sadly, many who Jesus will turn away from entering into heaven will be religious lost church members. They had deceived themselves by not truly repenting of their sins, and trusting Jesus as their Savior.

Remember, as Jesus was teaching many of those who heard him failed to see and understand who He was and what He was saying.  So like many today, they just decided to go away and leave the Lord out of their life as the following did;

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?  John 6:57-60

In closing I would like to say to all of my readers, that as we approach another Easter season let us remember that our Lord and Savior died on a cross to save us all from an eternity in HELL! He wants all of us in Heaven with him, and provided the way. His love for us is why he did this! We should show our love for him by reaching out to the right churches, the right people, but most of all examine ourselves according to what the bible says is the truth. See if you just may fall into this unwanted category of unsaved church member! The bible itself says EXAMINE YOURSELF to see that you are in the faith;

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Corinthians 13:5

Easter Sunday this year is April 16, 2017. Remember this day as his RESURRECTION DAY. We hope you will be lead to read your bible and pray fervently as we await His final return.

Father, we praise you and thank you for your goodness to us. You have clearly let us know that everyone is welcome into your kingdom, but it is by believing in only You as their Savior. No one is excluded from your precious love, or acceptance. Lord help us share this good news of your love, and goodness to others so that they may come to know you, and love you for who you truly are. This we pray in the Savior’s name, Amen.

“Loving the Savior” Preacher