"I would love for some help navigating
my Christian experience.
My question is how far can a person
really go as a false convert?"
He's asking this question for this reason:
"I've been reflecting on my own life,
and I'm a bit confused about some things
that might be evidences of salvation.
I believe the Gospel,
repented of my sin - or so I thought -
spent countless hours preaching the Gospel to people,
evangelizing,
even street-preached a couple of times
overcoming much fear.
It seemed like the Holy Spirit was working to some degree.
I also had a deep sensitivity,
conviction over sin.
I spent a lot of time in prayer
by which I was also deeply affected.
I wept over sin and for others to get saved.
There seemed to be a real love for Christ,
for the brethren, for the lost.
I was doing my best to walk in obedience to God,
though I suspect I wasn't wholehearted.
I may have been holding back some secret idols.
I also fought hard and had victory
over much sin like pornography,
much worldliness,
though there were still a few things
that were an ongoing struggle
that I continue to fight really hard
like lust, pride, fear of man,
watching bad TV and movies
which often got the better of me.
Regardless, I made a lot of progress in sanctification.
However, I ended up holding on
and toying with one or two of those sins
and fell into a very hardened heart
and lukewarmness
and just deliberate unrepentant sin
and stopped feeling conviction.
My question is:
Is it really possible to have such fruits
as I have had
and still not have saving faith?
How far can a person go in deception?
If so, how is an unsaved man
able to even feel that way
if not by the Spirit?
Any tips to help me understand my past experience?
Could God have caused me to fall like this
so it would become clear that I'm not saved?
Giving some hope
since only a lost person can be saved?
I'm trying to seek the Lord now for salvation,
but my past experiences have been a cause of confusion.
Hence, my question. Thanks."
I just want to look at several texts.
How far can a person go?
He's asking this: how far can a person go in deception?
How far can a person really go
as a false convert?
I just want to look at several texts.
The first one is Hebrews 6.
How far can they go?
When I was a brand new convert,
I read a Puritan book by Matthew Mead -
the Puritan Matthew Mead -
called "The Almost Christian Discovered."
Anybody heard of that book before?
Have you ever read it?
As a brand new Christian,
I found myself falling on my face
on the floor often as I read that book,
pleading with the Lord
that if I wasn't genuine
that He would search that out and show me
because that book really rattled me.
I had come to the Lord,
but it had never occurred to me -
you know what?
Because I was around such lost people,
I just assumed -
because I was around such lost people
and around nominal Catholicism,
I just thought if people claimed
to be true Christians, they were.
That's what I thought when I was first saved,
so to come across that book,
it really jolted me.
Hebrews 6:4. Somebody begin reading right there.
"For it is impossible in the case of those
who have once been enlightened..."
Tim: Okay.
What he's going to say
is it's impossible to renew unto
or to restore unto or to bring back to a state
of repentance
somebody who has been -
so this is a person who it's impossible
to be saved.
So one thing we know for certain:
They've never been saved
if it's impossible for them to be saved.
They've been enlightened.
That was the first thing that was said.
They have been enlightened.
What does that mean?
Light.
You know what it's like. It's dark outside.
You come to the light, you can see things.
If you guys go stand on my porch,
and the light's not on,
you can't see things.
If I turn the light on - whoa!
All of a sudden, everything appears around you.
Light we are told makes manifest.
What is it about light?
Enlightenment.
It means I am brought to see
what I never saw before.
So, how far can a person go?
They can be exposed to preaching,
to the Word of God.
They can be exposed to the light of truth
and brought to a place that they never were before.
What's the next thing said there?
"...Who have tasted the heavenly gift."
Tim: Okay, isn't that amazing?
They've tasted.
It's like the heavenly gift -
it's like they've taken salvation.
They've put it in their mouth.
And they've rolled it around on their tongue.
They've got the flavor of it.
Keep going.
"...Who have shared in the Holy Spirit."
Tim: Okay.
You know what's interesting?
He said this:
"Is it really possible to have such fruits?"
Or he says this:
"How can an unsaved man
be able to even feel that way
if not by the Spirit?"
Well, I would say this,
it probably was by the Spirit.
You say, what do you mean?
I'm saying this,
the Spirit of God works in many people
who come short of genuine salvation.
The Word of God can be preached.
You know what you find oftentimes in times of revival?
Or you find this even on a given Sunday.
Somebody stands up and preaches a message.
You get people who - they're moved.
They're swayed.
They're convicted.
They feel some power in the preaching.
They go out and they're concerned for their souls.
Their conscience has been made alive.
(incomplete thought)
They've participated in the work of the Spirit.
It's possible for that to happen
and truly be of the Spirit,
and yet they get to a place where it's impossible
for them to repent.
Keep going.
"...And have tasted the goodness
of the Word of God
and the powers of the age to come."
Tim: See? They've tasted of the Word.
They've tasted the truths.
That's swirled around in their mouth as well.
And even the world to come.
There's power.
They're actually experiencing the power
of the supernatural.
And not just any supernatural,
this is actually the power of God
that they're being exposed to.
Something even that's representative
of the world to come.
There's exposure.
Keep going.
"...And then have fallen away."
Tim: Okay, now these people have fallen away.
Here's the reality we looked at before.
When it's genuine salvation,
it can't be lost.
So these people -
it's impossible once they've tasted -
look, when it says that they've fallen away,
you can't fall away from true salvation.
Why? Because He puts His fear in us
that we not fall away;
that we not go away from Him.
Christ says if you come to Me,
I will raise you up at the last day.
You see, these people,
(incomplete thought)
what they fell away from is not being saved.
They've fallen away from the very things
that are described there.
They've fallen away from the impact.
This is a person
who is exposed to truth.
They may claim to believe the truth.
They may make a profession.
They may get baptized.
They may join the church.
They feel they've been impacted.
They feel they've been convicted.
And look, based on that text,
it's real supernatural operations of the Spirit.
But it comes short because they fall.
They go away. Remember this:
If you're sealed with the Spirit,
He's the guarantee of your inheritance
until you acquire possession of it.
It's a guarantee.
These operations of the Spirit right here
fall short of that.
(incomplete thought)
All those things right there
a person can have happen and come short.
Let me take you somewhere else in Hebrews.
Turn to Hebrews 12:16.
This is Esau.
Esau is another great example to look at
as far as how far a person can go
and still come short.
Somebody read v. 16.
"...That no one is sexually immoral
or unholy like Esau
who sold his birthright for a single meal."
Tim: Keep going.
"...For we know that afterward,
when he desired to inherit the blessing,
he was rejected,
for he found no chance to repent
though he sought it with tears."
Tim: Here's the thing. We know he was lost.
"Jacob I have loved; Esau I have hated."
This text says he's an evil person.
But what was true of him?
I'll tell you two things that can be true of a person
and yet they fall short.
You see them there.
You can repent of sorts.
Remember, that's a change of mind.
He had a change of mind
where he easily cast away his birthright.
He then later had a change of mind.
He wanted it back.
In fact, he even wept tears.
A person can weep.
A person can change their mind,
but fall short.
I want you to see another one.
Turn to Luke 8.
Somebody read verse 13.
"And the ones on the rock
are those who when they heard the Word
received it with joy."
Tim: Okay, you can have people
who hear the true Word.
Something has happened in them.
The Spirit may be moving and convicting.
They may see something in this
that their eyes have been opened to -
enlightenment like we saw in Hebrews 6.
They embrace it.
They receive it with joy,
but keep reading.
"...But these have no root.
They believe for awhile..."
Tim: Notice that. They believe for awhile.
Very interesting.
Keep going.
"And in time of testing fall away."
Tim: They fall away.
So they weren't genuine. They had no root.
They never had any root.
It's not like they were saved,
and then they weren't saved.
They were defective from the beginning.
But here's the thing,
you can be enlightened.
You can taste of the heavenly gift.
You can taste of this good gift.
You can participate in the operations of the Spirit.
You can repent.
You can weep tears.
You can even believe.
You can receive gladly.
You know what Matthew 7 says.
You can say, "Lord, Lord."
You can know the right lingo.
They say, "Lord, Lord." What did they do?
Well, we cast out demons,
and we prophesied in Your name.
We cast out demons in Your name.
In Your name!
We prophesied in Your name.
We did many mighty works in Your name.
You remember Judas?
He undoubtedly cast out just as many demons
and healed people as well as the others.
You can do many mighty works in His name.
He's not saying the people didn't do them.
Many of these things can happen
and still people fall short.
You know the church at Sardis?
"You have a name that you're alive, but you're dead."
Oh, you can call yourself all the right names.
I'm a Christian.
I'm a child of God. I'm born again.
You can say all the right things.
You can say, "Lord, Lord."
And He says it's not everybody that says to Me, "Lord, Lord."
You can have a name that you're alive,
but the name is a lie.
People run around calling themselves (incomplete thought).
When Jesus comes, He's going to set all names right.
He's going to put the right names on people.
You know, there's a place there in fact,
Jesus talks about the people who say they're Jews,
but they're not. They lie.
Physically they were Jews,
but they weren't really Jews.
And Jesus is going to set all names right.
People love to call themselves by names.
You can call yourself many names
and still fall short of being genuine.
So, I just want us to think.
Okay, how does all of that
compare to the genuine?
And that's the thing.
And James preached through Philippians not long ago
and I think I mentioned it last week
or one of the last times.
But Philippians 3:3 -
can anybody quote it besides James?
James, can you quote it?
"For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God
and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh..."
Tim: Yeah, worship in the Spirit.
So, this is the reality
that their glory is in Christ.
They worship in the Spirit.
They put no confidence in the flesh.
Their confidence is in Christ.
I mean, look, listen.
If somebody falls away because of persecution,
you know what?
You know what they really believed?
They didn't believe that Jesus was to be had at all costs.
What will make a man walk away from Christ?
Only if he truly believes that Christ
isn't the most necessary thing.
Because as persecution goes up,
why does it cause people to fall away?
Because they put suffering and Christ in the scale,
and they say my own not suffering,
my own ease,
my own not being persecuted and feeling bad
is more important than having Christ.
The reason the true believer will not let go of Christ
is because he truly believes.
He believes he's got to have Christ or perish
and he won't let go of Him for anything.
He glories in that.
That is his hope.
He worships God in the Spirit.
That's what Christ said the Father's looking for.
Not worshiping in the flesh.
You say, what do you mean?
You know what worship in the flesh is?
It's praying like the heathen do.
They think by their repetitions,
they're going to get God.
Believing that because you pray -
it's trusting your prayer.
Trusting the repetition of your prayer.
It's trusting in what you do.
The person who worships by the Spirit,
what's happening?
From the heart,
they delight in God.
From the heart, they admire
and they adore
and they're amazed
and they're in awe,
and they find God glorious
and they're shaken by His majesty
and by His purity and by His holiness.
When they sing, there's a joy that comes.
You see, those who don't worship by the Spirit,
it's a work.
What's happening in the worship
is it's an exercise that they go through
because they're accumulating points with God.
Versus the worship that's of the Spirit -
it's when the Spirit takes the blinders off
and allows us to see the beauty
and majesty of God
and we worship Him from the heart level
because we're thankful,
because we find beauty.
We're legitimately thankful.
We come to God thankful that He saved us
based on the merits of Jesus Christ.
Not like the Catholic comes
who counts the beads.
What is bead counting?
Why? Why each one?
Because it's merit.
I'm doing it to get something.
So I count all these out. I'm rigorous.
I walk on my knees till they bleed.
I told you guys this.
I went to high school with a guy
that became a Jesuit priest.
He likes to tell people that when he was a kid
back when he was my friend -
I grew up with this guy -
that he put rocks in his shoes.
He likes to tell people.
Why?
Because it's another notch in the belt
of his righteousness
that he's earning this merit.
That's what it's all about.
What do you think purgatory is?
Purgatory is where you go pay in the fire.
If you weren't able to pay well enough here
and get enough here
and do enough here,
then you pay more there.
It's all this merit system.
When you worship God in the Spirit,
it's totally different
because what the Spirit does is exalts Christ.
You see there. There's appreciation
and there's thankfulness
that He has saved you.
And it's based on Him.
And there's thankfulness and gratefulness.
And you don't put confidence in the flesh.
Counting those beads is all flesh.
It's what you can do in your own strength.
But you see, we cast that away.
That's what Paul did.
That's what Philippians 3 is.
It's this great big list of all these things
that he put his confidence in.
But you know what?
That's what it is to worship in the Spirit.
The Spirit comes in and just devastates
all the confidences that we formerly had.
All the hopes we formerly had
of how we were going to get to heaven -
He just devastates them all
until we're broken, we're empty, we're bankrupt,
and there's only one hope,
and that's we glory in Christ Jesus.
Those three things stated there in Philippians 3:3.
That's the essence of it.
Sometimes people can feel discouraged
or you feel like when I was a brand new convert
reading this Puritan book
and falling on my face all the time.
But the reality is even though
so many things can be real of your life
and you fall short of being the real thing,
you never fall short of being the real thing
if your only confidence is in Jesus Christ.
You will not be put to shame.
No matter what else may happen,
no matter whatever winds may blow,
whatever persecutions may come,
whatever attacks you may suffer,
whatever thoughts may run through your mind,
I'll tell you this -
if your sole confidence in being saved before God
rests in the merits, the death of Jesus Christ,
that's your only hope,
that's your only confidence,
and you have none in the flesh -
in your own doings, in your own worship,
in your own merit -
none in your own goodness,
it's not there, it's only in Him,
I'll guarantee you this: you are saved.
You are going to glory.
Scripture promises it.
You have root if that's the case.
So, this guy, I would say this to him.
He said, "I made a lot of progress in sanctification."
But he says,
"I've ended up holding on to one or two sins."
He says, "...lust, pride, fear of man,
watching bad TV, bad movies...
often gets the better of me."
I would say this,
that that isn't a good picture of sanctification.
He says, "I've made lots of progress in sanctification."
I don't think that is lots of progress in sanctification likely.
If lust, pride, fear of man, watching bad TV
and bad movies are often getting the better of him,
that's not a good picture of sanctification.
And so, what I would say to people like this
is if you look at your life
and you recognize something's wrong -
look, people are looking for the solution.
They're looking for the magic formula.
But I'll tell you this,
if something's wrong,
there's only One who can fix it,
and you can't.
And the thing is you've got to be
like blind Bartimaeus
where you cry out until He fixes it.
You cry out until He sets your eyes right.
Because if you don't,
if you just go back to your life,
go back to your sin,
go back to your religion,
you just ignore these kinds of things,
and you just let them go,
he's going to drift deeper and deeper
into what he describes as lukewarmness,
unrepentant sin,
stop feeling conviction,
hard heart.
And you just wake up in hell.
You cry out until the Lord heals you
or you perish.
If something's wrong,
there's only one place to go.
It's not the church. The church doesn't heal you.
It's not the pastors - any of them.
All of us together -
all the pastors in our church,
all the pastors from every church in town,
we can come together
and we can all lay hands on you
and we can't do anything for you.
We can pray for you,
but in the end, we're going to call upon Him
who is your only hope.
That's the only hope of anybody sitting here,
anybody listening.
If something's wrong,
if you're spiraling into sin,
look, what we can say is this:
Scripture says in no uncertain terms
you've been raised to newness of life.
Sin shall not have dominion over you.
You need to reckon yourselves dead to sin.
The reality of Scripture is
without holiness, you don't see the Lord.
The reality is God is in the business
of transforming people
into the image of Jesus Christ.
And if that is not happening
in some stark, very real,
very recognizable fashion,
something is wrong.
Like I say, if something is wrong,
only Jesus can set it right.
Only He can heal this.
Only He is the doctor to do
the kind of surgery that's necessary
on the heart of people.
You go to Him. You go to Him.
You cry to Him. You look to Him.
Scripture says if you call upon the name of the Lord
you will be saved.
So you call. You call. You go there.
That is the only hope.
There is no other place to direct people.
I would give the Lord no rest
if you're in a position where you're uncertain.
And whether there's such things happening
in your life with regards to lukewarmness
and hardness and spiraling into sin
and just not really knowing
what it even means to worship the Lord
in the Spirit and glory in Jesus Christ
and to find all your hope there.
Give Him no rest.
Look, hell is real and once you're there,
it's permanent. It's done. It's over.
And you're devastated forever.
You're damned.
You're destroyed.
And there's no hope. Fire is real.
You wouldn't cast yourself into a bonfire.
Think of the lake of fire. It's real.
You're going to be cast in there.
You don't want to just play with your soul
as though it's some cheap little toy,
something easily squandered.
You don't want to do that.
You lose your soul - Jesus said,
what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
There's nothing.
You'll give everything in exchange for your soul.
There's nothing to hold on to
at the cost of your soul.
This sin that you think that you have to have?
You will curse yourself one day for holding on to it
if it costs you your soul
and you end up perishing.
Especially when you were so close.
If you perish after having sat
under the preaching
that you people have sat under,
what a horror in that!
Can you imagine?
It's one thing to end up in hell
and how devastating that is,
but can you imagine?
Can you imagine if you came this close?
It was like, wow, God put me in church
where they taught the truth
and I heard the truth
and I entertained the truth
and I saw it from the pages of Scripture
and I heard Christ proclaimed
and He was lifted up as the only hope.
And you know there were times
I even experienced some of that power of the Holy Spirit
and I felt convicted
and I came this close.
And there were times I was even reaching.
There were times I asked the Lord to save.
Oh, I look back now and I recognize
I wasn't totally committed to that.
I didn't totally want it.
I wasn't really being honest.
But there was some movements
and I was this close!
Can you imagine if you got that close
to the Treasure?
To touching the Treasure
and then you turned
and you chose your sin instead?
And you perished.
You will curse yourself forever.
You came that close.
And you will hear those words.
It is now going to be more tolerable
for Sodom than for you.
That's what Scripture says.
Oh Father, I pray that there would be
some serious dealings with You
by hopefully some of these young men
who have written will hear these things
and others like them.
Lord, I pray,
have compassion upon sinners.
We pray You'd bring revival to our land.
Bring a stirring.
Sweep people into Your kingdom.
Cause salvation to fall down from above.
We ask it in Christ's name, Amen.