Do Not Wait Until it's too Late!
Pastor Jerry Wilhite,
Author
Do not wait until it is too late to be 100% sure that you are saved. We are told not to be repetitious in our prayers, but in the Word's being repetitious will bless us. The more we read the Word, including that which we already have read, the more we will be blessed.
Romans 8
16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
The way we know that we are saved beyond any doubt is hearing God call us His children. Unfortunately Satan started dividing us and lying to us about hearing from God as early as the first part of the first century. Satan knows full well that if we learn how we can and should hear from God, then he is doomed. So the first thing he got us believing is that we hear by reading His word, by nature, by visions, or by anything other than actually hearing God's voice.
Some of this study will seem familiar and if you have read some of our studies then the chance is that you have read some parts before. But even if you have it is important enough to read again.
Let's look at what Jesus said about the current and future believers and those who thought they were believers but truly were not.
Matthew 7
13. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
The word many above is actually most. Jesus said most would be on a path to destruction while only a few were on a path to life. How and why is this so?
Matthew 7
16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21. Not every one 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.
In verses 16-20 Jesus was talking about fruit to set up for verses 22-23. So let us start with verse 23. In verse 23 Jesus is referring to those of verse 22 who had done many wonderful works in His name. Jesus calls them workers of evil and tells them to depart because He never knew them. Of course He knew of them, but never actually got to know them personally because they would not take the time to know Him. I have been told by many today that they were too busy doing His works. The same was for the ones in verse 22.
In verse 21 Jesus said many would say unto Him, "Lord, Lord" and still not be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven. In verses 16-20 He talks about fruit, that we will be known by our fruit. Based on what we have read, the fruit is not the fruit of our works. So what is it? The only fruit that can not be copied or even be had without first having a relationship with God is the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The will of His/our Father is that first we have a relationship with Him via the Spirit and with Jesus via the Spirit.
Revelation 3
19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
As many as He loves-based on John 3:16 that is everyone.
He will rebuke-means He will show us the error of our ways.
He will chasten-means to educate.
So we will be zealous-means so we will have a warm feeling for Him.
Repent-means to change the path we are on and our ways from destruction to life.
Revelation 3
20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
23.He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
We are to hear from Him. How else would He rebuke, chasten so we can be zealous, and repent? The Bible is a way to Him, a manual of a kind on why and how we should be listening to Him and not mankind.
Remember the only way we can be sure is to hear directly from God, not from man. This is not to belittle anyone, but remember those who believed in Jim Jones. 900+ died believing in him. Then there was David Koresh in Waco and the 100+ who died there. The point is if we only trust in, listen to, and allow man (and not God) to teach us then we have a chance of doing the same as those who followed Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc.
Matthew 15
6. And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
10. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Traditions, rituals, and teachings of man today are misleading many.
Matthew 23
13. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Today man has man tied up in legalism, judging, traditions of man, all that is not of God. While at the same time a lot know better, but will not allow those of their congregation to learn out of fear of losing their congregation.
Yes, this is 2000 years later, but man has not changed and that goes for men in the ministry. There is only one way to be sure if those that you listen to or belong among are of God and what they say or teach is true. That is by asking God. Only God can see into the hearts and minds of man.
John 14
26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Those who truly seek God diligently and take the time to hear Him and be guided by Him will be blessed, but the rest will not.
Hebrews 11
6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Much of what I had been taught from Methodist, Lutherans, and non-denominational churches was not correct. I have come to discover it was either out of context (if it was even in the Bible at all), or it was stretched to the point that it no longer was close to what the Bible meant.
Let me ask you a few questions. Who taught the apostles, Peter, Paul, etc? What Bible College did they attend? Which denomination did they belong to? How is it that we accept all they wrote which is the New Testament and they never were taught by a man other than Jesus, never attended any school or Bible college? They were not even part of a denomination, but today anyone who is not taught by man in some college is not accepted.
Matthew 6
33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Paul, who is credited with writing the largest part of the New Testament, was taught by God. The rest of the Apostles were taught by Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God. Today that is considered to be foolish and it is considered wise today to attend a school to be taught. For most, if not all, denominations it is one year in the word (if that long), the rest of the four years is in money management, people management, business, etc.
1 Corinthians 1
19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
A lot of churches do not teach some of what we are going to get into because of what it states and how it goes against their traditions. Let's look at what we are to be taught and how we are to live as Christians; then you can compare it to what you were taught.
Matthew 6
1. Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4. That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Alms is your giving and it is to be in private, not public. How can it be in private when everyone is watching you put something in an offering plate? Maybe this is why the Jews had a box in the back into which they put their offerings.
Matthew 6
5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
When we pray it is to be private, not open and loud. How many of you have attended a church where they are repetitious, bold, and in public? The idea is our relationship with God is to be private between Him and us. It is not supposed to be the church, Him, and us. If we go to Him and not man we will learn this.
Matthew 6
8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
He already knows before we ask what we need; if anything He knows it better than we do.
Matthew 6
9. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11. Give us this day our daily bread.
12. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
Pray the Lord's Prayer; ask what you need; then sit quietly listening for and to His voice.
Genesis 22
18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
If you search from Genesis to Revelation you will discover that those who were blessed were those who listened and WERE OBEDIENT.
Deuteronomy 28
1. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Without hearing, there is no way to be saved. When He convicts us of sin to get us to repent to change our ways He does it by speaking to us. What is sad is I have known many that believe they are saved due to being born into a family who is a member of a certain denomination. Then there are those that believe they are saved because they followed the traditions, rituals, and teachings of man. Believing you are saved does not make save you. Everyone who knows he or she is saved knows because they heard God call them His child.
Let's look at some of the teachings that are false due to interpretation instead of understanding or due to errors in translating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek to English. First remember it is His breathed word, but only in its original form-Hebrew for the Old and Greek for New Testament.
Job 1
8. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Read Job 1:8 and think about what you read. Most teach that we are to be tested because in Job 1:8 God pointed out Job to Satan so Satan would test Job. If you read the verse literally from Hebrew to English here is how it would read:
8.
And said Yahweh to Satan, Have you set your heart on My servant Job? For not is {any} like him in the earth, a man perfect and upright, revering God and turning away from evil.
It's very different-instead of God pointing out Job to Satan, God is asking Satan what his intent with Job is. Why then was Satan able to interfere with Job?
Job 3
25. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
Job allowed Satan in when he feared. When we trust in God we do not fear.
Job 1
5. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job was sacrificing for his children due to fear of what would become of them if he did not and they died.
Genesis 2
17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
God is always specific in His commands. If you do not believe me read Exodus through Deuteronomy. So when He told Adam that Adam could not eat, that did not mean anyone else. Otherwise God would have told Him because God knew Eve would be along soon.
Genesis 3
1. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
God never told Adam to tell Eve she could not eat and God never said anything about touching the fruit. So as soon as Adam changed what God stated, it turned into a lie and that allowed Satan to enter.
Genesis 1
28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Would you believe that due to one word a man in the 20th century started an entirely new belief? It happened! He read Genesis 1:28 and read the word replenish and assumed that replenish means to refill which was the accepted interpretation of the word in 20th century America. I interpreted the word as meaning Adam and Eve were part of a second creation and that which was from the first creation had been destroyed and needed to be refilled. Since it was easier to prove this with other scripture out of context, than to research and see if the translators made an error, he did just that and decided that God had cast Satan down before this. From casting Satan down it destroyed all that God had started so He had to start over. The verses to prove this requires the reader it to read the Bible in this man's order of events, for the most part, not the Bible's chronological order of events. What is sad is that if he had researched the word replenish (which I agree back then would take days if not weeks) he would have discovered the translators translated "male'" incorrectly it means fill not refill.
28.
|1288| And blessed
|0853| them
|0430| God,
|0559| and said
|0000| to them
|0430| God,
|6509| Be fruitful
|7235| and multiply,
|4390| and fill
|0853| -
|0776| the earth,
|3533| and it subdue.
|7287| And rule
|1710| over fish of
|3220| the ocean,
|5775| and over of birds
|8064| the heavens
|3605| and over all
|2416| animals
|7430| crawling
|5921| on
|0776| the earth.
Strong's Ref. # 4390
Romanized male'
Pronounced maw-lay'
or mala' (Esth.7v5) {maw-law'}; a primitive root, to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively):
What I am trying to show is that if we listen to man and not God we will be misled. Only by hearing from God can we ever be sure to understand instead of interpreting or misinterpreting the word.
Commands
Jesus gave us certain commands to follow and two main commandments.
Matthew 6
14. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Forgive or not, if not then you will not be forgiven, and if not forgiven then not saved.
We must forgive or else un forgiveness will take us down a path to revenge, hate, violence, etc.
Matthew 7
1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Judge not-if we judge then we start on a path to unforgiving.
Matthew 12
36. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
The word idle in verse 36 above means every word that is not of God. So we are judged by our own words, and that makes it hard when we are basically taught to judge others, and not taught the dangers from the words of our mouth.
2 Corinthians 10
5. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
When Paul told us to cast down any and all imaginations, thoughts, ideas, that are not in line with the knowledge of God and bring the rest into captivity to the obedience of Christ, he knew this would help us with the words of our mouth.
Did you know the only way to worship God is in spirit and truth?
John 4
24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
In His Spirit and truth-remember, from Romans 8:16, His Spirit tells our spirit that we are children of God.
John 15
26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
The Spirit is the Spirit of truth and will always testify of Jesus.
John 14
6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
It is sad that many do not believe it to be true that the only way to God is by Jesus and that He is the Spirit and God, but it is true. The way is Jesus, the truth is the Holy Spirit, and the life is God.
John 3
16. 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.
We are saved because God loves us and loved us first.
Ephesians 2
8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
We are saved by grace (which is the ability to operate in God and His blessings and Spirit.) through faith (which is the knowledge of God and all He is). We are not saved by anything we do or can do such as water baptism. Water baptism is all right as long as people realize it is just our way of showing our faith.
John 3
3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Jesus said that we must be born of woman when he said, "born of water". When a woman gets ready to give birth the first thing that happens is her water breaks. All who are born of woman are born of water and all born of God are born of Spirit.
Acts 1
5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
So far we have learned:
- We are to give and pray in private
- We are to forgive all including ourselves
- We are not to judge anyone ever
- We are judged by the words of our mouth
- If we want to avoid being judged we need to get control of our thoughts.
We have also learned that by man's traditions, rituals, and teachings we will be misled, and only by hearing from God will we not be misled.
The mess we are in today is due to a lie told by Adam to Eve. The reason we have so many more problems today is that Satan has made words meaningless to us. In all actuality they have a lot of meaning and power. So in turn Satan has gotten us to say words in ways to hurt or destroy each other and ourselves.
If we really want to know what life is about, why, and answers to all the other questions we have, we must first listen for and to God's voice to hear Him so we can ask Him these and other questions, be guided by Him, and to be of Him.
Do not wait. There are no guarantees that you even have the next minute much less tomorrow. Many think they have plenty of time when they may be out of time. Age does not matter; many under 21, 12, and even babies have died.
How to hear from God
- Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.
- Desire not just to know of God, but to actually know Him, hear from Him, and be taught by Him.
- Ask God to help us hear from Him.
- Spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day in an area that is quiet and distraction free for as long as it takes (the average is six months).
- During this time we must retrain our mind not to wonder or think at all. That will require our retraining the body not to fall asleep.
- When we DO hear we ask, "Did Jesus Christ come in the flesh?" (I John 4:1-3) If we hear "no" we tell Satan to go to Hell.
- If we hear "Yes" we are obedient and continue listening.