ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED THINK AGAIN - I WENT TO THE OUTER DARKNESS
Dear fellow Christians, brothers and sisters, I am putting this video out there because I'm afraid many of you will not make it to Heaven unless you change your lives. You are probably asking yourself, “What is he talking about?”
This video is my testimony about my visit to the Outer Darkness. This place has been described by Jesus Himself. It is not for unbelievers, it is for unfaithful, and backsliding Christians. Many of these folks will believe the false teaching of “once saved, always saved.” This teaching is a lie.
[Eternal security, also known as "once saved, always saved", is the belief that from the moment anyone becomes a Christian, they will be saved from Hell, and will not lose salvation. Once a person is truly "born of God" or "regenerated" by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, nothing in Heaven or earth "shall be able to separate (them) from the love of God" (Romans 8:39) and thus nothing can reverse the condition of having become a Christian.
Eternal security is prominent among Calvinists due to the doctrine of Perseverance of the saints but is also found in Free Grace Theology and "free will" Baptist theology. Also in other Protestant churches of the evangelical tradition, particularly within independent fundamental Baptist churches. Wikipedia]
In August of 1983, I was taken to a place that when I returned, I realized was the Outer Darkness. There are many testimonies about visitations to Hell and to Heaven.
My testimony is about a particular place called the Outer Darkness. Jesus warned many times about this place. You have read it in your Gospels, I assure you, but has your church ever taught it? I doubt it very much.
Fellow Christians, this is an important message. You need to watch this video. So now, stay with me while I share my testimony with you. And afterwards, I will go over some key biblical passages on the subject, all of which were given by the Lord Himself.
In 1983, I brought a man to the Lord. He was a close relative of mine, and we lived in the same house. He knelt down, and he said the sinner’s prayer, asking Jesus to forgive all his sins. It was a wonderful moment. Time passed, but he made no change to his life, which is one of heavy drinking alcohol. He did not read his Bible, or go to church. He did not pray. I encouraged him all I could. And this went on for some considerable time.
One Saturday, I went to London. In the morning, I went to a computer exhibition, and I was going to a concert in the evening at the Royal Albert Hall. So in the middle of the day, I had some free time. I sat down on the steps opposite the Royal College of Music. It was a lovely sunlit day. And I felt completely normal and happy. There was nobody around.
And then suddenly, the world around me disappeared from view. And I found myself in a place that was totally silent, and totally dark. I was absolutely alone. It was like being in outer space. I was filled with the mental anguish that was just overpowering. It was unbearable in its intensity. I felt like I had wasted my life. And now it was gone. Forever. There was just no getting out of this situation.
I tried praying, I kept thinking, this is so terrible. And the worst part of it was, I felt it would go on forever. There was no hope. I think this was the worst part - no hope, no hope. I didn't experience flames or physical pain. I didn't see anyone else. There are no demons, nothing like that. But just emptiness, loneliness, rejection, and it felt like time has just stood still. For me anyway. The Darkness is just overpowering.
And after praying for what seemed a very long time, things like this, “Lord, please what is happening?” and things like that. “Please get me out of here.”
I suddenly found myself back outside the Royal College of Music. And I felt perfectly well. It was as if nothing had happened at all. The experience lasted around nine minutes, and it finished just before 3pm. Thank God for that because every minute felt like an eternity. It just had dragged on and on. It was so awful.
Well, the experience stayed with me all day. I didn't know what to think. Words of Jesus I've read in the Bible before - Outer Darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth - they describe the situation and experience perfectly.
Well, I went to the concert and then I went home. I arrived late in the evening and I was surprised to find windows open and no lights on.
On entering the house, I found the man who had said the sinner’s prayer but not really changed his life. Face down in the hall, stone dead. Piecing things together in the house, it became clear he must have died in the afternoon after he'd been out for his morning drink but before the evening drinking session. I am sure he died just before 3pm and the Lord took me in my spirit with him as he left his body, and he went to the Outer Darkness.
Now, please note, this man had said the sinner's prayer. It was a sincere prayer. But remember, he lived his life exactly as before. He didn't repent of anything afterward. He never went to church or read his Bible, even though I encouraged him to many times. In fact, he never made any changes to his life whatsoever.
Now, listen, we all need to be serious. Our eternal destiny depends on it. The enemy of our souls, that is Satan, and his army wants to deceive us into thinking, once saved, always saved. Remember, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Don't be deceived, folks.
So please stay with me now while I finish with covering some biblical teaching on the subject, and then go and check it out all for yourself. Double-check what I'm saying is exactly right, and take it into your heart.
Jesus talked extensively about judgment and Hell. In fact, all of the detailed teaching we have in the Bible is from the lips of Jesus Himself. Yes, that's true.
Okay, then. So what did He say about the Outer Darkness? In order to keep this video nice and short, I'm going to make this teaching as simple as possible. It's really only a summary. So I strongly recommend you to study all the passages for yourself.
The first place we see the Outer Darkness is in Matthew chapter eight. This is a story of the Roman centurion who had so much faith that Jesus was amazed. And this prompted Him to warn the religious people today, “I tell you, many will come from East and the West, and eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the Outer Darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Clearly, the Outer Darkness is not for unbelievers, it is for heirs of the kingdom, those who expect to get to Heaven. In other words, that should be more than enough to convince anyone, right? Well, there's plenty more, in case you missed it.
There is the parable of the wicked tenants in Matthew chapter 21. This is a long passage, but what happens is that tenants of a vineyard refused to give the owner his due, and they even killed his son who was sent to collect them. This is obviously aimed at the religious leaders of the day who rejected Jesus. He says this, “Therefore I tell you, the Kingdom of Heaven will be taken away from you, and given to the people that produce the fruits of it.”
In this parable, from chapter 22, we see a wedding feast or banquet of a king. Again, you need to study this for yourself. But let's look at the wedding guest who was not wearing the expected garments. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe. And he said to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” and he was speechless. And then the king said to his attendants, “Bind him hand and foot and throw him into the Outer Darkness.” This man was obviously an invited guest but his problem was he had not prepared. His casual attitude led to him being thrown out into the Outer Darkness.
Revelation 19:8 reveals that the wedding robe is the righteous acts of the saints.
Revelation 19:8 And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Part of the qualification to be the Bride is to be filled with righteous acts. Those who come in without righteous acts will be thrown out into the Outer Darkness.
We have one more parable to look at. Finally, we have the parable of the talents. You can find it in chapter 25. Who hasn't heard this preached on? There were three servants in this story. But let's remind ourselves about the man who buried his talent. He said this, “Master, I knew you were a hard man, so I hid your talent in the ground.” Jesus goes on to say, “As for this worthless slave, throw him into the Outer Darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Well, we can say many things about this particular servant, but the most obvious thing is he failed to use his resources on the Master’s behalf. The Master had a right to demand a return, didn't He? Yet this man simply wasted what he had been given. Once again, he was thrown into the Outer Darkness.
Let's summarize what we have learned from all of this. All these people were heirs of the kingdom, but they failed to gain entrance into the kingdom. What a tragedy for them. All of them had a relationship with God but they displeased Him and in the end, they suffered eternally. The wicked tenants were those who were in authority over God's people, but they rejected God's authority. Their hearts were not right before God, they lacked humility.
Please also look at the unfaithful servant parable in chapter 24, where a servant is put in charge of the mouths of his master’s household, but he is negligent and carnal. The banquet parable and the talents parable, teach us about those who are lazy or unprepared.
Again, I encourage you strongly to check it out for yourself. Read each passage prayerfully with a receptive heart. Please don't go to the Outer Darkness. Believe me, it is indescribably bad.
Jesus will return soon. To lose your place in His kingdom would be the worst possible tragedy for you.
Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction. And there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to eternal life and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Take care, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13)
Transcribed from Richard Ellis Once Saved Always Saved Think again - I went to the Outer Darkness. [UPDATED]
