DISAPPOINTED PEOPLE, KNOCKING AT THE DOOR
THE SADDEST DAY IN HUMAN HISTORY WILL BE THE DAY AFTER THE RAPTURE. The Son of God, our Lord Jesus, spoke the the truth plainly. He was asked the question, “Lord are there few that be saved?” The Lord was not a person to mince words or to spare someone’s feelings. His answer was probably shocking to the person asking the question as it is to the multitudes of religious people today. His answer was, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are…” (Luke 13:24-25) You can easily get hated for words like these. His plain speech was one of the reasons that helped crucify Him. They wanted religion without purity and heaven without obedience.
Religious people will chew your ears off today if you tell them they must quit living in sin. I’m not talking about sinless perfection, living by our good works or claiming to be holy by the strength of flesh. Godliness is what the power of Jesus Christ does within me. It is not Pharisaical. You cannot earn this wonderful salvation. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God…” (Ephesians 2:8) He died to purify His saints unto righteousness and there is no hope in living in sin. His Blood never covers one sin nor one willing sinner, but His Blood cleanses us from our sins if we will surrender to Him alone. Yes, as Jesus said, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.”
The world is full of disappointed people in the natural realm. Many people have started out to get a college degree only to give up in disappointment. It was just too tough. The larger percentage of ministers give up the calling because the way is hard. More businesses go under than go over. More lives are lived in failure than in success. Our world is full of disappointment. Sometimes people fail because they have tried the wrong course or circumstances were stacked against them. Most often people fail because almost every course of life is tough and only tough people succeed. The world is just not fair in most situations. Those who fail in the natural world often fail in the spiritual world.
But the truth is plain to read. You surrender to God, live in your Bible, live by every Word of God and you can succeed. The Holy Scripture has plainly promised that the Heavenly Father has predestined every one of us. There is no failure with God or with anyone that fully obeys Him. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:28-31) That is God’s program for success. It cannot fail. No one can cheat you out of success, because the victory of our life is in Jesus Christ and all His works are supernatural.
Here is a letter I just received from a failure in the Christian walk. The Blood of Jesus is mighty to save and to break the powers of sin. This dear soul needs a pastor that lovingly takes him into the meat of the Word. This is exactly as it came to me by e-mail:
“Message: There is no such Thing, You are saved and will be raptured or you do not believe that God came in the flesh { JESUS } We are all sinners every day my friend_ every day ! Can you be saved and sin _yes_ we sin every day. You make a mockery of Christ dying on the cross to say Cheap Grace , there is nothing cheap about the blood of the Lamb. I am aved by this cheap grace you talk about , I sin willfully every day in some way but the blood covers my sins. You come very close to the Law and apostates that say yes Jesus died on the cross BBBBBBut!!!! I am a sinner saved by grace , thats it and I will be raptured along with the people that feel they dont sin like…. (I guess he means me!) Rant”
Can you imagine the disappointment of this multitude that Jesus identified. He said, “Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” (Luke 13:26-28) He clearly identified this crowd of sad souls as, “workers of iniquity.” These were sinners claiming to be His followers. Every believer has the possibility of failure and sin, but a Born Again and obedient believer will repent and rise above the error. The Bible says “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” (Proverbs 24:16)
Get up when there is failure and run to the cross of safety. Yes, we can sin but we do not wallow in it. John said it best, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” I John 2:1-3) This is the Rapture ready crowd and we will not be disappointed.
RJ
Amen, Amen Brother Chambers!!!! That is EXACTLY the gospel!! And exactly what the Bible says!!
I honestly don’t believe anyone is truly saved ~ who sins *willfully* every single day!! The Bible is clear that those who NAME THE NAME of Christ DEPART FROM iniquity!! Period….. no if’s and’s or but’s. NO EXCUSES!! And you’re 100% correct… it is not about being perfect, but striving to not sin & if we do sin, to REPENT right away & ask for the Lord’s help to not continue on that path.
I would suggest the reader OPEN a Bible & READ: 1 John 2:1-6
Beverly Wills
The once saved always saved crowd scares me greatly. They have the notion that after making a less than 1 minute salvation prayer they can live any way they want but God is not mocked for whatsover a man soweth that shall he also reap. I am a sinner saved by grace but when I sin, I hate my sin, abhor it, despise it, then I get on my knees repenting and also learning what to do to stay away from the temptations and how to better follow Jesus. We are all a mess waiting to happen and the only way to live in victory is to get as close to Jesus and His Word as we can believing every word He said and asking the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and help us. If sinning doesn’t make you the most miserable human ever then I would question my salvation, but just misery isn’t enough even Judas felt bad but he didn’t run to Jesus asking for forgiveness.
Rev. Steve Mosier
A very good article ! I agree with you 100% !
bill worley
it should read RELIGION WITHOUT PURITY not purify
you should get someone to proof read your items
best wishes bill
Judy
Hebrews 10:26
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
therfore remaineth no more sacrifice for sins ..
a. Sins of ignorance condemn to death (Lev 5:17) requiring atonement (Num 15:28)
b. Presumptuous (willful) sin was not forgiven (Num 15:30)
c. The Day of Atonement covered sins of ignorance. (Heb 9:7)
Peter in Australia
Amen Amen and Amen
jaimie
Dear Pastor,
In my life i came to understand that my disobedience was why my Lord took my stripes.
Finally in my life i did not want to sin anymore, because i do love Jesus.
Could not agree with you more Pastor!
God Bless
jaimie
Keith Black
THE SAVED AND THE LOST – “CHRISTIAN” RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY
Dear Joe Chambers,
You will know a tree by its fruit. Usually those that show lots of sins NEVER really got saved. There are a lot of people that claim to be “Christians” that made a profession of faith, and maybe were even physically baptized that ARE NOT REALLY SAVED. Some might even be MINISTERS, but are NOT SAVED. In fact the GREAT MAJORITY OF THE MINISTERS ARE NOT SAVED. So how do you tell if a person is saved or not saved? Here is how: 1 DOES THE PERSON BELIEVE IN THE VIRGIN BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST AS GOD COM INTO THE FLESH. 2 DOES THE PERSON BELIEVE IN THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS IN PAYING THE PENALTY FOR FOR ALL YOUR SINS? PAST – PRESENT – FUTURE? 3 DOES THE PERSON BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD? 4 DOES THE PERSON BELIEVE HE IS COMMING AGAIN? 5 DOES THE PERSON BELEIVE INTHE RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE OF THE SAINTS? If a person MISSES EVEN ONE OF THESE POINTS, HE IS NOT SAVED. A few years ago, George Barna at Barna Research did a public opinion poll just to see how many people were really saved. Only 10% of all people got it right on all these points. About 80% of all Americans claim to be “Christians”, but only 10% of the people got it right on all these points. There are whole denominations that are not saved> You can rule out the CATHOLICS, GREEK ORTHODOX, ANGLICANS, or other Catholic based religions. You can also rule out all LIBERAL MAINLINE DENOMINATIONS. YOU CAN RULE OUT THE PROK-BARREL PROSPERITY CHURCHES THAT PREACH THE PORK-BARREL PROSPERTY ENTITLEMENT GOSPEL (this includes preachers like Rick Warren, Robert Schuller, Credflo Dollar, Oral Roberts, and other preachers of pork). At PORK-BARREL CHURCHES, THEY DO NOT PREACH REPENTANCE. THE MAKE PEOPLE COMFORTABLE IN THEIR SINS, SO THESE PEOPLE DO NOT GET SAVED. Also you can rule out GRANER TED ARMSTRONG OR THE 7TH DAY ADVENTISTS. These people by religion are MORE JEWISH THAN CHRISTIAN. THEY BIND YOU IN RIGOROUS DEMANDS OF THE MOSAIC LAW: THEY DEMAND WORKS FOR SALVATION. The reason Jesus died in the first place is BECAUSE WE CANNOT SAVED OURSELVES BY “KEEPING THE LAW”, because not one can meet those high demands. That is why Jesus died for us. The 7th Day Adventists slap Jesus in the face. Ellen G White that that developed the 7th Day Adventists WAS A BAPTIST THAT BECAME A JEW. They are more JEWISH THAN CHRISTIAN BY RELIGION. That rules ot Mormons too. No Mitt Romney wont go to Heaven unless he accepts Jesus. with so many people ruled out, who does it leave? It leaves only BIBLE BELIEVING EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS ONLY. No one else is saved. So how many are saved. If George Barna is right on the points needed to be save, ONLY 10% OF ALL AMERICANS BELEIVE ALL THE ESSENTIAL PINTS ABOUT JESUS, THAT ARE NEEDED TO BE SAVED. So it looks like about 10% of US population will go up in rapture. The overwhelming majority in the RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY (Professed Christians) WILL BE LEFT BEHIND. Yes like you say, the overwhelming majority of those in the religious community will be disappointed at being left behind at Rapture.
Sincerely,
Keith Black
Wes
wow! Thank you for the clarity and congruence with the full teaching of the Gospel in your postings, dear brother.
Facing a battle of attitude right now, this challenge to HIS victory being won IN me and through me … this weekend having to deal with getting my mom’s belongings out of the senior-living apartment she and Dad shared until he went home to be with the Lord (January 8, 2009) … and her having to be in skilled care nursing now … well, I am in prayer that my “fire from heaven” “secret weapon” that I have exploded with (to my own detriment, and to the grief of the Father of MERCY) will be overruled by His mercy, and the aspects of His fruit (specifically “longsuffering, gentleness, goodness … and meekness”) will be my attitude.
Thank you, once again, for being faithful in expounding on the truth.
Wes
Ed Wood
After the Rapture, I predict there will be a huge celebration in atheistic countries like Red China and all of the Islamic World. But all this jubilation will probably be exceeded by that of the modern church! It will be ecstatic that all those intolerant fundamentalist types are finally gone.
Of course, post-rapture there will be a few that realize just what’s happened and the horror that is in store for those who finally come to believe.
But one way or another every knee will ultimately bow to Jesus – either as Savior or Judge.
The choice is ours to make.
RobiMac
Unfortunately, I have a daughter who thinks like this. I don’t think it possible for her to be anymore rebellious than she is.She actually believes that Jesus wants her to sin so she can lean on Him. I tried to explain to her that if this were true, Jesus would not have once told a man, ‘Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.’
He knows that we cannot be perfect but, the Holy Spirit expects us to try. Jesus used terms like ‘Take up your cross and follow me’ and ‘die to the flesh daily.’
One who truly knows Christ, has no desire to lie, cheat, steal, and carouse. But, one will still fall a little short because of those pesky little habits that satan brow beats us with. Those we know about and those we don’t know about, we always have to ask for forgiveness. Sanctification takes our whole lives. Since no one can be perfect, sanctification can only come when we are in our glorified bodies.
Ray
The Lord tells us that he will drive out the wild beasts one by one lest we become proud. Submitted to the Lord it is He who leads us into sanctification and freedom from sin. There are temptations we all face and at times surrender to but the remorse ,repentance, and hatred of even the weakness of our flesh allows the Lord to sustain us, strengthen us and cause us to be over comers.
Sin is the unfortunate result of being in the flesh, our walk is a battle, worked out with fear and trembling.
As with David God is looking for the broken and contrite spirit, He rejects the proud, self righteous and those who are full of proud presumption.
If we sin we have an Advocate with the Father, we must not use His grace as an license to sin.
Ray
I too was one of the idiots that trusted in “that prayer” for many years. The “comforter” left to us was given to:
1. LEAD MEN INTO ALL TRUTH.
2. CONVICT THE WORLD OF SIN.
Once we die to ourselves and are raised to walk in newness of Life these two things must be living and active in our lives.
Denominations have successfully lead millions of tares into hell by offering a tight little packaged formula to substitute true salvation.
A person must be lost before they are saved, must completely surrender in faith to all the Lord is, no prayer, no amount of works nothing but the absolute of the straight and narrow Gate.
Doctrines like “Once saved always saved” are simply damnable. The “sinners” prayer as well is nothing more than a cheap trick, totally un-scriptural employed to fill pews and church coffers.
The “few” who are able to enter in at the straight Gate are those who have met our Lord, they know who He is and He knows us.
It is a fearful thing to imagine the judgement for those who cling to the false hope religion invents.
George
Super-Duper site! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am taking your feeds also.See