“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)
But we do, don’t we? The frustrations that come into our lives, the nearly constant call of the flesh and its desires of the things of the world, watching as those you try to bring the truth to either simply ignore you or mock you, and for some persecute you in manners unspeakable.
If there was a preacher, a true man of God, sent to hell to give the good news, the crowd would be without measure, for they know the truth, but that truth is never going to set them free. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27)
This is what the lost will not accept as truth, they know they will have a final day here, that is not in question, though they believe it is far into the future. The truth they believe is that they have been good enough, that the balance, the scale, will tip in their favor, the good deeds will outweigh the bad. This is the foundation of every works-based religious organization, the good deeds are adherence to the traditions, rules and regulations and by-laws that they have enacted, and all those bad deeds can be absolved by fervently working more in those statutes.
Sadly, many Evangelical churches preach the same message, adherence to the Sunday morning meetings, giving from their financial wherewithal, behaving and even dressing in what they consider appropriate ways in public, never reprove, never rebuke or correct, and never judge. Follow these precepts and it proves their salvation.
Some know they are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but now they must do something, and that something is rarely obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit, but instead the constructs of what they think a Christian is to be. Polite at all times, a friend of sinners who continue unabated in their sins, inviting those who are spots and blemishes into their feasts with no regard to the Word of God. Never offend is the proof of their salvation, and so the truth is rarely if ever spoken, not in their assemblies nor by them to the lost they meet each day. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together is as far as they will go, they will love the brethren in their midst on Sunday morning, or at least those they like, but the lost are left to fend for themselves, or at best reported to an elder, deacon or pastor, asking them to go to speak to them about what they profess to know, about Him who they profess to love.
These love in the least amount possible, and most generally only for their own self-interests, attempting to save themselves from eternal damnation by works performed, not understanding fully that the work has already been completed.
The list is made, what the Lord Jesus Christ said, and a few Old Testament verses throw in for good measure, adhere to them, and their salvation is assured.
Hell is full of these people, but no preacher is coming to offer them any more truth.
