Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”
Revelation 14:10, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”
All my life I have heard Baptist preachers teach that the second death is separation from God for all eternity. However, Psalms 139:8 teaches that God will be with the person who suffers in Hell, which is the Second Death. Right doctrine matters. It is biblically incorrect that death is separation from God. It depends on what you mean. The Bible warns that there is not only a physical death, but also a second death in Hell. Revelation 21:8, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Carefully make note that the Second Death is not the spiritual death. Ephesians 2:1-2 teaches that every unsaved person is already spiritually dead. You and I were born into this world spiritually dead, which is why we all need to be born-again (or spiritually born anew by the Holy Spirit of God). Once a man is born-again, he is a new creature, meaning that the Holy Spirit now indwells that person. Literally, God the Father and God the Son live inside every child of God, in the form of God the Spirit. Romans 8:9, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
I think we've all heard that Hell is an eternal separation from God, so how do we explain these text verses? How do we explain Psalm 139:8, “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” As with all truths, there is often an opposite paradoxical view. It is true that lost sinners who go to Hell will be separated from the joy, blessings and sweet in the presence of God for all eternity. Yet, God is the one who pours out His just wrath upon all Christ rejecters in Hell. Yes, God is in Hell. Lost sinners who go to Hell are in fact NOT separated from God; but they will be separated from the sweet fellowship, happiness and inexplicable joy that every child of God enjoys in Heaven.
I have been encouraging all of my web visitors for many years now to THINK OBJECTIVELY. That is, learn to question everything that you hear taught by preachers. Pastors are one of the main sources of false information today, sadly. BEWARE of pastors!!! Please don't let some lying FALSE PROPHET like Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, John MacArthur, Steve Pettit, Chuck Phelps, Marty Herron, John Piper, Adrian Rogers, Sam Adams, Joel Osteen, Rick Warren, Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham or Pat Robertson take you to Hell with them. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do.
Jesus will take vengeance with flaming fire upon the heathen world when He returns at the Second Coming. ...
2nd Thessalonians 1:6-9, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.”
If you are born once, you die twice; if you are born twice, you die once. Every human being must die the first, or physical, death. This first death is separation of our soul and spirit from our body. Nobody can escape this death. Jesus didn't redeem us from the first death. But thankfully Jesus DID redeem us from the Second Death by His blood. Romans 5:9, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Jesus died on the cross to pay our debt of sin. He was buried. Three days later Jesus miraculously resurrected bodily from the dead.
Truthfully, Jesus has already died for everybody's sins. 1st John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” The preceding Bible verse refutes the lie of Calvinism called “Limited Atonement,” which falsely teaches that Jesus only died for the saints, and not all mankind.
And did you know that Jesus doesn't forgive sins? You read correct. Jesus does NOT forgive anyone's sins. Jesus has already paid for everyone's sins with His precious blood. Hence, forgiveness of sins (which includes eternal life) is a free gift from God, paid for by Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross. All you need to do is come to God as a guilty needy sinner, and BY FAITH receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He is risen. That's it!
1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” I love that Bible verse, because it contains THE GOSPEL. If we simply BELIEVE that Jesus was crucified and then after being buried raised up triumphant the third day, we are forever saved. God had to make His plan of salvation easy, free and simple, because there are a lot of unlearned, educable slow and ignorant people in the world. God made His plan of salvation so simple that even a small child understand it enough to be saved.
I thank and love God for making is so easy to get to Heaven. All you need to know is that you are a sinner, and that there is a penalty for sin, which is death (including the Second Death in Hell). You need to know why you need to be saved—because you are a guilty sinner and everlasting Hell, fire and damnation is the penalty for sin. You need to know what you are being saved from. The GOOD NEWS (or, GOSPEL) is that Jesus is the Christ who died on a cross for our sins, was buried and then resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
So in a sense, Hell is separation from God. What saith the Scripture? Luke 13:28, “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” The damned in Hell will weep bitter tears and endlessly wail, gnashing their teeth in sorrowful regret, knowing that they forfeited the wonderful life of bliss that they could have enjoyed forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Instead, they must suffer the torments of Hell, fire and brimstone, where “the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:11b). Dear reader, please don't risk going to Hell. There is no decision you'll ever make any more important that receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Many religious people know the lingo. They have been playing church for most of their life.
Yet, they have never actually been born-again, which is by faith alone without works in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Millions of people have been deceived by the Devil misled to think that water baptism, turning away from their sinful lifestyle and other WORKS are required to get to Heaven. They are NOT saved at all, because they are relying upon partial faith in Christ PLUS something else, which is a false faith.
If I offer you a birthday gift, but obligate you to wash my car each month for the next year to receive that gift, is it really a gift? No, it is a reward, a trade, an exchange; but it cannot truly be a gift if there are any stipulations, obligations or compensation in return. As an example: I saw a bank advertisement that offered people a free toaster as a gift, if they opened a new bank account. I immediately recognized their advertisement as false advertising. If you must open a new bank account to get the gift, then it is really a reward, not a gift.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines the word “gift” as:
“something voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation.” [emphasis added]
Wikipedia defines a “gift” as:
“A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return.” [emphasis added]
Eternal life is a gift. Romans 5:15-18 even mentions the words “free gift” three times. I love that. God didn't just call eternal life a gift, He wanted to call it a “free gift” with emphasis on the word “free.” Of course, we all know that nothing is free in life, not even salvation. Jesus paid for our sins with His precious blood. 1st Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Kindly said, if you choose to reject the Gospel (Good News) as rubbish, then you alone will bear the pain and regret in eternity. 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” I used to naively think that if we could just share the Gospel with other people, that they would gladly repent (change their mind) and get saved. However, I was wrong! Sadly, nearly everyone that I share the Gospel with refuses to listen. They often have a bunch of foolish preconceived ideas about God, religion, preachers and the Holy Bible; and those ideas are like an impenetrable wall to break through.
In Luke 16:19-31 we read the factual true story of The Rich Man And Lazarus. The rich man dies in his sleep, and is now poorer than poor, being tormented in the fires of Hell. Lazarus was escorted by angels to Abraham's Bosom, or the place called Paradise. The rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to warn his 5 living brothers; but Abraham told the suffering rich man that if his 5 living brothers refuse to listen to the Word of God, then nothing will sway their thinking.
Tragically, the rich man is now poor, and it is eternally too late to get saved. In torment, he will be separated from God's loving family in Heaven for all eternity. What a tragic fate that was totally preventable. Yet, in another sad sense, God's presence will be in Hell, pouring out His wrath on the rich man forever. There is no forgiveness, mercy or compassion in the Lake of Fire, because the opportunity to do the right thing is gone.
Regardless, I trust my good, loving and faithful God. Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” Everyone at some point in life will either place God on trial, or else you will learn to blindly trust Him. I decided to trust God no matter what. If I pray and it seems like God is not answering me, then I am going to walk by faith, not by sight, and trust that the Lord is working quietly behind the scenes as He so often does, as seen in the Old testament book of Esther. Despite “God” not being mentioned even once in Esther, we see His power at work throughout the true story of Esther. When you cannot see the hand of God at work, trust the great heart of God.
Luke 16:23-24, “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.