8 BOCNEWS.com APRIL 2018 1. Snoop Dogg Presents - Bible Of Love 2. Brooklyn Tabernacle - I Am Reminded 3. Jonathan Mcreynolds - Makeroom 4. Jekalyn Carr - One Nation Under God 5. Casting Crowns - Glorious Day 6. Mercy Me - I Can Only Imagine 7. Michael W. Smith - Surrounded 8. Joe Pace Presents - Shiloh Kids 9. Marvin Sapp - Close 10 Wow Gospel 2018 Are You Truly Saved? The Lord Almighty teaches that in the very last days, religious deception will be leading MANY who claim to be "BORN AGAIN," down the broad road of unrighteousness, while the Words of Jesus Christ are being watered down to the point of no return. Modern day inspirational sermons are being sprinkled with only a few Bible verses while the good old FIRE and BRIMSTONE message is being elimi- nated. New believers who are listening to these popular sermons are under the false impression that this is the true gospel of grace. What they don"t realize is that they are only hearing the part about God's blessings, but not about His judgement and wrath. Today, if the apostle Peter were to get up from behind the pulpit of a large 10K congregate church to preach, 90% of the people would clear out. We all wrestle with the sinful nature. Greed, pride, anger, unforgivness, jealousy, sexual immorality, lust..... Unfortunately, this lost generation, that has rejected Jesus Christ, has also rejected the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, allowing the sinful lusts of the flesh to escalate out of control. This sinful nature finds itself down the wide and popular road of idolatry filled will all kinds of entertainment, which promotes SELF MOTIVATION and the desire to FEEL GOOD, espe- cially through sex, drugs, and money. That popular road is loaded with all of the famous entertainers, rock bands, musicians, actors, movie and sports stars, who according to the standard's of this lost world, have accomplished many great things, all by their own power and might. "Who needs God" (Rom 1:18-32). When you combine that with a world filled with drugs and alcohol, you end up with a lethal com- bination know as destruction. One by one, after reality sets in, the rejected, divorced, abused and the addicted find their way into a local church, searching for help, healing, comfort, love, hope and answers. They will attend their first Sunday morning church service, finding them selves in tears. They will begin to FEEL BETTER as they leave with a temporary relief of a guilty conscience. Some will con- tinue going to church as they begin to experiencing a sensation of RELEIF, comfort, security and salvation. The pastor will preach that IF you will just put your trust in Him, and GIVE, He will restore your life and your finances. But, what most are not preaching is that IF you don't REPENT and TURN from the world and the deliberate life of sin, you will be eternally condemned (HEB 9:26-27). Now, Satan knows that most "Christians," being raised up, and into this modern day gospel will be an easy target. What does the Lord teach us? " This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the Word of God. Those along the path are the ones who HEAR and then the DEVIL comes and takes away the Word from their HEARTS, so that they may NOT believe and be saved" (Lk 8:11-12). The apostle Paul teaches in Romans 10:8, "That if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your HEART that God raised Him from the dead, you will be SAVED." "For it is with your HEART that you believe." Keep in mind, the hearts of most Christian's have been broken and deceived for years. How can they be sure that Jesus is TRULY in their hearts, and that they are not being easily deceived again? Think about the Christian divorce rate. At one time they THOUGHT that they were in love. They THOUGHT that they knew each other. But in reality, their hearts were deceived and falling in love with all the goodies but not with the long term relationship. What happened? Let's continue on with Luke 8:13. " Those on the ROCK are the ones who RECEIVE the Word with joy when they hear it but they have no root ( no solid Biblical foundation). They believe for a while, but in time of testing, they FALL AWAY." The apostle Paul teaches that all believers should examine themselves to MAKE SURE that they are truly in the faith and not deceived. "Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are HOLDING and SHOWING the proper FRUIT of it. Test and prove yourselves [not Christ]. Do you yourselves not realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increas- ing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you-unless you are [counterfeit] disap- proved on trial and rejected? (2Cor13:5 Amp). As we continue to read the Word, Jesus makes it crystals clear that there will be MANY, who claim to be Christians who have not yet come out from among the world filled with idolatry. They don't think they need to because they are not being TAUGHT TO. Instead of reading the Word, they are putting more trust and faith in popular preachers than they are in Jesus Christ. They are still basing their new found faith on a FEELING and self MOTIVATION instead of the true anointing of the Holy Spirit. Now, instead of being totally attract- ed to the worlds superstars just like they were before, they are now attract- ed to popular motivational and inspi- rational speaker's within the four walls of the main stream Christian church. In reality, nothing has changed. Where is their heart? So, how do we know if we are truly saved by the grace of God? What does Jesus teach? "You shall know them by their FRUIT" and their TEACHING, and not by their outward appearance of church growth, charisma, eloquent speech, education, apparent success or popular message. Jesus goes on to warn all "believers" that their will be "savage wolves" that will come in among them and will not spare the flock (Acts 20:29, 2 Pet 2:1-3). What does the apostle Paul have to say? "Now brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you RECEIVED and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, IF you hold firmly to the Word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain (1Co15:1-2. Gal 1:6-10, 2 Co11:1-15). We are saved by the precious grace of God. However, if we are "DELIBERATELY" abusing the grace, even after we have not only heard, but have "received" the truth by faith, we have fallen away without even realizing it ( Gal 1:6-10, Jude 3-4, HEB 6:4-5, 9:26-27-eternally condemned). How do we know that we are in the faith and that we are truly saved by God's grace? It appears that there is some other Jesus, some other gospel and some other spirit being taught out there today. How do you know which one is correct? Is it "OK" to shape God's Word around our lives, calling it the gospel and then profess to be saved? Popular demand has set forth a MINIMUM requirement for salvation. "As long as you BELIEVE in Jesus, you are saved." Remember what we talked about earlier? The HEART can be deceived. Satan believes in Jesus and he trembles (James 2:18). Do you truly believe in your heart? Let's find out! We know that we truly love the Lord, if we follow His teachings and com- mands ( John 14:15-23, 1John Ch's 1-2). Not saved by works! Only by faith in His grace (Eph 2:8-10). We know that we are truly saved if we are coming out from among the By Michael Forti END TIMES Continued on Page 11