“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” –Luke 12:32
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”— 2 Tim. 1:7
“So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”— Heb. 13:6
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because
fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”— 1
John 4:18
“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil
shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall
have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give
thee a crown of life.”— Rev. 2:10
When we read these verses we can see that we are not supposed to fear anything. God is with us.
If we believe that God is right beside us, and even in us through His
Holy Spirit, then why do we have fear? Our God is bigger than anything
in this world, and anything the devil can throw at us.
These verses above indicate that there is a spirit of fear. A demonic
entity which harasses us. It says in First John that we are tormented
by fear.
Therefore battling fear is Spiritual Warfare. It’s something we can overcome.
The first thing needs to be faith and trust in God, His goodness and His Word.
Nothing else matters.
I harp on this idea of a relationship with God. When we know Him, we
know where to turn. We can trust Him. Even when everything around us is
terrible and we are in our darkest days we can trust Him. Even though
the devil tries to get us to turn from God, and curse God, and doubt
Him. We can trust Him. And that is power. For in our weakness we are
strong when we turn to Him.
God is not against us. It is His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He is for us.
Say it out loud. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
“God is with me! He wants to give me the kingdom, He is not out to get me. He is my helper, I will not fear.”
Believe it.
We can overcome fear in His Power, His Love and His Wisdom.
We can pray and know He hears. He promises that if we ask anything in His name He will do it. —John 14:14
No doubts. Trust Him. He hears and is moving.
Fear be gone! God is with me!
Love casts out fear. Confront the fear in love.
Do the loving thing.
When faced with fear, love others. Do unto others as you would have
done to you. Loving others takes your mind off of self, and onto other
people. Use the fear to fuel love. Overcome evil with good.
Remember that God loves you. If we are saved, then we are perfect in
God’s Love. Remember this. He loves through us. Let Him love you and
love others through you.
The devil threw some of them into prison. They were told to fear not. So, what did they do? How did they overcome fear?
They loved. They prayed for the guards and other inmates. They
preached the Gospel and spoke faith to the other prisoners. They
comforted the sick in prison. They helped each other. They loved, in the
midst of fear and hate, and temptations for anger. They turned prison
into purpose. That is how you cast out fear.
Love casts out fear.
Praise God. Loving Him and praising Him casts out fear. You cannot hold fear in your mind, while praising God at the same time.
We also overcome fear through a sound mind. We have a sound mind by
knowing God’s Word. By seeking Him for wisdom and understanding and
truth. By having faith in His Word. By prayer and His guidance.
We can look at how God has brought us through things in the past, and
trust that He will again. We can go and seek out the truth. Study, ask,
learn, seek answers. Fear thrives in the unknown.
We can ask ourselves, “What is the worst case scenario? Has God let
the worst things happen to me? What if He does? He will be with me
through it.”
Overcome and drive out fear through Power, Love and a Sound mind. We
can drive it out through Him, and His Word, and Faith in Him and His
Word. We trust that He is good and He is with us.
Spirit of Fear be gone in Jesus name.
Say it out loud. Cast the spirit out.
Remember times when God was with you and saw you through. Trust Him.
Remember during Covid, when the virus was everywhere and fear was
running with it? Remember when the vaccine came out and they were
forcing people to take it or lose their jobs?
As we move further into these last days we need to make sure we are
not following after false doctrines. We want our faith to be grounded in
Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation. We want to have a
relationship with the Lord through the Holy Spirit. We want to be taught
by the Spirit and Walk in the Spirit. Not led into deception.
Peter tells us.
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there
shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And
through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of
you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their
damnation slumbereth not” —2 Peter 2
Paul also tells us that there will be false teachers in these last days. (1 Tim. 1: 1-15, 2 Tim 4:2-4, 2 Timothy 3:1-9)
Jesus says the deception will be so bad that even the elect (Saved) would be deceived if it was possible. (Matt. 24:24)
So, it’s important for us to have tools in our pocket to help us.
1. The Holy Spirit will teach us and lead us into all truth.
If you are saved and listen to the Holy Spirit. He will impress upon you
that something isn’t right. (John 16:13)
This doesn’t mean the teacher who speaks false things is not saved. A
person can be saved and be in error on a subject. Just because we are
saved doesn’t mean we have it all straight in our minds.
Pray and ask the Lord to show us what’s up. (1 John 2:27, James 1:5)
We want to judge rightly and respond rightly. We want to be Spirit led,
but we need to learn what that means. It takes time and a relationship
with God to hear His voice. “My sheep know my voice” Do you know Him?
(John 10:1-19)
Make sure your belief is right. Sometimes we get bent out of shape
because of a teaching, but it’s our flesh not the Holy Spirit. If you
cannot prove your point from the Word, using two or three verses of
clear scripture, then you might be wrong.
Remember that not everything is a salvation issue. Some disagreements are not that important.
But, there are many things that do matter. You must learn to listen
to the Holy Spirit, and know the Word. We do not know what we will face.
But, when we know the truth, we can see the lie.
2. What does the teacher do with Jesus? We are talking about spiritual teachers here. Not the guy teaching you math.
The scriptures give us an easy way to determine false teachers.
They will not say that Jesus is THE Lord. They might admit he is God, but not confess Him as Lord.
It says that “No one can say Jesus is the Lord without the Holy
Spirit and no believer will say anything bad about Jesus. (1 Cor 12:3)
If they do not have the Holy Spirit, then they are not saved.
It also says to test the spirits to see if they are of God. The test
is whether they claim that Jesus came in the flesh. Basically, do they
teach that Jesus is God, became human and died to save us, and rose from
the dead. (1 John 4:1-6)
If they can’t say that Jesus is the Lord, they probably aren’t saved.
If they do not know or accept that Jesus is God in the Flesh they are
false.
So, you should pray to the Lord to lead you to a teacher He wants you to hear from.
Realize that the demons of hell know who Jesus is. But, they will not confess Him as Lord. They are in rebellion.
Realize that there are false teachers who aren’t saved, and false teachings or doctrines that can come from saved people.
They might teach 90% truth. But in this one area. They are a little off. Is it a salvation issue?
Rejecting Jesus as Lord is major. Believing in infant baptism, or a
pre-trib rapture or some other doctrines is not. Understand the
difference between salvation issues, and doctrinal differences.
Rejecting Christ, is a salvation issue. Going trick or treating is not.
3. A works based doctrine.
Every religion on earth teaches some kind of works based doctrine.
That humans need to do this or that in order to reach God and be saved.
But, in Christianity God Himself came down and did it all for us. It
is finished. All we have to do is accept Him, then have a relationship
with the Him; which He also does through sanctification and His Spirit.
Paul fought the works based doctrine his whole ministry. People want
to add some work to salvation. To either obtain it or maintain it. This
is false. Either Christ does it all or He has done none of it. It’s
either totally grace or it’s not grace at all.
The demons of hell will gladly keep us struggling with worrying about
our sin. Trying to do better while attacking others who disobey. They
love nothing more than a bunch of pharisees who burn people at the stake
of judgment.
You are saved by grace through faith. Let the Holy Spirit guide and work on you. Give others love, grace and mercy as well.
We are not saved by Works. (Eph. 2:8-10)
Our sin is forgiven, if we are saved. The works we do are for Kingdom building.
4. No tough times.
This one is difficult. Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation. We will have times of trouble.
He promises to be with us through it. And there are things we can do
to make those times better like prayer, faith, spiritual warfare,
praise, thanks, abiding, dying to self, giving and serving.
There are things we can do to make it worse, like running from God,
turning to fleshly remedies like booze, drugs and sex, turning to false
beliefs, bitterness and anger, among other things.
In Jeremiah, God told Jeremiah that He was going to judge Israel His people.
Now let’s not focus on what they did. Let’s focus on the fact that
God let tribulation fall on His people, and that it worked to cleanse
the body and drive out those who did not know God.
Jeremiah taught that God was going to let the King of Babylon take
over Israel. And if the people trusted Him, God would be with them.
The false teachers taught that God would not let them suffer
tribulation. They taught that they were not going to face wrath. That
God would deliver them, OUT OF TROUBLE. They stood in the pulpit and
taught that God would deliver them from Great Tribulation.
Now, understand that this is a picture of the Last days. The king of
Babylon is the Anti-Christ and Satan who will make war with the saints
and overcome them. (Rev. 13:7, Daniel 7:25)
This is done to weed out the saved and unsaved. To cleanse the temple
or body. He allows tribulation to come on His people. Even if it’s
great tribulation, to weed out the tares. Remember Lot’s Wife.
Realize, that yes God delivers us from trouble. But, sometimes He allows trouble for a higher purpose.
Our response to both, is the same. Realize He is with us, trust Him, and draw closer to Him.
Realize that tribulation, even great tribulation is not God’s Wrath.
God’s wrath is Hell and the Lake of Fire. God’s wrath is poured out in
one day.
Understand that I am not saying that God kills babies or gives us
cancer to teach us a lesson. Those things exist because of death, the
fall, a corrupted world, and Satan. The enemy wants us to blame God for
these things. That gets us to be angry at God and turn away from Him. It
keeps us from praying and drawing close to God if we think he did it to
us. That is Satan’s plan. To keep us away from God.
The solution is always the same, turn to God and draw closer to Him.
We will learn from the trouble, and we can use it to help others.
5. Not building the kingdom.
Satan won’t build God’s Kingdom. A teacher of the Lord, should be
teaching, preparing and sending the saints out to preach the Gospel,
serve others and God, building the Kingdom. That’s our purpose as
believers. To build the kingdom.
False teachers, will keep you in your pew singing pretty songs and
scratching your itching ears with some new teaching. For what?
A true teacher teaches what the Holy Spirit leads them to teach. He
readies the saints for the battle and growing the kingdom. We all have
our part, in different ways, but we will be led to go and build the
kingdom.
A church sitting in pews doing nothing is not a threat to the enemy.
In Matthew chapter 25, the Lord gives three parables on what it will
look like when He returns. He doesn’t ask about their sins. He asks if
they helped others. He asks if they used the talents He gave them.
Christians are saved and forgiven, and are supposed to be kingdom
building. If they are really saved.
Pray the Lord will help you to escape this deadness in your church. And show you what to do and where to go.
A teacher should confess Jesus is the Lord. They should teach the
Gospel; that Jesus came in the Flesh. They should teach that salvation
is through Christ alone, not works. They should also teach and lead the
saints to build the Kingdom.
Always, turn to the Lord and He will direct you. When you notice a
problem ask Him and be willing to step out in faith, to make changes or
do things He calls us to do.
With technology we are surrounded by false teachings and teachers. It
can travel the world. Fake pictures and videos edited. Media services
telling us propaganda. Governments lying, corporations lying, preachers
lying, and its everywhere.
Turn to God, and listen to Him. He is Truth. He is the way. Trust Him
no matter what our flesh says. The enemy is everywhere, going about
seeking whom he may devour.
It uses the word charity, which can be described as love in action. (1 Cor. chapter 13)
But there is a charity, that is condescending. A charity that places
one party in a position of superiority over another. This is not real
charity or love.
Love does not think evil of someone. We take those thoughts captive
and bring them under control and force ourselves to love.(1 Cor. 13:5, 2
Cor. 10:5)
This is not easy. It’s part of our battle between flesh and spirit.
We fail, and we confess, and we move on. Praying for help and trying to
do better next time.
But, what if we do not even realize we are doing wrong?
We give and we love, but we don’t see that we act like we are better than other people.
Do we think, “I’m able to help you because I obey the rules and you
don’t. That’s why you’re in a sorry state.” when we help someone? Do we
think they are poor or needy because God is punishing them? But, we are
wealthy because we are good?
I can tell you from experience, that when I joined a church, I was
given charity. People helped me and I felt that they loved me. I
appreciate the help.
But, it quickly dissolved into the charity I described above. I was not a well churched person. I had a lot of faults.
“Well churched” is a term used for people who have gone to church
enough to know all the little rules that the Bible says nothing about.”
Things like manners, and etiquette and all of that.
I wasn’t knowledgeable of the little intricacies of church decorum. I
was rough. I laughed at inappropriate things. I talked about
inappropriate things. And the word spread that I was not a good enough
Christian because of some sin I knew nothing about.
I had a background that was not Christian. I was not forgiven for it, by many.
So, people who had shone me charity and love started to back off. The
people who always ran to shake my hand and pretend to be my friend
quit.
You can tell when you no longer get invited to anything. When you
become a second class citizen. When you’re not part of the “in” crowd
and you’re never asked or nominated to serve or be a part of anything.
You’re not really one of them. And you have to wonder if you ever really was.
I’m not talking about Salvation. God calls us and accepts us and loves us and works on us and with us. He calls us friend.
But, sometimes his servants do not. They shake your hand, then betray
you. They ask you about your views, then twist them and use them to
destroy you later. Because being superior to you is more important to
them, than actually loving you.
James speaks of this when he says ” My brethren, have not the faith
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly
apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have
respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou
here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit
here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are
become judges of evil thoughts?”—(Jas. 2:1-4)
How many people have been driven away from God, because of this fake
charity in church? How many people have been treated like they don’t
belong when they got saved and joined a church?
I know it has impacted my life.
To hear sermons on love, and then be treated like an outsider.
And there’s always excuses as to why it happens, or blame is laid on
all kinds of things. But when this treatment happens over and over
again, and not only to you, but to lots of other people. It becomes
obvious that they do not really love you. You are not imagining it. They
have placed you under their footstool to serve them. They have made you
to be another number on Sunday morning, so they can think they are
growing.
As believers, we are called to “judge ourselves lest we be judged
with the world.” Not make excuses for feeling superior to other sinners.
We are just saved. Not better.
So, what’s our answer to this?
Our answer is to overcome evil with good. Sometimes things happen to
us so we can do better and change things. We see fake Christians so we
can understand what it looks like and avoid becoming one.
That sort of condescending charity is not from Jesus. It’s not from
the Spirit. It’s fleshly. It’s man-made works. Anyone can do it.
If you decide to be a friend, then be a friend, or don’t even start.
We are not required to be friends with everyone. But we ARE called to
love them. If you choose to be friends, then don’t be backstabbing once
you see the ugly in a person. Because YOU, have ugly too, and Jesus died
for you anyway. God calls you friend despite your sin, if you really
know Him.
These last days are moving along, and judgement is coming. Turn to
God. Ask Him to show you your sin so you can confess it, and work on it.
Do not find yourself as a virgin, without oil in their lamp because
they never really knew Christ, and did not grow in faith with Him.
“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the
temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I
am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I
possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much
as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”—Luke
18:9-14
This is an important subject. The Lord calls us to examine ourselves, so that we are not lost. We are to judge ourselves
so that we are not judged with the world. We turn to Him and confess
Jesus as our Lord. We humble ourselves and stop relying on ourselves. We
give it to Him. (1 Corinthians 11:31-32, Rom. 10:9-10, Rom. 14:11)
But, if we live under a deception of self-righteousness, like the
pharisee in the parable, it makes it hard to see that we have never
really known Him. We are not saved.
We are called by Him. And if we are willing, we turn to Him and
confess Jesus as our Lord. We are saved forever, we are a new creation,
and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and mold us into the likeness
of Christ.
But, the scriptures are clear that there will be tons of church going
people who think they are saved, and are not. They never knew Him. They
went to church every Sunday. They wore the pretty clothes. They gave
tithes. They sang songs. They obeyed all the rules. They feared that God
might get them. But, they never really knew Him. They were never
broken.
Churches full of people who have never read the Word. They listen to
the pastor and everything he says, and go to Sunday school, but do not
know Christ. They believe in Churchianity, not Christianity.
They are taught that they are the bride of Christ and that they will be raptured out before anything bad happens.
But, when you read about the churches in Revelation it is clear that
God judges His churches. He removes the lamp stand. Especially if they
never really knew Him. (Rev. Chapters 1-3)
We see the Elder Brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He spews hate, because the Father (God) gives grace and love to his brother who has fallen.
“And he (the elder brother) answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment:
and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my
friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he
said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy
brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”— Luke
15;29-32
Notice, the elder son relies on his works.
But, he did not know the father’s heart. He thought it was about obedience, not love and grace. He was bitter.
In Matthew Chapter 25 we have three descriptions of what will happen when the Lord returns.
In all of these parables, it is obvious that the Lord is speaking to “Servants” who thought they knew the Lord.
In the first one, 10 virgins
have lamps, and wicks in the lamps. But, when the Lord returns 5 of the
virgins have no oil (faith) in their lamps. They heard the Gospel, as
in the parable of the sower, but did not really confess Him as Lord. the
seed fell on stony ground, or was choked out by thorns. They never grew
in Him, and had no oil or faith for their light to shine. They buried
it under a bushel. (Matthew 5, Matt. 13)
In the second one,
the Lord goes away and leaves talents with His servants. But, when He
returns, He finds one servant who buried His talents in the ground. The
servant believes the Lord is a hard man and doesn’t want to upset Him.
So, he did nothing. Again, this servant clearly does not know the Lord
or trust Him. It’s not about works, it’s about knowing the master. The
servant did not know the master because he did not care about the things
the master cared about.If he had, he would have tried to do something to grow the Kingdom.
In the third, the Lord divides the nations into goats and sheep.
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw
we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it
not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
There is not one mention of going to church. He doesn’t talk about
porn, or fornication. He says nothing about homosexuality or abortion.
He never mentions drug use or addiction.
Why?
Because if you know Him, your sins are forgiven. Never to be brought
back up, and thrown in your face. BUT… if you know Him you would care
about the things He cares about. He forgave all their debt. But, they
still did not forgive others and cared nothing about helping those in
need. (Matt. 18:23-35)
Again, we see the Lord say,
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out
devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.”—(Matt. 7:21-23)
Again, notice that when they stand in judgement, they rely on the
works they have done, not in the fact that they know Him. They were
never saved. They never accepted the Grace of God. They never confessed
Jesus as Lord. They have relied on being an obedient servant instead of
relying on the finished work of Christ, and having a relationship with
Him. They took the broad road of works, and not the narrow path of faith
in Christ alone.
The worst thing to be is a religious self-righteous person. They
think they are saved, because they do all the churchy things, and
believe all the churchy rules. They never miss a sermon. They’ve got
their favorite pew, and their favorite Bible. They don’t cuss. They
don’t watch bad movies, unless it’s approved.
But, they wouldn’t go sit with the stinky homeless. They wouldn’t
write letters to inmates. They think the stranger in the church might be
a felon or a molester or publican. When they see a family with no
clothes they judge that the dad won’t work three jobs, or it’s a single
mother with no husband. They don’t help them. They might be sinners.
They might be trying to con the good church people in order to get a
tank of gas, or get a bill paid.
Who cares if they con us? It’s about love and grace not merit. Jesus
died for us, and we are not worthy. We take advantage of his grace,
whether we want to admit it or not. We are conning Him. Truth be told.
The worst thing, would be to go to church your whole life, obeying
the rules; thinking you’re saved, only to discover that you never really
knew Him.
Do not be like the virgins with no oil, when He comes.
Turn to Him and know Him. Taste and see that He is good.
When we study the scriptures on a subject, we go by what the entire
Word says, based upon the guiding of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
will lead us into ALL truth. That’s how it works. (John 16:13, Jas 1:5)
We are surrounded by lots of false teachings, and it is going to get
worse as the last days move forward. This is why being taught by the
Holy Spirit is most important. (1 John 2:27)
Hell and/or the Lake of Fire according to scripture seems to be two
different places. There is a current holding place called Hell, and a
final destination which is the Lake of Fire.
Why two? Because after all is said and done there will be a final
judgement, and at some point God will create a new Heaven and new Earth.
Hell seems to be the containment for this current creation, and the
Lake of Fire is the containment for eternity, after the last judgement
and new creation.
The current containment of Hell along with death will be cast into the Lake of Fire, so nothing escapes. (Rev. 20:14)
This containment system seems to have been created for Satan and his angels.
At some point in the distant past, when Satan fell and led a
rebellion against God, which included angels and all sort of spiritual
beings, God created or “prepared” it for them. (Matt. 25:41)
According to scripture, Satan and his angels are not currently bound
in Hell. We have verses showing Satan visiting God’s throne room in
Heaven and the angels battling each other. We also have verses speaking
of the demonic forces ruling and influencing things on Earth. (The book
of Job, The book of Zechariah, 2 Cor. 4:4, Eph. 2:2, Rev. 20:1-3, Dan.
10 )
There are also scriptures that show that some fallen angels or beings
are bound in other places. We see that there is a place called the
Bottomless Pit. So, it seems that the true spiritual cosmology, involves
more than Heaven, Hell and Earth. The Bible doesn’t give us a lot of
info on these places and on the cosmology. I have my beliefs on them,
but let’s stick to Hell. (Rev. 20:1-3, Rev. 9:14)
Hell is eternal death. Death is separation, not an end as we suppose.
Hell/Lake of Fire is a place that is separated from God for all
eternity. It is a holding place for all that is filthy, corrupt and
wicked. It is a place for those who refuse to be washed clean of Sin and
Evil in the Blood of Jesus. Hell exists as a containment for Sin. It is
like a plague that corrupts us. God cannot let Sin into Heaven or
Paradise, or else death and pain and suffering would contaminate all of
eternity. (Rev. 1:5, Rev. 7:14, 1 John 1:7, Eph 2:13, Heb. 10:19)
Hell is best viewed as the garbage dump outside of an ancient walled city. This image gives the best picture.
Hell/The Lake of Fire is the garbage dump outside the City of God. Outside of Paradise.
When you read in the Old Testament about lepers. This is a picture of
the unsaved in Hell. They were living corpses rotting away and
stinking. They were contagious, and had to stay away from others. They
were forced to cover their face and yell “Unclean!” any time an
uninfected person approached. (Lev. 13:45) Separation.
They were poor, and no one helped them much. They dwelt in the
garbage dump because they could get scraps, and scavenge things thrown
away, and people would leave stuff for them.
The dump stinks. It is where the dogs dwelt eating scraps and
fighting lepers. It’s the same in Hell/Lake of Fire (Revelation 22:15)
(Dogs in the ancient world were vermin and tormentors. They were
scavengers and thieves, who roamed in packs and might even attack a
child, or solitary person. It is not the view we have of family pets.
Course those family pets can turn feral.)
Jesus described Hell as a place where “the fire is not quenched and
the worm dieth not.” He was quoting Isaiah. (Isa 66:22-24, Mark 9)
The fires of trash burning with filthy smoke, choking the lungs and
blocking the light. A place of darkness and misery, without the love and
joy and peace of God. A place where the worms live forever eating the
flesh, filth and corruption. (Matt. 25:30)
This is the basic picture of Hell. A garbage dump separated from God and all that is clean.
Jesus gives us a parable of the torment of Hell. He speaks of the
poor man Lazarus who basically was a homeless man who lived outside a
nameless rich man’s gate. The rich man ignored Lazarus. He could have
loved Him and helped Him. If the rich man really knew God, he would have
done what He could do to help the homeless man. But, He did not. (Luke
16)
Both of them die.
The rich man is in Hell. Again, not because he could earn His way
into heaven by doing good deeds, but because He never knew God. He never
had a relationship with God. If He had, then He would have had
compassion. He would have felt conviction to help Lazarus.
The rich man is thirsty in Hell and and says “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.”
There is no water in Hell, it’s hot. He sees Lazarus in
Heaven/Paradise leaning against Abraham’s chest, and makes this request.
(There are teachings about Abraham’s Bosom and all of that, which the
Bible doesn’t really teach. In this parable it is clear that Lazarus is
leaning against Abraham the person, because Abraham speaks. It is not a
place. Locations do not speak. Any doctrines on a place called Abraham’s
Bosom are actually referring to Paradise or Heaven. The place of the
the righteous dead, where the saints go to be with the Lord, and the
other members of their family and saints who were saved as well. Abraham
and all the saints are there. The phrase “Abraham’s Bosom” is actually
poetic language for Heaven/Paradise.)
Abraham tells the rich man that Lazarus cannot give him a drink
because there is a gulf between Hell and Paradise. They can see each
other, but cannot go there. Again separation and containment. Many
ancient cultures had a similar cosmology, because it is true. God told
Adam, and the truth went to Noah, and was taught to the people. Then it
was confused at the Tower of Babel, when people scattered globally with
different languages and different names for past events. But, the basic
idea remains. Because it’s true.
The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family, so they
won’t go to Hell. But, Abraham says “They have Moses and the prophets;
let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went
unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though
one rose from the dead.”
Abraham basically says, “They have God’s Word.” But, the rich man
knows his family won’t read it or learn of it. He assumes his family
would be shocked into turning to God if Lazarus rose from the dead.
But, Abraham says, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”
Basically, if they won’t believe the Word, they won’t believe anything, even if someone rose from the dead.
In case you missed it, this is a reference to Jesus rising from the
dead; and people still refuse to believe. Just to be clear, a man named
Lazarus also rose from the dead, and people still refused to believe.
(John 11, John 20)
So, that is Hell. But, what about the Lake of Fire?
In my best understanding, Hell is a current spiritual place in the
cosmology. It rests separated by a gulf from Heaven/Paradise. (Luke
23:43, 2 Cor. 12:4, Rev. 2:7)
It is Spiritual. It is out there beyond the veil that separates us from spiritual things.
But, the Lake of Fire is material. It exists in the material world forever.
It seems that at some point, God creates a new heaven and new earth.
The city of God, and Paradise itself seems to come to Earth and joins
with Earth. There is no more Separation. Sin has been contained. Death
has been defeated. Everything is created new and seems to go back to how
it was before the fall of man and the rebellion of Satan. (Heb. 11;16,
Isa 65:17, Isa 66, Rev. 21, Rev. 22 )
The Lake of Fire is a place on Earth at this future time. A material
location, not a spiritual one. It rests outside the City of God. It is
the garbage dump, and containment place for everything and everyone who
refused to washed in the Blood and be cleansed and healed of the Plague
of Sin. Understand that sometime before the final judgement everyone who
is dead will be raised into bodies that can never die. The dead
currently have spiritual bodies. These future bodies will allow us to
either live forever in Paradise, or live forever in Hell/Lake of Fire.
(Rev. 20:12)
Why do I say this? Because it’s what God says, “For as
the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain
before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And
it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one
sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the
Lord. And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men
that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither
shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all
flesh.” (Isa 66:22-24)
After God creates a new heaven and new earth. When His city comes to
Earth and Paradise is here. The saints who the Lord has saved, will
gather together on a regular basis to worship God. And part of that
celebration, or after the worship service; people will be able to go out
and look at the Lake of Fire and see Satan, His angels, and those who
followed them in the Lake of Fire.
Now, a Lake of Fire implies liquid fire. So, I personally believe
that it is like a volcano or magma. The City of God and Paradise Earth
is near enough to see it, but there is a separation or gulf. People will
come from all over the new Earth to worship, and see it.
So, let me tell you that our words and current understanding cannot
really explain this. There are gaps in what the scriptures say and our
ability to explain it. We have tried to give a time line. But, from what
I can tell, no timeline or explanation of the events to come is totally
perfect.
We are not supposed to “Intrude into things we have not seen.” (Col. 2:18)
That means that as humans who have never traveled to spiritual
realms, or seen glimpses of the future new creation, we can only give
limited knowledge and understanding.
I’ve tried to connect some dots. and clear things up in order to get
people to understand and get saved or have a hope of the future. I am
not going to say I have it all figured out in such a way that I can
teach it or prove it. I don’t.
This is a simple explanation of what I have learned so far. I hope it helps you in your studies.
We can trust God’s goodness in this fallen world which seeks to
destroy us. Everything around us might scream that God has abandoned us
or that He doesn’t care. But He is there. He will never leave us nor
forsake us.
Even in the Garden. In the midst of Paradise, Satan was able to get
the first couple to stop trusting God. He got them to doubt His promises
and His goodness. The same thing happens to us.
They were in a perfect place with all of their needs met and no
troubles at all, and the enemy was still able to drop a little nugget of
doubt into their mind. Just enough to get them to do the one thing God
told them not to do.
God’s rules are not to keep us down or to hide things from us. They
are designed to protect us, from things we do not understand and the
dangers of this world.
We can trust His promises. We can trust His Word. We can trust His goodness.
We no longer live in a Paradise. We live in a fallen world and bad
things happen to us. Trouble comes into our lives, whether it’s by our
own making or not; we face difficulties. We see the evil around us, and
we are again tempted by the devil to say “Where is God?” “Where is His
Goodness?”
Like Job. Satan attacked him in order to get Him to doubt and curse
God. But, Job said, “Though He slay me, still will I trust in Him.” (Job
13:15a)
He trusted God and refused to be pulled away from the Lord, or caused
to doubt Him. Job questioned. But, he never doubted God’s goodness or
curse Him.
When we face trouble in life, we are also tempted to reject God. We
are tempted to go do things that set us up for failure and more trouble.
Remember, the enemy seeks to steal, kill and destroy. He will use
everything to rob us of finances and joy and life and health, he will
work to kill us and ruin us.
That’s His plan. It starts with getting us to doubt God’s Word, His promises and His goodness.
If He can get us to ignore God, or doubt Him, He can lead us down dark paths and slay us.
When we look at the terrible things in this world it’s hard to
imagine that God is good. We even hear things like “A good God would not
allow such and such.” That is the devil. He cause the terrible things,
then he points at it and says “Look! God did that!”
If we do not know God, or trust Him we can be deceived by it.
In these last days it is going to get harder and harder, as deception grows.
But, we can trust Him. He is good. Learn of Him. Study the Word. Confess Jesus as your Lord, and believe that He is THE Lord.
Confessing ‘Jesus is The Lord” is the only thing that separates the
Christian from every other belief system on Earth. Remember that.
God is good, He came to Earth to die for us and set us free. He saves us. Do not be pulled away by the deceptions of the enemy.
