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Jer 6:14
"They
have healed also the hurt
of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, Peace,
peace; when there is no peace."
Repeated verbatim in 8:11 |
Luke 12
4 ¶And I say unto you my friends, Be
not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they
can do.
5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall
fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I
say unto you, Fear him.
Ecc 12:13 ¶Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
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I have discovered that many sincere Christians dismiss the relevance of this utmost solemn warning (Luke 12:4-5) to them to fear God (and do his will) rather than fear men (and disobey God's will).
They conveniently dismiss the relevance
of the plain warning to them by various means:
- they just blissfully assume that the
warning is obviously directed at others, i.e., the non-elect.
- they based on their cherished thought
that Christ has most certainly redeemed them from hell, so any warning on hell
can't possibly be intended for them.
- others reduce hell to some kinds of
sufferings here in this life;.
- the judgment spoken of is something
that occurs daily, there is no more judgment at death.
Heb 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment..."
I fear that through the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, the solemn word of God has been made of none effect. Their mantra, "No hell for believers" is just the lulling lie that the Devil wants the church to embrace despite all the repeated warnings addressed by Christ Himself to His disciples on the reality of hell.
Let's note to whom Christ addressed
this solemn warning to fear God and not men.
- verse 1 informs that, "he (the
Lord Jesus Christ) began to speak to his disciples."
- verse 4 Christ referred to them as
"my friends."
- Read John 15:15 KJT —
"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his
lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of
my Father I have made known unto you."
Is the Lord Jesus Christ giving His friends such a grave and solemn warning based on something irrelevant to them, i.e. the impossibility of them to be cast into hell for fearing men and not God? How does such a frivolous idea impugn upon the character and wisdom of Christ?
Concerning the Ecclesiastes 12 passage, who are commanded to fear God and keep His commandments? It is shocking that not a few would even believe that it is addressed to the non-elect, those still dead in trespasses and sins; it's based on the fable that the elect are already judged in Christ and therefore this judgment cannot possibly refer to the elect. They are not the least troubled by the necessary implication that their all-wise God demanding the impossible, fear from those who are by name are hostile and in enmity against Him, and obedience to His commandments from those who know not His commandments. Also, such implies that those dead in trespasses and sins are capable of working good, "... whether good or evil." Read Romans 3:10-18.
The plain sense make good sense; the words are addressed to God's people; they are capable of fearing God and do good. They are capable of great evil too. When their works are judged by God as evil, then what?
I had thought that those who are enlightened to distinguish the eternal salvation from temporal salvation would understand better.
The warning, and many similar ones, gives plain indication that God's children may end up in hell during the intermediate state, i.e. between their death and their resurrection; it requires great effort and drastic actions on their part to avoid it. See My 5:30, 18:8. Hell requires great efforts to be avoided. There is nothing they can, or need to do to avoid the lake of fire. Christ has immutably settled that - fully and perfectly. "It's finished."
NONE of God's children will end up in the lake of fire after general resurrection and great judgment. On the day resurrection and general judgment, hell must surrender up all its captives; the emptied hell shall be cast into the lake of fire; those whose names are not in the Lamb's Book of Life are cast in the lake of fire. Rev 20:13-15.
Christ saved His people from the lake of fire; He DIDN'T save them from the temporal hell. That explains His repeated and solemn warnings to His disciples on hell; He didn't warn them of the lake of fire, which would be redundant and a waste of His breath.
Gen 3:1a "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made."
