Sermons on False Conversions
I Sincerely Thought I Was Saved (27 min)
Jason Wahls thought he was a Christian. But while he said he was a follower of Jesus Christ, his life didn’t match his claim. Watch to hear how the Lord got his attention and brought him to true faith at the age of 24. (Recorded in Marion, Iowa, USA, 17th June 2024)
My Doubts Would Never Really Completely Go Away (6 min)
Luke Dennison thought he was a Christian, but he was regularly troubled by doubts. “Maybe you’re not saved”, he would sometimes think, before dismissing the thought and moving on. But his doubts would never completely go away. Listen to find out how he eventually came into the peace of knowing he had eternal life. Readings: John 5:24, 1 John 5:13, 1 Tim 2:5-6. (Recorded in Stark Road Gospel Hall, Livonia, MI, USA, 21st Jan 2024)
I Grew Up in Gabon, Africa, With No Knowledge of the Gospel (18 min)
Salim Kandedi grew up in Gabon, on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa. Life was about education and getting the best grades in School, but he knew nothing of the gospel of Christ. However, by the grace of God, Salim and his sister came to Canada, where they heard the gospel. Salim only pretended to be a Christian at first, but sitting under the frequent preaching of the gospel he finally found true salvation and peace with God. (Testimony given…
I Never Really Had Peace About My Salvation (45 min)
When he was a young boy Mervyn Hall said and thought he was saved, but he lived for a decade or so afterwards with no real peace. Listen to hear how, in the sovereign providence of God, he was eventually saved while singing a hymn at the Lord’s Supper. Isa 57:20-21, Rom 5:1-2. (Testimony given in Chalfont St Peter Gospel Hall, 14th Jan 2024)
I Hated All the Restrictions Put On Me (28 min)
Tommy Kyle had a childhood “profession of salvation” but in teenage years he hated the restrictions he felt were being imposed on him, and wanted nothing to do with the gospel. Yet underneath he was deeply unhappy. Listen to find out how God spoke to Tommy and how he was saved as an 18 year old fisherman, on Remembrance Sunday in 1984. Readings: Psa 40:1-3, 1 Pet 3:18, 1 John 3:1-3. (Testimony given at a Drive-In in Portavogie, Northern Ireland,…
I Was Just Living a Big Pretence (43 min)
Tom West saw the reality of God’s life-changing salvation in his parents’ lives – and he wanted what they had. So one day he knelt down and asked God to save him, and presumed everything was alright. But deep down nothing had changed. Despite later being baptised and even “breaking bread”, Tom says “it was all just an outward show for everyone else to see”. But Tom now has what his parents have. Listen to find out how he became…
I Fooled Everyone…Except God (16 min)
Phil Collicutt passed off as a Christian for 7 years, but he wasn’t really saved. He said he was, and he even got baptised and took part in the Lord’s Supper, but he had no peace, and he found meetings and conferences boring. Then he heard Marvin Derksen telling his story of salvation and it shook Phil up because of its similarity with his own situation. Finally Phil admitted it to himself: “Phil Collicutt, you are not saved and you…
Saved While Preparing for a Children’s Meeting! (15 min)
Neil Morton relates the fascinating story of his conversion to Christ while preparing to take a children’s meeting. Neil had a profession when he was younger, but had never actually been saved. Years of anxiety and trouble came to an end in early 1993 as he studied how he would explain Acts 4:12 to a group of children. God works in mysterious ways. (Testimony given in Canada on 5th Mar 2021)
I Wasn’t Sure If God Was Satisfied With My Believing (20 min)
Phil Howard grew up in a Christian family. His father was a travelling evangelist. As a 4-year-old young Phil was coaxed into a profession of faith which wasn’t real. Over the years he had doubts and struggles, especially when one persistent and perceptive preacher, Mr Fred Holder, kept asking him if he was saved. The Lord eventually used the parable of the two foundations in Matthew Ch 7 to reveal Phil’s true situation, which led to Him finding true rest…
Saved in Lockdown (23 min)
Austin Graham tells how he was saved during the global Covid lockdown of Spring 2020. Austin had played the part of a Christian for 10 years or more, but his life was really just about fun and football – he had no interest in the Lord or in the Bible. Listen to find out how God opened his eyes to his real situation, and to the truth of salvation through John 3:36. (Recorded in Ballymena, 26th April 2023) See also…
“I prayed the prayer. I made my commitment.” (13 min)
Stephen Moffitt grew up going to church 3 times a week, but knew nothing about salvation. At college he met fellow students who invited him to gospel meetings. Moving over to the USA he finally came to understand he did not have eternal life, but that Christ had finished the work of salvation on the cross. Readings: John 5:24, 19:28-30. (Testimony given in Blue River, Wisconsin, USA, in 2005).
“I looked like a pretty good Christian kid” (7 min)
Austin Joyce grew up hearing the gospel. Feeling the peer pressure of being surrounded by saved people, he made a profession of faith as a child, but it took him until his late teens before he discovered that he did not have a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus. He could trick himself and others, but not God. Listen to hear how Austin found peace and rest in Christ. (Testimony given 15th Jan 2023 in Stark Road Gospel Hall, Livonia,…
I Thought I Was OK for Heaven (6 min)
Thinking he was “OK for heaven”, Joel Frazier attended a gospel meeting in Blue River, Wisconsin, USA, one Sunday evening in March 1988. He was in for a shock. He discovered that the “salvation” he thought he had was nothing more than “a light little experience that had nothing to do with the work of Christ on the cross but was just feelings within myself”. Listen to find out how the Lord delivered Joel from this common deception and put…
I Made Up a Story of Conversion, Including a Date (39 min)
Jim Beattie was born in Belfast in 1943, moving to Canada as a boy of 10. While very young he made up a story of conversion, including a date. He wanted to have something to tell people when they asked him if he was saved, rather than be embarrassed. But the time came when Jim finally faced the fact that he was lost. Only then did he come into the blessing of salvation. Readings: John 9:10-11a, Acts 16:25-31. (Recorded in…
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re saved. You get it for yourself.” (11 min)
David Yoder grew up in the home of parents who had been saved from an Amish background, but his wholesome upbringing wasn’t enough to save him. Noticing the attention that was paid to people who profess to be saved, David too made a profession – but it wasn’t real. Listen to find out how he discovered his need and trusted in Christ. Readings: Psa 37:4, Isa 53:5-6 (Testimony given in Blue River, Wisconsin, 2021) (Photo: Farm in Wisconsin)
35 Years old. 4 in the morning. Saved. (19 min)
Desmond Gilpin (1943-2021) grew up in Bangor, Co Down, with a knowledge of the Bible and the gospel: but until he was 35 years old, that was all he had. He says people thought he was saved, though he had never been born again. On 5th March 1979 he came to a crisis point, where he could no longer continue pretending. Desmond finally found peace at 4.00am through faith in Christ and His finished work.
“I never thought I’d be an adult and not saved” (24 min)
Seth McKinley, from Vancouver, Canada, grew up in a Christian family, knowing the gospel and memorizing Scripture. He was soft towards the gospel as a child, and at one point thought he was saved, but as the teenage years came he rebelled against the gospel and decided he would just “do his own thing”. University took him further away, but the prayers of his parents followed him and the Holy Spirit began to work in his heart. Listen to the…
“I was a good Church-going person…but I didn’t realise I was lost” (9 min)
David Spurl, grew up going to church (in Iowa, USA). He was a “good guy”. No drugs, no crime…nothing like that. He even asked Jesus into his heart once upon a time. Then, years later, he met a young lady who struck him as “different”. There was something about her. She invited him to come to a gospel meeting. David started going regularly and began to understand what he had never understood before; that he was a helpless sinner who…
“Are you saved or are you not?” (11 min)
When you are a 15 year old teenager with serious thoughts about eternity, there’s only one question you need to get settled – “Are you saved or are you not?”. That was Darrel Raynor’s concern until matters finally came to a head on 19th August 1988 while attending gospel meetings with Peter Orasuk and Albert Ramsay, on Prince Edward Island, in Canada (Island view above). Darrel told his story of salvation at Cedar Falls Conference, Iowa, in 2018.
I Just Knew I Hadn’t Got What Others Had (13 min)
At one point, as a young child, Thomas Proctor thought he had been saved, after he knelt and “asked God to save him”. However, he remained without real peace and there was no change in his life, a common experience for children brought up in Christian families. But Thomas continued to listen to regular gospel preaching and some years later discovered what was missing. Are you missing the same thing? (Recorded 18th Sept 2016) (Photo: Ballymoney Gospel Hall)
A Successful Lifestyle, But No Peace (53 min)
Darius Graham had two great passions – business and hunting with horses. By age 43 he had a lifestyle many would envy, but he was living a double life. His drinking and partying belied a respectable public image that included going to church meetings and mixing with friends and family who were committed Christians. However, events in his life providentially conspired to give him a wake-up call and a moment of clarity. It was time to face reality and seek…
Resting by Faith (21 min)
Andrew Swan tells how God saved him as a 24 year old young man in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in the Spring of 2,000. Initially thinking he was saved at the age of 13, then being in serious soul trouble aged 18 but missing salvation, Andrew was finally brought to Christ on the last night of a month of gospel meetings with evangelist Robert McIlwaine through resting by faith on the Lord Jesus, the One who “died for me!” (Recorded…
“It’s not an easy thing to admit ‘I’m not saved’.” (38 min)
David Castles tells how, while at Oxford University, he realised he was not truly saved, though he had thought he was for a good number of years. His self-deception was slowly but surely uncovered and he was eventually delivered through the preaching of the gospel and the Holy Spirit’s application of the word of God to his soul (Recorded in 2002)