“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23)

I’m deeply concerned about America and its future. Our economy is on life support and is about to collapse under the weight of debt.  The Obamacare program that’s rolling out spells disaster on many fronts. Potential customers can’t log on to the system because of computer glitches. It’s called “affordable care” but it’s anything but that. If this health care goes through, it could wipe out the middle class of our society.  Many people who have had good health care in the past are receiving notices that they will no longer be covered.  These are just two issues of the many problems we are having in this nation.

As concerned as I am about the above issues and many more, note that these problems are secondary results to America’s primary issue – our moral and spiritual condition of this country.  We have kicked God out of our society including most of our schools and universities, our government, and many other working places. Many (but not all) churches are not preaching the Word either.  What can we expect when we tell God to get out and try to handle everything ourselves?  He will remove the hedge of protection over this nation and chaos will result.

My biggest concern has to do with the verses I quoted at the top of this article. Many people in America today are “spiritual” and attend church but the question is do they know Jesus personally?  Let me ask you these questions – What if what you found out what you believed in turned out not to be true at all? What if you thought you were saved only to find out on the Day of Judgment you were not? This is what Jesus is stating in these verses. We have many churchgoers in America but not everyone who attends church is saved.  Simply going to church will not save you any more than pushing a wheelbarrow through a Cadillac shop will convert it to a Cadillac; it will come out on the other side as a wheelbarrow, not a Cadillac.

A majority in America believe they will get to heaven but that is the exact opposite of what Jesus is stating in these verses. He said “many” (not a few) would say to Him on that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” Jesus also stated earlier in Matthew chapter 7 in verses 13-14:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Notice that many will take the broad road and few will find the narrow road.”

 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end if the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). 

This is a deep concern I have for many in the American church today. They think they are saved when in fact they’re not.  Some classic answers they give are, “My mother told me I was saved at five years old,” or “I was born into a Christian family.”  I have news for you; God doesn’t have any grandchildren. Jesus is a personal Savior and everyone makes the choice to accept or reject Him.

Let me ask you three more questions. If truly saved, would there be enough evidence to convict you if you were on trial? If you were to die in the next five minutes, do you have the assurance of going to heaven? If you were to stand at the gates of heaven what would you say if God were to ask you, “By what right should I allow you into heaven?” Would you answer, “I’m a good person?”

“As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). 

A big problem I see in society today is how we use the word “Christian.”  A true Christian is one who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord but we have an awful lot of nominal or counterfeit Christians out there today. I have good news; you can have absolute assurance of going to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. He is the ONLY way to heaven according to John 14:6. Let me ask you another question. Have you every prayed the sinner’s prayer? Let me help:

 

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

God will save you if you call upon Him: For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13). 

The only way to heaven is by accepting what Jesus has done for you – His death, burial, and resurrection. Don’t delay putting off what you can do now; none of us are promised tomorrow.

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”  (Proverbs 27:1).

“For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

While no one knows the day and the hour of Jesus’ return for His church, there is little doubt it won’t be long; we are in the season of His return just by looking at the world events happening all at once around us. I’ll even go as far as to say we are living on borrowed time. Trust me, my friend. You don’t want to be left behind to face the horrors that will follow once the true believers are gone. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

All Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version of the Bible.

 

E-mail:  ednkandi@att.net