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The back door to hell?
Spurgeon,"A SERMON FROM A RUSH"
Better not to have known the way of righteousness
than, having known it, to be turned back again.
The worst of men are those traitors who leave
the army of truth to side with the foe.
I believe in the doctrine of the final perseverance of
every true child of God; but there are in all our churches
certain spurious pretenders who will not hold on their
way, who will blaze and sparkle for a season, and then
they will go out in darkness. They are "wandering stars,
for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."
Better far make no pretension of having come to Christ,
and of having been born again, unless through divine
grace you shall hold fast to the end.
Remember the back door to hell! Remember the back door
to hell!
There is a public entrance for the open sinner; but there
is a back door for the merely professed saint. There is
a back door for the hoary-headed professor, who has lived
many years in apparent sincerity, but who has been a liar
before God. There is a back door for the preacher who can
talk fast and loudly, but who does not in his own heart
know the truth he is preaching. There is a back door to hell
for church members, who are amiable and excellent in many
respects, but who have not really looked unto the Lord
Jesus Christ and found true salvation in him.
God grant that this may wake some, who otherwise
would sleep themselves into perdition!
"O my God! my God! Am I, after all, mistaken? Have I
played the hypocrite, and must I take the mask off now?
Have I covered over the cancer? Have I worn a golden
cloth over my leprous forehead, and must it be torn away?
and must I stand, the mock of devils and the laughter of
all worlds? What! have I drunk of your cup, have I eaten
with you in the streets, and must I hear you say,
I never knew you, depart from me you worker of
iniquity? Oh! must it be?"
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