Bruce Collins, Evangelist

The personal website of Bruce Collins

A Solemn Warning

    
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV)

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'(Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV)

The Great Awakening
Recently I heard of a website where the preacher apparently preaches the Gospel that has 500,000 people visiting it every day.  I hear of crusades where thousands attend and make “decisions for Christ.”  I listen to radio preachers who tell us how many are coming to Christ in their churches and through their ministry over radio and TV.  I hear of Christian camps where hundreds of children make professions of faith.  I keep asking myself, “Who is left that needs to hear the Good News?  Who is left that is not saved or born again?”  And then I read the above Scriptures and I know something simply does not add up.  Who are the many in the above verses if everybody has heard the Gospel and has responded to it in simple trusting faith?  Why should I be concerned about my friends and neighbors and loved ones if everyone that preachers say have gotten saved, have really gotten saved?

The Many
Many is the word that concerns me.  When I talk to my friends, they seem to think that we are a Christian nation. A Christian nation would mean that many of the people are saved or born again.  A Christian nation would baptize those who are saved to show their identification with the risen Savior and to proclaim that they are enjoying a resurrected or new life in Christ, they would not baptize babies to make them children of God.  A Christian nation would not put profits before people. We are a nation that was founded on many Christian principles, but we are not a nation of born-again believers who know that they are going to heaven.  Most of the Christian denominations add to or subtract from the clear truth that only faith in Christ saves.  Most fail to clearly present the need of salvation before they present the solution.  Most fail to tell their people that believing about Christ does not save, it is believing in Christ that saves.  There needs to be repentance, that is a change of mind about whatever is hindering us from believing in Christ, before the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to the simple truth that Christ has finished the work that saves. Only then can we truly believe in or on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Things Don’t Add Up
There are a lot of things that just don’t add up for me currently.  Some of them have to do with the pandemic we are experiencing.  But the pandemic is not our biggest problem. Our biggest problem is having people and preachers tell God how to do His saving rather than having God tell us how to be saved.  Many preachers tell people that if they do certain things they are saved, and they try to give the assurance of salvation to people that only the Word of God can give. Thinking that “the many” are getting saved in this world doesn’t make scriptural sense to me.    I am worried that there are going to be a lot of surprises when we die or when the Lord comes.

Must
There is a four-letter word that is powerful in the Bible. That word is “must.”  One of those places that word is found is in John 3:7, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You MUST be born again.’”  Another is found in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we MUST be saved.”

You MUST.  It is an absolute necessity.  Please make sure that you are saved or born again.

Bruce Collins

Meditation for the week of April 19, 2020

1 Comment »

Comment by Jeff and Summer

April 22, 2020 @ 10:27 pm

Really enjoyed this meditation, Bruce! Keep up the good work.

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