I am happy to say that the answer to your question is most definitely, “YES, the Lord will indeed receive you if you accept Him even though you are at death’s door.” We have a very clear and striking example of this in the conversion of “the thief on the cross” in Luke 23:39-43. Let’s read this precious passage from the New King James Version:

“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Here was a man that only had a few hours, at most, to live. But before he breathed his last breath he turned to the Lord Jesus in true repentance and faith and acknowledged Him as Lord and Savior, and the Lord assured him that he would be in heaven with Him that very day. He did the only thing necessary to be saved; in fact, it is what everyone must do to be saved, no matter how much time they have left to live. Let’s briefly recount what he did:

1) He REPENTED. Concerning his sin, he mentioned the condemnation they were under and then he said, “And we indeed justly, for WE RECEIVE THE DUE REWARD OF OUR DEEDS.” This is true repentance; for one must acknowledge their sin and that they deserve to die. Romans 6:23 declares, “The wages of sin is death.” The penitent thief owned up to that truth.

2) He SAW THAT CHRIST WAS SINLESS. In his words, “This Man has done nothing wrong,” he was acknowledging Christ was a perfect man who had never sinned and that this qualified Him to be the sinner’s Savior (see 1st Peter 1:18-19).

3) He CONFESSED CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR. The moment he turned to Jesus he boldly called him “Lord” and then he asked Him to “remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” In those precious words he was acknowledging that Christ was the Lord of glory and that He would rise from the dead (and come back one day to establish His kingdom). His confession calls to mind Romans 10:9-10, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” This is “saving faith,” a faith that trusts in Christ alone for eternal salvation. His faith was rewarded greatly, for the Lord basically said, “You need not wait for my coming kingdom to be blessed, you will be with Me in heaven the moment you close your eyes in death!”

Before we close, a word of caution is in order. Some may be thinking, “I’ll just wait until shortly before I die and then I’ll trust in Christ as my savior.” This thinking could be fatal for several reasons. First of all, you could die suddenly and not have time to accept Christ as your savior. Secondly, the Rapture of all believers (see 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18) could take place at any moment and if you aren’t saved your doom will be sealed (see Matthew 25:1-13, especially verse 10). And last of all, your heart may be so hardened that you will have no desire to repent and believe on Christ. Let’s remember there were two thieves hanging next to Christ and the other thief died blaspheming Christ. The saved thief gives one hope that one may be saved in their last hour; the impenitent thief warns sinners not to wait for they may be content to die as they lived, without Christ and the salvation He freely offers. (331.1) (DO)