Repentance

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Matthew 7:21-23 says, “ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

     As we get older, we seem to check the obituaries more and more just to see if some of our acquaintances have passed away.  I had a cousin who was about a month younger than myself.  We grew up together and had a lot of memories.  I had not heard from her for some time and so checked the obituaries of the local newspaper in La Porte, Indiana.  I went back a number of months and then found out that she had passed away and there was no one left to notify me of her passing.  As I read the obituaries, I find that many people have come to the conclusion that their departed loved on has gone to heaven.

     Going to heaven relies on one thing and many are going to find themselves at a judgment shere the Lord Jesus Christ will give them some startling news.  The above passage should be sent to every human being on the planet both church members and non church members.  It describes a scene in which those who assume thtt they are going to heaven will find themselves not  only not going to heaven, but going to eternal separation from God and suffering.  Peter made mention of the willingness of God in regard to salvat ion in First Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  God does not want anyone t o perish and so the plan of salvation has been given to us.   It  is simple and can be achieved by a child, yet many avoid it and endeavor to come up with their own way of salvation.  People live on earth any way they want and pay  no attention to God.  They avoid His instruction.  They ignore His Word.  They ignore His pleading and decide to just live they way they want and when a loved one dies, t hey cry out , “See you in heaven.”   They might also say, “ You will have no more suffering.”  People can come up with all kinds of ideas of what happens after death including reincarnation as someone else, or something else, or going to Nirvana, orgoing to play a harp while sitting on a cloud but they have totally ignored the willingness of God and to accept His way of salvation.  They are not sorry for their sin and have no thought of repentance.  So, the final words will be, “Depart from Me.  I never knew you.”  Praise God today that He is ready to save all who repent of their sin and call upon Him for salvation.