Are you saved? Is that the Greatest question or are you Lost is that an even greater question? If you are saved or lost the issue is, you are either saved or lost but not both. If you are not saved then you are lost. If you are saved then you are not lost. What is your response to these two familiar questions?

It is common to resent these questions and feel it is none of anyone’s business. Please, let me intrude so that it may become clear about what it really means to be saved and the full meaning of being Lost. To be saved: From what? To be lost: How? You may say, well, I’ve been born into the world and I had nothing to do with it, I was just born, and here am I. All of a sudden, I’m supposed to be lost. If I am truly lost, it stands to reason that I need to be rescued or found or as some say…Saved! Just what does it mean to be lost and then saved? The very sound of the word lost is haunting and seems to cast a dark cloud of helplessness above me where demons live and shower down cursing, damnation, penalties, and judgment.

You may inquire, why should I think this kind of judgment will be poured out on me? I haven’t done enough bad to be eternally judged or doomed by demons, God, or anyone else. You may even consider that perhaps, this kind of judgment belongs to the vilest criminals, but certainly not to you. After all, you haven’t been THAT bad. Most certainly, you haven’t been so bad that you deserve to be eternally judged and condemned to Hell forever! You may even think this kind of information is wrong, I don’t want to hear it, it’s personal, and it may belong to someone else but it certainly does not belong to me…get the hell away from me! It makes me feel funny to hear this kind of stuff. These are the exact words conferred by one of my scoffing, unbelieving, cousins when I attempted to discuss the gospel and his interest in spiritual matters.

I will not attempt to persuade you with cunning stories or mystical fables, I will be honest with you. I understand those who are persuaded beyond their will are of the same opinion still. The question to you is…. is your opinion, fixed, concretized, and firm regarding spiritual matters and the eternal destiny of your soul?  You have the power, right, and authority to turn the page, to close the book, to turn away, now, and for the remainder of your temporal life. I ask you, and no one else, for a few minutes, to stop, look and listen to arresting events, and personal encounters, that may sound a clarion call for YOU to look beyond present circumstances, events, and people, where you are and where you may be going and then to consider an issue that may open your eyes to something you don’t know about and have never truly seen before. Let’s pretend, all of a sudden, to your shock, dismay and absolute surprise, something unanticipated happens to you! In a flash, in a scant moment of time, everything goes blank and you can no longer breathe, your heart stops beating and you are in a suspended state that you never dreamed of and never thought possible. You are too busy and overwhelmed to think that all of a sudden you are no longer alive!

The appointment you had will not be kept by you, and the kids or parents will see you no more…you are gone. But, but… but you still have a strange sense of awareness and are approaching a strange and unknown state. You see that eternity lies before you and the reality of it is clear. This is you in eternity… what happens now? Suddenly, you are face to face with a most amazing and powerful being… you don’t know who this person is… you only know that this being is beyond anything or anyone you have ever contemplated. Something is in his hand. It is a book and you can see some of the lettering; beautiful lettering in translucent gold. As you are drawn closer the lettering stands out with glistening clarity. It’s the book of life! You are told to sit down and as you sit; the book is passed to you.

The book has two sections. The first section is encrypted with the words, “THE BOOK OF LIFE.” The second section is emblazoned with black onyx outlined with lettering that appeared to be shaped with intense heat. The title of this amazing book was, “THE BOOK OF THE DAMNED.” Anxious to see if your name is in the first book, the book of life, you thumb through its pages looking for your name. You quickly page through to where your name would be and to your terror… it is not there.  Just to be sure, you page through the second book and see the names of an untold number of people who are damned to eternal torment in the lake of fire. You see a notation, that reads, your name was originally in the book of life but at your death, it was blotted out.

You frantically approach the Angelic messenger, standing in front of the entrance into Heaven, and hope there was an oversight or a mistake. You ask, “why was my name first in the book of life and then blotted out? Who has the right to do such an unfair and unthinkable thing?”   

The stern and clear answer from the Angelic messenger was… “while you were alive you had the opportunity to have eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ, but you ignored and scoffed at this gracious offer. You felt the offer was not for you and that you were not able to live the kind of life that merited eternal life. Remember?” You did remember and could not deny the veracity of these statements. You did not realize that at every rejection or delay you only had an allotted amount of time left to live on planet earth. Somehow, you were able to recall every incident in which you heard a message about eternal life being in and from Jesus Christ. You saw clearly that you delayed, scoffed, and did not have the time to interrupt your busy life with these imposing spiritual matters. After all, you were in time and these matters told of things eternal. You thought about it but all of these spiritual matters were for a future time when you were old enough to settle down and perhaps at an appointed time world consider what was required for you to have eternal life and live forever in Heaven. It is clear, you are standing before this Angelic messenger and it is irrefutable, you had plenty of opportunity to receive the gift of eternal life that is in the person of the book and that person of the book is Jesus Christ the righteous Judge of all the earth. You see that now! You know you had every opportunity to read about God’s plan of salvation but you had your mind on other matters that you chose to be superior and much more important than learning about the only true way to Heaven.

You did not seek the truth that is outlined in this great book of life. You stood at the crossroads and looked but you stood there and shuffled your feet and did nothing!” The ANGELIC MESSENGER stepped forward, opened a bible, and turned to a book called Jeremiah. He read from Chapter 6:16-17. I shuddered as I heard the words from this book that pierced my soul with truth and eternal reality. “Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk therein, and YOU shall find rest for your soul.” But you said, you will not walk therein. Jeremiah said in response to you. I will set watchmen over you saying, Harken to the sound of the trumpet. But you said, I will not harken. Therefore, the fruit of your thoughts will cause evil to be poured out upon you. You are not in the book of life and are in the book of the damned because you made wrong choices and rejected right choices that would have brought you eternal life to be lived in the presence of the King of All Glory, even the only Savior of mankind … Jesus Christ the righteous judge, the only way to eternal life and fellowship with the people of God forever.

Stand up please and you will see two openings. I will lead you to the door that you are to walk through. The first door is the only door to Heaven. You cannot enter through this door! As you can see it is blocked by Angelic Messengers that permit entrance only to those who are recorded in the Lambs book of life. As you saw, your name was not there, it was blotted out of the book of life and recorded in the book of the damned. Why? Because you did not reach out by faith and receive the gift of life that was offered so graciously to you. There are no mistakes here and besides, until your last breath, you were observed by two Guardian Angels who were eyewitnesses of your every opportunity and all of your rejections. You delayed, denied, scoffed, and did not seek the truth. You failed to exercise faith and trust in the only Savior Jesus Christ who resides just beyond the entrance and past those Angels who guard heaven’s open door.

It saddens me to direct you to the left pathway that leads into damnation. I could have been leading you to the right pathway that leads into heaven and that would have been my joy but you delayed, deferred, and rejected what you could have accepted and received. The gift of eternal life was clearly offered in Ephesians 2:8-9, let me read it for you as we must be moving along…. “For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works lest anyone should boast.” And as warned in Revelation 21: 27, only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life may enter Heaven. THEREFORE, DEPART AND ENTER INTO DAMNATION THAT WILL NEVER IMPROVE OR DIMINISH. For the wages of sin is death, that is eternal damnation and separation from God in the LAKE OF FIRE, FOREVER AND EVER!  It did not need to be this way as the Gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You could have called on him to save your eternal soul but you did not and you now must join the many who were blind, naked, without God, and now without hope as their eternal destiny is sealed by a scoffing and hardened soul of rejection and unbelief. There is no escape as you were warned by Hebrews 2:3, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which was spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ and was confirmed by them that heard him.” Many have heard this message of eternal life and many have rejected it, therefore there is no life offered for them, only eternal damnation and punishment. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Why so fearful? I will read the reason… here, it is clearly stated in Hebrews 10:29, 30. “Of How much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace? For we know him who hath said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says THE Lord and again the Lord shall Judge his people.”

As the door to the entrance of the damned slowly opens, you scream to the accompanying Angelic Messenger. Please, please, let me go back and reconsider all of my unbelief and I promise I will change. I am so sad, my dear one! Decisions of choice were designed for time and are not for eternity. Your final destiny is sealed and I have no authority or ability to change it! The choosing and acceptance of God’s truth were offered to you in the time of your ability to choose and your final rejection has sealed your fate. The desperate pleading retort stopped when it was realized that eternity in Hell was waiting and nothing could change it!  If nothing can change, I Have a final request! Will you please send someone to give this message of life offered by Jesus Christ to my brothers, sisters, and close friends?

They must hear for themselves and God’s word is true and faithful and declares they that seek shall find and to those who knock it shall be opened to them. The God of all creation is abundantly fair. He is true and faithful in rendering judgment that is meted with justice. It is impossible for him to be unfair or to make an inequitable or wrong decision. He is the righteous judge of all creation and no one will be condemned without having the opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as Savior. His sacrificial death on the cross, his burial, and resurrection will not be in vain… it is effective and efficacious for those who place their personal faith in him. Jesus is now seated on His eternal throne and all of his work to provide full salvation is completely finished. One only needs to stop, look and listen to his eternal message… “come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.

The angelic messenger expressed his final words to this departed and doomed individual who choose not to look up and see Christ as the only way to heaven and then to accept him as a free gift unfettered by human works and abilities. You did not come to him when the opportunity was available. You were never guaranteed even a single day, here is in writing, Proverbs 27:1 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Now you must go to the place of torment which is prepared for the Devil and his fallen ones… now you must join in as a member of the fallen and doomed. I am saddened, my dear fallen one, your destiny is sealed and there is no escape. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard them.” Hebrews 2:3.   

For anyone who has concerns as to how you should look at this terrible and fixed circumstance, I suggest you open your mind, lift up your eyes and embrace him by faith while he may be found. “Call on him and he will answer thee and show you great and might things, which you know not.” Jeremiah 33:3. “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near, let the wicked forsake his way, let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him, and to our God for he will abundantly Pardon.” Isaiah 55:6,7.

Every thought you have and every tremor that quivers in your soul, he knows and is just waiting for you to come alive with faith/trust and place all of it in him. If you have placed your faith in him, it is the only thing that can be done to appropriate salvation. “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” I Timothy 2:5. There are no options, you must come to him who is the exclusive and only giver of life. If you choose to come to him, that’s your part, he will give you eternal life, that’s his part.

The life he gives is eternal and can only be possessed by the merit that is received the moment you place all of your faith in him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved! Acts 16:31, He that believeth on me shall have everlasting life, eternally…forever! Find a quiet place and know he will hear you. It is impossible that he could not hear you… he is near, He is God and your voice and heart are not too far from his loving heart and ability to save your eternal soul. “But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” John 1:12