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?" by Charles Spurgeon
