Deathbed salvation

[puddleglum]

Mr. and Mrs. Brown were faithful members of their church and the taught their sons, Harry and Tom, to be faithful too. When the sons grew up Harry rejected his parents’ teaching and stopped attending church. Tom continued to be active in church.

The time came when Harry was about to die. He realized that he was not ready and finally repented of his sins and put his faith in Jesus Christ. His life had been wasted because he had lived for his own pleasure but in the end he was saved.

Tom also reached the end of his life. Looking back he realized that he had tried to live a Christian life but in fact he was not a Christian because he had not repented and believed in Christ. Near the end of his life he finally took this step. His life had been wasted because he had trusted in his church and his service to it rather than in Christ but in the end he was saved.

When we think of deathbed salvation we generally think of someone like Harry rather then Tom. The Bible gives us an example of such salvation. One of the criminals who was crucified with Christ repented and was told that he would be in Paradise that very day. We often forget that all people, regardless of how good a life the live, fall short of God’s standards and need to be saved.

There was a time when I was on the way to ending up as Tom did. I had gone to Sunday school as long as I can remember. When I was 14 years old I got baptized and became a member of my church. I was active in the church and at one time seriously considered becoming a preacher. The only thing wrong was that the church was liberal in its theology and on one there had ever told me how to be saved.

God didn’t wait until I was on my deathbed to save me. About two years after I joined the church I began listening to a radio program called Back to the Bible and through it a learned the true way of salvation.

Someone who lives a life contrary to the Bible doesn’t need to wonder whether he is saved or not. If he thinks about the subject at all he will know he isn’t. But it is possible for someone to live a life that is outwardly righteous and not really be saved. The Bible warns us in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.” Satan uses many tricks to keep people from being saved; one is to convince us we are already saved. Examine yourselves to make sure you are not falling for this trick.

 

[ReverendRV]

Mr. and Mrs. Brown were faithful members of their church and the taught their sons, Harry and Tom, to be faithful too. When the sons grew up Harry rejected his parents’ teaching and stopped attending church. Tom continued to be active in church.

The time came when Harry was about to die. He realized that he was not ready and finally repented of his sins and put his faith in Jesus Christ. His life had been wasted because he had lived for his own pleasure but in the end he was saved.

Tom also reached the end of his life. Looking back he realized that he had tried to live a Christian life but in fact he was not a Christian because he had not repented and believed in Christ. Near the end of his life he finally took this step. His life had been wasted because he had trusted in his church and his service to it rather than in Christ but in the end he was saved.

When we think of deathbed salvation we generally think of someone like Harry rather then Tom. The Bible gives us an example of such salvation. One of the criminals who was crucified with Christ repented and was told that he would be in Paradise that very day. We often forget that all people, regardless of how good a life the live, fall short of God’s standards and need to be saved.

There was a time when I was on the way to ending up as Tom did. I had gone to Sunday school as long as I can remember. When I was 14 years old I got baptized and became a member of my church. I was active in the church and at one time seriously considered becoming a preacher. The only thing wrong was that the church was liberal in its theology and on one there had ever told me how to be saved.

God didn’t wait until I was on my deathbed to save me. About two years after I joined the church I began listening to a radio program called Back to the Bible and through it a learned the true way of salvation.

Someone who lives a life contrary to the Bible doesn’t need to wonder whether he is saved or not. If he thinks about the subject at all he will know he isn’t. But it is possible for someone to live a life that is outwardly righteous and not really be saved. The Bible warns us in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.” Satan uses many tricks to keep people from being saved; one is to convince us we are already saved. Examine yourselves to make sure you are not falling for this trick.

Deathbed Conversions - by ReverendRV

Ephesians 2:1 NIV; As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

You may find it interesting that there are many ‘Deathbed Conversions’; those who are near the end of their lives and are concerned with their final destination. This doesn’t need much explanation since it’s a common occurrence. The first deathbed conversion in Christianity was one of the Thieves on a Cross at the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Earlier the Thief was mocking Jesus along with another crucified Thief. But as time passed, this Thief asked Jesus to Save him; and Jesus promised that on this very same day, they would be in Paradise together. ~ We all understand how someone can all of the sudden be concerned about meeting God when they know Death is approaching. Even if you don’t believe there is a God, you can sympathize with them; right? Since it’s so prevalent, it may even happen to you when you’re dying…

Would it make a difference to you if I told you that you’re on your deathbed even now?? Because of Adam and Eve, we’re all born spiritually dead. Our Soul and our body are born alive, but part of our Being is gangrenous; this is how we can be alive and dead at the same time. If this is not enough, Saint Paul said that he once was alive until the Law of God came to him; ‘Thou shalt not Covet’, because he was full of Covetousness. ~ Have you ever told a Lie? What do you call people who tell Lies? Be honest with yourself, all have fallen short of the glory of God with this one. You are spiritually dead; and Death has turned it’s gaze your way. You object, “Lying is not as bad as killing people!” Ah, you recognize that Murder is evil! Lying is enough to expose Gangrene in you, but Murder would be enough to prove that you are on your deathbed; right? Jesus said that if you’ve Hated anyone, this is ‘Murder One’ committed in your Heart. If God judged you by the Ten Commandments would you be guilty? Would you go to Hell?

You are on your deathbed; but today is the Day of your Salvation. ~ For God so loved the world he gave us his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life! Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came from Heaven to Earth to become a Man, so that he would live a Holy Sinless life; that’s what it takes to earn your way to Heaven. Jesus will give you his Righteousness so that you are looked upon by God as being good enough to go; but you can only have this when you give Jesus your lifetime’s record of Sins. This causes God to punish Jesus instead of you, because Justice demands punishment; but Jesus loved you so much that he volunteered for this, for your sake. He shed his blood on the Cross, died and was buried; but arose from the grave as the eternal King of Israel. We’re Saved by Grace through Faith in the risen Savior Jesus Christ, without our trying to be good enough by our Works. Repent of your Sins, Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord God, and go to a Church for help to get well. ~ Don’t wait until you’re old and hear Death’s footsteps; you do not know what tomorrow might bring…

Luke 12:20 KJV; But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

 

[puddleglum]

Would it make a difference to you if I told you that you’re on your deathbed even now??

I pray that more people will understand this fact.

 

[Predestined]

Found this and thought it was pretty interesting.

The power of prayer and Gospel Tracts​

The Lord wants us to pray for all nations, and for kings and for all in authority. We can exercise knee-based influence over leaders whom we may never meet. Here's an example: Prince Edward VII of England was well known for his drinking and immorality. When his mother, Queen Victoria, died in 1901, Edward assumed the throne at age fifty-nine and reigned for nine years.

In 1910, a prayer warrior named Joe Evans was vacationing in the New York mountains, away from newspapers and interruptions. One morning he felt a burden to intercede for Edward, and the burden became so intense he anguished in prayer for the king's conversion. The following day came the news, “Edward is dead.”

Years later, Joe shared dinner with Dr. J. Gregory Mantle of England. Dr. Mantle said, “Joe, did you know that Edward VII was saved on his deathbed?”

He went on to explain: “The king was in France when he was taken ill. He was brought to England and there was hope that he might recover. However, there came a turn for the worse. At that time, His Majesty called one of his lords-in-waiting and ordered him to go to Paternoster Row and secure for him a copy of a Gospel tract that his mother, Queen Victoria, had given to him when he was a lad. It was entitled “The Sinner's Friend.” After much searching, the lord-in-waiting found the Gospel tract, brought it to His Majesty, and upon reading it, King Edward VII made earnest repentance and received the Lord Jesus as his Savior.”

 

[Predestined]

The hopeless condition of all who die unconverted.

The words of our Lord on this subject are peculiarly solemn. He says of Judas, "It would have been better for that man, if he had not been born." This saying admits of only one interpretation. It teaches plainly, that it is better never to live at all, than to live without faith, and to die without grace.

To die in this state is to be ruined forever more. It is a fall from which there is no rising. It is a loss which is utterly irretrievable. There is no change in hell. The gulf between hell and heaven is one that no man can pass. This saying could never have been used, if there was any truth in the doctrine of 'universal salvation'. If it really was true that all would sooner or later reach heaven, and hell sooner or later be emptied of inhabitants, it never could be said that it would have been "good for a man not to have been born."

Hell itself would lose its terrors, if it had an end. Hell itself would be endurable, if after millions of ages there was a HOPE of freedom and of heaven. But universal salvation will find no foot-hold in Scripture. The teaching of the word of God is plain and express on the subject. There is a worm that never dies, and a fire that is not quenched (Mark 9:44.) "Except a man be born again," he will wish one day he had never been born at all. "Better," says Burkitt, "have no being, than not have a being in Christ."

Let us grasp this truth firmly, and not let it go. There are always people who dislike the reality and eternity of hell. We live in a day when a morbid charity induces many to exaggerate God's mercy, at the expense of His justice, and when false teachers are daring to talk of a "love of God, lower even than hell." Let us resist such teaching with a holy jealousy, and abide by the doctrine of Holy Scripture.

Let us not be ashamed to walk in the old paths, and to believe that there is an eternal God, an eternal heaven, and an eternal hell. Once depart from this belief, and we admit the thin edge of the wedge of skepticism, and may at last deny any doctrine of the Gospel. We may rest assured that there is no firm standing ground between a belief in the eternity of hell, and downright infidelity.
- J. C. Ryle