CAN SALVATION BE LOST?
This is a Word I believe God wants His people to hear today, because we are living in a time and season where the wheat will be separated from the tares in the church. There is a move of God coming to this world and to this nation that will be unlike any we have ever seen in our lifetime. This move, I believe, will serve 2 purposes. One, it will be a time of unprecedented revival for the true Church of the Living God and 2, it will be a time of great suffering for those who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But before He can do that, God must sweep out the Church and drive out those who proclaim to be Christians, but are in fact, fakes and frauds.
I believe God is about to clean out the Church once and for all. I believe God is about to rid His Church of the imposters, the religious crowd and the proverbial wolves in sheep's clothing! And that is why He has laid this powerful Word on my heart today. You have heard many men and women in the pulpit preach that once you are saved, you are always saved. The teach that once salvation is granted to the sinner, no matter what happens, no matter what they say or do, they are saved for all time. The problem with that is, it does not line up with the Word of God, as we are about to read here in Matthew chapter 7, verses 21- 23.
21 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.
22 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?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The first thing Jesus points out is that these people that will come to Him will call Him Lord. They confess that Jesus is Lord, however, that does not seem to be enough to punch their ticket to Heaven, now does it? No. Because the Lord goes on to say that they will come to Him saying, "Didn't we prophesy in Your Name? Didn't we cast out demons in Your Name and done many wonderful works?" And Jesus says He will answer them saying, "Depart from Me, ye worker of iniquity! I never knew you!"
So, the first thing we must ask ourselves is "How can Jesus proclaim to not know someone who calls Him Lord and does so many works and has all these signs and wonders follow them?" This scripture, I must confess, has puzzled me over the years. How can Christ say He does not know someone who confesses that He is Lord and have done so many wonderful works in their ministry? I believe Paul gives us that very answer in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 1-3.
1 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."
Paul describes many gifts of the Spirit in this verse; however, he says if he does not have love, he is nothing! Look at the gifts he mentions in this passage. The speaking of the tongues of angels and men. That means he can communicate with both and understand both. The gift of prophecy. Having the gift of foretelling what is about to come. Understanding all mysteries and all knowledge. No doubt, meaning an understanding of God's Word that many of us still struggle with today and mysteries we never knew were there. Having all faith! Faith that moves mountains, faith that believes in the supernatural power of God. Faith the size of a mustard seed. Faith that is unwavering, unshakeable, and incomparable. Faith that is firm. Faith that is founded on the Rock of our salvation! Charity. Giving all that he has to feed the poor and clothe the naked. Giving his own body to be sacrificed for the work of God. Paul describes gifts that would convince even the most faithful believer that he himself is a true man of God. And yet says if he does not have love, he is nothing and he has nothing!
I believe this is why Jesus will say to the many that come knocking at the door that day that He never knew them. Further down 1 Corinthians 13, in verse 13, Paul says this, "And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." What love is he talking about here? The love of God. You can operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and perform all the signs and wonders that Jesus Himself did, but if you're not walking in the love of God, you are nothing!
Without the love of God in your life, you will be as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1, "a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." Would you like a better description? How about nails down a blackboard?! Without the love of God in your life and if you're not walking in the love of God in your life, you are no better than the awful, horrible, screeching sound of nails down a blackboard in the ears of God!
Now that we know why Jesus will say this to the many that come to Him in that day, let's answer our question for today, "Can salvation be lost?" Absolutely! How? When we stop walking in the love of God. Paul says that we can speak in tongues of men and angels, we can understand mysteries, revelations, and have all the faith in the world, but if we stop walking in the love of God, we become nothing! I believe salvation can most certainly be lost for just that reason!
I have heard many preachers talk about people who had great ministries in their life, but suddenly lost those ministries and were rejected by God, much like King Saul was in the Old Testament. I have heard of people who were absolutely on fire for God, served in the church, taught classes in the church, went out on the streets preaching and witnessing, and suddenly, without any warning or any indication of such tendencies, took their own life!
If we get so wrapped up in works and ministry, that we forget to worship God for the salvation He has given us and stop walking in His perfect love for one another, yes, our salvation can and will be lost to us. Most churches today have forsaken the Gospel and have started preaching "feel good" messages. They have forsaken preaching on sin and hell so they don't offend anyone in their churches. Altars have been closed up to the people to come and receive Jesus Christ as Lord.
Nowadays, when one goes to church, they are not led in praise and worship to God, but instead are entertained with talented musicians who play well as if they were putting on a concert rather than having praise and worship services to God. Then the Pastor of that church comes to the pulpit and starts giving a message that is nothing more than a lecture you'd expect to hear at a college or university.
Most churches today have forsaken the preaching of the Gospel and have closed the altars for people to come and get saved, and in the name of not offending people and getting more people in their church so they can receive more money in the offering plate! And God will judge these churches for that! I promise you!
There was a Pastor one time, who decided to have an outreach for Halloween at a known haunted building. A building that is said to be one of the most haunted buildings in the world. First of all, these places aren't haunted, they're possessed! Demon possessed! I don't believe for a second that what most people see are ghosts of past loved ones or people who lived years and years ago! There's no doubt in my mind, what they are seeing and hearing are demons! Plain and simple! But for a Pastor to have an outreach production at such a place is pure madness! Why would you do that? Does this man not realize that he could very well expose unsuspecting people to the influence of demons if not demon possession? I understand that you want people to get saved, but to go to a place like that to do it, that's insanity!
People, God is telling His Church today, "Bring MY Gospel back to MY pulpit and open MY altars, so MY people can receive the precious gift of salvation!" God wants His pulpits to be used to preach the Gospel of His Son and He wants the altars open at all times so people can come and give their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ and be saved, cleansed, forgiven and delivered from their sins!
We are failing to fulfill the Great Commission. We are failing to lead people to Christ. We are more concerned with how many people are filling the seats on Sunday morning than we are how many people are going to go to Heaven when they leave this world! If you're more concerned with how many people are in your church on Sunday morning than how many people are going to Heaven, shame on you! Our mission is not about filling the seats of our churches, it's about filling Heaven with God's people! His children! Whom He loves so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die in their place so they may not be lost!
Jesus said it best, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor. But the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance!" People of God, we are not here to have "Country Club Church" on Sunday morning, then go out and ride with "Hells Angels" Monday through Saturday! We are here to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! One Name identifies all three of them! And it is the Name that God told Moses when He appeared in a burning bush, "The Great I am!"
It's time to shut down "Country Club Church" and start having revival! It's time to stop preaching "feel good" messages and start preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It's time to go into all the world and teach all nations all that Jesus has commanded us! It's time for breakthrough!!!
