Compare these two sets of quotes.

• “I asked Jesus into my heart when I was a child.”
• “I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior.”
• “I prayed a prayer after my pastor.”
• “I went forward during a revival meeting.”
• “I remember crying.”
• “I was baptized.”
• “I joined the church.”
• “I know I’ve kind of been backslidden, but after all, ‘Once saved, always saved.'”

Now these.

• “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
• “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”
• “Pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”
• “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
• “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me.”
• “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
• “I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”
• “Make your calling and election sure.”
• “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”

And finally, one by Spurgeon.

“If a man professes to know the right thing to do and yet refuses to do it, you are not to pamper his presumption, you are to tell him he is not saved!”

My greatest fear is that our churches in the United States are infested with lost people, that many of the people I have ‘led to the Lord’ over the years do not have a spiritual clue, that many of my friends and family members are under a delusion, a deception that will follow them to hell.

Be convicted, get mad at me, call me a fanatic, but whatever you do, do take this personally and very seriously. Your soul is at stake. And it breaks my heart as I write thinking of some of you specifically.

The current mood of tolerance demands we allow each other to believe and behave according to our personal preferences. But judgment at the last day will not be characterized by tolerance. God has been tolerant with us, allowing us to breath His air, occupy His space; He has given us the gift of time, time to repent and follow His Son with all our hearts. But patience has its limitations, and we will all have to give an account.

More quotes.

• “By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.”
• “He who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.”
• “He who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk as He walked.”
• “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
• “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
• “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”
• “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
• “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.”
• “By this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

There are many more.

Do you love the Word of God? Do you feed upon its pages and by its truths? Does the Spirit nourish your soul? Do you crave Biblical preaching and teaching that exalts Christ? Do you love the Lord Jesus with all your being? Do you hate your own sins and the corruptions of your heart? Do you long for sweet fellowship with believers with the same spiritual affections? Are you pursuing a life of holiness? Do you desperately want and pray for and work for the salvation of others? Do the thoughts of Heaven create a heart-longing for home? Is prayer a pure delight? Is the Cross exceedingly and increasingly precious? Are you joyfully willing to give all for Christ, including your own life?

If not, what makes you think you’re saved and are going to Heaven when you die? Because you cried and walked an aisle and prayed a prayer years ago?

If a decades old emotional experience is all you have; if you have no ongoing spiritual reality, no genuine communion with the Spirit of Jesus, no discernible growth in holiness and Christ-likeness…

Don’t count on it. Please.