BACKSLIDING TO HELL by Mike Peralta (best books to read in your 20s txt) 📕

"My holy prophets lived holy lives, but you have rebelled against Me and My holiness. You have brought evil upon yourself. You have sinned and brought yourself into bondage to sickness and death. You have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled against Me. You have departed from My precepts and from My judgments. You have not hearkened to the words of My servants, the prophet and the prophetess. Curses instead of blessings have come upon you, and still you refuse to return to me and repent of your sins.

"If you will return and repent and if you will honor Me with the fruit of righteousness, I will bless your homes and honor your marriage beds. If you will humble yourselves and call upon Me, I will hear you and bless you.

"Listen, you ministers of My Holy Word. Do not teach My people to sin against their God. Remember that judgment begins at the house of God; unless you repent, I will remove you for the sins you have taught My people. Do you think that I am blind that I cannot see and deaf that I cannot hear?

"You who hold the truth in unrighteousness and line your pockets with silver and gold at the expense of the poor - repent, I say, before it is too late. On the day of judgment you will stand alone before Me to give an account of what you did with My Holy Word. If you call upon Me in repentance, I will remove the curse from your lands and bless you with a mighty blessing. If you will repent and be ashamed of your sins, I will have mercy and compassion on you, and I will not remember your sins anymore. Pray that you may be an overcomer.

"Awake to life and live. Repent to the people you have led astray and taught false doctrine. Tell them you have sinned and that you have scattered My sheep. Repent to them.

…"Again I tell you, do not defile the marriage bed. Do not defile the body in which the Holy Ghost dwells. Sins of the body lead to sins of the spirit. Keep the marriage bed holy. I made man for woman and woman for man and decreed that the two should be united in holy matrimony. Again, I say awake."

- End Of Baxter Excerpt

If you are a minister that has in the past promoted false doctrine - and as you can see in this book “Once Saved Always Saved” is one of those false doctrines - then take heed to what Jesus is telling you in this prophecy. If there is any sin in your life repent of that first before trying to figure out what all these scriptures about falling away really mean. Sin is very deceptive and if you are under its sway, then satan has a wide open door to keep deceiving you and enslaving you into his seductive doctrines.

Take special note of Jesus’ instructions in the above prophecy, “Awake to life and live. Repent to the people you have led astray and taught false doctrine. Tell them you have sinned and that you have scattered My sheep. Repent to them.”

And keep in mind that ministers and teachers of God’s word are judged much more strictly. As James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” Make very, very certain that what you teach regarding salvation and what you teach about falling away is in line with ALL of God’s Word. Pray earnestly to God that He correct you in those areas where you are wrong. Pray like you never have before. Study God’s Word like you never have before. And believe when God shows and reveals things to you about this subject. And again if there is any sin in your life - repent of it. Otherwise, satan is going to lead you into greater and greater deception. 

As you know, one's name must be found in the Book of Life at the Great White Throne Judgment, Revelations 20:11-15, if one is to escape the sentence of the lake of fire - which is the second death. The greater question though, for those who have received Christ in the past, and the question we will seek to answer in this chapter is: “Once one has been saved and his name has been recorded in the Book of Life, is it possible for his name to be erased or removed from the heavenly record?”

The overwhelming biblical evidence is that such a possibility does indeed exist. One scripture that bears considerable weight on this subject, is the message of the Lord Jesus Christ to the church of Sardis:

Revelation 3:5. “He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before his angels.”

The Lord's promise here is clearly conditional. If one is to avoid being "erased" from the "book of life," Jesus taught that it is imperative that he "overcomes." Scripture teaches that the true children of God are those that obey God and overcome the world, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world.”, 1 John 5:4a. Recall also 1 John 3:10a, “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God.”

The context of Jesus' words to the church of Sardis as well as a host of other passages prove the fact that not all believers, by their own choice, automatically and inevitably overcome. The church of Sardis was filled with many compromisers, Revelations 3:1-3, but only a few overcomers, Revelations 3:4. The Lord's glorious promise not to erase the overcomers names from the book of life to those in Sardis, also served as a solemn warning to the compromisers in Sardis. Jesus warned the backsliders - those who deliberately kept on sinning - in Sardis who had at one time "received and heard," that they needed to take His warning seriously and repent or else He would come upon them "like a thief" and it would be too late:

“Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.” Revelations 3:3.

Here we see that Jesus does not promise the compromisers in Sardis that He will not erase their names. Rather He warns them that if they refuse to wake up He will return to them as a thief. Notice that this was a very serious warning. Recall how, Jesus often warned His disciples to be ready for His return, for He would come back as a thief to all who were not prepared to meet Him. This means that they may very well die in their unrepentant state without any chance of repentance to get right with God again - and such would be condemned to Hell, Matthew 24:42-51, Luke 12:35-48, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5, Revelations 3:3, Revelations 16:15.

One can confirm that Hell is indeed the judgment by recalling the scriptures that Jesus gave in the gospels when He spoke of returning “as a thief.” According to Jesus Himself, “returning as a thief” means sudden destruction and damnation. The relevant passage is in Matthew 24:42-44,48-51 where it states:

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. . But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, `My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place, in Hell, with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 24:42- 44,48-51.

Notice very carefully that those that Christ comes upon “like a thief” will be assigned a place in Hell, “He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place, in Hell, with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

A similiar passage is in Luke 12:35-48: Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so That when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?"

The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But suppose the servant says to himself, `My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. "That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”, Luke