Preface: This is a difficult post to bring back from time to time. I do so because I know too many people who are not believers.....which is their right.....and it is an intellectual and often well-thought-out decision of theirs....and like all of us....they love their children....but what they may not have come to grips with is that they are also making this decision for their children. They may say that their children can make any decision for themselves....and this is true....but they have greatly hindered the decision their children will make. It probably would not change anything....but they should at least acknowledge what they are doing. I also know too many believers whose children show no signs whatsoever of having been born again. They are most often wonderful young people....but the believing parents here too often do not even seem to have any concern. I would think that a believer's children would be in their prayers throughout each and every day....and the children would know it....know that their parents weep for them....and why. Are there exceptions to these two examples? Of course.....multitudinous exceptions....parents who do weep every night over the state of their child's soul....I know parents like these....but it is not ours to support the misconceptions that other Christian parents may have. At the very least also they should admit that they are not sure if their children are true believers....redeemed....or not. Every pastor should make sure that the sheep who are their responsibility are aware of this issue....the state of the eternal soul of their children. I came across a different type of sermon that Charles Spurgeon once gave....and posted on it about a month ago. It was called....Going Home, A Christmas Sermon....and you can easily Google it if you so desire.
There is a hell....and there is a judgment. In years and millennia past....that judgment could easily be looked at as years and even many decades away....providing one were to live long enough....but no longer....for Jesus Christ and His mighty angels are right at the door....and Donald Trump or Joe Biden or communism or the second amendment or even the first amendment do not even enter into this at all. If you or I have a loved one or a friend....and their eyes have never lit up at the mention of Jesus....and they do not love God's Word to them.....and they do not seem to be overly concerned about the souls of even their own loved ones....and if they obviously have much more interest in their children or anything in life....over what is in God's Word to us.....even that which speaks of the very souls of our children they profess to love....then there is something wrong.....horribly wrong. We talk in politics today on our side how we do not stand up for what is right....well this failure is even more obvious concerning the gospel of salvation....and eternally more important. One must be born again....and not just a churchgoer.....not just one who will check off 'Christian' on some application or other! One must not necessarily know what being born again means....but it still must happen anyways. To not admit this....nor to preach this....nor warn of this....nor examine oneself in light of the preaching and warnings that might be there....is neither acceptable according to what God's Word tells us....nor therefore effectual in one's own salvation.
If two born again believers are together....one conceivably might ask the other out of general and loving concern...."How many of your immediate family members are saved?" And the other might respond with something like this...."One that I'm sure of.....that's all." Now....either one of those born again believers when in the presence of family would avoid that question at all costs....because they know that all of them....every one of them....thinks that everything will be all right when they die....whereas in reality there may be only one who might even understand the gospel let alone trust in it. That is America folks....and if we upset that apple cart....then we will pay for it in the family....or with friendships.....but if we cannot address this now....or at least acknowledge it....when the only cost might be a dressing down by a family member....or shunning.....how will we be able to deal with what is ahead....real persecution? It is a difficult situation.....for you love these people....and you know that they are headed to the place of...."weeping and gnashing of teeth"....along with their children! Yeah....it's tough all right. I heard of one guy who started a political blog.....to get their attention.....then slipped in posts like this! The following....Keep This Dream In Mind....was first posted in June of 2018:
The equation works with any family member that one might choose. Let's see....I'll go with father. Here's the situation....you were raised in a loving household and provided with everything that you need....your father was there for you to put food on the table....to answer your questions....to help in sports....everything! You grew up....uh....let's say that you are around 30 years old right now....and then let's continue on from there....
A strange and fantastical thing happens to you! Through whatever means....you come to be born again....you see your sin and you see where not only yourself but all men are going unless something is done about it....and you see that something was done about it....it happened at the cross on Calvary and in an empty tomb about two thousand years ago. For some reason the very words in the Bible that you may have read or heard many times over the years all of a sudden passed through your thick skull. Now momentarily....maybe even longer....maybe even for a few years....you were so overwhelmed with joy that you didn't feel it necessary to contemplate anything else but your own blessed salvation. Now that would indeed be too long but it happened and now you are starting to realize some other realities....let's go on from there....
This father who provided so lovingly for you for so many years and who without him....who knows where you would be today....what about him? Let's go over some possibilities....one....you get two free passes when when you become a Christian so you can give them to you mother and father! No...that's not it. Hmmm! Two....you have watched your father for thirty some years now and if anyone knows him it is you.....and since you know him and how nice and hard working and caring that he is....then God....who is so much more knowing than you....must certainly know this also....and therefore your father will wind up in heaven....even though he has never mentioned the name of Jesus....exhibited any outward love of the gospel or of God.....nor have you ever seen him just sit down to read the Bible....or even mention the Bible? You know the answer to this as well....it's not an answer that you want....so you keep it as far back in your mind as is possible....and simply never let it see the light of day. You do this because you love your father so much....or so you tell yourself. Let's go on from there.....
You finally come to the point that all Christians should come to sooner or later. You look at this loved one....or these loved ones....and you face the fact that they too must be born again also....they too need Christ....there is no other way....or they will go to....hmm....I'm not sure that one can say that word in America anymore? There are all kinds of things that we cannot say in America anymore. Let me see if I can sneak this past the censors....if your father....or any family member that you love....never becomes born again....then...."there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." That's all that you should need to know....that your loved one....father/mother/son/daughter/anyone will weep and gnash their teeth when they stand before the glory of God and are judged.
Now I could describe this in other words than 'born again' but a century of easy-believism made these other phrases utterly ineffective....one example might be.....'unless they became a Christian'....but that's not nearly specific enough....or....'unless they have a personal relationship with Christ'....but that sounds more like getting saved from boredom than from you know where....or I could just say....'unless they believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior'.....that's absolutely true but so incomplete and easy to say that pretty near everyone uses it today....if asked....for they would never volunteer it. Folks....you do not have to use the words 'born again' but if you understand the enormity of what one soul regenerated is then you would never let your loved ones rely upon anything less!
I'll get very personal here for a minute. I loved my father. He passed away in November of 1979. I was lost in my sins at the time and therefore utterly useless to him in the matters of his eternal soul. I visit his grave site occasionally.....he's buried in Arlington National Cemetery....and I walk away more determined than ever to pray for those family members that I love....who mistakenly believe that an amiable personality is enough to enter God's eternal rest....but discipleship comes with a cost. The very least of this cost is that you may become a persona non grata on occasion....because you care more for the soul of your loved ones than their approval.
So consider this....a dream maybe....you are lost....hanging by a thread over you know where....and that thread begins to unravel.....a Christian passes by.....you always gave him the impression that you were a Christian even though you didn't even have the slightest idea what that really was...."tell me about Jesus Christ" you plead.....but he cannot hear....."tell me the gospel of salvation!"....you look up and the thread continues to unravel...."what must I do to be saved" you shout....but no one responds....because they are not listening....they 'love' you but just assumed that you are safe....for you go to church.....the thread then breaks and you fall....it gets colder and colder.....the evil all around you makes your skin crawl....you shout....."Nooooo!"....and then you wake up. Now the next time that you think about loved ones....remember this dream....and see if you can so easily avoid the issue because you just....assumed....that they are not lost and hanging by a thread....when if you are honest then you must admit that they never gave evidence to the contrary....and you never even looked for any evidence anyway.
