“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15
I heard an evangelist tell a story a few days ago that I cannot quit thinking about. As he told the following story, the seasoned gentleman had tears running down his face. The story he related was based and documented in American History during and after World War II. It is a very sobering story, “There were 160,000 allied soldiers, 7,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft at the beaches in France as the joint forces attempted to take back France when Nazi Germany invaded. The attempt was to liberate France and to get a foot hold on the continent that would help the allied soldiers to win World War II. The operation was called “Operation Overlord” and it would become the largest seaborne invasion in history. The allied forces attempted a massive attack from the sea as thousands of soldiers fought to gain access to five beaches in France in a combined effort to push back Nazi Germany from France and to help ensure the continued freedom of all the continent of Europe. It was a sobering attack and the Generals in charge knew this kind of attack was dangerous and there would be massive casualties of the young soldiers who were willing to sacrifice it all for the freedom we take for granted. The maneuver was well thought out and planned well, the ships that carried the soldiers were in place, the aircraft ready to do their part from the air and the time had come to execute the plan, knowing thousands of soldiers would be lost in this attack alone. There were 160,000 brave soldiers who were about to be sent into a deadly battle where the most conservative estimate expected to lose two thirds of the soldiers that were deployed on this deadly mission would not survive. The Generals and Commanders had to make the decision to execute the plan estimating over 100,000 of the troops in Operation Overlord would die fighting for freedom. Twenty thousand of them would probably die in the first hour of the attack. What a sobering thought and to think the Generals had the staggering responsibility to put this strategy in place knowing the probable outcome. The final decision landed on the U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower. He did not make the decision from a safe office in the Pentagon, instead he was walking around the soldiers who were about to be sent into this dangerous operation of racing to secure the five beaches in France. History tells us as he walked among the courageous platoons, he would call out to them and ask them where they were from and they would call out their home states. His next question was unexpected but he did not cower from the awesome responsibility he was asked to execute. He called out, “Are you boys ready to see God? Are you ready to meet Jesus?” Then Eisenhower turned to his commanders and said, “Have you followed my orders that we have all the chaplains here trying to get all of these men witnessed to? I do not want to send them to a Christless eternity.” And then to the lead chaplain and he said, “How many have trusted Christ as their savior?” The chaplain soberly answered and said “less than half,” General.” General Eisenhower told the chaplain “Work till the final count.” Eisenhower turned around and went back to his private car and he started to sob uncontrollably and said “You can’t imagine what it is like to know you are sending young men, most of them under twenty to a Christless eternity. The problem is no one cared to get to them ahead of this. I am trying to fix what should have been fixed before they ever got here, and now it is time for them to go and I will never be the same.” History records that invasion as one of the most successful military strategies of all time, but the casualties that day was huge, there was an estimated 10,000 soldiers that died the first hour. When General Eisenhower was asked later, “What did you mean, it should have been fixed before they were here?” He said, “Where were the churches? Where were the pastors? How did they get here without knowing Jesus?”
If in the 1940s less than half the soldiers had a personal relationship with Jesus and were not prepared to go into eternity even though the best chaplains were called in to witness to them in a sobering time where they young men knew they had a high probability they would not return home alive, I wonder how many people we rub shoulders with on a regular basis are not ready to stand before God and give an account for all the things they have done in their life. They have not asked to be washed in the blood that Jesus shed on the cross for their sins or maybe they asked but they do not have a daily relationship with Him. If it was fifty percent n the 1949s, I wonder how many people do not know Jesus. Instead of asking someone about their relationship with Jesus, we just assume because someone goes to church they have a relationship with Jeus. It does not mean they have confessed their sins and have made Jesus their Lord and Savior. A few months ago, I heard an evangelist say after a huge revival in South America that he estimated only 50% of the church lives a life that pleases God. I watched an interview with John Bevere about his new book “The King is Coming,” and he stated that according to scripture only about 50% of the church is ready to go in the Rapture. I was talking to a local pastor recently and he admitted that statistics say that only 50% of the people that attend church have a real relationship with Jesus and will go to heaven when they die. This is a heartbreaking statistic, but can it be supported by the ultimate authority, the Word of God. In Matthew 24 Jesus taught about the “Signs of the times and the End of the Age,” and starting in Matthew 24:30 Jesus began to teach on the coming of the Son of Man., “Then the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.” Verses 40-43 “Then two men will be in the field, one taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming,” One taken and one left, that is 50%. Some may argue that the 50% not ready do not go to church. We all know that there are people in the world that do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Matthew 25 Jesus taught about the ten virgins, and five who did not have oil in their lamp and could not go into the chamber with the bridegroom. Five of them thought they were ok, but did not enter in with the groom, they hung with those who were pure, they did the right things, but they did not have the oil and they were not given the time to go and get more oil, they missed the marriage. Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” The church cannot be holy and without blemish unless we are washed regularly in the word.
Instead of teaching the truth that salvation is a lifelong relationship with Jesus, and without that relationship will spend eternity separated from God in a place of torment called hell, many churches have taught that when a person does the ABC’s of salvation: Admit they are a sinner, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and confess their sins, they will be saved even if there is not repentance or a change of behavior to be like Jesus. Many have failed to teach a new Christian that a real relationship with Jesus comes with lifestyle changes. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15. According to scripture “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13. When we call on Him, we are saved instantly, but to maintain our salvation will require a lifetime journey walking with Jesus and obeying His word. If we continue to sin, we are slaves to sin and not to righteousness. Jesus was clear when He said “Many will say 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.” Being saved does not mean we will never sin, just we ask for forgiveness. John 10:37-29 Jesus said “My Sheep know My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” If we listen to Jesus and follow Him then we are truly one of His sheep! There is a difference between those who mess up and those who practice lawlessness. Those who practice lawlessness are those who want their cake and eat it too. They want to be saved but they are not willing to keep the commandments of Jesus, they are not willing to follow Jesus and what the word says.
I have a problem with the false doctrines that give people a false hope that if they ask Jesus into their heart one time they can continue in the sinful life styles and not allow Jesus to change them, they will make heaven their home. Several times in scripture when Jesus forgave someone, He told them to go and sin no more.” Many modern churches do not want to offend anyone so they do not say “go and sin no more.” They are teaching a half truth and a half truth is still a lie. If we could never lose our salvation, why did Jesus tell John to write to the churches in Revelations 3:5 and say, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”? For our name to be written in the Book of Life, they were saved at one time. To be blotted out means to be removed from the Book of Life. Revelations 20:15 “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” God is not waiting to strike you down any time you fall, but Jesus will blot out those who are living in unrepentant sin. Is Jesus still the Lord of your life? Are you mindful to follow all his commandments or has some sin made its way into your life and taken root? If you need someone to talk to, email me at TexanChurch@yahoo.com and I will email you or if you send me your number, I will call you. It would be my honor to help answer any questions you may have about your salvation or to introduce you to my friend Jesus. I pray for my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, that God would give us an urgency for the lost.