Gospel

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The Cold Facts about Hell

INTRODUCTON

Reason with me, please,
if I went to my physician
and he found there was disease,
but not wishing to disturb me
nor to cause me mental pain
he filed the info in my file,
saying to me with a smile,
“There is no problem now.”

Would his action be a kind one
to let me waste away because
his desire to not disturb me
would not permit him to say
rather, “There is a problem, but
we can work on it today?”

Yet, sin and hell are real,
and we almost never hear
that we do have a problem
that has come to steal
the very thing that we
hold dear and to snatch us
into hell for all eternity.

But you do NOT have to go there,
that is what I’ve come to say,
but rather, Jesus saves you
from that Place,
when you follow in His Way.

Purpose:

The purpose of this writing is in no way intended to stimulate fear in any reader. The writing is intended to be as is a road sign when it cautions of the danger that exists on the road ahead. This is a writing that uses references from Scripture, The New Testament only, because of the fact that we are under a different Covenant now. Hell has always been a reality for both First and Second Covenants’. Consideration of word studies, from both the Greek and the Hebrew, becomes too long and tedious for the reader that hopefully will read this small book. The writer is convinced that the subject of HELL must be recovered for today’s Church.

Discussion:

When the Church overall found it more palatable to abdicate the mentioning of hell from the teachings of Scripture, we did in effect what the State Department of Transportation would be doing if they removed all the “Caution, Danger Ahead” signs. Should that happen, then motorists would speed headlong into troubled situations that may be death producing. The truth is that all truth is not beautiful. We need the facts so that we can make informed decisions based on knowledge.


The Church of today is speaking largely of the “Love of God.” The LOVE of God is a true Scriptural communication; it is a part of truth that is beautiful. God does love us and it was His love that propelled Him forward into the earth into a little baby body, to live here as one of us, to die here for us, so that He could redeem us back to Himself. He came to save us from the Hell that He created for Satan and the defector angels, whom had taken position against Him in Heaven. Jesus made that fact very clear in His teachings to us.

Jesus knew about Heaven, He came to Earth from Heaven. Jesus knew about Hell, because He was the God Who created it. Jesus is recorded in the Scripture texts as speaking about Hell more often than He talked about Heaven. Why would He do that? Certainly Jesus would have warned about the possible destination of hell for humankind because His plan and desire is that all of humanity lives with Him in Heaven. He knew that Hell is a real place, and He spoke of it as such, knowing too that all who position themselves against God, as did Satan and the defector angels, will arrive to Hell and live there forever, therefore, He warned of it many times.

We, who have accepted the position of teaching and preaching, of being the representatives of Jesus, and of being His Followers must ask ourselves the question, “Why do we avoid to speak of that of which He spoke frequently? Our answer is one of plausible reason, “We do not wish to scare people into Heaven.” In fact, we cannot scare people into Heaven nor can we keep them from going to Hell. That end is accomplished by their personal choice. If they do not know the facts, then how shall they choose well? In a society that applauds the act of full “Information Disclosure,” this is an interesting dichotomy.

The instruction to persons that there is a Hell is not different than the “caution signs” used beside the roads on which we drive our cars. The instruction of the fact of Hell is a “caution sign” to give information by which good and sound decisions can be made.

The love of God and the promise of Heaven is not one-half of the Message, while the anger of God and the fact of Hell is the other half. The love of God is the whole Message. God knows there is a Hell and He loves us too much to not make every effort to rescue us from going to that place, so He provided Himself as a Way for us to return to Him and likewise told us of the fact of Hell.

We need once again to set up the informational signs that convey the information of the fact of hell, and of it being a real place, so that the decision making in the journey, on the road of life, will be balanced with full disclosure of information for the making of choices. God sends no one to Hell. God sends no one to Heaven. Where we arrive at our final destination is a choice made by the individual. It is the only choice we get to make about the details.

There is no Bible Buffet from which we may pick and choose what we want. Neither you nor I may make up our own beliefs about what we think Heaven or Hell is, nor yet how to get there. God has set those things before us and He informs us with clarity what we must do to be saved for Heaven and from Hell.

Some say that there is no proof of the existence of a place called “Hell.” The truth is that there is more proof of a place called Hell than there is that it does not exist. There is absolutely no proof that Hell does not exist.

Many in today’s Church are comforting themselves with the idea that “things have changed.” It is a popular idea that the Bible teachings of the “OLD” Church are expected to be different, after all we are more knowledgeable now. I think a short consideration of the facts would utterly annihilate that supposition. Jesus was God, The Creator in flesh; would He not know the truth? Would He lie to us about it?

In very truth not that much has changed since time began. The sun still warms the earth, the trees and shrubs grow from the ground. Blood continues to flow through our veins and the heart is the organ that pumps the blood to all other parts. We still need our lungs to breathe, gravity always pulls us to the lower levels and among all the other long list of things that have not changed, we continue to die.

I have no idea where the Council of the Modern Day Church met nor yet who sat on that Council when it was decided that the uncomfortable things of the Scriptures should be ignored and only the comfortable things should be presented to the congregations. I firmly do not believe that Jesus was invited to that meeting.

Jesus said on numerous occasions, “If you have ears, hear.” Hearing is more than the mechanical receiving of sound waves to the ear, hearing involves the processing and the understanding of the information received. Jesus said, “Do not fear them who can only kill your body, rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in Hell.” This is not a threat. This is information to help each reader choose wisely. It is true that there are only two choices for where we will spend our forever after our life here has ended. That does narrow our selections and makes the choosing easier to make.

God’s love has provided safety and salvation and a beautiful Heaven for our forever existence, if we reject that provision there is but one alternative and that is Hell. No one wants to go to Hell. Don’t bet on “your chances.” It is all one way or the other. There are no odds.

In view of the facts, what is it that God wants us to do so that we may go to Heaven?

There is a statement made in the Bible that tells us that we have all sinned, or missed God’s mark of perfection. If you lied one time, you have violated God’s requirement of perfection; or if you have stolen, or hated, or used His name in profanity, you have missed the bull’s eye for perfection; so there is none of us that can say other than, “Yes, I am a sinner.”

“For ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.” Romans 3: 23. You and I must admit that we have sinned and are therefore a sinner in need of salvation. We must humble ourselves to come to Jesus for that salvation admitting that we cannot save ourselves because He said so.

“What does the Scripture say?” “That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10: 8a, 9, 10 and 13

Jesus said that, “He that comes unto Me, I will in no wise cast out, (or reject)” John 6: 37

Jesus said also, “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3: 36. Why His wrath? Because in disbelief a person rejects Jesus and the salvation He offers and therefore identifies himself, or herself, with Satan; Satan and his followers will be consigned to the Lake of fire that burns forever and forever.” Revelation 20:10 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and forever.” While that text addresses the devil, and the beast, and the false prophet, Revelation 20:14 expands the list of those who are cast into the lake of fire; “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
This ‘book of life’ is called the Lamb’s Book of Life. Jesus being the Lamb of God, the sacrificial Lamb for our sins.

Revelation 21: 27 “And there shall in no wise enter into it (Heaven) anything that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but (only) they which are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” Sin in us must have been paid for and eradicated before God, before we can enter Heaven. It is the blood of Jesus that pays for our sins before the God Who requires a blood offering for sin. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission for sin.” Hebrews 9:22. “…but now once in the end of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hebrews 9:26b. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9: 14.

Do not see that God requires a blood sacrifice for sin as being harsh; it is God’s requirement, so He came into a human body as a baby, He lived here and developed a one of us and lived without sin so that He could Himself be the Perfect Lamb and to shed the blood of a human body through the Man called Jesus, so that He could offer to us redemption from sin and the free gift of eternal life. That is the extent of His love for us that He would die for us to keep us from the Hell that He created for Satan and the defector angels. However, if we reject His sin offering by rejecting to receive the offer of salvation, then we have chosen to go where we do not want to go.

So the question for each of is this “Is my name written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life?”

There is only one way; Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, AND NO MAN comes to the Father, but by Me.” John 14: 6

“And him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6: 37b

There is a reasonable sounding excuse, as mentioned before, that these things scare people and that we should not scare people into Heaven. Do we warn our children to not play in the traffic? Do you or I jump off buildings and expect to fly? No, because there is real danger in those acts. Heaven and Hell are real and sin is real and God’s requirements are real, if this message therefore makes you feel uncomfortable, I think you are thinking! Hell is a scary Place.

I was scared into Heaven. At the age of 13 and through a dream, I became aware that God wanted me to understand that I might not get into Heaven. I went to a revival meeting at which the sermon was “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears My voice and opens the door for Me, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me.” Revelation 3: 20. I wanted to miss going to Hell, so I asked Jesus into my heart and life, He both did come in and remains there after all these years. He did not think I should wait until I could love Him and so come for that reason. That is His offer after all, “Come to me and live in Heaven forever and miss the fires of Hell. I am no dummy; I know a good deal when it is offered.

What is your choice? Do you wish to live forever in Heaven? Do you wish to live forever in Hell? You have two choices and there are no other destinations.

“Choose you this day whom you will serve.” Joshua 24:15 “And if it seems evil (or displeasing) unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve: … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Why might it seem to us displeasing, or bad, or uncomfortable, to serve the Lord? Because it requires of us three things that are very difficult for us to do: it requires that we admit that we are a sinner; that is to most people humiliating. It requires of us that we admit that we cannot save ourselves and that is really humiliating. It then requires us to give our lives to living the life of mostly self denial to the ways of our flesh nature and the systems of the world, and that seems too hard. However, there are only two choices, we serve God, or we serve the Devil, and they are not opposites. God has no opposite. The Devil has nothing to give you of any eternal value; but you may share the confines of hell with him in eternal solitude. There are no parties in Hell. There is only solitude and pain and misery and torture, forever unending.

Many messengers of today are teaching that a God of LOVE would not send anyone to Hell. That is true. It is also true that God sends no one to Heaven. The choice is ours to make. We get whatever we choose. God informs us about Heaven and Hell and tells us what is required, we chose, and then our destination is secured to the Place of our choice. It isn’t at all like what we experience in the system of multiple choices that we have here on earth. I may choose my house or apartment. I may choose the vacation spot that I want from a list of many possibilities; but the after life has only two places to live forever, Heaven or Hell.

Some think to take their chances because they have the gut instinct that they can get into Heaven because they have done good things and have lived a good life. Earth’s first twins are a good example of the ineffectiveness of offering good works to God, and the effectiveness of offering of a blood sacrifice. Cain and Abel brought offerings to God. Abel brought a slain animal of the most perfect he had, and Cain brought to God an offering of his vegetables, the works of his hands. God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but refused Cain’s sacrifice. Nothing we can do or produce will pay the price for our sins except the blood of Jesus Christ. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:14.

God talked with Cain and pleaded with him to amend his ways, because Cain was angry with God that He did not accept the works of his hands. God warned him of the outcome of evil happening to him, just as He warns us. God will not force us, He leaves it to our choice.

Disclosure of valuable information is herein presented. What decision will you make based on what you have read?

Ramona Cook 04/01/2011

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