saved or deceived?

Lots of "church people" don't have a testimony after a childhood memory. Is that because they may not have a living relationship with Christ today?

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Saved or Deceived

Spoken by Jack McCarty

 Hebrews 13:3, says, "Remember the prisoners as if you were tied with them in their cell." And also remember those who were being mistreated as if you were being mistreated.” So that’s what we're trying to do since I've been involved in the system for four years, I was a chaplain at the Clements unit. For a couple of years. I've seen what's going on, and I care. I'm retired now, I'm not allowed right now to come in. We got to finish the paperwork. But I just say that you're still on our hearts. 

Something about remembering, it's more than just a passing thought here and there. It's as, as if I could see you right here and look you in the eye. And I know you're lonely. I know, you probably don't eat your favorite food. You're told when to get up, you're told when to go to bed, you really would like to kind of go to church. But there's not enough officers and they keep canceling, especially on weekends. Those of you who have already come to Christ, but you’re still hungering and thirsting, you still want more of God. You know, that's really what I feel impressed to take care of. I really care about the lost, trying to take care of people who don't know Jesus, I care about people who aren't familiar with the Word. But I'm bound by that scripture that says, We're supposed to “equip the saints for the work of the ministry”. And that's my vision. And so I can only reach so many. If I can reach a couple of dozen of you guys. And you guys can eat reach a few and train them to reach a few and train them to reach a few and train them to reach a few. This will be an explosion of the Gospel, in the prison system. 

And also for your families. As you start to live Godly lives, it will bring good influence and godliness to your family. Well, I care about your family too. God cares about your family, And he's put it on my heart. I'd like to say that.

Jesus was talking to a crowd and He said, if any man's thirsty, let him come to me. And then it was also prophesied early that Jesus would feel the hungry with good things, But the rich (the satisfied), he'd send away empty. Well, I'm trying to talk to you hungry guys. I'm trying to talk to you spiritually thirsty guys. Because I've been walking with Jesus for over 51 years now, And I still need him just as bad today as I ever did. 

You know, in Colossians, two, verse six, it says, “as you therefore have received Christ, Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,” it takes the same kind of dependence today, to walk with Jesus as it did the day when I fell before him, knowing that he and I were separated. And it was my fault. I had to do whatever it took to change that situation. As I cried out, he answered my prayer and saved me. Not because I deserved it, not because I tried so hard, but because, I had been a sinner. I'd been involved in the occult. I'd been working on the opposite side, so to speak. But Jesus reached out and through a preacher friend showed me He didn't want me doing seances. He didn't want me involved in other occultic activities. And then, first of all, I had to realize God didn't like that. God didn't like what I was doing. And I was a part of it. And I was separated from God and I couldn't stand it. I saw God was holy. I saw He was unbending, and I knew that I needed Him. So I cried out to Him. And He saved me. Not just because I cried out to Him, but because He wanted to, and He loved me.

I had a choice of a kind and I surrendered. 

Well, you know, today I need Jesus as bad as I did then. Not because of my lifestyle is still so twisted, but I’m sure not perfect. And I sin. Every once in a while I have to come back to God. And I have to repent and say, you know, Lord, my way of doing things just wasn't good enough. I still need you. And I'm so sorry. 

And I've hurt God's feelings. You know, kids can understand hurt feelings. They may not understand your hermeneutics and your eschatology, theology, all those big words, but they understand hurt and that God has feelings. Then, when they understood that they hurt God's feelings, and that they see it for themselves, and, and God doesn't like it. When kids know they're separated from God then they can come. 

Last weekend, I had the privilege of baptizing my nine year old grandson. Well, we had a talk first, we made sure that he wasn't doing it just because everybody else was doing it. It wouldn't do that just because a Sunday school teacher told him he needed to, but he was doing it because he knew he had sinned and it needed to be forgiven. 

Lucas wanted obey God, he wanted to be baptized. So he followed through with believers’ baptism. That brings a great joy to my heart! Not to be so much the instrument of baptism, but to see my children walking in the truth, and my children bringing their children before God, teaching them to do the same thing. JOHN, the elder made the comment, “I have no greater joy, than to know my children walk in the truth..” 

We're going to talk about that a little bit. today. We're gonna’ talk about what it takes to work with Jesus, even in adversity, even the hard times, like you're going through, and these wicked days that we live in. But the first thing we can do as we go from spiritual infancy, toward multiplicative and fruitful maturity, as we go along that journey, the first thing we HAVE TO KNOW is, are you really saved? 

Are you really saved? Now, in Mark chapter four, there's a story about a guy who planted great seed, and some seed fell and didn't do anything because the enemy came along and picked it up before it had a chance to take root. And some seed grew up in thorny ground, where you're just too much going on. They just didn't have time. They were too busy, and the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, that kind of stuff, robbed the Word, and it never really bore fruit. And then there's another kind of soil person, who, immediately, kind of like an emotional experience that just popped up!, Oh, man, this is great!! But then when things got tough and persecution, because of the Word came along, like the heat scorched it, and it died. It didn't make it. And then there's the fourth guy, good soil, bore fruit, even in adversity. That's what we have to do. 

I heard that a great evangelist said that of all the hundreds, maybe 1000s of people that have come forward to accept Christ, He didn't think but about 25% of them were real. Well, 25% being real is better than not trying, I'm telling you for sure! But, you know, after I'd been in the ministry, a long time, and I'd seen a lot of people, quote, “come to Christ”. And I've been, you know, a “very Evangelistic man. Back then, I had a nickname of the Hitman, because it seemed like I could lead people to Jesus that other people couldn't talk to. And I attributed that to the power of God and I'm hoping it was really the power of God. Honest, I hope it was. But you know, as I look back after 40 some odd years of leading 400, maybe 500 people, up to 60 at a time responding to invitations and one-on-one encounters too. 

After all those years and all those numbers, I looked back and said, “Where are they now? Where are they now?” And, there's probably a couple of dozen still hanging in there. Just very few of them actually contributing to the Kingdom and making disciples. 

I realized that God said He's honored when we bear much fruit, and that our “fruit would remain”. And that's in John chapter 15. And I couldn't tell you that the fruit being the people that I had “brought to Christ,” were still hanging on, that they “remained.”

 So it made me question everything. I questioned, what I had believed.  What I believe I needed to practice. Since those hard examination days, I really believe the Lord has instructed me. 

Now then, the first thing I want to say is, I need God as bad today, as I ever have in my whole life. “As you therefore have received Christ, so walk in him” Colossians, two, six. So we need him today. And if you need him today, then this broadcast is for you. If all you want to do is argue, you can write my letter, I can't guarantee I'll answer it. But if you're hungry and thirsty, right now, I want to help you all I can. I mean, that's what I'm here for.  I believe we can seek God together, begging the Lord. And I'm sitting there in my heart, I'm sitting there in the cell next to you saying, “Come on, guys. Let's be reconciled to God. You know, come on, let's go to Jesus with this!” We can go to Jesus and say, Oh, God, this guy needs help!” Look, guys, I regard you as brothers in the faith, co equals I mean, the ground is level at the cross. I’m not any more holy than you could be if you're in Christ, and Christ is in you. 

The main thing is, I have a co mission from God, to say, “Come on, let's be reconciled to God”. If you and God are apart, you gotta know, the very first thing, are you saved? Are you really saved?

 Hey, let’s read some passages together. And we're going to examine ourselves. 

First John Two verse 26, says, “I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you”, John was writing these Christian people because there are those trying to deceive us. 

I want to identify three sources of where that deception comes from. 

1.Jeremiah 17:9 and 10 says, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and desperately sick. Who can understand it? I the LORD examine the mind, I test the heart, to give each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.” Here we see that the heart our own heart can deceive us. In Proverbs 16:2, it says, “All a man's ways seem right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the motives.” When we're trying to justify ourselves, eventually we can. But if we can't answer with a Scriptural answer, if we can answer without trusting, and believing and depending on God, then it is just baloney! It'll all burn in the fire when God tests our work someday. The Bible says all a man's ways seem right in his own eyes. It's not like he thinks he's doing wrong. His heart thinks he's doing right. It's what he wants to do. But the Lord weighs our motives so our hearts can deceive us. Romans 10:10 says, “with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness.” We know that to do the work of God, to do anything worthwhile, it requires faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please him and with the heart one believes resulting in a right relationship with God. But our heart can deceive us.

We can't trust our heart. You know, there's a thought going around these days that “Just do what's in your heart, trust your heart. 

2.  John 1:7 says, “Many deceivers have gone out into the world.” The world system, the way the world thinks, the world under the influence of the enemy, under the influence of the flesh, under the influence of our own evil hearts, so we can't trust our own heart. We sure can't trust what the entertainment industry wants us to believe. We can't trust anything that is going to profit anybody but the glory of God. 

3.  Revelation 20, verse 10, says, The devil who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur.The deceiver. Satan himself, the father of lies. 

The Scripture says, our hearts deceive us, the world system deceives us and the devil deceives us

We have allowed the world system to infiltrate our churches, and our religion doesn't need God anymore, because we got it all figured out. Now a lot of times religion bases their success on people and on money. Like how many have you got in the Pew? How many you got tuned into your broadcast? How many you members you got in class? How many hands were raised? We ask if anybody made a decision for Christ. We need people. And we need money. So if we got plenty of people, and plenty of money, we really don't need God, right? Wrong. Our success is measured by what God looks at in our hearts. And he judges us by our hearts not appearances. 

Ephesians 2:eight and nine. “For you're saved by grace through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It is God's gift, not from works, so that no one can boast.” When it says this is not from yourself, but God's gift, then we can’t earn it. And nothing we can do to make God give us eternal life. We can argue with him all we want to but he's the Judge. And God knows that our hearts aren't pure. He knows that we've got ulterior motives. He knows that we're trying to seek the approval of men over the approval of God. 

We might say, well, I went forward during a meeting, and I cried, and I had some emotions and, and they prayed with me and I got to feeling a whole lot better. Well, if God didn't touch you, and if God didn't change you, you're not saved. You might say, “well, I asked Jesus into my heart.” My question is, did Jesus come in? Did Jesus really come into your heart? It's not based on me asking Jesus into my heart. It's based on Jesus dying for me, and touching me and receiving me to Himself. You know, it's not about a simple magic prayer. Somebody else might say, well, I prayed “the sinners prayer” with the Sunday school teacher, or maybe with my preacher, or maybe during a revival meeting, but I prayed that “Sinner’s Prayer.” Well, God knows, if the heart really changed. God knows if you were really sincere. 

God knows if He was involved or not. Because it's not about ourselves. It's God's gift. God has to be involved. God has to make the difference. It's not us doing something, which is called works. It's not us doing something that gets Jesus into our heart. I can hear all the religious wheels turning right now in your heads and I wish I could just calm it down. 

So it's all about Jesus. God working in our hearts, God giving us a chance. God giving us an opportunity to come to Him, God drawing us. You know, you've got to be drawn by God. God has to work. You have to be convicted of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. God has to do the work. He does the hard part. I mean, we're dead in trespasses and sins before God goes to waking us. God has to be the one waking us. But if you're hungry and thirsty, then God's probably working on you. Because when God's working on you, there's a discontentment. It's like a stirring of the nest. There's no peace anywhere else, but in the Blood of the Cross, which was given for you, given for me. 

First Corinthians 13:5. And this is one of the razor sharpest verses in the Bible to me. Second Corinthians 13:5 says, “test yourselves to see if you're in the Faith. Examine yourselves, or you do not recognize for yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you. Unless you fail the test.” People may say, I don't need to question my salvation. There's a lot of verses that say we do need to make our calling and election sure, to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. That never  means we deserve it, we're never going to be able to deserve it. But it gives us the opportunity to receive it, and it gives us the power to receive it. But we have to test ourselves to see if we're in the faith. Examine yourself, Or do you not recognize for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you fail the test. 

First John 5:13 says, “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. Well, it's got to be more than an intellectual knowing. It's got to be more than an emotional stirring. It's deeper than your own “know how”, or your “feel like.” It's deeper. It's the kind of root inside of us, that changes our behavior that changes our love that changes what we like and what we don't like. And John said, I've written these things to you who believe in the name of a name of the Son of God. So you may know that you have eternal life, you can know you have eternal life. I know some religions, even Christian branches, say wrongly “You just got to keep trying and doing your best and, and see how it comes out in the end. No, that's wrong. Jesus said, we can know that we have eternal life. 

Now let's talk about the word “believe.” The Scripture is full of “believe God” or ‘believe this and have faith enough.” Or some might say “I believe in God, so It's okay”. But it's not just an intellectual “Oh, I think so.” The devil knows God's in charge. The Bible says even the demons know, but they tremble. The devil has a level of faith. But it's not the right level of faith that saves. He knows. But the devil doesn't surrender. He doesn't put his trust in God. He's not surrendered to do what God says no matter what. The commitment to obey God no matter whether grandma likes it, or no matter who doesn't like it. Now it doesn't matter whether your cellie likes it or not. The only thing that matters is what does God say? That we need to know. That you can know Colossians 1:27 says God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of his mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory. Hebrews 12:6 “for the Lord disciplines those He loves and punishes everyone whom He receives, If you endure His discipline, God is dealing with you as sons. For what sin what son is there whom a father does not discipline, but if you are without discipline which all receive then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  verse 11 And no discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 

How often do we hear “I'm glad I went to prison where God got my attention!” Well, that's part of it.

Romans 8:16, “the Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit, that we are God's children. So the one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe has not the testimony but has made God a liar, because he's not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. And this is the testimony. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. It's not in religion. It's not in trying and doing better and social reform. This life is in his son Verse 12, the one who has the Son has life. The one who doesn't have the Son of God does not have life. There's going to be a lot of good people in hell, that lived a socially acceptable life without Jesus!

 Romans 14:8. “If we live, we live to the Lord and if we die, we die it to the Lord. Therefore whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Christ died and came to life for this, that he might rule over both the dead and the living.” You can't say in your heart, Jesus is Lord unless you're willing for Jesus to rule over you. And that's what it requires, that kind of surrender. 

Jesus is Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. He's not your Savior. He's your Lord, that he might rule over both the dead and the living. Matthew 28:18 says that all authority has been given to him in heaven and earth, and when we make those disciples will baptize them, will teach them to observe everything that he has commanded us. And remember, I'm with you.”

 He's still with us. He has to be with us. When we get saved, he has to be the controlling partner and all of our transactions. He's the one who has to initiate or it's dead works. Anything we do for God, because we think it's a good idea is just dead works.  

Second Corinthians 5:20. “We are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us. So we might become the righteousness of God in him.” You can come to God today, but it's only on God's terms. Scripture says you'll seek for him and you'll find him When you seek for Him with all your hearts.” It’s got to be sincere. It's got to be wholehearted, no strings attached. He's Lord, or he's not

 Father, in Jesus name, we surrender this Word to You, and may you touch people's hearts.  May You make the difference. Father, we know you feed the hungry with good things, and the satisfied the rich You send away empty. So Father, may you stir in the hearts of those who hear this broadcast, and cause them to seek You to receive that testimony in themselves, whereby the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit, that we are the sons of God. I don't have a right to give these guys any kind of assurance other than what you're speaking in their heart because you have to speak in their heart, or it's really no good. It's not intellectual. It's not emotional. It's not just “grit your teeth and bear it” and Boy! We're gonna live for Jesus! No. It's about receiving Him, being dependent on Him. And in Him. Lord, Jesus, we just thank You for all You’re doing in these people’s hearts.