Death Bed Repentance

God is merciful. There is no example of God ever refusing anyone when
they truly repent. In the O.T. - King Manasseh, In the N.T. - Saul of
Tarsus 1 Timothy 1:16 And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order
that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect
patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal
life.

The thief on the cross is the greatest example of one who turned to God
at the end of his life and God accepted him even though he did not have
any time to work for Him. We need to appreciate the faith he
demonstrated. 1.      He was part of a culture that was looking for a
political messiah. He would natu rally grow up hearing these concepts
being taught. Barabbas, the insurrectionist, was more what the Jews were
expecting. 2.      Jesus was rejected by the religious leaders who knew
the law and the people. Who was he to say they were all wrong? 3.
Christ was being crucified. Not even the disciples understood how this
could hap pen, even after Jesus plainly told them. Mark 9:9-10 And as
they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to
relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise
from the dead. And they seized upon that statement, discussing with one
another what rising from the dead might mean. 4.      By acknowledging
Jesus as the Messiah at the point of death, this thief was liter ally
risking everything. If Jesus was not who He said He was, He was a great
deceiver and impostor. He put all his trust in Jesus at the point of
death when being right is so critical.

Matthew 20:1-16 - The Parable of the Landowner

These passages clearly teach the mercy of God. We should be striving to
teach others about the Word of God no matter what stage of life they may
be in. What about those who hear the Word of God for years and reject
it, and then they get to the end of their lives and then pray for
forgiveness? Are they accepted by God?

We need to be careful and not try to play God. James 4:12 There is only
one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but
who are you who judge your neighbor?

We cannot judge people's hearts, but we need to teach the warnings found
in the Scrip tures.

A valid question that must be asked - If someone to hears and
understands the truth of what God has done for our salvation, and he
rejects the truth and continues to live for himself, how sincere can his
repentance be when he knows he is about to die and then cries out to God
for help? Should we offer comfort to those who continue to reject God by
letting them believe they can ignore God's command to repent until the
very end, and then, just before they die, call out for salvation and be
ushered into heaven? Acts 17:29-30 Being then the offspring of God, we
ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or
stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore hav ing
overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all
everywhere should repent.

This is why it is important to understand what is involved in
repentance. Repentance is more than sorrow. It includes a realization of
personal sin and guilt and a sincere turning away from sin. Many
experience sorrow for their actions, but that does not mean they have
repented. 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 I now rejoice, not that you were made
sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance;
for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that
you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is
according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret,
leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Is God obligated to save everyone who rejects Him all their lives and
then in the end, they see death coming and cry out for salvation?  What
does God Himself say about this? Proverbs 1:24-31 Because I have called
and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke,
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,
when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a
whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call
on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they
will not find me. Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the
fear of the Lord, They would have none of my counsel and despised my
every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and
be filled to the full with their own fancies. Proverbs 21:13 He who
shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be
answered. Proverbs 28:9 He who turns away his ear from listening to the
law, even his prayer is an abomination. 1 Samuel 8:7-18 And the Lord
said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to
you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I
should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have
done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day
- with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods - so they are
doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall
solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will
reign over them." So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people
who asked him for a king. And he said, "This will be the behavior of the
king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them
for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before
his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains
over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest,
and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13
He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he
will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive
groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your
grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he
will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young
men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of
your sheep. And you will be his servants. And you will cry out in that
day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the
Lord will not hear you in that day." Jeremiah 11:9-14 And the Lord said
to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of
their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after
other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers." Therefore thus
says the Lord: "Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they
will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not
listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense,
but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. For
according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and
according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up
altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. So do not
pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will n
ot hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their
trouble. Jeremiah 14:10-12 Thus says the Lord to this people: "Thus they
have loved to wander; They have not restrained their feet. Therefore the
Lord does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now, And
punish their sins." Then the Lord said to me, "Do not pray for this
people, for their good. "When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and
when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept
them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the
pestilence." Ezekiel 8:17-18 And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O
son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the
abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with
violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they
put the branch to their nose. Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye
will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with
a loud voice, I will not hear them." Hosea 5:5-6 The pride of Israel
testifies to his face; Therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their
iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them. 6 With their flocks and herds
They shall go to seek the Lord, But they will not find Him; He has
withdrawn Himself from them. Micah 3:1-4 And I said: "Hear now, O heads
of Jacob, and you rulers of the house of Israel: Is it not for you to
know justice? You who hate good and love evil; who strip the skin from
My people, and the flesh from their bones; who also eat the flesh of My
people, flay their skin from them, break their bones, and chop them in
pieces like meat for the pot, like flesh in the caldron. Then they will
cry to the Lord, but He will not hear them; He will even hide His face
from them at that time, because they have been evil in their deeds.
Zechariah 7:9-13 Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Execute true justice,
show mercy and compassion everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the
widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. Let none of you plan
evil in his heart against his brother.' But they refused to heed,
shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not
hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law
and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the
former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Therefore
it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they
called out and I would not listen," says the Lord of hosts.

If you know the truth now and refuse to submit to God's will, why should
He save you when you get in trouble? Isaiah 55:6 Seek the Lord while He
may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Romans 2:4-5 Or do you
think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and
patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing
up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God.

This is not meant to minimize the grace and mercy of God. 1 Peter 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to
His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you,

Psalm 103:8-18 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He
keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our
sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens
are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear
Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our
transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, so the Lord
pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that
we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the
field, so he flourishes. 16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more. 17 But the mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness
to children's children, 18 To such as keep His covenant, and to those
who remember His commandments to do them.

The love of Christ draws us to Him John 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.

If the knowledge of what Christ has done did not draw us earlier when we
understood it, can we say our repentance is sincere when we are about to
die? Are we really being drawn to Christ or just running scared? Fear is
not true repentance, just as sorrow for getting caught is not true
repentance. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ controls us,
having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He
died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves,
but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

If we were not willing to live for Him earlier when we had the chance,
who do we think we are kidding if we wait until we know we are about to
die before we call out to God?




Wayne Wells wayneliz@twave.net http://users.twave.net/ncc