Making Sure You Will Not Be Left Behind – Part Three
“Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.” – James 2:17
By Mike Wingfield
Biblical truth is no longer being preached from the pulpits of many American churches.
To illustrate this sad, but true reality, let me share one of my recent experiences. After one of the services at the church my family and I attend, a visiting couple came up to me and introduced themselves. They shared that they were greatly disappointed in their local church. They were not hearing the truth and an immoral situation within the church was being totally ignored. They said: “We are looking for a church where our souls can be fed.” They were glad that they had attended our church and heard the truth for a change.
Frankly, I was not surprised by what these people said. My experiences as an evangelist over the last 17 years lead me to believe that there are thousands of couples like this across America. So many people are greatly disappointed with their local church because they are not hearing Biblical truth. It is very disturbing to realize that we live in a time of great spiritual apostasy and famine.
Even more alarming, there are only a few people in these churches who realize that something is wrong. That is because after several decades of shallow preaching and teaching, our churches are filled with professing Christians, rather than true born-again believers. Most church attenders in America are Biblically illiterate. They have a very unbiblical view of God. They have not heard a complete presentation of the gospel. They do not have a hunger for Biblical truth. Their lifestyles are no different than those who do not claim to be Christians. To put it plainly – our churches are full of professing Christians who are not really born-again. They are self-deceived. They think they are saved and everything is fine.
How can a person know for sure they are saved? A person should not compare themselves to another person in their church. Too many people have a false sense of security, thinking: “If they are saved, then I am too.” We must never adopt a man-made standard of truth. The only true and safe measuring stick is the Word of God.
How can a person know for sure that they are saved? Only the Bible has the answer to this question. In the last two newsletters, we have been exploring nine tests of assurance of salvation found in the little epistle of 1 John. In this newsletter we will explore the final four tests of salvation. I urge you to seriously consider these tests.
Don’t be like the majority of church attenders who are living in spiritual deception and are not really saved. As I pointed out in the previous newsletters, the Bible commands us to examine ourselves to be sure we are saved. (2 Corinthians 13:5; 2 Peter 1:10)
Test #6-Do you abide in the truth?
1 John 2:24 1 John 2:24 states, “Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.” According to the Bible, there is a direct parallel between the physical birth of a baby and the spiritual birth of a child of God. When babies are born, they soon demand something to satisfy their hunger – milk. In a comparative sense, the Bible states: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” (1 Peter 2:2) This simply means that when a person is truly born-again there will be a real hunger for the Word of God. Real believers will not depart from the Word of God.
Many of the Psalms reflect this truth. The very first Psalm is wrapped around this truth. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:2) “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10) The Word of God is precious to the child of God. It satisfies his soul. It brings comfort, conviction, direction, correction, instruction, and hope. The Bible is where the believer meets his Lord and is empowered by the Spirit. The real believer cannot live without the Word of God.
When the Bible speaks of the Word of God “abiding” in terms of the believer, it means “abide” means “having a home, residing in.” So, you should ask yourself two basic questions: (1) Do I feel at home in the Bible? (2) Does the Bible have a home in me? Real believers feel at home while they are reading or studying the Bible, or listening to someone preach or teach the Word of God. The true believer’s mind becomes a home for the Word of God.
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm 119:11)
I can relate to this from personal experience. When I was saved at the age of nine, I immediately developed a hunger for the Bible. I was saved in June 1958. That summer, I read the entire New Testament and many books of the Old Testament. That craving for the Word of God is still within me 56 years later. The more I read the Bible, the more I want to explore and rejoice in God’s truth. I can say with the Psalmist: “O how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)
Many sources indicate that we are facing a major crisis of Biblical illiteracy in the church. My traveling experiences as an evangelist confirm these observations. This is a powerful testimony to the fact that our churches are filled with church attendees who have never really been born-again. This is a revealing test that separates true believers from hypocrites who parade themselves as Christians, while they are not.
American churches are filled with pastors who do not faithfully proclaim the Word of God. The reason these pastors have turned to entertainment instead of preaching the Word of God is because this is what the people want to hear. Some of the largest churches in America have fallen into this trap. This is a sign of the last days. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4) Because of this, America is living in a land of spiritual famine. (Amos 8:11)
My friend, what about you? Do you have a daily hunger for the Word of God? Are you like so many church attendees who never consider the Bible until you go to church the next Sunday? Stop deceiving yourself! According to the Bible, if you are really saved you will have a craving for the Word of God and will make great sacrifices to spend time in it. Real believers cannot live without the Word of God!
Test #7-Do you abide in the Son?
1 John 2:26-29
Eternal life is bound up in the person of Jesus Christ.
(John 14:6) “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:12)
Having eternal life is “abiding” in Jesus Christ. As mentioned previously, the word “abide” means “having a home, or residence.” To abide in Christ is to live in Him, maintain a vital relationship with Him, and live for Him. This carries two basic truths: (1) The genuine believer is at home in the presence of Christ. (2) The authentic Christian will make a home for Christ in his life.
The night before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke to His disciples and stressed to them the importance of abiding in Him. In His Parable of the Vine and the Branches, He showed how central the application of this truth is to following Him. (John 15:1-17) In essence, He said that if they would abide in Him, His word would abide in them. Consequently, they would have their prayers answered. They would have a spiritually productive life. And, they would have real joy. Does this describe you?
When a person is saved, Jesus Christ becomes their Savior, Lord, friend, shepherd, High Priest, and future judge. The believer should be able to identify with the following statements by the Apostle Paul: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21) “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:2-4)
The genuine believer’s life will be wrapped up in the person of Christ. He will love Him more than anyone else. He will worship Him, serve Him, pray to Him, and live for Him. He will talk about Him all of the time. He will constantly think about Him. He will long to be with Him in heaven. In the words of a chorus from a few generations ago: “Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all. He is my strength from day to day. Without Him I would fall….”
Test #8-Do you have the Holy Spirit?
1 John 3:24-4:6 When a person gets saved, the Holy Spirit comes to permanently dwell within him at that very moment. “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8:9) The Holy Spirit convicts the sinner of his sin and draws him to repent of his sins and receive Jesus Christ as his Lord. (1 Corinthians 12:3) Without this work of the Holy Spirit, no one would be saved. Romans 3:10-12 describes a person without the work of the Holy Spirit: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
The moment the sinner repents and is saved, he is baptized (immersed) by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) This is not, as some groups teach, a second work of grace. Please notice that Paul was writing the letter of 1 Corinthians to the church in Corinth. This church had a multitude of spiritual problems and struggles. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; 5:1-8; 6:1-11; 11:30) Yet, he declared to them they had been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. The baptism of the Spirit is not for some believers who have reached a new level of spiritual maturity. It is for all believers at the moment of salvation. It is the means whereby the believer is supernaturally and spiritually placed into the one true body of Christ. There is only one body of Christ [church], and all believers are immersed into that body at the moment of salvation.
The Holy Spirit also equips people to serve and function within the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:13-31) He gives gifts of service to each believer and places them in the body of Christ to serve Christ and His church. While we are all a part of one body, we are all different in the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:1-16)
Each genuine believer has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit and baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ at the moment of conversion. However, they must each, as individual believers; seek to be filled by the Holy Spirit in their service to the Lord and each other. Notice the command in Ephesians 5:18: “And be not drunk [controlled] with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled [controlled] with the Spirit.” The filling of the Spirit does not mean we receive more of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person. You cannot divide Him up as some kind of force. You either have Him living in you, or you do not. The filling of the Holy Spirit is about Him having control of the believer. If we surrender ourselves totally and completely, we will be controlled by the Spirit. That means we will be unleashed to serve Christ and the church in the full power of the Holy Spirit.
I have written all of this about the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer because this is the test of salvation that the Apostle John mentions in 1 John. We can tell we are saved if we see the evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit within us. He will empower us to obey Christ and keep His commandments. (1 John 3:24) The Holy Spirit will also use the Word of God in us to help us be able to discern between godly and false teachers (1 John 4:1), and truth and error. (1 John 4:2-6)
While we cannot see the Holy Spirit, we can see the evidence of His work in the life of the believer. (John 3:5-8) According to the Scriptures, it is the aim of the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus (John 16:14), and to make us like Christ – which is the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Have you noticed a change in your life since your conversion? If there has never been any change, it is evidence that the Holy Spirit does not live in you. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore, you cannot be saved. A faith that does not have works [change], is not a saving faith. (James 2:14-26) A person is not saved by a faith that does not work. He is not saved by the works, but by a faith that is demonstrated by the work of the Holy Spirit in him.
Test #9-Do you have faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation?
1 John 5:10-12 1 John 5:11-12 states: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” The message of the New Testament is absolutely clear. Salvation is totally in Jesus Christ. As mentioned before, our faith, in order for it to be a saving faith, must be demonstrated by works. Some have perverted this to mean that faith plus works brings salvation. However, this is not the message of the New Testament. Salvation is by grace through faith, plus NOTHING!
First, notice that salvation is a gift of God that is received by faith. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) This salvation [eternal life] has been made available as a gift through God’s Son, who purchased our salvation with His own blood on the cross. “… the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
When Jesus died on the cross, one of the last things He proclaimed was: “It is finished.” (John 19:30) This statement by our Lord simply meant that He had completed the mission of providing salvation with His death as God’s Passover lamb. His sacrifice was for the sins of the whole world. (John 3:13-17) The only way a person can appropriate this sacrifice is by verbally and willfully resting in the payment of Christ on the cross. They must also believe that by doing so, their sins have been washed away and they have been declared righteous because of Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross for them.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we recognize that our total sufficiency is in Christ alone. Outside of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in us, all of our works are finite and filthy. We are saved by the grace of God. Grace and works cannot be mixed. When mixed together they cancel out each other. While demonstrating our salvation by grace, the Apostle Paul compares it to God’s election of Israel by grace. In Romans 11:6, he wrote: “And if by grace, then it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
If our faith is not in Christ alone, then we are not really saved! Is your faith in Christ alone?
These tests are very important. Think of the consequences of the millions of professing Christians in the world who have a false sense of security that is based upon something or someone else other than Christ and the Scriptures. When the Rapture occurs, and it could any day now, millions of church members will be left behind. They are living their lives on the basis of church tradition, or what someone has said. My friend, do not let this happen to you. Although it may be very painful, you need to examine these nine tests and face the reality of where you really stand. It is not about how you feel or what you think, but what the Bible says.
There is no doubt that there are millions in hell at this moment who thought that they would go to heaven when they died. Read Matthew 7:21-27. Notice that Jesus comments about those who were deceived, thinking they were saved, is preceded by His teaching on false teachers. (Matthew 7:15-20) Many will be deceived about their spiritual condition and destiny because they were listening to false teachers. The church you attend and the doctrine it teaches are very important. If you continue to attend a church that is not faithfully teaching all of the Word of God, you may be damning your soul as well as the souls of your family and friends. Nothing is more important than where you will spend eternity.
You may be very comfortable in a church that has a lot of entertainment or a high social standing. You may enjoy the social group in your church and all of the wonderful fellowship time. However, if the Word of God is not being proclaimed, it is better to give up the comfort now, than to suffer in eternal damnation.
You do not want to be left behind to face the horrors of the Tribulation Period. I believe that during this time, very few people will physically survive the entire seven years. (Matthew 24:22) Most who receive Christ during the Tribulation Period will be killed for their faith – hunted down, imprisoned, and decapitated! The world will suffer complete destruction. There will be unparalleled suffering due to famine, serious depletion of fresh water, wars, the total breakdown of all organized society, diseases, disasters, demonic invasions, and hardships beyond our human comprehension.
When you stand face to face with the Lord, will He say “enter in,” or “depart from Me?” You hold the answer to that question in these nine tests. Please think about it.
If you are not sure you are saved, or you are sure you are not saved, please do not hesitate to lay aside your pride and call out to God for salvation. Repent of your sins and confess the Lord Jesus Christ. Read the following Scriptures and call out to Him today. (Romans 3:23; 6:23: 5:8; 10:9-13) Then, watch for the changes to see if your motive and words have come from the work of the Holy Spirit in you. Only then you can be sure you are saved.
Be ready for the shout that will take us out!
Standing on the Side of Life with God
In recent weeks, I have been watching and praying about the developments in Israel and the surrounding nations. Israel has been attacked with missiles from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. It is no secret that all of these missiles and/or their components have originated from the Jew-hating Islamic regime in Iran. While this is occurring, there is a new Islamic terrorist group known as “The Islamic State,” (formerly ISIS), taking over Iraq and part of Syria. Their stated goal is to take control of the entire Middle East, including Israel. These developments are not surprising to those of us who know the prophetic Word of God. All of these Islamic nations are mentioned in Psalm 83 (a Psalm about Armageddon). According to this Psalmist, all of these nations hate God and His chosen people, Israel. While referring to them, the Psalmist declares: “For, lo, thine enemies make a tulmult [a roar of hate]: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee.” (Psalm 83:2-5)
In the current conflict between Hamas and Israel, it is very apparent who is standing on the side of life with God. Israel is using its military weapons to protect its people. Hamas is using its people to protect its military weapons.
Hamas is not standing on the side of moral justice. According to international law, and more importantly, the law of God, Hamas has failed on two counts. First, it is using its missiles to attack innocent Israeli civilians. Second, it is forcing its own people to serve as human shields to stand in the path of Israeli missiles.
Hamas, which is now an official part of the Palestinian government, refuses to recognize the right of any Jewish presence in the land formerly called Palestine. Because of their Islamic doctrine and mindset, they believe that all of the land that was a part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire is an Islamic trust and must be regained for religious purposes, no matter what the cost is. In their eyes, they have the right to attack and destroy anything and anyone who stands in the way of this Islamic goal.
First, Hamas is wrong because they are standing on the wrong side of life and death with God. God stands on the side of justice, righteousness, and life. Long ago, Moses instructed Israel: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19) Only a few months after the Lord spoke this to Moses, Joshua led the military of Israel against the Canaanites in Canaan. The Lord instructed Israel to obliterate the population of Canaan. Why? These nations were not standing on the side of God with justice, righteousness, and life. Instead, they were promoting a demonic culture of violence, immorality, and death. It should be noted that Hamas and other radical Islamic groups are promoting this same kind of culture.
Secondly, according to the Bible, God has given the Jewish people the land of Israel in an unconditional promise that will last as long as the sun and moon shines. (Genesis 15:7-21; Jeremiah 31:35-37) Hamas refuses to recognize the Biblical promises and verses in the Koran that state the Holy Land belongs to the Jewish people.
The Bible declares that when the end comes at Armageddon, the entire world will stand with the forces of the Antichrist gathered against Israel. (Joel 3:2; Revelation 16:12-16)
As we watch these developments in the Middle East, we should not be alarmed. They are all shaping our world for the final showdown between God and Satan, Heaven and Hell. The Land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem are at the center of this war in the spirit world. It is very important that we stand on the right side with God.
Please join me in prayer for all of the Christians, Jews, and Muslims who are facing violence, war, and death. We stand with our Lord, Who has said that he is “not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)