A Letter Puts Me to Shame

The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us (as believers) to GO and PREACH His Gospel to the world, it is for God to call and save. It is not an option for us to decide whether to do or not to do. If we say we love the Lord, we will say to Him: I will GO and PREACH. God will draw people to hear the Gospel. His Gospel is the POWER of God. We have to preach it in full and with a tenderness that come with tears in our hearts.

Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill:
“Charlie Peace was a criminal. Laws of God or man curbed him not. Finally the law caught up with him, and he was condemned to death. On the fatal morning in Armley Jail, Leeds, England, he was taken on the death-walk. Before him went the prison chaplain, routinely and sleepily reading some Bible verses. The criminal touched the preacher and asked what he was reading. “The Consolations of Religion,” was the replay. Charlie Peace was shocked at the way he professionally read about hell. Could a man be so unmoved under the very shadow of the scaffold as to lead a fellow-human there and yet, dry-eyed, read of a pit that has no bottom into which this fellow must fall? Could this preacher believe the words that there is an eternal fire that never consumes its victims, and yet slide over the phrase with a tremor? Is a man human at all who can say with no tears, “You will be eternally dying and yet never know the relief that death brings”? All this was too much for Charlie Peace. So he preached. Listen to his on-the-eve-of-hell sermon.

“Sir” addressing the preacher, “if I believed what you and the church of God say that you believe, even if England were covered with broken glass from coast to coast, I would walk over it, if need be, on hands and knees and think it worth while living, just to save one soul from an eternal hell like that!” (Ravenhill, Leonard, Why Revival Tarries, Fires of Revival Publishers, Zachary, LA, 1973, p. 19) “

Interesting.

I was reading Ezekiel just last night and this part jumped out at me:

Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the Word of My mouth, and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; and you do not give him warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. And when the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and when I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous so that the righteous does not sin, and if he does not sin, he shall surely live because he is warned; also you have delivered your soul. (Eze 3:17-21)

Ah but ‘preaching’ is easy!
But ‘living it’ is where Christians fall down.
Already two comments are full of words.
But do actions not speak louder?

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
~~~~~~
C.H. Spurgeon.

I am trying to obey more and more. At least I have people who complain “Is that all you ever think about!” Yea, pretty close. But even I don’t think about it enough. But my arms do get tired at times.

“If you’re right about God, as you say you are, and you believe that, then how can you sleep at night?

Isaiah this is a question I find so hard to explain. Oh Am ashamed too.

Godbless

Excellent article, Isaiah.

Sid

It is not all zeal and courage, believe me.

Sometimes I respond kicking, screaming and whining “They are not going to listen! All they do is ignore everything they are shown and told. Blah. Blah.”

However, the most freeing thought is - I just have to obey MY LORD. HE is responsible for their response, not me.

I actually mentioned this post and Thy Word is Truth’s comments in a personal email to a lost soul complaining about my one track mind.

Continually striving to keep Adullamite’s warning of matching my words to my walk (which is hard with bloody knees at times ).

Hi, Isaiah.

Two things.

1. We are all encouraged to share the Gospel, but each person is called to serve the LORD in particular ways (in Paul’s epistles, which I’ll find when I have the time [I'm doing this at work] ). This is not an excuse to be passive. If you encounter someone and the Spirit moves you, obey and speak.

But, are we really supposed to run over to the Atheist spitting bile and tell him what he does not want to hear or will not believe — even as GOD rains down judgment on earth?

There’s a difference between being passive and irrational.

2. Belief and Salvation are by grace. I have friends with whom I try to share the gospel, but they’re not interested in hearing. And most of them think I’m nuts. I drop things in when I can… but I could sit on their shoulder telling them about he goodness of the LORD non-stop and it would do none of them any good… unless GOD ALMIGHTY opened their eyes, ears and hearts.

So, to be clear. We are called to bare fruit… teach, preach, encourage, live an exemplary Christian life, etc. But we are not all ministers and cannot change the entire world.

This commenter’s letter is an excuse. He clearly knows the truth. Has he asked you to explain the Gospel to him? To help him understand the Holy Bible? — No, instead he wants to curse you because you can’t make him believe, you can’t change the bitterness that is in his heart.

Any of you unbelievers out there, if you are doubtful, ask questions. You know where the churches in your neighborhoods are located. You know where the bookstore is to find a Holy Bible…which you can also read for free online. You know how to pray? Call on the name of Jesus Christ, the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF THE LIVING GOD. HE won’t hesitate to help you.

Let us think on Lazarus and the rich man… what did Abraham tell him? We have Moses (current preachers and teachers, churches, etc.) and we do not listen or believe. If one was to even rise from the dead, many of us would not believe.

So, let us encourage and admonish with love. But Isaiah, you cannot shove food down a person’s throat with love. Do your part — as you do here on this Web site. If you come across someone who is receptive, share the TRUTH, as I believe you and your wife did a while ago at a mall.

Do not feel guilty because the unrepentant curse you. This young man has no excuse. Unless he had come to you and you refused him, why would GOD hold you accountable?

We all know when the LORD calls us to do something…to speak to someone, to say something. Let us obey.

But do not let Satan oppress your spirit.

As you pointed out in James: “be ready in season and out of season”. Be ready to share the Gospel with anyone at anytime… He does not say chase each and everyone. Be prepared for when the LORD does put you in that place, with that person … who HE has called.

Mature Christians know when they are being fearful and lazy.

Isaiah, are you being fearful and lazy?

Hello.

at the risk of sounding nit-picky …

Hell is a teaching, like purgatory, that has no basis in scripture. It is a tradition that has become orthodox, but scripture as in most cases runs contrary to traditional viewpoints.
Consider John 3:16 … “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that as many as believe in Him may not PERISH but have Eternal Life.”

Life is a gift … we are not owed life, but we each have it for a time. But it is inherently TEMPORARY … having a beginning and an end. The doctrine of hell depicts no end … no “PERISHING” … but continued and unending conscious torment.

In reality, to accept the very Life of God is to be made alive by His life … a Life that is unending and unbeginning .. .ETERNAL. To reject that Life is to remain temporal … having no Eternal destiny.

To perish is to be UNFORMED to nothing .. and those that receive the second death to be made no more will have no thoughts to realize they have received it or not. Thoughts perish with the perishing

The serpent said: “You shall surely not die.” … and the church has been repeating the refrain, even when such teaching goes against the most popular verse … John 3:16.

Perish means perish.

Consider this:
1/14/06 - From God the Father
…Shall I, even I, torment My beloved, they who are tormented continually by he who is, and has, torment in his vesture? Satan is the tormentor. … Become, again, a child of God, and learn to walk uprightly, leading others into love, by love, not fear.MORE of this letter about unbiblical “hell” HERE

18 reasons why in a single verse

Theological Myth - Unending conscious torture

@Trent - My friend, Hell is biblical and it is eternal. The scriptures in Mark 9:48 recorded the Lord Jesus Christ’s own words quoting Isaiah 66:24 “…and be thrown into hell, where” ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”

For completeness sake, Isaiah 66:24 “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

See the Lord Jesus Christ’s own account of the rich man in torment in Hell. Luke 16:19-26

“They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”-2 Thessalonians 1:9

God is Holy, Just and Sovereign and He is also Merciful:
“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? said the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”Ezekiel 18:23

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

Originally Posted By Thy Word is Truth@Trent - My friend, Hell is biblical and it is eternal. The scriptures in Mark 9:48 recorded the Lord Jesus Christ’s own words quoting Isaiah 66:24 “…and be thrown into hell, where” ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”

For completeness sake, Isaiah 66:24 “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

See the Lord Jesus Christ’s own account of the rich man in torment in Hell. Luke 16:19-26

“They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,”-2 Thessalonians 1:9

God is Holy, Just and Sovereign and He is also Merciful:
“Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? said the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?”Ezekiel 18:23

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

I wasn’t clear. You are right, there is a hell … at least until hell is destroyed … along with those in it as well as heaven and earth too.

I was taking a shot at the doctrine of hell which depicts unending conscious torment. I was saying that the Bible clearly teaches against this popular doctrine. Even the quote you gave about the worm not turning was about looking upon the LIFELESS bodies of the damned. Get it? They were not alive … read it again.

Wide is the path that leads to DESTRUCTION and many are on that path … I suppose I would be more popular if I changed “DESTRUCTION” to “ETERNAL LIFE IN MISERY” … but I don’t like to change things like that … do you?
;-)

2Pe 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

AMEN!

There is coming a “last day” as it is written, in which “heaven and earth will pass away” or “be destroyed.” The point is that the punishment is beyond the duration of those punished. It is like a man given 5 consecutive life sentences … we are smarter then to think that such a man will automatically live five times as long then before his sentence. Rather, we intuitively know that he will not last until the duration of the sentence. So, when I read that there will be an “eternal punishment” for the damned, I do not believe that the damned have the eternal life needed to last in a perpetual conscious state nor withstand the fire longer then anything else in creation. Nor do I think God so cruel as to torment them until the time of breaking, and then waken the faint and mend their wounds so that He could torment them again, and once they break from that torment to bandage again and awaken them again just so that He could torment them some more. Surely, this is not consistent with any of scripture, yet that is the implication of saying that they will “suffer everlasting conscious punishment.” Nor is it logical to say that those that LACK eternal life, will somehow be able to live eternally!?!?

This is also typified when people use Mark 9:43-48 as support for the conscious torture notion - ” ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” Is this Jesus’ way of saying that everyone in hell is indestructible? Of course not, He is saying that the Fire is indestructible, NOT those thrown into it … Likewise it is the worm that does not turn, not those subject to the worm that supposedly have enough substance to satisfy a worm that does not turn for ages and ages endlessly having enough to feed a worm that does not turn. That is not only counter to logic, but it is counter to what Jesus just said right before: “hell, where the fire never goes out.” (verse 43)

This error is also perpetuated by the mistranslation of this support passage: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power”

In Dallas we have a monument called the “eternal flame.” It isn’t really eternal, but for argument’s sake, lets say that it really is. Now, if I take a blade of grass and put it in the fire, does the blade of grass become eternal or is it destroyed?

This is quite obvious. The eternal fire does not make everything eternal that is exposed to it … Rather the eternal fire destroys everything that is not likewise eternal.

Hence, when one reads in scripture about everlasting destruction, one should not assume that whatever is destroyed becomes everlasting. That would be illogical and counter-intuitive. However, that is exactly what Christians are saying when they talk about unending conscious torture.

Essentially, I gather that a prevalent myth is saying that every soul is indestructible / immortal and has everlasting life … even those in the Eternal Fire subjected to the damnation. HOWEVER, immortality and everlasting life is a promise of the Gospel. What an empty offer that would be if everyone already had that! Christ’s accomplishment on Calvary would have been in vain.

“Fear the One that can destroy your soul.”- Jesus, speaking of the Father.

“Fear the One that would torment you til you pass-out, and then awaken you for more torment until you pass out, and on and on without an end. He couldn’t destroy an immortal everlasting soul of the damned even if He tried.” - Christians, while talking about the Father.

See the difference?

@Trent -

Thanks for sharing your views, Hell is really not a pleasant topic. Lets agree to disagree, a few more bible verses to note:

There will be two destinies, in the Lord’s own words, one for righteous (saved by faith and washed by the blood of the Lamb) to eternal life and for the rest to eternal punishment: “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).

Verses showing eternal nature of the hell and punishment where the Bible uses different phrases to describe the same thing.

“Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7).

“These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever,” (Jude12-13).”

Isaiah,

I can sleep at night because I’m a Calvinist.

*just kidding*

Well, God is always in control, isn’t He? We just do our job preaching the Gospel to the atheists when the opportunity arises, and let Him do the conversion work.

On a side note, I noticed that some of the google ads on your website can be antithetical to some of your beliefs. Just a thought.

Jesus said: “”“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46). “”"

Thy Word is Truth essentially is saying that includes the damned as having eternal life too.

I agree with Jesus. The damned are eternally punished (destroyed, for they were on the wide path to DESTRUCTION) and the righteous are the only ones to receive ETERNAL LIFE.

“Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 7).

When Jesus said this were the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah being burned alive and moaning in agony because that is the example of being subject to eternal fire … Did the fire make them eternal? Or did the fire destroy them?

“These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever,” (Jude12-13).”

Amen.

The Bible is so clear it is a wonder that the doctrine of eternal torment in hell still exists.

@Trent -
Trent, you appear to deliberately misquoting what I said !
I never said the “the damned as having eternal life too. ” ! My bros, this is not a good thing to do !

It is also obvious you do not agree the clear biblical teaching of the really sad truth ETERNAL PUNISHMENT of the those who do not have Jesus Christ to wash away their sins.

There will be two destinies, in the Lord’s own words, one for righteous (saved by faith and washed by the blood of the Lamb) to eternal life and for the rest to eternal punishment:
“And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).