Embraced by the Light<\/b><\/p>\n
The idea of hell and judgment are nowhere to be found [in Betty Eadie\u2019s bestseller, Embraced By The Light, on the N.Y. Times bestseller list for more than 40 weeks, including 5 weeks as #1]. In November 1973 Eadie allegedly died after undergoing a hysterectomy, and returned five hours later with the secrets of heaven revealed by Jesus. Eadie says that Jesus \u201cnever wanted to do or say anything that would offend me\u201d while she visited heaven. Indeed, Jesus seems to be relegated to the role of a happy tour guide in heaven, not the Savior of the world who died on the cross. <\/p>\n
Richard Abanes, in Christianity Today, March 7, 1994, p. 53<\/p>\n
Sheep and Goats<\/b><\/p>\n
We are told in the parable of the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31\u201346) that those whom the judge rejects go away into Kolasis (punishment) aionios (a final state). The phrase is balanced by the reference to zoe aionios (eternal life) which is also a fixed and final state. Even if this word aionios is believed to mean only \u201cbelonging to the coming aion,\u201d and not to imply endlessness in the sense of perpetual continuity, the thought of endlessness is certainly bound up in the phrase \u201ceternal life,\u201d and can hardly therefore be excluded from the corresponding and balancing phrase \u201ceternal punishment.\u201d The idea that in this text aionios as applied to kolasis must imply everlastingness seems to be unbreakable.<\/p>\n
The New testament always conceives of this eternal punishment as consisting of an agonizing knowledge of one\u2019s own ill desert, of God\u2019s displeasure, of the good that one has lost, and of the irrevocable fixed state in which one now finds oneself. The doctrine of eternal punishment was taught in the synagogue even before our Lord took it up and enforced it in the Gospels. All the language that strikes terror into our hearts\u2014weeping and gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, the worm, the fire, gehenna, the great gulf fixed\u2014is all directly taken from our Lord\u2019s teaching. It is from Jesus Christ that we learn the doctrine of eternal punishment.<\/p>\n
Study the following Bible passages and any other relevant ones on this topic, and reach your own conclusions, prayerfully: Luke 16:26; John 3:18\u201319, 36; 5:29; 12:32; Acts 3:21, 23; Rom. 1:16, 5:18\u201321; 1 Cor. 15:25\u201328; 2 Cor. 5:10, 19; 6:2; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 5:25; Phil. 2:9\u201311; 1 Tim. 2:4; Titus 2:11; Heb. 2:9; 9:27; 1 Pet. 3:19; 2 Pet 3:9; 1 John 1:5; 2:2; 4:8. <\/p>\n
Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for September 29<\/p>\n
God the Judge<\/b><\/p>\n
Why do men shy away from the thought of God as a judge? Why do they feel unworthy of him? The truth is that part of God\u2019s moral perfection is his perfection in judgment. Would a God who did not care about the difference between right and wrong be a good and admirable being? Would a God who put no distinction between the beasts of history, the Hitlers and Stalins (if we dare use names), and his own saints be morally praiseworthy and perfect? Moral indifference would be an imperfection in God, not a perfection. And not to judge the world would be to show moral indifference. The final proof that God is a perfect moral being, not indifferent to questions of right and wrong, is the fact that he has committed himself to judge the world.<\/p>\n
It is clear that the reality of divine judgment must have a direct effect on our view of life. If we know that retributive judgment faces us at the end of the road, we shall not live as otherwise we would. But it must be emphasized that the doctrine of divine judgment, and particularly of the final judgment, is not to be thought of primarily as a bogeyman, with which to frighten men into an outward form of conventional righteousness. It has its frightening implications for godless men, it is true; but its main thrust is as a revelation of the moral character of God, and an imparting of moral significance to human life.<\/p>\n
Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for May 3.<\/p>\n
Resource<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 No Easy Answers, W. L. Craig, Moody, 1990, p. 105.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Immortality, the Other Side of Death, G. R. Habermas, J. P. Moreland, Nelson, 1992, pp. 156ff<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jude: The Acts of the Apostates, S. Maxwell Coder, Moody, 1958, p. 82.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Counter Attack, Jay Carty, Multnomah Press, 1988, pp. 162ff<\/p>\n
Lecture on Hell<\/b><\/p>\n
On one occasion Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, the agnostic lecturer of the last century, was announced to give an address on hell. He declared he would prove conclusively that hell was a wild dream of some scheming theologians who invented it to terrify credulous people. As he was launching into his subject, a half-drunken man arose in the audience and exclaimed, \u201cMake it strong, Bob. There\u2019s a lot of us poor fellows depending on you. If you are wrong, we are all lost. So be sure you prove it clear and plain.\u201d<\/p>\n
No amount of reasoning can nullify God\u2019s sure Word. He has spoken as plainly of a hell for the finally impenitent as of a heaven for those who are saved.<\/p>\n
Illustrations of Bible Truth by H.A. Ironside, Moody Press, 1945, p. 40<\/p>\n
False Doctrine<\/b><\/p>\n
A flood of false doctrine has lately broken in upon us. Men are beginning to tell us \u201cthat God is too merciful to punish souls for ever…that all mankind, however wicked and ungodly…will sooner or later be saved.\u201d We are to embrace what is called \u201ckinder theology,\u201d and treat hell as a pagan fable…This question lies at the very foundation of the whole Gospel. The moral attributes of God, His justice, His holiness, His purity, are all involved in it. The Scripture has spoken plainly and fully on the subject of hell… If words mean anything, there is such a place as hell. If texts are to be interpreted fairly, there are those who will be cast into it…The same Bible which teaches that God in mercy and compassion sent Christ to die for sinners, does also teach that God hates sin, and must from His very nature punish all who cleave to sin or refuse the salvation He has provided.<\/p>\n
God knows that I never speak of hell without pain and sorrow. I would gladly offer the salvation of the Gospel to the very chief of sinners. I would willingly say to the vilest and most profligate of mankind on his deathbed, \u201cRepent, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be save.\u201d But God forbid that I should ever keep back from mortal man that scripture reveals a hell as well as heaven…that men may be lost as well as saved. <\/p>\n
Anglican Bishop J.D. Ryle, about 100 years ago. Quoted in The Berean Call, April, 1993<\/p>\n
Something to Avoid<\/b><\/p>\n
Many things we don\u2019t know about hell. But Jesus and the new Testament writers used every image in their power to tell us that hell is real, it\u2019s terrible, it\u2019s something to be feared, and something to avoid. In his description of the last judgment, Jesus taught that some would go to eternal punishment, some to eternal life (Matt. 25:46). In other words, hell will be as real and as lasting as heaven.<\/p>\n
The horror of hell is not physical pain. After all, the Bible tells us hell was \u201cprepared for the devil and his angels\u201d (Matt. 25:41), and they\u2019re not physical beings. Rather the fire and outer darkness and the thirst depict spiritual separation from God, moral remorse, the consciousness that one deserves what he\u2019s getting. <\/p>\n
Hell is disintegration\u2014the eternal loss of being a real person. In hell the mathematician who lived for his science can\u2019t add two and two. The concert pianist who worshiped himself through his art can\u2019t play a simple scale. The man who lived for sex goes on in eternal lust, with no body to exploit. The woman who made a god out of fashion has a thousand dresses but no mirror! Hell is eternal desire\u2014eternally unfulfilled.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s another side. G. K. Chesterton once remarked, \u201cHell is God\u2019s great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human personality.\u201d Hell, a compliment? Yes, because God is saying to us, \u201cYou are significant. I take you seriously. Choose to reject me\u2014choose hell if you will. I will let you go.\u201d <\/p>\n
Lieghton Ford, Good News is for Sharing, David C. Cook Publishing Co., 1977, p. 34.<\/p>\n
Too Late for Repentance<\/b><\/p>\n
The most dreadful torment of the lost, in fact that which constitutes their state of torment, will be this coming to themselves, when too late for repentance. <\/p>\n
H. Alford, The N.T. for English Readers, Moody, p. 395 <\/p>\n
President Coolidge<\/b><\/p>\n
One day, when Vice President Calvin Coolidge was presiding over the Senate, one Senator angrily told another to go \u201cstraight to hell.\u201d The offended Senator complained to Coolidge as presiding officer, and Cal looked up from the book he had been leafing through while listening to the debate. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking through the rule book,\u201d he said. \u201cyou don\u2019t have to go.\u201d <\/p>\n
Crossroads, Issue No. 7, p. 16<\/p>\n
Ask Jonah!<\/b><\/p>\n
A new believer was on a plane with an intellectual (a man educated beyond his intelligence). He sneered at her reading the Bible. Asked if she believed it? <\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cJonah and the whale story?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHow did it happen?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t know, but I\u2019ll find out when I get to heaven.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Jonah isn\u2019t there?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThen I guess you\u2019ll have to ask him for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Pondering Perpetual Needs<\/b><\/p>\n
Before British actor Robert Morley died two weeks ago, he asked that his credit cards be buried with him. Since his funeral, the London Times\u2019 letters pages have been filled with the thoughts of readers pondering their perpetual needs. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Wrote M. L. Evans of Chester \u201cIn the unfortunate event of the miscarriage of justice and several thousand years ensuing before my sentence is quashed, I will take a fire extinguisher.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2022 Heather Tanner of Woodbridge specified a good map. \u201cI have immense trouble finding my way in this life,\u201d she said, \u201cso am extremely worried about the next.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2022 A pair of earplugs would accompany Sir David Wilcocks of Cambridge \u201cin case the heavenly choirs, singing everlastingly, are not in tune.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2022 Maurice Godbold of Hindhead would take a crowbar, \u201cin case the affair proved premature.\u201d <\/p>\n
Even in the hereafter, there will always be an England. <\/p>\n
U. S. News & World Report, June 22, 1992, p. 26.<\/p>\n
No One Fears God<\/b><\/p>\n
R.W. Dale, in his day Britain\u2019s leading Congregationalist minister, did not believe in eternal punishment. Yet, before he died, Dale sighed and said, \u201cNo one fears God nowadays.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, W. Wiersbe, p. 188<\/p>\n
Charles Spurgeon<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cThose who choose evil shall have their choice. Men who hate divine mercy shall not have it forced upon them, but (unless sovereign grace interpose) shall be left to themselves to aggravate their guilt and ensure their doom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have loved darkness rather than light, and in darkness they shall abide. Eyes which see no beauty in the Lord Jesus, but flash wrath upon Him, may well grow yet more dim, till death which is spiritual leads to death which is eternal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can be too severe a penalty for those who reject the incarnate God, and refuse to obey the commands of His mercy? They deserve to be flooded with wrath, and they shall be; for upon all who rebel against the Savior, \u2018wrath has come upon them to the uttermost\u2019 (I Thessalonians 2:16).<\/p>\n
God\u2019s indignation is no trifle. The anger of a holy, just, omnipotent, and infinite Being is above all things to be dreaded; even a drop of it consumes, but to have it poured upon us is inconceivably dreadful.\u201d <\/p>\n
– Charles Spurgeon<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Accidental Deaths<\/b><\/p>\n
Many accidental deaths result from taking risks. That\u2019s the conclusion of an organization in Canada that is seeking to decrease accidents between cars and trains. Roger Cyr, national director of Operation Lifesaver, puts most of the blame for fatalities on drivers who are risk-takers. \u201cStudies have shown that when people hear a train whistle their minds tell them to accelerate their speed,\u201d says Cyr. About 43 percent of the accidents occur at crossings equipped with flashing lights and bells or gates. Cyr also said that many drivers \u201ceven have the audacity to drive around or under gates.\u201d They take the risk, thinking they can beat the train and somehow miss the collision\u2014but with tragic consequences! <\/p>\n
Our Daily Bread, 4\u20136-91<\/p>\n
\u201cFire!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cFire is evidently the only word in human language which can suggest the anguish of perdition. It is the only word in the parable of the wheat and the tares which our Lord did not interpret (Matt. 13:36\u201343)…The only reasonable explanation is that fire is not a symbol. It perfectly describes the reality of the eternal burnings. <\/p>\n
As we paid nothing for God\u2019s eternal love and nothing for the Son of His love, and nothing for His Spirit and our grace and faith, and nothing for our eternal rest…What an astonishing thought it will be to think of the unmeasurable difference between our deservings and our receivings. <\/p>\n
O, how free was all this love, and how free is this enjoyed glory…So then let \u201cDeserved\u201d be written on the floor of hell but on the door of heaven and life, \u201cThe Free Gift\u201d<\/p>\n
– Richard Baxter<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
Hell is Necessary<\/b><\/p>\n
Non-Christians often ask the Christian, \u201cBut how can the God of love allow any of his creatures to suffer unending misery?\u201d The question is, how can he not? The fact that God is love makes hell necessary. <\/p>\n
\u201cHell,\u201d as E. L. Mascall once said, \u201cis not compatible with God\u2019s love; it is a direct consequence of it.\u201d That was his way of stressing the fact that the very God who loves us is the one who respects our decisions. He loves us, but he does not force his love on us. To force love is to commit assault. He allows us to decide. He loves us, he encourages our response, he woos us, he pursues us, he urges us, but he does not force us, because he respects us. <\/p>\n
Christian Theology in Plain Language, p. 219.<\/p>\n
Quotes<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 If you in any way abate the doctrine of hell, it will abate your zeal. – R. A. Torrey<\/p>\n
\u2022 The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungoldy has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions. – A.W. Tozer<\/p>\n
\u2022 What hell is, we know not; only this we know, that there is such a sure and certain place. – Martin Luther<\/p>\n
\u2022 The safest road to hell is the gradual one\u2014the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. – C. S. Lewis<\/p>\n
\u2022 Hell is the greatest compliment God has ever paid to the dignity of human freedom. – G. K. Chesterton<\/p>\n
\u2022 No one who is ever in hell will be able to say to God, \u201cYou put me here,\u201d and no one who is in heaven will ever be able to say, \u201cI put myself here.\u201d – John Hannah<\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
The Gate of Hell<\/b><\/p>\n
I am the way into the city of woe. I am the way to a forsaken people. I am the way to eternal sorrow.<\/p>\n
Sacred justice moved my architect. I was raised here by divine omnipotence, Primordial love and ultimate intelligence.<\/p>\n
Only those elements time cannot wear Were made before me, and beyond time I stand. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.<\/p>\n
The Gate of Hell, from The Inferno by Dante Alighieri<\/p>\n
USA Today Poll<\/b><\/p>\n
67% of American adults believe in a hell. But less than 25% believe they will go there, while 25% believe their friends will be there. <\/p>\n
USA Today poll, 12\u201386.<\/p>\n
English Infidel Club<\/b><\/p>\n
You need not tell me there is no hell, for I already feel my soul slipping into its fires! Wretches, cease your idle talk about there being hope for me! I know I am lost forever.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sir Francis Newport, head of an English infidel club, on his deathbed In the 18th century, Archibald Boyle was the leading member of an association of wild and wicked men known as \u201cThe Hell Club\u201d in Glasgow, Scotland. After one night of carousing at the Club\u2019s notorious annual meeting, Boyle dreamed he was riding home on his black horse. In the darkness, someone seized the reins, shouting, \u201cYou must go with me!\u201d As Boyle desperately tried to force the reins from the hands of the unknown guide, the horse reared. Boyle fell down, down, down with increasing speed. \u201cWhere are you taking me?\u201d The cold voice replied, \u201cTo hell!\u201d <\/p>\n
The echoes of the groans and yells of frantic revelry assaulted their ears. At the entrance to hell, Boyle saw the inmates chasing the same pleasures they had pursued in life. There was a lady he\u2019d known playing her favorite vulgar game. Boyle relaxed, thinking hell must be a pleasurable place after all. When he asked her to rest a moment and show him through the pleasures of hell, she shrieked. \u201cThere is no rest in hell!\u201d She unclasped the vest of her robe and displayed a coil of living snakes writhing about her midsection. Others revealed different forms of pain in their hearts. <\/p>\n
\u201cTake me from this place!\u201d Boyle demanded. \u201cBy the living God whose name I have so often outraged, I beg you, let me go!\u201d His guide replied, \u201cGo then\u2014but in a year and a day we meet to part no more.\u201d At this, Boyle awoke, feeling that these last words were as letters of fire burned into his heart. Despite a resolution never to attend the Hell Club again, he soon was drawn back. He found no comfort there. He grew haggard and gray under the weight of his conscience and fear of the future. He dreaded attending the Club\u2019s annual meeting, but his companions forced him to attend. Every nerve of his body writhed in agony at the first sentence of the president\u2019s opening address: \u201cGentlemen, this is leap year; therefore it is a year and a day since our last annual meeting.\u201d <\/p>\n
After the meeting, he mounted his house to ride home. Next morning, his horse was found grazing quietly by the roadside. A few yards away lay the corpse of Archibald Boyle. The strange guide had claimed him at the appointed time. <\/p>\n
Paul Lee Tan<\/p>\n
Ted Turner<\/b><\/p>\n
Cable television\u2019s Ted Turner, who has condemned abortion foes as \u201cbozos\u201d who \u201clook like idiots,\u201d recently lashed out at Christianity. \u201cChristianity is a religion of losers,\u201d Turner told the Dallas Morning News. Referring to Christ\u2019s death on the cross, Turner said, \u201cI don\u2019t want anybody to die for me. I\u2019ve had a few drinks and a few girlfriends, and if that\u2019s gonna put me in hell, then so be it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Turner also told a group of broadcasters, \u201cYour delegates to the United Nations are not as important as the people [broadcasters] in this room. We are the ones who determine what the people\u2019s attitudes are. It\u2019s in our hands.\u201d <\/p>\n
Quoted in February, 1990 Confident Living, p. 36.<\/p>\n
Looking Out for Number One<\/b><\/p>\n
Several years ago a book was published entitled \u201cLooking Out for Number One.\u201d On the dedication page the author wrote, \u201cDedicated to the hope that somewhere in our universe there exists a civilization where the inhabitants possess sole dominion over their own lives.\u201d There is such a place. It\u2019s called Hell.<\/p>\n
Looking Out for Number One<\/p>\n
Hell Is\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Bottomless pit\u2014no physical, solid surroundings, total isolation. <\/p>\n
\u2022 Utter darkness\u2014a person is isolated, restricted, totally and forever to himself\/herself.<\/p>\n
Revelation 20:1\u20132<\/p>\n
Hell: Major Stumblingblock<\/b><\/p>\n
I see the doctrine of hell as being probably the major stumbling block to the return of a de-Christianized world to Christ. The doctrine of eternal damnation, more than any other teaching of the church, produces atheism. If you examine closely all the big name atheists\u2014like Feuerback and Nietzsche\u2014it is this teaching more than any other that offended them and turned them away. Out of these famous atheists came all the movements that have caused so much hell here and now. If God is to practice what He preaches, then it makes it hard to believe in eternal damnation. <\/p>\n
Source unknown<\/p>\n
God\u2019s Infinite Forgiveness?<\/b><\/p>\n
In the N. T., Peter asks how many times he should forgive his brother and Jesus tells him, \u201cI don\u2019t say 7 times, but 70 times 7\u201d which is a way of saying \u201cinfinitely.\u201d If God commands that of us, then how does He get away with not being infinite in His forgiveness? <\/p>\n
Robert Short, The Gospel According to Peanuts, in His, October, 1983<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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