The Fear of God

The fear of God is an important, yet little studied topic. Let’s start by examining Acts 2:41-47, using the New King James (NKJ):

Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

In these verses, we ask, in light of the tremendous power the church had, being close to God, sharing their assets compassionately with one another, and “having favor with all the people”—were any of these wonderful things caused by their fear of God? It wouldn’t seem possible—such a negative emotion leading to a good result. Let’s explore this mystery together.

We start by defining the Greek they used for the word “fear:” phobos. (From which we get “phobia”). According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, phobos means (1) “dread, terror, always with this significance in the four Gospels.” Let’s keep that in mind; whenever Jesus is quoted saying “fear,” that’s the meaning. The other meaning of phobos is only a little less intimidating: (2) “reverential fear of God as a controlling motive of the life; in matters spiritual and moral, not a mere fear of His power and righteous retribution, but a dread of displeasing Him.” Examine your hearts: when you're thinking of sinning, do you have a real dread of displeasing Him? Is your fear of what He might do, enough to make you stop? Is the fear of God a controlling motive in your life? I suspect the only thing keeping us back from many sins is the fear of being discovered by our friends or family and losing our reputations, or more. The serious dread of displeasing God should be more of a motivation keeping us from sin; but it is often just not there; we just don’t think about Him.

Many sermons are expounded on God’s love, few on His hate--of sin. Many sermons on our loving God, few on fearing Him. This paper will attempt to show how many verses there are on how fear of God is good for you. It’s a desirable attribute. Hopefully after reading it you can introspect on His holiness and get to know His “holy side” more. Like medicine, it will seem unpleasant—but it’s good for you. Let’s begin with Genesis 20:11, where Abraham sees the good side of men fearing God: They would be less likely to murder him and take his beautiful wife:

And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.

Just two chapters later, in Genesis 22, God is testing Abraham’s willingness to obey Him implicitly, regardless of how illogical His instructions seem. He is asked to sacrifice his son. Note that Abraham doesn’t delay, doesn’t ask himself: “God wants me to kill my son? The son He promised? Let me argue that, or get a second opinion.” He knew that God loves him, that following Him regardless of logic, even doing things we never imagined we could do, will all turn out well. Have we developed that trait? Look at verse 12 for the result of fear that brings obedience  regardless :

And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Note that God commends him on his fear of Him. His fear led him to obey God without question. God respects his obedience, and no harm is done.

In Genesis 31:42a, Jacob has a name for God: The Fear of Isaac. Nowhere does God disapprove of this name. Note how Jacob appreciates this-named God as his God, connecting it with His protection for him. Finally note how we have proven that the three patriarchs of Israel, giants in the faith, are all given to fearing God:

Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you (Laban) would have sent me away empty-handed.

In Exodus 1:17, the children of Israel are slaves in Egypt. The pharaoh, fearing for their numerical advantage, has instructed the Hebrew midwives to kill the boy babies as soon as they arrive out of the womb. But the midwives refuse to do it—even though disobeying pharaoh endangers their own lives—because of their fear of God (fear of His judgement for murder). Note His blessing on them because their fear of God was greater than their fear of the pharaoh.

But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive... because the midwives feared God…He provided households for them.

Maybe we’d have fewer abortions if the mothers or attending nurses had a real fear of God today. In the 60 million abortions in the U.S. since Roe v Wade, these women did not have enough fear of God to dread His ultimate punishment for murder. How many have read Galatians 5:21, which says that (unrepentant) murderers “will not inherit the kingdom of God,” and would spend an eternity in hell?  Society may have persuaded these women that abortion--murder--was a good choice. I have no idea what percentage of repentance we're talking about, but if it's miniscule, that means possibly 60 million women are going to hell.  Unless they truly repented before God, and developed a fear of Him after the abortion, and He forgave them.

In Exodus 14:31, after God’s great plagues, after the exodus, and His killing the pursuing Egyptians, then the children of Israel finally feared God. After that, they really believed Moses and God. So, a real belief in God, with obedience following (for awhile), results from a fear of God.

Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses.

In Exodus 18:21, Moses is to select men as judges, an extremely important function. The first requirement for such men? You guessed it; they need to have a fear of God.

Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds…

In Exodus 20:20b, the Ten Commandments are given. The very first words that Moses says to the Israelis at this momentous occasion include the following:

God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”

The Ten Commandments is supposed to awaken the soul to a proper fear of God. The Commandments are His rules--but it still takes a consistent fear of God to obey the rules consistently. Once again, God’s Word is saying that fear of God reduces sin.

There are plenty more in the Old Testament, but to make this paper short enough to be readable, let’s skip ahead to the New Testament; what did Jesus say about fear? Matthew 10:28:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

People experience “peer pressure;” they shrink back from declaring for Christ, particularly in public. And so it was for the Jews, who did not want to go against the Pharisees, who could be a genuine threat to your life if you followed Jesus. But Jesus was unsympathetic for those feelings; He has a stark word (one of many—He talked a lot about hell): basically, "it’s them or me, you can't have both. Follow me, and the worst they can do is take your life. But you get an eternity in heaven. Follow them, you’ll have friends in the world, but then your worry should be about hell—which is forever."

We definitely need an injection of fear for God in this attractive world, to keep us out of hell. (Don’t forget, we said in the two definitions of “fear” that the meaning in the Gospels here is “dread, terror.” Jesus was blunt. Your terror of what God can do to you should be greater than your terror of what people can do to you. People can take your lives, but God can take your eternity).

You want mercy from God? We all should, because the depth and frequency of our sin means we need lots of mercy. Luke 1:50 tells us how to get mercy:

And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.

Luke 5:26 gives the peoples’ reaction when they see Jesus healing: Fear. Why? Of His supernaturalism, of things about God which they do not know.  Also note how this causes them to glorify God:.

And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”.

Today we would be more cynical and sophisticated about healings. Which is the better reaction? Note how their fear didn’t stop their glorifying God. Another good result from a supposedly negative emotion (The same thing happens in Luke 7:16).

In Luke 23:40-41, one criminal on a cross next to Jesus rebukes the other. The one who feared God admitted his execution was proper punishment for his deeds.  That's a noble thought--and something few criminals do. He also judged Jesus as innocent, something the people and the Pharisees couldn’t do. Fear of God allows you to judge people properly, and to be humble. Also, wonderfully, the one who feared God got saved. The other one was going to hell.

But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

Now we go to the book of Acts. God’s stamp of approval was definitely on the man who was the first Gentile to receive the Gospel preached by Jewish men. Cornelius was that man. How did he get to be first in line for such a wonderful event? Because he feared God, among other positive features. A description of him is in Acts 10:2:

…a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.

Note that fear of God is listed ahead of his giving to the poor, and ahead of his passion for prayer. I’ve heard lots of sermons on giving and the power of prayer, but none on the power of fearing God.

Once again, for brevity, we have to skip lots of verses, and move on to the Epistles. In Romans 3, Paul is enumerating the horrible sins of those bound for hell…”Their throat is an open tomb,” etc. He then describes sin that gets worse and worse as men get farther away from Him. And how does he end it; what phrase did he use as the worst, the source of all this defiant sin and rebellion? It’s in Romans 3:18 (just before the gospel is explained):

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

In Romans 11:20-22, Paul is justifying why he is bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles—it was because the Jews (the natural branches of Jesus, the Vine) rejected it and got “broken off” the Vine. So God turned to the Gentiles. But the Gentiles might get haughty (“we’re smarter than the Jews”). His solution for that? They needed to fear God, or else He could cut them off too (God hates pride). Further, note that God is called “severe.” Haven’t heard any sermons on God’s “negative” qualities revealed here:

Because of unbelief they (Jews) were broken off, and you (Gentiles) stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but FEAR. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

Does God sound antagonistic there? Well, deal with it; change your definition of God’s love. He is in charge of the universe, and makes the rules. We should be grateful that He reveals Himself to us so we know what to do to get on His good side, and what gets on His holy side.

In II Corinthians 7:1, Paul has the method to be holy (necessary for salvation, as my other blogs discuss): Fear God.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

So the fear of God helps us to perfect holiness.  And holiness is necessary to be saved (Hebrews 12:14).  Sounds like the fear of God is necessary to get us on the road to salvation.

In Ephesians 5:21-22, women are going to dislike me for this, but Paul has a solution for women who can’t submit to their husbands because they don’t trust them. Now I realize that there are other qualifiers for wives and husbands, but it clearly says that fear of Him is the key in submitting to one another. I’m reminded of our verses above, where Abraham was ready to do something illogical because he trusted God. And it worked out, because God honored his fear of Him--He made sure all was well. Women, take a hint—trusting your husband despite his obtuseness, is really trusting God, because you’re obeying His commandment to submit. He will honor your trust in Him and make it all work out. The verses are broadened to include all of us acting unselfishly and trusting all the brothers and sisters. One more time--What makes us take a chance and submit to others? Fear of God. I have never heard a sermon on this angle of husbands and wives. Putting these two verses together is called “context.”

…submitting to one another in the fear of God. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Once again, brevity demands a stop. I couldn't cover some other great verses. All you need to do is go to biblegate.com and search the word “fear.” But I think you’ve gotten the message. Fear of God is absolutely necessary to reduce sin and to be more holy, to obey God, and submit to people when you should. A lot more people would be saved if they had this attribute. The only question is, how do we develop this fine characteristic? Here’s a few suggestions: (1) Read more of the Old Testament. Lots of judgment and hellfire for disobedience. Not pleasant, but you need to see how much God hated sin. Don’t fall for the argument, “God was different then.” If you believe that, you haven’t gotten the right message about Jesus, either, so that leads to suggestion (2) Read the Gospels just to study exactly what Jesus said. Do you notice how much He talked about judgment? Well, there you go. God doesn’t change, after all, in how much He hates sin, between Old and New Testaments. Write down everything that suggests what it really takes to be saved (or read my blog on initial and final salvation for a quickie summary). When you’re reading, be careful to “update” Biblical words like “idols.” Maybe you think that’s just for primitive folk, wood and stone. So it doesn't apply to me, you say. But read a Biblical definition of idolatry, then spend some time asking yourself if you’ve been into idolatry, in its modern applications. In other words, spend some time asking yourself about the sins you’ve done, and the effects on the family, placing yourself above God (that’s idolatry too). And then think about God, who loves you more than you can imagine, watching you sin. You (and everyone) could do much more with your life if you dedicate yourself 100% to Him. He would make you so happy. So why don’t you? Examine that—is it simple selfishness? Greed? Fear of being laughed at? Then imagine yourself at the judgment seat—we will all be there—when you give your reasons, your lame reasons. What are your Scriptural gifts? You don’t know? Have they been given to God? Do you know what the fruits are, a requirement for you to have them for heaven (John 15:2)? How about your time with God? A person you’re in love with, you talk to daily—how much time do you spend during the week talking with God? Maybe you conclude that you don’t really love Him? That’s not good, read I John when it separates saved vs unsaved, measured by the love you show. It’s never too late to change.

As you can see, lots of Scripture reading and introspection are needed. Please, take time for this. Most people’s mind goes ten different ways when trying to be quiet and meditate on Scripture. Or they sink into this, “I’m just a worm and can’t do anything.” (Maybe appealing for sympathy to get out of being judged always worked when you were a kid; it doesn’t work with God). Developing a fear of God would be frowned at by most ministers today, but who cares what they think? Their “moral leadership” is why we’re in a mess in the U.S. Better to read Scripture like the above to get the real truth about qualities God loves to see. Like fearing Him.

Some Truths About Teen Pornography and Their Working Parents

According to Google Analytics, pornography searches increase by 4,700% when kids are using the internet in the hours after school ends.

Like it or not, teens are using their devices to access pornography on a regular basis in today's technology driven society. Where previous generations were cautious of a stolen Playboy magazine, current parents are looking for guidance on how to shield their teens from the ever available, internet pornography.

The average child is now accessing pornography at the age of 11.

ONLY 3% OF TEENAGE BOYS AND 17% OF GIRLS HAVE NEVER SEEN ONLINE PORNOGRAPHY

If this sounds like a shockingly low number, consider the amount of hours teenagers spend on screens for entertainment, 9 hours a day according to a report from Common Sense Media. 

The rate of addiction to pornography has grown significantly since the introduction of the internet and the vast amounts of available material. The population at the highest risk for addiction? Teenage boys ages 12-17.

A study conducted by JAMA Psychiatry looked at the connection between compulsive viewing of online pornography and brain changes. Their results indicated alarming similarities between individuals who view online pornography for hours each week and individuals addicted to drugs or alcohol.

This same study suggests these individuals will develop stronger tolerance to the material and may also have difficulty controlling impulses

Mothers and fathers of teens: I have one question--Is there a way that your child is one of these problems?  Most parents don't really know; their teens are fiercely guarding their "privacy."  In many cases, it's privacy to sin.

I have a harder question:  If both you and your spouse are working in the same daytime period, is it worth sacrificing what this might be doing to your child to obtain extra money, to buy "toys" (bigger house, nicer car) you love and covet?   What I'm saying is, one of you  needs to quit the job to guide the teen away from sin, to let the child know you care, you want your child to live a Scriptural life, and are willing to enforce boundaries despite sacrifices for the "good life."  The teen will pick up on this moral courage and sacrifice.   

Let's face it:  Teens lie.  In America today, they live for their impulses.  I'm saying, after you quit, when you're around at home, let your movements be unpredictable--and don't be afraid to snoop.  If your teenager wants you to cite a specific time of your return, he or she may have something in mind. Don't provide them with that information.  

Then there's the possibility of teens having sex while both parents are at work.  I suspect this is happening a lot, looking at the spiraling statistics of people living together before marriage.  Teens (and parents, sometimes) don't care a whit about what the Bible says about sex with anyone outside marriage.  It's speaking of hell for those who violate this commandment  GalatIans 5:19-21 is blunt: 
 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
  
So fornication, which is so widespread in TV and movies, ranks up there with murder and idolatry.  Think about that. 

Now if your teen has a conscience (or if they haven't enjoyed losing their virginity),  they may repent, momentarily, but for most it is repentance light, since most don't take serious-enough steps to stop their growing addiction to sex or pornography. (By the way, assuming that "relief" by watching porn will decrease the desire for sex has been proven wrong by lots of studies.)  So they are still in hell-trouble unless they can discipline their lives to Biblical rules.  Jesus said thinking about a woman for adultery is adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:28).  And if you think that evil thought but not action gets you scot-free, what about Jesus' comments that to hate someone--and you haven't done anything to them--can send you to hell, too?  Try I John 2:9:

He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 

"In darkness" can only be interpreted as bound for hell, unless there is sincere repentance.

Parents, beware!  You are responsible for your children.  If one of you is afraid of quitting that job, for worldly pleasures and things, don't be surprised if the teen can catch the drift and take on the ways of the world as well. Scripture says, those who love the world cannot go to heaven I John 2:15:

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

IF you believe Scripture is really God's Word to mankind regardless of cultural shifts and rationales, then you will make necessary sacrifices to keep your kids off these paths that lead to hell.  
Remember, you're not there to be their friends. Be afraid of God, who will judge you for making decisions (or not making decisions) that harm your child's spirit.

Evangelism Should Emphasize "Repentance" Again

A well-known evangelist, Ray Comfort, estimates that 80-90%, conservatively, of decisions for Christ in modern evangelism will thereafter lose their witness and not even attend church consistently.  He cites a detailed study of the 294,000 who “got saved” in a one-year crusade effort by a major denomination, Harvest, in 1991. They had 11,500 churches keeping close records.  (PS: Evangelism sweeps don't usually do this).  Only 14,000 of the 294,000 still attended church, only a couple years later. That’s a 95% loss rate.

He also studied the works of famous evangelists of the past—such as Wesley, Whitfield, Moody, Spurgeon, and Finney. Along with New Testament evangelists, Paul, Peter, Steven, and Timothy.  Their writings and sermon notes suggested a much higher number of people hanging on to their conversion.  Why has this loss rate gone stratospheric, he wondered?  One of the things he noticed was that in those days, the preaching by these great men would begin with how people have broken God’s Laws.  Then, after that was covered in the sermon, the Good News was taught. This principle of sermon order has faded away, particularly starting in the early 1900s.  Nowadays, preachers consider that the “You Have Broken the Law" sermon starter is just too negative, and have shied away from it.  Modern evangelistic theory (taught in Christian colleges) assumes that most people feel they are not worthy to be with God, so we have to emphasize God’s grace and love right from the start, to make them feel wanted, then explaining what Christ did on our behalf. The Prodigal Son (Luke 15) was the classic example of a good sermon, as they teach how the father accepted his son, though he wasted the inheritance, and still smelled of pigs.   

Mr.Comfort came to the conclusion that the surveys mentioned above suggested the old ways were better.  What's more important, Scriptures seem to provide proof of his idea.  Psalm 19:7 says, in part:

The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul

Well, converting the soul is what we want in evangelism, right?  The Word lays it out plainly.  You present the Law.

Mr. Comfort gives us a parable.  Suppose you’re walking around, and someone pops up and says, “I’ve got good news for you!  Someone paid a $2500 fine on your behalf!”  Your reaction might be “What are you talking about?  That doesn’t make sense; I can’t think of what I did wrong, nor has anybody told me thus.”  They are not exactly in a receptive mood, or grateful, right?  The person would be offended, actually--before they got around to accepting the money.  BUT what if the following metaphor happened:  This person was clocked doing 55 mph in an area set aside for a blind children’s school nearby.  There were 10 clear warning signs stating that the speed limit was 15 mph.  What he did was extremely dangerous, negligent, and reckless, whether he knew about it or not, and a $2500 fine was appropriate and it was the law.  So this person was caught, and in court his ignorance of the law was brushed aside (that would never bring back the life of a child killed).  He was told all the details of his illegality, and then told to pay the fine, and with agony he wondered whether he would have the money, how stupid he was to do that, how much his family would sacrifice their lifestyle—or even how he would tell them—when suddenly someone he didn’t even know stepped forward and paid it for him.  Now his reaction would be a definition of gratitude, right?  He might even want to make friends with this stranger, to see what motivated him to give so much so graciously. 

As you can clearly see by the two parables, the second example--explaining what he did wrong, the Law he broke, with proper acceptance of that news, THEN giving him the Good News of One who has paid his debt, generates a much more positive response.  Well, that’s the principle they formerly used in preaching.  On the other hand, the other approach is what we have a great deal more of now.  Most people, hearing this more-recent approach, are offended—they don’t think they are bad sinners. (Which means they haven’t been taught about God, how He is perfect, and hates sin.) If I talk "grace-only" with a prospect, I pretty much can’t get away from insinuating that they have seriously broken the law, when they have usually deceived themselves into thinking they don’t think they have—and they resent our suggestion—and our indirectness. Or, they consider the idea that they need salvation foolish.  As Scripture says in I Corinthians 1:18:

…the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing

Anyone “saved” by this method is more by emotionalism, since there is confusion about why they need to be saved and what the Good News really is—but in the cold light of the days following, this emotionalism cools off to rejection more often than not.  Which is where the 80-90% falling away comes in.

Thus I need, in my preaching evangelism, to take the time to speak insightfully of the Ten Commandments and its violation in thought as well as deed, and then to also cover Jesus’ commandments in the Gospels—i.e., to show the prospect that he has truly offended a just God—then he hopefully becomes, as James says in 2:9: Convicted of the law, as a transgressor; then the Good News of Christ’s paying our debt will not be offensive or foolish…it will be the power of God unto salvation. 

Let’s look at each function of presenting God’s Law. We’ll start with Romans 3:19:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 

Thus, one function of it is (1) to stop the mouth.  We don’t need to hear much of the prospect’s wisdom, justifying himself and saying, “there are plenty of people worse than me.” (He’s either deceived or just putting you off, really). We are the ones bearing the wonderful gift of good news, and need an opportunity to speak.  

Secondly, Romans 3:20 says this:

by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

The prospect needs to know the knowledge of sin, since self-defense and self-deception are rampant today.  We cannot assume that his sin is in the forefront (or even in the back) of his memory.  I John 3:4 says:   sin is the transgression of the law.  It would seem obvious that a person needs to know the law intimately in order to know if he has transgressed it, or has sinned.  Romans 7:7 declares this more forcefully:  I would not have known sin except through the law. 

Thirdly, in Galatians 3:24, the Law is not only to build our knowledge of sin, but, very importantly….

the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. 

What this means, is, the Law doesn’t really help us in reconciliation with God…it shows us that we are helpless.  It doesn’t justify us, it just leaves us guilty at the judgment seat. But with the Law, when we see our sin, as God sees it, we see how we have offended God, and if hell is even brought up (which it almost never is nowadays), we are, deservedly, destined for hell.  Then we seek Him for some method of righteousness and deliverance.  Christ is that key, as a good evangelist will point the way.

When modern evangelism abandoned the "old" principle of discussing the Law and how Christ saves us from wrath, it needed to seek another reason to attract us to Christ. So they invented the term “life enhancement.”  Following Christ will benefit us.  We will have peace, love, joy, fulfillment, and lasting happiness. At this point, Mr. Comfort provides another useful allegory: 

Two men are sitting in a plane.  The first is given a parachute, (the only one receiving the offer), and told that it will “improve his flight.”  He is skeptical and even thinking the flight attendant is wacko, as he knows that airlines only talk about "good times are ahead," but he puts it on—just as a trial.  But it weighs his shoulders, and gives him difficulty in sitting upright.  But he perseveres.  After a while, though, he notices that other passengers are laughing at him due to his unusual clothing accessory.  Feeling humiliated, he can’t stand it anymore, and he throws the parachute to the floor.  Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart, because as far as he was concerned, he was told an outright lie. 

The second man was given a parachute, BUT he was told a different reason, in alarming detail:  at any moment, without warning, a faulty flight could mean he would be jumping 25,000 feet off the plane. He takes it to heart: He doesn’t notice the discomfort of the parachute, because his mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he had to jump without it.  He develops a deep-rooted peace in his heart knowing that he shall escape a sure death no matter what happens.  He can deal with other passengers’ mockery—he knows that they need to do what he did.  He might even engage them in intense conversation about their need for this safety device. 

You can see what we’re saying.  Under modern evangelism, this man-centered “improvement” approach is a guaranteed failure.  People will take on Christ as an experiment to see whether their life does improve.  But they get what the Scripture promises to the saved, at some points in their lives--temptation, tribulation, and persecution.  They are humiliated by others, disillusioned about not seeing a rosy path develop for them. They take off the Lord Jesus, and are rightly embittered. They are now inoculated against evangelism in the future, and their latter end is worse than the first. Modern evangelism has promised them what God has not promised.  The opposite of their expectation occurs.  After all, God has every right to test us to see if we can really endure.  Modern evangelism does not ask a crucial question:  Are we able to drink of the cup that Jesus drank of?   

We should take the second parachute approach, boldly telling every man, as Hebrews 9:27 says:

it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment

He must understand the horrific consequences of breaking the Law. He must be told to escape the wrath which is to come, when God judges the earth in righteousness. The issue is not one of happiness, but of righteousness.  Then he will flee to Christ, and experience true peace and joy—the fruits of salvation.  But don’t speak of peace and joy as a “draw card” for salvation, or sinners will respond with impure motives, lacking repentance.  The man correctly taught will have much more motivation to endure the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.  When bad times come, he doesn’t throw off Christ—because his reason for taking on Christ is not for rosy paths, but to save him from future wrath.  He has been re-taught to ignore man’s reasoning.  If anything, trials will drive the true believer closer to the Savior—life will be that much better in heaven, and he will be looking more for heaven when life on earth gets miserable.

Mr. Comfort then told of an evangelistic crusade he preached in Australia.  He preached of the Law, Hell, and wrath.  He told of how few people came forward, and how the atmosphere felt tense. He felt the usual disappointment in people’s deafness.  Perhaps he thought of Noah, “a just man, perfect in his generations..walked with God” (Gen. 6:9), who despite being “a preacher of righteousness” (II Peter 2:5), never was able to save a single soul outside his family.  The Spirit lifted Mr. Comfort up, told him to simply carry on. Mr. Comfort confessed that this lack of results wore him down, and had pulled him, at one time period, unwittingly to preaching a man-centered Gospel—to get happier results. For that time he got lots of results—that was nice.  The original numbers of people “saved” are higher that way, and there is less tension.  People are happy to have Jesus take a turn at getting them out of the mess they’ve made of their lives. But--they are not clean from the wrath to come because we don’t tell them of the wrath to come.  That was a glaring omission in his message. In the end, people should be asking what David, what the Prodigal Son, and Joseph asked:  How could they sin against God? After all, He is also a God of wrath, and we can’t just ignore that—it’s one of His personality traits.  Real repentance is understanding that the great offense here is against God, not just “horizontal” repentance against your fellow man. Mr. Comfort calls this “horizontal only” approach “superficial and experimental.”  The prospect should be seeking something called “godly sorrow” to obtain true repentance, an important element in salvation.  As II Corinthians 7:10 says: …godly sorrow produces repentance.  In evangelism nowadays, we are missing discussing sin against God.  

We have preached the cure without telling them of the disease.    

AB Earle, who had 150,000 converts to his ministry in the mid-1800s, made the following quote:

I have found by long experience that the severest threatenings of the Law of God has a prominent place in leading men to Christ.  They must see themselves lost before they will cry for mercy; they will not escape danger until they see it. 

Mr. Comfort has noticed that there are many people who have been “saved” several times, yet their lives don’t show change. They’re still fornicating, still blaspheming, and so on. What they’re likely doing is:  Using the grace of God for an occasion of the flesh. They sin, they might ask God to forgive them, they move on same as before. They don’t esteem the sacrifice and don’t understand how great the sin.  It means nothing to them to trample the blood of Christ underfoot. The problem is: They’ve never been convinced of the disease that they might appropriate the cure. 

When you study the Word, you find that Biblical evangelism is always Law to the proud and grace to the humble.  Never do you see Jesus giving the gospel to proud, arrogant, self-righteous people.  With the Law, He breaks the hard heart and with the Gospel, He heals the broken heart.  God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. The proud and highly esteemed are an abomination to God (Luke 16:15).  Note who gets the good tidings in Isaiah 61:1.  The poor, the brokenhearted and the captives are those who are there spiritually:

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound

Only the sick can appropriate a cure. In Luke 10:25-37, after being plainly asked "what shall I do to inherit eternal life?", Jesus gave the lawyer Law.  Why?  Because he was proud.  Note v. 29 for that in part of the story below:

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” ²⁷ So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” ²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” ²⁹ But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  ³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves…(the rest of the story is of the Good Samaritan).

Jesus knew this Jewish lawyer didn’t like Samaritans.  Then the Master Debater came to the climaxing point:

³⁶ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” ³⁷ And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

The lawyer had no response—he could see his own lack of love, compared to this generous Samaritan.  He could see that he was a Commandment-breaker.  The Law has done its job again—stopped his mouth, maybe convinced him of sin. 

Note that a similar event happens when the rich young ruler visits Jesus.  We read of it in Luke 18:18-23, where Jesus shies away from an easy response:

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” ²¹ And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” ²² So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”²³ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

Again, Jesus did not begin with the Gospel to this person. (Today, as soon as he asks, “what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” we would engage him in a salvation prayer).  But Jesus sees a proud person underneath (v. 21), who was not ready for the Gospel.  So in verse 20 the young ruler gets the Law—the “horizontal” part-- and is still convinced that he has never sinned (an advantage that only Jesus can claim, really).  Then Jesus slyly points out his lack of the first commandment (Thou shall have no other gods before me) by showing him that his real god is his money.  Once again, no argument. His mouth was stopped.

In contrast, we see Nicodemus, in John 3.  While a leader of the Jews, he was humble of heart, acknowledging the deity of Jesus (verse 2).  He receives the Gospel, and perhaps the greatest verse in His Word, John 3:16. 

Consider also Nathanael, in John 1:47-51.  In him was no deceit.  Since that trait is a tool of the proud, he does not have that negative quality.  Plus, he acknowledged the deity of Christ (v. 49).  Jesus gives him the honor of prophesying about Himself and His future coming.  Part of His glorious good news. This kinder approach goes for the Jews who gathered on the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2.  These were devout (a word which denotes humility) men, v. 5.  What did Peter preach to them?  Not the Law, but the Gospel.  (But he doesn’t hesitate to lay blame on them for His crucifixion, v. 36). 

Think of two verses to the great hymn, “At Calvary:”   Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died  On Calvary.
By God’s Word at last my sin I learned; then I trembled at the law I’d spurned Till my guilty soul imploring turned  To Calvary. May God bless you as you search for His ways of presenting His precious Words to the lost in your environment.  In the light of our first few paragraphs, remember the saying:  “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”  There is a lot of insanity in evangelism these days. Acknowledgement:  Ray Comfort, “Hell’s Best Kept Secret,"   audio and book from Livingwaters.com.

The "Emerging Church" Has Some Real Problems

I’ve been reading an excellent book by Thomas Horn (Blood on the Altar: The Coming War Between Christian vs. Christian). I sought further help on one of his subjects, the Emerging Church, online. So I internetted an interview between two giants in the faith:  John MacArthur (Author of 150 books, pastor, radio preacher, president of Master’s Seminary in Los Angeles) and Phil Johnson (Retired U.C.-Berkley law professor, father of the “intelligent design movement.”) They’re both in their 70's now, but their hands are on the pulse of the church—and they’re very, very concerned about the church’s faithfulness to Scripture. I thought I would focus on their concern and highlight part of their interview here.

One of the biggest threats to God's church is, would you believe, a church movement called the “Emerging Church.” So let’s start by defining it. Wikipedia says: they are post-Protestant, post-evangelical, post-liberal, post-conservative, and post-charismatic. Further, the movement hates preaching; they believe instead on “conversation” with people. This is to emphasize its developing and decentralized nature, its vast range of standpoints, and its commitment to dialogue. VERY important note: There is no central creed in these churches. What those involved DO mostly agree on, is their disillusionment with today's church--and they support the deconstruction of modern Christian worship. They believe, instead, that there are radically diverse perspectives within Christianity. They say they are creating a “safe” environment for those with opinions ordinarily rejected by modern conservative evangelism. They believe that non-critical interfaith dialogue is preferred over "dogmatically-driven" evangelism. The movement “went public” in November 2004, when they were spotlighted in an article in Christianity Today. (I'm not saying Christianity Today likes their stance). But they’ve been around since at least 1996.

The second way to get to know how the Emerging Church, is by a few relevant quotes from their founding father, Brian McLaren. In a separate interview, after he "mistakenly" spoke of God in the male gender, he had this to confess: “This is as good a place as any to apologize for my use of masculine pronouns for God…I avoid (their) use because they can give the false impression…that the Christian God is a male deity.” On the subject of the atonement, Jesus’ sacrifice for us, he calls it a “violent view,” because it presents God as the “greatest existential threat to humanity.” On the return of Christ, a reader from Sweden asked: “If Jesus isn’t coming back…what about judgment or the resurrection?” His answer was psychobabble, but you can tell he's giving it a thumbs-down: “Jesus does say ‘I will come again.’…but I think it’s a mistake to assume that when he says those things, he means what we mean…with all our dispensationalist, premillennialist…or whatever categories. The hyperbolic imagery of the New Testament, moon turning to blood..etc. is political language, signaling the fall of powerful political luminaries. Also…Jesus didn’t come just to evacuate us from earth to a future heaven but to show us how to live and make this world more and more beautiful by following Jesus’ example which would eventually lead to God’s “kingdom come on earth.”"

You can see the attack on foundational Scripture there.

Another leader, Rob Bell, also attacks fundamental doctrine: he doesn’t believe Scripture was inerrant when he mentions his greatest discovery—“the Bible as a human product.” He also denied the reality of hell and promoted universalism (its definition: Everyone gets saved!) in his book Love Wins.**(see note below). In summarizing the movement’s view, he says “This is not just the same old message with new methods. We’re rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion…” Mr. McLaren agrees; he believes in inclusivism—that other religions (those that deny Christ as God) lead to salvation, too. For instance, he does not think we should convert Buddhists to Christianity; we should make “Buddhists followers of Jesus.” (Buddhism is usually atheistic, so a “Buddhist Christian” is an oxymoron. Acts 4:12 doesn’t apply any more, I guess.)

Now that we’ve read a bit of this strange group, let’s let John MacArthur tell what he thinks. He’s smarter than me anyway.  He first distinguishes the emerging church movement from Modernism. Modernism was a product of the Enlightenment during the Renaissance in which they made human reason, not Scripture, the determinant of ethics.  He says “out of that came the worship of the human mind, and (in effect,they were saying), the mind trumps God.” The Emerging Church, on the other hand, is post-modernism…In both cases, they assault Scripture. (This movement) "is a denial of the clarity of Scripture....they think we can’t really know what the Bible says. Whether it’s about sin or virtue...they don’t like rules, so their ‘out’ is…(they say) “Well, it (Scripture) is not clear.” This is just another way to set the Bible aside.”

Scripture claims to be clear, however, and God holds us responsible: ”A wayfaring man though he be a fool need not err.” (Isaiah 35:8). Dr. MacArthur also charges their leaders that “the reason they deny Scripture (clarity is because) men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19). The light is there, they hate the light, they run from the light. The issue is not that Scripture is not clear, it is crystal clear.” Dr. MacArthur charged them with running from the light because he believes they’re heretical—which he says later on in the interview.

I would like to take the topic of homosexuality to get a thorough example of their approach. I’m sure you know (unless your head is in the sand) that the homosexual agenda is that we should all tolerate, all agree with them, not finding anything morally wrong. Scripture, however, won’t let us do that. It’s condemned in Leviticus 18:22, where God says to men:

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

As Romans 1 points out, it is among the worst deviations that men come down to, after God “gave them up” in their insistence to defy Him.

Scripture is crystal clear on this subject, is it not? Not according to Emerging Church leader Mr. MacLaren, who says: “Many of us don’t know what we should think about homosexuality. We’ve heard all sides but no position has yet won our confidence…that alienates us from both the liberals and conservatives who seem to know exactly what we should think…the biblical arguments are nuanced and multilayered, and the pastoral ramifications are staggeringly complex.” The phrase that sticks in my craw--"no position has yet won our confidence." Our judgment is the final word:  it trumps God, evidently.

But Dr. MacArthur insists that the truth is clear; it’s bad for the practicing homosexual, but it’s still the truth. He says, “the truth is what I will defend. It’s not personal. I’m not mad at people. I’m not trying to protect my own little space. That doesn’t make me popular in all circles, it creates just the opposite.” He maintains that it’s impossible for Christians to agree with the latest world's view: “there is no possible accommodation …Christianity would have to be reinvented to accommodate itself to any pattern of (worldly) culture thinking.”

But Brian McLaren, a founding father of the Emerging movement doesn’t believe MacArthur has good motives. McLaren was asked again where he stands on the homosexuality issue in Leadership Journal in January 2006 (Leadership Journal is also produced by Christianity Today). His answer was anything but crystal, as usual, since he switched the subject to attacking motives of the questioners instead. He first accuses conservative Christians of, quote, “wanting to be sure that we conform to what I call “radio-orthodoxy,”(a slam on radio preacher MacArthur and others), i.e. the religio-political priorities mandated by many big-name religious broadcasters.” After spreading this bit of slander, he says “I hesitate in answering the homosexual question…there is more to answering a question than being right or even honest…we must understand the question beneath the question…we want to be sure our answers are appropriate to the need of the moment…We fear that the whole issue has been manipulated…by political parties…whatever we say gets sucked into a vortex of politicized culture-wars rhetoric...  I know what you guys' motives are, and I condemn them." (If their motives are to defend Scripture, that's reprehensible, I guess).  He suspects our motives in speaking against homoseuals are political, stir-up-the-crowd stuff.  There are those, frankly, who have that in mind.  So it's best to stick to Scripture.  We should also pay less attention to depending on political parties to maintain Christianity. He has a paranoia about that, some of it justified.

Really, a big question he touched on is, how do you evangelize the homosexual? They hate the church, feeling condemned if they just enter a conservative one. So they never attend. They avoid us; if we approach them, they may push us away, since we've become stereotypes to them. So we do not know them, unless they're family. The Emerging Church has decided to, as Dr. MacArthur says, "capture these ignored people by “sanctifying the culture." But the Bible doesn’t adapt to culture. It confronts culture. The Emerging Church, on the other hand, not only is unwilling to believe the clear statement of Scripture, but it wants to let the culture define what Christianity should be…whatever the current sin that needs to be tolerated in the culture is, they’ll buy into.”

Dr. MacArthur then talks again about big movements in history. He summarizes Pre-modernism: “there is truth and it comes from God, it has a supernatural source…men believed in God or they believed in the gods.” What follows is Modernism (which I’m figuring covers 1750-2000).  He summarizes it as: “there is truth and we can find it by human reason…not revelation from God, not the Bible, but human reason.” But Modernism wasn’t a good idea in practice: “the world got worse than it has ever been…the totalitarian world…fascism, Nazism, Communism, and the massacre of millions and millions of people in the name of human reason.” (For instance, most Lutherans didn’t have any trouble grabbing a gun to obey Hitler). Getting up-to-date, he says: “Now the idea of post-modernism says, “We give up. There may be truth, but we can’t know it. It may be from God, but we can’t know…so we embrace mystery…you have your truth, I have my truth…truth is whatever you think it is, whatever you want it to be, it’s intuitive, it’s experiential..but it’s not universal and it’s not knowable, universally knowable.” Mr. Johnson, the interviewer, responds, “That’s why these days the highest values, the sole remaining virtues, are things like tolerance, ambiguity, mystery..” (To me, this “mystery kick” opens the door to searching in the occult; people still want plain answers to life's issues, which they're not getting in this psychobabble.) Dr. MacArthur says, “Oh, Brian McLaren says ambiguity is really a good thing (Mr. McLaren has been quoted as saying, ”Certainty is overrated”)...it gives people a license to invent their own religion, really…no one is permitted to challenge it…it is wonderful if you want to sin without any guilt. And I think that’s at the bottom of this…they hate the light because their deeds are evil.”

He also charges, “It’s not a theology; (they say they) don’t teach…and the word “sermon” scares them… no, we want to have a conversation. But the only part of the conversation they don’t like is when you say, ”That’s wrong. That’s sinful.” So their conversation...never has an objective…that’s another way to negate the Word of God. You can deny that it’s from God. But don’t tell me God has spoken but He mumbled. The worst thing we could do would be to soften the edges of what really is clear in Scripture.” (They claim) “the Bible is irrelevant, you can’t stand up for an hour and exposit the Word of God, you’ve got to tell them stories… To quote one of their leaders, “The bible (small “b” is their idea) is no longer a principal source of morality as a rulebook. The meaning of the Good Samaritan is more important than the Ten Commandments —even assuming the latter could be remembered in any detail by anyone…” A bit of sarcasm on the Ten Commandments there. These guys should work for the government, the way they're light on our obligation. By the way, some of the most revealing McLaren quotes are on this website: http://carm.org/brian-mclaren-quotes-ignorance-bliss-theology.

Dr. MacArthur feels that (they should say) “since we don’t know what it means, why would we teach?  Nobody has a right to impose on anybody else their ideas.” They take a sort of reverse humility in confessing their ignorance. To turn truth on its head, they believe that if someone claims to know what Scripture means, they have committed an act of pride. To quote MacArthur:  “It is an attack on the clarity of Scripture and they elevate themselves as if this is some noble reality…which they call humility…(it’s) a celebration of ignorance.”

They also have this feature: “They’re really, really aggressive at tearing down the church, tearing down historic theology...that have been a part of the church’s life for centuries…that’s the lowest level of assault there is. Anybody can shred and destroy without having to build something back in its place…(they) just shred what people believe and walk away, leaving chaos everywhere…the egotism of it is pretty frightening. And the church is filled with people who have no foundation.”

He gives a few words of warning to those looking for a church home: "I don’t think a person should go to a church that isn’t answerable to a doctrinal statement…(if you do), you need to get out of there because you’re at the whim of a guy who can invent anything he wants any time. This entrepreneurial approach to the church is a very serious breach…" (There) “may be Christians who are seduced by this; in their ignorance they are the children tossed to and fro, carried about by every blowing wind of doctrine.” (Ephesians 4:14). Mr. Johnson, the interviewer, says: “And every man does what’s right in his own eyes.” (Judges 17:6). Dr. MacArthur maintains that young people from a denominational church that often lacks life and fails to exposit Scripture, these are the likely victims of this movement: “I don’t think (the Emerging Church) is nearly as appealing to the non-churched people as to the marginally churched young people."   The young attached to "Emerging" "are reacting to the superficiality and…the legalism of (their church).”

Dr. MacArthur speaks again to the clarity of Scripture. (Jesus) “says things to them in His day like this, ‘Have you not read? Have you not heard what Scripture says?’ He didn’t say to them, “Oh, look, I know why you’re having a tough time with Me, because the Old Testament is so hard to understand.” Then he brings up the example of the Gentiles, who were totally ignorant of the Old Testament…"Paul (who assumes the regular people are smart as he) builds these massive cases of understanding the Christian gospel based on the sacrificial system from the Old Testament…Thus, to come along and say that the Bible is not clear is then to accuse God, and (accusing) the Scripture itself of claiming something for itself that it can’t deliver. (Charging God like that is) pretty serious.”

**Note: Mars Hill Churches was the focus of the Emerging movement.  But Rob Bell was removed as senior pastor of his Mars Hill church in Michigan in 2011 after his beliefs were revealed in the book Love Wins. But he has come back, preaching at sold-out conferences in the U.K. and Ireland lately.
Another important name in the movement is Mark Driscoll.  He was removed from a separate Mars Hill pastorate in October 2014, most particularly because he called women "penis homes" and other misogynist remarks--plus, he's being charged with plagiarism.  It was also revealed that church money was used to pump up his book sales so he could make the NY Times Bestseller List. But he has come back, after taking in $1.1 million in donations in 2 years, he built a $1 million church in Phoenix, and has even been called upon to evangelical conferences.
Brian McLaren is still going strong, too:  His latest book, The Great Spiritual Migration, includes the following crazy quote:

“Christianity, we might say, is driving around with a loaded gun in its glove compartment, and that loaded gun is its violent image of God. It’s driving around with a license to kill, and that license is its Bible, read uncritically. Along with its loaded gun and license to kill, it’s driving around with a sense of entitlement derived from a set of beliefs with a long, ugly, and largely unacknowledged history.”


 Acknowledgement: Thomas Horn, Blood on the Altar and Christianity Today

Escaping Hell: God's Negative Promises (Part 2 of 2)

I trust you have learned much from our Part I essay on God’s negative promises. An unpleasant task, but worthwhile. Let us complete the task in Part 2.

II Tim 2:11-13 says:
This is a faithful saying: 12…If we deny Him, He also will deny us.13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Many times I have heard sermons on v. 13 alone. The message the uplifting pastor gives is, if we practice sin, God will still remain faithful and see to it that we will go to heaven. Because we’re saved, the pastor says. But, folks, that’s not what the verses say. Taking the two verses together, it really says this: God will remain faithful in His promise as to what He does with people who deny Him. He will deny us! (Matthew 10:33). Don’t read anything positive in the statement “He cannot deny Himself.” Read it as follows: if He doesn’t carry out His negative promise, He would be denying His perfection. Yes, He is faithful to carry out a negative promise as well as a positive one. Thus, we obtain an opposite meaning compared to the sermons—because the pastor doesn’t look at the previous verse, verse 12. Context is crucial.


Romans 8:13: For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live

We must consciously sacrifice worldly thoughts and behaviors. We cannot continue to live “according to the flesh,” pleasing our lower nature. Or we “die”—another reference to hell.

James 2:13: For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment

Showing mercy is an extremely important Christian fruit. Look at Luke 16:19-31 for Jesus' startling presentation on that subject:

“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell] from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then 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.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ 27 “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

Note the following: The rich man is in hades--on the way to hell. Why such a horrible reward for his behavior? I mean, he’s rich—doesn’t that mean that God loves him, and would make sure he went to heaven? No, bad assumption. He was in hades because he refused to show any mercy to the beggar, whom he passed every single day and refused to lift a finger. Yet, you say, this seems to be an extreme punishment for him not being merciful! Here, the rich man is suffering in great torment—extreme heat, parched tongue, flames—all truly what hell will be. Think about that—would God do such a thing? Well, if we question Him doing it, it probably means we have no inkling of how much He hates sin! Don't forget, God was willing to give up His only Son, to die a horrible death, because He loved us—and yet we stomp on His love by ignoring His Son’s words to us to follow His commands. Finally, notice that the rich man, tormented as he was, gets not one simple request fulfilled—he doesn’t get his tongue cooled, not a word is said to warn his brothers. Why? His time of mercy has passed. “Judgment is without mercy,” as James 2:13 above says, since he had shown no mercy. No second chances! Once in hades or hell, you get no mercy, you’re in hell forever! Let us learn from this and show mercy to the downtrodden. Make no excuse for yourself, thinking “they wasted their life, and deserve to be there.” God knows our every thought. Don’t we want God's mercy in judgement for our many sins when we die?

Revelation 14:9-12: Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

When the hunger of the end times comes, it seems that having the "mark" imprinted on us is the way to get the needs of life met easily--food, clothing, medical care (Revelation 13:16-17). People will be fearful that without the mark, they may starve, or die because of poor health. The temptation to take the mark will be almost impossible to ignore.

Yet the angel warns us that if we do take the mark, we get hell, we get the wrath of God, we get tormented with fire and brimstone—forever. Is the trade-off worth it? If we believe God’s Word is Truth, it actually makes sense to starve to death (although I think God will perform miracles to keep that from happening), in order to gain heaven instead of hell. Here are your choices: Do you prefer a couple months or years of filling your belly, and then death and hell forever? Or do you prefer possibly death now, and heaven forever? Forever is a lot longer than a couple years. Heaven is unspeakably better than hell. If you believe that God speaks the truth, it’s no contest which way to go. Yet most people are predictable; their immediate needs are as far as they see. So Scripture speaks of a great apostasy (falling away from Him and His truth) in those End Times. And we may be in that unfortunate "End Times" generation. Will we fall away to satisfy bodily needs?  Can we resist that temptation, believing in a certain heaven--and believing in a certain, horrible place called hell.  We need to pray and be mentally prepared--and our families as well. Sad to say, many will be unprepared--a lot of “Christians” will make excuses to God while they apostatize and take the mark. To their eternal destruction. He will stick to His promise, regardless of their excuses. II Thessalonians 2:3 clearly says that there will be many who will be weak and fall away:

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition


II Chronicles 15:2: And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

Yes, it’s possible to be forsaken by God--if we forsake Him. What, you thought He was a God of unconditional love, patient forever, faithful to keep us safe to the end, etc., etc.? Guess you had the wrong idea about Him. If you’re smart, you need to read His Word about what He thinks, rather than guessing and hoping your way through. Let us not mentally create God to be what we want--but what if He isn't what we desire of Him? We can't spend time on speculation that often turns on self-deception. Scripture is the best way to find out truly about God.  It also says we guess wrong about what God is thinking. As Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Ezekiel 33:13: When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die

“Die” refers to hell. You say you had your one moment of receiving Jesus, you got Jesus' righteousness--but your life hasn’t really changed? You say that you behaved when you were young, but now your plan is to sow your wild oats before you get old, then repent of it all and get saved again? Convenient assumptions…but big mistakes; that trend doesn't happen. I have an 86-year old friend, who is obviously close to death.  No way can I get him to think about a judging God.  Keep in mind:  As the Ezekiel verse says, He seems to be a “what have you done for Me lately” God. He is patient with us when we ignore Him for a time, but His patience has a limit.

Matthew 7:21,23: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven…And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!

God promises hell to those who have the “lip service,” yet they “practice lawlessness.” These are people who say, “It’s all right to sin..I’ll confess it later,” or “Now that I’m saved, I can sin and not lose my salvation. Sinning just makes me lose fellowship, or lose a crown.” Such people encourage lawlessness. Their theology opened the door to sin. If they walk through it--they’re on their way to hell, regardless of sincere theology. They haven’t read their Bibles about expectations God had for them to fight sin.

John 5:29: … and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation

Note the key to the resurrection of life: Doing good. This presumes a faith in Christ and new birth previously.  But faith cannot be alone and live. This agrees with the book of James which speaks of “dead faith,” James 2:17:

Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

That “faith” won’t get you to heaven; you end up in hell. Works, fruit, are necessary to maintain salvation. See my blogs on “initial…final salvation,” and “Paul v James.”

Psa 37:10-11: For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace

Thank God--no more wicked people!

IN SUMMARY: In Exodus 34:6,7 God describes Himself and emphasizes His mercy and patience

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation

See also Nehemiah 9:31 and Psa 145:8-9 and Micah 7:18. BUT as I said in my opening remarks, you need to see the other side of God to get the true picture. He is jealous (Exodus 20:5), gets wrathful and avenging over sin, even slaughters people for their sin; in fact, He hates some people! (But there is room for sincere repentance.)  See Psa 11:5

The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

It’s important to see both sides of God, that He is faithful to His promises, even if that means people go to hell. Let us never forget that fewer people make it to heaven—most people make up their own view about God, and consign themselves to hell. See Matthew 7:14 for proof that this happens to the majority of people:

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Never forget this sobering fact.

Acknowledgement to Daniel Corner, writer and preacher