I often get questions about my testimony. A few of the questions are sincere. Most of them are accusatory and mocking.
To those questioners who have been sincere, I simply say, along with George Whitfield, who received similar questions, and who advised so many in the same boat as you, keep pressing on, crying out to the Lord Jesus Christ for deliverance, for he who asks (and keeps asking) receives, and he who seeks (and keeps seeking) findeth, and to him who knocks (and keeps knocking) it SHALL be opened unto him.
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"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Matthew 7:7-8 |
For those of you who labor and are heavy laden, Jesus Christ stands behind those words, and you will not believe what he will do for you until he does it. Press on.
To the rest, I say -- and so does the Holy Spirit say -- that what you are about to read will only damn you further... unless you repent, of course. However, it has been my experience in life, and it has been the experience of countless souls throughout recorded history, especially the history recorded in the Bible, that mockers who are granted repentance unto life are very few and very far between. Indeed, of the FEW who are saved generally -- and it is FEW that are saved indeed -- yet, it is but the FEW out of the FEW of those general FEW who will be found to have been mockers.
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"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it." Matthew 7:14 |
But don't let that stop you, mockers. Indeed, fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
| "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Matthew 23:32-33 |
John Owen declared it so accurately and so succinctly that every single saint who has ever been genuinely born again can identify intimately with Owen's words --
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"As among all the doctrines of the gospel, THERE IS NONE OPPOSED WITH MORE VIOLENCE AND SUBTLETY THAN THAT CONCERNING OUR REGENERATION BY THE IMMEDIATE, POWERFUL, EFFECTUAL OPERATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GRACE; SO THAT THERE IS NOT SCARCE ANYTHING MORE DESPISED OR SCORNED by many in the world than that ANY SHOULD PROFESS THAT THERE HATH BEEN SUCH A WORK OF GOD UPON THEMSELVES, OR ON ANY OCCASION DECLARE AUGHT OF THE WAY AND MANNER WHEREBY IT WAS WROUGHT... yea, the enmity of Cain against Abel was but a branch of this proud and perverse inclination." John Owen, A Discourse Concerning The Holy Spirit |
Indeed, EVERY single person who is born again can not only give a testimony SIMILAR to mine -- I say, EVERY single person who is GENUINELY born again can give a testimony SIMILAR to mine -- but likewise EVERY single person who is born again can also bear witness of his testimony being mocked and questioned by others. He who cannot so testify and yet who thinks he is born again or on his way to heaven is the most deceived man on the face of this earth, BAR NONE.
He who's testimony does not elicit mocking from others because of his testimony's SUPERNATURAL quality is he who is INFALLIBLY unregenerate himself, no matter his standing in the church, or society, or what-have-you, and no matter how long he may have served in the name of Jesus as a pastor, or missionary, or what-have-you. He who's testimony does not have a SUPERNATURAL quality to it is he who's testimony will damn him in the day of Jesus Christ, and who will hear Jesus Christ say to him in that day, "I NEVER KNEW YOU." There are no exceptions.
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"MANY will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? AND THEN I WILL PROFESS UNTO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:22-23 |
Spurgeon heartily concurred --
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"If there is not something SUPERNATURAL about your religion, it will be a millstone about your neck to sink you into hell." C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol XXX, Receiving The Holy Ghost |
So did Owen. Once again from his pen --
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"If we believe not with faith DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL, we believe not at all." John Owen, The Reason Of Faith |
Of course, I could provide an endless stream of identical quotations from genuinely born again believers down through the ages, but the regenerate need no such affirmation, and to the unregenerate such words are nothing but pearls before swine.
Furthermore, to the disdain of my mockers, and to the condemnation of this world and its fleshly servants, I yet know that I will not have to retract a SINGLE SYLLABLE of my testimony on the day of judgment. I know, rather, that in the day of judgment the Lord Jesus Christ HIMSELF will say the AMEN to my testimony -- I say, in the day of Jesus Christ, it is the Lord Jesus Christ HIMSELF who will say the AMEN to my testimony, for not only was Jesus Christ present when he indwelt me and made me a new creature (as he is with ALL whom he regenerates -- there are no exceptions), but in reality, my testimony is not mine, but HIS. My testimony is not mine, but Christ's OWN testimony, for he gave it me.
Indeed, it is Jesus Christ who determined WHERE to save me. It is Jesus Christ who determined WHEN to save me. And it is Jesus Christ who determined HOW to save me; yea, it is Jesus Christ who determined BY WHAT MEANS and BY WHAT MANNER to save me, and none other. It is the Lord of Glory HIMSELF who engendered my testimony, and who retains ownership thereof, as is true with ALL who are born of the Spirit.
In my salvation and in my testimony, it is ALL Jesus Christ, from the Alpha to the Omega; it is Jesus Christ who MOVED upon and within me by the Holy Spirit, and it is Jesus Christ who WILLED that it should happen -- AS, WHEN, and WHERE it happened. And so it is with EVERY ONE who is born of the Spirit. EVERY SINGLE PERSON who is born again -- who is GENUINELY born again -- can so testify. There are absolutely no exceptions whatsoever. None.
The truth be told, how can Jesus Christ NOT say to you -- "I NEVER KNEW YOU" -- unless he has PERSONALLY INTRODUCED HIMSELF to you?
He can't NOT say that to you. And he won't NOT say that to you. Not a chance.
Unless Jesus Christ has PERSONALLY INTRODUCED HIMSELF to you in the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH -- that is not metaphor, or hyperbole, or symbolism -- again, unless Jesus Christ has PERSONALLY INTRODUCED HIMSELF to you in the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH, he will say EXACTLY those words to you in the day of judgment -- "I NEVER KNEW YOU" -- and those words, every syllable of them, will echo in your soul like thunderclaps throughout all eternity, especially if you have been a PROFESSING Christian, a Christian who has a FORM of godliness, but who denies the POWER thereof.
Wait and see, mocker, and you who have a FORM of godliness, but who deny the POWER thereof, who deny the SUPERNATURAL in religion. You have no clue of the terror and misery that awaits you. None.
"And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW YOU, depart from me."
When did Jesus Christ PERSONALLY INTRODUCE HIMSELF to you? If he did, you can give a testimony SIMILAR to mine, and if you can't -- if you can't give a testimony SIMILAR to mine, if you can't give a SUPERNATURAL testimony -- and yet, if you think you belong to Jesus Christ, and if you think you're born again, and if you think you're on your way to heaven, you are the most deluded and deceived man in the universe. BAR NONE.
When? When did Jesus Christ PERSONALLY INTRODUCE HIMSELF to you? What did he say? What were the communications between him and you?
You can't REMEMBER?
My, my. If you can't REMEMBER these things -- if you can't give a testimony SIMILAR to mine -- then never think of going to heaven, for it will never be.
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"ALL those who are TRUE DISCIPLES of Christ have felt a DIVINELY SUPERNATURAL POWER working upon them... THE SPIRIT OF GOD CAME UPON US, and we were awakened, aroused, and made to live. DO YOU REMEMBER THAT?" C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol XXXV, Intimate Knowledge Of The Holy Spirit |
Meeting great men, or great world leaders, is one thing; meeting ALMIGHTY GOD, even the Lord Jesus Christ, is another thing ENTIRELY. Those who have met great men or great world leaders usually describe it as one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, experience of their lives.
And yet fleshly, unregenerate, deceived professing Christians think it's possible to meet Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, without it being INFINITELY ABOVE all the EXPERIENCES of all the great men and all the great world leaders in the universe COMBINED.
Only a thoroughly deceived, thoroughly ignorant soul could think that meeting Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, in the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH isn't the greatest EXPERIENCE of all time. Only an unregenerate, deluded soul could think he is born again and yet be able to so testify. There are NO exceptions. D. M. Lloyd-Jones put it very nicely and very accurately --
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"A certain teaching tells us to 'take it by faith' and not to worry about feelings. 'You may feel nothing at all,' it says, 'but if you believe this Word and its teaching you can take the Holy Spirit by faith irrespective of any feeling.' THE WHOLE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TEACHES THE OPPOSITE. So does the subsequent history of the Christian Church... YOU CANNOT BE BAPTIZED OR FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHOUT KNOWING IT. IT IS THE GREATEST EXPERIENCE ONE CAN EVER KNOW. THE TEACHING THAT ASSURES US THAT WE MAY FEEL NOTHING AT ALL RUNS ENTIRELY CONTRARY NOT ONLY TO THE TEACHING OF THE SCRIPTURE BUT TO THE RECORDED EXPERIENCES OF COUNTLESS CHRISTIANS THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES." D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Romans - The Sons Of God |
And it is of course written --
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"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, HE IS NONE OF HIS." Romans 8:9 |
When a man is born again, when Jesus Christ PERSONALLY INTRODUCES HIMSELF to a man, that man is INSTANTANEOUSLY filled with the Holy Spirit -- there are NO exceptions -- and as Jones and countless saints have observed, it is the greatest EXPERIENCE one can ever know.
And there is not a genuinely born again soul on this planet who would disagree with what's been said thus far. Not one.
But alas! Even the notables of our day are unregenerate, and yet the vast majority of professing Christendom is blind to their complete spiritual poverty, being unregenerate as they, too, are. Why, we even have great biblical leaders today who not only have no testimony, but their statements reveal all too plainly that they themselves are complete strangers to the MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH, and yet they are lauded as great leaders in Christianity today. As Tozer wisely noted --
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"In that great and terrible day, there will be those white with shock when they find that they have depended upon a mental assent to Christianity INSTEAD OF UPON THE MIRACLE OF THE NEW BIRTH." A.W.Tozer, The Tozer Pulpit, Vol I |
Such is the unregenerate state of affairs in these last days immediately before the Lord Jesus Christ returns, and as all who are genuinely born again know, the return of Jesus Christ is IMMINENT. Thus, this deplorable state in which we find the church today is EXACTLY what the Bible predicted would be the case in the first place.
Many of these notable Christian leaders testify that they can't remember the MOMENT of their new birth, and such-like. Of course, such statements are absurd. Such statements reveal that the speaker is himself INFALLIBLY unregenerate, regardless of his standing or notoriety in the church. As the mighty George Whitefield stated --
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"How long have you believed? Would not most of you say, as long as we can remember; we never did disbelieve? THEN THIS IS A CERTAIN SIGN THAT YOU HAVE NO TRUE FAITH AT ALL, NO NOT SO MUCH AS A GRAIN OF MUSTARD SEED... YOU MUST KNOW THAT THERE WAS A TIME WHEN YOU DID NOT BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THE HOLY GHOST, IF EVER YOU RECEIVED HIM, CONVINCED YOU OF YOUR UNBELIEF." George Whitefield, The Holy Spirit Convincing The World Of Sin, Righteousness, And Judgment |
The very FIRST sin the Holy Ghost convicts a sinner of is UNBELIEF, as it is written --
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"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, HE WILL REPROVE THE WORLD OF SIN, AND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OF JUDGMENT, OF SIN, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE NOT ON ME; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." John 16:7-11 |
If someone would have told me I didn't believe in Jesus before I was born again, I would have told them they were crazy, because I had already made the mental commitment to believe in Jesus Christ. But like all unregenerates, I didn't have a CLUE as to what the term BELIEVE really meant. Neither did Spurgeon before he was regenerated --
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"WHEN I FIRST DISCOVERED WHAT FAITH REALLY WAS, AND EXERCISED IT -- for with me these two things came together, I BELIEVED AS SOON AS EVER I KNEW WHAT BELIEVING MEANT -- then I thought I had never before heard that truth preached." C. H. Spurgeon, Autobiography -- The Great Change - Conversion |
The Holy Spirit is the ONLY person who can give SUPERNATURAL faith, and the Holy Spirit is the ONLY person who can reveal to a person what TRUE faith truly is, and who can reveal that a man's OWN faith is nothing but a fleshly faith, a damning faith. Only the Holy Spirit can do what Spurgeon described above, and not only is there not a regenerate person on this planet who can't identify with this statement by Spurgeon and say the AMEN to it, but EVERY SINGLE GENUINELY born again soul on this planet has had the EXACT SAME experience, as Jesus stated above. There are NO exceptions.
He who cannot so testify and yet who believes he is born again is the most deluded and deceived soul in the solar system, BAR NONE.
Moreover, this mass unregeneracy is why even those who are reformed in their theology allow that the free-willers and others might still be saved. These reformed theologians, being unregenerate as they also are, have no clue that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a GENUINELY born again believer to deny that God is UTTERLY SOVEREIGN in salvation, and that NO ONE who is GENUINELY born of the Spirit would EVER deny this SIMPLE biblical truth, for those who don't know that the Holy Ghost is SOVEREIGN in salvation are those who are as deluded about the operation of the Holy Spirit as deluded can be. Bunyan knew that the Holy Spirit is the ONLY true soul winner --
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"There is also that free-willer, WHO DENIES TO THE HOLY GHOST THE SOLE WORK IN CONVERSION; and that Socinian, who denieth to Christ that he hath made to God satisfaction for sin; and that Quaker, who takes from Christ the two natures in his person: and I might add as many more, touching whose damnation, they dying as they are, the Scripture is plain: THESE WILL SEEK TO ENTER INTO HEAVEN, AND SHALL NOT BE ABLE." John Bunyan, The Strait Gate |
Yet, being unregenerate themselves, the vast majority of the professing reformed theologians of our day have no solid footing for making what are BASIC discernments to the truly elect. That's why the Puritans and others gave no pass to the Arminians. Because the Puritans were truly regenerate, they knew it was IMPOSSIBLE for anyone who held to Arminian theology to be genuinely born again, for the first thing the Holy Spirit reveals to a man in the SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH is that his own faith is nothing but a FLESHLY faith, a DAMNING faith, and that it takes SUPERNATURAL faith to be saved, and that the ONLY way a man receives SUPERNATURAL faith is by the sheer pleasure of God in Christ Jesus. Whitefield again --
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"NONE OF US BELIEVE BY NATURE: but after the Holy Ghost has convinced us of the sin of our natures, and the sin of our lives and duties, in order to convince us of our utter inability to save ourselves, AND THAT WE MUST BE BEHOLDEN TO GOD, AS FOR EVERYTHING ELSE, SO FOR FAITH (without which it is impossible to please, or be saved by Christ) HE CONVINCES US ALSO, THAT WE HAVE NO FAITH." George Whitefield, Sermon, The Holy Spirit Convincing The World Of Sin, Righteousness, And Judgment |
EVERY single person on this planet who is genuinely born again knows EXPERIENTIALLY exactly what Whitefield is talking about, for EVERY single person on this planet who is genuinely born again has had the Holy Spirit reveal EXACTLY that truth to him in the MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH. There are NO exceptions.
But alas, the signs of unregeneracy in professing Christianity today are beyond legion.
Unregenerate professing Christians go out of their way to explain away or condemn the supernatural in Christianity, specifically the new birth, and whenever and wherever you hear them pontificate so, you may be INFALLIBLY certain that you are listening to the unregenerate, for NO MAN who is born of the Spirit denies the SUPERNATURAL in the MIRACLE of the NEW BIRTH. NO ONE who is GENUINELY born again does so. Not one. Which is why Oswald Chambers presciently warned --
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"Beware of the tendency to water down the SUPERNATURAL in religion." Oswald Chambers, Approved Unto God |
And of course, the truly regenerate have no trouble discerning between TRUE spiritual manifestations of the Holy Ghost, as opposed to the demonic manifestations and trickeries of others. But once again, because the notables of our day are themselves unregenerate, they have no footing for making such a BASIC distinction between genuine and false manifestations of the Holy Spirit, for they themselves are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and have not an iota of experience with the Holy Spirit, and thus they issue blanket denials of the supernatural out of their own spiritual ignorance and poverty.
And thus, like their fathers, they have a FORM of godliness while denying the POWER thereof. They have no clue as to what Bunyan meant when he stated --
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"Beware of resting in the WORD of the kingdom, without the SPIRIT and POWER of the kingdom of that gospel, FOR THE GOSPEL COMING IN WORD ONLY SAVES NOBODY, for the kingdom of God or the gospel, where it comes to salvation, IS NOT IN WORD BUT IN POWER." John Bunyan, Saved By Grace |
Mock me and my testimony if you will, you of the flesh, who have not the Spirit of Christ, and who cannot lay legitimate claim to having an UNMISTAKABLE SUPERNATURAL ENCOUNTER with the Lord of Glory, even the Lord Jesus Christ. We will see on the day of judgment on which side of the chasm I stand, and on which side you stand.
For you the few, the FEW who are genuinely serious, as I said at the beginning, I exhort you once again -- press on, cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ for deliverance, and don't stop until he rewards you from on high, for Jesus Christ is FAITHFUL, and he will do to you as the Scripture says -- if you press on, that is -- Lo! He will do to you what he has done for ALL who are genuinely born of the Spirit, and this Scripture will soon be fulfilled in you --
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"Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you." Habakkuk 1:5 |
But don't stop short, for if you do, and if you cannot lay claim to an UNMISTAKABLE SUPERNATURAL ENCOUNTER with Jesus Christ BEFORE you meet him in judgment, if you cannot honestly and legitimately give a testimony SIMILAR to mine before that day, then I assure you, you will lose your soul, and you will lie in torments for ever and ever.
Finally, as you ponder this, never forget that not one syllable of Jesus Christ's words will fall to the ground, and therefore take heed how you ye hear --
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"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it." Matthew 7:14 |
Yet many say to me, but it is FEW who can give a testimony like yours, Scott.
Well of course there are FEW. That's because it is FEW that will be saved, exactly as the Lord Jesus testified, the same Lord Jesus who said exactly what he meant to say, and who meant exactly what he said, and WOE unto him who marginalizes these words of Jesus. WOE, WOE, WOE unto that man.
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"It hath been the astonishing wonder of many a man, as well as me, to read in the holy Scripture, HOW FEW WILL BE SAVED, AND THAT THE GREATEST PART OF EVEN OF THOSE THAT ARE CALLED WILL BE EVERLASTINGLY SHUT OUT OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND TORMENTED WITH THE DEVILS IN ETERNAL FIRE." Richard Baxter, A Call To The Unconverted |
The fact is, my mocking reader, unless and until you can give a testimony SIMILAR to mine, you will not set foot in his kingdom, in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and if you think you will, you are the most deluded and deceived man in the universe, BAR NONE.
Farewell and fair warning.