I want to share a story with you from a book I read recently. The book was called, Before God’s Wrath: The Bible’s Answer To The Timing Of The Rapture,” by H. L. Nigro. It’s about a man who thought that he had plenty of time to get right with God.
I remember a friend of mine who had been convicted mightily of the Lord, saying, “I want to give my heart to Jesus, but not right now. There are a few sins that I want to commit first.” Her pastor gave her a stern warning: When the Lord calls, obey. Will you say “no” to Almighty God? Now that friend is a blessed saint, forever grateful that her uncommitted sin did not separate her from her Savior. True repentance cannot be put off.
I have another friend who started out much the same, but his end has been very different. Several years ago, he was a professing but backslid den Christian. For a period of time, he was convicted mightily of his sins and felt the strong love of the Lord pulling him back. But unlike my other friend, he found his current and future sins too attractive and decided to wait. “I’ll do it later,” he said. AS he waited, his heart continued to harden. The Lord, in His abundant mercy, continued to reach out, but the harder the conviction came, the harder my friend fought against it. “I’ll do it later,” he said. Soon, his heart was so hard that he had no interest in God and could no longer hear the Holy Spirit calling him. What a terrible place to be.
The Big Lie
“I’ll do it later.” That is a lie from Satan. The lie is that we will want to do it later. The truth is that the longer we wait, the less likely we are to do it. Sadly, we can even harden our hearts to such a point that, should the Antichrist himself stand in the Temple Mount, we could not repent, even if we wanted to.
One heart breaking tale cam from a young man who had resisted and insulted the Holy Spirit so many times that, on his deathbed, he looked up in the face of the doctor and cried, “I have missed it – at last!”
“What have you missed?” inquired the physician.
“I have missed it – at last,” again he replied.
“Missed what?”
“Doctor, I have missed the salvation of my soul.”
“Oh, say it is not so. Do you remember the thief on the cross?”
“Yes, I remember. And I remember that he never said to the Holy Spirit, ‘Go your way!’ But I did. And now He is saying to me, ‘Go your way!”He lay gasping a while. Then, looking up with a vacant, staring eye, he said, “I was awakened and was anxious about my soul a little time ago. But I did not want to be saved then. Something seemed to say to me ‘Don’t put it off. Make sure of salvation.’ I said to myself, ‘I will postpone it.’ I knew I ought to do it. I resolved, however, to dismiss the subject for the present. I resisted and insulted the Holy Spirit. Now – I have missed it!”
“You remember,” said the doctor, “that there were some who came at the eleventh hour.”
“My eleventh hour,” [the lad] rejoined, “was when I had that call of the Spirit. I have had none since – and shall not have. I am given over to be lost.” Then buried his face in the pillow, and again exclaimed in agony and horror, “Oh, I have missed it at last!” and died.
“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7). Are you one who thinks, “I have plenty of time.” Have you felt the call and the love of God on your life? Are you ignoring Him because you are enjoying your sin and doing your own thing? Well the bible says this, “For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. (2Corinthians 6:2)
First
When man was created in the beginning, he was created in the image of God. He was placed in a garden, created especially for him and, he was to take care of it. God created a woman, a mate for the man, out of a rib that he had taken from the man. He told them they could eat from any tree in the garden except for one – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said, “If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” You may know this story. If you don’t get a bible at start at the beginning of the book (Genesis). The man and woman were deceived by a serpent (possessed by Satan), and disobeyed God’s Word. They ate from the tree that God forbade. This was the first sin, and it cost man his position as ruler in the earth, but more than that, He could no longer be in the presence of a Holy God because of his sin. The man and his wife were forced out of the garden to keep them from eating from the tree of life, which would have caused them to live forever. This was important. I’ll tell you why later.
Because Adam and Eve sinned every person born in the earth after that point was born in sin – separated from God. So if you were born here on the earth to the human race you were born in sin. This is why we all at some point have a tendency or inclination to do the wrong things. It is because of sin.
Death Is Separation
Remember when God told them that they would surly die if they ate the forbidden fruit? We all know that they are dead and gone now. However, they experienced another more serious death before they ever died physically. It was spiritual death. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God their spiritual connection to Him was severed. Sin separates us from God because God cannot tolerate sin. Since God is the source of all life this severing of spiritual connection to Him initiates death. Death begins with our spiritual connection to God being severed and, eventually leads to another spiritual disconnect from our physical body, resulting in physical death. The body cannot live without the spirit. The spirit cannot live or sustain life in the body without a connection to the Spirit of God. Without God’s Spirit we are groping in darkness, lost.
To die physically in this condition is to be lost forever. The bible says that this condition destines us to an eternity in a place of punishment created for the devil and his angels. (Matt 25:41)
God’s Solution To Our Problem
So how can we reconnect to God and avoid this final and permanent spiritual death? There is only one way. God’s way. The bible 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.” (John 3:16) You may, or, may not have heard this verse before. It sounds simple and it is. It is an important verse. It tells us that in spite of our sin God loved us so much that He was willing to give His Son to die in order to save us. The Son of God, Yeshua (Jesus), was willing to die to restore us back to the position we had before Adam and Eve sinned.
If you are willing to put your trust in what Yeshua (Jesus) did by dying on the cross you will be given eternal life just like the verse says. The spiritual connection will be restored and you can begin to enjoy God’s presence as Adam and Eve did in the beginning. Your every sin is cleansed by the blood of Yeshua, even the ones you have not committed yet.
Why would anyone pass up such a generous offer from God? There is nothing we can do or say to God that will save us. Religion will not save us. Doing good to others and the world around us will not save us. We simply cannot do enough good to rid ourselves of sin. But God sending own His Son is the ultimate act of love. Don’t you get it? Even the Son of God could only save us through His DEATH! He didn’t save us by doing good deeds, feeding the hungry or doing good to others. When the time came He could only satisfy God’s righteous demand for man’s sin by dying.
Satan’s Greatest Weapon, Death, Was The Key
That is why it was important for Adam and Eve to be removed from the garden before they ate from the tree of life. Had they eaten from this tree after their sin they would have lived forever. Without death Jesus could not have died for man. They would have lived forever in their sinful condition with no way to be saved. God would have had no course of action but to destroy them. So, even kicking Adam and Eve out of the garden was an act of love.
Today is the Day
You are a sinner. If you have ever told a lie, even one, you’re a liar. If you have ever stolen anything, even once, you are a thief. These are only two of the 10 commandments. (Exodus 20:2-17) I picked two that would be easy for people to identify with. If you have broken one of God’s laws you may as well have broken them all. One act of disobedience severed Adam and Eves connection to God. Chances are you have broken all of God’s laws at various points of your life. We are all in the same boat. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God… (Roman 3:23)
Thanks to God, you can be saved today by putting your trust in the Lord Yeshua (Jesus). A simple prayer of faith expressing your faith in what Jesus has done on your behalf is enough to secure your soul for eternity. Ask to be forgiven. Ask Him to be your savior and Lord. Then begin reading the bible, His word, and follow His ways. Find a group of believers. There is strength in a group of believers who follow Yeshua.
Here is an example of how to pray
Lord I confess that I am a sinner and I need your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died for my sin and, that by putting my trust in Him, I will be saved. This day Lord I put my trust in Jesus. Remove my sin, and live in my heart. I pray in the name of Yeshua (Jesus), amen.
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Thank you brother for you words of wisdom and salvation.
I am truly afraid that I never received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and now have resisted the Holy Spirit to the point that He has left me. Do you know of anyone that is living but knows that they have missed the opportunity to be saved? I am afraid that I resisted the Holy Spirit.
In my late 20’s and early 30’s my husband and I began attending a Bible-believing Baptist Church. It was following one of the sermons in late July 2011 that I felt a small tug on my heart to respond to the invitation and receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. However, because of my pride, I resisted the Holy Spirit’s calling. I argued with the Holy Spirit that I had already received Christ as a teenager (which now I know I did not). Also, I had become involved in the church and was serving in several ministries; so I wrestled with the Holy Spirit about receiving Christ since I “felt” like I had already been saved and more importantly, was ashamed of having to admit that I had been serving and leading in the ministry without being a true believer.
In February 2012, I began to have sleepless nights and loss of appetite because of this wrestling that was going on in my soul. Over the past 2 months, I prayed numerous times the sinner’s prayer and the assurance of salvation prayer in private and also with my husband and with my mother, but the wrestling continued. All the while, I asked the Lord to help me with my pride, as I knew it was the one piece that was holding me back from truly receiving Christ in my heart. Two weeks ago, the “wrestling/calling” left and when it left I heard a voice in my head that said “there’s still a small piece”. Since the “wrestling/calling” left, I have been in complete despair, feeling like my only hope of salvation in Jesus Christ is gone and that I am damned to Hell. I fear that I committed the unpardonable sin and resisted the Holy Spirit so long that He left, never to return. Please help me. Is there anything that I can do to receive Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and live the rest of my life to glorify Him? How can my hard heart be softened to hear the Holy Spirit again?
I have been spending time in God’s word trying to seek Him, however the passages catch my attention are the passages about “the wicked shall perish.” “a fool in His heart says there is no God.” “once one has fallen away, it is impossible for them to come to repentance.” All that keeps running through my head are the numerous opportunities that the Lord provided for me to confess Him as Lord and believe, and because of my pride, I would not receive Him or confess Him. I keep telling my myself that I need Jesus, He is the only way, but it is like my heart will not believe.
Stephanie,
First of all I want to encourage you in this fact, THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS NOT LEFT YOU!!!!
The fact that you are trouble by such a thing is evidence that you are a believer.
Question: What makes you think that you did not really receive the Lord as a teenager?
Here is the deal. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who became a human being, lived the perfect life that you could not live, died on a cross for all of us, and then rose from the dead?
If you do, here is what the bible says about you: I (You) have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I (You) who live, but Christ who lives in me (You). Galatians 2:20
In many churches today they can really turn on the pressure at the end of a service and make you feel like you need to do something in order to secure your salvation, or get God to do something in your life, and it makes you feel inadequate about yourself and your relationship to God. There are time the Spirit will move you to act or change some things. I’m not saying He doesn’t.
Again, Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who became a human being, lived the perfect life that you could not live, died on a cross for all of us, and then rose from the dead? It sounds to me like you do.
You do not have to fight and struggle to get to God. The good news of the gospel is that He has come to you! And already made you alive with Christ. When Jesus came here as a man, just like Adam, He was a representative of all of us. The bible says that when he died we all died – the whole human race. That means you.
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2Cor 5:14-15)
And if we died with him we have also been raise with him (all of us). For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Rom 6:5) Most people believe this means after we die we will be resurrected, and that is true but, the bible says, For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because WE ARE UNITED WITH CHRIST JESUS. (Ephesians 2:6)
I am one who has struggled over the years with my salvation. God’s love is much bigger than all of us give Him credit for. You simply have to believe Him when he says He loves you, and that your sins have been forgiven. Hear me now, GOD LOVES YOU AND YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN! Even those who have not yet recognized that Jesus died for them, their sins are forgiven.
To repent simply means to change your mind. Before you heard that Jesus died for your sins you either believed something else or you simply didn’t know. Then you heard the story of God’s love and you changed your mind about God. You now know that because he loved you (the world) he sent His Son to bring you life. You got new knowledge and your mind was changed. That is repentance. The more you learn about God through the Spirit and His word the many more times in your life you will repent, because when you learn something about God that is contrary to what you believe you will have to change your mind.
I want to encourage you to begin to absorb the letters of Paul, especially Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossian. You must begin to focus on God’s love for you. When you know someone loves you, you trust them. YOU DON’T STRIKE ME AS A FOOL WHO SAYS THERE IS NO GOD. Your life – the way you live it – is your confession of what you believe in your heart. No one can live contrary to what they believe.
I hope the Spirit of God will convince (convict) you of what I am trying to convey, that the Father, Son, and Spirit have not left you, but, that you are loved and secure in their love. Knowing and accepting this is enough! Raise you hands in the air and thank Him. Don’t accept the lie that He has left you. God is good. He is your Father. BELIEVE THAT!
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