IS IT TOO LATE?

Many Christians excuse themselves from further growth by using the excuse that it is too late to make changes in regard to holiness. Perhaps they are elderly; or perhaps they pride themselves on how long they have been saved. These people often believe they have “seen it all,” and that appeals to grow in grace are for the younger saints. Whatever the reason, be it spiritual pride, or true discouragement, there are many Christians that have become stagnant in their growth. The Bible teaches us that until the day we die (or get translated), we are to keep GROWING:

2 Peter 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But GROW IN GRACE, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Colossians 1:10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and INCREASING in the knowledge of God;

The apostle Paul, late in both his physical and Christian life, revealed that he was not permitted to cease, rest, or become stagnant:

Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I COUNT NOT MYSELF TO HAVE APPREHENDED: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and REACHING FORTH unto those things which are before,
14 I PRESS toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, LET US WALK BY THE SAME RULE, let us mind the same thing.

Almost all growth involves some pain. Many of our present habits and beliefs did not come upon us without some doubt, argument, and at times, a period of stubborn kicking against the pricks of conviction. Why should it be any different in pressing toward the higher levels of maturity?

Sometimes Christians think they have been saved too late in life, or become committed too late. They have no fire. But the following parable of our Lord certainly applies to this problem to some degree:

Matthew 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
2 And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
6 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
9 And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
10 But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.

As long as a man is not dead, it is not too late to get saved; nor is it too late for a Christian to thirst after holiness and make some serious changes in his or her lifestyle. The Lord’s mercy is abundant in rewarding those who repent BEFORE they die.

But many wait and pretend that it is too late to get on fire for God and His truth. The Holy Ghost teaches that saints need to take advantage of TODAY:

Hebrews 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, TO DAY if ye will hear his voice…

The Lord teaches elsewhere that His mercy toward our sloth and sin is abundant:

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.

These promises should not be taken lightly. They will meet every Christian at the Judgment Seat. We cannot say it is too late until God says it is too late. It is not too late to repent today. But at the Judgment Seat, it will be too late:

Hebrews 12:16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for HE FOUND NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE, though he sought it carefully with tears.

The Judgment Seat, at Christ’s coming, is too late. After death is too late. But it is not too late to make changes today. This is the day of God’s grace and mercy. “Today” should not be taken for granted:

Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

But sinners (even among saints) love to pretend that it is too late:

Jeremiah 2:25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, THERE IS NO HOPE: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

Jeremiah 18:11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
12 And they said, THERE IS NO HOPE: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Sinners often delight in unbelief. This way, they feel the blame is upon God. But the Lord is merciful to them who trust in His mercy, according to the Scriptures:

Psalms 33:18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that HOPE IN HIS MERCY;

Psalms 147:11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that HOPE IN HIS MERCY.

Christians need to hope in the Lord’s mercy in regard to the Judgment Seat of Christ. We can receive a full reward if we will take advantage of TODAY.

Paul could have wasted time in self-pity. But he chose to make the most of today, and God’s grace:

1 Corinthians 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of ONE BORN OUT OD DUE TIME.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I LABOURED MORE ABUNDANTLY than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Paul did not waste his time in self-pampering regret. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes:

“…people are depressed by the fact that they have wasted so much time, wasted so many long years…They are always bemoaning the fact that they have missed so many opportunities…’If only’ – that is their cry…looking back at the years spent out in the world not understanding these things, they are full of vain regrets for what they might have been…while it is perfectly right for such people to regret…it is quite wrong to be miserable about it…to be miserable in the present because of some failure in the past is a sheer waste of time and energy…The world in its wisdom tell us it is ‘no use crying over spilt milk.’ Well, quote that to the devil! Why should a Christian be more foolish than anybody else?…vague useless regrets must be dismissed as irrational…stop dwelling on them!…To dwell on the past simply causes failure in the present…if you really believe what you say about the past, if you really bemoan the fact that you wasted so much time in the past, the thing to do is make up for it in the present…I suggest that this particular manifestation of spiritual depression is due to the fact that this person is still morbidly and sinfully preoccupied with self…we have to be brutal with this condition…it is mock modesty…you may yet have the greatest surprise of your life…and find that even in your case it will come to pass that the last shall be first.”

Too many Christians think that sowing is just for the morning of life. But work is for the EVENING also:

Ecclesiastes 11:6 In the morning sow thy seed, and IN THE EVENING withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.

Nutritionists tell us that the human body can begin to repair itself in an amazing way. Those who have abused their bodies with gluttony and junk, can find some hope in this information. In the same manner, the Lord is able to turn a life of slothfulness and compromise into a full, joyous, abundant life of fruitbearing! All we need is hope in the Lord’s mercy according to His promises! The following Scripture, addressed to Israel, certainly also reveals the nature of God toward His unprofitable, but REPENTANT, Christians in this present age:

Joel 2:25 And I will RESTORE to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.